“Just what I said. She never showed up here today, and she won’t answer her phone. Paige showed up not long ago, so she offered to do a locator spell. I’m completely beside myself.”
“She never showed up today?”
“No. I’ve called her, I’ve called the police – who say it’s not considered a missing person until twenty-four hours have passed – and I’ve even called some of the models for tomorrow’s photo shoot. No one has seen her.”
“She couldn’t just vanish into thin air!”
“I know that! I’m worried sick!”
The shouting match shattered Paige’s concentration. Or maybe she shattered it herself. Regardless, she stood up, and said, “She’s being kept somewhere on the outskirts of town. It’s somewhere dark, but in this town, that could be anywhere.” She pointed to where a stream of blood had formed a path on the map.
“It’s dark, enclosed, and has a coppery smell to it,” Isaiah asserted.
“How do you know that?” Hayden inquired.
“I can feel it. I can feel everything that Jillian feels, and I can feel when she’s in danger. I just can’t see where she is.”
“Uh…how can you feel what she feels?” Kenzie asked. “I mean, that just doesn’t make sense.”
Isaiah looked at her with skepticism. “I’d rather not say.”
“Isaiah, this is my best friend we’re talking about. Spit it out!”
Isaiah let out a resonating sigh. He knew that Kenzie wasn’t about to let this go.
“Fine,” he said at last. “I know how she feels, and when she’s in danger, because we’re connected. We’re bonded by blood.”
“Bonded by blood? You don’t mean…”
“Yes. I’ve fed from her. Multiple times.”
Kenzie thought she was going to be sick. “You what?!”
“It was her idea! I wasn’t going to, but she wanted to experience it! Kenzie, I swear to you, it was all consensual. I would never take a human’s blood without consent.”
“So…the spell that Paige did to find her…the blood…”
“It came from me, because it’s in my system.”
All Kenzie could see in her mind was Jillian’s lovely, flawless, smooth-skinned neck being violated by razor-sharp teeth as blood was drawn from two grotesque holes near her jugular vein. She actually gagged and Hayden had to hold onto her to steady her.
Finally, she managed to ask through gritted teeth, “How do you expect to get her back?”
“How else? I’m going to where that blood showed us, and I’m going to rescue her.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
“No. I said that I’m going after Jillian. You will stay put.”
“She’s my best friend!”
“The last thing Jillian needs is an irrational friend trying to save her. You’ll end up causing more harm than good.”
“Like you’re one to talk!”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you could somehow, through your own sick and kinky way, feel her in trouble, and you did nothing about it!”
“I didn’t know where she was! It all happened so fast! And it’s like I’m being blocked from our bond, so it’s harder to home in on her.”
“Maybe you should’ve sucked more blood out of her,” Hayden murmured.
Isaiah faced the werewolf with vehemence in his icy blue eyes. Of course, he heard what he said; damn superior hearing abilities. “Screw you!”
“Hey, I’m just saying, at least I can keep track of my mate, and keep her safe.”
“Enough!” Kenzie screamed, jumping between the two quarreling men. “This isn’t a time for a dick-measuring contest! I, for one, don’t plan on standing here and letting the creator knows what happen to Jillian! I can see the map. I can follow it to where she is, alone. You two can come with me or not, but I’m leaving now.”
Isaiah glared at her but acceded. He knew there was no changing her mind. He’d known her for longer than Hayden, and he knew how stubborn she was.
But he still had a second condition. “We may need some help. I don’t know how many there are, but I’m sure part of our strength will come from numbers.”
“Who are you planning to get to help at such short notice?”
“Do you remember Dimitri and Cecelia?”
“From Bridgeport? Yeah, they helped us take down your crazy mother and brothers.”
“They live here in Midnight Hollow now, since the sun never shines here. They’re the eyes and ears of the town. I’m going to enlist their help once again. Plus, I have another old acquaintance who owes me a favor.”
“And what makes you think they’ll be so willing to help?”
