by L.H. Cosway
I pull one of the stakes from my pocket and slam it straight into his heart. Damn, that felt good. Nothing like a bit of staking to blow off some steam. I highly recommend it if you’re tired of the shooting range.
Oh, but if only it were that easy. At least another five vamps come crawling out of the woodwork and I swear loudly.
“We thought you’d all been killed,” says a sharp eyed female. “I guess there’s always one that gets away.” She licks her lips and stares at me like I’m a prime piece of meat and she’s been starving for weeks.
“You don’t want to do that,” I warn her, aiming my shotgun at her head.
“Oh really,” she purrs. “And why is that?”
“Because I’ll blow your pretty head off and it’ll take days to heal. Now, kindly take a step back. I’ll get in my van and drive away. Pretend this little happenstance never even came about.”
She laughs at me. Fucking bitch. I hate vampire theatrics and I’ve witnessed plenty in my time. They have a bone to pick with slayers, and let’s face it, why wouldn’t they? It means they’ve always been very cat-like in killing us. They don’t just end our lives, they want to play with us for a while, see us squirm before they crush us.
Her laughing ceases and she dives for me. It almost looks as though she’s flying for a second. I drop to the ground and roll out of her reach before putting a bullet in her head just like I’d threatened to do. I breathe heavily and swear again. That’s when I realise that I’ve been stupid, because as I had my sights set on the girl vamp, I hadn’t been watching my back.
In this city, you always need to watch your back. I feel fangs sink into my neck before I see him, a blonde vampire with big old muscle arms. His hand grasps my neck and squeezes.
“You don’t want to kill me,” I manage to sputter.
He grins and releases his mouth from my neck. “Sure I don’t.” A trickle of my blood runs down from his mouth and my stomach twists.
“No, really. Cristescu will be mighty pissed if he finds out I’m dead.” Ha! Only because he probably wants to do the honours himself, but I’m not getting out of this situation unless I lie my way out of it.
The vampire’s grip loosens. “What did you just say?”
“Cristescu. He’s your new Lord Almighty, right? He’s a friend of mine. We go way back.”
“A friend?” the vampire asks with a narrowed gaze.
“I helped him out when you all had him exiled,” I say and the vampire’s eyes get wide now. “If you kill me you’ll be the next one in the ground. Or on the ground turned into a pool of sludge,” I correct myself.
I can see the cogs turning in the vampire’s head as he makes his decision. “Fine,” he says, grabbing my wrists and pulling them behind my back in a lock. “I will take you to Cristescu and we shall see what he has to say. If you’re lying I will torture you before I kill you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” I quip as he and his friends guide me away from the compound and into a garish canary yellow Ferrari, one vamp sitting on either side of me to make sure I have no escape. The vamp I’d been talking to gets in the driver’s seat and another gets in the passenger side. The female I’d shot in the head is still lying on the ground unconscious. I expect she’ll be making her own way home when she comes to.
“I see you boys like to ride in style,” I comment as we drive, heavy on the sarcasm. It earns me a sharp punch to the jaw and my face goes flying sideways. Shit, that hurt. I want to rub where he hit me but I can’t since the vamps are holding me down. I’m going to have a real pretty bruise on my mug in the morning.
A couple of minutes of total and absolutely creepy silence pass before we turn onto the street where Cristescu had been living before he was exiled. It looks like he’s decided to take his residence of choice back now that he’s a supervamp.
We come to a stop in front of the three story house and I swallow hard. I guess I’m not going to have the chance to wait until daylight to see him after all. I’m going to see him now, and I can only hope that Tegan’s there and that he’ll listen to her when she tells him not to kill me.
Chapter Six
This Could be Heaven or This Could be Hell
Tegan
I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Well, maybe not that, but it’s close.
I’m lying on Ethan’s bed and he’s licking at me; his head is between my legs and his tongue is working some kind of freaking miracle. I grab tight onto the blankets and fist them as I moan. I have never felt anything more exquisite than this.
