Wild Blood: Vampire in the City--Book Two

By Donna Ansari

Recently-turned vampire Emma Hammond is not only getting used to her undead lifestyle, but also to living with her new and unlikely roommates--her human best friend Tammy, and David, a werewolf. While the girls speculate as to possible drawbacks to having such a fuzzy tenant (shedding and marking of territory, to name a few), nothing will prepare them for the dispute that is to come between the NYC clan of vampires and an upwardly-mobile werewolf pack from the suburbs. Will Emma be able to get out of it with both her undead life, and her blossoming friendship with David, intact? And, perhaps more importantly, will she be able to choose between Alex Thompson, her sire and sometimes lover, and James, a slightly-unhinged vampire with a mysterious past?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donna Ansari
• Release date: Feb 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466129740

Donna Ansari

Donna Ansari was born in New York City and has lived there for most of her life. Donna graduated from Pace University with a BA in Literature and Communications. Since then, she has been working as an editor, primarily in the field of medical education. Donna lives in Queens with her husband, son, and large black cat. She is not currently aware of any vampires in her neighborhood.

Book preview

Wild Blood:

Vampire in the City

Book Two

Donna Ansari

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WILD BLOOD: VAMPIRE IN THE CITY—BOOK TWO

Copyright © 2011 by Donna Ansari

Smashwords Edition.

All rights reserved.

Chapter One

My life as a vampire was still so new that almost every night, when I woke up at sunset, I needed to remind myself of the events of the recent past. Namely, that I had become an undead creature of the night, started dating my sire, broken up with my human boyfriend, broken up with my sire, quit my job, and staked my first ex (who had also become a vampire).

It was a lot to take in. Sitting up in bed, I heard voices coming from downstairs. One was Tammy, my human best friend and roommate. The other was David, the tenant who had recently started renting out my basement apartment. He also happened to be a werewolf.

Still in my pajamas, I wandered downstairs. Gypsy, my black and white cat, came running up the staircase and met me in the middle, yowling.

Didn’t you get your dinner yet, girl? I asked her.

She meowed again in answer and started weaving herself between my ankles while I made my way into the kitchen. As I suspected, one of the diurnal house dwellers had already fed my cat. Gypsy merely wanted me to point out the food to her.

Also in the kitchen were my two housemates. Tammy, strangely enough, was wearing a long black robe and a tall, pointed witches’ hat. She was washing dishes and chatting cheerfully with David.

Tammy jumped when she saw me. Emma, stop it with the creeping up on people, even if it is Halloween and you’re a vampire. That explained the costume. In my preoccupation with having to learn the ways of living as an undead individual, I had lost track of the days.

Sorry, I said. I’ll try to stomp more when I walk.

David turned to face me and I noticed he was wearing a button that read I’m a werewolf—ask me how! along with his usual T-shirt and jeans.

Are you guys going to a party? I asked.

Nah, Tammy said. I’ve got work tomorrow. We’ve just been answering the door for trick-or-treaters.

David looked at his watch and said, And I can’t go out. There’s a full moon due to rise in half an hour.

I remembered a few days ago, when he had turned into a werewolf and ripped the head off a vampire who had been attacking me.

But you turned the other night, I said.

He nodded. It wasn’t a full moon that night, so I didn’t have to turn. That was purely by choice in order to fight. But once a month, on the night of the full moon, I have to turn, and stay that way until the sun rises or the moon sets.

But what will you do all night? I asked. There may be some old horror movies on television. I paused. Oh, but you may not be able to work the remote with your paws.

It would probably be for the best if I went out into the cemetery all night. That way I won’t be able to break any of your furniture, he said.

I nodded in agreement. On my first night as a vampire, I had broken a coffee table.

Can I watch when you turn into a werewolf? Tammy asked.

It’s probably better that you don’t, David said. It can be a little hard to take.

But Emma got to see it happen, she protested.

I thought about using my vampire stealth to back out of the kitchen unnoticed. I just don’t deal with confrontation very well.

Emma is a vampire, David said. Thus her ability to deal with the wacky is naturally better than most people’s.

