by Jackie Ivie
Despite the proof before her eyes.
CHAPTER NINE
Sebastian stooped to retrieve his trousers, found the cell phone pack in the back pocket. Slid one out. The entire time, he was trying to ignore how it felt to have her weight atop his shoulder.
Her naked weight.
Mating was too new. She was too wondrous. Every moment heightened a physical desire and need he was having trouble coming to grips with. His voice had a tremor as he answered his call.
“Yes?”
“Is this Sebastian Cole?”
“Who were you expecting?”
“Oh. I was expecting the Shah of Persia to answer your line. Who else?”
Akron answered before Sebastian formed an answer. He could usually trade quips with Nigel without thinking. He was having trouble with that at the moment. His mate was giving off the most amazing sensation of warmth, and her scent had gotten more enticing. Intense. She definitely smelled like a sun-warmed field of lavender.
“Nigel. Cease wasting time on frivolities. Have you reached Cole yet?”
“Yes, Sir. He’s on the line.”
“Good. Sebastian?”
“Sir?”
“Listen up. I appear to have made a few miscalculations in your last assignment.”
Sebastian frowned. The private investigator? “Bracket’s dead,” he informed them.
“Yes. I know. That’s not the part I’m referring to. Let me start by saying I’m rather grateful you used a new pilot this trip... especially one who is too young to worry over the effects of smoking. I’m also grateful that you gave him our number in the event of trouble.”
“Ivan... had trouble?”
“Yes. Well. Apparently, your new pilot, Ivan, stepped out for a smoke just after you landed. He is a very good man. You did well in selecting him. He noticed a lot of strange men about. Men who were wearing an odd shade of camouflage and carrying strange-looking weapons. Sound familiar?”
“Hunters?”
“Exactly. They have now surrounded the hangar. They’d have Ivan in interrogation if he hadn’t been sharp enough to call us... after you failed to pick up, of course. I don’t suppose you checked your messages lately?”
“No.”
“Well. I’ll just continue, then. That was my first miscalculation on this assignment. Pity. I really like that airfield.”
“My failure to pick up the cell?” Sebastian asked.
Akron chuckled. “No. No. I underestimated the amount of intelligence the Hunters actually possess. And sometimes even display. At the strangest moments. That was mistake one. They are now in control of your plane. And they know you are in the vicinity. Care to know what mistake number two was?”
“What?”
“Believing my associates when they say they detest a place. I actually took that to mean that a certain fellow actually did detest Paris. And wouldn’t still be encamped there.”
Sebastian colored slightly. “I... found my mate.”
“No way!” Nigel inserted. “He did not—.”
“Nigel. Please. Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that I might have a slight foreboding that something like this might happen? And that, maybe – just maybe – I make certain associates are in the exact place they need to be? Even if they claim to detest it?”
“You... know?”
“Oh. Dear. That sounds like a harbinger to future harassment. Perhaps I shouldn’t have given you that information.”
“You mean... you know when my mate is going to show up?”
“Perhaps.”
“Really? Oh, Sir! That is so... totally cool! Where is she? What is she like? What nationality? Is she cute? Stacked? Can I meet her? See her? Check her out? Come on, Sir! Can’t I get just a hint?”
“You know, Nigel. I am perfectly capable of avoiding this conversation until any mate of yours is well into her middle years. It might be considered by some to be a favor, since you did mention something about being cougar bait. Yes?”
“What? Oh, please Sir. No. Not over forty-five. Please? I’m begging here. I can’t handle saggy boobs.”
Akron laughed heartily. Sebastian’s ears rang. He had to move the phone away.
“I do enjoy your company, Nigel. I really do. You are so... refreshing. You haven’t much in the way of sensitivity training, and zero sense of political correctness, but you are honest. Direct. And endlessly amusing. Sebastian?”
“Yes?”
“We’ll call you back. New phone.”
