“Yes, Princess?” he said with a smile and a wink.
“Are we really back to that now?”
“Yep. Would you like something to eat? I think there are some movies around here somewhere. We can go through the lists and watch something while we wait since we can’t leave now until Gregory wakes up.”
“I could eat something.”
“Well then right this way, Princess.” He headed into the kitchen.
“Does this mean you’re going to cook for me?” I asked, sitting in one of the bar stools across the counter from him. I figured it was safer to have something in between us. I rested my chin in my palm and challenged Radek with a look.
“Of course,” he said with a bow, then went to the refrigerator and started pulling things out.
“You and I should shift soon,” I said. The urge to do just that was hard to fight. With all the injuries that I had sustained recently, my body craved the shift. The harder I tried not to think about it, the more I thought about it.
“You’re right, but I can’t for a few more hours. We can hold out until Father gets here. I want to concentrate on finding Dante,” he said.
I left him to the cooking while I went and hunted down a movie. The DVDs were stashed beneath the TV. I smiled when I saw the selection and I picked one of my favorites. It was a comedy zombie movie done by a group of British actors. To my knowledge, I hadn’t met a zombie in person. I’d heard that this movie hit it pretty close.
He brought in the plates just as the movie started.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said when he noticed the movie that was starting.
“Nope. It’s hilarious.”
He shook his head at me and said, “You’re crazy, you know that.”
“No more crazy than the next weretiger. We’re going to be looking through all the lists and stuff so we might as well have something entertaining on in the background. Besides, it’s way too tense and serious around here right now. We can’t keep thinking clearly if we don’t relax a little.”
“Fine, it doesn’t really matter anyway.” He handed me a plate with a huge steak and potato on it. It smelled wonderful and tasted even better. I smiled over at him as he sat next to me. We ate in silence and watched the movie.
Sometime during the middle of the movie, I got up to go get the ice cream. When I turned from the freezer, Radek was standing right behind me. How had he snuck up on me? Before I could even think to ask what he was doing, he grabbed the ice cream and put it on the counter. Then he grabbed the back of my neck and brought me closer to him. His mouth was on mine before I could even blink. His scent filled my senses. I was lost in the kiss.
I felt his hand slide along my cheek and rest on my shoulder. He pulled away without a word, grabbed one of the ice creams and a spoon, then turned around and went back to the movie.
I stood there for a moment in shock, then grabbed the other carton and spoon. I marched back into the room and sat down on the couch as far from him as possible. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at the screen, or so I thought. The corner of his mouth went up in a small smile.
I turned back to the movie, but I couldn’t concentrate on it. I kept thinking how nice it would be just to lean into him. I was beginning to get sleepy as I finished my ice cream. He put in the next movie – it was the same actors, but no zombies this time. I fell asleep sometime during the first part. We never did get to the computer files.
* * *
The television was still on, showing the main menu screen. I heard Gregory walk into the room. I was comfortable and didn’t want to move. Radek was warm against my back, one arm beneath my head and the other over my waist. His scent surrounded me. I felt safe and comfortable. His breath tickled the back of my neck. I felt him wake and reluctantly sat up. I shivered as I pulled away from him, missing his warmth already.
“Oh good, you’re finally up,” Radek said to Gregory as he ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He hadn’t moved other than lying on his back instead of his side.
“Finally? What have you been doing?” Gregory replied.
“Waiting for you,” I countered. “What were we supposed to do?”
“I need to feed, then we can go get Dante,” Gregory said, ignoring my question.
“How do we know you’re not leading us into a trap?” I asked.
I knew that Radek trusted him, but I wasn’t quite ready for that yet. I just didn’t like vampires. I know that sounds prejudiced, but it was true. I didn’t know why, but I could feel that something had happened in my past. However, Dante was okay in my book. Why had I almost immediately trusted Dante, but I wanted to rip the head off of any other vampire? Something about Dante had been familiar, and I’d been comfortable with him. It might have been that my subconscious knew that he’d had a hand in saving me. Whatever it was, I needed to get over it. Radek had said that Gregory could be trusted, and that should be enough for me.
“He’s not,” Radek said with a heavy sigh.
I guess he was getting tired of my little untrusting tendencies.
He sat up maneuvered himself so he was sitting next to me. “Go feed, but come right back. Then we’ll discuss our plans.”
“Of course,” Gregory said and was gone.
“What is it with you and him?” Radek turned on me, pinning me to the couch with his eyes.
“I don’t know; I just don’t trust vampires. I can’t explain it. It’s like my subconscious is telling me something, but I don’t comprehend it. Every time I try to think about it, my head just hurts.”
Radek looked at me with narrowed eyes. “That’s right, you have no memory of your life before we found you.”
“No. All I remembered when I woke up was my name. I mean I know my likes, dislikes, how to drive and all that, and I know several languages, but the other stuff – no.”
“That’s strange.”
“I know, that’s what Val said. He said he had some theories, but wasn’t sure what could have caused it. We never really got into it too much. It hadn’t seemed important at the time.” I shrugged.
