The Collettes: Sola Read online

  They might not want her to, but she would find a way to protect them if she must. This amulet was not going to take the only people she ever loved.

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  Chapter Two

  Sola went back to her usual routine the next evening after it took her the rest of the night to get to New York City. She didn't even open her piece of the parchment, knowing full well she was prolonging the inevitable. She had warmed a pack of blood in the microwave, drinking it straight from its plastic casing before she left for work. It would hold her over until she could hunt later that night.

  Around ten o'clock, she stepped into the little nightclub where she worked. “Taste” was a simple name for a place featuring exotic dancing, and she was an exotic dancer by choice, not by need. Men wanted her, and with this power, it was easy to seduce her next meal. She walked into the bar and cast a slight wave at the bartender who nodded his head in her direction. Onstage there was already a girl performing. The rest of them were littered around the room trying to coax money from customers’ wallets.

  In the back, she changed into her costume for the night, a red leather corset with a thong to match and red stiletto heels. Sola glanced over her shoulder as a girl she knew as Desire walked in. Even after working there for the last seven years, she never knew any of the girls outside the job. She only knew them by their stage names, refusing to make friends and keeping mostly to herself. Friends meant complications and questions, and she needed neither in her life.

  "I don't know how you do it, Sola. You always look so perfect,” Desire said in envy.

  Lucky part of being a vampire, she thought with a small smile. “You look fine, Desire. We have an okay crowd tonight."

  "Hey, a few of us are getting together after work. Want to come along?"

  "No, but thank you. I have other plans.” It was her same refusal every time one of them asked.

  "You must have a pretty sexy boyfriend to keep you running home every night,” Desire said with a laugh.

  "I must have,” Sola murmured.

  Her name sounded over the speakers, and she walked straight out of the dressing room onto the stage. From the time she began her dance, all eyes were on her. Her movements were slow and deliberate, drawing attention to each place her hands touched on her body. She wrapped her longs legs around the pole and flipped upside down, spreading her legs so the patrons caught a glimpse of her pussy. Each dance lasted around three minutes, and every girl did two sets. By the time Sola was finished, the stage was littered with tips. She had found her next meal: a balding man who was so shy he couldn't even look her in the eyes. Ah, yes, there is dinner, she thought as she walked off the smooth stage toward her intended victim.

  Sola trailed her hands across his back as she walked behind him. She was hungry and couldn't wait until later to feed. The blood running through his veins smelled rich and delicious, making her want to bare her teeth and sink them into him right there at the bar.

  "Hello, are you going to just show me your back when I'm here to see you?” she asked in a sultry tone.

  "I-I didn't know. I thought you were just thirsty,” he stammered.

  Sola felt almost sorry for him ... almost. “I am thirsty. Are you offering to buy me a drink?"

  "Y-yes, I think I can do that."

  He tried to wave the bartender over, but Sola beat him to it. “Bloody Mary for me, Johnny, and my friend here will have another of what he is having."

  "I'm just having ginger ale,” the man said.

  Good, Sola thought, no alcohol to ruin the taste of his blood. “So what's your name, since you're buying me a drink?"

  "I'm Sal ... Sal Marlette. A-and you are?” He extended his hand.

  "I'm your fantasy, Sal,” Sola replied. Her hunger was intense now. The package of blood from earlier had only taken the edge off her thirst. She leaned closer to Sal, letting her tongue flick his ear. “I know what you want. I can see it in your eyes. How about we go back to your car, and I show you what I can do?"

  Sal visibly gulped and could only nod. Sola took his pudgy hand in hers and was about to lead him to the back and out the exit when the room was flooded with noise. The dim, sexy lighting was gone, replaced by bright, glaring yellow lights. Everyone moved in the confusion. Taste was being raided.

  "Great. Just fucking great!” Sola muttered as the police rushed in. Just as I was going to have a meal. She watched as her dinner was pushed up against a wall and handcuffed. A cop grabbed her none too lightly and stood her against the bar. Sola did what instinct and years of training were responsible for. She caught the cop's hand around the wrist and used her strength to twist. Before he could even react to the pain, she had him on his knees, his hand bent painfully back against his arm.

