2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes

PROLOGUE

How did my life get so complicated? I ask myself that question every day. Over the past few months, I have discovered that everything is not always as it seems. I’m not the only
Fae left on the planet. Not all vampires are a threat to my existence. I really can control my magic. Well, I’m learning to anyhow. Most surprising of all, was that I discovered my heart wouldn’t always feel so broken.

Orphaned at the ripe old age of four, I grew up thinking that I was the only fairy left on Earth. My mother’s best friend, Irina, who happens to be a witch, raised me as one of her own and magically altered my tell-tale fairy ears to hide my identity from the rest of the world. Why, you ask? Well, because a vampire would likely kill me if they discovered what I was. You see, Fae blood is intoxicating to vampires, so much so that they drove my race to near extinction. It’s true that a vampire would spiral into bloodlust upon tasting my blood, just not all vampires, as I had previously thought. How do I know? Because a vampire has had my blood. Twice. Considering I’m still around to tell you about it, I would say it’s safe to assume that he didn’t drain me dry.

Leo, the vampire in question, is part of what has me so perplexed. A warlock named Vance is the other. Both men came into my life on the exact same day almost four months ago, and my world hasn’t been the same since. They’ve both saved my life. Literally. They’ve also both given me the most intense orgasms that I’ve ever experienced. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking. What a tramp, right? Well, I swear I’m not. I haven’t had sex with either one of them. And the orgasms were under very extenuating circumstances.

Immortality is a bitch, let me tell ya. Well, the precursor to it at least. You see, Fae become immortal around their twenty-fifth birthdays and mine is two months away. I’ve gone through a multitude of fun symptoms (Not!) while my body prepares for the transformation. There’s insatiable hunger, extreme exhaustion, heightened senses, and the most frustrating of all, never-ending horniness. I feel like a thirteen-year-old boy more often than not these days. Seriously, it’s embarrassing.

I don’t trust myself to be alone with either Leo or Vance until I can get my hormones under control. Unfortunately, I can’t avoid them entirely because Leo is my boss and Vance is teaching me how to control my magic. Plus, I think I might be in love with them. Yes, both of them. Totally f’d up, I know. My best friend, Erica, is seriously getting sick of being the third wheel but I need a buffer, and she’s the only one I can trust. Well, Erica and my battery operated boyfriend, Bob. Bob has helped me through many rough nights lately.

So, I guess that brings us back to the present: A girl with a best friend, two boys, and a vibrator. And so the story continues…

One

“Focus,
Karli,” Vance scolded.

“I am focusing!” I whined. “It’s just not working.” I was trying transformational magic again. I’ve been able to successfully change small objects and surfaces but nothing big yet. Currently, I am standing in Vance’s backyard trying to convert his brick patio into an in-ground pool.

“You’re not focusing hard enough,” he said. “Dammit, Karli. I know you can do this.”

I glared at him. “If you want a pool so damn bad, make one yourself!” I started stomping away while adding,

“I’m done!”

“Oh, thank God!” Erica said as she trailed after me. “I thought I was going to have to stand here all night listening to your bickering. I have to get ready for my date with Jake.” Much to everyone’s surprise, Erica had been dating this new guy exclusively for over two months now. She’d never dated anyone longer than a week before. “He said he’s going to teach me some new sex magic tonight!” Jake is a warlock. Erica is a witch. According to her, the combination is pretty incredible in bed.

I stopped dead in my tracks, causing Erica to slam into me. “Sex magic?” I looked at Vance, who also happens to be a warlock. “What exactly
is
sex magic?”

He gave me a devilish smile. “I’d be more than happy to give you a demonstration.” He shook his fist and threw some fairy dust over the bricks. A forty-foot lagoon-styled pool stood in their place. Did I forget to mention that Vance was also part fairy?

I rolled my eyes. “Show off.”

He grinned. “That’s nothing compared to my sex magic.”

My jaw dropped. “Uh...”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Erica griped. “Will you two
please
just screw each other’s brains out and get over yourselves? I can’t handle being around this anymore!”

“Erica!!!” I shrieked.

“What???” she replied, unapologetic. “I’m sick of being your buffer! Why should I have to suffer because you can’t control your hormones? I say, fuck it; you should get laid! Every girl needs a big dick after a good lick! Vibrators can only do so much, K. God knows, you’d be much more fun to be around if you had a real man between your legs!”

