by Lyons, Rene
Allie shook her head, knowing it wasn’t worth the effort to argue with him. He was never going to change. Once an asshole always an asshole. “It’s been a real pleasure. Let’s not do it again sometime, shall we?”
Having to suffer him was the equivalent of having her eyeballs plucked clean and stepped on.
She pushed past him and climbed into her truck, driving off without a further thought of her ex-boyfriend. And why would she, when she had Sebastian to think about?
*
Jude hurried into Peck’s and quickly picked up the refill of his and Denise’s penicillin prescription. Heading home, having turned onto Route Three Seventy-One, he realized a big black truck was following him.
Though he tried to outrun it, he couldn’t shake the guy on the narrow, winding road. Nor could he avoid it when the truck pulled beside him, heedless of any oncoming traffic. The driver, whom he couldn’t see behind the black tinted windows, slammed into the side of Jude’s Mercedes.
Careening to the right, Jude’s car rolled into a deep ditch. By the time the car stopped rolling he was upside down but thankfully unhurt. He was still strapped into the driver’s seat, though. Fumbling with the seatbelt, he tried everything to free himself short of attempting to bite his way out. His head snapped to the left when the mangled door was pulled open.
“Please…”
Never one too proud to beg, Jude did exactly that when a hulking bruiser of a man stalked to the car brandishing a syringe. Though Jude tried to fight the man, Jude was no match for his strength and easily subdued.
The man said nothing as he jabbed a needle into Jude’s arm. Gasping, Jude yanked away his arm but not before the man pushed down on the syringe’s stopper and injected him with the drug it held.
Whatever it was hit Jude instantly. His head spun and his stomach lurched until everything went black. He heard some rustling and felt himself being pulled from his wrecked car. If he wasn’t so relaxed, damned near unconscious, he might have tried to fight.
“We gotta hurry. If he wakes up and this guy isn’t there, he’s gonna kill us.”
Jude had no idea who “he” was or why these guys were bringing him to whoever it was they worked for. Nor did he have any more time to wonder about it. The drug he had been shot with was powerful stuff. He went out cold a second later.
When he opened his eyes some time later he was in a large room. The windows had cardboard over them. The only light came from a few candles on a cracked dish set on the floor. The room stank of stale air, sweat, blood, and vomit.
Sick to his stomach and disoriented, he started to move and realized he was bound on a mattress. The thing was filthy, stained, and stank. Something moved in the corner of the room. His eyes tried to cut through the dim glow to see what it was. Barely focusing, he saw it was a young man.
“Who are you? Why am I here?”
Tall and lean, with long brown hair, the man moved stealthily out of the shadows. His eyes glowed silver. They were not human eyes.
“Shut up, Jude,” Though his tone was soft, it was thick with irritation.
Terror gripped Jude as he tried to break free of the binds. “How do you know who I am?”
The man approached the bed and Jude saw twin fangs peeking out from behind his parted lips. “I make it my business to know anyone who might aid me in my endeavor.”
Fangs. The man had fangs. The chilling realization that Allie was right had icy fingers of fear working their way up his spine. Everything Allie told him came back at him in a rush of words in his spinning mind.
Vampires were real, she affirmed over and over again. Each time she spewed that bullshit, Jude called her crazy, threatened to break things off with her if she didn’t stop with her foolishness.
But it hadn’t been bullshit. Vampires were real and now Jude was caught in some deadly game he wanted no part of.
Goddamn you, Allie…
“I’ll give you whatever you want. Just let me go.”
The man sat on the edge of the mattress. Jude tried to scurry away but the man stilled his frantic movements by placing a hand on his leg. “You shouldn’t make such an offer, Jude.”
“Is it money? I’ll give you any amount you want.” There was a desperate edge to his voice as he pleaded with the creature.
Shaking his head, the man patted Jude’s leg. Jude wanted to yank his leg away but he was too afraid of making the vampire mad. “Now what would I want with money when I have plenty of my own?”
