Temptation Calls

by Caridad Piñeiro

  Peter grabbed her arm. “What will he do in the—”

  “He’ll put him on display to remind everyone of our rules. To remind everyone of what we shouldn’t do.” A shiver tracked down her spine as she thought of Mickey’s body, pinned on the wall like a butterfly on display. Until he became a big pile of dust. Like Esperanza soon would be despite how carefully they’d kept her body so Diego would have something to bury.

  “Samantha?” Peter asked.

  But she couldn’t answer. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, needing to feel his life. Needing the comfort that enveloped her when he returned her embrace.

  Her friends might be dead. Dead like Mickey. Killed without hesitation by the man who was now holding her so gently.

  She pulled away from him. How could they merge two worlds that were both filled with so much darkness? Would he one day terminate her existence if necessary? She was just a demon after all.

  The comfort of his arms evaporated and when Peter stepped toward the door, she hung back, needing the space. Ryder strode past her and she found herself facing Diana. There was compassion on the woman’s face and understanding. Samantha realized Diana comprehended Samantha’s pain. She was someone Samantha could count as a friend. Diana nodded and slipped her arm through Samantha’s. Together they walked out to the van where the two men waited for them.

  Chapter 30

  P eter flipped his cell phone closed with disgust.

  “Phone company was willing to trace it, but couldn’t. Seems someone disabled the GPS chip. The best they could do was provide the locations of the cell towers based on the last phone call.”

  He glanced down at his notes then turned to Diana. “Do you think Sebastian can get us an area to search based on the location of these towers?”

  Peter sat on the bench seat by Samantha and took her hand while Diana called her brother. Samantha’s hand was cold and damp. “Are you okay?”

  “Just a little tired.” As she faced him, he noted how pale she had become.

  Ryder must have noticed as well since he said, “There’s nourishment in the fridge in the back of the van.”

  Samantha shook her head vehemently. “No, I’m fine.”

  “Samantha, if you need—”

  “No!” She pulled her hand from Peter’s, and wrapped her arms around herself in a self-protective gesture.

  Peter tried to embrace her, but she shied away from his touch. In the dim light from a streetlamp and the dome light Ryder had turned on for Diana, Peter tried to read Samantha’s face for some hint of what she was thinking, but she had shut herself off from him.

  It was a familiar look. He’d seen it the day she’d told him not to come by the shelter anymore. After last night, he hadn’t expected to see that look any time soon, but obviously the events of tonight had taken a toll.

  He could have pressed the issue, but decided against it. He suspected that would only push her further into her shell.

  So he turned his attention to Diana, who was translating whatever information Sebastian had found onto a road map Ryder had dug out of the glove compartment. With her pen, she circled an area on the map.

  The crackling sound of Sebastian’s voice was audible but unintelligible. When she bid him goodbye, she repeated his report. “Simon awoke about an hour ago. He was agitated and afraid, but then he calmed. After about another hour, his vital signs strengthened.”

  “Which means?” Peter asked and looked to Ryder.

  He shrugged and said, “You’re barking up the wrong tree. There’s obviously a lot I don’t know about being a vampire.”

  Diana turned in her seat and laid a hand on Samantha’s thigh. “Samantha,” she said softly, as if recognizing that the other woman had withdrawn. “What do you think is happening with Simon?”

  “The agitation…it could mean something bad is happening to Diego.”

  “And the calm?” Peter asked, wanting to comfort her, but restraining himself. He suspected it would only upset her right now.

  “If Simon is calmer and improving, it could mean that Diego is regaining his strength. Maybe he’s fed.”

  “Which means Diego may have escaped from Sloan,” Ryder said.

  “Or that Sloan is keeping him alive,” Diana responded. “Maybe Sloan is still working on what he found in Frederick Danvers’s last journal.”

  “Whatever it is, we’re wasting time just sitting here. How far are we from where Sloan may be?” Peter motioned to the map in Diana’s hand.

  “At least an hour and the area Sebastian has pinpointed is still pretty big,” Diana replied.

  “Let’s get moving then.” Ryder started up the van and pulled away from the club.

  “Maggie mentioned that Esperanza’s body had been in a rural area near water.” Diana motioned to one section on the map with a pen light. “There’s a stream here that feeds this small lake,” she added. Beside the stream Diana had noted, was a broken line indicating a proposed road. “If this map is old, there could be a road here.”

  “And buildings,” Peter added. “But how will we—”

  “I can feel him,” Samantha said in low tones. “If Diego is still alive, I’ll know he’s around.”

  “Vamp radar?” Peter asked. “Do you all possess that or—”

  “I’ve fed on him recently. It creates a bond for a little while,” she admitted, her tone anguished.

  Peter told himself not to be jealous. Samantha’s life pre-Peter was none of his business. Not to mention that both Sofia and Samantha had said there was nothing going on there. Peter had been the only man in Samantha’s bed.

