by Virna DePaul
Spectacular rack, he thought dazedly. Strangely firm.
Her hips ground against his. Hard and fast. Nick suddenly realized what else Sam had beneath that dress.
She was trans. Pre-op trans with a fully functional cock. Had Barrett known?
“Take what I’m giving you, white boy!
The audience laughed raucously and echoed her.
“Take it!”
Sam’s lips reached his ear. She breathed into it. Licked the outer rim. Pushed his hair back and thrust the tip of her tongue into it so the appreciative onlookers could see.
Her hands were just as busy.
Nick tuned out his awareness of her grabs and rough caresses. It was all he could do. Then he realized that Sam was talking to him while her tongue was moving. In a much lower register.
“Listen to me and listen good,” she muttered. “You gonna need this in the cage.”
Her hand slid down inside his briefs, rubbing him up and down with her palm flat to his skin. Nick felt smooth metal press against his groin and the unmistakable edge of some kind of blade. Placed just within reach of his bound hands.
Sam moved her lips to his other ear, undulating against him and keeping up the show while talking to him in the same low voice.
“That’s my lucky shiv. It’s covered in liquid nitrogen and it’s also sharper than fuck. You need to cut out Vlad’s heart and burn it.”
Nick’s body jerked. Sam was indeed an ally. She’d just told Nick how to kill a born vampire. It reeked of not so much trust as desperation. She hadn’t told Barrett how it was done but now that Nick had been captured …
“Thank you,” he muttered.
“You can thank me by killing Vlad. But fight standing or you’ll cut off your dick. And that would be a crying shame. It’s a real nice dick.”
Grinning, Sam withdrew her hand and waved at her fans, ostentatiously licking her glossy lips.
“He’s giving me something I can feel!” she shouted. “The boy is blessed!” She held her index fingers far apart to indicate exactly how blessed Nick was. “Wish I could rip off his clothes right now!”
Roars of laughter.
Sam strutted around him, fondling whatever she could reach.
“Should I keep on?” she asked the onlookers. “Or should I quit? I just don’t know. Tell me, people. Make some noise!”
Incoherent responses, for and against.
“Guess I have to stop,” Sam declared loudly, fluttering her fake eyelashes with mock regret. She stuffed his junk back into his jeans and zipped them up. “If I make him come right here and right now, he won’t have no fight left in him.”
She patted Nick’s face, stroking the stubble, pressing her lips to his. “One last kiss,” she purred. “It could be the last one you ever get.”
He didn’t even flinch away from her kiss. Fuck his pride. He’d kiss Sam all over again once he was outta here if he needed to. Nick bit his lip until the blood flowed down his chin, willing himself to not pass out, searching for Barrett and Jane. They were out of the spotlight now, behind Vladimir, still bound and gagged.
He couldn’t lie down and die. He would fight for them. Losing was not an option.
Some flunky shoved Nick down onto the stage. To his surprise, he felt the handcuffs and shackles being unlocked. Wincing, he rubbed his wrists and sat up. Then he stood up. The cage lowered. Before it touched the stage he reached up and hauled himself into it.
The fight was on.
Murphy swung the cage. Nick tried to stand and fell on his knees. Whoever had control of the rope that closed the door forgot about it. The open door swung and banged.
An unearthly roar hurt his ears. Murphy staggered toward him.
Nick pressed his hands against his groin like he was wiping off sweat. He felt the hidden shiv. Blood seeped through the material where the sharp edge had cut him.
Murphy lunged at Nick, arms open. Nick balanced—barely. He got closer. The shiv fit into his palm, dangerously slick from his blood. His fingers gripped it and he thrust the shiv through the slack, rotten-feeling skin of Murphy’s chest and into his heart, then drew the blade completely out again. Murphy’s scabby knees buckled and he fell against the wire cage, making it swing again.
Nick kept his balance and swayed with it. Still gripping the blade, he watched Murphy take his last breath. That left Vladimir.
