Final Days

by C. L. Quinn

  Alisa looked her in the eyes, refusing to back down.

  “I have no idea why you brought me here, but I am leaving. Don’t try to stop me.”

  Alisa turned and made it halfway across the large room when the woman was in front of her again.

  “Not. Happening. I have to kill you now.” She said as she grabbed Alisa by the throat and brought her to an abrupt stop. “In a few minutes, anyway. I’m starving. Come, join me. Number Two just brought this snack tray. My blood-bonds know to only bring me the best.”

  The woman clasped Alisa’s left arm in an iron grip, dragged her back to the bed, and threw her on the floor beside it.

  She crawled back onto the bed and scooped some smooth cheese onto a cracker, then groaned.

  “Excellent. You must try some.”

  The woman became so preoccupied with the tray of crackers and cheese, Alisa took a moment to look around the room again. It was too much to hope for that her cell phone was anywhere in sight. It wasn’t. She thought that in spite of the woman’s taunt, she wouldn’t mind a machine gun in her hand right now.

  All she had left to work with were her wits. Luckily, she was well-armed in that area. She rose carefully, smoothing her sweater dress back down where it had ridden up high on her thighs. She decided to play nice.

  “My name is Alisa. Um, so how do you know Koen? He’s a pretty terrific guy, isn’t he?”

  The woman looked up, licking her fingertips. “He’s first blood. Of course he is. Oh. That’s right. You don’t know what that means.”

  “I’d love to, though. Would you mind telling me?”

  Windari watched Alisa standing before her, her head tilted, her long pale brown hair streaked with blonde shining over her shoulders where half had escaped from a hairclip. She was a pretty thing. Okay, she could see what had taken Koen’s interest. Her human eyes were a luminous blue that made you just fall right into them.

  Windari patted the bed beside her.

  “Come here. Have some cheese while I rock your world.”

  Alisa had no idea what this crazy woman meant by that, but she hoped it wasn’t sexual. Still, the goal was to survive and escape to get back to Koen, so she could do whatever it took.

  With as sincere of a smile as she could manage, Alisa came forward and sat beside Windari.

  Windari scooped some of the cheese onto a cracker and fed it to Alisa, who hesitated, then took a bite.

  “Good, huh? I love this city. Best food I’ve ever eaten. Incredible clothes. Lots to do. I hate to leave it now that I’ve begun to settle in. But your lover is looking for me. He must have talked to Ahmose. Oh, well. So.”

  Windari stared into Alisa’s eyes. “He hasn’t told you what we are?”

  Alisa hesitated, then shook her head. What they were?

  “Then you must have been just dinner to him.”

  Windari leaned in and pulled Alisa’s hair back away from her neck. She ran her fingers over the soft skin.

  “Huh. Unbroken. That’s odd. He hasn’t fed from you?”

  This was getting too bizarre for words. Carefully, still playing along, Alisa replied, simply, “No.”

  “Well, I can’t figure that out. But, for whatever reasons, he must have cleaned your memories. Little human, we are vampire. Your sexy lover and I are vampire. We are first bloods, a race of powerful vampires older than you would believe. Let me see if I can unlock his compulsions.”

  She touched Alisa on the forehead. Then a second time, and frowned. “Hmm, either I can’t do it, or you have never been compelled. You are a mystery, little one.”

  Windari got out of the bed, paced some, then looked back at Alisa. “Unless…”

  She stared at her some more, then paced again. When she finally turned back to Alisa, she was smiling.

  “Unless you mean a great deal more than a meal. Oh, baby, you just became more than a fun message. You just became leverage.” She turned toward the wide doors at the front of the room.

  “Numbers!” she called loudly.

  Two good sized men came in quickly and straight to her.

  Alisa’s alarm increased now that Windari was becoming more and more excited by the minute.

  “Numbers, go out into the street and get me two big guys. Like you. Only make sure they’re handsome. Give them a lot of cash and tell them there is more if they come with you. Hurry.”

