***
Dominic stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom with Palo standing in the doorway. He stared at himself in the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance: his long hair, hazel-yellow eyes, and strong jawline. Without looking over at Palo, he tried to explain, “If I’m going to do this, they can’t see me coming. Some of our kind might recognize me. Do you have any silver?”
Palo reluctantly handed it to him by the handle. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Dominic didn’t say a word. He raised the blade to his face, pressed the tip of the knife above his brow, and pierced the skin, dragging the knife down to his eyelid. Then he moved the knife from below his eye to his cheek, using the silver knife to scar his face.
When he grabbed a fistful of hair, he held his breath.
“Dom, that’s your trademark. Don’t cut your hair.”
Ignoring Palo, Dominic slid the blade across the taut part of his hair and the knife sliced through it like butter. He held his long, curly hair in his hand and stared at it. Then he dropped it to the floor and continued to chop off his hair.
Palo walked out of the bathroom.
When Dominic had transformed his look to a rugged, scared drifter who looked like someone no one would approach, he was ready to learn more. He walked out of the bathroom and found Palo in the kitchen sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a bottle of blood.
“Where do we start?” Dominic asked.
Palo didn’t look his way. “With Duke Mathias. He’s the West Coast Horseman.” Palo pulled out his cellular phone and showed him a picture of a baldheaded white man with a scruffy full beard.
Dominic studied his stance, appearance and searched for his weaknesses. “This is one of the younglings from the 1808 incident? Had they left that town alone, Charna would have lived, right?”
Palo ignored him. He didn’t want Dominic to start focusing on his vengeance just yet. He needed Dom’s head to be clear while they tried to get at the West Coast horseman. “He’s a dangerous vampire. One of his guys stepped out of line once and he skinned him, healed him up, and skinned him again. Rumor has it that he did that for two months to the poor bastard.”
“Who’s the big ugly guy behind him?”
“That’s the guy he skinned. Duke runs a club called The Zoo. It’s a feeding den and human nightclub.”
“Feeding den? I thought we didn’t do that kind of thing in 2012.”
“According to the Pure Bloods, we are forbidden to have such a club. I stay away from that shit. Fresh, real blood turns you into an addict, if you don’t get it all the time. These vamps get hooked and he’s their only source.”
“Let’s go. I’m ready to confront him.”
Palo put up his hand. “Easy there, pal. There are a few rules we need to get straight. I do the talking, and if you see anyone with the Vypers’ emblem on their jackets, leave them alone.”
“Vypers’ emblem?’ He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “The patch with the snake coming out of the wolf’s mouth?”
“Yeah.”
“The patch I saw on those guys in the bar the night of my rebirth?”
Palo nodded. “The only reason they didn’t skin you is because I said you were DOD and right now, the DOD are at a truce with them.”
“So, you are DOD?”
“It’s complicated. But remember to follow my lead. We are just going to get the lay of the land.”
Dominic nodded, but knew that he would take matters into his own hands should he need to.
As they rode, Dom thought about how often Palo had warned him about turning into a vampire in public. A bounty slayer was always looking for any vampire who thought he could push the envelope of imposed rules. Dominic would dare any slayer who thought he could take him down. Although Dom may have been slightly conformed to this new world, he was still an aged vampire with past values at the forefront of his being.
In two hundred years, there was one thing that Dom would not gripe about: the motorcycle. During the past few weeks, while he researched and tried to learn about his new era, Dominic had read that a man named Daimler had invented the motorcycle. Dominic considered that man a damn genius.
Riding was a new passion of his, which allowed him to be free from the elements. The other freedom he missed was allowing the monster inside of him to turn at any time it wanted to. Releasing his fangs and allowing his body to transform into a vampire was allowing a caged wild animal to be free.
It was natural for a vampire to feel alive in his true form. Tonight, right here and now, he’d ride past the cemetery, away from the small city of Ransom and past the fields where they could be free to be themselves.
Dom and Palo rode toward the mountains just outside the city limits. Behind his half-helmet, Dominic grinned. With the wind howling past his ears and the wheat fields swaying from side to side, he almost missed a neon sign that blinked in the middle of the wheat fields.
He followed Palo into the parking lot and parked their bikes. Palo glared at Dom to remind him that he would do the talking.
They walked up to a large security guard who stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his fangs released and a glare of red in his eyes. “What the fuck are you doing here, Palo?”
“Move, Bobby, I’m hungry.”
“Aren’t you on the vegan diet? And who’s your girlfriend here?”
“He’s your mother, now let me in.”
“Sorry, shrimp, we don’t allow nomads in. No affiliation, no feeding. Get it.” The guard glared at Dominic. “Do you talk, Tinker Bell? Or you just gonna stand there like an asshole?”
Dominic shifted to stand firmly planted as he slid his hands out of his jacket pockets. “The name is Dom. I came here to drink fresh human blood and that’s what I’m going to do. I have the money, so let me in and everybody wins. If not, don’t doubt that I will gut you right here, right now.”
“Ha!” the guard released a quick one-note bellow. “If you kill me, every DOD in California will be on your ass.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But you’ll never know because you’ll still be dead.”
The guard glared from Dominic to Palo. “Who’s this guy you’re hanging out with, Palo? Where’d you dig him up?”
“Bottom of the ocean.” Palo grinned.
The guard moved to the side. “Fine, go ahead, but I hope you drink yourself to death.”
Dominic and Palo walked past the guard and into a large lobby. In the center of the lobby was a large, naked female statue with her head tilted back, her mouth open and water shooting from her mouth into an open, round pond with coins at the bottom.
