Details

Published: 16 November 2021

Hits: 1601

The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey V: Blooddoll Factory on Earth (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 5)

 

 

In order to ensure he can feed his growing family and the family of his friends, Oliver and Alera, Marcus must build the first blooddoll factory on Earth. Unfortunately, the living planet poses challenges. He's certain Earthlings would vehemently object to his plan to create humans for food, so he plans to hide his true intentions by opening a homeless shelter.

Buy Now on Amazon

Buy Now on Audible

Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

Renovating the Homeless Shelter

 

 

Marcus was perfectly content to lay in bed and listen to Shadow’s thoughts as she slept on him, but they had to shower and dress. They had an entire building to renovate, and Marcus didn’t want to waste any time. Even after they opened the homeless shelter, it would still take time to prepare the humans and get the blood they needed.

Though, he did let her sleep for another fifteen minutes before he nudged her.

Shadow huffed.

“We have a lot to do tonight,” Marcus said.

“Are we going to the building?” Shadow asked.

“We are,” Marcus said.

Shadow stretched and rolled off Marcus.

Marcus slid out of the bed then helped Shadow out of it and into the bathroom so he could wash her and himself.

Once they were clean and dry, Shadow grabbed a pair of stretchy jeans from the dresser and slid them on.

“How do those feel?” Marcus asked as he put on a pair of black jeans.

“They’re okay. Not too tight,” Shadow said.

“There should be a bigger t-shirt in your closet,” Marcus said as he walked into his closet to find a shirt for himself.

“I feel like I get bigger every time we do this.” Shadow found one of the larger t-shirts Marcus bought for her and slid it over her head.

“You wouldn’t wear clothes last time,” Marcus said as he pulled a black t-shirt off a hanger. “You didn’t want anything touching your stomach.” He slid it on then entered the bedroom to put on his shoes and socks.

“I’m more comfortable this time.” Shadow walked out of her closet.

Marcus looked at her and chuckled. “You are so full of sacs.” He stood from the chair and picked her up before carrying her into the kitchen.

“Are you making fun of me?”

Marcus set her on her feet. “Not at all. I think it’s adorable.” He tossed two bloodbags into the microwave just as the doorbell rang. “That’s probably Oliver and Alera. I don’t know if they called.”

Shadow hopped into the living room and opened the door. She stepped back to allow Oliver and Alera into the house.

“I forgot to call,” Oliver said.

“It’s all right. I haven’t looked at my phone yet,” Marcus said from the kitchen.

“The architect and general contractor should be there. It took some convincing, but they agreed to start tonight then work out a schedule,” Oliver said as he walked into the kitchen.

“How are your sacs?” Alera asked Shadow.

“Good. They’re not doing much now, but I haven’t had anything to eat yet,” Shadow said.

“They look like they’re progressing nicely,” Alera said as they walked into the kitchen.

“Marcus massaged them all night,” Shadow said.

Marcus took the bloodbags out of the microwave and poured them into glasses. “Are you two hungry?”

“We just ate,” Oliver said.

Marcus handed a glass to Shadow before draining his own.

“How are you massaging her sacs?” Alera asked.

Marcus contemplated. “It’s a massage so that her muscles release and give the sacs more room.”

When Alera looked confused, Shadow spoke. “You’ll have to show her. It’s impossible to describe. It’s not a normal massage.”

“It’s targeted,” Marcus said. [I don’t want to do that. She’s already fascinated with me.]

[I know, but we’re all standing right here. Maybe it’ll motivate Oliver if he sees another male touching her,] Shadow said.

[Maybe. I have my doubts,] Marcus said. He didn’t want to do it, but he could see Shadow’s point. If Oliver started taking care of her needs, maybe she’d leave him alone. “Lay on the table, Alera.”

“Uh… Okay.” Alera laid on the kitchen table.

“Pull up your shirt.” Marcus walked over to the table. “I’m not going to touch any intimate areas, but she’s going to feel like I did. This is why you need to do this, Oliver.” He laid his hand on her abdomen then moved it slightly. “Her sac is here.” He started massaging her abdomen. “Found a muscle knot.” Marcus lightly kneaded the area.

Alera inhaled. “Oh...”

Marcus moved to the other side of the sac. “Found another one.” He wasn’t surprised when he heard Alera moan just as the muscle released. Marcus brushed his hand over her abdomen. “There’s your half-inch distension.” He helped Alera off the table.

