Kiss Me When the Sun Goes Down

by Lisa Olsen

  None of this was happening as we’d planned. The fight was supposed to have been a diversion only, until Carter could take the shot and bring him down. The only reason I’d challenged Volkov in the first place was to get him to accept, thinking he could take me down easily, Bishop’s protest had been just for show. But with Carter down, we’d lost our ace in the hole. Maybe that was a sneaky, underhanded way of doing things, but it was the best we’d been able to come up with on such short notice.

  Volkov clearly enjoyed having the upper hand, and didn’t even bother to make use of the knife he still had, forcing Bishop to his knees. “Yield and I might spare your life,” Volkov smiled, hardly out of breath. “I might even let you watch as I teach her to control her tongue.”

  “Suck… my…” Bishop went slack, using the blood as a lubricant to slip free as he elbowed Volkov in the stomach and flipped him in the same movement. Volkov crashed to the ground, but recovered instantly, pulling Bishop down with him. They rolled, crashing into the marble planter with enough force to send a crack up the side, and then Volkov landed on top, crushing Bishop’s windpipe in his grasp. Now he remembered the knife, making a slow, deliberate cut across Bishop’s cheek.

  “We have to do something,” I hissed, as Bishop squirmed beneath the knife.

  “We can’t,” Carys whispered back. “Tradition dictates they must fight to the death.”

  Tradition be damned, I wasn’t about to lose Bishop after everything we’d been through. “This is stupid,” I declared, stalking over to pick up one of Bishop’s discarded guns. I might not be the best of shots, but Volkov gave me a great big target while he sat there, playing Tic Tac Toe on Bishop’s skin.

  My first shot caught him in the shoulder, and his head came up in utter shock as I advanced, shooting again and again. The next shot missed, but the third one hit him in the abdomen. It wasn’t enough to stop a vampire, but it was enough to give Bishop the chance to break free. In an instant, it was Volkov pinned to the ground with Bishop panting over him, a knee pressed to his neck.

  Volkov’s eyes widened with rage. “You violated the sanctity of the challenge!”

  I shot him again, point blank in the chest where a normal heart would be. “Your life is still forfeit to me, or don’t you remember? Jakob gave it to me that night down in the dungeons, and I’m not done with it yet.”

  He was getting weaker, losing blood quickly, and Bishop had no trouble holding him down. I spared a quick look to him to see how badly he was hurt, but despite the network of fresh scars on his body, Bishop had never looked more dangerously capable.

  “I… yield…” It was barely more than a croak, but the words escaped Volkov’s lips.

  There was a time when I might’ve accepted his defeat, but the woman I’d become had suffered too much to leave a dangerous enemy like him at my back. “Oh, no you don’t, it’s not that easy.” I took my eyes off of the bastard long enough to meet Bishop’s gaze. “Do it.”

  Bishop picked up Volkov’s discarded knife and sliced through both of the man’s hamstrings, effectively crippling him, in case he still had the strength to escape. Only then did Bishop get up off of him to limp to the side.

  There are a few ways to kill a vampire, but the most effective are beheading and fire. Even if I had an axe, I wasn’t sure I could manage to take his head off without a few whacks, and that didn’t sound like much fun to me. But fire, I could do. Especially when Rob had already shown me how effective a tool it could be. I pulled the small plastic container of lighter fluid out of my jacket pocket and squirted some up and down Volkov’s body, starting with his feet. He was in so much pain from the gunshots and the severed tendons, I don’t think he even noticed, until I splashed some in his face for good measure. That got his attention.

  “No, wait, you can’t do this,” he moaned weakly, nearly unconscious with blood loss. “Honor demands…”

  “There’s no honor in what you to did to me and mine,” I said in a cold voice I hardly recognized. “Vampire law demands an eye for an eye. That leaves you one life short of paying me back for what you took from me, but I’ll settle for just the one.” With a flick of the thumb, I sparked up Lee’s lighter and tossed it onto Volkov’s chest. The fire caught with a satisfying whoosh, the flames licking hungrily over clothing and skin alike. Volkov had no strength to scream, the fire raging through his bloodless husk fast, until there was nothing but a sooty bloodstain left on my marble floor.

