Blood Dream Read online

  Blood dream

  Tainted Bloodlines

  Book Two

  Tobi Grim

  Blood Dream Copyright © 2017 by Tobi Grim. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Clarise Tan

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Tobi Grim

  https://tobigrim.wixsite.com/tobigrim

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: March 2018

  CONTENTS

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter ten

  Chapter eleven

  Chapter twelve

  Chapter thirteen

  Chapter fourteen

  Chapter fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter seventeen

  Chapter eighteen

  Chapter nineteen

  Chapter twenty

  Chapter twenty-one

  Chapter twenty-two

  Chapter twenty-three

  Chapter one

  “And you must rest…”

  Lupa lay on her couch looking at the wall with the lightning scorch marks on it. She really needed to paint over it. And now that she had received a forty grand bonus for taking down the wolfblood nest, and the plot to kill her adoptive mother, she had some money to spare on painting her apartment.

  Sighing, she pulled a smoke off the table and lit it. Painting seemed like such a… boring thing to be doing after all the crazy shit that had been going on in her life the past few weeks. But she needed to do it. One, because if her landlord saw it he would probably crack the shits, and two, if Slasher saw it she would start probing her as to how it happened. And she couldn’t exactly tell her it was because she had taken the drug Gift, that had boosted her power, oh and while she was on it that she had found out the drug dealer’s main muscle was a half witch half wolfblood just like her.

  Lupa sat up and rubbed her head. Yeah, if Slasher found that out, there was no telling what she’d do. She had already asked her to stay away from Sledge, but Lupa didn’t want to. Not that she had heard from him. How long had it been since he'd kissed her? A week? She wondered if maybe she should call him… but then… probably not. He’d call her when he was ready. At least that’s what she hoped.

  Fuck this. She needed to stop laying around the house thinking about Sledge, and what the fuck him kissing her meant. She was going to get dressed and go to the shops, and that was that. She stood up and looked at her worn out couch… maybe she should spend some money on getting a new one…

  Walking into her room, she pulled on her black denim shorts and her red hoodie. She brushed her dark, shoulder length hair, and ruffled her bangs. Good enough. She sat on the couch in her room and pulled on her boots, grabbed her bag and headed out.

  As Lupa opened the front door of the building she saw Sledge leaning against his car smoking, looking as surprised to see her as she was to see him. “Hey… waiting for me?”

  Lupa bit her lip, hoping that his boss, Hammer, hadn’t sent him. Hammer still hadn’t told her what she owed him for helping her avenge her dead best friend. And she really didn’t want to find out today.

  “Thinkin’ about callin’ you up,” Sledge replied, putting his head down so that his long, black hair hid his expression, “Aint sure if I was gonna though. Comin’ here so I dun bein’ able to chicken out.”

  Lupa crossed the road and stopped a few steps away from him, looking up at his face, trying to see something to reassure her… “Well, I caught you now, what’s up?”

  Sledge pushed the hair out of his face and looked over her head, a fairly easy thing to do considering his height. She wondered whether maybe he wanted to forget about kissing her… “Where you goin’?” was all he said.

  Lupa sighed. “I was going to go do some shopping. I got paid for the nest, I need to paint that wall… and I might get a new couch. Pretty fucking boring shit.”

  Sledge grunted and flicked his smoke on to the road. “Wantin’ some help?”

  Well, why the fuck not, if it meant he might talk to her, she wasn’t going to turn down the offer. Besides, having someone to help her might be good idea. She smiled up at him and nodded. He didn’t meet her eyes, just turned and opened the door of his big, black muscle car for her. She hopped in and waited as he jumped in next to her and headed off. Still not looking at her.

  “Where you thinkin’?” he asked as he drove down her street.

  “Hardware store first?”

  He grunted in response and turned the car down towards the highway, heading for Ravenfells on the other side of Black City. Lupa peered over at Sledge, his eyes were glued to the road. She rolled her own and lit a smoke, offering one to him and lighting it as he accepted.

  “Wanna talk about why you kissed me?” Lupa blurted out. Shit.

  Sledge snorted and coughed. Lupa kept her eyes out the window, aware he was glancing over at her. She’d already fucked it up. She should have just kept her damn mouth shut and waited ‘til he was ready to talk about it himself. Fuck.

  “Aint thinkin’ you…” Sledge cleared his throat as he took the exit off the highway to get to Ravenfells, “Aint sure you dun wantin’ to think about that.” He closed his jaw with a snap. She stole a glance at him, then looked away before he could catch her.

  “Why not?”

  Sledge pulled the car into the parking lot of a massive hardware store and killed the engine. Still not fucking looking at her, but not getting out to avoid her question. “Aint thinkin’ a pretty girl like you dun likin’ a thug like me kissin’ her.” He glanced over to her and shifted his gaze away quickly again.

  “Aint so bad,” she said in a joking tone, hoping to snap him out of his awkwardness, “After all, aint every day a girl gets a kiss from a hybrid.”