  That was what he told himself as he met Diana’s compassionate gaze. Of all people, she would understand how difficult it was to be with a vampire. To deal with all the issues that entailed. Though Ryder appeared to be clueless about a lot of undead things. Maybe that made it easier for him and Diana.

  But Samantha. Samantha was all vamp. Fully aware of the rules. Fully capable of feeding on both human and vampire.

  So was he crazy to think that after all this was over, he and Samantha could continue their relationship? As Samantha met his gaze, he realized she was thinking the same thing.

  Meghan cradled Blake’s cold damp body. The signs of Diego’s feeding were evident on Blake’s pale skin. Two raw-looking puncture wounds that weren’t healing because Blake was too weak. Because Blake was dying.

  She could feel the lack of power in his body. The fading of his vitality as he continued to bleed.

  She held him close and urged him to feed. “Please, Blake. Please,” she pleaded, but he just weakly shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was so muted, she almost couldn’t hear him.

  “Let me go, love. You need…your strength.”

  Even speaking seemed to tax him.

  She rocked him in her arms. Diego watched them intently, seemingly surprised by her concern for the punk vampire. “I thought the only emotion you had for him was hatred, little one.”

  Meghan stroked Blake’s face and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “He kept me alive, Diego. He helped me.”

  “He sired you,” he said with vehemence. “You wanted to kill him at one time.”

  “I did,” she confessed, but raised Blake to her neck again, baring it for him. His head dropped away feebly when she released her hold. Tears of frustration stung her eyes.

  She stroked his face again and he opened his eyes. They were a stunning shade of
deep blue. She hadn’t noticed before, but it was impossible to ignore them now as he swept his gaze over her face. He grinned then, surprising her. “You’re…beautiful, love.”

  His body jerked against hers and that convulsion was followed by another and another.

  Diego said, “He’s in the last stages now. Soon there will be very little you can do.”

  “Please, Diego. I can’t let him go,” she cried out while trying to quiet Blake.

  “Are you sure about this? It will weaken you,” Diego replied.

  “I’ll take that risk.”

  Diego nodded and said, “He’s your sire. That creates a special bond. Offer him your breast, but prepare yourself for what will follow.”

  When only a slight trembling remained in his body, Meghan held him to her breast. His eyes were open, but wide and slightly unfocused. His mouth slack and his breathing erratic. She cupped her breast and offered it up to him.

  He refused her, but as she pressed him closer, his lips found the tip of her and suckled. His fangs elongated slowly. His eyes glowed with his transformation. But despite the glow, there was anguish there and once more, he tried to pull away. She would have none of it and with her greater strength, she forced his mouth close.

  With an angry growl, Blake opened his mouth wide and bit down.

  The pain was excruciating as was the pleasure that erupted between her legs. She was torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer and found herself giving in to the latter emotion. She grasped him tight as a searing hunger swept over her. The harsh suckling weakened her, but roused him.

  Beside her naked thigh, he was growing hard and she needed it. Needed him. Somehow she straddled him and drove herself onto his erection, riding him as he fed from her. Driving them both to a climax that finally made Blake break free and roll her to her back so he could keep moving in her. Satisfying the sexual lust unleashed by his feeding.

  Diego had warned her, but nothing could have prepared her for the sensations overwhelming her. For the languor sweeping across her body. For the need that made her clutch at Blake’s shoulders and wrap her legs around his pumping hips.

  “Magnificent,” the old man said, shattering the moment.

  Blake quickly moved away, blocking her body with his.

  The old professor stood before them, a cattle prod in his hand. His assistant waited behind him. There was a leer on the younger man’s face as he looked at her. She had no doubt that if left alone with her, he wouldn’t hesitate to pleasure himself. But he would never get the chance.

  Diego sprang into action.

  The chain that had bound him to the beam looped around the man’s neck and Diego pulled tight. The man’s eyes bulged and he grabbed at the chain, trying to free himself as his face grew redder. The old professor grabbed the Taser from his assistant’s hands and fired at Diego.

  Diego’s body jerked. As the professor increased the voltage, smoke curled from the spot in Diego’s shoulder where the electrodes had struck.

  Meghan stood there, Blake beside her, both of them paralyzed until Blake finally snapped to action and wrestled the Taser from the professor’s hands. The old man jabbed the cattle prod into Blake’s midsection, which sent him reeling backward.

  Meghan grabbed Blake and kept him from falling, but she could tell the jolt had weakened him.

  With Blake out of the way, the professor turned back to Diego, but it was too late to save his assistant. A last final jerk of the chain and the man’s neck snapped. He dropped to the ground, dead.

  The professor jabbed out with the cattle prod and caught Diego midchest. The jolt rocked Diego and dropped him to his knees, a surprised look on his face.

  Blake struggled to his feet, intent on resuming his defense of the other vampire. He lurched forward again, grabbed the professor’s arm, causing the prod to just graze Diego’s body. Angry, the old man stunned Blake again. This time the blow dropped Blake to the ground.

