Chapter 101
Chapter 101
After leaving Chloe, Amos spent an hour trying to track the thrall he’d chased off. But there was hardly any trail, and he eventually had to concede defeat. He didn’t like that Chloe’s attacker was still out there. The urge to betray his agreement with her, to remain near her workplace, keeping guard until the sun rose, was nearly impossible to resist. But the possibility of her finding out, feeling deceived, being angry and disappointed with him, was the stronger aversion. With great reluctance, he went home. He reassured himself over and over again that the sun would rise by the end of her shift, and she would be safe.
When Amos reached his front door, he paused, his senses tingling with warning. He couldn’t quite say what it was that alerted him. Nothing was out of place. There were no unfamiliar scents lingering. The house was quiet and dark. His awareness shifted, sharpened, as he silently eased the door open. As soon as he set foot inside the house, the scent of blood hit him like a slap. It wasn’t much blood. But it didn’t need to be. Like a shark, the merest speck of it called to his predatory instincts.
But he recognized this bloodscent. With a suppressed sigh, he moved down the hall, past the sitting room, to the less formal living room
where he relaxed on his own or with close friends. He hesitated
before the doorway, taking a second to brace himself. When he
finally stepped into the sitting room, he was greeted with a joyful
squeal and suffocating hug.
“Amos!” Loretta Brooks was over a century old, but would forever
look nineteen. When she’d turned Amos, she’d been a tiny,
knobby–kneed, hollow–cheeked, frizzy–haired waif. Now, her hair
was thick and long, worn down to the small of her back in thin locs
that transitioned from the natural black color of her hair at the
roots, to hot pink at the ends. Her makeup made her look like the
Hollywood interpretation of a vampire–glamorous and uncannily
Chapter 101
flawless–and decades of comfortable attachment to a bloodmate
had put a healthy luster in her deep brown skin and a joyful gleam
in her eyes,
“Hello, Etta,” He scooped her up in a crushing hug, lifting her feet off the ground and earning another happy squeal directly into his ear canal. He set her down with a grimace and rubbed his ringing ear.
“Sorry, honey,” Etta said with a sheepish smile. “It’s just so good to
see you p>
“It’s good to see you too. Hello, Fran,” he greeted his dam’s
bloodmate. Francine Piotrowski was Etta’s visual opposite. Tall and
slim to Etta’s petite curviness, with ivory pale skin to Etta’s rich brown, she wore her coppery–red hair in the sort of severe undercut that had been popular among men in the days when Amos was first turned. In stark contrast to Etta’s electric–blue jumpsuit and silver–studded, high–heeled boots, Fran was dressed simply in an oversized white sweater with ripped jeans and the sort of boots Amos had worn in his mortal life. Etta’s claim mark, a silvery bright scar, was visible high on Fran’s neck, just below her jaw. She’d had been twenty–five years old when she’d met Etta, back in the early seventies, and thanks to the regenerative powers of Etta’s venom, Fran would continue to look twenty–five forever.
“Hey, Amos,” Fran greeted him with a slightly–drunken sounding drawl, her gaze a little unfocused. The marks where Etta had fed on her were still healing, but her bloodscent was dissipating from the air. Slowly, the acuity returned to her gaze as the feeding cuphoria
lifted.
“So, child of mine,” Etta began, catching Amos’s arm and dragging him over to sit on the settee with her and Fran.
Amos scoffed at the endearment. “I’m older than you p>
“ Not in vampire years,” she shot back with a self–satisfied smirk. “Now, my precious offspring p>
Chapter 101
“Etta,” Amos growled.
“Leave the poor man alone,” Fran chided, failing to hide her
amusement.
Undeterred, Etta cast him a saturnine smile. “Well, let me get
straight to the point, then. I was surprised to find you weren’t home
when we got here. Have you been going out? Have you been
socializing p>
♡ (0)
Cedella
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.