Save the Last Vamp for Me (Discord Jones Book 3)

by Gayla Drummond

“I need help. My mom’s been kidnapped by vampires.”

  “I’m truly sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I’m in Canada at the moment, taking care of some rather delicate business matters.”

  “That’s okay, I just need to borrow your hounds. All of them.”

  “Do you have permission from a council member to take them into the Barrows?”

  Crap, really? I should’ve just jacked them like I did the first time, instead of calling to ask the favor. “Not exactly. I mean, not yet.”

  “I’ll contact Alleryn...do you have his number? No?” he gave me his healer’s number. “Once you’ve been granted permission, call him. He’ll order the hounds to obey you and send them to you.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “We’ll discuss the price later.”

  My blood pressure soared. “Are you seriously going to charge me something because my mother’s missing? You know what? Never freakin’ mind.”

  Before I could end the call, Thorandryll said, “Wait. No fee for the use of my pack, Miss Jones. My apologies.”

  “Thank you, and apology accepted.”

  Stone returned as I ended the call. “I’m having copies of the photo made, and have three dozen of our people ready to begin searching.”

  “That’s not enough.” I wasn’t certain exactly how large the Barrows were, but thirty-six people, even vampires, surely couldn’t cover the whole area very quickly.

  “My master sleeps, as do many others of our house. I can’t leave the estate unprotected.” Stone scrubbed a hand over his face, drawing the stubble on his cheeks and chin to my attention. “We have others out searching for Merriven, so we’re a little short-handed right now.”

  Perfect opportunity to bring up the call I’d just made. “Prince Thorandryll has agreed to loan me his hounds. I just need permission from a council member first.”

  The dhampyr grimaced. “Lord Derrick would probably give permission, but he won’t awaken for another two hours.”

  “Can’t you give it, in his place?” Time was speeding by. How long had it been since Mom was dragged out of the house? I checked the time on my phone. At least over four hours. The less time it took to find Mom, the better for her.

  Stone’s grimace became a full-fledged frown. “No, I can’t speak for him on this. I know he’d want to instigate a search, but whether he’d definitely agree to having a large pack of elven hounds running loose...I simply can’t. I’m sorry.”

  Part of me wanted to tell him to stuff it, I was calling in the hounds anyway. Kind of shabby since he’d offered to help, and was helping. I forced my anger away. It wasn’t going to help find Mom. “Okay, we’ll wait until he wakes up. What can you do now?”

  “Send people to search the homes of those under watch, and to check certain areas where illegal activities regularly take place.”

  Solid plan. Cover the places an unwilling donor might be hidden away. Made sense, but... “What do you mean by ‘those under watch’?”

  Stone poured two cups of coffee, the heavenly aroma of dark roast spilling into the air. “Think of drug addicts. They have difficulty kicking the habit. There are vampires addicted to the rush of feeling that occurs when experiencing the life of their victims slipping away. Those who admit their addiction and ask for help are given it.”

  Bloodaholics Anonymous, the twelve-step program for death-addicted vamps. The idea tickled my funny bone even under the circumstances, and laughter bubbled out of me. It leeched away my tension and anger, leaving only my fear for Mom. My laughter became sobs, and I buried my face in my hands, aware of the dhampyr leaving the room.

  Stone returned to slide a box of tissues onto my lap while sitting down beside me. The mighty—that would be me—fell low about two seconds after he tentatively put his arm around my shoulders. He was warm, not cold. Felt human.

  I turned to bury my face in his shoulder to finish my crying session, and felt the beating of his heart against my cheek. Another reminder that he wasn’t a vampire. My sobs became hiccups, and after the third one jolted through me, I straightened to swipe a fistful of tissues from the box.

  While I dried my face and made a huge production of blowing my nose, Stone rose to return to the other sofa. Not looking up, I muttered, “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “We already have teams out scouring the Barrows for Merriven. I’ll see that they receive copies of your mother’s photo.”

  Right back to business. I liked that, and nodded. “I’ll walk around, do some telepathic scanning for her.”

  “Once your backup arrives.”

  “I knew I forgot something.”

