Lane, Gage, Elvis, Ari and Chelle sat lazily about the room. Gage and Elvis looked up from their game of Warcraft as I set Vanessa down in the middle of the room.
“You’ve brought another human home? Fuck, Cian, what is it with you and these two women?” Lane asked then grinned. “Or did you bring this one for me?”
“Jewels took Magdalena.”
“Fuck me,” Lane said.
“Do you know where? Did she leave any clues?” Gage asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“I have an idea.” Chelle, who’d been sitting on the sofa sipping blood from a plastic bag, gave us a bloodied-tooth grin. “When I want to know where Lane is, I close my eyes and concentrate on his blood running through my body. Doesn’t her blood run through yours and Lane’s?”
“That only works because you’re so new and continue to drink my blood,” Lane said.
“Cian, Chelle has a point,” Gage said. “Haven’t you been drinking from Maggie?”
“Yes. But for some reason, I can’t sense her. Something is blocking her scent.”
“Why’d you bring her here?” Lane pointed at Vanessa.
“I can help,” Vanessa said.
Lane sashayed his body up close to Vanessa’s then circled her very still form and sniffed close to her neck.
Lane grinned. “A witch. Hmmm…didn’t see that coming.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. I hide it very well,” Vanessa said without an ounce of fear on her face.
“You’re very sure of yourself, witch, knowing you’re in a room full of vampires.”
“Lane. Leave her alone. We don’t have time for games. Vanessa, come over here.” I stood by our felt-covered poker table and spread out a map of the city. Everyone gathered around as Vanessa held her amulet by a black ribbon above the map.
She closed her eyes and uttered something that I didn’t think any of us made out. Then she opened her eyes and looked up at us. “Can ya’ll hang back a bit? You’re cramping my powers.”
Everyone took a step back.
“Really? You’re gonna need to move back more than that. Just go sit over there and leave me to this.” She sat down in the chair at the table.
I had to have faith in this witch. At this point, she was my only hope. Lane and I didn’t know what Jewels was really like or what she would do to Magdalena. We’d only had that one night with her so many years ago, but if this evening was any indication of the ruthless, heartless creature she truly was, I feared for Magdalena’s life.
I paced the floor from one end to the other, waiting. It seemed like hours had passed since I’d brought this witch back with me.
“Cian, you’re going to wear holes in the carpet. Sit down,” Lane ordered.
“I can’t. We’re running out of time.” I walked over to the table where Vanessa sat, chanting, the crystal swaying beneath her fingers. “Anything?” I knew the answer.
“If you think distracting me is going to get an answer faster, you’re sorely mistaken.”
I sighed. “This is ridiculous.” I stomped back to the sofa and plopped down between Chelle and Lane then watched the meaningless war take place on the screen as Gage and Elvis battled it out on their X-box controllers. Blood spewed on the screen as a sword hacked off the head of something large and ugly. “Fuck. How can you play this shit?”
“Got her!” Vanessa called out, and we all jumped up and raced to the table. “Right here.” She pointed to a spot in the ocean that looked to be five miles off the coast.
“There’s nothing there but water,” Lane said.
“I know. But there has to be something there. Something not showing on this map,” Vanessa said. “Do you have a computer?”
“Right over there.” I pointed to the large screen on the desk, as well as the assortment of laptop computers and Macs spread out on top. “Take your pick.”
She laughed. “Okay. Let’s check Google Earth and see what’s out there.”
“Good idea,” Lane said, and we all followed him to the computer center. When Google Earth popped up on the screen, Lane looked at us. “What should I type in?”
“Try, ‘islands off the coast of San Francisco,’” Vanessa said.
The deep blue of the ocean swarmed with small little dots, all representing land.
“There,” Gage said, pointing at a dot on the screen. “That dot is at the exact spot on the map where the crystal landed.
Lane slowly moved the mouse, hovering over the dot. “That’s the Farallon Islands,” Lane read the small description. “It’s a group of islands and rocks. Aulon Island, Arch Rock, and others. Also known as the devil’s teeth.”
“That sounds exciting,” Chelle said. “So, when do we go?”
“You don’t go anywhere,” Lane said.
“What? Why? I can help.”
“You’re too young, too new to vampirism. You’ll get killed,” Lane said. “I didn’t save you from death just to watch you die at the hands of my maker.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d almost believe you guys had real live beating hearts,” Vanessa said. “You’re certainly not like any other vampires in the city. Hmmm…immortal hearts of San Francisco. That’s sort of catchy.” She grinned. “Now, go get our girl.”
“The islands lie twenty-seven miles outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Jesus, she could be on any one of them,” I said.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Magdalena
“Ugh.” I moaned. The side of my head hurt, and I tried to raise my hand to touch the spot, but I couldn’t move it. I opened my eyes, but everything was fuzzy. I felt the trickle of blood down my temple. Squinting, I tried to gain some focus. It was dark, cold, and the ground I was lying on was wet and sandy. The smell and sound of the ocean were strong. My hands were bound behind my back, and I tried to make out my surroundings, but all I could see was dark walls and a small opening where the sound of the ocean came from. I was in some sort of cave. Then I remembered the woman who had carried me through the sky and I threw up again.
