by Bree Younger
The vampire’s hand reached out and grabbed a hold of Ty’s chin, forcing his face back around. He leaned so close that Ty could see the pores in his skin and smell the stench of his breath. “You ever heard what happens to vamps who die from sun poisoning, boy? It ain’t quick and painless like in the movies where the vamp gets burnt to a crisp as soon as light hits him, with nothing left but a big pile of ashes. No siree. At first, ya know, it just feels like a light sunburn. Just a little tickle. A little irritation. And our natural healing properties, well, they’ll take care of it—at first. But as the sun gets higher and higher, the rays start eating into the skin and your body is less and less able to repair itself, especially if there’s no fresh blood at hand. If a vamp can’t get out of the sun in time...” He let the words hang in the air for a long moment. Then he shrugged. “Well, by the end of the day, he’s dead—and he’s glad of it.”
He released Ty’s chin.
“Who the hell are you?” Ty shot the words at the vamp.
He just shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t tell you that, son. Orders from my mistress. I’m sure you understand.”
Ty pulled against the chains again. “Don’t you think I deserve to know what the hell I’m dying for?”
The vamp just grinned. “You’re a smart boy. I’m sure you can figure it out for yourself. And if you don’t…well, at least you won’t have to worry over it very long.” He stood. “Now, it’s just too bad, son. And that’s all there is to it.”
He gestured to the others, and they began melting away into the darkness. “Much as I’d like to stay and chat more, it’s getting too close to sunrise for my liking.” He quirked his head to the side. “I’ll come back tomorrow night and make sure that what’s left of you gets delivered to the right individuals. We wouldn’t want them to miss out on this important message, now would we? Then this would all have been for nothin’. And that would just be a damned shame.” With that, he turned back around and strode off into the surrounding woods.
Ty could easily hear the men as they made their way through the forest and to their cars. All his vampire senses were on alert as he followed their progress. Eventually, slamming doors and cranking engines echoed, and then the sound of the cars slowly faded away as they drove off. And then there was nothing. Nothing except the natural sounds of a forest at night. He could detect no sign, no trace of anyone else—not human nor vampire. He was alone.
How the fuck was he going to get out of this one?
* * * *
Libby sat in her SUV staring at the cabin in utter disbelief.
Good Lord, this couldn’t be the right place. Could it? It was in even worse shape than her childhood friend Eddie had told her. He’d said it was rustic, but this was ridiculous. Rustic she could do. The shack—she couldn’t bring herself to call it a cabin—was practically falling down. Someone needed to come along and put it out of its misery. She shoved her hands through her short black hair, making it look even wilder than usual, and felt like screaming. “I’m going to kill him.”
Green eyes narrowed to slits, she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. Boy, was she going to give him a piece of her mind about this great “hunting camp” he’d generously offered to loan her. Libby waited a moment for her call to go through, but nothing happened. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she glanced at the phone’s display. Well, surprise, surprise. There was no signal. She should have known. After all, she was out here in the middle of no-damn-where. Why the hell would there be cell phone service? After closing the phone with a snap, she leaned forward to bang her head on the steering wheel.
Why her? Why did stuff like this always happen to her? Sitting up, she again studied the rickety structure in front of her with a jaundiced eye. It looked so bad she thought that a stiff breeze would probably send the whole thing collapsing into a heap on the ground. No way could she spend the night in that. “Wonderful. Just wonderful.”
Now what? She sat there for another few minutes, letting her gaze travel beyond the cabin to the surrounding countryside. Well, she was here. She might as well at least check the area out since she’d driven all that way. Although the whole thing was probably pointless. Always look for a silver lining, Libby. She could just hear her mother reciting the mantra of perpetual optimism she’d used to breeze through life.
Unfortunately, Libby had a streak of pessimism a mile wide. The glass was always half empty. She’d been trying to be more positive, though. She really had. Only these days, the well was starting to run a little dry. Okay, a lot dry. Her ex-boyfriend had shown up and tried to borrow money from her. Her water heater had died, and she’d had to take a cold shower that morning. And now this. Shrugging, she pushed open the door and stepped out.
