Chapter Text
Summer was cold, and empty, and dead. A bleak Baal all swallowed by dark, the water closed over Summer’s head as though she’d never been at all. She’d been so warm half an hour ago, in Charlotte’s arms, but had begun to shiver as Charlotte drank, and drank, and drank, until she couldn’t stop and the girl was grey. Charlotte ate girls like winter eats flowers, suffocating them with herself, bleeding them near dry and ready to bloom again with spring. Even by vampire standards, Charlotte was old; she knew how to stop, when to stop, and exactly what she wanted. Most of the time; Summer was a casualty of both Charlotte’s mercurial anima and a wild lack of restraint brought on by hunger, a rare lapse in control.
“You gotta stop starving yourself for the sake of us, Charlie,” Sasha cooed, brushing Charlotte’s hair out of her face and flashing her fangs in a smirk as Charlotte shied away from her. “You need to feed more often and shit like this won’t happen. Fuck what people think.”
“You know we have to be more careful,” Charlotte snarled, turning on Sasha so quickly she immediately backed down, tossing her violet curls out of her face.
“I’m sorry,” Sasha huffed quietly as they walked back to Charlotte’s car. Charlotte walked with her usual swagger, her hair now silver, now gold in the insubstantial evening glow. Sasha studied her as she turned slightly as though to look back at the river before thinking better of it and pausing in profile, her silhouette cut effulgent in the moonlight. She didn’t look like a woman who had just murdered somebody, but then again, Sasha supposed it wasn’t murder. Not really. Prey was born to die. And Charlotte? That was a woman Sasha would argue the whole world had been born to die for. She was tall, golden, with eyes as unreadable as the grand veldt of the sky. She was a constellation of moments; hundreds of years strung together like fairy lights and twisted into woman, as historical and vital as the stories written by the stars. The kind of woman who’d wear a Balmain evening gown to dispose of a body was the kind of woman who deserved to kill. She’d earned it.
“Don’t apologise if you don’t mean it, darling,” Charlotte said, opening the car door for Sasha. “Insincerity doesn’t look good on you.”
“I just think you’re worrying more than you need to,” Sasha said tentatively as Charlotte got into the driver’s seat. “It’s not the nineties anymore.”
“That doesn’t make it safe,” Charlotte replied, pulling out of the clearing by the water and onto the road. “An open secret never did anybody any favours.”
Sasha didn’t respond, watching the trees peel past in dark flashes of green as they drove, the horizon beginning to pale. Sasha knew Charlotte was right, and yet the niggling knowledge that they could be so much more if they were unafraid gnawed at the back of her mind, insistent as toothache. Vampirism was never exactly a well kept secret anyway; in the early nineties, it all came out. Vampires weren’t just stories, but they weren’t exactly baby-eating demons either. They were just people. More powerful, more beautiful, more dependant on blood than most people, but still people all the same. The years had slid by and dragged change with them; vampires were out in society, and to nobody’s surprise, had mainly been hiding in plain sight in the nightlife businesses. There was a movement to shift vampires to animal blood that had been incredibly successful, largely in part to the shame and ostracisation, as well as litigation, enforced upon those who still drank from humans. Hell, there were even “vegan vamps” now; advances in synthesising blood had gone far enough that they could get by on the fake stuff alone. But that was half a life. Any blood other than human will keep a vampire “alive”, but they won’t be as fast, or as strong; Sasha remembered Charlotte explaining to her that it was like choosing to be human again, just with all the downsides that come with vampirism and none of the benefits. Sasha supposed that was better than starving, but thanks to Charlotte, she’d never experienced anything even remotely close to a deficit of blood. Charlotte took care of her girls, no matter what, and she wouldn’t have them eat anything less than the real thing.
“You’ve gotta be strong,” Charlotte would tell them whenever they mused on how it might be easier to survive and drink animal blood rather than constantly moving from town to town to avoid racking up a noticeable death toll. “I didn’t turn you so you could live a half life.”
Thus far, the city had been good to them. Charlotte’s business flourished, money flowed free and easily, debauchery was as common as pigeons. Not only that, but Charlotte had tapped into that subset of the human population who wanted to be fed on, girls who would come and warm her bed and fill her up with themselves, sleep off the blood loss, then go home. Charlotte’s girls always had plenty to eat, even if she had to go without to ensure there was enough to go round. They killed only when necessary, or in this case, accidentally.
“Hey Charlotte?” Sasha asked cautiously, sitting up in her seat. Charlotte did not look over, but she raised her eyebrow in acknowledgment, eyes on the road. “I’m hungry.”
