Francisco’s jaw slightly trembles, but he composes himself enough to speak. “Loren enjoys a freedom that no other vampire has, Alexander. Your maker knows this and I assume he appreciates it. It’s a gift from New York that I’m not sure he is willing to tamper with for you.”
“I’ll take my chances. It was good seeing you, Francisco.” I bolt toward the door and open it without caring if it closes. I only slow down as I pass the counter and Marisol, who smiles at me.
Outside, my skin stings from the sun and the increase of venom violently zipping through my veins. I ignore the discomfort and stomp to my car.
Soothing drops of relief settle my rage as I get closer but Zander steps out of the SUV parked behind me. I didn’t even notice the damn Pennsylvania plate! I keep moving, with no intention of stopping, except two other vampires emerge; a meaty, knuckle dragging bald one and Gaston, the red-haired vampire from behind Elizabeth’s house.
Another door opens and Christiana steps out. “Pollack?” She touches the bald man’s head and then snaps her fingers at Gaston, dragging his gaze from me. “Check the GPS to make sure our path to the bridge is clear.”
Gaston rakes me up and down with frightened eyes. I have no idea if he told Christiana he saw me suspending a bear with my mind. That I have similar gifts as Loren.
Zander remains frozen in place, his eyes forward like a well-trained personal guard. After what I smelled on Christiana however, I bet there’s more going on there. So why does she need or want to mate with me? I bet that vampire is satisfying her nightly.
The menace on her face softens as she approaches me. “I assume Francisco told you the good news.” She slides her hands across my shoulders.
I’m not quite sure how to play this. “Yes, he informed me.”
“You’re going to love Philadelphia. It’s filled with culture and history. All this place has are soccer moms, strip malls, and Wal-Marts.”
I choose not to argue with her about all of that. “Christiana,” I begin and bow my head out of respect. “Why me? Between your state and mine there are hundreds of better second-in-command options.”
She studies me and drops her voice. “Do you really need to ask why I want you?” Her intense heated gaze suggests she wants to actually mate with me. When I say nothing, she shakes her head as if a spike of passion overwhelmed her. And she didn’t like it. “What Aiden and I built in Philadelphia exists under a veil that others see as a very prominent artistic foundation,” she says, boasting about their clever cover. “There are parties and charity balls. I’m considered Philadelphia’s most eligible bachelorette. I can’t parade just anyone as my chosen mate.” She loops her arm through mine and swings me around in order to face the tinted window of her shiny Escalade. “I always felt we made a handsome couple,” she says to our crisp reflection.
Except with those damn shoes she’s at least four inches taller than me.
When I gaze at her height, she pulls my chin toward her. “I’m not about to emasculate the man I plan to spend eternity with.” She reaches down and takes off one of her shoes and holds it in front of her face. Smiling, she bites the heel right off and it snaps like a twig.
The other shoe slides off and she tosses it into the gutter along with the remains of the first one. She destroyed a one-thousand-dollar pair of shoes, and stands on the dirty sidewalk just to prove a point to me.
With our eyes dead level, she purrs, “Is that better?”
I won’t try to convince her what madness this is. Not now on the streets of Trenton in broad daylight. “My identity will take some time to move across state lines along with my licenses.”
“I understand,” she says.
“And I’m sure you understand if I want to confer with Loren about this.” I cross my arms. “I want my maker to know I’m being forced to mate.”
Christiana becomes still as a statue except for the slight quiver in her jaw, when I mention Loren. I wonder if this is really a ploy to align with him.
I step toward her. “Christiana, are you all right?”
“Of course.” Blood red lips crinkle into a wavy line across her mouth. “I’m not a fragile human. One you can kill.”
“That happened once.” We had lots of very rough sex. The kind she likes. “And I paid retribution.”
“Over and over and over. You must have enjoyed it.” Her head cranks to the left and she sneers at Pollack to open the door for her. Gaston races to the other side and gets in as well. “I’ll be in touch, Alexander.”
I stiffly nod.
Christiana gets in her Escalade with her well-dressed entourage all packed inside. Zander narrows his eyes at me and gets in the passenger seat upfront. Before they speed off, I snap a picture of the license plate.
Since Elijah likes to track our phones, I go see him in person about this one.
When I get to his house and tell him what happened, he replies, “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard.” He types into a keyboard attached to several monitors and the speed in which his fingers move makes them flicker like they can induce a seizure.
As a freelance programmer, he lives low under the radar and collects fantastic fees with minimal exposure to humans.
Elijah only developed a slight tolerance to fresh human blood. He takes the rations I give him, but the smell of a human still drives him into a frenzy, especially if it’s a woman. “Okay. Wow, she has a whole fleet. Six cars.” He points to a monitor.
“That was fast, where did you find it?”
“On Pollack’s computer. Dummy actually uses one-two-three-four as a password.”