  "Don't touch me!” she said fiercely. “I don't like being touched."

  "Then you shouldn't work in a strip club,” a deep voice said softly behind her. “Now let go of the nice officer and I won't have to Taser you."

  "Maybe I could use a little shock treatment,” she said, still holding onto the cop's wrist. She added more pressure, enough to make him whimper. “You should teach the officers to be nicer to the ladies."

  "We'll take that up at the next staff meeting. Now I asked nicely before. If you don't let him go, I'll have to use force.” The cop's voice became more demanding.

  Sola found its rough timbre appealing and decided she wanted to see who it belonged to. “Well, since you asked nicely...” She let go of the cop's wrist and was instantly pressed up against the bar and handcuffed before she was twirled around to face the other officer. Sola was not disappointed; his face pleased her. Her new captor was ruggedly handsome. He looked as if he hadn't shaved in weeks, and his eyes were so blue she immediately thought of the oceans and seas made blue by the sky and sunlight, a view she had only seen in books and magazines. Sexy piece of man meat, Sola thought.

  "If you wanted to play with handcuffs, all you had to do was ask,” Sola murmured.

  "Lady, I'm arresting you for assaulting an officer."

  "I didn't assault him! He manhandled me!” Sola's temper rose. “Just because we work here doesn't mean you guys get to treat us like trash!"

  "Yeah, well, you can't try to break a cop's wrist."

  "If I wanted to break his wrist, it would be broken,” she muttered under her breath. “Listen, isn't he supposed to be trained to expect things like that? Look how quickly he was on his knees. I just proved he needs a refresher course."

  "That doesn't help your case, lady. I'm taking you down, and you're getting booked.” He took her by the elbow to lead her outside. They passed through the sheer curtain leading to the lobby just as another officer entered. They barreled into each other and Sola was thrown against the chest of the hot officer who had her in handcuffs. The close contact made something happen. She didn't know what. Her eyes closed, and she could see images in her mind.

  She saw them fighting along the river back to back, battling vampires. There was snow on each riverbank, stained deep red with blood. She watched him fall back and turn to ash before her eyes. The vision was so intense she could smell the blood, and she gasped.

  "Hey, are you okay? Don't pass out on me,” he said, breaking her out of her trance.

  "I'm fine,” she snapped, pulling away, but he caught her elbow once again.

  "Sure, whatever, lady. Let's go."

  "How long will I be gone? I haven't eaten dinner.” She knew she would have to escape. When the sun rose after a night in a holding cell, all they would find was ash in a cot. “And what is your name, anyway? I might have to report your mistreatment to a lawyer."

  "Lady, if anyone was doing the mistreating, it was you. But hey, you can report away,” he snapped back. “My name is Officer Gideon Godspeed."

  "Gideon Godspeed.” Sola made a mental note of the name. She had the feeling she'd just found her partner on her quest for the Lazarus amulet piece.

  * * * *

  This is what y
ou get for talking back to the Commissioner. Pulled off homicide and sent to vice. Now he was transporting a woman dressed in red leather in the back of his car. He would have to learn to keep his big mouth shut next time the Commissioner told him a case had gone cold and to give it up. Instead of cursing him out and trying to punch his lights out, Gideon made a mental note to buy the Commissioner a case of very expensive whiskey and cigars. Even if it took a few months pay to do it, he was getting off vice.

  "Hey, Gideon Godspeed! How long before we get to the station?” the lady in the red leather asked.

  She had a sultry voice, and she wasn't bad on the eyes, either. When she'd fallen against him and her ass pressed his crotch, he'd felt a surge of arousal.

  "I thought you would want to be going in the opposite direction,” Gideon commented, looking at her in the review mirror. Her flawless, smooth marble features amazed him.

  "Well, are you going to answer me or not?” Sola demanded.

  "We're about five minutes out. Those handcuffs will be off soon."

  "They already are.” Sola held her hands up to show him.

