Angel's Guardian: A Contemporary Vampire Romance by Zeecé Lugo Read Free Book Online

nodded again, hoping that she would do it. She calmly stared at him again. He stared back at her. She remained calm and unmoving, her unwavering gaze fixed on his own. It dawned on him that she expected him to do it, and she was not budging an inch. He sighed, defeated by a child. Who would have thought it? He took a deep breath.
    “Well, here it goes,” he said and bent to pull the side tapes. As soon as he did, the babe began kicking his little legs, and the nappy came open.
    The smell became a full-cloud miasma. Little Nina pinched her nose and made a face. The vampire took one look at the dark green, soft, putrid baby poop, and with a feral hiss, took a flying leap back that placed him out the bathroom door and midway to the open living room, landing in a battle crouch.
    Vampires do throw up. They do it when they drink so much blood that their stomachs can't hold it. That’s something that usually happens only when young vampires overindulge.
    He had not overindulged in two hundred years, but he thought he would throw up now. The problem was his stomach was empty, so he just cowered there, panting, waiting to see what his body would do. The horrible smell was now all over his house. His misery was complete.
    Nina stuck her head out the bathroom door. “You better hurry. He's kicking his little legs and getting it all over the tub and himself.”
    No! No! Not that! I'll have to move! My beautiful home… I'll have to abandon it to the stench! The vampire was now desperate. He approached the pallet on the floor.
    “Lady, lady, wake up! You need to do something.” He placed his arm under the young mother’s torso to lift her, but she mumbled words he could not understand and flopped over like a wet noodle. He laid her down, giving her a look of disgust and frustration.
    Surely, he could deal with this. He was a monster, for God's sake! He battled armies. He dealt death and retribution as a way of life. Cutting off heads, stabbing hearts, blood baths, death, and dismemberment were his coin of choice. A baby's excrement would not defeat the great Maxim, vampire and monster without equal.
    Girding his loins, he braced himself to enter the battlefield. He did not “zip” into the bathroom. He slow walked as a man going to his execution. A lesser vampire would have bolted into the light of the burning sun at the sight before him.
    The baby was no longer crying. Instead, he had kicked off his diaper and now held it in his hands, totally dazzled by the feel and texture of the goo therein. There was green poop in his hair, his eyelashes, his tiny fingers, and his nose.
    “I rescued the new diaper and things before it got on them,” offered the little girl. The vampire remained in mute horror. “At least, he's not screaming anymore,” she added brightly, hoping the beast would see the better side of things. Nina might be only six years old, but she was very smart.
    “Yes, yes,” he panted. “Gives me time to think. You watch him for a minute. I'll be right back.” He flashed down to the basement and sat on the bottom step, his trembling hands holding his head as it threatened to explode. In two hundred years, he had never suffered from nausea or headaches. Now he had both at once. He needed to clear his nostrils, to calm his mind, to think, to regroup.
    He looked around himself like a man lost in time. He took several breaths to clear the stench from his system and to take control of his thoughts and emotions. Once in control of himself, Max scanned his surroundings, considering his resources. When he returned to the bathroom, on his hands were latex surgical gloves and a green garden hose.
    He connected the hose to the faucet at the lavatory sink. “Nina, pick up your brother. Try not to get the stuff on anything but your hands. You can wash those later.”
    Holding his breath, he rolled up the diaper, and keeping it at arm’s length, rushed to the basement to throw it in the furnace. He raced back to the children