Tall, Dark and Immortal

by Cat Devon

  “I should help,” Keira said.

  “You are helping by not distracting them,” Fiona said. “Trust me, they’ve got this.”

  “Catch,” Simon told Alex as he tossed him a specialized blade he’d taken from his boot.

  Alex deftly grabbed the weapon midair and sliced a demon with it. The evil entity disintegrated. Simon reached for a demon dagger in his other boot just in time to stab it into the malevolent eye of the demon about to rip him to shreds. Poof. Another pile of dust.

  Keira had never seen anything like the battle she was witnessing. The fight she’d seen Alex have with that vampire at the love hotel was nothing compared with the mayhem in the room. The battle was occurring so fast it became a blur of good versus evil with Keira unable to tell which side was winning.

  “Simon is the best Demon Hunter around,” Fiona reassured her.

  “And I’m the best witch around,” Pru said as she kicked a demon, who went tumbling horned head over clawed heels before disintegrating. “With the best damn boots spelled to be a weapon.”

  “You’re only the best witch because my powers were stolen,” Fiona shot back with a grin.

  “I thought we weren’t supposed to distract them,” Keira said.

  “Right,” Fiona acknowledged. “My bad.”

  Talk about bad, the smell was putrid, forcing Keira to put her hand to her nose.

  “It’s the demon mercenaries,” Fiona explained. “And the demon dust.”

  A moment later it was over. Simon and Alex stood surrounded by piles of demon dust.

  Simon grinned. “I love a successful demon demolition at the end of the day. Do your thing, Pru, before they regurgitate from those piles of dust into more powerful demons.”

  Pru held her hands out, palms down, and began speaking.

  Demons in dust

  Do what you must

  To disappear

  As if you were never here.

  Just like that, the piles of demon dust disappeared. So did the awful stench.

  “Let’s go,” Alex said.

  “Wait.” Keira rushed to Lynch’s desk and the vial of blood in the container there. “Okay, now we can go.”

  “I’ll take Fiona,” Pru said. “You take the lovebirds,” she told Simon.

  Keira didn’t have time to worry if she would freak out at flying because the airborne transport was done quickly. Once they were on street level, Alex took her in his arms and moved with his customary vamp super speed. She pressed her cheek against his bare chest. She was still wearing the shirt he’d tenderly wrapped around her.

  They all ended up back at the Palmer House in Alex and Keira’s room.

  “First things first,” Pru said. She turned to Fiona. “Let’s get you dressed. Lavender is your favorite color, right?”

  Fiona nodded.

  A moment later the sequined bikini was gone and replaced with black yoga pants with a trendy lavender design down the leg that picked up the lavender T-shirt.

  “I’ll have what she’s having,” Keira said. “Or can you only do that for fellow witches?”

  “I can do it for you,” Pru said. “Same outfit?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Because then we’ll look like twins,” Fiona said.

  “You have red hair and I don’t,” Keira said.

  “No worries. I’ll make yours a lovely turquoise color instead of lavender,” Pru said.

  Keira handed Alex his shirt back. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Her bikini, like Fiona’s, was replaced with the new clothing. “Thanks,” she told Pru. “We took off in a hurry with only the clothes on our backs at the time so I didn’t have anything clean to change into.”

  “No problem.”

  “That was fun,” Simon said. “What else do you have planned for our amusement and amazement on our visit to Chicago? While I’m asking questions … what made you kill the head of your rival clan, Alex? And why didn’t you ask for help from Damon? Granted, I sired him and have more experience, but he’s a damn good fighter.”

  “Because he thought Keira was behind the blood thefts.”

  “Why would he think that?” Simon asked.

  “Because my grandfather is … was a vampire hunter called The Executioner,” Keira said.

  “Right. Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Simon sat on the couch and made himself comfortable.

  “It started with the blood thefts,” she said.

  “No,” Alex corrected her. “It started with your grandfather’s journal. She marched into the police station and confronted me, referring to my vampire heritage.”

  “A dangerous move for a human to make,” Pru noted. “She is a human, right?”

