“You can remember now,” he said. She wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question, but a moment later she recalled the times she’d questioned him, the times she’d wondered if he wasn’t human. Mingled with the sharp bursts of arguments with Gideon over her love for Jake, were the pangs of longing and the hot flush of sexual desire she felt for both of them. No wonder she’d always felt so out of control around both of them. She’d always felt uncertain, as if anything she said or did might be the wrong thing. She always thought it was her own uncertainty and flagging self-esteem that kept her from letting Jake get too close, but that wasn’t it at all.
The choices had never been hers to make.
“I don’t love Gideon. I never did.” Her voice thickened with unshed tears. “He’s been working at keeping us apart.”
Jake blinked sleepily, one corner of his mouth turned up in a half-grin. “Don’t worry about it now. None of it is important anymore.”
“All that lost time.” Abby reached out to stroke the hair from Jake’s forehead. His skin felt cooler than she remembered. How many times had she asked him, “Are you sick, Jake? You feel clammy.” He’d made her forget every time. Once, when the flu was going around Haverston, he’d made her believe he had a fever. She yelled at him to go home and go to bed and she’d brought him chicken soup which he told her was delicious, but she never saw him eat it.
Yesterday every revelation might have made her furious but now, compared to the things Gideon had hidden from her, Jake’s transgressions were wholly forgivable. Was it because they tempered her own guilt, or was it because she loved him so much?
He caught her hand and twined his fingers in hers. “I’m sorry for every lie.”
“Me too. Gideon told me about the tumor. Was that true?”
Jake’s eyes clouded. “Yes. You don’t know how many times I’ve gone over it in my mind. Maybe I was impulsive, but the doctors told me I didn’t have any medical options. I got a little stupid that night in the park. I was going to meet a vampire and pay to be turned. I didn’t know that Gregori controlled that. I didn’t know he killed vampires who turned people without his permission.”
“So you went to Gregori and got permission?”
He nodded, still caressing her fingers. She reveled in the sensation as his flesh slid against hers. The friction created the illusion of warmth.
“It’s funny, Gideon told me where to find him. Gideon helped me become a vampire. When I first told him I was sick, he acted so ... human. He was angry for me. He said how unfair it was. He wanted me to go to Europe or Mexico and try some of those illegal treatments, and I considered it. But then he helped me do some research and everything we turned up sounded like a scam. He never suggested I turn. He didn’t push me to do it, but when I brought it up, he just said if it was what I wanted, he’d help me. That’s what I’d have expected a friend to do.”
Abby shifted her body and stretched out next to Jake. Lying next to him on the bed felt so good. The fact that they were prisoners, and that they were talking about Gideon who had betrayed them both, didn’t seem to matter at the moment.
“I’m sorry for everything, Jake.” Her heart ached for him and she wished she had been there for him then.
“Let’s put it all behind us, Abby. We can’t change the past.”
“Well, not for the better, anyway,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. Her past was barely recognizable at this point.
Jake pulled her into his arms and she gasped softly as he brought his lips down on hers.
Warmth flooded her. It seemed as if Jake came to life in her arms. She felt his heartbeat, fast and erratic against her breasts.
“Sorry,” he murmured against her lips. “Force of habit.”
“No, it’s okay. I like it.”
It was good that he felt human in her arms, even if it was only an illusion. The illusion of his warm breath in her mouth and his pulse quickening beneath her fingers as she cupped his jaw, made everything seem right.
He pulled her beneath him and slid his fingers inside the flannel shirt to cup her breast through the T-shirt. Her nipple was already hard for him, straining against the soft fabric. She felt it in her womb when he thumbed the tip. All her muscles tightened when he settled his lean hips between her thighs and she felt his erection pressing against her mons.
That was no illusion.
As Jake’s hands roamed her body, she fought to push thoughts of Gideon aside and banish him fully to the past. He had no place between them, and he would never interfere with them again.
