Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4)

by Rawlings, Rachel

  "I think that's enough for today. I've got to get ready for tonight."

  "You can reach me any time. I'm at your disposal."

  I got up to leave, ignoring the fact he was talking about more than tonight. "I don't think it will come to that. Like I said, I do just fine on my own."

  "Maurin, be careful. If that necklace is as significant as you think it is, it might push him over the edge."

  "I'm counting on it." I knew he wasn't buying the bravado. We both knew how dangerous my plan was.

  12

  I may have told the hunter I worked better alone and Agrona may be right about my tendency to go off half cocked but I didn't have a death wish. I wasted no time calling in the cavalry when I got home. Amalie and Cash were already at my apartment when Aidan arrived. I sat on my kitchen counter with a cup of coffee trying to explain my plan.

  "I can do this. I think I've proven that already. I'm only asking for your help."

  "To help you on your suicide mission."

  I groaned, shaking my head. "Aidan, would you listen to me for a second." I waited for him to stop bitching about my pig headedness before I continued. "I'll have Conry with me, he'll be in stealth mode. Caligula won't even know he's there. Cash will wire me up. I can't take the Retaliator but I'll have obsidian daggers and my silver covered rowan wood stakes strapped to me. Amalie made me a special pill with colloidal silver that will keep the particles suspended in my blood. I'll be stunning, literally."

  Something occurred to me and I focused on Amalie. "How concentrated is the silver? I'm not going to turn blue, right?" She assured me I would not look like the guy I saw on the Today Show a couple of years ago, so I continued. "And you'll be right outside, watching and listening with Cash. It's a good plan. Our only plan and we're going with it. I'm going to get ready. I suggest you do the same."

  I knew Aidan wasn't happy. He might be giving me space but that didn't mean he was any more comfortable with the idea of my blood being spilled than before. I heard him outside the bathroom door while I blow dried my hair. I stopped, opened the door and motioned for him to come in. I readjusted my towel and turned the dryer back on while he perched on the edge of the tub.

  "We're alone. Well for the most part. Speak your mind." I didn't really have to shout over the dryer. Aidan could hear me just fine. He hesitated. "I promise not to get mad at you. I need you focused tonight. Go on, say what's on your mind."

  "You're going to wear the necklace?"

  That caught me off guard. He started with a question instead of an order. "Yes." I shut off the dryer and turned to face him, resting on the edge of the sink.

  "I don't think you should. What if you pick up residual memories? It's too much. You look too much like her. With the necklace."

  "There aren't any links left to follow on the necklace. And looking like her is the idea. It will throw him off, make him stumble. And when he does, I'll have him."

  "Right where you want him?" He shook his head at my devious smirk. "You're not ready to take him." I started to object. "You said you'd listen." He waited a moment, until satisfied I wasn't going to interrupt again. "This isn't like the Afrit. You're not locked in a circle fighting to the death. You need to wait for him to leave an opening. For the right moment. He won't give you one. He spent adolescence surviving Roman politics and his adulthood polluting the system even further. You look at him and see a crazed villain. He is a madman but he isn't a stupid man. His lawyer tells you to back down and he suddenly invites you for dinner? He has anticipated every move. He has prepared for the possibility you are coming to kill him."

  "He didn't anticipate his assassination. He slipped up before. I'll get him to do it again."

  "Didn't he? Do you think some vampire stumbled upon his body? Couldn't pass up the bleeding buffet and then decided to turn him?"

  "He knew?" It had never occurred to me that Caligula would hire a vampire to save him from his fate. I hadn't thought about it at all actually. It certainly shed light on the mind of the man I hunted tonight but I wasn't backing down.

  "Of course he knew. The man was shrewd, calculating. Even in the end, at the peak of his madness he had the clarity to assure his survival. To assume he hasn't tonight would be a tactical mistake. One that could cost you your life." His voice was strangled with emotion.

