But I wasn’t the only one working. Rau bounced a sliding cell door off a guard’s head. Shots rang out. A few guards had their guns plucked right from their hands, which sent them running and screaming blindly down the corridor. One ran into a wall and knocked himself out. Which, in my opinion, secured us as the dominate species there without having to raise a finger further.
The lights clicked on, shedding light on our brazen escape. Grown men hunkered on the floor, shivering in fear. A few slumped on the floor unconscious. Others hid in cells, not realizing all of the bars had been compromised.
The gaunt vamp who had been in the cell opposite of mine hunched over a fallen guard with his lips curled back from his fangs. As soon as light was shed on his moment of weakness, he glanced my way like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Dude, seriously? I had one rule. One!”
Head hung, he dropped his almost-meal to the ground.
“While I appreciate that, we will be discussing this later. Know that.” Turning to the guards who were lucky enough to still be conscious, I offered each a sheepish grin. “Well, kids, we’re going to go. No one has died here. That’s not what I want. But, ya know, if any of you are feeling froggy and try to stop us, things may take an unnecessarily violent turn. I’m sure you all saw the footage of my wedding. You know what I’m capable of. There are no cameras here to capture my good side. I can get as ugly and messy as I please. It’s up to all of you as to how this plays out.”
The man whose head Rau shut in the cell door was the first one to lace his hands behind his neck and drop to his knees. The others quickly followed his lead. Wise men that they were, they kept their stares averted as we marched past them toward the side door that would dump us into the parking lot.
“Good decision, fellas. We’ll tell anyone who asks that you fought gallantly. Noble even.” With a lift of my chin, I steered the others out.
Rau was the only one to hold back. Stitched in tight to my side, he whispered for my ears only, “Footage? There was footage?”
“I’ll tell you all about it on the plane. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Shoving open the side door, I was greeted by the whirring engines of the Draculesti jet.
Elodie, one of the two remaining triplets, flung open the side door and extended the stairs.
Her brother, Thomas, gave me a wave from the cockpit.
Planting myself at the bottom of the stairs, I waved my people on board.
“Where are we going?” the pixie-haired vampress asked, nervously chewing on her lower lip. “Castle Dracule?”
“No,” catching Rau’s hand on the railing, I gave it a comforting squeeze. “We’re going home to the Lockwood-Matthews Mansion.”
Halfway up the stairs, with the wind from the engines tossing his hair in a crown of disarray, he pulled back and bristled at the idea. “That’s the first place they will look for us.”
“Let them come. We’ll be ready,” I assured him.
“And we will rip off their heads and shove them up their asses!” the Dragon interjected, drawn back to the conversation by bloodshed no doubt.
“Simmer down, scaly boy,” I silently shushed him.
Still, Rau hesitated. “And my father? He’s really awake… and willing to see me?”
Sirens screamed in the distance, blazing a path straight for us.
“He’s waiting at Lockwood for us. Made the trip all the way from Transylvania. I have to figure he would be bumming hard if I did all this and didn’t get your ass on the plane. That said, considering his nickname is the Impaler, if you could move this along, that would be swell.”
Chapter Two
Carter
Edging up beside me, Micah bumped my elbow with hers. “She’ll be alright. Even when it comes to asinine plans like this, Vinx always manages to make it out with all her parts intact. Because, she’s a badass like that.”
Stare locked on the horizon, I tried to will the jet carrying her to materialize. “It’s not her parts I’m worried about. It’s the trail of them she might leave in her wake. All because of me.”
Brow furrowed, Micah glanced my way like a third arm had just sprouted from my forehead. “I’m sorry, what? How is any of this your fault? Girlfriend was drugged with sulfur and gifted with her brother’s decapitated head on her wedding day! From where I was standing during the gory mess that followed, you didn’t even factor into that equation.”
Fangs I had yet to become accustomed to stretched from my gumline. Their tips pierced my tongue, flooding my mouth with the coppery tang of blood. “I saw those men first. I knew what was about to happen, and I didn’t move to stop it. I can’t help but think I could have done something different. I could have taken them out before she saw them. Warned her sooner. Hell, clued Vlad in so he could handle it like the legendary monster god he is. Something. Anything.”
“Even with vampire speed and reflexes, none of us could have prevented what happened,” Vlad’s silky-smooth voice cut in from behind us. “Vincenza was going to learn of the brutal fate that befell her brother, and no force on Earth would have been strong enough to prevent her from unleashing her fury on those men.”
A small squeak escaped Micah, not surprising considering Vlad the infamous Impaler had snuck up her. “Your Highness, forgive us. We didn’t know you were there.”
Turning his way, we both offered him a formal bow.
I was a vampire now.
That made him some sort of deity to me.
Still, I had a hard time seeing him as anything other than the man who’d sworn an eternal vow to the woman I love. Not that I blamed him. They both did what they needed to do to protect the Nosferatu people. As much as I wish it did, that knowledge did nothing to ease the sting on my heart.
