Department 57: Rubies of Fire

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Department 57: Rubies of Fire Page 21

by Lynne Connolly


  He felt the heavy throb in the air, the essence of her fading. Without pausing to consider his actions, he did the only thing he could. He moved slightly to make sure of his aim and shot Don in the side of the head. Blood flooded the bed and the two bodies lying on it. But only one of them remained alive now.

  The blast overpowered Nancy’s scream, but he heard the echoes of it reverberate with the sound. “We have to get out of here,” Marshall said, his voice completely emotionless. “We’ll take them together.”

  He was right. The sound of gunfire in this area would bring the cops in no time, not to mention any gun-happy neighbors who might imagine they had a chance against the intruders. Of such thoughts are heroes made, mostly dead ones.

  Andreas calmly clicked the safety catch back on the GLOCK and tucked it into the back waistband of his slacks before bending down to scoop the interlocked couple into his arms. He forced away any thought of Roz’s soft, scented body. It might weaken him just too much. Marshall took the other side, keeping them together.

  Andreas forced a vivid image of Roz’s bedroom in New York into his mind, and opened the vision for the other two, coordinates firmly set.

  They flashed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  When they landed, Andreas nearly staggered under the extra weight of the conjoined figures he and Marshall held. With a jerk of his chin, he indicated the bed, and they made for it, laying Roz and Don down carefully. For Roz’s sake, not for Don’s.

  “She compelled Roz to take Don’s blood. All of it,” George said solemnly. He had Nancy in a lock she wouldn’t break, her arms wrenched behind her back.

  She glared at them defiantly. “I wanted Don with me. There was no way I was going to let another lover die.” Tears poured down her face unchecked, and she sobbed openly. “Now you’ve killed him. I’ll see you all burn in fucking hell!”

  “Shut the fuck up,” said George without heat. “When I want your opinion, I’ll tell you.” His gaze met Andreas’s where he knelt on one side of the bed, Roz’s hand clasped in his while Marshall tried to ease Don off her. “Be careful, Marshall.”

  “I’m trying to be,” Marshall said through gritted teeth. “Don’t, Andreas. We need to think about this. Don, or what’s left of him, has locked into a major artery. If we pull him off, Roz will lose what blood she has left in her. It will kill her for sure.”

  Andreas abruptly loosed his hold on Don and let the body fall back onto Roz. He felt nauseated. He wanted the body off her. He was on the cleaner side of Don, where his bullet had entered. Marshall had the other side, the exit wound, where little remained of the head, but he seemed unaffected by the sight.

  “So what do you suggest?”

  Marshall glanced down at the interlocked bodies. “I can offer my neck to her, nick it a little first. If she has any life left in her at all, she’ll take it. That will keep her going, at least.”

  “Won’t she be in a blood frenzy? Hold you tight, not let you go?”

  Marshall shook his head, his hair glimmering in the dim light from the bedside lamp. “No. The recipient of the Gift gets the blood frenzy, not the donor. She’s down to her last few gills. If we don’t do something soon, she’ll go into shock and die anyway. Watch her closely. If she tries to take too much from me, take my place. Or I’ll draw away after a couple of pints and leave the rest to you.”

  “It might take more than one transfusion. She needs four more pints, at least.”

  “She can have it.”

  Andreas’s respect for Marshall went up several notches. “You don’t have to do that. I called Cristos as soon as we arrived here. But give her something. I’ll make sure you’re safe, I swear.” Glancing down at Roz, he thought her face had paled even more. “I’m sorry I shot him. She could have had him.”

  Marshall shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. Since blood from a dead person is no good to us, it doesn’t matter now.” Nothing mattered now, except they’d arrived in time to give Roz a chance. “Ready?”

  Andreas met Marshall’s eyes over the conjoined bodies between them. Without another word, Marshall extended a claw and scratched his neck.

  A scratch was all it took. With overwhelming relief, Andreas saw Roz’s fangs extend. She didn’t pull her lower lip back, and the razor-sharp fangs sliced through it. Marshall bent, offering his neck, and Andreas watched Roz’s fangs take possession of his vein.

