Jess didn’t try to hide her surprise. “No wife? Never? I just assumed his wife had died. That is odd.”
She made a cynical noise. “Life didn’t get a whole hell of a lot better after that. The old guy dotes on me, but I can’t stand him. Never could. He wants to live vicariously through me, most of the time.”
Jess frowned. “Does he know what you are?” Silly question, but she wanted to hear Morana’s answer.
Morana hesitated too long. “Of course, he knows. He’s not an idiot. Besides I told you he helped me to age.”
She had a dozen more questions to ask about Morana’s relationship with Sinclair; it wasn’t a good time. Instead, she glanced at her watch and said, “I’d better get going, Britt will be expecting me back soon.”
“No, he won’t,” Morana said. “He’s in the tunnels with the cops.”
“How’d you know that?” Jess asked.
“Don’t be so irritating. You’re quite aware that word of murders spreads like wild fire? People on the streets are all abuzz. To be honest, it’s almost as if you and your man have tainted my beautiful city. It wasn’t like this before you came.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Can’t I?” She began scrubbing the bar down, shoving Jess’s elbow off the surface in the process. “Go away.”
Jess’s teeth grew, and her eyes turned black. Rather than give Morana the satisfaction of seeing that she’d riled her, she turned and walked away.
Britt hadn’t mentioned where he’d gone because she’d been in stasis when he’d left, and there’d been no note. She’d suspected there’d been another murder but hoped she’d been wrong.
Her visit hadn’t been a waste but she needed to walk off the irritation Morana had caused. Morana’s words were hammering at her skull. Why would her twin have been given to a single man for adoption?
“Slow down. Did you forget you were supposed to meet me behind the hotel?” Diesel called out to her from the other side of the street. He sounded out of breath, which was odd for a vampire. He’d probably been searching for quite a while, since she’d most likely traveled miles from where he’d asked her to meet him.
“Sorry, Diesel, I was so pissed off at Morana, I totally forgot. I’ve been walking off the conversation we had in the bar.”
“So, have you decided to meet with my friends?” he asked, switching back to his agenda. He casually put his hand on her elbow in an attempt to lead her deeper into the old part of the city.
Normally, she’d come down hard on anyone who touched her, but in this case, she’d go along with it.
“Still haven’t decided,” she lied. “But I do have a question. I’m a young vampire in European terms. What do I have that is so interesting to vampires in Paris?”
He hesitated. “You have the ability to lead your kind in North America. They fear and respect you.”
That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. She’d assumed he’d mention her ability to walk in the sunlight. He’d just intimated that his so-called friends wanted to take over North America.
She stopped walking and stared at a nearby garden without seeing it.
He attempted to touch her again, but she ripped her arm from his grasp. “Don’t try that again if you know what’s good for you.”
He looked angry for about ten seconds before he obviously changed his tactic and smiled at her. Friendly as a snake.
“That’s okay. That’s pretty much what I expected you to say. Whether you join or not, it’s up to you. I’m not going to pressure you. I just hope we can be friends,” he said.
His long black hair had been combed to a sheen tonight, and he wore so much makeup, she wondered if she’d recognize him without it. Maybe the makeup was his own form of disguise? It would be hard to hide the piercings, though. He seemed to have more every day. Was it some form of self-flagellation?
“Why? Are you trying to piss Morana off?” Jess asked.
“It doesn’t hurt to make her see me, for once,” he said.
“Sure, she’ll see you,” Jess said, turning on her heel and starting to leave. “And she’ll make you sorry.”
“Wait,” he said.
He could try to follow her, but if he knew what was good for him, he shouldn’t. She didn’t want to have to kick his ass.
THE NEXT EVENING after Morana rose from stasis, she strode toward Sinclair with teeth extended and her bloodlust raring for fulfillment. She slapped him across the face and sent him flying off the chair and onto the tile floor before he could utter a word.
He grunted in pain. She told herself she wanted to kill him, but while he kept the secret to his herbal concoction, she still needed him. “Give me the recipe!” she demanded in her vampire-enhanced voice.
He moaned, and blood spilled from a cracked lip.
She restrained herself from ripping his throat out. The scent of his blood was so heady and tempting.
“It won’t work for you,” he said, his voice shaky. “I’m a Watcher. I have abilities you’ll never be able to master. I’ve told you that before. How do you think I’ve lived this long? I have secrets that only Watchers keep. And, I’m the only Watcher who can concoct the mixture that keeps you from becoming a bloodthirsty beast.”
She bit back the urge to scream the vilest of curses at him. Was it true, or was he lying about his special abilities? Did that mean she’d never be able to recreate the concoction without him?
Damn it! She’d put up with this old bastard for long enough.
Even while he worked to install her as the leader of vampires in France, she hated him for it. She wanted to do it on her own. She didn’t want to have to rely on him or his damned elixir.
He appeared to have passed out. Shit. Maybe she’d killed him. She couldn’t afford for that to happen—at least not yet. Once she gained control of the vampires, maybe. But for now, she needed to keep herself in check.
