Home > Stake That (Blood Coven Vampire #2)(17)

Stake That (Blood Coven Vampire #2)(17)
Author: Mari Mancusi

“Bwahahahaha!” Jareth continues laughing at my expense. “What are you going to do? Give the evil vampires splinters?”

I can feel my face heat with embarrassment, which is sooo annoying. How dare he make fun of me? I have been put on this earth to slay his kind. One false move and I’ll go all destiny on his ass.

Somehow. Though probably not with this particular stake. . . .

Grrr . . .

“Shut up!” I cry, unable to come up with one of my infamous Rayne comebacks. “Stop laughing at me.”

Jareth sighs, reaching up to wipe the bloody tears of mirth from his eyes. “Oh, Rayne,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re precious, you know that?”

“Well, you’re just lame and annoying.” Why does it seem like I’ve totally lost the banter battle here?

Jareth holds out his hand. “Give me the stake.”

Oh, yeah, right. Like I’m going to fall for that one. It may not be finished, but it’s the only weapon I’ve got. I hide it behind my back.

“No effing way.”

Jareth sighs. “Just for a minute.”

“Why? So you can render me completely defenseless and suck me dry?”

“With that as your weapon, you already are completely defenseless, sweetie.”

I sigh. I know he’s right. Reluctantly I hand over the stake. Stupid Slayer Inc. for giving me such a pathetic weapon. After all, Buffy the Vampire Slayer got swords and axes and cross-bows. Is that so much to ask for?

Jareth turns the stake around in his hands. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Swiss Army knife. I involuntarily jump back.

“Relax,” he says. “I’m going to help you carve.”

He clicks open the blade and starts running it across the wood, shaving off chunks. I watch, mesmerized, as a pretty nice stake emerges from the mess.

“I am a sculptor by trade,” he explains. “Mostly my carvings are of stone, but the principle is the same.” He hands me the stick and knife. “Now you try. Run the blade down, away from you.”

I do as he instructs, slicing into the wood.

“No. Like this.” He comes around behind me and takes my hands in his and guides me through the next stroke. “There you go,” he says in my ear.

Now, for the record, I must repeat here that he is, without a doubt, the most annoying vampire in the known universe and I can’t stand him. In fact, if they said he was the last blood mate on earth, I’d choose to remain human just to stay away from him. If he was the last man on earth, I’d turn lesbian. If he was the last person on earth, I’d become a nun.

That said, he really is freaking HOT. And when I feel his cool breath in my ear as he helps me carve, my body totally betrays me and gets all mushy inside. Which is so frustrating! Gah!

“Okay, I, um, think I’ve got it now,” I say, desperate for him to take a step back before I do something really stupid, like turn around and kiss him. “Thanks.”

To my relief (and disappointment if I’m being totally honest here) he lets go of my hands and retreats to the bed. He sits down, watching me with his intense blue eyes. I have to force myself not to shiver under his gaze.

Focus on the wood, Rayne. Less thinking, more carving.

“There!” I say about ten minutes later. “How does that look?” I hold the stake up for his perusal.

He walks over and takes it from me, examining it with a critical eye. “That’s actually pretty good,” he says, sounding a little too surprised for my liking. But secretly I’m pleased. “You’re a natural.”

“Natural Born Killahh!” I quip.

He chuckles. “Let’s not get carried away. Just because you can carve a stake, doesn’t mean you can stab someone with it.”

“Gonna teach me that, too?” I tease.

His face darkens. “No.”

The simple word seems to hold a whole lifetime of stories. He’s definitely got to have some deep, dark torment and I’m dying to ask him what it is. But we barely know each other and also there’s that whole thing about how we don’t even like one another to contend with, so I decide to let him off the hook.

“Okay, no biggie,” I say with a shrug. “Thanks for helping me carve it though.”

“Not a problem,” he says. “As long as you promise never to use it on me.”

I’m about to crack a joke, but he looks too serious at the moment, so I let it go. “It’s a deal,” I say instead.

He smiles. “How about we go into the Post-Bite Lounge for a bit,” he suggests. “See if we can pick up any gossip.”

“Post-Bite Lounge?”

“Yes. You know how after giving blood at the Red Cross you can feel a little light-headed and queasy? Same thing after being sucked. So they have a lounge where they serve cookies and orange juice to the humans before they send them back into the world.”

“Ah.” Wow, these vamps think of everything, don’t they? “Okay, cool. Let’s lounge it.”

I stand up and head toward the door.

“Uh, Rayne?”

I stop and turn around. “Yeah?”

He pauses, then says, “This is going to sound weird, but . . .”

“Everything is weird at this point. I doubt anything you could say could make it any weirder.”

I can see Jareth’s hard swallow from across the room. “You don’t have a bite mark.”

   
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