Weaken the Knees (The Immortal World Book 6)

by Shannon A. Hiner

  Biting down harder on his neck, she pinned his arms back against the wall and closed her eyes. Heat poured into every vein of her body. Molten fire burned away the chill and made her feel alive again. A long, luxurious moment passed before she realized something wasn’t right.

  He tasted . . . off. Like milk left out of the refrigerator too long. But humans weren’t pasteurized, they didn’t expire, their blood was always fresh and healthy. What was this?

  Ripping herself away, she licked the corner of her mouth while staring at his face. His eyes weren’t right either. He should be passed out in shock, or wild-eyed and fighting her. Instead, he stared back at her with a savage grimace that turned smug.

  It wasn’t right. A knot grew in her stomach. Like Jack’s beanstalk vine, it grew and spread to her veins. She swayed. Her head was too light, and a fog began to creep over her vision. The human shoved her off of him easily.

  “How do I taste, leech? Want another bite?”

  She was losing control of her limbs. A trembling filled her as he pushed her to the floor. All she saw was his dark outline, the broad shape standing over her.

  Curling in on herself, she hoped, prayed, she still had strength enough to shimmer.

  Vision wavering and a dull pain beginning to sharpen itself upon her like a whetstone, she wasn’t even sure she was still conscious as the voice murmured over her, “Why, Sarah, are you crying?”

  And then she was gone.

  ∞∞∞

  “Why are you crying, Sarah?” His liquid honey voice sent a new wave of shudders down her spine. She couldn’t move away. Utterly trapped, confined, forced to endure . . . the tears leaked out of her closed eyes like the outhouse roof every rainy season. He wouldn’t let her go if she struggled. She had learned that early on. The longer she fought, the longer until she would be free. All the life within her felt like it was dying. The light flickered, a solitary candle in the midst of a hurricane.

  No one was coming to save her. She’d given up on that hope years ago. Would it be better to die than live this way?

  The tears flowed faster, hotter.

  “Sarah . . .” Hot, minty breath whispered over her skin.

  Some part of her still wanted to live. It was a tiny piece. Growing ever smaller with each new day. But it still existed.

  A hand grazed the outside of her thigh. She couldn’t help it, she squirmed away just a little.

  He noticed. Of course he noticed.

  The angry growl at her ear told her all she needed to know. This wouldn’t be quick.

  Chapter 3

  Agasp heralded her arrival, wherever that was. She could barely see anymore, her head was spinning so fast. What had been a dull ache had turned into shards of glass shooting through her veins.

  “Rene?” That sounded like Will. God, she hoped that wasn’t Will. “Rene!”

  It was Will.

  She groaned and it wasn’t because of the pain. Hands lifted her head, touched her hair. Don’t touch me. Stop touching me. Get away.

  “Rene, it’s me. It’s Will.”

  She knew who it was. That was the problem. She coughed and felt something wet leave her mouth. How much worse could this get?

  “Is that blood?”

  Much worse, evidently.

  “Rene, can you talk?”

  It took all her remaining strength to bite back the smart-ass retort and grunt out, “Get Serena.”

  “But what’s happened?”

  For fuck’s sake, couldn’t they discuss this later? If she was still alive?

  “Serena,” she managed one more time. It might be the last. A chill was following the shooting pains. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt cold. Her vision blurred even more; she was basically blind now. She couldn’t feel Will’s hands on her head anymore and wasn’t sure if he still held her or not. She hoped not.

  “Rene!” A new—welcome—voice cried out. She sounded so far away, as if Rene was floating away on a sea of piss and vinegar. She smiled inwardly. That was something Tanner would have said. Had often said. She was full of the stuff.

  A sting hit her cheek, but it too seemed far away. “Rene, what happened?”

  “Bad blood,” she muttered.

  The voices faded into the background as her limbs turned cold and heavy. Would she get to see the other side this time? Would anyone be waiting there for her? Unlikely. But it would be nice to see Tanner again, if she could.

