“Where are we going?”
Crystal wasn’t sure she could trust Lila totally. Could the vampires still read her mind or control her? She was human and humans were easily controlled. Most likely, both Nicolai and Dimitri were strong enough to do so.
But Crystal couldn’t abandon her. Then she thought of the hunter’s house whose wife had been killed by the blond-haired male vampire. She turned left at the next street. With constant switchbacks, she headed for the house.
“Where are we going?” Lila asked again.
“Somewhere safe, I hope.”
Crystal pulled into the dark alley beside the house. No sign of either of the vehicles had plagued her for a good twenty minutes. She jumped out of the car, then hurried to Lila’s side. “Come on, Lila. We must hurry.”
Lila moved as if in slow motion, still in shock.
Crystal locked the car doors, then led Lila to the window she’d found open before. It was open again.
She hesitated, until she saw headlights approaching from a parallel street. “Come on, Lila. Get inside.”
She helped Lila climb into the window. Then she joined her and shut it tight and locked the latch.
First one, then the other SUV pulled in front of the house and parked. Eight men piled out of the cars, the doors slamming one after another. “They know we’re here,” Crystal said under her breath. “But why are they making no effort to come in?” She rubbed her arms. They’d report back to Nicolai once the sun finished setting, then he’d come for her.
Lila stared out the window. “What will they do to me?”
“The other vampires won’t want you alive, Lila,” Crystal said, then took her hand and led her into the kitchen. She flipped on the light switch. “Sit here and I’ll make sure the house is locked up tight.”
Crystal checked the kitchen window. Locked. She ran back into the living room and checked the main picture window. Locked.
The hosts stood in the front yard just waiting. For what?
She turned to go toward the bedrooms, but Lila stood in the living room, staring at the picture window. Crystal dashed for her and snatched her arm. After turning on the light in the hallway, she led her down it. “We’re going to check the rooms and make sure the windows are all locked.”
Crystal pulled Lila into the first of the rooms. She turned on the light, then checked the window in the bedroom while Lila remained standing in the doorway. The window was locked.
Lila giggled.
Frowning at her, Crystal said, “What’s the matter, Lila?”
“Nothing.” She chuckled again.
Was she hysterical?
“Lila, I want you to lie down. I’m going to cover you with some blankets. I think you’re in shock and--”
“He wants you badly, mistress. He comes for you. This time you can’t keep him out.”
Lila would be her downfall.
Kostya no longer controlled her. But someone else did. Who? Nicolai? Dimitri?
Crystal’s heart sank to an all time low. “Is he speaking to you?”
Lila’s face brightened in a smile.
“Do you remember about your family, Lila?”
“They’re gone.”
“Where?”
She shrugged. “Left me behind. But I have family here. They love and protect me.”
Whoever now controlled her, wiped the memories of her family from her mind again. The realization forced Crystal to weigh her options in a hurry. She wouldn’t be safe in the same house with the host. She was torn between caring for the woman and hating her for putting Crystal in a worse bind than before. Lila would no doubt let them in.
Crystal considered her cane. If she could knock Lila out, she could slip back out of the house, and maybe make her escape in her car. She breathed in deeply. No matter how much she longed for her freedom, she couldn’t hit the woman. Lila couldn’t help what she’d become.
Ropes. If Crystal could tie her up, she could still get away. Or she could slip out the window, get to her car, and leave. She bolted for the den window leaving Lila behind. But when she grabbed the sill and peered outside, she saw two of the hosts letting the air out of her tires. All she could do was remain in the house and keep Lila from letting Nicolai in.
Crystal kept her cane readied as she dashed back down the hall, where Lila watched her curiously. She took Lila’s hand and returned her to the bedroom. Keeping her cane readied, Crystal pulled drawers open with her left hand. Nothing that could be used as rope. She motioned to the hallway. “Step back and walk to the right down the hall.”
Crystal followed her, then motioned to the room to the right.