  Bending over, I retrieved Lee’s lighter. “That was for you,” I whispered, tucking it into my pocket despite the heat against my fingers.

  Bishop’s hand curved around my elbow to draw me away, and I turned to face him, my eyes sweeping over his torso. He was a bloodstained mess, but the cuts were all healing quickly, with the exception of the deep scar on his cheek that still oozed.

  “Are you alright?” I asked, noting the way his shoulders had slumped in exhaustion.

  He nodded. “Carter?”

  “In torpor, he’ll need blood.”

  “I could use some myself,” he said, his voice little more than a wheeze with the damage to his windpipe.

  “Absolutely. Let’s get back to the house and we can…” My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I dug it out and saw a message that made me smile. “Actually, it looks like I have just the thing to heal both you and Carter.”

  “Bless me, I never thought you had it in you,” Carys murmured, staring down at the smudge on the floor, impressed. “Perhaps you are worthy, at that.” It was probably the nicest thing she’d ever said to me.

  “Thank you,” I smiled. And then I cracked her right in the jaw, hard enough to knock her out. It was glorious, and just as satisfying as burning Volkov to a crispy critter. Bishop stared in shock as I searched for something to tie her up with, settling on the cords from the blinds.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Time to go see Jakob.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Jakob is here?” Bishop replied, dumbfounded.

  “Yep. I just got a text that he’s in town.” Who better to decide what to do with Carys than Jakob? Of course, she wasn’t likely to stay knocked out for very long, so I had to move fast. “I’ll take her, you get Carter. It’s probably better if we move him like that. He’ll start bleeding like crazy once we pull him out of torpor.”

  It took Bishop a few extra seconds to catch up, his mental reflexes not quite up to his usual clarity, but he bent to retrieve Carter’s body, obediently laying him across the back seat as I dumped Carys into the trunk. I may have conked her on the head again with a tire iron to make sure she stayed docile for the trip, but I didn’t mention it to Bishop.

  I tried not to look at Carter’s ruined body, trusting that Jakob would be in a sharing mood once he heard my story. Jakob picking now to show sure simpled things up for me. Otherwise, I might have to live with Bishop giving me sad puppy dog eyes for the rest of eternity, because one thing was certain – I wasn’t going to leave Carys in a position to hurt me like this ever again either. Maybe I wasn’t about to set fire to her, but something had to be done, and I hoped Jakob could handle it.

  Carys was awake and spitting mad when I opened the trunk. Luckily, the cords I’d tied her with stayed put (she probably would’ve lost all circulation in her hands and feet if she’d been alive).

  I bent over her, my words for her ears only. “Shut up and keep still, I’m bringing you to Jakob for judgment. Or would you rather I get out my lighter again?” Her eyes went wide with fear, but she stayed silent, letting me pull her out of the trunk without putting up a fight.

  If anyone thought it strange that we carried a bloodied unconscious guy and a girl trussed up like a Christmas goose across the street and up into the building, they kept their mouths shut about it. The pair of guards at the front desk didn’t so much as breathe a word of objection as we sailed through the lower floor to the elevator, riding to the penthouse where Jakob’s apartments were.

  It was Nelleke who
answered the door, dressed in a long black dress of rough, homespun cloth. “He is expecting you,” she said, stepping away from the door with a solemn nod.

  The posh penthouse apartment looked pretty much the same since I’d last stayed there, and Jakob sprawled in his favorite chair by an expansive view of the city. His face crinkled with happiness to see me, until I dropped Carys to the ground like a sack of potatoes where she landed with a squeak. “I assume you have a good explanation for this?” he asked mildly.

  “I do. I found out who’s been attacking my family, and I brought her to you for judgment,” I said with my best impression of a regency bob, deciding that formality might stroke his ego in my favor. Surprise stole across his features as he decided if I was kidding or not. It helped that Bishop was still covered in blood, despite the fact that he’d pulled on his pants and t-shirt.

