Secret of the Vampire Read online

  Secret of the Vampire

  Deathless Night-Into the Dark #2

  L.E. WIlson

  Copyright © 2021 by Everblood Publishing

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  * * *

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.

  * * *

  [email protected]

  * * *

  eBook Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-945499-35-7

  Publication Date: February 18, 2021

  Developmental Editor: Sara Lunsford @ Book Frosting

  Copy Editor: Jinxie Gervasio @ jinxiesworld.com

  Thank you for purchasing this eBook!

  * * *

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. Do not download this eBook without legally purchasing it. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  * * *

  Keep in touch and be the first to know about new release dates, giveaways, sneak peaks, blog posts, and more!

  * * *

  Sign up for L.E. Wilson’s Newsletter here.

  * * *

  Join L.E.’s Private Facebook Group:

  Vampires In The Vineyard

  L.E. Wilson’s BookBub Page

  L.E. Wilson’s Facebook Page

  L.E. Wilson on Twitter

  L.E. Wilson on Pinterest

  L.E.Wilson on Goodreads

  Can’t Wait For More Books?

  Sign up for L.E. WILSON’S NEWSLETTER to receive an email on release day or follow me on BOOKBUB!

  Contents

  Note From The Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Also by L.E. WIlson

  Sign Up For My Newsletter

  About the Author

  Note From The Author

  I mentioned this in book 1, but I thought it was worth repeating…

  If you are new to my books, there are a few things you need to know about this series to avoid any confusion.

  The “Deathless Night-Into the Dark” series is an extension of the original “Deathless Night” series, picking up the storyline of The Moss Witches that was started in the original series. And, the characters from Deathless Night will be making appearances throughout this series, starting right here in Secret of the Vampire.

  I’m thrilled to be with these characters again, and I hope you are, too!

  Happy reading, and I hope you enjoy Alex and Kenya’s story!

  Chapter 1

  Kenya

  Something slick and evil crawled over my skin, like a thousand tiny spiders slipping beneath my clothes, making me shudder in the damp night air.

  It was menacing.

  Angry.

  Someone was watching, and they wanted something from me. Something I instinctively knew I wouldn’t give up willingly. I could feel their intentions all the way down to my bones.

  My gums burned as my fangs shot down into my mouth, every muscle in my body tense, ready to strike. To kill if I had to.

  Though I truly wished I wouldn’t have to.

  Somehow, I kept a grip on my keys, even though my hand was shaking like crazy, pretending I was having trouble with the lock to the door of the club. Pushing my glasses up with one finger, I glanced discreetly to my left.

  Bourbon Street was in full-on holiday mode; the balconies and street poles wrapped in Christmas lights, with sprigs of evergreens here and there to break it up. Even the usual stench that seeped through the ground wasn’t so bad, thanks to the cooler air.

  It was Thursday night, and the crowd at The Purple Fang—our vampire-owned, male strip club where I tended bar and kept the books—had been sparse. Killian had decided to close it down early so he could go home to his Lizzy, and the rest of the coven could find their amusements elsewhere in The Quarter. I’d stayed behind alone so as not to impede on anyone’s fun. I was still trying to catch up on some reports that I’d missed when I was dying.

  Yes, dying. Unheard of for a vampire, I know.

  It’s a long story, but not really surprising if you knew me at all.

  At first, I saw nothing unusual. A few groups of die-hards who didn’t want the party to end even though the street cleaners and trash trucks were starting to rumble through the streets, a homeless person, strippers making their way home or heading to a late-night party.

  I twisted the keys in the lock and pulled them out, backing up a few steps as I dropped them into my bag with my laptop. Lifting my chin, I scented the air, searching for whatever it was that was making me so uneasy. I smelled alcohol, fresh vomit, body odor, trash, sewage, and the warm blood of the few humans still on the street. Keeping my expression impassive, I turned and started to walk away. Our residence was only a few blocks from here. I just needed to make it to the house. And hopefully, the guys would be home by now.

  Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t helpless. Far from it. But ever since my last brush with magic, I’ve been a little on the jumpy side, and the devilry I felt hovering in the air tonight felt way too familiar. It was unnerving to say the least.

  Terrifying was more like it.

  The hair lifted on the back of my bare neck before I could take more than a few steps, and I would swear to anyone who asked I felt hot breaths on my skin beneath my hairline. Spinning around, I flashed my fangs with a hiss…

  But there was no one there.

