Rajmund

by D. B. Reynolds

Peeling off Raj's sweatshirt, she held it to her face, inhaling the warm smell that was eau de Raj. It was the only reason she'd slept in it, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone, least of all him. He wasn't exactly lacking in the arrogance department. Or any other department, she thought wickedly. Feeling somewhat smug, she donned a sports bra and underwear and then pulled on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. She might have to stay inside, but it was a very big warehouse. More than big enough to give her a place to run.

  An hour later, Sarah was pounding around the parked SUVs one more time, ducking instinctively as she started along the wall beneath the overhang of the mezzanine balcony. There were empty offices here and she wondered what this warehouse had once been used for. Manufactured goods maybe, from the good old days when Buffalo had been the heart of the steel belt. Now gone to rust like everything else.

  She swerved away from the wall to avoid the open grids of the metal stairway and headed toward the living area. Simon was tapping away on his computers. He didn't even look up when she ran past, just as he hadn't on the previous nineteen circuits. She kept going until she hit the stairs again before deciding she'd tormented her body enough for one day and gave up. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't gotten plenty of exercise the night before. She smiled at the thought and slowed even further, shaking her legs out in a small circle at the foot of the stairs, intending to go directly to her room and into a hot shower.

  "Hi."

  Sarah jumped about two feet straight up, spinning around to stare at the waiflike young woman sitting about a third of the way up the stairs.

  "I'm Nina,” the woman said when Sarah blinked at her in confusion. “You must be Sarah."

  "Uh, yeah. Sorry, but who're you?"

  "Oh, they didn't tell you?

  "Tell me what?"

  The girl blushed and Sarah felt like an ass. She was a skinny, little thing, barely there in a too summery dress and pink sweater, clutching one of those tiny, pink rhinestone-covered cell phones with fingers that were more bone than flesh. And she was gazing up at Sarah with faded blue eyes in a pale face that seemed too old for her years.

  "Sorry,” Sarah said again. “You just surprised me, that's all. I didn't know anyone else was here. Well, except for the guards, you know, and Simon."

  "Yeah,” the girl said vaguely.

  "So, who are you again?"

  "Nina,” she repeated, as if that meant something.

  "Are you with one of the human guards?” More likely, Sarah thought privately, this child was with one of the vampires. She certainly looked like she'd been drained of not just blood, but vitality.

  "No. I'm with Byron and Serge."

  "Are they here too?"

  "No,” the girl said sadly.

  Sarah was beginning to think maybe Nina wasn't playing with a full deck. “Okay. I've got to, uh, go upstairs and, um, shower, so I'll just . . .” She took a step toward the stairs, intending to go over or around the waiflike Nina, but the girl suddenly came alive.

  "Do you have any magazines to read?"

  Sarah stopped with one foot on the stair and frowned. “I might have something in my car."

  Nina brightened. “Is your car here?"

  "Well, yeah, but—"

  "Maybe you could take me to the store then!"

  "Oh. No. I can't do that. I mean I promised—"

  "Oh."

  The girl seemed so downcast that Sarah felt compelled to add, “But I can look in my car. I probably have something to read. Maybe not a magazine, but I'm sure there's a book or two."

  "What kind?” Nina asked uncharitably.

  "Romance, I guess. Probably vampires.” Sarah knew there were probably a couple of more serious titles in there, too, but figured that wasn't what Nina was looking for.

  "Cool. I love those. Can we look?"

  "What? Now?"

  "Well, yeah."

  Sarah sighed. “Okay. Let me get my keys."

  The guard wasn't happy. Sarah was fairly certain he'd given in just to make Nina shut up, which was pretty much her own motivation as well. But the truth was she didn't think it was a big deal. Sure, she'd promised Raj not to go outside, but he'd meant outside, as in a trip to the mall, not a few feet from the door, for God's sake. That whole thing about not crossing the threshold had just been him making a joke out of it. After all, it was full daylight. The bad guys were all vampires and they were tucked away in their dark, little beds just like the ones sleeping downstairs.

