His eyes met hers. “Hey, sweetheart. Get any sleep?”
“I must have. I guess that’s a good thing. I wasn’t sure I could. I suppose you didn’t, huh?”
“Can’t. Not till sunup.” He reached behind her to card his fingers through Jeremy’s hair with an affectionate smile. “This lazy shit’s the only one with any sense. We’ve all been running on fumes since yesterday. You should try to rest today. I’ll be good in about twenty minutes.”
“Don’t try to pretend nothing’s happened. We all know what I am now.”
“Hey, you’re only half. They wanted the best of both.”
She nearly laughed. “There’s a best?”
“It’s got its high points. You get to stay up all night. The diet sucks, but what can you do?” His jungle gaze pierced her. “What do you want me to do?”
“I’m guessing there’s no cure.”
“Not that I’ve ever heard of. Gus has been looking for years.”
“It wouldn’t matter, would it? There’s no cure for DNA.” She started to lift her hands then let them fall. “How do you live like this?”
“You’ve got advantages over the rest of us. You’re still alive, for one. The sunlight thing’s our biggest speed bump. Well, that and slayers.” He shrugged. “You’ve got something no other vampire has.” He indicated himself and Jeremy with two quick jabs of his thumb. “Us.”
Colleen smiled wanly. She leaned over and kissed him. Her lips encountered the bump of his fangs, and she knew his must be feeling the same behind hers. A sudden, frightening flash burst into her thoughts, the two of them with those fangs mutually ripping at some hapless victim’s throat. She jerked back sharply.
Of course, he knew what caused her abrupt retreat. When he chose, he could know every thought in her head and vice versa. They were bound in a way no human, not even Jeremy, could know.
He caught her before she could pull away further. “I won’t lie to you. It’ll be rough. The difference between you and me is you won’t have to go through it alone. I’ll guide you along the best I can. Scarecrow’s here, too. He knows more about vampires than I do. Dude’s a walking encyclopedia on bats.”
Colleen glanced over at Jeremy’s peaceful, sleeping face. Wallace’s nebulous fears resonated inside her. She understood them now. How long would she live? Long enough to watch him age and die like the mortal she wasn’t anymore? Colleen wasn’t sure she could bear that, even with Wallace beside her to soften the blow.
Wallace must have sensed the gist of her thoughts because he rested his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “Forget that for now. That’s in the future. We’ve got more up close and personal problems.”
She leapt at the distraction gratefully. “Lebec’s still out there somewhere.”
“Yeah. Son of a bitch can’t let yesterday pass. He’ll be coming for us. We have to find him first.”
Colleen stared out the window. She now knew to the minute when the sun would rise. “Did the others really get away?”
“Yes,” Wallace said, this time without hesitation. “They ran when the fire started. I know we should’ve tried to catch them, but—well, hell. I had a lot of other things on my mind right then.”
She nodded vaguely without turning around. “What will happen to them?”
“No idea. They might try to go back to Lebec. If we’re lucky, they’ll go to the cops or their families or something. We should try to track them down after we deal with Lebec. I know Gus can help them. He can help you, too. He helped me.” He wrestled with a yawn. “Bedtime for Bonzo. Will you be okay?”
He was watching her closely, alert for any similar yawns or signs of sluggishness, any hint of a vampire’s reaction to sunrise. Colleen monitored her own responses. She felt tired, in spite of her nap. Then again, she’d been up for nearly twenty-four hours and through a physical and emotional wringer for much of them. It didn’t prove anything.
Staring out at the fading dark, she knew what she had to do.
“I think I’ll have breakfast,” she told Wallace. “Then try to get some sleep.”
“Atta girl.”
Colleen kissed him softly. She wriggled out from between them and off the bed, careful not to wake Jeremy. She kissed him on a mouth lax in sleep. Did Wallace sense the finality in it, or in the kiss she had given him?
If he did, he didn’t say anything or try to stop her from leaving the bedroom. Colleen padded silently downstairs.
