A Vampire's Honor

by Carla Susan Smith

  Gabriel!

  The Master of Discord, my demon had to already be aware of the animosity existing between Aleksei and Petrov, Kartel and Aleksei, Kartel and me, and Kartel and Gabriel. If I asked, he could probably tell me exactly how far from Death Valley Gabriel was right now, or if he was already there. If he’d reached Aleksei in time, or if . . . or if . . .

  “Is Gabriel dead?” I blurted out.

  Don’t be an idiot! If Gabriel was dead you’d be lying on the floor, eyes rolling, muscles twitching, and fluid leaking from places I don’t want to think about. Oh . . . yeah.

  To his credit, the look of surprise on the demon’s face seemed genuine enough. As if he too had forgotten the terms of our deal.

  “Dead? Why would he be dead?” For a moment I was equally surprised by his look of concern, but then he quickly covered it with a mask of sly mischief as he asked, “What is it that you think he’s done?”

  In as few words as possible, I told him about how Kartel had manipulated Aleksei to go after Petrov. I didn’t say anything about my own abduction or my suspicions about the blue-haired vampire wanting to weaken Gabriel for some unknown reason.

  “Oh . . . that!” He laughed and looked . . . relieved. “I have no interest in the petty squabbles of vampires, and to answer your question, no, Gabriel isn’t dead . . . but you already know that, right?”

  “Why would you think I’d ever want to marry you?”

  “Well, you don’t have to,” he said agreeably. “I just made the offer to be polite. I know how important these ridiculous rituals are to your kind.”

  My kind? Did he mean humans, or was he referring to me as a Promise? “So you don’t want to marry me?” A headache was germinating in the back of my skull. With any luck it would be a doozy that would knock me out.

  “Your foolish rites make no difference to me, but if they make you happy, so be it.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

  There was something I still wasn’t getting. Some nugget of information that he was deliberately keeping from me. Shit! The bastard was going to make me work for it.

  “I’m not going to marry you,” I said firmly. “Not now, not next week, not in the next century!”

  “Very well then, we can forgo the ritualistic formality. I’ll just take you when the time comes.”

  “What time? What the fuck are you talking about?”

  He stroked his chin with his long fingers, looking thoughtful. “You don’t know, do you?”

  “Well, duh—what do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?” I put my hands on my hips and glared across the space between us as any lustful desires I might have had completely vanished. “Our agreement was for a specified amount of time, and I don’t think we’re anywhere near the end of that.”

  I knew we weren’t because Ryiel, busy poring over ancient scrolls searching for a way to break my demonic agreement, would have told me if my time was up.

  “No, of course not,” the demon agreed with me, “which is why I was surprised that you decided to end your relationship with Gabriel so soon after our pact. What happened? Did he disappoint you, hmmm? Was it performance problems? You do know that can be fixed—”

  “There’s nothing wrong with his performance, either in or out of the bedroom!” I snapped hotly.

  I heard the ruffle of feathers as he shrugged. “Well, if it’s nothing physical, then what could it be, I wonder?”

  This was going nowhere, so I decided to bulldoze right in. “Why don’t you quit with the bullshit and tell me what you know. What’s happened to make you think I’ve ended my relationship with Gabriel?”

  “Well, you have to admit it’s difficult to believe in the sanctity of your love when you deliberately consent to his infidelity.”

  “I . . . I’ve done no such—what?!”

  “Infidelity, you do know the definition, I assume?” I was too stunned to offer a pithy comeback to his sarcasm. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but our deal was to see if the affection you have for each other was strong enough to withstand temptation, greed and lust. Gabriel’s sleeping with another woman is a deal breaker, even if you have sanctioned it.”

  “But I didn’t sanction anything of the kind—and he hasn’t slept with another woman!”

  “Not yet, but he will.”

  “What? When?”

  “Twenty-five years from now, give or take a month or two.”

  Twenty-five years? Twenty-five . . . oh, God damn it all to hell—Jenna!

