Intervamption

by Kristin Miller

  As his arm snaked around her back she eyed his vein again.

  “Take me, Slade,” she whispered. “I want to feel you inside me, feeding from my vein. I want you to have all of me. Just like this.” She arched back, letting her head fall into his hand, offering the tantalizing curvature of her neck.

  Hell to the Yes.

  “Dylan! No!”

  Dylan’s glare shot to the door. Slade whipped around, crouching, ready to defend her against Erock to the death.

  Ruan charged across the room, fangs exposed. Before Slade could spring into action, Dylan was standing in front of him, arms outstretched. “Ruan, wait! Stop! Please. . . .”

  Surprisingly, the leech listened. Good thing, too—otherwise he might’ve had a difficult time putting his face back together.

  “Dylan,” Ruan growled, crouching with nails and fangs bared. “I’m going to give you two seconds to get out of the way before I pummel your newborn.”

  “That’s not happening, cowboy.” Slade said, sliding a protective hand around Dylan’s waist. “Why don’t you go crawl up Erock’s ass and return to your post. Let me and the lady leave. What goes on between us doesn’t concern you.”

  “The hell it doesn’t. And you look different, newbie. Something funky going on with your eyes?”

  “Like I can see ‘em from here.”

  Dylan shot him a quizzical look, then turned away.

  “Erock and I have been tearing this place apart looking for you.” Ruan’s eyes darkened to a forest green. “You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I’ve been researching Eve Monroe and the guy who came into the clinic. I told you what I’d be doing; you shouldn’t be surprised. You know they’re trying to shut me down—I only have a few days left before Winter Solstice to figure out what’s tainting the blood.”

  Ruan took a pristinely white handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Looks like you’ve been busy sampling as much blood as you can. You’ve still got some on your lips.”

  She wiped Slade’s blood off onto the cloth. He couldn’t have been more proud; his blood marked her skin. There was no hiding it. She may as well have sported a “Slade’s Property” tattoo across her chest.

  “All this chit-chat’s been great, but we gotta run.” Arm still wrapped around Dylan’s waist, Slade moved toward the door, his step in line with hers.

  “Dylan, you’re not going anywhere. Not now. Erock’s going to want to talk to you.”

  She slipped out of Slade’s grasp, retrieved the scroll from the bed, spun around. “Tell Erock if he wants to talk to me he can leave a message at ReVamp. That’s where I’ll be until Winter Solstice.”

  As she passed by he grabbed her by the arm. “First you’re going to talk to me . . . alone.”

  Talking to Ruan alone didn’t bother Dylan in the slightest. As long as she was on her own turf. She didn’t want to spend another second in Erock’s chamber if she didn’t have to. The way things were going she’d be spending more time than she’d like on his bed. Every day of her extended life, actually. She shuddered at the thought.

  Ruan followed her down the winding corridors of the haven to her studio, Slade sticking to her side like perma-glue.

  She couldn’t help but stare at him. Slade’s eyes shimmered such a deep, true red, they might’ve been . . . could’ve been . . . black. Like his therian form.

  And his jaw. It was square and strong, though not as pronounced as she remembered.

  The more she checked him out, the more she realized he looked exactly the same as his therian form . . . but with fangs instead of boring square snappers. She wondered how many differences Ruan noticed. He’d already questioned him on the eyes. If he’d been allowed a closer, longer look at Slade, Ruan might’ve remarked on something else.

  Or maybe no one was looking as closely as she was.

  She wondered what caused the change . . . or if she was being ridiculous in thinking he could be in his therian form with fangs. On second thought his sexy-as-hell therian marking didn’t return. At least not yet.

  “Do you feel all right?” she asked, before walking into her studio. “You look . . . different.”

  “Good different or bad different?”

  “Good different, I guess.” Anything that made her heart flutter like that and balled her stomach into knots was definitely a good thing. He wasn’t like any vampire she’d ever seen in her life. For whatever reason, he was into her. Her heart soared.

