Angel's Curse (41 page)

“I can’t believe I’m
still
hungry,” I muttered.

I shook my head and returned to the underground tunnels. The remaining vamps were poking the dead bodies that had miraculously appeared out of thin air, trying to make sense of what had happened. I wrapped my arms around one and took him away, into the lights, careful to keep my hands on the coarse tunic he wore. I wanted to taste his blood and feel it running down the back of my throat. My lips touched the base of his neck, away from a vein, so it would be a slow death and I could enjoy it all the more.

I was sorely disappointed when his blood tasted off. It wasn’t poisoned or drugged — I would’ve known if it wasn’t pure — but it just didn’t taste right. It was quite horrid actually, a little on the vinegary side, if my taste buds were to be believed.

I’d only tasted one other vamp from this region in the traditional way, and she had been sweet, if slightly tart, but certainly not vinegary. Was it just a fluke he tasted off? Was it just a fluke
she
tasted okay, or did all males here taste funny? There was only one way to find out. I had to try a few more.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so I’ve
still
got a bit of room.”

I performed a quick snatch and grab for another male. He was just as vinegary as the previous one, so much so that I couldn’t finish him off. I had to detach — it wasn’t as hard as the first time I’d tried it. I dispatched him using Death, the blade Danny had given me years before to defend myself with. His body returned to the underground network while I held onto the head. I’d need to dispose of that separately. If I let it go and it returned to where the body was, they might know to reattach it.

I headed to the cavern in the abandoned mine that had been the resting place of many a vamp I’d killed over the years. A drop kick saw the head land in the water at the other end of the cavern. Danny and I believed the water was the reason behind the mine being abandoned.

My stomach started to feel queasy. The vampire’s blood wasn’t agreeing with me, which was a first. I’d call it a day and go back to the savannahs tomorrow, looking for a female. My stomach heaved and the muscles clenched. A pool of blood spewed forth. It was just the once, not like when I ate or drank something no longer compatible with my stomach. Maybe the evolution of the male vamps in Africa included new defence mechanisms.

As I produced a wet cloth to clean my face, along with a toothbrush and toothpaste to make my mouth taste minty fresh again, I thought about it some more. The first two vamps, both males, were fine, though I hadn’t fed off them the traditional way. My fingers didn’t have taste buds, after all. I hadn’t really paid much attention before, to where the blood went when my hands were involved, but it wasn’t my stomach. The blood entered my body directly via the blood stream, not the stomach. If these vamps had developed a new defensive mechanism that worked on taste, or by the blood being absorbed via the stomach, I would just have to use my hands.

More theories to test out. Tomorrow, not today.

I felt a bit better after I’d cleaned myself up, though the smell of the blood on the cavern floor made me want to retch again. My stomach rumbled.

“What are you, a sucker for punishment?” I mumbled.

I returned to the cottage, somewhat disturbed by my experience, and caught Danny practicing his dancing, of all things, in the ballroom, with someone he’d conjured up. As soon as he saw me she disappeared. I didn’t get a chance to see what she looked like — what Danny’s ideal dance partner looked like.

“You’re back early,” he said.

“Yeah, I decided I only wanted a quick snack. I really need to satisfy my
other
hunger,” I lied, quite convincingly I thought.

Danny rolled his eyes and chuckled. “And you say I’m bad.”

“I have seven years to catch up on, you know,” I laughed.

I pulled Danny closer to me by his shirt.

“You won’t be needing those,” I said, looking at his clothes.

Danny was standing in front of me naked, his clothes gone, courtesy of my dirty mind. Sometimes I thought he regretted gifting me his abilities, skills and knowledge before he’d died, all those years ago. I misused everything he gave me, for my own wicked pleasures. I had a hedonistic streak not even I’d been aware of, until I could do nearly anything I wanted to, with little or no consequence.

My hand automatically went to the scar near his hip, courtesy of Amy, a former love that had fallen with Satan. It was a constant reminder to me of how lucky I was to have him.

Danny began to undress me. He enjoyed taking off each item of clothing, revealing more of my skin with each piece. For him it was all part of the dance, an art form in itself. I indulged him by not wishing all of my clothing instantly gone, even when the need for out naked bodies to join as one was so great I thought it would consume me.

Always a hunger burned within me — for him, for blood and for violence.

“Am I a creature of habit, Danny?” I asked softly.

He unhooked my bra and let it slip to the floor, his hands caressing my back, making me shiver.

“We’re all creatures of habit,” he said. “We all fall into a comfortable routine, although occasionally,” his lips brushed my neck and I shivered again, “something comes along to shake that up.”

“Oh,” I said.

He continued to kiss my neck.

“Why?” he asked.

I ran my fingers through his hair, my heart beating faster now.

“No reason,” I murmured.

Drake’s words rang in my ears —
you’re a creature of habit, Helena. You always return to what you know — sex and violence.