"My rune stone," I said, seeing again the image of a purple stone in Raphael's hand.
"It would have worked if St. John had not followed us," Milos said, his voice cold and emotionless.
"But… but… why? Why did you kill her?"
Milos and Dominic exchanged a small, very chilling smile. "We are Vampyr. It is what we do."
"You're no more a vampire than Raphael is," I snorted.
Milos gestured toward me, prompting Raphael to note, "Baby, never mock a man who's holding a loaded Glock on you."
I pursed my lips and edged closer to him. Milos did not look in the least bit sane. "I see your point."
Raphael's hand brushed my hip as he reached behind him.
"You will come this way now," Dominic ordered.
I hate being pushed around. "Just a second. If you're going to kill us, the least you can do is admit everything in the best detective-story manner. I think you owe us that much."
Dominic smiled; his fake fangs didn't look nearly as amusing as I'd found them in the past. The beastly things glinted wickedly in the dull sodium lights. Raphael's arm slowly moved alongside me, then stopped. I prayed he had a weapon in it. Something lethal.
"I, too, read detective stories," Dominic replied. "If you expect us to admit to our sins in hopes you will miraculously escape, you are bound to be disappointed."
"You did murder Tanya and all those other women, though."
Milos muttered to Dominic. He held up his hand and looked hard at Raphael. "Our dear Raphael knows the answer to that question."
"Yes, I do," Raphael drawled. "The French police almost had you after you killed that prostitute in Paris, but unfortunately"—his lips twisted wryly—"I was pulled from the case."
"What? You knew it was the two of them all the time? Why didn't you do something?"
Raphael ignored my question, his eyes bright as they watched Dominic. "Someone bribed a technician to destroy the forensic evidence needed to convict you, Milos. Without it, the French detectives I was assisting could not bring any charges."
"Just who are you?" I asked him.
"Enough talk!" Dominic snapped. "You will walk ahead of me, mon ange."
I couldn't believe I ever thought Milos was creepy. Dominic standing there with a gun calmly discussing our murders was by far the creepier of the two.
"Kill them now," Milos said as he turned to leave. "I will return to the festival and keep the inspector busy."
"What?" I shrieked.
"I would gag her before you shoot her," Milos tossed over his shoulder as he left. "She will struggle more that way."
"I won't!" I snarled, then quickly threw myself out of the way as I screamed, "Let him have it, Raphael!"
Dominic looked at the slim black recorder held in Raphael's hand.
"Oui," he said, holding out his own hand. "Let me have it, Raphael."
I glared at the love of my life. "I thought you had a knife or something, not a tape recorder."
"I seldom carry weapons," he said mildly. As Dominic approached him to grab the recorder, Raphael's foot shot out and cracked across Dominic's knee. Raphael threw himself on Dominic as the latter went down, both men struggling for possession of the gun. I danced around the pair of them, looking for something I could use to brain Dominic, and had just settled on a large rock when a hand grabbed my skirt and jerked me backward.
The sharp prick of steel through my blouse kept me from moving.
"Drop the gun," Dominic gasped behind me, his hand tightening on my arm. "Very good. Now kick it toward me."
Raphael did as he was ordered.
I glared at him. "Even Dominic has a knife, Bob!"
"Do not start with me now, woman."
I snorted. He raised a brow at me in a wordless demand for silence, then held his hands up. "Let her go, Dominic. She doesn't know anything. I haven't told her about my investigations, nor why I joined the fair."
"You can say that again," I muttered with another pointed look at him.
"Joy, this is no time to bait me," Raphael answered as Dominic released me to pick up his gun.
"Oh really?" I gestured toward Dominic. "There's a mad-man standing there with a gun pointed at us, explaining how he plans on murdering us, and you don't think now is the time to talk? When do you want to talk? While he's shooting us?"
"You will stop this discussion now and march before me," Dominic ordered in his best bossy voice.
"You know full well that I had my reasons for not telling you what I was doing—"
"Right, you're a spy."
