by Sarra Cannon
A breeze from the open door stirred little piles of dust gathered here and there. Where did it all come from? I knelt and pinched a bit between my fingers. It felt greasy.
This was an attack. Rurik must have heard something then K.O.’d me and hid me in the trunk. Damn, where could Red be? He should have been here to help.
There were no bodies. My heart dropped from my throat to the pit of my stomach. What happened to Rurik? I glanced at the greasy dust I squished in my hand and gagged. Not dust, ashes. Specifically vampire ash. I brushed the stuff off my hand and retreated from it. How many vampires made this much ash? One, five? Was Rurik mixed in?
Tears burned behind my eyes. Could he be gone? His last words to me were of love. I continued to retreat, not wanting to step on any piles, and tripped over someone’s foot.
I landed next to Marie. Face to face with her dead stare. My breath caught in my chest. Something had torn out her throat yet barely a drop of blood pooled from her wound. This kind of thing happened to evil people, not sweet motherly women. I crab walked from her body, trying to run from reality. I didn’t want to see this. A horror movie come to life. My back hit the wall. The impact startled me enough to scream. The ear rupturing noise echoed through the empty house. I couldn’t stop, not with Marie’s lifeless eyes staring at me.
I’d seen a dead person before. The image of my late husband, Laurent, in his hospital bed was still vivid in my memory but this violent death shattered me. My whole body went numb, I couldn’t feel anything below my neck. Kind Marie deserved better than this. She’d been sympathetic when Rurik frightened me from his room and genuinely happy upon my return.
That should have been me. Rurik, my lover, protected me, but were those his ashes on my feet? My screams grew hoarse until it was only a whisper. It was hard to concentrate. His last words to me, forgive me, I love you, whirled around my head. I tried to breathe and find a way out of this nightmare.
He was gone.
My happily ever after ... over before it started. He was supposed to live forever. I shouldn’t have to go through this again.
I curled up, my eyes never leaving the crime that had occurred. As I lay there, I had a feeling that more time passed than I realized. Fine ash particles drifted through the bright sunlight, floating as if they tried to reach heaven.
Was there an afterlife for vampires? Were Rurik and Laurent together watching me? I shivered though I wasn’t cold. The light faded from yellow to orange and the ash gave up its flight.
Sometime later, the roar of an engine woke me up. I didn’t think I was asleep, just lost in an unthinking stupor, holding onto the numbness to prevent me from accepting the truth.
Someone shouted my name. I recognized the voice but I was dazed and it took me a while to come to the conclusion that I should answer.
“Connie,” Red’s tired face blocked my view of Marie. “Have you been hurt?”
I knew the words meant something but I could only stare. Nothing mattered anymore.
“I’m right here, baby.” In a smooth, supple motion he scooped me in his arms and pressed my face to his chest to block my vision. The fresh cool air outside felt nice on my heated, wet face. My tears surprised me, I hadn’t known I’d been crying until then. “They came last night,” I croaked, my throat dry and raw.
Red settled me onto the front lawn. “We’re here now. We’ll take care of you.” His voice sounded gruff. And then he was talking to someone else. “Secure the area and look for other survivors.”
His men streamed into and around the house like a parade. “Connie?” He lifted my chin with a calloused finger and stared into my eyes. “You’ve a black cloud followin ‘ you, kid. What the hell happened?”
The concern in his voice and the pity in his eyes made my grief real. “Rurik’s ... d-dead.” I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded. Sobs burned inside my chest trying to escape.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I just woke up.” I managed to whisper before the first sob came out as a low moan. “Rurik knocked me out,” I sobbed, “and hid me.”
Red looked over my shoulder, not meeting my eyes. He knew I didn’t want false reassurances. My new life fell apart earlier today. I wished I never came to Budapest. Things were fine before, I was dead inside but at least I didn’t have this choking ache wrapped around my heart. It made falling into an active volcano like a swim in a pool. What had I done to deserve this? I was a plague to all the men I fell in love with.
