by Chris Lange
Her father closed the door to cut off sunbeams. “Okay, I need ten minutes.”
With that, he hurried to the computers and started typing as soon as his butt landed on the chair. What the heck was he doing now when they should think of a way to destroy Khrull? She moved her gaze toward the motionless body. Just a quick glance was enough to make her skin erupt with gooseflesh.
“The flask is broken, Dad. How do we kill him?”
He kept his eyes on the screens even as he waved his hand in an ‘I don’t have time for you, talk to me later’ gesture.
“We could hack him apart.” The gunslinger’s tone didn’t hold any trace of humor as he watched the immortal with murder in his stare.
“Sure,” she said. “What with? Do you happen to have a chainsaw in your pocket?”
She didn’t believe scientists from this universe had already invented that powerful tool, though there was no harm in asking. Then she pictured the bad boy from the West bent over Khrull while working the chainsaw, blood and chunks of flesh gushing all over the place, and a sour taste filled her mouth.
Shivers rattled her as she came up to Jake and slowly removed the wet cloth from his fingers. “Here, let me do this.”
The gunslinger winced when she applied pressure on his temple but also gave her the roguish smile she remembered well. “Thank you. There’s nothing like the gentle touch of a lady.”
Andrew passed over his head the satchel he’d brought back from the manor. Garrett took it from his hand, rummaged inside, and glanced at her. “Tracy, sit down. William can treat Jake at his earliest convenience.”
Meaning he didn’t give a rat’s ass about his friend’s injury. The gunslinger grinned and motioned her to the bench while Garrett placed ice in a handkerchief, tied it up into a bundle and sat next to her.
The fresh feel of the makeshift icepack soothed the heat coming off her cheek in a matter of seconds. The tending felt damn good, yet not as much as her lover’s thigh pressed against hers, the intensity of his gaze, and the closeness of his lips. For a brief instant, the others dimmed away and only he existed.
The moment vanished as Andrew walked toward the row of computers where her father worked. “Sir, would you perchance have another syringe?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“No, Andrew,” she butted in, “he wouldn’t. Dad only keeps one handy to drug me and Garrett whenever he feels like it.”
Her lover arched an eyebrow, the shadow of a smile quirking his upper lip. When he looked at her like that, she was tempted to sell her soul to the devil for an hour with Garrett naked on a bed.
Either her father didn’t hear her comment or he chose to ignore her. In any case, he simply glanced at Andrew over the screen. “Why would you want another syringe?”
“Because I believe the swine’s waking up.”
Chapter 16
Tracy’s gaze flew to the immortal. His eyes were closed but his fingers twitched. How in the hell could he come to already? In spite of the potency of the special compound, he must be way stronger than ten bulls put together. A wave of nausea gripping her bowels, she dropped the icepack on the table.
“Shit, Andrew is right. Dad, what are you doing? Really, this isn’t a good time to play with your computers.”
“I’m not playing.”
He shot her an angry look as she stood up and brought her hands to her throat, unable to control the tremors in her voice. Like a pack of wolves, the men moved to form a circle around their enemy. Jake drew out his Colt while signaling Andrew to reload the other gun. Twelve bullets against a stone wall.
Dismissing the urge to run to Johnny and hide him under the bed, she strode to the secure room to shut the door. Khrull wouldn’t be able to break it down. Her baby was safe unless the immortal tortured the code out of her. While the men watched the body on the floor, she walked around the computers.
“Dad?”
“I know, Tracy, I know. Listen, there might be a way to get rid of him once and for all but I need two more minutes.”
“I don’t think we have that long.”
“Well, stall him.”
How? With the power of their minds? Her father kept on typing, his fingers flying over the keyboard, and she had no idea what to do.
“His legs are moving.” Jake’s cold statement sent pinpricks all the way down to the pit of her stomach. Where the hell was the shovel? Panic ruling her brain, she took two steps back but couldn’t wrench her eyes away from her father.
“Tracy?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
“I can’t move from this chair. I can only control the system from here so I need you to be my hands.”
Sure, why not. She didn’t get a word he was saying, yet right now, she’d jump off a bridge if he said her fall would save Johnny.
“Listen hard, darling,” he continued. “I want you to stay by the telepod and do exactly what I tell you. Will you do that?”
“Of course I will.”
Her father broke the rhythm of his fingers for an instant. His concerned expression quickening her pulse, she stared as he fixed his gaze on her.
“I mean it, Tracy. This is no time to question my instructions or my motives. Do you understand me?”
Loud and clear. Whatever their past differences, she had to set them aside for the time being and do what she was told.
“I get it,” she said. “I’ll do everything you say.”
“Good.”
Whether he believed her or not, he had no choice but to rely on her. Why couldn’t he see that she’d do anything to protect her baby? She licked her parched lips and willed her heart to slow down.
After striking a key, her father glanced up. “Now tell the men to put the immortal in the telepod, and stay over there.”
“Okay, Dad.”