Alera looked down at her abdomen. “There he is.”

Oliver could feel Alera’s relief through their Bond. “I can do that.”

“It would be nice if you would,” Alera said. She leaned toward Marcus and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Marcus had to work to keep the scowl off his face. “One or two times a night should be enough.” He wondered what the expellaries did on Umbra and Chivitas. Alera didn’t seem to know much about the process. Oliver knew even less. Marcus only knew by reading the book and testing various techniques on Shadow, but he had to keep the process pleasurable for her if he wanted more mated childer. If Oliver was smart, he’d do the same.

“Are we ready to go, Marcus?” Oliver asked.

“We are,” Marcus said. He led everyone out of the kitchen.

Marcus closed and locked the door on their way out of the house.

 

The walk was fifteen minutes and thankfully, uneventful. They didn’t run into any hooligans or homeless. However, Marcus still scanned the lot across the street for the undesirables. He didn’t see any. What he did see was a plethora of work trucks parked around his building.

“They’re already here and working,” Oliver said.

“What did you tell them to start on?’ Marcus asked as they walked toward the front door.

“I told them we wanted to do a homeless shelter, and I emailed the architect our drawings,” Oliver said. He opened the door to allow everyone inside.

“Is one of you Marcus or Oliver?” a man asked as he walked out of the kitchen.

“I’m Marcus. That’s Oliver.” He motioned.

“Great. I’m the architect. The crew is getting the demolition underway. We saw your cleaning crew. They finished the basement about an hour ago,” he said. “Name’s Joe.”

“Nice to meet you, Joe,” Marcus said. “We haven’t seen the basement yet.”

“I guessed correctly then. Oliver’s diagrams only covered the main and second floors,” Joe said.

“We wanted to see the basement before we made any decisions,” Marcus said.

“I have the blueprints for this floor and the second if you’d like to see them,” Joe said.

“I would,” Marcus said.

“This way. I set up a table,” he said.

Marcus followed Joe into what he anticipated would be the dining room.

Shadow hopped beside Marcus.

“Please, don’t hop. You’re making me nervous,” Marcus said.

Shadow huffed and walked. [The sacs are fine.]

Marcus picked her up and held her. [You’re distended almost five inches. Humor me.]

“Afraid she’s trying to shake them out, Marcus?” Alera asked.

“It crossed my mind.” Though, Marcus laughed at the absurdity of his thought as they walked over to a plastic table. [I’m glad you feel good enough to hop.] He sat down in one of the chairs, keeping Shadow in his lap.

[This feels much better than the last four,] Shadow said.

[I’m glad,] Marcus said.

“Here’s the diagrams I did earlier today.” Joe passed the blueprints to Marcus. “They are based off of what Oliver sent me.”

Marcus looked them over. “This looks fine, except we want half the second floor to be temporary offices, and I expect we’ll put a third floor in for permanent offices at some point.”

“We can install supports for a third floor, but we have to do that before we do anything else,” Joe said.

“How long will that take?” Marcus asked.

“It takes three days,” Joe said. “It’s the slowest part of the process because we still use concrete, iron and steel. The rest of this won’t take but about a week.”

“Why are you still using the old materials?” Oliver asked after skimming the man’s surface thoughts. The company had just purchased an automatic foundation repair machine.

“The men like the old ways. Says it feels nostalgic,” Joe said.

“Well, our goal here is to help this neighborhood,” Oliver said. “The sooner we get up and running, the sooner we can help them. We know you have a homeless and derelict problem.”

“That we do,” Joe said. “It’s getting out of control.”

“Are you trained to use the new equipment?” Marcus asked.

“They just finished training last month,” Joe said.

“And if you use that, it’s done by tomorrow evening,” Oliver said.

“It’s some quick-drying shit,” Joe said. “Almost no way to make a mistake too. It’s all computer-controlled. Once you set the parameters, it’s all automatic.”

“I think we’d prefer that,” Marcus said. “Is there any additional cost?”

“I’d be willing to give a little bit of a discount, considering you’d be the first project where we used it. Just let us use you for advertising,” Joe said.

“I’m fine with that. Oliver?” Marcus asked.

“That’s fine,” Oliver said. “So, once you use that, and we get out equipment in, how long do you think it’d take us to get up and running?”

