“Sweet Jesus,” Blake said. He raced to Foley’s side, kneeling next to the badly wounded vampire.
“Easy, mate.” He slid Foley onto his back and moved the other vamp’s hands away, trying to see the extent of his injuries. They were severe, he realized, and he didn’t know how Foley had managed to last as long as he had, judging from the size of the blood pool. He had to be nearly dry, Blake thought and grabbed a blood bag from his pocket.
Cradling Foley against his legs, he held the blood bag up to Foley’s mouth while with his other hand he patiently worked at tucking his intestine back into his abdomen. All the while he hoped it would be enough, although the damp and chill of Foley’s skin warned him that it might already be too late.
Maybe his was the faint call Blake had heard and not Meghan’s, he thought, as he watched Foley listlessly drain the bag dry. When Foley finished, Blake tossed the bag away and reached for another, but Foley stopped him, feebly grabbing his wrist.
“Meghan.” Her name escaped Foley like a man’s last dying gasp. His mouth flopped open and closed as he struggled with another breath and finally managed to say, “Lee has Meghan.”
Shit, Blake thought. “Where is he?”
Foley inclined his head and with a bloodstained finger, pointed weakly to the far side of the room. There was a door on the opposite wall and Foley said, “Back staircase.”
Damn. He had been going downward while Lee had probably been dragging Meghan upward to ground level to make his escape. Bloody damn.
Foley must have seen his frustration for he weakly patted the hand that Blake had placed over his abdomen and with a hesitant breath said, “Go.”
Blake wanted to go. He wanted to save Meghan, but he also couldn’t leave Foley to die alone. Not when Foley had clearly tried to help Meghan.
“I’ll go in a second, mate. Try to feed some more,” Blake said, and offered up the second blood bag, but Foley weakly pushed it away.
“Go,” Foley said with forced strength that clearly taxed him.
“Listen here, Foley. I don’t desert my friends when they need me. But you’re right. An ice-cold bag of human blood isn’t what you need.” He dropped the bag to the ground and presented Foley with his wrist instead, but Foley turned his head away, refusing the offer.
“Bollocks, mate. Feed already. The longer it takes, the less chance I have of kicking Lee’s ass.”
A weak grin sprung on Foley’s lips and he finally latched down onto Blake’s wrist. Pain erupted there along with the lash of vampire passion that came with the bite. He hauled in a ragged breath, battling both as Foley sucked for long minutes, but with each suck, Foley seemed to rally even as Blake weakened from the offering.
Finally, reluctantly, Foley released him, aware that if he continued to feed, Blake’s power would be too low to take on Lee. With a slight smile, he said, “Go kick his ass, my friend.”
Blake nodded forcefully. He picked up the blood bag he had discarded earlier and handed it to Foley. “Feed and hang on. I’ll be back for you.”
He gently eased Foley back onto the ground and sped for the doorway. As he raced upward, he heard, “I know you will.”
Chapter 22
Lee’s grip on her neck was punishing as he thrust her up the last few steps ahead of him and out into the alley behind the Blood Bank.
A large, black SUV was parked at the curb by the mouth of the alley. Lee never released the tight hold he had on her neck, and since her toes were barely brushing the ground, there was little she could do to get any leverage. Once she was on terra firma, however…
He carted her by the scruff of her neck as his bodyguards followed him to the entrance to the alley. As they neared the SUV, the engine turned over and the lights snapped on. A second later, someone threw open the back door.
Lee pitched her into the backseat.
Hard hands grabbed her and she smelled the telltale aroma of cardamom.
Another kiang-shi, she thought, as the arms encircled her, holding her prisoner as Lee slipped in beside her while the two other vampires took seats at the front of the SUV.
She twisted back and forth in the kiang-shi’s grasp, trying to loosen his hold. She kicked at him and then at Lee, but he snared her throat in his hand and squeezed until dark circles danced before her eyes.
