Revolution

Carrie

I stood quietly behind the serving bar, staring out the window along the front wall, not far from the main entrance, watching the sun go down. It had been nearly an hour since Deacon suggested all the human customers go home. Even Mike said he was out.

Deacon mumbled something about needing to hire a Vampire cook now.

My focus was so intense, that I jumped when a warm hand touched my bare back.

Over the last few hours, I adjusted to wearing the outfit. It had been the common opinion that I looked hot, among the afternoon customers anyway. My confidence was doing better than ever, not one of them had lied or been trying to get anything from me. They were just stating a fact. They were all surprisingly easy to read. My powers seemed more solid today than they had the day before.

“Hey.” Deacon said softly. “It’s going to be alright. I promise.”

“You don’t know that. You don’t know how many of them have killed my family members over the years.”

Deacon’s hand, which had been moving up and down, trying to soothe me, stalled at my comment. “How long have you known of… their existence?”

There it was again, the tingling that he was skipping information. I still felt safe with him though. It didn’t feel like deceit when he was lying or walking the line between honesty and truth. I wasn’t exactly telling him everything about me either, so I was going to have to trust that what he was hiding was for his own protection and trust issues.

If anyone could understand trust issues, it was me.

I shrugged. “My family has always believed in the supernatural. I stopped listening to the stories when I was younger. The deaths were always ruled as unsolvable, or unexplainable. It’s tradition for my family to look for the bite marks when we identify bodies. My dad was a cop, the coroner was a friend. He let us.”

Deacon hugged me from the side, placing a soft kiss on the side of my head. I swear he was sniffing me again. He must really like the smell of lavender and vanilla. Although they had to be wearing off by now.

Booms went off rapidly outside. The windows shook and the bar was suddenly cast into pure darkness. The power went out. I let out a very unlady-like screech and turned to Deacon, letting him hold me completely.

“Sh, now angel. You’re safe with me. Deep breaths. I have a generator, a couple actually. Just give it a minute and one will switch on.”

I nodded and whimpered into his chest, my hands next to my head, his arms wrapped tightly around me.

We both waited in the quiet darkness.

I had to blink a few times when the lights did come back on. It was a bar, it wasn’t like we had a ton of lights on in the first place but compared to the pitch black of the room the moment before, the sun might as well have come back up.

“See? All good.” I just nodded again. I didn’t move away. I was too busy shaking in my boots. “Tell you what. Why don’t you stay behind the bar tonight? I can take care of the tables until you get used to them being here.”

I finally turned my head to look at him. I tipped my chin up, placing it on his chest. The top of my head came to his shoulders, so this move put him awfully close to my lips. He looked down, his eyes glancing between my lips and my eyes.

“You sure you don’t mind?” I didn’t think I needed to mention that I was shaking… badly. He could probably feel it.

He licked his lips as they moved again. “Yeah. Anything you need, angel.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I hadn’t meant to ask that, but it had been nagging me on and off all day.

He laughed. His right hand lifted and began tracing a line under my bottom my lip. “Because when I first saw you last night, the light from the bar, and your beautiful hair made the most exquisite little halo over your head. You looked like an angel.”

I only heard about half that, my eyes were slowly closing as his thumb worked its way back and forth. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his breath as he got closer to me. It was warm, just like the rest of him.

I felt something wet and hot softly glide over my lips.

A low moan escaped me, and shivers ran through my body. These were much better than the scared ones I had a moment before. No sooner had the moan left me, then his lips met mine with force, like that little sound had cut the net holding him back.

I let my arms slide up and wrap around his neck, his arms tightening around my back and shoulders. One of his hands gripped my butt and held it tight. I was more focused on the heat of the tongue melting me from the inside, then I was to his warm hands. Bryce always had cold hands. I had never kissed a guy who was literally hotter than the rest.

Everything else in the world faded away except for him and me.

Deacon lifted my thigh, and I wrapped it around his leg as he spun us, putting my back to the counter. With my leg up, I felt even more of him. My body was screaming to feel it without the barriers, something I had never done with anyone since that first night, when my parents died.

I didn’t know if I would have let him, my ability to think clearly was long gone. Enough so that I jumped when I heard a loud voice.

“Well, well, look who finally got a girl of his own.” It was a loud deep voice, followed by a few chuckles and giggles.

Deacon pulled away laughing, maybe at them, maybe at the blush on my cheeks and how I buried my face in his shirt.

“Yes, and no one is allowed to touch her. If anyone asks tonight, make sure you tell them she is not on the menu.”

