“What’s wrong? Tell me all about it.” Lydia and I have always relied on each other, because we had lost our families all those years ago. Lydia was my sister and my mother all wrapped up in a best friend package.
“It’s Dragus,” I pulled back from the embrace to wipe bloody tears from my eyes. “We had sex.” I suddenly became a blubbering idiot and couldn’t finish telling her what happened. Wiping the tears just made twice as many roll down my cheeks.
Lydia’s eyes popped wide, “Was it that bad?”
I laughed through the tears, “We had a fight. I ruined everything and it was so perfect.” I sat down in the kitchen chair and poured myself a double dose of Merlot a la B positive. After a few sips, I was feeling better physically. “I haven’t talked to him since and I don’t know if I will ever see him again.” I dropped my head into my hands shamefully and sobbed more.
“I don’t think he will quit seeing you just over one little fight,” she laughed.
“Well, I think I undermined him. He’s a warrior and expects people do as he says. I basically told him I was going to do what I wanted to do.”
“Good for you, Charity. Can you tell me what happened?” she asked.
Lydia forced the whole story out of me, even some of the good parts. Hey, it’s what girls do. She was a little miffed that he was going all ‘warrior’ on me, and put the blame solely on Dragus. She finally gave in and agreed that I should do what I can to help Adam. I don’t know if she was doing this for me, or because she wanted to get back at Dragus.
“I’ll help with the potion. Remember when I studied with Genevieve in Paris? Well, I remember her talking about there had been something similar going on before we got there. They had made a potion and given it to the vampires who had recently been bit. It worked on them, but not the ones that were more like Adam. The ones who had been tainted for more than a few days,” she sat back in her seat trying to remember what she had learned.
I, on the other hand was completely clueless when it came to these potions. “Kai said that she needed to find some Wolfsbane and that it’s a little scarce. You need to call her and let her know that you are willing to help.”
“Yeah, over the past few decades, it’s been harder and harder to find. I’ll call her at sunset tomorrow.” Lydia reached over, grabbed the bottle of wine and poured herself another goblet full; add a little blood and she was set.
I have to admit the blood wine mixture was very addictive. By the time we emptied the bottle of Merlot, we were a little more than tipsy. Our serious conversation had turned into playful bantering. Lydia attempted to stand and almost fell flat on her face. I tried using my vamp speed to catch her, but my vision was so blurry, I zoomed right past her and slammed my shoulder into the refrigerator.
“Ow, bloody hell that hurt!” I laughed. We both ended up on the floor flat on our backsides with the empty wine bottle between us. We laid there laughing so hard that we didn’t even notice Ashby and Dragus standing in the door way.
“Oops,” Lydia’s lips made a little popping sound and she lost it. She rolled over on the floor and held her sides as she laughed. “Arrest me officers, I’m drunk.” She looked up at Ashby who what trying his hardest to maintain his tough Krieger exterior.
“Lydia,” I hiccupped. “I think I have an intruder. Should we scream?” I noticed Dragus was staring back and forth between me and the bottle. Yeah, granted we were drunk, but he couldn’t say anything. At least we were at home and not out driving on the roads like this. He was concerned; I know he was, because I felt it. Dragus was worried that our fight had caused me to get drunk. “Don’t flatter yourself Krieger. This is so not about you. I’ve had a rough few weeks and I needed this!” For added emphasis, I gestured toward the empty bottle of Merlot on the floor.
His jaw tightened, then he took a deep breath, “We just came in to keep you up to date on our progress, but this will have to wait till tomorrow, when you are more…yourself, Charity.” Dragus turned on one heal and headed for the door. Like a child, I stuck my tongue out at him, behind his back. “I saw that.” Good, I’m glad he did. Damn mind reading Krieger! I did it again. I heard him laugh as he closed the front door.
I turned to Lydia and she was beet red, “Go ahead and laugh.” We both ended up rolling on the floor for a few minutes, until Lydia could catch her breath.
