Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,25

whispered, "Ag fás." It cracked in my hand as I hoisted it over my head, and it exploded into full size.

"Okay. That was pretty fucking cool," Chief said in awe.

Show-off, Yuki muttered in my head as I dropped through the open skylight and floated to the floor.

"Hey, Dot? How am I supposed to get down," Chief called from the roof. Then he screamed.

Yuki landed next to me with Chief in a princess carry. Rolling her eyes, she set him on his feet.

"Thanks." He straightened his clothes, coughed, and tried to act cool.

Hiding my mouth behind my hand, I tried to contain the snicker that was threatening to escape.

He pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and flicked it on, finding himself standing in a semi-circle of hissing vampires, shielding their eyes from the bright beam. "Sorry! Sorry." He flipped it off and stuck it back in his pocket.

"What were you doing in the mall?" I pulled the leader, Damian as I found out he was called, back away from the others as the rest of them headed toward the western section of the only indoor mall in Cedar Falls. I'd been there once, found exactly zero stores that piqued my interest, and left. The mall in Amersville was twice the size and didn't have half the mall empty from failed businesses. If I really wanted to go to the mall, I went to Syracuse.

"There's no security or cameras in the entire place. With the open roof access, we can come and go as we please. Just a place for us all to hang out," he answered embarrassedly.

I nodded. "And do you bring humans to the mall often?"

He blushed furiously. "Sometimes."

"Why?" I already knew the answer.

"Snack packs."

A growl tore itself from my lips. Yuki calmed me again with a hand on my back. "Why? It's not like you need the blood anymore!"

The vamps and chief ahead of us, picked up their pace, putting some distance between us.

Damien lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Lady Blackwell. Old habits."

"Habits?" I wanted, needed, to punch something. "Humans are not habits. They're people."

"Master," Yuki said calmingly.

Damien held up his hands defensively. "We don't kill them!" He realized what he said and blushed. "Usually. This time… Franco didn't stop and… We couldn't pull him off her."

"No more humans. Got it?"

"Yes, Lady Blackwell." He bowed and I could feel the truth from him.

We started walking again. The other group had stopped by the fountain and was staring. I guessed that it was the scene of the crime.

"Did the humans know what you were?"

"Yes. It's why they agreed to feed. Our bite, as you know, is quite pleasurable. Some of them swear it is better than sex. We have several that we fe–used to feed from."

"The bagged blood not good enough?" I snarled in anger.

"We couldn't always afford to eat…" He trailed off nervously.

My fears had come to pass. By charging the vampires, they had resorted to feeding off humans. Exactly what I'd been afraid of, happened. Every day, I wanted to kill Abernathy more. More than I already had. Reanimating his body sounded better and better. "Well, you can now. Don't let this happen again, Damien."

"Yes, Lady Blackwell."

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Call me Dot."

Yuki coughed behind me.

"Master or Lady. Something other than dropping the B-word every time you address me."

"Yes, Master." He blushed and dodged ahead to the group surrounding the fountain.

"Do not become friends with them or show them any familiarity," Yuki whispered next to me.

"Why?"

"They become harder to control."

I nodded, not really agreeing with her, but letting it go. Now was not the time to get into a debate. I wanted to lead the vampires like I wanted to have a barium enema and a CT scan.

As we approached, the group split, and I gasped in horror. The bloody vampire sitting beside the fountain between two burly bouncer-looking vamps stared up at me defiantly, not caring an iota about the girl floating face down in the fountain with half her neck chewed off. I wanted to bash the smirk off his face with the broom still in my hand.

"Franco?"

He ignored me, earning a cuff in the back of his head from one of his guards.

"Yes."

I stepped around the throng of spectators and stopped when I was standing in front of him. Sniffing the air, there wasn't a hint of fear coming from him, which was unusual for someone as fucked as he was. He didn't care. Shaking my head, I left him there and moved back