Ashes to Ashes (Barbie the Vampire Hunter Book 3)

by Lucinda Dark

  He frowned and took a step forward. I mimed that but backwards. "What happened?" he asked. "You were supposed to be in the city with Olivia."

  "We came back early," I said, panting through the agony. Another step forward from him. Another backward from me.

  "Why are you running from me?" he asked, his voice dropping back into that growly octave that sent tingles through my lady parts. Hello vampire libido, oh how I didn't miss you.

  Oh, yes, you did, she replied with a smile.

  You can fuck the fuck off, bitch.

  You know how to make me. If an invisible entity inside of me could wink, I'd bet the crazy bitch was doing just that.

  “Barbie?”

  I realized I hadn’t answered him. “I’m going to hurt you,” I said.

  He blinked and took another step towards me. This time, when I moved back, he snagged my arm and dragged me forward. “You could never hurt me, Sweetheart,” he whispered, dipping his head and turning it to the side as he offered his throat to me. My eyes fastened on the smooth column. My mouth watered. I leaned forward, unable to help myself. I parted my lips, my lids lowering, and I struck. He grunted as I sank my fangs into his throat. Blood flowed onto my tongue, rich and delicious—far better than the man I’d tried to drink from earlier.

  The pain receded and in my excitement, I felt more than saw his wince as I bit down harder, trying to get even more. I would’ve pulled away completely after realizing had his hand not come up to cup the back of my skull and held me in position. “Like I said,” he repeated, “you could never hurt me.”

  I closed my eyes and let myself feed, and all the while I couldn’t help but think, what a fucking liar.

  Twenty-Seven

  Torin

  A growl rumbled in my chest as Barbie suckled at my vein. It was a heady feeling giving over to someone like her. Her nails sank into my skin. Thankfully, they hadn’t shifted into talons. She squeezed me, coiling around my body like a snake as she drew more blood into her body. More than she should’ve needed for what had happened with Katalin.

  Katalin…

  I cupped the back of Barbie’s head as my back hit the wall and I slowly sank down, keeping her in my lap as I did. I closed my eyes.

  Mine, my vampire's voice echoed in my mind. When I held Barbie to me, I felt my hands tremble. At the hint of Barbie's possible demise, he'd consumed me. It had happened so quickly, I hadn't even realized what he was doing until it was too late. I'd been unable to speak, unable to do anything but let him control my movements.

  In the moment, I'd known—had the choice come down to it—I'd kill Katalin to protect Barbie. I'd kill the woman who raised me if it meant my mate might survive. It was a startling realization, though not all that surprising. She was rooted deep inside me. The first—and hopefully only—person I'd ever turned.

  I stroked my fingers through her hair and a moment later, she slowly pulled her mouth away from my neck. Small, warm pants brushed over my skin and I hardened in my jeans.

  "Torin." Her voice was hoarse. She cleared it as she leaned back even further until she could look me in the eyes. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.

  I looked down at her, my lips firming as I debated on what to tell her. Did I reveal my loss of control? "Which part?" I asked as a way to stall. "Katalin or my vampire?"

  Blue eyes narrowed on my face. "Well, I meant your vampire, but now that you've mentioned Katalin—what the hell is she doing back? When did she get back?"

  "Just now, I assume," I answered. "I'd only been at the house for a few minutes by the time you got there."

  "She tried to kill me."

  She had, I admitted internally, but at the same time, she'd also stopped. What had she said? I tried to recall the words Katalin had spoken when I'd been too enraged and overtaken by the need to protect Barbie. She couldn't kill me, she'd said. Not wouldn't—couldn't. Why?

  I stood, lifting Barbie in my arms. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around my neck as I strode through the guesthouse. I smirked. Before, she would've punched me and demanded to be put down. This was progress.

  "I think it would be best if we left town," I said.

  "Left town?" she repeated, blinking. "Why the fuck can't we just kill her?"

  I grimaced. "My sister is not to be taken lightly. Had you been human, her initial attack would've killed you. Had I not been there, she would've."