She tried to claw at his hand but couldn’t lift her arms, imprisoned as they were by the Asian vamp. Sucking in a rough breath, she found herself choking as Lee spilled something into her mouth. She had no choice but to swallow.
The liquid tasted bitter. It burned as it slid down her throat, and she coughed, trying to retch up the fluid.
Lee only laughed and grabbed her throat once again. He brought his hand up and this time she caught sight of the vial in his hand. A small glass encased in a fine golden web.
She whipped her head back and forth, fighting him, but was no match for his superior strength. He forced her mouth open and emptied the vial. She choked and sputtered on the liquid’s biting flavor.
Lee shook her roughly, and the liquid slipped down her throat, burning its way to her stomach.
From within her she felt the sizzle of the double dose as it sent wildfire along her nerve endings, immediately igniting electric passion and want. Her breasts and nether lips swelled and throbbed. Sharp spasms of a burgeoning climax tore through her, and she moaned and shifted on the seat of the car, trying to assuage her need.
“Wonderful, isn’t it?” he said, and flicked at the distended tip of her breast with his index finger. The rough touch rocketed through her body, triggering a release that shattered her will, but as soon as the climax ebbed, passion rose again, sharper and stronger than before.
With a loud moan, she arched her back and once again jerked back and forth in the kiang-shi’s arms, the violence of the drug pulsing through her body, demanding satisfaction on so many levels that she was nearly dizzy from the sensations buffeting her.
Lee chuckled harshly and bent his head, teethed the tip of her breast, wanting to punish her yet again, but she fought back the climax, panting heavily as she struggled for dominion over the fury of the drug.
“You cannot battle it forever. In fact, you won’t be able to battle the need for much longer,” Lee said, as he met her gaze.
“I won’t give in,” she said from between her clenched teeth, almost hissing the words at him.
He just laughed once again, a rich deep sound that penetrated her senses and created a sympathetic vibration between her legs that lashed at her control. “We’ll just see how long you can last, my treasure.”
With a snap of his fingers, he called out to the driver, “Take us to the Lair.”
Blake rushed from the staircase and out into the alley where the scent of the kiang-shi lingered, although the area immediately outside the Blood Bank was empty.
He heard a muffled scream—Meghan’s scream—and tracked the sound to a big, black SUV parked at the end of the alley.
The SUV was rocking back and forth violently. A struggle was going on within and Blake raced in its direction, but it sped away from the curb, wheels screeching.
He summoned his demon and burst to the curb in time to see the SUV turn down the block. Racing forward, he hurtled onto the roof of the building on the corner, and the vantage point let him see the route of the SUV.
Although he had assumed that it would be headed farther downtown in the direction of Otro Mundo, the SUV was moving directly westward at a fast clip, ignoring red lights and swerving around the traffic in its way.
If it kept on going in that direction there was only one vampire hangout that he could think of in that part of town—the Lair.
Bounding from one rooftop to the next, he pursued the SUV as it traveled along the streets. The black car finally turned southward, going up on two wheels from the sharp movement before lurching back down on its way to the triangle of land beyond Canal Street.
No doubt remained that the SUV was headed to Tribeca and Ryder’s club.
Why it would go there he couldn’t begin to guess.
He paused on one rooftop, tracking the red taillights of the car as it raced away from him. He considered whether to keep on chasing it or call in the cavalry.
If the cavalry would even believe him. If they didn’t…
He made the jump to the next building, intent on handling the problem by himself. But then he thought of Foley, lying wounded in the subbasement of the Blood Bank.
Foley wouldn’t survive if he went it alone.
He plummeted to the ground below and searched for a pay phone, continuing to move in the direction of the Lair as he did so. A few blocks away he finally found one and dialed Diana Reyes.
She answered on the first ring. “Reyes, here.”
“It’s Blake.”
A fire truck raced by, creating enough noise to nearly obliterate Diana’s response. He huddled tighter to the phone and heard her say, “Where are you?”
