by Lissa Kasey
“And one hundred percent natural. He doesnt have the problem taking things like you do. But anything much stronger than an aspirin and he wont touch it.”
I wrapped my left arm around Gabes right. “I hope he doesnt push himself too hard. With school or working out.”
We pulled into the parking garage, parked in Gabes spot, and headed to the elevator. Gabe kept me close enough to use himself as a shield if he needed to. I really hoped no one was going to be shooting in my direction again soon.
Inside Gabes place, Jamie sat on one of the bar stools, supplies spread out across the counter. The couch had been pulled out, the bed inside erected, and Kelly lay sprawled across it, fast asleep.
“Hes a little iffy about staying on campus right now,” Jamie told us quietly. Gabe just nodded and disappeared into the bedroom with our bag of stuff.
I hopped onto the seat next to Jamie and held my hands out but couldnt keep the grin off my face. “I know you probably dont want to hear gross brother stuff, but Im so happy I could bust.”
Jamie smiled. “It worked then?”
“We had sex. Real sex.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “As opposed to fake sex?” He gently peeled off the gloves. Some of the creases were bleeding again. “Im going to put the full bandages back on for the night. Let your hands rest.”
“Okay.” This time I watched carefully as he cleaned the wounds like an old pro and wrapped them better than the hospital had originally. “I think maybe Kelly and I should get an apartment together.” After having thought about it for a few days, it seemed like the right thing to do.
“You dont want to stay here with Gabe?”
“I love him. But sometimes I just need my space. Is that bad?”
“No. Its not bad,” Gabe interrupted. “Its expected.” He crossed the room and kissed me again, hard enough to make Jamie have to pause in wrapping my hands. When he pulled away, he kissed me lightly on the head. “And Kelly will need your guidance to get through school. Theres actually a condo available in the courtyard here. Two bedrooms, only one bath, but its been remodeled to have a nice kitchen. You know the building is secure.”
“I cant afford a condo. Im barely working. And Kelly is just doing work-study,” I protested.
Gabe pulled out a bottle of QuickLife and popped off the cap. “Ill buy it. I already sold the loft upstairs. The two of you can pay me rent.”
My expression must have said something because Jamie chuckled. “Certainly not a gold digger.”
“Thats for sure,” Gabe replied.
“Huh?” Had I missed a joke somewhere?
Jamie finished wrapping up my hands. “If you wont let Gabe buy it, I will. The two of you are safer here.”
“But thats so much money.”
“Im well invested. Spent years in modeling to create a pretty good savings in case I needed to take you on a wild escape somewhere. Besides, I now own the loft upstairs, so well be neighbors.” Jamie began to tuck away all his supplies.
“You bought the loft?”
“Got a heck of a deal on it too. Knew the owner.”
I looked at Gabe, who did a good job of looking very neutral.
“Its late, but I can call the night manager and ask to look at it. Its empty. The current owner moved to Florida,” Gabe told me.
I sighed. “Why not. I guess Ill have a pretty good salary when I start working for the Dominion, right?”
Jamie shook his head. “You are so not working for the Dominion. Theyd treat you like a slug.”
“So it would be business as usual.”
Gabe picked up his phone and spoke briefly to someone. I was tired, but a five-minute look at the condo wouldnt hurt. I really did want my space, as long as it meant I could still see Gabe whenever I wanted. He hung up the phone and offered me his arm. I shook my head and took his hand instead. Jamie followed us out of the apartment.
The condo was beyond beautiful. A blank canvas, really, and white. Id need to fix that right away. But Gabe already chatted about professional painters. Being on the first floor in the courtyard meant I was still close to the earth and Kelly had instant access to the pool, though it was closed for the winter. The kitchen was high tech, but smaller than Gabes. He pointed out the space in the dining room for extra cupboards, and the center island was a dream. Both bedrooms were large, one overlooking the courtyard garden, the other the trees that surrounded the property.
