With a hiss, the vampire strode toward him. "How dare you defy me? You fool, you cannot stop us."
"Oh, yeah?" Austin noted the vampire had a Russian accent as he took aim and fired.
The vampire jerked. He grabbed his shoulder where blood oozed from the wound. His face contorted with pain. "What have you done?"
"I'm using silver bullets. They do sting a bit, don't they?"
The vampire growled and lunged forward.
Austin fired again, and the vampire slipped, falling to his knees.
Meanwhile, the first vampire withdrew his fangs from the woman's neck and turned toward Austin.
"You bloody svoloch." He pulled the girl in front of him for protection. "You think a few silver bullets will stop us?"
Austin cursed silently. He couldn't shoot as long as the vampire used the woman as a shield. He moved slowly to the left, searching for a clean shot.
The wounded vampire rose in the air and landed softly on his feet. Blood trickled from his two wounds, and he bared his teeth with a snarl. "I am stronger than you. You cannot stop me."
"Maybe not, but I can take all the fun out of it." Austin shot him again. He howled in pain and crumpled to the ground.
"Svoloch!" The first vampire strode toward Austin, dragging the woman with him. "You will die!"
Suddenly, he jerked to a stop. An expression of shock, then pain crossed his face. He released the woman who collapsed on the ground. He arched his back, letting out a long moan as his body crumbled into dust.
Emma stood there in his place, still holding the wooden stake that she'd stabbed into his back. She looked down at the pile of dust in front of her black athletic shoes. "I did it," she whispered. "I killed a vampire."
The second vampire scrambled to his feet. "You bitch! You killed Vladimir."
"And now, it's your turn." Emma strode toward the wounded vampire with the stake upraised.
"You won't get away with this. Vladimir will be avenged!" The wounded vampire wavered in the air, then vanished.
"No!" Emma hurled the stake at him, but he had teleported to safety, and the stake simply flew through the air. "No, dammit!"
Austin ran toward the injured girl, whipping out his cell phone. He punched 911, then checked the woman's pulse. "I need an ambulance. Quickly. She's dying." The pulse in her neck was very weak.
He gave directions to their location while Emma cleaned up the crime scene. She put away her wooden stake and scattered Vladimir's pile of dust.
"We did it!" She punched the air with a closed fist. "Our first kill! Aren't you glad you came?"
"Yes, I am." If they hadn't come along when they did, this poor woman would have been raped and murdered by those damned vampires. They truly were demons. Once again, his job made sense. The vampires were evil and deserved to die.
And he knew what he had to do. He would warn Sean that his daughter was about to marry a demon.
"What time is it?" Maggie whispered. She fidgeted, trying to find a comfortable position in the hard wooden pew.
"I don't know," Darcy whispered back. "About five minutes past the last time you asked me."
Vanda snorted. "And about ten minutes past disaster!" Her booming voice echoed across the high vaulted ceiling.
"Shh! Not so loud." Maggie glanced across the aisle at the other wedding guests.
When they'd entered the church, Darcy had been appalled how all the guests were sitting on the groom's side. Of course, they were all Vamps from Roman's coven, but still, she'd thought someone needed to make Shanna feel welcome. So, she'd taken a seat on the bride's side. Vanda and Maggie had joined her, but the rest of the ex-harem had refused. They were sitting across the aisle, whispering to each other. It was Saturday night, and everyone was waiting for the wedding to start.
And waiting.
Gregori had finally gone to see what was holding things up.
"You look wonderful, Darcy," Maggie whispered.
"Thanks. So do you." Earlier in the evening, Darcy, Vanda, and Maggie had dashed off to Macy's, searching for fancy, new dresses for the wedding. Darcy's dress was a maroon silk sheath with a matching sparkly jacket. Maggie was wearing a hot pink flapper-style dress with rows of spangles.
Vanda's dress was slinky, sexy, and purple to match her hair.
Unfortunately, the other ladies had dressed to the hilt in their Old World finery. Cora Lee's ball gown boasted a hoop skirt with row after row of lace-trimmed flounces that looked like they'd been attacked by an army of silk ribbons and flowers. The whole, huge atrocity was bright daffodil yellow, making her look more like a school bus than a delicate flower.
