by AJ Myers
For a second he just stood there and looked at me, and I felt my cheeks heating up. He probably thought I was off my meds or something. Hell, if someone had told me that story I would have been calling in the men in the little white coats. I wondered if that was what he was thinking when he turned around and looked behind him—probably wondering if he could make it back to his Jeep before the crazy chick in front of him could attack—then slowly turned back around to face me.
“Was the poor bloke dead before you ran over him?” he asked with a very solemn expression, taking me by surprise.
“Yeah,” I answered, honestly. “Well, kind of.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair, looking nervous. “In that case, why don’t you leave his car right there and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Go? Uh…no. My parents might have been the worst parents in history when it came to the whole love and affection thing, but they had at least raised me with a little common sense. I wasn’t about to climb into a car with someone I didn’t know! Only an idiot would do that!
But you did that very thing only a few hours ago, a depressed sounding voice said in the back of my mind.
Yeah, and that had turned out so well for me, hadn’t it?
“No offense, but I don’t know you from Adam,” I told him, chewing on my lip. I thought I should probably exhaust any other options before I just rode away into the moonlight with him. “Look, let me borrow your phone. I’ll call the cops and tell them where I am. Seriously, I really don’t think you want to get involved in the drama-fest my life has become. You do have a phone, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I have a phone,” he said. I felt a little smidgen of hope flare in my chest that died pretty quick when he started shaking his head. “Unfortunately, the battery’s dead.”
Of course it was.
“Look, we really need to get out of here before your boyfriend shows up,” he said, reaching out like he was going to take my arm. I immediately backed up.
“Which one?” I asked when he frowned at me. “The vampire? Or the demon?”
“Bloody hell! There’s a demon, too?” he asked, laughing shakily. “You’ve been busy pissing off all the wrong people, haven’t you, beautiful?”
I just stared at him. Most people would have been running in the other direction in case my insanity was contagious. Not this guy, though. He hadn’t even blinked when I admitted to being chased by not one but two mythical monsters. He looked nervous, don’t get me wrong, but given the way his eyes were darting around, peering into the darkness surrounding us, I didn’t think it had anything to do with worrying about my sanity.
“You actually believe me, don’t you?” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears.
“Of course I do,” he told me, frowning. “Why wouldn’t I?”
He took another step toward me, and I backed up again, nearly toppling over into the trunk. He reached out to grab my arm to keep me on my feet, and I suddenly forgot why I was trying to get away from him. His hand was very warm, almost hot, and that heat soaked through my sweater and seemed to spread through me like wildfire, easing the chill that had taken hold of me. But that wasn’t what turned me into a human statue, unable to even shake his hand off. No, what shocked me so much that all I could do was stare up at him was the fact that I suddenly felt…safe.
“You’re a bandraoi,” he gasped, bringing me back to reality with a thud, “A real, true to goodness blood witch.”
Yep, and we were back to that.
“No, I’m not,” I told him, shaking my head vigorously.
“Yes, you are,” he said, giving me an impressed look that made me feel really self-conscious. “Do you have any idea…?”
His voice trailed off and he shook his head, looking at me like he was in awe. I decided then and there that he was as delusional as Nathan. Seriously, I didn’t get how either one of them could think I was a witch. Witches were powerful, weren’t they? I sure as hell didn’t feel very powerful. Scared? Confused? Exhausted? Yeah, those I had down. Powerful? Not so much.
“I need to get you out of here,” Tyler said softly, staring down at me with way too much intensity. “Let me help you. You can trust me. I swear.”
A pleasant tingling sensation raced through me when his hand slid down my arm to wrap around mine. It wasn’t that intense electrical surge that Nathan’s touch produced, but something sweet and gentle and warm. Just like him.
“She doesn’t need your help,” a cold, menacing voice said from out of the darkness behind Tyler. “But if you don’t get your hands off her right now, you’re definitely going to need some help.”
My would-be hero whirled around, pushing me behind him at the same time, just as Nathan stepped out of the shadows of a nearby tree and started sauntering toward us like he had all night. And he did not look happy. His clothes were filthy and his jeans were ripped. I stared at the blood staining one leg and felt a flood of guilt in the pit of my stomach. When I lifted my eyes to his and saw the furious glow in them, I gulped and tried to make myself as small as possible behind the strong, male body shielding me.
“Doesn’t need my help, huh? I’m afraid we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that one,” Tyler said calmly, reaching back to pull me closer to him when Nathan snarled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look all that stable right now, mate.”
“I wasn’t asking for your agreement,” Nathan growled, taking another threatening step in our direction as Tyler started backing us toward his Jeep. “I’m only going to say this once, so I suggest you listen. You’re standing between me and something that’s mine. That won’t end well for you.”
His? He had to be talking about his pretty toy of a car because he sure as hell couldn’t be talking about me. I didn’t belong to him or anyone else. God! Why did everybody keep claiming me like I was a piece of lost luggage or something? Had these apes never heard of feminism?
“We’re not standing in your way,” Tyler said, waving his free hand at the car like he’d read my mind. “I even changed your tire for you. So why don’t you go your way, we’ll go ours, and nobody has to get hurt here.”