She stretched and took a deep breath. Silver lining. Remember. Silver lining. Okay. At least it was a gorgeous day, if that was any consolation. The sky overhead was a deep azure blue that made her hands itch to get her camera bag out of the SUV to try and capture its flawless perfection. She was taking a photography class at the junior college, and the most recent assignment had been to do some studies of wildlife native to South Mississippi. And when Eddie had told her about his cabin deep in the woods of Pearl River County, she thought the assignment would be a breeze. She grimaced. Big mistake. Silver lining, Libby.
She opened the back door of the SUV and leaned in to get a bottle of water from the ice chest she had packed for the weekend. After taking a long gulp, she twisted the cap back on and looked around, studying what she could of the surrounding countryside. Okay, so the cabin was a disaster, that didn’t mean that all was lost. According to Eddie, these woods were full of deer, raccoon, and any number of various animals and plants that would make good studies for the assignment. It wouldn’t hurt to look around a little since she’d come all this way. It was over an hour’s drive back to Biloxi. Maybe she’d luck out and get some good shots. Then, before it got dark, she could head back. It wouldn’t be the weekend she had planned, but it would have to do.
Decision made, she grabbed her camera case and took the Nikon out. After slipping the camera strap over her head and settling it against her chest, she stowed the case on the floor of the backseat and headed out.
The woods weren’t too overgrown, and Libby was able to keep up a pretty good pace. She photographed a few birds and interesting trees she spotted and even a rabbit she had startled into sudden movement. The day was starting to warm up as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, so she took off her light jacket and tied it loosely around her waist as she continued on, much more comfortable in just the plain white T-shirt, khaki shorts, and hiking boots. Taking several more shots, she made her way leisurely through the woods.
She’d been walking a while when she thought she heard the gentle trickling of water. Confident that she must be close to a creek, she headed toward the sound. There was bound to be an abundance of wildlife in the area. When she entered another clearing, she surveyed it with her usual thoroughness. A cry high above her head reached her, and she glanced up to see a hawk circling above. In a single movement she’d raised the camera, zoomed in, and snapped several pictures of the majestic creature. Then it darted down toward the trees and disappeared from her view. That would be a great shot, she thought jubilantly. Maybe this was going to work out all right.
She started forward again, searching for something else to photograph. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Swinging her camera up, she peered through the viewfinder, hoping she had stumbled onto something interesting, maybe a doe or a fawn.
As the scene came into focus, she froze in disbelief.
Oh my God. Oh my God, she thought. A body was sprawled on the ground in the center of the clearing. The camera dropped from her suddenly nerveless fingers to dangle uselessly from its strap, and she barely managed to squelch the scream that trembled on her lips. For several moments she couldn’t move, shock robbing her of thought. Then she sprinted forward, the camera
banging against her chest with every stride. As she got closer, she could see that it was a man, and he had been staked out like some kind of ancient sacrifice, his arms and legs spread-eagle on the ground and held down with heavy chains.
“Jesus!” She threw herself down beside him. He looked horrid. He was burned, burned so badly his skin was red and blistered. What the hell had been done to him? Had someone set him on fire? How long had he been here? Please, God, let him be alive.
When she leaned over to check for a pulse, her forgotten camera flopped forward, almost striking against the man’s face. Quickly she pulled the strap over her head and set the camera aside. Then she reached out to lay hesitant fingers against his neck. At first, she couldn’t feel a pulse, so she pressed harder, trying not to lose her nerve. She’d just moved her hand lower, thinking maybe she was feeling in the wrong spot, when his eyes opened and stared straight into hers.
She jerked back, startled, before letting out a small relieved laugh.
“Mister? Mister? It’s okay. I’m going to help you. Can you hear me?” He blinked his eyes closed and then opened them again, but they seemed unfocused, and she couldn’t tell if he knew what she was saying. Suddenly, he let out a low moan of such pain that Libby’s heart pulsed in sympathy. “I’m going to get you loose,” she assured him when his eyes closed again, hoping the man could understand her.