  Gideon looked into the mirror just in time to see her fist flying toward his jaw. The impact felt as if a man three times his size had belted him. Pain exploded in his head and he lost control of the car. Even though he was disoriented, he felt her climb over the seat and turn the steering wheel. Her long leg slipped between his, kicking his foot off the gas and slowly bringing the car to a stop. Her face swam in front of his gaze and the last thing he heard was her voice saying, “Sorry, slick,” before he was hit once more, and everything went black.

  A light flashed behind his closed eyelids. He slowly came around, annoyed by it. When he opened his eyes, he realized the light was from oncoming traffic. Gideon shook his head to get rid of the buzzing in his ears and looked around. Shit! How long have I been out? Then it came flooding back to him. The bitch hit me like a man. She knocked me out. Gideon slammed his hand against the wheel and cursed a blue streak. How did she get out of those cuffs? There was no possible way. She was cuffed behind her back, for God's sake!

  Groaning to himself, Gideon pulled the car off the side of the road and into traffic. It was no use going back to the club now. It would be closed and no one would be there, but he would go back tomorrow to find out who she was. He'd bring her in and if she hit him again, she would sure as hell get the same treatment from him.

  * * * *

  Sola needed to feed. There was no time to finesse her food. With the club closed for the night or longer, she had no choice but to hunt. She had contemplated drinking from Gideon Godspeed but, if her vision was correct, she needed him. It was the first time she'd ever had a premonition. The shock of the vision put her off balance for a minute, but she quickly recovered. It just reaffirmed what she and her sisters had to do. It pissed her off more than anything else did. All she wanted was to be left alone and in peace. If she could live the rest of eternity without having to deal with this, she would choose to do it gladly. But the Fates were not on her side in this. They had to find the amulet in three weeks before she turned three hundred. As she hunted, she wondered what would happen if it was not found by their birthday. None of the sisters knew, and if Jarrod did, he hadn't told them.

  Using her vampiric powers, Sola moved quickly back to her apartment not knowing if the cop was on her trail. Amazingly enough, a woman dressed like she was didn't capture that much attention. Sola smiled. It's New York, after all. Now she was dressed in her comfortable clothes, a pair of skin-tight, stretch blue jeans and a black turtleneck. Her black boots reached her knees and the heels clicked against the pavement as she walked. Sola spied a couple sitting in the nearby park. Her smile grew wider while she looked on. She watched them stand and move deeper into the shadows of the trees and shrubs looking for a little more privacy. By the time she got to the twosome, she smelled their sexual need thick in the air like perfume.

  Sola moved so fast she would have been a blur to anyone trying to see her. “Is this a private party or can I join?"

  The girl opened her mouth to scream. “Shh.” Sola calmed her, letting her fingers slide across the girl's shoulders. She began to rub her neck. She kept her gaze fixed on the man, who now could not tear his eyes away from hers. She continued to talk to the girl, letting her voice lull her into a trance. “Isn't it more fun with three instead of two sometimes?"

  Sola let her hands trail down the girl's side and reached around to cup her small breasts. Her head fell back against Sola while she teased her nipples. “Look how he's watching me touch you. He wants this. Don't you?"

  The man nodded slowly, and his eyes widened when Sola licked the girl's neck. Her tongue flicked out to the pulse that beat there in a slow, steady rhythm. She could see the blood surging right beneath the surface of her skin. Sola couldn't hold back her hunger any longer. Her fangs descended from her gums as she reared back and bit into the girl's neck hard.

  The young woman struggled against Sola as she drank deeply, taking big gulps of the blood flowing into her mouth through the puncture wounds. Her fight excited Sola. The taste of her fear and pleasure mixed and intermingled in her blood making it as heady as wine while she drank her fill. Her eyes closed while the sensations of feeding filled her.

  A tiny scream broke her companion out of his trance, and she saw his expression of horror as his partner was drained. Sola opened her eyes to look at him. He tried to run, but stood transfixed when Sola caught his gaze. She knew her eyes had taken on the haze of blood and her pupils had become black as the night sky. She dropped the empty body of his girlfriend and grabbed him by the throat. His gurgle of fear was lost in the sound of her teeth biting through his soft flesh to the waiting flow of blood.

