Honor at Stake (Love at First Bite Book 1)

by Declan Finn

  He thinks that I would have had his back against her. Doesn't he realize I was too busy watching everyone else? Still, it had only been her. He can deal with one vampire. Shouldn't that be enough?

  But why does he have to go do these things? Why can't he just let me protect him? What is his problem? Does he have a death wish?

  Why am I so upset about this?

  Amanda shook her head, frustrated and angry, and uncertain. She wanted to talk with someone. Heck, anyone would do.

  I guess there is only one option.

  * * * *

  Doctor Robert Catalano looked up from his desk at the hospital. He hadn't heard the door open, or even the chair squeak. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, and looked up.

  There was Amanda Colt, sitting in the chair across from him. “Hello.”

  He smiled awkwardly. “Um, hi.”

  It was strange being in the room with someone his son was so obviously enamored of. Especially left alone with her. Trying the gauge how to handle her was something he wasn't good with, even when Marco was dating Lily.

  Amanda’s presence in his hospital made him wonder if Marco was injured, or if he had done the injuring. Again. After the first dozen times Marco had stepped into a situation that did not involve him, but he would settle anyway, Robert had taken a more zen-like approach to his son. He wouldn't worry about anything until he had all the facts before him.

  “Is Marco with you?”

  “He should be home by now.”

  “Ah. Good.” The silence was about as awkward as a hippo in a tutu. If Marco was all right, and Marco's “friend” was there, what could she possibly want to talk about? Unless she was going to ask if she could make a move on Marco, which would be odd, but not the strangest thing he'd have seen that week, month, or year. “Um. Can I help you with something, Amanda?”

  “Any news on casualties?”

  He frowned and leaned back in his chair. “Marco's right. I crunched some numbers, and the dead and wounded have actually leveled off since January. I suspect the more you train those gang losers, the numbers will dip.”

  Amanda smiled. “You do not like them, do you? The Dragons and Los Tigres.”

  “They have their uses, but I think they're more likely to hurt themselves than their enemies. If holy relics didn't work, we'd be tending to them more days than not.” He waved it away. “Never mind them. What about you?”

  “Me?”

  Robert leaned forward on his desk and smiled. “Let me put it this way: are you biting my son?”

  She gaped at him a moment. “I have not bit him since January, and he asked me to.”

  He held up a hand to stop her. “Obviously, I need to elaborate. What are your intentions towards Marco?”

  “I--I do not know what you mean,” she lied. Isn’t this why I’m here? she asked herself. I know you’ve been on your own a long time, but someone can’t help you process if you close up.

  “You're kidding me, aren't you? I see the way you look at him. Either your goal is to kiss him until he's brain damaged or wring his neck. I'm not certain which.”

  “I understand.” Amanda's natural grace, apparent even when sitting, escaped her. She shuffled a little in her chair, unsettled. “You realize I have never been in love before? When I was young, I grew up among people who I could not love. When I became vampire, I became busy. Too busy.” Her gaze drifted away, to a distant past. With cordite in the air, and blood on the snow. “In all my time, I have never found someone like Marco. He is intense. He is strong willed. He is intelligent. He is…almost as lonely as I am. But, do I love him? I cannot say. I have never been. I never had time.”

  “Ah.” Robert frowned, and thought over her dilemma. From what little he'd been able to gather, this woman was older than he was, but came off as being at the same point of development as Marco. “Well, have you ever considered asking why his last relationship fell apart?”

  * * * *

  Amanda Colt stood outside the house in Astoria, Queens, and felt like an idiot. She briefly wondered if this is what it had been like for the average teenager in high school–talking to other women about previous boyfriends, gossip, exchanging stupid little quirks and stupid little stories like stupid little people.

  Maybe I am taking this too seriously, she thought to herself as she knocked on the door of Lily Sparks, Marco's ex-girlfriend.

  Lily opened the door slowly. The young girl looked at Amanda as though she knew what the vampire was. Amanda didn't comment on the girl's outfit, which was a t-shirt one size too small, no visible bra, and read Shuck me, Suck me, Eat me Raw, and, in smaller print underneath, (New England Oysters). Lily had on a tartan skirt, worn to mid-thigh, that Amanda thought was too short for this weather, and pigtails that cut her age in half.

  Catholic school girl outfit? Truly? Amanda thought, but was careful not to let show on her face.

  Lily eyed her warily. “Yes?”

  “I would like to talk with you.”

  “What about?”

  “Marco, of course.” What else do we have in common?

  Lily considered it a moment, then nodded, opening the door wide. Amanda strode inside without an invitation, grateful that her intentions were still pure. If she had come there with even the subconscious inclination to make this tart into lunch, she would have required a verbal invitation.

  The house was surprisingly spacious. The living room had a couch opposite the television, an arm chair at right angles to the couch, and even another corner couch diagonally opposite to it. Amanda took the couch in order to take the least threatening position. Lily took the armchair.

  “So,” Lily asked, “what about Marco? Does he have more enemies after me?”

  “What?”

  “That’s what you came to tell me last time.”

  “Oh, no. Nothing like that.”

  Lily exhaled, giving away her prior nervousness. “Whew. Okay, then what?”

