by Lisa Marie
Patrick had been a baby when Ash had gone off to war. He’d been a man of fifty something when his daughter had stupidly invited Celine inside their home to get out of the cold. Patrick had moved out to New York, looking to get away from the poor, dirt farming roots. Apparently, he had succeeded. Too bad he hadn’t better taught his daughter about letting strangers inside, no matter how harmless they seemed.
“Why did it matter, Mr. Marshall? You had spent a good fifty years wreaking havoc across the country. Why did it enrage you enough to make you kill her?”
“Why the fuck does it matter to you?” Ash roared, his voice echoing off the bare stone walls. “Why are you so fucking obsessed with this? She killed my family. I killed her. End of story.” Ash lunged again, anger and remnants of old pain evident in his face.
“But it’s not the end of the story, Mr. Marshall. You are still alive, fighting the ‘good’ fight.” Sebastian snorted, as if the very thought was hysterical.
Ash shook his head and glared. He didn’t get this, not one bit, other than the realization that Sebastian wasn’t wrapped too tightly. “I guess you could say that the basic nature of all beings fascinates me. Why do they do what they do? What’s in it for them?”
“I dunno. Why did you choose to be a total loser and use a Siren to do your dirty work?” Nerve hit. Ash could see it in the way Sebastian practically bristled.
“Brianne was a calculated risk, one that I would have taken no matter what. Her skills are invaluable. And the ease that it takes to control her is priceless.”
“Can’t be too easy to control. She’s not here, is she?” Ash grinned smugly and took great pleasure in seeing the cool facade of the other vampire drop.
“I assure you, Mr. Marshall. That little problem is being seen to.”
Their gazes clashed and Ash jerked against his bonds again. What he wouldn’t do to get loose and rip Sebastian apart. Bloodlust bubbled in his veins, igniting the hunger he’d repressed to full force. Violent, bloody images flashed behind his eyes, and he bared his fangs in a hideously evil grin.
“I am going to kill you.” It was a promise, not a threat, and Ash watched the brief flicker of fear in the other man’s eyes with great delight.
All too quickly, it was covered up and Sebastian’s cool demeanor was back in place. “I don’t think so. You are, after all, tied up. And since I am starting to grow tired of you, I wouldn’t expect to live much longer if I were you, Mr. Marshall. I was curious as to how you became what you are. But I can see that the only excuse is because you are weak. No other reason except Celine should have been more selective.”
Sebastian turned away from Ash in disgust and strode toward the door. He paused and glanced back, as if a thought had struck him. “By the way, I’ll have to ask Edward whether or not Mr. Tanner screamed when he died. I’ll be sure to let you know.”
With that he was gone, leaving Ash to stare in horrified silence at the door.
* * * *
Eve was ready the next time the door to her room opened. The rod was cumbersome, but effective, especially when surprise was on her side. The jackass vampire that had been tossing her around never saw it coming as she swung with all her might and cracked the rod across his head. The force of her blow knocked him out and cracked the rod in half. The tray of food he carried hit the floor with a crash, spilling its contents across the hardwood. She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside as quickly as possible, struggling a little beneath his weight.
“Take that, asshole.” she spat, stepping deftly over him and the broken shards of glass. As an afterthought, she reached down and sifted through his pockets, grabbing the heavy loop of keys. She came across a gun in a side holder, but after giving it a tug and realizing that she would have to turn him over to get it off, she left it. Not that she would have been able to shoot the damn thing anyway, or if she did shoot it, hit what she was aiming at. She did take the knife he had strapped to the inside of his calf and the stake tucked into his waistband. Then, with a careful look down the hallway, stepped out of the room and closed the door.
As she slunk down the hall, Eve realized what a stupid thing she was doing. She was the only heartbeat in a house full of vampires. She was a horror movie waiting to happen, but she didn’t have many options. If she did nothing, she and Ash were going to die anyway. At least this way, she would get a fighting chance. Now, all she had to do was sneak through the house, not get detected, and find Ash. After that, she didn’t have a clue.
Her attention was intent on everything around her; any sound or movement. She barely noticed the fineness of her surroundings, the antiques that she skirted or the thick rugs that buffeted her bare feet. None of it mattered, and she had never been one to be dazzled by such things anyway.
At the end of the hall, Eve peered around the corner and to her relief, saw nobody prowling the landing. She thought back to the times she had been to the house to see Brie. There hadn’t been a lot of people here then, either, just her, Brie, Sebastian and Edward. It seemed that Sebastian didn’t consider them enough of a threat to tighten security inside the house. Reminding herself not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she stepped out onto the landing. She let out the breath she had been holding when no one jumped out from behind the large potted plant. She could see the top of the front door from her position and a thrill raced up her spine.
Slow down, girl. You still have one wayward vampire to find. She hugged the wall like she saw in all those late night private eye movies she’d watched, and quickly, but carefully walked downstairs. Think, think, think. Where would they have put Ash? The dungeon came to mind, but she reminded herself that they were in a mansion in America, not a castle in Transylvania. The basement was as good a place to start as any.