Ethan raises his head for a brief moment to demand, “Come.”
I can’t hold back as I stare into his eyes and his tongue returns to its lapping. His fingers thrust inside of me and I undulate, shivering with an orgasm. I drop my head back into the pillows and sigh, a big fat smile on my face. Ethan crawls up to me and nestles his head in the crook of my neck, pressing tiny kisses to my skin.
We’ve had sex three times tonight and it isn’t even two o’clock yet. I can feel him harden against me, eager for round four.
“You’re unbelievable,” I say laughing and he laughs too just as there’s a knock on the bedroom door.
“Go away,” says Ethan in a hard voice.
A second later Lucas calls, “There’s someone downstairs to see you. I think you might want to take care of this now, Ethan.”
“La naiba,” he mutters grumpily as he climbs out of bed and pulls on a pair of jeans. I’ve heard him say this a few times. I think it means something like, shit or fuck’s sake. I haven’t asked. To be honest, I kind of like the mystery. There’s just something about a man saying stuff in a sexy foreign language that’s incredibly appealing, especially when you have no clue what he’s saying. He could be uttering romantic declarations or talking absolute filth.
He throws on a T-shirt next and some shoes before opening the door. I pull the blankets over my body so that Lucas doesn’t cop an eyeful. He’s standing outside waiting and cocks his head inside as Ethan emerges. I snicker knowing he was hoping he’d catch me in a state of undress.
Amanda arrived at the house a couple of hours ago and I settled her into one of the spare rooms furthest away from where Lucas will be sleeping. I told her he was here and she straightened her shoulders at the news, telling me she could handle him. I was proud of her in that moment.
“Tegan might want to come, too,” Lucas says to Ethan.
“Why?” both Ethan and I question him at the exact same time. Spooky.
“Because it has to do with your slayer friend,” Lucas explains.
“Finn?” I say, brow furrowed.
“Yes, he’s downstairs and only minutes away from being slaughtered by several of our people. He really knows how to kick up a ruckus that one.”
My heart skips a beat and I shoo Lucas away so that I can get dressed. What oh what has Finn gotten himself into this time?
When I arrive downstairs fully clothed, I find Ethan and Lucas in the living room with another vampire I don’t recognise. Finn is sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back, a bruise emerging on his cheek and a bloodied bite mark on his neck. Shit.
I rush to him and kneel down on the floor by his chair. “Finn,” I say, my voice more air than sound. “Are you okay? You look like hell.”
“You should see the other fella,” he replies with a casual shrug.
Oh, Finn. Ever the comedian. I pull him into my arms and hug him tight, surprised by the amount of relief I feel at seeing him. I hear Ethan growl from where he stands but I ignore it. Finn is my friend and I’m so incredibly happy to see him. I’d been unbelievably worried, so Ethan is just going to have to suffer through me hugging him.
“Where are the others?”
“They’re safe.”
“What’s going on here?” I surreptitiously eye the strange blonde vampire who is glaring daggers in Finn’s direction.
“I got jumped by a couple of vamps. Killed one of them. They were about
to do the same to me when I told them your boyfriend might not take too kindly to it. Though to be honest, by the way he’s looking at me right now I think he’d take very kindly to it indeed.”
I pull away from Finn and turn to look at Ethan. “Stop it. Nobody’s killing Finn tonight. Or ever.”
The blonde vampire stares at me in awe at how I’m addressing Ethan, while Lucas shakes his head as if I’m being stupid for having the gall to give orders.
“He murdered one of my people tonight,” says Ethan coolly as though that’s a sufficient reason.
“I’m sure it was only in self-defence. And anyway, how many humans have your people killed in the last couple of days? If you want to kill Finn you’ll have to go through me first.”
I stare at Ethan just as sternly as he’s staring at me, while I clench my fists to keep my hands from shaking. “Have you forgotten how he welcomed you into his home not too long ago and made a pact to work with you when your own people had shut you out?”
