Blood Lines: Conduit

by Mechele Armstrong

  Bastian stared at the receiver. “Your emergency call was from Lucy?”

  “Yeah. She wanted me to pick her up. She was gone from her room when I went to look for her this morning. Made some poor decisions. Needed someone to come get her. Then, left me looking for her.”

  “She wasn’t there?”

  “Nope.”

  “Tad, I need you back at the house. Now.”

  For outside, Bastian got on clothes, or at least pants. He wanted to rush out naked but scrambled, pulling on sweats. In case he had to run around the city without going back in. This couldn’t be happening. Lucy wouldn’t ... He swallowed.

  No sign of them outside, either. No answer to his calls.

  But in one spot near the driveway circle, the faintest of scents. Copper. Lucy’s scent covered by Crimson’s body wash again. A bitter scent.

  He inhaled deeply, scratching at his chest and squinting.

  A sleep drug. He recognized it. He had encountered it long ago, and it wasn’t a scent he’d forget. It had been used on women by a vampire who’d gone over the edge. Henri and Bastian had hunted him down. He hadn’t encountered it since but the smell was distinctive.

  Lucy had put Copper to sleep. But for what purpose? Why would she do something like that? And was she working alone? A chill went down his body. Or was she working with someone?

  * * * * *

  Lucy walked up to the small farmhouse. She knocked on the door. Not exactly the most elegant of places. A bit run down, with the house in need of some paint. A sagging front porch. Cow farms surrounded it. Crickets chirped and few katydids sounded. No human sounds around. She hadn’t seen many cars on the way out.

  Evan, a brown-haired man, opened the door. Etien had introduced them last night. His hair was cropped close to his head. A stern-looking wool suit. He must be hot as hell. No wonder he looked so grumpy. “What took you so long?” He waved her inside to a living room as ramshackle as the outside.

  “You live in the boondocks. That’s what took me so long, Evan.”

  “Do you have the girl?” His tone was clipped. Like he was in a courtroom instead of the middle of farm country.

  Lucy giggled. “I do. She’s trussed up like a turkey snoozing on my back seat.” She’d had fun tying the other girl up. Used much more twine than necessary. Put more duct tape than necessary on her mouth. It should hurt to remove. She wished she could have slapped her around, but hadn’t wanted to mark her when delivering her so soon to Bastian’s enemy.

  “My Mistress will be most pleased.”

  “I am, Evan. Oh yes, I am.”

  Both their heads turned to see the woman descending the creaky steps. She wore a black leather outfit like Catwoman. Her blonde hair was almost the same shade as Lucy’s but shorter.

  “Mistress.” Evan’s voice held reverence. Lucy’s gaze shifted to him. He sounded so worshipping. Not something she’d imagined from him in their quick impromptu introduction. He’d seemed so unaffected.

  She tingled, clenching her hands with fear. She was only supposed to deliver the girl to Evan. Hadn’t been told Evangeline would be present. The one who wanted revenge on Bastian. This change of plan was not something she’d anticipated.

  Lucy looked to the door. Running from the vampiress probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. She’d have to find a way out of this.

  “Evan. Go bring in our newest guest. I’m sure the current one will be pleased at the reunion.”

  “Yes, Mistress.” Evan bolted out the door. His eagerness made Lucy more wary. Did he do things out of fear or love? Somehow she thought both. And if he feared the one he served so much, it made her scared. More than she’d been in a long time. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest.

  “You must be Lucy.” Her cool hand caressed Lucy’s cheek. Lucy barely managed not to flinch. “I’m Evangeline.” Her voice chirped, grating on Lucy’s nerves. “It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evangeline. Etien told me a lot about you.”

  “Did he, now? You are quite a lovely thing.” Evangeline’s head came close, and she inhaled deeply. “Etien enjoyed you well.”

  Lucy nodded. “That he did.” She inched one step closer to the door.

  “How forthright you are. No blushes or hesitation. A woman not afraid of her own sexuality. I like it. And you.”

  Lucy let loose a quivering smile. Evan scurried back in the front door, carrying Crimson, who was still unconscious.

  It would be done. She’d finally be rid of the bitch. Bastian would love her as he was meant to. As he did without realizing it.

