Blood and Sand

by Elizabeth Hunter

  Feed.

  Another cocktail waitress passed by, her blood as delectably scented as the first two. Through sheer force of will, his fangs retracted. He blinked and forced himself to look for Natalie again. She was still at the bar, but now she was talking with one of the waitresses. The girl looked nervous, and he could see a vampire—one acting as bartender—watching the two from a distance. They were well within hearing range and Baojia knew the other vampire would hear anything Natalie was saying. There was no time to lose. If the ruse was to work, he had to get control of himself. He also had to not kill the bartender who was eyeing Natalie’s neck. He felt wild and edgy. The instinct to tear Natalie away from prying eyes and clamp his mouth to her vein was almost overwhelming.

  In a few short steps, he was standing behind her.

  “—Rosa, I just want to know a little more about Lourdes. How long did she—”

  He slid his hand along the back of her arm, letting his amnis flood her mind. Natalie stopped talking and looked over her shoulder with a dazed expression. “You?”

  “Natalie.” He leaned down and kissed her neck possessively, then looked up at the waitress, his fangs falling again at the combination of the girl’s scent and the smell of Natalie’s skin. “You may go.”

  The frightened girl shot a look at the bartender, then darted away. Baojia pulled Natalie into his arms and held her close, brushing back her hair and whispering in her ear as she clutched the front of his jacket.

  “You’re standing out again, Natalie. They’ve already noticed you asking the waitress questions.”

  “I knew there was something… What are you—?”

  “You need to be quiet and let me talk.” He slowly walked her away from the bar and toward the VIP lounge. It would be nice to think he could escape without talking to Ivan, but that was not going to be an option. She stumbled along with him. He tried to balance the influence he was using so she was unable to talk, but could still walk at his side. His arms stayed around her waist. “We’re going to meet some very dangerous people, Natalie. And you’re going to do exactly what I tell you. Exactly. You’re going to play along because if you don’t, you’ll die. Do you understand? I’m going to lessen my influence now and you need to answer me.”

  He paused near the stairs and cupped her face as he saw her eyes blink into focus. K/sp/span>

  She whispered, “Who are you?”

  He stroked her cheek and brushed a kiss along her jaw, playing the part of the indulgent lover as he lessened the energy that flooded her mind. “Questions later. Do you understand what I told you?”

  “No. What do you mean, play along? I know these are dangerous people, but I was only—”

  “Please don’t make me use my amnis again. I need to know whether you can be trusted to play along or whether I can’t allow you to speak.”

  He saw the fury in her eyes. “Can’t allow—?”

  “Again, Natalie, I need to know whether I can trust you. Do you want to die?”

  He saw her pause and think. Baojia continued stroking her cheeks, which had flushed with anger. It gave her a lush, tempting color he knew the other vampires would notice. He had to make them believe she was his. If he couldn’t, they were both in very serious danger.

  “What’s your name?” she finally asked. “Your real one.”

  He heard the edge of compromise in her voice. “My name is Baojia.”

  Her mouth dropped open, a round, tempting “O” that he leaned down and captured with his lips before she could speak again. His fingers grasped the nape of her neck and he pulled her closer, letting the edge of his tongue touch hers before it danced back. Her mouth was soft and warm, her taste… The smell of the blood pulsing around him made his fangs throb. A frustrated growl left his throat as he pulled away from her mouth to whisper in her ear, his hand still tangled in the riot of red waves at her neck. “And you won’t forget me again. But I need to know if I can trust you, Natalie.”

  “Okay.” Her breath was hot on his neck. “But I want answers later.”

  “That’s unavoidable at this point. Now play along and pretend to be dumb for a while.” There was no more delaying; he had to go up the stairs. Tucking Natalie under his arm, he strode up to the VIP balcony, so much like the one at Boca. He knew video monitors were watching. Knew that his appearance and Natalie’s was being catalogued. Even as they walked, her picture was being sent to spies in Tijuana, San Diego, LA, Mexico City. It was a matter of hours before her identity was known.