Princess Joanna's head was covered with a veil, then topped with her finest gold circlet. A white wimple was draped under her chin. Her dark green velvet gown had a long train in the back and her matching cloak was trimmed with embroidery. Her jewel-encrusted girdle hung loosely around her hips.
Even Maria Consuela was sporting her favorite hat—a conical headdress set back on her head and covered with a transparent, gauze veil. The flared sleeves on her woolen gown hung down to her knees, the cuffs trimmed with fur.
The vestry door opened, and Gregori appeared with a worried expression. He strode toward them.
Darcy stood and eased into the aisle. "What's going on?"
The ex-harem leaned toward them to listen.
"I don't know," Gregori spoke softly, but Darcy felt sure the Vamps could hear him with their extrasensitive hearing. "My mom should have been here twenty minutes ago. I hope she's all right."
"Have you tried calling her?" Darcy was concerned, too. Gregori's mom, Radinka, had only been released from the hospital a few days earlier. She'd been injured during the Malcontents' latest attack on Romatech. She'd also befriended Shanna, so Shanna had asked her to be the matron of honor in the wedding.
"Her cell phone is off," Gregori answered. "I tried calling Angus since he was in charge of bringing Shanna and my mom here, but he's not answering. Something's seriously wrong."
The ex-harem began frantically whispering to each other. The news spread across the pews 'til all the guests were quietly discussing the matter. Darcy wondered if the Malcontents were behind this.
They were a group of vampires who hated Roman with a passion. Since they believed in a vampire's sacred right to feed off humans, they had rejected Roman's synthetic blood and periodically did nasty things like bomb Romatech Industries.
Gregori sighed. "No one is answering their damned phones. The priest isn't here. I don't know what to make of it."
"I know what has come to pass!" Princess Joanna raised her hands in triumph. Her jeweled rings sparkled in the candlelight. "The wedding has been cancelled. The master has come to his senses and rejected that hideous mortal."
Maria Consuela's cone-shaped headdress bobbed as she nodded enthusiastically. "He has realized how inferior she is. Santa Maria, my prayers have been answered." She lifted her rosary and kissed the jeweled cross.
"Wait a minute." Gregori scowled at them. "I like Shanna."
"Me, too." Darcy came to the bride's defense.
"Ha!" Princess Joanna sneered at them both. "I would expect you to side with her. You modern types always stick together. You whine about being sensitive to other people's needs, yet you do not give a thought to our suffering. That mortal wench stole our master and our home!"
"I do declare—" Cora Lee flipped open her lacy yellow fan. "I was never so humiliated in all my life."
Lady Pamela Smythe-Worthing removed a handkerchief from her silk reticule and dabbed at her eyes. "It was simply too horrid to bear. If I wasn't blessed with such a miraculous constitution, I would have withered away in utter despair."
Just go ahead and wither, Darcy thought with a groan. She was so tired of these women's endless complaints. It never occurred to them to actually do anything about their fate other than constantly bemoan it.
Maria Consuela clicked through her rosary beads. "The horror was so unexpected. It reminded
me of the night I was dragged off to the torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition."
"Sweet Mary and Joseph." Maggie crossed herself.
Vanda snorted. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition."
Darcy pulled the wedding invitation from her purse. "This is the right time and place." She showed Gregori the invitation.
He shook his head. "The ceremony should have started ten minutes ago."
"Hallelujah!" Cora Lee jumped to her feet, her hoop skirt billowing to the sides to fill half the pew.
Her blond ringlets, gathered in clusters over each ear, bounced in rhythm with her skirt. "The wedding is off! That means we can move back into the master's house."
"Oh, I do hope so." Lady Pamela pressed her handkerchief to her bosom, which was mostly exposed in her Regency-style ball gown of pink watered silk.
"Wait a minute," Gregori warned them. "Hold your horses."
Maria Consuela huffed. "Who would bring a horse into a church? How barbaric."
Gregori rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this."
