“This doesn’t sound like a short story.”
Rick checked his watch. He was not so much concerned for the length of his tale as for what her reactions might be. He sighed. Well, at least they were headed for her home. If need be, he could leave Player with her and say goodbye.
* * * *
Rick covered the basics in detail by the time they pulled up at her Laurel Canyon address. Anna didn’t freak out, and she was frankly mystified Rick thought she might. She may not be aware of all the details, but Anna always got the gist of vampire life.
The non-descript stucco bungalow could have been found on any street in the city. “I have a private entrance around back.” Anna fished for her keys.
“You and Player go ahead, I’ll be there anon.”
As she reached the back hedge, Anna cringed at the foul language and drunken slurs of the men gathered on the patio she shared with her landlord. Damn it! He and his slimy friends are at it again. She’d only lived there three weeks and already this guy was making a nuisance of himself. Anna peeked over the hedge and spied the six men in patio chairs around the fire pit. With her head up high and her gaze fixed on her door, she hurried Player along the flagstone path, hoping to avoid conversation.
Her landlord staggered to his feet at the sight of her. “Here’s the sweetheart of a renter I found,” he slurred to his buddies. A bevy of crude retorts echoed behind him.
Anna winced, and Player hunkered low and growled. Rick observed from behind, wanting to do more than growl.
* * * *
The drunken man ambled his way over to her, keeping a respectful distance from the dog. “Hey now, you didn’t pay a deposit for a dog. If you wanna keep him, that’ll be an extra fifteen hundred dollars.”
“I…”
“That is, unless you want to work it out between us, sweetheart.” His compatriots egged him on. His smarmy side overtook his drunkenness. He sidled closer, trying to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Player’s growl grew fiercer. “Tell your doggie to pipe down. We have negotiations…”
Vamp speed being what it was, Rick darted in between the two of them, and placed his arm firmly around the spot the slime bag was aiming for. There was an immediate startled silence from the peanut gallery.
“Holy shit! Who the hell are you?” The landlord staggered back.
“Her guardian angel.” Rick turned to Anna. “Go ahead, Cupcake.” He nodded toward her door. “I’ll take Player.” Anna handed the leash over with a dubious look.
Rick turned back to the riff raff, intent on thralling them. “Your renter is moving out, and you’re gonna be fine with that. You and your boys drink a few more shots, get nice and drunk. No one will remember me or the dog in the morning.” He looked around the men, observing their glassy stares and slack jaws as he compelled them with his mind. “When the moving company calls and says they’re coming to pack and move Miss Curley’s things, you’ll be cooperative and polite. You’ll decline their offer of a check to pay off the balance of the lease.” Rick pressed a firm hand on the man’s shoulder to reinforce the suggestion. “Got that, boyo?” Slime bag nodded slowly. “Good. Now, go start some serious drinking.” The men seemed momentarily dazed by his thrilling, and then commenced more shots.
* * * *
Anna stood in her tiny studio apartment and glared at him. “I’m moving out?” She demanded, hands on hips.
“Yep. There’s an open apartment at the Consort building.”
“C’mon, Rick! I couldn’t afford the electric on one of those units!”
“Well, yeah, maybe, but you’d be doing me a favor, keeping the place occupied and in shape for now…” He started to cajole. He didn’t want to have to thrall her.
“I’d feel like a kept woman! I can’t accept that.”
“Besides, it’s more convenient for you, right across the street from work, you wouldn’t have to drive so much, and…” This argument clearly wasn’t working, so Rick switched tactics while she shook her head.
“Look, the truth is, I didn’t think this thing through with keeping the dog, you know? I mean, Player needs a mortal to look after him. I can’t take him to the park in the sun. I can’t take him to the beach to play. I want him to have a good life…”
Rick could see her softening and moved in for the kill.
“Listen, how much do you pay for Lothario’s garage?”
“Thirteen hundred dollars a month.”
