“Where is Mason?” I said softly.
He closed his eyes and gasped at the same time I looked down the hall, and my question was answered. A very tall, very thin, dark figure was making his way up the hall toward me. He seemed to glide by magic over the floor, but I knew there were feet underneath his long robe. Mason was over six feet tall, and wearing platform boots. When he came to a stop only a few feet away, he towered over me. The black robe he wore was covered in feathers around the collar and lapel. It looked almost like he was wearing a feather boa over a cloak. The robe fell open to reveal his lean toned body, and the tight vinyl pants he was wearing. The pants hung low enough to show the curve of his muscular hip bones, and I tried hard not to stare. His long dark hair blended with the feathers on the robe and made his porcelain skin seem much paler than it was. His eyes were brown, though they appeared black when surrounded by his usual dark eye makeup. Mason was not unattractive by any means, but he was a freak in every sense of the word. He scared the shit out of me.
“Well, well, if it isn’t little red,” he purred as a slow smile curled his lips. Mason’s voice was sexier than I remembered from our one previous meeting. He had a deep voice that always seemed to emerge as a soft, almost hoarse whisper from his cherry red lips.
“I’m not your little red,” I answered, forgetting my powers for a moment.
“Much to my disappointment,” he said as he ran a hand through his long glossy locks. “So, my pet, what can I do for you?”
“I’ve come for Bade. Someone told me he was here.”
“Did they? And why should I let you have him? Bade is one of my best customers.”
I moved forward and fought the urged to scream as I opened his robe. Mason made no move to stop me. I closed my eyes and fought to control my fear as I switched on my power once again. The seductive fire that had now become familiar to me flowed through my veins as I stared up into the eyes of the scariest man I’d ever met, human or otherwise.
“I’ve got something for you,” I said silkily. When he only closed his eyes in response I continued, “A gift from the original.”
“You lie,” he hissed.
Rather than answer with words, I pressed the hand Dracula had touched against the smooth skin of Mason’s stomach. I watched as a look of complete rapture passed over his features, and felt the firm muscles beneath my hand contract.
“Now, where’s Bade?”
“Oh, you’re good,” he purred smoothly. “But I don’t give in so easily.”
“What do you want Mason? Time is short tonight.”
“Are you asking me to name my price?” He smiled wickedly.
“Within reason.”
“Reason is a relative term.” He seemed to consider the situation for a moment. “Let’s just say, you’ll owe me one.” I didn’t like the idea of owing Mason anything, and it must have shown in my expression. “Don’t worry your pretty red head,” he said seductively. “I won’t make it anything unpleasant.” Mason walked around me and placed his hands on my shoulders as he whispered in my ear, “I see the way you look at me.” I glared at him over my shoulder and he laughed. “Don’t let it embarrass you. After all, beauty has always been drawn to the beast.”
“This way,” he announced suddenly and started back down the hall. I followed in his wake and he seemed to slow his long legged stride so I could catch up. I followed Mason through a large room with a high cathedral ceiling that sported a bizarre stained glass dome. The artwork covering the glass made it look like the night sky, with thousands of glittering stars reflecting their light through the large dome and onto the floor. It beat the hell out of a disco ball. There was a large variety of patrons seated about the room, all of them watching the woman on stage. I paused to watch for a moment as the tall blond worked her way expertly up and down the pole while two brunettes danced in cages on either end of the platform. They were all dressed in fishnets and vinyl, and if I had to guess, I’d say they were vampires too.
“This way,” Mason’s sultry voice whispered close to my ear.
I tore my eyes from the scene, and followed him down a hallway lit with torches. We stopped at a door at the end of the long passage. We were far enough away from everyone else that the loud music was only a faint noise in the background.
“I should warn you,” Mason said with a smile, “he may not want to leave.”
