“Somewhere safe,” I replied.
“You literally jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire,” Dani said, staring at the ceiling.
“Thank you for that. I didn’t realize what dire circumstances I’m in. Thank goodness I have you to point it out for me,” I snarled.
Dani laughed. “I don’t know why everyone is panicking. She will put the lesser vampires on the roster first.”
“Unless I’m fighting a preschooler, I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.”
Stephan stopped pacing. “No, you’re not. Tandi, if I am correct about you, then your power hasn’t even begun to surface.”
I flopped down on the bed next to Dani. “That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? My powers, whatever they may be, haven’t surfaced, and even if they did, would they be enough to help me out within the next few hours?”
“Do you think you can travel the fae lines even with the manacle on?”
“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but my gut is telling me yes. If this manacle is nulling any powers that are lent to me by magic, my bracelet won’t work, causing a huge time difference, but I can still travel the lines because I’m part fae. I don’t need a charm to travel.”
“Then you should go. Your grandfather can keep you safe.”
“He’s right, Tandi,” Dani added.
“Are y’all crazy? If I leave you guys, she will take her anger out on the both of you. I refuse to run.”
Stephan let out a string of curses. “At least go visit your grandfather. He might be able to give you some kind of insight on what to do tonight. Just make sure you don’t dally too much, or we are, as you put it, screwed.”
“You want me to go right now?”
“Yes.”
“All right. I promise I won’t stay too long.” I closed my eyes, but before I said my magic word to take me to Pops, I asked, “Hey, why didn’t Akeldama suspect you when it came to the whereabouts of the missing princess?”
His face showed no emotion as he said, “Because I was with her.”
Like with her with her? My pride wouldn’t let me ask for details. I escaped before he could see the hurt on my face. I shouldn’t care if he was with that horrible woman, but the image of him and her together caused a weird kind of pain in my chest.
I sat in a cabin with snow pressed up against the windows. The wind howled as I held my hands up to the roaring fire. The hardwood flooring creaked behind me, and I turned to see Pops in a ski suit.
Chuckling, I said, “That’s fitting.”
“When in Aspen… why are we in Aspen?”
I shrugged. “It fit my mood.”
“Speaking of outfits, why are you dressed like that? A grandfather never wants to see his offspring in tight, black leather.”
I looked down at my outfit that was a replica of one I had seen in a movie. The black leather corset I was wearing tied in the back. My leather pants were so tight I almost couldn’t breathe, and I had on motorcycle boots. Somehow, I was still wearing the cuff Dakin had placed on me, which was confusing because I really wanted to lose that thing. It must be very powerful magic. “I’m trying to create a visual effect. There is a couple of sayings that come to mind like, ‘When you look good you feel good’ or ‘Fake it ‘till you make it.’ But I don’t have time to talk to you about that.”
He went and sat in a leather chair in front of the fire. “Let me guess, you can’t stay long?”
I felt remorse for always having to keep our talks so short. Especially since we just found each other, and I made a silent vow to remedy that once I wasn’t in a life or death situation. Please, Lord, let that be soon.
“I’m sorry, Pops, but I do have to keep this short. You see, I might have got myself in a pickle, and I need your help.”
“Well, of course, you’re in a bind. You are exactly like your great-grandmother after all. My wife was beautiful, smart, sassy, and trouble with a capital T.”
“Well, this trouble with a capital T that I have walked right into is with Akeldama.” He winced when I said that name. “As you probably know, she is vile and has forced me into… Um, have you ever seen Fight Club starring Brad Pitt?”
“No, can’t say I have.”
“No worries. I’m kind of a movie guru. It’s a talent of mine. So, basically, I have to fight other vampires because Akeldama thinks I’m weak, and she wants me off the face of the planet, but at least this way I’ll provide her some kind of entertainment.”
He leaned back in the chair and stroked his beautiful silvery beard. “You could just go with me into my land. You don’t need to fight anyone.”
“If I am as much like my great something or other grandmother as you say, then you know that I can’t do that. I need you to help unleash what little powers I do have.”
He gave me a dazzling smile. “You are my granddaughter. Your powers are vast. Of course, once we unlock all that you can do, you will still have to be very careful how you use your fae abilities. We don’t want Akeldama knowing your strengths. It’s better that she thinks you’re weak. The vampire in you is lying dormant under the other counterparts, to bring it out you need to—”
I gasped as my head began to throb. A very familiar voice said, “Tandi?”
I touched my temple. “Stephan?”
Pops eyes widened. “Ha! He can reach you in another plane. I knew it, but this just confirmed it. Truly amazing.”
I was about to ask, “confirmed what?” but Stephan’s voice rang loud and clear in my head. “You need to get back now! Return through your bathroom.”
I stood quickly. “I have to go, Pops.”
“But… I haven’t helped you.” He stood with me, looking anxious. “Tell your vampire that I will send you a gift. He can find it at the front gates of Akeldama’s property. It will help you.”
I nodded said the magic word and then closed my eyes to find myself back in my guest bathroom. There was a shouting match going on. Some voices I recognized and some I didn’t. Wrapping a towel around my head to cover my dry hair, I slowly opened up the door, and every eye turned to me.
