Song - Trouble, Pink

Hearing the ruffle of linen, I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. Pain hit me hard. It was like someone was repeatedly jabbing a knife into my stomach. The pain soon turned into something that felt like they were slicing me open. My limbs were heavy, filled with a dull and constant ache. If that wasn't enough, then the sensation of my brain growing to the point my skull was going to explode might be.

I winced, crumpling my body in a vain attempt to settle it. Nothing would, though. It was the warning that Jasper had given me. The pain would be like nothing I'd ever experienced, and there was nothing they could do for me. I had to ride it out. The only thing I had was the knowledge that it would eventually end.

Warmth gripped me, the soft touch of a hand smoothing over my shoulder. Warily, I opened my eyes.

"Hey, she's back," Roman said softly.

"It hurts."

"I know. You're almost there."

Pulling me closer, Roman held me against his body under the blankets. I settled against him, resting my head on his chest.

"Jas should be back soon."

"Has he gone to get the final feed?"

"Yeah."

I'd done it. I'd accepted this new life and everything that came with it. Ending the woman's life wasn't easy. At first, I didn't think I could do it, but once the hunger hit, the inner vampire waiting to be unleashed took control. The fangs grew, and I sank them deep, finding incredible relief.

Reaching to my mouth, I touched one of the fangs. It hurt when they reshaped my upper canine teeth. Thankfully, it was something that I would get used to, and the hunger for blood would consume me to the point where I wouldn't notice the pain. As for right now, it was just another thing to add to the extremely long list of things I could complain about.

As I skimmed the fang tip, I could feel it lengthen. I could smell the blood pumping through my veins. It created a hunger in me. My stomach ached with desperation.

Sitting up, I looked at Roman, who smiled like he knew what was on my mind.

"You could have a little more patience."

"But the scent of your blood makes me feel better."

"Look," he said, holding up his phone. "Jas sent a message that he's on his way back."

"Aww, don't want to be my pin cushion?"

I pouted, moving closer to him. Roman, being the slave to his desire that he was, smoothed his hands over my body. He huffed, frustrated but still amused, as he tilted his head to one side. I shifted the long strands of black away from his shoulders and lowered to his neck, searching for a vein. Roman groaned as I bit him. I drank until I heard a huff. Jasper flopped to the bed next to us, complaining that unconscious bodies were heavy.

Moving off Roman, I fed on the woman until I felt full, their only requirement for this meal. Feeling sated, I laid back on the bed and waited until my sinful boys were finished. Roman pulled his pants on and lifted the woman over his shoulder.

"You need to hit the weights," he grumbled at Jasper.

Jas gave him a vague shrug, trying to ignore Roman by looking at his phone. It was pointless. Roman was right, and I knew that I'd have to improve my skills as well.

Jasper was leaning against the headboard with several pillows behind him, looking as if he had settled in for the evening. I wanted to do everything but laze around in bed all night.

Shifting between his gaze and the phone, I smiled at Jas.

"Uh, hey, Dani. I see you've found your clarity."

"Full stomach usually does that. Will it always be like that?"

"Maintain a pattern, and you can avoid it. Knowing the signs and dealing with the problem before it gets too bad will also help. Learn fast because you can't be crawling the streets looking for a random rat to pass you by, which is what you will be doing if you don't."

"Charming."

Jasper stared at me as a deep smile formed.

"Got something on your mind?"

"Yeah. Do you have a burner phone?"

"Yes, we have burner phones. What are you planning?"

"The next phase of my revenge."

"Hell hath no fury."

I grinned, snuggling into Jasper. The phone was dumped in favour of wrapping his arms around me. As I enjoyed the warmth of his embrace and the tenderness of his touch, I wondered how long we'd be like this. Would it turn into a sea of familiarity and contentment? Or would what we have begin to fade as we fell into a dull world? I'd lived a normal life. I was the woman who fitted into the perfect wife mould. I didn't want to be her again. I didn't want to go back to complacency.

"He messed with the wrong woman."

Shifting, I faced Jasper.

"How long have you and Roman been friends?"

Jas narrowed his eyes at me when I air-quoted friends.

"Over thirty years."

"Wow," I murmured. "Is it still as fun as it was in the beginning?"

"Worried that it will get boring?"

Warily, I nodded. I didn't want to walk away from Jas. Roman was growing on me, and I knew it wouldn't take long for me to become attached to him, either.

"There is a bonus to this life, and it is this eternal beauty." He said, gesturing to his face. "Because we don't age, we almost always attract the same age group. We get older, but those we hunt don't. Of course, that doesn't mean to say that the other age brackets aren't stalking the streets for a bit of toy-boy action. There's an imbalance between those who want to party into the early hours and those who want to be at home. Personally, I'm with the latter, and I can tell that you, my little spring chicken, are with the former. It won't get boring because you'll figure out what you want with this life, just like I did. As for us being here, it's a given, just like you."

"What do you mean?"

"We talked about this happening for a long time. It wasn't a rash decision to bring you into this world or even tell you about it. Noah kind of forced the situation, but if he hadn't, it might have taken this anxious soul a few more months to say something."

"You always flirted, though."

"Yeah, but you never really took a bite, did you? You'd giggle and smile, wave me off, or taunt me with a hug."

He shrugged, gazing down at the hem of his shirt.

"I thought you were just,"

"Trying to avoid crossing the line?"

I nodded.

"It doesn't matter now. Nothing really changes around here. We might move if it's necessary, but that hasn't happened in the entire time I've known Roman. He talks about moving to the other side of the city. Apparently, we're too close to his siblings."

Jasper grinned.

"He hates them."

