Six

“YOU DIDN’T HAVE to waste your time by coming down here,” Gia’s father said as she took a seat in a chair near his bed.

“I’m not wasting my time, dad. You know there is no place I’d rather be,” she gave a confident grin. “I sneaked in something for you,” she dug around in the bag of food and pulled out a small container of fries.

 “If the nurses see me with these, I’m going to be in trouble,” he said as she handed the cup over.

“Then you’d better eat fast,” she laughed.

They sat in silence while she ate and he did his best to eat and hide his prize. “Who is that man you came here with?" Gia’s head snapped up and her gaze connected with her father’s. She didn’t want to lie to him but she also didn’t know how to explain that she had tied herself to a vampire through a contract signed in blood. Her eyes darted around the room and her posture slacked in her chair.

“Mr. Pendleton, my name is Layton Kyle. I’m helping your daughter find Zach.” Layton stepped into the room.

Gia’s dad formed his lips in a straight line and she knew it was his look of disapproval.

 “Dad, I want to find Zach,” a tear escaped the corner of her eye. “I can’t do it on my own.” For long moments, her dad stayed silent. That was the scariest part about him—when he didn’t say a word, Gia knew something was up.

“Gia, could you give us a few minutes alone, please?” her dad sat the cup of fries on the bedside table and pinned her with a stare that meant business.

“Sure,” she said then left the room. She pulled the door shut behind her, but she was in luck. Their voices drifted through the wood of the door so she could hear their conversation.

“I want to believe you are helping her out of kindness, but I figure you don’t have a kind bone in that dead body of yours.” Gia cringed when her dad spoke.

 “Mr. Pendleton, I assure you my intentions will be nothing but honorable.” Layton lied.

“I swear to you, if I see her hurt, you will pay for it. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of course.” Gia wondered why her dad was so angry about a vamp helping her. He’d never had an opinion either way about them but suddenly, he was voicing it loud enough for everyone in Clark County to hear.

“Dad, we will let you rest.” Gia didn’t want the exchange to reach a boiling point, so she intervened.

“Okay then. They should release me in the morning. Carla will take me home,” Carla was a good friend and neighbor of her father’s. She was great at helping him do daily chores and making sure he took his medicine like he should. After giving him a hug, she and Layton walked down the hallway. The tension between them was thick enough to spread on toast and she wanted to clear the air.

 “I’m sorry about my dad.”

“You shouldn’t apologize for the actions of others.”

“I feel like I should, though. He’s never acted like that about vampires.”

“Every person may form their own opinion. I try to let it pass over my shoulder and not take it to heart.” They exited the hospital and walked to his car. Gia found her dad's reaction to Layton, baffling. He had raised her and Zach to respect everyone. There was no basis she knew of for him to be anti-vamp suddenly. Sure, she’d seen some of the horror stories of vampires gone wild but most of them were hoaxes to scare the human population from interacting too much with the vampire population. None of it mattered to Gia. She would treat mortals and immortals with the same level of respect until one of them gave her a reason not to. “Earlier you said something about having a choice to become a vampire. What did you mean?”

 “I don’t think you want to know about my tragic past, Gia.”

“I do. Will you tell me about it, please?” she turned in her seat to look at his profile in the dim lighting of the car.

 For several moments he was silent but soon, he talked, “Astrid and I were on the Titanic. I became this for her, not for myself. I watched fellow travelers fall into the arctic waters, only to turn to frozen corpses. Seeing the fear on Astrid’s face caused me to panic.”

“How did you know there was a vampire on the ship who could turn you?" Gia couldn't help but find herself enraptured in his story.

“We had met her at dinner one evening during the voyage. She revealed her true nature and Astrid became friends with her. When the ocean liner sank, we found Ingrid and asked her to turn us.”

“You must love your sister a lot if you sacrificed your mortality for her.”

 “If I didn’t choose this, we would have perished that night. There wasn't much choice in the matter since the lifeboats were full."