“No, I have not forgotten,” says Ethan. “And really, I care nothing about whatever killing has taken place. It is the way he looks at you that makes me want to murder him.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous,” I retort as my stomach tightens from the possessive gleam in his eyes.
“Hey, man,” Finn interrupts. “I know she’s with you now. There’s no need for the caveman routine.”
I inwardly wish Finn didn’t always have to be such a smart arse. He has a way with words that manages to rile people up, even when he’s supposedly trying to be civil.
Ethan takes a step forward and I stand, placing myself in his path. I lean in close and whisper beseechingly, “Please, don’t. If you hurt him you’ll lose me forever.”
He looks deep into my eyes, an internal struggle going on in his own. The tension in the room makes me want to run quickly out of it. Jesus, this is bloody hell.
I wish that these two could just get along. What makes it worse is that I know it’s not really the whole vampire vs. slayer thing that makes them dislike one another so much. It’s me.
After what seems like forever but what is really only a matter of seconds, Ethan exhales and turns his attention to Finn.
“You are lucky my love favours you,” he says before dismissing the vampire who brought Finn here with a simple wave of his hand. The blonde guy looks palpably disappointed with Ethan’s decision and walks out with hunched shoulders.
“Well now,” says Finn after a stretch of silence. “Who’d like to do the honours of untying me?”
I walk around to the back of his chair and undo the rope around his wrists. Whoever tied it put it on way too tight and I wince at how the rope has cut into his skin.
“It’s a good thing you decided to pardon me, your highness,” Finn talks to Ethan directly now. His openly sarcastic tone isn’t going to do him any favours and I poke him in the shoulder to urge him to be polite. He gives me an amused look before continuing, “Because I’ve got some news you might be interested in hearing.”
“Oh yes?” says Ethan, going to sit down on the couch. “And what news is this?”
“Do you know about the barrier around the city?”
Ethan gives him a bored look that says, of course I do.
“Okay, so do you also know that while the barrier isn’t allowing anyone to leave, it’s letting people come inside? They just can’t get back out once they pass through it.”
Ethan gives him his full attention now. “How do you know this?”
“Saw it with my own two peepers,” says Finn. “It spells trouble whatever way you want to spin it. There’ll be riots and all sorts before the week is out. Shit, I spoke to two police officers earlier today and they said people have been looting the stores so that they can stockpile food.”
“That does sound bad,” Lucas agrees.
“You need to find Theodore and figure out some kind of a truce. Tell him he can have a portion of the city for himself if that will keep him happy,” Finn suggests.
“If I thought that would subdue him I’d do it in a heartbeat,” says Ethan. “But Theodore isn’t a man who will accept fifty percent. He wants it all.”
“You could at least try,” Finn mutters in annoyance and nobody talks for a minute.
I’m the one to break the silence. “Hey, I got Rebecca back from Emilia,” I say to Finn and he nods smiling.
“I know. You beat me to it. I went there today but all I found was a distraught butler guy who told me Emilia had been taken by Theodore.”
“Yes!” I exclaim. “It was so weird. One minute Emilia was setting fire to anyone who got in her way as she chased us for Rebecca, and the next she was gone. I saw Theodore holding her and laughing only a second before he disappeared.”
“Creepy.”
“So creepy,” I agree.
“Have you other news, slayer?” Ethan interrupts us icily.
Finn scratches at his head. “Actually yeah, I do.” He pauses like he’s unsure as to whether he should disclose this other news or not.
“Out with it,” says Lucas impatiently.
“Fine, fine. The other night we all came across a woman when she jumped out of a moving limousine right in front of us. Our old friend Michael Ridley emerged after her and she was scared witless of him. We managed to fend him off. Well, actually, Ira did by biting off his hand.”
Lucas chuckles. I grimace and swear under my breath. Ethan remains stoically silent.