Rick was incredulous, but pressed on. “Plus utilities?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Great! Thirteen hundred. Just the cash flow I was looking for, and utilities happen to be included. What a deal!”
Anna shook her head. “Rick…”
“So, pack whatever plate you’ve got and let’s get outta here.”
Anna knit her brows. “My dishes?”
Rick chuckled. “It’s an old expression. It means pack your valuables. The moving company will pick up the rest tomorrow.”
Anna opened a duffle and tossed in her makeup bag and a few clothes. “You know this is crazy, right?”
Rick stood in the doorway, rocking on the balls of his feet, arms crossed over his chest. “This is gonna work out great, you’ll see.”
Anna threw the duffle strap over her shoulder and met him toe to toe at the door. Her eyes twinkled. “So, plate—is that something a Duke would have?” she flirted.
“Let us alight to my carriage and I’ll tell you more.”
* * * *
Player barked and pulled them toward the limo. Once inside, it was clear the atmosphere had swung from business to affairs of the heart. Anna laughed watching Player, his head happily hanging out the shotgun seat window in front. Passersby in adjoining cars pointed at him and commented. Anna turned to Rick, and his intense appraisal stopped her.
“You’re beautiful, Cupcake,” he whispered huskily. “I don’t know how I’ll bear to leave you.”
Anna melted. The light jazz on the sound system invited romance, and suddenly the soft leather seats became a sensuous playground. In her world, Rick had slayed the dragon, stormed the castle, and won her heart.
Chapter 6
Rick wasted no time. He hadn’t been this eager for a woman since Tsura, and this time he was the experienced lover. Rick’s heart opened as he sensed every unexpressed emotion within her. He’d surpassed the point of infatuation long ago. How could he return the devotion he read in her eyes? He would worship her body. He was as hungry for her as she was for him. He drew her closer, her face up-turned, eyes closed in anticipation of his kiss. She was his sleeping beauty, her sexuality waiting to be awoken with his kisses. Rick’s lips glanced along her forehead, taking time to caress each eyelid. Hearing her catching her breath, he ran the tip of his tongue down the bridge of her perfect nose, making her giggle.
“Oh, Cupcake, you are delicious,” he whispered as his lips claimed hers with unbridled hunger. Anna arched up to him, her heart thundering in Rick’s ears. She was so receptive. Rick longed to give her more.
“I wish you could feel what you do to me!” Anna confessed breathlessly.
Rick grinned down at her, his nose tracing her hairline to her ear. “Cupcake, I do. I feel every quiver.” Rick’s arms tightened around her. “I scent your arousal.” His palm slid under her skirt to hover at the juncture of her thighs. “I know you’re ready for me.”
Anna shuddered. He had to feel her touch. Her fingers fumbled at his shirt buttons. Rick upped the ante and, pushing aside her restricting panties, he caressed her anxious clit. Her back bowed instinctively and she tore his shirt open. Buttons flew everywhere, and looking down at her, he chuckled. Her hands found a playground in the light dusting of golden hair over his solidly muscled pecs.
Rick hit the intercom button to alert the driver. “Take the long way home.”
Rick’s lips met hers in a blistering kiss, his tongue driving into her mouth, mimicking the rhythm of his fingers breaching her panties.
Her hand
s slid under his shirt and around his back. She moaned, “Too many clothes…”
“I can fix that!” He growled, grabbing the silky impediment of her tiny bikini panties and tearing them from her in one impatient motion.
Anna squealed and giggled as she spread her legs in invitation. Abruptly, giggles turned to keening when his insistent fingers drove inside her.
“Oh my God!” Anna panted as he rolled down the elastic top of her sundress and dove into her waiting breasts.
“Is that a prayer?” Rick turned his face away momentarily, and returned icy-eyed. His fangs dropped long and hungry. “Because I’ve been known to answer unholy prayers.”
Anna moaned. Rick’s sharp fangs glanced along one quivering breast, savoring her exquisite bouquet along with the glory of her surrender.