Abby raised her hips to meet Jake’s and instinctively, she turned her head to expose her neck. What came next was part of it. Even in the bars, feeding had a sexual component, though the degree varied.
“No.” Jake’s voice was low, belying the fact that he didn’t want to refuse her. “I won’t do that to you, Abby.”
“You’re hungry, Jake. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I won’t use you like that. I promised myself I would never...”
She kissed him into silence, urging her body against his. “I need you, Jake. It’s okay to need me, too.” She guided his lips to the pulse point below her jaw, then pushed her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. After a moment’s hesitation, he lunged at her with a primal sound that arrowed through her, igniting a spark of fear and the slow burn of her need for him.
Before his teeth pricked her skin, the door of the room burst open.
* * * *
Every nerve ending in Jake’s body pulsed with unrequited need. Regardless, he tore himself away from Abby and scrambled to his feet to face the intruders.
Claude stood poised for battle, an electric cattle prod in his hand. Behind him stood two of Gregori’s security force and behind them, Gideon.
“Mr. Beaumont.” Claude smiled and tapped the end of the prod into his open palm. “Your presence is requested at an important meeting. Please don’t make this unpleasant.”
Jake swung his gaze to Abby. He couldn’t leave her alone, not with Gideon leering at her over the shoulders of the security guards.
“Go, Jake,” she said. “Don’t make them hurt you.”
“Oh, we’re not going to hurt you, Mr. Beaumont,” Claude responded. His voice seemed to vibrate with a perverse pleasure. His head bobbed once and the two brawny vampires raced to opposite sides of the bed. One of them knocked Jake aside as if he weighed nothing.
A moment later, they dragged Abby from the bed and pulled her to stand before Claude. Gregori’s assistant held up one hand as a warning to Jake not to move. He raked his soulless gaze over Abby and placed the tip of the prod beneath her jaw at the very spot Jake had, only moments before, been about to sink his teeth into.
To her credit, she didn’t flinch.
“Gregori instructed that you not be harmed,” Claude said to Abby, his voice a sneer. “Unless you caused any trouble. How can a vampire killer not cause trouble?”
Abby kept her eyes averted. Jake seethed. Claude could make her do anything he chose to and she wouldn’t be able to fight it.
“Mr. Beaumont, wait in the hall.”
“No.”
“If you don’t want to find her in a pile of ashes when you return, I suggest you wait in the hall.”
“Jake.” He couldn’t ignore the plea in Abby’s voice.
Jake passed Gideon on the way out. He stopped just over the threshold and listened. There was a wicked smile in Gideon’s voice.
“Abby, I’d like you to go back to my room now. I’ll need you when this meeting is over.”
Jake’s stomach rolled. He would not allow Gideon to touch her again. Better they both ended up dead. The rage building inside him would certainly give him the strength to carry out his plan. The hunger that gnawed at him only grew, reminding him that soon he wouldn’t have any fight left. He had to conserve his strength if he was going to save her.
After a moment, Claude and his cronies emerged from the bedroom. They flanked Jake and c
orralled him, forcing him to accompany them down the stairs. He heard only faint conversation coming from the bedroom’s still open door.
At the bottom of the stairs, Claude opened yet another door that was hidden in the ornate paneling of the foyer. The guards pushed Jake through the narrow opening. The last sound he heard before the door shut was the vicious slamming of the bedroom door from above.
His heart contracted. Though it was unable to beat unless he willed it, the dead organ in his chest was still capable of aching.
No matter what happened today, he vowed then that Gideon would pay for whatever harm came to Abby, and he would pay dearly.
Chapter Eight
Abby faced Gideon with her head high. He looked different somehow, larger. His lips seemed fuller and more sensuous. His hazel eyes were coppery and there were dark rings around his irises. He’d fed recently--and well.