“I wasn’t talking about the car and you damned well know it,” Nathan said, his voice so chilly that I shivered. “Last warning, hero. Move.”
“Damn,” Tyler grumbled under his breath. “Why do vampires always have to do things the hard way? All right, beautiful, here’s the plan. When I move you run for the Jeep. The keys are in the ignition. Get out of here as fast as you can. I’ll catch up later.”
“If you run from me again, love, you’re going to force me to do more than just beat your little champion here to death. Please, don’t try me,” Nathan snapped, piercing me with a look so lethal that I felt my heart stop.
“He’s bluffing,” Tyler said, using his body to push me toward the door. “He won’t do it.”
“Am I?” Nathan asked, never taking his eyes off me.
No, he wasn’t. If I ran, he would kill Tyler. I swallowed hard against the tears that filled my eyes when I realized he hadn’t really given me any choices at all. Tyler hadn’t done anything but stop to help someone who needed it. I couldn’t let him die for that. I would never be able to live with myself if I did.
“Bloody hell,” Tyler muttered when I started pulling away from him.
Before I could blink, he was gone. Dropping his head like a football player, he charged at Nathan and hit him dead in the stomach with his shoulder, lifting him off his feet and carrying him back into the shadows. I heard a bone-jarring thud as they hit the tree Nathan had been hiding under—and then watched in fascinated horror as the tree went over like it had just been hit with a wrecking ball.
I stood there for what seemed like an eternity trying to figure out what to do. I could run, but then Nathan might really kill Tyler. But, if I stayed, he was probably going to kill me. The sound of fists pounding flesh finally decided my fate, and I ra
n after the two of them, determined to do whatever I could to help Tyler.
When I skidded to a stop, I decided I was too late for that. Nathan had Tyler pinned against another tree and he was beating the living crap out of him. I didn’t even think about what I was doing when I sprinted toward them, my only thought to help a guy who had tried so hard to help me. When Nathan swung his arm back to deliver another punch to the pulp that had been Tyler’s handsome face only minutes before, I grabbed hold of it and held on tight.
“Stop it!” I screamed when he fought against my hold. “Damn it, Nathan! You’re killing him!”
He froze, and the way his head turned toward me reminded me of a scene from The Exorcist. But it was the totally emotionless look on his face that scared the hell out of me. It was like he didn’t know who I was and really didn’t care. At that moment, all I was to him was the person standing in his way. Considering the last person to be that stupid was hanging limply from one of his big hands while I hung off the other one to keep him from killing him, in his way was somewhere I really didn’t want to be.
“Please, Nathan,” I begged as tears streamed down my cheeks. “I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt him anymore. Please.”
Without looking away from me, he let Tyler drop at his feet and slowly lowered the arm I was holding onto. Letting go of his hand, I dropped to my knees next to Tyler. Fearing the worst, I reached out to check his pulse with fingers shaking so much I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find it even if he had one—which I seriously doubted. Before I could reach him, though, Nathan’s hand closed around my arm and I was pulled back to my feet.
“Let me see if he’s alive!” I yelled as he started dragging me back toward the car.
“He is,” he said woodenly.
“We have to call 911!” I pulled against his grip on my arm, but he just kept walking. “Did you hear me, Nathan?! We have to get him some help!”
“He’ll survive,” he said shortly, not even slowing down. “Your friend there isn’t as delicate as you think he is.”
Totally ignoring my begging and pleading, he opened the passenger side door of his car and practically shoved me into the seat. I curled myself as far away from him as possible when he got in on the driver’s side, but he didn’t so much as look in my direction. For a long, heart-stopping second, he just sat there and stared out the windshield. Then, with a shake of his head, he cranked the car and jerked the wheel around to make a U-turn back the way I had come, spewing up a cloud of gravel and dust in his wake.
I immediately turned to look for any sign that Tyler might have regained consciousness, but there was nothing out my window but shadows. How long would he lay there before someone found his Jeep and decided to look for him? Hours? Days? Would he ever really recover? The beating he had taken would have killed most people, but Nathan had said he was still alive. That had a very broad definition in my opinion. Seriously, living as a vegetable wasn’t a life as far as I was concerned. And for what? Because he’d been sweet enough to stop and help someone stranded on the side of the road. I guess that old saying really is true. No good deed goes unpunished.
“Ember, he’ll be fine,” Nathan said softly when I started crying again, but there was an unmistakable edge to his voice. “He’s just out of commission for a couple of days, that’s all. He’ll heal and be good as new in less than a week.”
“Yeah, right,” I snapped, giving him a glare so hot it should have reduced him to smoking cinders right there in his seat. “Nobody recovers from a beating like that in a week. Actually, most people don’t recover from it at all, you fucking bully!”
“He will.” I saw a tiny flicker of regret flash in his eyes when he turned and saw the way I was making a point to put as much distance between us as I could. “He’s not what you think he is, Ember. No human could have gotten the drop on me the way he did.”
“Is that why you nearly beat him to death?” I asked coldly. “You beat a guy into a coma because he took you by surprise?”