With little other choice, she picked up the phone and called an ambulance. They arrived and carted him off. He remained alive but seriously injured. She’d fractured his skull.
Big deal!
She turned her thoughts away from Sinclair and focused on herself. Much better.
She made her way to work. Police cars still lined the streets as she approached the entrance to the tunnels. Business had been up lately because those stupid humans got a thrill out of going to the club where their lives could be at risk.
And, what was up with Diesel? He’d been such a good little lapdog until lately. Partner or not, if he started having ideas of his own, he wouldn’t be worth having around. She bit her lip until it bled, then licked the salty tang away, soothing part of the ache inside her.
She’d been using Diesel as a way into the Order of the Revenant. Not that he was aware of her plans.
She slammed her hand onto the bar in anger, then realized the human bartenders had all stopped working and were staring at her. “Got it,” she said and pretended to pick a fly off the counter.
Damnation, she seemed to need more blood, lately. She’d slaked her thirst on every goat and kid they owned in the last month. A whole herd gone, and she needed more.
Diesel walked in looking dejected.
“What’s wrong with you tonight?” she snarled at him. “And where have you been?”
He looked at her as if he’d never truly seen her before. As if he no longer craved her. Not good. Had he fallen for her bitch of a sister? She’d seen the way he’d been watching her. Envy and spite burned through her veins. She wanted to slam her fist onto the counter again but couldn’t cover her anger so easily a second time.
She still needed to let off some rage, so she marched into the storeroom and smashed her hand against the cave wall so hard, the room rumbled briefly. Bits of dust and particles fell down on her. She needed to gather her darker instincts and tuck them away until later, so she took a deep breath, brushed off her shoulders, and headed back to the bar.
“You okay now, Morana?” Diesel asked,
watching her way too closely. She didn’t like the fact that he knew her this well.
“Fine. You?” She bit her lip hard
“Could be better, but it would cost more,” he said.
He always said that, and tonight it annoyed the hell out of her. Stupid English sayings. Stupid English! That included her so-called siblings!
“Since when do you take breaks?” she asked between gritted teeth.
He paused and looked at her with narrowed eyes. If he told her it was none of her business, she’d have to make him sorry.
“I needed to find a new blood source tonight,” he said.
That wasn’t what she’d expected. “Why?”
“My source dried up after the demon uprising. A few sources were killed during that time. I’m not the only vampire going hungry, lately.” He looked at her. “I guess you’re still doing okay? Maybe you can share your source with me?”
“Not likely.” And she didn’t believe what he’d said, either. His skin was as fresh as a vampire’s could be. He hadn’t been losing out on any blood. Besides, they served blood here at the bar. He didn’t need a human source, even though they were more palatable.
So, what had he really been doing? It couldn’t have been another Order meeting. She’d been following him, and they’d just had one two nights ago. She knew they only met once a month. She stared hard at him. He’d just lied through his pointed teeth.
He slanted a quick glance at her seconds before he dropped a glass and it smashed into a million pieces. She’d rattled him. He never dropped anything.
“You know, I don’t believe a word you just told me,” she said in a deep-throated voice meant only for him.
He fumbled again and nearly dropped the next glass, too.
The hell with being noticed. She spun on him and grabbed him by the throat. Her long fingernails dug temptingly into his carotid artery. “Spill it, Diesel, or you and I are not going to be friends anymore.”
“Okay, okay! I met up with your sister,” he grunted because she still had him by the throat. She shoved him into the storeroom.
“Why would you be meeting Jess?”
He looked truly afraid now. And he should be. She’d nearly killed her father tonight. She could easily kill him, too.
“A group I belong to is interested in her,” he said hoarsely, then ran to the opposite wall to avoid her claws.
“You’re lying!” she screamed at him. “Why would they want her? I am the best choice to join the Neo Order of the Revenant.”
Diesel looked shocked.
She smiled wickedly at him and pushed her shoulders back. “That’s right! I’m fully aware of the group.”
“How would you get in without a backer?”
She moved in and loomed over him, because he’d slid to the floor in panic. He certainly would never make leadership material.
“I have friends in high places. Friends who are working to make sure I’m installed as a member in high order, and soon.” Damn it. She’d better shut up. She’d just told him more than she wanted to. What was wrong with her lately? She couldn’t seem to control her anger. She glared at him. “I’m sharing this information with you because we’re friends,” she said, nearly choking on the words. “Don’t break my faith in you by telling anyone.”
He shook his head. “Of course not.”
“And, you’d better not be backing Jess, either.”
“I’m not. I’m a drone in that group. I just do what I’m told. You’re the one who is leadership material, Morana, not me.”
Suck up!
Even so, she nodded and held a hand out to help him up. He stared at her hand for a few seconds, as if afraid to take it.
Morana’s gut burned. She wanted to keep Diesel blinded by his puppy love for her, and she might have just scared him off. It wasn’t a good time for that. She’d have to do some damage control—if she could get her own emotions under control.
He got up and faced her, his eyes darting back and forth. He might be considering making a break. Merde! She had scared the crap out of him.