  The men did exactly as she asked. Windari turned back to Alisa, came down to her quickly, and grabbed her face. She gave Alisa a quick kiss on the lips, smiling into her eyes.

  “Sweet little human girl, I think Koen really cares about you. What a bleeding heart. Works in my favor, though. Alisa, listen carefully. You will sleep until you hear a male voice say the words ‘awaken now’.”

  Alisa felt dizzy and then collapsed on the bed.

  Windari gathered her into her arms and held her, brushing back Alisa’s soft hair.

  “Thank you, little one. You are going to allow me to stay alive and free.” She kissed her again, laid her gently back on the coverlet, and reached for the cheese and crackers.

  NINETEEN

  Eillia watched the big man she loved so much standing on the balcony with tears in his eyes.

  “It’s my fault. I waited too long to tell her. I should have warned her. Fuck, I should have already turned her. If I had at least exchanged blood, we could trace her by blood. But I fucked it all up. I left us no options. That bitch has her. Eillia, is there anything we can do?”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Koen. I checked with Ahmose, but they don’t know of anyone Windari exchanged blood with. If she had, I could have attempted to trace her. That was my only other option, but it’s off the books now. We are going to have to find her the old-fashioned way by surveillance.”

  “Yet we have everyone out hitting the streets, Bas has Tim working on it, and we still have no leads.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I can’t do this without her. Alisa is the part of me that has always been missing. Six long-term serious relationships over the past 900 years, and she is the only one I have every fallen in love with. I know you understand when I tell you she is my mate.”

  Eillia did. It was finding Daniel that brought her the life she had now, the one man in her thousand years alive that was destined to be her mate. And a child, a precious, precocious first blood child, the most amazing thing that had ever happened in all her centuries. If Alisa was Koen’s destiny, and he lost her now, Eillia didn’t know if he would survive it.

  “Koen, you need to get some rest. It’s been two days and you haven’t rested once. You know you will be less and less effective if you’re exhausted.”

  “I couldn’t sleep right now, even if I tried. Especially in that bed where we made love. Where we should be right now.”

  “I will let you know if anything comes through. Please, old friend, at least lay down.”

  “All right. But you’ll come for me if you hear anything?”

  “Of course. But try to sleep, Koen. Your lady will be pissed at me when we find her if I’ve let you wreck yourself.”

  He hugged Eillia. “Thank you for that. For giving me hope. Sometimes I wonder what the fuck good all our powers are when something like this happens and we’re powerless.”

  “It’s all we have when there’s trouble, you know that. You’ve lived it as many times as I have over as many centuries. Koen, I have to believe that if you and Alisa are meant to be, and I believe you are, then it will be.”

  “I will convert her as soon as we find her.”

  “It would seem wise. I’m surprised, though, that you never told her what you are.”

  “We had just declared ourselves to each other the night before she disappeared. I was going to fly her to the ocean, present her with a midnight picnic, and tell her about our race. I was going to offer her the world. Before this happened.”

  “You still will. Windari won’t kill her. Alisa is her hostage for a good reason, she knows that.”

  “S
he’s fucking crazy, Eillia. You should have seen her that night. She was so pissed at me for not fucking her. I’m terrified she’ll take it out on Alisa.”

  “Let’s hope she’s smart enough to know better. She may be crazy, but she’s a centuries old first blood. She will know better.”

  “Tell that to Tamesine. She’s the strongest first blood we know, before Park anyway, and she’s off her rocker.”

  “Not anymore. You and Daniel refuse to see how she’s changed. She still has that quirky sense of humor, but she is no longer insane. Caedmon trusts her and he wouldn’t if she were still dangerous.”

  “God, I hope you are right.” He paused. “Is Park coming here?”

  “Yes, she’s just checking in with Ahmose to see if there is anything she can do to help. She’ll come right here as soon as she’s finished.”

  “Okay.” He looked at the sky that continued to lighten. Turning, he nodded.

