by Barb Hendee
She was too nervous and kept glancing at the door.
“Maybe I should have waited outside,” Philip said. “Kept a lookout for Julian.”
Eleisha shook her head. “The streets here are too public. He’d never attack out there. Hopefully, Christian and Ivory will just drive into the parking lot or get out of a cab in front. They should be okay for now.”
But no one was talking about what might happen later. What would happen if these two vampires wanted nothing to do with the church or with a community? Eleisha couldn’t help a sinking, guilty feeling that she’d just led Julian straight to them. If they agreed to come home to Oregon, she and Philip could protect them both.
But what if they didn’t?
In her eagerness to make contact and her desire to “help,” she always seemed to assume any vampires they found would want to come back to Portland. She should have thought this situation through a little more carefully before just blundering into Seattle like this.
If both these vampire were elders, then they already knew how to feed without killing, and they posed no danger to society. They seemed to have carved a comfortable life for themselves, and they had each other, so they weren’t alone.
What if by coming here, Eleisha had done nothing more than put their lives at risk?
She pushed the thought away. No, these two at least deserved to know that others of their kind still existed and were forming a community together. She would never give up on the underground. There was safety in numbers. They had to at least be offered the chance, and that couldn’t be done through a letter or a phone call. They had to see Eleisha and Philip in person…to have proof that others of their kind still existed.
Glancing over, she saw Philip watching her. He looked especially handsome tonight, in a stark white shirt under his black Armani coat, which was buttoned only high enough to hide his machete. His hair had less product in it than usual, and it hung in red-brown layers past the upturned collar of his coat.
“It will be all right,” he said. “Whenever you talk, people listen.”
She blinked, not sure how to respond, wishing she were as confident of her own abilities as he was. Wade hadn’t said much since they’d left the hotel, but she knew he must be worrying about many of the same things. Leaning back in the booth, he shifted his weight. Tonight he wore his usual faded jeans and old canvas jacket with the plastic buttons—with his gun strapped underneath. Philip hated that canvas jacket and was always trying to replace it, but Wade cared little about fashion.
“Philip,” he said. “See if you can flag down a waitress and order me a beer. They pay more attention to you.”
Philip appeared to accept this statement as truth, and he looked around for anyone wearing an apron.
Just then, the door opened, and two people stepped in from the night air.
Time seemed to slow as Eleisha took in the sight of them. Ivory appeared to be in her early twenties, wearing a coat over a long red dress. She was lovely, with shining white-blond hair.
But Eleisha didn’t look at her for long, as Christian spotted their booth almost instantly, and he began walking toward them with purpose. Even from across the room, Eleisha could feel the power of his personality as people around him automatically moved out of his way. He looked exactly as she’d seen him in Philip’s memories, but she’d forgotten how clear his eyes were, with only the slightest hint of blue.
He stopped at the end of the booth.
His face showed little emotion, but his eyes widened just a bit at the sight of Philip, and then he turned his head to look at Eleisha, drinking in her face. She knew he’d sense her as a vampire, no heartbeat, no scent of warm blood. But he seemed fascinated by her face and hair.
Philip stood up, leaving his side of the booth open, and he motioned for Christian and Ivory to take his place. Then he slid in beside Eleisha.
Both the newcomers sat down, but Christian continued to stare at Eleisha.
“Well,” he said in a French accent. “This is unexpected.”
Christian had no idea what he might find upon arriving here, but this was certainly not it. It took him a few seconds to even recognize Philip, who now looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of GQ.
He’d seen Philip only once—screaming, mad, half-naked, and covered in blood.
Christian ignored the mortal in the booth as unimportant.
But the girl…
Small boned and pale, she was staring back at him with a kind of vulnerable hope in her hazel eyes. She wanted something from him, and she wanted to please him at the same time. Just the sight of her expression brought excitement bubbling up into his chest. Dark blond wisps of hair hung around a pretty face without a speck of makeup. And she was a vampire. He almost couldn’t believe it.
Where had she come from?
She opened her mouth as if trying to speak, and he hung there in anticipation on the edge of his seat, wondering why she’d gone to such lengths to call him here.
“My name is Eleisha,” she said finally. Her voice was soft and hesitant. He had the immediate impression she’d be easy to dominate. Under the right circumstances, she’d do anything he told her.
“You know Philip,” she went on, as if they were friends meeting for a social engagement, “and this is Wade Sheffield.” She gestured to the mortal—who was busy studying Ivory. “He knows…everything about us. We can speak freely.”
Christian snapped his fingers, and a waitress stopped instantly. “Five glasses of red wine,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll have a beer,” Wade said.
Christian already didn’t like him. For a mortal who was apparently well aware that he was sitting in a booth with four vampires, he seemed far too sure of himself. Philip looked distinctly unsettled, which was good, but how had he survived? Christian needed to get control here quickly. He leaned back in the booth.
“You seem to have me at a disadvantage since I don’t need to introduce myself or Ivory. You already know our names,” he said. “And your ghost might have cost me a good deal of money tonight.”