“You…are…in…so…much…trouble,” she said through her hysterical laughter. Before I could protest, she pulled another bottle of Merlot out from the cabinet and scooped up our two goblets before sitting them in the floor. I had to carefully get myself off the floor, but I managed to open the refrigerator and pull out another pint of blood.
“I know, he’s not happy with me right now,” I shrugged. “How dare him to come in here and judge me!” Oh, now I was getting mad because, damn it, I deserved this time with Lydia.
“I bet he has never even gotten drunk. He’s always so…warrior. Have you noticed that?” she asked. All I could think was that he wasn’t anything near warrior on the inside. That thought had me tearing up again, but I gave myself a quick ass kicking and sucked it up.
“Yep, he is,” I laughed. “I call it his ‘me-warrior-you-woman’ attitude. I hate it!” I made sure my mind was wide open, so he could pick up my tone. I hope he heard every bit of our conversation.
“Oh, Char, you need to let him sweep you off your feet. He’s a Krieger. I would actually love it if I had a warrior wanting me to stay home and be at his beckon call.” Lydia shrugged.
“Oh, no you wouldn’t,” I shivered. “You’re just old fashioned. I, on the other hand, have embraced the ways of the world. The only time I want to be dominated is in the bedroom.” I looked over at Lydia and she was smiling at something. “What?”
“Oh nothing,” she shied away and I had to know what she was thinking.
“Come on, spill! I told you something. You need to give me some gossip.” I poured her another round and one for myself.
“You know my rule about no vampire lovers? Besides Walter?” she asked and I nodded. “Well, that Ashby makes me have second thoughts.” Lydia actually pretended to swoon and that brought out a whole new round of laughter from the both of us.
Chapter 9
Dragus
I walked out of her house absolutely enraged. Ashby walked beside me hiding a smile. He thought the whole situation was funny. I did not.
“C’mon Dragus, you have to laugh at that,” he chuckled.
“No, I don’t,” I growled. “Charity is acting like a child!” My anger had him hesitate a bit before he walked around the truck. I could tell he wanted to argue with me on her behalf, but I was in no mood to listen to him.
Once inside the vehicle, I turned the radio on and changed the station to something with a lot of noise. We had a good twenty minute drive ahead of us back into town. I needed a few minutes to think.
I don’t understand why Charity was to be my mate. We are nothing alike. She is absolutely frustrating to be around. When I envisioned her, I expected her to be at my side and under my protection. Charity prides herself on her independence. Why doesn’t she let me handle this for her? I am the strongest of our breed and she openly defies my wishes.
My hands clinched so hard around the steering wheel, I thought it may snap. With a heavy sigh, I loosened my grip and reached over to turn the music down so I could talk to Ashby. “Why does she go against everything I tell her to do?”
“She’s a strong minded woman, brother. You can’t expect her to drop everything and become a June Cleaver type.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug. “You two are just alike.”
“How so?” I asked because, to me we were nothing alike.
“You’re both independent and stubborn,” he laughed. I turned to pierce him with my eyes that were a little red to show my disgust. He held his hands up in surrender. “You asked, so I told you what I think.”
“Why does she irritate me?” I growled.
“Because
you love her,” he paused. “I can see it when you look at her. She is your mate after all, Dragus. Don’t push her away, it will only cause heartache. Try to compromise with her on a few things.
“Now you see why I would never do that dream walking thing. I want to find her on my own.”
“Yeah, you’re the hopeless romantic,” I laughed.
As much as I wanted to deny his reasoning, I could plainly see that he was right. I couldn’t control her life. That was something I didn’t want to do to her. With my duties, the last thing I needed was someone who was weak and needed to be watched around the clock.
In fact, Charity did need to be protected at all times. She could be a Lady of the Krieger in the next few months, and she would be a target of our enemies. The hunters, the Lycans and any number of people who want to see our kind destroyed.
