Between a Vamp and a Hard Place

by Jessica Sims

  I moaned, pressing a hand to my forehead. “Oh, my God. This is not happening. This is not.” I turned and looked at Rand. “I thought you said he was a Dragon!”

  “That is his family name. Draculesti. His family is Dracul, his house Basarab.” Rand’s voice became thick, heavily accented as he pronounced the words. “He claimed to be the son of Vlad the Dracul, but that was simply another one of his warlords he turned and who then took command of his people. The Dragon is actually much older than that.”

  “Great,” I said faintly. “I cannot believe we’re going after Dracula. Why didn’t you say something?”

  Rand’s eyes narrowed. “I told you he was the Dragon. Dracul is ‘dragon’ in the old languages.”

  I whimpered, feeling faint. I pressed a hand to my forehead and leaned against our car. “I need a moment to process this.”

  Rand’s arms went around me. “Lindsey, are you well?”

  I burrowed against him. What to say? Oh, sure, I’m just dandy. Never mind that we just found out we’re chasing a bad guy that happens to be legendary for being a nasty vampire. No big deal. Oh, and he’s probably going to kill you. I pressed my face against his throat. It felt cool, a sign he was probably thirsty. “I know you want to keep moving, Rand, but can we go back to the hotel? Please?”

  He hesitated.

  I pressed a kiss to his throat. “I just want to spend time with you tonight. What’s one more evening?”

  His hand stroked through my hair, and I felt his shudder of desire. “As you wish, sweet.”

  * * *

  We went back to our hotel, and I made love to Rand in the shower. I noticed that he only sipped lightly from my neck, and I worried he wasn’t keeping his strength up. That was my fault, too, because I was a jealous, horrible woman who didn’t want him touching anyone else. It only made me feel worse.

  As dawn approached, I lay in Rand’s arms and pulled out my phone, doing searches of Vlad Tepes and Dracula so we could go over his legends together and pick apart fact from fiction. “They just found his tomb,” I told Rand, flipping through news articles.

  “Oh?”

  “In Italy.”

  Rand snorted. “Not his, then. He despises Italy. Why do you think William and Frederic were there?”

  Mmm, good point. “And you.”

  “I was staked in Brittany, though.” He nuzzled my neck, teasing my ear. “Believe it or not, your warlord was once Norman.”

  “Oh, I believe it,” I told him. “Not a lot of Romanians with a name like Rand FitzWulf,” I teased.

  He pressed a kiss to my jaw. “Tomb or no tomb, I know the Dragon is alive. I can feel him lurking at the edges of my mind. Waiting. Watching.”

  I shivered at the thought of that and picked up my phone again. I went to Wikipedia and looked up Vlad III. There was a lot about politics that didn’t interest me. I wanted the creepy stuff. “Says here that he died in either 1476 or 1477. Possibly beheaded.”

  “Likely he had rumors spread that he was killed so he could come back again as a different incarnation. He had many names and many guises. Common men will not follow a man they believe to be hundreds of years old. This I know from experience.”

  I looked over at his handsome face. “Did you have many guises, then?”

  “I did,” he confirmed. “Though I do not remember most of them. Only that I would lead a group of men for a period, then be sent away to lead another army under a different name. The Dragon sent us to many different places.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? He was bored and liked to make war. I think he just liked human misery. He liked to stir things up, like stepping on a nest of ants to watch them panic. He was very old even when I met him. I imagine you get tired of life. You take it for granted.”

  Like Rand was doing now? I bit the thought back and turned to my phone again. “It says here that he impaled thousands of people.”

  “True.”

  I shivered. “Really?”

  “He was sadistic. If he grew angry with a village or the lord of a village, all would suffer.”

  I felt sick. “But . . . impalement? Hundreds of people? It says here that there were forests of them—”

  He put his fingers to my jaw and turned my face to his. “Lindsey,” he murmured. “These are not things I wish to think about when I am in bed with you. Suffice it to say that my past is ugly, and my mind has not always been my own. But now do you understand why the Dragon must die, even if it will cost me my own life?”

  I nodded and leaned in close to him, soaking in his scent, his touch.