“An elevator and twenty feet from my place,” Jamie said. “And an elevator from Gabes.” The door to the place was just around the corner from the elevator, though we heard nothing from the hallway or lobby. Id brushed the door long enough for it to tell me it was a solid oak. It would make a very sound threshold.
I could imagine feeling safe here. Would the little I had in savings be enough for a down payment?
“So what do you think?” Gabe asked while we headed back to his place. The manager told us to let her know.
“Its nice. Looks expensive. I have some in my savings. Do you think it will be enough?”
“How about you and Kelly make a budget. Tell me what you can afford, and thats what well make our offer based on. Im sure we can get a good deal. No ones buying anything right now.” Gabe wrapped his arms around me while the elevator descended.
“Except me,” Jamie piped up.
The door popped open, and we went inside. “Do you need help moving?” I asked him.
“Nope. Bought all the furniture. Had pros move the rest. Im reorganizing it now. So if you want to stop by and help with that, feel free.”
The clock above the stove flicked after 4 a.m. I sighed, my body telling me it was time for sleep. Gabe kissed me on the cheek, and I followed him to the bedroom.
“Night, Jamie.”
“Night, little brother.”
Chapter Nine
THURSDAY began as any other day did. I was up early, ate the breakfast Jamie made. Kelly sat with us. Had my hands back in the gloves instead of wraps. Then Jamie took Kelly to school, leaving me alone to do homework, and told me hed be back a little later because he had a test today. I worked on the charter, getting the basic paper done and leaving sections for citations.
My phone had been turned off this morning when Id checked it last. And since the few who called me knew where I was, I left it off. Thankfully, some of the tiredness of the past few weeks seemed to wear off.
I made myself an early lunch and threw on cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt, trying to make it look like Id done more than sit around all day. Gabe looked so peaceful in bed I didnt even want to crawl in and bother him. Id kept him up late, and even vampires needed rest. Watching him sleep after last nights victory gave me a whole new sense of reality. Who knew love could be so all consuming?
I flipped the tape recorder Gabe had given me on again, recording some ideas on my paper to help flesh out the body of it. The buzzer from upstairs went off. Had Jamie or Kelly forgotten to grab a key? Maybe it was another package. I took a deep breath and pushed the talk button. “Hello?”
“Seiran, its Dr. Tynsen. Do you have a moment?” her voice asked through the speaker.
“I thought we werent meeting today?” I asked.
“Thats what I wanted to talk to you about. Will you buzz me in?”
I sighed and pushed the button to let her through the door above. Waiting by the elevator, I wondered how shed react when I told her I didnt need her silly hypnotism anymore. Gabe and I were having sex again. The ding of the door opening made me turn back that way. Dr. Tynsen smiled at me through the open door. A man stood behind her in the elevator, face and head heavily covered, hands gloved. He held a gun to her head.
My heart pounded, and I wished more than ever that I hadnt kept Gabe up late last night or sent Jamie and Kelly so happily off to school.
The man tried to step into the apartment but hit the barrier of the threshold. Obviously, he was a vampire.
“He told you Santini would refresh the threshold every
day. I can invite you in again,” my doctor said to the man holding her at gunpoint.
I felt my head shake in an involuntary no.
The man pulled the mask off his face, baring not only his identity but his fangs. Matthew. “Invite me in, baby, or your doctor dies. I heard youve become quite a little headcase. Do you really want to ride in this elevator every day with blood staining the walls and floor? Bet that would send you for a trip.”
Gabe was less than thirty feet away, but it would take several minutes to rouse him, and I had no illusions that I could save Dr. Tynsens life that way. The tremble began in my hands, and I gripped the bottom of my shirt to try to keep Matthew from seeing it.
“Tick tock, baby. Invite me in. You have until the count of three. One.”
My heart beat in a terrible rhythm. Did I have a choice? Did I have any options at all?
“Two.”
“Matthew Pierson, please come in,” I whispered, feeling my heart clench painfully as I uttered the words.
He pushed Dr. Tynsen to the floor and stepped into the apartment. “Nice, digs. But you always did aim high.”
“I never wanted anything from you, except maybe in the beginning when I wanted you to love me.”