  “Are you talking about the promise of protection Gabriel gave Laycee’s baby?”

  He arched a brow. “Of course, what else would it be?”

  “Who do you think he’s going to sleep with? Laycee?” I snorted at the idea.

  “No, not Laycee,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He’s going to sleep with the baby. Once she’s all grown up,” he amended.

  “Why would he . . .”

  Aw shit—the price, Rowan, it’s the price for Gabriel’s protection! The price Laycee could have turned down—probably would have turned down—but that you agreed to pay.

  The bands of red and green in his eyes gleamed maliciously. “You really didn’t know?” he asked, amazed by my ignorance. I shook my head. “Well, if Gabriel deliberately deceived you, then he is the one who has broken the pact.”

  “But he didn’t deceive me,” I refused to let his integrity be impugned.

  “If he asked you to agree to a payment without complete disclosure, then he deceived you. It’s really very straightforward.”

  “Would that void the agreement?” I asked, grasping at what I hoped was a straw.

  He smiled wickedly. “No, it just tells me where to place the blame.”

  “Then you have to give it to me, because Gabriel didn’t deceive me.” I was going to sound like a broken record if I kept this up. “He didn’t tell me because I didn’t give him the chance to. I agreed to pay whatever was asked without knowing what it would be.” Saying it out loud like this made me feel like the biggest, most stupid moron in the world.

  “So you didn’t know that the price for his protection is her virginity?” I shook my head. “And Gabriel didn’t tell you?”

  No, he didn’t. And now I knew why. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at my feet morosely.

  But why didn’t Gabriel tell you?

  As if hearing my inner bitch, the demon said, “Because once the agreement was verbally accepted, no part of it can ever be spoken of again.”

  “Well, that’s just stupid!”

  I stumbled as I crossed the room and sat down on the couch. My head was throbbing, and it had nothing to do with my burgeoning headache. I was angry. Angry with myself more than anything else, because, as usual, I’d made a decision based on emotion instead of reason. Now I understood why Gabriel had looked so horrified when I’d blurted out my willingness to accept responsibility for his gift. And to think I’d accused him of doubting my integrity! And he hadn’t told me because, by then, he couldn’t tell me. The price to protect my best friend’s baby from being hit on by a vampire as she was growing up was to allow her to give herself to one specific vampire once she was old enough. Holy shit!

  Mistress of impulsive decisions, questionable behavior, and all foolish choices . . . had you known, would it have made a difference?

  We’ll never know, will we? I can’t go back and re-live that moment, but I think in my heart of hearts, if I had known, I would have let Gabriel and Laycee decide.

  And if the result was the same?

  I don’t know . . . I honestly don’t know . . .

  I put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. This was such a terrible mess. The only thing I was certain of was I had to tell Gabriel I knew as soon as I saw him. It wasn’t fair to expect him to carry the secret alone. And I wasn’t going to tell Laycee. How and when the shit hit the fan twenty-five years from now would be a problem to deal with then.

  My demon sank to his haunches in front of me, and I felt him tug ge
ntly on a lock of my hair, pulling the curl between his fingers, and stroking it with this thumb. “You, of all people, should know the care needed when entering into agreements with supernatural beings. Words that mean so little to humans carry far more weight with us. And vampires in particular.” Gabriel had said something similar, but at the time I really hadn’t understood what he meant. Unfortunately, I did now. Dropping my lock of hair from his fingers, the demon said, “And it never crossed your mind to ask?”

  My only concern had been to give Laycee some peace of mind and to assuage my own feelings of guilt for exposing her to the world of vampires to begin with. “No,” I said, shaking my head, “and in all fairness, Gabriel did try to tell me . . . I just didn’t listen.”

  He did a credible job of suppressing his glee, and I knew I’d pretty much just handed myself over to him. From out of nowhere a large square jeweler’s box appeared. The color told me it was from Tiffany’s. “This is my gift to you.” His voice was rough and filled with the promise of sex. A promise I wasn’t sure I’d ever survive. “When I take you, you will wear these . . . and only these.”