  Stone took a drink of his coffee, his lips twisting slightly. It had cooled off during my mini-breakdown. “Since we don’t know who took your mother, or why, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to wander around unaccompanied.”

  Neither did I. “My hound will be here soon.”

  “More backup than him. Elf hounds are quite intelligent, but they’re still dogs. They can be tricked or overwhelmed.”

  Maybe, and being kidnapped myself certainly wouldn’t help Mom. I sighed, picking up my phone, which had fallen between the sofa cushions. “Let me make some calls.”

  “I’ll be there soon,” Kate said before hanging up. “Make certain there’s a map.”

  “I will.” She’d promised to tell the boss what was going on.

  My next call was to Jo, because Leglin had appeared. He climbed onto the sofa with me, my purse dangling by its strap from his mouth. “Thanks, bub.”

  I took it and scooted to give him room to lie down. Leglin pinned me with one of his forelegs and his head across my thighs. Jo finally answered. “Cordi, what the hell is going on? Tonya showed up, her car full of dogs, and all we understood was ‘Sunny’ and ‘vampires’.”

  Reminded that I wasn’t the only one dependent upon Mom being okay, I asked, “Is she okay?”

  “David’s house guest is making her tea and trying to calm her down. Now what was she trying to tell us?”

  My explanation didn’t take long. Jo offered to come, but I pointed out the same thing Stone had: We didn’t really know what was going on, who had Mom, or why. “Kate’s on her way and I have Leglin with me.” I stroked my hound’s back, or at least as far down it as I could reach. “Tonya and Angelique need to be kept safe. Some of Derrick’s people are already out searching for Mom.”

  “Okay, is Nick with you?”

  “We broke up. He’s not working right now.”

  Jo snorted. “Call him. He likes Sunny. He’ll help look for her.”

  “Yeah.” I had no intention of doing it. Didn’t need the additional drama.

  “Call if you need anything.”

  “I will, thanks.” Ending that call, I wasn’t sure who to call next. Ronnie was out of town, and Damian would find out through work, if he hadn’t already. The tigers had Terra to worry about. Of course, Soames was on loan. I decided to call him.

  “Hey, something came up. Can you meet me at Derrick’s?”

  “Sure.” He sounded groggy. I’d woken him. “But it’ll take me a half hour or so.”

  “That’s fine. See you when you get here.” It’d probably take him longer than that, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Time wasn’t an energy I knew how to manipulate. If I did, I’d have already done it to go back in time, to be at the house before the vampires arrived. Mom and Red would be safe, because I would’ve been there to save them.

  Fifteen

  About twenty hours later, in spite of vampires, telepathic scanning, and elf hounds, we’d learned nothing new and hadn’t found my mother. I saw the sun rising for the second time since I’d last slept as Mr. Whitehaven escorted me out of the Barrows Thursday morning. “Threatening those who are assisting you isn’t conducive to keeping them properly motivated.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, my last adrenalin surge wearing off. Exhausted, sick with fear, and angry at the lack of success—at any progress
whatsoever—I only vaguely remembered what all I’d said while having a screaming meltdown.

  “Dane will take you home to rest. Don’t return here until nightfall,” my boss ordered. “I will stay, and immediately inform you of anything important.”

  “But,” I couldn’t come up with a coherent protest and closed my mouth. Didn’t resist as they bundled me into Soames’s truck. In fact, I fell asleep before Soames pulled the vehicle away from the curb.

  When I woke, it was with no idea where I was or what time it was. The room was dark and my eyes felt dry and crusty. Rolling over, I managed to make out enough to realize it was Logan’s bedroom. What the hell was I doing here?

  The low murmur of voices in the living room caught my attention, but so did an insistent message from my bladder. First things first.

  A few minutes later, I opened the door to find Terra sitting on the couch, her eyes glued to a daytime soap opera. “That stuff will rot your brain.”

  “Discord.” The blonde teen jumped to her feet and nearly knocked me off mine as she threw her arms around me. “You’re awake. Are you hungry? You didn’t wake up at all when Soames carried you in this morning. We thought you’d gotten hurt, but then he explained everything. Logan said to put you to bed and let you sleep.”