“One day for your foundation. We already use the advanced Remodelators,” Joe said. “Four days. If that, to complete the project.”

“So, we’d be able to open in less than a week,” Oliver said.

“You should be able to,” Joe said. “You may want to order your equipment and furniture now. Delivery is actually slower than the remodeling process these days.”

“And when we’re ready for the third floor?” Marcus asked.

“Just give us a call,” Joe said. “All the supports will be in place. We’ll just have to build it.”

“What does that involve?” Marcus asked.

“We have to take the roof off, put in a floor, build new walls and put a new roof on,” Joe said. “That would probably take two or three weeks.”

“What do you think, Oliver?” Marcus asked.

“I think that’s fine. We can certainly go ahead with the first and second-floor renovations,” Oliver said. “But who does the furniture and decorating?”

“Shadow and I can do that,” Alera said.

“You can do it yourself, or we can hire an interior decorator,” Joe said. “It’s an extra cost. We don’t factor that in because it’s hard to tell who wants to do it themselves, and who wants it professionally done.”

“If you two want to tackle it, I don’t have a problem with that,” Marcus said.

“We’ll do it,” Shadow said.

“Would you like us to do anything with the basement?” Joe asked.

“Clean it up and finish it,” Marcus said. “We’re not sure what we want to do down there yet.”

“Can do,” Joe said.

“Do we owe anything upfront?” Oliver asked.

“We prefer 30 percent upfront. Let me get the contracts,” Joe said. He pulled his briefcase out from under the table and opened it. “Estimated costs are in there. To do two floors, it’s $150,000. That includes all your kitchen appliances, but let me adjust this. $20,000 for the basement and a twenty percent discount.” He added the numbers handed the pages to Marcus.

“So that means you need forty-eight-hundred,” Marcus said as Shadow climbed out of his lap.

“I’ll do twenty, four. You do twenty, four,” Oliver said.

“That’s fine.” He read, initialed and signed the pages then passed them to Oliver.

Oliver signed and initialed. Then, he pulled out his bank card.

“I can scan those,” Joe said. He pulled a device from his briefcase and took Oliver’s card. He scanned it, then typed in $20,400. He did the same with Marcus’ card. Then, handed the men their receipts.

“You said you wanted different working hours,” Oliver said.

“We’d prefer to work during the day,” Joe said.

“We have jobs during the day. We’d only be able to come here at night,” Oliver said.

“If we need to talk, I can stay late,” Joe said.

“That’ll work,” Oliver said.

“Thank you. We’ll let you get to it,” Marcus said as he stood.

“I’ll mail copies of the contract,” Joe said. “And I will call you with daily progress and any questions.” He paused. “Oh, almost forgot. What do you want done with the outside of the building?”

“Just make it look new,” Marcus said. “We like the style.”

“We can do that.” Joe made some notes on a digital tablet.

“Did you want to see your office again, Shadow?” Marcus asked.

“Yes,” Shadow said.

“Let’s take a look at the offices,” Marcus said.

Shadow hopped up the stairs ahead of everyone.

Marcus inwardly cringed as he climbed the stairs.

“She feels good, Marcus,” Alera said.

“She’s making me nervous,” Marcus said. He stepped onto the landing and looked down the hall. Shadow was already walking into her office.

“She’s not going to shake them out or damaged them,” Alera said.

“She likes feeling them move,” Marcus said. He walked down the hall with Oliver and Alera. “These four rooms I thought would make good temporary offices.”

“These are nice and at the end of the hall,” Oliver said.

“It forces us to walk past the ‘guest’ rooms, but we may want to keep an eye on them,” Marcus said. “All the rooms have large windows, but we can get some blackout curtains.”

“How many beds do you want to put in each room?” Alera asked.

Marcus counted the rooms. “We have ten for guests and four for us. At least two per room.”

“I think we should start with one per room,” Oliver said. “You ever see the homeless on Chivitas?”

“No, but I saw them on Umbra,” Marcus said.

“They can be unsavory at first. They forget how to live inside,” Oliver said.

“I hadn’t thought of that. One per room then until we get used to them, and they learn how to live inside,” Marcus said.

“Once we get them on a schedule, we can add more,” Alera said. “Oliver and I can help with some subtle ‘suggestions’.”

“Handy skill,” Marcus said.