“Is there a problem?” I asked the guards who stood toe to toe with Stephan while Dani sat on a chair painting her toenails. “Can a girl not wash her hair without being bothered?”
Stephan smirked. “As I previously said, ‘she is in the bathroom.’”
The guards studied me as I walked out. “We assumed you made a run for it.”
One of my shoulders lifted up. “Well, you know what they say about assuming.”
The tallest of the two guards said, “The next time we come back, it will be to escort you to the ring. Make sure you’re ready.”
After they shut the door none too gently, Dani gave up the façade of painting her toenails, and none of us moved for several minutes.
“I’m going to go guard the hallway, so you two can chat,” Dani said. “I’ll let you know if anyone is coming.”
As soon as she left the room, Stephan asked, “What happened?”
“I didn’t have enough time—”
His voice shook in my head. “You were gone for nearly half an hour.”
I had told him to stop that. “I think we’ve already established that one can lose track of time in the fae world, so get over yourself.”
His eyes narrowed. “Well, now that is interesting.”
I was shocked. I had just communicated with him through his mind. “But how… I thought you said that it was rare.”
He studied me the way a scientist studies a bug through a microscope. “That’s why I said that was interesting.”
Concentrating, I tried again to send him a message. “Now, it’s not working.”
“That’s because you are a weakling.”
“Asshat.”
He laughed. “Ha. I got that one. It seems that you need to be riled, little one, in order to use some of your powers. Perhaps you don’t think so much when you’re angered.”
He was so dang handsome when he
smiled; then I remembered his last parting words to me before I went to visit my Pops. He had been with Akeldama, his former lover, when I was helping the princess escape.
He must have noticed the change in me because his smile dropped. “Why are you mad at me?”
“I’m not mad. I’m indifferent.”
“I can tell you’re mad, Tandi. What have I done?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, but since you are willing to discuss emotions, why don’t you tell me how we can sense each other’s?”
He gave me a long look and then took a step closer to me. I was still pissed. What did he mean, he was with her? Had they been playing checkers or naked twister because there was a huge ass difference. I took a step back from him, and he let out a tired sigh.
“So, I’m assuming the talk you had with your grandfather was a total waste?”
“No, not really. He said he was sending me a gift, and it would be at the front gates of the estate.”
Stephan gave me a quizzical look. “Hopefully, it will be something great because we need a miracle. I’ll go retrieve it; you are not allowed to leave this room by Akeldama’s orders.”
I wanted to say something snide like, “oh, and we would hate to upset your girlfriend,” but this one time I kept my mouth shut. I had bigger things to worry about than my irrational jealousy.
I gave him a fake smile. “I will be waiting here with bated breath.”
“By the way, you looked beautiful in the gown but this… this is every man’s fantasy.”
Then almost quicker than the eye could track, he was gone. I refused to let his words get me all hot and bothered, so I forced myself to wonder what gift my Pops was going to give me. Maybe it was a magic sword that had a mind of its own and could find its enemy all by itself. Maybe it was a potion I could drink, and it would wake up these stupid powers that everyone thought I had. Now, that would be handy. I came up with several different guesses all equally absurd before Stephan came back in. I looked at his empty arms and threw my hands up in the air. “Well, what the heck is it?”
His handsome face was full of disbelief. “It looks like I’ll have to intervene tonight and save you.”
At that moment, a small cat came strutting in behind him. Its coat mimicked a leopard, spots and all. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
The cat stopped in front of me. “Rude much?”
Stephan glared at the cat. “Your grandfather got you a talking ferret. Congratulations.”
The cat hissed. “Aww, is the little vampire still mad that I called him a hyped-up, over-confident fang banger? Did I hurt your whittle feelings?”
Stephan gave me a mild look. “Do I have permission to kill Garfield? He annoys me.”
The cat jumped onto the bed. “Those loafers annoy me. I can practically smell the dead cow from here, but you don’t see me pissing on them, do you?”
Stephan snarled, and I put up a hand to stop him from advancing on the cat. I sat down on the bed, watching the cat groom himself. This was unbelievable. There had to be a mistake. “Um, excuse me, but do you know why my grandfather would send you to me?”
“The name is Tracker, doll face, and I’m assuming he sent me to protect you,” he said in between grooming his hind leg. I could see enough to know that he wasn’t neutered. Oh, boy.
“How is a cat going to help me?” He stopped his licking to glare at me, if a cat could glare. I started to apologize, but in my defense, that was a legit question.
“This is just the form that I feel most comfortable wearing, thanks to my ancestors. Would you prefer me in my human form?”
Before I could say anything, a swirl of bright colors and wind wrapped around the cat like a tunnel. Before I could count to three, a man stood in front of me. He had shaggy, golden hair, slightly tilted eyes, a pointy chin, and a smattering of freckles across his face. He was naked as the day he was born. I had never seen that appendage before, so I couldn’t help but stare. Stephan put his body in between me and the very naked man.
“If you value your life, shapeshifter, you will change immediately back into an alley cat.”
