by Susan Hayes
“Is that a challenge or an invitation?” Christoph’s smug voice was lower now, with a sexual undertone that made her stomach twist in revulsion.
“Before you kill me, I have one question.” Val was still hoping she could hold him off until the others came for her.
Christoph leered at her, letting his fangs show. “Only one? Very well, what is this one burning question you have to know before I end your pitiful existence?”
“If your children meant so much to you, why did you leave them alone when they clearly still needed you? They were what, less than a year old? They were babies, Christoph, and you abandoned them. Do you really think it was Paladin that killed them? I think it was you.”
“Bitch!” he snarled and drove his nails deep into her throat. She barely choked back a scream of pain as he tortured her. “I only left them for a few weeks. I had to go assist one of my older children who needed me. It was not their fault they acted out while I was away. They were only children, I would have punished them when I returned, but you and your damned team got to them first. Our home was nothing but ash when I got back. You killed my children! Not me, you!”
“I bet she laughed while they burned,” Ingrid’s voice piped up, and Val watched as her former coworker circled around the couch and took a seat at Val’s feet. “She’s a coldhearted bitch who was never any fun to be around. She was always serious, shouting orders and working so hard to be better than everyone else. Kill her for me, Christoph. I want to watch her die.”
Ingrid lifted Val’s legs at the ankles and drew them into her lap. She kept hold of them, pressing them down into her thighs, her grip tight enough to leave bruises on Val’s skin. Great, more for the ever-expanding collection.
“Soon,” Christoph crooned, and his rotting breath fanned over her skin again as he licked away the trickle of blood that ran down her throat. Part of her was amazed she had any blood left after Christoph had fed on her. She could feel the lethargy in her limbs, and her heartbeat was weak and unsteady.
“Just get it over with,” Val snapped. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it was hard to think clearly anymore.
“Oh no, this should not be rushed. Quick and dirty was fine for your friends, but for you, my dear, I have something else in mind.” Christoph lifted his head and withdrew his hand from her injured neck. The pain immediately eased, and Val was grateful for the reprieve, even though she knew it wouldn’t last.
Christoph moved above her, and then he was pressing her down into the cushions of the sofa. All the air was pressed out of her lungs, and she opened her mouth to try to gasp in more, but then his wrist was pressed against her lips and something rank and foul was flowing over her tongue. She gagged and tried to turn away, but there was no escaping the putrid liquid that filled her mouth.
“Drink,” Christoph whispered. Val fought with everything she had, but the strength of two vampires was more than she could hope to defeat. Ingrid’s fingers dug cruelly into her calves, and Christoph’s hand was splayed over her chest, compressing it until she expected to hear the snap-pop of her ribs breaking at any second.
Barely clinging to consciousness, Val remembered what Aedan had said about the ways to create a vampire. She knew if she swallowed even a drop of Christoph’s blood, she was screwed, but it seemed impossible to fight it. Christoph’s graveyard stench and the horrifying taste in her mouth overpowered her senses. Her ears rang and the world faded to gray as firefly flashes of color began to dance before her eyes.
When he lifted his hand from Val’s chest, it was pure instinct for her to suck in a deep breath, and she didn’t realize she’d swallowed the mouthful of blood until her lungs were already full of air.
“It’s done,” Christoph gloated as he removed his wrist from her lips and held it out to Ingrid. The fledging released Val’s legs and crawled her way up Val’s body to lick and nuzzle at Christoph’s still-bleeding wrist.
Too weak to move, Val could only watch in horror as Ingrid suckled at the wound, her body doing a vulgar, sexual grind against Val’s. A terrible cold began to spread outward from the pit of Val’s stomach, and the world began to fade away again.
“Sleep, Valentina.” Christoph sounded like he was speaking to her from some distant plane, and his touch seemed almost warm compared to the icy blackness that was consuming her from the inside out. She fought against it for as long as she could, but in the end she fell into the darkness, too tired to resist any longer.
