Free Everlasting Kiss by Amanda Ashley

promise.
    He took a seat on the other end of the sofa. “Relax, Daisy. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    She snorted softly. “Uh-huh. Everyone who believes that, raise your hand.”
    Erik shook his head. “You’re right, I’m up to no good. I only ordered the pizza to fatten you up for later.”
    He swore as her heartbeat slammed into overdrive. “I’m kidding. Dammit, I’m not going to hurt you.” He took a deep breath. “So, what’s the going rate for vampire blood these days?”
    “Two hundred dollars an ounce if it’s from a young vampire. Three hundred if the vampire is over a hundred years old.” She canted her head to the side. “How old are you?”
    “Old enough that you could probably get five or six hundred.”
    “Really? It doesn’t matter, though. I only hunt the young ones. Less dangerous that way, you know. But still lucrative.”
    “How do you know how old they are?”
    Daisy folded her hands in her lap. Her father had a list of the names and descriptions of all known vampires and their last known lair. It helped her to avoid the old ones, but she couldn’t tell Erik that. The list was a family secret. She wondered why he wasn’t on it.
    “I’ll have to remember to hunt the old ones if I’m ever strapped for cash,” he muttered dryly. “On the other hand, I guess vampires could start selling their own blood and put your kind out of business. How’d you get into your line of work? It really doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a pretty young girl would find fulfilling.”
    “It runs in the family. My father works out of New Orleans. There are a lot of young vampires there.” Her brothers were hunters, too. Brandon trafficked in blood; Alex preferred to take heads, but that, too, was information Erik didn’t need to know.
    Erik snorted softly. And they called his kind monsters. Sure, he preyed on mortals, but for survival, not profit.
    Daisy clasped her hands in her lap. She hadn’t intended to tell him anything about her family, so why had she? Had he worked some sort of vampire magic on her? She was no closer to the answer when the doorbell rang.
    The vampire rose fluidly to his feet. “Not a word,” he warned. “Or I won’t be responsible for what happens to the young man outside.”
    Daisy bit down on her lower lip as Erik opened the door and paid for the pizza. It was all she could do not to cry out for help, but the thought of being responsible for the delivery boy’s death kept her mute.
    Erik put the pizza box, the soda, and the salad container on the coffee table. “Might as well dig in. It’s the only food in the house.”
    “Are you just going to stand there and watch me?”
    He shrugged, then wrinkled his nose against the strong smell of garlic, pepperoni, and tomato sauce. Although garlic didn’t repel him, he found the odor decidedly unpleasant.
    “I’ll take a walk while you eat,” he muttered. “Enjoy your meal.”
    Daisy watched him leave the house. She waited a few minutes, then went to try the front door, hoping against hope that whatever magick he had used to secure the door had lapsed when he opened it. But luck was against her. The damn door refused to open.
    With a wordless cry of frustration, she picked up the pizza box and hurled it against the door. It made a satisfying smack as it struck the wood. The lid flew open, raining cheese-filled crust, pepperoni, and tomato sauce over the carpet in a gooey mess.
    She stared at it in horror for a minute, then shrugged. If he wanted to keep her here as his prisoner, then he could just clean up after her.
    Sitting on the sofa, she nibbled at the salad, drank half the Coke, then threw the remains of the salad and the drink against the door. The green lettuce made a nice contrast to the red sauce and yellow cheese.
    Fear rose in the midst of defiance as she stared at the mess she had made on the floor. And then she stiffened her spine. No matter what Erik said to the contrary, she knew he was going to kill