Lila peeked in and smiled. “Bathroom.” She pushed the light switch up.
Crystal entered the small narrow room after her. A sliding glass door provided privacy to the bather. A double sink and commode filled the rest of the room. A small window sat high above. Crystal stepped past Lila and found the window locked.
Lila grinned at her. “He’s so pleased you’ll be his tonight.”
“I won’t be his, Lila. Ever.”
She made her way past the woman and stepped into the hallway.
“Come on.” Crystal motioned for Lila to join her.
She just grinned back at her.
A spicy scent wafted in the air, instantly filling Crystal with dread. She whirled around.
Dimitri stared back at her. He wore the identical scent that Nicolai wore. His dark eyes penetrated hers while his lips turned up a smidgen. “Expecting someone else?” He tilted his head to the side slightly, as if emphasizing both the question, and his amusement at seeing her so surprised. “I waited for you in the next bedroom, but got tired of the delay.”
He grabbed her wrist before she could free her sword from the cane. She turned and looked out the window. The last light had already faded from the sky. She twisted her wrist free, but he captured her other hand.
Her world turned black as the wind whipped in her face and instantaneously, her vision cleared, but her disorientation continued as she considered the black sofas in a house she’d never visited before.
She twisted her head looking for signs of Lila amongst the vampires and their hosts. Seeing none, she turned to Dimitri. His dark hair was neatly tied back. His black shirt was open showing a smidgen of dark hair against his pale chest. She looked up to see his dark eyes observing her every move.
His lips and eyes smiled slightly. “Are you surprised?”
“Where’s Lila?”
His lips turned up. “I would think you’d be angry with her for wishing you to join us. Are you still concerned for her?”
“She can’t help herself.”
“Yes, well I can see you’re not like your kind at all. They’d not have hesitated to kill her. She led you to your capture. Every move you made, she relayed to us. Any other hunter would have killed her for their own self preservation.”
Crystal clenched her teeth. Lila couldn’t help herself. And nothing short of Lila’s trying to hurt a hunter would make Crystal turn against the woman.
Dimitri raised his brows. “Somehow, I expected you to ask about someone else.”
“You mean Nicolai?” She wrenched her arm free from Dimitri.
He grinned. “Yes.” He touched her lips with the tip of his finger. She stepped back from him. “I thought he would have been uppermost on your mind.”
“Does he know you’ve brought me here?”
“Why spoil the fun? Losers, keepers. That sort of thing.”
“You can’t mean to keep me for your own...against your brother’s wishes.”
“Your brothers...well, your whole family turned against you. Happens all the time. Nicolai will get over it when he finds someone else. He has forever, you know.”
“Really?” Nicolai cleared his throat as he strode into the room.
Chapter 18
Dimitri shoved Crystal behind him. “I’m the eldest, therefore the head of the family, Nicolai. She’ll be mine.”<
br />
Nicolai stood several feet away from them, dressed in black trousers and a black silk shirt with blousy sleeves. They cuffed at the wrists making him look like a well-dressed pirate, powerful, sexy, and lethal.
He shifted his gaze from Dimitri to her. “Go upstairs and wait for me there.”
The only place she was going was outside and away from all this. No way could she handle the two brothers at once. She headed for the door, her cane in hand, but several vampires blocked her escape. They were better prepared for her this time.
All were male, dressed in black, and had their long silky hair tied back in ponytails. They didn’t appear to be fledglings. They seemed intent on her actions, though Dimitri and Nicolai’s were bound to heat up and distract them.
She faced Nicolai.
He lowered his chin. “Go upstairs.” His words were spoken with a hint of a threat.
She yanked her sword out of the cane.
He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “Very well.”
She expected him to attack her, but Dimitri lunged at his brother instead. She took a step back.
Both bared their teeth, and then Dimitri sank his canines into Nicolai’s shoulder. Nicolai gagged with the pain, but didn’t scream out. Was he trying to brave it for her sake? Her stomach sickened as his shoulder dripped with blood. She’d never seen two vampires fighting one another. In fact, no other hunter had probably witnessed such a spectacle. Would one of the brothers kill the other? If so, maybe she could end the other’s life.
