Damek's Redemption l(-6

by N. J. Walters

  “I don’t think so.” He sat down hard on her again and this time she knew for sure she was going to pass out.

  Suddenly, the air pressure in the room changed, becoming denser and thicker, like it was a living, breathing entity. Her attacker jumped off her back and dragged her to her feet, holding her in front of him like a shield.

  Sonia gasped for breath and tried to steady herself to take the pressure off her scalp. What was happening? Even though his knife was still pressed against her neck, she had to be ready to fight if an opportunity presented itself.

  The shadows coalesced at the far end of the room near the door and a man glided out of them. No, not a man, a vampire. A very angry, dangerous vampire.

  Somehow, someway, Damek was here.

  Her attacker tightened his hold on her, jerking her up onto her toes. “Come any closer and I’ll cut her.”

  “I don’t think so, John.” Damek’s soft voice was more chilling than if he’d roared in anger. His eyes glowed a blood red, but other than that, he appeared calm and in control. “In fact, you’ll put her carefully on the bed. Do that, and I might not rip out your entrails and choke you with them.”

  Sonia shuddered at the threat, wondering if Damek truly meant it. One glance at the expression on his face made her a believer.

  John. Her attacker’s name was John. How did Damek know that?

  Sonia could feel the tension in her enemy’s arms as the muscles quivered. She wanted to swallow but didn’t dare. The blade was still too close.

  “Put her on the bed.” The command in his voice was inescapable. “Carefully.”

  Sonia found herself trying to get to the bed just to obey him. The power surrounding him pulsed across the room, surrounding them like a thick blanket, and John moved, his arm releasing her. She hit the bed and gasped for breath even as she rolled to the far side away from John.

  “That’s a good boy.” Damek mocked. He seemed to flow across the room to her side and traced his finger over the trail of blood on her neck.

  “Leave her alone, bloodsucker.”

  Damek whirled and fury pulsed in the room like a living, breathing entity. Sonia thought she saw the walls undulate under the pressure of Damek’s anger as she struggled to sit.

  “You dare tell me to leave her alone when it is you who hurt her.”

  John suddenly went flying, his back hitting the wall with enough force to break through the plaster. Instead of falling to the floor in a heap, John was held against the wall by an unseen force. His knife was still in his hand, but he couldn’t seem to use it.

  “At least I’m human.” John flung the insult at Damek. Personally, Sonia thought he’d be better off keeping his mouth shut.

  “That is debatable.” Damek walked into her bathroom, grabbed a towel and walked back to the bed. “Let’s get your coat off and see to your arm.”

  “You came back.” There was so much she wanted to say, but her throat ached and her entire body hurt.

  His touch was gentle as he helped remove her blazer and sweater, both of which were ruined, leaving her top half covered in only her lavender-colored bra. He paused for a brief moment, his gaze skimming over her breasts before he turned his attention to her arm. “Yes, I came back.” He wrapped the towel around it, putting pressure on the wound. “I don’t think this is too deep. Are you strong enough to pack? You need to get out of here.”

  She nodded. “Give me five minutes.”

  The sweet smell of her blood filled Damek’s nostrils along with the sharp tang of her fear. His fangs were down and they ached to bite into her soft skin and drink from her veins. Her pulse thrummed in her slender throat and sweat dewed her tender flesh.

  His cock ached and throbbed and he wanted to strip Sonia naked and lick every inch of her, bringing her to orgasm before sliding into her heated depths and claiming her as a man and as a vampire. Biting her, feeling her blood slide down his throat as he fucked her would be the ultimate orgasm. His cock flexed in agreement.

  And he was truly a monster for even thinking such a thing. She’d been attacked and hurt and needed comfort, not his lust. He could have stopped the bleeding on her arm simply by drawing his tongue over it. There were agents in his saliva that would heal her injured flesh. But he was afraid to. Afraid if he truly tasted her blood he would never let her go.

