Four Centuries (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (20 page)

"Zoey, there's a lot of work ahead of us.
 
A lot of things you'll need to know about yourself.
 
And there's going to be some fun, too.
 
Please, just relax.
 
You're worried about paying me back?
 
About being in my debt, or something like that?"

"Yeah.
 
I guess that's it."

"You can pay me back by listening to me, and being a good vampire.
 
There's too many bad ones out there."

Zoey was silent, which Victoria took as acceptance.
 
She squeezed her shoulder and gestured to the stairs.

"Okay, let's get out of here."

"What are we?" Zoey asked.
 
"Are we friends?
 
Sisters?
 
I don't think we can pass as sisters."

"What do you mean?"

"If we're out together, and let's say two hot guys walk up to us.
 
What do we say?
 
Are we sisters?"

Victoria laughed.
 
"Sure.
 
We're half-sisters.
 
We have the same mother, different father.
 
You're in town visiting while Mom and Dad are in the Caribbean."

"I don't think I can remember all that."

Zoey followed Victoria out of the basement, and nearly bumped into the men as they again hauled more equipment downstairs.

"Paulie," Victoria said, pulling one of them aside.
 
"We're getting ready to leave."

"Got it.
 
Don't worry, we won't make a mess."

"Please don't forget to lock up on your way out."

"Sure thing.
 
I'll be back tomorrow to make sure everything meets your satisfaction."

"No need.
 
I have complete faith in you."

"Well, I'll be back anyway."

Victoria shook Paulie's hand and they left them to their work.
 
Zoey kept looking behind her toward the basement as she followed Victoria through the house.

"Whoa, wait," she said.
 
"Aren't you afraid they might break something?"

"If they do, they'll replace it."

"Well…."
 
Zoey's eyes fell on a beautiful painting.
 
She wondered how much one tiny vase in Victoria's home cost.
 
"What if they
steal
something?"

Victoria laughed, as if the thought was totally asinine.
 
Her response was simple.

"People don't steal from me."

In the short time Zoey had known her, she got the impression Victoria was a warm and caring person.
 
It was nothing short of amazing that she had taken in a total stranger and was willing to help them adjust to the world she was now a part of.

But every now and then, something would slip out, and she had the feeling Victoria was not a woman to make an enemy.

Victoria opened a side door in the house to a garage.
 
Several cars sat before them.
 
Were they all hers?
 
She put her hands on her hips and surveyed her collection.

"What do you think?" she asked.
 
"The Jeep?
 
The Lexus?
 
It's probably getting a little cool for the Porsche, although the cold doesn't sting for us like it does mortals."

Zoey said nothing, and after the extended silence, realized Victoria was looking for her input.

"Uh, the Porsche."

"Excellent choice."

"Can I drive?"

"Nope."

The ride to the mall was more fun than it had the right to be.
 
It was a new, unusual experience by itself.
 
Victoria drove with the top down, the nighttime wind playing war with both of their hair.
 
She went forty miles-per-hour above the speed limit on the beltway.
 
Despite the speed and rush of the wind, Zoey found she didn't have to raise her voice to be heard.
 
They both spoke in a normal tone, their hearing able to cut through the noise.

Zoey had shopped at the mall before, many times, with Kylie.
 
Those experiences were nothing like shopping with Victoria.

She was quite certain that within a few hours they had visited every shop in the mall that sold clothes of any kind.
 
Victoria was more interested in Zoey than herself, but couldn't resist the urge when she saw a few outfits that called to her.
 
Zoey was still reluctant, at first, but found herself bending to Victoria's will, and her generosity.
 
Victoria even went as far as giving advice, telling her what flattered her frame, her hairstyle, her freshly acquired complexion.
 
The elder vampire had a very keen eye, and even on wardrobe Zoey had her doubts about, every glimpse in the mirror proved Victoria was spot on.

The only thing that drove Zoey was crazy was every article of clothing, even down to undergarments, Victoria insisted on one size too large.

"It doesn't fit!" Zoey said, for the tenth time, as she stared into the full-length mirror.
 
"I don't mind baggy clothes, Victoria, but damn!"

Victoria had joined her in the changing booth, drawing a few looks from an employee or two.
 
She leaned in the corner with her arms crossed, eying Zoey up and down.

"Just trust me.
 
We're on the right track."

Zoey sighed as she looked at the simple black dress.
 
It stopped just above the knees, with spaghetti straps.

"I don't know about this one."

"Every woman needs a black dress."

"I could kill someone with my bony shoulders."

"You look great."

"I look about twenty years older."

"Not necessarily a bad thing.
 
You're going to want that every now and then."

She slid out of the dress and reached for her jeans.

"I look like a crack-whore."

"Zoey."

Victoria didn't say another word until Zoey looked up at her.

"You look beautiful."

She wanted to hug Victoria, but thought that might be awkward, considering she was half-naked in a dressing booth with her.

Kylie used to complain about boys looking past her to see Zoey.
 
As they carried their collection of bags to the food court, Zoey had a taste of what that was like.
 
All eyes went to Victoria.
 
With her keen hearing, Zoey even heard the whispered comments and quiet giggling as men and women alike argued which parts of their bodies they'd give up to have sex with her.
 
Whether Victoria heard it or not, she didn't say.

The food court was an attack on the senses.
 
