by LM DeWalt
I nodded and gritted my teeth. It had to work. As soon as he had the bullet out of my leg, he could work on his own while I worked on freeing my arms.
This time, he focused on just the hole and not my entire leg. “Am I hurting you?” he asked, looking at my face again.
“No. It actually tickles, just keep going,” I demanded. Even if they came back for us before I could break free of the chains, being free of the bullet would give me back some strength.
He focused on my leg once again. The bullet slowly rose through my skin and fell to the dirt floor. “There, that should do it,” he said as he rested his head against the wall with exhaustion. My whole body began to tingle and the burning in my throat grew stronger.
“Wow, that’s so much better. I’m glad you fed so recently. That gave you some strength despite the bullet.” My gratitude was interrupted by the lock turning on the door. Too late. I sat up straight. The bloody bullet still lay on the ground next to my leg. I moved my leg on top of it.
“So, how are our guests doing?” Melinda asked as she led a smiling Ryanne into the room by the hand.
“Lovely, just lovely,” I sneered. “What does a person have to do to get room service around here?”
“Glad to see you still have a sense of humor,” Melinda said. “You’re going to need it.”
FIFTEEN
“What are you going to do to us?” Christian asked. Melinda smiled but said nothing. “If what you want is revenge for the death of Fergus, then kill me. I’m Lily’s mate. Fergus was Ryanne’s. An eye for an eye, right?”
“No! Don’t listen to him. Kill me. I’m the one responsible for all of it.”
“Aww, such love, such devotion. You two make me sick,” Melinda spat as she neared Christian, pushing Ryanne along. “Just to make your decision easier, you both get to die. No need to argue about it.” Ryanne laughed like a demented hyena. I didn’t know if it was the thought of revenge or her thirst, but something was making her crazy.
“Now, Melinda? Now can I feed?” she sounded like a five year old child.
“Yes, my dear. Now you may feast,” Melinda answered as they stood over Christian.
“Don’t do this,” I pleaded. “My blood is much older than his. Take mine, I’m begging.”
“Nonsense,” Melinda snapped. “We’re not after strength. We are both way older and more powerful than either of you. Ryanne is just hungry and he looks quite tasty.” The nail of her index finger grazed Christian’s jaw line.
“Get your hands off him!”
Melinda laughed, looking back at me for a second before she turned to Ryanne. “He is all yours, my dear sister.”
Ryanne turned to me with a crazed and vacant look in her eyes before planting both feet on either side of Christian’s outstretched legs. She clapped her hands before she sat straddling him, taking his face in her hands. “You do look delicious. I can’t believe you’re all mine.”
“Get your disgusting hands off him!” I screamed and pulled at the chains in the wall with all the might I could muster. One hand broke free.
“Stop that!” Melinda ordered approaching me. She bent over me and raised her hand, her slap burning my face. “You do anything else and he will no longer be Ryanne’s dinner. He will be killed immediately.”
I grabbed a handful of her hair with my free hand. “I’m the one you want, not him! Deal with me, you coward!”
She pulled out of my grasp and jumped away, her mouth in a scowl. “Do it already, Ryanne. Your audience is ready.”
Ryanne squealed with excitement before squeezing Christian’s face in her hands, tilting his head back. Her face covered his but it wasn’t hard to guess what she intended. Moans escaped her mouth as she kissed my husband, her legs clamping around his thighs possessively. Her display of lust turned my stomach. Her hands kept his face against hers, though by the looks of it, he was trying to turn away. A few more moments of that and her hands left his face and moved out of sight.
Christian’s shoulders were bared as she inched his shirt down his back with her lips still locked on his. She moved aside just enough to let me see her fingers tangled in the hair on his chest. Her moans grew louder, mixing with Melinda’s laughter. “Are you liking what you’re seeing, Lily?” she smiled at me. I turned away from her.