Nick bent his knees and made the cage swing again.
The audience was stunned into silence. A few vampires were heading for the exits. Most stayed, looking at Vladimir, loyal to their own kind.
Nick was past caring. Pure adrenaline had burned off the last of his grogginess and the visceral triumph of his win drove him on. He no longer felt pain.
Vladimir seemed to grow larger and taller as he watched Nick. He didn’t rush at him. Just waited. Sizing up his opponent and calculating his advantage.
Nick tumbled out, scrambling to his feet and heading straight for Vladimir.
He slammed into him with bone-crunching force but the vampire grabbed his wrist, stopping the blade from plunging into his chest. It was Nick who got hurt. He’d tried to tackle the living embodiment of evil, concentrated power. Vladimir was still as a statue. Only his eyes moved, boring into Nick’s with the precision of a retina scanner.
Nick felt something stir in his skull. The vampire was reading his mind. He didn’t need to guess at Nick’s strategy when his brain was an open book.
Vladimir smiled when Nick dropped the blade, clutched his head, and fell to his knees, swallowing a scream. There was a burst of noise and pain. The mind probe stopped.
Nick could see again. Barely. Barrett had somehow gotten a hand free. She held a gun and fired again. And again.
The first bullet crept out from Vladimir’s forehead, falling at his feet. Another exited his shoulder. Blood spurted uncontrollably as the second bullet reappeared. Strong as he was, the vampire had taken a hit.
The shiv. Nick felt for it. If he could slash through to the heart … tear it out bodily … and burn it while it was beating … He stood.
His hand hid the blade as he struck out with the last of his strength. The vampire’s fine white shirt gushed blood in torrents. Another bullet crawled out of his flesh.
Vladimir staggered back. The wall behind him prevented his escape. Nick reached into the jagged wound and searched for the heart.
For a second he wondered if the vampire had one. Then his big hand closed around a throbbing knot of smooth muscle. He squeezed it and Vladimir moaned. With a supreme effort, Nick yanked it from the blood vessels that moored it in the vampire’s chest. By chance the roving spotlight hit the heart as Nick held it high.
Vladimir’s comrades in blood were riveted by the sight, too appalled to seize the murderer of one of their own. Several more rose from their seats and backed away into the darkness.
Nick was taking no chances with this heart. He didn’t see Vladimir collapse as he ran toward the nearest torch. In it went.
The scorching black smoke released by the fireball and explosion had the rest of the vampires on the run. Chaos. Pandemonium. None of it bothered Nick. He prayed the drifting smoke wouldn’t harm Barrett and Jane.
He had won. He didn’t care. All he could think about was them.
Barrett was kneeling by the girl when he ran back, chopping at her wrists and then at her ankles with the dropped shiv.
How in hell had she gotten free—Nick looked around. He knew. Sam was nowhere to be seen. He hoped she’d escaped. She had to have escaped.
The crumpled body of the dead vampire lay motionless in a spreading pool of dark blood.
His heart was likely black and shriveled.
Nick ran to the woman that held his heart.
Barrett.
Chapter 32
It was early morning before the scene was even close to processed. Both army personnel and members of the FBI, including Special Agent Kyle Mahone, arrived first, containing the area and ordering some hard-co
re EMTs in masked biohazard suits to see to Nick.
According to Mahone, Director Rick Hallifax wanted to see both Nick and Barrett, who was also being seen by the EMTs, in his office the next day. Nick told Mahone what he thought of that idea in precise terms. Mahone just smiled and said he’d pass the message along, but that when said meeting did take place, Mahone planned on being there. It was time, he said, to start putting pressure on Hallifax so they could figure out just how many individual vampire-related operations he had going on.
As for now, the cleanup of Club Red was continuing. There were two disinfectant-drenched body bags awaiting transport on gurneys. Ambulances came and went. FBI town cars pulled up and took off.
Nick refused to go to a hospital. Some joker pointed out that no hospital would want him. For now, Nick lay on an uncomfortable cot, covered in a space blanket, and stared up at the clouds drifting across the dawn sky.
