Page 14 of The Curse of Eternity (Descendants of Helsing #1)
“Have a good night, folks.” The woman at the register waved, and I lifted my plastic ice cream spoon in return.
She’d already looked tired when we’d entered the Cold Stone Creamery across the road several minutes ago.
Deep circles bagged her hazel eyes, her light brown hair pulled back into a hairnet while she’d scooped out my ice cream and Drake paid.
The door swung closed behind Drake, having held it open for me, and I watched him sidelong on our slow walk through the parking lot toward my car.
“Do you always pay with cash?” I asked, curious when I’d glimpsed the stack of large bills in his worn leather wallet.
“It is rather difficult to apply for credit when you are meant to be deceased for two centuries,” he replied.
I nodded, determined not to show any surprise at hearing his true age, even if my heart betrayed me by pumping faster.
Shockingly, he added, “Do you always dress so nicely when you make plans to meet your mortal enemies?”
A giggle threatened to climb my throat, but I forced it down to a deadpan. “Only when they buy me ice cream.”
When he laughed, the sound was so contagious I couldn’t help but follow suit. The red neon sign of the ice cream shop flickered off by the time we’d stopped. Breathless and light-headed despite the sugar buzz, I leaned back against my car and focused on my melting meal.
“Does this mean that I am cleared of suspicion? Or will I be forced to bribe your good will again soon?” His stare was mischievous while he stood only a couple of steps away.
Silence descended, except for the chirps of crickets and the locking of the door to the Cold Stone Creamery.
Averting my gaze, I instead watched the employee who’d served me as she veered toward a car parked further back in the lot.
“You’re in the clear,” I admitted, my attention on Drake as he shifted closer. Voice a whisper, I spoke the truth, putting all of my cards on the table. “I never told my family about you. So, you’re safe.”
“Truly?” He seemed astounded, and I guiltily nodded, my guts twisting over revealing the lies I’d been telling my people.
Then my stomach squirmed for a whole other reason when he said, “Thank you, Maria.” For whatever reason, the sound of my name in his accent was mind melting.
A shiver ran up my spine, pinned to the spot beneath his unwavering gaze.
“N-No problem,” I said, and swallowed. “You won’t have to see me anymore after tonight. I’ll leave you alone.”
“Ah.” He paused, and then whispered, “How disappointing.”
The moonlight above filtering down through parted clouds wasn’t strong enough to break his human illusion.
Instead, it lit up his face how I imagined he might have appeared under the sun—before he became what he was.
Maybe it didn’t matter. Because I didn’t know his story, or much of anything about him, but that might’ve made it easier to leave it a mystery.
One that wouldn’t intrude on this moment as the space between us shortened. Drake leaned closer, and in a moment of insanity my eyelids almost closed before a scream split the air, quickly choked off. Both of us straightened up, practically jumping apart as I whirled to find the source.
Except I didn’t need to see it to know. Chills climbed my spine, pulling me toward the shadows of the lot where a vampire lured the Cold Stone Creamery worker through a mixture of brute force and mental manipulation. Before I could consider any alternative, I was moving.
My machete was drawn as I leaped onto the hood of her car to cross over it, quicker than having to run around it.
In my hurry, I was stupid. The noise alerted the monster, already ravaging the poor woman’s neck.
She sagged against the brick wall the vampire had pressed her against, and the tall masculine figure now sprinted for me.
I braced my right leg back when the enemy reached me in a blur of motion.
Senses hyped and adrenaline coursing, I met the vampire’s blunt attack with my machete.
The blade sliced through the vampire’s tanned arm until dark clotted blood ran from the wound.
Bone had stopped my blade from piercing deeper, and the vampire used that to his advantage.
The creature’s smug grin spread a moment before he roundhouse kicked me in the gut. I bent double, gasping for breath and angling my machete to keep the vampire’s blows from making contact with my skull. Muscles on fire from a lack of oxygen, I stumbled away, trying to put distance between us.
My ankle rolled on a shallow pothole in the concrete parking lot, and I fell over.
Pain sliced through my forearm where I hit the asphalt, and I slashed a desperate swing of my blade to ward off the vampire.
Except he caught it. Despite the tan complexion, the fingers gripping my machete’s edge maintained that same silvery undertone, just like a corpse.
Blood beaded the length of my blade from the vampire’s cut palm, but they couldn’t feel pain the way we did—the way I was . Finally, my lungs expanded, giving me enough clarity to stare up into the murky brown eyes of the thing that was about to kill me.
Then a pop like a wet slap thundered through the air as the vampire’s head was torn from its torso. The pavement flooded with grimy blood while I scrambled away. Breath hot and fast, I looked up from the fallen body to where Drake stood, holding the decapitated head between two blood-stained hands.
His expression was furious, all his rage directed at the beheaded, undead man—his own kind .
Drake tossed the head aside, glaring in disgust at its rolling progress.
Stunned, I tightened my grip on my machete’s handle and forced myself to stand.
At the shift in my movement, Drake’s gaze immediately found mine.
Where a split second ago his dark eyes were filled with loathing, now there was only concern—directed on me.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and I swallowed despite my dry mouth.
“I’ll be fine,” I stammered, but sobered at the low moan from the shadows.
The woman was still alive, slowly bleeding out from her neck wound and delirious from having been charmed.
I ran to her, falling to my knees and instantly tearing off a chunk of her pink blouse.
Wincing at her now exposed stomach, I pressed the fabric down against her punctured throat.
“Will the woman live?” Drake asked, voice urgent, and I shook my head.
“I need my phone. I have to call someone—” With one hand, I fished through my jacket pockets for my car keys.
Fumbling, they slipped through my fingers, but never hit the pavement.
Drake took them, gone in the blink of an eye before returning moments later.
My phone was offered, screen black, and I snatched it up with one slippery hand, soon struggling to swipe it open with the woman’s blood staining my fingers.
“Come on,” I grumbled, nearly a shriek while I hoped to hell that the woman would make it.
“Maria, I must leave you.”
“What? What’s wrong?” I looked up just as my phone unlocked, but Drake wasn’t there. Whirling, I glanced this way and that, but I was alone. To keep from hyperventilating, I forced a slow breath and went through my contacts list.
“Unreliable fucking vampire,” I rasped, my thumb hovering over the name of the one person I could trust to help me—and hopefully would keep his mouth shut. It took three rings before he picked up, my words a rush before he could speak. “Caleb? I need your help.”