Blood Battles (Fallen Angels Book 2)

by Judith Post

  Voronika sighed. "I still don't get it."

  "The company's just a front for something. That usually means it's not legal."

  "So Kandice is seeing a crook." Eva took a step backward and bumped into Amado, who'd moved closer to listen. She flushed, fiery red, embarrassed, but he shook his head, dismissing her.

  "The thing is, this guy doesn't have any apparent reason to be in Three Rivers, and he's spending money every time he turns around."

  "This is leading somewhere, but I'm not following you," Enoch said.

  "You keep late hours. If everything's secure here, I'd like you to keep an eye on this guy, follow him every once in a while, see what he does and where he goes." Danny gave Enoch a meaningful look. "It might be worth the bother."

  "How's that?" Nula eased her shepherd's crook back against the kitchen wall.

  "The guy's from New York. The word is that he works for one of the mobs there. He shows up in Three Rivers right before our office guy gets staked. He acts like he's on an extended vacation, spending money and staying up late. Who comes to Three Rivers just to party? If he has a business connection, we can't find it. And it's not like he's come here to visit family and friends."

  Enoch thought a moment. "You think he might be the hunter.”

  “There’s no way to prove it. And I could be wrong.”

  “But would he be that stupid, that he'd call attention to himself?"

  "Who'd notice? If Kandice wasn’t Tony’s daughter, we wouldn't know he existed. He hasn't done anything to make us bring him in."

  Bart's eyes narrowed. "He killed the wrong target the first time. Somehow, he knows his mark is supposed to be here or come here. He's just biding his time until he finds him."

  "Look, I've never thought about who might show up to kill vamps before, so this guy might be some small time hood waiting for a deal to go down. Who knows?" Danny shrugged. "But it wouldn't hurt to watch him and to keep tabs on Kandice. I've known Tony's girls since they were little."

  "We're vampires, not nursemaids." Amado looked affronted.

  "If we can help a young girl, why not?" Nula said.

  Voronika stared at her. Nula didn’t strike her as the motherly type.

  Enoch nodded. "It can’t hurt. We need some place to start. Maybe you just gave it to us. I'll go tonight, and we'll check on her as often as we can."

  Danny reached for an apple from the fruit bowl, frowned, but bit into it. "Healthy. You're slipping." He stopped at the door and looked around the room. "Which one of these guys was the next vampire you saw? The one after the architect?"

  "He hasn't joined us. But after his face, I saw Nula's." Enoch motioned toward her. "When I touched Victor's ashes, I saw Horace. Someone else will come to town to kill him."

  "Is Horace here yet?" Danny asked.

  "No, but his hunter might be."

  Danny ran a hand through his short hair. "So there'll be at least two killers in town. It will be interesting to see if Kandice's boyfriend hooks up with someone later."

  "We don't know how many hunters we're up against," Enoch said.

  "There might be more?"

  "Lots more."

  Danny looked at the metal grids on the doors and windows. He looked at the kitchen door—partly open. "Don't you worry every time you go in or out?"

  "Yes." Enoch took a butcher knife and ran it down the screen door. It didn't tear. "But a stake won't go through this."

  Danny grinned. "I should have known. Good luck, buddy."

  Voronika watched him toss the partially eaten apple in the trash on his way out.

  She watched him leave and drive away. Then Eva let out a soft sigh. "This is fun. We all get to hang out together, and we just made a new friend."

  "A human," Amado spat.

  "A nice one." Voronika's tone was defensive. She liked Danny.

  "He'll help us," Eva said. "I can feel it."

  Amado rolled his eyes. "Does Bart use you very often?"

  "Once in a while." Her blush returned, but she said, "You could use me, too."

  Nula barked out a surprised laugh.

  Amado sighed.

  "Finish your breakfasts," Bart ordered. "And explore the house. Who knows how long this storm will last? We might not have much time before the sun comes out again. This is our camp. Get ready."

  Eva yawned, glanced around at the rooms of the house, then headed upstairs to the second bedroom with Nula. Amado stomped behind them on his way to the attic, grumbling under his breath.

  When Elijah started up the steps, too, Enoch frowned. "No one's exploring? No one wants the basement?"