  For the first time, I got it. I really did. “I’m sorry,” I said, sliding my hands along his body. “I won’t discuss it again.”

  “Just trust me when I say he must die.”

  “I trust you,” I murmured, then pressed my mouth to his. I’d always trusted Rand. It was just that I didn’t want him to die, too. Selfish or not, I still felt that way.

  If only there was a way to imprison Dracula while not destroying him entirely . . .

  Wait.

  My fingers dug into Rand’s shoulders as I was gripped by an exciting thought. When I’d found Rand, he’d been staked. Dormant. He hadn’t aged. Hadn’t breathed. Hell, he’d been in limbo for six hundred years. There had to be ways to stop a vampire. If staking made him dormant . . . I just needed to think of other ways. I wracked my brain for vampire lore, thinking of the kit Gemma had made me. “Hey, Rand, honey?”

  “Hmm?” His hand slid down the curve of my waist. He was clearly gearing up for sex again. The man was insatiable.

  “What does holy water do to a vampire?” I moved my hand to his cock, cupping it. “Is it a sleep agent, like garlic?”

  He pulled back, eyeing me. “Why does this come up now?”

  I shrugged, trying to remain casual. My hand stroked along his hard length, hopefully a distraction. Because I’m trying to think of ways to save you? “Because we were talking about vampires and impaling and stakes and I realized I never asked what holy water did.”

  “It is like poison.” Rand studied me. “You would tell me if you drank some?”

  “I haven’t touched a drop.” It was all still packed away in tiny flasks. I’d kept it, hoping it would have a use.

  And now I could think of one. I pressed a kiss to the tip of Rand’s nose and gave his cock a squeeze. Suddenly I was in a much better mood than before. If the Dragon thought he was going to get my man without a fight, he had another thing coming.

  Twenty-one

  The sun rose, but I was unable to sleep. I knew the exact moment it hit the horizon, though, because Rand drifted off mid-conversation and fell into his comatose vampiric slumber. I got up and checked the drapes on the windows, just to make sure not an inch of light got through to hurt my vampire. It was habit now, and it made me feel like I was doing my part to protect him, however small.

  I had just crawled back into bed when a hand slid up my thigh, fingers dragging over my skin. I smiled even as I closed my eyes and snuggled against Rand. “Second wind?”

  “I see you, blood vassal.” Cold fingers dug into the flesh of my thigh, and Rand gave a long, hard sniff against my neck. “I can smell your blood from here.” He inhaled deeply again, his face burrowing against my throat. “Like the sweetest taste of honey. Your charms are evident. It’s clear why this disobedient slave likes you.”

  And his nails dug into the skin of my leg, drawing blood.

  I yelped and jumped out of bed. That was not my lover.

  He sat up in bed and swiveled his shoulders, as if testing his body. Then he looked over at me, where I cowered, naked, a few feet away from the bed. “Hello, lovely.”

  “Rand?”

  A chuckle. An evil chuckle. “If you say so.”

  I noticed that his speech wasn’t accented for the first time. My eyes widened. “Who are you?”

  An evil grin stole across Rand’s face. “Who do you think?”

  I ha
ted to even say the name aloud. “Vlad . . . Tepes? Dracula?”

  “Very good,” he purred, and a chill went up my spine. “I see you are bringing my vassal back so I can take care of him once and for all? You are too kind.” His voice was sonorous, dripping with evil. It creeped me out to see it coming from Rand’s familiar mouth.

  “Get out of here,” I said, covering my breasts with my hands. “Get out of Rand.”

  “I am never fully out of him, you know.” The Dragon’s smile was chilling. “I am always there. I know everything and see everything. You think our link goes one way? That he gets the benefit of my knowledge and my immortality and I get nothing in return? You think I am that kind and benevolent?”

  “I think you’re awful,” I spat at him. “A monster. You’re enslaving these men, forcing them to do your deeds—”

  “And in exchange, I gave them eternity.” He clapped his hands slowly, mockingly. “Truly, I am a monster.”

  “An eternity of being your lackey!” I shouted back.