  The guard opened the inside door and waited while they crowded into the anteroom between the two doors, and then opened the heavier, exterior door, stepping out into the sunshine for a brief moment to look around. He murmured something into his radio, then waved an impatient hand for them to come ahead. Sarah had just started forward when his head suddenly snapped around and she heard the sound of a car engine, revving hard and coming too close too fast.

  After that, everything happened in slow motion, seeming to take forever, though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. The guard staggered backwards to the rattle of gunfire. She heard men shouting and spun around, yanking at the inside door with some vague notion of warning the others, but the security system wouldn't release it as long as the outside door was open. Nina was just standing there, her pale face distorted with panic, only she wasn't looking at the masked men now running toward them, but at the door Sarah was struggling to get open. Sarah finally understood when she felt the other woman's bony fingers grasping her arm, felt the surprising strength as she shoved Sarah toward the black maw of a long, dark car.

  As if it was happening to someone else, she heard the battle going on around her, the slam of the heavy door behind her, the cordite smell of gunfire, the burning rubber of squealing tires and above it all the screams of injured men. But then she was being seized by a pair of powerful arms, thrown into the back seat of a car and rolled to the floor. Something rough and smelly was jammed into her mouth and her hands were jerked behind her to be tied with the pinch of plastic binding. A needle stung as it was shoved into her hip and she felt everything fade into unconsciousness. Her last thought was that Raj was really going to be pissed this time.

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  Chapter Forty-four

  Raj came awake with a roar, leaping from the narrow bed and unleashing the full weight of his power for the first time in years. It thundered through the warehouse, shaking the very foundations, as walls trembled and he felt every one of his guards, man and vampire alike, fall to their knees in trepidation.

  Sarah! He searched for her, cursing himself for not making the blood link stronger, for not pushing her harder to take more of his blood. There was nothing, and for a moment he knew despair. But close upon it was the certain knowledge that she was not dead. She was unconscious, drugged, he didn't know which, but she was alive.

  He pulled on his clothes, thinking furiously. He could feel his vampires all around him, their thoughts fearful of his rage, wondering at the cause of it, but still staunch, still holding strong and bracing their power for his use. He'd chosen well in his children. There were no cowards among them, no weaklings. He threw open his door and stormed into the corridor. They waited for him there, on bended knee, heads bowed in fealty and submission.

  His gaze found Emelie. She raised her head at his unspoken summons and her eyes were full of knowledge and of fear, but the fear was for him, not of him. “No more games, Em. Let's get everyone loaded up and moving. This ends tonight."

  Raj watched over Simon's shoulder as the tech wiz played the video of the abduction one more time. He felt Em approaching from behind and he spun around, giving her a cold look. “What the fuck was Nina doing here?"

  "I take responsibility, my lord. Byron called last night while you were gone. He said Krystof had heard he was talking to you, that he'd made threats. He asked if Nina could stay with us. He wanted to bring her over and stay, too, but I didn't trust him that far. Abel and I went and picked her up. She must have called
someone. I'm sorry. I didn't even know she had a phone."

  "I want to talk to the guard who opened the fucking door for them this afternoon."

  "He's barely alive, my lord. We've given him enough blood to stabilize him for now, but he's pretty out of it. I got just enough out of him to know what happened, and I confirmed the details with the two guards we had on the roof. They were all three taken down the minute the door opened, before Sarah was even touched."

  "Son of a bitch. Where's that asshole Byron?"

  "Cervantes and Abel are on their way over to his place. If we're lucky, we'll catch him before he wakes up enough to run. We can only hope Nina was stupid enough to go home to him."

  "All right. Let's get everyone loaded up and moving. If Byron's not there, we won't waste time looking for him. He and that bitch of his will pay, but Sarah comes first.” He shrugged on his jacket, feeling its weight settle over his shoulders, inhaling the warm scent of the fine leather. He'd lived well as a vampire. As much as he might once have regretted the change, as much as he still despised Krystof for turning him against his will, he had to admit that much. His long life had been far easier than his human life had ever been.