To his further fascination, Eleisha looked chagrined. “I’m so sorry about that. He didn’t tell us what he was going to do…just that he’d get you to speak to us.” Good God. She did sound sorry. She meant it.
Christian smiled. “Well, he managed that much. We’re here. What is it you wish to say?”
In truth, he didn’t really care at this point.
For so many years now, more years than he could count, Ivory had been desperate to leave him, but he couldn’t let her go. The routine he’d developed required the both of them. He needed both a spiritualist and a conduit for the shows to work. They were unique, and their reputation preceded them: Christian Lefevre and his beautiful conduit to the spirits.
But for his conduit, he needed a telepath, another vampire.
In the few moments that he’d sat here, he could already see that Eleisha was far more pliable and far more eager to please than Ivory could ever be. What a relief this girl would be to him. She was not sophisticated, not yet, but he’d trained Ivory once, and he could do it again. With the right makeup and a silk gown, Eleisha could step right into Ivory’s place; they could go to a different state and find a new patron, and no one ever would know the difference.
“We’ve started looking for others…like ourselves,” Eleisha said, “and we’ve purchased a large church that we call the underground, where we’re living. We were hoping you might want to join us.”
As she said this, he stopped thinking about himself and his immediate future, and he actually began to listen. He did need to know why she believed she was here. But she was looking at Ivory now as her soft, hesitant voice rolled on, speaking about this church they’d furnished, about their methods for finding lost vampires—which she called her “mission”—and about their hope of forming a community. She said Wade used a computer to locate possible search locations and Philip provided protection.
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Christian had trained Ivory to be silent unless she was handling a client or playing the ethereal conduit, so he was surprised when she asked, “Have you found anyone else?”
Eleisha nodded. “Yes, we found Rose de Spenser in San Francisco, and Maxim Carey in London. They’re both living with us at the church.”
Christian stiffened. “There are two more of us?”
“Hopefully more than that,” she said. “Every time we’re on the verge of giving up, we seem to find someone else.”
He didn’t care for this news—at all. It tied her to her current existence even more. Of course he had no interest in going back to her little “community.” He had no interest in Philip or Wade or in forming friendships with other vampires. For the most part, he never had, even in the old days. Eleisha was the only thing at this table that interested him. He’d been reading people long enough to know sincerity when he saw it. She was the soul of sincerity. After a little training, anyone would believe anything she said.
However, from the way she was talking, she seemed eager to get back to her old brick church as soon as possible.
He had to find some way—any way—to keep her here a little longer.
Wade was struggling to stop staring at Ivory. He’d once believed himself to be in love with Eleisha, and even before that, he’d always found her pretty to a heartbreaking degree. But this woman was different. She reminded him of a shining jewel. She’d hardly said anything, and her expression was guarded; yet she was hanging on Eleisha’s every word. He caught a few stolen glances into her green eyes, and he couldn’t help seeing a hint—possibly more than a hint—of sadness. He wanted to know what she was thinking, and he fought to keep from entering her mind to try to see as much as possible before she pushed him out.
What a foolish notion. They wanted her to trust them, and that trust would not be gained by invading her mind without an invitation.
Still looking at Eleisha, Ivory asked quietly, “You said Philip’s job was to protect whomever you found. Protect them from what?”
Eleisha blinked. “From Julian.”
“So he comes after the vampires you find?”
Wade flinched. The conversation had suddenly taken a wrong turn. It was moving toward dangerous ground, and he had no idea how to stop it.
Eleisha nodded.
“Has he killed any of them?” Ivory asked.
“Yes,” Philip answered, speaking up for the first time. Perhaps he considered this his territory. “Two. But one of them had moved outside my protection, and the other was mad. I’d have killed her myself.”
Ivory fell silent at this, but something in Christian’s face flickered. However, he didn’t look frightened. Had Wade not known better, before the quick flash vanished, he could have sworn Christian almost appeared…pleased.
Then Christian’s expression shifted to anger. “So you’ve led a killer right to us, and you expect us to trust you enough to travel to Portland after a few moments’ chat? I don’t think so.”
This time Eleisha flinched. But the truth here had crossed Wade’s mind as well. Good intentions or not, they’d led Julian right to Seattle.
“I promise we can protect you,” Eleisha said. “I have…defenses, too. You just need to stay near us.”
Christian tilted his head to one side, studying Eleisha, and Wade couldn’t help having second thoughts about him already. Something about his manner was unsettling. Wade couldn’t say exactly what that was…but something. He just seemed so calculated.
“I agree with staying near you,” Christian said. “But we must all be better acquainted before there is any talk of Ivory and me going with you to this…community…and indeed before you should consider inviting us to take such a step. You know nothing about us.”
“What are you suggesting?” Eleisha asked.
“The three of you should come and stay at the mansion for a while. You will be close and can offer this protection you promise, and we can come to know each other better.” He paused. “Does that not seem the wisest option? The mansion is gated. Could you not protect us more easily there?”