His eyes glittered dangerously at me. "I am not a spy."
"Yes, you are, you're a spy, and you joined the fair because you knew Dominic and Milos were the murderers. Roxy and I figured it all out."
"You must stop now and walk in single file before me," Dominic demanded in a louder tone of voice.
"You and Roxy are not entirely right."
"But we're partially right, which means you're a spy!"
"I am not a spy."
"Well, I know that story Dominic told me isn't true. I certainly don't believe you went to prison for raping some woman!"
"Now, it is now we will be marching. St. John, you will proceed first." Dominic took a step nearer me and waved his gun at Raphael.
"Perhaps you would care to explain why you've been trying to protect me from the police if you knew the story was untrue?" Raphael answered me with a decidedly disgruntled look on his face.
I shook my finger at him. "I wasn't trying to protect you from that, you great lummox, I was trying to keep the police from arresting you because you were a spy and couldn't tell them who you really were."
"I AM NOT A SPY!"
"I will not be ignored! You will do as I say. NOW!"
"Ha!" I said, raising my chin to glare at Raphael. "If you're not a spy, what are you? You admitted you're investigating the murders. You're not a policeman because you're not Czech, and there is no international police force that works through… different"—the words came to a stop as I stared at him—"countries. What's in Lyon?"
Raphael's jaw tightened as his eyes closed for a moment.
"YOU WILL STOP SPEAKING NOW AND… Lyon?" Dominic stopped bellowing to approach us warily, his eyes narrowed as he held the gun on Raphael. "Lyon, mon ange, is where you can find the headquarters of Interpol. How very interesting I suddenly find this conversation. Interpol… of course. That would explain so much."
"Interpol?" I asked Raphael. "You're with Interpol? Like a detective?"
He ignored me, keeping his eyes on Dominic.
Dominic stared back at him. "The only thing I do not understand is how you knew I would hire you in Marseilles. Your record—which I assume now was false, yes?—was not one that would lend itself to employment."
"I assumed that in your case, a history of violence toward women would act as a reference rather than a deterrent," Raphael answered, his eyes boring a hole through Dominic's head. He had let go of my hand, but I could tell his muscles were tense with anticipation. I suspected he was waiting for Dominic to get close enough that he could jump him. I know that was my plan.
"You know me well," Dominic acknowledged, then waved the gun toward the entrance to the main cave. "You will please do as I say now before I am forced to shoot your kneecap."
"Ha!" I snorted, much braver than I felt, stepping carefully down the path. Raphael moved behind me, but Dominic stopped us and ordered him to go first.
"I will keep our fiery one here where she is safe, yes? With her as a hostage, I am assured that you will not try to act the hero again."
"Where is your gun?" I whispered to Raphael out of the side of my mouth as he moved past me to take the lead.
"In my trailer," he answered just as quietly.
I glared at him. "Some detective you are. No knife, no gun. I bet you're going to be drummed out of Interpol for this."
"I'm not a detective, I'm a liaison," he answered, giving me another warning look. "
And you're closer to the truth than you know."
I followed behind him, Dominic holding one of my hands twisted behind my back.
"Should have taken care of him when I had the chance," I grumbled to myself as we entered the cool air of the main cave.
Dominic told Raphael to go to the right, toward the boat dock. I honestly think if Dominic had pointed the gun at him, Raphael would have disarmed him, but with the cold barrel of the gun resting on the back of my neck, Dominic was right—I was a hostage for Raphael's compliance.
As we passed the entrance, the sound of footsteps on the wood pathway reached us. "Stand there, against the wail," Dominic hissed, pushing me to Raphael. "Do not move from there or I'll kill her."
He backed up a few feet, one eye on us, the other watching to see who would come along the curved pathway. The footsteps were growing louder.
"This doesn't look good," I told Raphael as I hugged him tightly. His arms squeezed the breath right out of me. "I think I'm going to call for help."
"No one can hear you this deep in the cave, Joy."
