Lady & the Vamp ib-3

by Мишель Роуэн

  Dion singing about her heart going on.

  And on.

  Then he swore loudly. Loud enough that the gathered crowd turned to look at him as if he was something to be wary of. Something to fear.

  He was.

  He'd left her. Just like that. Without even arguing. Without coming up with a better solution.

  And now she was going to pay the price. Her boss would kill her for her betrayal.

  He never understood why she seemed so ready to follow his orders when she appeared so strong and self-sufficient.

  It was because her Boss was a demon. Even in a weakened shell, Quinn could sense his power thrumming just beneath the surface. It had turned his blood cold just to be in his presence.

  How had Janie started working for him? He was willing to bet that it wasn't of her own accord. She had been forced to sign that contract in blood. To do his bidding under great duress.

  And now she was going to die because Quinn had been unable to protect her.

  He let out a soft, humorless laugh at that. Janie would kick his ass if she knew he thought he could protect her. She didn't think she needed protection. But she did.

  And he'd failed.

  She could already be dead.

  The thought tore at his insides.

  He shoved his hand in his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the hard red stone. He had to save her. Whatever it took, he wouldn't stand by in the shadows while she was murdered.

  I love her.

  The thought wrapped around his heart and held on tight. She was everything he thought he didn't want.

  Too stubborn, too much baggage. Too opinionated. A real pain in the ass, all things considered.

  And he didn't want to live another day without her in his life.

  He didn't know if she felt the same way. She'd given herself freely to him earlier when they'd made love.

  She hadn't blamed him for turning her into a vampire. They'd worked together like a well-oiled machine when they weren't fighting.

  But that didn't mean a thing.

  Okay, he told himself.Stop wasting time. Go back and find her before it's too late .

  She was going to be pissed at him for doing this. She could be. He was fine with it.

  As long as she was safe, nothing else mattered to him.

  He ran back to the El Diablo. There were flashing lights of police cars that had just arrived, probably to investigate the bomb threat. All he had to do was sneak in past them.

  A man stood with his back to Quinn, his arms crossed in front of him, staring up at the hotel. He was alone.

  It was Gideon.

  No one was watching. This could be the opportunity of a lifetime. Sneak up behind the leader of the hunters and snap his neck. It would be murder, but could he justify it to himself that it would save so many in the long run? Also, Gideon was well known for being unforgiving to those in the hunter ranks who disappointed him. Torture was one of his tools for getting the information he wanted.

  Kill him. Break his neck. It would be fast, and the man who had ended so many with no thought to gentleness or being nice about it would be dead.

  He tried to summon something inside himself, that spark of the killer he once was, but came up empty.

  Quinn wanted never to kill again—not if he could help it. And not like this.

  "I know you're there," Gideon said softly without turning around.

  "You do?"

  "I don't like when things are out of my control. There are few things I cherish, and my power is one of them."

  "Could have guessed that."

  He turned to face Quinn. There was no friendliness on the man's face, only weariness. He looked much older than his thirty-five years. "Why did you do it?"

  "Do what?"

  Gideon's lips curled into the ghost of a smile. "Warn me about the bomb."

  "I wish I could hang out and chat, but I'm needed somewhere else right now."

  "Then tell me quickly."

  "Because I don't believe in mass murder. And the man who planted the bomb had a very skewed idea of the world now that he's a vampire."

  "And you don't?"

  "No. Actually, I see things a lot clearer now."

  "Does it make things simpler?"

  "What things?"

  "Choices. Life and death and all that lies between?"

  "Not sure what you mean, exactly, but no. Choices are not any simpler. Clearer, maybe, but not simple."

  "And where is the man who planted the bomb now?"

  "Dead."

  "I see." Gideon nodded. "Can I tell you a secret, Quinn?"

  "Make it a fast one."

  "I know that vampires are not all deserving of death. It was my father and my father's father, and those that went before, that made the decision thatvampired would be our targets—our life's mission to destroy. They were blind to reason, but I am not."

  "So what is that supposed to mean?"

  Gideon's expression shadowed. "It changes nothing, of course. But it does make me question my own humanity. The fact that even knowing what I know—I won't stop. I'll never stop what I'm doing until all vampires have been wiped off the face of the earth."

  Quinn felt cold at his words. "And you think that's going to happen?"

  Gideon breathed out a short laugh. "Unlikely. But my life is devoid of challenge. Women are too easy—none excite me enough stimulate my intellect. Other men fear me, and I call no one my true friend.

  My father was too focused on his work, and now he is dead. There is only me and my mission."

  Quinn nodded. "No challenge, huh?"

  "I climbed Mount Everest last year. It was disappointingly uneventful."

  "Vampires are pretty easy to kill."

  His mouth turned up in a cruel smile. "Like shooting fish in a barrel. So few put up any sort of a challenge. They just accept death. It bores me. I thought for a moment that you would present me with an interesting diversion tonight, but even you…" He trailed off and sighed. "You offer nothing new."

  If Gideon weren't whining about not having enough cool things to kill, Quinn might even feel sorry for him. He supposed that was what it was like, to have everything in the world, any woman, any material possession, the luxury to travel to the four corners of the globe and stay in style. Life would be boring after a while.