  She grinned at him, hoping it worked. He gave her a half smile and got out of the car, opening the door for her. Shit. She probably should have given him a serious answer. But… she wasn’t actually sure how she felt about it. Should have kept her fucking mouth shut in the first place. Dammit.

  Lupa followed Sledge into the store, noticing people gawking at them. Or more so, staring at him. He was a big guy, he was bound to get noticed. Tall, broad, tattooed, muscular… she blushed and looked at her feet.

  “Where’s the paint… spot?” Lupa asked as they stopped to peer down the aisles.

  “Aint knowin’. Dun come out here shoppin’ on a regular basis.”

  Lupa searched with her eyes for a shop attendant, spotting one she walked over to him. “Where’s the paint?” she asked.

  The pimply teen looked down at her and rolled his eyes. “Number five.”

  Lupa stuck her tongue out at him childishly and stalked back to Sledge and pointed at the row they needed to go down. Hundreds of paint colours assaulted Lupa from the shelves. She looked at them, her eyes wide in horror. What the fuck did these names even mean? Duck egg white? Flamingo leg pink? Fuck.

  “How the fuck am I supposed to even choose… these names are fucking stupid.”

  Lupa glared at the paint samples. Sledge shrugged and stood next to her. She w
ondered if he was trying to make sense of them too. Or maybe she was just a moron.

  “Oh my! What an adorable couple!” They turned to see a busty woman with bright pink hair waddle over to them, “My dear, you are tiny, how do things work in the bedroom?” The woman giggled. Lupa seriously considered punching her in the tit. She felt Sledge stiffen and look away. “Dears, no need to be shy, I am here to help you choose the perrrrfect colour. What do you want?”

  Lupa crossed her arms. “Paint.”

  The woman laughed again, patting her on the shoulder, not taking notice of Lupa’s glaring eyes. “What colour is your furniture, dear? Do you get much light? Tell me everything!”

  “I’m a Hunter and I don’t give a fuck about those sorts of things. I just want… something nice. Plain. You got black?”

  The woman’s whole demeanour changed when she heard Lupa say she was a Hunter, a serious look replaced the smile. “Of course, dear, I think I can help you. How about this dark grey colour?” Grey… Lupa pursed her lips. No fucking thank you. She shook her head. “What about this eggplant?”

  Lupa nodded. It just looked like dark purple to her, reminded her a little of the halls of headquarters. Maybe a bit darker. It would do, she wanted to get away from this bizarre woman. The lady fetched her two paint cans and two paint brushes, handing them to Sledge, then she bowed silently to Lupa and left.

  “Aint knowin’ people dun need to bow to you.” Sledge said as they made their way to the check outs.

  “They don’t. Only stupid people do it. Or people who think we are watching them, or someone near them. I dunno. Not many people do it though.” She paid for the paint and followed Sledge to his car. He put the cans in the boot and closed it.

  “There bein’ a furniture shop just up there, wantin’ to walk up to it?”

  Lupa nodded and they headed for the place he had pointed to. Lupa lit a smoke and looked at the ground while they walked. It felt… strange, doing normal things… well, she supposed they were normal. She had never shopped for furniture or paint before, not since she was a kid following Slasher around. All the stuff in her apartment was either second hand or a gift from her adoptive mother. She flicked her smoke out as they neared the door. This was fucking terrifying… she stepped closer to Sledge, eyeing off all the people… the colours… the chaos she didn’t understand.

  “Over there,” Sledge pointed to the huge sign saying ‘living room’ and strode over to it, forcing Lupa to trot to keep up with him.

  She looked at all the couches. She had no idea. “What about this one?” she pointed to a black two seater.

  Sledge crumpled up his face, “Lookin’ mighty small…”

  Good point. She pointed to a bigger one and looked at him. He walked over to it and sat down. She sat next to him. “Feels comfortable enough. What do you reckon?”

  Sledge grunted. The affirmative sounding grunt. Good. It was done. She wanted to get the fuck out of there. She saw a brightly dressed man crossing over to them, a huge fake smile plastered on his face.

  “Hello, may I help you?”

  His eyes were looking them up and down. She with her tattooed legs exposed, her dark make up and a sour look on her face, Sledge who was dressed in black jeans and a tight black shirt, looking like he could murder everyone in the store. She supposed the guy wondered if they were going to rob the store or beat him up. Or both.

  “I want this one. Do you deliver?” Lupa said, crossing her legs and returning the fake smile.

  “This one is very expensive-”

  “You thinkin’ she can’t pay?”

  “Oh no sir, I do apologise, I wasn’t trying to insult anyone. Yes, we deliver, come with me.” The man looked like he was going to piss himself as Sledge stood up, at least a foot and a half taller than the poor salesman. Lupa smiled and got up too, following the man to the front desk.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Lupa and Sledge sat smoking on the inside stairs of her building with the front door open, waiting for the delivery people to show up. Sledge was still being odd with her, but she couldn’t blame him. She glanced over at him but he appeared to be lost in thought.

  “Miss Greenstone?”

  Lupa looked up to see a young man standing there. “Uh huh?”

  “I have your delivery, can you please sign here?”