  "My lord,” Em said tentatively. He looked up and saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

  "Don't cry, Em. We've had a good run."

  "Damnit, Raj, don't you dare—"

  He gave her a vicious grin. “Don't worry. I have no intention of throwing myself on my sword. Krystof's going down tonight, but I'd be a fool and a lousy Sire if I didn't take precautions."

  Em's eyes widened. “I will not—"

  "Yes, you will,” he said in a hard voice. “I'll take two in with me. I'll even let you pick which ones. But you stay out of it, Em. I need you—"

  "You can't do that to me, it's—"

  "I can and I will.” He took a step closer and in a rare gesture of affection, put a tender hand on her cheek. “You were my first child, Emelie, and you will always be my best. But you're not my only. I have too many here and back home who count on me for protection. If something goes wrong, I need someone outside the kill zone who's strong enough to shelter my people from the backlash. It's bad enough that some will die. I don't want everyone going down with me. You understand? I need you, Em. You can save them if I fall."

  "You're not going to fall,” she whispered fiercely.

  "No,” he said with another grin “I'm not. I'm going to take down that son of a bitch and anyone else who had anything to do with this. And then I'm going to find Sarah and teach her the price for breaking a promise to her lord and master."

  Em choked back something that was part sob and part laugh. “Good luck with that."

  "Have a little faith, Emelie."

  "I have tons of faith, my lord. If I didn't, you'd have to step over my dead body to get out that damn door."

  The warehouse was buzzing with energy. Raj stood and absorbed it all—the vicious exhilaration of vampires who knew they would soon be set free, that the bonds of civilization, the confinement of the laws and mores they were forced to live under in this new world of surveillance cameras and DNA, these would be set aside for a night. Tonight was about Vampire, tonight was bloodshed and mayhem, and they were bursting with the joy of it.

  He cracked his jaw in an open grin, stretching out his arms as if he could scoop up all that energy and soak it in by great handfuls. He let his own power wash over them, filling them with confidence and the surety of his strength beside them. They would do this together and they would see victory before the night was over. He nodded at Emelie and she grinned back. His vampires howled and began piling into the waiting vehicles. Engines roared to life and the big bay doors rolled open.

  He strode toward the open door of the last SUV and slammed to a halt as an awareness of Sarah suddenly flooded his senses. She was awake and alert. He thrust a spear of power outward, struggling to reach her over the weak blood bond, but it wasn't enough. He pounded the roof of the SUV in frustration and settled for a powerful push of reassurance and warmth. She would know he was here, that he was coming. That would have to be enough.

  He spun around at the sound of Em's phone ringing. She flipped it up to her ear and listened. Her eyes shifted to him and she mouthed one name—Byron.

  "They've got him,” she said, disconnecting and shoving the phone back into her pocket.

  Raj bared his teeth in a fang-baring snarl. “Then that's our first stop."

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  Chapter Forty-five

  It was cold where she was, and dark and damp. She could smell the moisture creeping down the walls and rising up from beneath the floor to bring an ache to her bones. She rolled over triggering a vicious bout of vertigo that had her grabbing blindly for something solid to ground herself and found the chill rail of a metal bed. She clung to it, feeling the rough craters where flakes of paint had chipped away. She lay there breathing carefully and waited, convinced she was dreaming and would soon wake in her own bed, her own room.

  "Hello?” a shaky girl's voice called.

  Shock jolted Sarah's eyes open and she woke to her worst nightmare come true. Her heart rate soared, squeezing the air from her lungs and jerking her entire body with every beat.

  "Hello? Is someone there?” the girl called again.

  Sarah's head swiveled in the direction of the voice and saw a crack of light where the door hadn't completely closed. Her eyes widened and she fisted a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. She knew this place. The door swung open and she looked up, expecting to see the shadowed form from her nightmares, the one who'd taken Trish and left Regina for dead.

  "You're awake.” A young woman stood outlined in the light from the hallway, short like Sarah, but thinner and much younger. Trish, Sarah realized. This was Trish Cowens.