  “Well, I feel fine.” He shrugged, pulled his hood over his skull-trim. “I’ll be waiting for you right outside your door. He tries something funny, you holler.”

  As Ruan pushed past Slade, he nudged him in the shoulder, much harder than necessary. “You mean, feed from each other like you tried to do back there? Speaking of, I’m sure Erock would be more than happy to read a memo about what I walked in on in his chamber . . . on his bed.”

  “If you think I’m scared of Erock, or you, you’re clearly mistaken.”

  “Ruan, let’s get on with it,” Dylan said, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. “What’s this about?”

  Ruan shut the door slowly in the face of Slade’s hiss. He didn’t turn to her. “Damn it, Dylan, do you know how many times I wanted to come to your room like this, have you waiting for me on your bed like you are now? Do you know how long I waited for you to look at me like you look at him?”

  Words escaped her. Hell, breath escaped her. She swore her heart stopped beating. “Ruan, if this is what you came here to talk about I think it can wait for another time. It’s already midnight and I still have to drive to Valenville. Please.”

  “I didn’t come here to make you uncomfortable and you’ve made your feelings for me more than clear. I just couldn’t come into your room, see you sitting there so perfectly, that angelic expression on your face and not say it. Forgive me.” He bowed, a custom reserved for women who were unspoken for, a custom she hadn’t seen since last Court. “Part of me is happy you’ve finally found someone, truly. You deserve to be happy, Dylan, you do. But is it worth it? I mean, in a few days you’re going to be Erock’s anyway.”

  “Ruan—”

  “Damn it, Dylan, tell me! Is another minute together, another day worth it when you know getting closer will only make it harder when you pull away?”

  She got the feeling he’d never been in love. Wait a minute . . . had she? Is this what she was feeling for Slade? Was love the reason for the tightening in her heart when she looked at him? When he whipped that smart mouth of his in her direction? Ah hell, she was screwed.

  “Yes,” she said, diverting her eyes. “It’s worth every minute. But I can’t think about what’s going to happen tomorrow because all I have is today. So is this why you wanted to talk to me alone? Ask how I like being tortured about thoughts of the Valcdana?”

  “Calm down. I came here to tell you about the attack.”

  Okay, he had her attention now. “What attack?”

  “I figured you hadn’t heard. There was an attack on a large grouping of therians at the old safe house on Fell Street. I’m talking sixty, seventy dead.”

  “Holy hell. Are any khisses taking responsibility?”

  “Savage thinks it’s one.”

  Her jaw dropped. “One? Wait. What were so many therians doing in one place anyway?”

  “That’s what I wanted to warn you about.” Crossing his arms, he leaned back against the wall. “Savage thinks they’re on the move. He thinks they’re gearing up for an attack on the khisses in the area.”

  “And now they have the ammo they need to do it, thanks to some rogue who couldn’t keep his fangs in check.”

  “Right.”

  “Damn it. See?” She pointed an accusatory finger at him like he made the decision. “This is why ReVamp needs to stay in business. These things wouldn’t happen if there were places struggling vampires could go.” She stood and jumpstarted her computer.

  “Dylan, forgive me for as
king, but what’s in Valenville?”

  “Huh?” She wondered how much to tell him. Thought better about revealing everything, but she could use an ally. Through everything else, Ruan had always been her ally. Her friend.

  “Valenville. You said you’re going to Valenville.”

  She nosed up from her keyboard. “I’m going to talk to someone who can help me find what’s wrong with the blood. His name’s Meridian. Does that ring a bell to you?”

  Ruan paled, skid to her side, dropped to his knees. “Dylan, I don’t know how you found out where she lives or what you want from her but you need to steer clear. Drop it. Forget everything you heard or knew about her and find another way to get the information you need.”

  “Her? Wait a minute, Meridian’s a woman?”

  “The oldest, wisest, most manipulative female on the planet. Not to mention her fangs are a little rusted. She’s a senile old bat.”

  “Oh, God, please don’t mention bats.” She tied her hair into a makeshift knot at the base of her neck. “Tell me everything you know about her.”