The line went dead. Sebastian pitched that phone into the wreck of room behind him and slid another one out. Opened it. Pressed the “call” button. It went live instantly and Akron was already speaking.
“...and if she’s a toddler? What then? You don’t want to know. Trust me, Nigel. Ah. Sebastian is back. Do you have your mate with you?”
Sebastian glanced sidelong at Jill’s posterior atop his shoulder. His heart stuttered. Hmm. She had a very nice—
“I take it that’s a yes,” Akron said.
Sebastian choked. Colored. “Uh. Yes. Yes. I have her.”
“Good. I also take it you’re still in the Oubliette Suite?”
“How do you know that?”
“You are a victim of your own arrogance, Sebastian. You used your real name to book the reservations, and you went through a travel agency. We’ve known where you were the moment we were informed that Hunters were on your trail. We scrambled all data to reservation desks to every major hotel in the city, and a few seedier places that Nigel picked out. While, that’s bound to give some front desk clerks nightmares, it isn’t fool-proof. And the Hunters aren’t fools. They might not know where you are yet, but I’m not underestimating their intelligence a second time. They sent two of their best after you. Pair Hunters. With a total of eight pair patches between them. I do not wish them to gain a ninth. That suite has access to the tunnels?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I have Ivan and another jet fueled and ready at Cobley Airfield. Do you know where that is?”
“I’ll find it.”
“You do that. And Sebastian? If this was any other associate... I’d be making plans for their wake. Good luck.”
The phone went dead. Sebastian chucked it, grabbed up his trousers, boots, sword, her cast-off clothing, and was back in the room before Jill spoke.
“Okay. Okay. You move too fast. Holy cow, Sebastian. Slow down for a second.”
“No time. You heard?”
Sebastian bent forward and put her on her feet. And then, despite everything, he stopped for a moment and just absorbed the sight. Oh! Mating had such power. He hadn’t known. He hadn’t guessed. And, now that he had it, he wasn’t letting anyone take it from him. Especially a Hunter. His face set. His muscles went taut. Battle-ready.
“I heard... a lot of stuff. Now I have to absorb and believe it. Let me get this straight. Vampires are not only real, but so are vampire hunters?”
“Yes. Here. Dress. Quickly. Please?”
“And they really do hunt vampires?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They don’t like us. The feeling is mutual.”
“Now, this is really stupid. We aren’t just starting wars nowadays, we’re still having them in folklore? Why can’t everybody just get along, huh?”
Sebastian had his pants on. Belted in place. His feet shoved into boots. His armbands strapped on. She’d donned her hip garment but stopped there to query him with her breast band thing dangling from her fingers. Sebastian had to look away. She was so tempting!
“Please, Jill. We must hurry!”
“Okay. Okay. Say I believe you. You’re a vampire. And I’ll go out on a limb and sound really crazy by saying I’m halfway to being one. But do I really have to believe in the vampire hunting stuff, too?”
“It’s true. All of it. I swear. Please dress, love.”
“But... why?”
“So we can escape!”
He glanced at her. Sh
e’d put breast-binding thing on. That piece of equipment wasn’t helpful. It was actually lifted her breasts somehow, creating cleavage that drew his eye and hardened his loins. Sebastian looked quickly away again.
“I got that part. But I want to know why. Why on earth do they go around hunting vampires still?”
“So they can kill us?”
“Hasn’t there been any effort made toward peace? You’ve had... oh! I don’t know. Centuries? Millennia? Whatever the number. You’ve all had years of battling and not one of you ever thought of trying for a treaty?”
“Please hurry, darling. Here.”
He held out her shirt. Waited until the swish of fabric meant she’d donned it. And then he looked. That was almost worse. She was holding both sides and clicking her tongue, probably dismayed at the wreckage of the placket. He watched as she spun the ends into ties, revealing most of her midriff before she fastened a knot directly beneath her breasts. Sebastian’s knees wobbled. His eyes went wide.
Oh. My.