  ∞∞∞

  “Sarah . . .”

  ∞∞∞

  Jolting upright, Rene’s arms flung wildly. A crashing noise to her left indicated she’d hit something. The impact cracked it – the lamp – and sent pieces careening into the wall. The sound echoed in the room and served to bring Rene to full wakefulness.

  “Good Lord, Rene.” Serena’s soft voice came from the doorway. “Are you breaking things already?”

  Rene rolled her neck and shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen up her oddly stiff joints. She gave herself another few seconds to shake off the dream and try to piece together what happened. Her memory was splotchy after shimmering. She knew Will had been there, vaguely remembered Serena arriving . . . everything after would require clearing up.

  Finally she met Serena’s gaze and shrugged. “It was in my way.”

  The blonde’s shoulders twitched with suppressed laughter and her wide blue eyes crinkled at the corners. Her cream colored slacks and moss green sweater accentuated a willowy form. Hair braided over one shoulder gave her beauty a soft, everyday feel.

  Rene and Serena were opposites in nearly every way. And there was no one, aside from Tanner, Rene loved better.

  “Well, at least you’re feeling more yourself.” Serena leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed. “Do you remember anything from last night?”

  Finally noticing the sheets over her legs, Rene ripped them away and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I was hunting, and there was something wrong with the human’s blood. I shimmered . . .” Rene winced. “I don’t know where I shimmered to, but Will was there. And I made him get you.”

  Serena nodded. “Yep, and then?”

  “You . . . helped me?”

  Her best friend bit her top lip, holding back her full smile, but only barely.

  “Shit. Just tell me, Serena. What happened?”

  Laughter shook her shoulders again. “Nothing much. But you did talk. A lot.”

  “I did?” Rene dragged a hand over her face. “Did anyone else hear, besides you?”

  “Oh, just Will. And Wade Elliot. And Errin Kaye.”

  “Good God, were you selling tickets?”

  Serena held up her hands, finally laughing out loud. “It’s not my fault! I was with Wade when you sent Will after me. And he was so worried about you, he called Errin Kaye.”

  “That Venaygo vampire who keeps telling everyone he’s a doctor?”

  “He is a doctor, Rene. He’s got like, I don’t know, ten degrees.”

  “You could have at least gotten rid of Will.”

  “You were in his apartment. And believe me, he wasn’t leaving your side until you were out of danger.”

  “What do you mean, I was in his apartment?”

  “You shimmered there.”

  “I would never.”

  Serena raised her eyebrows with a matter-of-fact smile.

  A string of curse words so foul they would set the devil’s tail on fire streamed from Rene’s mouth. She was never, ever, going to live this down. “What did I say?”

  “Well, you kept telling Will to shut up.”

  Thank God.

  “And then you told Wade Elliot to man up and make me his Second.”

  “I didn’t.”

  Again the eyebrow raise. “You asked Errin Kaye if he still has a valet to dress him and if he starches his underwear as well as his cravat.”

  A bark of laughter escaped Rene wholly against her will. She covered her mouth with one hand.

  “And you
kept telling me you loved me and I was your best friend and you were so sorry for being such a pain in the ass all the time.”

  “Jezebel’s tits, what was that shit I drank, a truth serum?”

  Serena’s eyes crinkled even more as she grinned, but after a moment she grew serious. “It almost killed you. For good.”

  “I know. I felt that.”

  “I had to bleed you almost dry. And then you took down about five pints inside of a minute.”

  Rene shuddered.

  “Errin Kaye took a sample of the bad blood with him to study. Do you have any idea what happened? Did you drink from some sort of drug addict?”

  “I don’t know.” Rene chewed on her thumb nail. “I’ve never tasted blood like that. It was fine at first, but there was an aftertaste. Like—like it was expired.”

  “Expired?”

  Rene nodded.

  “As in ‘past its sell date’ expired?”