"Reasonable?" Lady Pamela stuffed her handkerchief back into her reticule. "The only reasonable course of action for Roman is to dismiss that foolish mortal and send her packing."
Cora Lee snapped her fan shut. "Then we can have our old rooms back."
"Exactly." Princess Joanna stood. "I propose we move back tonight."
"Wait!" Gregori removed his cell phone from an inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. "I'll try calling again. We have to find out what's going on first. So, cool it, ladies. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
With a snort, Princess Joanna sat back down. "As if I would wear such a ridiculous undergarment."
"Good grief." Gregori stepped back with a shudder. "I don't even want to think about that." He punched in a number on his phone. "You gotta get them out of my house," he whispered to Darcy.
"I can't take it anymore."
"I'm trying. But you can see how stubborn they are." With a gasp, Darcy spotted Connor entering the church. She instantly stiffened. Her lungs squeezed in her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Good God, she hated the way she always reacted when he appeared. It had been four years and she still couldn't put that dreadful night behind her. She opened her mouth to warn Gregori, but the words wouldn't come.
Connor spoke quietly to the guests. Some responded by rushing out the front door. Others used their cell phones to teleport away. So was it true that the wedding was cancelled? Had Shanna had second thoughts about marrying a vampire? Darcy often wondered how such a relationship could possibly work. It just wasn't fair to drag someone into the vampire world. She knew that all too well.
"Hey, Connor!" Gregori motioned for the Scotsman to join them. "What's up?"
Darcy automatically stepped back as Connor approached. Her heart thundered in her chest so hard, it echoed in her ears.
The Scotsman strode toward them, dressed in formal Highland wear, which included a lacy white jabot shirt, black jacket, and a black muskrat sporran. He bowed slightly to the ex-harem. "My ladies." His gaze lingered on Darcy.
She turned away, unable to meet his sharp blue eyes that always watched her with a tinge of regret.
"We have an emergency situation," Connor announced. "Ian and I brought a limousine to help evacuate the ladies. We must leave immediately."
"What about the wedding?" Gregori asked.
"I'll explain later." Connor gestured toward the front entrance. "Yer lives could be in danger. Please move calmly and quietly toward the exit."
"Eek!" Cora Lee lifted her hoop skirts and skedaddled for the front door. The other ladies rushed after her. Darcy hovered toward the back of the group so she could overhear the men talking. She was uncomfortable being that close to Connor, but her curiosity was stronger. Of course, it was her wretched curiosity that had caused her nightmare to begin in the first place.
"Where are we going?" Gregori asked.
"Romatech," Connor replied. "For the reception."
"And my mother?" Gregori asked. "Is she all right?"
"Radinka is fine. She's with Roman and Shanna. Angus and Jean-Luc are there, so they have plenty of protection."
Protection from what, Darcy wondered. It must be the Malcontents.
Gregori had rented a limousine for the night since there was no way he could cart around ten women in his Lexus. Even so, it had been a tight fit with all the ball gowns. The ex-harem was happy to divide into two groups—half going in Gregori's hired limo and the other half traveling in the limo Connor had brought.
Gregori climbed into Connor's limo. "I want to know what's going on." He sat as close to the driver's seat as possible.
Darcy wanted to know, too, so she scooted down the long side seat to sit next to Gregori.
Connor was in the front driver's seat next to Ian. He twisted to the side, so he could see everyone through the open window. There were six occupants in the back—Gregori, Darcy, Maria Consuela, Princess Joanna, Lady Pamela, and Cora Lee.
"So did the master come to his senses and cancel the wedding?" Princess Joanna asked.
"Nay, milady," Connor answered. "The ceremony is happening as we speak. At a private chapel in White Plains."
"I guess that's why they're not answering their phones." Gregori unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket.
"Oh, fiddlesticks." Cora Lee had taken up the entire back seat with her hoop skirt. "Now we can't move back into the master's house."
Lady Pamela pressed a hand against her bosom. "This is quite beyond the pale. I tell you, that mortal chit is toying with us. She invites us to the ceremony, then sneaks off to get married elsewhere."
