Heartbeat (Morta Fox Book 1) Read online

  I closed my eyes and waited for sunrise.

  IV

  Exactly like the night before, my brain registered the last ray of sun retiring for the day from this side of the world.

  Another problem. I was inside. Inside the very building I’d shot at the night before. Or morning.

  I tried to think of when I had gone inside, but I was sure I’d done no such thing. Not consciously, anyway. I remembered lying on the asphalt and closing my eyes. And then my brain just stopped working. Unless this was some freaky vampire thing. Bliss. I couldn’t even leave my body in the sun and die.

  The gunshots from the night before echoed through my mind. I’d avoided two bullets without even realizing what the hell I was doing. But it didn’t matter. I was going to find a way to end this misery. I just needed a lot of whiskey. And I smelled my whiskey. Only, I smelled it inside someone else.

  My eyes popped open. The answer to why I was inside was right in front of me.

  It wasn’t a freaky vampire thing. It was just a freaky vampire.

  I jumped to my feet, ready to start running on all fours if I had to. Though scared shitless, my heart hadn’t even picked up the beating, but I was too busy to worry about that.

  “Are you done trying to kill yourself?” he said.

  His voice was as low as mine, as soothing and as velvety as my Lord’s. But he wasn’t my Lord. He was different. And he didn’t have a heartbeat.

  “Who are you?” I asked, my voice strong and steady, despite the fear inside me. His words registered far too late, and I realized that he had seen me. He’d seen me try to kill myself.

  “Someone who doesn’t want to kill himself, that’s for sure.” He chuckled.

  “Who the hell are you?” I said again, and I think I shouted—by vampire standards, that is. My voice was slightly half an octave higher than normal.

  “Easy there, tiger. My name’s Hammer, and I saved your ass.” He stood up from the wooden chair and nodded. My back touched the wall behind me, and I searched for the easiest exit.

  “Who the hell calls himself Hammer?” I asked to buy myself some time until I ran. The problem was that he was a vampire, so he could probably run just as fast as I did.

  “I do. And it’s a fine name. What do you call yourself?” he said, and the next second, he practically materialized right in front of me. The room was completely dark, but I could see him clearly. He was even more beautiful than my Lord. His hair was a warm hazelnut brown and covered half his forehead, his eyes even richer, a cross between amber and whiskey, only more sparkly and more powerful. His nose straight and his mouth small, which made his lips look even fuller than they already were. His skin looked like he spent every day sunbathing.

  “You took my whiskey,” I said instead.

  “I did, and it was delicious. There’s more left.” He walked back at normal speed to the chair he’d been sitting on and brought the almost empty bottle to me.

  I looked at it skeptically. What if he’d poisoned it or something? I flinched. Wasn’t that was I was trying to do? Kill myself?

  Yes. So why run from him?

  Suddenly, the scenario developed in detail in my mind. I pictured myself being killed by this beautiful beast, and I relaxed. Finally.

  “Kill me,” I said.

  He laughed and shook his head.

  “You’re dead set on ending this, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. I don’t want to be a vampire monster. Just…please.” It was hard to say please, harder than I’d thought it would be, but I said it.

  His eyes glowed in confusion as he watched me for a second, and then turned back to his chair.

  “You’re not a vampire,” he said and knocked the air out of me.

  “What? What…w-what…”

  “At least not completely. You have a heartbeat, in case you haven’t noticed.” He pointed at my chest where my heart beat steadily.

  “What do you mean? Is this…what is this?” I said, waving at my body.

  I had a heartbeat, and he didn’t. He didn’t even breathe. I did.

  Anthony’s last words came back to my mind. He’d said your heart before I’d jumped out the window. Was that why he hadn’t even suspected that I was a vampire?

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen someone like you.” He shook his head.

  “But…but I drank a man!” I shouted.

  “Yeah, saw that. It was hilarious.” He grinned.