  One of Luis’s cautions in the car leapt to his mind again. “You know you might be creating the vampire equivalent of an international incident, and all over a girl, right?”

  Nope, he was never getting back to his life in LA. They reached the top of the stairs.

  “Ivan.” Baojia didn’t try to be overly friendly. Ivan would only be suspicious. “I offer my apologies for arriving unannounced like this.”

  The black-eyed Russian looked him over but did not offer a seat. Ivan, despite his name, was Mexican by birth, son of a Russian emigrant to Northern Mexico who was turned at the beginning of the twentieth century, if Baojia’s information was correct. His face had been scarred in human life, giving the young man a vicious-looking grin that made humans and vampires around him cringe, even without his reputation. He sat on a red velvet couch with a girl on each side, the very picture of every vampire cliché Baojia could imagine. He had to force himself not to roll his eyes.

  “Baojia. It was a surprise to see you this night. What brings you to Ensenada?” Ivan’s eyes had latched on to Natalie, who was leaning into Baojia’s side, being suitably silent.

  “It’s rather embarrassing, to be honest. I hope Luis filled you in.”

  “Your human said you were here for a girl?” Ivan’ Kl?tros unnatural grin widened, and Baojia felt Natalie stiffen. He sent a creep of amnis over her. Just enough to relax her so she didn’t look surprised. “How times have changed. I don’t recall you being fond of human women.”

  “I’m not, but there’s not much to do in San Diego.” Baojia glanced around the club. “I’m sure you understand. Where’s Constantina?”

  The name of his longtime mistress seemed to trip Ivan up for only a second before he said, “Some ridiculous illness. Not sure.” He shrugged. “You know how they complain.”

  Ivan’s mistress was one of the most formidable women Baojia had ever met. A human fiercely loyal to her immortal lover, she possessed keen intelligence and sensual beauty in equal measure. She was integral to Ivan’s businesses. If Constantina wasn’t at Bar El Ruso, something was definitely up.

  “Hmmm.” Baojia tried to look bored. “Well, as I said, I offer my apologies for the unexpected visit.”

  The vampire motioned Baojia to a seat. He relaxed infinitesimally as he sat down and pulled Natalie onto his knee.

  “The things we do to alleviate boredom, eh?” Ivan said with a nasty glint in his eye. “She’s pretty. Very… American-looking.”

  “I’m fond of her. She’s kept me more entertained than most.”

  Natalie tensed as the two men continued on as if she wasn’t there. Baojia absently played with a piece of her hair, hoping she would relax on her own and play along.

  “I’m very curious what you wanted to meet about, but first, can I offer you a drink?” Ivan leaned over to a girl at his side, brushing her hair to the side as he licked her pulse, then bit. Luckily, Ivan was too busy to notice Natalie’s reaction. The woman went stiff in his arms, a protest about to burst from her lips. Baojia sent more amnis over her. She was going to want to kill him. She wouldn’t, of course. But she’d want to. He grabbed the back of her neck possessively and pulled her down to nuzzle her neck.

  “No reaction,” he took the opportunity to murmur, then placed a gentle kiss on her neck as the girl across from Ivan moaned. Natalie was trembling. Not anger, he finally realized. She was scared to death. He looked over at Luis, who was standing in a corner, also looking terrified. “Luis.” He ca
ught his assistant’s eye and motioned him over. He waited for Ivan to finish drinking, which he did, licking the last of the girl’s blood from his lips, his fangs bared as the human slumped at his side. “Ivan, I wonder if I might send my humans to wait in the car so we can speak more openly.”

  “Of course. Tio will see them out.”

  A large brute of a vampire sped to Luis’s side while Baojia rose. He slid an arm around Natalie’s waist for a moment, squeezing her hand and sending another wave of calm over her. “Take a nap, darling. You’ve had a long night.”

  Natalie only blinked and nodded, but he could see the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I’ll wait in the car,” she whispered.

  “Luis will see to you if you need anything.”

  His assistant held out an arm and Baojia put Natalie’s in his, reluctant to let her out of his sight, even if it meant getting her farther away from Ivan. Just then, Ivan’s man stepped a little too close to Natalie, and she cringed as the strange vampire bared his teeth and took a threatening sniff.

