by Gail Koger
“McGregor will kill you for touching me.”
“He can try.” Seth’s bloody mouth closed over mine.
Revulsion roiled through me. McGregor get this filthy beast off me!
Filthy beast? You wound me, luv. Seth forced my teeth open and plunged his tongue into my mouth.
I bit it. Hard.
Naughty girl. He sucked my tongue into his mouth and returned the favor.
The van squealed to a sudden stop and gas spewed from the ceiling.
“Bloody hell.” Seth tucked me under his arm and leapt out.
Crossbow arrows whizzed madly around us as we zipped down the street.
The crazy vampire just laughed. “Cheeky buggers.”
I let out a shriek when an arrow buried itself in the shoulder of my vest. “You freakin’ nut case. Are trying to get me killed?”
“Have some faith, luv.” Seth dumped me at a bus stop, spun and attacked the Enforcers.
Contorting like a pretzel, I managed to work my cuffed hands under my butt and over my legs. My hands were shaking so badly it took me three tries to pull out my lock pick. My nerves were shot. Too much crap had happened to me lately and all I wanted to do was curl in a ball, have a good bawl and eat a ton of chocolate.
Screams of agony filled the night.
I glanced down the street and flinched at the number of bodies littering the street. Seth was making short work of the Enforcers.
A head rolled to a stop by the bus stop.
Ewww. I did a double take. Holy hell! Was that Tom? I took another look. Omigod. It was. The lock pick fell from my numb fingers and tears of helpless rage rolled down my cheeks. “Goddamnit Bambi, good men are dying because of your stupid lies.”
Dozens of gunshots rang out.
Bullets zinged wildly over my head and I hit the pavement. Shit! Shit! Shit! Where was that lock pick? Grabbing it off the sidewalk, I worked frantically on my cuffs. “Focus. Don’t look at the head. Don’t look at the head.” The cuffs fell off. I quickly freed my feet and yanked the arrow from my shoulder.
“Going somewhere, luv?” Seth strutted up to me with all the attitude of a hip hop rapper minus the bling.
Where was a Big Bertha when you needed one?
You don’t need a Big Bertha when you have me.
McGregor dropped from the sky and slammed feet first into Seth’s chest, sending the vampire flying down the street to crash into the battered Enforcer van.
“Ha! Not so tough now are you, luv?”
Ian gently caressed my battered face and raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Luv?”
Seth let out a furious roar, picked up the van and tossed it at McGregor.
Ian caught the van easily and hurled it back.
It crashed into Seth and skidded a hundred feet down the road. The van slid to a stop at a McDonald’s drive through lane.
To my utter disbelief I heard the clerk ask, “Would you like to try our caramel mocha today?”
Was everyone inside the McDonald’s deaf, dumb and blind? Hadn’t they heard or seen the bloody fight outside?
The van rocked violently.
The persistent clerk tried again. “Our special today is our premium roast coffee and a sausage burrito. You can also add an apple pie for only fifty cents more. What’s it going to be?”
“Sod off, you wanker,” Seth roared and shoved the van right through the drive up window.
The clerk’s panicked shrieks echoed from the speaker. A few seconds later the frightened workers fled out the front door, took one look at the bodies littering the street and ran back inside.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Now the idiots call 9-1-1?
Seth yanked a street light from the ground and stalked towards us.
McGregor broke off a telephone pole and started toward him.
I grabbed McGregor’s arm. “Oh for God’s sake, it was just a kiss. No biggie. Let’s go.”
Ian tilted my head up and stroked a thumb over my mouth. “And allow him to go unpunished?”
“Testosterone should be outlawed.”
McGregor, doing a really great impression of Superman, shot into the air and used the telephone pole as a battering ram. It caught Seth in the stomach and sent him flying through a storefront window.
My cell phone rang and I glanced at the caller ID. Crap, now what? “Hello.”
My aunt’s angry voice snapped, “Where is she?”
I watched in horror as Seth burst out of the shattered window doing what had to be mach one. He zoomed up to McGregor and delivered a series of brutal punches to my sweetie’s head and face.
“Kinda busy now, can I call you back?”
Ian, blocked the next blow, elbowed him viciously in the face and executed a spinning side kick, knocking Seth into a brick wall.