  “Will you just kill me? Come on! Just kill me and be done with it.”

  “I can't. I need you,” he said.

  “You don’t even know me. How the hell can you need me? Why would you need me? I…” My chin shook though I didn’t think I was capable of feeling cold. It was all too much, and I couldn’t see any way out of it.

  Hammer appeared in front of me, drawing my eyes to his. They glowed even more when he was this close.

  “There, now. Calm down,” he said, and searched my face just as I did his. His fingers almost touched my cheek, but he thought better of it and put his hand down. The corner of his mouth turned up just a bit, together with my stomach. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s sit down and we’ll start with names, okay?” He spoke to me as if I were a child, and I couldn’t find it in me to hate him for it, which in itself was confusing.

  I took the bottle from his hand and stepped to the side.

  “I’ll stand.”

  I drank a mouthful of alcohol. He raised his hands and shrugged.

  “Morta Fox,” I mumbled.

  “Excuse me?” he said, leaning his head forward, as if he really didn’t hear me. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

  “Morta Fox. That’s my name.”

  “Morta?” His brows shot up. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. Can’t we just get on—”

  “Do you know that mort means death?”

  “I guess I’ll have to thank my mother for throwing in that extra a on the end,” I mumbled.

  “In that case, it’s nice to meet you, Morta Fox.” It wasn’t like I felt the same way, so I didn’t say anything about it.

  “Why don’t you have a heartbeat?” I asked.

  “No, the question is, why do you have one?” He pointed at my chest again. “Vampires are dead. They’re not supposed to have beating hearts in their chests. And before you ask, I’ll tell you again that I have no idea why you still have one.” He rubbed his face with his palms.

  “No other vampire has a beating heart?” I said, shivering.

  “Nope, I’ve never met one in the three hundred years I’ve lived.”

  He said it like the number was no big deal. It was. It was a huge deal.

  “So what exactly does that make me?”

  ‘Not a vampire’ was not good enough for me.

  “I just told you, I have no idea.”

  I turned my back to him and inhaled deeply. I knew that that was another thing normal vampires didn't do, because he wasn’t breathing.

  “Look, there’s no need to freak out. I can help you figure this out, and I will. In return for a favor.”

  “What favor?” I said and reluctantly faced him again.

  “It’s a bit…complicated,” he said, flinching.

  “Then simplify it for me,” I hissed.

  “You might want to take it easy before you hurt yourself.” I heard the mock in his voice, and I wanted nothing more than to shout every curse word I knew at him, but I forced my mouth shut and just rolled my eyes.

  He gave me a smile with pressed lips, and in an attempt to avoid his eyes, mine landed on his chest. Even with a shirt on, I could tell his body was completely ripped. He looked strong and even dangerous with his leather boots, leather pants, and a black cotton shirt on.

  “I’m looking for Everard,” he said.

  “You’re looking for my Lord?” I was a bit surprised, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like I knew anything about being a vampire.

  “I’ve traced him all the way here from halfway
around the world, and he escaped right before I could get to him. I’ve been watching that building for three nights before I saw you fly out of it.” He grinned again. “It was actually a pretty good chance for me to hop in unnoticed by the alarm you caused, but when I heard your heartbeat and you stood on your feet again, I knew I had to follow you.”

  “Because of my Lord?” I asked, because I wasn’t sure yet how to feel about the fact that I had been followed without my knowledge for the past two nights.

  “When I got closer to you and smelled his scent all over your skin, I knew he had made you,” he said, and I instinctively put my forearm to my nose and sniffed. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s gone now. It doesn’t last for long.”

  “Do vampires take showers?” I asked when I realized that I was in need of a long one.

  He laughed.

  “Vampires can do whatever they like, as long as it’s out of the sun,” he said, still giggling. “But back to the point. I need you to find Everard.”

  “I have no idea where he is.”

  “Of course you do. He turned you. You’re connected to him. He’ll attract you from wherever he is,” he said.