  He was much bigger than his lover, and Sola was soon full, only being able to half drain him. She was tempted to take him home and keep him there so she could finish him off when she awoke with the next sunset, but decided against it. She could leave no survivors.

  As his neck broke like a small branch under her fingers, she thought of her mission for the night ahead. She would have to find Gideon Godspeed and make him immortal as well. The dead man at her feet did not deserve the gift her blood would give. She anticipated how his blood would taste before she gave him hers. She wondered if he would be changed willingly or by force. Both were equally appealing to her.

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  Chapter Three

  Gideon was pissed. He had spent the whole day being teased about letting a stripper get the best of him. He would have let it go, but some of the cops on vice had seen him cuff her and take her to his car. When he'd shown up at the precinct without his prisoner, the taunting began. At first, they joked that he let her go because she gave him a blow job to get off the hook. Anyone who knew Gideon Godspeed knew he didn't use his badge like that, and by afternoon, he couldn't take it anymore. So he told a few guys what really happened and then regretted it. He should have kept his big mouth shut. The guys were now saying he got his ass kicked by a stripper, and his day went downhill from there.

  He got out of his beat-up car outside his apartment and let out a huge sigh. It was good to look up at his old building and know in a few minutes he could be drinking a beer and watching a game on TV. It didn't matter what game it was, as long as it was sports. The club they'd raided was still closed, and the girls he talked to didn't know much about the stripper except her name. Sola. That was her name, I'll track her down, and when I do...

  Gideon let his thoughts drift off as he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked into the darkness. Slivers of light from a street lamp filtered through the crack of his blinds. He'd lived in this apartment for three years and easily navigated his way to the kitchen in the dark. He threw his keys on the counter and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

  "Are you going to offer me one of those?” The voice came from the corner of the room where his recliner stood. Gideon dropped the unopened beer and reached for his gu
n, pointing it in the direction of the voice. With the other hand, he flicked the switch next to the wall, flooding the apartment with light. The stripper sat in his favorite chair as if she had nothing in the world to worry about.

  "What the fuck! Lady, you got some nerve breaking into my apartment.” Gideon's anger simmered once again. She looked flawless, like the last time he saw her, except now she wore black—leather pants, stiletto heels, and a black top that was cut down to her waist and laced up so he could see her skin. A long leather coat completed her outfit. She looked appealing lounging in his chair with one of her legs thrown over the armrest.

  "I didn't break into your apartment,” she replied, looking around. “As little as it is. I came through the window. Luckily for me this place is an old converted library. I didn't need an invitation to enter."

  "What the fuck are you talking about library and invitation?” Gideon snarled angrily.

  "Never mind, honey.” She laughed softly. “How's that eye? Sorry it's all black and blue, but a girl had to do what a girl had to do."

  Her sultry voice hinted at an accent. Gideon felt it flow over him like thick honey, tempting him to walk over and taste. He shook his head, clearing the offending thought. “Yeah, right ... on the sixth floor with no fire escape. I should shoot you, lady, and I could. You're in my apartment."

  "Go ahead, shoot, but then you won't find out why I'm here."

  "You've got balls. Maybe you're a guy. You do pack a hell of a punch,” Gideon countered.

  "Trust me. I am no man. You'll learn that soon enough.” Sola stood. “Are you going to point that gun at me all night?"

  "I'm debating that right now.” He slid his gun back into his holster. “Why are you here?"

  "You have to quit your job and come with me. I have a mission, and you're part of it."

  The simple way she said it made Gideon laugh. “Now I know you're crazy. Sola, is it? Why would I quit my job and come with you just like that?"

  He didn't even have time to blink before she stood in front of him. The speed with which she moved made her a blur, and her hand clamped around his throat. Gideon watched as she smiled. Her long incisors descended from her gums. Even as he watched, he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it.