“We’ll get you something on the way home,” Charlotte replied tonelessly, flicking the tip of her tongue across her fangs as she avoided looking at Sasha. “We’ll stop by Alexa’s place. She’s always got something available.”
Sasha nodded, smug at getting her way; too often, Charlotte told her to wait until they got home, fearing that she might leave a trail back to their hideout. Sasha didn’t see the big deal; Charlotte wasn’t exactly the kind of vampire queen you expected to find in a drag bar, but she respected Charlotte’s desire to keep her business safe and vamp friendly -which meant no cops- and obeyed her rules grudgingly. The bar was pretty unassuming, as far as any location full of drag queens could be; they hadn’t been rumbled yet. Sasha settled back in her seat and crossed her legs; a trip to Alexa’s place was always fun. Especially with Charlotte, who had been in love with Alexa until she wasn’t anymore. It was complicated, especially considering Charlotte had turned Alexa in the first place, and Sasha never tired of the watching the two women try to navigate the angry sexual tension that still sparked and glittered between them. Sasha kicked her feet up onto the dashboard, smirking to herself a little as she noticed Charlotte’s irritation. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something told her tonight was about to get a lot more interesting.
The chandeliers swayed threateningly as Charlotte slammed the door open, stalking across the threshold to the reception desk with cold determination. Sasha followed, looking around at the way the people in the lobby parted for them with a self-satisfied smile.
“Sasha,” the petite blonde behind the desk greeted them, raising a perfectly arched brow. “You look like the cat that got the cream as usual. Charlotte, you look more your age every time I lay eyes on you.”
“And yet you still say my name at night no matter who’s between your sheets,” Charlotte sneered coolly, looking Alexa up and down with such aggressive disdain that Sasha found herself shivering pleasantly beside her. Alexa was momentarily silenced. “What do you have?”
“For you? Nothing,” Alexa snapped, slamming the logbook on the countertop closed. Charlotte’s jab about Alexa’s lingering attraction to her had clearly hurt.
“Please Alexa,” Sasha whined, leaning over the desk. “I’m hungry.”
Alexa’s piercingly blue eyes narrowed as she flicked her gaze between Charlotte and Sasha with careful consideration. She bit her lip, flashing the barest glimpse of the fangs Charlotte gave her, and sighed.
“Alright. But you take what I give you, and she-“ Alexa jerked her head in Charlotte’s direction without looking at her. “Gets nothing.”
“I’ve just fed,” Charlotte said coldly. “I don’t need anything.”
Alexa ignored her, taking a set of keys from the hooks behind her and leading them off down a long corridor. Sasha glanced at Charlotte, searching for a reaction in her peerless, aristocratic face. They passed rooms where screams could be heard, the hallway reverberating with moans, some rooms that were dead quiet but clearly occupied, and rooms that stood empty and cold. No matter what noise crept from beneath the doors lining the corridor, Charlotte’s mask did not flicker, and she remained steely and expressionless. As they finally reached a room, and Alexa began to unlock the door, Charlotte tapped Sasha’s shoulder.
“I’ll sit in the bar until you’re done,” Charlotte told her, turning on her heel and striding away before Alexa had the chance to tell her she wasn’t supposed to be in her establishment at all.
Charlotte sat at the end of the bar with a sigh, and beckoned over the bartender without looking up.
“Cheer up love, might never happen,” the bartender said, the smile in her voice apparent even through the throaty Irish lilt that coloured her words. Charlotte finally looked up, and was instantly floored; it’d been a while since that had happened. A human, with brilliant vermillion hair, eyes the colour of secrets and the loveliest face Charlotte had ever seen.
“Yeah, the hair catches folk off guard at first so it does,” the bartender continued, taking Charlotte’s expression for shock. “What can I get ya?”
“What do you have?” Charlotte purred in response, leaning in, careful to afford the bartender a generous view of her cleavage, and a glimpse of her fangs. The bartender looked unfazed, but Charlotte could hear the barest hum of her heart rate picking up, her blood rushing a little faster. No matter how cool you play it, you’re interested, Charlotte thought to herself, shaking her golden mane out of her face with satisfaction.
“I’m not one of Alexa’s girls, if that’s what you mean,” the bartender said. “I don’t do the whole being drank from thing, I’m just here to work the bar.”
“What’s your name?” Charlotte asked, as though the bartender hadn’t spoken.
“Becky,” Becky replied, a bemused smile playing about the corners of her mouth. She’d met many a vampire in her tenure as bartender at Alexa’s hotel, but none had been quite so intense as this towering blonde with eyes like an angry sea. None had been quite so thirsty either, in every sense of the word; Becky could see the way Charlotte leaned toward her, but she hadn’t missed her fangs either, glinting sharply as they punctuated her sentences.
