Page 12 of Eternal Kiss

“You could say that.”

“But you’re a manager of a club.”

“Only to be around your father. I bought the club long before I met Doug, but after I turned him, he became my best friend, and I gifted it to him, along with his house. He came to New Orleans to play at a different location, and when I heard him, I was mesmerized. I introduced myself, offered him a job, but he turned me down because of you and your mother. Later,I made a trip to Memphis to hear him play, and there was a riot. Doug was caught in the crossfire, and when I got to him, he was bleeding out. I couldn’t let him die, so I turned him, then brought him back to New Orleans once he had his blood craze under control enough to travel that far.”

“Sounds like you cared a great deal for him.”

“I did. Now that I think about it, I believe Doug was brought into my life so you would be as well.”

I didn’t tell Luke I would gladly go back to my former life if that meant my dad could live because it would be a lie. Maybe he wasn’t the only selfish one. “You managed the club much longer than a decade.”

“I couldn’t tell you the truth when we met. How would I explain how I look thirty but worked as a manager for much longer?”

“I get it now.” There was so much I didn’t know about Luke, but now that I was like him, I had plenty of time to find out all his secrets.

Luke didn’t have a brush, so I detangled my hair the best I could with my fingers after towel-drying it. I had to borrow one of his T-shirts since my blouse was… I had no idea where. Thankfully, my pants and shoes were blood-free. Luke dressed in one of his expensive suits, and I wanted to rip it off his body. His eyes darkened again at seeing me in his clothes, but we didn’t have time for horizontal shenanigans. We met Laurent downstairs who was standing by the door with his sword over his shoulder. He pointed to Darius’s sword that was lying on the sofa. “I think you should have that.”

When I didn’t move to take it, Luke picked it up, stepped back, and swung it in an arc. “It’s a good blade. I’ll get you a sheath for it.” He pulled a throw off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around the weapon before handing it to me.

“Shouldn’t you keep it?”

“I have several.”

“Well, then, thank you.” I’d never held a sword before that night, but if we were going up against Ancient vampires, it made sense for me to have one.

Luke walked over to where Darius had disintegrated and lifted his clothes, shaking them. He then dug through the pockets until he found the man’s cell phone, handing it to Laurent. “I have an idea.” He explained it, and I was amazed at what he was capable of, including what he called glamour. I couldn’t wait to see him in action.

“If you’d like, I’ll drive and you two can sit in the back in case Dinah needs to feed again.”

Luke inclined his head. “I would appreciate that.”

“How often will I need to feed?” I asked Luke as he passed the keys over to his brother.

“If you were a normal vamp, I would say every few hours the first day, then once a day for about a week. With me feeding you, it’s possible you’ll get your blood craze under control much sooner since mine is Ancient blood. It worked for your father.”

Laurent narrowed his eyes. “You told her?”

“She is my beloved,” Luke responded. “She had a right to know.”

Laurent exited the house first, then told us it was clear. I wasn’t used to this cloak and dagger stuff, but now that I knew what I meant to Luke, I would need to be on my guard. Once we were on our way, I asked Luke, “How big is your coven?”

“In New Orleans proper, around one hundred, but my territory extends farther than the city. I oversee close to three hundred vamps. Laurent has his own territory, as do other Ancients. There are some areas which are led by made vamps, but we leave them alone as long as they aren’t killing humans and threatening our existence.”

“How old are you? If that’s okay to ask.”

Laurent chuckled from the front seat. “We’re called Ancients for a reason.”

I stared at him in the rearview mirror. “So really old?”

Luke put his arm around me. “A few thousand years, give or take. Unlike made vamps, we can’t be killed by stake or sunlight.”

“Or a bullet,” I muttered, thinking of my father.

“Doug was staked, Sweetheart. I cleaned up his ashes, then I found a homeless person to replace the missing body and compelled the medical examiner to claim it was a bullet, otherwise there would have been too many questions.”

“We need to find the blonde bitch so I can return the favor.”

“The blonde bitch?” Laurent asked.