  I adjusted my glasses, checking again. Breathing hard, my eyes darted up and down the darkened street, my nerves on edge, and when my cell phone buzzed in the front pocket of my black slacks, I barely caught myself before I shrieked like a teenager in a bad horror movie.

  I hated horror movies.

  Especially ones with stupid teenage girls.

  With a shaking hand, I tugged my phone out and answered the call, pushing up my glasses with my free hand as I glanced over my shoulder. My one complaint about becoming a vampire was that, strangely enough, it hadn’t corrected my vision. “Hello?”

  “Get back inside the club and lock the doors. Right now,” the voice on the other end growled. “I’m on my way.”

  “Alex?”

  “Just do what I fucking say, Kenya.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him…something smart and female empowered, but he’d already hung up. After a moment’s hesitation, I dug the keys back out of my bag and got my ass back inside. Someone, or something, was out there, and it did not want me to make it home. So, I swallowed my initial reaction to being ordered around and did what Alex told me to do.

  He had helped me once, after all. I had no reason to believe
he wouldn’t do so again.

  At least, I didn’t think I had any reason to believe that. He was a bit…intense.

  If any humans had been paying attention, they would’ve seen a woman standing on the sidewalk looking scared and confused one second and gone the next. But I had no time to worry about that. Luckily, anyone still stumbling around Bourbon Street at this time of night either wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t remember. They would probably just blink rapidly a few times and tell their friends how good the Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s were.

  Plus, I had bigger things to worry about right now.

  I locked the door and backed up toward the bar, stashing my bag underneath. Taking off my coat, I folded it over my arm and tucked it on the shelf beside it. Then I kicked off my heels and stretched my bare feet. I needed my movements to be unhampered. Whatever was out there, common sense told me a locked door wasn’t going to keep it out, and I wasn’t about to just sit around and wait for Alex to get here and “save” me.

  Opening the screen on my cell, I started to tap out a quick text to Killian, the master vampire of my coven and head of the only family I’d ever known. But then I paused. Alex was on his way, and if Killian caught him here without his permission there would be hell to pay. And if I had to choose a champion, I’d rather have a scary warlock on my side to fight dark magic.

  Deleting the message, I slid my phone into my bag where it wouldn’t get damaged. I could always call Killian after the fact to walk me home.

  If I made it out of here.

  The club was dark except for a light over the bar, and I moved into the shadows near the door. My pants and blouse were both black, and with my dark skin and hair, it would hopefully give me a chance to surprise them.

  I needed one second to get the upper hand.

  Just one.

  Time ticked silently by, and although I felt that whoever or whatever was stalking me was still outside, it made no move to try to get into the club. Yet I could feel how restless it was becoming, like vibrations in the air. Could almost see it pacing the sidewalk just outside.

  I swallowed down my anxiety and tried to calm my heart, which was doing its best to break through the cage of my breastbone. My glasses slid slowly down my nose, but I didn’t dare move.

  It had been stupid of me to stay here alone, especially after I’d promised Alex I wouldn’t when he’d checked on me after my illness. But nothing had happened for weeks, and we had all started to relax back into our normal lives. Even Killian, the ever-watchful master vampire, had only given me a thoughtful glance when I’d told him I was going to stay late to catch up on things. Then he’d given me a nod and told me not to get caught by the sun before he’d hurried home to his mate.

  As I waited, my mind wandered back to the night Alex had saved my life. Killian had hidden me at the swamp house after I’d fallen ill, and no one had known what was happening. But I did. I was dying, rotting from the inside out, something unheard of for one of my species. Vampires died by things like beheadings or sunlight, not from a horrible case of the flu.

  But what I’d had was much worse than a common virus. It was a curse. And not a normal curse. With no other options, Killian had called in the witches we shared the city of New Orleans with. But even they hadn’t known where it had come from or who had placed it. Lucky for me, Alex had stepped up completely on a whim and tried to help. He’d torn it out of me with his bare hands.

  Well, it was magic, but it sure as hell had felt like his bare hands had reached inside of me to rip it out.

  Quite a different feeling from the way he’d touched me the next time I’d seen him, right here at the club at closing time, his large palm flat against my chest, radiating heat through my body as he searched for any remaining signs of the curse.

  A noise outside the door brought me back to the here and now with a vengeance. I hissed, my fangs bared and my hands up, fingers curled into lethal claws. Whoever was coming after me, I wasn’t going down without one hell of a fight.