“Dimitri and Cecelia are my best friends. We may not stay in touch that often, but a vampire’s friends are like his or her mate – forever bonded, though not in the same way. As for Elijah, he’s owed me a favor since I was turned.”
“Why?”
“Because his half-sister is the one who seduced my father, which resulted in my mother turning herself and me and my brothers into vampires. Elijah has never been on close terms with his sister. We were good friends for quite some time, even before I was turned. I never realized what he was until after I was turned; we told each other our life stories. When I mentioned the name of the woman responsible for my father’s infidelity, he said that she was his half-sister. He enjoys being a vampire, but since his half-sister was the one responsible for my transformation, and it was completely involuntary, he swore he’d make it up to me one day, no matter when it was or what I needed. That time is now.”
Kenzie’s eyes narrowed. “Dimitri and Cecelia live here. Where is this Elijah?”
“He also lives here, and he runs the local vampire lounge.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
“For one, for your werewolf boyfriend to make himself invisible. I don’t want to risk a war breaking out by taking him to a vampire hangout.”
“Hey…” Hayden began. But Kenzie held up her hand.
“He has a point, Hayden. I don’t want anything to delay the task at hand. Let’s go.”
********************************************************************************
Kenzie was riding in Isaiah’s car while Hayden was hanging back in his own car, Paige in between the two. He refused to go back to the hotel; he wanted to be as close to Kenzie as possible without being detected. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to even get him to go along with this.
Hayden despised this idea. He absolutely abhorred it. He was so angry, so frustrated, that he could hardly drive straight.
“It’s going to be okay,” Kenzie had attempted unsuccessfully to reassure him before they’d left. “This will work.”
“I don’t give a damn if it works or not. The very idea of you going into a vampire bar alone is nauseating.”
“I won’t be alone; I’ll be with Isaiah. Nothing is going to happen to me. We’re going to get Jillian back, and while we’re at it, figure out why she was taken in the first place.”
“Why can’t you just let Isaiah do this on his own? He was willing to, and since Jillian is his mate, she’s his responsibility.”
“Because I’m not going to stand by while my best friend’s in trouble. Think of us like a two-person wolf pack.”
Hayden hadn’t been able to argue with that.
Kenzie didn’t have much to say to Isaiah. When she did think of something that she felt was vital, they’d arrived at The Crypt, the vampire lounge owned and operated by Elijah Darveaux.
The interior of The Crypt was fitting for vampires. Red, purple, and black furnishings were everywhere. A sunken dance floor was aglow with a bat-shaped purple light emitting from a party ball overhead. A party effects machine spewed fog, creating a creepy and mysterious ambiance. A bar was nestled in one corner while a band stage was in the other. A door leading outside focused on a bat-shaped pool and private hot tub. Columns sporting gargoyles held up the upstairs portion of the venue. The second story held various forms of entertainment from two pool tables to darts to arcade games. Heavy metal music pounded overhead, making Kenzie’s head pound along with it. Several seating areas were about, most of which were occupied. Some were occupied by male vampires with female human companions exposing their skin seductively as though in some new form of BDSM. Though this was a vampire lounge, humans were allowed inside. But it seemed the only ones inside were some sort of slave to the vampires, like those with excessively exposed skin.
Kenzie felt very out of place, even with the perfume-like liquid that Paige had spritzed on her to mask Hayden’s werewolf smell. The stuff was also on Isaiah. They didn’t want any werewolf trace on them at all if this was going to work.
Kenzie had thought of donning a scarf before coming here, but since she hadn’t anticipated being thrust into such a perilous situation, she hadn’t even packed one. For all she knew, a scarf would mean that she was untrustworthy to be coming into a vampire lounge, thus hindering what she and Isaiah were trying to accomplish.
“Just let me do all the talking,” Isaiah instructed. Kenzie nodded mutely. What was there to say?
