"Barely." Her captive lay on the cot she'd provided for him, facing her, his skin grayish, his eyes sunken. There were small circular wounds on his neck, as if something had tried to bite its way free of his skin.
Boom, boom, boom. "Amy!"
Shit. Had the otherworlder shouted for help while she'd slept, and was the cavalry now here to rescue him? "How long have I been out?" If she was going to be arrested, it'd be nice to know how long Devyn had had to find her.
"Four days."
Wow. Had she been human, she probably would have peed herself. Thankfully, that was not a bodily function she'd ever had to endure. She smacked her lips together, her mouth still as dry as a desert.
Time to feed. Automatically her gaze returned to the otherworlder's neck, and her still-aching fangs elongated. Blood ... good ... need ... Waaaay past time to feed. He's sick. You'll probably vomit after you drink him, anyway, weakening you all the more. Who cared? Her body always absorbed the first few sips before the sickness hit her, which was how she'd managed to survive, and she would be stronger. Right now, even the taste of blood would have been enough for her. So, so good ...
"Your eyes are glowing," the otherworlder said, but he didn't sound as if he cared. "Damn it, Amy. Rent's overdue."
The voices snapped her out of the blood haze, and she blinked. Rent. Thank God. No arrest today. Maybe.
"Now your eyes are back to normal.”
“That's good."
"Amy, I know you can hear me. I want my money, or your ass is outta here. Understand?" More banging. "I told you one more delayed payment and you were gone. Don't tell me you don't remember."
"Your name's Amy?" her captive asked. "I thought Devyn called you Bride."
"Be there in a second," she called, relieved that the otherworlder hadn't shouted for help. For his cooperation, she gave him a reward. Honesty. "My real name is Bride, yes."
"I can see how the guy at your door confused that with Amy," he said dryly. "I'm Nolan, by the way.”
“I know. I heard."
"Hurry up, damn it!" the super repeated, this time grudgingly rather than furious. "I don't got all day. I'm two seconds away from letting myself in, and it won't be against the rules 'cause you're so behind."
"I said I was coming!" Bride pushed to her feet, swayed. "Why didn't you scream the roof down while I was out?" she asked Nolan.
"And allow humans to stone me while I'm in this condition?" He snorted. "No, thanks."
"Just... be quiet while I deal with my super. Please. If you hadn't already guessed, I'm not human, but he thinks I am and I let him think it because he's more prejudiced than most. He'd rather shoot an otherworlder than look at one." She turned and forced one foot in front of the other, closing the distance between herself and Nolan's wallet. "Swear to God, he's a piece of shit who would trade his mother for a bean burger."
"Uh, you might want to dress before you greet him," Nolan said when she bent down. "And yeah, I'd guessed about the nonhuman thing. So what are you?"
"Alien," she lied.
"Like I said, I know."
As she stood, her gaze drifted along her body. She was pale, as always, and spotted with red where her skin had pressed into the concrete. Her ni**les were hard.
Was that what Nolan saw when he looked at her? Was that what Devyn had seen when she'd stood before him? The real her? Or did they see the image she projected? Long ago, the ability to cloak herself with nondescript features had risen from the thorns and fire inside her, preventing people from picking her out of a crowd. She did it without thinking now; it was just a part of who she was, like breathing. But sometimes, as weak as she'd become this past month, she feared the shield was down and she simply couldn't sense it.
Cheeks heating, she grabbed the robe she'd draped over the couch just in case she'd been unable to walk to her room after imprisoning Nolan. Good thing. "Sorry for the show."
"Don't be. Back to my question. What kind of alien are you?"
Don't be. It was something Devyn would say, and it caused her heart to race. Surely she wasn't missing the bastard. "I'm the kind that's from another planet." No way she'd cop to vampire. Even otherworlders would fear bloodsuckers. How could they not? She was a parasite. "I'm a—" What sounded good? she wondered, peering at her feet "—concre ... sha. Concresha."
"Never heard of them."
Of course not. She'd just made it up. "Doesn't mean they don't exist.”
“Amy!"
Fully covered now, she walked to the door and pressed the code to open it a mere crack. Mr. Guise immediately tried to push his way inside.
He growled at her. "Open it wider and let me in, little girl."
"You don't need to come in to collect your money.”
“Well, I want to talk to you.”
“So talk."
After a moment's pause, he backed away. Even chuckled darkly. "I know you don't have no money, so I thought we could work off the debt another way, if you know what I mean."
She rolled her eyes. He'd been trying to get her into bed for a year. He was a balding, greasy perv. The perviness and the grease she could have overlooked, but not the comb-over. Or, to be honest, the stench of rot that always accompanied him.
But hungry as she was, even Guise was starting to look good. His pulse was slow but steady, a taste me beat. "No need for me to take one for the team." Her tongue was so swollen the words were slurred. "I can pay you properly." She hoped.
She flipped open Nolan's wallet and gasped. So much money. So ... pretty and green. It was more than she'd ever seen in one place.
"Just think about it," Guise said, reaching his pudgy fingers through the crack and sifting them through her hair. "You could spend your money on something like food or clothes."
"Tempting, but no." Her fingers shook as she thrust the bills at him. She kept her lashes fused, just in case her eyes were glowing again. Usually, she could control it. Only when she was reaching the starvation point did it happen automatically. "That should take care of the rest of the year."
He looked down at the wad of bills, then up at her, then the bills. "But... but..."
More satisfied than she'd been in a long time, even when she'd bested Devyn, she pressed the button to close the door in his stunned face, then jabbed her thumb against the ID to engage the lock she'd had installed—a lock Guise could not open at will. She was grinning widely as she turned and pressed her back into the metal.