“That’s a good girl. Yes!” A wave of relief hit him so hard he rocked back on his heels and almost fell over.
Another howl split the silence of the room and Aaron whipped his head around to watch Urvashi stepping away from a sleek black wolf that shook off Katya’s combat gear. The animal noticed him staring, and for a moment, he could have sworn her golden eyes registered with cognizance. She padded over to him with a soft whine, and rubbed her nose under his hand.
Aaron sat down on the floor and happily petted his bloodslave wolf. All was right in his world. The women who he needed, who needed him, were well and good – relatively. Katya-wolf scooted up to him and whined once more as she laid her head in his lap, perfectly content to rest with him. He had never imagined what it might be like to deal with her as a wolf. Having this beautiful animal cuddled next to him put a huge, stupid grin on his face.
The sounds of a little girl crying shattered Aaron’s peace. Lana.
“Mama? Mama!” She was lying beside her mom, and Aaron noticed that her fluffy blue coat had a dark red stain splattered across one side.
“Fuck me.” Aaron slid out from under Katya-wolf and rushed over to the mother and daughter. Lana was bawling, pushing on her mom, crying mama and blathering on in Russian.
He pried Lana away from her mom. “Shhh, let me see.” The girl was shaking, and it was all he could do to quiet her.
Katya-wolf padded up to Lana and her presence silenced the girl. Katya-wolf licked at Lana’s face and whined in unmistakable sympathy. The two of them stared at each other, face to face, and Aaron caught a hint of the fascination Lana felt looking at a fully-grown black wolf with expressive golden eyes. Though she didn’t know it yet, the child was looking at her future.
Aaron took a closer look at Kristina and found the source of the blood on Lana’s coat. Her mother had been shot twice in the chest. Kristina didn’t have body armor like the rest of the gang. They had dragged Kristina and her daughter into the middle of a war zone with no protective gear, not even a pistol.
How fucking stupid. How ridiculously idiotic and selfish.
Her eyes flickered open in pain and confusion. Her breathing sounded wet and she coughed up blood. Aaron’s hands shook as he cradled her head in his lap. She’s dying.
He had to do something, now. “Urvashi help!” He looked to his master who was checking on the downed bloodslaves lying under the arch. Urvashi’s eyes glazed with exhaustion found him. Her aura wavered and flickered, like a flame that had died to embers. She tried to stand up, and swayed on her feet.
“I … I can’t do any more. I …” She fell flat on her ass. Her eyes shifted from dark brown to the alien thing. Her batteries had run dry, and she could barely maintain her own façade of humanity. “You can do it. Focus on her, Aaron. Focus on your desire to help her. You must want it, Aaron. You must want to help her with all your heart and soul.”
He looked at the little girl whose teary eyes watched him expectantly, waiting for him to fix her Mama. He had to try. But he didn’t believe he could, not like he’d done with Katya. Those moments had been intensely sexual, and perhaps something more than sex.
Aaron hugged Kristina close and placed his left palm over her bloody chest. He tried to picture her healthy, happy. He’d never seen this woman smile. He’d never seen her happy or joyous. All he could think about was the fact that she was dying in his arms.
“You can save mama?” Lana tugged on his jacket with eyes full of the hope of a child who still believed in magic and happily ever afters.
“I can try.” He dredged up a smile from somewhere, and was rewarded with her teary grin in return. Her smile was beautiful and pure and lovely. For her smile, just to see her smile once more, he could try to save this dying woman.
Aaron memorized Lana’s smile and closed his eyes to focus all his heart and soul and energy on Kristina. The words came to his lips once again, the words Urvashi had taught him to use when he healed Katya. “Vitae essentia est amor.” The essence of life is love.
As soon as he spoke, the draining weakness hit. He pushed all his drive, will, strength and energy towards Kristina. He shoved everything into the woman in his lap and felt her bucking in his grip as his power slammed through her body. With Lana’s smile held firm in his mind, Aaron kept on giving it to Kristina. He gave her all he had to give and damn near passed out from the vertigo.