  “Take the lovely guest up to the room we have prepared. Make sure she’s comfortable. Until we can ... get Bastian here to talk.” Evangeline slid her hands down the smooth leather material. “You love Bastian?” She stared at Lucy, her eyes narrowing.

  “Yes. Yes, I do.” And he loves me, and now, we’ll finally have some peace.

  “He loves you?”

  Lucy took another step closer to the door, her hands shaking. Her feet ached to run. “What?” She hadn’t spoken that out loud. Had she? “I must be getting back. It will be dark soon.”

  “Pet, you are projecting thoughts so loudly, my fledgling vampires can hear you. Etien had told me you said Bastian loved you more than Crimson.” Evangeline tapped her chin. Lucy’s back hit the front door, garnering her sigh of relief. “Interesting piece of information, don’t you think?”

  “He does.” Lucy blurted it out. Then cringed. A mistake. Admitting that Bastian loved her to the person bent on some sort of revenge against him. Her plans crumbled around her. She was supposed to use Evangeline’s plots to get what she wanted. Not be drawn into it.

  Evangeline sighed. “Such a complicated life our dear Bastian has. Take her, boys.”

  Lucy scrambled to yank open the door, turned to run, and hit a wall one step out of it. Only it wasn’t a wall. It was a man. A huge man who’d been waiting outside the door. He grabbed her. She kicked, but he slung her over his shoulder. Two other men stepped out of the shadows.

  “This wasn’t part of the deal! I gave you Crimson! You were supposed to let me go if I did.”

  Evangeline patted her ass. Her hand lingered there, tracing it through her jeans. “What a nice rump you have.” Then in a whimsical tone, “If Bastian loves you, I must have you too. Rules of engagement. Have as many things in your favor as you can. Sorry for you, pet.” From her upside down position, Lucy saw Evangeline move towards another man, a brown-haired one. Her kicks had been useless to get her down from the man who held her. “Take her upstairs and secure her in the room with the others. Get this room ready for the games to start. Oh, and pet? I already have Crimson. I’m not sure whom you delivered yet. But I will be finding out. As soon as our sleeping beauty wakes up. I will let you watch. Before I kill all three of you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Voices came into Copper’s consciousness. Light, indecipherable warbling sounds that ran into her brain. She rolled her head. Her eyelids wouldn’t raise. Tiny, heavy bricks sat on them.

  The voice slowly came into focus.

  “Copper! Would you shut the hell up, bitch? I know you want Bastian and to get out of here. We all do. Copper, wake up.”

  Sobbing, and the snappish voice of her sister.

  She forced one eyelid up. She viewed the room through a dreamy haze.

  Lucy and Crimson sat on the floor nearby. A living room. The furniture, sofa and coffee table had been shoved back against the walls in one corner. Lots of open space.

  Circular rings had been bolted into the plain white drywall, which Lucy and Crim had been handcuffed to. No one else seemed to be in the room.

  She slid the other eyelid up. They wanted to slam back down. Her legs and arms weighed heavy on the carpet.

  Drugged.

  Lucy had drugged her, the bitch. Now she sat crying. Copper wanted to pull her eyeballs out.

  She leaned her head back and almos
t lost consciousness again. But saw enough to know she’d been secured like the other two.

  “Nice of you to join the party, sis.”

  “Crimson, are you OK?”

  “Never better. Are you? Did they hurt you bringing you here?” Crimson shifted her head to look.

  Copper shook her head. She sat further up. The house smelled like the woods. Crisp. Clean. Warm. A slight tinge of vanilla. Contrast to the frigidness seeping into her bones. They might die here. No. Don’t think like that.

  Crimson licked chapped lips. “Copper, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m sorry. I never should have called you and brought you into this mess.”

  Copper smiled at her sister. “I’m glad you did.”

  “Touching reunion.” Lucy’s voice came out raw, hoarse. “They’re going to fucking kill us.”

  “Shut up, bitch. You delivered us here. We’d still be safe at Bastian’s if you hadn’t taken me.” Copper tested the bonds. Tight. Chains. No way to break them. Unless she got vampire strength within the next few minutes.

  “They’ve got us secured good, Cop. There’s no getting out of this one. I wanted to tell you, though. I love you, sis.” Crimson’s voice dropped. She swallowed noisily.

