by Tinnean
And if a cop stopped him, he’d say his brother wasn’t feeling well.
Matthew eased behind the wheel, sternly battling down his unease when he realized the moment of truth had arrived. How was he going to find his way back to the boarded-up hovel? But then, as Benito had promised, it was as if a GPS began whispering directions in his head. He put the key in the ignition and turned it on. He wanted to get there while it was still daylight. There were more windows whose boards he needed to loosen, and once that was done, he’d go home, leaving the monster to meet its fate.
III
EKATERINA CLIMBED the steps of the porch, raising an eyebrow at the barking coming from within the house. She pressed the doorbell and smiled when she heard the overture from The Phantom of the Opera. Behind her, William, Henry, and Thomas chuckled, finding Ty’s choice of music for his doorbell as amusing as she did.
She stopped smiling when no one came to answer the door.
“Could he still be asleep?” William asked.
“No. He knew we would be here.”
“Could he be in the bathroom?”
“I suppose….” She worried her lower lip, then pressed the bell again, harder. This time the barking seemed almost frantic, and she exchanged glances with her brother and the other two day watchers. “I don’t like this.”
“Can you get us inside?” William knew the big French vampyr had taught her many things.
“I don’t know.” She rested her left palm on the strike plate, jerked the door toward her and turned the knob at the same time. There was a faint snick as the lock disengaged, and she pushed the door open, barely managing to catch the Înger Păzitor as she attempted to dart past her. “Mina, what’s wrong?”
The dog didn’t struggle, just seemed to grow heavier and heavier.
“I’m going to search the house,” William said.
“Be careful. There are two vampyrs here, and you don’t want to expose them to sunlight.”
He gave a curt nod and strode off toward the rear of the little bungalow.
“Henry, would you check the garage? See if Ty’s car is there. The code to get in is ten thirty-one. Thomas, search the property.”
They hurried to do her bidding without a word, and she closed the door behind them so the Înger Păzitor wouldn’t get out.
Mina still vibrated with anxiety. Ekaterina put her down and rubbed her ears. “Where is your master, little one?”
She whined and seized the leg of Ekaterina’s jeans and tugged her toward the door.
“He’s not here, is he?”
Mina pulled harder, and Ekaterina picked her up again.
“Soon, little mistress. We have to be certain we don’t go off half-cocked.”
“He’s not here, Kat. Raymond and Raul are in the bedroom, and their sleep is… restless.”
A sure sign something was going on with the sabor. She handed the dog to her brother and took out her cell phone. Ty’s cell number was logged in it, and she pulled it up and hit Dial.
She felt herself turn pale and met her brother’s gaze, but before she could say anything, the front door opened and Thomas and Henry entered.
“The car’s gone,” Henry informed her, “and he’s nowhere on the property.”
“And my call to his phone went directly to voice mail. It didn’t even ring.”
“How are we going to find him?”
She raised Mina’s head. “Do you know where he is?”
The dog woofed.
“Okay.” She looked at the other day watchers. “Wait in the car. I’ll leave a note for Raymond.”
They nodded and left the house.
Ekaterina knew Ty kept a notepad in his desk in the living room. She went to it, tore off a sheet, and took a pen from the chestburster mug that contained pens, pencils, highlighters, and Magic Markers.
Raymond—Tyrell is missing. We’re taking his Înger Păzitor, in the event she’ll be able to track him down. I hope we’ll find him and be back before sundown, but if not, this should help you find us.
She didn’t sign it just then, simply took the page into the kitchen and found a paring knife. Normally she would use her own knife for this part of the message, but using one of Ty’s would make the connection stronger. She made a slice across her left palm. After the blood welled up, she let it drip across the bottom of the paper.
With that done, she pressed her thumb into the blood on her palm and rolled the pad of it beneath what she’d written, effectively signing it.
She fastened the message to the refrigerator door, where Raymond would spot it as soon as he went to take out a bag of blood. The magnet that kept it in place read Here There be Dragons, and she blinked, then shook her head. A coincidence, plain and simple.
One final thing now. She went to the sink, held her hand under the faucet, and let the water wash away the blood. It stung for a moment; when it stopped, she turned off the water and dried her hand with some paper towels.
The cut in her palm was already healing. Soon it would be nothing more than a faint pink line.
The house phone rang, and she stared at it thoughtfully, then decided to let the machine pick up.
“You have reached the home of Ty Small.” She couldn’t help smiling at the sound of cheers that greeted this announcement, and Ty’s apparent response to them. “Oh, you’re too kind. I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you.”
She was at the door when she heard, “This is the Pritchert Police Department. We have a car at the Pritchert Food parking lot that appears to be abandoned. It’s registered to a Tyrell Small, and—”
Ekaterina dove for the phone and scooped up the receiver. “I’m a friend of Ty’s. Is he there?”
“No, ma’am. The way the car’s been left…. Well, I don’t want to alarm you. Can you come down here and answer a few questions?”
“Of course. I’m not familiar with the area, however. Would you give me directions?”
“Sure thing. Where are you?”
She told him.
“Okay. Take the service road south to Pritchert. From there….”
