by C. L. Quinn
“I don’t see why not. We’re through here. Eillia’s gone, Hamid’s buried, there isn’t anything left of your home. This way we both get what we want. Not that I would have wished this disaster on anyone. But we can all make a family together now. We’ll get this cocksucker in time. I’ll put a team on it when we get back to my villa, and we will find him.”
Bas stared at this intimidating man who was now, for all purposes, his father in law. He was still unsure of how well this would work out. Two alpha males used to everything their own way…in one household. And for Bas, it was worse, because that household was not his own. He didn’t even have squatters rights. Park deserved for them to give it a try. He would. Eventually, he’d rebuild, but perhaps it would be in France so Park and his child would be near Koen too.
The airport was quiet when they entered, and with simple compels, they were on a nearly empty flight that would stop in New York overnight, then on to Paris by next daylight.
Alvin arrived in Sydney just a few hours before dawn. No problem…he already had an apartment purchased with renovations to his specific instructions. The construction workers thought a photographer with need for large light-tight rooms was moving in. Australia was as far away from Bas as he could be right now. Another day would come, if Bas had survived…and he was sure he had. Well. Alvin was patient and a realist. It was fine. As he left the airport, he compelled a lovely little Aussie girl in tight white jeans to accompany him to the new place. He was up for a good meal, a great fuck, and a long night’s rest. Maybe a moonlight swim. Well, he’d see.
She’d fallen asleep again, thankfully, since she still had quite a lot of healing to do and she was trapped here anyway. But the sun finally abandoned the sky and let the blue slip into black. She could see when that happened, but it hadn’t been necessary. She felt the sky change before she ever saw it. Her body had been twisted in there for so long, everything hurt. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Her life was shattered. Hamid was gone and she didn’t know how to go on without him. She’d done it before, in past years, but he’d been with her for so long, she could not see beyond him. It just fell apart when she tried to imagine laughing without him there, loving with anyone else. She was glad she’d been in a hole all day…it was where she belonged.
But now the sun was gone, she knew she needed to go. Whoever put her here might come back…might realize the job wasn’t done without taking her head. Although…she had a sense of something…she wasn’t sure…a gentleness…had someone caressed her hair? She couldn’t tell, but…if she didn’t want to volunteer to be beheaded, she needed to be hell and gone from here right now.
She could feel her strength respond as she summoned up the power to push from the appreciably deep hole he’d dug. Whoever he was, he couldn’t have known what she was, or he wouldn’t have wasted his time digging such a deep hole, knowing she would only have to climb out of it soon. It made sense that he was trying to properly lay her to rest. Why…she couldn’t fathom. Whatever it was…there was no time.
Eillia let the power flow and burst out of the ground to land awkwardly on the cold surface. There was a bite in the air…early September…winter around the corner…yes. Lovely in France this time of year. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. No. No. She couldn’t go home without him. Couldn’t see that big four poster bed they’d made love in for centuries. Couldn’t pretend things were all right when they never would be again. Couldn’t face her life. Couldn’t breathe. She looked down at the hole she’d crawled out…and wanted to crawl back in. That was it. She needed to crawl away and find a hole to bury herself in until she could breathe again.
She powered across the landscape…vampire-moved…north, because it seemed there was nothing there. Black sky, trees, occasional lakes. There had to be a hole somewhere here. But she kept running until she was so tired, she slowed to barely above a human run. Okay. She had to find shelter for the coming day. She did, alongside a dusty dirt road, a small cabin with an unfinished dirt basement, barely different than her recent grave. But it was below ground and light tight. She compelled the owner, an elderly man, to go to the nearest town and get a room.
“Eat and fuck like there’s no tomorrow, little man,” she said, and he left to do just that.
The ancient beauty rummaged through cabinets in the dismal cabin to find something to drink. Some tea, organic herbal blends, and an old chipped coffee mug. It would do. The sofa, which was probably as old as she was, sagged horribly, but it was comfortable enough, and she lay there sipping tea and letting her mind wander to the last time she’d lain with Hamid.