  “Oh, thanks.” She’d said “this morning”, so I hadn’t slept more than the day away. I saw my purse and phone on the kitchen table. “Has anyone called? Is Logan downstairs?”

  Terra moved back and gave me a critical look. “You still look tired. No calls yet, and no, Logan’s not downstairs. I can make coffee if you want?”

  “Please.” I sat down at the kitchen table while she hurried to start some coffee. My head ached, so I dropped it into my hands, elbows resting on the table. I flat didn’t know what to do. Call and nag the searchers? Really helpful, Cordi. “Where is Logan?”

  “He took most of the clan and went to help look for Sunny,” Terra said, carefully measuring out coffee.

  Which left her less guarded than she should be, with Mega Douche out and about. I didn’t know whether to be upset or pleased that Logan would do that for my mom. “Do you have any ibuprofen or aspirin?”

  “No, but I’ll send someone to pick some up.” Terra finished setting up the coffeemaker, hit the brew button, and went to crack open the front door. “Teague, Discord needs some ibuprofen.”

  “All right,” I heard the lion shifter reply. She shut the door and turned around, only to stand there looking at me.

  “Um, anything else I can do?”

  Come up with a location for my mom? Kate hadn’t had any luck at that. I leaned back and managed a smile. “No, but thanks.”

  Terra returned the smile. “Okay, coffee will be ready soon. I think Tansy’s about your size, so you can take a shower while I grab some clean clothes for you.”

  Over forty-eight hours in the same clothes. Right. I pulled up the neck of my shirt for a sniff and winced. “That would be totally awesome.”

  Showered and freshly clothed, I left Terra’s bathroom. She’d been busy; toast, coffee, and the requested painkiller waited for me on the kitchen table. Her anxious smile sent me straight to the table to sit down. “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t burn anything this time.”

  “It looks great.” I leaned to sniff the wonderful coffee perfume while opening the bottle of ibuprofen. Ten minutes later, I’d polished off a second cup and four pieces of toast. My phone rang, and my buttery fingertips smeared the screen as I grabbed and answered it. “Hello?”

  “You’re up, good,” Logan said. “I have good and bad news. We found out where Merriven was holed up, and now we know he has Sunny, because we found a few of her hairs there.”

  Tears welled at the information, and I couldn’t stop them from escaping. My voice shook. “Okay.”

  “We’re trying to track them. Kate’s still working with the map.”

  I swallowed hard, gazing across the table at Terra’s worried face. “I’ll be there soon.”

  “Do me a favor first. Take Terra and Teague somewhere safe. Have her tell the others to come with you. Okay?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I trust your judgment on where safe is.”

  “Okay.” I hoped David wouldn’t mind another pair of surprise guests. The Blue Orb was the safest place I knew of, with Jo and him, plus their familiars, there. Broad daylight and a steady flow of foot traffic in the area didn’t hurt. “I really appreciate this.”

  “This is what friends do. See you soon.” He ended the call.

  I passed on his plan to Terra, who nodded and went to the front door. “I need everyone on the first floor in five minutes, and they need to be ready to leave.”

  “Why?” Teague didn’t like the idea of moving once she explained. “I know this building.”

  “I’ll make sure you’re given a tour,” I called out, stuffing my phone in my purse. Terra shut the door before he could protest more.

  She went to her room, returning in a few seconds with a backpack. “Logan taught me to be prepared.”

  “Good deal.” After I slung my purse strap over my head and shoved an arm through it, we left the apartment.

  Down the stairs we went, and I slowed as we made the last turn on the stairwell to find six people waiting. Terra took charge. “You’re all going with Discord to meet Logan and help find her mother.”

  A tall, black-haired woman with high cheekbones and thin lips stepped to the front of the small group. “And leave you with only the lion as guard?”

  “No. Discord’s going to take us somewhere safe first.”

  The woman frowned, sharpening the angles of her face even more, and focused her pale brown eyes on me. “So you’re the psychic the Protector is willing to risk our Queen for.”