* * * *
It hadn’t taken Jake and the technical wizardry of Paladin’s operations personnel long to locate Val. Her tracking device indicated she wasn’t even that far away. Aedan wasn’t surprised at that discovery because he knew Christoph had always been arrogant to the point of foolhardiness. It was no shock that the vampire believed he was so invulnerable that he’d chosen to stay within five miles of Paladin’s headquarters.
A location was all they had needed, and within minutes every member of Division S was demanding to be included in the rescue mission, including a haggard-looking Jase. Aedan hadn’t been aware of the cost of the werewolf’s transformation, but Jase assured him once he changed to the hybrid form again, he’d be back up to full power.
There had been no time for Aedan to change out of his bloodstained clothing, and the viscous fluids that had drenched him were rank enough that everyone gave him a wide berth. Jase was treated the same way, and so they found themselves alone in one of the transport vehicles as the convoy rolled out.
“I do believe they think we smell bad.” Jase snickered as he dropped the SUV they’d been assigned into high gear and flew by the rest of the vehicles.
Aedan cracked a smile and managed a laugh. “We do smell. But they’re going to stink just as badly once the fighting starts. I hope you guys have a good dry cleaner in the area. They’re about to get a lot of business.”
“Yet another thing no one warned us about when we got into the paranormal protection racket. And this is my last set of clean clothes.” Jase tugged on his shirt sleeve. “Jazz is going to kill me if I keep wrecking my wardrobe this way.”
“Just tell me you have a change of clothes for afterward, Snuggles. Or are you planning on driving back naked?”
“Fuck! Val told you her nickname for me? I’m going to kill her. Well, first we’re going to save her ass, and then I’m going to kill her! And no, I didn’t think to bring a change of clothes. Double fuck!”
“It’s a good thing you’ve got Jazz around to keep you organized,” Aedan joked as he shook his head at Jase’s forgetfulness.
“Yeah, it is.” Jase slid his gaze off the road to glance at Aedan. “And given the way you reacted to Val’s disappearance, I’d say she’s lucky to have you in her life, too.”
Guilt shot through Aedan’s soul, and he hung his head. “I told her I’d protect her. I promised her she’d be safe. If he’s hurt her…”
Jase swore under his breath and then said, “Then it’s her own damned fault for going off on her own when she should have trusted us to protect her. I heard that voice message he left her. He played her for a chump, and when we’re done rescuing her, you’re second in line to kick her ass, right behind me.”
“She didn’t trust me to protect her, or to protect any of you. If she had, she never would have set foot on that roof.”
Jase snorted dismissively. “Don’t kid yourself. She doesn’t trust anyone to do a job as well as she can. It’s one of her more charming personality traits.” He wove the SUV in and out of traffic, ignoring the radio that was now squawking orders for Jase to slow down and rejoin the rest of the convoy. “She doesn’t let many people get past those impressive walls of hers. You’ve seen her vulnerable and you’re still breathing, so that means she trusts you.” Jase’s grin turned sly, and he snickered softly. “And given that performance you two put on earlier today, I’d say there’s more than a little chemistry there, so stop beating yourself up. Let’s go get your girl back, and then you two can go work out you
r differences.”
Aedan tossed Jase a grateful half-smile, even though he knew Jase was wrong. He’d failed Val, and now she was going to pay the price for his failure. Aedan pointed to the radio and asked, “So, are we going to slow down, or are we going to do this by ourselves?”
“What do you think?” Jase asked as he hit the gas and accelerated around another corner. Not long after that he hit the brakes, one hand already reaching for his seat belt buckle. “We’re already here.”
“Here” was actually a warehouse, the windows blacked out and the facade crumbling from neglect. It was the perfect place for a creature like Christoph to hide.
“I think Sin’s going to skin your ass when he catches up!” Aedan called, already halfway out the passenger-side door, his hunting drive ramping up to full throttle.
Jase’s response was a muffled snarl, and Aedan realized his companion was already transforming back into the dangerous hybrid form he’d seen earlier.