Red hugged me and said what I needed to hear. “I’m so sorry.” He stroked my hair while I cried.
I poured my sorrow onto his shoulder. The last time I did this I swore never again, yet I let my heartstrings get tangled once more. How stupid am I?
He touched my jaw and I winced at the contact. “You’ve a nasty bruise and some swellin’.” With his fingertips he pressed along the bone. “No sharp pain?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” I lied and tried to swallow my tears. The words were honest enough for what he asked.
“I don’t think it’s broken.” He touched my cheeks and drew my gaze. “Did you see anythin’? Why do you think Rurik’s dead?
“There are ashes all over the place.” Awareness began to seep through me, it trickled like ice in my veins. “Who do you think they belong to? He was the only vampire here last night and whoever did this killed Marie.”
Dragos did this. I was sure and I wanted him dead.
One of the men returned. “No other survivors or bodies. Point of entry was through the front door. Not much damage and no notes.”
Red nodded. “Clean the place of any trace of Connie the best you can.” Then he shooed him away with a gesture.
I wiped my nose on his shirt.
He pulled back. “Hey, whatya doin’?”
“Where were you?” I asked with an openhanded smack to his shoulder. “You should have been here to help.” Yet even with my angry words I reached out to him for more comfort. I’d suffered heartbreak before. It sucked.
“Connie, please stop cryin’. Your tears are makin ‘ my knees weak.” His voice sounded rough with emotion. “I’ve been out tryin ‘ to find Colby. I checked everywhere and pulled in all my favors but still no word. He’s in trouble.”
“You don’t think he’s dead?”
“You kiddin’? Colby’s larger than life. When it’s time for him to go there’ll be more than a silent disappearance.”
“Like an explosion or something?” My tears began to dry. “What are the guys doing inside the house?”
“Can’t have the Budapest authorities linkin ‘ you to this crime scene. They’re removin ‘ any evidence of your bein ‘ here. We’ll have to work an alibi just in case.”
Someone walked out to the van carrying my suitcase.
Red helped me to my feet. “We need to get out of town before they come for us. There’s a few hours of daylight left. The airport’s not far from here.” He started toward the van.
“Red.” I stepped toward him when he turned to me. What this cost him was etched across his face. It tore him up to leave Colby behind.
With his thumb, he cleared the tears from under my eyes. “We’ll just get ourselves killed searchin’. I haven’t any leads left, I don’t even know where to look anymore.” Red turned and walked to the vehicle with me in tow.
I crawled into the back with the men and lay on a pile of gear in the corner. No one met my eyes, they looked everywhere but me.
Brad, our shy computer tech, took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. I whispered my empty thanks.
“Well, in this situation we need to make a tactical retreat, boys. After we regroup, we’ll come back for Colby.” Red’s voice drifted from the driver’s area. The men around me sat with heads hung down and backs bent. Some still bore injuries from the fight at the party only a few nights ago. It felt like years.
I drifted in and out of alertness. I heard the murmurs of the team, felt the shift of the van as
it turned a corner, and someone offered me a water bottle, which I drank greedily. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I pulled the jacket over my head.
We sat in silence for a moment. A corner of a box poked me in the back so I shifted my hips. Something solid pressed against my leg from my pocket. I pulled out the vial of clear blue liquid.
The drug.
It sparkled in the fading sunlight and must have been sitting in my pants on the bedroom floor since the night I stole it from Rurik. I sat bolt upright and startled the guy next to me.
“You alright?” He looked at me askance.
“Where’s my suitcase?”
He pointed toward the back door.
I shoved my way through male flesh and squeezed it open to their protests.
“What are you doin’?”
My purse sat inside. I took out my wallet and slid out a wrinkled card, careful not to tear it. “You said Colby followed a lead about Tane when he disappeared?” I shoved my way back to the front and showed Red the card with just a phone number on it. The one Tane gave me. “Give me your phone. This is our next lead.”
