Nightwalker

by Rhonda L. Print

  I strode back out the front door and spotted Ramírez in the driveway. My cell phone rang as I neared him.

  “Wolfe,” I answered.

  “Welcome to the party, Miss Wolfe. Did you miss me?” The voice was icy and chills slid down my body.

  “What the fuck do you want, Fang?” Although I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that question.

  “It’s not what I want,” he goaded coolly, “it’s what I have that you want back.” I felt the blood drain from my face. Ramírez opened his mouth to speak but I shook my head and motioned for him to be quiet.

  “Meet me at the Old Copper Queen Mine in one hour.” His voice slid over my skin like an oily, oozing menace. “Come alone, Miss Wolfe, or I’ll start sending pieces of Mommy home, one at a time.”

  “You so much a put a scratch on her and I will kill you.”

  “I have no doubt you’ll try,” he replied.

  “I want to talk to her. I want to know she’s okay.”

  I heard a shuffle of fabric then Alli shrieked into the phone, “Don’t come, Leah, he’ll kill you…” There was the sharp thump of flesh hitting flesh and a high-pitched cry from Alli.

  “Come alone, Miss Wolfe.” Then he laughed.

  The bastard laughed.

  Oh my God, the fucker hurt Alli and then laughed!

  I shoved my phone into my pocket and ran to the car, ignoring Ramírez as he called after me.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The Old Copper Queen Mine was where Joaquín had been shot. There were a lot of old mine openings and caves scattered in the area, a perfect nesting spot for a vampire if he didn’t mind roughing it.

  I drove the Mercedes as far as I could into the rough terrain of the desert. I’d owe Ian a huge apology for trashing his car when all of this was over. The sleek, black car was built for luxury, not off-road use, yet it held up surprisingly well as I navigated the dips, bumps and boulders until I was within eyesight of the mine entrance.

  Like many mines in this area of the country, it had been abandoned when it stopped producing profitable amounts of resources. Many of the larger, well-known mines had been covered by concrete and steel. However, there were still plenty with open access for those stupid enough to trust eighty-year-old, dry-rotted wood to keep the earth from falling in on them.

  We’d had a decent amount of rainfall this year and the desert floor was covered with a riot of colors from various plants that, while beautiful, offered plenty of shelter for the creepy-crawlies that inhabited the desert. Right now, that was the least of my worries.

  I rifled through the car looking for anything I could use as a weapon. Being it belonged to a vampire, I didn’t find a damn thing I could use to kill one with. I was left with the gun I’d strapped on this morning and the silver blade I always kept in my boot. Fang would surely frisk me and disarm me anyway but I wanted to hold on to what little thread of hope I had left.

  My cell phone rang again, and again, I ignored it. Wilson had tried to call several times since I’d left, no doubt Ramírez had told him about my phone call and subsequent hasty departure. I would have loved backup right now but Fang had warned me to come alone and I wasn’t willing to risk Alli’s life. I had no doubt that he would kill her if I didn’t come alone.

  I left my phone on the passenger seat and the keys in the ignition. I scanned the area before I climbed out of the car and found two other vamps hiding in the shadows nearby.

  “Fang!” I yelled out. I held my hands up, palms forward to show I was unarmed and took a step away from the car. Until I knew if he planned on ambushing me I wanted to keep the car close enough to use as cover. I lowered my barriers and reached out for any emotion I could feel.

  What I found was arrogance, if you could call that an emotion, and overriding that was a strong sense of fear and anger. The arrogance came from Fang, the fear and anger from Alli. I let out a sigh of relief. If I could feel her emotions then she was still alive.

  “Well done, Miss Wolfe.” His voice came out of the emptiness of the mine.

  I kept my eyes on the mine looking for any sign of movement. The sun was still out so Fang must have been hiding himself deep in the shadows. “I’m here now. Let her go.”

  He laughed and this time it was bitter. The feeling like nails down a blackboard only the blackboard was my spine. I tensed and refused to allow anything to show on my face. I might have to go in there, but I didn’t have to give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear.