  Lupa signed the paperwork as two men carrying her huge lounge started trying to get through the door. Walking upstairs she opened her apartment up, Sledge watching the men struggling with a vague amused smile on his face. She got them to put the couch near the bench of her kitchen, she still needed to get rid of the old one… and paint.

  The men looked at the black lightning marks running up the wall and then to her. With a quick glance to each other, they got out of there quick fucking smart. She heard Sledge shut the downstairs door behind them and come back up to her place, closing the door behind him.

  “Drink?”

  A grunt. Fuck. Lupa knew she should have kept her damn mouth shut. She grabbed a bottle of scotch and two glasses, sitting on the new couch, pouring them each a drink and putting the bottle on the floor by her feet. Leaning back, noting the couch was actually really comfortable. Much better than her old one.

  “Sorry about before,” she said, downing her drink in one mouthful and refilling her glass. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just should have kept my mouth shut.”

  Sledge finished his drink and took the bottle from her, filling his own glass back up. “Aint your fault. Shoulda been knowin’ you’d wanna know why I dun… do that and run off like a chicken shit.”

  Lupa didn’t look at him, she didn’t want to make him feel more awkward than he probably already did. She took another drink and waited patiently. If he wanted her to know, he’d tell her, if not, she was happy to just sit here with him. The only other hybrid she had ever met.

  “I aint meanin’ to fuck things up. Wanna just forget it?”

  No. She didn’t really, but if that’s what he wanted. She shrugged, finishing her drink and pouring another. “If you like. Wanna help me paint?”

  Sledge looked at her, his eyes finally meeting hers. She felt her stomach do a silly little hop and hated it for it. He was her friend. She didn’t want her body to react like that to him. Fucking hell, she felt like an idiot.

  “A’right.” He finished his drink and she filled his glass again. “Gonna be doin’ drunk paintin’, ey?”

  Lupa laughed. “Why the hell not? Though I better get out of these clothes…”

  She walked into her room, taking off her shorts and jumper, pulling an old t-shirt on that was big enough to look like a dress, and coming back out to the lounge room. She poured them both another drink and started opening the paint tins.

  “Wantin’ me to move the stuff away from the wall?”

  Sledge didn’t look down at her as she nodded. Maybe because she was just in a shirt and underwear, or maybe because he was still feeling awkward, she couldn’t tell. Not that it mattered, the alcohol was starting to make her feel better. Make her feel carefree. A little anyway.

  She could hear him moving the old couch, her coffee table and her small book shelf away from the wall so that they had more room to move around and paint. Fuck, this still felt strange, what an odd thing to be doing.

  “Wantin’ me to put somethin’ on the floor?”

  Lupa frowned. She didn’t think she had anything. “Umm… I’ll see if I can find an old towel or something.” She went back into her room and through to the bathroom, grabbing a towel and coming back out to lay it on the floor. “Reckon that’ll do?”

  He looked at it and laughed. “Well, least you gonna have one spot protected.”

  She grinned. “Ok, ok, I didn’t think this through. It doesn’t matter if a bit gets on the floor, come on, let’s start painting over this.” Laughing she waved her hand at the wall.

  She went back and grabbed the tins and brushes, turning around to see Sledge taking off his shirt and throwing
it on the old worn couch. She hadn’t seen him without a shirt on. Deep scars on his sides, a large detailed tattoo across his broad muscular back… his strong arms… She blushed as he glanced up from the floor at her, catching her staring. She put a paint tin down and didn’t look at him.

  They painted the wall in silence for as long as Lupa could stand. Then she switched her stereo on and grabbed the bottle of scotch, no longer bothering with a glass. Taking a long swig, she then handed the bottle to Sledge, he took a pull and put it on her messy coffee table.

  By the time they finished painting over the black lightning scorch marks, Lupa was thoroughly drunk. “Looks good!” she announced, standing back to admire the wall.

  “Lookin’ even better once you gettin’ rid of that thing.” he responded, pointing to her old couch.

  She laughed looking over to him. Fuck he looked good… paint splattered his chest, she desperately wanted to wipe it off him… probably not a good idea. She felt her body warming, was he standing closer than before? Had she moved or him? She peered up into his eyes, he was looking at her with hunger…

  “Thinkin’ I should probably go…” he breathed, stepping closer to her.

  “Yeah? Maybe…” she took a step closer to him, their bodies almost touching.

  Her breath was coming in short, her heart was racing in her chest. She should move away, didn’t think this should be happening. She didn’t know why but… it seemed different to just a hook up. And she didn’t like different… she couldn’t handle different…

  “Thinkin’ you wantin’ me to leave,” Sledge said, his eyes boring into her. “Aint thinkin’…”

  “Yeah?”

  He put his rough hands on her face, searching her eyes for an answer. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but guessed he must have found it as he leaned down to kiss her. His kiss was hard and passionate, her arms wrapped around his tattooed neck, her fingers in his hair as he grabbed her ass and lifted her against him, his fingers digging into her legs. This kiss felt like it could last forever, it was consuming her, and she wanted to let it.