She bolted toward the group. None of them had stirred, but between Garrett and Raphael she glimpsed an arm jerking. Give me a sec and I’ll get you too, bitch. With Khrull’s threat ringing in her brain, she circled the men and came to stand by the telepod. As though in sync with her arrival, the door slid open.
“Quick, guys,” she motioned. “Carry him inside.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, Jake. Just do it.”
He nodded before grabbing a shoulder while Garrett took the other one. They heaved together and began dragging the body toward her. The slow motion causing her to plant her nails into the tips of her fingers, she drew in a long breath as Raphael and Andrew picked up one leg each.
“Come on,” she spurred them on, “hurry.”
The gunslinger winced under the pressure stretching the seams of his tailored vest and uttered a harsh noise. “Goddam the bastard, he’s heavier than a carriage.”
“Jake, you ought to—”
A punch to the chest cut off Garrett. The immortal had thrown his arm though his eyes remained shut. How long did they have before he tore himself free and bashed their skulls? She gnawed her bottom lip as the men brought him closer.
Andrew cried out when a powerful kick caught his midriff. He stumbled backward and Khrull’s heel banged on the floor. The body jerked again. She saw Jake’s grasp slip off the shoulder and her shout flashed past the men.
“Dad!”
“Won’t be long. Get him inside.”
With a formidable vampire push, Raphael shoved the enemy forward. Garrett and Jake staggered but kept up with the motion, their hands now holding clothes more than limbs. The immortal’s head lolled a few feet from the telepod.
“Come on, guys,” she said. “You’re almost there.”
And they were, all united against a force that shouldn’t exist in any world. Andrew grabbed the ankle he’d let go of and then glanced at his companions. Tracy rubbed
the front of her thighs while she watched them haul the body one more time. They were so damn close that she stuck her tongue through her teeth.
The immortal’s lids flipped open. Breath hitched in her throat, she tottered on her feet as his gaze burned her.
“Dad!” Her yell echoed around the garden house and prompted the four men to yank harder. But the enemy was coming back to his senses now and though still weakened by the anesthetics, he wouldn’t go down without a fight. Or without killing them all. She stilled as her father answered from the other side of the room.
“Tracy, look inside the telepod. You should see the edges of a small panel above the destination buttons.”
She stayed outside so as not to block the entrance and twisted her stomach to stick her head inside. Above the labels San Francisco and Sausalito, her eyes fell on a barely visible square that suddenly clicked. “Got it, Dad.”
“Good. Press it lightly.”
Fingers quivering, she touched the cool surface before applying a soft pressure. The cover separated in two, revealing a red clip. “Done.”
“Push the clip and close the panel.”
It only took her two seconds to follow his instructions. Breathing with relief, she straightened up. “Done.”
“Okay, now I need you here.”
“Coming, Dad.”
Garrett fell down as she pivoted toward the group. Jake was thrown three paces back and she had to leap aside to avoid bumping into him. His ass touching the ground, the immortal kicked and thrashed like a torrent of churning waters. Andrew was sprawled on the floor, attempting to sit up.
Only Raphael remained standing. He pounced on his enemy, landed on his chest, seized the sides of the bald head and began hammering his skull against the floor. They both grunted, one with effort, the other one in pain.
When she saw Garrett jumping to his feet while the gunslinger drew out his gun, she dashed toward the computers. Her erratic pulse urged her on and she skidded beside her father’s chair just as he stood.
“Here, darling, sit on my chair and keep your finger on this key. When I say so, press it. All right? Only when I say so.”
“Okay, Dad, but where are you going?”
“There’s a little something I need to fix up in the controls panel.”
“Be careful.”
She didn’t sit down as he grabbed a tiny screwdriver then hurried toward the telepod. Pins and needles prickling her soles, she curled her toes and stared hard when he circled past the melee to go straight to the back of the telepod. He crouched and she lost sight of him while the brawl continued.
Andrew had retrieved the shovel. He hurled it down, aiming at the immortal’s legs while Raphael kept on banging his head. Why didn’t the fucker just die, die, die and go to hell? Getting away from the fight, Garrett went for something she couldn’t see on the table. What did he have in mind?
When he straightened up, she instantly spotted Jake’s second gun in his hand. Oh, God, please be careful. Garrett positioned himself closer to the battle and took up a firing stance, feet planted on the ground, arm extended toward the telepod, finger on the trigger. On the other side of the violent struggle, the gunslinger did exactly the same. Eyes riveted on the enemy, he raised his arm and aimed.
Fear stabbed her stomach when Khrull roared. Her heart tried to leap up her throat when he flung Raphael aside and kicked Andrew hard enough to bring forth a yell of pain. The young man dropped to his knees.
Dad, what are you doing?
Garrett and Jake didn’t move a muscle, guns pointed. Free at last, the immortal stood up, blood leaking down the sides of his neck. Sweat broke out all over her body, the tip of her finger clammy and quivering. Yet she maintained her digit over the keyboard and swallowed when the top of her father’s head appeared at the same time he shouted.
“Get him inside.”