“You hang up on me and you will spend some quality time with Drake in interrogation.”
Huh? Menopause was turning my usually unflappable aunt into a raging bitch. “Did you forget to take your hormones today?”
Aunt Tessa hissed, “Where is she?”
“Where’s who?”
Tessa’s tone was murderous, “If you or one of your fucking vampires have harmed one hair on Bambi’s head, I will kill you myself. Family or not.”
I literally saw red. “Your precious princess is probably out partying. Like she does every night with all those fucking vampires she is supposed to kill. Do you even know or care that she sold me out to McGregor?
“My daughter would never do that,” my aunt protested vehemently.
“The hell she didn’t. I’m now mated to him.”
“Mated! That’s impossible.”
I ducked a flying billboard. “I’ve got the clan marks on my neck to prove it. Even the great Kane was present for the ceremony. ”
“Kane is in Vegas?!”
“He sure as hell is and so is Dominic. All here for little ole’ me. ”
“Why wasn’t I informed?”
“Hmmm, let me think. Could it be you have a traitor in your organization? The one that keeps telling you the blood fiends aren’t a problem?”
“You think my Bambi’s responsible?”
God, Aunt Tessa could be so friggin’ blind. “Bambi doesn’t have the brains to be a mastermind and it would interfere with her social life. You do realize that she’s the one that wants to be a Vegas showgirl, right?”
“That’s ridiculous. Bambi can’t dance.”
“First thing we’ve agreed on.” I gasped as Seth snatched me up and zipped down the street.
I pulled off my silver cross and jammed it in his face.
With a howl, Seth dropped me.
McGregor slammed into Seth and began pounding the crap out of him.
I scrambled out of the way. Kick his ass.
As you command, sweetling.
“Bunny!” my aunt shouted.
To my utter surprise I was still clutching my cell phone. “What?”
“Where’s my daughter?”
“I don’t know. Ask Bernie”
“You’re still her Alfred. It’s your job to know.”
“The hell it is. After your precious daughter sold me out, I was a bit busy getting shot, beat up and running for my life.”
“Bambi would never betray you,” my aunt repeated insistently.
“You still don’t get it, do you? Bambi will never be the slayer you want her to be. She doesn’t kill vampires, she fucks them.”
“Bambi’s only ten kills away from champion status,” Aunt Tessa countered proudly.
I rolled my eyes. “They were my kills, not hers.”
“This unreasonable jealously has to stop. You blew your shot at champion status when you spread your legs for that vampire.”
“You are one hundred percent correct. I did blow it and you’ve rubbed my face in it for the last time. I’m done.”
“You have ten minutes to get your butt back to headquarters.”
“You still don’t get
it. I quit.”
“I’m not going to tolerate any more of your sass. Get back here now or I’ll have Drake issue a warrant for your arrest.”
“Did you forget that you already put out an arrest warrant on me? You know, the one accusing me of being a blood fiend? Oh yeah and that outside help you brought in? They’re all dead!” I yelled.
“I never issued a warrant for your arrest and I certainly didn’t bring in any outside help.”
“Well someone did.”
“These lies have to stop,” Tessa snarled.
“You want the truth? Well here it is.” I held out my cell phone, took a video of the carnage and emailed it to her. “What’s the Council going to say when they find out that the great Tessa Dragos couldn’t control her own daughter and just got an entire squad of Enforcers killed?”
“My God. Who did this?”
Hallelujah! She had finally seen the light.
My cell phone was abruptly ripped out of my grip. “Hey!” I spun around and froze as Samuel Bodine, the crime lord of Las Vegas, calmly crushed my phone under the heel of his cowboy boot.
Was there a Villains R Us convention in town? All I needed now was for Alpin McCabe to show up and my night would be complete. My temper a bit frayed, I snapped, “You’re paying for that buster.”
A faint smile touched his cruel mouth. “Am I?”
I nervously surveyed him. Bodine was a dead ringer for the actor Sam Elliott. Tall, lean, thick gray hair and he always wore thousand-dollar suits. He could pass for the CEO of any major corporation until you looked into his cold, soulless, blue eyes.
“You know Aunt Tessa docks our paychecks for any damaged equipment.”
“You’re not an Alfred any longer.”
How long had he been eavesdropping? “Why did you sic Seth on me?”
