When the keys dropped too low to grab at without going off balance, Sabine shoved Trent back. No easy feat. He outweighed her by eighty pounds of pure sinewy muscle.
She feinted down like she was going for the keys. Trent lunged forward, which gave her the perfect setup for an Aikido elbow lock as she went upright. His momentum helped her toss him around until he landed on his back. Right on top of the keys.
He reached around and grabbed the keys from under himself. "I win."
Little Tiana booed Trent and smiled at Sabine. Doug held Tiana and stared at Sabine with very large eyes.
Sabine curtsied, bowing her head. She counted three times she could have caught the keys. She'd had to let Trent win. This was his home; his people. Trent's people needed to see him win, and he just needed to see that Lance's pack couldn't take her easily. She stepped back, offering him a hand up. "That you did, Trent. A very impressive display."
He hopped up, ignoring the hand she offered.
"I guess I'll catch the bus. I'll be home late."
"You're not going anywhere," Trent said, brushing off his pants.
Val spoke up. "We can't hold her prisoner, Trent. If she wants to go, let her."
"Thanks Val," Sabine said.
"Don't thank me. I'm hoping that Lance's pack eats you alive."
Sabine snorted. "Okay, I'm feeling the love." She grabbed her bag, a soft leather tote that hid Gus's and Tony's pistols.
Taylor, the dark haired teen werewolf snorted. "My money is on Sabine if Lance makes a move on her."
"Thanks, Taylor!" Sabine said, tossing him a smile.
Justin the surfer-boy nodded. "Totally, dude. She's blazing fast. Trent's the fastest, and she matched him move for move."
Trent snarled at the teens and turned to Sabine. "Whatever. Go. Get killed for all I care."
Sabine smirked at Trent and walked over to the door.
"Is she going to be back in time for trick-or-treat?" Tiana whispered to Doug, who still looked hopelessly dumbstruck.
Sabine walked over to Doug and threw her arms around him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Then she squatted down to Tiana's level and kissed the little girl on the cheek too. "I'll be back late. I wish I could go trick-or-treat with you, but I have something I really need to do. Maybe next year?"
Tiana pouted, but nodded. "I'm going to be a princess."
Sabine smiled and hugged Tiana. She straightened the little girl's bangs. "I bet you'll be a great princess."
Sabine stood and smirked at the look on Doug's face. "Happy spooky day, Dougie."
Doug opened his mouth a little and closed it, like a fish.
"We should hang out and catch up sometime soon," Sabine said, patting his arm.
"Yeah. Okay."
Mike stood patiently by the door, having watched the whole spectacle. "Can I walk with you a bit, young lady?"
"Of course, Sir," Sabine said, walking through the door he held open. "And I want to thank you for your gracious hospitality."
They walked down the steps out onto the dirt path. Mike walked slowly, so she adjusted her sunglasses and slowed to walk beside him. He stopped as the path emptied onto the street, turning to her.
"You held back in there."
It wasn't a question. The look in Mike's eyes said that he knew what she had done.
Sabine decided that there was no point in denying it. "I didn't want to embarrass Trent in front of his pack."
"Trent seems to be deeply upset with you, and won't talk about it. I take it you got the better of him before this."
"I thought he had come to finish what Lance's goons had started, and that he intended to hurt my friend Doug."
"We heard that Gus and Tony had some very bad luck when they tried to kill Doug. Apparently Gus ran into a door after Tony tripped on something on the roof."
"I'm bad luck for guys with big egos I guess."
"Their egos aren't big, young one. They're fragile. A fragile ego is a dangerous thing. It can lead to stupid choices."
Sabine thought about what he was saying, trying to think about her own ego issues and whether or not going to have dinner with a group of vampire hunters was a mistake. On some level she was pretty sure it was stupid, but she desperately wanted closure.
Mike put a hand on her jacketed arm. "So where are you going?"
"I'd like to know too," Trent said, walking up.
Sabine glared through her sunglasses at Trent before turning back to Mike. "My dad didn't care to ask where I was going or when I'd be back."