  Before I could respond, Terra spoke. “This is Danielle, and those two are her cousins, Ted and Rob. You know Alanna and Soames, and the last is Gabriel.”

  “Hi.” Danielle’s cousins were also tall. Ted was built on rangy lines, but Rob was a solid, barrel-chested slab of meat from the neck down.

  Alanna decided to jump in. “Danielle, are you saying the three of you aren’t capable of guarding our Queen?”

  The other woman looked down her nose at the petite brunette. “If there were a concentrated attack here, with so few of us?”

  “Enough.” Terra’s frosty tone drew everyone’s attention to her. “Don’t question Logan’s decisions. Discord is in charge until you meet up with Logan. Alanna, assist her. Is everyone clear?”

  Even I nodded, impressed by the note of command in her voice. Not that I didn’t feel some sympathy for Danielle’s point. Logan really shouldn’t have left Terra with only seven people. Of course, I wasn’t the boss of him.

  “Good.” Terra looked at me. “We’re ready when you are.”

  “Now is good.” I held out my hands to her and Teague. As soon as they both gripped mine, I teleported us to David’s kitchen.

  Tonya, Jo, and Angelique jumped or squeaked as we appeared. Jo recovered first, tucking strands of her dark auburn hair behind her ear. “More guests. We’re going to run out of room, Cordi.”

  “Sorry. I promised Logan I’d bring them somewhere safe, and this is it.”

  She grinned. “That it is. You should see some of the surprises David’s come up with. I pity the vamp who tries breaking in here.”

  “Any news?” Tonya’s shoulders slumped when I shook my head.

  “None except they found out that Merriven has my mom.”

  Angelique shivered, hugging herself. “I’m so sorry.”

  “She’s not dead.” I hoped. He’d taken her for a reason, and the only ones I could think of all pointed toward revenge against me. I’d killed his fledgling, and revealed his continued existence to Derrick, and through him, the rest of the vampire council. He had to have taken Mom to use her as a bargaining chip. Of course, that didn’t mean he hadn’t hurt her, but I shoved that thought away. “We’ll fin
d her. I gotta go. Later.”

  I teleported back to the clan’s apartment building. Danielle was scowling, Alanna smiling, and the four men were looking everywhere but at either of them. Not having time to find out what was going on, I just held my hands out. “We’re teleporting.”

  Once everyone joined hands, that’s exactly what we did.

  We appeared just before the steps up to Derrick’s front door. Not exactly where I’d intended to arrive, but it worked. Wondering if my teleportation ability was wonky because of stress, I checked things out. The antique-attired footmen weren’t on duty. Instead, two vamps dressed in jeans, dark button-up shirts, and black sports coats were. I hadn’t seen them before, but to my surprise, that didn’t turn out to be a problem.

  “Miss Jones, welcome. Our master is in the library with others, and is expecting you.” While the one on the right spoke, the other opened the front doors.

  “Thank you.” We trooped inside, instantly having to dodge vampires rushing about, and walked down to the library. The doors were open so we could hear voices inside.

  Derrick, Kate, Logan, and a few others were gathered on and around the sofas and coffee table, looking at a map.

  “What’s going on?” My question turned heads. Logan left the group to greet us, or maybe just me, because he put his arm around my shoulders before pressing his cheek to mine.

  “We’re marking out new search areas to assign. How are you holding up?”

  “Okay.”

  He took me at my word. “Good. Come have a seat, we’ll fill you in.”

  I didn’t really have a choice, since he started walking with his arm still around me. Once I’d dropped onto the sofa next to Kate, Logan perched on the armrest next to me. Those who’d come with me found places to stand, and I noticed Danielle, flanked by her cousins, glaring at me over Derrick’s head. Her problem with me would just have to wait.

  “We’ve now searched roughly half of the Barrows.” Derrick pointed at the map, indicating the area someone had shaded with a pencil. “We currently have teams searching here.”

  They were working a strip straight across the map, right along the edge of the shaded section. “Teams consist of four, with one of my more telepathically talented people included in each. They’re scanning, as well as mentally shouting your mother’s name and listening for a response.”