Page 14 of Vanessa’s Bravery

“Something like that.”

Cole left the odd medical office and stepped out into the cool night air. He was conflicted. On the one hand, he was disappointed that there was no cure, on the other hand, a glimpse of hope dared raise its head: if there was another man who’d learned how to deal with his predicament and live a happy life, then maybe there was hope for him too.

Alone with his thoughts, Cole turned onto the street that led to his condo. In the few days since he’d moved here, he’d grown to love the neighborhood, where every block revealed another vantage point from which to gaze upon the city lights. There was something calming about that.

A sound from behind him suddenly made him spin around, and he instinctively adopted a fighting stance. It had been a while since he’d gotten jumped—since high school to be exact, because since then he’d started working out rigorously to pack muscle onto his tall frame. Nobody had dared jump him since. Until tonight.

It took Cole a second to see the person who’d approached him with such stealth. Stunned disbelief paralyzed him for a short moment. It turned out that a moment was all the man attacking him needed to tackle him and fling him against the wall of the closest building.

Fuck!

8

Vanessa was on her way from her parent’s house to meet with Lydia to start patrolling. Samson had ordered that nobody was allowed to patrol alone. She felt warm in the car, and with the air conditioning in the old clunker currently not working, she rolled down the windows to let the foggy night air cool her.

She felt feverish again, but she hadn’t mentioned it to her parents. Her father would have pulled her off patrol-duty and demanded she go to a bar or club to take care of her sexual needs. But she wasn’t in the mood for anonymous sex. Instead, she wanted to see Cole again. Maybe she would text him later to see if he was free. What exactly she would say to him, she wasn’t quite sure. After all, he thought she was a sex worker, and since when did sex workers call their clients to arrange for a rendezvous? She would have to come clean. But would he judge her then for pretending to be something she was not? The whole situation was too complicated to deal with this instant. She needed to keep a clear head while patrolling.

At the next stop sign, the engine sputtered, and Vanessa let out a groan. “Damn car.”

She kicked the gas pedal down harder, and the sputtering stopped, and the car moved again.

Her sensitive ears suddenly picked up a scream. She stepped on the brake, and stopped the car. She turned off the engine, and jumped out of the car, slamming the door shut, not bothering to lock it. Vanessa dashed into the direction of the scream, crossing the street then turning a corner, when she saw what was happening.

A vampire had a human man in his grip: a large, muscular man, who was trying to fend off his attacker rather admirably. But despite his large frame he had no chance against the smaller, skinny vampire. Vanessa could smell the human blood. There was something familiar in its aroma, something that made her charge toward the vampire. When she was only a couple of yards away from him, she finally recognized the man in the clutches of the rogue vampire: Cole. In a fraction of a second, she assessed the situation: the vampire’s fangs were lodged in Cole’s neck, and if she tried to pry him off his victim, he would tear Cole’s carotid artery right out, killing him within seconds. She’d seen what had nearly happened with Ginger, and couldn’t take that risk. She wouldn’t make the same mistake this time.

Vanessa reached into her inside pocket, retrieved her weapon and in the same movement flung herself onto the vampire, slamming the wooden stake into his back, right between the ribs that protected his heart. For a split second, she feared she’d missed her target, but then the vampire turned into dust in front of her eyes. Several items clattered to the ground amid the ash: keys, a wallet, and a cell phone. Vanessa collided with Cole, blood spurting from his neck wound, drenching her face.

“Cole! Are you all right?”

She scrutinized his face and neck. He appeared dazed and confused. But she could feel his strong heartbeat, and knew he would be fine. But she needed to take advantage of the situation so she could close his wound and prevent more blood loss.

“It’s all right, Cole. It’s Vanessa, I’m here now,” she murmured and wrapped her arms around him as if she were merely hugging him, though she had an alternative agenda.

“Vanessa?” His voice was but a faint whisper.

He was clearly in shock. His blood was assaulting her senses now, and her hunger for it rose, but she pushed it down. She pressed her face in the crook of his neck, and licked over the puncture wounds the vampire had left. She recognized immediately that the vampire had left more than two punctures. He’d made multiple attempts at sinking his fangs into Cole.

Vanessa lapped up the blood seeping from the wound as she licked over the incisions, depositing her saliva on his skin so it could mend, when she suddenly felt Cole’s knees buckle. Fuck! How much blood had the rogue taken? It would be best to bring Cole to Scanguards’ medical center like the other human victims.

“You need a doctor,” she said, lifting her face from his neck, while supporting his weight.

Cole was conscious, but seemed disoriented. “No doctor. No hospital. Please.” He stretched his arm toward the street behind her. “Home. Next block, number 2453, top floor.”

“Lean against the wall,” she demanded, making sure he was stable, before she bent down and retrieved the vampire’s belongings, and shoved them into her jacket pocket.

“I can walk,” Cole claimed as he pushed away from the wall and took a step.

He collapsed, and would have hit his head on the ground, had Vanessa not caught him. It took a few moments before she could hoist him over her shoulder, and carry him to the next block. He was a heavy guy, and had she been a human, she wouldn’t have been able to carry him even one foot, but her vampire strength helped her bring him to the building he’d indicated. She propped him up against the wall, and searched his pockets until she found his keys and was able to unlock the door. Luckily, the three-story building had an elevator, saving her from carrying him up to the third floor.

Arriving at the top floor, she unlocked the door to his condo and dragged him inside. It was dark, and she searched for the light switch and found it easily. Warm light illuminated the foyer that opened up to a large living area with a modern kitchen on one side, and floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the bay on the other.

Vanessa laid Cole down on the sofa. He was still unconscious, and she knew she had to use this opportunity to heal him quickly before he came to and realized what she was doing, and therefore what she was: the same kind of creature that had attacked him savagely.

She managed to get him out of his windbreaker so she could inspect if he had other wounds. Like she’d suspected, he had several cuts on his arms and torso from trying to fight off the attacker. She would deal with those injuries later. But first, she had to make him drink her blood. It would help him heal from the inside. She checked his face again, making sure he was still out, then bit into her own wrist, before she held it over his mouth.

While the blood dripped into his mouth, Vanessa watched his face. With her free hand, she combed through his black hair and stroked along his strong chin. Her gaze drifted back to the spot where the rogue had driven his fangs into Cole, and her heart beat angrily at this violation. If anybody fed from Cole, then it would be her, not some violent predator who’d only inflict horror upon his victim. Had she had the occasion to bite Cole, she would have introduced him to the sensuality and tenderness of the bite. She would have made love to him while biting him to heighten their pleasure and deepen their connection. But now, after this horrific attack, how could she ever even contemplate telling him what she was, and what she wanted from him?

It struck her right then: although she knew next to nothing about Cole, and even though he’d paid for sex with her, she wanted him with an urgency that could only be attributed to the fact that she was going into heat again. As if Cole was the one to cause that biological change in her, as if she was responding to his presence. Just like the night before.