by Judith Post
Enoch smiled, hoping he looked reassuring. He seldom worked with kids, wasn't sure what to do with them. "I assumed you wouldn't want to. You're welcome to come with us." What the hell he was going to do with them, he didn't know.
Feral cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but I paid for that mortal."
"What?" Enoch turned on her. "You bought her?"
For the first time, Feral looked unsure of herself. "Her mother sold her to me, in exchange for having one of my employees visit her once a week to pleasure her."
A junkie. Enoch knew the type—addicted to vampire venom. They gladly offered their necks for the small bit of venom used to seal the wound when the vamp finished drinking. No mortal drug could compare. "People aren't for sale, so I don't give a shit about your problem." He only cussed when he was really angry, but there was a little girl in the room, and he wished he'd monitored his words. He gave Feral a hard look. "And why is Angel here anyway? Who brought a kid inside to see her sister get turned?"
Angel glared. "She had them bring me here, so that Crystal would attack me."
Enoch raised his palm. He wanted to blast Feral, but he made himself lower it. "I know the drill. I've worked with vampires longer than you've existed. You'd let Crystal kill her little sister, and then you'd use that damned knife to slit Crystal's throat, to keep Caleb's law. You'd eliminate all of your problems."
Feral sidestepped the accusation. "The little girl pounded on the window when my bartender attacked Crystal. I couldn't let her run off and tell every mortal about us."
Enoch's palm itched, but she hadn't broken any of Caleb's rules. He despised her, though. So would Bart and his generals. "How many mortals do you keep for your clients?"
Feral's shoulders relaxed. "Probably twenty or more on this floor and the top one, but they all begged me to hire them. Ask them, if you don't believe me. Crystal was the only who didn't volunteer for the job. That was her mother's fault."
"You didn't have to agree to the deal, so forget pointing your finger at anyone. I want all of your staff downstairs in ten minutes. We'll let them tell me themselves."
Her expression turned smug. "You can knock on their doors yourself, if you want to."
"No need. My hearing is every bit as good as yours. I'll know if you try to coerce someone. You have ten minutes. And I assume you have decent liquor here. I want a glass of cabernet."
She looked him up and down. "The really old vampires have lots of money. You look like you do, too."
"I have money and connections," he told her. "So don't piss me off. Let's get this over with."
She studied him a minute. "We don't have to be enemies. You're the type of man I could appreciate. I know ways to make you very happy."
"I doubt it. I like quality. If you step out of line in River City, you'll wish you hadn't."
Her bloodless cheeks burned with color. Enoch didn't know a vampire could blush. Not with embarrassment. He was pretty sure she hated him. Like he cared. She turned on her heel and left the room. "I'll have everyone in the nightclub in ten minutes."
Angel stared at him when she was gone. "You made her mad."
"I know."
"That doesn't scare you?"
"It probably wasn't smart." He didn't really need a woman scorned who might try to rip his head off. Not that she could. But what if she tracked his friends? He considered that. Caleb would rip her head off. Nah, she was too smart to make big enemies. She'd hate him for eternity.
Crystal growled, and he thunked her on her feet, holding her tight. Carefully, he unbuttoned his jacket and silk shirt with one hand and offered his neck to her. She lunged for it, sinking her fangs deep. Angel gasped. Enoch shook his head. "No worries."
Angel turned her head and covered her eyes.
After a decent drink, Crystal staggered back from him and blinked. "Did I hurt you?"
Angel's hands dropped to her sides. "Crystal?"
Crystal looked at the clothes on the floor and her expression crumpled. "You can't be around me, Ange. I might hurt you, like I did him."
Enoch shook his head. "Can't."
Crystal looked confused. "Are you weak? I took a lot of blood."
"You can drink till you're drunk. There'll always be more."
Crystal frowned, clearly trying to sort things out. "I feel like myself again. How did that happen?"
"My blood. I'm an angel."
Crystal gave him the same look Angel had. He should be used to it by now, but it's not like he pointed at her and hissed, "Vampire."
Angel came to take his hand. She squeezed it. "You really are an angel, aren't you? You saved Crystal. Thank you."
