by Lee, Rachel
“One should never taste forbidden fruit.” Then he turned and vanished.
Disappointment slammed her so hard she doubled over.
Much more of this, Creed thought, and he was going to turn into the kind of monster he loathed. Being locked up with a woman who aroused his every instinct and hunger to raging levels was turning into a test he might well fail.
He took no comfort in the fact that he had just pulled away when his entire nature was screaming for him to drink, to have sex. No mortal could understand the extremity of craving a vampire felt for those things.
He was like a man who had spent days in a desert without any water and at last had caught sight of an oasis. He had to keep reminding himself that that oasis was merely a mirage, that Yvonne was simply curious and attracted, just an illusion that would flit away as soon as the danger was past.
But his thirst for her couldn’t be slaked by reminders of reality. No, the mirage drew him as powerfully as if it were real.
He stood staring out over the darkening city without seeing it, because all he could notice were Yvonne’s scents, powerful even at this distance, even though she had not yet emerged from the bedroom.
Trial by fire, he thought with bitter amusement. Atoning in these hours for every sin he’d ever committed. He doubted hell itself could offer worse torment than self-denial of something so essential and needed.
Much more of this, and he might well need a straitjacket.
“Creed?”
Reluctantly he turned to see her standing in the open doorway of his bedroom. “Yes?”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why am I forbidden fruit?”
Hell. He really didn’t want to discuss this with her, and he’d already tried to explain once. It was hard enough to contain all this within himself.
“Because I’m dangerous to you,” he said flatly. “Because I could hurt you without meaning to.”
“How?”
He swore quietly and turned his back to her. Bad enough he had to deal with her enticing scents without seeing her, as well. “Because, if I were to forget myself, I could make you crave me forever. I told you that.”
“Isn’t that my problem?”
He swung around, nearly glaring. “You don’t get it, Yvonne. You don’t begin to get it. Look at me. As near as I can tell, I have no purpose but to seduce and drink. Everything about me is designed to make you want me. And if I drink from you sufficiently, what you feel now will pale by comparison. I’ve seen humans become totally consumed by the need to repeat the experience of making love with a vampire, of being drunk from by a vampire. They might as well be crack addicts.”
“Oh.” Her voice was small.
“I know you want me. I want you, too. And the pull I’m feeling toward you is so strong, so unusually strong, that I can’t trust myself to stop soon enough if I start.”
“I see.”
He was certain she didn’t, but he sure as hell didn’t know how to make her see when the reality was so far from her experience.
She had no idea, of course, that he could truly feel her desire for him almost as strongly as he could feel his own. That her scents, her heartbeat—audible even at this distance—made him feel her yearning, and that there was no more powerful aphrodisiac in the world.
Or that resisting her might require more willpower than he could muster.
He was actually relieved when his doorbell rang and even more relieved when he opened it and found not just Jude but also Terri, Chloe and Garner.
Terri breezed in first, carrying a large bag from a restaurant, followed by Chloe who winked at him as if she knew exactly what kind of hell he was going through and actually had the cheek to think it was cool. She, too, carried a large restaurant bag.
Terri and Chloe went about setting a table for the four humans, with some help from Yvonne who seemed glad to be surrounded by some other females, especially human ones. Not that he could blame her. After his warning, maybe she was beginning to realize she might not be able to trust him completely. And much as it pained him to make her feel that way, it was still true. If he couldn’t trust himself, then it was dangerous for her to trust. God, sometimes he hated himself!
When everyone had gathered around the table Creed carried two armchairs closer for him and Jude. He saw Yvonne’s eyes widen at the sight of him carrying those chairs, one in each hand, as if they were made of paper.
Good, let her think about what that might mean. He needed her to pull away before his self-control lost the battle against instinctive drives. A little avoidance from the morsel would be welcome at this point.
Of course, the aromas of the food the humans were eating hardly affected him. What affected him was being so close to four humans each of whom smelled like a meal to a starving man. He smothered a sigh and tried to focus on the issues.
“Okay,” Garner said. “I found a couple of people who are possessed. I found hints of the same stench from Yvonne’s apartment around them, but just faint traces. My guess is that he’s being cagey for the moment. Trying not to leave too much of a trail.”
“It’s Asmodai for certain,” Creed announced. “Luc St. Just recognized the stench, and he would know.”
“Ah, Luc,” said Jude. “Another major headache.”
Garner spoke. “I’m not the only one?”
Jude looked at Garner from the corner of his eye.
Garner waved a hand. “Can you blame me for being glad I’m not the only thorn in your side?”
Jude sighed.
Yvonne stirred. “Who is Luc and why is he a problem?”
“Luc,” Creed explained, “is another vampire. He showed up here last night. He’d gotten wind of Asmodai, and he’s out for revenge.”