He thought of everything that had happened.
He thought of Gary.
And as much as that still hurt, it felt pretty good to be alive.
But he wanted Barrett.
Barrett sat on a makeshift bench with Jane folded in her arms, noting that the girl hadn’t cried, not once. She was strong, maybe too strong, and Barrett wondered if the death of her mother had forever taken away her ability to experience the lighter side of life. Was that why she’d been drawn to that fang banger Dante? Had she sought that darkness out, and would she continue to do so now given everything she’d been through?
She caught a glimpse of Nick sitting on a cot, talking to an older man in fatigues and aviator sunglasses. High rank, by his stance. The man looked over Nick’s shoulder in Barrett’s direction.
A catastrophe had been averted. The aftermath was a letdown. The clipboard people showed up and took over. Barrett was exhausted, too, but she’d stay with Jane as long as she was needed.
Someone had provided Jane fresh clothes, including a belt to hold up pants that were too baggy for her. Which was what the kids were wearing anyway, Barrett thought with a flicker of weary amusement. She’d been given a set of clean scrubs after someone took her gown away for microscopic examination of the bloodstains and DNA sampling.
Jane shifted, lifting her head from Barrett’s shoulder and pushing back her hair.
“You okay?” Barrett asked.
Jane hesitated then nodded. “I think I will be.”
“Do you—do you want to talk about Dante? About what happened to him?”
Her expression went blank. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all I need to know.” She looked away. Looked back at Barrett. “He fought the guys who grabbed me. Even though he was … you know … he was a good guy.”
Barrett nodded. “I’m glad you knew him. He died doing a noble thing.”
“People judged him because he was into vampires.”
“Yes,” she said.
“I—I don’t want to be like that, but … there are more vampires, aren’t there? More … like him.”
“Like him, yes. But also some that aren’t. I’m friends with a few.”
Jane’s eyes rounded. “Friends?”
“Monsters come in all shapes and forms and races. And sometimes they aren’t always monsters. That’s what makes spotting the true monsters so difficult.” She squeezed Jane’s hand. “That’s why when we have people who care about us, we need to stick together.”
Jane’s mouth tightened and she withdrew her hand. “You didn’t stick by me. You disappeared and I—I needed you.” The tears Jane had refused to shed now dampened her eyes and Barrett felt her own tears welling.
“I’m sorry, Jane. I know it’s no excuse, but I had my own stuff I was dealing with. My brother died. Then your mom. Then I was in the army … But you’re right. I shouldn’t have lost touch with you. If you give me another chance, I promise I won’t lose touch again. Do you think you can give me that?”
Again, that slight hesitation. This time Barrett held her breath. She released it when Jane nodded. “I think I can. After all, you saved me. You saw me on that camera and you came after me. You brought Nick. And I don’t think you would have stopped until you found me.”
“I wouldn’t have,” Barrett confirmed.
Jane swiped at her eyes, clearly embarrassed by her show of emotion, “So now what? Are you heading back to D.C.? Nick told me you live there.”
“Yes, eventually. But we need to decide about you. I know you’ve had problems with your uncle—”
“He’s—he’s dead,” Jane said quickly.
Barrett’s eyes rounded in shock. “What? But who …” She paused. Thought about it. “Mansfield?”
Jane nodded. “That’s what he claimed anyway. And I don’t even know if I want it to be true. All I know is … I want Ginny.”
“I already had someone call her. I was told she was on her way.”
Jane’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Good. That’s good.”
“You’ll talk to someone? About everything that’s happened? It doesn’t have to be me but …”
Jane nodded. “I’ll talk to someone. And if I need to … if I want to … can I call you?”
“Anytime. I hope you’ll call me often.”
