by Anna Lowe
His fingernails bit into his palms as he barely held back. He couldn’t bowl everyone out of the way because his only advantage was the element of surprise. Schiller and his men assumed he’d back them up, so he had to play along until he spotted a chance to make his move.
Spot it soon, his bear growled.
“Nice hairdo,” Elvira sneered. “And I love the glasses. Did you buy them at a dime store?”
The hair on the back of his neck prickled. God, he’d like to wring Elvira’s neck.
Karen patted her hair. “You like my hair? I told the woman who did it I wanted it just like yours.” Elvira glowed a little until Karen finished. “You know, that fake, poofy look with enough hair spray to stop a speeding bullet or two.”
“Bullets won’t be necessary, my dear,” Schiller said, showing his fangs.
Karen glared back. “You’re right. I was thinking more along the lines of a stake through the heart. Holy water. Garlic. That kind of thing.”
“It’ll be your heart that’s bleeding, honey,” Elvira taunted, licking her lips.
Tanner saw Karen turn to her with another snappy response, but when her gaze caught on the gem shining from between Elvira’s breasts, she stopped short.
The diamond, his bear whispered, sotto voice. Elvira is wearing the Blood Diamond.
Karen’s eyes gleamed just like the diamond would when held up to the light. He could see her inner dragon rear up, just under the surface, as close to bursting out as his bear was.
Let me out! It’s time to fight with claws and fangs instead of fists. To protect Karen. To get her out of here.
Tanner looked around, counting guards. He had to time his attack perfectly if he was to have any chance at success. Eight vampires, with another two coming up. Shit. A grizzly had a good chance of taking on two, maybe three vampires. But ten?
We don’t have to win as long as Karen gets out alive, his bear grunted, ready to martyr himself.
If that’s what it took, he’d do it, but crap, wasn’t there a better way?
“I told you she’s a goddamned witch!” another vampire said, hurrying up to the group. Shit — it was Antoine, the guard he’d hit over the head.
“Half dragon,” Schiller mulled over the syllables like a good brandy. “Half witch.”
All the vampires licked their lips, making Tanner’s skin crawl. They’d suck him dry, too, when they discovered his double cross. He clenched his jaw. Well, he wouldn’t go down without a fight, and as long as Karen escaped, he could die with some sense of satisfaction, right?
Karen’s eyes were still pinned to the diamond, calculating, and his bear grew even more morose.
Well, even if she doesn’t love us the way we love her, it will still be worth it, the beast sighed, seeing her so fixated on the diamond.
If one of the bear elders had been there, they’d be sure to lean in and tap him on the shoulder. Can’t trust a witch, sonny. And as for dragons, well, all they care about are their jewels.
Then Karen blinked — once, twice — and he stood perfectly still. Not breathing. Not moving. Not thinking. Just hoping with all his heart.
Her luminous eyes pulled away from the diamond and focused directly on him, and she smiled. Smiled, like she wasn’t surrounded by a dozen angry vampires, all waiting to feast on her blood.
I love you, her eyes said.
I love you, he telegraphed back.
She nodded ever so slightly and looked around, calculating again. Then she rubbed her cheek with three fingers.
On three, she murmured into his mind.
Jesus, what now?
He nodded from his position behind the vampires. If there had ever been a time for spontaneity, this had to be it. What exactly Karen planned to do on three, he wasn’t sure, but he was all in.
“The perfect combination for a midnight feast,” Schiller continued, confirming his fears that there would be no luxury lockup for Karen this time.
Terrible images of Karen pinned to the floor, struggling against Schiller’s fangs engulfed him, and his blood boiled. And while the images sickened him, he hung on to them, letting them fuel his bear’s rage.
One, Karen’s look said.
He rolled to the balls of his feet, ready to take out the two closest vampires from behind.
“Far from perfect…” Elvira sniffed.
“Not as far as you,” Karen shot back in the same breath she signaled, Two.