“Why?”
Creed hesitated. In mixed company, explaining a claiming was difficult. Hell, it was difficult to discuss even among vampires, since it was something they preferred not to think about. He decided the condensed version was safest. “Asmodai killed his mate five years ago.”
“Natasha,” Jude said, his face darkening. “She was a delight.”
“Yes, she was. And Luc said he doesn’t care what it costs, even in terms of lives, but he will take his revenge.”
“Great,” said Garner. “You have me out there hunting for a demon who can kill even vampires? Uh, I don’t think so!”
“Oh, hush,” Chloe snapped, slapping at his arm. “You’re the one who’s been driving Jude and me nuts for the past two years insisting that you’re good enough to work with us.”
“Nobody said anything about a demon even you vampires can’t protect me from.”
“Are you a demon hunter or not?”
Garner glared at her.
“Chicken,” said Chloe, and sniffed.
“I’m not a chicken. But Asmodai?” Garner’s voice almost reached a squeak on the name. A look from Jude silenced him.
Creed wished Yvonne would do more than pick at her food, a serving of chicken marsala. She needed to keep her strength up. Humans weren’t like vampires: they couldn’t go several days without eating and not suffer for it. But he didn’t know how to encourage her to eat.
Finally, Creed leaned toward her, just an inch or two. “Look how many are gathered here to fight this thing. You’re not alone.”
Her green eyes met his, hinting at fear, but not so much that it quelled her spark. “I’m grateful to everyone. I realize you’re all fighting this. But I need to be able to do something. I can’t impose on you forever. Sometimes I even have to go out. So it would great if I could help get rid of this thing. Instead I feel a bit like bait dangling in the wind. I’d rather take action.”
“Action will have to wait,” Jude said. “We need to find the others who are being pulled in to create the pentagram. And we need to find a way to deal with Luc before he makes a mess.”
“Luc will be back,” Creed said with certainty. “He knows I’m aware of Asmodai. He’s got to know he can’t deal wit
h this solo.”
Chloe spoke. “Then why didn’t he listen to you last night?”
“Because Luc has quite a temper. My guess would be the scent of Asmodai infuriated him. He’ll calm down enough to think. He may have already. But we’re dealing with…” He stopped himself, unwilling to get into claiming. He suspected Chloe knew about it, but he wasn’t sure about Garner, and then there was Yvonne. Although maybe she needed to know so she’d protect herself by backing away from him.
But Jude laid it out there. “We’re dealing with a claiming,” he said flatly.
Terri gasped. Chloe’s eyes grew huge. The question was inevitable now.
Garner barely started to inhale before Jude said, “Shut up, Garner. Yvonne, Creed will explain to you later. Let’s move on.”
“Move on?” Chloe asked incredulously. “This changes everything.” She looked from Jude to Creed. “Are you sure he’ll control himself? Because if he arrives helter-skelter in the midst of a ritual, there’s no telling what might be unleashed. If Jude hasn’t warned you about that yet, let me do it. He’s sure warned me enough times.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Creed replied. He could promise no more than that. “I think he’ll realize that he’s more likely to get what he wants if he works with us. Especially since he seems to have no idea how Asmodai emerged five years ago, or what sent him back afterward. What’s he going to do on his own?”
“Why do people always tell me to shut up?” Garner complained. “I’m the one out there hunting these things. If there’s a problem I need to know.”
Jude frowned. “All you need to know is to stay out of the way of Luc St. Just. And tell him nothing.”
“Oh.” Garner wagged his head. “Since when has it been possible not to answer a vampire’s questions?”
“Since you got some backbone?” Chloe suggested.
“You never have any trouble ignoring me,” Jude reminded him.
“You’ve never tried to vamp me.”
“Oh, yes, I have. Every time I tell you not to do something. It’s worked so splendidly, hasn’t it?”
Creed saw Yvonne raise her hand to cover her mouth, and he was relieved to see amusement dancing around her eyes.
Terri outright giggled, and Garner shot her a look. “You, too?” he asked. “Why does everyone think I’m a joke?”
“Not a joke, Garner,” Terri assured him. “Honestly. You’re just…cute.”
Garner settled back, clearly not certain how to take that. “Puppies are cute,” he grumbled finally.
“Exactly, pup,” Jude said. “Enjoy it while it lasts. Okay, so we have two possessed identified?”
“There may be a third one,” Garner answered. “I couldn’t get close enough to be sure today. But I’ll start again in a few hours. And Terri let me check the morgue today. Your guess was right. That person who was killed the other night appears to have died during an attempted possession by you-know-who.”
Silence fell around the table. Creed could smell the fear that pierced Yvonne at this news and he wished he had some comfort to offer. Then he sighed, acknowledging that any comfort at this point would be specious anyway. Hell, he was frightened himself, for her. What had started as a job had grown into something that had definitely begun to involve him at a personal level. A very personal level.