  When vampires withdrew their bite, their fangs and the saliva on them closed the wound naturally, leaving small marks that disappeared more quickly than usual wounds. By morning, the blood donor would be left flawless. But Andreas had killed Don before he’d done that.

  Andreas had had no choice. If he’d waited until Don withdrew, Roz would have been dead. In a blood frenzy, the recipient of the Gift sank deep into the artery, not a vein, and remained there until every drop of the donor’s blood had gone. If he withdrew, she’d bleed out and lose what little she had left.He waited for a few moments and heard the gentle sucking sound that meant Roz had latched on and had taken some blood. She would lose a little with the action he was about to take next, and he wanted it replaced. He flicked a look up at George, who nodded, grim-faced, still holding Nancy, who by then had subsided into heartbroken sobs. The door opened. He didn’t need to turn around to know who had just come in.

  “Go on,” Cristos said. “Do it. There are enough of you to replenish her. I’ll take Nancy.”

  Dimly he heard handcuffs clicking, no doubt silver ones like the ones that had been dangling from the bed in that house in Virginia. “Don’t take her away, Cristos. We might need her as a donor.”

  “Count on it.”

  “I don’t care anymore!” He heard Nancy’s tearful words with no emotion at all. He doubted he could care about Nancy now if he tried.

  “We don’t need your permission, Nancy. After we separate them, it’s your turn.” Andreas knew Cristos well enough to know just how much anger seethed under the calm tones.

  He took a deep breath and dragged Don’s body away, swiftly pushing it aside, ignoring the thump when the body hit the floor. Blood pumped from Roz’s neck, the raw wounds gaping. He bent and covered them with his mouth, feeling the fresh blood fill it before his fangs drove down and the saliva came. He would have blocked the wounds with his body, anything, if this didn’t work, but he felt a slowing of the flow. He let the blood trickle out of his mouth. Vampires didn’t take blood into their digestive systems. It went up their fangs to a special organ that only their species possessed. Too much blood in the stomach made a vampire as sick as any other human.

  Thank God it was working.

  Andreas concentrated on the task at hand as if it were the only thing in the world. It was, for him. He counted slowly, and by the time he reached twenty, the pulse had slowed to nearly nothing. He drew away.

  Pinpricks, with a tiny thread of blood. He lifted a corner of the bed sheet and touched it to the wounds, sore rather than life threatening.

  When he looked up, Marshall was just pulling away, paler than usual but intact. Andreas bent forward. “She probably lost most of that in this wound. It’s my turn.”

  “No.” Cristos moved, and Andreas heard the stumble that meant Cristos was pulling Nancy along with him. Andreas didn’t take his eyes off Roz’s face. She remained unconscious, still pale. Still critical.

  “Nancy employed compulsion, so her life is forfeit. Let Roz drain her to the point of death. Just as Andreas tried to do.”

  “No!” Nancy’s voice echoed off the walls. “You can’t do that!”

  “Yes, I can. You might say it’s my job.” They came into sight when Cristos dragged Nancy around to the other side of the bed, across from Andreas. “Go, Marshall. You provided the first aid, stopped that wound killing Roz. It’s time to administer the cure. Thank you for all you’ve done. Department 57 would be glad of your services if you ever consider helping us out.”

  Marshall got to his feet, aided by the unencumbered George, making
room for Cristos. “We’ll stay around for a while,” he said

  “He needs to feed,” Cristos said. “I’ll take care of the other vampires. You go. But keep in touch.”

  “Sure you’re all right?”

  Andreas looked up, right into George’s deep blue, troubled eyes. “Thanks, guys. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.”

  “Thank us by taking care of Roz. We won’t go far. Call us if you need us.”

  With George supporting most of Marshall’s weight, they slowly left the room. The thump of the front door closing sounded hollowly in the apartment as Cristos stepped back.

  Nancy stood before Roz, tears slowly trickling down her face. “I’m sorry, Roz,” she whispered, “but it was the only way, and when you split with Andreas, our leaving for the wedding was just too much. I knew nobody would worry about you until it was too late.” She looked past Andreas to where what was left of Don sprawled over the floor. “I’d do it again.”