  “That’s just it, Dylan. You can’t believe a word she says.” He walked to the refrigerator, popped open a bottle of B+ and tossed another into her lap. “Take this. By the time I’m done explaining you’ll need it.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Under the circumstances, vampire-mundane relationships shall be conducted at your own risk.”

  —Vampire Etiquette Handbook, Chapter 5: Common Knowledge

  “Throw me a bone here, Slade,” Moses lectured through the receiver clutched in Slade’s fingers. “You haven’t given me shit to go on since you got into that place. What’s the deal? Have you found the entrance to the catacombs? The scrolls? Anything?”

  The last thing he needed was to admit to a greedy son of a bitch like Moses that he’d found the thing he’s been looking for. Especially when that rolled-up piece of paper had Slade’s family marking on it. That was one little mystery Slade planned on keeping for himself. Until he talked to Meridian and got some answers, Moses needed to stay in the dark.

  Slade sighed into the leather couch in his studio and thought better about answering Moses’s questions at all. “What’s this I overhear about a large-scale therian attack? What’re so many of us doing in one place?”

  “We’re moving in.”

  “Where? Here? The hell you are. Not while you have interests inside.” Not where Dylan could be hurt from a strike by his own kind.

  “Don’t think for a second that I’ll hesitate to wipe you and that khiss you’ve become so fond of right off the goddamn map if you can’t give me that answers I need. If you act like a worthless piece of shit, that’s the way I’ll treat you. That’s the way you’ll die.”

  Slade didn’t expect anything less from his Sheik. Ironically, it’s the reason he admired him. So predictable.

  “When are you planning to make your move?”

  He could hear Moses fiddling with something through the line. Probably the wrapper of his newly lit cigar. “I was aiming for tonight—until our brothers were killed by your leech friends.”

  Lying. He was lying through his dingy teeth. He didn’t show compassion to anyone, let alone call anyone brother.

  “If I tell you what I did manage to discover, will you call off the attack and give me some more time?”

  Hesitation. No doubt a black puff of smoke curling through the office at Mirage. “I’m waiting, Assassin.”

  “The Valcdana ceremony was supposed to take place on Winter Solstice, in a few days time. A vamp named David was next in line,” he said, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to throw a dead guy under the bus. “Rumor has it that the next in line was supposed to be the key to ending the war. So this guy could’ve been the answer you were looking for.”

  “The next in the Valcdana will end the war, you say?”

  Damn it, is that all he heard? That so wasn’t his point. “David. I said a vamp named David was—”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard what you said about that useless leech loud and clear. I’ll take care of everything. You just do your job when the time calls for it.”

  The line went dead.

  Dylan weaved her Jetta in and out of Crimson Bay traffic like a crazed NASCAR driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had nothing on her sudden lane changes and brake checks. Slade’s skin must’ve thickened overnight—her spastic driving didn’t bother him as much as it did the last time she took him for a wild ride.

  He was just glad to be with her again.

  They’d spent the whole day and night apart. At her demand. That left a measly two days until Court and that damned Valcdana ceremony.

  Dylan had said the time apart was necessary. That she had to get things in order before meeting Meridian. Slade had in mind to jet over there himself, but got the feeling he was missing some big-ass piece of the puzzle. After talking with Ruan, Dylan had this wild look in her eye like she knew something. She’d become privy to some piece of information and suddenly thought it better to wait until tonight to drive to Valenville, rather than run with her gut.

  It took all Slade’s control not to rip Ruan’s head off when he left her room. He’d had this smug look of satisfaction smeared over his face. Like he’d won the Used Car Salesman Lottery or something.

  Slade knew Ruan’s feelings for Dylan. It’s not like he hid them well. Or at all. Slade couldn’t help but wonder why Dylan had never acted on those feelings. A stunning girl like her could have any guy she wanted. Marrying a vamp like Ruan wouldn’t have been a bad choice. Certainly better than lying with a therian like himself who had nothing to offer her but an empty shell of a life coupled with slices of eternal damnation.