I couldn’t do anything about losing Rurik but I could help find Colby. Then we’d find who was responsible for this murder and destroy each person involved. It made me feel a smidge better and I needed to take what I could right now.
Red gave me his cell phone as he drove. “Who are you callin’?”
I dialed the number and ignored the question since I didn’t feel like discussing my link to Tane.
A sleepy voice answered. “Hello?”
“This is Con-Rabbit. I’d like to leave a message for Tane.” Red’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
“Rabbit, nice to hear from you. This is Eric, Tane’s companion.” I remembered him from the jazz club on the A38. They were lovers. “We were wondering if you’d ever call. Guess Tane won this bet.”
“Tell him I have what he wants.”
“I’ll come get it.”
“I don’t think so. I want to speak with him in person.”
His low laughter carried over the phone. It made the hair on my arms stand. “You’re either a ballsy girl or a silly one. No one ever wants to see him.”
I sighed. “Fine, I need to see him.”
“How good are you at following directions?”
“Pretty good.”
Chapter 23
My denial and numbness evaded me as I sat in the rowboat on the Danube River. It was a crippling thing, this sensation that my heart had been ripped out of my chest and torn to shreds. I knew it was still there but couldn’t feel it beat. This pain would get better but not tonight, not for a long time. I curled over to press my face to one of the oars and tried to breathe with no lungs. I wanted a drink.
Bad. Captain Morgan and I had a date after this.
I needed to pull it together. To stuff my self-pity and sorrow in a deep dark hole. If things got better, if I survived the night, I could pull it out when I was alone and examine it. My strength would carry me through, I would prevail in some manner.
The pain became manageable.
Colby might be out on the river, in Tane’s yacht. He needed me. I sat up, took a deep breath and started the boat moving again.
Rowing out to a yacht on the Danube River sounded a lot easier on the phone. No matter how I tried I couldn’t coordinate the oars, so a ten minute ride turned into a thirty minute workout.
Red almost spontaneously combusted when I told him my story of Tane’s blackmail. He understood my lies but it still hurt him. Our friendship had a dent now. He only agreed to this plan because it was a lead to Colby. Once more I wore the tracking chip. They worried it would get wet since we met on the water. If Red had his way I would have had to swallow it wrapped in a baggy like a drug mule. I vetoed that idea.
Once I pulled up to the hull of the ship I didn’t see any kind of ladder to climb. You’d think a luxury liner would have a staircase.
“Hey, anyone there? I can use a hand.” I looked at the rail along the deck for signs of life.
“The ladder is at the stern, Rabbit.” Tane’s soft voice carried well over the night.
I rowed a few strokes toward the front of the boat.
“That’s the bow. Turn around and go to back.”
Steam poured from my ears. Did I look like a sailor? I tried to change direction by swinging the oars in opposite directions but only managed to scrape the yacht’s paint.
“Watch the ship.” The curt command shot from above. “You’re late.”
I settled the oars in the water. Even with the gentle lights that hung from the rigging I couldn’t see Tane. “I’m lucky to have made it this far.”
A rope flew over the edge of the yacht to land in my dingy. “Tie it to the boat, I’ll reel you in.”
I wrapped it around the bench and held the end as Tane guided it to the stern with ease.
As I pulled up he jumped in, rocking the row boat enough to make me hang on to the sides. He unwound the rope from the bench while he muttered under his breath then tied a complicated knot to moor it. After he climbed back out he turned and offered his hand. “Welcome aboard, Rabbit.”
I accepted it and stepped onto the back platform beside him.
This time he didn’t hide his origins under a hat. The moonlight gleamed off his smooth, bald head with his pointed ears folded along its side. His tattoo flowed down into the neckline of his pale-blue, button-down shirt and still remained obscure. He brushed some water beads from his dark gray slacks before directing me to the ladder.
It surprised me to see he was barefoot.
“Pay attention to your steps. I don’t want to have to fish you out of the river.”