Another wind tunnel swarmed the man and once again, I was staring at a golden cat.
The cat stretched. “Did you see that, doll face? The vampire was jealous because I am hung like a horse.”
Stephan clenched his jaw. “Keep making jokes, and I will send you to the vet to be neutered.”
Trying to diffuse the situation before it escalated any further, I stood up and placed a hand on Stephan’s arm. “There has to be a reason Pops sent him here. Could you give us a moment? Maybe if I talk to him, I can figure a way out of the fight tonight.”
Stephan started to say something but stopped. “I will not leave you alone with this creature, but I will sit over there,” he said, pointing to an armchair in the corner of the room, “and give you a moment to question him.”
I rolled my eyes, but I guess that was the best I was going to get out of the prince. Sitting back down on the bed, I thought about the best way to approach the subject of the cat’s usefulness.
“So, Tracker, do you have any ideas on how to help me out of this tricky situation I find myself in?”
The cat picked at a thread on the comforter. “You mean the one where the Queen of Vampires has it out for you and has forced you into fighting members of her line, so she can inadvertently kill you?”
I felt a little relief. “Yes, that about sums it up.”
“Okay, good, we’re on the same page then. So, the answer to your question is no. I don’t know how to solve your problem, but honestly, I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy. Procrastination is my friend, and late is the only way I play the game.”
Stephan snorted, and I cut my eyes to him, vowing him to be silent. “So, really you are of no use to me?”
“Doll face, have you not listened to a word that I have said? I’m so helping. Wake me five minutes before you leave to go play vampire slayer.”
The cat rolled onto his back and fell asleep spread eagle. I had no words. None. What the hell just happened?
“Am I to still remain silent, little one?”
I answered back in the same manner. “How do you like someone in your head? Get. Out. Of. Mine.”
Stephan leaned back in the chair. “One more thing. I won’t let you die. I vow that to you.”
His words rang strong and true. It hit me that Stephan really cares about me. I just didn’t know if he knew it or not. My tender feelings towards him didn’t last long. I studied Stephan as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the chair, and whether Tracker feigned sleep or was really sleeping, it didn’t matter. I was pissed. My life was at stake, and the man who was supposed to be my charge acted like I wasn’t going to be fighting for my life, and let’s not forget my sweet, precious Pops. What did he send to bring me victory over my horrifying enemies? A freakin’ seven-pound cat. Men! Couldn’t live with them, and you sure as hell could do a lot better without them. Maybe.
Chapter Nineteen
The huge courtyard had been turned into a WWE main event, and I was the live attraction. At first, I thought there were mats lying in the middle of the room, but on closer inspection, I noticed they were large, black plastic tarps of some sort, probably to help with the loss of blood I was about to endure. The Queen didn’t want me to get blood on the grass. Just when you think life couldn’t possibly get any worse, some evil bitch was there to show you how little you really mean to her world. I woke the cat, Tracker, up as soon as Stephan sensed the guards approaching, hoping he would have some last-minute advice. But the cat just stretched before turning himself into a praying mantis, and then he climbed into my hair and was currently hiding. Stephan reached down and gave my hand a little squeeze. “I won’t let you die, little one.”
Before I could ask for more reassurance, or at least get an idea of a solid plan that he might have, the Queen of Vampires herself had climbed to her gaudy thro
ne that one of her minions must’ve carried out for her, demanding everyone’s attention with her obnoxious clapping.
“Silence!” Her green eyes cut through the room. “Now that I have your attention, most of you know that someone has made the grave mistake of kidnapping my daughter and when I find the perpetrator, they will suffer unmeasurable pain.”
Tracker piped up and whispered into my ear. “Wow. Sadistic much?”
“Anyway, since we were all gathered here for the wedding of the Princess, I—being the great Queen that I am—didn’t want you all to be bored waiting on her return. So, we will have a match tonight with Stephan’s pet—a new vampire that lacks the basic skills needed to survive in our harsh, unforgiving community. There was a sign-up list that was passed around, and it looks as if we have twenty-one vamps that would like to challenge the weakling. Are there any questions?”
Before I could stop myself, I said in a testy voice, “Yeah. Only like a thousand. How about—are there any rules?”
The crowd broke off into two groups: the mumblers and the laughers. Glad to see I could still shock and amuse people at the same time.
Akeldama’s eyes narrowed. “Our kind doesn’t believe in rules when it comes to fighting. Really, anything goes.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You want me to provide the entertainment, correct? Then I want rules, or I will not even try to fight whoever meets me in that ring.”
“Then you would be a fool.”
“I’ve been called worse by my own mother, so can we agree upon establishing some rules?”
Akeldama almost looked like she admired me for a split second. “Sure, pet. Let’s talk about the rules. What is it that you had in mind?”
“Let’s not fight until the death, at least not this first week. Let us instead fight until first blood.” She looked like she was about to object, so I hurried on, “I mean if I am as lame as everyone seems to think, your entertainment will be over before it begins. And what if the princess isn’t found right away? Who will provide the entertainment then? Would anyone on the list be willing to still fight if their opponent was actually worthy?”
The Vampire Queen Page 14