  Hell, he was starting to sound like a jealous, pathetic son of a bitch, wasn’t he?

  “So, what’s the plan?” he asked. “You uncover anything new last night?”

  Dylan swiped her hair behind her ear and gripped the wheel as a silver Volvo made an erratic lane change, nearly side-swiping her. “Damn Crimson Bay drivers! Think they own the whole freakin’ road.” She honked. “No, I don’t have a plan. Other than show her the scrolls and ask a couple questions. We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry it up. Man, where do people learn how to drive?”

  She honked at the Volvo again and swerved around it. Damn, she was sexy when she was pissed.

  “What do you mean, we’re gonna be late? She knows we’re coming?”

  “Of course she does. I wasn’t planning on making the trip all the way out here just to turn back. Why do you think we had to wait until tonight?”

  That explained the time he spent fuming in his studio. “What’d Ruan talk to you about?”

  She floored her Jetta until it grunted and groaned like it was coughing out its last breath. “He was concerned about me, but he’ll get over it. You have to understand, I’ve been alone for quite awhile. He’s always kind of been like a big brother watching over me.”

  “That’s all? Have you two ever . . . been anything more?”

  Her gaze whipped his direction, moonlight illuminating the sweet slant of her button nose. “No, nothing like that. Not from my end anyway. One day he’ll find someone that’ll knock his socks off and he’ll realize what he feels for me is some ridiculous crush. It’ll pass.”

  If that was supposed to make Slade more at ease with Ruan and his feelings, it didn’t work. Not in the slightest.

  “Did you find out anything more about the scroll?” He pulled it from the backseat and unraveled it slowly. Changing the subject was the only thing he could do to drop his hyped jealousy meter.

  “Yeah, actually, I think it refers to the war ending this moon cycle. See there?” She pointed to the passage twelve moons in two thousand and ten. “That has to be this month. I think the war’s going to end on or around Winter Solstice, right as our Primus returns. Have you heard anything from your end? From the therians?” Guiding the steering wheel with her knee, she ripped open a candy found in the console and shoved it i
nto her mouth.

  “No. The last time I talked to my Sheik it didn’t go over too well.”

  “Rhy’s rhat?” she mumbled through chocolate gloobedy-gunk.

  “I don’t take well to orders.” Wasn’t that the understatement of the century? Like saying the Titanic was an inflatable canoe.

  As he thought back to what Moses had said, Slade realized the war wasn’t close to ending like Dylan wanted so badly to believe. Moses was rallying the troops. Gathering therians together to make some sort of stand. She’d been so hopeful . . . how could he break it to her without crushing the wild spirit he’d come to admire?

  “Dylan, I don’t want you to be disappointed if nothing comes from this Meridian thing.”

  “What are you talking about?” She exited at Valenville’s Main Street exit, curved right, turned left.

  “I want you to know that even if Meridian doesn’t have any useful information, not all’s going to be lost. You’re not going to have to go through the Valcdana with Erock. I don’t know if I’ll be able to salvage ReVamp or figure out what’s tainting the blood for you, but you could always rebuild a facility somewhere else. Start from the ground up. A fresh start might be what’s needed anyway. Just know that I’ll figure out a way around the Valcdana before Winter Solstice.”

  “Before tomorrow?”

  “No, Winter Solstice is still two days away.”

  “Yeah, but they start prepping me tomorrow, and I’m not allowed to see anyone until the celebration.”

  Just like that Slade lost a day. Like it evaporated into the downshifting Jetta’s exhaust.

  “We’re here,” she said, pulling up to a curb at a boxy apartment complex. “615 Bowman. Apartment Two. Not exactly what I expected . . .”

  The whitewashed building had seen better days. Maybe in the early eighties when girls wearing fluorescents and guys donning mohawks were too busy moshing to Papa Don’t Preach to care about the designs of their windowless buildings. Each apartment had the same rectangular window facing a cement walkway that snaked through the middle of the complex. Spiraling wrought-iron fencing lined the balconies on both sides, providing less than sturdy protection from jumpers or klutzes.