  “She’s a blaster,” Fiona said. “She can blast her way out of a cage.”

  “A blaster?” Pru didn’t look convinced. “I thought they didn’t exist outside urban legends.”

  “I saw it myself,” Fiona said.

  “Show me,” Pru said.

  “I can’t do it on demand,” Keira said. “And I’m not about to trash our hotel room. I’m not some rock star from the 1980s.”

  Simon clapped his hands to get their attention. “Ladies, if we could get back to the basics here.”

  “Good luck with that,” Alex said, sitting down on a chair and throwing one leg over the arm.

  “Where is my grandfather’s journal?” Keira abruptly asked.

  “In a safe place,” Alex said.

  “Were you going to hand it over to Lynch? That’s what he wanted, right?”

  “It’s what he wanted, yes.”

  “So were you going to do that?”

  “To save your life, he for sure would have done that, right?” Fiona interceded.

  Alex paused.

  Fiona gaped at him. “You wouldn’t turn over a stupid journal for the woman you love? What kind of vampire are you?”

  “A smart one,” Alex shot back. “Handing over the journal wouldn’t have saved Keira.”

  “And it’s not just a stupid journal,” Keira said, jumping to his defense. “There is some sensitive material in there.”

  “Yeah, I heard Lynch talking about the vampire blood info,” Fiona said. “I still think it sucks that Alex wouldn’t—”

  Keira interrupted her. “Alex always has a plan. And he never said he wouldn’t turn over the journal if needed.” He’d also never said he loved Keira, but there was no point going into that at the moment. He’d told her she was The One for him. That was good enough for now. “But he’s right. Lynch wouldn’t have released me.”

  “I know.” Fiona sighed.

  “How did he capture you, Fiona?” Pru asked. “Did he get you when he got Keira?”

  “No, I was there much longer,” Fiona said quietly. “But that’s another story. Let’s get back to Keira and Alex’s story. So you went to the police station to confront Alex because he was a vampire.”

  “No,” Keira said. “I confronted him because he was a vampire who wasn’t doing enough to solve the blood thefts.”

  “I ended up having to rescue her from fledgling vampires sent to her apartment to grab her,” Alex said.

  “Alex grabbed me instead,” Keira said.

  “I kept her safe,” he corrected her,

  “You can’t argue with that,” Simon said.

  “She can try,” Alex said with a challenging grin.

  Keira tossed a small throw pillow from the couch at him. He instantly caught it with one hand, his grin widening.

  “Good catch,” she said.

  “Yes, I am,” he agreed.

  “Get a room,” Simon said with a roll of his eyes.

  “We’ve got one,” Alex retorted. “But it is rather crowded at the moment.”

  “I’m still trying to get a clear picture of what’s going on here.” Simon impatiently ran his hand through his thick hair. “The blood thefts brought you two together. I’m assuming Lynch was behind the thefts?”

  Keira nodded. “He
was working on a project to blend vampire blood with human blood to auction to the highest bidder in order to save the lives of the richest terminally ill people in the world. Vampires are immune to human diseases like cancer.”

  “I heard rumors about an auction but I didn’t think it was real,” Simon said. “That’s the vial of blood you grabbed before we left?”

  Keira nodded.

  “The Gold Coast crew is going to want that back,” Simon predicted.

  “When Lynch took Keira, he broke the truce between our clans. That means we have the right to spoils of war,” Alex said.

  “Wait a second. Does that mean that you and the Gold Coast vampires are at war?” Keira didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Why are we having this discussion in a hotel room and not in Vamptown?” Simon demanded.

  “Because the Vamptown clan thinks that I’m a vampire hunter like my grandfather,” Keira said.

  “Because you’re a blaster?”

  “No, they were okay about me blasting a hole in their tunnel walls.” Keira clapped a hand to her mouth. “Was that a secret? The tunnels, I mean? Is Simon a member of the Vamptown clan?”

  “I’m an honorary member of sorts,” Simon replied.

  “Simon was turned in the time of King Arthur,” Pru said proudly.