  “What do you mean, attract me?” How was that even possible?

  Then again, I was a living vampire—with a beating heart, no less—and the fact that I hadn’t had time to even really think about it, didn’t make it any less real.

  He sighed loudly and rested his elbows on his knees. “You don’t know the first thing about vampires,” he mumbled, almost regretfully.

  “Then tell me about it.”

  “Sure. If you give me your word first.” He appeared in front of me.

  “What word?” I took a step back.

  “That you will help me find Everard, and that you’ll stay with me until we do.”

  “And what do I get out of it?”

  “I’ll help you find out what you are.”

  “No,” I said and looked away from his face. Not because I was afraid, but because of his eyes. They sparkled too much, and it was weird.

  “Morta, I really need to find him.”

  “I’ll help you. With a slight adjustment on your part.”

  “Okay. Name it,” he said, grabbing his hips and nodding determinedly.

  “Once you find him, you kill me. You make sure I’m dead.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Again with the killing? Why the hell do you want to kill yourself?” He looked a bit frustrated.

  “Because I don’t want to be a monster.” Wasn’t it obvious?

  “You do realize that I’m a vamp, too,” he said, narrowing his brows as if to say that he was offended. I couldn’t have cared less.

  “Exactly. Which is why you will be able to kill me. I’ve already tried to kill myself three times, and I couldn’t. It doesn’t work.”

  “A vampire can’t kill herself.” Fucking awesome.

  “So, I help you find Everard, and then you kill me. Do we have a deal?” I asked, and put my hand in front of us.

  He looked down at it skeptically and then up at my face, closing his fingers around his chin. His strong forearms looked like steel and freaking pillows.

  “Okay. But you’re promising me. You’re giving an oath,” he said.

  “Oath?”

  “Yes, oath,” he said.

  I sighed. Was I supposed to believe him? What if he was just lying to me?

  “Look, I know we don’t know each other and that you have no reason to believe me,” Hammer said, and I nodded. “But honestly? You don’t really have a choice. There’s next to no vampire around these parts because of the obvious.”

  No humans to feed on. I shivered, because he was right. I had no choice. The sooner I got this over with, the better. So I nodded.

  “Okay. I promise I’ll help you find my Lord and in return, you kill me,” I said.

  “And I promise to kill you as soon as we find Everard,” Hammer said and shook my hand.

  His skin touched mine, and I felt cold instantly. His was like ice. I wanted to pull my hand away, but he didn’t let me. He stared at it with his brows narrowed.

  “You’re too warm,” he concluded.

  “I noticed,” I mumbled, and he let me go. “I’m going to need whiskey.”

  “I’m guessing it’s your poison?” When I raised my brow in question, he continued. “Right, you wouldn’t know what that is, either. Most vamps have a drink that takes their mind off blood. Yours must be whiskey,” he explained.

  “And yours?”

  “Strawberry juice,” he said so seriously, that I had to fight a smile. He caught the corners of my mouth struggling to stretch up. “Aha! There it is.” He chuckled. “Kidding. Mine is vodka, but I do love it mixed with strawberry juice.”

  “Okay,” I said, and turned my back to him before my stomach went crazy again. “I’m going to go back and take some more bottles.” I didn’t need to tell him where since he’d been following me around ever since I jumped off the ROB building.

  “No need. Already did. They’re downstairs,” Hammer said, pointing at the ground. That’s when I realized that we were three stories high. “And about the shower you mentioned? The bathroom’s downstairs, too. We can manage to gather up some water, I think.” He headed for the door, and I followed.

  “What happens when you break a promise?” I had to know what would happen if things didn’t go as planned.

  “You don’t want to know,” Hammer said, and I saw him shivering. “But it’s not pleasant.”

  I asked again, but he insisted on not telling me, and I let it go.

  Maybe it was death. In that case, the situation was a win-win for me.