  “I will let her go when you are secured, Miss Wolfe. I will not risk losing my quarry so easily. Join us, will you?”

  “You’ll let her go straight into the arms of the other vamps,” I countered.

  “My associates will be miles away guarding the road once the sun has set. Until then, they are restricted by the sun.”

  I hesitated until I heard a muffled cry from Alli. I all but ran to the entrance of the mine, stopping inside for a moment to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness. My vision cleared quickly. There must have been more light inside the mine than I thought because I could see everything clearly, only the edges of my vision held darkness.

  “I am sorry that I was unable to greet you outside, Miss Wolfe. I have some … limitations when it comes to daylight.” He swept his hand gracefully forward as if he were greeting a guest in his home. “Please, come in.”

  I followed the movement of his hand and saw Alli huddled in a corner of the cave, her hands and ankles were handcuffed and a piece of cloth covered her mouth. Her eyes were flaring with fear and hatred and at the moment I couldn’t tell which emotion was coming out stronger. She was still dressed in the scrubs she wore to the hospital and I knew that the flimsy fabric could not be doing much to ward off the chill and dampness of the cave floor.

  I took a step toward her; then stopped abruptly as Fang chided, “No, no, no, Miss Wolfe. There will be no happy human reunion this time.” He had his hand held in front of him, his index finger waving from side to side in a “tsk-tsk” motion.

  “You bastard. I held up my end of the deal, Fang. Let her go.”

  “Sticks and stones will break my bones…” he started in a sing-songy voice, then laughed. “Actually, they won’t.” He laughed again, a maniacal sound that grated on every nerve I had.

  It was that moment when I realized that while vampirism could cure many ills, insanity wasn’t one of them. This fucker was certifiably crazy and probably had been in life as well.

  “I will release her when you are secure.” He held up two sets of handcuffs and tossed them to the floor near me. Alli shuddered and I could feel the fear winning over her anger.

  “Bind your hands behind your back. Then stand against the wall and as your police say, spread ’em.”

  I did what I was told and felt Fang move in behind me. The stench of him was overwhelming. He’d obviously been holed up in the cave a while. The smell of unwashed vampire had my stomach doing flip-flops in revulsion. I swallowed down the bile that started rising up my throat and cringed as his hands patted me down. He found the gun at the base of my spine but not the knife in my boots. Hope ran through me. I had one weapon, it wasn’t much but it damn sure was better than nothing.

  He guided me over toward Alli. She was shaking her head from side to side and weeping. I knew she didn’t want to trade herself for my captivity. I felt it in the love that poured over me from her. Fang thrust me to the ground and while my arms ached to hold Alli, to comfort her and let her know that it was okay, the handcuffs prevented me. I did the only thing I could and leaned my head against hers. Her body quaked as she sobbed quietly into the cloth that bound her mouth.

  “How touching,” Fang remarked sarcastically. “Remove your boots.”

  I looked up at him.

  “I have found that humans have very fragile feet and are not able to run very well without shoes.”

  It was then that I noticed Alli’s bare feet. They were caked with blood and dirt.

  “You son of a bitch.�
�� I cursed him not only for her pain but also for the fact that I was about to lose my last weapon. “For that I will kill you slowly.”

  “Humans are always so arrogant, assured of their own superiority until the monsters crawl out from under the bed,” he jeered laughingly.

  “I’ll remove my shoes when she is safely away.” I didn’t want to get us both completely trapped with no weapons. The knife wasn’t much, but it was all I had.

  He walked toward us.

  “I will remove her shackles and she may go to the cave opening, but no further until you are secured. If either of you try anything, I will kill you both.” The way he said the words, so coolly with no inflection in his voice sent ice throughout my veins. I had no doubt that he was going to kill me. I still wanted Alli to have a chance to get the hell out of here.

  As soon as he unlocked her arms she threw them around me and tore off her gag. “You shouldn’t have come, Leah,” she mumbled shakily. “He’s going to…”

  “Move to the door before I change my mind.” Fang jerked her away from me.