“Is there a way we can track when they’re headed up here?”
Elijah types in a few more commands and slides his mouse across a pad dented with skid marks. “Here, I have their EZ-Pass tags. All the cars are linked to one account. I can set up an alert if they cross the bridge. That would buy you at least an hour.” Elijah is a genius.
“Can I see the history? How often do they come here?”
“Besides today?” Elijah opens and closes various PDF files. “It hasn’t been since last year.”
“Thanks.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “And try to stay out of my phone if you can.”
“I can try.” He smiles.
I leave Elijah to his computer world tamping down the urge to break into one of those runs that will make me unseen to the human eye. Only when I’m inside my car, does the panic sweep over me.
What will I tell Elizabeth?
Chapter 17
“See, I told you we’d get a seat if we saw that other movie,” I say to Alex as we come out of the theater.
Storefronts located in the center of town are closed up since it’s a Sunday night and the streets are bathed in an ambient glow of old-fashioned street lamps. Alex takes my hand in his and after two months I still get a thrill when he touches me. Except, he’s uncharacteristically distracted. I caught him leering out my living room window more than usual since yesterday. And he gets calls that he takes out in the yard.
Last night I woke up and he was in front of my bed, facing my bedroom window. He stood with his arms folded like he was guarding me.
“You didn’t have to sell me on a horror flick,” he says. “I get a kick out of seeing something hunted other than me.”
I check my phone. “Well if I’m not home when Stephen drops Annie off, I’m the one who’s going to get staked.”
He glances at me curiously and I hope my easy smile tells him I’m kidding. Except his eyes have my heart all a flutter with desire. I can’t help licking my lips. We come upon a shoe store. Alex checks left then right and pulls me into the recessed entry right up against the glass door.
“Then I’ll have to take you right here, right now.” He caresses my forearms and the touch sends chills throu
gh my already charged body.
“Only if you’re kissing me.”
“Like this?” He seals his mouth over mine in a deep kiss.
After a delicious swirl of his tongue, he removes it and runs the wet pointed tip across my lips.
His hips press into mine to let me know he’s firmly aroused. I expect his kiss to sink deeper but Alex straightens so sharply, so quickly, like he’s a robot and someone just re-booted him.
With the release of an unmistakable hiss, he instantly turns and tucks my body behind his. “Quiet,” he grinds out under his breath, because he knows I’ll want to see what got his attention.
Given his reaction, I quickly conclude we are in the presence of yet another vampire.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asks in a voice I never heard.
“You piqued my curiosity yesterday. I had to see for myself what your reluctance is really about.” The distinctly French voice echoes against the glass that surrounds us.
“Let me take her home. You and I will discuss this in your office, where it’s more appropriate.”
“I’m embarrassed that I did not draw the obvious conclusion about why you were being so stubborn yesterday.”
I clutch Alexander’s coat, my head against his back. My desperate tugs beg him to give me a hint about what’s going on.
“I will let you call me anything you want,” Alex responds. “When we’re alone, Francisco.”
My heart jolts. Francisco. His commander. Alex is in trouble.
“Catching you off guard is more preferable to me. Plus, I want your little friend to hear this.”
The direct reference to me means I’m not invisible after all and this is about me. I’m directly responsible for Alex’s reluctance to do something. His right hand steadies me and a stabbing pain in my head is followed by, Do not move or speak.
“You don’t want to test my patience, Alexander,” Francisco continues. “You are expected to go to Philadelphia and mate with Christiana in the next thirty days.”
My heart sinks into my stomach and nausea spreads through me. I only have thirty more days with Alex because he has to mate with a female vampire! He reacts to the change in my body chemistry, and stands taller if that’s even possible.
“I appreciate all you’ve done for me, Francisco. But I’m going to fight for my right to stay here, unattached. I’m going to New York.” Alex tightens his grip on me so hard, I will surely be bruised in the morning.
“I know you, Alexander. I’ve known you for fifty years. You’ve not been with a woman in all this time. There must be something special about this, Elizabeth.”
My throat dries up when I hear my name. If he’s observed me enough to know my name, that means he knows where I live and— “Annie,” I whisper.
“She is none of your concern, Francisco,” Alex flings back. “You may have control over me, but we both know humans are not to be used as pawns.”
I don’t like this vampire bullying Alex. He can crush me behind him, but he’s not covering my mouth. “Why does Alex have to mate with someone?”
Alex’s teeth grind, like the bone-chilling sound of a wire brush on metal. After a growl, he releases me and steps aside so this Francisco can see me. Crap, I wish he didn’t. While very handsome, he’s quite ominous looking. Tall, taller than Alexander with hair the color of a glossy mink stole. The neat mop sits above a thin face of smooth alabaster skin. I can’t see his eyes too well, but I suspect they are as black as Alex’s are when he’s all vampire.
Francisco stands with his arms elegantly draped at his sides and gives off the leader vibe very well. There’s something else about him, something regal.