Khrull’s face swiveled, a sneer disfiguring his features. He made to spring on her dad, but a black shape barreled into him, hurtling them both into the telepod. Her skin crawled at the crashing noise, a wince drew up her cheeks as Raphael and his opponent hit the back wall together. Eyes shut, he slowly slid down and fell in a heap.
“Tracy, now!”
Her father’s sharp order lowered her finger on the key, but she didn’t press it. Where had he planned to send the immortal? Surely not to San Francisco or Sausalito because the scientist in him always strove to find the right solution and would never trade a problem for another. So where?
Some kind of inferno would suit her fine, except that Raphael lay unconscious in the telepod and there was no way she was sending him to his death. She stared at Garrett and Jake, both rigid and aiming at the enemy.
“What the hell, Tracy!” Her father yelled. “Hit that damn key!”
No, she wouldn’t.
A little dazed by the violent knock, Khrull stumbled to his feet while his gaze appeared to refocus. She panicked. He’d be out of the telepod in a few seconds and the subsequent slaughter would be on her. Why endanger her son, family, and friends when a simple touch ensured their safety forever?
Raphael ripping throats to rescue her from thugs, a bellow in the night as he got rid of Iago for her, flames engulfing the building he set on fire to protect her from hundreds of raving vampires, his pale face drenched in blood as he walked toward the immortal to exchange his life for hers.
No, she wouldn’t send her guardian to his death.
Her father banged his fist against the metallic machinery just as Khrull gripped both sides of the open door and pulled himself out. Too late. She didn’t have the strength to do the job. Now the fucker was free and hungry for revenge.
“Shoot!” Garrett shouted, opening fire at the same time as Jake. Twelve bullets perforated the immortal’s chest, the shattering impact shoving him back into the telepod. He smashed his skull against the wall, blood spurting from his nose.
An acute wrenching seized her stomach as the love of her life dropped his empty gun, threw himself inside the telepod, grabbed Raphael’s sleeves, and yanked him outside. Heart pounding, fire racing up and down her limbs, she met Khrull’s foggy gaze as he mouthed his last words. “I’ll get you, bitch.”
She struck the key.
The telepod door slid shut. Her eyes watered yet she saw her father pass a hand on a particular spot, and she slouched down on the chair. The springs creaked under her dead weight, her legs trembling as though she’d run the New York City marathon. Twice. Carrying a backpack filled with stones.
“Okay, he’s gone.”
Air gushed out of her lungs on hearing her dad’s voice, though the man she looked at now wasn’t her father.
Garrett had saved Raphael. He knew what her guardian vampire meant to her and despite his jealousy, he’d risked his life to make her happy. She wanted to love him until the end of her days. She wouldn’t because of the ring on his finger.
He ran to her. Her legs still wouldn’t support her, but he laced his hands behind her back and brought her up against him. His mouth descended on hers and she was finally safe, their lips finding each other’s, their tongues stroking and caressing. He took her breath away, amd she made him hard enough to spill a moan into her mouth.
Somewhere in the huge Burnes’ manor, his wife was waiting for him. While her husband fought for the lives of the people he held dear, Miss Perfect probably smoothed her blonde curls in front of a cheval glass and stared at her beautiful reflection. She deserved this privilege, she was born a lady.
Not so for an American woman who happened to set foot in a strange world and at a different time. Five years had gone by since that fateful day, but her passion for Garrett burned even brighter.
Where would she find the strength to let him go when he kissed her so ravenously? Would she be selfless enough to push away the father
of her son and turn her back on him? Forever, and without looking back?
Moistness pooled between her thighs while Garrett shuddered against her. He’d been terrified for her and the shivers coursing through his body accelerated the rhythm of his tongue. She hung on to him, flattening her breasts on his chest. He wanted to take her right then and there, his erection heating the curve of her navel.
“Err . . . Brother?”
Andrew’s questioning tone uncoupled their mouths. Frustration tickling her nerves, she glanced toward the telepod without letting go of Garrett. His brother watched them with envy, Jake displayed his roguish smile while holstering his gun, Raphael stretched his neck from left to right, and her father looked pissed. Damn him, but they’d just gotten rid of the immortal. Couldn’t he rejoice for once?
Garrett slid his fingers down along her back, loosening his embrace. His eyes ablaze with excitement, he leaned in and whispered above her ear.
“I shall remain here for a minute.”
She grinned as he sat on the computer chair and pulled the lapels of his jacket over his groin. He was so hot for her that she wetted her panties. “Sure.”
When she turned toward the group, her father’s furrowed brow met her eyes and he gestured at the computer.
“Tracy, can you press the same key?”
She did. An invisible current seemed to cut through the members of The Circle when the door slid open. The telepod stood empty. They sighed in unison, tension ebbing from their tense features, joy replacing apprehension.
“By George, we did it.” Face alight with wonderment, Andrew threw his arms in the air only to lower them as a wince dampened his happiness. “Ouch, my back is so sore.”
Small wonder given the kicking he’d received. The gunslinger strode toward him to retrieve his Colt off the floor. “Yes, the bastard is gone. Good job, everyone.”