  I closed the distance between us, taking him in my arms. His head rested on my chest, his ear above my heart. Our relationship was strained but that didn't mean our feelings for each other had changed.

  "Each heart beat is different. Murmurs, stints, tiny defects in the capillaries. So many little things that make each person's unique. Your heart beats the drum of war. So strong, my beautiful warrior. I have no choice but to follow you, a chuisle mo chroi."

  It wasn't the first time he called me that. I still didn't know what it meant. I hadn't gotten around to looking it up on a Gaelic translation site yet. "Tell me what it means."

  "Perhaps I'll tell you tonight."

  "Maybe I'll google it."

  "If you could spell it." The Irish lilt was back, the mischief in his eyes that I loved so much.

  Why couldn't it be like this all the time? Because we both had a stubborn streak wider than the Charles River. But we could be good together. I wanted us together.

  "The only reason I'm going along with this idiotic plan is because you called in a team. You are at least taking precautions."

  "The only reason you're hand is still sliding beneath my towel is because you decided to talk to me instead of telling me what not to do."

  I felt his smile fade and his hand stilled, no longer caressing its way up the back of my thigh. "I can't tell you what to do anymore. Not that you’d listen anyway."

  I put a finger under his chin, tilting his head back, forcing him to look me in the eyes. I knew the gold had swallowed a little more of the dark brown in my eyes. It always did when my emotions ran high. "I'd never pull rank on you unless you forced me to." I kissed his forehead. "Come on, help me get dressed."

  By the time I was in the gown with my hair pinned up in a nest of curls Aidan looked ready to rip it off of me. Who knew helping me into my clothes could be as much of a turn on as when he took them off. I swear if it didn't take so long to pin all my hair up I would have thrown him to the floor when he slid the stockings up my legs.

  "The dress is going to have to come off."

  "In your fucking dreams, wolf." Aidan's growl could give any wolf, even this alpha, a run for his money.

  "There's no way I can run a wire but hey, if you want I'm more than happy to slip my hands under that silk and give it a try." Cash gave me that devilish smirk, the one that said he was joking but his eyes belied the humor. He wasn't convinced about us or the “no us” in this case. He still wanted me and while he was going to play it cool he wasn't quitting the game.

  How in the hell had I gotten here? Years of an uneventful love life, a dry spell worse than the Australian droughts and suddenly there are three men vying for a place in my life. I was starting to think my birth mother was a succubus and not a witch.

  "Turn around." I glanced at Aidan, making sure we weren't about to have a pulling rank moment already. He unzipped the back of my dress as Cash averted his eyes. Once the dress fell to the floor I stepped out of it in nothing more than thigh highs and lace panties. I didn't own a thong but the thin barely there lace didn't leave any lines. The dress didn't allow for a bra so I covered my breasts and told Cash to turn back around.

  He froze, even his breathing stopped. Everything but his eyes, which took in as much of me as they could before I put the dress back on. Aidan cleared his throat in warning and he jumped to work. I noticed the slight tremor in his hand as he placed the small transmitter, no bigger than a nicotine patch, on my abdomen.

  His fingers lingered on the scars running across my stomach from the last Omega of the Salem pack. He was lost for a moment, back to that night I was bleeding out from the gashes in my stomach on the hanger floor.<
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  I felt Aidan's agitation rising and gently touched Cash's hand. He snapped back to the here and now, quickly getting back on task. The wire was different than I had expected. Instead of the small insulated round wires I was used to seeing, Cash ran a sticky strip up my ribs and then around to the side of my left breast. Small prongs on each end of the tape connected the transmitter to the mic, which was smaller than a Q-tip and would be hidden by the seam of the dress.

  He wanted to run it up the front but the low cut of the dress and press of my cleavage would leave it exposed or the sound muffled. Satisfied with his handy work and with no reason left to draw it out Cash declared me wired up and ready. I was informed for the tenth time that I wouldn't be able to hear them but they'd be able to hear everything that happened. I slipped my dress on, turning so Aidan could zip me up. Cash moved to pat me down checking for the wire but Aidan grabbed his hand.