“Please, there is no need for such formalities.” The man dubbed the Prince of Darkness held up one hand to halt our gesture of respect. “I’ve received word that the jet will be landing on the south grounds at any moment. Preparations within the estate are nearly complete. However, Micah, we can’t seem to locate the key to the refrigerated case of blood bags.”
“Simple answer to that, I still have it.” Digging one hand into the pocket of her white lab coat, she pulled out a small ring strung with two bronze keys. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed them to Vlad.
He caught them in his waiting palm with a soft jangle. “Thank you. I will pass these along to the prep teams, then excuse myself to my quarters before they arrive.”
“You don’t want to wait and see your son… after all this time?” Micah tried, and failed, to keep the judgment from her tone.
It did not escape the notice of the vampire king. Head tilted, he offered her a kind smile, his eyes gleaming with the wisdom of age. “I want to see him more than I have ever wanted anything in my entire lengthy existence. I ache to take my boy in my arms and apologize for every wrong I committed against him and every year I robbed us both of. To hold him tight until he’s healed from every one of the wounds those vile men at the DG compound subjected him to. And, I earn to tear out the throat of every individual who dared to touch my son in any form of malice. That is exactly why I didn’t go with Vincenza. I would not have been able to show an ounce of self-control or restraint. It’s also why I will delay my reunion with Rau. He needs to heal, feed, and rest. If I’m present, he won’t shut himself off the way he needs to. To do what is best for him, I will hide myself away for the night and wait.”
Micah and I watched him walk away, his stride as graceful as a jungle cat’s.
“He is a hard guy to hate,” I grumbled, rubbing one hand over the back of my neck.
“You know who isn’t? Finn. He’s the reason the refrigerators have to be locked in the first place.”
A light appeared in the distance, slicing its way across the night sky on a course for the mansion. If my heart still bea
t, it would have been hammering in my chest. Now, all I had was a hollow ache in my gut.
She wasn’t mine, and she never would be.
Glancing my way out of the corner of her eye, Micah decided to call the elephant in the room by name. “Whatever you were feeling for her before has to have died when you did, Carter. You can’t come between the king and queen. Not when our people need to be united, now more than ever.”
I pulled my shoulders back, clasping my hands behind my back. “I’m a magi sworn to protect the Draculesti family. I would lay down my life for any of them.”
Rolling her eyes, Mics shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “You’ve been a soldier all of five minutes. Simmer down on the falling on a grenade BS. I know you, Carter. And I know her. You two were working the whole Ross and Rachel—will they or won’t they—drama right up until she married the King of the Undead. That’s got to hurt.”
“I died for her. I would do it again,” I shouted to be heard over the jet’s engines as it landed.
My view of the jet easing to a stop was blocked by Micah planting herself in front of me and forcing me to meet her stare. “Okay, if you want to be obtuse, we’ll try a different approach. Screw the fact that their marriage is good Nosferatu PR. That plan basically went out the window when Vinx got all murdery on live television. What we’re talking about now is survival. I care about you, my dude. Enough to warn you that it is not wise to stand between a guy nicknamed ‘the Impaler’ and his bride. It’s suicidal, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Peering past her, I watched Vinx stride down the jet stairs looking every bit the queen she was. Her black hair lashed around her face in a chaotic halo. The lycra suit she wore molded to her curves like a second skin. Emergency crews swarmed her, only to have her direct them toward those aboard who needed aid. Judging by her lengthy orders, I had to imagine some in their traveling party needed extensive care.
Vinx could have gone inside and left the trauma care to others. But that wasn’t her way. She was filling her arms with warming blankets when the jet engines finally stilled.
“They all need blood,” she instructed the crew. “Under no circumstances are they allowed to feed directly from donors. With the sulfur in their system there is no way we could guarantee the human’s safety.”
“She’s their queen now,” I stated, believing that truth with my whole heart. “They need her. We all do. Whatever is coming, all we can do is trust her to lead us in the battle blazing straight for us.”
“You’re half right.” Scrounging through the pockets of her lab coat, Micah pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and snapped them on.
My lips sank into a downward C of confusion. “No, I’m pretty sure a war is inevitable. Again, I refer back to the public slaughter.”
Already striding across the yard to help, Mic turned to walk backwards as she shouted to me, “Not that. She’s the one who needs us now more than ever. To the rest of the world, she’s the Nosferatu Goddess of War. You and I both know her as the chick who just lost the last of her family. We’re the only two people left who don’t see her as the unflappable warrior. Don’t be her magi. Be her friend and offer comfort when she’s ready to accept it.”
“And if she never does?” I called after her.
Micah followed my stare to where Vincenza stood. Our friendly neighborhood vampire queen surveyed the scene before exploding into a cloud of bats that flooded the night sky.
“If we can’t get through to her… God help us all.”
The last time I stepped foot inside of Lockwood manor was during a formal gala filled with the political elite. All part of Rau’s effort to get the Nosferatu Presumption of Innocence Bill passed. How far our cause had fallen. Now, cots lined the grand ballroom to make room for every freed prisoner in need of a safe place to rest and heal. In place of decadent foods, the estate now smelled of antiseptic and fear.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I bounded up to the room Vinx chose for the night. Bypassing the more luxurious suites, she went for the one at the top of the stairs. It had the easiest access if any issues were to arise. Pausing outside of her door, I knocked with two knuckles.