  V

  The building we were in used to be some kind of an organization. It said TLL, but I couldn’t read what the letters stood for on the sign, because the glass was broken. It was a decent place, with a hallway and many offices, or what used to be offices. Everywhere I looked, dust covered everything. Not even mice walked around those parts. Everything, dead.

  We found bottles of old water scattered around the place that I thought was supposed to be the kitchen, and we brought them together to the small, half broken bathroom. It was white and dusty, but it had a shower, and though the curtains were torn, I didn’t mind. The door would do.

  It also had a mirror, almost completely broken, and it reflected seventeen separate parts, and on each one of them, I saw myself. I saw my face.

  Hammer said something, but the meaning of his words didn’t reach my mind. I couldn’t tear my eyes off the broken mirror. And my reflection.

  “Morta?” he called again. “Hello, are you there?”

  But I wasn’t.

  “Oh, I see. You haven’t checked yourself in the mirror lately. The changes can be drastic,” he mumbled.

  I let go of the bottles, and I walked closer to the mirror, trying to frame my whole face into one piece.

  Drastic wasn’t the word I would use. Completely transformed was better.

  I was always an average, ordinary looking girl. Medium blond hair, brown eyes, small nose, and lips long and full. I was skinny, tiny. But what I saw in that broken mirror was everything but ordinary. My hair was no longer blond. It was white and blond. Not bleached blond white, no. Just white, with a hint of silver that my eyes could detect. The eyes that weren’t brown anymore but darker, almost black. The only trace of the former color was around my pupils, and then the brown started to become black. My skin—flawless, much like Hammer’s, but not so dark. It was supposed to make me look pale, but it didn’t. Only my lips seemed to have stayed the same because my nose, too, had become a little sharper. Or so my eyes were telling me.

  “My hair is white,” I whispered, not sure what to make of it. I wasn’t in a condition to make judgments of my looks right now.

  “Yep. The virus strips us, in a way. My hair was black before I turned, my eyes gray,” he said. “And the transformation on you isn’t done yet. You’ll still change.”
<
br />   “I will?” How much more?

  “Oh, yeah. I’ve been watching your hair turn white and your eyes turn black for two days. Another two, and it will probably be all done.”

  “My hair will be all white?”

  “And your eyes will probably be all black,” he said. No wonder Anthony and Norman hadn’t noticed anything. I had been the same the first night of being a vampire. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait for the change to be completed. I was going to check myself in the mirror more often in the next few days.

  Hammer left me alone in the bathroom and closed the door. I undressed, never once taking my eyes off the mirror to my side. I just couldn’t grasp it yet, this new look. It was like there was someone else in that mirror staring back at me.

  The water was cold, but I didn’t mind. I scrubbed my skin raw, then used my fingers to straighten my hair that had grown even below my shoulder blades. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I couldn’t believe how real it seemed, and yet in theory, hair so white should’ve looked like a doll’s.

  Finally, I put my lipstick on and left.

  I found Hammer sitting on a couch with earpieces on, listening to music. He had his legs crossed above the dust-covered wooden table, and he hummed to himself.

  I sat on the reception desk and got lost in thoughts so fast that I completely lost track of my surroundings.

  So when I came to my senses and saw Hammer right in front of me, I almost leaned back. Almost.

  “Hello.” Hammer grinned mischievously. “You clean up good from dirt and blood.”

  “Can’t we just get down to business?” I said, completely weirded out. And not only by the fact that I’d just received a compliment from a vampire, but by the fact that I almost felt like blushing.

  “You want to get down right away?” He wiggled his brows and took half a step closer. Now I knew I was blushing internally. My face didn’t feel warm.

  “You know what I mean, Hammer. My Lord? You need to track him down, remember?” I was never good at saying the right thing in awkward moments, or just moments when I felt embarrassed, like that one. That’s what kept people away from me. I was a master in making a slightly awkward situation very awkward.