by Shannon Bell
“A sip?” I asked.
He laughed. “She does talk! Yes, just a sip.”
“Okay,” I said.
“You don’t have to do this, Dylan,” Olivier said. “We can establish new terms.”
I shook my head and rolled up the sleeves of my jacket. He could take it from my wrist. I didn’t want to expose my neck or any other artery on my body for this man.
Christoph was at my side and salivating before I had finished rolling up the sleeve. He grabbed my wrist and brought it up to his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He licked the skin across the radial artery and let out a guttural moan.
“Relax,” Christoph whispered and before I could respond, he bit in. His fangs broke the surface instantly and I felt the blood rushing into his mouth. I pressed a hand behind me to steady myself and Olivier came to my side.
Christoph appeared to be in some kind of trance. He let out soft purrs as the blood was sucked from my wrist.
I was about to ask him to stop but he stopped on his own. He licked the wound to stop the bleeding and released my arm. The wound closed immediately and started to fade.
“Thank you.”
I nodded, not knowing what to say.
“You’re delicious. No wonder Olivier here brings you to Paris to visit him.”
Neither Olivier nor I said anything. We weren’t about to correct him.
“The debt is settled,” Christoph announced. “If you need anything else, ever, I’ll be happy to help. Simply bring the girl,” he smiled. He opened the gate for us and then closed it behind us. He took off in the direction of Alexanderplatz and we headed back to our hotel.
Olivier had one of my arms wrapped around his shoulder to provide me with some stability. I was still a little lightheaded from the blood loss. It was probably as much as I would have given at a blood drive, but it came out a whole hell of a lot faster.”
“Thank you,” Olivier said.
“For what?” I asked as we walked into the hotel.
“For paying off my debt.” I could tell it bothered him to put me in that situation. He expected to pay Christoph in cash, not with my blood.
“Yeah, well, it was the easiest way.”
“You still didn’t have to.” He set me down in the chair inside the lobby and walked over to the restaurant. He placed an order for room service and then came back to get me.
“I’m not hungry,” I said.
“You need the protein to be able to recover completely.”
“Okay.” I hated being force fed, but if it helped, I’d eat.
We got into the elevator and to our floor.
“I’m taking you into your hotel room. Don’t argue with me.”
I laughed and reached for my hotel key card. “Here,” I said, handing it to him.
He opened my door and helped me to the bed. “Room service should be here in about ten minutes.”
“Okay,” I said, reaching over to take off my boots.
“I’ve got these,” he said, helping me unzip them. His fingers lingered on the zipper and there was that unexplainable spark between us again.
“Need help getting out of anything else?” His eyes watched my face and seemed amused by what he was hinting at.
I laughed, but it was awkward. “No, I’ve got it from here.”
He settled into the chair next to the bed. “I am really thankful that you were with me tonight. I don’t know what Christoph would have asked for if you weren’t at my side since he didn’t seem interested in cash.”
“I wish I could say the same. Both of those guys scared the shit out of me and I don’t scare easily.” It was freeing to be so honest with him. I knew he wouldn’t judge me for being a girl and scared of some of the events that seemed to keep taking place around me.
“I have to say that I wish it had been me, though.”
“You for what?” I asked.
“Taking the sip out of you. I was jealous as hell watching him drink from you.”
My cheeks burned with an intense heat. “Really?”
“I haven’t fed since we left Paris. I would have loved the chance to press my fangs into that beautiful skin of yours. And when he told you that you tasted delicious, I wanted to slug him for not being able to know myself.”
This was such a weird conversation to have. I was sitting in front of a vampire, but he was talking about the blood that was coursing through my veins and keeping me alive.
I must have had a startled look on my face because he laughed and quickly apologized.
Room service knocked and Olivier got up to get the door. The man came in with a tray and set it on the table across the room. Olivier reached into his pocket and tipped the man and then closed the door.
“Come, eat,” he said.
I nodded and got up. I wobbled a little bit, but made it over to the table and chair where my food was. When I lifted the dome, I was disappointed by what I saw. “A cheeseburger?”
“What? You’re American.”
“But I’m in Germany. I wanted a bratwurst or a schnitzel or something.”
He laughed. At me, not with me. “Sorry, your highness. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow evening on the way out to the airport.”
“Damn right you will,” I grinned. “I bled for you tonight.”
“Not for me, sweetheart. If you bleed for me, I’m not taking it from your wrist like some stranger.”
I didn’t dare ask him where he would take it. My mind went to all the parts that he could take it and that made me a little shaky. I made it a point to stare at my burger because my cheeks were burning and if I looked at him, they would catch on fire. The burger was juicy, cheesy, and delicious. But I still would have rather had some German food.
Despite the fact that I wasn’t hungry, I managed to eat the entire cheeseburger and all of the fries, too. I felt restored to my normal self, so maybe Olivier was right. I needed the protein to heal and give my body some strength.
“Where is the one million coming from?” I asked, getting up and walking back over to the bed.