  Elijah clutched his Torah closer. "No one wants to bunk with Gunther when he comes." He scurried up the steps as though the Viking vampire was right behind him.

  "Where is Gunther? Ulrich and Horace should be here by now too." Enoch glanced outside at the gray day and Voronika put a hand on his shoulder.

  “You’re wearing your worried look. They'll get here. Everything will be in place before the real action starts."

  He smiled, and she kissed his cheek before she headed back to bed. She might as well sleep. The rain was letting up, and Enoch would go outside, fretting over this and that, worrying that he'd forgotten something that might help them. It was a good thing he didn't need to rest. She had plans for him tonight. They'd visit the nightclub, and they'd drink and dance.

  Smiling, she closed her bedroom door and stretched out on the bed. The room grew lighter. Sunrays were slanting past the edges of her blinds. She gave a contented sigh and was drifting into dreams when the blue jay called in the tree outside her window. Damned bird!

  Chapter 14

  Bart lay in the double bed next to Claudia. He'd left the heavy drapes open so that he could look out the French doors that led to the balcony. It was a rare pleasure to be awake during the day. He watched the rain turn to a drizzle, then stop, but the sky was clotted with gray clouds. The rest of the vampires slept, but Bart heard the kitchen door open and close. He knew Enoch was returning to his preparations.

  Bart slid out of bed and pulled on his black leather pants and black T-shirt. He closed the drapes to shield Claudia from the outside world, then slipped his feet into his shoes. On a gray day like today, he could help Enoch. He found him in the side yard, testing the sunroof on the shed. A ladder was propped against the side of the cement block building, but Bart didn't need it. He gave a small leap and landed beside his friend.

  Enoch jumped with surprise. "I didn't hear you. What are you doing here?"

  "Couldn't sleep. Thought you could use some help. This looks like a bother." Bart frowned at the bubble of gray glass. "What are you doing? Seeing how wide it opens?"

  "I changed the hinges, so it can be flipped all the way back."

  "How does it work?"

  "When you unlatch it on the inside, the bubble springs open. I've had lots of hobbies in my lifetimes, and I've learned how to do a few things reasonably well."

  Bart nodded. "How can I help?"

  Between them, they finished the job, trudged into the house, and poured themselves wine. Claudia was the first person to rouse herself and join them. Every time she entered a room, she took Bart's breath away. Still…after all these years. She reached for the bottle of cabernet. "What have you two done for us while we slept?"

  Enoch explained about the trap door on the shed.

  She shook her lush, dark hair. Bart loved how thick and wavy it was, the way it felt clamped in his fingers, and how it smelled when he buried his face in it.

  While they talked, the others drifted in. Eva and Nula settled at the table with Enoch, and Elijah went to the windows to gaze at the evening sky. Probably pondering the heavens, Bart thought. Amado sauntered in as if he were doing them a favor. Bart asked himself for the hundredth time if he'd chosen wisely when he made him one of his generals. When Voronika straggled in, last, Amado took a deep breath. "You look lovely when you're rested."

  She grimaced. "What are you say
ing, that I look like shit when I'm tired?"

  Bart chuckled, and Voronika came to stand beside Enoch. He rose so that she could have his chair, then went to open another bottle of cabernet and pour her a glass.

  "I get Enoch tonight," she told Bart. "I want to go to the nightclub where Tony's daughter bartends. If I have to, I'll stalk the guy she’s seeing."

  Bart tossed her an inquisitive look. “I didn’t know you could be so protective.”

  Enoch stopped to study her. “You were married when Vlad took you. I never thought to ask. Did you have children?”

  Voronika’s body tensed. “I was with child when Vlad turned me.”

  Enoch’s face tightened with sympathy. He moved behind her chair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

  A vampire’s body would never sustain a child. Bart glanced at Claudia. She’d never mentioned a desire to have children. Was it a sorrow that ate at her?

  Claudia read his expression correctly and shook her head. "I’m glad I never had kids. The worry would make me crazy."

  Nula flinched at the words, and Claudia glanced at her, surprised. "Sorry, I must have hit a nerve."