In the kitchen, she puttered around as if truly interested in fixing a meal. She started brewing a pot of coffee she knew she might not be around to drink. All the while, she listened for any sounds from Wallace, any hint he might suspect what she had in mind.
At last, the sky grew light enough to see the kitchen by. A bird trilled melodious alarm. The bed creaked. She heard no footsteps, only the click as the door to Wallace’s den softly closed.
It was time.
Her steps didn’t falter, and her hands remained steady. She wondered that she didn’t feel more fear. She wondered if she would feel anything, if immolation would be instant, or if she would burn like paper.
Colleen opened the door and walked down to the curb. At the van, she paused then moved out of its shadow and turned her face to the east. Either this would work or it wouldn’t. Either she was still human enough to remain in the world, or—well, if not, in a minute it wouldn’t matter.
Someone shouted inside the house. Wallace. It had to be Wallace. He alone had intimate access to her mind. She whirled toward the house in alarm. He wouldn’t come outside after her, would he? Surely he wasn’t that foolish.
He wasn’t. Jeremy, not Wallace, threw open the door, blinking and clumsy from sleep. He bolted to her side and seized her arms.
“What are you doing? Come back inside.”
“No.” Colleen had been strong before. Now she found his male muscles were nothing compared to her own. She shrugged him off easily. “I have to do this. I have to know.”
“We already know. The others—”
“We don’t know if I’m like the others. I’ve got the psychic thing, and they don’t. I didn’t come under that bitch’s power after she made me drink. It’s too big an if for me to live with.” She rose up on tiptoe to bring herself closer to his face. “Please.”
The storm that raged in his eyes tore at her heart. “All right,” he said, “but I’m staying with you. If you start to smolder I’ll carry you inside.”
“Fair enough.”
Colleen turned toward the rising sun. Strange, or maybe not so strange, that she knew precisely where it would peek out over the tops of the buildings. Jeremy encircled her with his arms in a loose but comforting clasp. She leaned back against him. If she was wrong, if this was her death rising over the row houses, she could think of no better position from which to face it than here.
Wallace, I’m sorry, she sent to the house. This is something I have to do. I have to be sure.
Wallace’s telepathic response was unprintable.
Gray sky gave way to pink. Colleen pressed her eyelids shut. Feel the burn. Not funny. Nowhere near.
She waited. And waited. Her skin grew warm. Still she refused to look.
“Colleen,” Jeremy whispered in her ear. His voice trembled. “Open your eyes.”
Colleen obeyed. She shut them again almost immediately against the nearly unbearable brilliance. On her second attempt she was able to keep them open by focusing off to the left. Directly in front of her, the sun hung well above the skyline. Its light washed over her skin and left not so much as a freckle.
Jeremy squeezed her tight. He was laughing. As realization sank in, Colleen joined him. “Nothing like a sunrise, huh?” he said.
“It’s beautiful.” Tears started to her eyes, whether brought on by the light or relief, she didn’t really care. “I’m human.”
“Well, duh. You want to try for a tan, or shall we go back inside?”
“Inside. I always did burn fast.”
Sti
ll laughing, Jeremy scooped her up and carried her into the house. Before he could set her down, Wallace rushed up to them and snatched her from Jeremy’s arms.
“What the hell?” he blasted at her. “You trying to kill me or what?”
“I told you I’d be fine.”
“Dumbass stubborn chick. Why do you have to be so much like me?” He went on grumbling and grousing even while he kissed every inch of her face and throat. Colleen finally had to stop him by pressing her fingers to his lips.
“I’m human,” she said. “Mostly. Enough that I can deal. Everything else is minor.” Her lips stopped his snarky rejoinder. “Will you go get some rest now? I promise I won’t do anything dumb.”
“You damn well better not. You.” His glare speared Jeremy. “She doesn’t leave the house, or I’ll have your ass.”
Jeremy saluted. Wallace shot him the finger. “You’re going to kill me,” he snarled at them both before he blurred up the stairs.
“And that’s our drama quotient for the day,” Jeremy announced. “What now?”