Tammy put her hands on her hips. Then explain to me why she’s never been able to make it through that haunted house at the Queens Fall Festival without running and screaming.

It was true. However, I had to wonder if I would fare any better now that I was undead.

The house phone rang then, thankfully. I picked it up.

Hi Emma? It’s James. James was a vampire who had recently come to New York City from the West Coast. We had met a few nights ago and bonded over our mutual interest in not killing humans.

He was also pretty good looking and had asked me to show him around the town. Whether or not we were going on an actual date remained to be seen.

Hi, I said. To my dismay, Tammy and David had stopped bickering just to listen in on my conversation.

I left the kitchen and went into the living room. They might still be able to hear me talking there, but at least I wouldn’t have to see the looks on their faces.

So are you still up for a night out on the town? James asked.

It occurred to me then that I hadn’t ever really had a night out on the town before, and I wasn’t certain what it entailed. Um, sure, I said.

Great. Do you know the Starbucks on 75th Street and Queens Boulevard?

Yes. It was a coffee shop I had often stopped at when I was still human.

Can we meet there at 11? James asked. I thought we could go to a club in Manhattan.

The pretense of me showing him around was fast fading, as the last time I had been to a club was when I was a college student, several years ago.

What kind of a club? I asked.

It’s goth themed for Halloween, so we’ll fit right in.

Sure, see you then. I went back to the kitchen and hung up the phone to find Tammy sitting at the table and reading a magazine.

Where’s David? I asked.

Out in the graveyard, preparing to wolf out. She looked up. So what club are you guys going to?

Some goth club, I muttered. Tammy had never been much of a fan of my goth phase.

She laughed. Two vampires going out to a goth club on Halloween? Can you possibly be any more of a living stereotype? Oh, I’m sorry, undead stereotype.

I rolled my eyes. Anyway, I’m not sure what to wear, but I may have some old stuff from high school. Do you think you could help me pick something out?

My best friend jumped up at once. Sure! She had always been way more into fashion than I was.

Only a few minutes later, almost all the clothes in my closet had been pulled out and sorted on my bed.

Tammy put her hands on her hips and surveyed the piles. Don’t you own anything that’s not black?

I pointed helpfully to a dark red tank top and she shook her head.

Sorry, I said. But, you know, vampire, Halloween, goth club. Isn’t wearing all black kind of a given?

Point taken. Tammy finally settled on a floor-length black skirt, a low-cut black top, and a fitted black velvet blazer. She held up a pair of boots with three-inch heels. Too bad you can’t wear these.

Not only had my sense of balance been sub-par as a human, but even looking at those boots had been enough to give me incredible foot pain in the past. I realized that as a vampire, I would have more shoe options than my trusty Dr. Martens.

So I took the boots from her and zipped them up. No, I bet I’ll be able to wear them now.

I stood and took a few experimental steps, and found that not falling on my face was relatively easy. Mentally, I added wearing high heels to my growing list of vampire abilities.

While I was doing that, Tammy looked through my jewelry box and got out a silver pendant with large red stones that were meant to look like rubies. She reached up and clasped it around my neck. There, that looks very goth.

She paused as I looked in the mirror. Then she said, Oh, but it covers up your neck. Aren’t you supposed to leave that exposed or something?

No, I said. I’m the biter, not the bitee.

Yeah, but you’re going on a date with another biter. Do you guys ever, you know, bite each other, like in the heat of the moment?

I was glad I had lost the ability to blush. I don’t know, I admitted. But it wasn’t something I ever did with Alex.

Alex was my sire. I had also dated him for a very short time, until I discovered that basically everything he had ever told me was a lie.

Tammy persisted in her line of embarrassing questions. But how many times did you guys do it anyway? I bet it’s just something you work up to.

Maybe, I allowed. I wouldn’t have even thought about answering anyone else, but Tammy and I had known each other for over 20 years and I had never held back on her before.

But her line of questioning brought up one of my own. Hmmm, I said, mostly to myself.

Tammy paused in doing my makeup. She had done the whole smoky eye deal and it looked good. Do you like it? she asked. I skipped the foundation and powder thing because, damn, your skin is flawless.

