Page 12 of Blood Moon

“Your wife? Why didn’t you tell me you were married? We just—” I couldn’t believe I’d just committed adultery. It wasn’t something I’d ever planned to do.

“It is a long story, but nothing you need to concern yourself with. Kat has been gone for a long time now.” There was a sadness in his tone that made me regret asking.

“Oh, I see. I think I can find the way to my apartment on my own. Thanks, for everything.” I turned and headed toward the door, stopping with my hand on the knob. “You know, I didn’t expect anything from you. This was a one-time thing. A mistake that needs to be forgotten.”

“I agree. Please let me know if you need anything. Today has been a traumatic experience. Take tomorrow off.” His tone was cold and detached. He sounded so differently than he had earlier in the shower. The heat of passion had been replaced by frigid nonchalance.

I nodded and walked out the door before the tears had a chance to fall. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t expect anything from him. I guess that’s not entirely true. I had expected him to be honest. My anger was ebbing through me, fighting the hurt and sadness at Viktor’s dishonesty.

When I got back to my apartment, I slammed the door, locked it, and collapsed on the floor. I leaned against the door and cried until there were no tears. I told myself that it was because Mr. Strain had manhandled me, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t the whole truth.

I hated that I had already started to fall for Viktor. I mean, not that long ago, he had me locked in a cage. Then today, I seduced him before finding out he’s married. I wasn’t going to let myself dwell on that anymore tonight.

At least I had a day to figure out how to face him at work. I knew that I should eat something, but I hadn’t been to the store in a while. I was planning to grab something downstairs during my shift, but I was pretty sure Viktor had closed the bar.

Viktor. Mmm. I remembered the feeling of his hands on my skin. I could still feel his lips on mine. So much for not dwelling. I guess if I couldn’t eat, I’d just take another shower.

The shower didn’t help. I was still trying to process the fact that not only had I just slept with my married boss, but he was a vampire. How is this possible?

Vampires are real. I should be more shocked than I am. It makes perfect sense. I never could quite figure out what Uncle Vinny was selling that kept the bar out of bankruptcy. It has to be blood, or slaves—blood slaves maybe? I knew it couldn’t be drugs. He’d threatened to kick my dad out on more than one occasion for being high, so I didn’t expect my uncle to put up with that. It was nice to know that he’d draw the line somewhere. I had hoped that he wasn’t kidnapping those women he’d had locked up, but there was no way to know without asking.

Maybe a jog would help me to relax. I decided to head to the park a few blocks down. It had a great path for runners. As I walked toward the park, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being followed.

I stopped and looked behind me. The street wasn’t empty, but it didn’t look as if anyone was paying any attention to me, even in my skimpy running gear. I was probably paranoid from the fight between Viktor and Strain.

Just thinking about it made me shiver. I didn’t want to run into that guy again. It was difficult to believe that someone that was so handsome could be that dangerous. I’d seen it with my own eyes, though.

The paranoid feeling of being watched stayed with me even when I got to the path. A quick glance over my shoulder made me stop in my tracks. I swear there was a guy in a dark hoodie following me. Come on, Delilah, get it together. Maybe he just prefers to run in his sweatshirt. You’ve seen plenty of people like that.

Just as I talked myself out of my suspicions, someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the darkness of the trees that surrounded the path.

“I don’t have any money.” I braced myself for the reaction to my statement.

“It’s a good thing I’m not after your money, then, isn’t it?” A deep growl followed the words. The hoodie was pulled down low and his face was obscured by shadows. The only thing I could see were his eyes. They were red, like I’d seen Viktor’s and Strain’s change when they fought.

I’d taken several self-defense classes over the years, but at the moment, I couldn’t remember what to do. Being attacked by a vampire was a lot different than fighting off a would-be thief.

“What do you want?” Maybe if I could keep him talking, I would come up with a way to escape.

“You’ll see,” was the response. I heard a faint click, but still couldn’t see anything but the blood red eyes staring at me. I was going to be a meal for this monster, and there was nothing I could do about it. He had me pinned to a tree. I tried to squirm, but all that did was scratch my backside. He growled again, and I was confident it was from the scent of my blood.

Out of nowhere, he released me as he was thrown backward. I looked around to see who had saved me, but there was no one nearby. The vampire who attacked me was lying on the jogging path. It didn’t look like he was even breathing. Although to be fair, I had no idea if vampires needed to breathe.

I walked over to check it out. I didn’t want to get closer to him, but I also didn’t want him to attack me the moment I turned my back. I crept slowly to close the space between us. He wasn’t moving. I stopped a foot away. No breath. No movement. I leaned down to check for a pulse when a voice whispered in my ear.

“Run,” was all I heard. I sprinted toward Midnight. It was a miracle I wasn’t hit by a car or arrested for jaywalking, but I didn’t stop until I was inside the front door of the bar that I’d always considered to be my home.

“Are you okay, kiddo?” Uncle Vinny asked from behind me.

I jumped and squealed, then turned toward him. “You scared me.”

“Your back looks horrible. Did you fall?” He was pushing for answers that I didn’t want to give.

“I’m fine. Just an accident on my run.” I hurried up the stairs to avoid more questions. I needed to get cleaned up before Viktor saw the scratches. With what he did to Mr. Strain, I wouldn’t put it past him to hunt down the asshole who’d attacked me.

It didn’t make sense, but I knew it was true. Even if he was married, there was a part of him that wanted me. I knew that he would do anything to protect me, no matter how upset I was with him.

Chapter 11