She eyed the vampires who guarded the door. Though they’d been watching Nicolai and Dimitri, as soon as she turned to look at them, they focused on her. Nicolai must have given them the order that no matter what, she wasn’t leaving the house.
The determination on their faces, their set jaws and fixed gazes told her even if she killed the remaining brother, she’d never get out of the house alive. Not without other hunters to help her. But she wasn’t about to give up hope...not yet.
She dashed across the living area toward what appeared to be the kitchen, but three vampires appeared in front of her. They weren’t fledglings. Their swift movement and concentration showed they were stronger vampires. She swallowed hard, trying to douse the hopelessness that threatened to undo her.
Something broke with a crash. She shifted her attention to Nicolai and Dimitri. Nicolai held Dimitri’s throat pinned against the wall with his hand, but a table lamp had been knocked off in the process and lay shattered on the floor.
Dimitri clawed at him, trying to get free, then stamped his feet against the wall and shoved Nicolai back. This time Nicolai sank his teeth into Dimitri’s throat and tore.
Crystal’s legs wobbled. One of the vampires standing behind her grabbed her arm to steady her. A taller vampire seized her sword. She lunged forward to retake it as the other yanked her back. The vampire that held her sword ran forward with it and shoved the ivory hilt into Nicolai’s outstretched hand.
He was going to kill his own brother with a hunter’s weapon?
Dimitri’s eyes widened. He hissed, but as Nicolai drew the sword back to thrust it into his brother’s heart, the vampire who still held her arm, transported her upstairs.
She blinked her eyes, then stared at the black drapes covering the bed. She ran for the doorway. Two vampires appeared. This time their somber faces smiled back at her. She was finally Nicolai’s. Is that what they assumed? She’d kill herself first. She opened both wrist blades.
The vampires didn’t react.
She’d kill herself after she killed them. She swung her hand at the shorter of the two, but a hand caught her wrist from behind.
Expecting it to be the vampire who transported her to the room, she dropped her mouth open when it was Nicolai instead.
He nodded to the others and they left the room. “If you’re wondering why no one protected Dimitri, what he did wasn’t honorable. I’d claimed you and unless I was dead, he had no right to try to take you from me.”
Grabbing her other wrist, he restrained her then maneuvered her against the wall. “You’ll have to remove those knives of yours before you join me in bed.”
His shoulder dripped with blood and the bloodlust filled his eyes. She attempted to wriggle free, but his long fingers gripped her wrists firmly like a vise.
“Did you like what you saw of me earlier today?” He licked her lips. “I had you well distracted for a few moments, didn’t I?” His lips curved up.
He kissed her mouth and moved his body against hers, rubbing his hard desire against her. She closed her eyes. Their breathing accelerated. The only one she wanted to be this close and intimate with was Robert.
Nicolai ran his warm tongue down her neck. Again she squirmed against his hold. His hot breath came heavier as he fought biting her. “We’ve learned you can’t poison us, my love. But to enjoy our joining, you must relax. With the humans, it’s easy to control their minds and put them at ease. With you, I cannot do this. But if you don’t relax, you’ll suffer. I want the experience to be pleasurable for the both of us.”
“You can’t do it then, Nicolai. I could never take a bite from you or any other without fearing it.”
He jerked her hands above her head and held on with one hand. His fingers massaged her breasts, making her heart still. “Maybe not now, but later, when you’ve learned you’re one of us, you’ll enjoy it. But I won’t wait for that day.”
He grasped her chin and turned her head up and to the side. “Relax, Crystal. I would drug you to help calm you, but it will affect me too once I’ve had your blood. That wouldn’t do for what comes afterwards.”
She couldn’t relax. Her muscles twitched with tension. Her stomach tightened with fear. Now she realized dying at the bite of a vampire was preferable to living with his bite mark imprinted on her neck forever, even if he couldn’t turn her. But what if he could?