  Gideon had nothing he cared about.

  Quinn had Janie.

  That made all the difference at the moment. And he'd do whatever it took to save her.

  The helper drones pushed her, wordlessly, into a suite at the hotel that made Quinn's lavish room look like the economy special. The place was still empty of guests. As they passed a window, she saw the flashing lights of police cars and ambulances that had arrived in case the bomb scare had not been false.

  Janie was preparing herself mentally for death. She'd done it before. It was a quick assessment of everything she'd lived through. That which she would miss, that which she wouldn't. During her meeting with the Boss the other day, she'd decided that all she'd miss in the world were her new shoes. A lot had changed since then.

  Now she knew that she'd miss Quinn. Just the thought made her throat thick with grief. The crush she'd felt for him as a kid had been nothing compared to how she felt now. It had been just kid stuff. Cute in retrospect.

  Now she was truly, deeply in love with him. She'd imagined herself in love with other men over the years. High school boyfriends, the creep who'd roped her into working for the Company, and even the evil wizard she'd made the mistake of falling for while on assignment. After his death, she'd sworn off men. Sworn off the chance of having her already cold, hard heart break any further. It just got in the way of doing business.

  Until Quinn came back into her life. She couldn't deny her attraction to him. He was very handsome and had a smile—when he chose to use it—that turned her inside out. She couldn't even pinpoint the exact moment when that infatuation had turned into love.

  But it had. She loved hi
m. Enough that she cared more about his safety than her own. He was safe. He was gone, and he had the stone. The Boss could do whatever he wanted to her now. She was at peace with her decision and sacrifice.

  Well, not completely, but she was working on it.

  She wondered if Quinn felt the same for her.

  I guess I'll never know, she thought.

  At least her sister was safe with Lenny. Her sister who didn't remember her. But it didn't matter. Janie rememberedher , and she was safe and that's all that mattered.

  There was a knock on the door.

  The Boss motioned for his drone to answer it.

  The drone opened the door and was met with another mindless drone. They nodded pleasantly at each other.

  "Hey, Joe."

  "Hey, Steve."

  "Come on in."

  She craned her neck to look over her shoulder, and her body froze at what she saw.

  It was Lenny. A very worse-for-wear Lenny. He was pushed into the room, and he slumped forward.

  His face was covered with cuts. His upper lip was swollen. His shirt torn and bloody.

  "Lenny!" she exclaimed.

  He looked up at her, and she saw that one eye was swollen shut. "Janie!"

  The drones had Lenny's notebook, and they flipped through it, pointing at page after page, tittering like schoolgirls. Then they tore pages out of it. Lenny's beloved poetry.

  The sight of it was enough to make Janie's blood boil.

  The Boss approached and looked up at Lenny. "From her I would expect betrayal, but from you? I didn't think you were smart enough to be concerned about."

  He said nothing.

  She was worried about Lenny. He looked very defeated. And what about her sister?

  She didn't have to wonder very long, because Angela was the next person to be shoved into the room.

  She glared at Janie.

  "Everything was great in my life until I met you," she snarled. Then she turned her head to look at Lenny and her expression softened. "Lenny! What have they done to you?" She ran over to him and threw her arms around the big guy.

  Janie frowned.

  Angela tenderly kissed his lips and his injured face. "Are you hurt?"

  Lenny didn't pull away. "I've felt better."

  Angela glanced at Janie with tear-filled eyes. "You're the one who sent him to me?"

  "Didn't work out quite the way I expected, but yeah. What was what, a whole half hour ago?"

  "It doesn't matter. He's the only good thing that's happened tonight." She kissed his lips. "He's the man

  I've been dreaming of all of my life."

  "Let's not get dramatic."

  "No, I'm not being dramatic. I've literally dreamed of him. My big, beautiful mystery man who fills my nights with true love and erotic pleasure. I thought he was only a dream, and then all of a sudden there he was."

  "You've dreamed of him all of your life? Erotically?Lenny ?"

  "Yes. At least the last few years I have. I don't remember anything before that."

  Janie let out a long sigh of frustration. "That's because you have amnesia. Like I was telling you? God,

  you're so annoying."

  "Don't talk about her like that," Lenny protested. "I love her."

  "Let me guess, you've been dreaming of her, too?"

  "No. But it doesn't matter. The moment I saw her, I knew. We were meant to be together. I even read her some of my poetry… before we were…interrupted … and she loves it."

  "You were reading her poetry when you should have been leaving town? Great. Just great."

  Angela glanced at Janie. "The man has a talent with words. He really should get an agent."

  "If I may interrupt," the Boss said as one of his drones brought him a martini. "You may wonder why I've gathered you all together here tonight. Well, it is quite simple. I plan on torturing you"—he nodded at

  Angela—"as part of my punishment to her"—a nod at Janie—"and then I will kill you all."

  "Can't we talk about this?" Janie asked.

  "No."

  "There has to be some way I can make this right."

  "There is. Have your lover bring the stone back to me. That is the only solution."