"Maybe he didn't care," Mike said.
Sabine's heart twisted, but she shook it off with a calming breath. "I'm going to meet some people for dinner, that's all."
"Be safe. Come back as soon as you can," Mike said, and glanced at Trent before walking back to the house.
"Where is the dinner?" Trent asked, his tone somewhere between casual and skeptical.
Sabine turned to face him, moving her bag to her shoulder. "I'm not sure why you care, Trent."
"I'm not sure either," he said, looking lost. "I don't like that you somehow controlled me back at your place. I hate that I couldn't stop it."
Sabine blinked in surprise, his honesty making her feel guilty. He had decided to be open, changing the game. "You almost broke free... If you had more training you could probably block me. I'm surprised being around Esmerelda you haven't learned to block her out."
He shrugged. "Nobody blocks her out."
Sabine turned to go, then paused and turned back, pointing a thumb towards the road. "Anyway, if there's nothing else, I have to get going. I'm on a schedule."
He stepped after her. "Hold up."
She stopped, putting her fists on her waist and turning back. She cocked her head at him. "What now?"
"I'll drive you."
"After all that posturing in there? I'm not sure I trust you to take me where I want to go."
"I promise. I'll take you wherever you want."
Sabine bit her tongue. She could use a ride, and Trent seemed to be agreeable all of a sudden. She could always get out and catch the nearest bus. "Okay."
They hopped in the Caddy and Sabine gave Trent the address for the restaurant. The drive was slow going with traffic. Sabine hadn't seen the streets this crowded in a long time, and thought again about how much she had missed the city during the day.
As they drove, she watched the people on the street, listening to their thoughts as a distraction. As they passed a laundromat, two familiar-looking women stepped out. They were carrying plastic-wrapped items on hangars, folded over their arms. There, plain as day, were her missing friends, Regina and Michaela.
"Stop the car!"
Trent hit the brakes as quickly as was safe, pulling over. "What's up?"
Sabine leaned out the window. Regina and Michaela had disappeared into the crowd before Sabine could call out to them. She fell back into her seat and opened the door. "Can you drop me here for a sec?"
He eyed her suspiciously. "Sure. How long-"
Sabine was halfway out the door of the car, her mind on her two missing friends. She wasn't paying attention to what he said next. Sabine had a terrible thought. Were they going to resurrect another poor innocent person tonight and kill them too?
The resurrection ceremony had involved cloaks, and they were dressed like normal people. Maybe the exposure to the sun since lunch was making her crazy. She was thirsty again.
She wondered if Janet could really introduce her to more willing donors who would enjoy being bitten. As she stepped into the laundromat, she imagined what it might be like to bite Trent. No, she wouldn't go there. She couldn't. Even if he was willing. She snapped out of her daze as she reached the counter.
"Can I help you?" the young woman behind the counter asked.
Sabine smiled. "Did Regina and Michaela pick up my cloak too? I wasn't sure if they would."
The girl looked at her like a deer in headlights. Her thoughts were an open book. Regina and Michaela had just been here, and
had picked up two ceremonial cloaks.
Sabine leaned towards her. "Oh, sorry. I just remembered I used another place down the street. Happy Halloween."
The clerk blinked. "That's fine. Happy Halloween."
Sabine ran back outside and looked the direction the witches had gone. There was no sign of them. She sighed and hopped in Trent's car. "Okay. Let's get to dinner at the Stinking Rose."
"The garlic place." Trent laughed. "If you really were some kind of vampire, you'd fall to pieces in there."
Sabine played with the gold cross on her necklace, a habit she'd developed over the last year. "I think I'll be fine."
"I really wish you'd just tell me what you are."
Sabine turned to him and smiled. "And spoil the mystery?"
Trent pulled the car into traffic. "That's not really fair, Sabine. You know what I am."
"A pain in the ass?"
He leveled an unfriendly stare her way. "Takes one to know one."
"I like witty guys." She smiled at him. "Bummer for you."
