The Enforcers (The Blood Bar Chronicles)

by St. James, Caledonia

  He helped her stand up and fix her skirt. She smiled at him as he fixed his jeans, zipping them back up. The way her face lit up when she smiled caused his heart to constrict deep in his chest. He tilted his mouth toward her and kissed her lips. Shivers rushed through his body and he felt her shake as well, and knew she was affected at least on some level just as he was.

  That’s when he heard the noise at the other end of the alley. He pulled away to look as two men rushed toward them. He could only make out some of their French.

  “Là il est. L’obtenir. Maintenant!”

  “Fuck! Do you trust me?” he asked her.

  “I think so.”

  “That will have to do. Do as I say and I’ll get you to safety. Wrap your arms around me and hold on tight.”

  She shook her head and did as instructed. He couldn’t miss the way her body shook, which he doubted was fear. He had to make sure he was safe, then he’d deal with the threat at hand.

  Chapter Three

  Now that they were safe in his house he was able to breathe, knowing that they’d not captured Serena. He glanced in her direction; she was visibly shaken up over what she’d seen. There would be no way around it, he’d have to tell her what he was if she’d not figured it out already on her own. Not that it would take much for her to put all the pieces together…well at least part of them. Some of what he’d need to tell her would come as a shock. Hell, some of it was a shock to him as well, but, really, it shouldn’t have been.

  Rick’s cell phone rang and he reached into his pocket and pulled it out with every intention of shutting it off. That was until he saw that it was his mom. This couldn’t be good, at least not at this time of night. She would never call at three in the morning unless it was an emergency. “Hello.”

  “I’m sorry, son, for calling this late, but...” Her voice trailed off as if she’d covered the receiver with her hand. He heard her talking in hushed tones to someone on the other end. Knots formed in his stomach, twisting in every way they could. Every alarm in his body went off. He didn’t need her to tell him that they were under attack. His uncle’s men were after them in the alley, and He and Serena almost hadn’t escaped.

  She cleared her throat. “Your sister has started changing, and Mac is after us. Right now we’re in our first hideout with her, but if we need to move we can’t take her with us. I won’t leave my daughter behind.”

  “I know he’s after our family. Tonight I bumped into two of his men.” He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath.

  “Did you get the pendant yet?”

  “No, but I know where it is, and I’ll be getting it shortly.” Rick turned to look at Serena and found her gaze on him. Heat sat deep in her eyes and her breathing quickened. Her mouth opened slightly like she’d been caught doing something that she shouldn’t have been. A flush crossed her cheeks and neck, and he wondered how far it went. Did it reach her breasts, or go even lower? She quickly turned, trying to press her legs together as she moaned. He could smell her arousal from across the room.

  “Good, son, as we need it tonight. There’s no time to spare. I must go. She’s in pain and she’s calling out for you. Get here as soon as you can.” Fear laced her voice. It had been the first time he’d ever heard his mom show anything that resembled fear. He understood completely though, as his uncle had killed his father when he and his sister were kids. His uncle didn’t play around and wanted the family’s power, and if that meant taking out his niece and nephew he would. His dad had been a powerful wizard, and his power was transferred to his children. His mom was a good wizard, but not nearly as powerful as his dad had been.

  He closed the phone and walked to the leather couch where Serena sat. It was crunch time. He had to get that pendant to his mom for his sister’s sake, and help his family fight off the enemy. No way would he allow them to be hurt or killed. He hoped that once he explained things to her she would agree to give it back. If she wouldn’t, well he wasn’t sure what he’d do then, but he did know that he’d get it someway, somehow.

  ***

  Serena’s breath caught when he took a seat next to her. His words had been clipped when he spoke to whoever it was on the other end of his cell phone. She got the feeling that the news wasn’t good. He’d gotten tense; his jaw had locked. Still he had not relaxed. What could it be? Had those guys found them?

  “I need this necklace back. I know you took it the last night we were together.” He reached out and fingered the chain.

  “No, I can’t.” She shook her head. There was no way she was giving it up. Not after she’d spent the last six years looking for it. The pendant was too important to her getting the fullness of her powers. Without it, she’d never become the powerful witch that her family had always told her she’d be. She was a witch, and a good one at that, but the pendant held something powerful in it, at least according to all the research she’d done. Now that it was in her hands, she wouldn’t just roll over and give it up just because he was good-looking.

  “You don’t understand. It’s important to my family and I should have never let it out of my site.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Those men who were chasing us are after me. If they knew you had the pendant, they’d be after you instead.”

  “So, that’s why they called after you? What did they say?”

  He rolled his shoulders as if he was trying to release tension, but she could tell that it hadn’t helped. “It’s a nickname that my uncle gave me,” he said in a clipped tone. “Look, my sister is going to die if I don’t get the pendant back to my mom in time, and I can’t let my uncle get his hands on it.”

  “Your uncle?”

  “Yes, he wants it to destroy my family. He’s already screwed up my life enough. He killed my father when I was little, and he had me turned into a vampire, so that I wouldn’t become the powerful wizard that I should have been.”