Isaiah walked up the stairs, Kenzie following closely behind. He seemed to have spotted someone from below, someone who only a vampire’s eyes could find in this darkness.
“Dimitri!” Isaiah shouted over the music. Kenzie spotted the familiar vampire from nearly four years ago over at one of the pool tables. He took a shot before standing up to see who’d called his name. When he saw Isaiah, he put his pool cue down and made his way toward him.
“Isaiah, how are you doing, man?!” he asked with a brotherly slap on the shoulder. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“I thought I’d drop by and see you again,” Isaiah replied. Kenzie gritted her teeth. This wasn’t a social call.
“I’m glad you did,” Dimitri stated. “Hey, let me get Cecelia. She’ll be psyched!”
Dimitri dashed off.
“Isaiah,” Kenzie hissed, “this is no time…”
“Quiet!”
Kenzie clenched her fist. Procrastination wasn’t something she was good at.
Dimitri returned momentarily with Cecelia, who’d gotten a haircut since Bridgeport.
“How have you been?” she asked, antagonistically giddy.
“Not bad,” Isaiah stated. “You?”
“Great! Dimitri and I are going to get married!”
“Congratulations! When?”
“We don’t know yet,” Dimitri said. “We’re still in the planning stages.” Then his eyes drifted to Kenzie, as if seeing her for the first time. “Hey. I know you from somewhere.”
Kenzie began to speak, but Isaiah interjected. “You remember my human acquaintance from Bridgeport, don’t you?”
“Oh yeah,” Dimitri recollected. “She’s the one that helped us out with…some familial disagreements.”
“Right. I thought I’d show her around while we were here. By the way, is Elijah around?”
Dimitri and Cecelia exchanged a glance.
“He’s in his private quarters,” Cecelia finally replied. “Why?”
“I need to speak with him.”
“Uh…” Dimitri stammered. “Okay, well, let me go ask him.”
“Dimitri’s his right-hand man,” Cecelia added with a hint of pride in her voice.
“Just tell him that it’s me that wishes to see him,” Isaiah instructed Dimitri. Dimitri nodded and scurried off. Kenzie hoped none of the vampires could hear her heart pounding.
Soon after, Dimitri returned and stated that Isaiah was free to go see Elijah. His “private quarters” turned out to be underground, below The Crypt. Kenzie wasn’t sure what to expect from all she’d heard about Elijah Darveaux, but she was surprised to see how young he looked. She’d expected someone who looked at least a hundred years old.
“Isaiah,” Elijah greeted with a slight accent. “It’s been too long.”
“Indeed it has, Elijah.”
“Come, sit. Dimitri tells me that you wished to speak with me.”
“Yes. I’d love to reminisce, but time is of the utmost importance. So I’ll cut right to the point. I need your help to rescue my mate.”
“Your mate?”
“Yes. She was supposed to be here earlier today, but she never arrived. Because of our blood bond, I can sense where she is. But she’s being held by some supernatural force that’s blocking my bond, so I can’t tell for certain where she is apart from what a witch’s locator spell revealed. I also don’t know what we’re up against. Any attempts to rescue her could be futile. That is, unless, I were to have some assistance.”
Elijah seemed to ponder this. Kenzie’s pulse was beginning to race. Hopefully it wouldn’t be visible in her jugular vein. Actually, it would be preferable if it weren’t evident at all.
“Should this be considered that favor I’ve owed you for so long?”
“Yes. I admit, it’s not the most proper etiquette to seek you out after so many years to ask for a favor, but...”
“Nonsense. A favor is a favor. But I must ask, why is this human with you?”
“She’s my mate’s best friend,” Isaiah said, never losing focus. “I brought her here because, truth be told, she’s stubborn as a bull, just like her zodiac sign, and she’s willing to do anything to get Jillian back.”
“Your mate is a human?” Elijah quipped loudly. Kenzie squeezed her eyes shut. Damn!
“Is that a problem?” Isaiah didn’t miss a beat.