Trent glanced at the sword hilt poking through her hair at her back. "I suppose you're an expert with swords too."
"I've trained in Tae Kwon Do since I was eight, and dabbled in Aikido. I switched to studying Kendo about a year ago."
"How many hours did you spend practicing that move you used at Mike's house?"
Sabine just smiled at him.
Trent shook his head in amazement. "So who are we meeting at the Stinking Rose?"
"We?"
"We."
She turned to him. "You know, I heard that the Lone Ranger and Tonto were once surrounded by Indians. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and said 'we might not make it out of this alive.' You know what Tonto said?"
"I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"He said 'What-you-mean WE, pale-face?'"
Trent laughed. "You could have just said I wasn't welcome and saved a lot of breath."
"Then you wouldn't have laughed. I think it worked out better this way."
"Okay. So... Who are these people you're meeting at the Stinking Rose?"
Sabine's eyes narrowed at him. "You gave up on that too easily. You're gonna spy on me if I don't bring you in, aren't you?"
Trent nodded. "I'll have backgrounds on the whole group by the end of the day tomorrow."
"I didn't agree to hire you."
Trent smiled. "I never said I'd share. I'm just curious who you hang out with."
She sighed. "Okay, I'll level with you."
"Great."
"They're a group of vampire hunters. I met them online and this is the first time I'll see them face to face."
Trent glanced at her. "That was surprisingly anticlimactic."
They drove in silence for a while, Sabine tapping her foot nervously on the floorboard and trying to chew her fingernails before realizing her gloves were in the way.
Trent looked over at her fidgeting. "Give me your hand."
Sabine sat straight again. "No."
He raised an eyebrow. "What are you afraid of?"
"Nothing. I just don't want you touching me."
"Bullshit. You're hiding what you are. All I need is to check your pulse."
"Give it a rest, Trent."
"So what's with the vampire slayers?"
"I joined an online vampire hunter forum. I go out every night and hunt for vampires. They invited me to dinner."
"Do they know you're a vampire?"
Sabine stared at him. Had Esmerelda broken her promise and told him? Had he figured it out somehow? "What makes you think I'm a vampire?"
"You move faster than me. The only kind of preternaturals that move faster than me are seriously powerful vampires. Then there's the mind control thing. Doesn't take a genius to put the clues together. The thing I can't figure out is how you're out during the day and wearing that cross around your neck."
Sabine shrugged, not wanting to give him anything.
"So are you going to sacrifice yourself to them tonight or something?"
Sabine felt her fangs coming down in her mouth. Trent's pulse called to her. The thirst wouldn't let her make it through dinner at a garlic place without something to tide her over. She tried to think of something else, but the sunlight had baked some of her synapses.
Trent pointed at her mouth as they stopped at a light. "Fangs. Showing."
She clamped her mouth shut. She glared at Trent, then looked down so her hair fell like a curtain around her face. "I have a slight problem."
Trent raised an eyebrow. "Just one?"
She looked up and glared at him, then sighed and shook her head. "I need blood."
"So you gonna try to bite me?"
"No!" She shuddered. The memory of how werewolf blood had intoxicated her practically sent her into a swoon. Then there was the fact that Trent was very yummy looking with the whole beefcake warrior body thing going on. No. Can't bite the jerk. She shook herself back to reality and hoped that the play of emotions hadn't shown on her face.
Trent mulled it over until the light changed and they started moving again. "Why not?"
She opened her mouth and shut it again, trying to think. Her brain felt disconnected. "Because you're helping protect Doug. I don't bite my friends. I promised Esmerelda I wouldn't be a threat."
"So who are you going to bite?"
"Someone I can help with my bite. I learned a new trick recently, and I'm eager to try it out."
Trent raised an eyebrow. "What trick?"
Sabine pulled out her phone and dialed a number. It rang twice before a woman answered. "Hi Janet. It's Sabine. Say, you wouldn't by any chance have a friend with high blood pressure in downtown, would you?"