Countless conversations, laughing, food smacking lips, belching and even farting.
 
A menagerie of scents that at one time made her mouth water now combined to nearly make her nauseous.
 
She didn't even know vampires could feel nausea.
 
Or was it all in her head?

Zoey sat across from Victoria and stared at the table, trying to focus on anything but her surroundings.

"It gets easier," Victoria said, reading Zoey's face.
 
"You learn to tune most of it out."

"It's so weird."
 
Zoey inhaled deeply.
 
"Someone's eating pizza.
 
God, I miss pizza.
 
I tried to eat a piece not long after the alley.
 
I got so sick."

Victoria laughed.
 
"Yeah.
 
Water is the only other thing we can even
sip
at, and not much.
 
I'll never tell him this.
 
His ego is big enough as it is.
 
But my brother cooks some of the most
delicious
smelling food.
 
And I have to sit there and watch him eat it.
 
I wonder what mortal food tastes like."
 
She held up a finger as she set her purse on the table.
 
"But I have the next best thing."

Zoey's eyes lit up when Victoria set two small bottles on the table.
 
Blood.
 
Victoria carried them with her.
 
In her purse.

"Is that what I think—?"

"It is.
 
Thirsty?"

She unscrewed the top and stole a long drink.

"Victoria!" Zoey said, glancing nervously at the surrounding tables.
 
"We can't just
drink
here!"

"Why not?"

Three men rose from a nearby table and threw their trash away, their eyes on Victoria the entire time.
 
She took another long drink and flirted without a word, as if to make a point.
 
It was incredible to watch her personality transform.
 
Returning the men's gaze, she recrossed her legs and somehow made the act of drinking blood from a bottle sexy.
 
She carefully licked the tip, holding her tongue out for their enjoyment, all while not spilling a drop.
 
One of the men walked directly into a wall, drawing huge laughter and a round of applause from his friends.

Victoria smiled as she returned her attention to Zoey.

"Mortals don't care," she said.
 
"It looks like fruit juice."

Zoey hesitated, but watching Victoria take another drink of the wonderful nectar nudged her forward.
 
She opened her own bottle and tilted her head back.
 
All the sounds and distractions around her vanished.
 
For a moment, there was only the blood, and her own heartbeat.
 
Not satisfied with one drink, she took another.

"Uh, Zoey," Victoria said, touching her lip with a finger.

She felt the blood threatening to drip from her lip.

"Oh, sorry."
 
She dabbed at it with a loose napkin from the next table over.

Victoria finished her bottle and tossed it away, along with the other mortal trash.

"Okay," she said.
 
"I think shopping is done?"

Zoey truly looked at their collection of shopping bags for the first time.
 
Embarrassment settled in, and she would have turned red if she was able.
 
Apparently vampires didn't blush, which was a good thing at that moment.
 
She had way too many clothes, more than she ever had in her life.
 
She even had a few pairs of shoes.
 
The only saving grace was Victoria had just as many.

"I think shopping is done for many years."

Victoria laughed and gathered the bags around her.
 
Zoey did the same, and they began the long trek out of the mall.
 
It was a relief as the crowd faded into the background.
 
No more noises and scents filled her head.

Other sounds of the world greeted her as the pair moved through the parking lot.
 
Cars and trucks on the road nearby.
 
Squirrels in the trees.
 
She even heard pieces of conversations.
 
One in particular caught her attention.

"I want to fuck you right here."

It was a female voice.
 
Zoey giggled at the rawness, the tone.
 
Her eyes searched the lot, out of curiosity.
 
Apparently a couple nearby was going to mistake their car for a bedroom.

She noticed Victoria searching as well.
 
Victoria continued scanning the lot as she popped the trunk of the Porsche.
 
Their bags barely fit inside the tiny space.

"You heard it, too?" Zoey asked.

"Yeah.
 
Do you see them?"

Her interest took Zoey by surprise.

"Uh, no.
 
And I'm not sure I want to."

"Keep listening.
 
Help me look for them."

"Victoria?
 
Do you really want to see two people having sex in a car?"

"No, but you should never pass up easy blood."

"Easy blood?"

She gestured around her.
 
"We're in the middle of a parking lot.
 
No one is around.
 
It's dark.
 
If they really are going to have sex, hell, they'll probably
thank
us.
 
When you feed from a mortal—"

"I know what it does," Zoey said quickly.

"They'll never see us coming.
 
We slip in, feed very quickly, and slip out.
 
Their memories are hazy for a short time.
 
All they'll remember is the sex.
 
They won't even know we were there."

"Shit!
 
That sounds like assault!"

Victoria glared at her as she closed the trunk.

"What Steven did to you,
that
was assault.
 
What I'm talking about is the right way to do it.
 
No one gets hurt.
 
The mortals even get an extra-intense orgasm out of the deal.
 
Everyone wins."

"I don't know."

"Zoey, this is what we do.
 
This is who we are.
 
There isn't always going to be a refrigerator full of blood around the corner."

Zoey had no argument.
 
She countered Victoria only with silence.
 
Victoria grabbed her hand and pulled her along, leading her in between the cars.
 
The older vampire lifted her nose to the air and sniffed several times.

"This way."

"Victoria," Zoey said, her voice a bit whiny.
 
"The last time I tried this, it didn't go so well.
 
If it wasn't for Alex showing up, I might have killed somebody."