“Gregor’s been tweaking out wanting to blood track Asher down, and I would have been so glad to have you here being all calm and suave and Luca-like, because Gregor’s driving me batshit.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Luca chuckled, and since he’d been less than pleased about her hiring Gregor instead of asking him for help, she wasn’t surprised when there was more than a little vindictive victory in the sound. She knew he and Gregor had come to a détente over her protection, but Luca clearly didn’t like the woman he loved preferring anyone to him. In his place, she would have felt the same, so she didn’t harass him about it.
“We’re wrapping up here. I’m having Gregor drive me home in a minute.”
“Hmm. That’s a long day for you. I think a massage is in order.” His voice had dropped to a purr and she felt her body clench in response.
“I’m looking forward to it.” The huskiness in her tone didn’t surprise her, nor did the low groan that he gave in response. Oh yeah. They were going to have fun tonight. “See you soon. Bye.”
When she hung up the phone, the door opened and Tina popped back in to grab her purse. “I’m heading out for the night.”
“Great. Thanks so much for staying late and helping with the dishes.”
“See you mañana.” Tina’s smile was wide and bright, and she stood there in the doorway as if expecting Erin to say or do something else. Was it Tina’s birthday? Had she forgotten? Hell, she didn’t know. Her feet hurt from standing all day, and she just wanted to go home to a massage from Luca. Call her a bad boss, but whatever Tina looked so expectant about would have to wait until tomorrow.
Erin turned away, intent on finding Gregor and leaving. “All right, see ya.”
A soft scrape sounded, as if Tina had picked up one of the heavy pans that were lying out to dry on the counter. Sudden suspicion hit Erin—maybe because of Luca’s warning, maybe her own instincts coming to the fore—and she glanced back.
Too late.
“Thanks for coming. We can wrap things up tomorrow.” With that, Luca all but shoved the last security consultant out of his house. It was very late, and he was sure the man needed to be home with his family, or anywhere but here. Luca breathed a sigh of relief when the consultant’s taillights disappeared down the street.
The relief didn’t last long.
His shoulders twitched. It was as if his skin were crawling with ants, an itching, stinging sensation that hadn’t let up all day. He’d checked in with Gregor multiple times, had texted Erin twice and even spoken to her, but something was wrong. He couldn’t say what. Calling the office had revealed nothing unexpected and his family was fine. Where this feeling was coming from, he didn’t know, but it hung over him like a cloud. Normally when he felt like this, something big was going to happen, usually with a case he was working on, and it was never good. But at least he was prepared. He’d never had this level of flare up with no clue where it was coming from or why.
His phone rang and Gregor’s number popped up on the screen. The sight of it made Luca’s blood run ice cold. His fingers actually trembled when he tapped the button to answer. “Hello?”
“They have Erin.” Gregor’s voice sounded like gravel in a blender, self-loathing so thick it was hard to listen to. “Her head waitress, Tina Dickson, snatched her out the back door and Asher took off with them in a car. I’m following now, far enough back that they haven’t seen me yet.”
Rage ripped through Luca, making him feel like his skin was so hot it might split. He kept a grip on his temper by the very tips of his extended talons, refusing to lambast Gregor because he’d been responsible for watching Erin and now she was gone. The important thing now was getting her back alive and in one piece. Arguing would accomplish none of that. Luca’s heart pounded, white-hot wrath pumping through his system, though his voice emerged deadly calm. “Where are you?”
“Heading south on I-5.” There was a slight pause. “I think they’re taking her to Tina’s place. The address in her file was in White Center.”
Luca had been over every detail of every personnel file, committing them to memory. “47 Roxbury Lane.”
“Meet me there. I’ll call again if we veer off course.” The line went dead.
It was happening again.
Another woman he loved in peril, and he was helpless to stop it. They could have killed her already. He tried to force down that thought, but it refused to be smothered. If they’d wanted her dead, they didn’t have to kidnap her to do it. Right there in her own kitchen would have sufficed. He stomach pitched and roiled. The work that he did made it harder to cling to hope. Situations like this weren’t just something he saw on television. He knew firsthand the kind of damage an angry, obsessed vampire could do to a human. Humans were so much more defenseless than they’d ever know. Another reason most Normals never knew anything.