  Nula looked down to adjust one of her leather wrist straps, avoiding the gazes aimed in her direction. Bart wondered if she'd tell them about the little girl she lost. It was a painful subject for her, he knew. It always would be. When she looked up again, her vulnerability was buried as fast as it appeared. "I had a daughter when I was bitten. She was ten. One of the women in our village raised her for me."

  Voronika couldn't hide her surprise. "The woman knew you were a vampire and still took your daughter?"

  "She even let me visit them. Celts are made of tough stuff."

  "Were," Amado corrected. "They're history now, like the Romans."

  Nula narrowed her eyes, looking him up and down. She turned to Bart. "Come on. Give me a break. What was he before he was bitten? Why did you recruit him?"

  "I owned a sugar plantation." Amado said it with pride.

  Nula tossed him a scathing look. "And lots of slaves. Celts are free."

  "I owned slaves until Pedro II," Amado complained. "Our brilliant emperor freed them all."

  "Good for him!"

  "He didn't give us one dime when he took our property, so I joined with the others to support the military that ousted him. He died in Paris, in exile."'

  "You're such a selfish, little prick."

  "It's not little."

  Nula rolled her eyes, but Eva cocked her head to one side. "If you were mortal then, you can't be very old for a vampire. When were you bitten?"

  "1891."

  Nula's green eyes sparkled. "A one word answer? No elaboration? What happened? Who bit you?"

  Bart shook his head. Now Amado was in for it.

  "A former mistress."

  "A former slave?"

  Amado spread his hands in a hopeless gesture. "When I owned her, Desiree could never deny me. I took her when I pleased. Once she bit me, the tables were turned, and the girl was insatiable. We spent a few decades together before she moved away. And you?" he asked Nula. "What's your story?"

  Nula's face clouded. "I visited my daughter until she was grown, but when she took a partner, she asked me to stop coming. I understood."

  Eva reached out a hand and put it over Nula's.

  "It was better that way," Nula said.

  "Who bit you?" Voronika asked. "I can't believe your master let you visit your daughter without punishing you."

  Nula clenched her hands into fists. "Not a man, a horny female, new at the game. And she didn't have a choice in what I did. Once she bit me, I grew stronger."

  "But you didn't kill her?" Voronika asked.

  "Then I'd turn to dust too, wouldn't I? I wanted to see my daughter grow. I wanted to make sure she stayed safe. By then, I lost track of Vixtra."

  "Vixtra?" Eva rubbed her arms. "She's evil."

  No one argued. They'd all heard of her.

  Nula reached for another glass of red wine. "I want you to make me a promise."

  Enoch narrowed his eyes, waiting for her to go on.

  "If I get staked, if a hunter gets me, I want one of you to destroy Vixtra. I always intended to, but she stays out of my reach."

  "With pleasure." Elijah's answer was too quick, too ready.

  "She bit you, too?" Nula asked.

  "Her pet name for me was Bible Boy."

  "You'd be making an enemy of Ragnar," Bart said. "One of the big three, the first vampires that Caleb created. She's with him now. He protects her."

  Elijah nodded. "I know. It would be the last thing I ever do, but it would be worth it."

  Enoch rested a hand on Voronika's shoulder. He looked ready to end this discussion. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Let's hope I can protect all of you."

  "Can you defeat one of the old ones?" Bart asked. "Because I can't, none of us can."

  Nula shrugged. "No one fights a Celt's battle for her. I won't cower behind a man—or an angel—for protection."

  "Can you defeat Ragnar?" Bart persisted.

  "Yes." Enoch sighed. "But most of my victories come at a price."

  Voronika tensed, obviously thinking of Vlad. She gave herself a visible shake. "This is too dreary. It's time to eat so that Enoch and I can go."

  Bart gave a quick nod. "I'll take your angel with me to check on things while you get the food ready."

  He led his friend outside. "It's time Ulrich, Gunther, and Horace get here." He spread his hands to the universe and his mind sought them out. The only response came from Ulrich.

  A quick image flashed before them—blond and rumpled. "Rogues causing trouble in Turkey. Caleb sent me to teach them some manners."

  "Come as soon as you can," Bart ordered.

  "Will do."