“I have to call Costin.”
“Will he give it to you?”
“I’m assuming so.”
“So you agreed to pay Gregorio with money that you don’t even know you can get?”
“You worry too much. Costin is the sovereign of Paris. He will take care of the issue for me. One million for these older vampires is nothing. You should know that.”
I knew that Nico had money, but we never talked about Costin’s wealth. Antonio never mentioned it, either. Maybe Olivier was right. They all had the money because of being around for so many years.
“Should I call and tell Costin?” I asked.
“Only if you want to talk to your beloved Nico, too.” He stared at me when he said it and it was more of a dare than a comment. He didn’t like Nico. It was obvious in his voice. It wasn’t something that he had to verbalize and it made things uncomfortable in the room.
I just sat on the bed, not saying a word. I held the phone in my hand, deciding whether I should dial or not. The idea of telling Nico that I let another vampire feed on me wasn’t sitting well with me.
“Go ahead,” Olivier said. “He is probably with Costin and so you can tell him that you’re going home tomorrow night and that someone needs to come to Paris to supervise as well as to bring the one million.”
Great. This was not a conversation that I wanted to have and certainly didn’t want to have it with Olivier sitting right in front of me.
“Should I leave?” He asked.
I shook my head and dialed. “It’s fine, just butt out.”
Nico answered on the second ring. “Mia mortale. It is good to hear from you.”
“It’s good to hear from you, too.” I looked over to Olivier where he was letting out a dramatic yawn. I extended my middle finger and turned my back on him so that I could enjoy the view of Berlin without dealing with his antics.
“How is Berlin?” Nico ask
ed.
I shrugged. “I don’t really know. I’ve seen the airport, the hotel, and Charlie’s Beach. I’m hoping to do some sightseeing tomorrow. That’s not what I’m calling about, though.”
“I didn’t figure it was. What’s going on?”
“We met with the necromancer. His name is Gregorio. He has agreed to go to Paris and lay the zombies down. He will be there in three days and it’s going to cost us one million dollars.”
“Okay.”
“What do you mean, okay?”
“I mean that’s fine. Costin and I assumed it would involve such an amount.”
“Oh.”
Nico laughed. “You seem to be surprised. Why?”
“I guess I haven’t gotten used to the fact that money is no object any longer,” I said.
There was silence on the phone. I assumed he was talking to Costin, but I couldn’t hear anything. I waited for a beat before saying anything.
“I’m going to put you on speaker, I have Costin right here,” Nico said.
“Okay, I have Olivier here, so I’ll put you on speaker as well.”
“Don’t put me on speaker yet, Dylan.”
I hit the button again so it was in my ear. “What’s up?”
“Why is he in your room?” Nico asked. His Italian accent was thick and that was a good indication his emotions were high and that meant he was jealous beyond being able to hide. Not a good sign.
“We just got back from meeting with Gregorio.”
“Is that all?”
I didn’t want to tell him that I was too weak to get into the room on my own because I let Christoph feed from me. Since Nico marked me, I hadn’t let him feed from me again. Each time I thought about it, Costin’s voice warning him not to drain me played through my head. It made me nervous, even though I knew Nico would never intentionally hurt me.
“Of course that’s all,” I lied.
Costin came over the phone. “Are you two done?”
Nico let out an uncomfortable cough. “Go ahead and put us on speaker phone.”
I swiveled around on the bed to face Olivier, who was leaning back in the desk chair. His tall frame was too big for the chair that he was in. His legs were stretched in front of him and his arms were folded behind his head. He hadn’t done anything with his hair since we landed and it was getting wavy and had that tousled look that made me want to run my fingers through it.
I had to get a hold of myself. Nico was on the phone. Thank God we weren’t doing a video conference. I didn’t think I would be able to handle it.
Olivier sat up and leaned forward so that he could be part of the conversation. “I’m here,” he announced.
“Great, so tell me how the meeting went with Gregorio,” Costin said.
Olivier began to recount the conversation, telling him about what Gregorio demanded in terms of payment and that he would be in Paris on Thursday.
“There’s no way to get him there sooner?”
“No, he seemed to set his own schedule.”
“I see. I will send Nico to Paris.”
Oh that’s not something I saw coming. “I am going, too,” I chimed in.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Costin said.
“She will be safe. Nico and I will see to it,” Olivier said.
“I will see to it,” Nico corrected.
“Fine.” Costin seemed bothered by the whole thing.
“Nico?” A female’s voice echoed through the background of the apartment.
“Who the fuck is that?” I said it before realizing the anger in my voice.
“No one,” Nico said, trying to dismiss it entirely.
“Is that Violante?” I asked.
I heard her laughing in the background and that confirmed it for me. What the fuck was she doing at Nico’s place with Costin? I assumed that’s where they were – that seemed to be where they always were.
Olivier looked at me with his eyebrows raised. I narrowed my eyes on him, hoping to keep his mouth shut with the glare.
“Take me off speaker phone right now,” I demanded.