  "Your belief in my abilities is astounding," she deadpanned.

  It wasn't her abilities that worried me, but Katalin's. "She is much older than you and me," I said. "She is dangerous. I've never even seen her fight. Her speed..." Had been incredible. Unparalleled. Worrisome. I shook my head. "We should leave town anyway just for a little while. I'm sure Maverick has a list of possible hunters we can contact by now." I made it to the master bedroom and set her down, holding onto her arm as she wavered slightly. "We'll go looking for them."

  "What about—"

  I caught a whiff of something rising from her skin. Something that most certainly should not have been there. My hand tightened on her arm. "Why do you smell like human blood?" I cut her off.

  Her eyes widened as her head jerked back and she looked up at me. Her lips parted and the quietest of curses slipped out. "Fuck."

  "Barbie..." I growled, backing her into the bedroom wall, caging her in with my body and arms. "What. Happened?"

  Her eyes closed and when she reopened them, she'd found her steel again. She shoved against my chest, pushing me back. "I—" she started, only to cut herself off when the front door banged open, capturing both of our attentions. I was out of the bedroom in a flash, ready to defend her if Katalin had chosen to come after us anyway. But it wasn't Katalin. Maverick stood there with keys in hand, looking at me as though I'd lost my mind.

  "What the hell is that look for?" he snapped. Barbie walked out of the bedroom a moment later, coming up behind me and his attention shifted to her. "Barbie? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Olivia."

  "I was," she said sidling past me. I growled at her in warning. It wasn't that she was getting nearer to Maverick that bothered me so much as the fact that more of that human blood scent hit my nose. We were not done talking.

  She shot me a look of irritation over her shoulder before turning and fixing her gaze on Maverick. "We have to talk," she announced. I settled a hand on her shoulder and she stiffened slightly.

  Maverick lifted a hand and scrubbed it down his face as he lowered his other arm and shoved the keys back into his pocket. "When you say shit like that—I know I'm not going to like whatever comes next," he complained. I agreed. I didn't think either of us was going to like what she had to say next.

  When the words came out of her mouth, I knew I was right. I didn't like it. “Olivia and I were attacked in the city—don’t worry, I took care of it.” She stopped, sliding her eyes my way. “I had to hurt them, they bled,” she confessed. That explained the scent of human blood on her. “In the process, Olivia might have found out that I’m…” she grimaced, “not human.”

  "She fucking what?" Maverick just stared at her.

  “I didn’t have much of a choice at the time,” she said defensively. "What was I supposed to do?"

  "You should've brought her back here," I answered. "Where I could've erased her memories."

  "It's a goddamn good thing I didn't," she snapped at me before turning her gaze back on Maverick. "His sister's back and considering that she just tried to fucking kill me, that might have complicated things." She lifted a hand from her chest and pinched her thumb and forefinger together. "Just a smidge."

  The little smartass. Oh, how I wanted to spank her. I huffed out a breath as I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose.

  "What?" Mav's head swung my way. "When the hell did this happen? And why the fuck did no one call me? Is that why the main estate—"

  "Yes," I answered his question mid-sentence, cutting it off as I released the bridge of my nose and lowered my arm. "
And it just happened. We hadn't gotten to the guesthouse but a moment before you arrived."

  "What are we going to do about her?" Mav demanded.

  I didn't know. We could kill her ... but she'd let Barbie and me go. She'd attacked Barbie, knowing she was my mate. Those things she'd said to me just before Barbie had arrived ... my mind was whirling with the confusing knowledge. What had she meant when she'd said she wished she'd killed me when I was born? What did she know? Why couldn't she kill me now?

  A part of me honestly wanted to believe it was because she cared—tonight had been the most emotion I'd ever seen from her. In recent months, I'd seen more and more of Katalin's emotions emerge. It was growing concerning. Did that mean Arrius was planning something? Did she know what it was? It involved me, that much was sure. What could I do to ensure she wouldn't tell Arrius about Barbie still being alive before we got a chance to kill him?