  Copper’s eyes stung as she fought to hold them back, but tears trickled out. Her throat burned, feeling raw. Crimson hadn’t said that in a long time. Last time they’d fought, she’d said the opposite. Copper had worried they might be the last words she’d hear from Crimson. “I love you too. We’re going to get out of this. Don’t you give up.”

  Lucy’s eyes snakeified. “I wonder how your sister would feel to know you’re banging her boyfriend.”

  Copper gnashed her teeth. “Why couldn’t they have gagged you?”

  Crim’s voice sounded so strong. “You and Bastian? Hooking up?”

  “Crim, it isn’t like that. Not like that at all. I was pretending to be you, trying to find out where you were.”

  “Oh. He thought you were me.” Crimson shifted her hands, rattling chains.

  Copper cringed. “He ... umm ... well, he knew I wasn’t you. But we haven’t screwed or banged or anything else like that.”

  “But you’d like to. I can still read you. After so much time apart.” A smug tone came to Crimson’s voice.

  “Of course she wants him. He’s Bastian.” Lucy’s waspish voice made Copper’s spine snap straighter. Though she did have a point.

  “Shut up, Lucy. Crimson, I ... we didn’t plan it. Nothing we’ve acted on, either. We have not fucked ...”

  “Sis.” Crimson interrupted, shaking her head. “Bastian is a good man. He’d be good for you. Unlike the moron.”

  Copper hadn’t thought about Jared since she’d met Bastian. The differences in them could fill volumes. “The moron’s history anyway.”

  “Cop. We do not have a lot of time. Whatever happens, you leave. Get out. And agree with everything I tell you to.”

  Copper blinked. Crimson had a plan.

  The door to the room creaked open. A sliver of light shone. The overhead light flipped on. The walls, so plainly white with nothing to break it up, hurt Copper’s eyes. Two leather-booted legs strode in, attached to a thin woman in a tight red leather mini-dress, her hair in a bun.

  “Good to see you awake. I was beginning to worry Lucy here had given you more sedative than I prescribed. Then we would have had to make Lucy suffer.” She clucked her tongue.

  “You must be Evangeline.” Copper leaned her head back to stare at the woman who wanted revenge on Bastian.

  “What do you know? My reputation precedes me.” Men and women sauntered into the room. Most of the men wore no shirts, except one who wore a suit. The women wore little. The eerie thing was, none of them said a word at first unless Evangeline spoke to them or touched them.

  “I thought you were from Victorian England? Didn’t they have a dress code? I don’t think you or your little minions meet it.” Copper shifted her weight, seeing if she could deliver a kick. Not unless she or the others came closer.

  “I see Bastian talked about me. And yes, pet, they did. Makes me glad I live in the now and not the past.” She ran a hand down a man’s sleek chest. Turned and did the same thing to a woman wearing a low-cut shirt. “So much easier to access body parts these days.”

  Crimson moved, the chains clanging. “Evangeline. This woman knows nothing. Nothing about you or Bastian’s real lives. She’s innocent.”

  “Suddenly now you get chatty?” Evangeline moved around all of them. Her boots made soft thumps on the old carpet. “Why now?”

  “Because this woman means something to me. She’s my sister.”

  “Crimson!” Copper railed. “What are you doing?”

  “Sisters. How scrumptious.” Evangeline’s voice rose. A kid with a new toy. A new perk to use.

  “She means nothing to Bastian. Nothing at all. I’m the one who does.”

  “Crimson. Don’t.” Copper lined up her shot. Evangeline needed to move into range. It wouldn’t get them out. But it would focus her on someone other than Crimson.

  “Copper isn’t a part of this. I know you want to get back at Bastian. But killing her will do nothing to get to him. And that’s what you want. To get to him.”

  Evangeline stopped moving. She ran an index finger down something Copper hadn’t noticed. A flogger hanging on the wall. “So you want me to let her go?”

  Crimson nodded. “I do.”

  Evangeline sucked her lip into her mouth. “But see, there’s nothing in that for me. I like to kill too. Doesn’t have to be to get back at Bastian.”