  “I know how it sounds, but yeah.” Rene glanced up. “Wait, how come it didn’t hurt you when you bled me?”

  “I spat it directly out.”

  “So, didn’t you taste how off it was?”

  Serena shook her head. “But I didn’t keep it in long enough. It did make my tongue a little . . . tingly.”

  “Tingly?” Rene cracked a grin.

  “So not the time for jokes, Rene. Seriously, where did you find that human?”

  “Er . . .” Rene hesitated. Serena knew about her work, at least the barest outline, but she didn’t approve, and they never discussed it in detail.

  The blonde closed her eyes, bowing her head slightly. “Rene Kaplan, how many times have I told you that your escapades were going to get you into more trouble than they are worth?”

  “Hey, there is absolutely no proof that where I found the human is related to his blood being expired.”

  “Really? Nothing strange about this particular hit?”

  The extra fine price tag and special request flitted through Rene’s mind. She must not have kept it off her face, or maybe Serena just knew her too well. A stream of Swedish erupted from her best friend’s mouth and while Rene didn’t speak the language, she got the gist.

  It was precisely the wrong moment for anyone else to enter the room. So, naturally, William Rynquist stuck his head in the door. As usual, his hair was a complete disaster, dark brown locks pointing every way but straight. She suspected he made it look like that on purpose. His tall form took up most of the doorway and his chestnut brown eyes immediately sought her out. Seeing her sitting up, his shoulders sagged as if a great weight had been removed from them.

  “You’re awake.”

  “Nice observational skills, Einstein.”

  Serena was still berating her in Swedish.

  Will glanced between the two of them. “Do I want to ask?”

  “No.” Rene didn’t elaborate.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I just got over food poisoning and now everyone is bent on making me answer Twenty Questions.”

  He ignored her sarcasm like always and just gave a brief nod. “All right, well, let me know if you need anything.” He shot Serena another questioning look and left the room.

  “I won’t,” Rene called after him.

  That broke Serena out of her glitch. “And you know what else? You should be nicer to Will. The way you treat him, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had let you die.” As soon as she said it, Serena clapped a hand over her mouth in horror.

  Rene stared at her. Dumbfounded silence stretched the room to capacity. After a moment, Rene stood up from the bed and checked to make sure her phone was in her pocket.

  “Rene—”

  She didn’t let Serena finish her sentence before she disappeared into the abyss, reappearing seconds later in her Salt Lake City apartment.

  Standing just inside the front door, she found herself facing a full length mirror. Her skin was paler than usual, purplish-blue circles hanging under eyes nearly identical in color.

  Since when did Serena care how she treated Will or anyone else? The face in the mirror hardened into a hateful mask as she watched.

  Rene swung away from the mirror and grabbed her MP3 player, wrenching open the sliding door to the balcony before slamming it shut once more. She should go out and hunt, but she felt like enough of a monster at the moment without adding killing to the night.

  ∞∞∞

  “I know there was a certain . . . feeling about Risqueen vampires in Ignatius’ castle but you would do well to forget it here.” Tanner sat in the armchair next to hers, one leg resting on the other. “William has been a good friend to Celeste, and the Acrien in general. Young clans need allies.”

  “It’s not the fact that he’s Risqueen that bothers me.” Rene glared across the room at the vampire in question’s back. “This whole business of clans has never meant much to me. And Ignatius’ opinion clearly wasn’t to be trusted.”

  Tanner regarded her with his sad, wistful smile. “Then why does he make you so uncomfortable?”

  “He—he looks at me like I’m some sort of wounded animal.” Rene crossed her arms over her chest, avoiding his gaze. “A bird with a broken wing.”

  “So you lash out like one?”

  “I’m not broken,” she snapped.

  Chapter 4

  Ahellish ringing brought her out of slumber. Groaning, Rene rolled over and grabbed the phone from her nightstand. That would teach her to forget to turn it off before bed.

  “Do you have any idea what time it is?” she growled into the device.