“You have not told her?” He inquisitively tilts his head toward Alex.
“You just told me yesterday.”
I understand Alex better than ever before. He didn’t want to be vampire. While he’s helpless to fight against the physical demands of his nature, he’s been successful in fighting the social demands.
“For the record, Elizabeth discovered who I am out of my own carelessness. To which I will accept whatever punishment you wish to hand out. But leave her out of this. She’s kept our secret.”
“Most humans keep our secret, once they let us in their beds and we start satisfying them the way we do.” Which is why Francisco must be so worried.
He’s taking Alex and all the good sex away from me.
~ ~ ~
Francisco has it woefully backwards.
Elizabeth’s warm, gorgeous body and fierce desire for me, has kept me coming to her bed every night.
I wanted to believe she loves me, as I love her. Now that she knows our time is limited, I guess I won’t hear those three little words come from her mouth. At all.
One thing is certain, this conversation with Francisco is over.
“I will be at your house in an hour, Commander,” I repeat with a furious hiss.
“I know this human is the reason you are resisting, but we both know you never wanted to pair bond with anyone.” Francisco’s attempt to make Elizabeth think she means nothing to me is pathetic. “You were always off at this university or that university, to study here, or study there. Diploma after diploma. Degree after degree.”
“You don’t turn down the money and blood I bring to you. Who paid for those expensive Italian shoes? You didn’t buy them fixing toasters.”
Francisco smiles. “It’s why I give you allowances and freedom. You are a good citizen and I would take one hundred more like you.”
“So you could have one hundred pairs of Prada shoes?” Elizabeth’s sassy wisecrack turns Francisco’s face harsh with anger.
His eyes narrow at me, but he relaxes. “You have your hour, Alexander.” He walks away slower than I expect.
As soon as he’s several feet away, I face Elizabeth who’s gone paler than me. I want to strangle her for talking back to Francisco, but instead I crush her body against mine relieved that she’s safe. For now.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, touching her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have spoken.”
“Francisco respects bravery.”
“That’s a relief. Should I assume he knows about Annie?”
“I would be shocked if he didn’t. It’s the first thing I intend to bring up when I see him.”
I feel her throat swell when she nods. “Please make sure my daughter is left out of this. I can take care of myself.”
“No human can take care of themselves against a vampire, Elizabeth. Don’t dissolution yourself. Not unless you plan to grow eyes in the back of your head and keep high powered rifles on you at all times.” When Elizabeth only nods tightly, taking in my words, I say, “Let’s go home.
Her eyes drift to mine and that’s when she cracks. “I love that you call my house home.”
“It’s felt more like a home than any place I lived in a very long time.” I run my fingers through her hair and luxuriate in its silken texture.
Since meeting her, not a day goes by that I don’t touch something, anything and think, what did this feel like when I was human?
Still, I can’t stop thinking how Elizabeth’s hair would feel to me if I were human again. Those haunting thoughts penetrate the thick layer of hardened skin meant to protect me. Everything about her brings me to this precipice where I don’t know what’s real and what’s the illusion I created in my head to get me through my days.
I faced each of those days with dread and only since Elizabeth came into my life, do I look forward to the sunrise.
Now I’ll lose her and plummet into a hole darker than the one I was in before she passed out on the floor of my lab.
After I settle Elizabeth in her empty house, where we are both quiet, I
kiss her on the forehead and leave to face my commander.
In Francisco’s study, he sits at an ornate desk that complements his European style.
He watches me for several minutes but says nothing.
“I want you to know that I didn’t tell you about Elizabeth because I didn’t want to put you in a position—”
“The plausible deniability defense is beneath you, Alexander.”
“We both know there is no real law that states I cannot take a human as a lover. Loren does it all the time.”
“And we both know Loren has the ability to wipe their minds clean when he’s done with them.” Francisco makes Loren sound more callous than I know him to be. “Plus, I cannot and will not speak to what he does. But you, Alexander, your commitment to me has bound yourself to our unwritten laws.”
I’m starting to think the vampires of New York are really one elf hiding behind a red velvet curtain with a smoke machine.
“I want to remind you about the law against hurting humans. Elizabeth knows about me because of me. Because I was careless. I need your commitment that neither she nor her child will be hurt.”
“You offend me with such a request.”
“It’s the law, Francisco.”
“According to that law, you are now betrothed to Christiana. Sleeping with another—”
“Why don’t you mate with her?” As soon as I say those words I regret it.
His fingers curl into a fist and a shadow crosses his face. His lips tremble into a snarl. The woman he loved, the vampire he was mated to for hundreds of years, Sophia, disappeared decades ago. Francisco gets a pass.
I put my hands up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” To show my respect, I kneel before him and take his hand. “With so much time passed, it’s easy for me to forget.”
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant Series Book 1) Page 15