Only Vampires Cry Blood by Trina M Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

mine.
    “I can't say I blame you for feeling the way you do, but don't go rushing in there without careful consideration. Harley doesn't have to kill you to hurt you.” Kale's words brought frightful images to mind. I expected him to talk me out of it, so I was mildly surprised when he said, “If you want to go back to The Wicked Kiss, I'll go with you. Just don't go alone, Alexa. It's bad news.”
    “Really? You'd come with me?” I wanted him to confirm it so he couldn't backtrack later. This might be just too perfect. “I don't want you to have to tangle with him though.”
    Kale made a noise of disgust. “Please. He barely notices my existence as it is. Any vampire that doesn't live for the rush of the kill is no better than an insect to him. I think I'm safe.”
    That was likely true. However, I'd seen Harley smack Kale around before, and I had no desire to put any of my friends in a situation like that again. However, I just wanted to talk to Harley. Maybe he would be receptive, yet I doubted that Harley’s help would come without a price.
    “I can face him by myself,” I said, rubbing my arms as the cold slowly started to set in. “But, if you want to come run interference for me, just in case I need help getting out, that would be great.”
    “Just say when.”
    Kale's tentative smile revealed fangs in the moonlight. Since he and Kylarai had stopped seeing one another, he hadn't been involved romantically with anyone else. He always had been somewhat of a loner, and I knew it was because of his tortured past.
    Still, I would have liked to see him able to share himself with another. Nobody deserved anything less. This life was too hard to face alone.
    “Thanks, Kale. I appreciate that. I'm thinking tomorrow night. I'll meet you there. If I put it off any longer, I might just chicken out.”
    “If keeping this from Arys is important to you then you don't want to go through the front. It'll get back to him in no time. I'll take you in the back.”
    We hadn't talked about the vampire bar, The Wicked Kiss, in a while. Not since Kale had attacked me after I'd dragged him out of the place. Not long after that, he'd attempted to come to my rescue when Harley had me trapped there, risking his own safety in the process.
    It wasn't any of my business, but I had to ask. “Have you been spending a lot of time there lately?”
    I started to regret my words when his expression grew dark. I really needed to start playing my words in my head before saying them out loud. Kale was a regular patron at The Wicked Kiss. His past was filled with torment at the hands of the vampiress who made him. She'd turned him into a rabid beast. The fact that he was able to regain his sanity at all was a miracle. So now, he fed from the willing at the local vampire hot spot rather than walk the streets looking for a kill like Arys.
    If Kale were to start killing again, there's no telling how bad it would be. I'd experienced just a taste of the true vampire inside Kale, and I did not want to see that ever again.
    “No more than usual. It's a means to an end.” His tone dropped, becoming smoother and seductive. “You know how it goes.”
    I certainly did, though my blood hunger wasn't rooted in death as his was. Not yet. I had more control. The change in his energy was as instant as that in his voice and demeanor. Get the vampire thinking about feeding and pay the price. That was my cue to leave.
    Opening the door to my car, I stepped close to it, ready to get in. Kale took a step toward me. His instincts were already driving him. He'd admitted months ago that he wanted me, wanted to taste my blood and bathe in my power. If that ever happened, he'd likely kill me, too.
    “I'm going to take off now. I have to meet Shaz at my place.” I watched him closely, warily. He didn't move away, but he didn't try to come any closer either. “So, I'll see you tomorrow night. And, thanks again Kale. I owe you one.”
    I dropped into the driver's seat