“You’re awake.” Kellen’s voice reverberated with glee from one side of the small space to the other.
“Kellen?” The hoarseness of my voice was thick and I coughed to try and clear it.
“Mags. I told you, you belong to me.”
“Kellen? Why am I here?”
Horror swept through my bones. Kellen was behind this. I should have known he’d try something, attempt some sort of retaliation. But I honestly thought that Cian and his brothers had done a good job of discouraging him. I guess I meant more to Kellen than I’d thought.
“Those vampires are scum, Mags. How could you lower yourself to be in collusion with them?”
“Careful, wolf.” My head snapped to the sound of a female voice. The one who’d abducted me. “That’s my family you’re talking about.”
Her family?
“Wh…who are you?”
“You don’t know? You have my portrait hanging in your home, but you have no idea who I am? I’m crushed that my sons did not tell you.”
“Your sons?”
“Cian and Lane, of course.”
My head hurt and I was very confused. I squeezed my eyes tightly and tried to make sense of everything. I shivered in the cold, damp spot I sat in, wearing only my thin negligee.
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, I didn’t give birth to their human forms, but I did sire their current vampiric existence.”
She’d made them? She was the monster Cian had told me about. The picture was of her. Cian hadn’t mentioned that when he’d asked me about it. “What do you want with me?”
“You? Why, I don’t want anything with you. But, the wolf here, does. And I suppose you, apparently, are the only thing that will bring Cian to his knees. What he sees in you is beyond me. You have no curves whatsoever, and your hair, darling, you really must start seeing a new stylist.”
“Did you kill that woman at the park?”
&n
bsp; She shrugged. “A girl’s got to eat. And, lucky for you I did, or I’d be sinking my fangs into your neck right now.”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt her,” Kellen snapped.
“Yes, yes I did. That was the deal. Now, let’s get this party started.” She stood close to me, her breath sweet, like honey. I was almost surprised by that. I’d expected her to have a nasty smell. But she was intoxicating. Her fingers went to my neck, skimmed along the chain of the heart pendant Cian had given me. Then, with one hard yank, she pulled it off me.
I gasped in surprise.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she took off like a bat out of hell—she must have hit me harder than I thought if I could be joking at time like this—leaving the cave and me alone with Kellen.
“Kellen, why are you helping her?”
“Because, alone, I can’t kill that bloodsucker you’ve been sleeping with. Not as long as he has help from his skanky vamp buddies. But when Jewels approached me with this plan, I figured, why not? Together, we will be able to take the lot of them out. Once we do, you’ll be with me again.”
I closed my eyes. How in the hell had I ever gotten mixed up with a werewolf and a vampire? It was a harsh reality to realize that the safe world I once knew had never existed. How long had vampires and werewolves been in existence? I didn’t think Cian even knew the answer to that.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cian
“How about a truce?” Jewels stood by the window of the living room; her red, lacy dress flowed to the floor. She looked every bit the queen of the night that she so desperately wanted to be. Complete with dark, wavy tendrils cascading down her back and her overly plump breasts revealed by the way the gown dipped open to her navel, covering only her nipples.
Gage and Elvis took a stance to attack.
“Keep your goons at bay, Cian. I promise not to compel you or Lane, but you really do need to come with me.”
Lane grabbed Chelle and Vanessa by the arms and pulled them across the room as far from Jewels as he could get them.
“Why should I?” I said.
“Well, I know a little secret.” She giggled, her fingers grazing her lips as if she were a dainty little debutant.
“What do we care about your secrets?” Lane asked.
“You may not care, Lane. But Cian surely will. You see, I know a certain young, stupid—very stupid—werewolf, and I bet he has his filthy paws all over your precious little human right now. As we speak, as a matter of fact.”
“Kellen?” Vanessa asked.
Jewels’ head snapped up and she hissed at Vanessa. “Another human? No, wait, a witch.” She laughed then noticed Ari and flashed in front of him, her face an inch from his. She glided around him and licked the side of his neck. “This one has held my interest for some time now. Such a fine specimen for a human.”
Ari, don’t move, I told him with my mind. I didn’t want him to antagonize her and make her do something rash, like kill him.
“Don’t worry, Cian. I won’t harm your human slave. In fact, I admire you for possessing him. It takes much discipline on your part not to kill him. I, myself, have never been much for keeping a human around longer than a meal’s worth of time. I guess I just don’t have the willpower.”
“Why should I believe that you, of all vampires, would collude with a werewolf?”
“Because I have this.” She continued to lick Ari’s neck as she held up the chain with the heart I had given Magdalena, dangling it in the air.
My chest constricted as if a metal vice had clamped tightly around my heart.
“Is that our mother’s?” Lane asked.
I nodded slightly at Lane but kept my eyes on Jewels. His question hadn’t been one of accusation, more affirmation. It was mine to do with as I pleased. He had his own mementos of our mother.
My teeth clenched and I growled. “I swear, Jewels, you will regret the day you turned us. If you so much as hurt one tiny cell in Magdalena’s body...”
She laughed. “You are pitiful.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you and Lane to come with me, darling. To be with me. I want you standing by my side, with me as queen of this city, your beloved San Francisco. It’s been without a vampire sovereign for too many years now.”