  He shrugged. “All gifts come with a price.” His eyes narrowed, became shrewd. “I know how he feels about you, too.” He tapped the side of his head. Rand’s head. “It’s all in here. His emotions, his thoughts. I see it all, feel it all. I know he’s coming to kill me. He thinks he can defeat me. That I don’t know every move he’s going to make before he does it.” His lip curled with amused disgust.

  Fear rushed through me. If he knew every move Rand was going to make, then how could Rand possibly beat him? “Why?” I choked out. “Why do you want him dead? Why send Guy after him?”

  “Because Rand is mine to control.” He thumped his chest, bone-crushingly hard. “Mine to command. My vassal. He should obey me. Not incite rebellion amongst my men when he does not like my orders.” He thumped his chest again. “I am in charge. And because he refutes me, he must die for it. I have other vassals, far more loyal than he. I need him no longer.”

  “Because he has a heart?” I taunted back. “Because he’s not a mindless demon like you?”

  “Because he is weak,” the Dragon said. That eerie smile curled his mouth again. “But his efforts will not be totally in vain. He will bring me a tasty little morsel in yourself. It has been a long time since I’ve tasted one like you. AB negative, I believe Guy said?”

  I remained silent. He was wrong, but I’d be damned if I corrected him.

  “Delicious,” he teased. “I’ll enjoy enslaving you. Most of my playthings don’t last for long, but they’re usually quite glad to go. I can be quite . . . creative.”

  I shuddered, hugging my arms to my chest.

  “And I might let Rand live for a bit longer to see that.” He tilted his head. “Wouldn’t that be vile? Letting the man that loves you watch while I destroy you? Forcing him to endure your screams as I drain you of your delicious blood? It would kill him, you know. It would hurt more than any wound I could inflict on him.” He tapped his fingers over his chest. “You get him right here. He’s confused. Never in his long life has he felt such emotions for another person. It frightens him that you’re so vulnerable. His thoughts are full of the need to protect you, and of course, the need to fuck you. To own you. He is a vampire, after all.”

  I bit my lip, not wanting to respond to the taunting.

  “Sometimes he thinks about abandoning you for your own good, you know.” He put a finger to his temple again and gave it a swift tap. “That goes through this mind so many times a night. That he must protect Lindsey. That Lindsey’s not safe with him. That sweet, sweet Lindsey is so vulnerable and it goes against everything in him to keep you with him.” He tsked. “So noble.”

  “Go away,” I hissed. “You’re awful. I hate you!”

  “What, do you not want to play any longer?” He gave me a cruel, thin-lipped smile. “Call me when you do. You know I’m listening.”

  With that, Rand’s body collapsed back on the bed again.

  Silence filled the room. I hunched down on the floor where I was, watching Rand’s body, wary. When I was sure the Dragon was gone, I uncurled from my spot, my heart hammering.

  The Dragon knew everything. Did I tell Rand when he woke up? Or should I keep it a secret? I stared down at my sleeping lover, unsure what to do. I sat on the edge of the bed and raked my hands through my hair, feeling alone and scared. Not just for me but for Rand as well. He didn’t stand a chance against the Dragon, not if the man could predict every move, knew every thought.

  And if I told Rand the Dragon had appeared, the Dragon would know that, too. Anything I discussed with Rand was suspect. A sob broke in my throat.

  Just then, my phone chimed with a text message. I scrambled for it, using any excuse to get away from the bed.

  Hey bb! Gemma sent. Just checking in on you. Everything ok?

  I immediately dialed her. She picked up on the second ring. “I’m not okay, Gemma,” I immediately blurted into the phone.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The Dragon,” I sniffed, looking back at my lover in our bed. “He took over Rand and threatened us a moment ago.”

  “He what?”

  “Took over Rand. Possessed him.”

  “Motherfucker!”

  “He said he knows everything we’re going to do, Gemma.” A fresh sob caught in my throat. “And Rand just wants to plow straight in and attack him because he thinks the guy should die. Never mind that he thinks he’ll die, too.”

  She made soothing noises on the other end of the phone. “What do you wanna do, honey? Wanna come home?”