“…but I suppose she’ll do,” Elvira continued, ignoring the insult.
Karen rolled her eyes up at the ceiling, worked her jaw left and right, and then met his gaze.
Ready for three?
Tanner let his fingernails extend into bear claws and shifted his weight. God, was he ready.
Karen threw her head back, coughed, and sparks popped out of her mouth.
Elvira cackled. “You call that a fire? Of course, if you’re only half dragon—”
Karen snapped her fingers. “And half witch.” She coughed again, and whoosh! The sparks ignited into a huge, licking flame aimed straight at the ceiling.
Elvira screamed. The vampires stepped back, raising their hands against the blazing light.
Three! Karen shouted in his mind.
Tanner bared his teeth and let his claws rip.
Whoosh! Karen shot another volley of flames in a huge, fiery arc.
Thump! The first vampire fell to the floor, his throat ripped out by Tanner’s claws. A second dropped beside him, dead before he hit the red carpet.
Tanner let out a bellow and charged the next vampire as the area exploded into shouts and cries.
“Fight! Fight!”
“Fire! Fire!”
The words set off a stampede for the exits as alarms whooped and the sprinkler system kicked in.
“My hair!” Elvira wailed, trying to cover herself with her blood-red scarf.
Tanner caught a brief glimpse of Dex, looking his way.
Need help? the panther’s expression asked.
Tanner sliced a hand through the air, holding his palm up in a stop signal. Not your fight, bro.
Dex was a hell of a fighter to have on your side, but if the panther could maintain his undercover role, they’d have an ace up their sleeve if things went really wrong.
As they were fairly sure to do, knowing Karen’s hastily formed plans. Make that his hastily formed plans, too.
Dex ducked out of sight behind the upturned table.
“You!” Schiller hissed, stepping toward Karen. Water from the sprinklers plastered his hair to his scalp and streaked his tailored suit.
Tanner body-checked two guards out of the way, trying to reach Schiller in time.
“You,” Karen said calmly, sending her next flame straight at the vampire.
Igor ducked and rolled for cover, and — Whoa! — Tanner dodged the farthest lick of fire.
Sorry! Karen yelped.
Hell, at least your fire burns despite the water. Handy trick. He nodded her way.
He’d never seen Karen look prouder than just then. Not that he had much time to admire her. He spun on his heel and swung his claws left just as Antoine darted toward him with a punch aimed for the kidneys. Antoine missed, but Tanner didn’t, and four parallel lines of sickly blue-red blood showed on the vampire’s cheek. Tanner roared and sliced again, this time garroting the vampire’s neck. A good thing the entire casino was in pandemonium — none of the screams seemed to be a response to that particular emergency. The fire had spread to the banners hung along the ceiling, and guests stumbled frantically through the thick veil of water raining from the sprinklers.
“Watch out!” Karen yelled.
Two fingers of yellow flame blazed by his ear as he stumbled from a blow from another attacker. He rolled, leaped to his knees, and batted at the vampire with a massive claw. That much of the bear, he let out. The rest he kept leashed, if barely. It would be a lot easier to make a getaway in human form than as a grizzly.
“No!” Karen yelped, a
nd his head whipped around. A vampire had snuck up behind her and was dragging her away while Schiller stalked closer.
“I’ve had quite enough of you, my dear girl,” the vampire muttered as his guards closed ranks around Karen.
Never had a pale vampire face gone so red with anger, and never had Schiller sounded as malicious as then. But Tanner had never felt quite so big or angry either, and when he charged, bodies flew. Vampires grunted. Blood splashed. Sharp nails scraped his skin, and inhumanly strong punches pounded his body while he battled his way to his mate’s side.
The chandelier shook when he roared in his bear voice. He hurled another vampire against the wall, shattering a mirror.
“Tanner, run for it!” Karen called.
As if he’d ever leave her. As if he’d turn his back on the woman he loved.
The flames Karen cast grew weaker, either from the sprinklers or a counter-spell cast by the casino’s witches. Schiller wheeled from Karen to him, and his black eyes narrowed in rage.