  He opened the lid, and my eyes were dazzled by a necklace of brilliant black opals, each stone striated with bands of bright red and brilliant green. Just like his eyes. I stared down at them for a few moments, admiring their beauty, and then my eye caught the red diamond solitaire I wore on the third finger of my left hand. I felt steel bolting itself to my spine as resolve coursed through me. This wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot. I had twenty-five years to find a way to fix my monumental screw-up. And I would find a way . . . or die trying.

  I put out my hand and closed the lid on the opals. “It’s beautiful, but you can take it back. I don’t want it now, not twenty-five years from now, not ever.”

  “Now or later makes no difference,” he said, “but you will wear them the first time you lie in my bed.”

  Yeah, keep telling yourself that . . .

  “What happens if Gabriel doesn’t sleep with her?” I asked, refusing to discuss his desires any further.

  “Then she dies,” he said coldly.

  Christ-all-friggin’-mighty! Does everything have to be such a drama?

  “And if he does sleep with her?” It had never been so hard to keep my voice level, to pretend that inside I wasn’t dying just thinking about this.

  “With her virginity gone, the protection can be renewed or revoked by either of them. Whatever the choice, it will be lifelong and irreversible.”

  “But this is the only time he would have to have sex with her?”

  “The price is her virginity, Rowan.”

  “Yeah . . . right.”

  He stood up suddenly and turned his head to the big picture windows that lined one wall. I loved the view they offered of the city, especially at night with all the lights twinkling. Now a light breeze made the floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains move like a graceful dancer, and I thought of the mess I’d made of things.

  Except I hadn’t done it all by myself.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?”

  “What was?” he challenged arrogantly.

  “You’re the one who told Laycee she could ask Gabriel for his protection. Somehow you put the idea in her mind.”

  He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. I knew it was true, and his raised brow was all the affirmation I needed.

  “One of the things I love about humans is how open they are to the power of suggestion, as long as it is put to them in just the right way.” He looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

  “You’re one smug bastard, you know that?” I snapped bitterly. The pale blue Tiffany box was now on the table. I picked it up and threw it at him. He caught it with one hand. “Allow me to make a suggestion—get the fuck out of here!”

  He laughed at my temper. “This conversation between us is not over.”

  “Yeah, it is,” I said, suddenly feeling more tired than I could ever remember feeling. “There’s nothing more to discuss.”

  My demon tilted his head slightly, giving me a questionable look as if he was certain my brain was cooking up some unimaginable ruse to use on him. I only wish. He headed for the kitchen.

  “No,” I said, my voice stopping him. “You can use the front door like everyone else.” The idea that the space between the fridge and wall was a doorway to the Dark Realm was more than a little unsettling.

  “It’s only a shadow, Rowan.” He grinned, reading my concern and flashing those impossibly white teeth at me. “I can use any shadow to go anywhere.”

  “Yeah, well, go find a shadow out in the hall.” I got up and marched to the door, unlocked the dead bolt, and pulled it open.

  He sighed and stood next to the open door, looking down at me. “And so it begins.”

  “What?”

  “The first of many concessions I am willing to make for you.”

  “I don’t want you to do anything for me.”

  “Are you sure? Is there nothing I can give you? Something Gabriel can’t . . . or won’t?” The last he added in a tease.

  His words pricked a bubble inside my head. “Yeah, you can tell me your name.”

  That startled him. Something he hadn’t expected. Foolish demon, trying to ply me with baubles. Okay, very expensive and very beautiful baubles, but so very much the wrong kind of enticement. Did I look like a gal who shopped at Tiffany’s?

  We can but hope . . . maybe a couple of centuries from now?

  “What’s wrong? Worried I won’t be able to pronounce it?” I challenged. “Come on now, don’t be embarrassed. I promise not to laugh even if it is something off the wall like Algernon or Cuthbert.”

  His eyes glittered strangely as he leaned down, putting his face so close to mine I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. “The whisper of my name on your lips would be a promise of unimaginable pleasure.”

