“To love is to accept all of the beloved; that which delights and that which despairs.” Augustus pushed me after Tristan. His being solid and me incorporeal proved no hindrance at all. It felt as if he pushed right through me, but I was shoved along anyway.
I pushed back. “I only like him as a ghost. I don’t care anything about his vampire side.”
The griffin herded me along, implacable as a border collie, apparently intent on my watching Tristan leech off some blood groupie.
I was getting pretty mad by now. “Gosh darn it, Augustus, I don’t want to!”
The hateful birdbrain said nothing. He nipped my hand, and though he left no damage to my ghostly form, I felt it. That beak was sharp. “Ouch! All right, all right, stop being so mean.”
I stomped after Tristan with as much bad grace as I could muster. As Augustus paced behind in my angry wake, I contemplated griffin wings in hot sauce with blue cheese dressing. I wondered if the hotel’s chef could pull that one off.
Prodded by the implacable Augustus, I followed Tristan into a room on the hotel’s ground floor. The vampire was too intent on what waited in the room to note Augustus as he shut the door between me and the griffin. And of course I remained invisible to him. I wondered how Tristan would feel if he knew Augustus wanted me to watch him feed.
Lit by a single art deco style lamp, the room appeared markedly different from the room Dan and I frequented. Rather than the ornate antiques that gave the atmosphere such opulence, this room was almost utilitarian. Double bed. Nightstand. Mirror. Dresser. Clean but very boring. The kind of room a business traveler would sleep in rather than some rich clod’s resort appointments.
It took me a moment to realize this room, like the ballroom, had been repurposed. I wasn’t looking at the hotel’s ghost. This was the physical world’s face.
Something else in the room gave me pause. A naked woman draped over the black duvet covering the bed. Her eyes glowed with anticipation as she watched Tristan move towards her.
The blond blood donor looked to be in her mid to late twenties, a little on the too-skinny side. Long and lanky, she waited for Fulton Fall’s head vampire, her hands fisting the bed’s cover as he loomed over her. Her eyes were wide, and she flicked her tongue over smiling lips. A couple of healing puncture wounds on her throat told me this wasn’t her first rodeo. She was a real blood bank, a vampire groupie.
Tristan smiled at her, his fangs shimmering into view as he let go the glamour that kept them hidden. My heart went to my stomach, but the bleeder whimpered an excited little sound. Her breathing quickened, and I couldn’t help but look. Moisture glistened on her inner thighs, confirming her arousal. Good God.
“So nice to see you again, Stephanie,” Tristan said. He unfastened his trousers as he bent close to press a kiss to her forehead.
She wasn’t too terribly ugly, I suppose … okay, Stephanie was pretty. However, her voice whined nasally, setting my teeth on edge. “I’m always glad to serve you, Mr. Keith.”
“Very sweet. Hush now,” Tristan murmured. I guess he didn’t care for that voice either.
His face hung so close to hers that his eyes must have filled her vision. I watched her gaze glaze over. She shuddered, another happy moan slipping from her lips. He glamoured her, taking her to a place of utter helplessness. I felt cold all over watching him steal her will away.
Tristan said, “It makes you happy to give yourself, Stephanie.” He pulled his half-interested sex free of his pants and lay over her slight body. “Turn your head, my girl. No pain, only pleasure.”
She obeyed, letting her head fall to one side. Her expression had gone somehow both blank and euphoric all at once. I shivered. Had I looked like that when the Ripper took me? Had I welcomed my death with the same quiet eagerness?
Tears slid down my cheeks. I didn’t want to see any more of this, but for some reason I couldn’t turn away. Maybe Tristan had inadvertently glamoured me too. Maybe not. All I knew was that I had no more power to look elsewhere than the girl under his spell.
He drove the pearly fangs into Stephanie’s throat, and she gasped. Her body arched beneath his, and she shrieked ecstasy. Peal after peal erupted from her, and she clawed furiously at Tristan’s back. I wondered if his shirt would survive the assault.
I gaped, my hands pressed to my ears to shut out some of the din. “Dang girl, they’re going to hear you in the next county. What are you doing to her, Tristan?”
The blood bank writhed in continued orgasm, her screams tapering to throaty moans. Between each expulsion of pleasure, I heard the liquid sucking sounds of Tristan feeding. He pulled hard at the wounds he’d made, his red-rimmed eyes half closed. His hand went between their bodies, readying himself for the first thrust into his donor. When he took her, she screamed with renewed climax.
He rammed against her, not gentle at all. All the finesse he’d used with me was decidedly missing. Tristan wasn’t making love, wasn’t even having intercourse. He flatout effed her, a monstrous vampire using a human to quench his most base hungers. And the bleeder enjoyed it.
I felt queasy. And, horribly, horribly turned on.
Stephanie’s arms slid from their death grip around his torso. Her eyes closed, and her cries dwindled to little whimpers. She lay still beneath the creature feeding on her now. Her eyes rolled over white, and her eyelids fluttered.
