Vampires relayed their messages to one another secretly through mental telepathy. If this vampire knew Nicolai was awake, he had to be nearby. But then again, the new vampire in turn would have relayed the message to Nicolai that he had Crystal within his reach at the warehouse. Nicolai couldn’t come for her, not yet. But he’d undoubtedly send reinforcements.
“I’ll take you to him.” The blue-eyed vampire stretched his hand out.
“You can’t transport me to any place but somewhere inside this warehouse. Not until the sun goes down.”
When he stepped closer, she pulled the sword free and lunged forward, jabbing him in the heart. The other vampire charged her before she freed her sword.
He ran into her body, shoving her against the brick wall dividing the windowpanes. She quickly grabbed his shoulders and swung her right leg behind his. When she pushed him back, he lost his balance and fell backwards into the enlarged block of sun illuminating the crates.
The sunlight seared his skin, then turned him into a heap of clothed ashes. No time for remorse or feelings. She and the other hunters had to leave before other hosts arrived. But first, she’d destroy the rest of the windows in the warehouse that she could reach. She retrieved her sword from the dead body of the other vampire, then picked up her cane.
“Nicolai’s awake nearby, Robert. One of the vampires let it slip.”
Robert and his brothers still fought off the vampire fledglings. Tom dodged the blow of a pipe wielded by one of them and yelled, “We’ve got to get her out of here, now!”
Robert yelled, “Come join us, Crystal!”
“I will. Let me just get the rest of these windows.” With no hosts or vampires to stop her, she ran along the top of the crates and struck the remaining unbroken, blackened windows with her cane. The screech of tires caught her attention. Her skin grew clammy as the late model black hearse slammed on its brakes in the warehouse.
“Crystal, get down from there, now!” Robert hollered, the panic in his voice evident.
God, if Nicolai rode in the hearse, he could...
Suddenly he appeared before her on the top of the wooden crate. Transport himself.
Dark circles shaded the white skin beneath his eyes and the whites of his eyes were tinged red. She dashed for the sunlight and stood in its protective arms. A black robe, cinched at the waist, hid whatever garment he wore beneath it, and his feet were bare. His hair hung loosely over his shoulders, uncombed but shiny. Evidently, he’d come for her in a hurry.
“Crystal!” Robert cried out. He bolted for the ladder and began the climb up.
“I’m fine, Robert! He can’t get to me!” Dread bunched in knots in her stomach. Robert had to heed her warning.
“Robert, no!” Tom yelled, his voice deep and troubled.
She wanted to scream at Robert, shake him, make him understand he put both of them in further peril with his heroic actions.
Nicolai extended his hand to Crystal. “Come to me, my love, or the hunter dies.” His voice demanded her obedience.
“Return to your brothers, Robert! He can’t reach me, nor can he get to you if the four of you stick together!” God, why wouldn’t he listen to her?
Nicolai’s eyes pierced her with a penetrating command. “Come to me, before it’s too late for him. He doesn’t trust you to stay away from me.” His lips turned up. “Nor would I, if I were in his shoes.”
“Robert, go back!” Crystal’s eyes blurred with tears. Robert was forcing her to go to Nicolai by putting himself in harm’s way. Couldn’t he see what he was doing to her? She whipped the sword out of the cane. Unless Robert distracted Nicolai, she’d never strike the vampire with her sword in time. Not as strong as he was. And if Robert didn’t stay with his brothers with his hands free to fight, Nicolai could easily...
“One last chance.” Nicolai’s words were spoken ominously. If she didn’t obey him now...
The ladder creaked as Robert climbed up it, drawing closer every second. Nicolai watched her, but she could tell by the way he turned his head slightly toward Robert, he monitored the hunter’s progress with his sensitive hearing, calculating the precise moment when he would attack the defenseless hunter.
But just as she had difficulty in her heart with fighting the vampire, Robert had the same amount of turmoil in breaking off the attack. He was determined to protect her, no matter what. The thought would have consoled her some other time, under different circumstances.