“Why wouldn’t you do it again?” “Because I’ve missed out on so many things as an immortal being.”

“Like what?” Gia prodded.

“A normal life. The sunshine. Humans take simple things like that for granted when I would give everything I have to walk in the sun for even five minutes,” he said as he pulled the car into the parking lot of Club Desire.

 She could feel his pain. The choices he made altered his outlook on everything. Gia couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to have that weight bearing down on her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” sympathy coated her words.

 “Don’t be. Like I said, I chose this for myself. I take responsibility for living with that choice.” He parked the car and turned to her, “You will stay the night here. I’m not letting you go home this late,” his tone wasn’t as demanding as it had been.

“I don’t have any clothes with me,” she protested a little.

“You’re about the size of my sister, she will lend you something to wear.” He pushed his door open. Gia followed him to the back door of the club. As they entered the building, Layton’s sister came barreling down the hallway with a look of anger on her pastel face.

“Where the fuck have you been?” she yelled at her brother.

 “I don’t see how it’s any of your business but I was with Gia at the hospital,” he explained.

Astrid peeked around Layton, “I told you she is nothing but trouble in the making. You need to dump her ass off at whatever squander she lives in and walk the fuck away.”

“I will only tell you once to keep your opinions to yourself, sister.”

“It’s your funeral,” Astrid spat right before she turned and flashed down the hall. Gia understood the concern of the female vamp and, she would be cautious in her position too. Layton was an easy target because of his higher profile role in the vampire community. Anyone could exploit his position and cause harm. Gia knew she wouldn’t be the one to do so, but Astrid convinced herself that she was. All she wanted was to find her brother and get back to her nice, normal life.

***

Layton entered his office with Gia in tow. A soon as he checked a few things online, he would let her get rest. It was still a few hours until dawn but he didn’t want to put anything else on her shoulders for the night. Her emotions couldn't help but be heightened already from the situation with her father. While he logged into his laptop, he could see her pacing around the office, checking out the numerous works of art on the walls. To him, the erotic representations of women were comforting. They reminded him that there was a beauty to the world still, even if his soul wasn’t any part of it. 

“These are gorgeous,” she turned from one of the canvased works and said.

 “Yes they are,” he logged into the security footage taken the night that Gia’s brother had gone missing. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't any sound on the footage, only action. With his eyes focused on the screen, he found what he was searching for.

 “Come here,” he told Gia. She rounded the desk and stood beside him.

“That’s him, that’s Zach,” hope painted her voice.

“My sister admits to talking with him that night,” Layton revealed.

 “Then who is that person?” she pointed at the screen.

Layton knew all too well who the vamp in the frame was. “That is Craven Russo. Let’s say he has been the main cause of almost every feud between humans and vampires for the past three-hundred years.”

“Can you turn the sound up?” she asked.

“The cameras in the building don’t record sound.”

“Shit.”

“I will talk to Craven tomorrow night.” Layton stood from his desk and shut the laptop. “Follow me,” he said while motioning Gia from the office. She didn’t question him as he led her out the back door and across the parking lot behind the club. When he pulled the antiquated wrought iron gate apart, Gia’s eyes became wide at what she saw.

 “There’s a house back here?” she walked along the paved walkway.

“I keep it concealed with the trees and plants. I like my privacy.” Layton had built the medium sized home with his own two hands years ago. Even though he was a vampire, he wanted a place that felt like home.

“It’s amazing back here,” she commented, her hands brushing over some of the lush greenery as she walked. Layton stayed silent as he reached the front door and unlocked it. Gia stepped into his personal domain and it caused a territorial feeling to swamp him. Pushing those sensations away, he led her through the house and up the staircase.

“You may sleep in here,” he opened a door that led to the only room in the house that contained a bed. Standing back, Layton watched her step into the room and look around.

“Thank you,” she turned to him with a slight smile.

“My coffin is in the basement,” he mentioned.