“More like a conundrum. I’ve heard of vampires keeping humans around as pets and play things, but actual mates? Sharing blood bonds between them?”
“I love her, Elijah. I’ll do whatever it takes, and so will my companion here.” He indicated Kenzie.
Elijah shook his head. “I’m not above chivalry. And I did make you a promise. All right, then. The deal was that when you asked me for a favor, there would be no strings attached. For good measure, I’ll round up some of my best men. But after this, consider us even.”
“It seems only fitting. Your half-sister caused my family to be turned into vampires, and now you’ll help me save my mate from some type of supernatural horror.”
“Horror isn’t the word I’d use to describe this life, but that’s irrelevant. Now, tell me where she’s being kept, and let’s go.”
********************************************************************************
Thanks to Paige’s guidance, a caravan of vampires (plus Kenzie) was on its way to where Jillian’s blood had revealed her to be hidden. They were headed toward the outskirts of town, and Kenzie had once again found herself in the passenger’s seat of Isaiah’s car. Paige was following them, but Hayden had made himself scarce to prevent any unnecessary confrontations between the vampires.
Now was the time to tell Isaiah what she’d thought of earlier.
“Isaiah,” Kenzie said as he drove the car dangerously fast along the dark, winding road, “I need a favor from you.”
“This seems to be the day of favors.”
“I know you love Jillian. I don’t doubt that for a second. But…think about it. How many times has she been put in danger? How many times were you not around when she needed to be saved?”
Isaiah glanced at her sideways. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. It started in Starlight Shores. That psycho magician kidnapped her and you didn’t save her.”
“Supernatural creatures were still laying low. I couldn’t risk exposure. That wouldn’t have helped her, either. Besides, it was a magic act. It happened so fast, even I couldn’t have predicted it.”
“What about the time when supernatural creatures came out of hiding? She was hurt then because we’d never told her the truth. We hadn’t trusted her enough to keep the secret. And now this. You were sitting in a hotel, waiting for her to show up, when she was actually being kidnapped. You felt it happening, and you didn’t do anything about it.”
“I told you, I didn’t know where she was. It was a sharp sensation that came out of nowhere. The images were like flashes in my brain. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“Probably because you’d never bonded with a human whose blood you drank before.”
Isaiah sighed. “You’re obviously trying to make a point here. What is it?”
“My point is, once this is all over, once we get her back safe and sound, I need you to stop seeing her.”
“Excuse me?”
“Tell her that you’re sorry but it’s not working out. Leave her. Pretend you’re really dead if you have to. But just…let her live a normal life.”
“Have you lost your mind? I’ll do nothing of the sort!”
“Isaiah, how much danger has she been in since you’ve been a part of her life?”
“What about the dangers she was in before I ever entered it? At least she can’t make any more asinine decisions where men are concerned.”
“She won’t do that anymore. Not after seeing what happened to her sister, Savannah. She’s changed, she’s more mature. You know I’m right. You know it’s dangerous to be with her. You can’t even have woohoo with her without risking breaking her bones. If you truly love her, don’t be selfish. Think of what’s best for her. Let her go.”
“Kenzie, you once told me that if I ever hurt Jillian, you’d kill me. You don’t want her hurt and neither do I. My leaving would kill her.”
“That would heal in time. It would cause her less pain in the long run. It’s too dangerous for her to be with you while you’re a vampire and she’s a human. You know that.”
Isaiah gripped the steering wheel tightly. He was clearly fighting with his emotions. Kenzie was sure he was going to put up another large argument. But instead, he finally said, “All right, Kenzie. All I want is for her to be safe and happy. If I’m involved, she can’t be both things. When we get her back, I’ll do the right thing.”
“Good. And if you don’t, I’ll have Hayden’s older brother, Ellis, hunt you down.”
Isaiah said nothing. But Kenzie would never forget the image that permanently etched itself into her mind. The memory of her first time seeing a vampire cry.
No comments:
Post a Comment