They’d have good reason to be scared.
Balthasar appeared out of thin air on the table in his entryway, dropping an invisibility spell. The cat was good. Luca hadn’t even sensed him.
A memory resurfaced, of another night just like this one, of an invisibility spell that had gotten him to the scene of a crime far too late. The night Tess had been Changed. The night the terrorists had gotten the drop on him and he’d almost lost so many good people.
He eyed his familiar. “Can you make us both invisible for, say, twenty full minutes?”
The cat yowled, leapt into his arms, and they went transparent.
Thank gods. Thank gods. Any edge he could find, he’d take.
Letting loose the deepest, most feral part of his soul, he threw his head back and hissed. His fangs slid forward to their full, deadly length. Shrugging out of his jacket, he let the half-shift take him, consume him, rip through his body until there was nothing but an ecstatic agony. His muscles jerked as they began to elongate and twist. Wings erupted from his back, jointed like those of a giant bat. The urge to complete a full shift, to turn into a vampire bat, tried to take him, but he controlled it ruthlessly. He’d fly faster in half-shifted form.
And he needed speed, but he couldn’t allow himself to be seen while flying. That was where Balthasar’s invisibility spell came into play. Luca held the familiar tight, stepped out onto his porch, and launched himself skyward in a great rush of air under his wings.
How could this be happening again? How? He’d been so careful, done everything to protect her, but it was his nightmare all over again. Trying to save a woman who was beyond his reach, praying and racing against a ruthless clock that never turned in his favor.
He had to try. Giving up now would be like stopping his own heart, demanding that his lungs cease breathing. It was life and death on the line.
His life, her death.
Chapter Sixteen
Pain throbbed through Erin’s skull and opening her eyes sent sickening waves of nausea rolling through her. She fought to stay alert though. Something told her it was important not to sleep again. She blinked hard and the world wobbled and shifted in front of her. When it finally snapped into focus, she almost lost her battle with the nausea.
She was tied to a chair in the middle of a nondescript kitchen, but that wasn’t what sent terror sluicing straight down her spine.
No, that was Asher Kondan, smiling with all the serene benevolence of a priest on Sunday.
“You’re awake.”
The voice drew her attention to the doorway of the kitchen. Tina. A woman who had worked for her and beside her for years. Even the horror of her circumstances didn’t stop the knife of hurt and betrayal that cut to the quick. “You helped him stalk me. You’re the one who vandalized my car while he was in the hospital.”
Tina smiled as if she’d been praised. “We all go out on a limb sometimes for the men we love.”
The look she gave Asher was hot enough to melt stone, and Erin glanced away as revulsion hit her. “You carved ‘Normal bitch’ into my car door. You’re not supposed to know what Normal means unless th
e All-Magickal Council gave permiss—”
“That’s enough.” Asher sliced through the conversation, strongly indicating that he’d illegally clued Tina in on magic. It probably shouldn’t be shocking if he’d stoop to stalking and kidnapping, but it was. The Council took magical disclosure seriously and the penalties were steep for breaking those laws. Asher cupped his hand around the back of Tina’s head. His stared into her eyes, the corners of his eyes burning red. “Tina is faithful to me.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I would do anything for you, my love.”
His fingers fisted in her hair, pulling her head back until her neck bent at an awkward angle. His gaze never left hers. “She understood what needed to happen, even if I was incapacitated.”
“Incapacitated by a cosmetic treatment?” Erin hiked an eyebrow. She didn’t miss the momentary glazed look on Tina’s face before she favored Asher with an adoringly sycophantic stare.
The truth slammed into her. Tina was being mesmerized, doing what Asher wanted because he controlled her mind. Holly said most Magickals could block that vampiric ability, and strong-willed Normals could resist it, but Tina seemed to have fallen prey. A chill went down Erin’s spine. Any chance she might have had to appeal to Tina to help her out of this had just gone out the window. She was facing Asher squared.