“You.”
If Tanner had been Karen, he’d have had a smart ass retort for the vampire. But he was just a bear, and bears spoke in a different way.
He swiped a massive claw and sent Schiller flying backward across the blackjack table with the rage and power of a dozen bears.
“Tanner,” Karen said, now that they were finally face-to-face.
“Karen,” he managed.
“Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
He nodded. “Yes. Let’s,” he said, staring down the last vampires standing in his way.
“Um…” one of them mumbled, looking at another.
“Uh…” a second stammered.
Tanner stalked forward, and they both shuffled back.
Good, his bear growled.
“Just a second,” Karen said, pulling her hand out of his.
He nearly tossed her over his shoulder and bulldozed his way to the door. No way were they stopping now. But Elvira was cowering behind an overturned table, and Karen snatched the diamond off her neck.
“I’ll be taking this,” she said, hurrying back to his side.
Tanner took her hand again and pulled her to the door, ignoring Elvira’s screeches.
“Ouch! Do you have to crush my hand?” Karen complained as he hustled her along.
“Yep.” No way was he risking his mate doing anything impulsive again.
“Just…just…” Karen protested as they ran for the glass doors and onto the sidewalk, where the fresh night air gave him the first taste of freedom he’d had in far too long. “Wait!”
He didn’t wait, but he did let her steer him to where Grandma Panda waited.
“Thank you!” Karen cried, grabbing at the woman’s bag. It swung and hit his leg with a dull thump, not a sharp clink, which meant the panda had succeeded in trading the chips for cash before all hell had broken loose.
“You’re welcome!” the elderly panda shouted, patting a purse thick with her cut of the deal.
“That way.” He pointed Karen through the crowd milling outside. The vampires would be after him in no time, because he had (a) Karen, whose blood they coveted, (b) two million dollars of their money, and (c) the diamond. He shook his head as he ran, wondering how he’d ever gotten that deep into trouble.
Would you want it any other way? His bear grinned.
No, he supposed he didn’t. But he’d celebrate when they crossed the state border into Idaho. Shit, he’d be looking over his shoulder for most of the eight hundred miles home.
Nah. We taught these vampires a lesson. They’ll stay the hell away, his bear said.
God, he hoped so.
“Hop on.” He threw a leg over the motorcycle he’d left parked nearby.
Karen shoved the money bag into the leather pannier, then wiggled onto the seat behind him. When she pressed her body close, he smiled for the first time in what seemed like days. Her words made his grin even wider.
“Take me home, bear. Take me home.”
Chapter Fifteen
Karen leaned forward to kiss Tanner’s cheek, then grabbed at his waist when he gunned the engine, scattering the crowd. For now, that cheek would have to do. But later — man, she’d save a lot of kissing for later to make everything up to him. A lot of apologizing, too, because she really had pushed her luck that time.
More like, you stretched your luck into the thinnest possible thread and sprinted across a chasm like a tightwire act, a stern voice in the back of her mind said as the motorcycle hit Las Vegas Boulevard and gathered speed.
She nearly shot back a comment but buried her face in the fabric covering Tanner’s broad back instead.
Okay, okay, maybe I did.
Maybe?
Definitely.
What happened to turning over a new leaf?
She gulped and counted to ten, then counted again, because she’d never meant to risk that much. She’d never meant to risk Tanner’s money or his life.
She kept her face hidden there for a good long time, lecturing herself.
Will never defy vampires again. No matter what.
Will keep my mouth shut when possible. Will really, really try.
Will tell this bear what he means to me, every day for the rest of my life.
“Hey,” Tanner called over his shoulder. “You okay?”
The motorcycle rolled over the smooth surface of Highway 15, heading north — right for the Great Bear’s tail, it seemed, when she looked over Tanner’s shoulder. The sky was full of stars, the night cool and crisp and clear. She tucked her hands into the pockets of his jacket and reveled in the crisp wind blowing through her hair. She wondered what to say, where to start.