  “We do it differently this time,” Cristos said. Andreas didn’t attempt to help him. Anything against Roz and he’d defy anyone and any rule to save her.

  As though he’d spoken the words, Nancy met his eyes. “Yes. That’s what I meant.”

  “Would you die for her? Would you have died for Don?” Andreas swallowed. If she said yes, had he the heart to insist on justice?

  He didn’t have to ponder that problem, because Cristos solved it for him. “On your knees.”

  Andreas felt the heat as Cristos exuded power, seemingly effortlessly. For the first time he noticed Cristos was wearing a tux and black tie. Cristos spoke without breaking an ounce of concentration. “I was at the opera. But it’s okay. I know how Aida ends.” The warmth left his voice when he spoke to Nancy again. “Down on your knees by the bed.”

  “You want me to beg forgiveness?” She sank down. She had little choice, with the mental pressure Cristos forced on her, but she did it gracefully, as though kneeling before an altar. As she would have been doing in a couple of weeks if she’d been content to marry the man she loved and make the most of what they had. “I will. I do. Forgive me, Roz.” She looked up, her gray eyes as hard as flint, and met Andreas’s gaze. “The answer to your questions is no. I liked Roz, but not that much.”

  “The choice is no longer yours. Offer yourself to Roz. She has enough strength to take you, and if she has not, I’ll help her.”

  Implacably, Cristos moved behind Nancy. He didn’t touch her, but she moaned as if he had and pushed back against the immovable force he pressed on her, driving her, inch by inch, toward the wicked fangs protruding from Roz’s mouth.

  With a swift movement, Roz turned her head away from Andreas, toward Nancy. Nancy cried out, but Roz had her, a panther seizing its prey. Andreas watched the sharp, feral teeth sink deep into Nancy’s neck and knew Cristos had initiated the deepest contact of all. He reached for Roz’s hand and lifted his gaze to Cristos.

  “She needs to drain Nancy fast, before her strength ebbs fatally and she slips into a coma. She was close to it when you arrived, but Marshall’s offering stopped that. You owe him.”

  “I know it.”

  “When she’s done, take her away. I’ll deal with everything here.”

  Andreas nodded. Exhaustion swept over him like a wave as the hand he held began to pinken and warm, and the adrenaline rush had its inevitable kickback effect. He slumped forward, holding her tight as if he’d never let her go.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Roz slowly became aware she was lying on a cloud. A warm cloud. A soft, warm, but inconsistent cloud, because parts of it felt harder and warmer than other parts. She heard a rustle when she turned toward the warm part and then smelled something she knew well, although she couldn’t quite get a handle on it.

  Anyway, she knew it belonged to her, warm and comfortable. A low rumble sounded close to her ear. “Roz? Love, are you awake?”

  She opened her eyes, blinking when her lashes caught on something in front of her. A wall of muscle. Smiling, she remembered that smell. Spicy male cologne and something even more delicious. Andreas.

  She lifted her head and felt his arms tighten around her, lifting her up the bed so she could meet his eyes. Gazing into them, she felt his concern, and memories began to creep back into her mind.

  Pulling away, she managed to get to the end of the bed. “So you decided Ellie lied before she confessed?”

  He blinked, looked confused, then reached out to touch her arm. “She admitted it.” He gave a wry smile. “Oh, I know I’d look better if I decided it for myself. I’ve known the kid too long, and she’s the only other vampire I know in my predicament. I trusted her too much, didn’t take her age into consideration. And I’m sorry, so sorry. If I hadn’t had that moment of doubt, nothing else would have happened. Roz, I do love you, and I promise to always, always believe you first. I was a fucking idiot.”

  In the face of that, what could she say? “Yes, you were. A complete fucking idiot. But I had something to do with it too. I lost my temper, and I’m a bitch then. I can’t think straight. I just react.”

  “Never.” When he urged her closer, she came back, let him hold her again. She felt so damn weak. If she left, she wouldn’t get far. And it felt so good having him hold her like that.

  More memories returned. Before they could overwhelm her, he kissed her, soft and warm like the comforter enveloping her. “How do you feel?” he murmured, pulling back just a little. His anxious regard swept over her.