He ignored her comment about his elective transfusion, a gentle smile on his face. “Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’ve been up to, Erin. I’ve seen you with that Italian jackass. For a year I’ve put up with your cheating, but I’ve had enough.”
“I broke up with you a year and a half ago, Asher. I even have a restraining order against you. It’s over. Move on.” She met his gaze, felt a tingle in the nape of her neck as he tried to mesmerize her, but she fought it. No, he would not override her will—make her think she wanted him again. She wanted Luca. She needed to stay strong until he—and Gregor—managed to find her. They’d blood track this asshole and they’d come and get her. Lifting her chin, she glared at him. “We are done, Kondan. I’m in love with Luca.”
It was a painful pinch to the heart to realize she’d managed to say to Asher what she couldn’t say to Luca.
There was a flash of terrifying rage in Asher’s gaze that made her sink back in the chair as far as she could. Then his placid smile was back, and his voice took on a singsong quality. “I understand you’re not thinking clearly because he fed you all kinds of lies. He doesn’t want you like I do. He never will.” He moved toward her, Tina beside him, and it took every ounce of Erin’s courage not to cringe or try to get away. Tied to a chair, there was nowhere for her to go. He hunkered down beside her. “When you tried to leave me, I understood that you were just scared to take our relationship to the next level. It’s all right to be nervous. I wish you would have talked to me about it instead of turning to someone else.”
There had been a good six-month gap between when she’d broken up with Asher and when she’d begun her affair with Luca, but Mr. Crazy didn’t seem to have any better grasp on time than he did on sanity.
He stroked a feather-light caress down her cheek and neck. “You’re going to have to be punished for what you did.” Erin caught the triumphant smile forming on Tina’s countenance, as if she relished the idea of Asher inflicting pain on Erin. “Maybe then I can forgive you and we can move forward with our relationship.”
Realization dawned across Tina’s expression, the understanding that Asher wasn’t just out for revenge against Erin—he wanted her back. And where did that leave Tina? The killing look on her face was even more terrifying than the creepy calm of Asher’s monologue.
Cold sickness coated the pit of Erin’s belly, and bile rose to burn her throat. Panic closed around her, darkened the sides of her vision. There was no way to talk sense into these people. The truth was irrelevant. Considering what they might do to her was too horrifying to dwell on, so she forced herself to breathe. In. Out. Steady and calm. Luca was coming. Luca wouldn’t leave her to these nutcases’ mercy. Luca loved her. He would never stand aside and let anything bad happen to her.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, and she blinked them back, but there was no way to stop the way her heart squeezed. She should have told Luca how she felt. Nothing was more important than that. Not species or magic or even family. Love trumped prejudice and political bullshit. Why hadn’t she seen that before? What if he didn’t get here in time, and the knowledge that she loved him with every ounce of her soul died with her?
Asher’s fingers curled into the neckline of her shirt, snapping her attention back to the frightening present. Her heart tripped and slammed against her breastbone. She wished she could control her reaction, because the vampire would be able to sense it. Sweat broke out on her forehead, cold and clammy.
“I bet you didn’t know that blood magic can be used for more than just sexual pleasure, did you?” His expression was tender, a sharp contrast to his words, to the deadly points of his talons pressing against her flesh.
Everything in her recoiled from Asher using what had been so precious with Luca to harm her. No. God, no. She gritted her teeth to fight a sob. Resistance was pointless. She couldn’t escape, couldn’t defend herself. She was helpless against him, and even if she wasn’t, it was two against one. But it wasn’t in her to passively take what he dished out. She took a breath and collected herself. The only way she had left to fight was with words, so she met his gaze squarely and smiled. “Go fuck yourself, you pathetic, dickless piece of shit. You’re half the vampire and a tenth of the man Luca is. And he’s better in bed.”
Flinching as if she’d slapped him, Asher hissed. “I’ll make you forget he ever existed.”
