Catch

by Annie Nicholas

  No one cared.

  Except Rurik and he’d want to fight them. The image of these monsters tearing apart my lover before my eyes popped me out of this freeze. I twisted to yell at him to run.

  Our gazes met for a second just before Rurik passed under the arms that held me, slid between us, then tackled the Nosferatu to the ground. I got tossed over their heads.

  Dancing lessons taught me more than how to twirl without getting dizzy. I also learned how to fall without cracking my skull. With a tuck of my chin, I did a forward somersault and the momentum carried me to my high-heeled feet.

  No cheers greeted my graceful escape, only the hungry stares of the other two vampires.

  “Why are you attacking us, Luckard?” Rurik asked.

  I swung around, shocked he knew the Nosferatu’s name. His arms were pinned behind his back by my original attacker. The other two came up next to me, one on each side.

  A vamp with short blond hair placed his arm around my waist and held me close. “I like this one. Can I keep her once you’re done, boss?” My stomach dropped. I tried to step away, but he wouldn’t let me. Caught in his iron grip, I lost all hope of escape until I met Rurik’s stare. Determination solidified in his eyes and sweat beaded on his forehead. Something brushed my mental shields. As soon as it touched my mind, I reflexively re-enforced them. Ever since Dragos mind-raped me, I wouldn’t—couldn’t let anyone inside my head. Not even the ones I loved most.

  A sharp pierce in the shield’s structure like a long sharp needle shocked me enough to cry out.

  The one holding me jumped as well, his arms pulling me closer.

  Run, Rabbit.

  I quirked an eyebrow in Rurik’s direction. How did he expect me to do that? Throw this guy holding me over my shoulder and give him a piggyback ride?

  He winked, as if he knew my thoughts, and stopped supporting his weight with his legs. Both he and Luckard fell forward. Rurik used the surprise to roll away and twist his arms free but his assailant crawled on top of him with the lightning speed of a Nosferatu.

  Blondie got distracted enough to loosen his grip around my waist so I could at least turn and face him.

  As he glanced my way, I stuck my fingers up his nose and twisted. I passed Street Fighting 101 in New York City. No such thing as second place—you fight to win or you get owned. Vampire or not, getting your nose twisted off your face hurts like hell.

  His eyes grew wide and he shoved me away. It was all I needed to escape. I ran like Rurik told me to and abandoned him. A dark pit opened in my gut and little pieces of my heart dropped into it.

  I heard the Nosferatu on the ground shout, “Forget about him, get the girl!” His order spurred me from a sprint into a flat out run, fleeing the area like a nut case escaped from a loony bin. If there was an Olympic event for sprinting in heels I’d be a gold medalist.

  Get the girl? Why would they want me? Did my personal demon, Tane, send them?

  The crowds thinned around the beach, but the farther I raced toward the nightclubs the thicker they got. I went to the densest throng of partiers and mingled among them.

  Short of breath, I turned a slow circle and checked for signs of vampire pursuit. Months of playing hide-and-seek with Rurik were finally paying off. I hoped the vampire hunting me would keep to the rules and not attack me in front of witnesses.

  A handsome, young man glanced in my direction. His eyebrows shot up in recognition.

  At first I groaned with trepidation, then realized my dumb luck. He was the one who tried to lure me from Rurik earlier. This could work out if I played my cards right. I needed humans to surround myself with and he seemed part of this large group.

  I smiled and stared at him long enough for him to understand my invitation.

  He searched the area as he weaved through the crowd. I had to assume he looked for Rurik. His shy grin turned into a wide smile when he didn’t see any evidence of my lover and he sped his last steps to me.

  In a soft, husky voice he whispered something in my ear. I didn’t need to understand Portuguese to get the message. The way he held his body close to mine and his fingers lingered on my skin, told me everything.

  I took his hand in mine. It felt wrong. Not only did I abandon Rurik, I flirted with another. My lover would never hold it against me if it saved my life, but my gut rolled as I stepped into another man’s arms. I pointed to myself. “Meu nome é Connie.” Then I pointed to him. “Você?”