* * * *
Anna’s hand grew bold at the chance to caress his length through his fine trousers. Rick’s breath caught. His fangs pierced the velvet softness of her breast as his thumb danced on her clit. The hair-trigger of her climax roared within her as he drew in the full bloom of her blood. Anna’s hand reflexively gripped his pulsing erection and Rick’s hot climax met hers measure for measure.
The two of them rolled in dazed response to the limo’s turns and braking. Anna’s heart sank at the thought of leaving the shelter of his arms. They sighed with relief when the limo accelerated onto the freeway.
“You don’t play fair,” Rick whispered huskily, gazing down at her with a lopsided grin.
“I don’t play fair?” Anna’s eyes widened. “You’re the one with the buttons and zipper.”
Rick sighed regretfully. He sat upright, bringing her with him. Attentively, he dug for her scrapped panties and pocketed them.
Anna rolled up her strapless sundress, only her swollen lips betraying her newfound appetite. It was obvious they would soon be yanked out of their nest and back to reality. “Let me see the real you.” Her sweetly serious face turned up to Rick’s.
* * * *
Rick watched the limo pull into the C.G.I. portico. “Can you see the real me?” He averted his eyes, his feelings too raw. This is not the hour and place for that confession.
The car jarred to a stop, Player barked, rescuing him, and Anna clenched her teeth. Rick cast an irritated look at his driver and finished pulling himself together. He glanced at his watch in dismay. “Anna, I truly regret I have to leave you. I have a team waiting for me at Sterling’s house. You know I won’t dally.” He released her and stepped out of the limo.
Anna whimpered low in her throat and followed him out. “Player and I will wait up for you.”
“I have no idea what we’ll find at Gothorama, and I have to prepare for Colombia.” Rick smoothed the gathered frown across her brow. “Anna, I want another first time. One that won’t be interrupted.” Rick drew her bright hair behind her ear and left a kiss there.
“Yes, I want to be everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
“Aw, Cupcake, you are.”
Anna sucked in a sigh. They were suddenly bowled over by the insistent Rottweiler vying for their attention. The building doors opened and they followed the dog in.
“I’ll have Helen get you settled in your apartment tomorrow. You and Player will bunk up at my place tonight.”
“Will you kiss me goodbye before you leave for Colombia?” Anna nearly begged.
“I’ll be your wake-up kiss. How do you drink your coffee?” Before the elevator door opened, Rick caught Anna in a swooping embrace, bent her back over his arm and gave her a firmly definitive kiss.
The doors slid open and she and Player stepped into the elevator.
“Until morning.”
* * * *
It was 12:35 in the morning and a near moonless night. Rick threw the Hummer into park and listened as the engine ticked while it cooled. When all was silence again, he flipped the dome light off and opened the door, stepping from darkness into darkness. The alarm code Anna had given him was in his pocket; Rick pulled it out and headed to the front door. He nodded to the four responders tacking back and forth down the side of the mountain behind Sterling’s home. It took only moments to get to the back door and let them in.
“Just when you thought it was cool to be a vamp, you see this crap!” Rick gestured at the bizarre accouterments of the house.
The four vampires seemed appropriately aghast at the excess. “Bloody oath!” agreed Reggie, a vamp from down under. He shuddered, but looked about for anything of value.
Arne, their Viking vampire, raised his eyebrows nearly into his blonde hairline.
Rick turned to the two second-story men in the group. “Once we’re done, it needs to look like a standard home invasion. Got it? Until then, look for hidden compartments, secret rooms, loose floorboards. In fact, check that fireplace,” he pointed, “top to bottom. He had an extremely rare artifact hidden there.”
Each vamp struck out in different directions. Rick stood at the bookcase, thumbing through the journal he found earlier. The entries looked like notes and newspaper clippings made by Sterling’s grandfather. The writer had apparently met an exotic woman in Haiti who was mysterious, and had the bad luck to be in the vicinity of several murders.