  Baojia’s tightly leashed control, strained by the tension permeating the club, snapped as Luis was forced to pull Natalie behind him. He reached for one of the short swords. A slight rip at the edge of his pocket was the only warnin Ke o nug Tio received before he was pinned to the wall by Baojia’s blade through his neck. The vampire scrambled, pulling at the sword that was lodged an inch from his spine, as Ivan laughed and Baojia darted in front of him, tugging Natalie along. He danced on the edge of violence, sorely tempted to end the life of the presumptuous brute.

  “See that?” He flipped the hair away from her neck, baring the bite marks he’d made the first night he met her. Natalie couldn’t stop the whimper that left her throat when Baojia pulled his blade from Tio’s neck and wiped off the blood on the vampire’s shoulder, baring his teeth in his face. “Do you know who I am? You do not sniff what is mine. Do you understand?”

  “Learn some manners, Tio!” Ivan was still laughing. “Carlos, see to the humans.”

  “Yes, Boss.” An older vampire Baojia recognized stepped out of the shadows and motioned Luis and Natalie to the stairs.

  “Carlos is far more controlled. Your humans will be safe with him.”

  “Thank you.” He took a deep breath, ignoring the wild adrenaline scenting the air. “Luis, take the girl to the car. I

  ’m sure I’ll only be a few more moments.”

  “Of course.” He held out his arm for Natalie again. “Shall we?”

  Before she took it, Baojia caught her eye. Her terrified gaze only said one thing.

  Monster.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The black Mercedes was parked close enough to the club to be safe from vandals, but far enough away that it wouldn’t be caught by traffic in case its occupants needed a quick getaway. The man named Luis kept his hand on her arm the whole way there, guiding Natalie as she stumbled in a horrified daze.

  Fangs. The one named Ivan had bitten the girl’s neck and he had fangs. There had been blood and fangs and the horrible crunching sound of the monster’s neck as he was flung into the wall by Geor—Baojia’s… sword? Knife? Who the hell carried a knife that big? The one who smelled her had fangs, too. She’d seen them. He hissed at her like a snake. And then…

  See that? You do not sniff what is mine. Do you understand?

  The tears she’d held at bay started to roll down her cheeks and she felt Luis’s hand tighten on her elbow.

  “Just a few more minutes, Natalie.”

  Nausea rolled through her, tightening her stomach as Luis unlocked the car. She heard a terrible gasping sound and realized it was coming from her. Luis, to her surprise, laughed.

  “A few too many cosmos, huh, Nat?” He guided her behind the Mercedes and put a hand on her back. “Better get rid of it now; he’s just gonna be more pissed if you mess up the car.”

  She lost it, leaning over and emptying her stomach as the insane man stood next to her. She realized he was still talking with someone.

  “—stubborn little thing. Someone’s companion at Boca was raving about the DJ here and she couldn’t get enough. The boss said he’d bring her, but I guess she got impatient. She’s new.”

  “I don’t think it’s a big deal. I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

  “Hope so. Baojia was pissed on the drive down here, that’s for sure.”

  Natalie fumbled for her purse until she realized that Luis was holding it. Damn. If she could just get her keys…

  She felt him nudging her Nlas r p up and waving goodbye to the man… monster… whatever he was… that had walked them out of the club.

  “Few more minutes,” Luis whispered. He opened the door and gently helped her inside. Then he got in the front seat and immediately locked the doors.

  “Okay,” he said, turning around to hand her a box of tissues and a bottle of water. “He’s out of hearing range, so unless they had guards I didn’t see, we’re safe to talk. You okay?” He did look concerned. He looked scared actually, as if he was waiting for her to collapse or explode or suddenly sprout antennae.

  Which, considering what had just happened, was entirely possible.

  Natalie glared at him, took the bottle of water, swished some in her mouth, then tried to open the door. She cocked her head silently at Luis, who turned to roll down a window so she could spit it out. She took another long drink of water, dabbed at the tears still staining her face, and turned to her… protector? Kidnapper? Chauffeur?