“Thanks.” She vowed to try out another thousand variations of that word, because it didn’t quite capture what she meant. “I’m good,” she added, and again, it didn’t even begin to say what she wanted to express.
Tanner was better at two-word speeches than she was, because his tone captured everything just right. “Thank you,” he murmured over his shoulder. The words caressed her ear before the wind whipped them away.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted a second later.
“About what?”
“About everything.” She’d screwed up again. She’d gambled with their lives.
“I’m not,” Tanner murmured, caressing her hand.
She pressed her cheek against his back and rubbed up and down. What had she done to deserve the world’s best bear?
“Another hundred miles and—” The motorcycle swerved.
She popped her head up. “What?”
“Shit.” Tanner nodded at the sideview mirror.
“What?” she cried, then gulped. “Oh, God.”
The lights of several big, black SUVs lit the highway behind them, closing fast.
“Schiller?” she asked, hoping against hope Tanner would name someone — anyone! — else.
“Schiller,” he replied in a flat tone.
“Shit.” She stared at the speedometer, then looked over her shoulder. The vampires were definitely gaining. Now, what?
Tanner revved the motorcycle higher, but the off-road tires kept the bike from building much speed.
“Shit,” he muttered when it was clear they couldn’t outrace the vampires.
She looked back, feeling the heat rise in her face. She’d had enough of Igor fucking Schiller and his bloodsucking gang.
“Hang on,” Tanner said in that even, calm tone he used whenever things spiraled out of control.
The engine roared as he bounced the bike off the highway and into the open scrub. The wheels of the SUVs squealed when they followed suit, kicking up a dust cloud that hung in the pale moonlight.
“Crap,” she cursed, clutching Tanner as they bounced over a lunar landscape of rocks and low scrubs.
“We got this,” Tanner murmured, though she knew it was for show. Even off-road, how were they going to outrun four SUVs?
A powerful searchlight hit them, and a thunderous cra
ck split the night.
“Whoa!” She ducked and hung on when Tanner swerved, nearly ditching her. When he roared on, another two cracks broke out above the noise of straining engines and scattered rocks. “They’re shooting at us now?”
He nodded. “Silver bullets, I’d bet.”
“What?” She wanted to stomp the ground and scream. To shake her hand and point an accusing finger. To yell to the world that it wasn’t fair. How dare those vampires utilize one of the few weapons that could kill a creature as formidable as her bear?
Her bear, damn it!
How dare they? her dragon demanded, raging inside her.
And just like that, her vision went red.
She’d put Tanner in danger.
She’d drawn the wrath of the vampires again and again, and they’d come after her again and again.
Well, she’d had it. Absolutely, positively had it. She’d been degraded. Insulted. Locked up. Ridiculed. And now it was time to take her revenge. To prove herself, once and for all.
Revenge! her dragon growled.
Rage overwhelmed every other thought and emotion until nothing mattered but beating the vampires — and proving herself.
Believe… She heard the echo of her grandfather’s voice in her ears. You have to believe.
And just like that, she knew what to do, and she knew she could do it. She believed.
“Follow that trail,” she said, pointing over Tanner’s shoulder at a two-track dirt road. “Keep us as steady as you can.”
“What are you doing?” he yelled, grabbing for her arm.
She drew her knees up and held his shoulders with both hands. “I have an idea.”
“Not again,” he groaned.
“A good one,” she insisted. There was no time for doubt, for second guesses.
“Yeah, well—”
Before he could finish his sentence, she drew a foot up, then a knee, and then—
“Are you nuts?” he yelled.
“Don’t slow down!” she ordered, getting to her feet.
She’d tried a few tricks on horseback in her time, but holy crap, standing on the seat of a motorcycle while it hammered down a dirt track was different. Very different.
Believe, her dragon chanted. Clear your mind and believe.
She crouched behind Tanner, hanging on to his shoulders.