Giving herself freely to a vampire wasn’t a choice she thought she’d ever have to make. She gulped back the tears when Nicolai stepped backwards to the edge of the crate and peered down. He glanced back at her. “Now, Crystal! Come to me!”
She stepped out of the sunlight, but stood with her heels on the border. She prayed Robert would have sense enough to back down and rejoin his brothers before it was too late for the both of them. If she lunged at Nicolai, he’d easily sidestep her action as far as she stood from him. Then he’d grab her. Once his hand held any part of her body...
“Come closer.” Nicolai’s voice commanded and pleaded at the same time, but she knew he’d kill Robert if she didn’t obey Nicolai.
With a deep breath, she blinked her eyes, swallowed hard, and took a step closer. If she moved much farther from the sunlight, she’d be his. The notion wrenched at her insides.
“Drop the sword.”
She let it slip from her hand. It fell with a clang on the wooden crate. At his mercy now, her shoulders sagged in defeat.
“He dies if you don’t come farther away from the sunlight. You know I’ll kill him.”
He would. Robert remained his competition, the only hunter who would fight for her life after her family abandoned her. Robert would continue to be an obstacle to Nicolai, until the vampire ended the hunter’s life. She faltered to move away from the sun’s rays as Nicolai commanded.
For the moment, if she did as he asked, Nicolai would take her away and leave Robert alone.
With a heavy heart, she took another step forward. Before she had time to think of her action, Nicolai swooped in front of her and grabbed her wrist.
He transported her to some place dark and confining. Her chest constricted as she fought screaming out in terror. He kissed her cheek. “Comfortable?”
He rested on top of her, his body suffocating her. His breathing grew more rushed as he nuzzled his face against hers pushing it aside so he could get to her neck. “Slightly confining and a bit difficult to do much of anything, but it’ll suffice until we return to my place.” He touched his mouth to the corner of hers.
“I can’t breathe,” she managed to squeak out. “Oh, my God, Nicolai.” Tears streaked her cheeks. “I can’t breathe.”
“There’s plenty of ventilation in here.”
She couldn’t stem the worst attack of claustrophobia she’d ever had as her fingers touched the silk-lined, padded coffin. Her heart pounded as she gasped for air. “Please, let me out of here.”
“I never thought I’d hear you beg for anything, my love.”
Her breath came rapidly. “Nicolai, please.” Her mouth, arms and legs tingled as they grew numb.
Robert and his brothers’ muffled shouts drew closer to where she was, distracting her momentarily. They came for her. They tried to save her.
Then the hearse screeched backwards in a hasty retreat. She closed her eyes, her stomach churning as if she rode on a roller coaster when the hearse twisted and turned, then dove forward. The tires squealed in angry response. Could Robert and his brothers rescue her before it was too late? The sinking feeling they wouldn’t manage in time, filled her with hopelessness.
Nicolai’s hand stroked her cheeks. “If I could, I’d make you sleep. Close your eyes and we’ll be there in a little while. Pretend you’re with me in my king-sized bed.”
Her panic spiraled into unreasonable fear. Being confined in a dark coffin underneath a bloodsucker, paralyzed her. “Let me out, please.” She choked on the words and squirmed beneath h
im, but even that caused her fear to escalate. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
He rested his face next to hers. “Sleep, my love.” His breathing grew shallow. He was falling asleep on top of her?
She would have screamed, if she could have gotten enough breath to do so.
She calmed her breathing and attempted to open a wrist blade, to no avail. With her hands pinned beside her thighs and no room to maneuver, she couldn’t do a blasted thing to help herself.
Why had Robert come to rescue her? Her face heated with anger. If he’d stayed with his brothers and she’d stayed in the sunlight...well, until the sun faded. Damn. Now she was Nicolai’s and unless she came up with one miracle of a plan, she’d be in a world of hurt.
She tried to wriggle her arm free. If she could shove the top to the coffin open and get some more air...Nicolai reached back and held her hand still.