“Handier here than it was on Chivitas,” Oliver said. “He wasn’t going to tell us about the foundation injection system.”

“I got that feeling,” Marcus said. “And we need to get this place open. We need to eat good food. Those bags will only hold us for so long.”

“We want to serve lots of lamb and pork here. If we can get them to taste good straight out of the vein, we’ll all do a lot better,” Alera said.

“We’ll be a lot happier and satisfied,” Marcus said.

“What happens if they don’t eat pork?” Shadow asked.

“They can eat it or leave,” Marcus said. “It’s free food.”

“How are we making money with this?” Shadow asked. “This remodel is almost a hundred and fifty thousand. You just took out a loan for that much too, and we have no income other than your pensions.”

“She has a point,” Oliver said. “We haven’t thought about how we’re going to make money on this.”

“Have we determined that we are the only ones of our kind on this planet?” Marcus asked.

“I doubt they’re advertising, Marcus,” Oliver said. “I think we need to assume that we are until we hear or discover otherwise.”

“I don’t want to draw attention to ourselves,” Alera said. “We’re getting quite a large family.”

“We can charge for the rooms,” Marcus said. “Couple dollars a night.”

“That’s a start,” Oliver said.

“I guess we could charge for extra meals. If they want to leave and take a meal with them, they have to pay for it,” Marcus said.

“We could do a clothing store. Ask for donations, then charge a dollar for each piece of clothing,” Shadow said.

“We can ask for food donations too,” Oliver said. “Cut down on our food bills.”

“We need to get food and clothing donation containers in front of the building so people can just drop it off,” Marcus said.

“And another box for money,” Shadow said. “Maybe they’ll drop coins in.”

“Good idea,” Marcus said. “I have some building materials at my house. We can get them done by morning.” He scooped Shadow into his arms and waited for her to wrap around him. “You’re about a hundred pounds tonight.”

Shadow laughed. “Who’s fault is that?”

Marcus grinned and kissed the side of her face. “Mine. Entirely.” He carried her down the hall to the staircase.

 

 

 

 

Details

Published: 16 November 2021

Hits: 2304

The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey IV: Vampires on Earth (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 4)

 

Shadow, Marcus and their friends made it to Earth, but they still have a food problem. Earthling blood isn't palatable, and they only have a two-month supply of bloodbags. Marcus must find a way to distill Earthling blood and create a long-term food supply that will feed them and their growing vampire families while not alerting the humans to their presence.

 

Buy Now on Amazon

Buy Now on Audible

Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

First Night on Earth

 

 

 

Marcus found a computer in the office and used it to look up their bank accounts and the bills they’d have to pay on Earth. Luckily, there were notes in as desk drawer explaining everything. Shadow thought Captain George had had it put there. Marcus wasn’t so sure. He thought they left that information for everyone. There were no bills in space, and given the amount of time some of the humans spent in space, it was quite likely they’d forget how to pay bills.

Shadow sprawled out on the couch in Marcus’ office. [Are we rich?]

Marcus laughed. [No, but we’re not hurting for money.]

[Is there any food here at all?] Shadow asked.

[Other than the bloodbags we brought? Not really,] Marcus said. [I found blood banks, but they’re not like what we had on Umbra and Chivitas. These use their blood for medical purposes. Transfusions and other products for the living.]

[Can we buy it?] Shadow asked.

[I didn’t see a way to buy it,] Marcus said.

[What are we going to do?]

[This house came with a refrigerator and a large chest freezer. All of our bloodbags are in it. They should still last us a month. Maybe two,] Marcus said. [If I can’t find a way to get us drinkable live food, I’ll break into a blood bank and steal them.]

[But we still can’t eat it,] Shadow said. [You’d have to distill it first.]

[Shit.] Marcus contemplated. She was right. The bloodbags would be full of Earthling blood.

[This isn’t any better than we had,] Shadow said.

[Yes, it is,] Marcus said. [Everything on this planet is alive. I just have to find a way to make that blood taste good.]

[Would it be easier to steal the blood bags and practice distilling them?] Shadow asked.

[Yes, it would,] Marcus said. [Good idea.]

[Can we do it tonight?] Shadow asked.

[The sun rises in less than an hour,] Marcus said.

[These nights are short,] Shadow said.

[They are, but I think this is summer, and they get longer in the winter,] Marcus said.

