by Jess Haines
I looked down at my feet, collecting myself before examining what was on the dance floor more closely. The shallow breaths I was taking made the smell of blood and dead meat chokingly thick on my tongue. That’s when I noticed the ground was glistening. As if in a dream or trance, I slowly knelt down to touch it.
It wasn’t the material of the floor making it shiny. It was slick with blood.
Twisting away, I staggered back to my feet. Chaz had to catch my arm and help me so I could throw up in the room behind us instead of on the bodies. He looked as green as I felt. Even the vampires looked disturbed by this much bloodshed, some of them wiping at their mouths, backing out of the room. Devon and Tiny were the only ones unfazed by the sight. In fact, they waded right into the mess, pulling gloves out of their pockets before touching anything. I noted with a detached sort of horror that each step they took kicked up droplets of blood.
They examined some of the closest remains. Devon shouted something, but I couldn’t make it out over the heavy bass of the music. John shook his head and Devon shouted again. This time I heard him.
“… got here in time! They’ve all been drained by vampires, no other injuries on any of them I can see. Why just leave all these bodies here? Why kill all these people that way, waste all this blood?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Mr. Royce will have some ideas.”
John looked frustrated and frazzled, running a hand raggedly through his short reddish-brown hair. The gesture didn’t help his image. He may have been around since the Boston Tea Party, but dressed down in jeans and a plain blue button-down shirt, he looked too much the over-earnest intern to be taken seriously as Royce’s second-in-command.
“Let’s go find him,” I said, lacing my arm through Chaz’s so I wouldn’t fall on my face. I’d disgraced myself enough by being the only person to toss my cookies. With the way my knees were shaking, I wasn’t sure my legs would hold up on the stairs yet. At that point, I would have done anything to get us as far away from this room as possible, even if Chaz had to carry me to do it.
“I’m going to stay here and check for more clues,” Tiny rumbled, barely heard against the deeper bass of the music. Devon went with him, the two crouching down to check the bodies more thoroughly. One of the vampires walked with them, an expression of severe distaste curling his lip as the hunters blithely rummaged through the macabre remains.
With me hanging on Chaz’s arm, the rest of the vampires hurried after us a trifle faster than strictly necessary. I guess even vamps aren’t always hardened to murder. Mass murder anyway. What’s a single victim here or there?
I knew Max was a Bad Guy, with a capital B, capital G. However, I hadn’t counted on him being quite this psychotic. Even after having been thrown so casually to Peter and then bitten by Max, too, I hadn’t thought he was capable of this level of violence, bloodshed, and waste.
The belt forced calm on me, clearing my head so I could focus and think. Alien thoughts threaded through my mind, calculating the whys and wherefores of this massacre.
It was out of character for vampires to do something so openly destructive, particularly an elder, who knew his survival was dependent upon blending in with and hiding from mortals. If people were too afraid, it became harder to hunt, harder to seduce, harder to make them love you and let you feed on them. This number of dead humans was guaranteed to make headlines. There would be no possible way to hide this many deaths from the authorities or the media. It would cause trouble for vampires everywhere. He must be intending to use it somehow. But how?
Chaz yanked me back from the bottom of the stairwell, one hand tugging me up against his chest, the other arm blocking the way for everyone else. Only then did I realize something was different. The music down here was off. The only song still playing came from the second floor, muffled here in the stairwell. My eardrums weren’t functioning right, still semideafened, so I wasn’t sure why he’d stopped us. After prying his fingers off my stomach, I leaned forward to peer into the main room of the first floor.
Brows lowered in a scowl, Royce was staring in the direction of the room with the chains hiding it from view, three police officers holding guns and crosses on him and the vampires crowded around him. There were far too many of them for the cops to hold, but Royce was a law-abiding vampire. He wasn’t the type to use trickery or force to avoid the police.
There was a fourth officer tossing his cookies in the corner, much like I had been a few minutes ago. The others looked green around the gills, too. I guess the rest of the bodies weren’t far away.
One of the cops was giving some rushed orders into his radio, calling in for backup and as many people as the coroner’s office could spare. The presence of law enforcement officials so close on our heels meant someone had been keeping tabs on us. This must be more of Max’s plan to screw things up as thoroughly as possible for the rest of us. What else would Max do while Royce and I were cooling our heels at the station?
Seething, I pulled back into the shadows of the stairwell. This was just great. An intelligent, calculating, completely psychotic elder leech, who was perfectly willing to murder people and turn the police against us, was succeeding at putting the blame for his crimes squarely on an innocent–well, innocent of this crime–vampire’s shoulders.
Just the kind of guy you want as an enemy.
Chapter 27
The police hadn’t spotted me yet. We had some time and we needed to get out of here to find Max before he could take advantage of Royce being tied up in legal red tape. I gestured for the others to go back up the stairs. They hesitated, but at my insistent signals to be quiet and move, they made their way back up.
I explained as briefly as I could once our voices were safely drowned out by the music. “Someone tipped off the cops! They’re holding the others downstairs. John, do you know any alternate ways out of here?”