  “This sounds like an interesting story to hear,” he replied, still not sounding all that alarmed. “The restraints are not necessary, release her.”

  As much as I hated to do it, I nodded to Bishop, who cut her free. Carys instantly crawled to Jakob’s knee, her cheeks wet as she drummed up tears. “You see how they treat me like a common criminal? Look, look at my wrists and ankles, how deeply the cords bit into my delicate flesh. You’re not going to let them treat me this way, are you, minn hjärta?”

  “I see this, but I’m very interested to hear why,” Jakob replied, and her face twisted into a scowl.

  “Because she hates me, she’s always hated me.”

  I let out an inelegant snort. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. You’re the one who’s been trying to ruin my life ever since New Year’s. Who sabotaged my party by poisoning the blood?”

  “I did,” she admitted. “But it wasn’t poisoned, merely tainted.”

  “And who let Volkov out of the dungeon in Vetis?”

  “I did, but I never intended for him to…”

  “You set Volkov free after I imprisoned him there?” Now Jakob’s voice took on a measure of concern. “Why would you do this?”

  Carys’ mouth opened and closed without a reply as she considered her words carefully. “I was jealous, I admit it,” she confessed. “I sought to make Anja suffer loss as I have suffered. But I never intended for him to kill anyone.”

  “As she suffered?” I scoffed. “Because of her, Lee and Gunnar are dead. Because of her, my parents were burned out of their home and I’ve had to hide them. Because of her, my only sister chose to become a vampire rather than die from the attack she set in motion. I don’t care what her intentions were, she needs to pay for the suffering she’s caused. And if you won’t do it, I will,” I added, losing my polite formality as I got worked up again.

  Jakob didn’t seem to be offended by my threat. “And Volkov? Do you seek his punishment as well?”

  “I already took care of it.”

  There was respect in Jakob’s nod to me before he turned back to Carys. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Carys squirmed under his direct gaze, picking at the seam on the side of his leg, unable to look him in the eye. “I am sorry that she lost her underlings, but it truly wasn’t my fault. I tried to warn them.” She looked to Bishop for support. “Tell him, Ulrik, tell him how I led you to Volkov.”

  If she’d been hoping for a kind word from Bishop, she was out of luck. “Only when you realized you couldn’t control Volkov any more,” he replied, his arms crossed over his chest. “And only after Volkov had already killed.”

  “Enough.” Jakob drew himself up to his full height, staring coldly down at Carys, who cringed in the chair beside him. “You have acted out of spite and jealousy, and even worse, now suffer from a distinct lack of responsibility for your actions. You have brought shame to your line and to me. Therefore, my punishment is thus – I shun thee, Carys. My heart is cold to thee, and thou art no longer my daughter for one hundred years. You are stripped of your titles and lands, and all that see thee will know of thy disgrace.”

  “No…” It came out as a rush of air, no sound behind it as she sank back to the ground, her knees giving out.

  “There, my judgment is given,” Jakob turned to me, full of satisfaction. Even Bishop nodded in approval.

  “That seems fair to me.”

  “No, that’s not enough,” I protested. “A hundred years? So what. She can do plenty of damage in that time whether she’s the Elder of Vetis or not, and now she’s got a reason to really hate me. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder waiting for her next harebrained plot to hatch for the next century.”

  “I will simply order her not to seek revenge against you,” Jakob shrugged, focusing his will on Carys. “You will not seek retaliation. You will never harm Anja or her loved ones ever again.”

  “Never again,” Carys mumbled blankly.

  As much as that was music to my ears, I wasn’t done. “I still want a punishment that’s more lasting. She’s too dangerous to be left like this. I’m not just worried about myself, but for all the havoc she can cause. With great power comes great responsibility, and she’s seriously lacking, you said it yourself.”

  “What do you suggest, älskling?”

  “I want you to remove her ability to compel other vampires.” That ought to clip her claws.

  “You couldn’t…” Carys found her voice as she stared up at us in horror.