  “Okay, dear lady, I will try to sleep.”

  It was impossible. Two hours later, he was still awake, and wondering if he would ever sleep again. The only thing in their favor was that Alisa did not know any real details about him or his life. He hoped that Windari would take that as a signal that she was unimportant to him, just a good fuck. Then she might be less motivated to use her for cannon fodder. If she had any idea what Alisa really meant to him, she would never let her go. And she would know how good her hand was in this fucking game of lives.

  He’d kill her when he found her. After he made sure he held Alisa in his arms and that she was well, he’d make sure that bitch wouldn’t hurt anyone else again. Do the world a fucking favor. He knew that Jacob had spent a night believing that Starla was dead forever. He couldn’t imagine how Jacob had made it through.

  Koen’s chest hurt so much, he had to sit up. He dropped his feet to the floor as he sat on the edge of Alisa’s bed. He couldn’t wait to get her back to his suite on the third floor of his villa in France. His bed was easily twice the size of this one with plenty of room for playing. Just thinking of her in his bed made his cock swell. He palmed it, his fingers sliding up and down lightly. Not tonight. But soon, very soon, or the Gods themselves better get out of his way. He would find Alisa this time, just as he had before. He meant it when he told her he would find her anywhere on this earth.

  A whine interrupted his thoughts and soft fur grazed his foot. He looked down to see Samson leaning heavily against his calf.

  “Yeah,” he said as he lifted the puppy. “We’ll get her back.”

  Lying back, he held the puppy close, and finally, they both fell asleep.

  Eillia had long secured the UV barrier she’d put in place over the wide French doors that allowed light into Alisa’s apartment. She waited for Park, who would be there any moment through the underground parking garage. Tim’s surveillance report was uploading now to her tablet computer as she sipped a nice red wine she’d found in Alisa’s kitchen.

  When was the bleeding going to stop? This past year had been awful…and glorious. It seemed that for every wonderful thing they’d been granted, the price had been heavy. The peaceful days that her first blood family had enjoyed for centuries was gone for now.

  The first blood children that had arrived, would continue to arrive for at least the next three years if Cherise was right about Starla, were the greatest surprise for all of them. First blood children were so rare, Park was the only one that they were aware of who had grown to adulthood for half a millennium. And now two more had been born this past year, with Starla carrying a third and prophesied for two more. At any cost, these children must be protected. At any cost.

  But the costs kept mounting. These days, when pain and joy seemed linked, did not sit well with her.

  The apartment door opened quietly and Park stepped in with a large plastic bag.

  Eillia looked at the bag and Park smiled.

  “We’re trapped here until daylight goes, Chicago has excellent restaurants. Need I say more? Did you finally get my father to lie down?”

  “I did. I hope he can get some sleep. I’m not sure that he can, but it was necessary to try. Come over here with that bag, my dear. I dug out two bottles of a pretty nice wine, and Alisa has a huge television. I want one of these back home. And this picture…it’s as if the people are here in the room with us.”

  “It’s called high definition. And that is one of the new flat screen smart TVs. Yeah, it’s nice. I agree, we should get a couple when we get home. Well, there are three entrees each from three different restaurants. I had one of Jake’s guys pick up some before I came. I’m starving. Father probably is too, but I bet he won’t eat.”

  “He’s stubborn. And in a lot of pain with a lot of guilt.” Eillia paused as she grabbed a fat French fry. “Park, we have to find his woman. Your father is in love. I don’t know if you realize, but that has never happened before. He has never chosen a mate until now.”

  Park shook her head. “God. Then, whatever we must do, we will find her. I wonder…”

  Eillia looked up at her. “What?”

  “I wonder if Cherise could help. Between the three of us, we form a triad of magic stronger than anything that has ever existed. It might work.”

  Two more French fries later, Eillia nodded. “I’ll send for her. She may be able to get a read on something. We will do all we can.”

  A few moments later, a text had been sent and answered. Cherise would arrive with Katerine, a close friend of her family. Katerine was another powerful first blood.