“We have other things to discuss, first,” Costin said.
“Gregorio wants one million dollars as payment for laying the zombies to rest,” Olivier said, hoping to change the conversation back to what was important.
“Nico mentioned that. The amount isn’t a problem. Is he sure that he can lay them to rest?” Costin asked.
“That’s what he says. Christoph told me he’s one of the best necromancers remaining in Europe, so if there’s someone who can do it, it’s him. He needs a human virgin sacrifice to be able to pull it off.”
“Is blood magic normal for this kind of request?”
“For something this large, yes. It’s more difficult because of how long they have been up.”
“You sure know how to make a mess,” Costin said.
There was silence for a moment and I saw Olivier fighting with what he should say. “They would have been laid to rest quickly had Henri not killed the necromancer.”
I shook my head. He should have accepted the blame and let the conversation die down.
“What were you even raising the zombies for?” Nico asked.
Oh. I had forgotten that they were not privy to all of the information that Olivier had shared with me. They didn’t know that he stole immortality or that he had a second blood line in his veins now. Olivier saw the flash of realization on my face and he reached for my hand. He slowly shook his head, as though asking me to not reveal any of this to them.
I rolled my eyes and stayed silent.
“It’s of no concern now,” Olivier said.
“Bullshit,” Nico said.
“Listen asshole, I don’t report to you.” Olivier seemed pissed now and I wanted to slide out of the hotel room door to avoid listening to the two alphas hash it out over the phone.
I heard Violante giggling in the background again and I wanted to put my hand through the phone and wring her neck. I knew damn well that she was giggling simply so she could be heard. She never liked me in the picture because she’s been chasing Nico for close to a century. With me in Paris and Berlin, the bitch was trying to make another move to get in his bed.
“Stop,” Costin said. “Violante, you’re done for tonight. Leave. Dylan, you are back tomorrow night?”
“Yes.”
I heard Violante pissing and moaning in the background and then the door slammed. So mature.
“You will be here long enough to pack some more bags and head back to Paris. You and Nico need to be in the city no later than Wednesday night,” Costin explained.
I sighed. Traveling was exhausting me, especially all of this back and forth shit. I just wanted to be back home and in some sort of normal routine again. There wasn’t even enough time to pull a shift at Yankee Bar, which meant that I would have to call Matt and let him know that I needed a few more nights off of the schedule. He would bitch and complain, but there wasn’t much that I could do about it.
“Will the necromancer be working during the day or night?” I asked.
“I’m assuming at night,” Olivier said.
“The only reason that I ask is that I’m the only one that can be out during the day. If he works during the day, I’m the one left supervising.”
“That’s not going to work,” Nico said.
“Right,” I said.
Olivier let out an uncomfortable sigh and ran his fingers through his unruly locks. “I’ll contact Gregorio and find out when he plans on performing the ceremony. Are we in agreement that Thursday evening would be best?”
“Yes,” Nico and Costin said in unison.
“I will reach him and tell him to meet us at the catacombs around nine.”
Olivier and Costin talked a few more minutes about some of the details and Costin informed both Olivier and Nico that Nico would be in charge when in Paris.
“I am sending him as my second in command. For all intents and purposes, he i
s the sovereign. Understood?” Costin asked.
I looked at Olivier in time to see him rolling his eyes. “Yes, understood.”
I said good night to Nico with an audience on the line and hung up.
“That was awkward,” Olivier commented. “You want to tell me who Violante is?”
“No, not really,” I said. What I really wanted was for him to drop the conversation altogether and leave my hotel room so I could get some sleep. I was so tired and being up day and night these past few days was really not helping.
“Let me rephrase that, then. Who is Violante?”
“You’re relentless. She’s a vampire that’s based in Florence and has been after Nico for years. He’s never been interested, but she doesn’t give up. From what I can gather, she’s part of the inner circle. I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. Now let’s drop it.”
He let out a sigh. I knew he wanted to ask more questions about her, but he didn’t dare because I would lose it on him.
“Are you tired?” He asked.
I yawned on cue. “Yes.”
“You look wide awake.”
“I am wide awake and that’s a problem. I’m tired, physically. I need some sleep because I feel like I’ve been up around the clock. I never actually sleep anymore, I nap.”
“I’ll nap with you,” he grinned.
There was a part of me that thought about that. I always seemed to fall asleep better against someone. A little cuddling helped to put me at ease and lull me to sleep. Napping in a bed with Olivier seemed like a really bad idea, though. Violante at Nico’s place was bothering me more than it probably should have. I would have loved to find out what the two of them were working on, especially since he tried to dismiss her presence so quickly.
“You’re thinking about Violante, aren’t you?” Olivier asked.
I nodded. “I’m trying not to, but I want to know why she was there. I’m not the jealous type, but out of anyone that could be at Nico’s, she’s the one that bothers me the most.”
Olivier scooted closer to me and put his hand on mine. “Nico would be crazy to cheat. I’m sure it’s nothing.”