  What? Had she heard him correctly? He didn’t just say that he was a vampire. Son of a bitch, she’d slept with an enemy...a damn vampire. It couldn’t be that. No. Her hands shook. He could kill her before she got away. Had he brought her back to his place and set up the whole thing with the thugs to kill her himself, and not let his buddies have a piece of her? She’d heard of his kind doing that, saying they were doing the world good by killing off witches.

  “How could you be a wizard, but turned into a vampire? None of this makes sense.” She shook her head before standing. Chills washed over her body. She had to get away from him, and back safely to her house.

  “I’m not sure how it happened. All I remember is being attacked on my way home one night, and the transformation was the most painful thing I ever experienced. The heat and torture was...” His voice trailed off. He turned his back before she saw the hurt on his face. He couldn’t let anyone see how much it had hurt him. Just like that, he covered up any emotions that he might have had. “You see, my sister is going through her transformation into a wizard, and she has to have that, or she will die. And if we use it on her, my uncle won’t be able to get to it in time, or it will crush and disappear forever. I can’t let him get hold of it and use it for evil.”

  She wanted to believe him, but the things he told her made it difficult. What if it was all made up so he could have the pendant for his own powers? “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.” Serena pulled out her wand, casting a spell to get the hell out of there. Her hands shook as she recited the words. He leaped for her, and just as he was about to reach her, she was gone.

  Chapter Four

  In an instant she was back in her home. He’d only been using her this time just like she had with him last time. She wondered how she could be so stupid thinking that he cared for her on any level. Tonight only proved she misunderstood anything about relationships, they had nothing together. Her body warmed as she remembered the way he’d fucked her in the alley against the brick wall. Why did her body have to betray her in that way?

 
; Rick had only been after the pendant for some reason. Part of her wanted to believe the story he’d told her, but it was too far out there for her to believe it. She would have to push him out of her mind; that was all she could do. Serena sat on the couch. Her cell phone was going off like crazy. In her haste she’d left it at home. She decided she needed to text her friends to let them know she made it home safely. Quickly, she fired off a quick text; set her phone down on the table, then grabbed her spell book. The time had come for her to find the spell she needed, the one she had heard her grandma talking about that had to do with the pendant she now possessed.

  A loud crash sounded from outside her house, causing her to jump. She closed her book and went to see what had made the commotion. When she made it halfway across the room, her door was busted in. Three big guys—the same ones from the alleyway—stepped over the splintered wood. They were obviously on a mission and finally it all clicked for her. These men were after her.

  She screamed, hoping someone would hear. The man in front lunged for her and she jumped out of the way. She knew if they got her they’d surely kill her. Serena ran down the hallway toward her bedroom. It would be safe there. A cold hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her back and into the chest of one of the men. They laid her on the floor. Another man wrapped her arms in a rope so tight that it cut into her skin. Her heart beat loudly in her chest. Two sets of hands pulled her to her feet, while the other person placed a blindfold over her eyes. Darkness.

  “Move, bitch.”

  Chills rushed over her body. She had to fight to get away. Serena moved her arm back as far she could with the ropes tied against her. With her right foot, she took a tiny step and rocked on her heels, then raised her arm until it made contact with one of the intruders. But it wasn’t enough, one of the others picked her up, placing her over his shoulder, and they ran out. Shit, if only she could reach her wand in her rear pocket then she could get the hell out of this mess.

  The man threw her in what she guessed was the back of a car, according to the slamming doors. They sped away and she knew that she didn’t have much time to get away before they killed her.

  “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “Quiet. You know what we want.”

  “I don’t. Please just tell me and I’ll give it to you,” she pleaded with them. She felt the man beside her turn in his seat a moment before his hand contacted her face. She held back the smart ass comeback and started to formulate a plan in her mind. The ride didn’t take long at all, she thought, as they rolled to stop. She let them lead her out of the car and into a building. They removed her blindfold, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkened room. The man to her right worked the ropes off her arms. Maybe now she’d be able to make a break for it. Except that they held her tight and led her to a chair. One man stood in front of her, one to her left, and another behind her. He tied her to the chair. She was screwed it seemed.

  “Oh good, I see that you found her. Where is he?” The older man was dressed in a shirt that stretched across his tight chest with biceps as big as her thighs, his head bald and smooth as the day he’d been born. He seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, and one of his eyes looked to be lazy.

  “Where is who?”

  “My nephew, of course. You know, the man you were fucking in the alley. Rick.”

  Air was knocked from her lungs. They had seen what they were doing, but that wasn’t what had shocked her. No, it was that Rick had been right this whole time. He’d been telling her the truth. He didn’t want to hurt her; he was only looking out for his family. Maybe he did care, but what good would that do now? She’d been taken prisoner, and wouldn’t see him again. His sister would die and it would all be her fault. They’d have to beat her to get the information, or kill her because she wasn’t going to tell this man a thing. She might not be able to save his sister unless she could get out of this, but no way would she let him get killed by this psycho.