[When it’s cold,] Shadow said.

Marcus stood from his computer. He joined Shadow on the couch and pulled her into his lap. [You are stressed for no reason. There’s no one hunting us. There’s no Elder Guards. There is food, and we can drink it. All I’m trying to do is make it taste better.] He stretched across the couch and situated her until she was laying on him. [We made it. We are home.]

Shadow laid her head on his chest and purred. [We’re really home?]

[We are home, Shadow. No more running across multiple universes. No more pitstops on other planets. We can have our childer in peace. There are some minor issues, and I will take care of them.]

[Where are the rookeries?] Shadow asked.

[The empty one is in the garage. The one with the four sacs is on the floor in the hall closet.] Marcus said. [Did you want to try for more tomorrow night, or did you want to get settled in?] Marcus asked.

[When’s the one after tomorrow?] Shadow asked.

[March 31. In about a week. It’s a black moon,] Marcus said. [There are also super full moons coming up on April 29th and May 28th, and I think I read tht there’s a blue moon a week after the black moon.]

[You said there’s one moon a month,] Shadow said.

[Just about. This month there were three, but we missed the first one. The second is tomorrow, and the third is in a week,] Marcus said.

[I’m used to the breeding season where there are lots of moons in a two or three months,] Shadow said.

[And you don’t have sex during those months if you don’t want to accidentally fill a sac,] Marcus said. [This planet will be a little more tricky.]

[We could end up with more than we want,] Shadow said.

[A couple unplanned sacs are almost guaranteed until we get used to these lunar cycles. I may have to set up reminders somewhere,] Marcus said. [But I’m not going to get worked up about it if it happens.]

Shadow laughed as she heard his underlying thought. [If you want sex that night, we’re going to do it anyway.]

[Restraint isn’t my strong point with you,] Marcus said. [If we end up with twenty instead of ten, so be it.]

[What happens if the sacs aren’t filled?] Shadow asked.

[If you’re not around a male vampire, I doubt they release at all,] Marcus said. [And given what I know of you now, I don’t think you’ll release sacs for a male you don’t think is worthy.]

Shadow laughed. [So far, only for you.]

[The horrible accident was your first one, wasn’t it?] Marcus asked.

[It was,] Shadow said. [But I’m not sure I ever had sex during breeding season. I tried to avoid it.]

Marcus slid a hand down her back. [Well, we know what happens when they fill, so it won’t be entirely unknown. It’ll just be unplanned.]

[What about tomorrow?] Shadow asked.

[We’ll decide tomorrow,] Marcus said. [Remember, I can hear your thoughts too. You’re not entirely on board either.]

[I’m tired,] Shadow said.

[Let’s eat and go to bed. We’re probably suffering from space lag,] Marcus helped her off his body. He walked with her into the kitchen and grabbed two bloodbags out of the refrigerator. “Do you want me to microwave these?”

Shadow jumped and gasped. “Yes.”

Marcus laughed. “Startled by my voice.” He put the blood bags in the microwave on low power for 30 seconds.

“You haven’t ‘talked’ all night,” Shadow said.

“It’s more intimate to talk through the bond,” Marcus said. He pulled the bloodbags out of the microwave and tested them. He shook his head and tossed them back in for another 30 seconds.

“You miss it,” Shadow said.

“My first Bonded and I talked through the Bond in the early days. It wasn’t always bad, Shadow,” Marcus said. “We grew apart quickly though. She embraced the new ways. I didn’t.”

“You were the same age?” Shadow asked.

“She was two hundred years younger than me,” Marcus said. “It shouldn’t have made much of a difference, but it did.”

“Who ended your Bond?” Shadow asked.

“She did,” Marcus said.

“I thought they were permanent,” Shadow said.

“I think she deliberately had herself torpored,” Marcus said. “It wasn’t a clean break. It faded away over the course of about 50 years. What you felt in my memories was the day I realized it was gone.”

“That’s extreme, but I didn’t think she was finaled,” Shadow said.

“I don’t believe she was finaled,” Marcus said. “Or if she was, it was well after that Bond was over.”

“What happens if one of us gets finaled?” Shadow asked.

“If one of us were to get finaled, the Bond would snap,” Marcus said. “And it’s immediate. Not that I’ve experienced it. I witnessed it. There were more than a few Bonded pairs in the wars I fought. If one of them was finaled, the other would scream and collapse.”