Christian groaned as Ryanne’s mouth made contact with his neck, her hands still on his chest, her gulps so loud I knew even from where I sat that she was already indulging in his blood. His feet scraped along the dirt floor as he struggled in vain to get some distance from her devouring mouth.
“You are really sick, do you know that?” I yelled at Melinda.
She rolled her eyes like a teenager. “You killed her mate. It’s only fair she enjoys yours for a while.”
“Oh, please,” I rolled my eyes, mimicking her sarcasm. “Like either of you know how to even love someone. She was only with Fergus out of convenience. It was very obvious she didn’t love him.”
“Shut up!” Ryanne turned away to yell at me, Christian’s blood all over her chin. “You know nothing! I did love him!”
“Look at you,” I sneered. “You can’t even eat without making a mess of yourself. You need a bib?”
She jumped off Christian and ran at me, dropping to her knees in front of me. I grabbed her by the throat with my free hand. Since I had ripped the cuff out of the wall, Melinda had not been able to secure my arm again. I squeezed, my fingers positioned around her trachea, her eyes bulging. Her hands wrapped around my wrist as she tried to pry it from her neck. “I did not kill Fergus. He died because he was weak. He was useless and powerless. Don’t you get that?”
Melinda pulled Ryanne’s hands off my wrist. She wrapped her hands around my arm and tried to pull it off Ryanne. I held on as hard as I could with my diminishing strength. I really should have fed. Suddenly, Melinda’s body was thrown across the room, bouncing off the stone wall and landing in a heap on the ground before she jumped again to her feet. In the blur of confusion, hands wrapped around Ryanne’s waist as she tried to run at me a second time. She too was thrown across the room.
“Lily, we’re getting you out of here,” Fiore yelled as she grabbed the chain keeping me immobile and yanked it from the wall. My eyes landed on Christian just as Aloysius was pulling his chains out of the wall. Melinda jumped on his back and he shook her off as if she were nothing more than a pesky bug.
“Let’s go!” Aloysius yelled. He held Christian up with an arm around his waist.
“Leilani!” I yelled. “They have Leilani. Jose Luis might be here too!” I tried running toward the door but Fiore grabbed my hand.
“There’s no time for that,” Aloysius said. “We’ll come back for them.”
Fiore pulled me to where Aloysius stood with Christian. “Take my hand,” she instructed as she held Aloysius’s free hand. We formed a circle. As Ryanne and Melinda ran toward us, the room began to spin and then blurred. We were thrown into what seemed like a black whirlwind and I couldn’t even see Fiore’s face, though I felt her hand in mine. A few moments later, we landed on something hard, or at least, Christian and I landed on something hard while Fiore and Aloysius stood. “Ouch!” I complained, rubbing my rear end as I stood. Christian sat on the living room floor looking lost, his shirt hanging around the wrist of one arm.
“Well, that was fun,” he shook his head and looked around the room. “Let’s not do that again anytime soon.”
Aloysius walked over and extended his hand. Christian took it and he pulled him to his feet. “You’ve done it before,” Aloysius said.
“Yeah, but that was just with you and we landed on our feet. This one hurt.” Christian rubbed his butt in an exaggerated manner and looked at me.
“Yup! Blame that one on me. Apparently, I can’t land whether I fly or materialize,” I went to Christian and tenderly wrapped my arms around his neck. “You ok?”
“I think so,” he touched his fingers to the puncture wound on his neck. I instantly felt s
ick and I shook the image of Ryanne’s lips all over him out of my head. “Here, let me.” I bit the tip of my tongue and rubbed my blood over the marks. They closed within seconds.
“Thanks,” Christian kissed me lightly before turning to Fiore and Aloysius. “How did you find us?”
“It wasn’t hard after we listened in on your phone conversation and your thoughts,” Aloysius explained. “How did they get to you, Lily?”
I explained it to them like I had explained it to Christian. I also told them about my conversation with Mateo and what I learned about Mariana. “That reminds me, have you heard anything from the police yet?”