This was going bad fast. Despite knowing he couldn’t hear me, I said, “You better get off her, Tristan. She’s gonna die if you don’t quit.”
Still he drank and rutted, uncaring that he drained her. Killing her. Oh crap. He’d burn for this. “Come on, you darn vampire. Stop!”
I needed Augustus. Someone had to call a halt to it. Just as I was about to race to the door, Tristan’s head flung back, and his groan of completion filled the room. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, his fangs stained crimson. He jerked his hips a couple more times before pulling free of the too-quiet bleeder.
Shaking violently, I watched him put his cock back in his pants and button up. He took a square of gauze from the nightstand and pressed it to the girl’s neck. Her breathing was light, but she lived. She smiled slightly as he patted the top of her head and covered her up with the duvet.
Dizzy, I whispered, “Holy crap, this is messed up. And I’m messed up for liking it.” Indeed, I was wet. Despite my horror at the scene, my body responded.
Jeez, I thought I was just submissive. But part of me had wanted to be Tristan’s victim, drained almost to the point of death, and that went beyond mere submission.
“I gotta get outta here.” Too embarrassed to face Augustus, I transported myself back to the ballroom. I made it with no side trips. Yay me.
To my relief, Dan and Lana had returned. They had their heads together with Patricia and the dark, muscular wall that was Gerald. Even the sight of the Judge standing slightly apart, his expression as disapproving as ever, looked better than what I had just been exposed to.
Dan seemed really ticked when I appeared all by myself. “Where the hell did you go? And where’s Augustus?”
“Nice to see you too, Daddy.” I was so not in the mood to be yelled at. “Augustus thought it important I watch Tristan do his personal business.”
“What are you talking about? Vampires don’t go—” he stopped as realization eased his thunderous expression. “Oh, he wanted you to watch Tristan feed? What for?”
As much as I hated him jumping all over my case, I hated the hint of a pleased expression flickering in his eyes even more. Maybe he thought the disgusting sight of watching a vampire snacking put him ahead in the Brandilynn’s One and Only Lover Derby.
Keeping well out of Dan’s reach I grouched, “You ask the big birdbrain. I’m tired of trying to figure out his riddles.”
Tristan and Augustus entered Para Central. Tristan looked furious. Augustus appeared worried, but he visibly relaxed when his golden eyes lit on me. His sigh came out with a chirp. “The lost is found and I thank the
stars for leading her back.”
If Dan played the angry parent, then Augustus was the disappointed one. His gentle rebuke and the relief on his face to see me safe made me instantly contrite. I hung my head. “I’m sorry Augustus, but that scene was high on the ‘eww’ factor. I had to get out of there fast.”
Augustus came right up to me and rested his head on the top swell of my breasts. He curled a paw around my thighs, his claws carefully sheathed. I don’t know how many people are gifted with a griffin’s hug, but I had a feeling it was pretty darn rare. He’d really been upset, and I wondered what I’d done to earn his care. I vowed to myself then and there to not disappoint Augustus again.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my cheek on the top of his feathered head. “I really, sincerely apologize, Augustus.”
After a moment, he stepped back. He sat at my side, his feathered and furred bulk warm against me. I’d apparently been forgiven.
Tristan paused to glare at the griffin with undisguised coldness. When Augustus stared unblinkingly back, no hint of remorse in his attitude, the vampire turned his back and went to his desk. He sat down and flicked an imperious hand at those who awaited his attention.
Lana and Patricia sat in the chairs the two FBI agents had parked in earlier. Gerald stood behind Patricia. The Judge came forward, still keeping slightly apart from the rest.
Tristan addressed Lana first. “Did you find the newest victim?”
She shook her head tiredly. “Just the body. Its condition conforms to the earlier victims. The Ripper has moved to escorts apparently.”
“Her spirit was nowhere to be found then?” Tristan’s irritability was replaced with despair. For a moment he looked almost human.
Lana shook her head again. “Dan also checked her home address. Nothing. She apparently moved on.”
“Is Dan here now?”
“Yes.”
Tristan got back to business, his vampire coldness in place once more. “The library has been warded with as many protection spells as protect the hotel. Brandilynn should be safe there from Erica and her friends.”
He turned his attention to the big werepanther. “Any luck on that front?”
Gerald’s triangular nose wrinkled and his fangs appeared in a show of frustration. “The witch hasn’t been found. The weres all have their noses to the ground but we haven’t located her. No doubt she’s spelling her scent to keep hidden. Also, her last known address has been abandoned for months.”
Tristan’s hands tightened into fists momentarily before his control re-asserted itself. “Lovely. Coming up empty on all fronts.”
The Judge’s gorgeous baritone eased through the dejected group. “I may have something, Tristan. There are reports of an unknown vampire around the Okefenokee Park in Waycross. With your permission, I’d like to spend a few days investigating this lead.”
Dan and I exchanged an excited look. The Okefenokee Swamp was located one county over. The protected wetland sat close enough for the killer to find Fulton Falls a convenient hunting ground. And its vast, wild expanse would be a great hiding place. Finding the Ripper in the huge park would be difficult in the extreme for human law enforcement. But a vampire of the Judge’s age and wisdom might have a chance.