  “I have no clue who you’re talking about. You must have me mixed up with someone else.”

  ***

  He couldn’t believe that she’d just taken off the way she had. Sure, the story had to sound crazy to her, but as a witch, she would have seen things that most people would never believe in. There was no time to think about it; he had to get to his family and help them fight. Taking a car would make sense, but he needed to get there quickly, so he decided to take the fastest route. Thanks to Twilight, the way vampires traveled had been compromised. Stupid twit, he thought. The good thing about how they got around was they got to places faster.

  Rick didn’t bother to knock on the door at his family’s home. This place had been in his family for centuries. Cinnamon drifted into his nose, and he inhaled, taking comfort in it as memories from his childhood flooded his mind. Whispers drifted in from the back of the place. No doubt they’d all be in his sister’s room keeping vigil. Anger seeped from his veins as he took in his sister, Casey. She laid lifeless on the bed, and he feared it was too late. But then she moved, turning her head as if she sensed he was there. A small smile formed on her lips. He could have helped her if only Serena had given back the pendant, but she hadn’t.

  “Did you get it, Son?” his mom asked. He scrubbed a hand down his face, not able to meet his mother’s gaze when he told her that he’d failed his family. Wasn’t it enough he’d been turned into a vampire, but now this? If only he could get her out of his mind and heart. He’d royally fucked up this time. “No, I didn’t get it. I’m sorry, Mom. I tried, but didn’t get to her in time.”

  Screams pierced through the house and it could only mean one thing—they were under attack. He wasn’t sure what he could do, but he had to help. His mom ordered people around, and he took a protective stance over his sister. If they were going to get to her they’d have to kill him first, and that was unlikely since he had fast reflexes and the ability to read people’s moves before they did things. She turned, grabbing his hand. God, he’d forgotten how small she was. “It’s going to be okay, just hang on.”

  “I know it will. I trust everyone here,” she whispered.

  Chris burst into the room, and he swore his stomach did a flop. Serena was being dragged into the room, her arms tied behind her back, but unlike most people being held hostage, her head was held high. Pride filled his chest at the moxie that rolled off her body. That’s my girl. But not only did he have to save his family, but also her. No way would he let his uncle and his men hurt the woman he loved. Her gaze connected with his and he tried to relay a silent message between them, that he’d take care of everything, and not to worry. She nodded the slightest so no one else saw but him.

  “Oh, I’m so glad the whole family could be here.” His uncle spoke, causing him to cringe.

  “What do you want?” Not that he needed to ask, he already knew. His uncle hated that his father had been a wizard with great powers, and had passed it down to his son. His sister, once she fully transferred, would have the powers to keep the evil kind of magic at bay, just like their grandmother had. Chris wanted nothing more than to take them out so he could continue with his evil plans.

  “Is that the way to greet me, your favorite uncle? You know I was always fond of you. It’s such a shame you won’t be the powerful wizard that everyone predicted.”

  If only I’d not had the pendant at the bar. I’d spent most of the day trying to figure out the special power it held. I should never have had it in the first place. The blood in his veins boiled to the surface, and he had to force the emotions down to keep a level head. A tingle raced down his hand into his left index finger. It was followed by a fire burning deep within, and he couldn’t explain what was happening. All he knew was the madder he got the more he felt it. Just like before, when he practiced magic, but why would he be able to do this now when he was a vampire. Somehow his uncle had to be playing tricks on him, or something, as there was no other way to explain it. This would be something that Chris would do just to piss him off
.

  “Save the bullshit for someone who cares.”

  “So you want to play it that way then. How about I kill her now and take the necklace.” His uncle raised his wand above her head, and started to cite the death spell.

  Rick looked at his sister who was getting worse by the minute, and then back at Serena who screamed from the pain of the spell. He charged ahead, knocking over Chris, who hadn’t seen him coming. They wrestled on the ground for a while before he pushed his uncle off, and got to his feet. Serena was already out of her ropes with a wand in her hand with another stretched out toward him. Take this to fight your uncle off.

  He must really be losing his mind if he could hear her speak to him in his thoughts. Not like he had anything to lose. He took the black wand and started to chant the death wish over his uncle, but before he finished Chris took off down the hall. Rick rushed after him. He wouldn’t let this man get away with terrorizing his family anymore. Pain sliced through his mid-section as Chris cast a spell his direction.

  He raised the wand he held and fired back, hitting him in the shoulder. Chris fell to the ground and he didn’t waste any time casting another. Rick charged forward until he stood over the man responsible for killing his father.

  “Come on, don’t be like this. Stop all this nonsense and we can work things out.”

  “Like hell. You’re not going to hurt anyone I love ever again.” Rick started to recite the death spell that his uncle had wanted to use on Serena.

  “Shit, you believe in all that lovey-dovey crap. You’re as pathetic as your father. That’s why he didn’t amount to the powerful wizard he could have. He let that hussy you call a mom distract him.