Colleen inhaled deeply. Air. Glorious, wonderful, necessary air, filling her nostrils, filling her lungs, speeding blood through her body to a heart that now beat in slo-mo but at least didn’t just sit there. The aroma of the coffee she’d started reached her. If that wasn’t the smell of heaven, it had to be damn close.
“I don’t know about you,” she said, “but I could really go for breakfast.”
* * * *
After breakfast, Jeremy and an invigorated Colleen went over their notes again. They paid particular attention to the list of rental properties purportedly owned by Mosquito Enterprises.
“One of them’s got to be his den,” Jeremy muttered. “Trouble is, which one?”
“Depends on where he wants to be, I guess,” Colleen said. “At the heart of the action, or at a safe distance?”
“So far, he’s kept his distance. A hands-off kind of guy.” She caught the quirk of his mouth even as she caught her own yawn. “Go to bed. Get some sleep. We could be fighting for our lives tonight. It won’t help if you conk out on us.”
Colleen yawned again. Now that she’d survived the sunrise, bed sounded deliciously tempting. “If I’m not up by the time Wallace is, wake me, okay?”
He shook his head, grinning. “No promises.”
Great. The blood diet she’d have to adjust to. Life with two sweet, but presumptuous, overprotective males? Not so easy. Well, if she could successfully shepherd preschoolers, she could train a couple of guys. Yet another yawn stretched her jaw. Starting right after a nap.
It wasn’t until she was in bed and comfy that she gave a thought to the time. A glance at the bedside clock confirmed her suspicions. The display read 11:48 a.m. Close enough to high noon to make a vampire lethargic.
She pursed her lips at the window then defiantly opened the curtains. Sunlight streamed in. Satisfied, Colleen rolled over and fell asleep in seconds.
* * * *
Something scary woke her. She wasn’t sure if it was a sound or a dream or a feeling. Colleen jerked upright and peered around the room. The low slant of light told her day was nearly done. Wisps of dream chased through her mind, more emotion than image. Top of the list was the sensation that some evil thing was on her heels.
A loud thump sounded in the hallway, and she jumped. The thump was followed by a string of curses. Colleen let her breath out. Wallace. She scrambled out of bed and reached the door just as he flung it open. One look at his face said it all.
“Bad dreams?” she asked.
“No dream.” His voice was grim. “We’re being hunted.”
He led the way downstairs. In the kitchen Jeremy paced back and forth like a guard dog on a too-short chain. The beginnings of a soup-and-sandwich dinner sat on the counter, forgotten.
“Good, you’re up,” Jeremy said. “I was just about to get you. My skin’s been crawling since around four. I think this is it.”
“No shit,” Wallace snarled. Colleen and Jeremy automatically moved toward each other. Wallace took over the pacing. “We never should have come back here. They already know where we den. Christ, that’s Vampire 101. Where the hell is my head?”
“On the other hand,” Jeremy said, “we’ve got home court advantage. They can’t come in unless we invite them.”
“A fat lot of good that’ll do us if he’s got an army out there. Well, you roll with the punches and do what you can. Let’s see how many stakes we’ve got on hand.”
A cell phone rang in the living room. Wallace and Jeremy looked at each other. “Yours,” Jeremy said. “Maybe it’s Gus.”
“Thank God,” Wallace snarked. “The cavalry.” He flashed from the kitchen and back with his cell in hand. He put it on speaker. “Yeah?”
“Tin Man,” a slick, faintly-accented voice oozed out of the phone. “You’ve become quite the annoyance. I believe it’s time we met.”
Chapter 20
Colleen’s breath stopped. She knew that voice, remembered it and the silver eyes and frigid touch that went with it. Its cold evil, decades old and carefully cultivated, marked it more strongly than its hints of an ancient French accent. It stuck in her head like an inoperable tumor and tried to spread its tendrils through her thoughts.
No. She pictured the voice as a bug and her brain as a shoe. Her mind cleared instantly. The voice still frightened her, but it did not control her. Fine and dandy for over the phone. What if she had to face him in person? Colleen pressed closer to Jeremy.
“Let me guess,” Wallace said. “The renowned Mr. Lebec.”
