Grave New Day

by Lina Gardiner

  “And where did I fit into all of this? Why did that man who saved me tell me I had to help you?”

  “Be damned if I know.”

  Britt sighed and wished he could remember. He did remember writhing in pain not that long ago. And he knew he was hungry right now. He hadn’t had anything to eat since he’d left.

  He looked at Jess. “How does a vampire know he’s a vampire?”

  Obviously shocked by his question, she bit her lip. “What are you talking about?”

  “I haven’t eaten anything but a foul liquid concoction since I woke up. Does that mean I’m a vampire?”

  “No. Sampson ruled that out when he tested your blood. You’re human.”

  “That’s not exactly what your doctor said, if I recall. I was a still a little fuzzy at the time, but the two of you were talking about my DNA being different. And about my new abilities.”

  “Br …” She nearly said his name, but stopped herself. “You were killed by a vampire. In the physics of the world I know, that means one thing. You either die, or you become a vampire. You don’t come back with altered DNA. You come back with VNA or you don’t come back.

  “But, I’m here.”

  “Yes, and that’s what worries me the most.”

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  Chapter Nine

  The phone rang giving Jess a chance to escape Britt’s unending questions. She hated that he could move as fast as her now. He obviously knew she intended to use the phone to get away because he stood in the doorway, blocking her exit.

  “Let’s not turn this into a pissing match,” she said. “I’ll win.” Her rough-edged voice should have slithered into him. She had no idea if it even affected him, but he still allowed her to squeeze past him. She tore down the hall and into the living room. “Captain Vandermire speaking,” she said without thinking.

  “Jess,” James’s voice rasped at the other end. “Listen to me, I don’t have much time. I killed someone! I’m in big trouble.”

  “James! Where are you?” Damn it, the evil vampire had told her the truth earlier. Her stomach cramped and she felt sick.

  “No time,” his voice grew strangled. “They kidnapped Terry and Sephina. An idiot human threatened to hurt them, and I killed him in a moment of abject rage. I drained him, Jess … I’m losing my humanity. Can’t last much longer. Find Terry. Find Sephina … Argghhhh.” A gurgling sound threaded through the line, and she heard her best friend surrendering the last vestiges of his humanity.

  It was the most horrible sound she could imagine.

  “James! Fight it. I’m coming for you,” she screamed.

  “Too late,” he moaned. Again, the guttural, dark gasping sounds.

  For a moment she thought he might be sobbing, but then he roared and she heard his phone drop onto a soft surface. Probably grass.

  He’d be beyond help within minutes. She pulled her cell phone from her waist and hit speed dial.

  Sampson answered on the first ring, thank God. “Sampson, can you track James’s cell phone?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Then do it right now. Every second counts.”

  Sampson had worked with her long enough that he knew not to ask questions when she was in a hurry, and he said, “Hang on. She heard the fast click of keys on a keyboard. She heard his elevated breathing. She could hear his damned clock ticking on the wall in his office.

  “Hurry, Sampson,” she whispered, and turned her head to find Britt’s gaze locked onto her. Eyes that could melt her resolve with very little effort. She’d prayed to have him back, but now that he was here, why did she fear him so much? That look on his face right now, soft and sympathetic, would have switched on her anger seconds before. Now it felt debilitating. Damn him. He probably didn’t even really know who James was. She wanted him gone—out of her apartment. She couldn’t afford any distractions right now.

  “What’s going on Jess?” Sampson asked, the keys still clicking.

  “James is in trouble.”

  “Want me to phone the team?” he asked.

  “No!” She squeezed her cell phone in one hand and the landline phone in the other. She forced herself to loosen her grip. Otherwise, she’d crush the house phone and lose her connection to James’s cell. “I have to find him myself. This isn’t a job for the police force,” she said.

  If the team found James they’d kill him. And they’d do it under her orders. She’d beat it into their heads that if either she or James turned and they became a threat to society, they had to die. Period.

  Easy to say it, but in reality she had to save James. She owed him that much. And she had to do it alone or James would die like every other vampire the Black Ops team killed every day.

  “Jess, I’ve got the coordinates.” Sampson immediately read them off.

  “Thanks.” She hung up and strode toward the door while still listening for James through her cell phone. She made it downstairs and jumped into Regent’s SUV so fast, the local paper vendor had to scramble to gather up the papers blown out of their container from the freak wind she created as she ran past him.

  She drove as fast as humanly possible to the park where vampires hung out in the city. She was beginning to hate this place almost as much as Britt had hated the cemetery. They’d had way too many battles with unrepentant vampires here.

  It didn’t take long to find James’s cell phone lying open with its interior light waning. James was nowhere in sight.

  “He’s not here,” she whispered.

  Startled, she jumped as she heard a noise behind her! She spun. Kicking up her leg and extending her toe spike, she nearly impaled Britt with her hyperactive speed.

  Somehow, he’d managed to step back and allow the spike to whiz a few inches past his chest. He’d moved crazy fast—impossible.

  “How’d you get here so fast?” She frowned at him. “And how the hell did you follow me?” She’d left him in her dust on the sidewalk.