Emotions clogged his throat. Damn. Kids could get to you, that was for sure. His voice sounded harsh when he spoke. "We have business to do. Let's go down and see what's happening."
Instead of heading downstairs, both girls threw themselves on him and wrapped him in hugs. Oh, boy, he was in for it now. What would Voronika say when he dragged two girls back to the apartment? But it was only temporary. He'd call Caleb and have someone pick them up. Maybe Bart. Someone who could train Crystal. For now, though, he patted their heads. "Let's go. I need to interview the people who work here."
Feral's brows rose in surprise when Crystal calmly walked downstairs, wedged between him and Angel. Clearly, she wondered how he'd quieted a ravenous, new vampire into a near-normal state.
Girls filed into the room. A few male vampires stood behind the bar. A particularly large vamp crossed his arms and spread his feet, his eyes narrowed—probably Feral's muscle. Enoch inhaled deeply. He smelled mortals and vampires.
He turned to Feral. "What's the mix?"
She motioned toward the girls on one side of the room. "Some of my guests receive more pleasure when they drink from humans. These girls don't have to waitress or work. Their only job is pleasing our guests."
"Prostitutes." Enoch enjoyed watching some of the girls flinch. "They offer blood and sex for venom."
Feral's lips turned down. "A crude way of putting it, but yes." She motioned to the other half of the room. "Female vampires are more liberal than most mortals. These girls are pros. They can serve up whatever you want."
Feral hesitated and nodded to the muscle-bound bouncer, who silently left the room to go down an elegant staircase, carpeted in red. The entire room was elegant, decorated in an ornate, European style. He returned with a young, female vampire in chains. "I recently acquired Lucinda. Her sire didn't want her—too hard to control—and offered her to me."
Lucinda's coppery hair curled wildly and her deep-blue eyes blazed. A new vampire. Still crazed with blood lust. Some vampires never returned to sanity. It took a dedicated sire to teach them survival skills. At least her eyes weren't yellow. She didn't crave blood at the moment. Fang marks rimmed the girl's neck. Her body was a lush playground, voluptuous and inviting. Feral was obviously letting clients enjoy it with no thought of how it would affect the girl.
Enoch pointed a finger at Lucinda. "I have friends who can help you. If you want to leave here and learn control, you can come with me."
Feral glared.
Enoch raised a brow, challenging her. "Don't you agree?"
The woman forced a smile to her lips. "Of course, I'd never take advantage of an innocent." She looked at a mortal in the group of servers. "Anyone who's tired of working for me is welcome to leave here." Her voice dripped sarcasm.
The woman blinked and chewed her bottom lip. "You won't be angry with us?"
"I won't be happy, but I won't send someone to rip out your throat, if that's what you're asking."
"Then I want to go."
The other servers stepped slightly apart from the girl—tall and regal, with a wintry beauty. Feral shrugged. "Anyone else?"
No one came forward.
Enoch pointed to one of the mortals. She had lustrous, brown hair and stormy gray eyes. Her skimpy sleep attire left little to the imagination. "Would you rather stay here?"
The girl
raised her chin. "I like venom, and no mortal can compare to a vampire."
Enoch's gaze swept the room. "The rest of you feel the same way?"
Heads nodded.
"I have no quarrel with that, as long as it's your own choice." He turned to Feral. "You haven't done anything that breaks Caleb's rules, but no more using girls who don't want to be used, or I'll come for you."
Feral's hands went to her hips. "On what grounds?"
"You're breaking my rules, and River City is my home. If you play here, you do it my way."
She bristled with anger. Enoch doubted anyone had given her orders for a long time. "I see."
Not exactly an agreement. "I'll stop by every once in a while to check on things, and I'll have some of my friends drop in, too. You have plenty of people who want to work for you. Your servers won't be as safe anywhere else."
If glares could kill, he'd be an immortal no more. Feral snapped, "As you wish."
The words weren't sincere, but that didn't matter. He smiled. "I've got plenty to keep me busy for a while. I'll take these four girls and leave."