“I won’t go to your room,” Abby said when Claude and the guards left. Her heart was with Jake but her mind was busy calculating her limited options. She still had one advantage over Gideon that she could exploit if necessary. In his own twisted way, he loved her. Therefore, she could hurt him.
“I could force you,” he replied. Their gazes clashed and held like crossed swords for a moment. When Gideon spoke again, the darkness had drained from his voice. “I won’t, you know. But I could.”
He shifted his stance then and his angry ramrod posture deflated. He jammed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and looked at her from under his lashes.
It was a look she had never been able to resist before, but now, with the memory of Jake’s body molded against hers, Gideon’s power over her diminished.
“Abby, after tonight, we can be together ... forever. Just like I’ve promised you.”
“It won’t work, Gideon. Even if you win this succession. I need to be with Jake.”
“If I win, there will be no Jake.”
Abby swallowed. It occurred to her that the candidates might be tempted to fight amongst themselves for the coveted position that Gregori was going to relinquish tonight. She’d never considered that the winner could have cause to destroy the losers.
“You’ll kill him out of jealousy?” she asked. Her voice was dull, belying the anger she felt.
“No. I’ll kill him to win. It’s a fight to the death, Abby. Didn’t you know that?”
“No. Jake wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I’ve always been straight with you, Abby. I’ve always answered all your questions ... of course later I made your forget you asked them, but I always gave you honest answers.”
“Jake wouldn’t have stood in your way for this. Why won’t Gregori let him go?”
“Gregori has his reasons. He chose Jake like he chose the rest of us, and now Jake has to see it through.”
“So you’ll kill Jake to win.”
“Yes.” There was no malice in the answer. It was simple truth. “Only because I have to, in order to win.”
“If Jake dies, what happens to me?” Abby had to work to keep her voice from breaking. Gideon reached for her but she backed up a step. Disappointment colored his eyes a darker shade of bronze.
“Then you’re mine again.”
“I’ll never be yours again, Gideon. I’d rather take my chances with the Client.”
Gideon’s face blanked at that revelation. For a brief instant Abby feared his reaction. She’d cut too deep. When he laughed, she shivered.
“You want to keep killing vampires, Abby? Does it make it easier to indulge your fantasies if you can destroy us when you’re finished? Does it help take away the guilt you feel at using your body to nourish a vampire, if you can stake one in the heart later on?”
Abby turned away. “Get out, Gideon. I’m staying here to wait for Jake.”
“Or what’s left of him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s going to fight Mick Garvey today. I’m paired with Phillippe Rogenet. And tonight, at the final ceremony, the winners will go against each other. I may not get to fight Jake, but I hope I do. I’d hate for anyone else to have the honor of killing my best friend.”
“You’re sick.”
Gideon nodded. “Maybe I am, Abby. And maybe you’re the cure. I was always better when I was around you. I did things for you I would never have done for anyone else.”
“Get out, Gideon.”
Gideon turned, hands still in his pockets. He took two steps and shot her a disarming glance over his shoulders. “It’s never too late to change your mind.”
Abby bit back a reply. She held her ground until the door closed behind him. She heard it lock.
Her breath left her in a whoosh and she collapsed on the bed, her mind reeling. Jake had to fight for his life. Gideon was prepared to kill him if Mick Garvey didn’t succeed first, and Jake was weak from hunger because he refused to feed from her. At least she was the cure for that....
Liquid fear poured down Abby’s spine when Gideon’s words echoed in her mind. The cure. The Client called her the Cure. He wanted Jake Beaumont dead. Why not Gideon? Gideon had more experience as a vampire--that made him a more logical choice for Gregori’s successor.
It made a twisted kind of sense. Gideon controlling her, creating an emotional wall between her and Jake so it would be easier for her to kill him when the time came.
She had to find a way to prove it, but how could she tell Gregori that he couldn’t trust his own ... grandson? Did it work that way with vampires? Did Gregori feel a familial connection to the ones he’d turned? Would he be hurt by Gideon’s betrayal or angered by Abby’s attempt to shift blame for the candidates' deaths from herself to one of his trusted inner circle?