So much for all the defenses he thought he’d built.
Jude spoke. “An additional assignment, Garner. I want you to try to find Yvonne’s former boyfriend. Get the necessary information from her when we’re done here. All right then. We have the beginnings of the circle. Once we have them all…” He trailed off.
“Once we have them all,” Creed said, though he was well aware that Jude, and not he, was the expert here, “we need to make sure they come together at a time and place of our choosing.” Easier said than done, of course.
Jude nodded. “I agree, though it won’t be easy. I need to give some thought to that. There may be a way. Hell, there has to be a way, because we definitely need the advantage. Anything else?”
“That last time Asmodai was bound, it was done by chaining the Tetragrammaton around his neck. Getting that on him is not going to be easy, I suspect. Assuming we can get one made in time.”
Then Creed sat back, frowning thoughtfully. “But I may know exactly where to get one. I seem to remember one being mentioned, one on a blackened chain…” He trailed off then suddenly smiled. “I do think my dear friend Avi Herschel has a story he needs to tell me.”
Jude stirred. “Just remember, Creed. You’ve got to watch Yvonne. Don’t forget, Luc may be a threat to her, too.”
Yvonne stiffened, but didn’t ask the obvious. Instead she appeared to force herself to eat a few bites of her chicken. Why did he think that she was saving up a whole lot of unpleasant questions for later?
Probably because he knew damn well she wasn’t incurious by nature. Yes, she’d ask. He just hoped he’d provide acceptable answers.
Because, at heart, he wasn’t sure just how much of his dark, hidden world he wanted to display to her. What if she was horrified? Worse, what if she wasn’t?
There was evidently no good answer to the question of Yvonne Depuis and his hunger for her.
So he sat there, listening as the discussion lightened to ordinary things, and wondered if a vampire could go insane, short of losing the object of a claiming.
He’d spent the better part of a century avoiding the line he was treading here with Yvonne. A very narrow, very dangerous line. One he might trip over at any instant.
Yes, he was crazy. To what degree only time would tell.
It paid some attention now, taking care not to draw close enough for the hunter to smell it. It listened, but could make out very little of what was said. Not that it mattered.
It had drawn the undead one here, the one who called himself Luc. That one would destroy all the plans these others were making. That was what it had called him here to do.
Chapter 7
As the meal finished up, Chloe dragged Garner into the kitchenette to wash dishes. Creed and Jude stepped outside onto the terrace as if it were not a frigid autumn night. Terri gave a small jerk of her head to Yvonne and led her back into the empty spare bedroom.
They sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor.
“I’m going to be nosy,” Terri said.
“Be my guest. If I get annoyed, I’ll tell you.”
“Good. You’re attracted to Creed, aren’t you?”
Yvonne hesitated, then nodded. “I have been since I first saw him. And since my last boyfriend cheated on me, I don’t want to be attracted.”
Terri winced. “Ouch!”
“Yeah. For six of the eight months we were together.”
“How did you find out?”
“The other girlfriend found out about me somehow and called me.”
“Even more fun.”
“Well, she dumped him, too.”
Terri laughed quietly. “Good.”
“But you didn’t want to talk about that.”
Terri hesitated. “No. It’s just that…well, Creed is struggling, Yvonne. He’s trying very hard to tamp down his natural instincts around you. From what I can tell, it’s not just a passing fancy he’s feeling. It’s something stronger.”
“He kind of said that. I wasn’t sure what he meant, though.” Yvonne leaned back against the wall, waiting to hear what Terri might have to say.
“Jude,” Terri said, “will cheerfully tell you I nearly drove him insane. And honestly, I didn’t really understand. I mean, it seems so simple to just tell yourself that you can’t have someone. I’ve done it more than once when I had a crush of some kind.”
“Are you saying it’s different for vampires?”
“Very different.” Terri tipped her head to one side. “Chloe read me the riot act one night. She told me that Jude was like someone who’d been drinking rotgut wine and all of a sudden a bottle of the finest champagne was in reach. And I was the champagne
.”
Yvonne felt a little shock, a surprisingly pleasant one. And with it a throbbing hint of her desire. “Are you trying to warn me away?”
“Actually no. I’m just trying to tell you what you’re up against. I love Jude dearly. Do you feel any attraction to him?”
Yvonne gasped. “Jude? No! Oh, I wouldn’t want you to think that. Absolutely not. Did I do something?”
Terri shook her head quickly. “Not at all. It’s just that vampires can cause a fascination in some people. They don’t do it consciously, it just is. And one of the things that convinced Jude I was attracted to him and not his being a vampire was that I didn’t feel the same attraction to Creed.”