The big, male vampire handed Lucinda's chains to him. Enoch looked at her warily. He had a feeling he was going to regret this, but he led her and the three other girls out of the club. When they went to his Land Rover and started to get in, Danny stared.
"I was beginning to worry about you. Vampires keep landing in the parking lot, but a big hulk of a vamp wouldn't let them in the club."
Enoch glanced at the brick warehouse. Customers were now rushing through its doors.
Danny looked at the four girls. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"They need help."
Danny sighed and motioned for Enoch to put Lucinda as far away from him as possible. "I want to live to see my baby."
"I'll explain on the drive home." And as they made their way back to Enoch's apartment, Enoch filled him in on the details. When they parked, Danny tried to call Angel and Crystal's father, but he didn't pick up. Danny left a short message, then they started to the penthouse in the elevator. Enoch finally looked nervous. "I hope Voronika doesn't kill me."
Danny laughed. "She can't."
"You know what I mean. Do you think Maggie will still be here? Should I let her see all four girls?"
Danny looked at Crystal and Angel, clutching each others' hands. "Don't let her adopt them." Then he looked at Lucinda in chains and frowned at the last girl. He asked what Enoch hadn't. "Who is the fourth girl anyway? Does she have a name?"
"I'm Scarlet." She didn't look like a Scarlet—no flaming red hair. Her mother must have read Gone With the Wind one time too many. She was beautiful in a Snow Queen like way—an icy blonde. "I was a waitress when I heard about Femur's operation. It was on the east coast then. I thought it had to be better than scraping by, but I didn't think it through enough. The vampires might not be allowed to change you, but you don't have a life anyway. Who are you going to hang out with on your days off?"
Danny looked at Enoch. "She has a point."
Enoch nodded, then gave a quick knock and opened the door to his apartment. The girls' movie was just ending. Voronika flicked off the TV and looked up at them. Her pale brows rose when Enoch and Danny entered with their small harem.
"You'd better have a good reason for bringing them here," she said.
Maggie's gaze went straight to the two girls. "You found Crystal and Angel?"
Danny nodded. "Crystal's been changed, though. She'd be as wild as Lucinda if Enoch hadn't let her drink from him."
Lucinda turned to Enoch. Yellow rimmed her eyes. The sun was sinking, and her hunger was growing. Her fangs lengthened.
"Not here," Voronika said. "Take her in the spare bedroom."
Lucinda started to struggle.
"Not to have his way with you!" Voronika snapped. "To let you feed. I don't want to watch."
Lucinda calmed, and Enoch started to lead her away with him. He turned to the other three vampires. "Find a sofa. Relax a minute. This won't take long."
Danny plopped on the sofa beside Maggie and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "How you doing?"
"It's been wonderful, just what I needed." She looked at Scarlet. "Was she taken too?"
"No." Danny explained about the girls in the nightclub.
When Enoch returned with a freed Lucinda, Voronika looked the girl up and down. "Who sired you?"
Lucinda shrugged. "He didn't introduce himself, just drained me and chained me in his basement. He was interested in me for a minute, but I was a bother, so he found a new girlfriend. That's when he sold me to Feral."
Enoch scowled. Irresponsible. If a vampire sired someone, he was supposed to "raise" her.
"Do you like being a vampire?" Voronika looked at all four of Feral's girls, and Enoch frowned.
"Scarlet's still mortal," he reminded her.
Voronika sniffed. "Then she's right on the cusp. She smells as much vamp as human." She looked at Lucinda. "Well? Do you like it?"
Lucinda pursed her lips, thinking. "I might if I stop being so crazy. I mean, I have power now. I never had that before. And I can fly and levitate. Yeah, that's pretty neat."
Voronika frowned. "What about friends, family?"
"I left home to get away from them. Not a problem for me."
Voronika looked at Scarlet. "You?"
"If one more vampire drinks a little too much from me, I'll change. I don't want to. I don't want to have to drink blood."
Voronika's expression softened, and then she looked at Crystal.