  "Are Horace and Gunther with you?"

  "Would I still be here if they were?"

  Bart laughed. Typical Ulrich—brash and funny—he loved a good brawl. "Enjoy yourself, but make it fast. We need you."

  That finished, Bart followed Enoch to the garage and walked the perimeter of his yard with him. They didn't talk much. The earlier conversation had unsettled both of them.

  Chapter 15

  Enoch had to park in the last row of the nightclub's lot. When he and Voronika walked to the door, a bouncer held out a hand for a five dollar each cover charge. Enoch looked inside. Strobe lights and noise blitzed him. He raised a brow at Voronika.

  "Pay the man," she said. "Let's live a little."

  "Great play on words, Miss Undead."

  Voronika glanced at the bouncer, shocked that Enoch had called her a vampire in front of him, but the man wasn't paying attention. The only thing important to him was keeping order and collecting money. She tossed Enoch a flirty look and held out her hand to get it stamped. Enoch gave the guy a ten dollar bill and did the same.

  Once inside, they discovered that there were several dance clubs under one roof. Each of them had more than one bar. Kandice was supposed to be working tonight, but Enoch had no idea where.

  The first room they entered had a country-western theme. A guy was teaching a row of ladies how to do a quick step while a band dressed in blue jeans and cowboy boots played a song Enoch recognized from the radio. A chubby guy in a cowboy hat turned and smiled at Voronika. "You don't look the country type."

  "Really?" Her silver hair fell past her shoulders, accentuated by a black tee and dark, formfitting pants. Enoch didn't fit in any better in his short-sleeved, silk shirt and tailored trousers.

  "You could stay to take lessons. Maybe we'd win you over."

  Voronika glanced at the two female bartenders—one Black, one Hispanic. "I don't think so. We're supposed to meet a friend here. We'll keep looking."

  "Good luck." The guy motioned toward the crowded room.

  The bar next door played what Enoch recognized as rap music. The dance floor was packed with people gyrating to a funky beat. Three burly men served drin
ks at the bar. Enoch shrugged and led Voronika to the last and largest club. It, too, was full with a throng of drinkers and dancers.

  Voronika moved behind him and let him clear a path to the main bar in the center of the room. The girl bartender had brown eyes and long, blond hair pulled into a high ponytail, a young and fresh-faced beauty. A tight, white T-shirt with sequined, red lips stretched across her ample bust. She had to be Tony's daughter from the description Danny had given him.

  She hurried toward him, tossing Enoch a fetching smile. "You're new here, aren't you? I've never seen you before, and I'd remember."

  "We're first timers." He motioned toward Voronika.

  The girl glanced her way, then dismissed her. "My name's Kandice."

  A bartender in his fifties stepped up behind her. "If you'd quit flirting and serve the man, we have a shit load of customers waiting for drinks."

  "Anything for you, Andy. Silly me, I thought you could handle them."

  Andy flipped a dishtowel over his shoulder. "I can, but silly me, I thought you wanted to make tips tonight."

  Kandice laughed. "What can I get you, handsome?"

  Enoch ordered two Drambuies on the rocks. She pushed them across the bar to him and wrote her telephone number on his napkin. "Just in case."

  When they found a place to sit, Voronika raised a silver brow. "I thought she might crawl over the bar and attach herself to you."

  "That's Tony's daughter, and she's a fake. She was just fishing for a bigger tip. Watch her. She keeps glancing at the guy at the table to our right."

  "Hate to tell you, handsome," Voronika enjoyed mimicking Kandice, "but if you'd grabbed her and run for the door, she wouldn't have protested." She glanced at the guy at the next table, too. "He can't hold a candle to you. Looks or money."

  "How can you tell about the money?"

  "I can't, but you seem to have an endless supply."

  Enoch shrugged. She was right. It was one of the perks of doing a job that nobody else wanted, but abundance down here couldn't compete with the blessings at Home. Only Voronika could do that. "What do you think of the boyfriend?"

  Voronika gave a quick shake of her head. "Good looking. Has an Italian stud groove going for him, but stubble? Doesn't the man own a razor? And he doesn't button the top two buttons on his shirt. He's a player."