“You got it, boss. Hey, how do you have lights? Half the city lost power half an hour ago.”

The footsteps all moved closer, and I moved my leg back down, mentally telling myself to get it together.

“Generators. You know me, I’m prepared for anything.” Deacon shrugged. He looked down at me and winked. “Guys, this is Carrie. She is going to be helping out. If you need anything, let her know.”

I turned slowly, still feeling the blush heating my cheeks. There were about half a dozen people standing there. I gave a small wave, my voice not quite working yet. Deacon seemed to find it funny. He wrapped his arms around me from behind again, as though it was something he had been doing for years and not hours.

“Angel, these are tonight’s donors. Carl, Chelsea, Katelyn, Ethan, Mona, and Lucy. As I’m sure you all already know, the humans won’t be coming out at night anymore. Which means, no curtains. The vamps are free, they don’t want to hide what they are or who they are. For them that includes living in the moment. No privacy. We’re going to be more open about things too. If you are open to more than just blood, lose the shirt. Or tie it up for you girls if you want.”

Lucy and Mona left their shirts on and tucked in. Everyone else’s shirts were either taken off or manipulated to be barely there.

“When you are done, just let me or Carrie know. We will be keeping your money divided up all night, so it will be easy for you to go. We are going to be outnumbered, so make sure you pay attention to how many vamps used you, and for how long.”

He let go of me with one hand, reaching under the counter, and pulled out a small box. He opened it and handed the items out to each donor.

“These are stopwatches. I won’t be able to use just one timer anymore, and I’d rather not run the risk of you getting hurt. Set it for how long they paid for. When it beeps, tell them time is up. If they refuse, call me, or wave a hand, or do something to get my attention. I don’t expect tonight to be too full, but in time, it will be. If your friends talk about needing work, tell them to come. We are going to need more donors, a lot more donors. If it helps them sleep at night, remind them that the more the vamps use donors, the less they are out hunting. If they are hunting, the demon inside takes control. Hunters rarely leave someone alive.”

He spoke to them for a few more minutes, but stopped as a few men trickled in. They looked tired and haggard.

“Deacon!” One yelled.

The donors split to take their seats along the bar as I saw a man who kept his hair shaved close to the scalp, making it hard to discern the color. He was rough looking. He approached Deacon from across the bar and shook hands with him.

“Carter! It’s been a long time. How are you doing?” Deacon was smiling as he greeted him. Maybe he wasn’t a vamp but an old friend. Maybe even an old donor. “Last I heard you were in New York.”

Carter laughed. “I’m good, man. I was. Man, the nightlife there was always popping. I heard the word about Curtis moving on Cali, I had to come and see for myself.” He lifted both arms and spun in a circle, taking a deep breath. “Freedom smells lovely, doesn’t it?”

Definitely a vamp then.

He sniffed again, checking for something he almost missed, and then his eyes landed on me. His grin grew. “Lovely indeed.”

I squeaked, as his eyes began glowing, and jumped behind Deacon.

Deacon put a hand up to stop Carter, a warning. “Not on the menu, Carter. She’s mine.” A low growl sounded from Deacon, and just like before, I felt the truth of his statement. I belonged to him.

Well, he believed I belonged to him anyway. And I was kind of beginning to be okay with that.

I looked around Deacon’s side, curiosity getting the better of me. Carter’s eyes were wide in shock. Probably not used to a human standing up to him. Even though Deacon didn’t feel like a human, he didn’t feel like a vampire either.

“Are you claiming someone, Deac?” Carter sniffed again. This time his grin was more like the kind you got when you were happy for someone. “Look at that, you are. Well, good for you. I’m a little jealous, though, she smells divine.” His voice went deep again, his eyes, which had faded, sparked back up.

“No! Carter, you know what will happen if you do it. I won’t hesitate, you know I won’t. Doesn’t matter how long we’ve been friends.”

Carter shook his head, clearing it. His eyes were actually a pretty dark blue. When they weren’t creepy headlights.

“Sorry, man. We’ve been working a lot. Curtis has had us collecting rubble from the buildings and all those abandoned cars on the roads. The only blood I’ve had in the last week has been sour. It was fine the first few times, but I need something more.”

Deacon’s stance relaxed, one of his hands sliding to mine, supporting me. “Take your pick. Might I suggest a testosterone boost?” Deacon pointed at Ethan and Carl.

Carter walked in front of them, eyeing and sniffing them carefully. “Prices same as before?”

Deacon nodded his head. “40 for every ten. Unless you want more than just blood. Then it’s 100 for every ten.”