CHAPTER 7
Sabine stepped out of the large man's apartment, hoping the memory wipe she had done on the guy would stick. She bolted down the stairs and hopped in Trent's car.
"That was quick."
She shuddered, shaking her hands. "Not quick enough. I'm still learning how to send pleasure into the donor, and I overdid it."
Trent turned onto Columbus Avenue. "We're gonna be there early. Hold on... send pleasure? Telepathically?"
"Yeah, that's the idea."
"Why did you ask for someone with high blood pressure?"
Sabine smiled. "I'm doing my part to help humanity."
Trent chuckled as he pulled into a parking spot a block from the restaurant. He turned in his seat to face Sabine. "You really took out Gus and Tony, didn't you?"
Sabine nodded.
"Did you bite them?"
Sabine stared at him like a deer in headlights. "Just Gus. He was unconscious at the time, and I hadn't fed for a week."
"Did you do the pleasure thing with him?"
Sabine's face showed her shock. "Hell no! Besides, I didn't know how then."
"So, why didn't you want to try the pleasure thing on me? Sounds non-threatening enough."
Sabine stared at Trent for a minute. She looked into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking but suddenly unable to concentrate on reading his mind. She felt vulnerable, and she hated it.
She took a deep breath and released it to calm herself. "Given our brief and tumultuous history, I didn't think you'd be interested. Even if there was pleasure. Was I wrong?"
Trent shook his head. "I don't like the idea of being food. Although," he paused. "As allies, if you needed my blood to survive, I might. And that pleasure thing sounds intriguing."
"Well, we should work on your mental blocks so I don't make you into my love slave by accident then."
Trent smiled. "Yeah, that would be a serious blow to my Alpha male ego."
"Really? I could have sworn it had its own ZIP code."
He laughed.
Sabine cleared her throat, wiping the smile off her face. "Okay, envision a wall around you, like a castle. That's what I saw Val try to do, and it worked for me." She thought about his comment that nobody blocked Esmerelda, and wondered if she really had been successful or if Es
merelda had just let her think she had.
"Right now?"
"Yeah. No time like the present, they say. We're early for the dinner, so we can kill some time this way."
"Got it. Envisioning a castle."
"I'm going to push a little power at you and try a feeble attempt to take control of your body, like at my apartment. Do you feel that?"
"It tickles a little."
"Right. Imagine holding me back with a solid wall. I'll send a little more, like so..."
They spent the next hour running exercises. Trent had managed to build a decent defense, which would stand up to all but the most powerful mental assault. He was now fully aware of how her mental probe worked and could tell when she was trying to read his thoughts.
Trent smiled after the last exercise. "You know, I never imagined a vampire helping me to defend against vampire powers."
Sabine shrugged. "You're an ally. I don't want to have power over you."
"You're surrendering to me," Trent said, a tone of awe in his voice.
"I wouldn't say that. Maybe just leveling the playing field. Okay, one last round," Sabine said, rubbing her hands together. "This is taking a lot out of me, and I don't want to have to feed again."
Trent eyed her. "Is the thirst hitting you?"
She shook her head. "It's not bad. One more round should be okay. This time I'll try vampire glamour on you. It's like hypnosis. It's not a frontal assault like the mind control or a whisper like the mind reading. It's more like altering how you see reality."
Trent nodded. "Ready."
"Keep in mind that eye contact and touching will make everything much harder to resist; so if you feel yourself weakening, look away if you can."
He gave her a glare, meeting her eyes in challenge.
She cleared her head and reached into the deep darkness of her inner monster. The essence of vampire broiled there, fighting to get free from the prison she had built to keep the world safe. The violent energy pulsed with a mind of its own. Like tipping a sloshing pot of boiling water to get a drop to fill a spoon. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to time a dollop of energy just right.
Trent started breathing heavily, gritting his teeth. A moment passed before the strain on his face lessened. "Damn, that's harder than the others. The fortress thing doesn't really work."
Reborn to Bite (Vampire Shadows Book 1) Page 8