by Raine Miller
“Jasper, I need to know if the blond was a woman.”
“He didn’t know. He only saw the guy and the blond through a window. The brunette was out on the porch so he could see her.”
“Which one staked him?”
“My buddy said all of a sudden the yelling between them stopped and the one on the porch screamed. She ran inside and my buddy heard nothing else.”
Vasilije’s mind raced as he processed everything Jasper was saying. Sasa had said the guy who staked Teagan was blond and she’d have been the woman Jasper’s friend had seen outside on the porch. But it didn’t sound like the blond was a man now.
“Anything else?”
“No. He got the hell out of there and quick.”
“I need to know exactly where he was that night. Where can I find the Channel Bar?”
Jasper shook his head. “No good. Slaney don’t hang out at the Channel, and I haven’t seen him since then. I’m worried one of you got to him. I should never said anything.”
Vasilije knew there was no more to get from Jasper. He was convinced his friend had seen the person who’d staked Teagan. Even more, he was convinced he needed to find Sasa and ask her again what happened that night.
“Take care, Jasper. And you might want to take it easy on those. They’re going to kill you.”
Lighting up, he smiled. “If one of you don’t first.”
CHAPTER 12
Even though she knew she shouldn’t, Sasa let her feet guide her back to Teagan’s. The way things had been left with Vasilije bothered her. Yes, she’d hid her ability from him, but not to hurt him. She needed him to know that.
She knew it would be worse if he found out she was supposed to be helping Tatiana, but that was a problem she’d deal with when the time came. Now she just needed him to know what he thought about her was wrong.
One dim light illuminated the front window of the house, and Sasa stood out on the street watching for any sign of Vasilije inside. A figure moved behind the curtains, but she couldn’t make out who it was.
“No matter,” she mumbled. “I’ll wait. I have nowhere to be,” she admitted sadly.
Remembering the last time she tried to sneak in unannounced, she knocked on the door and then entered, calling out Vasilije’s name.
“He’s not here, but come in. I’m bored and you can keep me company since I’m stuck here until he comes back.”
Sasa sat down in the chair opposite from the couch where Jeremy lay in a t-shirt and pair of jeans. For someone who was new to his surroundings, he seemed comfortable. His shoes were off and he was barefoot as he relaxed on the couch. She, on the other hand, was distinctly uncomfortable, her actions the other night still a source of embarrassment.
“He hasn’t come back yet?”
Had he gone to find the lead LeClerc gave him, or had he found Quiterie?
“No, and I’m sick and fucking tired of waiting around for him.”
Sasa calculated the time since he’d left her and hoped Quiterie had stayed away from the shop like she usually did late at night.
Jeremy sat up and leaned forward. “So what’s up with you two?”
“Up?”
“Yeah. Like are you his girlfriend or what? You’re not one of us, so I know he isn’t your sire too. So why are you hanging out with an old vampire?”
Sasa chuckled. Jeremy was so new to this even she knew more about vampires than he did. “Maybe I’m his bleeder.”
“What’s that?”
“A human who a vampire keeps around to give him blood when none of his own vampires are around.”
Jeremy’s face was a mixture of curiosity and intense interest. “Are you?”
Shaking her head, Sasa smiled. “No. I was just teasing.”
His curiosity sated, he sat back on the couch looking almost disappointed at her answer. “So what is it with you?”
Sasa wasn’t sure how to answer his question. Would she be considered his girlfriend? Should she call him her lover? Lover sounded so sophisticated and while Vasilije could definitely be that, Sasa didn’t think her run-of-the-mill look measured up.
“We spend time together. I’m helping him find Teagan’s killer.”
“Yeah? And how’s that going?”
She definitely didn’t want to get into that conversation in case she slipped up and said something she shouldn’t. No, she needed to keep any conversation with Jeremy to topics a frat boy type would like.
“Where are you from, Jeremy?”
“Ruston. Man, I hadn’t even thought about home since he turned me. Fuck. I wonder if anyone misses me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sore point.”