“Lie still.” His words were said in an authoritative, grumpy manner. He hadn’t had enough sleep, and she was annoying him. He slipped his hand between their waists and tugged at the belt to his robe.
Her throat grew dry.
“The knot is burrowing into my stomach. Is it not the same for you?”
She hadn’t noticed, not with everything else that concerned her at the moment. But now that he mentioned it, a hard bulge poked her in the stomach, only she didn’t think it was the knot in his belt. And once he pulled his tie aside, the hardness remained.
He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. She shouldn’t have awakened him. Now she was in real trouble.
His tongue touched her neck, sending a chill down her spine. She shivered.
His lips curved up against her mouth. “I’m a night person, Crystal. You’ll find I’m much better at this in the evening hours. But if you keep disturbing my sleep, I’ll have to appease you now.”
She choked out a response. “I’m sorry, Nicolai. Go to sleep.”
He chuckled, the throaty sound deep, dark and deadly. If he made love to her, the hunters would have no choice but to kill her. No way could they allow her to carry a vampire in her womb, nor would they trust her to be a loyal huntress.
Too dark to see anything in the coffin, her fear elevated as his breathing grew rapid again. He combed his fingers through her hair while he kissed her neck. And then the softness of his mouth against her skin turned to something hard. His teeth? God, he was going to bite her. Her skin freckled with perspiration and she squirmed against him. Panic filled her again.
A nice bedtime snack? Even if he couldn’t turn her, if any hunter found her with bite marks in her neck, she was doomed.
Suddenly, the car’s tires screeched and men’s voices yelled out in panic. She steeled her back while she concentrated on the sounds outside of the coffin.
Nicolai hissed and squeezed her body hard. His actions warned her she was in trouble. If they crashed, he’d survive, but she might not.
The coffin slid forward and hit the seats in front, then slid back and banged against the car door.
Nicolai gripped her shoulders firmly as if he feared he’d lose her any second. The brakes squealed. The vehicle slammed into something like a wrecking ball smashed into a brick wall. A resounding crash filled the air. Metal ground against metal and panicked male voices shouted.
The vehicle teetered back and forth, then flew forward. Again an explosive crash followed. For several seconds the hearse rocked back and forth like a boat on troubled seas. Crystal’s heart pounded in her throat.
Nicolai continued to grasp her with a stranglehold.
“Master!”
Nicolai grumbled something under his breath. Then he shoved the coffin lid off. He never said a word, but slipped out of the coffin, then pulled Crystal from it. The dim light in the hearse from the darkly tinted windows gave her a momentary sense of relief. But it was at once squashed when the hearse sank into the darkness of a swiftly flowing river.
“Yes, master,” one of the hosts said who seized her arm. Undoubtedly the hosts had kept him informed of what was happening through telepathy. He pulled her into the front seat of the vehicle.
Water filled the inside of the hearse at an alarming rate as it drifted toward the bottom. Claustrophobia seized her all over again.
Once enough of the inside was filled with water, the pressure stabilized. The host opened the door. Crystal looked back, but couldn’t see any sign of Nicolai. Had he returned to his coffin?
The host grabbed her arm, then pulled her from the vehicle. The cold water chilled her instantly while she held her breath and fought her way to the surface. Being stronger, she dragged him halfway up.
When their heads bobbed to the surface, he released her and swam away. Every man for himself. But she was relieved because dragging him was like carrying a sack of wet cement.
The current pulled her sideways and though she headed for the shore, the water continued to push her downstream. Why had the hearse crashed into the water?
Pine trees and oaks lined every bit of the shoreline and she couldn’t figure out how they’d ended up in the water. After she dragged herself onto the shore, she looked back. A twisted metal railing dangled precariously over the side of the bridge crossing the river. She raised her brows. They’d flown through that?
Thank goodness for inattentive host drivers. Then she stood up straighter and squinted her eyes. A white convertible and SUV drove slowly onto the bridge, then stopped. Her heart leapt in her chest. Robert and his brothers!