  “If you let her go, I’ll willingly fuck you. With my whole body.” Crimson’s eyes looked directly into Evangeline’s. “I know you want it. You’ve wanted me since you started this. Your eyes can’t deny it.”

  “I had you, pet. You put too great a price on your own sex.”

  “Crimson!” Crimson ignored Copper’s call. Copper wanted to kick her.

  “But my arms couldn’t hold you. Couldn’t pleasure you. I couldn’t top you. And that’s what you want from me. You had me. Sure you did. But unless you do this, you will never have had me.”

  Evangeline ran a hand over her face.

  “What about me?” Lucy shrieked.

  “What about you? You go screw yourself.” Crim sat up taller. Slowly drew her tongue across her lips. “Bastian does care for Lucy. He’s fucked her before.”

  “Crimson, please don’t do this.” Copper’s voice pleaded.

  “He’s screwed both sisters.” Lucy leaned back against her chains. Her grin looked malicious. “He screwed Crimson. And Copper while you had her.”

  “Did he now?” Evangeline stilled, her head turning to scan all three of them.

  “No!” Crimson snarled. “He’s never touched Copper.”

  Evangeline approached Copper. Knelt down beside her. “Why can’t I get into your mind? It’s like my head hits a wall each time I try. I’ve been trying since I walked in the room. I can’t find out which one of them lies about you.”

  Copper shrugged. The chains rattled again. Bastian had said he couldn’t read her. Maybe no vampire could.

  “I can’t even get a small part of my mind in yours.” She pursed her lips. “Why is that? I can get into your sister’s head. She can block me, but I’m still in. You, I can’t put any feelers in your brain.”

  “It doesn’t matter about her. I’ll only let you take me if you let her go.” Crimson stomped the floor to get Evangeline’s attention.

  “As tempted as I am by the offer, and I’m more tempted than I should be, I can’t, Crimson. I can’t get into her head. I can’t smell Bastian on her, but that means little. And you’d lie to me to protect this one. I don’t have to search your mind to know that.”

  “Dammit, Evangeline.”

  “It’s all right, Crimson.” Copper shook. Her sister had been willing to sacrifice herself for her. She had never expected that.

  “Now?” Evangeline picked
up the flogger and rolled it through her hands. “Whom should I start with?”

  “Them.” Lucy’s murmured words caught the vampiress’s ears.

  “Bullshit. Let her start with you.” Crimson’s voice growled, low and deep. Like she’d been hanging out with wolves and not vampires, who couldn’t change shape, despite the rumors.

  “So you two presume to know what I want?” Evangeline smacked the flogger against her hand, making a snapping sound.

  Evangeline got up, turning in the direction of Crimson. Copper saw the advantage, maybe her only time to use it, and took it. Her foot shot out, kicking Evangeline in the hip. She went down, staggering to her knees.

  Evan started forward, and Evangeline growled at him. He rejoined the line.

  “Not being able to read your mind is a pain.” She stumbled to her feet. She slapped the plastic whip against Copper’s midsection. It let out a sharp sound, stinging the skin. Copper bit her lip. She wouldn’t give the bitch the satisfaction of knowing it hurt. “Do you know why I left you all clothed?” Another slap. More burning pain. Copper gritted her teeth. “I plan to cut those clothes off of each of you. Only I don’t intend to be careful with the knife. How many wounds do you think I can make? Etien and I have a bet. On how many nicks I can put into your skin. My vampires will feed well from them. As I cut you.”

  “Been there, done that, Evangeline. Your vampires have been feeding on my wounds for days.” Crimson lay her head back.

  “And I’m sure you will find your way to orgasm with what will be done now, Crim.” She twisted the flogger against her palm, face thoughtful. “You would have followed through with your offer?”

  “Damn straight.” Crim’s eyes met Copper’s. Regret, love, a few other things pictured there.

  Evangeline sighed. “I finally meet a woman to rival Marie, and I have to kill her. The fates are not kind. Evan? Whom shall I start with?”

  Evan stepped up behind Evangeline. She leaned in to lick down his jaw. His body shook, his face turning to a look of rapture. “I think the blonde.”

  “No!” Lucy screamed, straining against the cuffs.

  “Good choice. Go take the rest of the humans out. The guards are positioned? Watching for Bastian? And Etien is in place?”