"Christian will," I said, tracing a finger along his eyebrows. "I've just found you, Interpol Bob. I'm not going to lose you now."
"The police know I'm here," he said quietly. "Christian can't do anything to help us."
"He can. I know you don't believe me, but he can hear my thoughts. If I tell him we're in danger, he'll come to help us."
Raphael's arms tightened around me. "Christian wouldn't be able to help us even if he knew we were here."
"Raphael—"
"I won't let Dominic hurt you, baby."
"You have to have faith in me," I told him, deliberately repeating his words, and then turning to lean into him.
Milos popped around the corner, gesturing with a small black pistol. "Police. They're everywhere. I've locked the gates to the entrance, but it won't take them long to reach the exit. We have to go now."
Christian, I closed my eyes and called out mentally, not sure if I was reaching him. I know you don't want to answer me, but we need you. We're in terrible trouble, and Raphael doesn't have a gun.
Immediately he was there, filling my mind with his calm presence. Beloved, you are distraught?
I opened my eyes and looked at Milos and Dominic, willing Christian to see them as they gestured with their guns while discussing the best way to kill us and escape.
I will come, his beautiful voice resonated in my head.
"Christian is on his way," I told Raphael, ignoring the disbelief in his eyes. "But I've always been a person who believes in being proactive. I think we ought to try to make a break for it."
"That would not be wise, mon ange," Dominic said directly behind me, the cold barrel of the gun pressed between my shoulder blades.
"Oh, what do you care? You're going to kill us in a minute or two anyway," I snapped, wiggling my shoulders in an attempt to dislodge the gun.
"We have modified our plans," Milos told me as he passed, his gun pointed on Dominic. He nodded at the nearest red and white tourist boat. "It seems we have need of you alive. For the moment. Get in."
Raphael crossed his arms and didn't move a muscle.
Dominic prodded me with the gun. "You as well, mon ange."
"No," I said, my eyes on Raphael. If I was going to be killed, I wanted the last thing I saw to be him.
But I really didn't want to be killed.
Dominic pressed the gun harder into my neck until I flinched with the pain. Raphael's hands tightened on his arms, and I thought sparks were going to come flying from his eyes, but he didn't move. I smiled at him and hoped he saw the love and admiration in my eyes.
"Get in the boat, Joie," Dominic said, grabbing my arm.
What worked once might work twice, I figured. I blew Raphael a kiss, then lunged in the direction Dominic was pulling me, throwing him off balance. His gun slid out of his fingers and bounced on the wooden dock. I slammed my foot down on his, then brought my knee up into his groin. As he screamed and doubled up, I plucked the brooch from my blouse and stabbed him in the eye with it.
"Ew!" I squealed at the sensation of soft, squishy eyeball on my fingers, and jerked my hand away. Dominic screamed as he fell to the dock, one hand clutching his eyes, the other on his groin. I spun around to help Raphael, but he had disarmed Milos in one smooth move that sent the gun flying into the water, and Milos crashing into the nearest boat. There was an ugly thud when his head cracked against one of the wooden seats. He didn't move after that.
"Are you all right?" Raphael asked as I raced over to where he was checking on Milos. "Where's the other gun?"
I looked back over my shoulder. Dominic was still writhing and wailing on the edge of the dock. "It must have gone into the water as well. Is he dead?"
"No, just unconscious. Come." He grabbed my hand and pushed me toward the nearest boat. "Get in. I'll get you out of here, then come back for the two of them. There's nowhere they can go with the police at either end."
I put on the brakes. "No."
He frowned down at me. "Joy, don't be obstinate. I know you want to help me—"
"No, it's not that. I get seasick. I didn't think I would on a quiet river like this, but I did the other day. I'll walk; you take the boat."
He sighed and grabbed my wrist again, hauling me toward the narrow path that ran the length of the river. "I have never in my life met a woman who is so contrary and argumentative," he said.