The girl blinked back tears and gripped Angel's hand. "I would have killed my sister if Enoch hadn't stopped me. I'm a monster now. I hate myself."
Voronika took a deep breath. "I can help you. I can teach you how to cope. You're going to be okay."
Enoch shook his head. "I only brought them here until I can contact Caleb. He'll have someone come to get them and train them."
Voronika rose in one, graceful motion. "No. No Caleb."
"I know you don't like him…." Enoch began.
"I hate him. He's not deciding what to do with the girls."
Damn, he should have seen this coming. Enoch had been worried about getting the girls out of that nightclub, and he hadn't considered Voronika's distrust of Caleb. Not that Caleb could be trusted. He had to give her that. His fellow angel was like a leprechaun. His pledges sounded good, but usually involved a trick.
He scrambled for a new direction. "What if I call Bart? Claudia could train them. She's the best."
Angel interrupted them. The little girl stood ramrod straight, her brown eyes boring into him. "You don't want us?"
Enoch started to answer, stopped. "This is where we live. It's not set up for kids. Would you be happy here?"
"I want to stay with you and her." Angel nodded to Voronika.
Maggie reached for Danny's hand. "Aww, you can't abandon her. She's been through enough."
Danny tossed an apologetic glance Enoch's way.
Enoch tried again. "Wouldn't you feel safer somewhere farther away from your mother and Feral?"
Crystal answered. "Mom has no say in what we do anymore. She sold me."
"She sold you?" Maggie reached for a Kleenex.
"What about your dad?" Enoch asked.
"He's never had a say. He doesn't get one now." Crystal's brave words faltered. "But we can't make it on our own. When your blood wears off, I won't be able to help myself. I'll be a monster again."
Voronika turned to Enoch. "They stay."
Enoch didn't argue. He'd brought them here. He'd negotiate later. "All of them?" he asked. Then capitulated. "We can keep them a while."
Voronika frowned, studying Scarlet. "I don't know what to do with a human."
Scarlet stepped forward. "If you just give me some time to find a job, make enough money to get an apartment, that's all I ask. Just a start."
Maggie's curly head bobbed up and down. "You can do that for her, right?"
Voronika shrugged
and started for the kitchen. "We'll keep them all. The girls can stay until we find a good home for them. The women can figure things out and then decide what to do next."
"We have a two bedroom apartment," Enoch reminded her.
"The two girls can stay with me, and the two women can have the spare room."
Lucinda turned to Enoch. "But what about you? Where will you sleep?"
Enoch immediately liked her more. It was nice of someone to care.
"He doesn't sleep. He's an angel, always on vigil." Voronika returned with wine and beer. She frowned at Angel. "What do little mortals drink these days?"
"I like beer."
Voronika started to hand her a bottle, but Enoch plucked it out of her hand. "I don't think so. You're what? Ten?"
"Eleven."
"A kid," Enoch said. "You get pop. There's some in the fridge. Find your way around. This will be your home for a while."
She gave him an impudent grin and went into the next room. Enoch stifled a groan. This girl was going to give him gray hairs—if that was possible—which it wasn't. She'd had too much freedom for far too long. He raised a brow at Crystal. "And you?"
"Seventeen, but Feral taught us to drink. She said the customers drank more when we did. I like wine."
Enoch grimaced. She had a point. He nodded, and Voronika poured her a glass of Merlot.
Maggie began to sob.
"What is it?" Danny asked. "They're keeping all of them. The girls will be all right."
"I'm just so happy." Maggie burrowed her head against Danny's chest.
Danny met Enoch's gaze. Tricky times were upon them, but they each loved their partners, so they'd make the best of it.
Scarlet knocked back her glass of wine like it was whiskey and held out her glass for another one.
Enoch sighed. How could his mission—to hunt and destroy every rogue he could find—go so incredibly wrong? What was it about Earth? Nothing ever went according to plan. He inhaled deeply. Voronika was right. Scarlet's scent was almost as much vampire as human. They'd have to take special care with her. He shook his head. He was still calling Bart. He'd never played nursemaid to new vampires before, and he wanted to train them as quickly as possible and get rid of them.