  “I agree,” Jakob replied, embracing the idea quicker than I thought he would. But he wasn’t done. “This is a power that is easily corrupted, and we may all see the results of her folly. But were I to remove it from one childe, I must remove it from you as well, Anja.”

  “Wha… huh?” I blinked in confusion as the conversation took a different turn. “Me? Since when have I ever given you cause to doubt my judgment?”

  His hands came up to cut off my protest. “I must have balance. If I do this, you will both be bound by it. Is this what you would truly choose, petal?”

  The idea that he’d even ask me that burned my guts like a belly full of five alarm chili. All of the good I’d accomplished with Carter, that would be completely over. Being able to correct any dangerous or jerky behavior would be out the window, and I’d have to rely on my powers of persuasion to get what I wanted. Then again, what gave me the right to impose my will against others? He was right, it was a dangerous power to wield, no matter whose hands it was in.

  “Fine, do it.”

  “Anja, are you sure about this?” Bishop frowned, but I knew I’d made the right decision.

  “Where would we be right now if I’d never had the power to compel other vampires? We never would’ve broken up in the first place. Sure, it’s helped me get out of a jam or two, but mostly it’s been a pain to keep secret. Plenty of other vampires live without it, and they get along fine.”

  “You’re not a normal vampire though, you’re the Elder of the West.”

  “Which makes it even more dangerous, if you think of it like that. I don’t want to end up like Bakareh.” I turned to face Jakob. “Do it. If this is what it takes to strip Carys of her ability, then I should be willing to live by the same rules.”

  “Once more you make me proud, älskling,” Jakob smiled, his hand landing on my shoulder in benediction. Then, before I could say another word on the matter, I felt his will take hold of me as he addressed us both. “You will not use your compulsion on another vampire ever again.” That was all it took. He didn’t remove the power so much as block the ability to use it. I didn’t feel any different, but Carys started to cry softly.

  “Remove yourself from my sight,” Jakob addressed her coldly. “Do not show yourself to me before the century is done or you will suffer my wrath.”

  Carys got up and slipped out without another word, her head deeply bowed in misery. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was really the last I’d see of her for a while, or if her vindictive nature would somehow find a way around Jakob’s compulsion.

  Still, it took a big load off of my m
ind, and I threw my arms around Jakob’s shoulders in an impulsive hug. “Thank you. I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

  Jakob held me tight, breathing in against my hair as if he enjoyed my scent. “Do not speak of it again, that is all I ask.” Releasing me, he lowered himself onto his chair with a heavy sigh. “Now then, petal. You are well from your ordeal? Bishop? Do you seek my sacrament?”

  “Actually, I was sort of hoping you might offer that to Carter.” I looked down to where Bishop had set him on the floor. “He took an arrow to the chest, then fell a couple of stories. He’s in pretty bad shape.”

  “If you wish it, then I shall heal him,” Jakob nodded, and Nelleke spoke up for the first time, her lips turned down in disapproval.

  “You are being sure of this, far?”

  “It is fine, dóttir.”

  There was an extra note of tension between them, and I wondered if we’d interrupted something. “Is this a bad time? Because, as much as I hate to say it, he’ll keep like that if you need us to come back later.”

  “No, it is fine,” he waved away my offer. “I will need to feed soon, that is all. There will be much blood once you remove that arrow, I think. Bring him to the bathroom.”

  There was a lot of spilled blood, and I shuddered to think how badly Carter would’ve suffered without the power of Jakob’s Ellri blood. But once he understood what was going on, Carter lay still, accepting Jakob’s care until the worst of his injuries were healed. It might be a few days until he was up to full speed since he refused to drink from humans, but he’d live, and that was the important part.

  Once we saw that Jakob had Carter well in hand, Bishop and I slipped into the next room where I fed him some of my blood as discreetly as possible. It was tempting to turn it into something more, but I think we both wanted more privacy before we shared something like that again. For the moment, Carter was on the mend, we didn’t have to worry about Volkov or Carys ever again, and Bishop and I had lived to tell the tale. For once, all was right with the world.