  “Joao.” He pressed his lips to my hand, his gaze never leaving mine. Oh my.

  The group swept us farther down the sidewalk away from the beach until we reached the corner of the street. The blue lights blazed above the club and spelled its name— Melt.

  I kept checking over my shoulders, trying to find signs of being followed. No vampires in the area as far as I could see. Not even the one I hoped for.

  Maybe I escaped. Hope fluttered in my heart like a baby bird on its maiden flight. I wanted so desperately to run back to my hotel room and find Rurik sitting in our bed only to ask, “What took you so long?”

  Deep down inside, I knew they were watching my every move, waiting for me to make a mistake and lose my company. They required only a second to reclaim me.

  My escort slipped his arm around my waist as we waited in line to enter the club. He drew little circles on the silk of my red dress with his index finger on my lower abdomen.

  The tingles of this action kept distracting me from my search. Shame tore apart my soul.

  His touch should burn like acid, not soothe. He led me through the door and followed his friends into the crowded club.

  Wide shoulders, tall backs and large chests blocked my view while we walked down a narrow hall. Claustrophobia seized me and I crushed myself against Joao. At times like this, I hated being short.

  He took the opportunity to allow his hand to slip lower and rest on my ass. I used to play games like this when I worked for Colby as bait, but I wasn’t in love then. It took all my survival instincts to leave the hand alone. If I rejected him now, he might leave, then it would open season for Rabbit.

  The dance floor, to my left, overflowed with people and looked like a good place to hide. Joao didn’t want to go that way. He steered me to the bar instead, in a nice secluded corner. I spotted a familiar blond man leaning to speak with the bartender and dug my heels into the floor. Blondie, the vampire who wanted his turn with me once the Nosferatu was finished.

  Joao glanced at me over his shoulder and cocked his head. It was a sin for a man to have such thick lashes. They framed his bright green eyes.

  Stalling for time, I threw myself into his arms. What should I do? I had six more hours until dawn, a missing boyfriend and vamps had followed me into the bar. People surrounded me but if no one paid attention, like on the beach, I may as well be alone. I needed Joao and his friends.

  He leaned his face close to mine as he entwined our bodies and spoke soft words into my ear. I didn’t understand them and didn’t care.

  The hunter stared at me from across the room and waggled his fingers in greeting.

  Yeah, yeah, I see you, buddy.

  My date swayed us to the music. The slow, gentle beat plucked my heartstrings.

  Feeling scared and small, I ran my hands up his back and rested my head on his shoulder.

  He made a poor substitute for Rurik.

  Developing plans were not my forte. I was a wing-it kind of girl. When my wandering hands brushed over Joao’s cell phone in his back pocket I grinned. An idea popped into my head. It was better than sitting here waiting to get caught.

  Without asking permission, I slipped it out of his pocket and dialed.

  Joao gestured to his phone and flung a string of Portuguese in my direction.

  I placed a quick kiss on his lips to shut him up as the call connected and rang on the other end. The loud music made it difficult to hear so I stuck my finger in the other ear.

  Blondie disappeared from the bar when I glanced to check
on him but a blond male stood by a table with his back to me not fifteen feet away. I squinted in the dim light. He seemed too stocky to be the hunter. I held my breath as another one walked toward us holding drinks. He drew closer and I finally released it when I didn’t recognize him. Then something tickled between my shoulder blades. I swung around and pressed my back to Joao. No one stood behind me. Sweat beaded my skin and trickled between my breasts.

  “Hello?”

  The man’s voice on the other end startled me. In my search for Blondie I forgot who I called for a split second. “Colby, they jumped me coming out of the hotel. I’m in deep shit.” I shouted the words so he could hear me and didn’t care who listened, most didn’t understand English anyway.

  “Who jumped you?”

  “Vampires. I’m at the club Melt down the street. They’re in here with me and they’re circling.” A touch on my shoulder made me yelp and spin. Joao raised his hands and quirked an eyebrow at me.