  “Fine.” She swept her hand up his side and around his back. “Better.”

  A low rumble she interpreted as a chuckle. “Good. Do you remember anything?”

  She frowned and moved closer, feeling his hug before he slackened his grip to let her relax, her head on his shoulder, her legs interlaced with his. Memories that horrified her. Best to face them now. “Some. Tell me.”

  “You were kidnapped.”

  She put her hand to her head, unsurprised when she found no trace of a wound. Peering over the expanse of his chest, she saw the dark night outside and the soft light cast by a bedside lamp. She knew this room. “We’re in your house, aren’t we?”

  “Yes. Only Cristos knows where we are. I wanted you to rest. But he wants to debrief us as soon as we feel ready for it.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Around seven. Early yet.”

  She smiled and pressed a soft kiss on his neck. “Are we living by night, then?”

  “For now. Until you’re completely recovered. Even after that. It’s time I accepted what I am.”

  She tried to lift herself up on one elbow and succeeded on her second try, frowning at him. “How long have I been out?”

  “Two nights. The night before last would be the last one you remember. You slept the day through after that, and the doctor gave you something to make you sleep last night. He said it would help the healing process, but if you felt anything tonight to call him.”

  “What doctor?”

  “Poor darling, you don’t remember, do you?”

  Mistily she remembered someone she didn’t know bending over her, but that was all.

  “Before I brought you here, I took you to the hospital and they checked you over. That’s when the doc gave you a shot.” He smiled up at her, his expression softening the harsh lines by his mouth. “But I checked on you every hour like they told me to. Every half hour, really.”

  “It was Nancy, wasn’t it?”

  He nodded, and she was sorry to see the lines return. They seemed a little deeper than she’d noticed before. “It was. When we broke up, she suggested you take early leave and go back home for her wedding so we wouldn’t be surprised to find you gone. Only I was. I have Marshall and George to thank for helping me find you.” He lifted his hand and twined a lock of her hair around it, wrapping himself in her. “Do you remember Nancy using compulsion?”

  “I remember realizing that was what she meant to do,” she said slowly, staring into the recent p
ast, forcing herself to remember. Her mind shied away from it, but she had to face it while the memory stayed fresh. Then she could put it away and get on with her life. “That’s the last I remember, clearly. They fastened me to bed with silver. Like most of the Gardiners, I react badly to silver.”

  “I’ll remember not to give you any. Are you okay with gold and platinum?”

  She smiled at his attempt to give her some peace. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each fingertip, lingering over his self-appointed task.

  “I’m fine. What happened after that?”

  He gazed at her and wrapped her hand in his, as though he could keep her safe that way. “Nancy used compulsion to make you drain Don and send him into a blood frenzy. He took you. We found you in time, brought you back to the New York apartment, and did what we had to do. Then I took you to the hospital and brought you here.”

  “Tell me, Andreas.”

  He sighed. “Do you have to know? You must have guessed. Nancy was the leak. She took the files from the Department and routed them through the DIB to provide the false lead.”

  “I didn’t think she was that clever.”

  “She wasn’t. Someone in the Department helped her. A clerk, someone nobody really noticed but with high enough clearance to collect information. Just not high enough to provide them with the proof they wanted, thank God. Cristos and Bernard Knox are working together to close the leak and any hole it might have left.”

  She laughed. “There’s an unholy alliance!”

  He smiled too. “They do make quite a pair. Cristos thinks there’s a consortium of businessmen working together to dissect Talents and distill whatever it is that we have.”

  She frowned, lifting her hand to cup his cheek. “I thought we had scientists doing that already.”

  He nodded against her hand, and she felt the stubble of a day’s growth rasp her palm deliciously. “We do, but these people want to bypass humanity. We’re creatures to them, subjects to be used. And all they want from it is money. Somehow it would be easier if they had some kind of ideal, however twisted, but they just want to make a profit. The labs have been getting more sophisticated, and the Department has suspected for some time that they’re linked, but Candy helped Cristos break the code, provided the final link. You were right about the metatags.

 

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