 “You realize how odd that just sounded, right?” her girlish laugh tickled his ears and had other parts of his body on high alert.

“Get some sleep,” he grumbled.

“Hey, wait,” her words caused him to pause, then turn back to face her. When she walked to him and stood on her tip-toes, he wasn’t sure what she would do.

“Thank you for helping me,” she said just before she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his cold cheek. Something inside him took over. In an instant, he had her pinned against the wall, his hands on her throat and his body pressed against her. “I want to take everything from you, including your last breath. But I also want to give you everything.” He said in a stern voice.

Her eyes widened but not with fear. “Do it, fucking kill me. If that’s what makes you happy, then get it over with.” She spat. Layton backed away until she was a safe distance from him.

Shaking his head he stood there watching her. “Don’t ask for things you don’t want.”

“Then stop trying to intimidate me. Haven’t you figured out I don’t scare that easily?” That was part of the reason he gravitated toward her. She wasn’t frightened of him, she was a strong woman who gave as much as she got.

 “I won’t apologize for the things I say.”

“I don’t want you to.” She stepped closer to him, her aroma becoming more pronounced.

“You’re pushing me to where I can’t control myself,” He said.

“What does that mean?” As soon as she asked, Layton used his speed to snatch her up and toss her on the bed. In a split second, he was on top of her, grinding his front between her legs.

 “It means that right now, all I can think about is possessing every fucking part of you.” Her legs fell open, letting him rasp against her still clothed center. With her eyes shut, she arched her back as if she was searching for something else from him. Taking the cue, he then slipped a hand under the hem of her shirt, bringing it to one of her breasts. He jerked the cup of her bra to the side and molded her warm flesh in his chilled hand. Gia shivered and whined.

 “Have you let a vampire inside your body before?” he asked close to her ear.

“No,” she whispered. He could barely contain himself. She was a vamp virgin and just the thought of what he could do to her had him hard and ready to be inside her. Her trembling body showed that she was in the same state of frenzy as he. After sliding his hand free from under her top, Layton grabbed the neckline of the thin shirt and gave a quick jerk—the fabric shredding and exposing her lingerie clad breasts. The creamy flesh against the forefront of the light pink satin surprised him. He rarely liked colors on the paler spectrum, but the way the hue complimented her skin was divine. When he glanced down at her face, Gia held a hesitant expression in her eyes.

“Do I scare you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she nodded.

 “Good. You should be terrified of me.” Layton moved to his knees and reached for the waist of her shorts. With one fluid movement, he had them off then tossed them to the floor. He expected to see a pair of panties that matched the pink bra, but all he saw was her bare flesh, ripe and waiting. Modesty took over, causing her to squeeze her thighs together, concealing her secrets. Layton wasn’t having it. He slid his hands to her inner thighs and pushed them apart. “You do not hide from me. According to our contract, I own every part of you right now.”

Gia’s eyes widened and her lips fell open, “I’m sorry,” she whispered. The carotid artery at her neck pulsed, tempting him to sample the crimson that coursed through her veins. She was a mirage in the desert—a delicious succulent, inviting morsel that would always warn him away. The elusive enrapture he had always pined for was in the flesh, waiting for him to take hold of her. He was drowning in a punishing sea that refused to release him to either safety or the black abyss below. There would be no hope for him until he was inside her. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and whipped it over his head. When he glanced back down, Gia’s eyes focused on the tattoo that inked the skin over his heart.

 “Infinity,” she breathed. Layton traced the symbol with his fingertips. It wasn’t the typical sideways figure eight infinity symbol, it was the Ouroboros. A snake in a circular shape, consuming its own tail. The symbol was significant in that, the creature would forever recreate itself, just as Layton had over the past century. He was a creature, similar to the serpent depicted on his chalky skin. He slithered in the night, consuming only the things that would ensure his survival. At that moment, however, he wasn’t sure he would survive unless he could feel her warm body wrapped in his.