“Then what?” Jude’s voice rose with fear, taking on a shrill note that cut through the abandoned house like a knife. “What do you want from me?”
Taking his hand from Jude’s leg, the man stroked his chin. “What I need is help from you.”
Jude shook his head. His mind was a riot of thoughts as terror nearly rendered him as insane as he always accused Allie of being. “I don’t understand.”
The vampire’s eyes shone with malevolence. “I’m looking for something, Jude. With your help, I think I found an easier way to get to it.”
Jude saw a way to get himself out of this alive. “Anything. Whatever you want.”
The man tsked and wagged a finger at him. “There you go again, offering anything. I warned you, Jude.”
Before Jude could do anything to save himself, the man bared his fangs and leapt at him. His teeth came down hard and deep into Jude’s throat. Jude gasped and thrashed wildly when he felt his vein give as those razor-sharp fangs punctured it. He tried to scream but couldn’t, helpless to stop the monster pulling his blood from his body.
He couldn’t fight tied as he was, though Jude doubted his meager strength would be any match for this creature. The vampire used his body weight to push him back down. Pinned to the bed, Jude gave up the fight as he felt himself growing weaker and colder by the second. He felt his own death coming fast, though something told him this wasn’t going to be the end.
He knew he was going to die tonight, even worse, he knew he wasn’t going to stay dead.
He prayed for God to save him, but it was too late. His heart beat for the last time.
Falling into the black peace of death, he was yanked out of the abyss by the vampire, who gave Jude back the blood he took from him. Unable to resist, he latched onto the vampire’s wrist, drinking from the gaping wound. The blood filled his mouth, slipped down his throat and worked its way through his body.
When human death claimed his body, Jude’s scream echoed through the night.
Yet it was the roar that was torn from Jude when he was reborn that brought a smile to the bloodied lips of Stephan. He watched as his newest child woke and took in the night with the burning silver eyes of immortality.
Chapter Eighteen
“What a massive waste of time,”
Allie and Lex were loading the Passport with all the hand-held equipment they brought with them to the Millers.
“You knew it would be,” Lex reminded her.
Allie slammed closed the back door of the truck, wincing when she did the same to the tailgate and it nearly rattled off its hinges. It was only a matter of time before the whole truck fell apart.
“It would have been nice to be proved wrong.”
“How much did he offer you anyway?”
Shrugging, Allie wondered if maybe she should have put her ethics aside and accepted the payoff Michael Miller offered. She needed the money, and besides, who would be hurt by the lie? All she had to do was do a piece on the B&B in The Specter and say she believed the place was haunted. Miller would get his publicity and Allie would get a nice stack of money. Easy. Fast. No harm done.
No harm done except to her conscience.
Lying wasn’t her style. That’s not how she rolled, not for any reason, especially not money.
“Obviously not enough.”
Lex smiled at her, beaming with pride. “I’m glad you didn’t take it.”
“Me too. I can’t believe they tried to bribe me. I may be a weirdo by a normal person’s st
andards, but I do have morals.”
About to get into the truck, Lex snorted at that. “You’re not a weirdo or crazy. People can be stupid, that’s all. If they got to know you they’d see how great you are.”
Older sister hero worship was a hell of a thing, never failing to knock Allie for a loop. A lump, feeling suspiciously like a wad of emotion, settled in her throat. She swallowed it down before she started bawling her eyes out.
She loved being an older sister, even with all the responsibility that came with the job. Though she failed miserably in the whole “role-model” thing. Now more than ever she needed to rethink some of the more reckless risks she took with her safety. She couldn’t go blindly leaping into a dangerous situation. Not when Lex would be right behind her, ready to jump in too. Nor could she go pulling a stunt like she did last night, where she didn’t call to check in when staying out all night.
“Yeah, well, not everyone loves me like you do, sweetheart.” Allie climbed up to stand on the side step. She looked over the roof at her sister. “And in case you haven’t realized by now, ghost hunting isn’t exactly a normal career. Besides, I don’t sweat it that people think I’m nuts. I don’t want you to either.”