“You’ll have to kill me first.” Her words were flat truth. She didn’t want to die, but forgetting Luca wasn’t possible.
“I think we’ll need this.” He pulled out a long, thin strip of cloth. Before she could register what he was doing, he’d shoved it into her mouth and tied it behind her head. Tight. He patted her shoulder. “We wouldn’t want to disturb the neighbors.”
And she was the idiot who hadn’t tried to scream already. Fuck.
Asher ripped the neck of her shirt down to expose her shoulder and bared his fangs. He lunged forward and sank them into her jugular. Pain exploded within her, and she choked on a shout. She jerked, her body struggling to escape without any direction from her mind. The ties around her ankles bit into her flesh, her wrists chafed. Weak, shaking, she watched him throw his head back, her thoughts growing fuzzy.
“Ah,” he sighed. “I’d forgotten how sweet you taste, how intense your energy could be.”
His gaze glowed red, and she watched her own blood dribble from the corner of his mouth. Licking his lips to catch a lingering drop, he shuddered. Erin’s stomach heaved when she saw how the front of his pants tented. God, he’d gotten hard from hurting her. She didn’t even want to think about what that meant—what that could mean for her very near future.
The way his fangs flashed when he smiled made her fists clench tight behind her, her body bracing for what would come. She tried to focus, to stay conscious, but there was only so much blood he could take before that wouldn’t be possible. She was trapped like a rabbit, her heart pounding, waiting for a predator to swoop in for the kill. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of how long he would toy with his prey first. He might claim he wanted her back—that he wanted a relationship—but she couldn’t give him what he wanted. That meant at some point, he’d grow tired of the game and end it. Whether Luca and Gregor got here before then was another question entirely.
She blinked, found that a few moments had passed without her awareness. Tina was leaning in to look at the puncture wounds on her neck. The vicious glee on her face was so foreign Erin blinked again. Tina wasn’t vicious. She was Erin’s friend. It didn’t make sense. Then she remembered the mesmerizing. Her senses swam as reality warped.
Asher pushed Tina away, but she clung to his arm. “Yo
u can’t want her, Asher. I love you. She doesn’t. She cheated on you. Just kill her and get it over with, then we can be together.” Her voice rose hysterically. “I love you! What about me?”
Backhanding her sent her reeling across the kitchen until she slammed sideways into the counter. She crumpled, clutching her ribs, but her gaze was still adoring when she looked at Asher. She was completely under his spell.
Seizing Erin by the hair, he jerked her head around and back. Her scalp burned, her neck muscles protesting the awkward angle. His red-glowing gaze locked with hers, and her lungs froze as his power gripped her. Blood magic. She tried to resist its insidious pull, but he’d consumed enough of her blood that she was too weak to fight anything. He roughly fondled her breast before he slapped his palm over her heart. It skipped a beat, syncing her pulse with his.
The sense of violation was total, consuming. He’d taken what she wasn’t willing to give, what she only ever wanted Luca to have. At the moment when pleasure should have coursed through her being, what she felt was tearing, searing agony engulf her.
Behind the gag, a scream ripped out of her, the sound almost inhuman. She snapped up in a hard arc, fighting like the trapped, wounded animal she was. The bonds around her ankles and wrists sliced through her flesh, and blood filled her shoes and dripped down her fingers. The chair rocked under the force of her struggles, and Asher leaned in to hold it down.
“Do you still remember him?” His gaze turned red from iris to edge, glowing like hot coals.
The captivating pull of his mesmerization dragged across her mind. There was only Asher. She would give him anything, do anything, be anything if it pleased him. No one else mattered. She swayed toward him, and the pain in her bound wrists brought a tiny niggle of reality back. Luca’s face filled her thoughts. Luca laughing, Luca passionate, Luca angry and frustrated and protective and possessive. Luca loving her. He wouldn’t want her to give in—to give up. But he wasn’t the only one. Darren and Angela, Holly and Jack and Selina. People who loved her and who she loved in return.
Edge of Night Page 30
