Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
“What do you want to do about Stewart?” she asked.
“You do not want to eat him?”
“I don’t know. The thought of having his blood inside me makes me feel kinda icky. It’ll be like I’m carrying around the murderer of my family in my veins.”
Maxton nodded. “We don’t have to eat him. We could just kill the bastard.”
“But doesn’t that feel too easy? I mean, we have to live an eternity missing our families. He took them from us. Why shouldn’t he live out the rest of his natural life suffering too?”
“You make a very good point. What did you have in mind?”
“Someone needs to help look after the shop while I’m away with you. Why not make him do it.” Not that Stewart could sew, but he could do inventory, organize the stockroom, and ring up customers. She could instruct him to simply follow Damien’s instructions like a good little human.
“As you wish. Now take off your clothes. I want to see your strange land strip again. It is very sexy.”
“Landing strip. It means—”
He started peeling down her leather pants.
“Never mind!”
Five days later, MF and Maxton were back in the jungle. She’d texted Damien before leaving, letting him know she’d be gone a while but had left a surprise in the storeroom.
A helper. Be sure to feed and water him. Give hugs to the demons and Pet. Sky, too.
Funny, how they were all from different worlds but felt like family. Damien the stubborn father figure always trying to protect everyone. Bonbon and Gorgonzolina were like a clueless aunt and uncle, stuck in their own little world. Pet was the out-of-control teen with a sexual appetite that made her do stupid shit all the time. MF wondered what that made her.
Definitely the cool older sister.
And now they’d have Sky. Would she be like their mother, looking after everyone, being a source of strength and encouragement? And of course, Maxton. Can’t forget about him.
If I’m the cool sister, that makes Maxton my cool boyfriend. Of course, they were much more than that. Maxton had already started hinting at marriage once he completed his confessions. Could take a few years to get through his list of sins, but whatever. They had all the time in the world now. Vampires, baby! Yeah!
“All right. This is all of it.” Maxton emerged from his cave, holding a huge sack.
“What is that?”
“My gold, some books, and the remnants of Damien’s suit.”
“I think you can leave the rags behind. I’ll make you a new one,” she said.
“It has sentimental value.”
“You really love your suits, don’t you?” He’d hung on to that other one for a few hundred years.
“To me, they are reminder: Though I am a vampire, I am not an animal. I am a gentleman, and I alone control my life.”
“Not quite alone anymore. But, yeah, a reminder to be our best self is a good thing. Especially because your days of turning people inside out are over.”
“That wasn’t me.”
Huh? “Then whose are those?” She eyed the desiccated inside-out bodies hanging from a nearby tree.
“Those are my parrot’s decorations, meant to keep people away.”
She crinkled her nose. What a morbid bird. Strong, too. “So where’s he?”
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot.” Maxton whistled. Suddenly, the trees began to rustle. The ground shook beneath her feet.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, taking two steps back.
“That’s Parrot.” The bushes beside them were suddenly flat, like something large and invisible stood on top of them.
“Maxton! What is that?” she repeated.
“I told you. It is Parrot, my hellhound. Don’t worry. He doesn’t eat much.”
Hellhound? Was that why the ground always shook around here? How fucking big was it?
“Wo-wow,” she stuttered nervously. “You are-are full of surprises, Maxton.” MF had never seen a hellhound, nor wanted to, and now she knew she never would. They were invisible. “But you can’t take a hellhound to LA.”
“I cannot leave him here. He has guarded my lair for years.”
So Maxton hadn’t been doing all that killing? It sort of relieved her. He wasn’t exactly a saint; maybe his road to redemption wasn’t as bad as he thought.
Maxton stepped in front of her, gazing down with his jungle green eyes. MF inhaled deeply, losing herself in his beauty.
“From the first moment I met you,” he said, “I knew you were special. Your presence soothed my soul.”
It did? “Then why did you push me away?”
“A bad man like me,” he shrugged, “has no right to be with someone like you, MF. You are too good.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her deeply. Her heart melted as his mouth moved with hers.
He suddenly pulled away, staring with those hypnotic eyes. “Thank you for giving me a new life and new purpose. I love you, Mountain Flower.”
Her heart soared. “I love you, too.” They really were happy together. Strange because it was just as Cimil promised. A vampire. A family. A purpose. MF had all three now. It almost made her feel guilty that Cimil was locked up in some Uchben prison for immortals.