He’d just given her one of his extraordinary massages where he would start at her neck and work slowly down to her toes. His massage included deep kneading and soft rubbing, with sudden attacks of tongue and nipping with teeth, not fangs. She smiled…she really loved the nipping. It wasn’t a vampire thing…the nipping was just so damned sensual and sexy. And he was so good at it. He lingered until she squealed and couldn’t take it anymore.
Eillia moaned and dropped deeper into the over-soft cushions. The coffee mug fell over and tea spilled out over a stack of old newpapers beside the sofa, and she watched, mesmerized, as the brown stain slowly advanced over the yellowed paper. That’s when she broke and the tears started, deep and awful, and she let them go. She wept until it didn’t seem she would weep any more, and then she would start all over again. How could it be possible to feel this much pain and survive?
Only when the sun slipped between slats in vertical blinds did she force herself to roll off the couch and go underground for the day. not concerned for comfort, she laid down on the cold earthen floor flat, her arms and legs spread wide to contact the ground as much as possible. It seemed, for the moment, the tears were done. She lay there with wet eyes and cheeks burning. It appeared it was possible to survive castastrophic pain. Eventually, exhaustion took her and she slept like the dead.
144
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Shanks had his arm wrapped around a brunette with double D’s on his way up to his hotel room for a meal and a screw. He hadn’t had a chick this hot in a long time and he was already as hard as a baseball bat. She had her tongue down his throat every time they stopped at a light, which there were a fucking lot of in New York City. They were on foot, like most people in this crowded town. It was mild and it seemed everyone was out. He liked the party ambience the Big Apple was giving off tonight. But right now he just wanted to get this eager beaver upstairs.
Just as the light changed, he glanced up and saw his former blood-bond master Bas standing on the corner with the huge ass vampire that had magically walked through the b and b that final night. He pulled himself back behind the girl when he saw Bas lift his head suddenly and stare hard in his direction. Their old bond was very weakened…he couldn’t possibly know it was him…but he must have sensed something. Thank god there were a lot of people between them. He knew they’d torture and kill him if they got hold of him. Fuck! So close to getting away. The mass was moving now and he dropped lower to further conceal himself, which was really hard since the girl kept giggling and trying to get her hands down his pants. Normally, he’d be loving that. Now, she needed to provide cover and that was all. He captured her eyes with his, and compelled her to stay beside him to his right and just walk straight until he stopped her. She did exactly as he told her.
They were past the two large vampires now and he hoped to hell he was safe. Guiding her into the building next to them, he felt a hand land on his neck, squeezing so hard tears sprung up like leaks. Oh, fuck me, he thought. This was how his glorious vampire life ended.
Bas dragged Shanks backward, with no care how much it hurt and into an alley where the big one waited. He could hear his double D screaming, then she stopped abruptly.
“So, this is your little piss ant. Hey, piss ant,” the giant said to him.
Shanks thought he might live up to that, because he was pretty sure he might piss himself before he die
d. Aw, Dubai waited for him in the desert like a beacon. So close, so close… maybe if he gave Alvin up… Nah, he didn’t know where he was. But he might be able to…
Bas threw him against the wall, his head hitting hard against solid brick. He rolled over and brushed the blood out of his eye. The brunette stood compliantly nearby where the big one had placed her. She was a zombie right now.
“Don’t fuck around. You know what I want,” Bas said.
Shanks did. And if he wanted to attempt to survive, he definitely wasn’t going to fuck around.
“His name is Alvin Crosby. You turned him. Over fifty years ago.”
Bas frowned. “Alvin? He’s minor league. A whiney, miserable little accountant who never embraced the vampire life. I turned him for a friend. He’s behind these attacks?”
Big just stood there ready to put his two cents in. Shanks hoped to hell he wouldn’t have to. That man would kill him while he picked his teeth. Bas was his only hope.