My thoughts were interrupted when my cell phone rang. It was Bastian.
“We’ve found an abandon vehicle about three miles west of Ms. Harwood’s home. There’s been another Lycan attack. You need to come take a look at this.”
“We’re on the way. Is there a victim?” Any chance we can get the victim to the hospital for monitoring is good. That way we can observe the changing process they experience. Unlike the last time, a century ago, we can’t dispatch them without cause. And with the progress with medicine, they can be studied better.
“The car’s registration comes back to a civilian vampire, Samuel Jones. No sign of him, but there is massive amounts of blood and claw marks on the car. We think that he was carried off into the forest.” I hung up the phone and turned around to head off to his location.
When we arrived, Bastian was standing there with two human officers. He handed a clipboard over to the oldest policeman. They were back in their patrol car and off the scene before Ashby and I had a chance to get out of ours.
The vehicle was a complete mess. The hood had been clawed and the windshield broken. Blood saturated the driver’s seat and steering wheel. I noticed there was a trail of blood that led from the car to the side of the road. It disappeared into the forest. My assumption is that the man who was driving this car was now some Lycan’s dinner.
“Alright, get this cleaned up and take his belonging to the station. Contact the victim’s family and let them know,” I insisted.
The stretch of road we were standing on wasn’t too far from the main highway into Port Royal. The intersection was less than a mile from our location. Charity drove past this road every time she had to work.
Ashby stayed behind to assist Bastian with the crime scene. I made my way over to the estate to see two of my recruits.
Instead of parking up by the mansion, I stopped in front of the dorms. My two oldest and brightest recruits, William and Brock, had been roommates since their first day here.
“Brock, William,” I knocked heavily. “Open the door.” I heard them scurry to get to the door and had to laugh at their panic. The door flew open and the two of them looked absolutely scared to death.
“Yes, Master Dragus,” Brock stepped forward. His voice was a little shaky. “What…what can we do for you sir?”
“I have an assignment for you two,” I smiled. “You wanted field work, right?”
The both nodded and William smiled, “What did you have in mind?”
“You will be on bodyguard duty for Ms. Charity Harwood. She is to be protected at all cost. When you address her, you will address her as Charity, nothing else. You are not allowed to handle her unless she is in danger and I want a daily report from you one hour before sunrise each day. Do you understand?” I watched as they contemplated their job. It didn’t take long before they were smiling.
“Yes, Master. When do we start?” William asked.
“Tomorrow evening at dusk, meet me at her residence. I will have her information sent over to you tonight.”
After I left them at the dorms, my next stop for the evening was the hospital. Two more victims were found, both with Lycan bite wounds. Powle had found them on the west side of the forest.
I walked up to the nurse’s station in the I.C.U. and found Nurse Alice with her head hung low over a stack of charts. She looked up at me and smiled, “Master Dragus, how can I help you this evening?”
“How are the new patients?”
“Well, they are stable and sedated right now. We’re waiting on one of the doctors to come and evaluate them.” She stood up and walked around the desk. The nurse was rather nervous and I could sense she wanted to talk to me about something in private.
“Do you need to speak to me?” I pointed to the end of the hallway, where there was a quiet corner we could talk.
“It’s about Richard Somers,” she paused. “We’ve had to keep him restrained. When he does wake up from being sedated, he…um, he says things to the nurses that make them uncomfortable.”
“What kind of things?” I demanded.
She tilted her head down as if she was embarrassed, “He speaks demeaning words to the females, sexually explicit words that I do not care to repeat.”
“You did the right thing by telling me. I will send someone over to guard his room.” I patted her on the shoulder and followed her back to the nurse’s station.
We were up to six patients, that we had found who had been bitten by the Lycanthropes. Adam Castillo was still missing and he was the one I wanted to speak with the most. He was responsible for Charity’s accident and if he survived this, he would be brought up on charges. Charity held a soft spot in her heart for this hybrid, because they share the same ability.