"Yes, but you love that about me," I answered, suddenly feeling incredibly happy. We had escaped! We were going to be together! We would have a deliriously happy life together—once I made Raphael understand he was never to keep anything from me again. "Go on, say it, you know you want to."
He stopped long enough to pull me up to his chest. "Yes, I love you, you maddening woman. You're stubborn and obstinate and resistant to any form of common sense, but I love you more than I had ever thought possible, and no one is going to take you away from me."
His lips were closing on mine when a noise behind us made the hair on my neck stand on end.
"How touching," Dominic rasped as he staggered toward us, blood streaming from one eye. I must have broken a toe or two when I stomped on him, because he was limping heavily. I assume the kick to his noogies hadn't done him any good, either, because he was walking hunched over like an old man. The gun he held clutched in one hand made any satisfaction in his condition moot, however.
"He must have been lying on it," I said apologetically to Raphael.
"You," Dominic spat, his mouth twisted in a snarl. The madness in his eyes was clear now. I wanted to cling to Raphael, but knew he had a better chance of disarming Dominic if I backed off a bit. I sidled away, Dominic's eyes blazing at me. "You have laughed at me, and mocked me, and spurned my attentions for those of him—" He waved the gun at Raphael, then suddenly fired.
"NO!" I screamed, lunging for Raphael, but Dominic was faster than he looked. He slammed the gun into my face, sending me flying backwards. I crashed into the wall and lay numb for a few seconds, too stunned to do anything but wait for the burst of pain to reach my brain. It hit and left me gasping and retching as I dragged myself to my knees.
"Raphael." I knew the pathetic whimper was mine, but it didn't seem to belong to me any more than the haze of pain that nearly blinded me. All that mattered was that I get to Raphael. I crawled toward Dominic as he stood above a silent and still Raphael, pointing the gun at his chest and ranting in a high, insane voice.
"No one will doubt my power now. No one can. They laughed at me just as you laughed at me, but now I will be vindicated. AH will fear my power and know me to be the true master of the dark! I will take my place with the great ones, and they too will bow down before me. I will rule the dark world, become what I was meant to be. No longer will I be burdened with this mere mortal's body. I will be invincible!"
"I am afraid there can be only one way to be rid of your human body, but as you are determined to do so, I will be happy to obl
ige you." Christian's voice was like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day. He appeared out of the shadows, walking toward Dominic, the power and deadly menace surrounding him making the air crackle. His eyes had changed, had deepened in their blackness if that was possible, allowing a glimpse into the endless torment that held him in its eternal grip.
I used the distraction to scoot closer to Raphael, praying with all my might that he was still alive. Red stained his left side, spreading across his stomach.
"Oh my God," I sobbed, touching him gently, unsure of what I should do to stop the bleeding. I didn't want to press on the wound if it would make it worse. "Oh, God, Raphael, please don't die. I need you. Please don't die."
His eyes opened at the sound of my voice. They were dulled with pain and anger, but they were his lovely, lovely eyes and I wept all the harder to see them. I pressed his hand to my lips and started repeating every prayer I knew.
Dominic cried out and stepped backward as Christian stalked him. The hairs on the back of my arms stood on end as I watched, unable to look away, unable to tear my eyes from the terrible weapon of retribution that Christian had become.
"You wished to see the great ones? Behold! I have touched eternity. I have walked the earth in darkness only, never to know the warming touch of the sun upon my flesh, never to have a family, a lover, friends. I have lived in silent torment wishing I had the strength to end the nightmare of my existence, but failing because I am cursed to live damned and shunned, an abomination to every living thing. Do you still wish to join me, little mortal?"
"Joy." Raphael was trying to prop himself up. "Help me up, baby."
"Don't move," I told him. "You'll make the bleeding worse. Should I be pressing on it? Will it hurt you if I do? Oh, God, Raphael, you've been shot!"
He pulled himself up into a sitting position, panting with the effort, his beautiful eyes glazed with pain. "Have to protect you."
A Girl's Guide to Vampires do-1 Page 33