“They are still questioning all the staff at the hospital. They also suggested that you or Christian, or both, make an appearance on the news, maybe plead with the public. They think some tears would help, though I know that’s not possible,” he laughed. “If you let the public know he is gravely ill, maybe someone will step up and call with some information. Someone had to have seen him in a city this populated.”
I looked at Christian. He nodded. “We’re willing to do anything to get him back safely,” I agreed. “When do they want us?”
“Mateo will be in touch. He’s setting it all up,” Aloysius said and sat on the sofa. “You probably want to at least wash up and change your clothes before we go anywhere. I imagine you’re also hungry, Lily?”
“You’re right, I am. We’ll go get cleaned up and be right back,” I said taking Christian’s hand and leading him to the stairs.
Once in our room, I threw myself into his arms and held him as tightly as my arms allowed. “You have no idea how happy I am right now. I really thought it was the end.”
He hugged me back and kissed my head. “There will never be an end. We could’ve handled them.”
“Them maybe, but you know they don’t operate alone. I’m sure they had an army waiting just outside the door.”
“You’re probably right, regardless; we’re home safe and sound. I believe in you and me. I believe in us. We would have defeated them one way or another,” he loosened his grip and leaned back to look into my eyes. “Regardless, we are together for eternity, no matter where or how that eternity takes place.”
After we washed and changed out of our torn and dirty clothes, we went back to the living room to join the others. They were sitting on the sofa, both with their cell phones in their hands waiting for them to ring with some kind of news.
“You said they have Leilani?”
“Oh, yes. Melinda brought her to me as a gift. They have humans there to be used for the sole purpose of feeding vampires. Leilani is one of them. She was supposed to be my dinner but…” I started to tell them but the door opened and Giovanni rushed in.
“I found Tomas’s family,” he announced. “It’s not good.”
SIXTEEN
“What do you mean it’s not good?” Aloysius stood and offered a seat to Giovanni. In all the months we’d been here, I’d never seen Giovanni sit anywhere but by the front door. He was always on the go, vigilant, and ready for any request from us.
He nodded to Aloysius and took a seat. “They went up north, Lucia and the kids. They’re staying in some rundown hotel that doesn’t even have plumbing.”
“What are they doing there? Does Lucia have family up there?” I asked.
“No,” Giovanni turned to me. “That’s the weird thing. Her family all lives in Arequipa, south of Lima. I found where they are and went there. I knocked repeatedly but she wouldn’t answer the door. In fact, I saw the light go out and then all was quiet, as if they were trying to hide.”
“Is Tomas with them?” I asked impatiently.
“She finally opened the door after I begged and assured her I was alone and just worried about her and the kids. She looked terrified. Her eyes were swollen like she’d been crying. The kids huddled together on the floor in a dark corner of the room.”
“What the hell? Something really scared them,” Aloysius said.
“Something or someone… Anyway, I wasn’t able to get much out of her and I didn’t want to scare the kids any further by insisting. She did say she hadn’t seen Tomas since he went to Churín with you,” he looked at Christian and me. “She doesn’t even know if he’s alive. That started her crying again so I thanked her and left.”
“Do you think someone threatened them?” Christian asked.
“It is a possibility. Even if she hadn’t started crying again, it’s doubtful she would have said anything further,” he explained.
“Why would anyone want Tomas?” I asked.
Aloysius turned to me. “Though Tomas is human, he’s worked for me for quite a few years. He never asked what my guards and I are, and if he knows, he said nothing. That won’t stop whoever took him, however. They must assume he knows something, some information they are after.”
“I guess so. Do you think his family is safe where they are?” I asked turning to Giovanni.
“I don’t know. The place is out of the way, however, I found them,” Giovanni answered.
“Yes,” Aloysius stood and began pacing. I wondered if he was thinking the same as me. He smiled at me and continued. “We need to get them here. They will be better protected here with all of us. That hotel is no place for the children.”
“I agree, sir, but how do we get them here? They were terrified of me,” Giovanni said.
