“Hi.” She smiled up at him. That was a smooth opening.
He leaned on the open door in a white T-shirt and jeans that looked so sexy she felt her heat pool between her legs.
“Hi.” Stepping aside, Nic let her in.
They didn’t touch. She hated that, missed the warmth of his hands on her skin. Did he miss her?
“Can we talk?” She sat on the couch.
“Sure.” He sat down on the other end.
Neutral corners. Not side by side. Well, here goes.
“I was wrong. If this is what you think is right, I’ll back you up.” She looked into his eyes, trying to read his expression.
“Really?” Hope ignited in his eyes. “You’ll back me up?”
She nodded and reached to take his hand. When she touched him, a fire burned in her. She wanted him with her always, and she believed she was prepared to do anything to insure he stayed by her side.
“I don’t want to lose you, Nic.” So she’d sacrifice two people for it. No, they weren’t people. They were vampires, she mentally corrected herself. This was harder than she thought it would be.
If I bite my tongue much harder, it will fall out of my mouth.
Nic looked so relieved. He jumped up and went to his jacket. Pulling out the orb, he showed it to her.
“I used it, Fiona. I know the general area where they’re hiding. We have a few hours before sunset. If we move fast, we can locate them before they wake up.”
“To kill them.” She nodded. While they slept. That would be easy. Not to see the look of betrayal in their eyes. “Right. When do you want to leave?”
“You left your sword here. I’ll get mine, and we can go right now.” He headed down the hall and then stopped. “Cho, you’re coming, right? We’ll need you.”
Cho had been sitting on his branch listening to both of them. He sent his thoughts to Fiona alone to hear.
“Fiona, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. If I want Nic, I do.”
A swish of his tail in irritation. “I’m coming, Nic.” He blinked his black eyes.
“Good. Let’s get this over with.” Even Nic sounded reluctant about it. “We’ll take both cars and cover more ground.”
— • —
Nic sat in the Jag and looked up and down the street. Fiona’s car was parked behind his, but she stood at his window.
“This is the neighborhood. You take Cho.”
Fiona leaned in and waited as Cho climbed on her shoulder.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, he’s mouthy, but good to have at your side.”
“Thanks, boss. I think. Let’s go, Fiona.”
“Sure. Just give me a minute.”
“Nic.”
She leaned farther into the car and kissed Nic’s lips. She’d wanted to taste him one more time. They separated. She pushed a curl of dark hair from his face.
“Be careful, Nic.”
“You too, darlin’.” He pulled away and drove down the block.
“Well, it’s you and me, Cho.”
“You know, you don’t have to do this. Let Nic do it.”
“No. I have to do this.”
“Trying to prove something? Don’t do it on my account.”
“Shut up, Cho.”
Fiona returned to the car and started in the opposite direction. They had several blocks to cover, and each minute she put this off crept closer to dusk. She felt Cho’s nails dig into her shoulder as she drove. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as when he dug into her mind.
— • —
Beginning his search, Nic drove slowly past one house to the next. First, he looked for the van. No van was in sight. That didn’t rule out it being parked in one of the detached garages. That meant searching each one, and that would take too much time, so he’d narrowed it down. He looked for houses that looked vacant, or had basement windows painted or sealed shut.
He’d kill them and go home with Fiona. It would be just like all the other times he’d killed vampires. One swing, that’s all it would take. If he caught them before they woke, they’d be sitting ducks, and his job would be that much easier.
That’s what he’d sworn to do. Kill vampires.
Even the ones he liked.
Nic’s gut hurt, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.
After an hour of cruising through the neighborhood, he pulled over to the curb, took out the orb, and tried to look again. Perhaps he’d catch something he’d missed the first time he’d seen the vision. He held it up, stared at it, and the image of old Victorian houses appeared. This was the neighborhood all right.
He concentrated on the street. It had large oak trees lining the block. He passed a street two blocks back with lots of oaks. Nic pulled out his cell phone and called Fiona.
“Fiona? Nic. The street they’re on is just two blocks over from where we started.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I looked at the orb again. I’m heading back. I’ll meet you on the corner.”
Nic snapped the phone shut and turned the car around.
Fiona’s car waited by the curb. Nic pulled up behind her. For three blocks in each direction, massive oak trees lined the blocks.
Her phone rang.
“It’s getting late, Nic.”
“I know. Try only where the trees are growing. You don’t have to look beyond that. If you find them, call me and let me know. We’ll do this together.” Nic’s voice sounded so sure of himself.
“Will do.”
Fiona flipped her phone off and touched her sword. She headed east.
Nic headed west.
— • —
Fiona cruised the two blocks to get a feel for where they might be. She checked for the van but didn’t see it. She found four houses on the street that had painted over, boarded up, or curtained basement windows. Concentrating on those, she eliminated one when she saw a family of five get in their minivan and drive off. She assumed the two vampires wouldn’t live in a house that was inhabited.
That left three houses as good candidates. She started with the closest one. The lawn was uncared for, and there was even a small pile of yellowed newspapers on the front porch. She pulled into the drive, parked, and got out. At the garage, she peered inside.