“Erica!!!” I repeated. I risked a quick glance in Vance’s direction and he was clearly trying to stifle his laughter. Jerk. Okay, in all fairness, Erica did get thrown into the obligatory third wheel role since she’s my best friend. I couldn’t help it; I needed her. I couldn’t think straight when I was around Vance or Leo. Well, that’s not entirely true. I can think. Very clearly. The problem is that only one subject comes to

mind
when I’m alone with either one. Sex. Lots of it. And it’s not just the thought of it. The visions are the worst. Every time I looked at them, I was
flattened
by images of us doing the nasty. In very graphic, sweaty detail. I don’t even know where the visions come from since we haven’t slept together. Well, not technically anyway. Foreplay doesn’t count, right? Anyway, my solution to my little problem was to avoid being alone with them entirely, hence the need for the third wheel. But seriously, did she have to be so crass? It’s not so funny when you’re on the receiving end of her
I have no filter
rants.

Vance put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “I agree with Erica. I think you’d be
much
more fun to be around if we screwed each other’s brains out.”

I shrugged him off. “I’m so sure.”

He laughed. “I’m just saying.”

I pointed my finger at Erica. “You…Let’s go.” I glared at Vance. “You… Stay!”

“Finally!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

We started walking down the side of Vance’s house, towards my Camry parked out front. “C’mon, Eri, let’s get out of here,” I said.

“Have a good night at work, Karli!” Vance called. “Think about my demo offer!”

Ugh! Despite my best intentions, I couldn’t help thinking about his offer and had to break out Bob before I went to work. Several times.

*****

Right before six, I arrived at my little home away from home, Pixie Dust. It’s a bar that typically caters to a more discerning clientele right off the casino floor of a posh center strip hotel in Las Vegas. When you first walk in, your eyes are instinctively drawn to the Swarovski crystal bar that lines the back wall. That’s where you’ll find me,
Karli Lane, Thursday through Sunday nights as Head Bartender/Manager on duty. As if the bar bling wasn’t enough, you have our main attraction: two illuminated, frosted screens flanking the shelves of alcohol. Girls wearing nothing but a pair of fairy wings dance behind them all night, leaving very little to the imagination.

I stashed my purse behind the bar and bumped into our new hostess, Laney.

“Hey there, Karli, how’s it going?” she asked.

“Good, thanks,” I replied. “How’s it been going around here?”

She gathered her long, strawberry blonde curls into a ponytail. “Pretty slow, but it’s about to pick up. Leo just called telling us to expect a crowd soon. I guess there’s a big show in the convention hall that’s about to break.”

Leo Markos, the vampire co-starring in my fantasies, owns Pixie Dust, thereby technically making him my boss. He bought this place several months ago solely to get to know me better. I know you’re probably thinking that there are cheaper ways to get to know a person, right? Well, I did too at first. But rumor has it that Leo has tons of cash lying around accumulated from five hundred plus years of living. Not to mention the fact that I supposedly have trust and/or intimacy issues that are a little too transparent. Go figure.

Vance once told me that vampires and fairies
had been inevitably drawn to each other throughout history. Vampires were created thousands of years ago from mixing the blood of a fallen God and a Fae. I guess that means the two races have some sort of cosmic connection. The main problem with that is that Fae blood is intoxicating to a vampire, and also easily detectab
le. Our blood gives off a unique honey-almond scent that a vamp would be able to smell in close proximity once we become immortal. My immortality was fast approaching, making those of the fanged persuasion an even greater threat to me than they already were.

Leo has already proven that he would never succumb to the bloodlust that a vampire typically suffers when around my kind. He’s not only had my blood on two occasions, but he also knows that I am the last full-blooded fairy on this planet, and has done everything in his power to protect me and my secret.

“Did he mention what time we should expect the masses?” I asked while straightening bottles on the shelves.

She shook her head. “No, but he asked me to have you call him when you get a sec.” She winked. “It sounded personal. I hear you two have a thing. Is it true?”

“Um, no,” I lied. Great, so apparently news of our relationship, for lack of a better word, had spread to her as well. Our old hostess, Roxy, was a huge gossip who
’d started the buzz...until she turned into a murdering psychopath that I had to kill to save my own life. Hopefully Laney was only looking to replace her in the professional sense.

She smirked. “Whatever you say, Karli. I’d better get back to my station.”

What was that supposed to mean? I didn’t really have a chance to contemplate it any further because the bar was suddenly overloaded with silicone-implanted, collagen-injected women accompanied by a lot of men with their tongues hanging out. It was obvious that the convention being held at the hotel was of the adult film variety. My ex-boyfriend, Chad, became one of the gawkers as he walked in with widened eyes, looking like a kid in a candy store.