“I don’t care if you’ve known her for her entire damn life, Gnash. I honestly can’t believe you did this. We’re supposed to talk about these things first.”
Aleria looked over to the small, round woman with the dark hair who was glaring at her new sire. Saying she was mad was an understatement. Aleria fully expected steam to start coming out of the woman’s ears at any given moment. She tried not to eavesdrop, but it was pretty impossible with her new vampiric senses to not hear them. Hell, she could practically hear the woman rolling her eyes. Despite her standing a good fifty feet away, Aleria could still make out every word which passed between the two.
“You mean like you asked me before you brought Ru home?” Gnash asked, one dark eyebrow raised. There it was, that tinge of sarcastic undertone which caused her to smile. It was one of many odd qualities which endeared him to her so much.
Skitz hissed at him, obviously getting more pissed by the second. “That’s not fair. Ruroni was the last of my mortal kin, and he was dying. If I hadn’t embraced him then my entire line would have died with him. Is that what you want, to see my entire mortal family destroyed?”
“And how is this any different?” Gnash asked, grinding his teeth together as his blood mate rolled her eyes. “I was attacked, Skitz. Aleria risked her own mortal life trying to save my immortal one. And for that selfless act, you would have had me leave her amongst the garbage, slowly bleeding to death? It’s bad enough she’s being forced to give up her entire life and go into hiding to keep from being hunted down by all the damn hunters all because she tried to save a friend in trouble.”
Skitz grunted at his words. “Which begs the question of exactly why a mortal would risk her own life trying to protect someone who is immortal. What is she to you exactly, Gnash? I know what kind of people frequent that bar you are so fond of. So what is she, another one of the little vamp tramps eager to get her fang-gasm fix?”
“Hey!” Aleria said loudly as she stood up straighter from where she had been lounging against the doorframe of the living quarters. “I’m not a vamp tramp, honey. And let’s get one damn thing straight. Gnash is the only vampire I’ve ever tasted, thank you very much. There’s a reason why bloodletting has been outlawed you know. Do I look like I wanted to die in the prime of my life? For fuck’s sake, I had just paid off my damn apartment, and now just look at me,” she said as she held out her arms. “I’m permanently stuck with this body without any way to tighten up my abs or hitch up my sagging ass.”
Skitz scowled at the girl. “No one is talking to you, honey. So butt out of this conversation until someone speaks to you directly. You’ve got a lot to learn about our societal laws.”
“What-the-fuck-ever, bitch,” Aleria muttered as she walked over to the bookshelf, taking in all the handwritten, leather-bound books.
“She’s just a friend, Skitz. She’s been working at the bar for the past two years that I know of-”
“Eight,” Aleria interjected. “I’ve been there for eight years.”
Gnash frowned at her, but she seemed unfazed by his mild annoyance. “Aleria, why don’t you go out to the kitchen and see if there’s any blood substitute in the fridge. You’ll need to feed once nightfall hits. I don’t think it would be wise to take you out without a little bit of sustenance in your system. Can’t put the humans at risk, after all.”
“Yes, let’s not risk the precious fucking humans,” Skitz mumbled sarcastically, but Gnash ignored her.
Aleria looked over at him, her bright blue eyes even more so since he embraced her. “Fine,” she said as she replaced the book onto the shelf. “But if your little ball-and-chain calls me a vamp tramp one more time-”
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“Look here, you little coffin cunt, no one asked for your damn opinion, so get the fuck out of here.”
“Skitz!” Gnash said harshly as he grabbed her arm before she could take more than a few steps toward Aleria.
“Damn, jealous much? No fucking wonder he stays at the club every chance he gets. I’d be avoiding your bitchy ass, too,” she muttered as she turned and left the room.
“Skitz, please,” she heard him say as she moved deeper into the house. “You’ve got this all wrong, and you are making a scene. I’ve never once been unfaithful to you in all these years. She saved my life, pure and simple, and I wouldn’t be much of a vampire, a man, or a leader if I had left her there to die.”
Aleria shook her head as she wandered into the kitchen, smiling despite the scene playing out in the living area. Gnash was really something else. She had liked him instantly, though she hadn’t been physically attracted to him. That’s not to say he wasn’t attractive – he actually was very easy on the eyes. But something had just clicked with them, like two old people who had been friends their whole lives. She had always had a very odd sense of humor, and he not only shared her warped sense of self but also a great many other things as well. They had literally talked into the wee hours of the morning every week for the past two years. She felt like she had known him forever, and if she was going to be forced into a life of immortality, she couldn’t think of a better person to have embraced her than Gnash.
She looked around the spacious kitchen, silently wondering why a coven of vampires needed so much space. She opened a cabinet nearest her, finding it filled with different brands of blood substitute – New Blood, Blood Zero, Blood Light, Blood One, and some fancy shit called Don Blood Peria.
She slammed the door shut and moved to the large side-by-side refrigerator, taking a peek into it. There was actual food in it, lots of it in fact, another surprise which had her wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.
“Aleria.”
She turned around at the sound of her name, closing the fridge door behind her. Gnash was standing in the doorway, looking weary and worn with the dried blood still caked in his hair. Thankfully his skull fracture had already healed, the gaping wound knitted back together as if nothing had happened, the matted hair the only sign he had ever suffered an injury at all.
“Damn, you look like shit, G, no offense,” she said as she straightened up. “Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice softening. “Look, I’m sorry I picked a fight with Skitz. I’m kinda sensitive about people automatically assuming I’m a fang whore because I work at the L&L. That’s still no excuse for being a total bitch to your wife, and I’m sorry. If my being here is going to cause trouble then I don’t mind leaving. Give me a few days to get my shit moved to the basement of my apartment complex and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Don’t be silly, Aleria. You’re my childer, my family, just like Skitz and Ru. She just needs some time to adjust to you is all. She’ll come around, you’ll see. You’ve done nothing wrong and I won’t see my one and only childer tossed into the streets because she’s hormonal.”
She looked at him with more than a little bit of concern. “Hormonal? Fuck me, you mean I still have to put up with my period? Dammit, I thought for sure being embraced would take care of that, along with permanent birth control.”
Gnash blinked at her a few times before he roared with laughter. “No, Aleria, you’re right. Vampires don’t have to worry about any of your human bodily functions any more. No more menstrual cycles, no getting pregnant, none of that. But you still secret hormones so yes, I guess you can still get the vampire equivalent of PMS. Or at least Skitz does.”
She grimaced. “Great, just what I wanted with my immortality, a craving for chocolate and red wine, neither of which I can have any more.”
They looked at each other for a second before they both burst into perils of laughter.
“Come, I’ll show you to your room. After a good night’s sleep I’ll show you around and introduce you to the coven. They are all going to love you.”
“But I’m not tired,” she said before she suddenly yawned, her body feeling as if it weighed a ton. “What the hell? Why do I suddenly feel like I’m about to lapse into a coma?”
“Mmm hmm,” Gnash said with a chuckle. “You’ll find you don’t have much choice about sleeping during the daytime hours. It may take a few days to catch up with you, but by this time next week you’ll discover yourself falling on your face as soon as the sun comes up. I strongly suggest you be in your coffin before that time. I can’t be held responsible for what antics some of the younger members may pull if they find you sprawled out in the living area, dead to the world.”