She quickly crossed the foyer and darted into the dark dining room as a door down the hall started to open. Not waiting around to see if she had been detected, she bolted across the room and through the swinging door. And immediately skidded to a stop when she realized that Sebastian actually had staff for the kitchen. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would have had to, in order to feed Brie, not to mention the food she herself had received. After all, the last time she had been through here, no one had been around. All activity stopped. Eve’s heart threatened to explode in her chest and her brain scrambled for what to do now.
There were three people in the large space, each dressed in traditional chef’s garb. One was by the sink, washing dishes, another by the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled wonderful. The third was closest to Eve, and he was chopping vegetables with the largest knife she had ever seen. She watched as the hand seemed to fist tighter around the handle and her gaze darted to his. He was about her height, thin, with smooth chocolate skin and dark brown eyes.
“I’ll just be getting out of your way,” she said, trying to sound casual. She eyed the door across the kitchen and tried to gauge the possibility of getting past all three men to get there. She clutched the knife she’d stolen from the vampire guard tighter in her hand and raised the stake just the slightest, letting them know that she meant business.
“You must hurry. Come.”
Eve stared in stunned silence as the man with the large knife took a step forward and gently grasped her elbow. He was human. Which explained why he hadn’t alerted any of the vampires in the house. She had assumed she was the only living person in the house. A surge of hope spread through her as she looked up into the kind eyes of the chef, and she followed him through the maze of counters to a door. The other two had gone back to their work, unconcerned with her.
“You shouldn’t help me. You’ll get in trouble,” she said, as he opened the door with a key he produced from his pocket. He smiled at her, the hand on her elbow gently squeezing.
“I may work for a vampire, but it does not mean that I like it.” His words had a stilted sort of quality to it, like English wasn’t his first language. His voice was deep and musical with an accent that she couldn’t quite place
. “There is a door at the far end of the basement. No one besides Mr. Kane and his guards are allowed in. I think you will find what you seek in there.”
“Thank you.” Impulsively, Eve pushed up on her toes and brushed a kiss across his smooth cheek. Then she disappeared through the door into the darkness of the basement, heading down the stairs even as the chef locked the door behind her.
Pocketing his keys, he walked back to his station. The other two paused once more and turned to look at him, and they shared a tense moment before all three went back to work.
Eve paused at the bottom of the stairs to get her bearings and to try to calm her skittering nerves. Icy sweat had broken out on her skin when she walked into the kitchen, and it slid in a cold wet line down her spine. Her eyes adjusted to the dim interior and she picked out the outlines of two large freezers and hulking, sheet covered furniture. There were large racks filled with canned food and an impressive wine collection along the back wall. Again, she saw no one. And while she wasn’t questioning it, she wasn’t stupid enough to hope that it would last. Shaking off the last of her nervousness, she hurried across the floor, shivering a bit at the chilly stone beneath her feet. She prayed silently that there wasn’t anything icky, like rats, then unconsciously chuckled when she realized that rats were the least of her worries.
When she got to the door, she slid the stake into the band of her borrowed sweatpants and dug out the key ring she liberated from the unconscious vampire. She let out a breath in frustration when she saw how many keys there were, and knew that she didn’t have a clue if the right one was even on the ring. The only light she had was the dim moonlight shining through the tiny window situated along the wall to her left. Of course, it was the equivalent of pissing out a forest fire, but it was something. Depending more on touch than sight, she started to try keys, hoping that she wasn’t retrying the same two or three over and over. After what couldn’t have been more than five minutes, but felt like five hours, she started to think that her luck had indeed run out. She was getting annoyed and angry and felt the sting of tears of frustration in her eyes.
Dammit! Try one more. Then just hack the damn door down with your freaking knife.
Eve gave a little stomp of her foot and picked one last key, praying with all her might that it would work. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned the key, fully expecting it not to turn. She gasped and her eyes flew open as the tumblers inside the lock turned and shifted.
Yes!
A giddy feeling spread through her, and she had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep a giggle from erupting from. Taking several deep breaths, she turned the knob and slowly pulled the door open. Then promptly stumbled back a step when an inhuman roar exploded from the room, followed by the crash of metal on stone. Ash had lunged at the door as soon as it started to open and the ring through which his chains had been looped finally gave way and landed with a clatter on the floor. He was in full game face, his red eyes and fangs gleaming with internal rage.
“Ash!” she cried, as his body rammed into hers, sending them both flying back a few feet to land hard on the unforgiving floor.
The breath rushed out of her body at the impact and all she could do was lie stunned as his fangs slid into her throat. Almost immediately, an overwhelming sea of grief churned over her and it took her a second to realize that she was feeling what he was. Cyrus’ image rose up in her mind, bull-like and strong. She didn’t know how she knew, but she was sure that he was dead.
Eve’s arms came up to cradle his shoulders, her fingers threading through his hair. “Shh … baby. Sh…” she whispered once she found her voice again, her words thick with her own tears.
“That bastard killed him,” Ash said against her throat, his fangs retracted but his mouth still pulling lightly at her blood.