"At least he has siblings," I muttered.

"We are the members of the only child club. Anyway, what's the next phase of your plan? What will this new Dani do? Will she take down just her ex-husband, or will she go as far as the women who attended her birthday dinner, knowing exactly what they did with her husband?"

"It does sound tempting. Can we get close to either of them?"

"Yes."

I lifted up to see Roman at the top of the stairs. With a flick of his head, he urged me to follow. Pulling on my gym shorts, I searched for the top but couldn't find it.

"Where's my top?"

"Probably wherever Roman threw it. Didn't he say something about banning all forms of shirts from now on?"

"Yeah, sounds deviously dirty, so it must be true."

Roman complained that we were talking too much and not doing what we should be. So, I grabbed the only thing I could find—Roman's shirt. As I scampered down the stairs, I began rolling up the sleeves.

At the breakfast counter, Roman had a computer waiting for me.

A scowl was directed at me when I tied up the shirt, taking away his view. The man was a slave to his desires, and I knew how to make him weak. All I needed to do was open my shirt, and I had a compliant man ready to give me whatever I wanted.

"You are no fun."

"Pretty sure you're wrong about that. What's this?"

"Surveillance and intel we collect."

"We?"

"There's a few of us around that like to keep tabs on the hunters. Call it self-preservation."

Opening a folder named Guild Girls, Roman searched through the subfolders until he found Bella. Inside the folder were a lot of photos and a document which Roman let me read.

"Isabella Harvey has been extremely busy interviewing potential candidates for the role of husband, but that's not anything new for any of them. In fact, it's fast becoming normal to avoid marriage altogether and just continue the single status because clearly, they enjoy the perks of easy dating and physical fun. I'm sure it won't last long, and Otis will clamp down on it, but for now, this is how it is."

Moving back to the main folder, I searched for Marnie. She lived on the other side of town but worked in the law firm which was on this side.

"So, this is how I see it. Bella will be easy to take down. She has no clue about personal safety and struts around like she's infallible."

"Are you sure she's not training with the guild?"

"Otis would never allow it. This is an extremely sexist situation where there are clear lines that are defined and do not bend. Her duty in this life is like the other women associated with the hunting guild. They find a husband, give him lots of children, and maintain the house while he's off hunting vampires. All you need to do is wait for her to leave work one afternoon and take her down. Marnie's pretty much the same, though she seems to be a little more switched on. The only way you'll know is if you start this, but understand once you take that first step, your time will be limited. It won't take much for Noah to figure out that someone is hunting guild girls. I'd suggest that you take them down in one night and if you want to divert attention away from yourself, then I'd also suggest you take down a third."

Roman took control of the laptop, moving back to the main folder. Only three were in this section—management, guild girls and hunters.

"The two who were with your ex are in the hunter folder. Being friends with them seems to be the most plausible reason to explain how Noah could get into the retreat without actually being a hunter."

"Befriends one or more hunters and gets invited."

"Yep. So, we're happy to take down any hunter, but you'll find it vastly more difficult. Noah would have already begun his physical training in preparation for the trials, but he hasn't had field training as far as we can tell. Has he taken an interest in the gym?"

"Well, he always went to the gym after work, and he was well-toned, so I never thought much of it."

"There is a chance that you can take him down easily, but the other two, maybe not."

"So, you're saying this has to be a battle of wits?"

Roman smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"How come you have all this information but never do anything about it?"

"The policy of vampires who created this system is that we only engage when threatened. Actively chasing them will only lead to issues, so they have said that we should fly low and avoid getting too close to a hunter."

"Will I cause problems?"

"Well, I'd say yes, but knowing Otis and how cold and calculating he can be, he'd blame Noah for it and move on. I mean, there will be retribution but it won't be a war. They'll just carry on hunting vampires like an ordinary night. I think you'll find that Otis, being the intelligent man he is, has probably predicted that if you didn't die, you'd lash out. You'll figure out which way he's leaning if you see him on the street in the daytime. No Otis means he's retreating to the shadows to let this mini-war pass him by."

"And if he's on the street during the day?"

Roman gave me a grim look as he picked up a flash drive.

"Run. Pray that he didn't see you. Find a new town to live in. Take your pick, or better yet, do all three. Do it fast because Otis didn't get to be regional director because he knew the right people."

Plugging the flash drive in, Roman shifted the laptop closer to us and opened the folder.

"All of this depends on Otis seeing you. Trashing the house won't mean much to them, not if they think you're dead."

"Yeah, but I scratched wife killer onto the wall."

A huff of amusement escaped as he shook his head.

"Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens."

Roman was clearly looking for something in the folders. He flicked through the images but not to ogle them. The ones without anything interesting in them were ignored in favour of the ones with books or pieces of paper.

"What are you looking for?"

"Information. Why do you want the burner phone?"

"I know the bank login details."

Pausing from his search, Roman turned to me.

"If you're planning on cleaning out his accounts, you will need to be prepared. Set up an offshore account in one of those lovely little countries that guarantee anonymity. Take the phone somewhere far away from here and then do the transfer. Use a VPN and clear the phone before you dump it. Don't leave anything to chance because you'll only get one crack at it. You'll need to be fast because it's guaranteed that he'll get an alert."

Dragging a pen and notepad closer, I began listing what I needed to do, what accounts I had to set up, and the order of things once I started the process.

My plans for revenge were starting to form. As I looked at the list, I thought about Bella and Marnie. They were dead. Not just because they screwed my husband but because they sat at the table and pretended they were my friend. They lied to my face and didn't care. I didn't like being treated like a fool, and I could only hope that I was the last thing they saw before death.