She made a mental note of where she’d have to turn, then said, “Thank you. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” She hung up and scrawled the additional information on the message. Maybe this would help Mina track him down.
She strode out the door, pulled it shut behind her, and crossed to the curb. She walked around to the driver’s side and got into the car.
“Kat?”
“The police called. Ty’s car is in the parking lot of a supermarket.” She turned to gaze into her brother’s eyes. “When we get there, let Mina out and stay with her. Thomas, Henry, scout the area and see what you can discover.” She knew Adam could learn Ty’s whereabouts through the connection they had, but Adam wouldn’t be able to get here for almost ten hours. Who knew what could happen to Ty in that time? She buckled up and put the key in the ignition. “Please Lilitu we’ll learn which way to go to find him.”
EKATERINA DROVE into the parking lot. She had no trouble spotting Ty’s car. It was in the middle of a lane, the hood up and the driver’s-side door open. Two police cars flanked the hybrid, and a tow truck was positioned in front of it.
She parked to the left of one of the police cruisers. “You know what to do,” she said.
William opened his door, and Mina leaped down to the blacktop and dashed to the abandoned car.
Ekaterina went to the cops. They were stooping to make friends with the dog.
Thank Lilitu she wasn’t in full guardian mode.
Mina ignored the cops and circled the car, her nose to the ground, and growls beginning to spill from her throat.
“Mina!” She offered the cops a smile. “She’s very protective of Ty.”
One of the cops grinned at her. “I can see she’s a real killer.”
The other cops laughed at his joke. It was a good thing they thought it was a joke.
�
�What can you tell me?” she asked.
Apparently it wasn’t much more than they’d told her on the phone.
“…and we can’t figure out why the car won’t start, so we’ll have it towed to the Pritchert Garage. What about your friend? Is it likely he’d take off like this?”
“No. He’s very responsible.”
The cop who called Mina a killer handed Ekaterina a business card. “No one we’ve spoken to has seen anything, but the supermarket has surveillance cameras, and we’ll check the feed.”
Henry and Thomas returned to her side, and she could tell they hadn’t succeeded in coming up with anything that might help them.
“Kat.” William nodded toward Mina.
The dog had her paws up against the driver’s door, extending her head as far as she could. Then she dropped to all fours, darted to the rear of the car, and began to sniff around the exhaust pipes.
“Get the dog, would you, miss? We’re going to take the car now.”
“Mina.” Fortunately, the Înger Păzitor came to her. “Thank you,” Ekaterina said to the cops. “We’ll leave you to your investigating.”
Once they were back in the car, William asked, “Mina knows something?”
“Yes. I don’t know what, but….” The dog was so small and looked so innocuous. Once again, Ekaterina turned on the ignition. “All right, Mina. Which way?”
IT WAS almost sunset when they arrived in Mifflin, and from the dog’s reaction, they knew Ty was nearby.
Ekaterina let the car roll to a stop at the curb and turned to Thomas. “Call Luke. Tell him he’s needed here. Henry, take the—”
William swore. The dog had been lying on his lap, tense but contained, but now she rose to her feet, her gaze fastened on the dilapidated house beyond the shrubs that bordered the land around it. A low growl spilled from deep in her throat. She seemed to be growing larger and larger.
In the backseat, Thomas spoke in quick, quiet tones into his cell phone. Beside him, Henry lowered the portion of the backseat that folded down into an armrest and reached through the opening for the stakes stored in the trunk.
“Kat….” William’s voice was tight with pain, and he shifted in an attempt to get the dog’s paw off his lap.
“Open the door. Let her go.” She gave her brother a smile that held no amusement at all. “Hell is about to come to dinner.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
COME GO WITH ME
THE ROOM I woke up in was dark and silent. Where was I? How long had I been here?
And oh God, what was wrong with me?
I lay on my back, hoping my eyes would grow accustomed to the lack of light and I’d be able to see something.
My shoulders ached, the skin above my cheekbone felt as if it were on fire, and the crotch of my jeans felt damp and reeked of urine. Mixed with a sweetish smell that was vaguely familiar was the sour odor of vomit all over my sweatshirt. My stomach roiled and heaved and saliva flooded my mouth. If I threw up in the position I was in, I could inhale the vomit and suffocate on it.
I hadn’t been sick since I was little and we’d realized my digestive problems were caused by lactose intolerance, and I hated this feeling.
My teeth chattered, and I shivered so hard I thought my bones would shatter.
What’s wrong with me?
I swallowed desperately and tried to turn on my side.
Why can’t I move?
And then I realized… my arms were tied behind my back.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from throwing up, but I managed to angle myself onto my right shoulder and turn my head. Not much more than a little bile came out, but I gagged and retched and whimpered.
“Hush, little sir,” a female voice, the warmth of Spain in it, whispered in my ear, and I nearly pissed myself again. I’d thought I was alone. Fingers—hers?—were on my wrists.
“Please….” I swallowed and grimaced at the burning sensation in my wrists. “Don’t touch me.”
“I must.” She wiped my mouth with a soft piece of cloth, then returned to whatever she was doing to my wrists. “Matthew tied your hands behind your back.”