“San Francisco is a free territory. It always has been.”
“My point, exactly. Which makes it available for the taking, something you should have done a long time ago.”
I’d never wanted to rule the city. I loved the way our lives were. Peacefully playing our music weekly. Things had been that way for seventy years, and we had no desire to change it.
“The vampires here are happy the way things are. No one needs to sit in rule and judgment over anyone or anything. Vampire dictatorship has never had a purpose here. What makes you think it’s necessary now?”
“Because I said so.” Her voice became deep and gravely, as if she’d been demon possessed. Maybe she was. Was that even possible? Maybe that’s what had driven her to be what she was. Lane, Gage, Elvis, and I were different. We’d always been the peaceful sort.
“If we do this, you will release Magdalena?”
“What are you saying?” Lane asked.
“Of course, but you may have to fight her greedy young werewolf for her.” She laughed a hideous cackle.
The werewolf would need to die if he caused a problem. I lowered my eyes to the floor, unable to look at my brother. “I will come with you and stand by your side.”
“As my lover?”
“Yes. But only me. Not Lane.” She started to protest. “And I will only come if Magdalena is released, not only from you, but from the werewolf, as well.”
“That should do,” she said. “One brother, I suppose, is better than none. For now.”
“You can’t be serious,” Lane said. “Don’t give in to her, Cian. Not for a human.”
“Give me a minute to speak with my brother, in private. Then I will go with you,” I said.
“As you wish. You have two minutes. I’ll just hold on to this fine human specimen here until you return. And your goons over there had better not get any brilliant ideas, or I will snap this one’s neck before they can blink an eye.” She stood behind Ari, placing her hands on each side of his head, rubbing her pointy fingernails down the side of his neck.
Lane and I went into the hallway, and he grabbed my shoulders, holding me in front of him. “I know you love Maggie, but this is ludicrous,” he said through clenched teeth. “You’ll be giving up your freedom.”
“A freedom I’ve had for too many years. I’m tired, Lane. I should be dead. We should be dead. We should have died a hundred and fifty years ago, along with our sisters and our parents.”
“Yes, you’re right, but we’re not dead, we’re here. We are in this together. I can’t bear the thought of you being with Jewels. She will turn your mind against me. You know that.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“You won’t be able to stop it.”
“Lane, I have to do this. If she hurts Magdalena, I couldn’t bear to be in this life of eternity any longer anyway.”
“But Maggie’s human. She will die eventually. Then what will you do?”
“At least, this way, Magdalena will live the life she was meant to live, and I can exist, knowing I was not the cause of her death.”
Lane pounded his fist into the wall, making a six-inch hole in the plaster. “I don’t want you to do this.” His voice cracked with the threat of tears. “We started this life together, you and I, in our mother’s womb. I don’t think I can survive in it without you.”
It took a lot for my brother to show so much emotion, and it caught me off guard. I went to him, placed my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him to me until our foreheads met. His eyes glistened with moisture, as did mine.
“You must, Lane. You must survive. I love you. You’re my brother. I will always lo
ve you. But let me go. In our two hundred years on this Earth, I’ve never loved another as I do Magdalena. Let me do this for the woman I love.”
The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed up then back down as he swallowed and his body stiffened with renewed strength. “We will get you out. If it takes another two hundred years, we will free you from her clutches. I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Magdalena
The dark, damp cave reeked with the smell of dead fish. If I’d had anything left in my stomach, I would have thrown up again when my eyes fell on a pile of bones heaped in the corner. Could have been human, could have been animal. I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to know.
Snores from Kellen sleeping a few feet away from me echoed off the cave walls, making the sound even more irritating than usual. I’d struggled with the ties secured around my wrists the entire time Kellen slept, trying to wiggle out of them, but had only managed to cut my wrist in the attempt.
I had no idea how long I’d been held there. My spirits brightened when I looked up and saw Cian walk in. “Cian!” My heart leaped and hope soared, but my spirits fell quickly as Jewels’ long, curvy figure followed in closely behind him.
“Magdalena!” Cian ran to my side. “Baby, are you okay?”
I nodded. “Now that you’re here.”
“I’m sorry, Magdalena. I’m so sorry I got you involved in this.” He turned to Jewels. “You have what you want, now let her go.”
What did she have now?
Jewels stepped over to Kellen and kicked him in the shin. “Wake up, you miserable wolf.”
Kellen groaned and sat up quickly when he saw Cian.
“If that wolf lays one finger on her, I’ll kill him.”
“Likewise, bloodsucker,” Kellen growled. “Mags was just a pawn to lure your ugly ass here, you stupid fuck. She belongs to me. And you belong to her.” He motioned to Jewels. “Your master. You always have. Isn’t that the way of the skanks?”
“You’re one to talk, wolf. Where’s your fucking pack? You weren’t wolf enough to claim Magdalena, that’s why you haven’t, and your pack knows it. Yet you continue to act as if you have. You can’t keep her prisoner until you’ve reached maturity. You live in a fucking dream world, pup.”
Tempted by a Vampire (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 1) Page 14