  I gave her a weak smile, trying to convey my own thoughts into her. If she made it to the car she might get away and use the cell phone to call for help.

  “Remove your shoes.”

  He nodded toward my feet; then undid the locks at her ankles and nudged her toward the door. Once she was there, I swept one foot out and brought him down.

  “Run, Alli!” I yelled as I brought my knee into his groin. If you can’t go for the throat, go for the balls. This was the perfect scenario to test out that theory.

  The last thing I saw before Fang’s fist connected with my face was Alli running into the daylight.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Leah! Leah!”

  A voice urgently called me out of the black depths. I tried to ignore the voice. Everything about me felt weighted, heavy, as if I could sink into the center of the earth.

  “Leah. You must awaken now, my love.”

  I forced my eyes open yet still saw nothing. I could smell dirt and stale air. Whatever was beneath me was damp and cold. I longed for the warmth and comfort of sweet oblivion.

  “Leah!” The voice grew louder and more insistent.

  “Shut up, Ian.” I croaked. My voice was husky, my throat dry.

  I heard a long sigh of relief. “I thought I’d lost you, my love.”

  I sat up and both pain and nausea exploded through me. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. I still couldn’t see. Wherever I was, there was absolutely no light. “Ian, where are you?” I started to feel around when I remembered what had happened.

  “My love.”

  Relief flooded my senses. “Ian!” If he was here, I must have been safe. “Where’s Alli? Why can’t I see? Where are you?” I tried to pinpoint where his voice was coming from but it seemed to be everywhere. “Ian?”

  I heard the sound of chains, then a creak. A sliver of light outlined a door in the far corner. “Someone is here,” I whispered.

  “Shh, my love. We must not communicate in Fang’s presence. I will explain soon.”

  Light flooded me as the door swung open. I closed my eyes against the glare for a moment to let them adjust. When I opened them, Fang stood there with the same cocky grin he always wore. “Where is she?” I yelled as loud as my voice would let me.

  “How very human of you. I should think you would be more concerned with your own tenuous situation.” He threw the car keys and my cell phone, now broken in half, to my feet.

  Shit. Alli hadn’t gotten away. I wanted to cry but refused to give Fang the satisfaction. Stubborn to the end, that was me.

  I struggled to my feet, noticing that my ankles were now bound as well. The height difference would make me look up at him anyway but I’d be damned if I wanted to be sprawled out on the floor while he stood above me. “Where the fuck is she, Fang?”

  “The ‘she’ you should be concerned with will be here shortly.” He ran his index finger along my jaw. “She promised I could play with you after she’s taken your mind. I can hardly wait.” His mouth curved into a sinister grin and I shuddered at the thought of his nasty, smelly self coming anywhere near me.

  “I’d have to be out of my fucking mind to let you bite me.” I know I shouldn’t have said that but I couldn’t help it. Really, I couldn’t.

  I never saw his hand coming, but I sure as hell felt the back of it slam across my face. It was an open backhand, not his fist, and for that I was grateful. I felt blood begin to flow from the corner of my mouth and stuck my tongue out to catch it before Fang got any new ideas.

  “If Elizabeth did not want you for herself…” he paused and the effect wasn’t lost on me, “…I would kill you now and watch the life fade from your eyes while I did.”

  Good to know Elizabeth was keeping him on a short leash, but if he was afraid of her too, how fucking crazy was she? He had enough crazy for a few vampires; I didn’t need any more.

  “I feed off more than just blood you see. I feed off fear. She gave the others to me as well. I fed very well indeed on their fear. It is Elizabeth’s way of thanking me.”

  “What the fuck happened to sending a ‘thank you’ card?”

  I gave a full-body shiver, the kind that left you feeling weirded out and looking over your shoulder for no reason.

  Fang was our murderer. Killing the bastard once wasn’t good enough. He’d killed those women because I didn’t kill him completely the first time and even that wasn’t good enough. He didn’t just kill them, he terrified them first, then fed off that fear.