“I needed to get McGregor’s attention.”
A Lexus sailed over our heads and crashed into a flower shop.
“Gosh, I think you succeeded.”
A black stretch limo pulled up and Bodine commanded, “Get in the car.”
I was getting kidnapped in a freakin’ limo? “Call off Seth.”
His voice was soft and menacing. “Get in the fucking car, Bunny.”
I took a step back. “No.”
Obviously accustomed to instant obedience, Samuel eyed me with a distinct lack of favor. “No?”
God, I couldn’t believe I was saying this. “I’m not going anywhere without McGregor.”
“He’ll be joining us later.”
“Then I’ll just wait for him.”
With an audible snap of his teeth, Bodine grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the car. “Get in.
My temper ignited. I was sick and tired of men manhandling me. Jabbing him in the stomach with my elbow, I twisted and rammed the palm of my hand into his nose.
His head snapped back.
With the kamikaze courage of the truly desperate, I delivered a roundhouse punch to Bodine’s groin, dropping him to his knees.
“That was a mistake,” Samuel hissed through clenched teeth.
The King Kong of limo drivers exploded out of the car. “You fucking bitch!”
Oh hell. Spinning on my heel, I took off running. A few seconds later the barbed electrodes from a Taser gun penetrated my butt. A scream of agony tore from me as my body convulsed violently and I slammed face first into the sidewalk.
Bodine limped up to me. “You’re lucky I need you alive.”
“Hurt me and Katie… will never forgive you,” I managed to gasp.
The crime lord grimaced. “Unfortunately, my wife is quite fond of you and I still have need of your abilities.”
I winced as King Kong yanked the barbs from my ass. Thank God Bodine hated blood fiends as much as I did or I would be one dead chick.
“Bring her.”
King Kong obediently tossed me over his shoulder.
McGregor are you done kicking Seth’s ass yet? I really need some help. I kinda pissed off the crime lord. Silence was my only answer. Ian? You there, sweetie? Omigod. Had Seth hurt him?
My gaze locked on the gold medallion hanging from Bodine’s neck. Crap. That explained it. The Karok blocked any type of psychic communication or attack.
The gorilla flung me into the car. I skidded across the plush leather seats and tumbled to the floorboard.
Bodine climbed in gingerly, clamped a set of shackles on me and yanked me upright. Cold fury radiated off him as he warned, “You raise a hand to me again and I’ll put you to work in one of my whorehouses. A few nights there and you will become one obedient little girlie.”
I met his merciless gaze and horror knotted my stomach. His whorehouses served the dregs of the supernatural community. I’d be lucky to survive one night. “McGregor would never let that happen.”
Bodine’s laugh sent chills down my back. “My whorehouses are heavily warded and you’ll be fitted with another Amalfi Medallion. He’ll never find you.”
“Would an apology help?”
He dumped me on the seat. “No.”
Didn’t think so but it was worth a try. I scooted into the far corner and asked, “What do you want with McGregor?”
“I need him to capture a particular blood fiend.”
“Who?”
“Cassie Bodine.”
This day just kept getting worse and worse. “Does your daughter still think she can become a vampire?”
Samuel scowled. “McCabe tried to turn her two months ago.”
“What?! Everyone knows blood fiends can’t be turned.”
“McCabe believes Dominic’s spell book is the key to turning his fiends into an army of super vampires.”
Dumb ass had the balls to take the Wizard’s spell book after killing his wife? The guy must have a death wish. My eyes widen as I realized what Bodine had just said. Holy crap was I an idiot. “Why didn’t you tell me McCabe’s the leader of the blood fiends?”
Bodine gave me a pitying look. “He’s your aunt’s highly regarded intel source.”
Of course he was. I rubbed my aching forehead. Now I knew why the fiends were always two steps ahead of me.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why Dominic was so eager to get his hands on my blood. His dead wife had been a powerful witch and you’d think he’d want to upgrade. “The spell book won’t do McCabe any good. As far as I know he doesn’t have any magical abilities. He can’t become a wizard no matter how hard he tries.”
“True, but he recruited Voorhas.”
“Voorhas the Mighty?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t he about a million years old and senile to boot?”
“Voorhas has brief periods of lucidity.”
Kinda like playing magical Russian roulette. “Is McCabe that desperate?”