Veronique? The time frame fits, and she wouldn’t hesitate to rip out a slayer’s throat.
On the last few pages, Sterling’s rambling impressions were an example of pathetic prose. Brett’s staking was noted there. Sterling has a new diary to break in, how unsettling. Rick was disappointed by the absence of a computer, though dust on the desktop outlined where a laptop had sat.
“Rick, I’ve got something!”
Rick followed Cary’s voice into a bedroom, where a gun safe the size of a refrigerator stood agape inside a closet. “This glass case is sealed.” Cary gestured to an item he carefully placed on the bed. “The documents inside must be ancient. I wouldn’t open it until you get into a museum-protected environment.”
Rick bent closer, peering at the leather cover with faded stamping. “These are the journals of Silvu Mares, Vampire Slayer, the year of our Lord 1699,” he read aloud. He straightened abruptly, seeking Cary’s reaction.
“Any more like this in the safe?”
Cary gestured his flashlight beam to reveal at least eight more archival document cases. “Want them all?”
“Take everything in the safe. Lawrence can sort it all later.”
Efficiently locating and packing up everything a crook might cart away, the four vampires worked silently while Rick returned to Sterling’s office. The trashcan overflowed with crumpled papers. Smoothing out the sheets, Rick discerned Sterling’s itinerary. Yeah, he was headed out of town for three weeks, but he wasn’t going on a cruise. Sterling was headed to Barranquilla, Colombia.
Rick’s curses became shouts at the name on the smudged itinerary: Carl Black. The bastard was related to Ramsey Black! Probably the dead slayer’s grandson. Why change his name? Sterling must have sounded more seductive to the local coeds.
Rick gathered the papers and tied up the bag of trash. Who knew what other confessions he would find printed on twenty-pound white paper?
“Those document cases need to go directly to the museum,” Lawrence advised, speaking in subtones to avoid waking the neighborhood. “I’ll review and record what I can before you leave town.” He loaded the last of the precious loot into the cargo area of the Hummer.
Rick rattled the car keys nervously. “Want a ride over, Larry?”
“Sure beats running behind the car!”
Rick looked at the others. “How about you fellows?”
Cary shook his head. “No, our van’s at the top of the hill.”
“Okay, gentlemen, I owe each of you. Drop by the club whenever you want.” In seconds, the street was as quiet as before they arrived.
Chapter 7
Lawrence pushed the cart bearing nine archival boxes to the Historical Documents Room. Rick felt faintly ridiculous in the Tyvek suit Lawrence insisted they we
ar—still, the preservation of the documents was paramount.
“Let’s begin by putting the journals in chronological order.” In the end, the journals spanned the years from 1699 to 1975.
“I already have the last journal, 1976 to present. It ended when Brett was staked.”
Larry stepped back and surveyed the cases. “This is a lot of material to review.”
Rick became uncharacteristically somber. “Will you please open the case containing 1740 to 1780?”
Larry shot him a surprised look. “Sure.” Larry handed Rick white cotton gloves after he unsealed the box. Rick stared at it, fearful of the revelations it might contain.
“Would you like some time alone?” Larry asked, moving toward the door.
Rick pulled out a stool and nodded. “That would be great.”
Alone with just the sound of the negative airflow, Rick opened the book to its center, finding the entry dated 1755, Hungary. It documented a series of slayings, possibly related to the Hapsburg dynasty. He and Tsura lived in Hungary at the time. Rick remembered the violence of the day well; it had prompted them to immigrate to Bologna, Italy. There, Rick passed as a physician, and Tsura as a midwife. They prospered within the growing medical education community until she was suspected of being a witch.
He read in the journal:
Fall, 25 October 1759. There come rumors and tales, told by mistrustful families, that infants born of barren mothers, who were prophesied to be stillborn, were delivered hale and hardy. The greater part of these infants having been delivered by a midwife known as Tsura Sylvestro, wife of the physician, Ricardo Sylvestro. These have been most reported in Bologna.
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