  Simon tugged Pru onto his lap. “And this gorgeous witch is from Morgan le Fay’s bloodline. A volatile combination.”

  “If you go back that far then maybe you can help us with something,” Keira said. “My grandfather told me that there’s a link between Alex and the Crusades. Do you know anything about that?”

  Simon nodded. “I do. But Alex has to ask me. I can only answer questions from him directly.”

  “Why?” Keira demanded.

  “I don’t make the rules—” Simon began.

  “You just obey them,” Keira and Alex said in unison.

  “I was turned on Iwo Jima,” Alex said. “That’s a battle in the Pacific during World War Two.”

  “I may have been turned many centuries ago, but I am aware of current events. Well, relatively current compared with the Battle of Camlann back in Merlin’s day. Never mind.” Alex waved his hand. “Go on.”

  “What’s the connection between me and the Crusades?” Alex asked bluntly.

  “Your mother’s bloodline goes back to Spain and the Moors.”

  “Is that why I was turned against my will?” Alex asked.

  Simon nodded. “You were destined to become a vampire with a unique skill set.”

  “Like cloaking?” Keira asked. “Sorry. I’m a reporter. I instinctively ask questions.”

  “Like cloaking?” Alex asked. Smiling at Keira, he added, “I’m a police detective. I instinctively ask questions, too.”

  “Yes, like cloaking,” Simon replied.

  “Why wasn’t I told about any of this earlier?”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “Ask him about the legend,” Keira said.

  “What do you know about that?” Alex asked Simon.

  “You both have The Longing. It affects you both—a longing for each other and for the truth. Each is The One for the other.”

  “That’s so romantic,” Pru said.

  Simon shrugged. “I’m just stating facts.”

  “My sire Mitch died under mysterious circumstances,” Alex said. “What do you know about that?”

  “He wasn’t killed by The Executioner,” Simon replied.

  Keira heaved a sigh of relief. She didn’t recall reading about Mitch in her grandfather’s journal, but there had been so much to process that it might not have registered.

  “Mitch had his own personal demons, and one of those killed him,” Simon said.

  “You mean demons like we saw today?” Keira asked.

  “No, those were demon mercenaries,” Simon said. Looking directly at Alex, he added, “There was nothing you could have done. It was part of Mitch’s destiny.”

  “What about my destiny?” Alex asked quietly.

  Simon’s answer wasn’t clear-cut. “It will be what you make it.”

  “I meant to ask you earlier how you knew how to kill Lynch the way you did,” Keira asked Alex.

  “Your grandfather’s journal said that the usual means of destroying Lynch wouldn’t work. It had to be done using his own knife; doing so would ensure he went up in flames.”

  “Fire does seem to be a recurring theme with us, doesn’t it,” she said.

  Alex nodded. “We should get back to Vamptown.”

  “If you’re not going to use the room, Pru and I will stay here,” Simon declared.

  “With Fiona,” Pru reminded him.

  “I don’t want to be a third wheel,” Fiona said.

  “Nonsense, Fiona. You can fill me in on what’s been going on with you,” Pru said. “Simon will want to hear about it as well, right?”

  “I would be royally pissed to miss out on such an event,” Simon noted with a grin.

  “Ready?” Alex asked Keira.

  She nodded. She clutched his shoulders as he lifted her in his arms. All too soon, they were back in the loft. Alex released her so she could carefully set the vial of blood on the end table of her re-created living room furniture.

  “I knew you’d be back. Welcome home!” Bruce greeted them before plunging a wooden stake through Alex’s chest.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Keira screamed as Alex collapsed. “What the hell?!” She rushed to Alex’s side and knelt beside him. “Why did you do that? You killed him!”

  “No, I didn’t,” Bruce said. “He just can’t move at the moment.”

  “Why? If you’re angry with me, hurt me, not him.”

  “You’re not the one in trouble. He is.” Bruce pointed to Alex. “My instructions are to keep him here so the Vamptown Council can vote on his punishment. Pat was so upset when you disappeared last time. I don’t want him stressed out like that again. I love that guy. I’m referring to Pat, not Alex.”