“Yes,” he replied, more distressed than before, “but I think it would be best if we didn’t go in a big group. We might be spotted. There are a couple of alternate exits so we can split up and meet back at corporate later.” He turned to two of the other vampires, pointing toward the room where Devon, Tiny, and the other guy were examining the bodies. “Derek, Rick, can you go warn the others and get them out of here through the fire escape?”
Derek nodded and the two rushed off. John turned to another pair of the vampires. “You two take the Weres out through the lift. Go out the back door, and get the people guarding it out of here, too.”
“Wait, I’m not going without Shia,” Chaz protested.
I opened my mouth to argue, too, but John lifted a hand to cut me off. “We have wards keyed against Weres in the passage she needs to go through to escape this building. She doesn’t have the strength or constitution to jump rooftops like we can. Max must have planned for this somehow. Mr. Royce might need her help making a statement so the police don’t hold him, and I don’t want to chance her getting lost or hurt before she can do that.”
Chaz didn’t like it, his voice lowering and his eyes taking on a subtle amber glow as his anger started to get the better of him. “If something happens to her, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
“I swear on my honor I will keep her safe.” John stated curtly, meeting Chaz’s heated gaze without flinching.
Chaz turned one last, anguished look to me. I gave him a smile to let him know I’d be okay, but I don’t think it was very convincing. Chaz, Vincent, and the two vamps rushed off without another word.
That left me with John and a vamp I didn’t know. The latter turned to me, gesturing to a hallway we hadn’t checked earlier.
“This way.”
We ran like our lives depended on it. I think I surprised both of them that I kept up with their pace. With the hunter’s belt, I could run faster than this, but they were moving at a reasonable speed they thought I could manage. Some niggling sense of caution made me consider it might be better to keep the perks of the belt under wraps. I didn’t try
to outdo them, just kept up.
Down a dimly lit corridor, we came to a locked door that faded into the walls. Everything, from the hinges down to the doorknob, was painted the same flat black as the wall. Guess it kept people from snooping, though John was having some technical difficulties finding the key that fit the lock. Even with the enhanced night vision vamps are graced with, trying to find the right key in this hallway had to be difficult.
Just as he unlocked the door, an officer came rushing at us from the stairwell, his hand on the butt of his gun. The music was too loud to hear what he was shouting, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything encouraging.
The three of us ducked inside, scrambling to get out of the way before the cop could shoot or reach us. John slammed the door behind us and stabbed at the button for a service elevator. Guess this was how the employees trucked the booze up to this level. I wasn’t tired, but I leaned against the wall while we waited, listening to the pounding of the policeman’s fist against the door when he realized it was locked.
“That was close.”
The other vamp grinned at me nervously, flashing fangs. “Yeah. Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here soon.”
Shuddering, I turned away to avoid looking into the hazel irises of the strange vamp flickering to the red of agitation. John was rubbing his face in an uneasy gesture, occasionally throwing furtive glances in my direction. Me? I was busy worrying about the consequences of running, and sorely hoped that I hadn’t left behind enough evidence for the police to figure out I’d been there. Had I left any fingerprints? Oh, shit. I’d thrown up. If they had any DNA of mine on file, they’d know.
Maybe running from the cops hadn’t been the brightest thing to do, but being trapped in a police station wouldn’t help anything. No doubt I would be stuck there for hours and lose any advantage or lead on Max if I got dragged down to the station tonight.
Where did Max flee to? Why had he set up Royce like this? It wouldn’t take that long for the police to do the DNA tests, or to take measurements of the marks on the corpses against the bite radius of Royce’s vamps to figure out they weren’t involved. There were undoubtedly security cameras in or outside the building that must have caught the real culprits on tape, too.
Guaranteed, even with the lawyers on his bankroll, it would still take a while to sort out this mess and get Royce cleared of any charges. Was Max trying to temporarily get us out of the way, or was this meant as a smear campaign against Royce? The press would be on top of this in short order. No one, not even the feds, could hide a slaughter of this magnitude for long. The paparazzi would have a field day with this. No doubt the general public would be terrified of all things Other for a good long while.
That led me to wonder. Did Max have something more sinister in mind for this scene, or was he just trying to get us off his back long enough to do something even worse? Maybe he wanted time to entrench himself somewhere else, move to another haven. Maybe he wanted to make Royce’s life an (un)living hell for the next few years. Let’s face it: even the best lawyers and marketing people money can buy wouldn’t fully remove the taint this would put on Royce’s rep. But why would Max do that if he intended to kill Royce, as he’d said to me back at that house in the woods?
Maybe Max had meant to make people afraid of vampires again, stop seeing them as people, and view them all as a menace or a threat. Royce had mentioned Max didn’t agree with vampires going public. Maybe that meant he didn’t want vampires to be legal citizens anymore.
Or maybe I was just reading too much into it and he only did it to make things harder on Royce. I just couldn’t be sure.
Damn it, I needed fewer questions and more answers.
John took us down to the basement and opened up another hidden escape tunnel below ground. Useful, but creepy.
‘I thought tonight was about the hunt,’ the belt whined at me as we ran, halogen lights flashing by. It was impossible to tell how many we’d passed or how far we were going. ‘I was looking forward to killing vampires again. Couldn’t you take down one of these? You don’t need them for anything now.’