Shaking his head, he shrugged. “No, no problem. I guess I just always thought vampires lived hotter lives than this. Instead, my life now isn’t even half as exciting as it was back in Ruston.”
“Oh? What was your life like?”
“You know. A girlfriend. Parties. The usual for someone my age. Now I’m a twenty-one year old vampire and I don’t get any action because of Big Daddy vamp.”
Sasa wasn’t sure what to say. Jeremy’s life sounded nothing like hers had been for years. He talked of parties and sex, and she considered life to be one responsibility after another. Not that she minded, necessarily, but everything he seemed to miss seemed so foreign to her.
Jeremy appeared lost in his own self-pity, and Sasa took the break in the conversation to truly look at him, something she hadn’t done before. He looked like every twenty-something jock type she’d seen in her life. His brown hair was cut to look disheveled, no matter how much a girlfriend fussed with it, but she was sure the effect was anything but randomly casual and more likely the result of far too much time in front of the bathroom mirror. No doubt one touch of his hair would tell the whole story of how laid back his look really was.
He wasn’t bad looking, though, and Sasa imagined there were quite a few women—and men—who fought for his attention. As with other self-involved young men, he looked like he spent hours in the gym each day, and his work had paid off. Even through his t-shirt she could see his six-pack. And his arms weren’t bad either.
“Jeremy, how did you become a vampire?”
The look of surprise he shot her made Sasa feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was impolite to ask vampires this. As his expression morphed into something more relaxed, she had a sense she’d made a serious mistake by sitting with this vampire.
Sasa stood to leave. “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I didn’t mean to pry. I’m going to go now.”
Two steps toward the door were all she got before he grabbed her from behind, yanking her back to meet his body. Abs she’d just admired a minute earlier pressed into her back, and his arms held her tightly to him.
“You are a curious one, Sasa. Always asking questions. Does Vasilije like that?”
Jeremy’s voice was a mere whisper, but the threatening undertone was unmistakable.
“Please let me go. I meant no harm. If I offended you, I’m sorry, Jeremy.”
As one arm pressed heavily across her breasts, another moved toward her neck and he wrapped his hand around it. As he spoke, he slowly squeezed against her throat, terrifying her.
“Sasa. He does like you, doesn’t he? Why is that? No one else seems to please him as much as you do.”
Her pulse raced against his fingers as her panic grew by the moment. Jeremy was a new vampire with very little restraint, and his sire was nowhere to be found. If he was hungry and needed to feed, he wouldn’t think twice before sinking his teeth into her. But as young as he was, he wouldn’t have the necessary restraint to stop before he drained her. Sasa feared in no time at all, he could literally devour her and no one would be able to save her.
Struggling to control her fear, she pleaded, “Jeremy, please let me go.”
“I don’t think so. I want some, and he’s not here to stop me this time.”
Jeremy’s hand left her neck and quickly moved to between her legs. B
efore she could push him away, he was beneath her skirt burrowing under her panties. It wasn’t just blood he wanted!
“No!” Sasa repeated it over and over as she struggled to wriggle out of his hold, but neither her words nor her actions stopped him. If anything, they seemed to spur him on.
“Wild girl, huh?”
Jeremy pushed her toward the wall and plastered his body to hers, pinning her in place. Far stronger, he held her still as she heard him unzip his jeans. “Let’s see what Big Daddy likes about you, Sasa.”
His hand tugged at her skirt, pulling it up over her hips. Sasa tried to turn her head to look for an escape, but he held her to the wall, her eyes filled with the white expanse in front of her. Behind her, his erection pressed into between her cheeks.
“Stop! Let me go, Jeremy!”
Just as she braced for his final assault, a growl like that of an animal’s came from behind her, followed by the vicious click of fangs. Horrified, Sasa stiffened and waited.