Dizzy and barely able to sit up, he opened his eyes as Kristina gasped in air, still sputtering bloody spittle from her lips. Once the room stopped spinning, he locked gazes with Kristina’s dark hazel eyes and hope blossomed inside him. She was aware, breathing heavily, but awake and alive.
“Mama!” Lana smothered Kristina in a hug. Kristina was too weak to hold her daughter, instead Aaron held the both of them. His vision blurred with bloody tears of relief.
They spoke to each other in Russian with murmured reassurances. Kristina’s weak hands tried to push her daughter back, and Aaron helped pull Lana to one side to better see her mother. The woman stared hard at Aaron, then back at her daughter. Aaron saw it in her mind before she spoke. She knew she was dying.
He had given it his best, but his best wasn’t good enough. Instead, he’d only bartered for a few more moments of life. Kristina coughed again, more red stains on her lips. She was bleeding out in his arms.
Though he very much wanted to, he couldn’t look away from the hold her eyes had on him. Her weak hands pulled on his jacket. “You promised to take care of Lana.”
Oh shit.
“Yes, I promise I’ll get her out of here safely.”
She shook her head and tugged on Aaron’s jacket harder, pulling him down towards her face. “You promised to take care of Lana. Not just tonight. She is different. Humans will never understand her. You know what she will become. Only a man who lets wolves into his heart can help my Lana. Will you honor your promise?”
No fucking way.
“I … I’m no good. Look at me. Look at what I am. Look what I did tonight … to you.” Aaron could hardly speak he was so shocked at the hefty weight of burden put on him.
“I see a man that does what is right, what is necessary. You are not Dmitri. You would not break promises to a dying woman.” Her eyes flicked to Lana again, then back to Aaron. “Don’t trust the pack. They left me here, and now I have no one. Promise me, for Lana, you will do what is right, what is necessary, for as long as she needs you. Please take care of my Lana.”
Horror froze his mouth shut. He could think of nothing to say. Hasty denials died on his lips. There was nothing to say. Nothing to do … except for the right thing.
He wasn’t exactly known for doing the right thing.
He held Kristina’s head in his hands and laid his forehead to rest on hers. Eyes locked, he made his pledge. “I promise.” Oh God, please don’t let me fuck this up.
* * * *
Chapter 19
Wolf-Katya sniffed at Aaron and rested her head on his shoulder as he watched Kristina say goodbye to her crying daughter. He looked in the animal’s eyes, and knew that his promise to Kristina would soon put him at odds with the pack and his bloodslave lover. As much as he wanted a simple life with Katya and Michelle, he began to suspect it might never happen.
Nothing in his world was simple anymore.
Urvashi regained her feet and made her way to Aaron, staggering as she walked. She must have worked her magic on all three bloodslaves. He wanted to offer her more blood, something, but, he was already a pint shy, and could hardly keep his eyes open. She didn’t give him any choice when she plopped down at his side and grabbed his arm. Without warning she bit down and sucked hard.
The last bit of energy that had kept him awake drained away through his arm along with his blood. His vision doubled, blurred, and his world tilted sideways and faded to black.
* * * *
The wonderful flavor of blood oozed down his throat, and Urvashi’s insistent voice hammered his mind. {{We cannot rest yet. I com
mand you awaken, Aaron.}}
Suddenly his eyes popped open and he was aware. Every instinct in his exhausted, pain-ridden body begged him to sleep until sometime in the New Year. Her compulsion forced his mind to focus on her words, on her. Urvashi held a dead soldier’s arm over his face, and squeezed more blood into his mouth. The blood came as a much welcome thirst quencher on his parched tongue that tasted like three day old ass. He let the meal fill his mouth and wash away the nastiness. When the fluid slowed to a dribble he leaned up to take a good bite and suck down the last drops from the corpse.
It wasn’t exactly fresh.
The guy had probably been dead for a while, but, Aaron wasn’t in a position to complain. He savored every drop and felt better by the minute. A blood-filled corpse hit the spot.