“No,” he said, turning back to the road. “No, that’s not why I lost control the way I did. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
I glared at him for another full minute, waiting for him to say something else. When I realized I’d gotten all the explanation for his behavior I was going to get, I turned away with a sound of disgust. I put up with the uncomfortable silence between us for as long as I could before I reached for the stereo. The song that blasted forth was a happy tune, one of those songs you listen to when nothing in the world is going right and you need a pick-me-up. Therefore, I found it irritating and hit the first button my finger landed on, breathing a sigh of relief when the station changed. Ah, there we go. Screaming lyrics and a pounding bass line. Perfect.
And what does the brainless vampire do? He calmly reaches over and turns it off.
“I wish you would talk to me,” he said sadly, trying to catch my eye. “I said I was sorry, Em. What more do you want?”
“I don’t want anything from you except a ride home.” He gave me another sad look and I looked away quickly. “How much longer until we get where we’re going?”
“A couple of days.” I could almost hear the wince in his voice as he said that. My head snapped around and I gaped at him in horror.
“Days? A couple of days? Where the hell are you taking me? Mars?”
“Washington,” he said, averting his eyes.
It may as well have been Mars. I had spent every summer in Washington with my grandmother until I was ten years old. That trip to the West Coast had always seemed like a trip to the moon to me.
“And what’s in Washington?” I demanded.
“A friend…or, she was my friend until she set me up to fail because she thinks she knows what’s best for everybody,” he said, his voice dropping to a growl. “Now, I’m thinking of killing her. Right after she makes sure you’re safe, that is.”
I arched an eyebrow at him but decided to leave that one alone. Instead, I turned back to the window and did my best to pretend he didn’t exist. I didn’t succeed—mostly due to the fact that his amazingly seductive scent was all I could smell—but I tried.
“Em, please—” he began when the silence got to be so loud it was almost deafening in the little car.
“Save it,” I muttered, cutting him off. “Honestly, Nathan, I think we’ve said all we need to say.”
He muttered something under his breath that sounded a whole lot like “We haven’t even gotten started yet” as I leaned back, wishing for the miles to disappear. That’s what he thought. As far as I was concerned, we were beyond done.
After an hour of nothing but silence, however, I was bored stupid. What I wouldn’t have given for my phone right that second. I could have played a game or surfed the Internet.
Or, even better, I could have sent Kim a text to let her know the Prince Charming she had found for me was nothing but a toad with nice ass.
Motel Madness
The clock on the dash read just after one in the morning when Nathan finally slowed down and turned into the brightly lit parking lot of a hotel. I looked at the building for a second, then turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow in question.
“You look exhausted, and if I show up with you half-dead, my friend isn’t going to be very happy,” he explained in response to my ‘Are you kidding me?’ look.
“Just who is this friend of yours?” I asked. If she was one of his girlfriends, I might have to kill myself. “She must be some kind of badass if you’re afraid of her.”
“Wary,” he said with a mysterious little smile. “Wary, not afraid. Let’s just say I’d simply prefer not to get on her bad side if I can help it.”
“No, you save all your more charming behavior for me,” I grumbled. “Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special, Nathan.”
“Nate,” he corrected, “And I haven’t even begun to show you how charming I can be, Ember.”
“I think I’ve had about all of your ‘charm’ I ca
n stand, actually, Nathan.”
I felt a vindictive twinge of satisfaction when he flinched and turned to check out the hotel so he wouldn’t see it on my face and find some way to make me pay for it later. It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t a roach motel, either. The parking lot was well-lit, illuminating the twenty or so cars parked there. Good, there would be someone around to hear me if I started screaming if Nathan decided he needed a midnight snack.
Wait. Screaming…
I realized then that he was giving me another golden opportunity to be rescued. If I could just get someone’s attention, I could start screaming bloody murder that I had been kidnapped. I wouldn’t have to disappear, never to be seen again. I could go home and go back to my life and forget this whole thing had ever happened.
“Before we go in, I think we need to set some ground rules,” Nathan said, snapping me out of my daydream of being rescued from his bloodsucking clutches.
“Such as?” I asked.
“Such as, it won’t do you any good to start screaming that I kidnapped you. I’ll just compel whoever you try to get to help you, so it’s a waste of your time and my energy.”
“Joy,” I grumbled, phase one of my escape plan going down the drain. But there was always another way. “Anything else?”
“You won’t talk to anyone, you won’t give the front desk clerk your name, and you will stay beside me while I’m checking us in,” he said, ticking off his list on his fingers. “We’ll start with that and make up the rest as we go along. This is my first kidnapping, so you’re going to have to be patient with me.”
I added Kidnapping for Dummies to the list of books I was going to buy him. He was going to need something to read in prison, right?
“Yeah, I’m sure kidnapping isn’t something you usually have to resort to,” I muttered before I could stop myself. “Seeing as how I’m so boring, I think you made a bad choice for your first victim.”
God, I’m pathetic, I thought miserably. He reached out toward me, like he might touch my cheek, but I turned away and opened my door before he could reach me. He stopped me before I made it to the hotel entrance with a hand around my arm and turned me to face him.