Thanks to heightened hearing, I could hear her sigh of exhaustion from the other side of the door.
Clearing her throat, she fixed a more welcoming tone in place before answering. “Come in.” The instant the door cracked open, she launched into an apologetic ramble. “I know what you’re going to say, and I’m sorry. I did not mean to go all… well, batty… and disrupt your medical supplies. That particular talent is brand spanking new to me and I didn’t anticipate the winds… or mess.”
“It was still pretty awesome to see.” Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me.
Her head snapped in my direction, a smile warming her face. “Carter! I thought you were a member of the medical staff coming to give me hell for my little outburst. That was completely unintentional, by the way. All I was thinking about was how badly I wanted a moment away. Next thing I know, I’m exploding into a cloud of flying rodents. Which—in case you were curious—is disconcerting as hell. All of a sudden, there’s a million of you, and you have to try to figure out how to make sure all your parts go the same direction.” Whatever thought followed sharpened her features, any trace of amusement vanishing. Turning her back to me, she went back to dig through the open suitcase on the bed.
Tiny claws clicked across the floor, Batdog making his grand entrance from the attached bathroom. Prancing to my side, he sniffed my pant leg and snorted.
I leaned down, offering him a scratch to the head. “Going somewhere?” I nodded toward Vinx’s luggage.
“No. Looking for something suitable to wear tomorrow for the press conference.”
Sauntering across the room, I took a seat in the high-backed, upholstered chair in the corner. She definitely hadn’t picked the most-stately room. It was little more than a bed, chair, and side table. But Vinx never was one to opt for the glamour. Funny how, after everything, I clung to that.
Settling into the chair, I crossed my ankle over my opposite knee. “You have a press conference planned?”
Vinx’s posture sagged, her shoulders deflating. “I tried that telepathy thing on the flight home. Asked you to line up a press conference for tomorrow to get ahead of the media on this mess. However, judging by the completely dumfounded expression on your face, you didn’t get the memo. My plan was before the cops track us down here, I out myself as the science experiment I am. It might buy us some time if I leave them trying to figure out where to place me in their bigoted classifications.”
Hopping up onto the bed, Batdog helped her search along by laying down inside of her suitcase.
I stretched my arms out wide, and then laced my fingers behind my head. “Ah. Well, I can still make it happen. Dead or not, I have enough pull in the industry to get a good-sized crowd here. One whiff of this career-changing story and the media buzzards will come swooping in.”
Nodding in agreement to a question I hadn’t asked, Vinx pulled a black pants suit out from under Batdog’s butt and shook off the dog hair. “Good. Make it happen. That’s what we need.”
We lapsed into silence while she walked to the closet to get a hanger and hang up her chosen outfit. It was only then that I really saw her. Her cheeks where sunken. Dark shadows hallowed her eyes. Not that I had ever known her as a golden-skin beach bunny, but her pallor matched the silky grey hue of death.
“Vincenza, when’s the last time you slept? Or ate?”
Turning from the closet, she dragged her fingers through her chin-length bob. “Sleep is an elusive bitch that has decided she no longer has any interest in me. Every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of all the people I hurt. In my mind they are forever frozen in their final scream. Needless to say, that has wreaked havoc on my appetite and sleep schedule. But our people need me at my be
st. So, I’m going to finish up what I need to here, take enough Xanax to knock out a rhino, and hope I can get a little sleep before my heightened healing flushes it out of my body.”
I didn’t interrupt but grabbed the phone off the marble-topped table beside me, and dialed one to connect with the kitchen staff. “Hi, can you please send up a thinly sliced raw steak and freshly brewed chamomile tea for Madame Draculesti? She’s in the room at the top of the stairs for tonight. Thank you.”
Shoving her suitcase aside, Vinx curled one leg under her and flopped down on the bed. One eyebrow hitched, she looked more like herself than she had in days. “Haunted by all the people I’ve slaughtered… Yeah, tea will fix that.”
As I returned the phone to its cradle, I glanced up at her from under my brow. “No, it won’t fix anything. But it might help take the edge off a little.”
Vinx’s nose-crinkled in disgust. “And you went for tea instead of beer? It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees. “As a recovering addict, I can’t hand a bottle of booze to someone planning to pop pills like Tic Tacs. It’s frowned upon in the twelve steps. You know what isn’t? Conversation. Might help ease your mind a little.”
Vinx hopped off the bed as if the mere thought of that set fire to her skin. “I don’t want to talk about it. I need sleep. If I talk about it… I allow those thoughts in,” choking on emotion, her voice broke, “I can’t be the queen the people need me to be.”
If I pushed, she would bristle.
Knowing that, I tried another approach. “I don’t know how you have trouble sleeping with the father of all vampires lying beside you. Isn’t that, like, the best security blanket ever? I mean, most people just lock their doors and windows, you’re spooning one of history’s most vicious killers.”
The Veiled Series Collection Page 40