When there was nothing left, he dropped the dead flesh and found the strength to sit up. He stared at Urvashi with his left eye – his only good eye – the right eye had swollen shut from Dmitri’s walloping.
Then suddenly he felt it come over him, sunrise.
Vampires are generally comatose through daylight, and that would have been the case for Aaron, had he not tasted Urvashi’s blood. He felt that heavy lethargy weighing on his limbs, dragging him down to sleep, but he had to deal with his master’s needs first.
The sounds of slurping and crunching registered from across the room, and Aaron focused his one good eye on two black wolves chowing down on the stripped carcass that was once a soldier in Dmitri’s employ. Aaron almost gagged up his meal right there. His stomach flopped and turned, and he looked away. After a few calming breaths, he regained the ability to speak.
“That is … that’s fucked up.”
Urvashi’s half-lidded exhausted face grinned at him without any real mirth. “This is the way of wolves. They need fuel for the change. They must eat meat. Wolves are carnivores, Aaron. Didn’t you pay attention in high school biology?”
“But … it’s cannibalism.” He shivered in disgust.
“They must change back soon, or risk losing themselves to the animal instinct. They do not stay in wolf form for more than a day or two. In order to change, they need to feed. The laws of physics and thermodynamics are simple, food equals energy. You need blood to fuel your existence. They need meat, and lots of it.”
“Fine. Whatever. Why did you wake me up?”
“We have unfinished business. We must see to the other wolves and Renault, and I believe you have taken on yet another obligation, which I must now share.” She pointed at Lana curled up on the couch beside her mother where she had cried herself to sleep.
Aaron shook his head. He could hardly think straight to manage any of the shit Urvashi required of him. But, she was the boss. When Urvashi said go, he was gone. “Alright. Are you coming with me to check on the others?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I need to rest, and so do you, as soon as you come back. I will need more of your blood soon.”
He watched her, several questions on his lips. He opted for the simplest one. “Why my blood? Why not Michelle or someone else?”
She opened her eyes, and for a split second he saw that other face, the real Urvashi. Like a blip in a film reel that passed too fast for the eye to identify, it was gone in an instant. “Yes, Michelle could be helpful, but not nearly as much as you. We are bound, you and I. There is a part of me inside you, a hidden strength you have yet to fully realize. Your blood is rich and powerful. Michelle knows this. She gains strength from feeding off you.”
Urvashi’s words rang true in his mind. To her credit, he’d never caught her lying to him. And Aaron was well aware how much Michelle enjoyed the taste of his blood. He’d been giving it to her nightly.
“Okay. If I don’t make it back in an hour, send the cavalry.” He snickered at his lame joke and managed to groan his way to his feet. Shooting pains up and down his body brought all his injuries screaming back to life. “Oh shit.” He swayed on his feet and waited for the agony to subside.
“The cavalry will be here soon. My contacts have blacked out the surrounding city blocks to ensure our privacy here. They are bringing a cleanup crew to remove the mess. Be quick.”
Realizing he was in no shape to deal with any problems, Aaron scooped an assault rifle off the floor and limped up the stairs and out into the silent mansion. The early morning sun brought to light the carnage at the entryway, and all the damage from the grenades. Hardwood floors were permanently scarred by deep gouges and char marks. The heavy, oak front door stood ajar, swinging in the subzero December morning breeze. Ivan had done a real number when he kicked through the door latch. Now it was nothing but a mess of splintered wood.
Out in the street Aaron heard howls and yips from several wolves. As he rounded the hedge line to the scene of the massacre, he found three black wolves staring at him, their muzzles covered in gore. They were getting down on the carcasses of the dead soldiers, a veritable feast. “Nikolay, Anatoly, and Renault, all accounted for. I’m outta here.”
He turned right back around and limped back to the mansion, gulping in the freezing air to keep from hurling at the sight of what those animals could do to a human corpse in such a short time.