“I did love you, baby. Still do.” His hand flashed out, grabbed my hair, and yanked me closer to him. “I love the way you taste. Been tasting you for weeks. Cant get enough.”
“Will you let Dr. Tynsen go?” Maybe if he let her go upstairs she could call the police.
He put his arm around me. “She can leave whenever she wants. But she wont until I command her.” He glanced back in her direction. “Wont you?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Get up.”
She jerked to her feet like a broken marionette.
“Go home and dont talk to anyone until I tell you to,” Matthew said.
She turned toward the elevator and waited for the door to open before stepping inside and closing the door.
Watching my only hope of help walk away made me feel a lot like I had felt when Brock had strapped me to that stupid metal table and cut me up. No way was I going to go through all that again.
I leapt for the gun, knowing in all the movies it went off and killed the victim most of the time. But even a quick death had to be better than whatever torture Matthew had planned for me. Not that I had anything on vampire strength.
He ripped the gun away and pressed me to the floor, chest down. His erection rested against my butt, and I stilled beneath him. Praying for a miracle, I thought of the hex that had accidentally killed Brock and wondered if that worked as well on vampires. They had muscles and bones and could feel pain. Closing my eyes, I pulled the earth power toward me, pushed the hex into him, and nothing happened. It felt like he wasnt there. As a vampire he was subject to the same laws as humans in matters of magic. His lack of existence to my power made no sense.
“Whats the matter, baby? I heard you were so powerful now, earth Pillar and all. Guess it doesnt work on a true Null.” He pressed the gun into my head hard enough to hurt. “Head to the left.”
I tilted my head slightly, and he let me, easing up on the gun. He yanked the shoulder of my shirt down, and before I could even guess what he was doing, he bit into my neck with a serious ferocity. Pain streaked up to my brain, threatening a blackout. My fast heartbeat pumped blood to him, which he swallowed in heavy gulps.
The world seemed to lose me for a minute or two, because when I next remembered anything he was no longer pressing me down. Instead he was pulling my coat from the closet beside the door. “Put on your coat. Wouldnt want anyone to see the blood.”
My body jerked, forcing me up from the floor and to his side to take the coat. I tried to fight it but knew compulsion when I felt it.
He smiled. “Ive been calling you for days, and you wouldnt come. So I had to come get you. Looks like Ill have to keep drinking your blood.” He stepped up to the elevator and clicked the button to go up. The door opened. I stood frozen, staring at it. “Get in the elevator, Seiran. Dont speak.”
I stepped into the elevator, pressing myself all the way to the side, wondering if I could get my body to respond enough to push the little emergency button. Matthew stepped in with me and hit the main-floor button. We moved upward, and away from everything I knew. Surely there would be people in the lobby who would think it suspicious that I was leaving with an unknown man.
Matthew pulled his mask back down over his face and pressed the gun into my coat pocket, then pushed my hand in after it, wrapping both our hands around the trigger. He squeezed lightly. At this angle a bullet would probably take out my lower intestines. And though I hadnt been a whiz at biology, I was pretty sure that would kill me and hurt a lot while doing so.
The door opened to the lobby. And though Id dreamed of everyone staring at us when we stepped out, not even the doorman did more than glance in our direction.
“Rou,” he said lightly with a tip of his hat.
We walked by him without acknowledging him. Me, because I couldnt move my lips, and Matthew, because he was just another asshole who wanted to hurt me. We were halfway across the parking lot when I spotted my battered Ford as Kelly parked it. Jamie pulled his car up beside it and got out. They were both close to the door. Would either of them notice me?
Kelly glanced in my direction and stopped. He said something to Jamie, who turned back our way. Matthew opened the car door as my brother strode across the parking lot.
“Get in the car, Seiran.”
I jerked again, body moving painfully resistant to his control, but still forced by it. After pushing my legs in the passenger seat, Matthew slammed the door shut and got in the drivers side. Jamie was almost to us now. The window in back rolled down.