Suddenly, Jeremy was no longer behind her. Pulling her skirt down over her hips, she turned and saw Vasilije hurl Jeremy across the room into a table that broke into a dozen pieces under his weight. Sasa watched in stunned silence as Vasilije morphed into a terrifying version of himself. As if he were out of control, he raced over to an almost unconscious Jeremy and grabbed him by the collar, jerking him upright. His eyes appeared to be on fire, the icy blue replaced by blood red, and a low growl emanated from somewhere deep inside him.
When he said Jeremy’s name, Vasilije’s voice seethed his rage. As he flung the young vampire against the wall, his ancient strength seemed to surprise even Jeremy, whose face showed clearly he understood he’d made a mistake with her.
Vasilije turned to face Sasa, and for the first time she witnessed everything he’d become. Horrified, she ran out the door, afraid to look back.
***
“Sasa’s mine.”
Vasilije watched as Sasa bolted from the house in fear of him. Turning back to deal with Jeremy, he saw the insolent face of the vampire who’d almost raped and drunk from her staring back at him.
“Sorry, old man. I thought she was for both of us.”
As Jeremy spoke, he appeared to almost sneer at Vasilije.
“Both of us?” he hissed as he pushed against his back into the wall.
“Yeah. You know. A bleeder.”
The thought of Sasa as anyone’s bleeder, even his own, enraged him and the desire to rip Jeremy in two surged through him. “Sasa is not a bleeder. And she’s nothing to you.”
“I get that, but I’m stuck here all the time. I need some kind of action.”
Vasilije pushed Jeremy’s head into the wall, grinding his cheek against the drywall. As a fellow vampire—as his sire—he was supposed to care more for him than some human. Somewhere deep inside he knew that, but at that moment it took every ounce of restraint not to shun him, leaving him to possibly die in the world of vampires he wasn’t yet ready for.
Every word that came from his mouth made the urge harder to deny.
“What you need is to stop talking, Jeremy.”
“But I’m stuck here and it smells like fucking smoke. And all the guy who used to be here drank was Guinness, for Christ’s sake! That shit’s nasty. And all the while you get to plow her, I get nothing.”
“Get the fuck out, Jeremy!”
Vasilije backed away from him and waited as he slowly turned around. Never in the hundreds of years had he ever abandoned one of his vampires. And not because it was against what some Archon or magistrate had decided eons ago. Never once had he left one of his own to find their way in the world before they were ready because they were his. His vampires.
But this one, like Alex, was a mistake.
Jeremy spun around and reacted first with happiness at what he thought was a reprieve, his frat boy look beaming at Vasilije. Then his face grew serious as he understood what his sire had actually said.
“What do you mean?”
Vasilije let his body fall into the chair and closed his eyes. “I mean I’m done with you. Get the fuck out.”
“But don’t I need to stay with you for a little longer? Isn’t that what you said yesterday?”
His eyes still closed, Vasilije didn’t say a word. With his hand, he merely waved Jeremy away, as if he were a stranger who was no longer welcome in his presence.
“Whatever. Fine. I don’t need you. There are other vampires in this city.”
The image of Yvette flashed through Vasilije’s mind, followed by LeClerc staking Jeremy after the first time he touched her. Not even that could make him keep him around, though.
Jeremy was still spouting off about how much better his life as a vampire would be as he stuffed bags of chips and pretzels into a bag with his clothes when Vasilije heard something that made him sit up and pay attention.
“...and I’m sure she won’t mind having me around.”
Vasilije stood up quickly and faced Jeremy. “What did you say?”
Still looting the kitchen, he answered, “I said you’re not the only vampire in New Orleans. And I’m sure the vampire I met the other night will be happy to have me stay with her.”
“Who?”
“Nobody you’d know.”
Quickly losing his patience, Vasilije rushed Jeremy, who was now rifling through Teagan’s CDs, throwing the garbage bag full of food and clothes off to the side near the broken table. “Who?”
“Stop crowding me! Fine. Her name is Tatiana. And you should see her. She’s a whole lot fucking hotter than that mousy twat of yours.”
The name rang in Vasilije’s ears. Tatiana. She was in New Orleans. In a flash, his hand shot out and grabbed Jeremy’s neck as he slammed him against the wall.