He swung the door open and for a minute I didn’t know if I was shocked or aroused. Bade was restrained by silver chains on each wrist. These chains attached to the ceiling, leaving anyone shorter to hang in midair, though Bade’s feet touched the floor. He was completely naked, and I must say it was an impressive sight. I had seen Bade naked in his wolfman form before, but never as a human. His back was turned to us, and a leather clad woman stood on either side with a whip. From the mild pink marks on his skin, I could tell they had taken it easy with him.
Mason snapped his fingers, and the women started to leave the room. I stopped one, and held out my hand. Without asking why, she turned over her whip to me, and I stepped into the room. My boots were relatively silent on the cold stone floor, unlike the spiked heels the other women were wearing. I wondered if Bade even knew I was there.
“Sending in reinforcements?” he asked playfully.
I looked back to Mason and held out my hand for him to keep his distance. Bade’s body was a beautiful thing to behold. He had shoulder length hair of the palest gold, and a creamy white complexion. I fought the urge to stroke the lovely muscular dimples along the sides of his ass. Bade was not the sort of man I would ever want to be involved with, but for a moment I wished I could just have my way with him. Since I knew Marco would never forgive me even if I forgave myself, I decided to taunt him a little instead. I cracked the whip viciously across Bade’s back and managed to break the skin, though only slightly. Bade gasped, but didn’t cry out with pain.
“Well,” he said breathlessly, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
As I approached the naked man in chains, I felt my eyes bleed to amber. In the blink of an eye, I had the whip across his neck and pulled him back toward me. I ran my tongue over the mark I’d left on his back and a low growl escaped my lips. Apparently, my night with Dracula had awakened something within me.
“Lilith,” he said, but it wasn’t a question. “I never thought I’d find you here.”
I released Bade from the near strangling hold and walked around to face him. I wasn’t sure what possessed me, but I couldn’t resist the urge to touch him. I ran my hands over Bade’s beautiful tall body and let the whip fall to the floor. The warm flesh beneath my hands was every bit as firm and smooth as I had imagined it would be.
“Nice,” I sighed, as I looked down his body.
“Glad you approve,” he said, smiling down at me. “But what brings you here, love?” he purred with his thick Australian accent.
His ethereal golden hair shined underneath the light, and his pale blue eyes seemed to twinkle with desire. As I looked up into his handsome face, Bade gave every appearance of an angel, but I knew better.
I put as much sex into my voice as possible and said, “I came for you, Bade. I need your help.”
“We’re even, remember? I don’t owe Marco anything.”
I could tell Bade was fighting his reaction to me, but his body didn’t lie.
“This isn’t for Marco,” I said as I leaned in closer to his silver nipple ring. “It’s for me. Please, Bade,” I said softly, brushing my face against his chest like a cat. “I need your help.”
“Why me? What has happened?”
I explained the circumstances to Bade as briefly as possible, after which I added, “If you don’t cooperate, I could always bite your nipple off again.” I punctuated my threat by flicking my tongue across the silver stud and he shuddered appreciatively. I took it as a yes. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
Mason stepped forward to release Bade, and I handed him the whip. His eyes had turned a pale frightenin
g blue that seemed to glow in the dim light.
“What do I owe you?” I asked softly.
“We’re even,” Mason said as he caressed the side of my face. “Though I do hope this will not be your last visit to my dungeon.”
“Just pray you never visit mine,” I threatened seductively.
Mason’s frighteningly sexy laughter followed me into the hall where I waited for Bade to get dressed. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could look at Bade without giving in to my baser desires. It was definitely time he put some clothes on.
Bade emerged a few minutes later. He was wearing faded jeans with strategically placed slashes. They were probably designed that way. The dark blue shirt he wore clung to his every curve and seemed to make his pale eyes more startling in contrast. We saw ourselves out without another word to Mason or each other. The second the door closed behind us he took my wrist to slow me down.
“That was impressive, love.”
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Not just my reaction, but the way you handled Mason. He doesn’t let anyone off that easy, not if they owe him something.” I stopped to look at Bade and he winked. “He must like you.”