  Eillia placed her phone on the small table beside the couch and reached for her wine glass. “We will literally have the most powerful group of women in the world here between the four of us. It will be interesting to see what we can do. Well, let’s enjoy this food before the world goes crazy tonight.”

  Park laid out the entrees and looked towards the hallway. “Eillia, he’ll be okay, won’t he? Even if this Windari has hurt this woman, he’ll be all right?”

  “I don’t know that. I honestly think that if something has happened to her, and he never gets her back, he will never recover from the loss. He’s had a lot of pain this last fifty years. You are the only thing that gave him joy in nearly a century. Of course, you are much more than just joy…you are his world. So, I think he will live, he will still be here for you, but I think the man we love will be gone. There is no option here, we have to save his Alisa.”

  Koen rolled over, gently pushing the sleeping puppy aside as the door to the hallway opened, and a shaft of hard light broke into the total darkness of the bedroom. A figure entered, surrounded by the light, lost completely in silhouette until she crawled up onto the bed, her body blocking the light enough he could see who it was. He shoved himself up on his elbows and reached for her but she pulled back.

  Alisa, dressed in a diaphanous white gown and nothing else, like an angel from heaven, leaned into him and surrounded his head with her hands.

  “Stay down,” she whispered, and he dropped back onto the pillow.

  He could feel her breath on his cheek. Her lips brushed his.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long,” she said, louder this time, and he saw them just moments before she struck. Fangs, bright white, behind her smile, as she pushed his head aside and buried them in his neck.

  Alisa drew hard, her body grinding against his, and he pulled her tight, his arms locked around her, because he knew he would never let her go again. His blood belonged to her, and she drank deeply, moaning as she lifted up her lower body and he buried his penis inside her just as she did the same with his blood. Koen groaned as she moved her body up and down, his cock as hard as it had ever been, then he shot into her while she pulled his blood into her mouth. Nothing had ever been as sensuous or satiating as this moment when he fed his woman. His mate. Her orgasm hit as hard and when she was finished, she pulled the fangs back and dropped down against him. Both breathing hard, they lay wrapped around each other, inextricably linked, impossible to separate. She was back
in his arms and he would never let her go.

  Koen felt lightheaded, reaching for her as she faded. His eyes opened in the dark.

  It had been a dream. Vivid and intense, and heartbreakingly real. But she wasn’t there.

  Samson squirmed and whimpered as Koen sat up, brushing his hair from his eyes. She wasn’t there. And may never be again.

  Letting his mind process the events of the past night, he allowed let himself a moment of grief, and then grabbed his pants. He picked up the tee shirt he wore the night before and pulled it over his head.

  No more sleep. No more worrying. He had to go get her.

  Leaving the puppy on the pillow, he walked into the living room of the apartment, where Eillia and Park were asleep on the sofa and recliner in front of Alisa’s enormous television screen. The sound was muted, and three empty wine bottles stood beside two wine glasses. Their cell phones were in their laps.

  Koen smiled, only half-heartedly, because Alisa was missing, but he loved these two women so much. More than anything, he wanted to introduce them to Alisa and begin their lives together.

  Nodding, he bent down to kiss Park’s cheek. It would happen. There was no other outcome he would accept.

  Park’s eyes opened slowly and she studied the face above her.

  “Father,” she said quietly and pushed out of the recliner to embrace him.

  “Hi, baby,” he responded, and sat on the heavy wood end-table in front of the recliner. Park leaned in and took his hands.

  “It’s going to be okay. We have the most powerful women in the world converging here tonight. That murderous vampire won’t be able to protect herself from us when we find her.”

  “I’m counting on it. The sun’s dropped. I’m going out to get us some breakfast. Why don’t you and Eillia get cleaned up while I’m out.”

  “Good plan. Okay. But before you go. Why didn’t you tell me about Alisa?”

  Koen paused, his eyes searching above her head, then back to hers, their green iris’s perfect matches.