“I’m so sorry.” She squeezed him tighter and closed her eyes, forgetting for the moment that they probably didn’t have much time.
“He’s going to pay.”
Eve shivered with the amount of venom in his husky words.
“Okay. But, Ash, you need blood. And we have to get out of here. It won’t be long before I’m missed.” She felt him nod and he gave his mark one final swipe with his tongue before crawling off of her.
He reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet in one smooth motion. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were still glowing, but she didn’t feel fear. Instead, her heart expanded and swelled in her chest, and she leaned up to wrap her arms around him once more. He squeezed her tightly against him, wasting a few more precious seconds milking comfort from her softness.
“How did you get here,” he asked, almost as an afterthought. He felt her warm breath on his neck as she let out a soft laugh.
“People always underestimate me.”
“I don’t,” Ash whispered, pulling back far enough to look into her eyes. Warmth expanded through her at the sincerity in his face and, for once, she was speechless. “Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.
The clank of chains when he moved away brought Eve’s attention to the heavy cuffs around his wrists. “That’s a nifty fashion accessory, but I’m thinking … not so good for stealth.”
He managed a weak grin and looked down at his hands. “You might not want to watch this.”
She was about to ask him what he meant, but wound up watching in sick horror as he seized his thumb and with an ominous crack, dislocated it. He flinched, but that was the only outward sign of pain he showed. It took him a minute or so to work the ring off his hand, tossing it with a clang onto the floor. He took a few deep breaths, before knocking his thumb back into place then repeating the morbid action with the other. When he was done, he was practically trembling with pain.
“That was disturbing,” she said as the second cuff fell from his hand.
“Told you not to watch. Do you think we can fit out that window?” He pointed over to a small pain of dirty glass and started towards it.
“I probably could. Not so sure about you. Unless, of course, you can dislocate yourself into half a person.”
He snorted and moved a box over under the window to climb up on. “I can make it. You go first.” He seized the pane, and wrenched it free with a loud rip of wood and shattering glass.
“Not sure they heard that in Timbuktu. Might want to try again.” Eve rolled her eyes. She had been so careful to be quiet on her way down here, and Ash was going to have the guards swarming over them like bees if he kept this up.
“Come on.” He ignored her quip and reached down for her.
Eve took his hand and allowed him to hoist her up to the window. She scrambled through, the only resistance coming from her hips. But she dug her fingers into the grass and pulled herself outside. She quickly turned around to help Ash through, and was surprised to find he wasn’t there.
“Ash?” she hissed, sticking her head back inside. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Get away from the house. Head into the woods. I’ll find you,” he ordered, yanking sheets off of the furniture.
“Ash!”
“Go, Eve. Now! I’ll be right behind you.”
She saw him draw something out of his pocket and she realized that it was his lighter. Sebastian had apparently been remiss in his search of the vampire’s pockets. Either that, or he didn’t really see the square, silver instrument as a threat. Something told Eve he would regret that decision.
“You better hurry up,” she demanded as he flicked the lighter and the blue flame highlighted his vampiric features. Great, I’m in love with a pyromaniac, she thought, her eyes widening as she realized what she had admitted to herself.
“Evelyn!” Ash eyed her angrily.
“Right.”
She turned, and with a brief glance to either side of her, took off at a run towards the woods. There was no time to worry about what she may or may not feel. Live first, overanalyze later. She stopped inside the shelter of the trees, and dropped to the ground to look back at
the house. She could see a faint orange glow from the basement window. She waited, fear prickling her spine and her mind willing Ash to appear. She breathed out a sigh of relief when he finally poked his head outside and started to pull through. She could see him struggle to get out, and she had one, heart stopping moment where she thought he was stuck. But he was soon sliding out of the window and standing on the moonlight drenched lawn.
“Hey, you!”
Eve nearly fainted when the voice broke through the night, signaling the end of their good luck. Ash dropped into a fighting stance, hands up, legs slightly parted as four men advanced on him. So, the security wasn’t inside the house. It was outside.
Her worry for Ash—that he wasn’t at full strength, and half starved—proved fruitless when the first guard’s head was ripped clean from his body. She watched in fascination as Ash turned on the next one, blocking a punch, then a kick before sending his fist straight at the other creature’s chest. Bile rose up in her throat when she saw his hand enter the man’s rib cage and then whip back out, the distinctive outline of a heart clearly visible a second before it—and its owner—crumpled to dust. The final two guards, clearly realizing that they had underestimated him, feinted back and circled him. Ash divided his concentration between them, blocking one’s attacks while sustaining hits from the other.
Eve gnawed nervously on her thumbnail as she watched, silently cheering him on in her head. She stifled a scream when he went down, the two vampires advancing on his prone form. Her eyes welled up with tears as the thought “this is it, the end for Ash” reverberated through her brain.
She blinked in surprise when first one, then the second guard exploded into clouds of dust at the end of a branch Ash plunged into their hearts. She scrambled to her feet when he tossed it aside and turned towards the woods, his preternatural speed bringing him to her in a second.