Empty.
The back door looked sturdy. She looked around to see if she could be seen, but it was in a blind spot. When she tried the doorknob, it didn’t turn, so she pulled a credit card out of her pocket and tried to slip the lock. No good. If she wanted in, she’d have to break something.
She twisted the knob and leaned her shoulder into it. The door creaked and almost seemed to give. She stood back, looked around her, and then slammed her shoulder into the door. The frame splintered, and the door swung open.
She entered an empty kitchen with clean spaces on the yellowed linoleum where the appliances once stood. A dark room opened beyond a doorway. Probably the dining room. She waited for her eyes to adjust.
“What do you think, Cho?”
“Looks empty. I don’t smell anything.”
“Is that good?”
“Well, it’s not bad. I hate bad odors. They mess me up.”
“I had no idea you had such a delicate system.”
“It’s not delicate. It’s all male, remember?”
“Right. Do vampires have a distinct smell?”
“Only right after they’ve fed. Odd. Metallic.”
“I hope I never get to know that smell.”
“Hang around with Nic too long and you just might.”
“Occupational hazard, huh?”
Fiona found the basement door. It stood open, and the steps disappeared into inky blackness.
“Cho, go see what’s down there.”
“Right.”
Cho left her shoulder and climbed onto the wall. He skittered down the stairwell. Halfway down, she lost sight of him.
“Nothing down here. It’s empty.”
; “Any doors? Hiding places? Extra rooms?”
“Nothing. A big, empty space. I don’t suppose they’re hiding in the heating system.”
“No. Come back up.”
Cho emerged from the darkness and returned to her shoulder.
“Next house on the list.”
“Don’t do this, Fiona.”
“I have to, you know that.”
“What are you planning to do if you do find them?”
“Kill them.”
“I know that’s not what you want.”
“What I want doesn’t matter. I chose to stand with Nic.”
“Even if he’s making a terrible mistake?”
“Even if.”
Fiona left the house after trying to close the door the best she could. She got in the car and backed down the drive. Across the street was the next possibility.
First, check the garage. As she pulled in, an older woman with a dog came along. The dog barked at Fiona, straining at its leash.
“Now, Bonnie! Be a good dog!” The little, white, poodle mix yapped away as the lady jerked the leash, trying to drag the dog off.
“It’s all right. She’s not bothering me.” Fiona spoke to her through the open window. “She’s good to have as a watchdog, I’ll bet.”
“Yes. She lets me know everything that’s going on. Nothing gets by her.” The woman straightened, proud of her little dog.
“I’m looking for a friend’s house. Well, not really a friend, but someone I met at a bar. I wanted to return something to him. Have you seen a white van around here?” Fiona tried to look lost. It wasn’t a stretch.
“Why, yes, I know that house. It’s just over there.” She pointed to the last house on Fiona’s list.
“Thanks, you really saved me some time.” She waved to the woman, backed out, and took off down the block.
Fiona pulled in the drive and up to the garage. She got out and closed her door as quietly as she could.
“Is it there?”
The white van was visible through a window on the side of the garage.
“Bingo!”
Now all she had to do was gather her courage and fight down the bile that rose in her throat when she thought about killing Ivan and Annie.
She should call Nic. Instead, she tossed her cell phone on the seat of the car. Then she let Cho climb on her shoulder and pulled out her sword.
“Shouldn’t we call Nic?”
“No. He doesn’t need to be here until we’re sure.”
“Well, the van is damned sure.”
“No. I’ll call him later.”
“Are you positive, princess?”
“I’m sure.”
Climbing the steps of the back porch, she didn’t bother to slip the lock but forced the door open. She stood in the fully-equipped kitchen with light from over the stove illuminating the space. The door to the basement was tucked under the back stairs.
The things we do for love.
Chapter Fifteen
Creeping slowly down the basement stairs, Fiona’s eyes strained against the darkness. She only had fifteen minutes before sunset.
“Stay up here Cho.”
“Don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks. If I’m not out in twenty minutes, it was a slice.”
“Shut up, Fiona.”
When she reached the last step, she put her hand on the knob of the door and tried it. It turned a quarter of the way and stopped.
“Shit.” The door was locked. She lowered her sword and squatted down to peer in the dimness at the knob. No deadbolt, that was good. Now she would have to waste time forcing the lock. She pulled out her small blade from her boot and worked it between the jamb and the door, hoping the tip wouldn’t snap.
Leaning on the knob, she twisted and jiggled the blade. The lock gave a soft pop, and she gave a silent prayer of thanks.
Fiona opened the door and was in a hallway. The light here was better than the stairs; at least she could see. She came to a door, cracked it open, and peered inside. Empty except for some cardboard boxes that looked like they were from a previous move. They probably belonged to the last tenant. She closed the door and went on.
The next door was a bathroom, complete with shower stall. She reached in and turned on the light. There was a towel hanging on a hook with traces of blood on it. She never realized vampires took showers, but even they had to clean up. She shrugged and closed the door.