I stared daggers at him before climbing up the ladder. He didn’t seem to mind throwing me in it the other night.
His chuckle mocked me.
The deck spoke of wealth. White leather couches attached to the rails invited me to snuggle and the dark hard wood floor felt smooth under my feet. A glass pitcher of clear liquid and a full martini glass sat on a table by one of the couches.
Tane brushed past me and sat next to the table. He picked up the glass and sipped. “Would you like one? Eric makes a good dry martini.”
I remained by the ladder. It made me feel safer, even though I couldn’t do much if Tane decided to hurt me. “I don’t drink anymore.” I licked my lips, after this afternoon the pitcher looked tempting. “No olives?”
“We can only take liquids. You should know that.” He sipped again. “Do you have the drug? The one he used on you?”
I pulled the vial out of my pocket. It weighed heavier than before like all my responsibilities sat in it.
He signaled me to bring it closer.
I never had the chance to ask Rurik why he owned it. What good could come from breaking down psychic abilities? I couldn’t help wonder what crimes Tane would commit with it. But I didn’t have any other leverage.
The energy to hold myself together drained my strength. I needed to get this over with. “I want Colby.” It wasn’t courage that had me making demands of a Nosferatu. A certain sense of freedom came with grief. I didn’t have any fear of death, it would just send me to those I loved and missed. How can you be brave if you weren’t afraid?
“Why would you think I have him?”
“He disappeared yesterday while investigating Eric. Only you could take him like that. You said if I got you the drug no harm would come to my people. Here it is. Now, give him back.”
He leaned back into the couch and finished his drink. “The moment you stepped on this ship the drug was mine. You have nothing to bargain with.”
I popped the cap to the vial and poured a little onto the floor. “If I destroy it then neither of us will have what we want.”
Tane’s hand gripped my wrist and restrained me from emptying it. His empty glass sat on the table. It still amazed me how fast a vampire could move. He took the bottle from my grasp. “Why do you have to make thin
gs so difficult? I don’t see why Rurik obsesses about you.”
The sound of his name stabbed me. “Rurik’s dead.” I could barely hear my own whisper.
“Really? How?” Tane stood so close if he took a deep breath he’d touch me.
“Dragos attacked his home last night.”
“You saw him dead?”
“No, but his ashes were everywhere.”
“The ashes. How interesting.”
“We made a deal.”
He turned his back to me and returned to his seat. “And?” The vial looked small in his hand as he lifted it to examine the contents.
“Is your word worth nothing?”
“My word? Now there’s an old concept. I also remember the part of the deal which you’re not to tell anyone I hired Colby.”
“I didn’t”
“Liar. You told him not to trust his source, may as well have told him. You sent him straight here and I’m going to keep him.” He grinned at me, his fangs glinted in the dim light. “Unless you want to make another agreement. One that you will keep.”
Red was right. This plan sucked. What other choice did we have? I didn’t know what to do. Making another deal with Tane, my personal demon, seemed suicidal.
“What do you want?”
“I need you to agree to do it before I tell you what it is.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Very well, but listen to what I have to offer first.” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I will give you Colby.” His black soulless stare pierced me from across the deck. “And I will give you back your Rurik.”
“What? How?” My heart raced at the thought. Could Tane be so powerful to resurrect the dead?
“Rurik lives. Those weren’t his ashes.”
The world spun. He lived. I could have cried if I had any tears left. My legs gave out and nausea boiled in my gut. I found myself sitting on the deck with Tane holding my head between my knees.
“If you vomit on my boat all deals are off.”
I swallowed.
Tane released his hold on my head so I could sit. He settled himself onto the deck next to me. “Those ashes belonged to two of my men. Rurik killed them before we subdued him. They turned to ash with the sunrise.” A ring on his little finger caught my attention. He lifted his hand for me to see. It was the Budapest Overlord’s ring. “My reward from Dragos for Rurik. The city’s mine now.”