  “Why did you two break up?”

  Lily blinked in surprise. Clearly she was not expecting this. “He told you that we were a couple? He said that?”

  “That was the best term that he had for it,” Amanda explained slowly, racking her brain to remember if Marco had actually used that term. “He implied that you were more than just casually interested in him. At least during the night of the incident.”

  Lily squirmed in the chair a little, and Amanda could hear her heart rate spiking. “What did he tell you about that?”

  “There was a mugging. Marco dealt with it. He added some poetic license–too much, I think–but that was all.” Amanda added a slight glower to give the impression that Lily would make a great fertilizer for a backyard.

  “I never meant to hurt him,” Lily rushed to explain. “You have to understand that.”

  “Of course,” Amanda lied, not understanding, even a little.

  “When I saw what Marco did to that guy…well, you know Marco. When you're around him, you just get this feeling that's he's so…so…”

  “Intense?” Amanda prompted. “Focused?”

  “Dangerous,” Lily answered, a thrill of excitement entering her voice. “He was able to take anyone in a fight. I saw him once or twice. He had a uniform, and a sword, and was just so beautiful in full dress. Okay, he's not generally that much to look at, but just the sense you get when you're around him. In that uniform, he looked great. He looked perfect. I just wanted to grab his sword and…”

  What does this have to do with the price of caviar in the Black Sea? “What does this have to do with…?” Amanda deliberately trailed off.

  “I always knew there was something about Marco,” Lily said. “I just didn't see what it was until that night. I don't know how much he told you, but we were out with a few friends. I had a few drinks. I wanted him so much. I wanted a sample. To hold him, touch him, kiss him…I would have had him, too, if it weren't for that…” Her voice was a mixture of excitement and frustration.

  Amanda said nothin
g, but could only think, Yes, and you would have gotten some that night if it weren't for that meddling mugger and his stupid dog…oh, wait, wrong story. It never occurred to you that Marco was too much of a gentleman to have sex with you that easily? You self-absorbed, egotistic—

  “The guy came out of nowhere,” Lily continued. “He pulled a knife. He grabbed me. He threatened Marco. Marco, he just swooped in there. He actually took the knife away from the guy. Marco grabbed the guy's wrist, twisted, and plucked the knife out of his hand like it was nothing.”

  Lily's excitement peaked now. She reported this entire incident like it was so cool. Amanda heard the heart spike like Lily was turned on by all of this.

  A hundred years old, I still do not understand some fetishes.

  Then Lily's excitement bottomed out. “The guy fought back, and Marco…Marco hurt him. It looked less like the guy was actually fighting Marco, and more like he was thrashing. But he clipped Marco, and Marco kept hurting him. And twisting. And beating.” She winced, and her heart rate spiked again. Amanda could only guess that it was at a particular image.

  “Like I said,” Lily continued, far more sober, “I always knew there was something dangerous in Marco. But this was different. When I watched him tear that man apart, I saw something in him. It was dark and cold and hungry. It scared the crap out of me. I couldn't handle it. I freaked out. I think I told anybody who would listen.”

  “All of Xavier?” Amanda asked.

  “I guess,” Lily said, more embarrassed at being called on it than ashamed or guilty.

  Amanda was not the type of vampire who had strong telepathic tendencies, but even she could tell that Lily wasn't as sorry about what she did to Marco as she was sorry she committed such a faux pas. She was sorry she had freaked out, and sorry she lost her chance with Marco. There may have been sorrow that she had hurt him, but if there was any such guilt, it was buried underneath all of the other, shallow reasons.

  Amanda nodded and stood. She had learned more about Lily than she had Marco, but at least it was something. “Thank you. That was all I wanted to hear. I am sorry for wasting your time. I will leave you be. I can't imagine that you would ever see me again.”

  Lily got up and followed Amanda to the door. “Could you tell Marco I'm sorry?”

  Amanda opened the door, and spared the girl a glance. “He knows you're sorry. You are very sorry.” She took two steps outside, and paused. When she walked up, she remembered that one of the Tigers, a man named Roman, was in the area. At least two members of the Tiger-Dragon crowd were supposed to be there at all times.

  Now she could detect no one.

  Amanda felt Lily move behind her, almost out of the door. “Get back inside,” she ordered. “Now.”

  Amanda felt it coming a moment before it hit her. She tried to get out of the way, but it was no use. Someone was on the roof, but came down, landing on her, feet first. Amanda was driven face down into the bricks of the stairs. By the time she rolled to her feet, the vampire had already jumped away.

  Lily was no longer in the doorway. The vampire had her.

  Amanda spotted the vampire already down the block.

  She pushed to her feet and gave chase,

  when another vampire got in her way.

  Amanda slid to a stop, studying the bigger vampire. His face was visibly deformed, as though he had lost a battle with a fencer numerous times. The man’s hair was slicked back and jet black, and his skin coloring was stark white. His eyes were covered by sunglasses, and he stared at Amanda with a wide, toothy grin.

  “Were you water tortured with actual holy water?” she asked.

  He just grinned. Amanda's eye twitched. Lily was being taken further away by the second, to a place she couldn't fathom, and Amanda didn't have the time for a stand-up fight.