  “Whatever happens, Connie, keep the phone near you. I’ll track—” A high-pitched ringing cut out all sound, the lights went on and the music shut off.

  Someone tripped the fire alarm. It caused the crowd to surge to the exit as if one entity. I turned in a slow circle as I got trapped in the tide of bodies. My breath came in short gasps.

  Joao was gone.

  Did they get him? Maybe he dumped me. Then why would he leave his expensive looking cell phone in my hands? “Joao?” I cried out his name again over the heads of those around me. No one answered. The front door came into view. People streamed out of the building, their momentum dragged me out as well.

  Exposed under the open night sky, I stood with my back to the building. The insistent ringing alarm made it hard to hear. I clutched the phone to my chest and scanned the area, hoping against all odds to see a familiar face. The crowd thinned as people found other paths to follow.

  Odds were the vampires would get me.

  Tears burned behind my eyelids and I stomped my foot. The heel on my shoe snapped and I stumbled to the right. “Fucking great!” I bent and picked up the broken piece of cheap crap. When I rose, my heart skidded to a halt.

  Rurik stood across the street. I had a good view of his profile as he gazed down the road away from where I stood. As I opened my mouth to call him, a hand clamped over my lips.

  “Shh,” a deep voice whispered in my ear. The steel clad strength that held me hinted at what snagged me.

  Someone finally shut off the fire alarm and silence fell over the area for a split second.

  Fear tore out any reasoning I had left and I twisted my shoulders to elbow him in the gut. A sharp electric pain of bone hitting a rock solid mass elicited my cry.

  “If he sees you and tries to intervene again, I’ll be forced to kill him,” my captor warned as he directed me to retreat with him into a narrow, dark alley. He came around to face me with preternatural grace and his gaze traced from my head to my toes. “I don’t understand all the fuss.”

  It wasn’t Blondie, it was worse. “Luckard.” His name fell from my lips. The Nosferatu.

  If he wanted me to be frightened, he got it. I couldn’t help that, but I refused to cower, I’d dealt with his kind before. The more I showed my fear, the happier he’d be, and I wasn’t placed on this earth for his pleasure.

  I forced my legs to stop trembling, crossed my arms over my chest and then ran my glare from his dirty, worn running shoes to his bald head.

  He grinned, exposing his sharp canines. The dude didn’t need to work the scary angle so much, it came naturally to him.

  I opened my mouth to explain the skill of understatement when something slammed into my mental shield. It beat my mind like a battering ram. My vision tunneled with the onslaught.

  Over the past year, I may have fought Rurik on the things he deemed necessary for me to learn, such as swordsmanship, which was for medieval knights. I had better things to do with his body than poke holes in it, and unless stripping was involved in chess, I didn’t want to play. Strengthening my skill to protect my mind made sense, especially after what Dragos did to me.

  Rurik taught me not to build my mental walls with only stone like Colby taught me, they shattered with enough brute strength, but to use all the elements and switch them around for my need. With this strong attack, I changed it to hurricane force winds that absorbed the strikes and sent them asunder. Even with my new skills, though, I wouldn’t be a match for Luckard. He came from a line of the strongest vampires.

  “Rurik!” I hated that I cried out for him. He’d hear, I had no doubt, and try to rescue me. Our only chance would be to work together or die together. Sometimes my selfishness astounded me.

  The assault stopped and I gasped at its sudden retreat. I snapped my eyes open, surprised to find them closed, and got flung over the Nosferatu’s shoulder. Fumbling the cell phone, I caught it between my fingers and crushed it to my chest, remembering Colby’s order to keep it with me, right before Luckard lifted me over his shoulder like a wet towel and took off running.

  I lifted my head and caught a glimpse of Rurik at the mouth of alley. We turned a corner and I heard his tentative voice.

  “Connie?”