“What happened then?” Shadow said.

“Most were killed by the enemy before they could suffer for very long.”

Shadow frowned.

“If I saw it, I’d take them behind the lines, but they never recovered. We ended up sending them home,” Marcus said.

“I don’t want to be finaled,” Shadow said.

“There are only two ways they can final us here. Sunlight and fire,” Marcus said.

“Cutting off our heads and staking us,” Shadow said.

“Not likely here,” Marcus said. He took the bloodbags out of the microwave and handed one to Shadow. “But this is a rather gruesome conversation for our first night here. I’d rather focus on the positives.”

Shadow sank her fangs into it and drained it. She tossed the empty bag in the trash. “We need an incinerator.”

“For what?” Marcus asked after he finished his bloodbag.

“They don’t drink from bloodbags here,” Shadow said.

“These bags don’t burn well,” Marcus said. “They turn into a clump, then I have to clean them out of the incinerator. We’ll just double-bag everything.”

“Do we have bags?” Shadow asked.

Marcus opened the cabinet to reveal several boxes of black 30-gallon black trash bags. “Plenty.” He threw away his bloodbag. “Are you ready for a shower?”

“Yes,” Shadow said.

Marcus walked with her out of the kitchen and down a hall to their bedroom. The master bathroom was smaller than he would have liked, but it was still attached to the bedroom.

“What is that?” Shadow motioned to the toilet.

“I believe that’s where they release their excrement,” Marcus said. “There was one on the Earthling ship in our room, but it was behind a door.”

“What is that white paper,” Shadow said.

“On the roll attached to the wall?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah,” Shadow said.

Marcus contemplated. “I don’t know.” He walked over to the linen closet and opened the doors to grab two washcloths and some towels. He spotted more of the paper wrapped in a plastic bag on the bottom shelf. “Here it is.” He pulled out the package and read the words. “Toilet paper. Made by a company called Charmin. Ultra-soft apparently. The latter must be the texture.” He put the package back on the shelf.

“What’s it used for?” Shadow asked.

“Probably something to do with how they clean themselves after they release their excrement.” Marcus turned on the shower and tested the water. “Wait a minute. This is cold.” When Shadow didn’t respond, he turned his head to view her examining the toiler paper.

Shadow tore off one square and held it up. “They clean themselves with this?”

Marcus laughed. He walked over and took it from her. “I bet they use more than one square, because this...” He drug it lightly over Shadow’s face. “Wouldn’t even clean your face after you fed.”

Shadow giggled.

Marcus threw it in the trash. Then, he saw another container on the counter next to the sink. “This might, though.” He pulled out a wet sheet and smelled it. “It definitely has some sort of cleaner on it. He rubbed it over his hand. “That’s kind of refreshing.” He looked at Shadow. “Come here.”

Shadow took off her dress and tossed it next to the wall before walking over to Marcus.

Marcus wiped her face with it. “How’s that feel?”

“I like how it smells,” Shadow said.

“The toilet paper isn’t useful, but these are,” Marcus said. He threw it in the trash.

“Is the shower ready?” Shadow asked.

Marcus walked over and tested the water. “It is.”

Shadow hopped inside.

Marcus undressed and tossed his clothes on top of Shadow’s. He hoped Alba was serious about performing the domestic duties in their house. Otherwise, he’d have to hire a maid. He wasn’t any good at cleaning, and he didn't think Shadow had the attention span for it.

Marcus stepped into the shower with her. She was already washing, but it didn’t stop him from taking the washcloth out of her hand. Marcus slowly washed her back then her front down to her toes. Once he was finished washing her body, he washed her hair then nudged her under the water to rinse.

Marcus washed and rinsed his body and hair. By the time he stepped out, Shadow was out of the shower and looking for something at the sink. “What do you need?”

“I can’t find the fangpaste,” Shadow said.

Marcus walked over to the sink. He opened the medicine cabinet. It’s this.” He handed the tube to Shadow.

“It says toothpaste,” Shadow said.

“They don’t have fangs,” Marcus said. “It’ll work. Your teeth aren’t going to rot anyway. It’ll just help control vampire breath.”

“How’d we have fangpaste on the ship?” Shadow asked as she applied some to her fangbrush.