“Oh, oh!” Crystal jumped up and down, waving at them. The brothers all piled out of the cars and looked into the water. She ran along the tree-lined shore, sometimes having to step into the water to get around the branches.
“Robert!” She continued to run and shout, stumbling over exposed tree roots, and tripping over rocks. “Robert!” They couldn’t leave her behind now.
But they didn’t seem to either hear or see her. “Robert!”
The men continued to point at the river and stare into its dark depths.
She must have been a mile downstream still. And trying to get through the forested riverbank slowed her down too much. Her voice grew hoarse with her screams. They had to see her.
She glanced at the broiling water. Nicolai couldn’t drown, that’s why he stayed with the hearse and made the host take her to the surface for air. But when it grew dark, Nicolai would come for her again once they retrieved the hearse from the river.
Panic filled her as she attempted to reach the bridge. If Robert and his brothers drove off now, she was sure she’d never make it to Robert’s home safely.
She turned her attention to the bridge. “Robert!”
At the rustling of the pine’s thick, needled branches, she jerked her gaze upwards. The sight of three hosts, their hair and clothes soaking wet, stole her breath away. They shoved branches aside and headed straight for her.
Chapter 14
Something splashed into the river downstream, catching Robert’s eye. His heart dropped. “Down there!” he shouted to his brothers. “Damn, hosts...must be!”
Mark ran for the high-powered rifles.
“There!” Robert shouted as the men headed toward someone swimming in the river. “It’s got to be Crystal.”
“We can’t get there with the vehicles,” Tom said. “There’s no road.”
Robert shook his head. “Just use the tranquilizer darts on the hosts. I’ll get Crystal.”
He dashed to the end of the bridge then down the hill. Running along the edge of the water, his heart beat out of control. The two rifles fired, the shots sounding like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. Two of the hosts collapsed on the riverbank. The third host paddled out to Crystal as she attempted to swim against the push of the river.
“Crystal!” Robert shouted. But she didn’t seem to hear him over the flow of the river.
He broke branches and slogged through the water at the edge of the riverbank to make headway. Gunfire popped in the air again. The lone host swam f
or shore, crept onto the bank, then collapsed.
Robert attempted to slow his rapid breathing, fearing she’d drown in the river before he ever reached her. “Crystal!”
When he reached the halfway mark to her location, she looked up from her struggle in the turbulent river and saw him. Her face brightened with a smile, instantly tugging at his heartstrings, and bolstering him.
She dragged herself to the shore. With her energy spent, she collapsed under the trees.
His own adrenaline surged to an all time high as he half-waded, half ran to her, slapping the needled evergreen’s branches out of his way. Yet his thoughts shifted that bloodsucker, Nicolai. What had he done to her in the time he’d been alone with her in the hearse? Robert’s neck muscles tightened and his throat constricted. He had to force the dark thoughts from his mind. Her safety remained tantamount.
When he reached her, she held her hand up to him and smiled. “Thank God you’re all right, Robert.”
He lifted her in his arms and kissed her cheek. She’d worried about him! His heart soared with the notion. Here it was she who was the one in so much danger. Her body was warm and wet and alive. He never wanted to let go of her, ever. “We had a devil of a time chasing the hearse. By the time we jumped into our vehicles, we lost track of them. We were lucky to find them again.”
He carried her toward the bridge slowly, trying not to get them tangled in the web of branches stretching out to the river. He hugged her tighter. “Are you all right, honey?”
She snuggled against his chest. “Yes, if you hold me tight like this.”
He had to know. Had Nicolai... Robert glanced up at the bridge. Samuel and Mark still held their rifles at the ready, just in case more hosts arrived. He imagined his brothers wore frowns and were as concerned as he was about what had happened between Nicolai and Crystal.
She took a deep breath and spoke firmly, “He didn’t get to me, Robert.”
He looked down at her face. She smiled half-heartedly...totally angelic. Relief flooded his system all at once giving him a burst of renewed energy. Thank God. But they weren’t out of danger yet. He squeezed her against his chest.
Terry Spear - Vampire Page 19