Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

I blinked, then shuffled over a little.

“You, pitiful human,” he began, smiling, “waltzed into Wonderland tonight.”

I blinked again. It was like I’d just learned how to do it and wanted to practice it every freaking second. Wonderland? I’d gone into Wonderland? How was that even possible? How was I not dead right now?

“I resent that word.”

“Human?”

I growled. “Pitiful.”

“Ah, the food,” he announced, thanking the old-looking waitress with a nod. He shuffled the plate of pancakes over to me, dousing them in syrup. I grimaced.

“You need sugar.” Next came a plate of liver. Seriously, what kind of diner was this? “And you need iron.”

I shoved the liver away, my face scrunched up. “I’ll eat pancakes. Not liver. It is not war time and it is not 1950.”

He gave me an exasperated sigh but nodded. “Alright. You eat it all up like a good girl.”

“I hate you.” Picking up the knife and fork, I cut into the short stack angrily and stabbed a piece while picturing Sawyer’s face. Putting it into my mouth, I moaned a little at the taste. He was right, the bastard. I was hungry and I did need food. Sawyer sat back and watched me with a smug expression on his face, like the cat that got the cream. He sipped his coffee, never taking his eyes off me, until I placed the last slice of pancake into my mouth and swallowed. At this point, his eyes had taken on a predatory gleam I wasn’t sure I liked so much.

Pushing the plate gently across the table away from me, I lunged for the coffee cup and drank greedily. I felt possessed, like I wasn’t in control of my own body.

“It’s the aftereffects of Wonderland,” Sawyer said, narrowing his eyes on my face. “Humans aren’t supposed to be able to enter.”

Okaaaay, I didn’t like the way he was now looking at me like I was a science experiment. Twisting my body around, I placed my back against the wall of the diner and stretched my legs out.

Grinning, I said, “What can I say? I’m a special cupcake.”

If there was one thing I had going for me, it was bravado. I was used to acting—pretending I was taller, pretending I was stronger. I’d been doing it my whole life. The one thing I didn’t have to pretend was being human. Because I fucking was.

He shook his head and took another sip of coffee. “You are most definitely human, but what you did tonight…” He drifted off, clearly caught in the snare of his own mind, yet he didn’t take his eyes from me.

I finished the dregs of my coffee and nudged him with my foot. From the expression on his face, he was affronted that I’d touched him with my boot. Still, he slid from the booth with that preternatural grace all supes seemed to have—well, except for giants. Those fucks were as uncoordinated as new baby giraffes, or so I’d heard.

“And where are you going?”

“Bathroom.” I arched a brow. “Unless you think I need an escort? Are you volunteering for the job?”

He made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. “By all means, go and use the bathroom. We’ll be leaving as soon as you get back.”

I gave him a salute, sauntering through the small diner that used to be an old dining car and down the short hallway that housed the single male and female bathrooms. After relieving myself, I took extra time scrubbing my hands, trying to get the stickiness of the syrup off. It felt like I’d just shoveled the food into my mouth with my hands.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I only managed three steps before I stopped. It happened just as the door to the diner opened and shut, letting in a crisp breeze. The opal around my neck began to heat up with steady warmth. Wrapping my palm around it, I took a cautious step out of the hallway and into the diner proper. Sawyer was still seated at the booth, head bent over his phone. Everyone else was just eating or chatting. Even the waitress hadn’t noticed the small girl who had wandered in.

Her clothes were torn and dirty. She had no shoes on her feet, and her long, dark hair was mattered and stringy, falling over her face and shielding her eyes…

Eyes which were trained on me. I could feel them like a second skin.

Or like daggers aimed at my heart.

To test my awesome theory, I sidestepped to the left, and the little girl mirrored me. I stepped to the other side. She followed. I stepped back, and she advanced. I kept my arms loose by my side but let my gaze find Sawyer, who was finally paying attention to what was going on. He frowned, looked at the girl, and then turned back to me.

Kill her, he mouthed.

WTF? He wanted me to kill the elementary school kid? I couldn’t do that. I was still getting flashbacks from when I’d run that other kid through with Reaver in the principal’s office. If I had to commit filicide again, I was going to get a complex.

Plus, how was I supposed to commit said murder? The clip in my gun was empty, thanks to Baba Yaga, and Reaver wasn’t even here. Man, I wished I had that sword though. It felt so good against my palm, so right. It was an extension of my arm, even though I’d never picked up, let alone used a sword before. Guns had always been my preference. I suddenly felt something in my palm, and when I looked down, I saw Reaver there.

My eyes widened and then darted to Sawyer. His expression was unreadable, but he nodded to me like he knew what I had to do. I lunged for the kid, who didn’t actually move like a kid. She was fast. She leaped above my head and landed behind me. I swung around to face her