Her struggles increased. He frowned at her. “Why is it you always do the opposite of what I tell you to do?”
“That’s what you like about me. I won’t give in.”
He smiled. “You’re right.”
His fangs extended as his eyes darkened. This time no matter how much she tried to wrench herself free, she couldn’t break loose.
Screams downstairs met her ears and Nicolai took a ragged breath. “The hunter comes for you, but he won’t save you this time. As soon as I kill him, I’ll take you far from here. No one will ever find you again.”
Robert. For an instant, she had hope. And then hopelessness as Nicolai sank his teeth into her neck. The pain streaked through her body like a bolt of forked lightning. She screamed out. Tears filled her eyes as she choked back the torture. She’d lost the game and the overwhelming feeling of defeat sapped any bit of energy she had remaining. Or was it Nicolai’s draining of her blood that weakened her so?
It didn’t matter. She was a dead huntress, one way or the other. Normal huntresses could never live with bite marks...so they’d assume if she had them, she was one of the vampires.
Robert rushed into the room. His eyes grew big as his jaw tightened with the sight of Nicolai at her throat. Both she and Robert had lost. She quit struggling as control over her body slipped away from her.
Robert charged Nicolai with his sword drawn.
He was too angry, too distracted to kill an ancient vampire. She had to end Nicolai’s life instead. And then beg Robert to kill her.
Nicolai withdrew his fangs from her neck and released her hands. Before he could kill Robert, she dove in front of the bloodsucker, the will to protect Robert overcoming the weakness she felt. She thrust her wrist knife into his chest, penetrating the heart. He screamed out and struck her hard. She fell against the wall like a rag doll tossed away by an angry child.
Robert jammed his sword into Nicolai’s heart, the vampire already collapsing to his knees, and wizening before their eyes. Robert pulled his blade out and struck again. It didn’t matter that Crystal had already killed Nicolai. Robert co
uldn’t control his built-up rage.
Nicolai’s skin grew decimated within seconds and his lifeless body disintegrated on the floor.
Robert dropped his sword and lifted Crystal off the carpet.
“You have to kill me, Robert.” Tears streaked down her face. She couldn’t help the emotions that welled up inside her. But she was too weak to kill herself.
His brothers rushed into the room.
He motioned to his sword. “Get it for me, will you.” His words were full of anguish, harsh and concerned.
Then he carried her into the hall and down the stairs. Mark rushed past him to protect him.
Crystal pleaded with him, “No, no, Robert. Kill me and leave me with the rest of them.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down and he swallowed hard. “Nobody knows what’ll happen.” He kissed her cheek, then hurried her outside. “But it doesn’t matter, Crystal. Mark’s right. You’ve hooked me and I won’t let you go, ever.”
She gripped his shirt. “You can’t have me...not like this.”
Through blurry eyes she saw Boniface and Victor rushing toward them.
“Did he get her?” Boniface asked.
Robert swore under his breath. “She’s my concern. Get out of my path.”
Both her brothers looked at her with creases wrinkling their foreheads in worry.
“Sure, Robert. She’s yours,” Boniface said.
She stretched her hand out to Victor. He was the sensible one of her twin brothers. “End it now, Victor. Robert won’t do it. But he’s wrong. He can’t do it, but we both know it has to be done.”
“Take her away from here,” Boniface said. “Our family will get rid of the rest of them in the area. Once she’s gone, that’ll be the end of it.”
“Boniface,” she begged.
He shook his head. She attempted to use her own knife on herself, but Mark and Samuel grabbed her wrists and removed the blades.
Robert set her in his car, then fastened her seatbelt. “Samuel, you’re driving?”
Mark handed Robert his sword. “I’ll ride shotgun with Tom.”
Boniface and Victor shook the men’s hands, then leaned into the car and kissed Crystal’s cheeks.
Terry Spear - Vampire Page 24