The Last Vampire: Book Two (PAPERBACK)

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ONE

“WHOA. I FEEL REALLY, really drunk all of the sudden.”

I stared at the blank concrete walls of the cell I was sharing with my unsmiling Fae captor. My unfocused eyes moved to the half-empty cup I was holding, and then to Albigard himself, regarding me from across the room. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my blurry double vision. “Why do I feel drunk all of the sudden?”

Rans had sent me back to the creepy basement dungeon with Albigard when it became clear there weren’t any useful clues to my father’s disappearance to be found in his ransacked condo. After less than an hour in Albigard’s company, I was already wishing that I’d kicked up more of a fuss about returning here with him alone.

“You are drunk because you can’t hold your drink, presumably,” the Fae suggested, raising an eyebrow at me.
Albigard waved a graceful hand, and the cup disappeared from my grip, leaving my fingers grasping nothing. I stared at them stupidly for a moment.

“What was in that stuff, anyway?” I asked, readjusting my feet until the ground stopped tilting to the left. For some reason, it was becoming hard to get the words to come out right unless I spoke very slowly and clearly. My eyes narrowed. “Rans is gonna be pished… I mean, pissed… if you slipped me a faerie roofie when he wasn’t looking.” I cocked my head, thinking about that for a moment before adding, “And I’m gonna be pished, too.”

“It was mead,” my not-really-a-captor said, “and you’re already pissed, it appears. I gave it to you because you said you were thirsty. Perhaps you could return your focus to what we were discussing before?”

I pondered that for a few seconds, frowning. Perhaps I could… if I could remember what we’d been discussing before. I tried to shake some brain cells loose after what had legitimately been a day from hell. We’d been at my dad’s place, looking through the destruction for any hint as to what had happened to him or where he’d been taken. There weren’t any obvious clues to speak of, which didn’t seem to surprise either Rans or Albigard.

One thing I was quickly coming to understand about supernatural creatures was that they were a bunch of arrogant, high-handed assholes. The Fae had insisted we leave before our presence drew unwanted attention from anyone else who might be watching the apartment. Rans said something about talking to some people he knew who might be able to help.

“Take her back to the house,” he’d told Albigard. “I’ll join you there shortly.”

At which point his body had swirled away into a cloud of vapor, leaving me on my own with a hotter—and much more disturbing—version of Legolas from Lord of the Rings. The Fae had opened the same kind of magical portal he’d used to transport us to my father’s home in the first place, and when I’d stepped through, I was back in the basement cell we’d left earlier.

Alone.

With a member of a species that apparently wanted me dead.

“I’m not having sex with that vampire bastard again until he apologizes for this,” I stated, scowling.

Albigard stared at me with flat green eyes. “This is the sort of information that I’d really prefer not to have,” he said, “if it’s all the same to you.”

I stared back, confused, since I hadn’t been talking to him. “Huh?” I asked, only to cut him off as another thought surfaced from the murky depths. “Oh! Right, I remember now. You were saying about the demons…?”

That was kind of important, wasn’t it? I should try not to forget about it again. Albigard had remained here in the basement under the guise that he was still interrogating Rans and me. I’d been asking him about the treaty between his people and the demons. That was right before I mentioned I was thirsty, and he’d conjured the magical cup of roofie-mead out of thin air for me to drink.

More fool him. Didn’t he know that if he tried to take advantage of me, I could pull his life force out through his dick?

Succubus, baby. Suck it!

I laughed, surprised when it emerged as a stupid sounding, high-pitched giggle. Oh, yeah… drunk. I’d forgotten about that part for a second as well.

“Wow, this really blows,” I said, as the walls started moving again. After a moment, I steadied my shoulder against the nearest one so I wouldn’t accidentally fall over if the floor decided to get in on the action.

Albigard’s expression said he didn’t intend to argue with my assessment.

“If you’ve quite regained control of yourself,” he began in that snooty Fae tone that I was growing to hate, “then I’ll continue.”

It was the kind of tone that said anyone who wasn’t Fae must clearly be an idiot. But I could choose to be the bigger person here. I waved a careless hand. “Whatever. Do go on.”

He sighed, long-suffering. “I was saying that the reason you and your father have become such sought-after targets is two-fold. You already know about the treaty provision forbidding demonic interference in the human realm.”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded sagely, trying to keep my serious business face in place. Nigellus had told me about that part when we were in Atlantic City, after all.

“There is a larger concern among the Fae, however,” Albigard continued. “The entire point of the treaty is to limit demonkind’s ability to grow in strength. They must not be allowed to gain so much power that they once again threaten us.”

But that was stupid.

“Look, Tinkerbell,” I said, jabbing a finger at him. “My dad’s just a normal guy, right? He’s a fucking accountant, for god’s sake. And look at me!” I gestured up and down the length of my body, gaining steam. “I’m a waitress! Not even that—I’m an ex-waitress! Because you and your creepy blond faerie friends lost me my job!”

My righteous anger seemed to be entirely wasted on my current audience. Which kind of sucked, to be honest. I settled for frowning at him severely, since if I tried to go over and kick him in the kneecap, I was afraid I might fall down. Or, y’know, die a horrible, agonizing death at the hands of faerie magic.

One or the other.