I am so not debating this with you right now, I thought as hard as I could at it.
‘You’re no fun,’ it sulked, quieting again. Thank God.
John veered off down a narrower and not quite so well-lit tunnel. Some of the lamps were out. Guess this one wasn’t used as often.
After a while, we reached a door for which he produced–you guessed it–another key. He gestured for me to go first, very gentlemanly.
Thus, I wasn’t expecting to be faced with a smiling Max Carlyle as soon as I emerged into a basement. I froze at the sight of him, wide eyes taking in the crowd of vampires at his back. There were almost as many vamps here as Royce had brought with him to Twisted Temptations.
No. Not all vampires. I recognized some of Max’s human flunkies who’d helped kidnap me, as well as Peter and Nicolas. The mage had a huge white bandage taped to his forehead and temple, and was glaring daggers at me. Crap, the White Hats hadn’t killed him; they’d only knocked him out when they came to rescue me.
My heart seized up on me, my shock leading me to falter. The vampire beside John grabbed my arms, wresting them to the small of my back while John shut the door, cutting off any hope of escape. There wasn’t time to feel betrayed; everything was moving too fast for that.
The vamp who grabbed me must not have known about the belt. He wasn’t holding me too tightly. In a panic, I took advantage of his weak grip by twisting to the side, the terror and surge of adrenalin making me willing to do absolutely anything to break free. God, I did not want to be back in the hands of Max Carlyle. Not again–not after what I’d just seen.
‘There’s too many! Don’t fight so hard. You’ll give yourself away and won’t get another chance to escape.’
Panting with terror, I did as the belt advised and stopped pulling quite so hard. The vamp holding me was still cursing and struggling with effort. Another set of hands tightened on one of my arms. The first vampire shifted his grip so he and John each held me pinned between them. I made a little sound of pain when John’s fingers dug in, crushing my bicep through the thick layers of leather trench coat and armor.
I could’ve kicked at them, and possibly succeeded at cracking shins and breaking kneecaps with these heavy boots, but the belt was right. It was too soon to give myself away. For the moment, I’d play hurt and scared little human.
“Good to see you again, Shiarra,” Max purred.
He came closer and tipped up my face, though I tried vainly to pull back from his touch. Panic threatened to take me again, and it was all I could do to keep from throwing my full weight back to avoid contact. Max’s gray eyes were calm, collected, nothing like they should be after he caused the deaths of so many people.
I’m pretty sure mine reflected that I was scared shitless.
“I hadn’t taken you for the sort to use such a hands-on method at revenge. I’m glad you came with Alec to investigate the club; it makes things ever so much easier.”
“So glad I could be of service,” I snarled sarcastically, falling back on bravado. There had to be something I could do to escape. When his fingers tightened, tilting my head back, I lost it. In my haste to keep from being put in a position to be bitten again, I lashed out at him and kicked his knee. The belt interceded, preventing me from putting the full force of my augmented strength and speed behind it.
Despite the belt dampening my efforts, it was still like striking a solid block of granite. I winced in pain as Max stumbled back, eyes widening as he reached down to clutch at his leg. Damn it, I must have hit him too hard. John snarled and twisted my hair up in his fist, yanking my head back so hard, I’m surprised my neck didn’t snap.
“No. Let go, John,” Max ordered. He sounded rather breathless, his composure lost in an instant to interest, not fear or pain. John reluctantly disentangled his fingers from my hair, once again gripping my upper arm with both hands. “My, my. Not wha
t I was expecting at all.”
Damn it, damn it, damn it! I’d meant to make Max back off, not become more intrigued with me.
He slid closer again, the movement smooth and graceful. Either I hadn’t injured him as much as I’d hoped, or he was very good at rapid healing. Probably both. I tried swallowing past the fear closing my throat, to think of some witty one-liner to deflect the turn of his thoughts, but nothing was coming to mind beyond gibbering terror.
“I suppose it wouldn’t change anything to tip my hand now,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. He put his hand under my chin again, but this time it was to force me to stare directly into his gaze. I couldn’t look away. “Don’t do that again, hmm?”
There was nothing for me but his eyes, his voice in my universe. I willed myself to fight, to strike him again, to lash out somehow, but my body didn’t want to cooperate. Something was dreadfully wrong here.
“Behave yourself. I’ll take care of you.”
His voice wrapped around me like a security blanket. Safe, warm, comforting. Had I done something wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to hurt him. I should apologize for kicking him, shouldn’t I? Then I could bathe in that warmth, fall into the safety of his arms.
What was wrong with me? With a low growl, I closed my eyes, summoning as much strength of will as I could. This was a vampire, a murderous vampire who had killed too many people for me to count. I’d seen the evidence of it with my own eyes not an hour ago. Why did I feel such a strong draw to him, to do what he said?
Help me, I pleaded inwardly, mentally grasping at the only straw I had. I had the charm; he wasn’t supposed to be able to do this to me. Why weren’t the belt and the charm keeping him out of my mind? I tried to reason with the belt, pleading the only way I knew how without giving myself away to Max.