“Where I am isn’t as important as where I’m going. Lee’s got Meghan. I think he’s headed to the Lair.”
“Are you sure?” she asked and in the background came the muted sound of other voices. He covered one ear, trying to discern what was being said. He barely made out the muffled, “Can we trust him?”
Anger surged through him. He clenched the phone tightly and heard the crackle of plastic beneath his fingers. “Tell the blighters that I’m telling the truth.”
“Why should we believe you?”
“Because I wouldn’t risk Meghan’s life and if you don’t want a lot of dead humans on your hands—”
“We’re on our way to the Lair,” she said.
Before she hung up he added, “Lee hurt Foley. Real bad. He’s in a subbasement at the Blood Bank.”
“We’ll get someone over there. And Blake…”
He waited out her hesitation, eager to hear what she would say next.
“Be careful,” she urged, and relief flooded through him.
The cavalry might just arrive in time to help him after all, he thought.
The dangling phone swayed back and forth from the blast of vamp speed he put on as he forged ahead to the Lair.
Meghan’s body quaked violently, every part of her excruciatingly alive and demanding that she satisfy too many different needs. She was sexually aroused, so tightly wound that the simplest of touches would set her off.
Lee took advantage of that during the wild ride to the Lair. He fondled her, bit the tips of her nipples and stroked the center of her to send her over the edge time and time again until she was drenched with sweat and the aftermath of her arousal. Each release only served to increase her need for not only more sexual satisfaction, but for blood.
Lee understood that. In fact, he delighted in it as he whipped up her lust, laughing as he did so.
“Why?” she asked breathlessly after one climax stole the last of her willpower. She struggled against the kiang-shi that held her, but not for freedom. She snapped and clawed at him so that she might feed and quench her runaway need.
“That’s what I wanted to see. The demon you are. The demon who will stop at nothing to satisfy its hunger.”
She wanted to deny his words, only the demand was so strongly upon her that she bit into the arm of the kiang-shi holding her.
The demon howled from her attack, but didn’t release her.
As she sucked, a brackish weak liquid filled her mouth and she spit it out, earning yet more mirth from Lee.
“The kiang-shi are the walking dead, remember. You’ll find no sustenance there, but at the Lair…”
He leaned close to her, nudging her nose with his while whispering against her lips. “Think of all the humans there. The richness of smooth flesh beneath your fangs. The earthiness of warm blood spicing your mouth.”
She salivated in anticipation and growled with hunger at the images that came at her, courtesy of Lee’s words and his elder power. She realized now that he was also playing head games with her, filling her mind with visions and sounds intended to stoke her hunger.
The beat of a human pulse, steady and true, throbbing beneath fresh clean skin. The slight trace of dampness where neck met shoulder and the blood would be closest to the surface.
She closed her eyes and battled back the thoughts he was drumming into her brain, even as her body shivered in anticipation of satisfaction.
“Soon, baobei. Soon you will be fulfilled and the world will remember how vampires are supposed to be,” he nearly crooned.
The SUV came to an abrupt halt, jostling them. When the door flew open, Lee slipped out into the street seemingly without a care.
The kiang-shi holding her tossed her out, but two other kiang-shi were there to imprison her yet again.
As she looked around, she realized they were in the service alley behind the Lair. She renewed her struggles then, and this time the kiang-shi had a harder time of it as the drug was giving her added strength. They tightened their hold and dug in their heels to keep her steady as their master approached the back entrance to the Lair.
Lee opened the door to the club and the bouncer immediately stepped to the entrance.
Lee grabbed him by the throat and threw him across the width of the alley. The bouncer landed with a resounding thud against the brick wall and then slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Smiling, Lee held his hand out in the direction of the entrance with a flourish.
“Shall we?” he said.