  Jeez! Give him his dues—the guy can spin a line!

  “Then why not tell me?” I repeated, not swayed by his flattery.

  “Because then you would have a power over me that few possess.”

  Shit! You don’t think it’s actually Rumpelstiltskin, do you?

  “So I take it that’s a no then,” I said, hushing my inner bitch.

  “I’ll tell you my name,” he promised, “when I’m buried so deep inside you, you can’t tell where you end and I begin.”

  He suddenly grabbed my shoulders and ran his tongue down the side of my neck, leaving behind the faint scent of anise on my skin, before releasing me and walking out the door. It took me a full minute before I could move again. It doesn’t sound like much, but those sixty seconds were the longest of my life.

  My hand was shaking as I slid the dead bolt home, and I leaned against the door as I waited for my breath to stop coming in sharp gasps. I was shaky and wanted nothing more than to take a very long, very hot shower so I could wash the smell of him from me. Perhaps I should go back to the hotel and actually spend the night there. Being surrounded by so many people might not be such a bad idea.

  Why? The worst is over. Your demon boyfriend has left.

  That may be, but I didn’t think the worst was anywhere near over. I had an awful feeling it was still to come. I stared at the coffee table. The Tiffany box was still there. The bastard had left it behind. Deliberately. What did he think I was going to do? Prance around in my undies wearing it when I thought no one was looking? If I believed anything about my demon to be true, it was that the Dark Realm was always looking.

  But I refused to allow that to affect how I lived my life. If I did, then he’d already won.

  I would go to the bank in the morning and rent a safe-deposit box for the necklace. I wasn’t about to leave it lying around, and there was no way in hell it was going in the vault at the penthouse. Wearily I slipped off my shoes and heard a knock at the door. Maybe my no-name demon had decided to take back my supposed wedding-night trinket. Better it was with him than in some bank vault. I picked up the jewe
ler’s case and opened the door, only to have the pale blue box slip from my fingers when I saw who was standing before me.

  He looked terrible. He looked worse than terrible. His coat was missing a sleeve, and was torn and covered in what looked like oil stains, suggesting he’d either been dragged behind a vehicle or run over by one. Possibly both—it was hard to say. The skin had been scraped off his forehead, and there was a massive contusion on one cheek. His left eye was nothing but a ball of blood, while the other was swollen shut, the surrounding skin a frightening shade of purple. Dried blood caked his nose, and from the odd angle I guessed it was broken. His lower lip was split open, and I wasn’t sure, but I think he was missing an ear.

  I felt tears spilling down my face, and his image blurred as I stared at him. I couldn’t begin to understand how he’d found the strength to drag himself to my door, or the willpower that was keeping him upright. His hands were swollen, fingers broken, knuckles bloodied and bruised, but the worst had to be his skin. It was gray, an unhealthy pallor that told me he had lost too much blood. More than his body could tolerate. He needed to feed, and soon. In fact, I wasn’t sure he would make it through the next hour if he didn’t.

  There is a cardinal rule about not feeding one vampire when you are bonded to another, but I couldn’t think about that right now. I wasn’t about to have his death on my conscience. It would be more than I could bear. I pulled my hair away and exposed my skin, feeling the vein throb in my neck and the blood rush through me. There came a familiar click as he dropped his fangs, and the enormity of what I was about to do suddenly filled me.

  Mistress of impulsive decisions, questionable behavior, and all foolish choices . . .

  Yeah, I was all that and more. Guilty of obeying my heart more than my head. And this was going to be no exception.

  No one had visited me in my new apartment, so an invitation to cross the threshold was necessary, and I gladly gave him one. Even though he was weak, I still wasn’t able to support his weight. I fell backward, and he followed, his damaged hand cradling the back of my head protectively. Fangs punched through my flesh, and I felt his body tremble with shock and fear and gratitude. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he had been through, or what would happen to both of us when it was known that I’d allowed him to feed from me. That was for later. All I could do right now was make sure Aleksei didn’t die.