“Take the gun out of your pocket,” Matthew commanded.
I pulled the gun out, hand trembling.
“Point it out the back window at the muscleman.”
No. No. No! My head screamed while my hand lifted.
“Two hands, baby. That gun has a nasty kick. Sight him down.”
My other hand helped balance the gun. I wanted to shout a warning to Jamie, who was still moving this way.
“Fire.”
The gun kicked back hard enough to push me into the door when I squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew, and I could barely breathe, praying it wouldnt hit Jamie or Kelly, who was now running up behind him.
“Again.” Bang. “And one more time.” Bang. The ringing in my ears didnt stop even as I watched Jamie tumble to the ground and Kelly dive behind a car. Matthew started the car, threw it into drive, and off we went. “Gun down, baby. Put it on the floor at your feet.”
I set the gun on the floor and stared at my own teary reflection out the window. My heart hammered, and I suddenly felt really dizzy. Probably from blood loss. How much had he taken? How badly was I still bleeding? Was Jamie dead?
“Stop crying. He was just a bodyguard.”
He was my brother. I wanted to scream, but still couldnt. Matthew drove for a while. I felt unconsciousness take me a time or two for a few minutes only to slam me back into wakefulness. Matthew rubbed his crotch as he drove like some sort of demented madman.
He grabbed a duplicate mask from the back seat and handed it to me. “Put it on.”
My body jerked to comply. Once Id gotten it on, he reached across and turned it around so I couldnt see out of the eyeholes. The mask smelled like someone who didnt wash their hair much.
We drove for a while, and he said nothing. My neck hurt where hed bitten me. Gabes bites never hurt this much. But then his almost always healed right away. I wondered how Matthew could be awake and driving this time of the day. The only other vampire Id seen out and about during the daytime was Andrew Roman. Was he involved?
The car stopped. I heard Matthew get out. My door opened, and he yanked me out of the car, dragging me to what felt like another. Though this was higher up. A truck, maybe?
He strapped me in the
seat, and the door banged shut. A minute later I heard him on the other side of the truck. “Going to dump the car. You know where to take him.”
The reply was merely a grunt.
“Ill be there soon. Behave,” Matthew said. He suddenly sounded closer to me. “Soon, baby. I cant wait to fuck you again.”
I tried not to respond. He wanted my fear. And I was terrified. No way could I hide that, but I wasnt going to give him the satisfaction of responding. After a few seconds of silence the truck started in that loud Hemi way, engine reverberating a pulse through my bones. The truck moved, though my new captor said nothing.
I thought again about that night Brock had taken me. How many times had I wondered what would have been different if Id asked for someone to walk me to the car? Or even been more aware of my surroundings. But Id panicked then. Gabe had been in danger. Or at least thats what Andrew Roman had led me to think.
Gabe was safe at home. How long before he woke? What if Jamie was dead? It would be my fault. Id shot him, even if Id been compelled to do so. How many more lives could I take?
The truck finally stopped. I heard the driver get out, slamming the door shut. My door opened with a loud creak, and he leaned across to unfasten my seatbelt. Definitely male, probably the owner of the smelly mask I was wearing. He didnt feel like anything other than human. Not a vampire and not a witch, at least not an earth witch.
“Dont try anything,” he said to me. He pulled me out of the cab, and I stumbled to try to find my footing. Snow crunched underfoot. Had we gone north?
I reached out for the earth, letting it read me the land. The nearest city was miles away. This felt like some place more cut off from the rest, no sign of tar or paved roads for a while. But there was metal, and wood. A structure, maybe a house. My power sat just outside my new captor. Was he a null too? If I survived this, I was going to have to research the topic further.
The sound of keys in a lock, then a door opened before I was shoved through the entryway. He dragged me into the house and pushed me to the wooden floor just inside the door.
“I dont get what he sees in you.” He pulled at my jacket and ripped the mask off my head, taking a few strands of hair with it. The bright light of the room made me flinch and try to readjust my eyes. When I could make everything out, I sighed heavily. I was so done with school and everyone in it.