The night air pushed against him as Blake raced the final distance to the Lair, but as chilly as the early spring air was, the knot of fear in his gut was colder. Blake imagined the reasons why Lee had grabbed Meghan and taken her to the Lair, and none of the reasons was good. None of the outcomes he imagined ended happily.
They all ended with death and destruction.
That was all Lee understood. That was all that mattered for vampires like Lee. But not for vampires like Blake or Ryder or Diego or even Foley, who possibly lay dying because he believed otherwise.
By the time Blake arrived at the Lair, the SUV was parked in the alley. A few feet away on the cobblestoned ground lay one of the bouncers, unconscious and bleeding, but alive.
Unbitten, he realized as he kneeled and examined the bouncer’s neck That surprised him. He had thought Lee would have no care as to where or when he fed. That he had bypassed such an easy snack only worried him more.
Lee was on a mission, and Meghan was obviously a part of his plan.
He needed to get inside and find out what was going on.
He yanked on the door, but it was firmly secured. Not even his vampire strength was enough to break the lock, and he suspected that something had been jammed behind the door to ensure it wouldn’t open from outside.
Forcing himself to remember the layout of the Lair, he recalled that the club had an entrance on the other side of the building in addition to the main doors along the street. Wanting to avoid the crowd that was always waiting to enter at the main doors, he raced around the back of the building and to the second entrance, but it had been barred from within as well.
Nothing that he did could dislodge whatever was sealing the door closed.
Bollocks, he thought, and raced to the front of the building.
Chapter 23
A chilled sweat covered Meghan’s body, which shook uncontrollably from the desire ravaging it. She wrapped her arms around herself and huddled tighter against the wall, battling the effects of the drug as she searched for a way out of the club.
Once inside, Lee had set her loose and she had raced for her freedom, but the kiang-shi had circled around her. Determined to find a way out, she had dodged them and gone for the shadows created by the fake cavern walls Ryder had used to create the theme for the club.
As she moved along the shadows, praying to find an exit, she realized she would die if she didn’t feed, recalling the out-of-control vampiress at Otro Mundo. But then Diego’s words came back to her:
Human blood won’t bond with th
e drug and neutralize it.
Whirling around, she realized she was adrift in a sea of humans, pulsing with life and blood that couldn’t help her. But she imagined sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of a neck, feeding on the warm richness of humanity.
She had to get out of the club. She tightened her hold on herself and made a dash for the back exit. Only one of Lee’s kiang-shi bodyguards stood there, barring her escape. She rushed at him, kicking and scratching, but he pushed her aside the way an ox might a gnat with a swipe of his tail.
The initial strength the drug had provided her was fading as the sanginarium ate away at her system. She would continue to weaken unless she fed—and once again, the call of the human life nearby, pulsing with blood, almost undid her.
Sucking in a shaky breath as she fought for control, she raced to a second exit but found it barred and guarded as well. Then she turned toward the front of the club, but found yet another kiang-shi at that entrance.
Lee’s guards intended to keep her within the mass of humanity. In the midst of the walking blood bags that would do little to appease her need.
Her breath heaved in her chest as she retreated to the shadows of the club once again, hiding the demon she was barely mastering.
Lee’s words kept on broadcasting in her brain, trying to shatter that fragile composure.
“Feed, my treasure. Imagine the satisfaction it will bring.” For good measure he followed it up with visions of rich blood pulsing beneath her fangs.
She closed her eyes and covered her ears, but the urge rose sharply. Intensely.
She knew she couldn’t linger there, close to the temptation of so many people and Lee’s constant urging to feed from them.
Wildly searching for any avenue of escape, she caught sight of the window of Ryder’s office, high above the floor of the club. She remembered then about the door that led to that office and the back rooms of the Lair.
Swiftly skirting around the edges of the club, she was feet away from the door when she realized that it, too, was being guarded by one of Lee’s cadre. She recognized him as the kiang-shi who had been at the main door just moments earlier.
Fury Calls Page 17