Tristan finally had a reason to look pleased. “Excellent, Judge. Good work. Use whatever resources you need.” He considered a moment before adding, “Catching the Ripper is of paramount importance, but I would like you in town for the coming press conference if possible. A united front on that issue is essential.”
The Judge bowed. “I will make all efforts to be available.” A rare smile quirked his death’s head features. “I have great interest in how it goes.”
“Friday then. And again, my deepest appreciation for your hard work.”
The Judge gave him another slight bow and swept out, his cape flapping behind him like a crow’s wings.
The moment he left the room, Patricia visibly relaxed. “Good. I’m safe to be female again.”
Tristan snorted a quick laugh. “His personality leaves much to be desired, doesn’t it dear? But he gets things done and he does them well. He hasn’t allowed his dislike of the vile race of women to impede his investigations.”
Patricia wasn’t amused in the least. “That’s the only reason I put up with him. Otherwise I would have staked him to the ground and left him for the sun years ago.”
Her glamour disappeared, leaving her red-eyed, fanged, and completely bestial. Even during his feed, Tristan hadn’t looked so inhuman. I couldn’t help but gasp at the display.
Dan turned to me. “Ready to go, Brandilynn?”
“You’d better believe it.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Patricia as she stalked back to her desk, Gerald in her wake. She’d recovered her semblance of civilization, but I knew I wouldn’t be fooled by that face again. I’d seen the manipulator hidden behind the curtain, and Oz would never be the same.
I took Dan’s hand and let him do the driving.
Chapter Thirteen
We arrived at the library, and I immediately flopped in a most unladylike fashion onto the sofa with a weary sigh. I wasn’t physically exhausted; after all I wasn’t physical anymore. But in my mind and heart, I was a battered soul.
A witch wanted to catch me and hand me over to the monster who had killed me. My safety lay in the hands of bloodsucking fiends. I’d disappointed Augustus. Two men I really liked played a barely polite version of one-upsmanship. And one of those men spent half his time chewing on young, nubile maidens.
Dan sat next to me and proceeded to make my mood worse. “So you watched Tristan feed. Did it bother you?”
I shot him a look. Well duh, Sherlock. When he didn’t react but remained by my side waiting patiently for a response, I finally growled, “Watching other people have vampire sex is not my idea of a fun evening.”
“You’re kind of prudish for a woman who likes BDSM, sold sexual favors while you were alive, and refuses to have a monogamous relationship.” Dan’s mouth twitched.
If he started laughing, I would hurt him. “Why can’t I be a good person and still have kinky sex?”
He sobered, perhaps finally recognizing I was in a foul temper. After a moment, he put his arm on the back of the sofa behind me. At least he was smart enough to not touch me this second. “I never said you weren’t a good person, Brandilynn. You are very confusing however.”
“Of course I am. You are a mere man, and men don’t get women.”
Dan raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re more perplexing than most, baby girl. You had sex for money in life, but you act like someone killed a kitten when they use profanity. And seeing someone else have sex has you all squeamish.”
I got madder, but I wasn’t sure why. I needed him to back off in the worst way. “Well, I’m sorry my being a whore doesn’t jibe with the rest of the picture. If I bother you so much, it’s a big room. You can go to the other end of it.”
Dan’s face darkened, and now he was mad too. He seized me by the shoulders and made me face him. The show of strength made something in me wobble, and I inwardly cursed the submissive in me that got stupid every time he went Tarzan, King of the Library.
The dangerous note in his voice made me go very still. “I killed a man, so stop thinking I’m throwing stones. Damn – darn it Brandilynn, I’m not one to be sitting in judgment over you. I’m just trying to figure out what makes you tick.”
And there it was, the cocktail that turns me giddy every time. Concern mixed liberally with strength. Dang him.
I sighed, knowing I’d lost this battle. I adjusted his collar and smoothed his rumpled hair. “I can tell you a sad story about how my parents wouldn’t let me live my own life until I’d do anything to escape them. How they withheld love when I didn’t do things their way. I can put on my pathetic face and cry over the fiancée who broke off our engagement as soon as I let him in my pants. No doubt those issues had a hand in making me who I am, but let’s be honest s
hall we? After all, I’m dead and there’s no point in lying about my life.”
Dan eased his grip on my shoulders and rubbed up and down my arms. His voice a soft rumble, he said, “There’s nothing wrong with honesty.”
I smiled, unable to help myself. Dan was just too yummy to stay mad at. “Fine then. First thing. I don’t trust men, not enough to hitch my cart up to one for a long period of time. I got burned bad, and I can’t make myself feel better about it. Second point; I love sex. Especially kinky sex. It feels good with the right guy and I’m not going to apologize for wanting to do it or making a few bucks doing what I enjoy.”
Dan nodded. He didn’t look disgusted. He was dealing with the worst of me. Gold stars for him. “Third point?”
Netherworld: Drop Dead Sexy Page 18