I’ve seen it too many times over the centuries. Most vampires usually befriend others who share their special talent. The thought of Adam getting anywhere close to Charity again had me seeing red.
In fact, the thought of another male getting close to her, caused my blood to boil. Charity’s protection was my main concern. I wanted her close to me or at least within my reach at all times. She was mine and no one else’s.
That thought brought me up a little short. I shouldn’t be thinking of her like that, because I sound like a bonded male. Am I ready for a bonding ceremony with her? I have no idea.
But the thought of letting her go out on her own, caused me severe pain. She should never be alone. This is why I am hiring both Brock and William.
Back at the Krieger Estate, I retired to my room. Sunrise was a few minutes away. Before I climbed into my bed, I e-mailed the Campeche Beach Krieger, requesting they send a few of their men to help us out.
This evening, I would be at Charity’s home to grovel at her feet and apologize for the way I acted. Ashby was right; I have no right to tell her what to do. It’s all about a compromise. I just hope she will understand the two guards that will be following her around.
Charity
Vampires get hangovers too.
I tried to open my eyes, but it hurt like hell. Rolling over was almost impossible, because I was pressed up against something hard. Had I fallen out of bed and slept in the floor? I moaned then rolled over onto my stomach. It took me a few seconds to realize I was still in the bed and not on the floor. Forcing my eyes open, I saw a blurry figure lying next to me in the bed.
“Aah!” I jumped up off the bed and landed in defense mode. I looked like a pajama clad ninja, standing there, glaring blurry eyed at my attacker. My eyes struggled to clear then I realized what my back had been pressed against. I stood up straight and took a deep breath. “Dragus! How the hell did you get in here?”
He simply laughed and twirled a very familiar key ring around his pointy finger. “You may have great security, but if you leave the key to your room on the kitchen counter, it won’t do you a bit of good.”
I turned around a sat on the edge of my bed. My head hurt like it had been used as a drum, but this silence was killing me more. I didn’t want to talk to him, because I was still mad.
“I’m sorry mi amado,” he whispered. Soft hands stroked my bare shoulder. The spaghetti strap on my camisole h
ad fallen down and left a small part of my back exposed.
“I’m mad at you and you’re being nice,” I huffed. “I don’t like it. I want to be mad at you.” Before I knew what was happening, Dragus had scooped me up in his massive arms and kissed me. I struggled in his arms; hitting his massive shoulders with my fist. Damn, he is strong. I felt him smile before he deepened the kiss. His need was evident and I had no strength to fight him.
Our lips parted and I tasted his musky scent as it blew over my face. His tongue searched greedily for mine as we fell back across my bed. I had to pull back slightly so I could take a breath. “Why are you here?” I pressed my lips to his just one more time.
He rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, “The Lycanthropes are attacking. Just like Adam had told you. They’re hunting vampires and the ones that have been bitten are attacking humans. We’ve stepped up patrols in the city and have called in reinforcements from Campeche Beach to help search the city.”
“How many are missing?” I asked.
“So far there have been twelve missing person reports filed,” he sighed. “Six more are in the hospital being evaluated.”
“Well, I talked to Kai,” here goes nothing. If he didn’t like it then we were going have round two here in the bedroom. Dragus nodded for me to continue. “She is working with the other witches to make up a potion for us to try.”
“Good, the doctors at the hospital are working around the clock to work on anti-venom as well.”
I couldn’t believe he was letting me do this, without arguing. His understanding melted any anger I had for him. For some reason, I was beginning to understand his concern. I scooted over and place a hand on his shoulder and leaned my cheek against his cold leather coat. He leaned back and let me wrap my free arm around his waist.
“Okay, if you’re willing to work with me, then I’m willing to work with you,” I sighed. “How dangerous is it out there? Do I need to take precautions?”
Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger Page 13