The Dirty Affairs of a Vampire and His Horny Stepmom-Chapter 97: Choosing between dying… and dying (2)

One last stroke across her pinky toenail, then she sets the polish down and lets herself fall back onto the bed, her feet still propped up on the little stool. The movement lifts her shirt just enough to reveal the black lace panties and the crease of her pubic mound.

It’s a miracle my mind is occupied with other problems right now; otherwise, my vow to never touch any woman other than Veronica again would already be falling apart.

«You killed a Monster Slayer, Jace Lance. The kill order on you has already been issued. And since this area is temporarily assigned to me... I’m the one tasked with killing you,» Kimberly says in an ice-cold voice, her murderous stare snuffing out whatever erotic fantasy I had left in me.

But her rigid, threatening expression softens slightly as she keeps talking.

«But like I already told you, I also have a solution. Help me kill John Hardley and I’ll make sure the kill order on you gets revoked. Lucky for you, the head of someone like John Hardley is worth far more than the life of a mere D-rank agent like the late Mark was, even if I find all of this pretty disgusting.»

«D-rank...?» I repeat. I assume it’s some kind of internal hierarchy in their organization, and Kimberly confirms it right away.

«Long story short, regular HESPARC agents go from rank F to rank B based on their strength and experience. Then there’s rank A, which goes from A5 to A1, and those are the lower officers. Finally, ranks S and SSS are the high officers. Above them, only the director and deputy director. For your information, even though I’ve only been an agent for two years, I’m already a rank B agent,» she concludes with a hint of pride.

Despite the flood of information and the dramatic situation I’m in, a stupid question pops into my head anyway.

«You said the high officers are rank S and rank SSS... so why isn’t there an SS rank?»

«Well, uh... let’s just say nobody — aside from a few isolated agents from HESPARC Germany — was dying to be an SS agent, if you know what I mean... so they removed the rank.»

Yeah, I know. But back to the serious stuff...

«Say I agreed to be your bait... how the hell do you think you can take down John and his men by yourself? That wound on your right leg you’ve been carrying for months was inflicted by one of them — the same one who forced you to run away. So how many chances do you think you have if you face them all at once?»

«Obviously I’m not stupid enough to go in showing my face. I’ll kill them quietly from behind, one by one if possible, sneaking into the villa. But even so, normally I still wouldn’t be able to kill them. That’s why I have an ace up my sleeve.»

«Which is...?»

Kimberly shakes her head.

«Just trust me. If I didn’t know I could do it, I wouldn’t even try to attack him — I’m not some suicidal lunatic. Cooperate with me and your record will be wiped clean, otherwise... you leave me no choice but to obey the orders I’ve been given.»

At this point I only have two options: certain death at the hands of the Monster Slayers, or an extremely high chance of death by acting as bait. What a fucking mess...

Sure, if John got killed, I could finally sleep a little easier. I’m not completely sure, but he probably knows my life better than I do by now, and he could blackmail me however he wants.

Then again, Kimberly is an unknown too. She says she can kill John... but what if she’s wrong?

Well... I could just ditch everything and go live with Veronica on the other side of the world, but even then the Monster Slayers wouldn’t stop hunting me. And John, if he got attacked by the Monster Slayers, might think I betrayed him by leaking his identity and then disappearing, and he’d definitely want me dead too.

Basically, death would be waiting for me either way, so if I have to risk my life, I might as well do it for something that’s at least worth it. And a world without John definitely sounds better than a world without Kimberly.

«I might agree to help you, but I’ve got my conditions,» I say firmly. «If you manage to kill John, then from now on you’ll be the ones providing my daily dose of blood — the thing John has been handling so far. You can’t expect me to starve, can you? Since I’m not allowed to hunt on my own. My second condition is this: that Monster Slayer — who, for the record, I killed only in self-defense — attacked me because I didn’t show some paperwork. I want you to personally handle all the bureaucracy to properly register a vampire in your files, and I want none of you to ever interfere with my life again.»

«When you say "none of you"... does that include me?» 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

I nod.

«If I’d never met you, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I’d rather not get blackmailed again in the future, so once this operation is over, we cut all ties and pretend we never knew each other.»

I know it sounds harsh, but Veronica’s safety comes first. I’ll do anything to keep her from getting dragged into things she doesn’t even know exist.

«I understand. I can’t blame you for that,» she murmurs, a faint note of sadness in her voice. «Alright, Jace, I promise. When John is dead, I’ll disappear from your life forever.»

«Good night, then,» I conclude, turning my back on her — I’m about to head for the door when her voice stops me before I can even take a single step.

«Jace... since we won’t see each other again once all this is over...»

I turn my head slightly toward her, waiting for her to continue.

«...I’d like to spend tomorrow with you. Assuming you and the mother of your child don’t have any objections, of course. I don’t have bad intentions — I mean it, this time. I know it might seem strange to ask the woman who’ll probably become your wife to let you spend an entire day alone with me, but by now you should know I’m not that kind of girl. Actually, if necessary I’ll talk to her in person and convince her she has nothing to worry about.»

Veronica works tomorrow, so I don’t need anyone’s permission — but it’s strangely reassuring to know Kimberly really would’ve asked. Still, it would’ve been a pretty funny scene, like:

«But Jace, I said I’d ask your woman for permission, not your mother.»

«They’re the same person.»

No... come to think of it, it wouldn’t be funny at all.

«Why do you want to spend the day with me?»

But her reaction isn’t what I expected at all. Her eyes start to glisten with tears, her voice trembles, and she begins to sob.

«J-Jace... maybe it’s not clear to you, but this operation has to happen as soon as possible, before one of John’s contacts inside HESPARC finds out. Tomorrow night, no later. I’m risking my life too, and it scares me more than it should, considering I’ve been trained for this kind of thing... but the truth is you’re never really ready to die, and tomorrow could be my last day alive. I want to spend it with someone who truly knows me, and since you’re living the same situation, I thought maybe you’d like it too...»

She’s not wrong. But fuck... tomorrow night at the latest? Is she kidding me? I thought we were talking weeks — maybe even months — not this soon!

But in the end I can’t even blame her or get mad at her. After all, the Monster Slayers are the good guys and John is the bad guy. And lately I’ve gotten a little too close to the bad guys.

What can you do — I brought this on myself. Hanging around dangerous people, I finally managed to get myself in trouble up to my neck, and right when Veronica is pregnant with my child... fuck!

All I can do is cross my fingers and hope everything turns out okay...

I give her a smile — forced, empty, since there’s nothing to smile about at all. I feel like a terminal patient who’s just been told he has only a few days left, and honestly it’s not that different.