Aloysius smiled at me again. “Take Lily with you. She’s good with kids. She’ll convince them,” Aloysius explained.
“What?” I sat up straighter. “Since when am I good with kids?”
Christian laughed. “Since you turned Jose Luis’s life around.”
“Yeah but you see what good that did,” I protested.
“It did a lot of good. I honestly don’t think Jose Luis left the hospital on his own. He wanted to stay with us, remember?” Christian explained.
“I guess. I’m just a little nervous about this. They’ve never met me and besides, it’s my fault their daddy’s gone.”
“Nonsense! They will love you and it’s not your fault he’s gone. Melinda is behind all of this. Lucia will understand that, I’m sure,” he turned to Giovanni. “You and Lily will take a flight out there; bring them back the same way. It’ll be much faster that way.” Giovanni nodded and stood, looking at me to do the same.
“What about Christian?” I asked.
“He will stay with us and we’ll go to the television studio when Mateo calls,” Aloysius replied. “Charge all the plane tickets to me,” he said to Giovanni and nodded for him to leave.
“I’ll wait for you right outside, Miss Lily.” He nodded to Christian and Fiore before departing.
“I guess I’m going,” I looked at Aloysius for confirmation. He nodded with a smile. “I was afraid of that.”
Christian stood and wrapped me in his arms. “Be careful,” he kissed my forehead. “I’ll be fine here. I can handle the news.” I looked at Aloysius.
“He will have an interpreter, I assure you,” he said. “You won’t be gone long. The flight is only one hour.”
Christian let me go and kissed my lips. “I’ll be waiting for you. I know you’ll convince them to come and stay with us.”
“I’m glad you all have so much faith in me. Guess I’ll see you soon.” With one last look at Christian, I headed out the door.
***
Settling into my seat on the plane, I turned to Giovanni. “So where exactly are we going?”
“We’ll be landing in Chiclayo. I’ll rent a car when we get there and we’ll drive the rest of the way. They’re in a small village on the outskirts,” he said and picked up the map he had purchased at the airport.
“I thought you knew where you were going?” I asked feeling a bit nervous.
“Oh, I do. I just want to make sure there are alternate routes in case we need them.”
“Are you anticipating problems?” I really did not like this one bit. I would rather have stayed with Christian. Aloysius or Fior
e could have convinced Tomas’s family just as well.
“You never know. Melinda causes problems no matter where she goes,” he explained.
“Why do I get the feeling this is not the first time you’ve dealt with Melinda.”
He refolded the map and fastened his seat belt. “You better do the same, Miss. We’ll be taking off soon and the flight attendants will be checking.”
“First of all, you don’t have to call me Miss. Lily would be fine,” I fastened my seat belt. “And second, don’t change the subject on me. Have you dealt with Melinda before?”
He smiled briefly and then his eyes grew serious. “You could say that. I—I mean we, the other vampires in the city—have been dealing with her for a very long time. She comes recruiting about every two years or so, wants as many vampires as she can get.”
“For what? What can she possibly get from here that she can’t find in Ireland?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never actually talked to her.” He stuffed the map in the pocket of the seat in front of him and relaxed in his seat.
“Has she ever gotten anyone to go with her?”
“She has gotten a few throughout the years. She was here just recently, which is why I’m surprised to see her back so soon. Anyway, I think if she does not get them to go with her, she makes new ones.”
“Oh, my God,” I whispered. Giovanni turned to me. “I know why she was here recently. She was getting vampires to fight my family and me.”
“Why would she do that?” Giovanni asked. The plane was speeding down the runway, bouncing slightly.
“Ian, my maker, had been causing all kinds of problems. He left me years ago, but when I met Christian, he decided he had to have me back. He kidnapped Christian and had him hidden in the basement of a cottage in Ireland though he had promised to let him be if I just joined him. He lied. I found him and took him. That’s when Ian and his goons came after us, all the way to America,” I explained. Could Melinda really have had something to do with all that? What was she to Ian? “Did you ever meet Ian?” I asked.