“No offense, Bade, but I’m trying really hard not to think about what Mason likes.”
His laugh was a throaty masculine sound filled with sinful knowledge. “Don’t worry about it, love. It’s the night before the full moon. Anything that flipped your switch before will really set you off tonight.” I rolled my eyes at him and he teased, “Like Mason.”
“Mason does not flip my switch,” I said defensively.
“You’re a bad liar,” he said with a grin. “Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Bade continued as he patted me on the shoulder. “I can understand the attraction.”
“Then explain it to me, oh wise one.”
“It’s simple, really. He’s tall, dark, and dangerous. He’s everything you’ve ever been told was bad for you. You’re scared to death of him, and you can’t stand it. You don’t like being afraid of anything. Therefore, the only way to conquer your fear and consequent strange attraction is to fuck the shit out of him.”
“Forget I asked,” I said as I opened the back door and motioned for Bade to get in.
The problem was Bade had cut pretty close with his reasoning. I stayed quiet and let Richard explain more of what was going on to Bade while I drove.
Halfway down the driveway Alek asked, “So, how did you get in and out so quickly? Richard has been telling me about the place, and I was afraid we might have to force our way in after you.”
“Don’t ask,” I mumbled.
“Oh, you should have seen her,” Bade taunted from the back seat. “By the way, my name is Bade,” he said, extending a hand to Alek. They exchanged greetings before Bade continued. “But, in all honesty, it wasn’t fair to send little red here in against Mason.”
“Why not?” Richard asked.
“Because he can’t refuse her.”
“That’s enough, Bade,” I growled.
“You didn’t have sex with him?” Richard looked appalled.
“No, Richard, I didn’t have sex with him,” I snapped.
I glared at Bade in the rearview mirror and he agreed with a smile, “She’s telling the truth. She didn’t do Mason.” His grin was nothing short of evil as he said, “Left a hell of a mark on my back though.”
“I hate you,” I said with a laugh as Alek and Richard both shot questioning looks between myself and the werewolf.
“You had sex in front of Mason?” Richard asked.
“NO,” I growled. “Now drop it, Richard, and I mean fucking drop it or I’ll run this car in the ditch.”
Bade laughed, Alek buckled his seat belt, and Richard shut up. We had just reached the end of the long driveway that led to The Dungeon when a dark shape fluttered to the road in front of us. With a startled gasp I recognized Dracula. He was wearing another pair of even tighter black pants that clung to his long muscular legs. The tight fitting coat he wore buttoned up the front then parted above the belt line to hang to his knees in back. It was embroidered with intricate stitches along the seams. Around his throat he had tied a long black scarf which seemed to blend with the cape that trailed in the cold wind, caressing him like the darkness that surrounded the car. His knee-high boots glinted in the headlights as he approached my window, and I saw a whip attached to the belt that rode low on his slender hips.
“You did not wait for me,” he scolded softly as I let the window down.
“I’m sorry.” As I apologized, Richard opened the door so that he could get in the back seat. When he got in, I introduced him to Bade before pulling onto the main road.
It seemed like a matter of minutes before we were pulling onto a deserted narrow trail that led deep into some woods.
“Stop the car,” Richard said. “From the way they were describing the place, there should be a clearing ahead. That’s probably where they are.”
“That sounds reasonable.” I pulled to the side, almost between some bushes. We all exited the car as quietly as possible.
“I’ll scout ahead,” Bade said, as he sniffed the air. “There’s definitely more than werewolves out tonight.”
He took off inhumanly fast, but didn’t make a sound as he moved through the woods ahead of us.
“I’ll follow him,” Richard said. He moved in Bade’s footsteps, though at a slower, human pace.
“Well,” said Alek. “I suppose if we’re going to surround them, I’ll go in this direction, around the side.” He set off to our left, moving quietly through the dense brush.
“I guess that leaves us to bring up the middle somewhere,” Dracula said softly over my left shoulder.