“I brought some. When we ran out, I replicated it,” Marcus said. “There’s no replicator in this house, and I didn’t think to make some before we left.”

Shadow smelled it. “It’s mint.”

“I know.” Marcus applied some to his fangbrush. “If I can get out to a store, I’ll see if they have any other flavors.”

Shadow brushed her fangs. She spit out the foul-tasting foam and rinsed her mouth out several times.

Marcus finished brushing his teeth and rinsed his mouth. “If we can find a store that’s open tomorrow, what flavor do you want. I’m sure they don’t have blood.”

“Chocolate,” Shadow said.

“We’ll see if we can find it.” Marcus walked with her into the bedroom. He pulled back the covers and laughed when Shadow dove in. He slid into the bed next to her and pulled the blankets over both of them. Then, he pulled Shadow against his body and closed his eyes.

Details

Published: 16 November 2021

Hits: 1584

The Tiny Vampire From Outer Space That’s Bitey III: Earthbound (Shadow Conn Tiny Vampire Book 3)

 

 

After nearly being imprisoned on Chivitas for being Umbra vampires, Marcus and Shadow escape the hostile planet with their friends, Oliver, Alera and Alba, in Marcus' homebuilt spaceship. The quarters are cramped. The ship is rickety. can they make it to Earth before the ship comes apart?

 

Buy Now on Amazon

Buy Now on Audible

Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

Vampires in Space

 

 

 

Alera listened to the sounds coming from the front bedroom. She wished Marcus and Shadow would have chosen the back bedroom. Any time she wanted to leave hers, she had to make sure they weren’t in their bedroom, and right now, the door between her sleeping room and theirs was closed.

She turned her head when there was a knock on the rear doorframe between her room and the cargo hold. It was Alba.

“Are they still occupied?” Alba asked.

“Not sure. They were talking. Then, I assume being intimate. I heard some growls. It’s pretty quiet now, but the door isn’t open.”

“Are we going to get trapped back here every time they want to connect?” Alba asked.

“Probably,” Alera said. “It’s been quiet for a few minutes. I’m going to risk it.” She unlatched the door as quietly as she could and opened it. Marcus and Shadow were on the bed. [They’re asleep.]

Alba stepped into the doorway. [Passed out. Look at all that blood.]

[Looks like Bonding,] Alera said as she examined the streaks covering their shoulders and running down their chests.

[I thought they were already Bonded,] Alba said.

[So did I, but they both have healing neck wounds,] Alera said.

[He filled her sacs before they Bonded. That’s almost unheard of,] Alba said.

[He’s a huge vampire, and her sacs are ready,] Alera said. [They probably couldn’t help it.]

[Good point. I haven’t seen sacs that well-formed in a long time,] Alba said.

[I used to work in an Expellery,] Alera said. [Most sacs I helped expell had to have a rookery. They were not hangable. The cords were short, and the sac walls were thin. You could hang hers.] She moved through the bedroom and opened the next door.

Oliver turned around when he heard a door open. Alera and Alba were making their way through the food chamber. [Are they asleep?]

[They are very asleep,] Alera said. [I think they Bonded.]

Oliver blinked. [I thought they were already Bonded.]

[So did we, but they are passed out with neck wounds,] Alba said.

[If that’s the case, they’ll be out for a couple hours. They have to process each other's memories, and it can take some time for the Bond to form,] Oliver said. [Close that door. Give them some privacy.]

Alera closed the door between the food chamber and Marcus’ and Shadow’s bedroom. “How’s it going up here?”

“We’re up to lightspeed eight. Estimated time, six to seven months,” Oliver said. “By the time we get to ten or eleven, it should be one to two months, assuming everything goes correctly.”

“It’s going to be a long two months,” Alba said.

Oliver chuckled. “Better than starving on Chivitas and getting harassed by Elder Guards. We’re going to be on this shuttle for so long that eventually, they won’t care if you walk through while they’re doing the deed.”

“You’d think he would have wanted to be closer to the rookery,” Alba said.

“Shadow has unique feeding needs,” Oliver said. “He wanted to keep her close to the food.”

Alera looked out the windshield. “Amazing view.”

“Have a seat,” Oliver said. He motioned to the other two chairs. “It’s nice up here.”

“How close will we get to any suns?” Alba asked.

“Not close enough to bother us.” He motioned. “There’s two out there, but we’re so far away, they don’t matter.”