To Wade’s surprise, Philip nodded. “Yes.”
But Eleisha looked flustered. “What about Vera? What will she say to three more houseguests?”
To Wade’s further surprise, Christian laughed, looking Philip up and down. “Do not concern yourself. She’ll be thrilled.”
He stood up and pulled a cell phone from his pocket, pushing a button, putting it to his ear, and walking toward the bar. The waitress brought their drinks.
Eleisha turned to Wade with questioning eyes.
What do we do? she flashed.
Although Christian’s suggestion had caught him off guard, too, they certainly could not expect these two vampires to just pack up and leave for Portland tonight. And the knowledge that Julian was already here in the city meant that they both needed protection.
I think we have to agree, he flashed back. We can’t ask them to come with us so quickly, and we can’t just leave them on their own.
After a few seconds, she nodded, and he was suddenly ashamed of his own excitement at the prospect of living in such close quarters with Ivory. He knew nothing about her, and he was far too old for a schoolboy’s crush on a stranger with a beautiful face.
Julian stopped his car about thirty feet outside the manor’s gates. He got out and quietly closed the door, letting his eyes run down the high fence as he pondered the best way to get inside. It bothered him that he didn’t know much about either of the vampires Eleisha had located—and he liked having more information before attacking. But since he knew exactly where they were, it just seemed prudent to go ahead and kill them tonight.
His normal method for hunting members of his kind was to hide in the shadows until the target walked past and then step out and take a swing, severing the head before anyone saw him coming or knew he was there. But he had killed two vampires at once before, and he could do so again, as long as they were together when they walked past him and he moved fast enough. He’d taken out a male/female pair, Demetrio and Cristina, in Italy in 1826 by hiding behind a door on the terrace of their villa.
Since Julian had never developed telepathy, he could not be sensed or tracked by telepathy, and so none of his own kind knew he was there if they couldn’t see him. He’d simply stepped from behind the door and taken off Demetrio’s head in a matter of seconds. Then he’d swung backward before Cristina even had time to gasp.
It had not been difficult.
He could employ the same tactic here.
But he needed to get inside. Since his method of hunting always depended on the element of surprise, he could not simply ask to be admitted—even if he thought he had a chance of gaining entry. He stepped onward, taking stock of the fence.
The air shimmered beside him, and Mary appeared. Her transparent face seemed frustrated.
“He’s not in there anymore,” she said. “They’re both gone. I think maybe they know you’re here in the city.”
He tensed. “And how is that possible?”
“Seamus saw me. He might have warned them.”
Julian went cold with anger at this news. It must have been what she was holding back earlier. But to make it worse, when she saw his expression, her frustration vanished for an instant, and she almost seemed to be enjoying his rage. Her eyes glinted with amusement. His desire to punish her doubled. He would find a way to make her do his bidding like she used to.
But then he looked back at the gates. He almost couldn’t believe he’d tracked down a possible elder and his child, only to lose them again so quickly. Well, they couldn’t have gotten far.
Turning, he started back toward his rented car.
“Find them,” he said.
Eleisha did not refuse when Christian offered to drive them all back to the manor in a black Mercedes. At the time, it had seemed sensible, as this would certainly keep all five of them together.
He’d also said he would
“send someone” to their hotel for their luggage. Again, she’d agreed, but as he pulled the Mercedes up to the front gates of the manor, lowered the window, and punched in a code, Eleisha watched the gates swing inward, and she was struck by an uncomfortable feeling that she’d handed over too much power in this situation.
They had no car of their own here. They were passing through a gate for which she did not have a code, and Christian was making all the decisions. Wade sat beside her in the backseat, and she could feel his tension as well, but on her other side, Philip just kept looking out the window. Maybe he’d realized this was their only option, and that’s why he’d agreed so quickly. There simply wasn’t anything else they could do.
Christian drove toward the north side of the manor and hit a button on the key chain. A huge garage door opened, and as he pulled inside, Eleisha saw a row of luxury cars. He parked in an open spot.
“Home, sweet home,” he said.
Philip opened the door, and Eleisha climbed out after him. Ivory had been in the passenger seat, and she pointed toward the back of the garage at a door. “That way.”
Again, this all somehow felt wrong—too alien—and Eleisha regretted their hasty decision to accept hospitality here. But again, what choice did they have?
Wade fell into step beside Ivory, and they all headed inside the manor, walking up a flight of stairs and passing through another door before emerging onto the main floor.
They passed down a wide hallway…and then Eleisha stopped three steps inside a vast room, trying to take everything in at once. The sight was overwhelming.
She believed herself to be standing in some oversized living room—maybe.
The first thing in her sight line was a huge white fireplace, but every inch of the mantel was covered in Victorian teapots. She counted at least six couches or settees. There were stuffed chairs, tables, brass lamps, Persian rugs, Chinese vases, candleholders, and small crystal or porcelain knickknacks everywhere. A full-sized painted carousel tiger—with a saddle—stood near the fireplace, and mismatched paintings hid every inch of space on the walls.