Back in the mancave, he found Urvashi right where he left her, on the floor, resting against the back of the couch. She eyed him with her half-lidded gaze. “Get the bodies out of the room, then seal the door so we can rest. The cleanup crew will be here within the hour to remove the corpses.”
Good ole Urvashi. From Paris to London to Moscow, no matter where they traveled, the woman had friends in low places.
Something that had been nagging at the back of his mind finally floated to the surface. “Shouldn’t the explosions have brought the police?”
“Shhh. Everything is under control. Trust me. Do what I’m telling you to do.”
“Yes, massa. I be right on it.” Aaron hauled his exhausted ass over to snatch the nearest corpse and dragged him out to the stairwell.
* * * *
Katya awoke on the floor of the basement room that Kristina had led them to, the room that supposedly held the vault. Naked, she shivered uncontrollably on the cold tile. She had no idea what the hell had happened. Though she didn’t recall how or why, she had obviously changed in this room, and probably fed too. She had no illusions about what that meant. It wasn’t the first time she had eaten her fill of her enemies, and probably wouldn’t be the last.
Though the corpses had been dragged away, she could smell the congealed blood and other scents of death that evidenced a recent slaughter. Her shaking hands cupped around her breasts, she stood and followed her nose through the entryway leading into the bedroom. She stepped over three sleeping women who’d been laid out on the floor for whatever reason. They were breathing, alive, but unconscious. She did a double-take when she noticed they all had blood crusted noses and ears, along with the tell-tale neck markings from recent, messy vampire feedings. Their faces lacked the peaceful grace of comfortable sleep. These women had seen trauma and suffering. Something about the way they looked, the way they had sprawled where they had obviously fallen, reminded Katya of women who lived too long under the heavy hand of an abusive husband.
On the other side of the room was a massive bed, some kind of custom-made circular thing, at least twenty feet in diameter. The bed dominated the center of the room. Finally she understood the purpose of this place, Dmitri’s harem. The bed was designed for something out of an Emperor Caligula 70’s porno film.
In complete contrast to the perverse surroundings, Aaron, Urvashi, Michelle, and the little girl, Lana, were curled up side by side, still in their tattered, bloody combat gear. Even Lana had blood stains on her hands and her blue jacket.
Poor Aaron looked like he’d been run through the ringer and hung out to dry in the icy Russian breeze. His sunken eyes were encircled by dark black and blue bruises, and his nose looked like he’d gone rounds with a heavyweight. She suspected he’d suffered several bullet wounds and
who knew what else in the way of hidden injuries.
Staring at the exceedingly strange configuration of the little girl, Lana, wrapped securely in Aaron’s blood-smeared arms, a sick feeling curled in Katya’s gut.
Kristina.
Katya glanced in all directions, but the traitor was nowhere to be found. After a few seconds of shivering in the cold – naked, filthy, and exhausted – Katya released her concerns and squeezed in between Urvashi and Aaron to burrow in the warm cocoon of their bodies. Though she hated Aaron’s bloody sex sandwich games, now was not the time for false modesty.
Dmitri had disappeared. Hopefully dead. Ivan napped over in the corner, and she had no idea where the other wolves had gone. “I’ll sort this later.” For now, she felt as shagged as Aaron looked.
Give me sleep.
* * * *
Katya woke to the warmth of Urvashi’s hands on her breasts, and a pair of sharp teeth right where she needed them, straight in her jugular vein. She held Aaron’s head tightly and rode the wondrous wave of euphoria that was his nightly gift to her existence. As much as she hated being tied to this impetuous young man, she loved what he did for her -- and his seductive power was more than she could resist.
Love might be too strong a word, but, she had to admit Aaron did something for her that no man before him had ever done. Whether it was the venom or the awesome sex, or just something special about Aaron Pilan, the young man sucking on her neck had sunk his teeth into her heart and soul in a matter of weeks.
Now, if she could get around the dog-pile sex they always dragged her into, she might actually enjoy his rock-hard cock jabbing into her thigh as he lapped away the last drops of his meal from her skin.
The Nightlife Moscow Page 13