“Hmmm,” Bas said. “Well, that shocks the hell out of me. Next question, and believe me when I tell you this is for all your marbles. Where is he?”
Shanks hesitated. He really didn’t know where the weasel was, but he couldn’t just come out and say that.
“Uh…he’s left. He killed all our newbies and he would have killed me, too, if he found me.”
Bas looked at the big guy. “I don’t think I mentioned I gave a fuck about his future, did I? Let’s try this again. Where is he, and you better have the right fucking answer or you’ll wish he’d already killed you.”
“Okay, but, listen, remember I can find him. He’s my sire.”
“So you’re saying you don’t know where he is and you’re of no use to me?”
“No, no, no! I…” He put his hands up to make his point. “I don’t know where he is but I can find him for you. Seriously. If you kill me, you won’t find him.”
Bas shook his head. “You’re not filling me with confidence. I think some torture is in order, and believe me when I say…this guy is all kinds of outstanding at what he does.”
“Okay, okay, but no matter how much you torture me, I swear, I can’t tell you where he is. Yet. Can we make a deal? Hey, I never really attacked your place. Just that little dry run a few weeks ago. So we’re okay, man.”
Bas stared at him. “Really?” he pulled out his new cell phone and showed him the video they shot of the remains of his home. “Really?”
Shanks was shocked. “Well that little cocksucking weasel. That sonova played me all along. He fucking played me.”
“You weren’t in on it.” Bas knew he wasn’t. He could still read him at this close range.
Koen looked at Bas. “If you sired the asshole, Bas, can’t you find him?”
“No. Maybe. Within a reasonable range. But I have no sense of him at all. If I had, I would have noticed it somewhere in all these weeks. It’s been too long and my link with him is too weak. I hate to admit it, but this piece of crap might be our best chance.”
Koen sighed. “Well, okay, let’s wrap him up and take him with us. It’s safe to say this Alvin is out of the country by now. He’s been too clever so far to make the mistake of staying too close after this. Let’s go home. We’ll get him. Just not today.”
He released the girl and told her to go home and keep her legs together.
“She’s just too bad a judge of character,” he explained to Bas as he hauled Shanks out of the alley and dragged him back to their hotel room where they grabbed their few items, and left for the airport.
Koen had used Shank’s cell to summon his jet to New York to take them back to France. Their prisoner rode in the baggage hold, cold and tied to several heavy duty racks that restricted his movement and made it impossible for him to escape. Or move at all.
After they arrived back at his villa, Koen waited impatiently as Bas held Park a little too long. He didn’t like this sharing thing…he was ill equipped to deal with it. But he made it through, and then held her for a good five minutes as well. When they learned that somehow Alvin had gotten to the plane to sabotage it, that it could have had a devastating crash…all either of them wanted was to be back with her. France could not come soon enough.
Everyone welcomed them home that night and joined them for a hearty meal. Both men had eaten far fewer calories than their bodies needed over the past three days. They made up for it tonight. After they had an hour to clear up, they’d met at Koen’s dining area, which was even nicer than Bas’s, although it was smaller. It overlooked the sea, and had a glass wall that pushed completely aside to make the area an outdoor balcony.
Burne wanted details right away. “So, what happened? Did you get him?”
Koen and Bas shook their heads simultaneously. Bas was the one who spoke.
“He had already left the country. But we caught a break when we overnighted to New York. Shanks was there trying to score, and we yanked him…brought him here. He gave us his Sire’s identity. It was someone I sired over half a century ago. We’ll find him. We may be able to track him with some limitations, since we can use Shanks sort of like a bloodhound. His range is limited, and less so with time, but I have no doubt we’ll get him. I’ve already sent out a full description of the asshole…his name is Alvin…and details on what he’s done, how he’s done it, and what might be expected…to every major vampire community worldwide. Each will forward the info to me if anything shows up. He has to be hiding. He’ll know we’re onto him and that he’s not safe anywhere. So. I think the vampire community is safe for the near future. But right now, this is where I need to be.”