  The scent of blood assaulted my senses. My own. Vaguely, I noticed the tip of my left middle finger was bleeding. I must’ve nicked it on something coming back into the club.

  “Kenya! Let me in.”

  It was Alex. Even if I hadn’t recognized his voice, I would’ve known it was him by the way my body immediately went on alert, ready for a different kind of battle.

  One that involved who was going to be on top.

  “Kenya!”

  Shaking off the untoward thought, I unlocked the door and stepped back out of the way of the door. Alex hurried inside, closing and locking it behind him.

  He was dressed in jeans and his dark green coat, much as he was the last time I’d seen him. I barely came to the top of his shoulder without my heels on. And with his broad shoulders, dark hair, intense golden eyes, and olive-toned skin…

  He took my breath away.

  And gods, he smelled better than any human I’d ever fed on. It was completely distracting.

  However, it didn’t matter if I found him attractive. Alex was a warlock. I was a vampire. Two lines that weren’t allowed to cross.

  “What are you doing here? And how did you get my number?” I asked him.

  Taking my face between his palms, his golden eyes held mine for a few seconds before he released me and stepped back, raking his eyes up and down my body. Then he grabbed my shoulders, spearing me with his gaze. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  As though he’d only just realized what he was doing, he dropped his hands and took a step back. But his eyes never left me.

  I wrapped my arms around my waist, his rejection making me feel cold. Then I scolded myself. The hot warlock was not what I needed to be focusing on right now. “Alex, who’s out there?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. But they can’t get in here.”

  “How do you know that?”

  He smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. More a twist of his mouth that was somewhat rebellious and utterly sexy. “I put a ward around the building the night I came here to check on you. I came back after you’d left.”

  “You did?”

  “I did.”

  It didn’t surprise me that no one had noticed. The Quarter was full of magic, both light and dark, and that didn’t even take into account all of the voodoo floating around. It would take something completely different—like the thing hunting me—for anyone to pause and take notice.

  Concern for his safety quickly replaced any misguided feelings of inadequacy I was feeling. “Alex, magic without permission is forbidden in our territory.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, surprised by my response. “You’re angry?”

  “Would it matter to you if I was?”

  Slowly, he shook his head. “No. I still would’ve taken the risk to protect you.”

  I stared at him, unsure of what to say. Did he feel some sort of responsibility for me now that he had cured me? Or was there some other reason he was so invested? And what if it wasn’t a good reason? Alex was the only member of the witch coven who’d known how to release me from the curse. And if I remembered correctly, even Judy—the High Priestess and his aunt—had been surprised.

  Of course, I’d been on death’s door at the time. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.

  A movement outside the tinted glass drew my attention and my heart stopped as my head whipped around, but it was just a group of people walking by.

  I turned back to Alex. For now, he was all I had. And I wasn’t ready to turn on him. Not just yet. “What do we do now? How do we get out of here?”

  His eyes travelled over my face again, then dropped briefly to my chest before meeting my stare directly. He gently adjusted my glasses, then dropped his arms back down to his sides. “We don’t, Kenya. We’re going to have to stay here until morning.”

  “But I can’t wait until morning. The sun—”

  “Will burn you to ash. I know.”

&nbs
p; I didn’t say anything else, just raised one eyebrow, a silent question asking him, then how the hell am I supposed to get home? I didn’t like this.

  Running a hand through his short, dark hair, he began to pace back and forth in front of me, his brows furrowed in thought.

  A sudden thought occurred to me. “Does the High Priestess know you’re here? Did you tell her you were coming?”

  His steps slowed, but only for a moment before picking up speed again. His eyes searched out mine and he gave a quick shake of his head before dropping them back to the floor. “No. I had no time.”

  I made a decision. “Alex, you need to go. I appreciate you trying to help me, but you’re taking too big of a risk.” Plus, this entire situation was just making me extremely uncomfortable. I was a vampire, yes. But I wasn’t a very good one. And Alex had magic strong enough to easily overpower me. I could practically see it coiling around him from here.

  “I’m not leaving you here alone with…” He slashed a hand toward the front of the club when the right word didn’t come to him. Closing his eyes, he stopped pacing and rubbed them with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. “I’m not leaving you alone, Kenya. Judy cannot stop me from protecting you.”

  “But why do you want to?” At his frown, I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side in challenge, putting on a bravado I didn’t feel. “I’m a vampire, Alex. I’m not yours to protect.”