Lex tilted her head and regarded her curiously. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything, sweetheart.”
“How come you don’t go get a normal full-time job and do the ghost hunting on the side?”
Allie wondered the same thing after she lost her job as a receptionist in the pediatric office four years ago. She’d loved that job, liked the two doctors she worked for. Surprisingly, even got along with the other assistants, though they made no secret of the fact they thought she was weird. Most of all, she loved being around the kids. The newborns were her favorite. She fawned over every new and wrinkled tiny person brought in by their worn out, but adoring parents.
The doctors weren’t too fond of the fact she spent her nights ghost hunting and fired her. They felt her working for them brought their credibility down a few notches so they let her go. Depressed, she stayed out of work for three months. When she finally pulled herself together and went to find another job, every door was slammed in her face.
By that time, her reputation as Crazy Allie was well known. After all, word spread fast in a small town. No self-respecting business would “lower” themselves to hire her once people started talking about her being crazy. Ghost hunting and reporting her investigations to The Specter became her full-time job.
“Because I am considered Crazy Allie, not many people around want me working for them,” Allie explained with an indifferent shrug.
“Oh,” Lex said softly. “I’m sorry, Allie.”
Allie got into the Passport. “For what?”
“For people’s stupidity.”
God, Lexine had such a good heart. Allie was afraid, since they lived smack in the center of vampire central, that heart was one day going to get Lex in some serious trouble.
“Don’t let it bother you, Lex. Besides, I have all the friends I need.”
Of course, Allie was referring to the Templars. Having those guys at her back was more than enough friend any woman could ask for.
The Templars were at Seacrest by now. They went to the castle every night to check in with Tristan before going out to hunt. Why they didn’t go and live there while they were in Damascus, Allie didn’t know. It made no sense to her that they stayed at Randall Manor, where they were far less protected than at Seacrest.
Some things about them she didn’t know. Their reluctance to reside at Seacrest seemed to fall into that “unknown” category.
Thinking about the Templars, Allie’s mind zeroed in on one in particular. She was definitely suffering from a bad case of the warm and fuzzies, and much to her surprise she found it was nice since he seemed to return the sentiment.
“You seriously like Sebastian, don’t you?” Lex asked, obviously seeing the direction Allie’s thoughts wandered to.
“You could say that,” she laughed. “Sebastian is remarkable in the truest sense of that word. He is a man who should be remarked upon. Everything about him is incredible.”
Lex glanced at the time displayed on the radio. “So why don’t you go see him? It’s still early by a vampire’s standards.”
At only eleven o’clock, it was still early.
Allie held back her laughter when she saw the hopeful gleam in Lex’s eyes. Her sister was busting to meet the Templars. Lex made it very obvious she wanted into the shadowy world Allie was a part of. Try as she might to keep her sister out of it, Allie had to concede that maybe—just maybe—it was time she let Lex in.
*
As soon as they drove through Seacrest’s gatehouse, Allie and Lex felt as if the wind was knocked right out of them. If Allie didn’t know better she would swear they crossed time, going back to the days when the original Seacrest Castle was new and teeming with life.
Parking behind the Templar’s impressive collection of cars, they got out and stood staring slack-jawed at the lists for a good long while. After all, it wasn’t every day a woman got a glimpse into the past at what genuine medieval warriors looked like clashing swords under the pale light of the moon.
Four gorgeous Templars—minus Lucian, unfortunately—assembled on the lists as they would have done centuries past in all their medieval glory.
Sebastian and Raphael went at each other savagely, Tristan and Constantine cheering on the ruthless battle as only true knights would.
The clash of blades echoed loudly throughout the courtyard. Muscles worked under pale skin as two vampire-knights battled each other with a brutality that came from knowing death was no longer a possibility. The way they moved, sidestepping each other’s swords, looked like a carefully choreographed dance. Each movement fluid as they faced off with a strength and agility no human could match.