Carter nodded and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. He handed it to Deacon, then tapped Carl’s arm before pointing at a table.

A few more vampires walked in, and I listened as Deacon talked prices and donors like he was selling cars. I looked up at Carter and Carl once, then decided I should not look at the tables anymore.

Carl was sitting on the table, facing out, while Carter stood in front of him. His fangs in Carl’s neck, and his hand was working Carl, out where everyone could see everything. At least that was something I could say I had seen before, sort of.

Bryce tried to tempt me a few times by walking around naked, touching himself. It always annoyed me. It also convinced me to stop sleeping over at his place.

Again, why was I with him for so long?

Deacon always found it funny when my eyes accidentally strayed. I didn’t know if it was the kiss, or because he was making a statement, but he was never near me and not touching me.

A few others asked about me, each time getting a low growl from Deacon. He must have learned how to deal with them after all these years of working with them. It was working too.

I stayed behind the bar, only having to pour drinks every now and then. I gave water to the donors every time they came back. Over time, they trickled out.

We didn’t have too many vampires, but Deacon said it was still more than normal. We maybe had a dozen, they hung out and talked with friends before or after they fed. If it wasn’t for the donors, they would have seemed like humans.

Well, mostly. I did feel like I was going to go blind when I caught a few “handling business” either on their own or together. No donor needed.

Deacon came up behind me and kissed my cheek after walking the last donor out, locking the door behind them.

“How are you feeling?”

I smiled. I could feel his sincerity all the way to my bones. The same way I felt with his touch all night. He wasn’t faking anything. He wanted to touch me. He wanted to kiss my neck or hold me against him. It still felt right having him there, so I didn’t mind in the least bit.

I knew he wasn’t telling me the whole truth when he talked about making a claim in their eyes. I just had to hope his desire to be near me was all he was trying to hide.

“Better than I thought I would be, actually. Besides drink preferences, and their manners, they aren’t much different than the humans were. In here at least. Out there…” I trailed off as I remembered the bus station from a few nights before.

Deacon was still standing to my right side, so I laid my head on his chest and he put a hand on my shoulder.

“Yes, they have it in them to be somewhat civilized. Humans have done quite a few violent acts in the name of war and whatever other reasons they had as well.”

I frowned. I didn’t like him defending the vampires. I also couldn’t argue. Humans could be just as evil.

“What’s their reason then?” I snapped at him, lifting my head to look in his eyes.

He put a hand to my cheek, trying to soften his words. “They are tired of hiding. For centuries they have had to live in the shadows, not free to be who they are. Not free to live. I’m not saying they are going about it the right way, or that I agree with them. But this is no different than any other revolution.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. Technically, he wasn’t wrong. I was sure there were many people in other countries who had lived like this for years. Raids, fighting, war. I could also feel he wasn’t trying to placate me by acting like he didn’t agree. He didn’t agree but he understood.

I also found it incredibly difficult to be mad at him when he was so close to me. Why did his presence, his touch, soothe me like this?

“Let’s get upstairs and get you to bed. We can clean all this up in the morning.”

As if on cue, I yawned, and then laughed.

I let him lead me up to my apartment. I turned at the door to say goodnight, but the words never made it out of my mouth. He swiftly pressed me against the door, attacking my lips.

I was severely tempted to take him inside with me, but that wasn’t me. I had already stepped way out of my comfort zone enough for one day. I pulled away, trying to catch my breath. Deacon started kissing down my jaw line, making it hard to stick to my guns. His fingers were barely under the bottom of my shirt, playing with the rim of the bra.

I whimpered and pushed him back. “Goodnight, Deacon.”

He was disappointed, that much was obvious. But he didn’t complain, he didn’t push. He gave me one more soft kiss and said goodnight before stepping away. I closed the door behind me, then leaned against it.

Ho.ly crap! That was hot.

I didn’t fight the grin. No one was here to see it. I didn’t fight back the teenage squeal building up inside of me either. A long hot shower was definitely needed to help me calm down.

Which also happened to be when I found the strange bruise on my chest. Obviously, I knew it was a hickey. Bryce had been quite fond of leaving those.

But how in the hell did I get a hickey on my chest? The only action this part of my body had seen in months was in my dreams last night.

Did that have something to do with this new power I was experiencing?

Completely ridiculous idea, but nothing else made sense right now.

I really missed my mom.

It took me forever to fall asleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about Deacon, and how easily he backed off. Or how much I knew he was already growing to care about me.

There were definitely perks to my little gifts.