Koen leaned in. “I will be hiring teams to begin a nation by nation investigation starting tomorrow. I want him here. I want to be the one to end him. He nearly killed my daughter and he did kill a first blood who was family. I claim the right.”
Bas shrugged. “I don’t dispute it. As long as he’s gone forever, I don’t care who does it now. I just want to get back to my life.”
Several cheers went up about that and they lifted beautifully detailed wine glasses to toast the end of Alvin.
But Koen wouldn’t let it go until it was done. His mind would fixate on the thing…he knew it would. Only Alvin’s brutal death would clear the debt. It truly made him sorry that he hadn’t been able to put her properly to rest. Life held such pain, he understood why humans didn’t want to live forever.
144
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Park sat on the high balcony overlooking the Mediterranean sea. Distantly, the Pyrenees mountains showed their lovely snow-capped peaks. This was her father’s villa perched lovingly on the edge of a cliff, rising above crashing waves. Nothing like the ocean near her home in California. A raw, wild beauty that took her breath away every time she stepped out.
A nippy breeze toyed with her hair, which was ridiculously long now, but Bas didn’t want her to cut it. So it was tied back with a pink ribbon so it wouldn’t occlude the view. A cup of coffee in her hands was infused with spicy red blood cells. She’d adjusted to the flavor now as long as it was mixed with something, she actually quite enjoyed it. Still adapting to drinking warm from a stranger, but she was working on it. She loved drinking from Bas, which put them both in an immediate sexual frenzy, and ended up in a combo sex slash blood-fest smorgasbord in the huge bed that occupied a large space in their three room suite on the third floor of this four level villa. Just thinking of it now made her hot for him.
The view was spectacular. During the day, she could watch it from inside windows that had full ultraviolet protection, but she preferred nights like this when she could just sit out here and listen to the ocean roar. The Pyranees Orientales had been her father’s home for three centuries, off and on, allowing for changing generations. She’d never expected to be living in the south of France, but she loved it already.
Moonlight scattered on the waves just made her feel like all the magic in the world lived here on this inlet. Her belly was expanding daily. Just this wee
k she felt her daughter kick for the first time. Such joy, in the aftermath of such pain. It had been two weeks since the attack. Eillia was still missing and her father assured her she was dead. It was still impossible for her to believe it. Hamid, they all knew, was definitely gone, along with over thirty of Bas’s security teams. And Eugene…gentle, wonderful Eugene. Well, she hoped he was with his beloved now. It was what he wanted more than anything. She just wished he could have been here for her daughter. Park thought he would have been the perfect nanny.
Cherise was gone, they didn’t know where. She just hugged Park when they arrived at Koen’s place, told her that the baby would be so much more special than any of them yet knew, and then disappeared into the dark. The McCairn’s had gone home, too. So Koen’s home had stretched to include Park and Bas, and Burne and Zach, and there was plenty of room. Jake, of course, who would always stay with Bas as his top lieutenant. Dez was gone, back to South America, with a brusque goodbye to everyone, an uncomfortable, but heartfelt hug for Park, and a long unreadable stare at Zach, before she left in Koen’s best sports car. Zach grinned as she drove off, looking at the surprised Burne and Park.
“I thought you had a thing for her,” Burne said.
“Yeah, Zach. And I think she’s as crazy about you, too,” Park told him. “She didn’t leave you through your entire conversion.”
“Plus, you’re a fucking sexy vampire now.” Burne, with her usual tact.
Zach came forward and gave each woman a gentle kiss on each of their cheeks.
“I am. And I am crazy for her. She just refuses to accept that she’s fallen in love with me. It’s okay. I know where to find her. And I’m taking a tattoo artist with me when I do.” Both women looked at him strangely.
“Inside joke,” he explained, and went off whistling.