“I want you,” Charlotte said directly. “But let’s start with some drinks. Pour two of whatever you usually have, and take your break.”
Becky studied Charlotte for a long moment; she could tell she wasn’t being glamoured, but she wanted to obey her anyway, and that felt unnatural. Bowing to any authority had never been her thing, but the commanding note in Charlotte’s voice was scintillating, irresistibly compelling.
“Naomi,” Becky yelled at a beautiful dark-haired woman sitting down the other end of the bar. “I wanna take my break. Can you pick up for a bit?”
Naomi nodded and moved behind the bar as Becky busied herself pouring two whiskies. She placed the glass before Charlotte with a decisive thud, and moved round the bar to come sit beside her.
“So,” Becky said, running her fingertip across the rim of her glass. “I need to know what I’m gonna be screamin’ later, judging by how confident you seem to be in your assumption that you’re takin’ me home with you.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow; a spitfire. She liked that. And she was direct too. Saved a lot of time.
“Cutting right to the chase?” Charlotte mused, running the tip of her tongue across her fangs contemplatively. “You’re brave. Aren’t you scared I’ll eat a sweet little thing like you all up?”
“That’s what I’m hopin’ for,” Becky shot back, cocking her head a little as she studied Charlotte sipping her whisky. “No point wastin’ words.”
“When do you finish?” Charlotte asked.
“An hour.”
“Come back with me,” Charlotte instructed, downing the rest of her whisky in one.
“Have you fallen for me?” Becky teased, her eyes sparkling. “I’ll come back with you. Just gotta check in with Alexa first.”
Fuck. Alexa. Of course, Charlotte had forgotten the -quite literally- small obstacle between her and the enchanting Irish woman with blood that smelled like heaven and eyes that promised Charlotte would never, ever forget her.
“You still haven’t told me your name,” Becky reminded her, finishing her drink and meeting Charlotte’s eyes with a composed intensity that made the out of Charlotte’s stomach flutter.
“Charlotte!” Alexa’s bark cut across their cosy conversation like a vein of lightning, leaving the air sizzling in its wake. Her blue eyes blazed, and for a moment, Charlotte missed her. “Get away from her.”
“Charlotte,” Becky tried out Charlotte’s name, rolling it around her mouth like a particularly expensive and delicious chocolate. “Suits you.”
“Speak of the devil, and she shall appear,” Charlotte drawled, standing up to face down Alexa, who did not balk at the attempt at intimidation.
“Becky, we agreed,” Alexa said, refusing to take her eyes off Charlotte. “You’re mine.”
“I agreed to a date, Lexi. I didn’t agree to anythin’ exclusive,” Becky replied, her brows knitting in confusion.
“Wow, you hang around Charlotte for five minutes and you sound just like her,” Alexa replied with a sarcastic smile. Becky merely looked lost, Alexa’s barbed remark falling flat in the face of Becky’s absolute nonchalance. Charlotte merely observed, running her fingertips across her lips.
“She’s mine,” Alexa repeated, staring Charlotte down. Charlotte hissed softly in response. “She agreed to let me feed, and only me.”
“Thought you weren’t one of Alexa’s girls, Becky?” Charlotte asked, refusing to break eye contact with Alexa.
“I’m not,” Becky said hotly, flushing. “I just... agreed to help her out.”
“We can always share, Lexi,” Charlotte cooed, reaching out to loop her arm around Becky’s waist. She could hear Becky’s pulse jump the moment she made contact, and smiled.
“You know what? Just go and take her with you,” Alexa said witheringly. “I haven’t fed from her yet anyway. You always did like virgins.”
Charlotte could tell she was causing Alexa some distress; perhaps her sweet little Lexi really liked this girl after all. Charlotte didn’t blame her; there was something irresistible and magnetic about Becky’s entire being, something powerful that made Charlotte want her more than she’d ever wanted anything. Before Charlotte could reply, Sasha appeared, looking dazed and giggly.
“Blooddrunk,” Charlotte said with disgust, watching as Sasha struggled to wend her way over to the bar. “Lexi you better go check the girl. She’s had a lot.”
Without a word, Alexa turned on her heel, clearly fuming, and stormed from the bar. With a shrug, Charlotte moved to loop her arm around Sasha, who pressed a bloody kiss to Charlotte’s face, missing her lips as Charlotte smoothly turned away from her embrace.
“If you don’t mind that I have to deal with this idiot first,” Charlotte said, turning to Becky as she smoothly picked Sasha up, carrying her bridal style. “I’d still love to take you home with me.”
“You know what?” Becky said with a smile. “You sound like an adventure. I’m in.”