B Positive by Jewel Killian

Twenty-One

Hours wentby as I got to know the first handful of safes in the room. I’d thought about skipping the ones I already knew and going right to the new safes but I figured I’d better sharpen my skills with all the safes in the basement, not just the ones I hadn’t heard of. So, I began cracking at the entrance and worked my way straight down the line.

I made it a game, forcing myself to crack the known safes as fast as I could. It ended up bolstering my confidence. By the time I made it to my first new safe, I’d thoroughly impressed myself.

Unfortunately, I had to stop in front of a new safe because my head was doing loop-de-loops from hunger. The kind of hunger that crawled into my bones and demanded to be sated with fresh, warm blood.

When I first turned, I could finish off a full-grown adult in a night and only stay satisfied until the next night. I’d slowly worked on getting that under control, and over time, I’d whittled that amount down to just twelve ounces of blood a day. It was higher than average, but great for me.

So why was I now craving multiple cups of blood in a day?

I reached for my phone to text Sunny, but decided better of it. I could figure out where Julian kept the blood, right?

But Sunny was so good at her job, I didn’t need to. She’d left a tray of food and another Starbys cup at the top of the stairs for me.

I paced myself, eating a few bites of food between sipping on the thick, decadent elixir.

I reasoned that I was just overworked. I’d worked myself hard the last few months, and I’d just spent a bunch of energy speed-cracking half a dozen safes. Now, I was paying for it. I’d just have to be careful not to slip into my old habits.

I couldn’t stop drinking blood entirely, that would kill me. But I had to find a way to stop binging recklessly and killing people. So, I’d linked my out-of-control behavior with my vamp powers—compulsion, mostly.

Since I couldn’t get away from the blood, I’d instead cut out compelling people. That way I couldn’t make them be still and not scream. I couldn’t take away the fear.

The only way for me to fall into that pattern again was to brutalize someone. To become a real monster.

I knew I wouldn’t do that.

But the recent uptick in cravings did have me a little sketched out.

I nibbled on the sandwich some more as I looked over Sunny’s plans. I was definitely going to be here a while.

Which reminded me that I still needed to call Jerry.

I scrounged my cell out of my pocket and did just that.

“Hey, you. You doing all right?” Jerry’s warm voice was a welcome reprieve from my circling thoughts.

“Hi, Jerry. Yeah, I’m okay. I just have some really important family stuff to take care of.”

“Is that what it is? Jaxson was pretty tightlipped about it.”

“Yeah, he’s a good friend like that. He made me promise to call you myself and explain everything. Is he doing all right?”

Jerry let out a low whistle. “You know Jaxson. He just lit the bar top on fire while making flaming shots and the customers are eating it up. They love him here.”

“He’ll probably pull in more tonight than I would in a week.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Oh, hey, I wanted to ask. Is April back?”

Jerry’s smile came through in his voice. “Sure is. She said her boyfriend made a miraculous recovery and now they both have a better appreciation of life. He popped the question earlier today and she showed up to her shift with a nice sparkly rock on her hand.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic!” I said. “Tell her I’m super happy for her.”

“Will do, Eden.”

“Thanks, Jer. And thanks for understanding.”

“You got it, Eeds. Take as long as you need. Jaxson’s a dream. In fact, you might not have a job to come back to.”

That hit me right in the gut. My mouth went dry as the basement pressed in around me.

I forced a weak laugh. “I better,” I said and ended the call.

Jerry didn’t know how right he was. I probably wouldn’t have a job to go back to, but not because Jaxson took it.

Even after we’d finished the incursions, I didn’t foresee Julian letting me work at the bar.

And, honestly, the more I thought about it, the less sense it made for the vampire king of Laurel Cove’s mate to do such a thing.

I understood it, but I also hated it.

I liked tending bar.

I liked meeting new people and telling dickhead jerk-offs where to go when they got rude.

I didn’t want to give that up.

But that was a problem for another day because I had forty-four safes to crack.

I polished off the rest of my sandwich and blood, then headed over to the new guy.

First, he needed a name.

I gave him a good once-over, walking around the entirety of the matte black monstrosity. I could already tell he was gonna be a pain in my tit. “Wesley it is, then. After two awesome but polar opposite pain-in-the-tit vampire hunters.” I went to the far wall, collected the tools I thought I’d need, some backup tools when those failed, and backups for the backups, because a girl had to be sure.

Nestled down to eye level with the PIN pad, I stroked a finger down the exterior shell. “Tell me your secrets, Wesley.”

* * *

“Eden?”

“Ya?” I popped my head out of Diana, the diva safe. I must have looked like a prairie dog emerging from its hidey-hole because Sunny covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

“I can’t believe you’re still down here.”

I gave her a puzzled look. “This is why I’m here, right?”

“Um, I suppose. But you haven’t taken a break in a day and a half.”

What? That couldn’t be. I surveyed the basement, stepping out from inside Diana. “Oh shit,” I mumbled as I counted how many safes I was from the door.

“I just kept bringing food and blood and you just kept working,” Sunny said with a strange half-smile as she offered me another tray with sandwiches and the perennial Starbys cup.

Without thinking, without meaning to, I blurred to her and snatched the cup from her, yanking the lid and straw off.

My fangs descended as I poured the blood down my throat.

Sunny backed all the way up the stairs as I threw the plastic cup aside and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

We stared at each other, her eyes just as wide and confused as mine.

“I need a break,” I said around my fangs.

So embarrassing. I hadn’t lost control like that since my snatch-and-grab days.

“Yeah, why don’t you take some time to sleep and shower and get yourself together? I’m sure you’ll feel better after.”

“Yeah. totally. That’s what I need.” I climbed up the steps and pretended not to notice the quiver in Sunny’s voice or that she maintained a healthy distance.

“You need me to show you to your room?”

“No—uh, actually…” I knew the compound inside and out, but I didn’t know which room she was calling mine. “Which one’s mine?”

She gestured behind her. “It’s across the hall from the king’s suite.”

“Yeah. Of course it is.” I aimed for the king’s wing. “Thanks, Sunny,” I called behind me, but she’d already sped off to whatever it was that kept her busy.

This was bullshit. I’d stumbled across one pretty, super-old vampire two years ago, and now I was some king’s bitch?

I’d let myself get lost in the work long enough that I forgot how conflicted I felt about the whole damn thing.

But I planned to have a serious talk with Julian when I saw him next.