  As it was, the one bead he’d tasted earlier on her lips still thrummed through him like a fiery memory. He’d never tasted anything quite so fine. No other blood had ever quenched his hunger so quickly, while at the same time leaving him craving more.

  Sonia scooted off the bed and staggered to the bathroom, her balance shaky from her ordeal. He heard water running and knew she was cleaning the cut on her neck. Thankfully, that was only a scratch and had already stopped bleeding.

  Alone in the room with the vampire hunter, Damek raised his head and skewered the man with his glare. “Why are you here?” He needed answers. “I told you she knew nothing.”

  “That’s what I told Luther. Fucking vampire, you messed with my mind.” He struggled to break Damek’s mental hold on him, but couldn’t budge no matter how much he struggled. “Luther figured something wasn’t right and told me to keep watching. I lost her earlier at the club but knew she’d eventually have to come back to her hotel.”

  Damek watched him fight, but felt no pity for his plight. He’d hurt Sonia so he had to die. It was that simple.

  “Why are you here?” he repeated. This time he drove into the vampire hunter’s mind, sending out dark tendrils of compulsion, compelling him to answer. Refusal wasn’t an option.

  “Luther wanted to know why she was here. Thought she might have a lead on a bloodsucker or a maybe a wolf.”

  Sonia was in more danger than he’d imagined. It was one thing to be on the vampire hunter’s radar, quite another to be watched so closely. “What were your orders?”

  Damek heard Sonia come back into the room and start getting her things together and knew she was listening to every word. He longed to draw her into his arms and comfort her, but didn’t know if she would accept it after the way they’d parted.

  John struggled briefly but his will was no match for Damek’s. “Interrogate her and then bring her to Luther.”

  Interesting. “And where is Luther Kostas?”

  The hunter struggled to fling up flimsy barriers in his mind that Damek broke down as quickly as they were erected. He would pay for using so much power and would need blood. But he didn’t care. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. He drilled mercilessly into John’s brain, digging out memories even as he compelled the other man to speak.

  “Here, in Chicago. But I don’t know exactly where.” Sweat poured down the man’s face as he struggled not to talk. “Fuck you, bloodsucker,” he yelled as Damek strode closer. Damek stared at the man, his puny attempts to release himself, his quivering limbs and dilated pupils. He stank of fear and of Sonia’s blood.

  Damek parted his lips, letting the man see his razor-sharp fangs. Equal parts terror and defiance shot through him. John’s will was strong, as all vampire hunters had to be if they hoped to survive. The man was obviously used to killing young vampires who had little control or power. Those attributes developed over time and all vampires were different in their skills, just like all humans had different talents. But Damek wasn’t about to let the hunter know that little tidbit of information. The less they knew about his kind, the better.

  He reached out and gently stroked John’s face when what he wanted to do was catch it between his hands and squeeze until he crushed the man’s skull and spilled his brains out onto the carpet. “What should I do with you?” The urge to kill him, to bathe in his blood for what he’d done to Sonia was great. Someone needed to pay for this. They’d made the battle personal.

  “Damek.” Sonia rested her arm gently on his. “I’m ready to go.” Her voice was steady, but he heard the quaver beneath it, and knew he couldn’t kill the other man no matter how much he wanted to.
Not with her watching.

  She was making him weak. No, she was his weakness, the only person who could stop him from killing. “He hurt you.” That was reason enough for him to die.

  “I know. But he’s not worth what it would do to you.”

  Slowly, Damek turned his head to study her. She’d dressed in a loose brown sweater with her jeans. Her face was pale but determined, but it was her eyes that drew him. There was such compassion and understanding in those gray eyes. In truth, she should be running from both of them. They were both monsters in their own way.

  He looked down at her hand where it rested on his arm. Such a simple touch, but more powerful than any he’d ever felt in his life.