I turned to look at him again before we followed the others. “Thank you for coming tonight,” I said softly. “You look good,” I couldn’t resist adding. He did. The sight of him in all that tight fitting black made muscles twitch that should keep to themselves.
“So do you,” he said as he caressed my vinyl covered hips, “and you are most welcome.”
The gleam in his eyes was almost sexual, but not quite.
“You’ve missed the hunt, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “Shall we?”
The vampire and I made our way quietly through the trees until we came to a clearing just as Richard had described. Directly in the middle of this opening were large piles of sticks and straw. It looked like they were getting ready to light a couple of bon fires. That’s what I thought until I noticed the two large posts set in the middle. Luther and David were restrained by silver chains a short distance away, both fighting to get free. They were going to burn them alive.
I nearly leapt from the bushes where we were crouched, but Dracula caught me by the wrist and shook his head. He pointed along the right side of the woods, and for a second I saw Bade’s blond hair glint in the moonlight. Then he pointed left and I saw the bushes twitch slightly, giving away Alek’s position also. They were waiting on us for a sign.
In the middle of this bizarre gathering I saw what had to be Dr. Williams. He was a massive, muscular monstrosity. The dark skin of his snakelike body reminded me of an anaconda. His head was slender and long atop his broad shoulders, just as Dr. Belcher’s had been, but Bill was ten times more frightening. I took a good look around. Amongst the various scattered freaks, I recognized another face, but this one was still human. Dr. Russell Sanders was helping to pile the brush even higher for their fires. I’d never liked him, but I hadn’t thought he’d be in on this. There were probably a dozen people present, including Dr. Williams. Some were werewolves already changed to their half-wolf form. Others were snakes of various colors, sizes, and skin textures, and one was a lizard nearly as large as Bill.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I waited until I saw them start to move David and Luther, and couldn’t hold back any more. I leapt from the bushes with a furious battle cry, followed immediately by Dracula. As I ran I
extended both of the blades that were fastened to my forearms, and slashed my way through the tall lizard. He screamed with pain, as I jumped onto his back and began stabbing him repeatedly in the ribs. Hot blood spilled onto my catsuit, and seemed to burn my thighs, though I knew it couldn’t penetrate my clothing.
I heard the crack of a whip and saw Dr. Sanders go flying past me with a vicious slash across his face. Rain began to pour softly, and as I brought the lizard down, I looked up in time to see Dr. Sanders change. Hair began to grow over his hands. He ripped open the front of his shirt and roared as the bones of his face and hands lengthened, punctuated by painful cracking noises. I chopped the head off the lizard and stepped out of the way.
Dracula’s eyes were once again a solid emerald green that glowed in the night. His long billowing cape began to blend with the rain and darkness as he cracked his whip in challenge and hissed, “Come on, I have not fed tonight.”
The now fully transformed werewolf leapt at him. The whip cracked once again, and in midair wrapped around the animal’s neck. The vampire gave a violent jerk, and the werewolf dropped to his knees, clawing at the whip. Bits of silver glinted on the cat o’ nine tails as Dracula pulled the whip tighter. He grabbed the werewolf savagely, and snatched his head to the side. As he did so, the vampire threw back his head, and fangs longer than I recalled being used on me extended from his lovely mouth. Without warning or mercy he tore into Dr. Sanders’s throat. Crunching gurgling sounds could be heard as the werewolf fought to keep his throat from being torn out.
Dracula pulled back his head with a roar as he flung the dying werewolf to the ground. He turned his face upward to the storm, and let the rain wash away some of the blood. He looked to me then, and his eyes appeared normal once more as he wiped the blood from his mouth. I watched him for a moment, standing in the rain, my blood stained fallen angel. I should have been horrified, but I wasn’t. It was a terrible sight, but I couldn’t bring myself to be afraid of Dracula. I knew the pleasure his powerful body could bring, and therefore couldn’t bring myself to fear the pain.
Lilith Mercury, Werewolf Hunter Series (Boxed Set, Books 1-3) Page 73