“It’s interesting.” I could see him switch gears. “Anyway, why don’t you go take a shower and get ready to go? I’ll do the same after you’re done. It looks like we’re hunting tonight.” He gave me a feral smile that made me want him again.
I really wished he would stop doing that. “Okay.” I went upstairs, leaving Radek alone so I wasn’t tempted to ask him to join me. I quickly cleaned up and dressed.
We were both back downstairs and cleaning up the mess we’d made when Gregory returned. He started talking as soon as he opened the door. I was surprised to see Madon enter right behind him. Radek must’ve called him in to help.
“While I was out, I looked around where they’re keeping Dante,” Gregory said smugly.
“Really? What did you find out?” Radek stopped what he was doing and was looking intently at Gregory.
“He’s being held in a shipping container down at the Tacoma port.”
“Do you know how many shipping containers are in the Port of Tacoma?” I asked.
“Well I can find him, but I can’t get to him. They have some sort of setup with UV lights. So no vampire can enter without being fried. He’s in a smaller container inside it. He’s alive, that’s what’s important. He’s quite furious and hungry, but still alive.”
“We need to be done with this by daylight. We’re going to keep the casualties to a minimum on both sides if possible,” Radek said sternly, looking at each of us.
Now that just took all the fun out of this, I thought.
“Well that just takes the fun out of it,” Madon said.
I smiled at his comment that was so close to what I’d been thinking.
Radek gave him a withering look. He grabbed his laptop and brought up satellite photos of the port. “About where is the container located?” Radek asked, turning the screen around so that Gregory could see it.
“In this general area,” Gregory said, pointing. “Can you access the pictures from the night he was taken?”
“That would take too much time. These are older photos. We just need to get close enough to sniff him out. I have communication devices for all of us. This way we can split up. Obviously since there are UV lights involved, you shouldn’t be near the container, Gregory. We go in teams of two. I suspect this is a trap of some kind as he’s practically in the open. They may not realize we know where he is already, so it is best to do this sooner rather than later. We’ll go in quick and quiet. Madon and Natalya, there will be no shifting. There’ll be humans in the area.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the ‘I’m the boss and no one can question me’ Radek. I was going to have to live with it for now though.
“Why don’t we bring in more of Gregory’s vampires?” Madon asked.
“Some of them may be involved,” Radek said without looking up.
“Excuse me?” Gregory said. He looked livid. This was apparently news to him.
“We have reason to believe that at least one of Madon’s wolves might be involved. This deep into your guys’ territories, someone had to have helped them. We know that there are vampires involved. Are you telling me that there are strange vampires in your territory and no one in your seethe knows anything about it?”
There was a long pause. “I see your point and you may be right.”
“We can take care of that problem after we get Dante back,” Radek said. “Does anyone from your seethe know where you’re at?”
“No, I do not answer to anyone.”
“You didn’t tell anyone?” Radek asked.
“It’s a vampire thing. We tend to keep secrets. No one will think anything of it. None of them know of my connection to Dante either,” Gregory said. He wasn’t showing any emotion again. I hated that I couldn’t tell what a vampire was thinking from their smell. I guessed from Madon’s lack of surprise that he knew about Gregory and Dante.
“Well that makes this a bit better,” Radek said. “Are there any questions?”
“Nope, I’m good. We get in, get Dante, and get out,” I said. It was like I did things like this every day. It all seemed familiar somehow. But any time I tried to remember something before my time here, my head felt like it was exploding.
Madon nodded his understanding. He had a very determined look on his face.
I had a feeling he might get a little out of control tonight. He was still angry that some of his wolves were involved. I hoped that Radek could handle him.
“Come on, then.” Radek led us out of the house. We followed him to the garage. When he opened the doors I saw a huge black Hummer.
“I sure hope you weren’t thinking that we could sneak up on them in something this pretentious,” I said.
“It’s big enough for all of us and the windows are tinted to block out UV rays. Just get in.”
I brushed past him and went to the front passenger door. I practically had to jump into the massive vehicle. I settled into the seat while the others got in the back. I watched him come around shaking his head. I smiled; I really did like messing with him.
The smile dropped from my face as the tension in the vehicle started to heighten. Glancing at Radek, I noticed that he was watching Madon very carefully in the rearview mirror. He must have noticed his simmering rage as well.
Chapter Ten
After parking the SUV, Radek grabbed my arm to keep me from leaving. The other two jumped out and shut their doors. I looked from Radek’s hand to his eyes. Warmth was spreading from his hand and invading my entire body. We really needed to nip this thing between us in the tail.
“Hold on a second. I still think Gregory has nothing to do with this, but I can’t be too careful. Madon seems a little overzealous. I’m going to take him with me. You go with Gregory, but watch your back. This is a trap of some sort, I can feel it. I don’t believe he’s involved, but – you know. Do you got it?” he said sincerely.
“I can handle it, Dek. I’m at full strength tonight and so are you. Let’s just go get our vampire back and kick some butt.”
That earned me a smile as he opened the door and jumped out. We joined the other two.
“Madon, you’re with me. Gregory, you go with Nat. We’ll take the left, you guys take the right. Watch your backs. Remember: quickly in, quickly out. Let’s try to keep the casualties to a minimum,” Radek said. The other two nodded their agreement and we made our way to the docks. It was about a mile walk.