Sebastian possessed such grace, fighting with the ease of a man who was bred for battle. The savagery in the way he fought would have destroyed a lesser man than Raphael.
Fascinated by the way they moved and the passion for the fight gleaming in their eyes, it was easy to see why the Knights Templar were considered the elite in their day. They fought with the belief that if they fell in battle, they would ascend straight to God. That belief gave them an advantage over their enemies. After all, how do you win against men who fought with nothing to lose and all to gain?
If Allie looked hard enough, she could see past the modern world and glimpse back to the days when Sebastian was alive. When his flesh was tanned from a life spent outdoors. She could almost see the true color of his eyes—not the glowing sliver they turned when he was reborn—but the warm brown she knew they were in life.
But the watery image faded quickly and Allie was once again reminded of exactly what the Templars were. As if she could ever forget.
Neither showed a hint of exhaustion as they battled each other with inhuman strength and stamina. Though their wounds bled, neither man seemed to notice their injuries.
“Wow,” Lex breathed. “They’re amazing.”
Allie could only nod in agreement, lost for words as she watched her man in battle.
What a glorious sight he made.
Being only two tiny drops of estrogen in a huge bucket of testosterone, it was enough to give Allie and Lex sensory overload.
Tearing his gaze from the fight, Tristan turned and stared curiously at Lex for only a heartbeat. Allie knew that was all it took for him to sense who her sister was.
Lex pressed herself against Allie’s side, blushing clear to the roots of her hair. Allie couldn’t blame her for her reaction. If she were thrust into the Templar’s world under different circumstances, she would have reacted exactly the same way. Having her throat bitten, her body beaten, and her mind a mess, she didn’t have the luxury of getting all hot and bothered when she first encountered them.
“They’re huge!” Lex was gawking at Tristan, who was staring back at Lex in obvious amusement
.
Allie had to laugh at that. “I warned you they were fierce boys. C’mon.” Allie gave Lex a gentle tug on her arm. “Wipe the drool off your chin and I’ll introduce you.”
Dragging Lex across the courtyard, Allie caught Sebastian throwing glances at her. She winked at him and then cringed when Raphael stabbed him in the leg.
“Bloody hell,” Sebastian swore.
He stumbled under the impact of the blow before coming back with a sharp thrust of his sword. Raphael blocked the attack, not giving Sage a second to recover before nearly catching Sebastian in the other leg.
Lex gasped at the sight of the blood that spurted out of Sebastian’s leg.
“Trust me, he’s fine,” Allie assured her, though she felt sick inside to see her man wounded. “Vampire, remember? They can’t die.”
“Can they feel pain?” Lex asked in a whisper.
Allie nodded. “Sure they can. Isn’t that right, Sebastian?”
Sebastian slapped away Raphael’s attack with a growl. “It burns like bloody hell.”
“Stop being such a girl. It’s only a flesh wound,” Raphael shot back.
Sebastian charged. He caught Raphael in the shoulder, the sword sinking deep. Rogue jumped back and the blade pulled free. “Son of a bitch. You got me!”
“You’ll live.”
“Fuck you, asshole,” Raphael gritted out.
They continued their brutal dance of blades as Allie introduced Lex to Tristan. Guardian, God bless his medieval heart, brought Lex’s hand to his lips. Her sister got flustered when he placed a feathery kiss upon her knuckles.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lexine.”
“He’s cold,” she whispered to Allie, believing only her sister could hear her.
Tristan shared a small smile with Allie over Lex’s head. What Lex didn’t realize was how exceptional a vampire’s hearing was. “He’s dead, Lex. Hence, the cold skin.”
Lex’s mouth formed a perfect “O”. Much to her credit, she recovered quickly. Still, she looked overwhelmed by the barrage to her senses. Allie should have better prepared Lex for this meeting. Sure, she gave her sister the basic run-down about vampires, but she didn’t get into the dirty details of what they were or what a shock to the system it would be to come face to face with them.