  Damek shook his head and turned his attention back to John. He might not kill him, but John would not walk away unscathed. He focused his power and drove into the vampire hunter’s mind like a predator bringing down prey. John’s eyes widened and his mouth opened on a silent scream. Muscles clenched as he tried to move, but was paralyzed, locked in the prison of his own body.

  “Dr. Agostino had already checked out of her hotel when you arrived, so you rented her room to search for clues, but found nothing. You partied a little too hard and passed out in the bed.” Damek moved his arm and John flew from his position against the wall and crashed onto the bed. “You will pay for the damage in the room and you will contact Luther and tell him you know nothing. Do you understand me?”

  As if a puppet on a string, John’s head bobbed up and down.

  “Good.” Damek started to turn away but at the last minute looked over his shoulder. “And John, you will forget you ever met me. I am nothing more than a nightmare that comes to you in the darkest hours of the night.” He put extra effort into the compulsion, ensuring the man would indeed have nightmares about him for the rest of his life. If he couldn’t kill John, he was at least going to make the hunter’s life hell.

  Sonia was waiting silently for him and he took her gently by the arm. “Come.” He took her bag from her, wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her toward the door. He shut it behind him, hearing the lock click into place before leading her to the elevator. They made the trip down to the lobby in silence.

  Damek detoured to the front desk, pleased to see both night clerks there. It only took him a few minutes and some minor mental manipulation to have them change their records to have Sonia checked out earlier in the day and John Barnes checking in to her room this evening.

  When that was done, he led Sonia out of the hotel. He was worried about her mental and physical state. She’d said nothing since they’d left her room.

  It was still dark, but dawn was closing in quickly. Damek could sense the sun hovering not far below the horizon. Jerome had the limo waiting out front and Damek helped Sonia inside, storing her suitcase on the floor next to them. He pressed down on the intercom. “Take me home,” he ordered his driver.

  “Right away, sir.” Jerome didn’t even glance back at Sonia.

  Damek appreciated his discretion and knew he had to be curious, as tonight was the first time he’d had someone other than Byron in the car with him. He’d also never taken a woman to his home. But this wasn’t just any woman. Sonia was special.

  As the limo pulled away, Sonia stared at him, her fingers wrapped tight around the straps on her purse. She swallowed hard as she studied him. “Does your power have any limits?”

  Chapter Ten

  Sonia couldn’t take her eyes off Damek. What he’d done back in her hotel room and at the desk was nothing short of amazing. He’d controlled her attacker, getting answers from him as though he were no more than a pesky fly. She’d instinctively known Damek could kill the man with no more than a thought, but seeing that kind of power was something else altogether.

  It was truly frightening, and in the hands of a lesser man it could be catastrophic for all humankind. But Sonia knew Damek, knew the kind of man he truly was, and was confident he’d hurt only someone who threatened him. He wasn’t the type to kill indiscriminately.

  “All power has limits and comes with a price.” His dark eyes were unfathomable and his answer really wasn’t one at all. He didn’t explain himself, but then again, Sonia guessed he never had to.

  She’d taken a risk by asking him not to kill her assailant. She, better than most, understood what that had cost him. Paranormal creatures were more primal than most, their instincts honed deeper than that of a human’s. They protected themselves and those they considered to be under their care at all cost. Werewolves were especially like that, being pack animals. Sonia had never known of a vampire to look out for anyone other than himself, but then again, she’d never met an ancient one.

  “Thank you for not killing him.” She’d known deep in her heart that killing that man wouldn’t be good for Damek. Sensed that he was teetering on the edge of a precipice and she didn’t want to be the one who pushed him over the edge. She had no idea what it cost him to wield such power, but guessed it would have to take a toll on him, be an energy drain at the very least.

  Damek shrugged. “I will do it in a heartbeat if he makes trouble again. This was his second and final warning.”

  Second? That’s right. Damek had met the hunter last night. Her arm ached and she hurt all over, making it difficult to think through the constant pain. And that didn’t even count the adrenaline still racing through her body. She was a mess and had to get a grip on herself. “He’s the man you told me about, isn’t he? The one who was following me?”