  He frowned blankly, then looked around like he had no idea how he’d gotten from point A to point B. More reason to worry about his motives.

  “Never mind. It’s obvious you’re going to play dumb again. Go away, Britt. You have nothing to do with this.”

  He looked at her foot and grinned. “I think I’ve proven that I can handle myself, don’t you?”

  She gritted her teeth and bit back another angry, frustrated retort. “Okay, if you want me to be blunt, I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t know if I can trust you. I have enough problems without purposely putting myself into a more dangerous situation.”

  “You’re not going to kill, James, though, are you?” Britt said in his heart-stopping familiar voice. “Even though it’s your job to do just that.”

  She frowned. Did he remember or didn’t he? “Mind your own business.”

  “I’ve been told you are my business.”

  That stopped Jess’s forward momentum into the park. “Come again?”

  “You know I was sent here to help you.”

  “I don’t get you, Brittain. You don’t have a clue who sent you, so why don’t you just walk away?”

  Britt shrugged, his familiar dark hair needed a trim and his five o’clock shadow made him look even tougher than normal. He had that steely expression of determination she’d seen before.

  “Nevertheless, I intend to stick with you.”

  “Don’t get in my way, then” she said, turning her back on him for the first time. A calculated risk, but James needed her help, and she couldn’t waste any more time on Britt.

  The words were barely out of her mouth when five bad-boy vampires emerged from the tree line—coming straight at her. Worse, James was not among them.

  As she studied the group, she realized that these vampires were suspiciously similar to the group at James’s home. All five had expensive hair cuts. Their outfits were just as unusual as their coifs—they wore jeans, Italian leather shoes, polo shirts and gold wrist watches. Even though they were well
dressed, there was no mistaking their intent. It emanated from their eyes and their carriage. They had one thing in mind, and all five pairs of eyes were on Jess.

  She glanced quickly at Britt. His expression was as deadly and focused as hers.

  “Still want me to go?” he asked under his breath. His large frame dwarfed hers in a way it never had before.

  “Um, maybe not. If you think you can survive this, I’d like you to stay.”

  “I’ll survive, all right.” His voice had become deeper, grainier with anger and determination. “Can’t say the same about the idiots.”

  If this had happened before Britt died, Jess would have been terrified for him. So why didn’t she feel that same level of fear now? Because she’d already lost him? Or because he was stronger somehow and she knew it?

  “How nice of you to come to us,” one of the vampires spoke, rolling his syllables in a heavily accented voice. “This couldn’t have been easier.” All five showed their fangs One had a diamond stud implanted in his eye tooth. What the hell?

  Wind picked up, and blew across the lawn and through the trees. She’d never seen vampires who were fashion conscious until lately.

  “Guess you boys aren’t from around here.” She caustically eyed them up and down.

  They ignored her comment. “Who’s your friend?” the lead vampire asked, looking Britt over with too much interest. She could actually feel Britt bristling beside her.

  “What have you done with James?” She glanced at the cell phone lying open on the ground nearby. She could still smell his scent. He’d definitely been here.

  “James?” One of the vampires spoke to another in his language. Probably Italian. In fact, just like the vampires in James’s house, all five of these vampires were old. Too old to have come from North America.

  Britt leaned in closer to Jess and murmured, “They don’t know where James is either. He got away from them.”

  Keeping her attention focused on the encroaching vampires, she only allowed herself a half-glance at Britt. “You understand them?”

  He made a surprised face. “Guess I do.”

  “You couldn’t speak other languages before, so how can you do it now?”

  He shrugged. “Let’s focus on killing these pretty boys.”

  One vampire hissed at his insult. “You’ll be sorry you said that.”

  Jess sucked in a quick breath, felt panic rising. “Don’t make things worse. We have no idea what your abilities are yet!”

  “So what? I managed to stop that vampire in the alley without too much trouble. I have the feeling these pansies will be just as easy to take out,” Britt said, yanking a stake out of his belt. Apparently, he’d taken an extra one from Jess’s apartment.

  The vampires weren’t in any hurry. They were conversing in Italian as they moved slowly closer.

  “Look at these guys, do they look like any vampires you’ve ever met?” Britt said.

  Jess’s brow furrowed. “I thought you had no memory?”

  “I’m remembering more all the time. Certain experiences set off a host of memories. Right now I remember vamps. And I remember that the vampires I’ve met are a scraggly, tough lot who aren’t worried about their clothes.”

  She forced herself to keep her attention locked on the approaching vampires. Her Britt never underestimated their enemies. If this Britt found out he wasn’t as equipped to fight a gang of vamps, she’d have her job cut out to keep them both alive. “You remember random New York City vampires, but you don’t remember more personal things?” There was a shrillness in her voice that she didn’t like.

  His voice lowered. Got more intense. “I thought I’d proven to you earlier that I’m beginning to remember you quite well.”

  She swallowed a lump in her throat at the same time that two vampires dove at her. She grunted and kicked the first one in the chest with her toe stake. He was toast within seconds.

