honey feeds, where human junkies got high, then allowed vampires to drink from them.
As far as Holly knew, it was the only reliable way a vampire could get high.
Arabella, the equally skinny blonde vampire who was Zeph’s shadow, was no junkie, but she couldn’t deny Zeph, so it ended up the same. “Hi, Holly,” the female vampire said with a natural sweetness that always struck Holly, her fingers twisting her limp dreads in her hands. “You sure look nice.”
“So do you,” Holly replied in a gentle tone, seeing in Arabella what could’ve happened to her if the Tower had abandoned her—or if she’d abandoned herself. Which, frankly, she’d been inches away from doing. She’d never judge Arabella for the choices she’d made or for her strange loyalty to Zeph. “Were you guys looking for me?”
Arabella darted a quick glance behind Holly. “What’s he doing down here?” Her lush Southern vowels contracted, her fear a living being between them.
“He’s with me,” Holly said simply.
Arabella’s eyes widened, the harsh edge of fear transmuting into an openly female admiration. “Wow, Holly. That’s Venom. You did good.”
Holly bit her tongue rather than crush Arabella’s illusions. “Did you two want to tell me anything?” Every so often, the pair found her when they didn’t have any information to trade but were really hungry. Then she gave them blood vouchers that couldn’t be exchanged for money and were personalized to Zeph and Arabella so Zeph couldn’t try to barter them.
Just because a person was broken didn’t mean they had no value, no right to live.
“Um, yeah.” Zeph went to pick at a scab, stopped himself. He was like that, tried to be “normal” as long as he could. “We heard some guys were going after you.”
“They already tried,” Holly began.
“No.” Arabella tugged at Holly’s arm before snatching away her hand so quickly it was as if she was afraid someone would hurt her for daring.
Holly glanced over her shoulder and gave Venom the hard eye. He’d gotten closer, those irises of his penetrating the shadows as if she, Zeph, and Arabella were bathed in bright sunlight. Go. Away, she mouthed.
He slipped on his sunglasses instead.
Shifting her attention back to Arabella, she took the trembling woman’s hand. “He won’t hurt you.” She’d kick his ass if he tried. “What did you want to tell me?”
“There’s more guys,” Arabella whispered. “Someone put a big . . . Zeph, what’s the word?”
“Bounty.” Zeph scratched furtively at a scab. “Like if we kidnap you and give you to this person, we get a lot of money.”
Even though Holly already had that information, she let the two think it was new. Pride was as important as food when it came to survival. “How much?” she asked, not expecting a firm answer.
Arabella frowned. “I think we heard five million?”
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his dirty jeans, bony shoulders poking out through his holey black sweater, Zeph nodded. “Yeah, it was five mil. I thought I was zoned out and hearing things, but I never had a honey feed last night. For sure, it was five mil.”
Five million?
Even in her wildest dreams, Holly wouldn’t value herself at that extravagant amount. “Thank you for telling me instead of attempting to kidnap me.”
“Aw, Hol, you’re our friend.” Zeph pulled off his ubiquitous knit cap to reveal hair of an astonishingly beautiful auburn that surprised Holly each time she saw it. “We don’t got nothing else,” he added. “Just the rumor. Some of the other vamps were talking about maybe trying to get you, so we heard.”
“But most won’t try,” Arabella said with a reassuring pat of Holly’s arm. “Folks know you’re with the Tower and it’d just be stupid to get on the Tower’s wrong side.”
Unfortunately, if people were strung out or otherwise desperate, that wouldn’t matter. “Here.” She slipped them personalized blood vouchers as well as money; she’d put both in her evening clutch just in case. “Go get the good blood first, okay? I don’t want anything to happen to you.” It took a lot to kill a vampire, but if Zeph or Arabella got any weaker, another vampire might rip out their hearts or tear off their heads to get at their meager belongings.
“Thanks, Holly.” Arabella touched her arm again and Holly noticed that the other woman’s ragged military-surplus jacket had become even more so.
“Arabella, you need a new coat.” It got cold at night, especially for a woman with no roof over her head.