“Move it, Snuggles! By now Christoph knows I’m here.” With that, Aedan set off at a dead run. He didn’t bother checking for traps, alarms, or locks. He simply used brute force to power his way through the doors that blocked his way. Val was somewhere inside, and every second counted.
The stench hit him first, and Aedan knew without a doubt that there were corpses stashed somewhere nearby. Christoph’s fledglings were being sloppy. Beyond the odor of death and decay, Aedan could smell beeswax, and as he prowled deeper into the warehouse, he spotted the telltale flicker of candlelight. He drew his sword and held it at the ready, well aware that his prey already knew he was there.
Taking the bull by the horns, he called out, “Christoph! You have something that belongs to me.”
Mocking laughter answered him. “She’s mine now.”
Aedan’s heart turned to ice and then shattered. He was too late. He’d failed her. Now there was only one chance left for Val. He wouldn’t fail her again. He charged into the lighted section of the warehouse and staggered as a shrieking, clawing weight dropped onto his shoulders from above. He ignored his passenger and sped to where Val lay sprawled across a moth-eaten couch, her face ashen but her chest still rising and falling with each labored breath. Only when he knew she was still alive did he reach around and grabbed hold of Ingrid. Without effort, he hauled her off of his back and threw her, still wailing, across the room.
As the fledgling’s screams of fury were cut off with a sickening thud, Christoph spoke again. “Still protective? How sweet. I was going to take her with me, but now I think I’ll leave her with you. At best you have a day or two until she succumbs to the turning and you’ll have to kill her.” Christoph’s dark laughter filled the warehouse. “I’ll have to be satisfied with that. A shame, I was looking forward to her sharing my bed for a decade or three. I’ll take my leave now. Do play nicely with Ingrid.”
A streak of snarling white fur raced past Aedan, and he knew Jase had arrived. The werewolf went straight for Ingrid, knocking her back to the ground with one clawed hand as she hissed in defiance.
Aedan could feel Christoph’s presence fading, and he knew that it was safe to leave Jase to handle the fledgling. With her sire gone, Aedan was confident the werewolf could handle her alone. He reached out and gently brushed the hair back from Val’s pale forehead. Her skin was clammy to the touch, and she was far too cold. She turned her face toward his hand, her upper lip curling back from her teeth as she growled low in her throat. He snatched his hand back a brief second before she tried to bite him, and Aedan’s hope began to fade. She was already starting to react to Christoph’s blood. He didn’t have much time.
“I’m sorry, luv.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss to her hair, careful to stay clear of her teeth. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. But I will make this right.” He started to stand and then paused. There was one more thing he needed to say to her. “I don’t know if you can hear me, Val, but I need to say this, just once. I love you, too.”
He put up his sword and turned to where Jase had finished dispatching Ingrid. Gore dripped from the werewolf’s claws and Ingrid’s head lay several feet from her body. Blood coated the walls and drenched Jase’s white fur, dying it an unwholesome red.
“Don’t forget the heart,” Aedan reminded him as he closed the gap between the two men and then laid his hand on Jase’s furry shoulder. “I have to go after Christoph. If I can kill him before Val dies, then she’ll recover. Take care of her, Jase. Don’t let her bite anyone, and for all our sakes, don’t let her get even a drop of blood in her mouth. That’s the only thing keeping her from a full transformation right now. Keep her alive, and I’ll finish this.”
Jase rumbled an affirmative and glanced over at Val, then back to Aedan.
“No, I’m not coming back. Tell her…Tell her I’m sorry I failed her.”
Jase growled, and Aedan turned his back on the blood-soaked beast. “There’s no time to argue, so just make sure she lives. Please, I need her to live.”
He summoned up the full measure of his powers and left the warehouse behind, passing the rest of Paladin’s team so quickly he doubted any of them ever saw him. He had to find Christoph and end this once and for all. He was Val’s last chance.