  She leapt away, diving diagonally, past the scarred vampire, rolled to her feet, and started running after the vampire with Lily.

  The scarred one kept pace with her.

  Amanda mentally swore to herself as the vampire with Lily headed south, for Brooklyn. It was going to be a foot race, and she wasn't entirely certain that she could win it. She had the advantage of not carrying someone, but the disadvantage of being chased herself.

  The kidnapping vampire went up along the elevated train, running along the tracks with Lily under his arm like she was a football. He moved fast for someone with the build of a linebacker, at a speed fast approaching the speed of sound.

  Scarface was right behind her, and catching up.

  Amanda paid no mind. She would catch up to the monster who had Lily, no matter the cost. Not for Lily's sake. Not for the sake of stopping the monster. Not to avenge the almost certainly dead gang members back at Lily's home.

  But because Marco would be hurt if she failed.

  Amanda actually put on extra speed she didn't know she was holding back. She felt like she was flying. She followed the kidnapper around a curve, and was suddenly shoved to one side.

  Scarface had caught up to her.

  Since Scarface knew what way his fellow vampire was going, he could anticipate where she would be, and took a shortcut between two points.

  The shove wasn't a problem. Amanda could almost certainly get back on track and onto the path again in no time.

  If it weren't for the oncoming train.

  Chapter Eighteen: Duel

  March 13th, 9:00 p.m.

  Amanda Colt looked at the oncoming train and tried not to panic. After running along elevated train tracks at a speed that out-performed trains, a solid shove from Scarface sent her flying on a direct collision course. The ground was out of reach by both feet and hands, so that would be no help.

  Her only point of contact with something solid would be when the train hit her.

  There were some basic tricks for someone who was solidly on a path of good or evil. As she explained to Marco all those months ago, when the soul and the body were as closely intertwined as a vampire's were, it allowed for complete control over the body, down to reshaping the molecular components.

  So, with a nanosecond to do it, Amanda let her body become mist.

  Without her in them, her clothes were tossed in the air, and floated aside in the draft generated by the train. It was bad enough that the train hit her mist form, but the winds generated by the train's movement essentially ripped Amanda apart and scattered her in all directions.

  It wasn't a pleasant feeling as her entire being scattered over half a mile of track. While she couldn't be harmed in this form by anything short of the morning sun, it wasn't her fastest moving form.

  Amanda had to fight hard in order to pull herself together, drawing in every last molecule of her being into one, sold form. It also had to be done at street level, lest an oncoming train scatter her even further.

  All told, it took ten minutes for Amanda to gather herself in one place before she could drift up, between the tracks, and slide back into her clothes.

  The vampires, and Lily, were gone.

  * * * *

  Amanda Colt showed up at Marco Catalano’s doorstep feeling tired. She raised her hand to knock at the front door, but it opened before she laid a hand on it. Marco still wore the suit jacket and polo shirt from earlier in the evening.

  Marco stared at her and said, “What's wrong? Are you all right?”

  Amanda smiled weakly. “What makes you ask?”

  He took her arm and led her inside. “The guys on station in Astoria called in to tell me that you showed up to Lily's house. Vega called me directly. However, since then, they haven't called in, they're not answering calls or text messages.” He led her into the living room and gave her the armchair. “So I figure I know what happened to them. They're dead, and you look like you've been hit by a truck.”

  “A train. The number seven, I think.”

  Marco knelt down in front of her, running his hands over her arms and back, as though being hit by a train would be the same as looking for stab wounds. “I so seriousl
y hope you were in mist form at the time.”

  “Yes.” Amanda was about to say more, but Marco's hands rested on her shoulders, and held her lightly. She enjoyed the feel of his hands on her body, no matter where they were. It was strange, but she hadn't been touched all that often in the last fifty years or so. She sighed and forced herself to say, “Marco, they took Lily.”

  “I know.” Marco sighed. “Well, I figured. If she were unharmed, you would have called here first thing. If she were dead, I suspect it would be over your undead body.”

  “You are so sure of that?”

  “I like to think so. I suspect you can be as relentless as I am. If they're going to hold her hostage, they'll call. If not, they'll get through some other way. It's only eleven. I expect that's like noon on a Saturday to most vampires. Come on, let me make you something to drink.”

  He started to rise, and she grabbed his hand, almost pulling her to him. “You are not upset?” she asked.

  “Why should I be?” He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Amanda, you got hit by a frigging train to save her. I'd rather not have you as a smear on the side of the number seven.” He paused, looking deep into her Frangelico eyes. His hand slid up her neck, and cupped her cheek, just before he leaned down, and kissed her on the forehead. “You did good, love,” he whispered. “You did good.”

  Amanda's hand came up of its own accord and slid around the back of Marco's neck, keeping him that close. She looked up at him with a wary smile. “Marco, I–”

  She was interrupted by the sound of a thump.

  They exchanged a look. That was the sound of something slammed up against the front door of the house.

  Both of them were tense and facing the door in an instant. Marco moved first, keeping against the right wall of the hallway. Amanda took the left wall, both moving for the front.

  Marco got to the front door first, and opened it.