“Matthew?” I remembered Lucy stalling out. I remembered getting out of the car to stand next to my brother and stare into the engine with no idea what I was looking at. I remembered that sweetish smell and…. “Why would he do that?”
“He obeys el duque, as we all do.”
“Please tell me you’re not talking about de Vivar.”
“I’m sorry… but I am.”
I groaned, and then groaned again, this time in relief when the pressure on my shoulders eased as whatever bound my hands was released. I slumped over on my front and bit back another whimper.
“Hush,” she murmured again. “We must act quickly. I know you prefer not to be touched, but you must let me….” She angled her arm across my waist, and I bit my lip to keep from moaning at the contact that burned even through my sweatshirt. She dragged me backward and propped me against a wall. “I will help you as much as I can.”
“Why are you doing this?” I blinked a couple of times, finally able to see farther than the end of my nose, thanks to the faint beams of light that filtered through what must have been planks of wood nailed across the windows.
“What el duque would do is an abomination.” She untied my legs—how had I not known they had been tied as well?—but left the ropes tucked around them so they still appeared to be confined. “He’ll be here soon. We don’t want him to know you’re free. Whatever we can do to give you an advantage….” She brushed long black hair off her face.
“Who are you? Why do I feel I know you from somewhere?” I reached for the front of my sweatshirt, grimacing at the crusted mess I encountered. But beneath it I could feel the slim shape of the vial of holy water, as well as my half of the mizpah, and I blew out a thankful breath.
“I am Antonia Baca. El duque sent me to you some months ago. Keep your arms behind you, please, señor.”
I remembered now. She was the one who hadn’t intended to drink my blood—she’d wanted to suck my dick. “I… uh… I never heard of a vampyr who fed that way.” In spite of how cold I was, my cheeks felt hot.
“When de Vivar turned me, he was… enjoying me at the same time.”
“You mean you were—” I bit off “having sex.” If she’d deliberately chosen to use that old-fashioned phrase, then I wasn’t going to embarrass her. I cleared my throat and winced at how sore it felt. “You were saying?”
“For more than five centuries, I’ve been cursed to survive in this manner.”
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing you can do about it?”
“Possibly. If a sabor permitted me to sip from him.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I’d help you if I could—”
“I’m not one you would ever love.” She said the words simply: that was the way it was.
“I was about to say I recently fed a vampyr, and it will be another two months before I can feed another.”
“Dios mío, he will be furious to learn of this!”
“Do you have a knife I could borrow?”
“Why?”
“I need to clean my fingernails,” I lied.
“I’m sorry. I have no need for such a weapon.” She turned her head, and her voice suddenly grew cold and hard. “You will not approach him.”
“Huh?” I followed her gaze cautiously and spotted five other vampyrs who came out of the shadows. They looked hungry, and I understood why Antonia ordered them away from me.
“Yes.” A seventh appeared—de Vivar—and my stomach turned over. “The sabor is mine.”
That was a bunch of bull. He could say that as much as he liked; I was not his.
“Miguel, where is the other one?” De Vivar stroked a knuckle over his pencil-thin mustache, smoothing the gray hairs. Hadn’t they been darker the first time I’d seen him?
Wait… he had another sabor here?
“Maestro, h
e is there.” Miguel pointed to the right of where I sat against the wall.
Oh God, it was Matthew! My brother was sprawled on the floor, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.
“Explain yourself, Miguel. I had plans for that young man.”
“I had to retrieve him.”
“What?”
“He was not here when I rose, so I went to fetch him.”
“He was supposed to….” De Vivar frowned. “He’s dead.”
“He struggled.” Miguel shrugged. “I thought to simply teach him a lesson.”
“Never mind.” De Vivar waved aside what had happened to my brother as if it wasn’t important. He turned to me, and my mouth went dry. “This is the one I want. All of you, leave!”
“God be with you, mi señor,” Antonia whispered.
De Vivar waited until we were alone… except for the body of my brother… and then he came toward me.
“You smell abominable.”
“Sorry. I’d be more than happy to go home and take a bath.” I might as well have kept my mouth shut.
“You should have welcomed me when I arrived at your home. You would have been a favored pet, and things would have gone better for you. Now….”
“No.”
“…now you won’t survive this night.” He was reaching for me, and that brought him up short. “What do you mean, no? You might have been able to deny me at your home, but now you cannot. You’re in my home! You must love me.”
“No,” I said again and tried to push myself back, but I couldn’t go anywhere: I was flush against the wall.
De Vivar glared and lunged at me, and I thrust out my hand in an attempt to keep him away from me… to keep those fangs, those glittering white fangs that dripped almost as if venom leaked from the tips, away from me.
I hit his chest, and he grunted and abruptly shied back.
“My talisman!” He stared down at himself and then back at me, and he began swearing in Spanish. I tried to back away again—the look in his eyes was insane—but with the wall at my back, I wasn’t going anywhere. “Do you know what you’ve done? I’ll have to send Miguel to Málaga to retrieve more soil—Why am I even discussing this with you? You will submit to me!”