  Keira remained on her knees beside Alex, clutching his hand, which was frozen in place. “What can I do?” He couldn’t answer her.

  “You can’t do anything,” Pat said as he entered the loft along with a throng of vampires. Some she recognized, like Doc Boomer, Tanya, and Damon. Others she didn’t.

  “Why are you doing this?” she demanded.

  “Alex broke one of Vamptown’s covenant rules,” Damon said. “He disobeyed orders and took off with you.”

  “So you stake him as punishment?”

  “Punishment is death, not staking,” Damon said.

  Keira couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After all they’d been through with Lynch, now this? Hell no.

  She was a blaster. She should be able to do something. But her blasting out of the cage at Lynch’s had depleted her energy. So she’d stall until she could recharge her abilities. Even if she barely knew how to use them, there was no way she was letting anyone kill Alex.

  “You’re telling me you punish disobedience?” she said. “So you are just like Lynch. A despot dictator.”

  “We are nothing like Lynch. Our rules are intended to protect our community. If humans found out about vampires, they would either hunt and kill us or try to use our immortality for torture and research,” Damon said.

  “That’s already happening. You already have humans—Sierra and Daniella—who know about vampires. And Lynch was already doing research using a vampire’s immortality.”

  “You have to understand—” Pat began.

  Keira interrupted. “Unstake him,” she told Damon. Damon who had been sired by Simon, who had just saved Alex and Keira. “Simon says unstake him.”

  “Simon says?” Damon scoffed. “If you think this is some kind of childish game—”

  Again she interrupted. “I was referring to Simon Howell. Your sire. He just saved Alex and me. Well, he helped us escape from the mercenary demons that the Gold Coast vampires unleashed on us.”

  Damon frowned.
“Simon is here? In Chicago?”

  Keira nodded. “So unstake Alex.”

  “First I have to read the charges against him,” Pat said. “Alex Sanchez, you’re being charged with breaking your vampire oath to Vamptown. Do you understand this charge as I have described it?”

  “How’s he supposed to answer that when you’ve paralyzed him?” Keira demanded.

  “He’s able to transmit his thoughts to me,” Pat said with a slight grimace.

  Good. Keira hoped Alex was letting them know exactly what he thought of them. Judging from the look on Pat’s face, Alex was transmitting his anger in spades.

  “How dare you ambush him like this,” Keira growled. “Where is your loyalty?”

  “Where is his loyalty?” Pat countered.

  “He was protecting me. You wanted to harm me.”

  “We didn’t want to,” Bruce corrected her.

  Keira put her other hand on Alex’s chest, careful to avoid the wooden stake. “He’s not breathing!”

  “That’s part of being staked,” Doc Boomer said. “It is normal.”

  “Normal? None of this is normal,” Keira said fiercely. “You were all wrong thinking I had anything to do with those vampire deaths. Lynch was behind them. He played you. He knew you’d fall for it. He also hacked into your system and set off those false invasion attacks. Lynch wanted me out of Vamptown and he got his wish. Had I stayed he would have continued his offensive against you. So in reality, Alex actually was protecting Vamptown by taking me away. By the way, Alex killed Lynch, who was behind all the blood thefts. You should be thanking him, not staking him!”

  “What did I miss?” Nick said as he strolled into the loft.

  “Who are you?” Keira demanded.

  “Nick St. George.”

  “You’re Daniella’s boyfriend. Does she know what you’re doing here? I doubt she would approve,” Keira said.

  “We had to stake Alex because he took off last time,” Bruce explained.

  Keira kept rubbing Alex’s hand as if she could somehow soothe him out of his paralysis.

  “I’d like to say a few words in Alex’s defense,” Doc Boomer said. “As Keira pointed out, by taking her out of Vamptown, he removed the target from our back and put it on his. Early on we suspected the Gold Coast vamps were behind the blood thefts, yet we readily went along with the possibility that Keira was to blame for those two vampire deaths.”