  Damek shifted and the leather beneath him squeaked slightly. He looked so imposing sitting there and, knowing what she did about him, she should be scared out of her mind. Instead, she felt safe. She longed to crawl onto his lap and lay her head on his shoulder, wanted to feel his strong arms wrapped around her and hear him promise to keep her safe.

  Damek inclined his head.

  Damn, everything was getting more complicated by the moment. Sonia tried to order her thoughts, but it wasn’t easy. She was still jittery from the attack, not to mention her hormones raging out of control. Sitting next to Damek made all her nerve endings tingle and her body come alive. It was as though after facing the possibility of death, her body wanted to taste life.

  She wanted to make love with Damek. Knowing what he was and what she was, knowing all the problems they faced and the secrets between them made no difference whatsoever. She wanted him.

  Damek was very aware of Sonia sitting next to him, watching his every move. It took more control than he thought he possessed not to take her down onto the plush leather seat, strip her bare and taste every inch of her sweet skin. Even though she’d cleaned up and changed her sweater, he could still smell her blood. The wound on her arm was still seeping and the damaged clothing tucked in her bag was stained.

  He cracked the window and took a deep breath and then another, inhaling the exhaust fumes and pollution from the city street. The safest thing he could do for Sonia was to check her in to a new hotel. From what he’d been able to dig out of the hunter’s mind, Sonia wasn’t being watched now. Luther Kostas was supposed to contact Barnes and tell him where to take her. No one would be able to find her if Damek paid cash for her hotel.

  But he would not rest, not knowing she was out there unprotected. Barnes’s contact was somewhere in the city and Sonia wouldn’t be safe until Damek found out where he was and dealt with him.

  He drew his cell phone out of his coat pocket and dialed a number he was very familiar with. It was answered on the second ring with a sleepy, “Hello.”

  “I did not think of the time. I’m sorry for that.”

  Through the receiver, he heard blankets shifting in the background. “Damek. What’s wrong? What do you need?”

  He closed his eyes and gave thanks for Craig Lawton. He might be human, but he was trustworthy, a rarity among his species. “I need you to check two names for me. I need everything you can find on them.”

  He heard Craig rummaging around and imagined he had his l
aptop ready to go. “Shoot.”

  “John Barnes and Luther Kostas.”

  “Can you tell me anything about them? It would help narrow the search.”

  “They are vampire hunters and they are both currently in the city.”

  “Shit.” Damek could hear Craig’s fingers flying over the keyboard. “This might take me a while.”

  “Call me back as soon as you know anything. I’m especially interested in Luther Kostas. He seems to be the one in charge.”

  “Got it. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  The line went dead and Damek was sure he’d know a lot more about his adversary within a few hours. From what he’d been able to glean from the hunter’s memory, John Barnes didn’t know much about his boss beyond his name and a phone number, and that number had been changed just hours ago with the hunter not having received the new one yet.

  Such was the way of the paranormal hunters, a protection mechanism against their paranormal prey. They changed phones frequently and knew little about one another beyond their love of the hunt and their hatred of the paranormal creatures they pursued. But in this day of cyberspace no one could truly hide, and Craig Lawton was one of the best hackers in the world. If there was anything out there to find, Craig would find it. There was always a money trail, something that would lead him to his prey.

  Sonia was watching him and she was shivering, her entire body shaking with the tremor. Damek swore, whipped off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me you were cold?”

  “I didn’t know.” She sounded slightly bemused. “I mean, I guess I blocked it out.”

  He rubbed his arms over hers, being careful of her wound, willing her to get warm. “It’s probably shock due to blood loss and everything else you’ve been through tonight.”

  “Who did you call?” she asked.

  Damek knew he should lie to her if only to protect Craig, but found he couldn’t, not with her enormous gray eyes watching him.