  She bit her lip. Hard. "Not going to happen."

  "Then I'm afraid the night shall not end well for you." Fire flashed in his eyes again.

  Just as he was about to protect Angela, he was pushed down into a chair and handcuffed to it.

  Front-row seat. The drones grabbed Janie's arms again.

  Angela blinked up at the Boss, who approached her like something out of a nightmare. "I don't want to be eviscerated!"

  He hovered his hand over her face, not quite touching. "There is a veil of magic over you. A curse."

  "A… a curse?" she stammered.

  "Shall I lift it for you?" He smiled. "My powers are not vast, but that is within my means. Shall I do that?"

  He didn't wait for an answer.

  Angela screamed, and Janie wrenched against the men, who held her still.

  Her sister went silent, her eyes closed tightly, and then she slowly opened them and looked at her.

  "Janie?"

  Janie's heart lurched. "Angela? You remember?"

  She nodded. "Oh… oh, my God. I can't believe this. I left and you didn't know where I was all of this time. I'm so sorry!"

  "What happened?"

  "I went out partying. I wanted to get drunk. I went to a club just to dance and forget everything." She laughed dryly. "I guess it worked, didn't it? A guy started flirting with me. We got along really well. Left together. His girlfriend found us making out in the parking lot. She was a witch… said some stuff in Latin.

  And then everything I knew went away."

  "She cursed you."

  "The guy wasn't even that cute. I was definitely wearing my beer goggles." She glanced at Lenny.

  He swallowed and looked down at the plush carpeting. "So I guess this means that you and I—"

  She shook her head. "It doesn't change anything. My heart has known you for years, Lenny. I love you."

  "My heart has known you for years"he repeated. "That would be a great title for a poem."

  "Which you will never have the chance to write, since you will be dead," the Boss finished. "Now"—he gripped Angela's shoulder and his eyes blazed—"shall we begin?"

  "No!" Janie yelled.

  The door burst open, and she looked over to see Quinn standing in its outline.

  "Am I too late?" he asked.

  "Quinn!" she managed, struggling against the men who still held her. "What are you doing here?"

  "Saving you."

  "How did you find us?"

  "The place is empty. It was easy to follow the screaming."

  "I'm going to kick your ass."

  "That's what I thought you'd say, but I'm still here."

  The Boss regarded him in silence for a moment. "I could rip your heart from your chest where you stand."

  "That sounds unpleasant."

  The Boss's eyes turned to flame.

  Quinn held up his hands. "No need for violence. I've brought you what you want."

  "Have you? Just like that?"

  "Just like that. But you have to release everyone." He glanced at Janie with concern.

  The Boss smiled thinly. "Love is a dangerous thing, vampire. You would risk so much for a woman who does not even possess the ability to feel such an emotion? Remember one thing, I hire my employees based on their lack of conscience. On their cold ability to do their jobs without any threat of emotion playing a part. Parker has rarely failed me in that respect. She doesn't love you."

  Quinn's expression didn't change. "I'm here to give you what you want and you're arguing with me?

  Yeah, that sounds intelligent. I can see why you're the boss around here."

  The Boss's eyes narrowed. "Do you know that there is a scale on which all life is ranked?Demonkind ,

  of course, is at the top. Humans take up a g
reat middle section, since there are so annoyingly many of them, but within that category they are separated into the weak and the strong. Those who would fight to live another day, versus those who would kneel before their death without raising a finger to stop it. Then there are the others. Those with magic infusing their existences, like werewolves and witches and fey and otherlessers . They rank lower than humans, for their souls are not quite as tasty, you see? But at the very bottom, do you know what is there?"

  Quinn crossed his arms. "Let me guess. Vampires?"

  "No. Actually, angels. They are really annoying. But just above angels are vampires."

  "You talk a lot for an evil entity."

  "Give me the stone."

  Quinn eyed him warily. "Any reason you're not just taking it from me?"

  The Boss's lips twisted. "Unfortunately, I cannot take it from you, you must give it to me of your own free will. It was part of my banishment. Rules and regulations even apply to demons."

  It was in Quinn's hand in a flash. "Let them live and it's yours."

  "You would take me at my word?"

  "When you have what you want, you won't give a shit about them anymore. I'm sure you'll have much more interesting things to take care of, won't you? What difference will it make if you spare a few meaningless creatures?"

  "Quinn, what the hell are you doing?" Janie said through clenched teeth.

  "Silence," the Boss hissed. "Very well, vampire. I will give you my word the only way I can. By giving you my name. The demonRadisshii gives you the solemn vow that you and your friends here shall be spared my wrath."

  "Radisshii? That's seriously your name?"

  "Now, the stone?"

  Just as Janie was about to open her mouth to protest, Quinn threw the ruby at the Boss.

  Since the Boss was very old and frail, the stone hit him in the face and fell to the floor.

  "Ouch," he said.

  Quinn cleared his throat. "Sorry. I… I thought you'd catch that."

  A drone dove to the ground, picking it up and handing it to the Boss with eyes lowered in reverence.

  The boss rubbed his cheek, which now bore a small red mark. He frowned.