“When? When did you meet her?”
Jeremy’s arms flailed as he fought to breathe. Although he knew a vampire couldn’t die by strangulation, Vasilije loosened his grip and barked, “Talk!”
“The other night. At the bar, before you two came in.”
“Tell me what you know about her!”
Choking, Jeremy coughed out the words, “Blond babe. Hot. And she has a cool accent.”
Everything Vasilije had considered impossible became suddenly more than just possible. Tatiana was in New Orleans. Had she staked Teagan in retaliation for Alex? His mind raced back to Sasa’s description of Teagan’s killer.
A man.
Had she lied about that too?
“What else do you know about her?” he bellowed as he slammed Jeremy against the wall again.
“Nothing. She just knew I was a vampire. No, I do know something else. Sasa knows her. I saw her with Tatiana in the Quarter after you sent me home.”
Vasilije’s rage took over and all he could think of was how stupid he’d been. Everything with Sasa had been a lie. Tatiana had murdered his vampire. And Sasa knew it.
Blinded by rage, he grabbed a long piece of wood from the broken pieces of table and held it tightly in his hand, his arm cocked back behind him. The jagged wooden tip pointed toward Jeremy’s heart like an arrow seeking a bull’s eye.
“Vasilije, no! I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt her. I just went a little nuts—stir crazy from being stuck here. Don’t do this. I’m one of you. She’s nothing but a human...”
He didn’t hear anything after that. His ears rang with the words, “She’s nothing” over and over and then he plunged the stake into Jeremy’s heart in the very spot he knew would finish him.
In seconds, Jeremy was no more, and a pile of dust began to settle at Vasilije’s feet, particles of his former vampire clinging to his hair and clothes on their way to the floor. Vasilije breathed heavily as the realization of what he’d done came over him. Never before had he killed one of his vampires, one he’d sired.
Now he was no different than Tatiana.
Sickened, he tossed the stake to the pile of wood that had been the table and focused his mind on the one he needed to find.
Sasa.<
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CHAPTER 13
She knew he was nearby. It wasn’t her ability as an empath that told her. It was something more. Something deep inside her connected to him. He was inside her, just as he’d promised the night she’d first given her blood to him.
She knew she should fear him. What he’d been at Teagan’s was his true self. Vampire. Killer. But it was no use.
Sasa’s body came alive at the idea of him coming to her. Every inch of her called out to him. He was like a drug she craved. Outside, she heard silence, but she was drawn to the door as if he were silently willing her to him.
Looking out into the darkness, she closed her eyes and waited. Waited for his touch. For the taste of his lips on hers, his tongue caressing hers as it slid into her mouth. For the feel of his fangs as they first touched her skin in that long moment before he sank into her.
“Sasa.”
His voice covered her, seeping into her soul. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see him there. Vasilije. Vampire. He stood still, looking into her eyes as if he were searching for some answer. Blue eyes that seemed to be endless. Icy pools once again hiding the passion that waited behind them.
“Vasilije.”
She spoke his name like a plea.
“Invite me in, Sasa.” As he spoke, he leaned in next to her, taking up the space between them.
The words almost caught in her throat, strangled by excitement and anticipation. She backed up across the threshold and beckoned him to follow her. “Come in, Vasilije.”
His speed surprised her, and in seconds he had her by the throat, her back pressed painfully against the wall. His eyes hid no desire now. Now they were simply cold.
“Tatiana.” He lifted his face in a sneer. “I can smell her here.”
Fear raced through Sasa and her heart slammed into her chest over and over as the name repeated in her head. He knew. He knew everything and he hadn’t come out of love.
He’d come to kill her for what she’d done.
“Vasilije, please! I had no choice.”
Rage flooded Sasa’s senses as his anger leapt off him in spikes. Terror touched every part of her as she watched anger twist his face into a frightening expression of hate. His long fingers squeezed against the muscles of her neck and cut off the air from her lungs. Gasping, she thrashed against his grip, frantically grabbing at his arm.