“What about the moons?” Alera asked.

Oliver laughed. He knew where she was going with that question. “We don’t know. When I was working for the space program, they weren’t even considering researching the ability to have mated childer aboard a ship. They didn’t think it was a high priority. The moon is the trigger, but they’ve never figured out the other factors, and those other factors may not be present in space.”

“Obviously, it doesn’t matter the planet,” Alba said.

“I’ve always thought it’s a combination of the moon cycle and tides,” Oliver said. “Even the research supports that. The closer you get to any large body of water, the more instances of mated childer.”

“Sorry to change the subject,” Alera said. “But what do we know about Earth and Earthlings?”

“Marcus would be the one to ask. He spent two or three nights with them during their transport to Chivitas,” Oliver said. “I know they’re alive. Technically, we’d consider them food, but it’s long since been rumored that their blood is poison to us.”

“Has anyone tried it?” Alera asked.

“Well, here’s the kicker. Marcus and Shadow can drink it,” Oliver said. “Marcus tolerated it fine. Shadow said it upset her stomach.”

“Shadow is still in her pukey years,” Alba said. “What else did Marcus say about it?”

“He said he didn’t like the way it tasted, but it did what it was supposed to do,” Oliver said. “He thinks he can create a distillation process to make it more palatable.”

“And he thinks we’ll still have bloodbags left when we land?” Alera asked.

“He stocked four months. He’s assuming we’ll land in one to two months. That would give us another one to two months of food while he figures out how to make Earthling blood tolerable to drink,” Oliver said.

“Do you hear movement?” Alba asked.

“Alera, check on them,” Oliver said.

Alera walked over to the door between the food room and the first bedroom. She cracked open the door. [They’re moving. Alba, get two bloodbags.]

Alba grabbed two bloodbags out of the refrigerator and handed them to Alera.

Alera quietly stepped into the bedroom. She saw Marcus open his eyes. She held out a bloodbag. “Marcus, you have to feed.”

Marcus blearily took the bloodbag and drained it. He inhaled and looked around.

“Feed Shadow.” Alera handed him the second blood bag. She’d already released the valve to the straw.

Marcus slid the straw into Shadow's mouth and watched as she sucked it dry. Then, he pulled her into his arms.

Alera closed the door and turned back to the control room. “He’s still dazed, and she’s asleep, but they’re both fed.”

“What would they do without us,” Oliver said.

“Probably leave the damned thing on autopilot with no monitoring,” Alera said.

“They might have made it, but I’ve had to make a couple manual corrections,” Oliver said. “Nothing major. Just don’t want to get too close to any gas giants or stars.”

“Is that our path?” Alera asked.

“It is. He loaded a star map,” Oliver said. “That’s tracking where we are, and where we’re going.”

“Is that connected to the autopilot?” Alera asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Oliver said. “But it is tracking us accurately. It also shows any large objects that may get in our way. Hence, the manual corrections.”

“He did an impressive job with this,” Alba said.

“Especially when you consider that he built it in three weeks,” Oliver said.

“I don’t think it’s been that long,” Alera said. “They moved in about…” She did the mental math. “No, three weeks would be about right.”

“Three weeks and four childer,” Oliver said.

“They’ve been busy on multiple fronts,” Alera said.

“Did he remember to put any entertainment on this ship?” Alba asked.

“I do not know. There might be something in the cargo hold,” Oliver said. “But I’d wait until they wake up.”

“At least we have a nice view,” Alba said.

“And we can still get to the food,” Alera said.

“Are you sure you don’t have a deck of cards, Alera?” Oliver asked.

“Oh, I might.” Alera stood. She quietly made her way to the back bedroom and dug through her purse. At the very bottom in a side pocket, she found a deck of cards.

Alera snuck back to the control room. She closed Shadow and Marcus’ door and sat down in her chair. “I found a deck of cards.”

“Let’s play some poker,” Oliver said.

Alera dealt the cards. “Five card stud. Nothing wild.”

“Paper cards,” Alba said.

“The last time I went to buy the digital cards all the reviews said they cracked,” Alera said. “I’ve had these for two-hundred years. They’re a little worn, but they still work.”

“These are fine,” Alba said. “I just hadn’t seen a set like this in a while.”

They spent the remainder of the evening playing poker and monitoring the computers.