"She is evil," Maria Consuela announced. "Roman will rue the day he married that Whelan wench."
"Enough." Connor glowered at the ladies. "Shanna is not to blame for tonight's problems. 'Tis her father who is wreaking havoc. All day long, he was calling Roman's house, threatening the daytime guards and promising trouble if the wedding wasna cancelled."
"How did he find out about the wedding?" Gregori asked.
"We doona know. Only those who were invited knew about it. Then this evening, Father Andrew called Roman and told him that Sean Whelan was threatening to attack any church in the city if they allowed demonic creatures inside."
"Wait a minute," Darcy interrupted. "Are you saying Shanna's father knows about vampires?"
"Aye." Connor sighed. "I suppose there's no harm in telling ye. Sean Whelan is a CIA operative and head of a team called Stake-Out. Their sole purpose is to terminate all vampires."
Darcy gasped. "This is terrible."
"What is this CIA?" Princess Joanna asked.
"I'll explain later," Gregori told her.
Darcy lowered her gaze to her hands in her lap. So now there were two enemies—the Malcontents and a group of CIA agents called the Stake-Out team. Poor Shanna was marrying into a very dangerous world. No wonder Angus MacKay had offered to walk her down the aisle and play the part of her father. Her real father was a vampire slayer. What a terrible mess.
Beside her, Gregori spoke, "I still don't see how Sean Whelan found out about the wedding. Hardly anyone knew about it. Do you think the priest—"
"Nay." Connor shook his head. "Father Andrew has become good friends with Roman ever since he took Roman's confession. He wouldna tell anyone."
Gregori rubbed his chin. "Well, someone leaked the news."
Darcy thought back. Had she unwittingly told someone? For the last two days, Corky Courrant had been hounding her for information about the wedding. Corky and her crew from Live with the Undead had been invited to the reception at Romatech, but Corky was dying to record footage of the actual ceremony. Darcy had refused to divulge any information, for she was certain Shanna and Roman would want to exchange their vows in private.
And then she remembered. Good God, she'd mentioned the wedding to Adam Olaf Cartwright.
She'd forgotten about that, or rather, she'd
tried her best to forget about that whole encounter. She'd especially tried to shove the memory of his kiss from her mind. But it still sneaked into her thoughts. How could she possibly forget how warm and passionate he had been, how much she had desperately wanted his warmth, and how much she longed to see him again.
So what if she'd mentioned the wedding to him? He didn't know Shanna or Roman. He was a regular person who didn't even know the vampire world existed.
She shivered with a sudden chill. What if she was wrong?
CHAPTER 7
By the time they arrived at Romatech, the bride and groom were there and already married. This news caused most of the ex-harem to trudge wearily to two round tables in the far corner of the large room. There they sat and sulked, casting sullen glances at the bride. Shanna was across the room with her new husband, chatting happily with Gregori's mother.
With a sly grin, Gregori motioned toward them. "Let's go congratulate Roman for taking five hundred years to find a bride."
"I'm sure he considers her worth the wait." Darcy followed him with Maggie and Vanda.
Gregori glanced at the ex-harem, skulking in their corner. "Life of the party, aren't they? Do they still refuse to be on the reality show?"
"I'm afraid so." Darcy sighed. At least their number was dwindling. Two of the ex-harem had decided to move to Paris and become models. And then another had shocked them all by announcing that she was eloping with her secret lover. With Maggie and Vanda already involved in the show, Darcy needed every remaining woman to participate.
But they all refused.
Gregori greeted Radinka with a peck on the cheek. "Mom, you shouldn't be on your feet. Go sit down."
"I'm fine." Radinka adjusted her son's tie. "Don't worry."
Darcy gave Radinka a hug. "It's so good to see you again."
"Our Darcy, a television director!" Radinka beamed at her. "I'm so proud of you."
Darcy felt the heat of a blush invade her cheeks. "Thank you for calling the casting agency for me."
"I was happy to help. I've always known you would be a blessing to us all. Have I not said so?"
Radinka tapped a finger on her temple, which was her way of reminding everyone that she could predict the future, and was therefore, never wrong.
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