Chapter 13
Aedan focused his thoughts on Christoph, tracking the vampire as he fled the city. He was heading almost due north, and Aedan realized that his quarry was planning on fleeing not just the city, but the country as well. The border was less than seventy-five miles away, and if Christoph transformed and flew out over the ocean, there would be no way to follow him. He could take refuge in one of the many islands that were nestled along the coastline of the Georgia Strait and vanish, and Aedan wasn’t about to let that happen. Aedan let go of everything and let instinct take over. He left his human senses and sensibilities behind and became the creature he’d been born to be. He was a hunter and a slayer of evil. The only thing he kept in his mind was the tingling itch that led him northward, a beacon that shone brightly now that it was the only thing in his awareness.
He ran faster than he’d ever gone before, covering the miles with effortless speed. As he left the city behind, the itch grew stronger, and he knew he was closing the distance. It shouldn’t have been possible, but tonight Aedan would not question it. There’d be time to examine the experience later, after Christoph was dead.
Time blurred and stretched as the chase went on. Aedan wasn’t sure whether it had been minutes or hours that he’d been running. All he knew that he was close now, close enough that even the vampire’s weak senses would have alerted him to Aedan’s approach.
He felt it the instant Christoph stopped running. The distance between them was closing too fast for the vampire to still be on the move. They were far from the city limits now, and the street lamps were few and far between. What few houses there were in the area were set far back from the road, out of sight beyond long, dark driveways. Aedan reached back over his shoulder to draw his sword, never breaking stride. His nerves sang with tension and adrenaline coursed through his bloodstream as he steeled himself for the attack he knew would come any second. He was not disappointed.
Christoph came at him hard, and the impact sent both of them flying. They crashed to the ground near the middle of the road, both of them scrambling to be the first to regain their footing. Aedan’s ears were still ringing as his fingers gripped the hilt of his katana, the familiar weight reassuring him that he’d not dropped it when he’d hit the pavement. The two of them circled each other, and Aedan noted that Christoph looked pale, even for a vampire.
“You’re out of shape, old man.” Aedan’s taunt brought a sneer to the vampire’s bloodless lips.
“Don’t waste your breath, dhampir. You’re going to need it to beg for death before I’m done with you.”
“Not tonight,” Aedan murmured in icy tones he barely recognized as his own. “Tonight I’m more than a match for you.”
“And what’s so special about tonight?” Christoph
flashed his fangs, and his hands contorted into claws as he continued their ritualized dance in the middle of the darkened street.
“Tonight you took her away from me, and only your death can bring her back. So tonight, I will be better than you because I will not let her die.”
“How poetic,” Christoph said mockingly as he ran his tongue over his lips. “I can still taste her, dhampir. She was succulent and oh so eager to give herself over to me. Are you sure she’s worth dying for? I didn’t get the sense that leaving you behind was something she even thought twice about. Why risk yourself over an indifferent slut?”
Aedan managed to keep his anger in check, and instead of a verbal retort, he answered with his blade. He struck a single blow, the tip flicking out to carve a line in the pale flesh of Christoph’s throat.
The vampire’s fingers reached up to touch the viscous blood that oozed from the wound, and his eyes narrowed to slits. “So be it.” Christoph came at Aedan without further warning, his face a twisted mask of fury and his eyes ablaze with hatred. Claws raked across Aedan’s chest, shredding the leather of his jacket and scoring deep lines into his flesh.
The pain was galvanizing, and an image of Val’s torn and bloody throat rose up in Aedan’s mind. “You hurt her. I hurt you.” His katana flicked out again, adding a second slash to Christoph’s neck in the same spot the vampire had ripped Val’s flesh.
Again and again Aedan’s sword flashed, and each time Christoph moved a half second too slow. Soon the vampire was bleeding from almost a dozen cuts across his neck and jaw, and his blood flowed down to make the ground sticky beneath their feet. The air was thick with the scent of decay, pain, and Christoph’s fear.
Aedan could see the wariness in his adversary’s eyes, a sense of panic that grew as Christoph slowly began to realize the way this fight must end. Power flowed through Aedan’s body, borne of confidence untouched by doubt. He could do this because he must. There was no other acceptable outcome.