She examined his bonds with a growing feeling of helplessness. He had been bolted to the ground with heavy chains and locks. She tried pulling up the stakes, tugging and bracing herself against the ground, but she just didn’t have the strength. They didn’t even budge. There was no way for her to get him free like this. What the hell could she do? She didn’t want to take the time to drive all the way back to civilization and then get someone out here to help her. He might be dead before she could do all that. Or whoever did this to him might come back. Hell. They might still be around somewhere.
She could feel herself about to panic, her eyes darting nervously around trying to catch a glimpse of anything suspicious looking, but she saw nothing. She needed to do something to help him. To keep them both safe. Wait. Her gun. It was in her truck under the front seat. She always carried it with her when she traveled any distance. She would feel much safer with it—plus, the thought suddenly occurred to her—she might be able to use it to shoot through the chains.
“Mister?” He opened his eyes again. They were such a clear blue that they seemed to pierce straight through Libby when they focused on her face. “I don’t know if you understand what I’m saying, but I can’t get you free like this. It’s impossible. I’m not strong enough. I’m going to my truck for my gun. Okay? I’ll be right back.”
He shook his head, finally responding to her. “Don’t go.” The words were rasped out in a barely intelligible whisper. “Please. Hurts.”
She had to close her eyes against the agony she saw etched on his face. Tears blurred her vision. “I swear I’ll be right back.”
His eyes pleaded with her not to leave him alone and in such pain. “Help me. Thirsty.” He made as if to reach for her, but his hand was stopped by the chains. “Thirsty. So thirsty.”
Libby bit her lip in helpless empathy. “I know. I know it hurts. I know you’re thirsty. And I don’t have any water here, but there’s some in my truck. I’ll bring it back with me. I promise. Let me go get the truck. I’ll drive it up here. Then I can get you to a hospital.” She stood. “I’ll hurry. I promise.”
With one last desperate look at the poor man, she stood and began running back in the direction of the cabin and her SUV as fast as her legs would carry her.
* * * *
Ty shook his head to clear it. He tried to open his eyes again, but the piercing light hurt too much. Damn it, he hurt all over like a son of a bitch. It felt like someone had peeled off his skin and dipped him in alcohol. Jesus, it was hard to think through the pain. He couldn’t focus. Couldn’t concentrate. Had someone been here, or was he losing his fucking mind? He thought that a black-haired pixie had spoken to him. If he hadn’t been in such agony, he would have laughed at his own ridiculous fantasy. Maybe he was dead. Yeah, he was dead and she was an angel. An angel with midnight black hair, green eyes, and a voice like sweet rain. But that couldn’t be right. If he were dead, surely he wouldn’t hurt like a motherfucker.
He hoped like hell she had been real. She had promised him she’d come back. Promised to help. Right? But she wouldn’t bend down enough so that he could taste her, so that he could take a deep drink out of one of her luscious veins and slake the raging thirst that was driving him insane. Thirst and pain. Thirst and pain. If he could just get a few mouthfuls of blood, his body would begin to heal itself. He’d expended way too much energy trying to stop the sun from burning him to a crisp. Of course, if he didn’t get into shade pretty soon, blood—even sweet angel’s blood—wouldn’t do much damn good.
He was dying. He knew that. Dying for good this time. And if he didn’t get blood and shelter soon, it would be too late. For the past few hours he had been floating in and out of consciousness, struggling to hold on to his sanity. He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to keep it together. Faces floated through his mind. And for a few moments of lucidity he identified them. Friends, family. And then other faces. A laughing man. A cruel face. And then the images slipped away. Again, he was lost in the pain and the thirst. He struggled, struggled to get free, but he was too weak. So damn weak. Blood would make him strong again. Blood would make him strong…but there was no blood.
Chapter Two
Libby was gasping for breath when she finally reached the cabin. She knew that there was no way she’d be able to get the poor man out of the forest without transportation. Thank God her truck was a four-wheel drive and should be able to handle the terrain without any trouble. It was old, and didn’t look the greatest, but it was still pretty reliable. She’d taken it through some rough spots before.