For the first time since they’d seen each other again, Jane smiled, and her smile was beautiful, just as her mother’s had been.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Jane looked suddenly alert. “There’s Ginny.” She got up, waving to the older woman at the wheel of an approaching car. Ginny’s drawn face brightened when she saw Jane. She parked her car, got out, and spoke to an FBI agent. Jane turned to Barrett. “I want to see you again, sometime soon. I know you and my mother were really good friends.”
“We were. I’m very grateful I had her in my life—I just wish we’d had more time. But you don’t always get what you wish for.”
“I did. I’m free.”
“Yes. Stay safe. And I would really like to stay in touch. Let me know when you’re ready.”
“I will.” Jane gave her another smile and hugged Barrett tightly before walking away. Kevin had brought Aura to the parking lot. Barrett watched the wild-haired dog sniff at the cars and indicate vampire scent on several.
A tow truck rumbled through.
Aura’s pup, Ray, was making the rounds, too, with a handler Barrett didn’t know. He sat and indicated a police cruiser, wagging his tail.
Barrett smiled when she saw Nick, also smiling, walking toward her. “He’s a rookie,” he called. “But he’s getting the hang of it.”
He took Aura’s leash from Kevin and the two of them trotted over to the bench. “You look like you need to hug a dog,” Nick said. “Got a good one for you.”
Aura gave Barrett a golden-eyed stare, then peered over her shoulder at Kevin, anxious to get back to work. Nick let go of her leash and the dog ran back to him.
“It’s okay. I’d rather have a hug from a good man. An amazingly good man.”
“You left out the part about me being a fighter and a lover.”
“That, too.” Barrett nestled into his shoulder as Nick wrapped an arm around her. “Just tell me that it’s really over. I sort of don’t believe it.”
“It’s over. Try not to think about it too much right now. I got you.” He held her for a long time.
Epilogue
Several months later …
“Get up, angel.” A strong hand caressed Barrett’s hip, swooping down over her waist and up against her ribs. Which Nick tickled.
“Stop it.” She burrowed back into the pillows and blankets, kicking backward at him. The masculine body curled around hers didn’t budge.
“No. I want some coffee, Barrett. You owe me. I saved your life.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to get up right here and now.”
“Yes you do,” he insisted. “I set up the filter and filled it with fresh ground coffee last night. So all you have to do is get up
and press the button on the coffeemaker. Just once.”
“No deal,” she said into her pillow, laughing. “Not even once.”
“Okay. Then how about you press the button for, oh, the next seventy years. That would be twenty-five thousand nine hundred and fifteen times or so.”
“You figured that out before you said it. Way before. Why?”
“I like doing multiplication in the morning.”
That wasn’t all he liked doing in the morning. Barrett grinned secretly at the feel of the delicious hardness bumping against the small of her back.
“Really.” She turned her head to look at him. He tousled her messy hair even worse. “Just what the—”
“Don’t say that word. Unless you want me to make your dreams come true.” His hand slipped down between her thighs.
She grabbed it and shoved it away, turning her back to him again. He captured her hand by the wrist.
“All it takes is one finger to push a button,” he whispered in her ear. “I choose this one.”
Barrett felt something warm and round slide over her fourth finger, left hand. A marquise diamond in a plain platinum setting blazed with morning light when she sat bolt upright to stare at it.
“Nick? Are you serious?”
“Yes. I love you. So say yes, goddamn it.”
She rolled over on top of him, kissing his face, his neck, his chest … it got better. The two of them had always known how.
After a while they were one. Coming together. That was the best.
Then she said yes. Several times.
***
Thank you for reading Awakened! If you enjoyed this book, check out my paranormal special ops series, starting with Knox: Chosen by Blood!
Do you love sexy romantic comedies? Check out my Kiss Talent Agency Series. Here’s a sneak peek of Book 1, Lip Service.
Blurb:
Dani
I just wanted to tell Hunter Kiss where he could shove the fancy phone he gave my little brother as an obvious bribe. I’m sorry/not sorry I hit him in the nose with it, but sports agents who come sniffing around with dollar signs in their eyes have to get through me.