“Radek suspects a trap, doesn’t he?” Gregory asked when we got out of earshot of the other two.
I looked him up and down. I didn’t trust him, but Radek was right – he didn’t seem the type to betray Dante. Gregory respected Dante, it was evident. “Yes. He’s hoping you’re not involved,” I said and saw him smile.
“He’s the distrusting one, and so are you for that matter. I can see why you would be, though. I certainly don’t blame either of you for that. We don’t even know why all this is happening right now. He would be stupid not to be questioning everyone. But I assure you that I have nothing to do with this.”
“I want to believe you,” I told him truthfully. I realized that this was the first time I’d ever spent any time alone with him. Maybe I should give him a chance. Dante saw something in him.
“I know, but something has happened to you and you don’t trust vampires. It’s certainly understandable.”
“I honestly don’t remember.”
We had to stop talking because we’d reached the gate. The wire-topped fence was no big deal to either of us. We were over in a matter of seconds, and I followed Gregory’s lead.
The attack came swiftly. I smelled the three vampires seconds before they were on us and had no time to react. Two of the vamps had gone immediately after Gregory. That left one for me.
I knew it was either him or me, so I didn’t even think about what I had to do. I barely noticed the cracking sound that came from his neck as I snapped it. I let him fall to the ground. He was a younger vampire, certainly not a master. That had finished him off.
“Go ahead. I’ll get your back. Just get to Dante,” Gregory said with a grunt as he tore the head off of one of the vamps. I jumped out of the way of the blood that shot through the air. Somehow none of it had gotten on Gregory.
It was obvious that he could handle the one that remained, so I took off running stealthily alongside the containers. I had a better idea, and quickly climbed on top of the nearest one, racing along the tops of them silently. My soft soled shoes didn’t make a sound on the metal boxes. I could hear fighting coming from the direction that Radek and Madon should’ve been. I glanced behind and below me and saw the dark shape of Gregory. Another few figures chased behind him. I kept going, but saw Gregory turn and face his would-be attackers. I could smell Dante – he was close. So far, nobody had noticed me on top of the containers.
I made my way to the box that smelled of Dante. I jumped across the aisle and landed on top of it. I crouched down and used all my senses. There was one werewolf guarding the front of the container. A feral grin spread across my face. I could feel my fur just beneath my skin. My claws and fangs itched to come out, but Radek had said no shifting.
I moved to the edge of the container and jumped onto the back of the wolf. I grabbed his neck, twisting as I landed on top of him, snapping his spine at the base of his neck and rolling off of the body. I quickly searched his pockets and found the key to the lock. Here was the dilemma. If I got in and the bad guys came, I could be locked in as well. I paused and considered my options. I checked the wolf’s pockets again and came up with my answer. It was a small metal pocket knife, but it would do.
The door squeaked as I opened it. I cringed, hoping that the noise wouldn’t attract any more attention. With a quick glance around, I lodged the blade of the knife into the hinges of the door, making it unable to close. The brightness of the UV lights nearly blinded my sensitive eyes. It took a second to g
et used to the intensity of the light. I looked for the source of the lights. They were located on top of a wooden crate which held a very pissed off vampire. I could smell the sharp scent of anger and hunger coming off of him in waves. It would be maddening to be so strong yet not able to move just because of the lights. If Dante even opened that crate, he would run the risk of becoming a very crispy vampire.
I looked around to see what I could use to knock out the lights. I needed to be careful – even though I didn’t think that Dante would harm me, I didn’t want to take the chance. There was nothing in here. I thought of the werewolf I’d left outside. Maybe I could find something useful on him. I stepped back outside and in his back pocket I found a sling shot.
Really? A sling shot? You have to be kidding me, I thought.
Well, it could work. I searched his other pockets and found four hard roundish objects. The smell hit me as I held them. It was disgusting, but they would have to do. I didn’t really have time to look for anything else. I’ve never used a sling shot before, but I imagined it couldn’t be too hard. I ignored the nasty smell of the round things. I really didn’t want to know what they were, so I didn’t look.
The first shot missed. Crap, I thought as I heard the sound of it hitting the metal wall. The second shot hit and shattered one of the bulbs. I had two shots left and two lights. The next shot found its target and shattered the light. I was feeling quite good about myself at this point. The last shot went wide and bounced off the back wall like the first.
Now what, I thought. With two lights down, I could always just shimmy up there and try to push it down or something. I took a running leap and caught the top edge of the crate. I grunted as I pulled myself up. I had just cleared the top with my chest when I felt a sharp pain in my right side. I heard the tearing of my clothes and skin as I pulled myself further up. I felt whatever I had snagged rip my flesh open.
I heard the first drop of blood hit the metal floor. Shit, I thought. There was a very hungry and angry vampire in the box and now I was bleeding. I carefully lifted myself to the top of the crate, managing not to incur any more damage. There was only enough room for me to lie on my stomach. It burned, but it would heal fast. I reached out and knocked the last light down. It shattered.
Seizing Darkness (Fur, Fangs, and Fairies) Page 10