Dom followed Palo around the statue. He stared at it as they walked up to the desk.
Palo smiled at the woman behind the counter. “Two, please.”
Dominic pushed past Palo. “I’d like to speak to the man in charge. Duke, I believe.”
Palo whispered, “Easy, man.”
The receptionist adjusted her blouse nervously. “He’s not here.”
“So, how do I reach him?” Dom asked.
The receptionist looked directly into Dominic’s eyes. “You don’t! What’s your name again?”
Palo pushed Dom out of the way. “Sorry for my friend, babe. He’s famished. It’s his first time here. He’s from overseas and on top of that, Bobby was being a dick.”
The receptionist stared into Palo’s dark eyes and after a few seconds of contemplating, she nodded. “Fine. Whatever. Your asshole friend can go to the first room on the left.” She handed Dominic a bib, wet wipes and a list of rules. Then she looked back at Palo. “If you want Sandy, your regular, you’ll have to wait.”
Palo, embarrassed, whispered, “Fine, I’ll wait.”
Dominic followed another woman who escorted him to a room toward the back. He threw his bib and wet wipes into a trashcan on their way to the room. He’d conform to this new era to a degree, but he’d always be a vampire and he wouldn’t let humans own him.
; When he walked into the room, he noticed directly in front of him was a tan pleather couch, which ran adjacent to a roaring fireplace.
To his left was a large gothic picture of a vampire mating with a human. The sound system in the room played an outdoor soundtrack. Everything had been set up to appeal to the vampires’ senses—to their senses of smell, taste, sight and touch.
Dominic had never seen anything like it. “Amazing,” he whispered.
The woman on the couch sat to the left side, staring at the fireplace. She wore a tight black dress that barely covered her long, shapely smooth legs. Her hair was pulled to the left side, which exposed her neck and gave clear access to her major artery—the carotid artery—the mother vein from which all vampires get their best rush of blood.
Dominic’s dick grew hard, thinking about the blood in that vein and the feel of her riding him while he plunged into her copper-tasting lifeline.
She turned her head and stared at him with hungry eyes—with a desire to be his meal.
He realized that in earlier centuries, vampires didn’t have this—an array of humans who chose to feed them and keep them alive. What they wanted, they took and they usually drained their prey to death to keep them from talking. A corpse could say how but not who.
The woman stood and walked over to Dom. “You’re new, aren’t you?” Her voice was soft and smooth, oozing sex appeal.
He nodded once.
“You have me for an hour, so let’s get acquainted before you dive into me,” she said, her voice soft and inviting.
Her brown hair hung over her shoulder. Her lips were soft and pink while her brown eyes begged to be his sex slave. He didn’t want to waste an hour being acquainted verbally.
They’d be acquainted his way.
He grabbed the back of her head, yanked it back and slammed his lips against hers. She squealed against his grip and the pressure on her mouth.
Her hands pushed at his chest. He released her and she stumbled backwards.
She placed her hand up to her bruised lips and glared at him. “I’ve had some rough vamps, but what you just did, was perfect.”
Dominic was shocked. He wasn’t expecting her to say that.
“However, my dark knight, let’s see how you make me feel when you sink your teeth into me.”
He glanced at her from her feet to her breasts and then he met her inquisitive stare. “I want information.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Duke Mathias?”
Her face went from playfully sexual to instantly fearful. “Who are you?”
“So, you know him personally?”
“Met him once.”
“And?” he asked.
“And there’s nothing to tell.” She turned and walked to a wet bar with a fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. She watched him closely as she opened it and took a long drink. Her hand was shaking against her desire to seem aloof.
“I think you’re lying.”
“You can think what you want—”
He didn’t let her finish her sentence. His hand was around her neck and his fangs extended next to her ear as he slammed her against the wall. She flinched when her water slammed into the mirror next to them.
“Don’t hurt me.” Her lips quivered.
“What do you know about Duke?” His voice was raw and hoarse.
“Not much. He’s tasted me once, that’s all.”
“Does he come here often?”
“Not that I know of,” she whispered.
He released her for the moment, waiting for her to regain her bearings, so she could spill more of what she knew. She was shaky and fidgety. He glared at her with fire-red eyes.
She wrung her hands in front of her body and stared at the ground. “He has a favorite here.”
“Who?”
“Her name is Amanda. She’s three doors down. But she won’t talk.”
“Why?”
“She’s built up a tolerance to Duke’s abuse.”
Dominic walked over and rubbed his hand down the side of her face. “You’ve been a good girl. I won’t hurt you, but I am hungry, and I did pay for you.”
She leaned her head into his soft touch. “That is true.” She grinned.
He found it interesting that she could put herself right back into her sexual element. He walked her to the edge of the couch, bent her over and lifted her skirt. While he plunged inside of her, he grabbed her hair, pulled her head back and sunk his teeth into her pulsating neck artery.
The rush of warm blood coated his mouth and throat while he pounded her forcefully. She reached her hand back and gripped her fingers into his thighs while she moaned out in pure ecstasy.
When he had finished, he licked her neck and released himself from between her legs. She slumped over the couch and took a moment to catch her breath.
Dom buttoned his jeans, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and brushed his fingers through her hair on his way to the door.
She mumbled, “Felicia. I’m Felicia, if you decide to come back.”
He did not say a word. Instead, he opened the door and left. Dominic slid his hands into his pocket and felt two things. Inside his leather jacket pocket, Felicia had given him her phone number and one of her scarves. He was definitely intrigued that she had slipped those items to him without him noticing.