“So anyway, it turns out that this woman is half elf and she can see into the future. Ridley kidnapped her two years ago and had been using her for her powers. He’d tried to cast a spell to take her ability from her, but it went wrong and ended up blinding her. I’ve kind of taken her into my protection and she has visions all the time. She said that up until this point her visions were always different, but now she keeps seeing the same thing.”
“What does she see?” I practically whisper.
“She sees a little blonde girl who will be the saviour of this city and bring peace. I think the girl she sees is Rebecca.”
I gasp and Finn eyes Ethan, gauging his reaction to this information. Ethan’s expression shows nothing except a tiny hint of interest.
He clasps his hands together and says, “So we will keep her as safe as we possibly can. If she is to lead someday and if this elf woman’s vision is correct, then no expense will be spared in ensuring she reaches adulthood. I will see to it myself.”
“Do you think it’s wise for a girl with her blood to be raised by vampires?” Finn asks and if I’m not mistaken his eyes flick briefly to Lucas in suspicion. He doesn’t trust him around Rebecca and I don’t blame him. I don’t trust Lucas either. He’s one of those ambiguous men who can do good things just as equally as bad things depending on what suits his agenda at the time.
“She will not be among vampires for long. I’ll make arrangements for her to be taken somewhere safe,” Ethan assures him.
“Right, well I better be going,” says Finn rising from his seat.
“Not too fast. I want you to bring Delilah to me. As you can see, I may be changed but I am not a threat. My sister needs to come home now.”
Finn eyes him. “Yeah, I’ll pass on the message.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll walk Finn out,” I say and we proceed to the door.
In the hallway Finn turns to me with a serious look on his face. “Are you okay here? You want to be here, right? He’s not forcing you?”
“What? No, I’m fine. Things are good. Drinking my blood made Ethan stronger than any vampire I’ve seen before, but he’s still the same in his head. He hasn’t gone all savage and blood hungry or anything. He’s still a good man.”
Finn raises an eyebrow when I say it, but I don’t let him goad me. I expect nothing more than him to be wary of Ethan. He always has been. Besides, I know that my lover can hear everything we’re saying. He’s only pretending that he can’t out of courtesy.
“So, where h
ave you all been staying?” I ask.
Finn sighs. “At some dive hotel out on the motorway. I’m gonna head back to mine in the morning seeing as Cristescu seems to be keeping his vamps under control.”
“I’ll come over tomorrow, then. I want to see everyone. Oh yeah, and we need to discuss Rita.”
“Not you as well. Alvie won’t shut up about her either.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate her, Finn,” I say tensely. “That girl has the ability to surprise all of us.”
He looks at me with sympathy in his eyes, like he feels sorry for me and how I’m holding onto this thin thread of hope for my lost best friend. I swallow and look away, blinking back tears. When I feel like I have them under control I look back at him.
“I’m going to hug you now,” I tell him before I fold him into my arms. He seems taken by surprise a little but then hugs me back.
It really is just so good to see him alive and kicking.
“I’m glad you’re alright, Petal,” he murmurs giving me a little squeeze before releasing me.
“I’m glad you’re alright, too,” I say and trail my fingertips softly over the bruise on his face. “Tell Alvie to make you up one of Rita’s healing cream recipes. It should get rid of this in no time.”
He nods and gives me a warm smile before moving to leave. When the door slams closed I exhale and feel relieved that I’m going to see my friends tomorrow, even if Rita isn’t going to be there. When I return to the living room, Ethan and Lucas are deep in conversation. I’m far too tired so I leave them to it and climb the stairs to Ethan’s bedroom where I promptly fall asleep.
Sometime later I find myself in an endless white room. I know I’m dreaming but it all seems so real. I look around myself but there’s nothing here, just this eternal whiteness. I have a momentary thought about this being what limbo feels like when suddenly there’s a man in front of me.
He’s tall with jet black hair and ice blue eyes. His skin is pale and I realise that his colouring is almost the exact same as mine. I also realise that he’s one of the handsomest men I’ve ever seen. Vanity thy name is…me. His eyes stare endlessly, a reflection of my own.