  "It's all right,” Trish was saying. “They're gone for now.” She came closer, moving slowly, one hand out as if she was approaching a frightened animal.

  Sarah blinked. And felt a swell of fiery rage that started in her heart and raced out to warm every part of her body. It was Raj. She could feel him like a huge, but distant blaze of fury. Memory of his blood warm against her tongue flashed so vividly she could taste it. She hadn't wanted to take any of his blood, had only agreed in order to please him. The idea of more had been disgusting. But now she understood why it had been important. It was the link Cyn had tried to tell her about. She only hoped it was enough for him to find her before it was too late.

  "Are you okay?” Trish asked.

  Sarah managed a weak smile, but realized the girl might not be able to see it. “Yeah,” she said out loud. “Or I will be in a minute.” She swallowed her nausea, inhaling deeply, letting the air out slowly and repeating the cycle. She looked up. “You're Trish Cowens, aren't you?"

  Trish rushed over to the bed, nearly stumbling in her urgency to get closer. “Are they looking for me? Is my dad—” Her voice cracked and Sarah put out a hand, drawing the girl down to sit next to her. As if the touch was a signal, Trish began to cry, sobbing like a small child. Sarah wrapped her arms around her and let her cry, holding her tight and rocking slightly.

  Trish's sobs eventually diminished, but she held on, rubbing her wet face against Sarah's t-shirt. “Are you with the police?” she asked in a small, hopeful voice.

  Sarah sighed. If she got out of this alive, Raj was going to kill her. “I'm not with the police, Trish, but my friends know where I am and they'll come for us."

  "It's vampires,” Trish said dully. “That's who's got us."

  "I know,” Sarah said and tightened her hold on the frightened young woman.

  "They killed Regina."

  "No,” Sarah said quickly. “We found Regina in time and we saved her."

  Trish sat up and stared at her in the faint light. “For real? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

  "No way, hon. She's alive and so are we, and I intend to stay that way. We're getting out of here, Trish. I
don't know how yet, but we are definitely getting out of here alive."

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  Chapter Forty-six

  Byron's house looked much the same as it had four nights ago. Byron, however, did not. He groveled on the floor in front of Raj, naked but for a pair of loose sweatpants, blood running from several deep gashes across his chest and arms.

  Raj looked at Cervantes, his brow quirked.

  "He tried to escape, my lord,” Cervantes deadpanned.

  Raj considered the contrast between the spindly Byron and Cervantes and permitted himself a small smile. It didn't last long. He strolled over to Byron and crouched down to meet the weaker vampire's eyes, his forearms on his knees and his hands hanging loosely between them. “You don't look so good, By."

  Byron flashed him a look of intense dislike before quickly lowering his head and hiding behind a fall of lanky hair. “I didn't do nuthin,” he muttered.

  "No? Then maybe it was just Nina. What do you think? Can't have our humans defying us like that, can we? Shall I kill her for you?"

  Byron's head came up, sheer panic in his eyes. “Nina didn't do it, Raj. I swear."

  "Do what?” Raj asked softly.

  Byron blinked quickly, knowing he was caught. “Whatever it is,” he insisted, his voice dropping into a plaintive whine. “You send these guys to roust me out, I figure something's going on, but I was sleeping, man. You know that. And Nina, she wouldn't do—"

  Raj crooked a finger and Byron screamed, his head thrown back, the tendons in his neck standing out like shards of bone. Raj dropped his hand and Byron fell forward, curling in on himself like the wounded animal he was, his hands wrapped around his head as he wept loudly.

  Raj leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Can you hear Nina's heart beating, By? I can."

  The weeping vampire raised his head to stare at Raj in horror.

  "How loud do you think you'll have to scream before she comes out of her hiding place? Let's see, shall we?"

  "No,” Byron whimpered. “No, you can't—” His voice was shredded as he shrieked in agony, blood running from his ears, his eyes, and every pore as Raj closed his fist and squeezed him dry. Blood began to pool beneath him and Cervantes stepped back fastidiously, his eyes gleaming butter yellow with a combination of blood lust and excitement.