  The next vampire was warier and quite handsome. He actually winked at her and gave her a “Hey babe, how about it” look.” She dove at the pompous ass, shot out one arm and grazed the side of his neck with her stake. It gouged out a chunk of flesh that bled profusely for a few seconds before his wound self-cauterized.

  “You wouldn’t have been able to do that to me if I hadn’t been blinded by your beauty, bella.”

  “New tactic for a vampire,” she said, and tried to stab him in the chest again, but missed. “Do you proposition all of your intended victims?”

  “Ah, no, bella, only the very beautiful ones.” He dared to take his attention off her long enough to skim down her leather-clad body. His gaze lingered on her breasts, rounded above the top of the leather vest. “Think of the fun we’d have as a couple.”

  She cursed. “What do you think, Britt? New York vampires could take a lesson or two in fashion-sense from these monsters. The sleazy come-on lines would get boring pretty fast, though.”

  Britt growled and twisted toward the vampire currently propositioning Jess. He slammed him hard across the Adam’s apple and sent him flying into the bushes. “Friggin’ idiot.”

  Jess’s heart fluttered. Had Britt been jealous? No time to consider the possibilities because they were in the middle of a battle, but there was a light feeling inside her as she attacked the next vampire before he could try to finesse her to death.

  Britt managed to easily fight off two other vamps . His size seemed to dwarf them, and somehow his strength equaled both of theirs combined.

  Before she could jump in to help him, he’d destroyed them.

  “What was that gang-style attack about?” Jess said more to herself than to Britt when the last vampire turned into dust. Good part about killing old vampires. No cleanup.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “They never attack in droves unless they’re being led by a master vampire.” She paused and looked back at the green. “Unusual in North America to even meet one old vampire in a vamp’s lifetime. Seeing one group of five of them is unheard of. Let alone two groups. Who is their Master?”

  “Why are they coming after you?” he asked, as if she knew the answer.

  “According to the vampire in the alley, they’re after the Mayan paste we confiscated just before you were …”

  His expression shuttered. “Don’t say it. I still can’t come to terms with the idea that I … you know. They thought you were hot,” he said, effectively changing the subject.

  “You used to think the same thing,” she said, then wished she hadn’t.

  “I did?” He feigned shock, but his gaze melted right through her outfit. She had to distract herself so she wouldn’t jump his bones right here. Right now.

  “Forget I said that.”

  “Can’t forget,” he ground out. “Besides, I’ve learned that physical stimulus speeds up the memory process.” He grabbed her arms and pulled her toward him with more strength than he should have.

  She tried to shove him away before she got too wrapped up in his attempt at memory retrieval. “We can’t keep doing this to each other.”

  “Why?”

  She looked at her feet. “It got you killed last time. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”

  Damn it, she’d said too much. He was beginning to understand her reluctance at accepting it was really him.

  “That’s not your call to make.”

  “The hell it isn’t.”

  His large hands wrapped around her upper arms easily, and she could feel his warmth being absorbed into her flesh.

  His head came down and his mouth pressed against hers tentatively then insistently until she aligned herself against his body and allowed the kiss to happen.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Ten

  As they deepened the kiss, a breeze picked up and swirled through the park. It scuttled through the lawn and rose into the air. Jess inhaled and instantly broke away from Britt.

  “It’s James. I can trace his scent again,” she said spee
ding across the open area, pushing back leaves and wending her way through the thickest shrubbery, following the exact path her friend had taken. She knew where he’d walked. Where he’d fallen. And where he’d writhed on the ground in pain.

  She’d nearly forgotten about Britt until he grunted when one branch snapped back. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that it had whipped him across the cheek, leaving a long red line that probably stung like the dickens. He was strong, but still damageable.

  “Why don’t you go back? I don’t need your help,” she said, running across an open area with him easily keeping stride with her. It was a mystery how he was able to keep up with her. He couldn’t before he died, shouldn’t have been able to now—if he was human.

  “Are you trying to tell me you could have taken on those five vampires all by yourself?”

  She was silent a moment before confessing, “Probably not.”

  “Then I’m coming. How do you know there aren’t more of them?”

  “It seems unlikely,” she said. Unlikely in the vampire world meant very little, however, as her earlier battle had proved. “Okay, but, stay out of my way, James is important to me. He’s been my friend for decades. Don’t you dare do anything to harm him. No matter what!”

  “Not a problem. I’ll follow your lead.”

  Before she could tell him to get lost a second time, something moved in the thickening shadow ahead of them as dusk settled deeper into night. She stepped onto another green area and ran toward the fountain where a familiar figure hunched on a circular lip of stone.

  “James, don’t run. It’s me, Jess.”

  A tall man with a neatly clipped beard and badly damaged tweed sports jacket jumped to his feet. His eyes were glassy black and his teeth protruded. He hissed at Jess.

  “James, try to hang on.” She spun toward Britt.

  “We have to get him to Regent, as soon as possible.”

  When Britt tipped his head forward and studied James, he said, “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  Jess frowned and turned back toward James. “What the hell are you talking about?” She was angry, but kept her gaze on her friend.