  “What. The fuck. Was that?”

  Luis let out a long breath. “Yeah… This is gonna be interesting.”

  “Interesting?” Her angry tears dried and she felt the rage boiling up. “Interesting is not the word for what that was! Horrifying. Bizarre. Unreal—oh!” She gasped. “They spiked my drink. That was a hallucination.”

  “Um, no it was—”

  “Wait,” she said with a frown. “I didn’t drink anything. I specifically didn’t drink anything because I thought the bartender looked sketchy. I didn’t drink anything, so it couldn’t have been drugs.”

  “Natalie—Ms. Ellis—I’m not sure which one you like, but—”

  “Oh! No…” Her eyes widened. “It was some kind of airborne hallucinogen. They had those fog machines going and—”

  “Natalie!”

  She looked up, having almost forgotten she had an audience. “What?”

  “You weren’t drugged. You weren’t having a hallucination. I saw the same thing you did in there.”

  Her stomach plunged, and she felt the bile rising again. “Luis, open the door.”

  “I cannot let you out, Nat—”

  “Gonna puke again.”

  “Oh.” He unlocked the door just in time for Natalie to lean out of the sedan, leaving the last of her lunch on the sidewalk in Ensenada. When she pulled her head back in, Luis was there with another bottle of water and a worried expression.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “For what?”

  “That you had to see that.”

  “And what…” She swirled and spit again, fairly confident there was nothing left in her stomach. “What the hell was that, Luis?”

  “That, Natalie Ellis, was a vampire pissing match, and you were in the middle of it.”

  “Vampires.”

  “You’ve said that, like, five times now.”

  They had been in the car for at least ten minutes and there was still no sign of Baojia. She was fairly sure that she could take Luis in a fight, though, so Natalie wasn’t all that worried. And she was pretty sure Luis was normal. Well, mostly. He did wear too much cologne.

  “Still trying to wrap my head around that idea.” There was no such thing as vampires. Or werewolves. They were in the same category as Big Foot and the Chupacabra.

  “I forget how weird it can be to someone who doesn’t know. I mean, I grew up around it so—”

  “You grew up around it?” Her mouth dropped open in horror. “Around that?” She poin
ted at the club she could still hear music pulsing from.

  “Huh? That? Oh no. Nooo.” He shook his head in horror. “Are you kidding? My mom—”

  “Your mom knew?”

  “Of course she did! I mean… No, not that. She would have freaked if we saw anything more violent than Tom and Jerry growing up. We were never—”

  “Then why the hell did you just say—?”

  “Listen!” The young man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Natalie, what you just saw was… awful. We like to think that kind of stuff never happens, but—”

  “Luis!” Panic welled up and her eyes darted around the car. She had to get out of there. At any moment, one of them could come back. “You have to get me out of here. Just give me my keys. Tell them I got away.”

  “I can’t. It’s not safe. Will you just listen?”

  “It’s not safe in here. I can tell you’re normal like me.” She tugged on the door handle, but it was locked again. “You have to help me. Whatever those things are, they’re dangerous. Leave with me before he gets back. I know people who can help you. You don’t have to—”

  “It’s not like that!”

  She stopped tugging on the door and moved closer to him. “Then tell me. You can tell me what’s going on.”

  “I’m trying to explain.” He glanced out the window, but there was still no sign of anyone approaching the car. “You have to stay here. You have to let him protect you.”

  “Protect me? Him? He’s one of them!”

  “Listen, you’re a crime reporter, right?”

  “Yeah?” What the hell did that have to do with vampires and fangs and monsters named Tio?

  “So, you see all kinds of horrible stuff, right? Things humans do to other humans.”

  She blinked, trying to make sense of what the young man was trying to say. “There are bad people everywhere, Luis, but—”

  “And there are bad vampires, too. That’s my point. It’s just like the regular world in most ways. There are good guys and there are bad guys. Those guys? Ivan? Tio? They’re the bad guys. The really bad guys. But Baojia? He’s a good guy.”