* * * *
For a moment, Jake was blind. Thrust through the narrow door into utter darkness, all he could do was stand still and wait.
His heightened senses told him the room was bare. The floor beneath his feet was cold wood, the walls were thick. When a rectangle of pale light appeared opposite where he stood, he dropped instinctively into a crouch.
What were they going to throw at him?
A silhouette appeared in the doorway and a second later, a candle flame flared to life. Claude appeared close enough to the flame that it reflected in his eyes.
“Get ready,” he said.
Jake resisted the urge to ask for what. Part of the test was in being prepared for anything. He ignored Gregori’s assistant and scanned the room, which he now saw was set up like a small arena.
The center of the hexagonal space was empty except for six wooden stakes lying at intervals on the floor. On a raised platform that ran around all sides of the room, ornate chairs faced inward.
Lit only by candlelight and the dim glow from a deeply carved glass panel in the ceiling, the room leant itself perfectly to a deep, dark vampire ritual.
Jake waited while Claude lit more candles. When the room was just bright enough for Jake to make out the faint seams of the hidden doors, they began to open and a dozen vampires filed in.
Each man acknowledged Jake as he entered. There was grudging respect in their eyes and jealousy as well. He wished they knew how readily he’d have traded places with any one of them.
Once the spectators were seated, Gregori appeared dressed in his vampire finest. Bela Lugosi would have been proud.
And I thought he hated stereotypes, Jake mused as the vampire king, in his red robe and flashy estate jewelry, seated himself in the most ornate of the chairs.
Behind him appeared the man Jake knew as Mick Garvey. They’d met once not long after Jake turned. At the time, the brawny former body builder seemed sedate and vaguely uncomplicated. Now he looked like a pro wrestler, eager to bash someone’s head in, just to hear the roar of the crowd.
Garvey leapt into the arena and executed a gymnast’s roll. When he regained his feet he had a stake in each hand.
“To the death, gentlemen,” Gregori said with a nod.
“And to the winner goes a special prize....”
* * * *
It seemed like hours passed while Abby paced. She rattled the door handle, banged on the ornate panels and yelled for Gregori.
Finally she heard the faint click of the lock. She stepped back, afraid of what might be on the other side of the door. She held her breath as the door swung open and cried out when Jake lurched into the room.
He doubled over and sank to his knees clutching his chest. Blood dripped between his fingers.
Abby ran to him. She cast a dark look at the security guards who stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway.
“I want to see Gregori. I need to talk to him,” she said mustering all the authority she could manage as she smoothed Jake’s hair from his bruised face.
The guards parted and Marabel strolled in. She wore a black dress similar to the one she’d worn last night, but this one was even more daring. There were bite marks on her alabaster skin and her eyes seemed a bit sunken. Nevertheless she smiled at Abby.
“Bring in the trays,” she commanded the guards. While Abby watched in astonishment, the guards disappeared into the hall and returned with a room service cart, piled high with food, wine and a bouquet of Gregori’s very special orchids. “You’ll both need your strength for the next ritual.” There was sympathy in her voice when she looked at the two of them, huddled on the floor, Jake’s blood soaking his shirt and Abby’s hands.
“Midnight. You’re invited too, Abby, so dress appropriately. Black is preferable, but you can get away with red.”
Abby regarded Claude’s concubine. “I need to talk to Gregori again. I have more information about the Client. Tell him I need to--”
Marabel clapped her hands and the guards closed ranks once again. They left the room with her trailing behind, her narrow hips swaying. The sound of the lock clicking shut was deafening.
“What happened, Jake? What did they do to you?” Her plea for Gregori forgotten, Abby ran her hands over Jake’s chest. She began tearing at the already ripped shirt to expose the cuts that marred the flesh of his chest.
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