It looks great, I said. But I was actually just wondering if I’m supposed to eat before meeting a date. I had learned, in my short time as a vampire, that eating was not quite the social occasion that it was for humans.

What, you mean like.... She bared her teeth.

When I nodded, she said, I’m sure you can find plenty of willing victims in the club though, especially now.

I combed my fingers through my long black hair as I looked in the mirror. My eyes looked even brighter and greener with the makeup, and my skin was an almost-glowing porcelain.

Tammy used one of her own dark red lipsticks on me, saying, Don’t worry. This is that new stuff that’s not supposed to smudge off, even when you eat.

My best friend stood next to me then, and we examined our reflections. My pale skin and dark clothing seemed a direct contrast to her darker Latin American skin and colorful attire (she had changed out of the witch costume). She was both shorter and thinner than me as well.

Wait, how exactly did we ever get away with pretending we were sisters? she asked.

I laughed, thinking about the impossible identical twins with different fathers story we had tried to get people to believe, even in college. Thanks again, Tammy!

No problem. But I expect to hear all about it tomorrow, she said with a wink.

Chapter Two

After getting distracted by putting all of my clothes back into my closet and into some semblance of order, I realized that it was probably too late to find anyone to feed from before meeting James at the coffee place.

Still, I got to Starbucks 15 minutes early. There was a homeless man sitting outside on the sidewalk, begging for change with a very old paper cup. For half a minute I contemplated feeding from him, but he looked so thin that I decided that he needed every last drop of blood he had.

Since I didn’t want to stand there on the corner next to him, I went inside. Out of habit, I got in line for coffee. I didn’t even realize my error until I was standing at the counter and the barista asked for my order. At a loss for what to do, I asked for a medium coffee and a pumpkin spice muffin. I paid and took them to the seats by the window, so I would be able to see James when he showed up.

Despite that, I was absently stirring packet after packet of sugar into the coffee and watching it swirl around when I heard an amused voice ask, Are you going to try to eat that?

Somehow, I managed not to jump, but instead looked up at him and said, Sorry. Should I have gotten one for you too?

James smirked at me. He was tall, but not overly so, with black hair almost as dark as mine and dark gray eyes. He wasn’t as gothed out as I was, but just dressed all in black.

I stood up, taking the coffee and muffin with me as we left the store. Both of these items I placed in front of the homeless man, who shot me a look of surprise.

James immediately went down the stairs into the subway, and I followed. Once we got on the train to downtown Manhattan, I noticed there were still a fair number of people in costumes going out, even at this late hour. The fact that I wasn’t the only one in somewhat of a costume made me feel moderately better.

The train car we entered was not overly crowded, so I took a seat on the bench, although I admit it was more out of habit than to increase my comfort level. James remained standing, although he did go along with the pretense of needing to hold onto the bar for balance. For awhile he just stood there, reading one of the advertisements or looking at the map on the wall behind me, or possibly just staring blankly off into space. It was impossible to tell which it was, but either way, his silence made me nervous.

So, you were telling me why you came to New York? I asked. It was a subject that had come up the first night I met him, but I couldn’t remember what his answer had been.

I don’t believe I did say exactly. But I’m looking for someone.

Would that be anyone in particular? I asked awkwardly. By then I had remembered he had been rather dismissive the last time the topic had come up.

James sighed and finally looked at me directly. I might as well tell you, seeing as you may be able to help me out. He sat down on the bench next to me, with our knees barely touching.

Here’s the story, he said, lowering his voice, so the other people on the train wouldn’t think we were crazy. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this before, but werewolves really exist.

I laughed, which he misinterpreted. Yeah, I know it sounds loopy, but it’s true. And they are nasty creatures, the whole lot of them.

That quickly stopped me from saying anything about my own fuzzy tenant. Just how many werewolves have you met? I asked.

Entire packs of them. There’s no packs here in New York City as of yet, but in San Francisco, they were making their way out of the redwoods and into Golden Gate Park.

So what does all this werewolf business have to do with why you’re in New York?

"It’s a bit of a long story. Me and Abby, my sire, we were able to take out almost half