The office, with its wood-paneled walls, pictures of rivers, dear, and bear, was straight out of the seventies. The red carpet looked old and had a worn path to the main desk, but it was still in good shape.
On top of the Formica counter was a bell. Next to the small metal bell was a sign reading “Ring for service.” He released Callie’s hand as he walked up to the counter and hit the bell.
The tiny ding echoed throughout the small room as he rested his elbow on the counter and waited for the clerk to arrive. Behind the counter, he spotted a glass case full of supplies. A shaving kit sat amid the toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, hairbrushes, deodorant, and assorted other necessities a traveler might forget to pack.
Callie wandered over to a rack full of brochures. She fingered some of them before pulling a couple free and flipping through them. Most of them were for places to hike and raft in the area, but others were for nearby caves and a casino.
Lucien watched her every move like a hawk. He didn’t know what it was about the woman, but she increasingly intrigued him. He stepped away from the counter and prowled closer to her.
His chest brushed her shoulder as he stopped behind her. He gazed at the brochure for whitewater rafting in her hands. She stiffened a little but didn’t move away, and after a few seconds, she relaxed and lifted her striking eyes to his.
Before she could speak, a noise drew his attention away from her as a pretty young woman emerged from the back room. She smiled when she saw them.
“Welcome to the Mountainside Motel,” she greeted as she rested her hands on the counter.
Callie shoved the brochures into her back pocket as Lucien returned to the counter. An uneasy feeling grew in her stomach as she studied the pretty woman. Her silky blonde hair, pulled into a knot at her nape, fully exposed her neck. Her blue eyes shone as they ran appreciatively over Lucien before shifting to Callie.
However, the woman only glanced at her before focusing on Lucien again. Her smile widened. He was still thinner than he should be, but his beard and lean body couldn’t hide how handsome he was.
Jealousy burned like acid in her belly when she realized he planned to feed on this woman. And then self-loathing blazed inside her. She shouldn’t be jealous of this woman; she should feel sorry for her and try to stop what was about to happen, but what could she do other than shout a warning for the woman to run?
And she couldn’t do that. He hadn’t hurt the other people he fed on, and he wouldn’t hurt this one. She hated what was to come, but he had to eat to regain more of his strength. She couldn’t deny him that, no matter how much she’d prefer not to see what was about to happen.
“Would you like two rooms?” the woman asked.
Lucien smiled as he rested his hands on the counter, and Callie found herself holding her breath. Would he get her a different room so he could feed on this woman in private?
The idea of sharing a room with him was almost as petrifying as the Savages finding them, but she didn’t want to be alone.
She almost slapped herself upside the head as confusing feelings battered her. He hadn’t messed with her mind, she was sure of that; she wouldn’t remember any of this if he had, but he was messing with her head in other ways.
Maybe they were better off in separate rooms.
“Just one room,” Lucien said; he had no intention of parting from Callie.
“Oh,” the woman said.
He caught the note of disappointment in her voice as she turned to the computer behind the desk. Keys clicked as her fingers flew across them.
“That will be one hundred dollars for the night,” she said.
Lucien allowed his power to well up inside him as he studied her. “No, it won’t,” Lucien said. “Look at me.”
Her head rose, and her blue eyes met his.
“You’re not going to put us into your computer,” he said.
Her brow furrowed. “I’m not?”
“No. Do you have cameras here?”
She pointed to one on the wall in the far back corner of the office. It had a perfect view of the counter and him.
“Are there any others?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good. Is there anyone else working with you tonight?”
“No.”
This was going better than he’d hoped. “You’re going to delete whatever footage you have of us, and then shut the camera off before coming back to me.”
The woman retreated into the back room. The clock ticked away the seconds and minutes until the woman returned.
“Did you take care of the camera?” he inquired.
“Yes,” she said.
“Good. Now give me our key,” he instructed. “Then come out here to me.”
The woman turned away and removed something from beneath the counter. She set a card in front of him. “You have room fifteen.”
“That’s good,” Lucien said. “Now, come here.”
The woman hesitated before walking to the end of the counter. Callie’s heart lumbered to pump as the woman lifted a section of the counter and slipped out before setting it back into place. Her eyes glazed over as she walked to Lucien and stopped before him.
“It will be okay,” Lucien said. “Relax.”
The woman did so. Lucien grasped her nape and shifted, so his back faced Callie. He had to feed, and she’d seen him do it before, but now that he had more control over himself, he didn’t want her to see it again.
She would deny it, but the demon inside him scared her, and he didn’t blame her. He would do everything he could to keep her safe, but she’d be foolish not to fear him.
Callie’s eyes darted around the room as she tried to look anywhere but at Lucien’s broad back as he bent over the woman. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew the second his fangs pierced the woman’s flesh as she gasped. A small sucking sound followed before all noise stopped.
The woman’s hands gripped his forearms, and she clung to him while he fed. Her hands on him sent another bolt of jealousy through Callie, and she backed toward the door.
When the woman released a low moan of pleasure, Callie fled. She shoved open the door and practically stumbled outside as her breath came in rapid pants that she couldn’t control. Resting her hands on her knees, she bent over as she tried to stabilize her breathing.
What is wrong with me?
She had no answer to that as the turkey sandwich she ate earlier threatened to make a return. She kept her mouth clamped against the bile rising in her throat and refused to look back at the office.
Instead, she stared at the empty parking lot and the distant mountain peaks illuminated by the full moon. The stars shone brilliantly in the velvety black night, and a bat soared overhead as the crickets and tree frogs made their presence known.
She was used to the sights and sounds; she’d grown up in the mountains, and they were the music of her childhood. Usually, they were a balm to her soul, but she couldn’t find any solace in them tonight. She had to get away from this man, this whole situation, and everything that had gone so freaking wrong in her life.
The only problem was, she had no idea how she would survive without Lucien. She had no money and no way to get any without her bank card and ID. She couldn’t go home, she couldn’t go to any of her friends, and she had no family.
Her mother’s side of the family disowned her years before Callie was born, and her father was estranged from his parents until Callie turned ten and they got back in touch. However, they were both gone, and he didn’t have any siblings. What was she going to do?