  “I can’t leave him,” I wailed. I wouldn’t abandon Rand. I couldn’t.

  “I know! I know! I’m just . . . I’m worried about you, kiddo. This is some grim shit.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” I told her, curling up in a chair with the phone. From my vantage point, I could see the bed and Rand peacefully sleeping in it. He had no idea of what had just happened.

  “So what’s the plan right now?”

  I pressed the heel of my hand between my eyes, feeling a headache coming on. “Our plan or the Dragon’s?”

  “Both?”

  “It sounds like our plan is that we find the Dragon, and maybe I provide a distraction and Rand attacks him. Then we hope for the best.”

  Silence on the other end. After a moment, Gemma added, “That’s all you’ve got?”

  “I know,” I cried, ready to burst into fresh tears. “We’ve got nothing! I mean, I know Rand is a great fighter. But it just feels like there should be more to it. More that I can help with. I’ve got holy water and garlic and a pair of stakes, but Rand doesn’t want to stake him.” I lowered my voice in case “Rand” was listening despite being asleep. “He wants to behead him to make sure he’s dead.”

  “But won’t beheading him also take out Rand? Doesn’t it cut the link? The whole vampirism pyramid scheme thing where everyone feeds off the top?”

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding miserably. “I mean, no one’s ever taken down the top dog before, but I don’t see how that’ll change anything, right?”

  “Fuck, I don’t know. I’ve never killed a vampire before.”

  That made two of us. “I’m worried that if we just stake the Dragon, it won’t work or someone else will wake him up and we’ll be back to the drawing board.”

  “Ah,” said Gemma. “And the Dragon’s plan?”

  “Well, considering he can read all of Rand’s thoughts and feelings? My guess is that it’s ‘wait for Rand and kill him.’ ”

  “Yeah, that plan sucks,” she agreed. “New plan.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Abandon ship.”

  I stiffened. “I’m not leaving him alone, Gemma.”

  “Okay, well, I’m superworried for you, girl. Because what is the Dragon going to do with Rand’s partner in crime if Rand bites it?”

  I said nothing. I already knew from our creepy conversation earlier. A long, slow death involving lots of bleeding and bloodsucking. And possibly torturing
Rand.

  “See, silence is not good right now. That tells me shit is not good. I am worried about you! Please, please come home. I don’t want to lose my best friend!” Now Gemma sounded sniffly. “Come on, Linds. Just admit that you’re in over your head and come back to Venice.”

  “I’m in way over my head,” I admitted shakily. “But I won’t abandon Rand. I can’t.”

  “Then you need to work around him,” Gemma said. “Have a plan B and don’t let him in on it. Because if you do, the Dragon is going to know about it. Right now, the only thing we have going for us is the fact that he doesn’t know what you’re thinking.”

  She had a point. “Should I tell Rand that the Dragon possessed him while he slept?” I asked, unsure. The loyal part of me said that of course I should tell Rand. After all, it was his body and his enemy.

  Gemma hummed for a minute, thinking. “Actually, no, you shouldn’t tell him at all. I mean, what’s the benefit there? Freaking him out more than he already might be? Letting the Dragon know he’s onto things? I think you keep a lid on it. It’ll make the Dragon curious what you’re up to. Let him wonder.”

  I nodded, feeling a little more in control. “Good idea.”

  “Now, give me your address so I can come up there.”

  “You . . . what? Really?”

  “Yes, really! Puttering around in Venice while you’re having a life-or-death struggle with vampires? I’m not going to sit here with my thumb up my ass while you do this shit! I’m going to come help you out.”

  Fresh tears started. “Oh, Gemma, you’re the best friend a girl could ever have.”

  “I know, right? I’m pretty fucking awesome. Now give me details, and whatever you do, don’t tell Rand.”

  And between the two of us, we hatched a plan.

  Twenty-two

  Rand and I walked the streets of Brasov that evening, trying to get a feel for where Rand was “sensing” the Dragon. Because we were so close, he told me his normal blood sense was blurred, and he wasn’t entirely sure of the location. Just that when we found him, he’d know.