That view could severely hamper his concentration.
“Well. I look like something from out of a seventies disco show, but I’m ready. What now?”
“Have you ever been in a fight?”
She almost caught him staring. At her perfection. Her womanly curves that seemed just made for his kisses. His eyes darted away before that happened.
“A fight.” She didn’t say it as a question.
“Yes. A fight.”
“I suppose you could say I’ve fought inner demons. What kind of fighting are you talking?”
“The kill or be killed kind,” he answered.
Was that a shadow?
The ceiling entrance had an opaque chunk of glass in it. The hotel might need it for fire codes or something. Maybe they really did use this suite for sex games. Perversions. Voyeur fantasies. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. Sebastian narrowed his eyes on the vague square of light the opening cast on the floor. Near the chair he’d been sitting in. Nothing was out of place. Nothing moved.
“I’m going to say... no, then. I have never been in a fight. Or I missed that in the school curriculum somehow.”
Holding her hand wasn’t going to work. He needed mobility, and he needed her close. Sebastian eyed the bed. A moment later he was there, and ripping the top sheet into long strips.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making your binding.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have to tie you—”
“What? Look here, Sebastian. This is going beyond possessive. I refuse.”
He reached for her, but she stepped back. On the next effort, she did it again. And since she had received his blood, she was keeping pace. But then she ran into a wall, stopping her. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at him. For a moment, he softened as he looked into those amber-depths.
Ah.
She was so beautiful.
So adorable.
So... excruciatingly innocent.
Sebastian shook his head to clear it. Mating was such a physical joy. It overrode almost everything, even fear. “I have to tie you, Jill.”
“Not without a fight, you’re not.”
“Please?”
“Why?”
“I have to keep you with me. I have to keep you safe. I have to be mobile. And I will be fighting and killing. I can’t just carry you. I will need both my hands free. Don’t you see?”
She tipped her head to one side and regarded him for a long moment. And then she blinked. “Why can’t I just meet you at this Cobley place?”
“Oh, Jill. You listened but you didn’t comprehend.”
“Wow. That sounds just like one of my guardians. I’ve got it. This is just some nightmare, isn’t it? Something I’m dreaming because of past experiences I squelched. There’s probably even a clinical word for delusions of this nature, although what it might be escapes me.”
He lowered his chin so he could regard her through his lashes. “Jill. This is real, darling. I swear it. We are facing Hunters. They kill vampires.”
“That look is not going to work, Sebastian. You said it yourself. I am not a vampire. I’m half. I should be perfectly safe. Man. Listen to yourself, Jill. You sound like you shouldn’t just be tied; you should be in a straitjacket.”
“You are my mate, Jill. The Hunters know that.”
“How can they know something I’m not even certain of?”
He groaned. “We are wasting time! Trust me! They know. They will use it. And once they have you, your value is limited. You will be bait. They won’t care if you live through it.”
“Explain the ties then. I’m listening.”
“I need you affixed to me. Close. Arms about my neck. Legs about my hips. Rather... like uh... last night.”
“When we made love, you mean?”
“Sort of.”
“Wow. I’d heard you men have a one track mind. I didn’t know it was true.”
“Jill. Please. This will work. It has to work.”
Another shadowy movement happened out of the corner of his eye. It was definitely coming from the ceiling entrance. They might be preparing an onslaught of incendiary canisters. That would mean they’d only need a small opening, such as that window. They might also be clamping hooks about the edges and attaching ropes so they could rappel down. They’d use the entire opening in that event. Either way he was losing time on explanations when he should just grab Jill and run.
Sebastian tipped his chin slightly. He had seconds to convince her. He and Jill would use the hidden door. Bust through the elevator doors. Slam through the back of the elevator into the tunnel system...
“I need you right up against me. Tight. It shouldn’t be a hardship, and you can watch my back.”
“You’re seriously contemplating battling these Hunter dudes with a woman in your arms?”