There was a door at the end of the hall. This is it, she told herself as she reached for the knob. Fiona wondered how much time she’d wasted on searching the other rooms. Don’t think about that now. The knob turned in her hand, and she cracked it open. Light poured out of the narrow opening.
The thought that they might be awake sent a chill through her, but she tamped down her fear. She could handle herself. After all, she had the sword, and Ivan had said he didn’t have any weapons. They’d be easy marks.
She stepped into the room. A living area was set up with a leather sofa, coffee table, and chairs. A bubble-wrapped plasma television leaned against the wall, and a desk had boxes stacked on it proclaiming a computer and a printer/fax machine.
They were packed to leave. Two large suitcases and a hanging garment bag sat in the middle of the room. It seemed like everything was ready to go. She stared for a moment at a vase of fresh red roses in the center of the dining table. Fiona frowned.
Nic had never given her flowers. Not that there’d been time. But Ivan had met Annie the same night she met Nic, and he’d found the time. And it seemed, an all-night florist.
This was no time to think about flowers. She needed to stay focused. If she did what her heart told her to do about Ivan and Annie, Nic would never buy her flowers.
This is not focused.
She spotted the alcove off to the side. Brown velvet curtains hung across the opening, and they were closed. This had to be where they slept. Would they be lying in coffins, hands crossed over their chests? That would be too creepy.
She raised her sword and moved to the curtain.
Her hand found the division between the panels. Parting the curtains with her sword, a soft beam of light shone out.
Vampires need a night-light? Are they afraid of the dark too? She almost giggled.
The tension was starting to get to her.
She took a breath and slipped through the curtains.
The room was just large enough to hold a king-size bed and one nightstand. A cell phone lay on the stand next to the lamp, which was the source of the light.
Fiona stared at the two figures in the bed and froze.
Both were naked, vulnerable, with only a sheet covering them at the hips. Ivan’s arms were wrapped around Annie in a lover’s embrace, his leg thrown over hers. Annie nestled in his arms, her head buried against his chest, her arm draped over his body as she clung to him.
She was struck by the intimacy of the couple, the way Ivan held Annie. Fiona swallowed.
Do vampires fall in love? The question popped into her mind and threw her off center. It sure seemed like it to her. Their surprising tenderness and their caring for each other had been obvious; she’d seen proof of it in the little time she’d been around them. Did Ivan and Annie love each other any less than she and Nic?
Annie had said she hadn’t chosen this life. They were what they were, no more, no less. Did that make them disposable, fair game, negligible, their lives forfeit to her or Nic’s whim? To the whim of the Council, whoever those old men were?
She had to stop thinking like that. It wasn’t getting her anywhere.
She tried using Nic’s argument. She should hate them because they’d tried to kill her. It was a good argument, if you stopped there. Or if you looked at Ivan’s past, or what little they knew about it.
She’d asked Nic to change. Could Ivan change too? Perhaps it wasn’t such a big leap for him.
Because when the chips came down, they fought and killed their own kind to save Amy, becomi
ng outcasts in their own world just to save one mortal girl’s life.
She rubbed her eyes and looked down at the sleeping couple again.
If vampires are monsters, then Ivan was a monster, and so was Annie. Fiona had a hard time reconciling that image.
Annie was trying hard to make peace with what she had become. She’d helped to kidnap Beth, true. Would they have killed her? Fiona didn’t believe for a minute Annie would have done it. Would Ivan?
Bad vampires? Good vampires? Black-and-white?
Her head hurt. She had to just do it and stop thinking. But she couldn’t.
Annie had said she’d found a good man in Ivan. Had she found something in him even he didn’t think existed?
Was there such a thing as redemption? One good act that made up for all the bad? Finding something good inside all the bad?
Isn’t that what God is all about? Forgiveness?
Fiona tightened her grip on her sword and took her stance. She needed to get this over with, right now. If she could just turn off her damn internal dialogue, she could get on with it.
These two had found each other in the madness and horror of their world. Now they lay on the bed clinging to each other, just as she had clung to Nic after making love to him.
Fiona began to back away, her sword still ready, when there was a small movement on the bed. Fiona froze.
Annie’s eyes flickered. She took a deep breath as her lungs filled with air. Fiona watched as the young woman, not quite awake, snuggled closer to Ivan and sighed in contentment. She turned her head, opened her eyes, and looked up into Fiona’s face.
Her eyes widened with fear. Annie pushed herself up. Her bottom lip trembled as she faced Fiona, and her gaze darted to the sword. She put her arms out to protect Ivan.
“Please don’t,” she begged Fiona.
Fiona prepared to swing. She could take off Annie’s head with one blow, and she’d be dust. Asleep, Ivan would be even easier.
Fiona’s head and heart warred for possession of her soul. Follow her head or her heart. Either way, she was damned. She knew which one was right.
“Wait please, just give me a moment.” Annie turned to Ivan, still asleep, leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. She turned back to face Fiona, her back straight. The look on her face said she was prepared to die. Annie closed her eyes and waited for the blow.
Heart of a Warrior Page 22