  "I can take it from here." His voice was ice, menacing, warning Cash without actually having to verbalize the threat.

  Cash stalked off to check the rest of his equipment but not before shooting Aidan a dagger filled look that said bring it on fucker. I resisted the urge to sigh. If it was bad now, wait ‘til they met Mason Hunter. Actually, their respective hatred of the new competition might unite them in an attempt to rid the playing field of one more competitor.

  Aidan slipped cool hands up my dress and strapped the obsidian daggers to my specialized garter. The two stone blades were as sharp as any of my silver ones but would go undetected if Caligula's guards used one of those security wands on me. If they frisked me and he allowed their hands that high up the slit in my dress they'd certainly find them. I'd be forced to rely on the rowan wood stakes disguised as hair sticks fixed into my curls. The silver wove its way around the sacred wood in an ancient design I didn't recognize. They were a beautiful and deadly addition to my arsenal. A gift from Aidan that I appreciated even more tonight than when he gave them to me his first night back from Reykjavik.

  The lights from Caligula's hired car illuminated the dark lot outside as I put the last coat of gloss on my lips. "That's my ride." I reached for my Falcon coat, it didn't go with the dress but it was the nicest coat I owned. I don't know why it mattered. I was putting down a vampire not going to prom.

  Aiden looked away. "Amalie bring me the bag I asked you to get out of my car." She handed Aidan a garment bag and he pulled out a black coat. He slid it up my arms and fastened the one hidden clasp in front like a cloak. "Armani's tailoring is still impeccable after all these years."

  I blanched at the mention of the designer label but before I could protest and slip out of the insanely expensive coat he reminded me that certain appearances were expected to be kept in vampire society. The layered Ottoman coat accentuated my body with its slim silhouette, instead of cutting my height despite its knee length hem.

  "Time to go." With no reason to delay and anxious to get on with it, I walked out of my apartment knowing my backup would be right behind me.

  ***

  "Where are we going?" The driver held the car door for me without a response. "A surprise then," I muttered. I slid across the seat and felt Conry at my side. The driver got in and closed the glass divider, subsequently closing any further questions or conversation.

  Eyeing the small bar on the other side of the limo I decided one drink wouldn't hurt, besides I needed something to wash down the colloidal silver. I unstopped the crystal decanter and poured a small glass of scotch. The whiskey was perfectly aged and smooth, taking the capsules with it as it warmed its way down to my stomach. With nothing else to occupy me, I added a little more of the no doubt expensive liquor and settled back into the supple leather seat.

  "Right behind me." I whispered to myself in reassurance, not wanting to risk being seen by the driver repeatedly glancing out the back window. Once again I felt Conry. I couldn't see him but he made his presence known by nuzzling my legs.

  The scotch did nothing to calm the nerves that had taken over. My team consisted of a highly trained and deadly vampire, an alpha werewolf and a powerful witch, not to mention one kick ass ethereal dog. With backup like that there was no reason to worry. I trusted them with my life. If something went wrong they'd move in. I was about to mentally chastise myself for thinking that way, when the car accelerated.

  Had the driver picked up the tail? A sharp turn had me sliding across the back seat. Bracing myself against the door, I chanced a look behind us. Headlights beamed in through the glass, illuminating the back of the limo, making it hard to determine the make or model of the vehicle. I could only assume it was my backup. We took several turns, none of them as hard as the first, before getting on the freeway. Wherever I was meeting Caligula it wasn't going to be in Salem. I pulled my phone out of the little black clutch and tried to open the GPS app. Of course, no signal.

  The realization that Caligula was taking me out of state had my heart pumping. Was he taking me to the place where he killed all those young women? Did he plan to kill me the same way? He could try, but I wasn't like the Norms he took there. I would kill him and if I failed, if my team failed, I would jump out of there. He couldn't hold me like the others. He didn't know who he was dealing with. It was the advantage I needed. A reminder for the part of my brain that had spent so long functioning as a human, I had an escape route if things went to hell. With renewed confidence I tried to at least enjoy the rest of the ride in the limo.