  "Torin?" I lifted my head, meeting the focused gazes of both Barbie and Maverick. The way they'd said my name told me that it hadn't been the first time they'd called for me and I realized I still hadn't answered the question.

  "I'll figure it out," I promised. I strode across the living room and opened the weapon trunk. Rifling through it, I withdrew a weapons bag and set it on the floor before closing the lid. "For now, we need to take off for a few days."

  "What?" Mav frowned at me. "Where the hell are we going to go? How are we going to explain it to—"

  "Tell your parents that you're staying with me for the weekend," I interrupted him. "Barbie is supposed to be with Olivia," I paused and shot her a look full of meaning, "which we will have to deal with."

  "You're not going to hurt her," Barbie stated.

  "Of course not," I agreed, “but she still can't be allowed to know."

  "She doesn't know everything," Barbie said. "She doesn't know about you or Mav."

  "She knows we're involved though, doesn't she?" Her silence was the answer I needed.

  "I agree with Tor, Barbie," Mav said. "She's a liability."

  Barbie gritted her teeth, lowering her arms as her fists clenched at her sides. "I don't want to take away her choice," she said.

  "It's not just her choice at stake," I said. "It could be her life."

  Quiet stretched through the room, uncomfortable and tense. Barbie didn't speak and neither did I. It was Mav who chose to break the silence. "Why don't we come back to it when we get back?" he suggested.

  I slid a glance his way. "Time won't change what has to be done," I warned.

  "No," he agreed, "but a weekend won't make much of a difference, will it?"

  I supposed it wouldn't. Not in the long run. I didn't like it, but with one look at Barbie's face, I knew any further argument would be met with vitriol. She glared at me, as if waiting for me to pass judgment, and I could tell by the tautness in her arms that as soon as I said something she didn't like—which always seemed to be the case—she'd be ready to punch me. I sighed. I would give in. For now. "Fine," I said, "but when we get back, you need to resign yourself to what needs to be done."

  Barbie didn't answer for a moment and then she nodded, one small barely perceptible jerk of her chin. "Okay."

  Mav nodded. "Then that settles that—at least for now. It just leaves us with the fuck we're supposed to do about your sister and where we're going to go."

  "That's up to you," I replied.

  He frowned at me. "What do you mean 'up to me?’"

  "We need to find hunters," I said. "Do you have a list compiled yet?"

  His lips parted and curled into a grimace. "Of sorts..." He reached back and pulled out his phone. He tapped a few buttons and scrolled before coming to whatever screen he needed. Mav took two strides and stopped at my side, handing me the device. I lifted it from his grip and looked down.

  "There are only three names on this list," I said.

  He shrugged. "What can I say?" he replied. "They're either dead—wiped out by your father—or they're very good at hiding. There's a reason it's taken me this long. Narrowing down the suspects. I'm about ninety percent sure these three are hunters. They're the only ones I could find and I don't just mean in the area, I mean in the United States. Whatever Arrius is planning," he paused, taking the phone back from me, "he's almost achieved complete annihilation of vampire hunters."

  "That's not good," Barbie said as she stepped closer. "That's not good at fucking all."

  No, I agreed internally. It wasn't.

  "Call your family," I ordered Mav. "And start packing a bag for each of you." I turned towards the front door.

  "Where are you going?" Mav called after me.

  "To talk to Katalin," I answered.

  I found Katalin much in the same way as I had earlier. A new glass of blood in hand, staring out at me as I approached the back of the main estate. Barbie’s backpack rested on the ground where I supposed Katalin must have brought it out and tossed it. I picked it up and slid it over my shoulders before looking up to where she stood.

  "Have you calmed down?" she inquired as she took a sip, red staining her lips before she licked it away.

  I stiffened—my muscles growing tense—but I didn't slow my gait as I strode up the back steps. "You should not have attacked her," I said.

  She didn't reply and for a moment, I wasn't sure if she would or not. And then, "You're right," she said. "It was a poor decision on my part. I should've maintained control of my emotions." Her eyes slid to the side. "But make no mistake, it matters not whether I kill her here or not, she will die, Torin."