  “It is thirty minutes after sunset, Ms. Kaplan,” the prim female voice said with a sniff.

  “Who is this, how do you know my name, and who gave you my phone number?”

  “Sarai Westcott, I know everyone’s name, and it’s in the database.”

  Database? Rene cursed. The blasted database kept at the Venaygo building in Genocide. Sarai Westcott was Hadrian Catane’s secretary. Nearly his Second ever since that disastrous leader dinner when his actual Second had been among the victims.

  Rene sat up and looked at the clock. Seven thirty. Way too early for this. “What do you want?”

  “I am calling to inform you that you have an appointment with Hadrian in exactly two hours. Please come directly to my desk when you arrive and do not be late.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Begging your pardon?”

  “I don’t have an appointment.”

  “You do now.” Another sniff. “Do not be late.”

  The call went dead before Rene could fire off another retort. She growled at the device anyway and stood up. She’d “met” Hadrian Catane only once and at that, not really. It was soon after Tanner and Celeste had formed the new clan, and there was a cursory meeting between the Acrien leaders and Hadrian.

  Leader of the largest North American clan, the Venaygo, Hadrian Catane was one of the oldest vampires still living. He was widely accepted as the leader of the whole damned immortal world. At least on Western side of the Atlantic. A lot of the Madrassi kowtowed to him as well, though.

  The fact that he knew her name—and had set up some sort of compulsory meeting—couldn’t possibly be a good thing. Rene wasn’t the kind of vampire who garnered laud and praise. She tried to fly under the radar most of the time, but when she was caught, it was never good.

  She dressed quickly and let herself out of the apartment via the front door. She tried to be seen coming and going at least a couple times a week. Otherwise the neighbors got suspicious. Catching the elevator, she descended fifteen floors to the ground level and nodded politely at the doorman. Rene Kaplan was rude to a lot of people, sometimes on purpose, sometimes just by a matter of course, but she was never rude to the doorman. That was a very bad idea in her extensive experience.

  Once out on the street she hastened her pace, slipping through the city streets like a phantom. She treated it like a game. How many people could she sneak up on or sneak past wit
hout them knowing? How many kills could she have had, if she wanted? Eventually, she slipped down a narrow dark street in pursuit of one particular quarry. His dark mind and young blood would do very well for her. She trailed him, silent and deadly. At one point, he turned sharply. He sensed her, but she was gone, hidden in the darkened corner behind an old phone booth.

  He turned another corner, obviously trying to lose the tail he now sensed. Rene grinned to herself. Nearly twenty minutes it had taken him to realize she was there. She scaled the side of a building and jogged sedately across the roof. Jumping down, she landed on the other side of the alley he had chosen. A full thirty seconds before his slow human feet arrived.

  She turned into the alley just as he was five feet from the end. He stopped when he saw her, then relaxed when he assessed her slight stature and gender.

  Fatal mistake.

  Her teeth glinted out in a chilling mockery of a smile. “Hello,” she whispered. “I’m lost, and hungry, won’t you help me?”

  He took a step back, instincts telling him what his mind had missed.

  She sprang at him, grabbing him by the coat lapels and dragging his weak human body close. He was so warm, so alive, so about to be dead. He screamed and she smiled. Just as she was about to take a bite out of him, the memory of two nights before froze her. That soured milk taste. The grinning human that should have been terrified. Throwing up blood on Will.

  Rene dropped the human.

  Shuddering, she fell back against the brick wall of the alley. The human scrambled back to his feet and ran. Her senses screamed at her to pursue. Her blood sang to be new. But the trembling controlled her body for a few minutes more. Eventually Rene sank to her haunches in the alley and took some deep breaths of the chilly night air. The alley smelled like rotting garbage and cat piss. It cleared her mind and helped her focus.

  Glancing at her phone, she let out a few curses and stood again. She had hoped to go to the meeting with Hadrian fed and with a focused mind, but it wasn’t looking like that was in the cards tonight.