“Not in my arms. Tied in place. That’s the point. You’ll be a part of me. You’re small. I’m not. I have great range of movement. It will work. Trust me.”
With a quirk of her head, she nodded acceptance, but she was still mumbling to herself. “Well, Jill. They didn’t call you crazy for nothing.”
She stepped toward him. He whipped a strip of satin about her. She leapt up onto him, latched her legs about his hips. He crossed the strip behind him, catching up her lower legs before bringing it back around and knotting it at her back. Another one followed. He didn’t have time for a third one.
CHAPTER TEN
They used both methods of entry.
Sebastian flew to the armoire, hooking the chair with his free arm on the way. The ceiling door burst open, and several canisters got dropped. And started hissing. He opened the armoire door.
“Sebastian!”
He spun. Four of them were already dangling from the opening in differing levels. Another man was just starting to descend. Sebastian cocked his arm and flung the chair. It was stoutly constructed. He’d noticed that last night when he’d sat in it. His blow hit the closest Hunter on the left, slamming him into the fellow behind him. The blow meshed them into a mass of camo fabric, flesh, and blood. The chair careened off that blow and struck the highest man, knocking him from the rope and into the far wall, while a stroke of luck sent a chair leg right through the torso of the man on the right.
A grenade burst, misting the room. Another followed. A third. All of them dousing the area with Holy Water. Sebastian twirled and bent forward, taking the brunt of the attack along his back as he entered the armoire. Shut the door. Studiously latched it shut behind him. He needed the barrier. They might as well be tossing acid. Fire was eating at his back in so many places at once, the pain was indistinguishable as it meshed into one big haze. He’d forgotten what it felt like.
A flash of light illuminated a bit of black space. It came from the room they’d left. It outlined the door and revealed a peephole that looked back into the room. It was followed by a smattering of wooden shards into the armoire door at his back
. It was also accompanied by a loud shriek in the room behind him.
“What the hell?” Jill said.
Sebastian turned his head to look. They weren’t just using Holy Water. These Hunters had loaded grenades with shrapnel that appeared to contain shafts of wood. Maybe they hoped to get lucky. They hadn’t considered what might happen if they were in the vicinity however. That was almost amusing. It also helped mute the pain encompassing his back and shoulders.
A little.
He reached a door. It was crafted of wood, and covered with carvings that highlighted and displayed woodworking talent. Sebastian slammed through it. The foyer he was in was well lit. Large. He hadn’t known they might use this area for other things. Storage. Voyeurism. Maybe they even had other Oubliette Suites.
He didn’t know. And he didn’t care.
He pried the elevator doors open and held them. Good. The car was missing. The only thing between him and space was the mass of cabling in the shaft.
“Oh no. No. You aren’t seriously—.”
Jill’s words ended with a cry as Sebastian leapt into the opening, twisting as he flew. He took the blow with his shoulders, slamming through a fake wall, before stumbling. He grunted. Regained his feet. Tightened a hand on his sword. Jill had gasped when he landed, silencing her shocked outburst. He didn’t know how she’d taken the carnage he’d just created in their suite or even if she’d seen it.
“You okay, love?” he whispered.
She was breathing rapidly, while her heart was a hammering force that fed his. Hard. Heavy. Scared. She finally nodded.
The Holy Water had dried, taking the burn with it. The holes it had made in his skin were starting to seal up. The pain had morphed into a throb of ache and soon it would disappear altogether. They’d reached the limestone tunnel system that ran beneath the city. It was dark. Somber. Cool. If he gave it a few moments, he’d be healed completely. He didn’t dare. Not with Jill. The scent of something burning was just reaching him. Something noxious. His lips twisted. Hunters always smelled like that. It was their bane. This one had tried disguising it with heavy floral perfume.
“What... is that... horrible smell?”
She was gagging. He wrapped his free arm about her for a second and squeezed. Put his mouth close to her ear. Whispered.