She ran two fingers under his chin. “I’m sorry I’m cranky tonight, Diesel. My father is ill. He’s in the hospital. He had an accident, and he’s in serious condition. I guess it’s bothered me more than I realized,” she lied and waited for that to sink in. It didn’t take long to see it was working. He actually believed her. That’s why she kept him around—he wasn’t the brightest bulb.
“Morana! I didn’t know.”
She pressed her lips against his, and he gasped in shock at first. His mouth tight under hers. His body taut. Fearful.
She tipped her head back and smiled at him. “I hope you know how much you mean to me. I wouldn’t want to lose you—as a friend.” She’d dragged that out to intimate that she wanted their friendship to be much more. He wanted her. And, if she had to, she’d bed him. It wasn’t something she’d planned to do, but she’d nearly screwed everything up by allowing her damned temper, on its last thread, to give her away. She needed her fix again, and it was way too soon.
She used to hate that the concoction that Sinclair created was addictive, but it had her under its spell now. It was all his fault.
That said, she’d quit it if she really wanted to—she just didn’t want to.
She’d never told Sinclair about the side effects, either. She’d been afraid if she had, he’d take it away, or make something else. It made her feel like the Queen of the vampires. And that’s exactly what she’d be before next year was out.
Stupid old man—he loved her as if she were truly his daughter.
She’d checked his blood against hers years ago. They were no relation. That was another reason she hated Jess. She’d been able to live as a human until the age of twenty-nine, whereas Morana had always been a vampire for as long as she could remember.
Without Sinclair and his Watcher’s expertise, she’d never have grown up. She would have remained a vampire baby—wouldn’t that be fun! He’d made sure she had the proper amount of pituitary gland serum mixed with another of his concoctions to help her to grow into an adult. It had been horribly painful. She’d stopped taking that quite a few years ago now. That was when Sinclair had developed the best of his potions. She smiled and practically drooled for it. She wanted it now.
Diesel was still in front of her, so she pulled her thoughts back to him. She needed to convince him she really cared about him. The last thing she wanted was to have him telling the Order she couldn’t be trusted.
She hoped Sinclair survived. She might have slaughtered her only chance at becoming the Queen.
Damn it.
She planted her lips on Diesel again and moved her hands reluctantly down his body. It wasn’t long before he was panting and as pliable as she needed him to be. She licked his jaw and moved to his artery, biting and taking a little of his blood. It was a vampire’s way to show true lust. She wretched at the thought.
He continued to gasp, and his eyes rolled back in his head. She watched as pleasure filled him. He groaned, and she wanted to slap him. As if she’d want a simpering idiot like him.
Men were so easy to use.
Chapter Seventeen
“THE PART THAT surprises me most is that the Neo Order doesn’t want me because I have a partial soul and can walk in the sunlight,” she said to Britt when she got home. “That’s usually the reason other vampires are interested in me. But not here, apparently.”
“You’re kidding. What do they want you for?”
“I don’t think Diesel was supposed to let this slip, but I’m getting the feeling they want me to become the leader of vampires in North America.”
Britt didn’t look as shocked as she’d expected. Instead, the muscles in his jaw started working.
“Wait a minute! They’ve tried to take over North America and failed, haven’t they? What if they have been the ones instigating the vampire uprisings we’ve battled the last few years?” He sounded almost excited now. “Think about i
t. Before their internal assaults, North American vampires were singular in their search for blood, killing alone, never trusting another vampire. They’d never formed groups, nor did they try to take over on their own.”
“True,” she said, staring into his gorgeous hazel eyes. She could languish in those eyes forever. Instead, she pulled from his hold and crossed her arms over her chest in order to be the tough vampire she worked so hard at being—and so she could pay attention to what he was saying.
“That said, Diesel might have led you into an ambush tonight. You have to be more careful.”
“I’m not so incredibly gullible, Britt. My senses were on full alert, and I didn’t hang around long.”
His fingers brushed hers. She pulled back. He had such power over her—she needed him more than he’d ever realize.
“At any rate, you’re safe, and we’ve learned something very valuable, haven’t we, my darling?”
“We have,” she said, feeling the pull of stasis stronger than the pull of his love. “I promise not to do anything like that again.” She wanted to continue discussing the events of tonight with Britt, but death was knocking, and she had no choice but to open the door.
WHEN JESS STEPPED outside the next evening, the sun was shining and hot, and she hadn’t said her prayers. She looked down at her arms. They weren’t even smoking. She felt nothing. In fact, she couldn’t feel her own skin. She walked along the street, one she didn’t recognize. When she looked back to see her building, it wasn’t there. How’d she get here?
A hand reached out and snagged her, pulling her into the recess of a building. “You’re a vampire. You can’t walk around out there. You’ll die.”
She frowned and turned to see who’d spoken. A raven with weird symbols swirling on its feathered body stood in front of her. Had the raven spoken to her? They were like myna birds, able to speak if taught, but they couldn’t carry on a conversation. And what were those symbols?
She looked closer at the black bird that was nearly half her size. “What do those symbols mean?” she asked.
The raven’s beak cracked open, and it cawed, as if she hadn’t just heard it speak a second before.
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