  "If it doesn't matter then you shouldn't try to do it again," I advised.

  Red flashed in her eyes before disappearing so quickly, I might have thought I'd imagined it had it not been for the crackle of energy between us. I was poised—ready to strike. She pivoted towards the back door, downing the rest of her glass in one gulp, letting the empty crystal hang in her grip. She stopped in the doorway and without turning, she spoke. "Be very wary of your choices in the coming weeks," she said, and I knew the words for what they were. Not just a threat but also a warning.

  "Will you tell him?" I demanded, stepping closer until I was within reaching distance of her back. Her cheek turned and her lips curled upwards. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that it was a true smile though.

  "And if I said I would?" she asked. She spun, facing me. "What would you do, Torin? Kill me?"

  I inhaled sharply. "I'd do what was necessary."

  Her lips slowly returned to their normal passive line. "That's all I've ever done," she said. "What was necessary." Before I could reply—before I could extract a promise that she would keep Barbie's life a secret, at least for now—she shook her head and gestured out beyond the back lawn. "Go," she said. "Go back to your friend and your mate."

  She knew then, too, about Maverick. I didn't know what else to say. I couldn't—I realized—say what I knew would happen if we stepped closer to this line we were reaching. I would kill her if she crossed it and she would kill Barbie if I did. Perhaps even Mav. A growl rumbled in my mind—my vampire's memory of the blood I'd shared with him insulted by the suggestion of something marked by us in danger, though it was not nearly as strong as it had been for Barbie.

  “If you hurt them,” I cautioned quietly, “I’ll never forgive you.” Once again, there was nothing in her expression to hint at what she was feeling. It appeared that she’d drawn that cold shell of hers closed once more. For only a moment, I’d seen past the silence that cloaked her. And inside of Katalin, I knew there was a storm of fury just waiting to be unleashed. “Please, Kat…”

  She shook her head again. “You’re not welcome back in the main estate,” she said. “I’ll have the rest of your things brought out to the guesthouse. I don’t want to see you here again.”

  “And Barbie?” I asked. “Maverick?”

  She lifted the glass she still held so that the light pouring out from the house reflected on its surface and sent a dozen rays of gold across the ground between
us. “What you do from this point on is none of my business,” she said. “I won’t reveal anything I’m not asked, but the less I know the better. If you know what is good for you and your mate, you’ll take her and you’ll run far, far away from this place, Torin.”

  It was my turn to shake my head. When I smiled, it was sad. “Pawns can’t get away from their owners for long,” I said, stepping back.

  She blinked, as if surprised by that statement. “I suppose you’re right,” she acquiesced, dropping her arm and cutting off the array of lights as the crystal glass in her grip lowered as well.

  I took another step and lowered myself until I was no longer standing on the stone, but in the grass, looking up at her. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. Whatever my father had done to her when he’d turned her—it hadn’t made her loyal because she loved him.

  “But kings,” I said as I moved away from her and the estate I’d been raised on, away from all that I’d been taught, all that I’d known, “should also realize that if they abuse the power they were given that their pawns just might rise up to destroy them.”

  She swallowed. Her lips parted at those words, surprise echoing across her features—splitting the curtains that covered her for a brief moment so that I could see the hope behind her veneer of indifference. “Yes…” she whispered, “I suppose you’re right.” An echo of her earlier words, but this time they meant something more.

  Twenty-Eight

  Maverick

  “Turn up here,” I directed from the backseat as Torin drove through the narrow alleyway buffered by two tall brick warehouses. We’d been in this exact situation a time before—Barbie and I—and it hadn’t exactly ended well. This time, however, we weren’t hunting down vampire nests, we were hunting the hunters of those vampire nests.

  One three hour plane ride across several states, a rented SUV, and one very disturbingly quiet Barbie later—we’d arrived at our destination. I stared out through my spot in the backseat, centered between the driver’s and front passenger seat, up at the mountain of a building. “Are you sure this is the place?” Torin asked.