“You’re good, Tin Man. I underestimated your resourcefulness. However, I too have resources. We have your den under surveillance.”
“Yeah? Thanks for the heads-up, Tony. Not that your bat-boys can do anything without an invitation. Unless your hybrid harem—oh, that’s right. They ran out on you.”
A frigid hiss steamed out of the speaker before Lebec regained his self-control. “Perhaps I should elaborate. My information is as thorough as yours. I know who you are, and who you were, and who you used to run with. We also keep watch on your old companions, Dorothy and the Lion, and the little stray they’ve taken in. I’ll need to start anew, with fresh bloodlines, now that you’ve decimated my herd.”
Shayla? Colleen’s blood ran as cold as any true vampire’s. Wallace’s snarl only scared her all the more. “You’re not taking her, or Colleen, or anyone else. I’ll stake you sideways first.”
“The mares can wait. It’s you who interests me. I have dealt with slayers before and come away unscathed. I’ve killed or outlived all my enemies. You are new, and so little is new to me anymore. More, you are vampire, a fellow king. I am willing to extend you the courtesy of a personal meet. Mano a mano, I believe is the term.”
“Well hey, that’s goddamn generous of you. What if I say go fuck yourself?”
“Then we burn you out of your den. I crucify you to the side of my home and slit your bat bitch’s throat. Then I reclaim my property. Then I gut your former teammates. And then I take the child.”
“Gotta admire a man with a plan.” Wallace gestured to Jeremy. Jeremy darted to the windows and peered outside before he galloped upstairs. “Where are you?”
“You don’t know? Clearly not. You’ve torched three of my dens already and still missed. Your informants must not be as reliable as mine. You know of Montrose Street?”
“I do now. If I leave my nest, what are the chances I’ll get there?”
“That depends on how good you are. You have my word no harm will come to your flock until after we’ve settled our differences.” His cool laughter frosted Colleen’s spine. “I await your coming, Tin Man. I invite you into my home.” Lebec rang off.
“Your word, right. That and a hike through a cow pasture will get me shit-covered boots.” He glowered at the silent phone, then at Jeremy, who leaped off the stairs and skidded back into the kitchen. “How many? Did you see?”
“I couldn’
t tell. I spotted two for sure. Could be three, could be three dozen.”
“No,” Colleen said suddenly. “Nowhere near that many.” Her awareness of them buzzed in her mind. “There are only eight.”
Wallace stared at her. “Your psychic thingy?”
She nodded. “It’s gotten a lot stronger since, um, the other day. As soon as I thought about them, I could hear them. Not actual thoughts like with you, but along those lines.”
Jeremy stared at her. “You can hear inside Wallace’s head? God, you poor woman.”
“Eat me,” Wallace said. To Colleen, he continued, “Only eight? You’re sure?”
“I’m getting vibes from eight different vampires. That’s the only way I can describe it. They’ve got the whole block surrounded.”
Wallace started pacing again, excitement and not anger in his stride. “That’s why the challenge. He’s running scared. Maybe even running out of assets. His kennel’s gone, the women are gone—” He stopped. “Three of his rental properties are gone. He thinks I did it. When the hell did I have time?”
“Annie and Gus?” Jeremy suggested. “They’ve got the same list.”
“When did they have time? They have lives. They’ve been out of the biz for years.” Suddenly, he showed fang in a broad grin. “But Annie did some sharing. Sounds like the Preacher’s been a busy boy.”
“You can’t go,” Jeremy said. “He’s probably nailing the ‘trap’ sign over his door right now.”
“Of course it’s a trap. I’m not a total moron. Problem is, it’s a damn good one. I leave you here, he moves in the second I’m gone. I take you with me, I’m delivering you right to his door. I stay put, he torches the place. Annie and Gus can’t give us backup. They’re going to have their hands full.”
“He does have good intel,” Colleen said. “He’s playing on your worst fears. He knows you’ll go charging right in with no plan and you’ll end up getting slaughtered.”
“Or he will. You got any better ideas?”
Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 25