  Chapter Four

  So far, I’d spent my time with Rurik in the wealthy, touristy areas of Rio. Luckard showed me a different side, one I didn’t care for, haunting in its familiarity. I grew up in similar conditions and spent my adolescence in worse, except all on American soil.

  The slum’s roads were narrow with apartment buildings crowding from both sides.

  Laundry hung from clothes lines, alleys filled with leaning, makeshift shanties and not a soul visible. I could sense their eyes, though, watching us in the dark.

  Luckard dropped me onto my feet and I wobbled on the broken heel of my shoe. He grabbed my arm. “Stay close.”

  “Wait, don’t pull just yet.” I kicked off the shoes so I could keep up with his pace then wrapped Joao’s cell phone in my hand. The asphalt poked at my soles. “What do you want with m-me?” I tried to sound strong and failed miserably.

  He glanced at me, keeping silent.

  “Did that bastard, Tane, put you up to this?”

  “Bastard?” He whispered. At the next intersection, he made a left, guiding me with his grip. “I want the truth.”

  “Ask me, I’ll tell you what you want. I don’t have secrets.”

  “Then why block me from your mind?”

  I swallowed. Discussing mind rape with Luckard, when I didn’t even talk about it with Rurik, made me want to crawl into a deep hole. “Someone forced his way in my head and hurt me. I don’t let anyone inside.” I blinked away angry tears. “Not anymore.” At the thought of Rurik, my blood lust roused. Damn it, I just drank a few hours ago.

  Exhaustion burned my eyes, my soul cringed at Luckard’s touch, and now, my fucking hunger took a peek from its hiding place, making it hard to think. Like I didn’t have enough to deal with.

  Luckard marched us down the street in silence. He took a right on what I could only call a paved path. It wound between buildings and we passed two allies before he stopped to face me. “Are you blood bound to Tane?”

  “Never.” I stepped back as if slapped. “I’m bound to Rurik.” His dark eyes narrowed as he stared into mine. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I’ve been told otherwise. I could sense Rurik’s affection for you, but no link to a blood bond.”

  “I don’t let anyone in my head.”

  “That has nothing to do with it.” He sighed and pulled me farther down the path until we reached a faded, green-chipped door. “If you’re lying, I will find out.” His gaze stayed on the door as he spoke and his grip on my arm tightened enough to make me squirm. “If you’re telling me the truth, then I apologize in advance.”

  “What—” The cell hidden in my hand rang.

  He snatched at the phone and it tumbled from my fingers to the ground. “What have you been doing?”

  “Nothing. I hadn’t a chance.”<
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  He stomped on it with crushing force and I heard it snap. The ringing stopped and my salvation died. He yanked the door open. Its dark maw threatened to consume me.

  I retreated.

  His firm hold on my arm kept me in place and he dragged me through the doorway.

  Once inside he closed and locked it.

  My eyes adjusted to the thick darkness, but even with my enhanced vision, I could only see his outline. I stumbled when he guided me to ascend some stairs. They creaked with each step and groaned under our combined weight.

  At the top, the rough wooden floors scraped my soles. My stomach turned as we neared another door. I swallowed around a hard lump in my throat.

  Luckard knocked and it opened, this one guarded from the inside. They closed and locked the door after we passed. What were they hiding here that needed vampire guards?

  Maybe something that craved little blondes?

  My racing heart bounced in my chest like a trapped hummingbird trying to escape, which made it hard to breathe. The sweat trickling along my hairline clung the curls to my skin, as I drowned in my retained tears swelling in my eyes.

  How the hell was I going to get myself out of this?

  Inside the studio apartment, a bare light bulb hung from the ceiling. The grimy walls seemed to absorb all the light, leaving the room dim and each bricked up window closed out the world. The guards went to stand at the far side of the room.

  In the center stood a naked, bald man. Four thick steel bars pierced his body at different angles. Two going in from his shoulders and out his flanks, the other two went in his back and out his hips. Anchored to the ceiling and the floor, it made a perfect Nosferatu prison.

  He lifted his head and my gaze met his black soulless one.