  He was about to jab Blake again, which would certainly have killed the vamp in his weakened state, when Diego grabbed the professor from behind and snared the cattle prod. But Diego didn’t get a good grip on the old man, who back-pedalled to the far side of the cell.

  Meghan rushed to Blake’s side as did Diego. Between the two of them, they got Blake on his feet. He was wobbly, but able to move with their help. “Let’s go, Diego,” Meghan said.

  Diego shook his head. “No. We need to finish this today.”

  “Yes, we do,” the old man said. From beneath his lab jacket, he pulled out a gun.

  Diego laughed harshly. “Bullets can’t stop me, old man.”

  The professor obviously thought they could. He fired twice, striking Diego low in his midsection.

  Meghan watched as Diego stopped in his tracks. His body went still before he dropped to his knees.

  He looked up, shock in his voice as blood poured from the two bullet wounds. He was battling for consciousness as he uttered one word.

  “Silver.”

  Chapter 31

  T hey almost missed the turnoff for Lake Road. The highway exit was so new, it had only a temporary sign marking it.

  For the first half mile or so, there was little except announcements for new luxury homes. Then, a few dirt roads leading away from the street both left and right. Based on the map, the lake was to the right and so they concentrated on those roads, looking for evidence that they had been recently used.

  Samantha forced herself to concentrate, hoping to pick up some sign of Diego. If he was still alive, that was.

  At the third turnoff, she finally sensed some power. “Slow down.” She tried to focus, but it was still only a vague sense of another like her. At the next turnoff, it was stronger and by the next, even more discernible, but it dropped off shortly thereafter. “Turn back. It was the last road.”

  As they drove down the dirt path, Peter murmured, “Looks familiar, doesn’t it.”

  At her questioning glance, he explained. “Last time, Sloan held Melissa in an old stable. The road leading to it was a lot like this.”

  “And so’s the building up ahead,” Diana added as they entered a clearing and encountered a one-story cement structure. There was nothing to identify it, but there were lights in the few windows along the front.

  As Ryder stopped the van, the sound of gunshots shattered the night and Samantha experienced a huge surge of power. “It’s Diego. He’s been hurt, but…” The energy was too strong to belong to just one vampire. “Meghan and Blake. I think they’re here as well. And alive.”

  “Let’s go, then.” Diana slipped out of the van, her gun drawn.

  Peter followed behind her, while Ryder and Samantha trailed along, defenseless except for their vampire powers.

  The front door was unlocked. Diana raced down the hall, Peter at her back.

  At the open doorway farthest from the entrance, they paused and then rushed in, guns drawn.

  Samantha and Ryder stepped in behind them to find an almost unbelievable tableau.

  Three vampires kneeled naked before an older man, who had a gun trained on them.

  Samantha didn’t think. She rushed to them. The old man said in warning, “Not another move or I kill all of you.”

  When she laid her hand on Diego’s shoulder, the chill of his skin alarmed her. He was almost insubstantial.

  At her touch, he whispered, “Silver. The bullets are silver.”

  She glan
ced down and noticed the blood covering the front of him. The silver was keeping him from healing. Worse, if it stayed inside him long enough, it would poison his system beyond repair.

  “Drop the weapon, Sloan,” Diana called out, inching slowly along the right side of the room.

  Peter mirrored her actions, flanking the left side. Slowly, the two detectives shifted together until they formed a screen between Sloan and the vampires.

  Sloan called out, “Stay out of my way.”

  “It’s over. There’s no sense in hurting anyone else,” Peter said softly.

  “You don’t understand. They hold the key to life.” Sloan waved the weapon. His tone was wild and Peter didn’t know if they’d be able to reason with him.

  “Is that what Frederick Danvers discovered? Is that what was in the journal you stole?” Diana asked.

  A look of shock crossed the old man’s features. “You know about the journal? About Melissa?”

  “Remember me?” Ryder said and finally stepped forward where Sloan could not fail to recognize him.

  Samantha realized the old man had lost what little control he’d possessed. He raised his gun, and she saw his intent. She couldn’t let it happen.

  Morphing, she raced in front of Ryder as Sloan and Diana fired.

  Pain seared through her upper chest as the sound of gunfire erupted in the small room.

  Ryder’s arm came around her midsection as her legs buckled.

  “Why?” Ryder asked as he kneeled beside her.

  “Silver to the heart…fatal,” she said and was surprised by how weak her own voice sounded. But she’d had no choice. The shot would have killed Ryder.

  “Hold on, Samantha.” Peter was there pressing his hand to her upper chest to staunch the blood.

  “I have to get the bullet out,” Ryder said. “There’s a medical bag in the van. I’ll be right back.”

  As Peter held Samantha, he watched Diana examine the body of Sloan for a pulse. Apparently there was none. Her bullets had done their work. Despite that, Diana turned over the old man and cuffed his hands, almost as if she didn’t trust that he was really dead.