Digging around in her pocket, she found the keys. She opened the back hatch and grabbed a fresh bottle of water from the ice chest. As soon as she’d done that, she scrambled around and climbed into the driver’s seat. Reaching down, she felt around until her hand closed around the .38 revolver she’d bought last summer at a pawn shop near the beach.
Her hands were trembling slightly so she took a moment to take a deep breath and remind herself to chill out as she checked to make sure that it was loaded. As she dug in the glove compartment for extra bullets and put a handful in her pocket, she forced herself take her time and not get in too big a hurry. She was not going to do anyone any good, especially not that poor, wounded man, if she shot herself in the foot or crashed into a tree. Come on, Libby. Silver lining, remember. At least he wasn’t dead. Yet.
She knew she was going to be taking a bit of a chance driving the vehicle through the woods anyway. She couldn’t risk making a careless mistake.
Once she’d gotten everything settled, she cranked the vehicle and put it into gear. Starting off slowly, Libby eased her way around the trees and bushes she found in her path. But she was so worried that the man might be dying that she unconsciously sped up, which was a mistake because the car began sliding around through the loose pine needles that littered the ground. She forced herself to ease back on the accelerator. At one point the tires sank into some loose gravel, and she was afraid that she might be stuck, but the four-wheel drive kicked in, and, after a few heart-stopping moments, she was able to pull out. Slowing back down to what felt like a crawl, she finally spotted the clearing ahead.
She pulled up next to where the man was staked out, scared that he might have gotten worse in the time it had taken her to get back to him. Hopping down from the vehicle, she grabbed the gun and water and rushed over to the still figure on the ground.
“Hey, mister.” She sank down beside him. “I’m back. Please, are you still with me?”
At first he was completely unresponsive, and she was beginning to fear the worst, but finally his eye
s fluttered and opened just a crack. His cracked lips parted, and in a husky voice he asked, “Are you an angel?”
She allowed herself a small smile, relieved that he seemed to be rational. Somewhat. She huffed out a choked laugh of relief. “Not according to my mother. I’m Libby. How are you doing?”
“Not too good. The sun hurts.” And a second later he added, “I’m thirsty.”
“Yes, yes, I brought some water.” She grabbed the bottle and held it to his mouth, putting her hand under his head to raise it. She dribbled the water across his lips, but he turned his head aside.
“No, no…not water. Need…drink…”
Libby didn’t know what to do. Was he getting delirious again? “Please, please, you have to drink something.”
“Yes, thirsty…” He licked his lips, so she tilted the water again, and again he turned away. “No…”
She set the water down and let his head settle gently back on the ground. She wanted to scream in frustration. What was she doing wrong? Damn! “Okay, look, mister, first thing’s first. I’m going to get you free of these chains, okay? Then we’ll see what else we need to do. We’ll get you to a doctor.”
“Not mister. Ty. I’m Ty.”
“Okay, Ty. Let’s get you loose.”
After setting the water aside, she picked up the gun and moved to his feet. She looked at him again. “Ty. I’m going to try to shoot the chains off. Don’t worry, okay. It’ll be loud, I know, but just trust me. I’m a pretty good shot. Just please stay very still.” She hoped like hell she sounded more confident than she felt. She was a pretty decent shot at the shooting range, but this was a little bit different. She didn’t feel nervous at the shooting range. If she missed there, she just got a sucky score. Here… She gulped. The consequences of failure didn’t bear thinking about.
Cautiously maneuvering the chains so that they were stretched out as far as she could get them, she took careful aim away from his ankle and fired. The sound of the shot echoed through the forest, and the man jumped at the noise, but when she looked, the chain lay broken in half on the ground. Yes! Thank you, God. Once she’d done the same to his other foot and both his hands, she took a moment to reload the gun with the extra bullets in her pocket. Better to be safe than sorry was another one of her mother’s favorite sayings, and she definitely agreed with her on that one, especially now. There was a chance that whoever had left this man here was still around. If they were, they would have heard the gunshots for sure. She needed to be prepared.