  The car finally came to a stop lasting longer than a red light. The engine cut off and the driver got out to open my door. I didn't bother waiting. I jerked the door open, almost knocking him over in the process. Anxious to see where we were I climbed out of the back seat, ignoring the proffered hand from the driver. Stubborn? Yes. Graceful? Definitely not. I barely made it out of the limo without giving the driver an eye full of more than my lace panties. I tugged at the slit, barely keeping the daggers hidden. Conry hopped out behind me, the driver still unaware he was there.

  "Master Caligula's beach house." The driver made a sweeping gesture to the residence nestled on the edge of a cliff overlooking one of Newport's private beaches.

  Beach house was a loose interpretation. It was more like a beach mansion. The area was littered with them from the Rockefellers to the Roosevelts, estates with mansions turned museums lined the Newport coastline.

  I'd taken the tour on more than one summer trip with my adoptive family. I was always awed by the expansive marble, the very accurate Japanese tea house in one yard used to meet with foreign dignitaries and the overall grandeur of the era. I shouldn't have been surprised to find Caligula had taken up residence in the affluent area. Perhaps the cliffs and the ocean, the wealth and excess stirred up memories of Capris.

  I made my way up the stone walk, about to knock on the front door when it seemed to open of its own accord. Moving through the doorway I was greeted by yet another of Caligula's servants. I bit back the thank you, Jeeves on the tip of my tongue as the butler took my coat. This place was as far from the unassuming Cape Cod as you could get. And I wasn't talking about distance. While the small suburban home said normal and content, this place screamed manic opulence. The high ceilings and black veined marble made the place feel cold despite the fires roaring in the parlors on both sides of the grand hall. Caligula came down the right side of the double stairway and I realized this was his home. The house in Salem was just a front, a place to troll for and then court his victims. Is this where he drained them of every last drop of blood?

  Gliding across the floor he was suddenly in front of me. My hand was in his and against his lips before I could pull away. "Maurin, you are a vision tonight. Please join me in the parlor for drinks before dinner."

  Vision, huh? I was going for more of a ghost of girlfriends past kind of thing. He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me close as he led us into what would have been the woman's parlor when the house was originally built. Two ornate velvet chairs were situated near the fire. A small table with t
wo champagne flutes on top was between them. A stand holding an ice bucket with an open bottle of champagne inside was behind the table. Caligula let go of me long enough to fill both glasses. I sat as he handed me mine, with Conry only a few feet away.

  "Thank you." There was no reason to be rude, yet. I needed him to think he had me fooled. "I must admit I was surprised you contacted me after your lawyer warned me off. You said you had some information for me?" I fingered the necklace, sliding the cross back and forth along the chain. I watched his eyes follow the movement.

  "That was before you informed me of the Coven's involvement. If you wish to know more about the dark arts there is plenty I can share with you. For now let us enjoy our champagne. We can discuss everything else over dinner."

  Seeing he wasn't going to tell me anything until he was good and ready I had no choice but to keep up the charade. I demurely emptied my glass and got up to get another. Caligula smiled and quickly moved to refill it. This had to be the most bizarre experience of my life and I had a lot to compare it to. My life was pretty bizarre. But sitting across from a man who was once in charge of the largest empire of the ancient world, had tortured and killed in both lives, and drinking champagne as if being properly courted was insane. The cool, slick obsidian pressed against my thigh kept me rooted to the real reason I was here. To kill a killer.

  The second glass went down smoother than the first. My fingers tingled like the bubbles in the wine. I felt the crystal stem slipping from my fingers and tried to tighten my grip. Something was wrong. The glass slipped, spilling the champagne on the floor. I watched as the cascade of wine fell from the crystal flute before splashing against the Persian area rug, followed by the delicate glass which shattered into little pieces.