  I wrapped my anger around me like a cloak, reveling in the feel of it until there was nothing left inside me but the determination to kill him.

  He pulled a bandanna from the pocket of his grimy jeans, put it around the back of my neck and pulled me to him. His body smelled horrible but his breath was off the fucking charts.

  “You will be afraid of me before this is done. Make no mistake about that,” he warned.

  Ian had remained suspiciously silent during all of this, but if Fang didn’t know he was here, I didn’t want to give it away.

  Fang released me; then tied the gag over my mouth, tight. He strode toward the door but before the dark descended again I swung around to look for Ian. All too soon the room was black.

  “My love, are you there?”

  I struggled to speak against the gag.

  “Do not answer with your mouth, speak with your mind.”

  So I thought, “What the fuck is going on, Ian? Where are you?”

  “I am with Wilson, we are on our way.”

  “What the hell do you mean ‘with Wilson’?”

  “I know this is difficult for you to understand.”

  “So we’re what? Speaking telepathically?”

  “Exactly, my love. It is a benefit of our binding together.”

  “What binding together?”

  “We bound to each other during our last night together. We gave ourselves each to the other, body, mind and soul. You told me you were mine.”

  I thought about that for a minute and realized he was right. “You tricked me?” I asked uncertainly.

  There was a moment of silence. The intensity of it rolled over me, through me, until every nerve was dancing.

  “I simply didn’t fill you in on all the details.”

  “You bastard!”

  “Please, my love. I know you are angry, I can feel it, but we must first get you to safety.”

  “Is Alli home, did she get out of here?”

  “I am sorry, my love. She is still missing.”

  I let out a sound that was half sob and half scream. She hadn’t made it out of here. “You have to find her, Ian.”

  “Let us start with where you are. What is your location?”

  “Copper Queen, the Old Copper Queen Mine. At least that’s the last place I remember. I don’t know how long I was out of it.”

  “I felt your shields go down.”

  “How
long ago was that?”

  “A couple of hours.”

  Shit.

  “Shit indeed.”

  “I didn’t say … think … it, for your benefit.”

  “Sorry.”

  “So what do we do now? I don’t suppose you could just zap me out of here?”

  He let out a soft chuckle that reverberated through me in a warm rush of air. “I am sorry, my love. I am a vampire, not an alien. I cannot zap anything, anywhere. We are, however, on our way. By the way, one of my cars has gone missing.”

  Yeah about that…

  “Mm-hmmm,” he replied.

  “Stay the hell out of my head!”

  “I am afraid that is not possible right now, my love. Now, what was it about my car?”

  I knew he was changing the subject to comfort me but there was really nothing I could do except wait for the cavalry to arrive. And pray. I could definitely pray. “I took it on a bit of an off-road adventure. You’ll find it about five hundred yards from the entrance to the mine.”

  “The car is nothing, my love. I will get you out of this.”

  I heard the sound of chains once again; then the door flew open. I shielded my eyes from the intense light. Fang removed the bindings at my ankles; then grabbed my elbow and half dragged, half carried, me out of the room. “Elizabeth awaits you.”

  Lucky me.

  Torches lined the walls of the mineshaft. I’m still in the mine. I thought over and over again, hoping Ian would “hear” me.

  “Shh.” Ian whispered though my mind.

  “What did you say?” Fang demanded.

  “Just thinking about how disgusting you are,” I retorted. The comment earned me another slap across my face from him but at least he wasn’t on to the telepathy thing Ian and I had going.

  He led me into the huge cavern that made up the entrance to the mine. It was now lit with torches that lined the wall, honest to God torches. They cast a circle of light around a pentagram laid out in the center of the cavern.

  This could not be good.

  Pentagram. Torches. I thought desperately, not knowing if Ian could still hear my thoughts.

  “It will do you no good to communicate with your vampire lover now.” Carolyn wore a long blood-red cloak that clung to her curves.