“These two are real bitches, Cho.”
“You can take ’em.”
“Maybe.”
“No doubts, princess. They’ll get you killed.”
“Really? I thought it was the swords that did it.”
Fiona felt the wall with her heel as she took a step back. With almost no room to operate in, she needed to push forward, and these two weren’t going to oblige her. Fiona’s muscles corded as her adrenaline kicked up a notch, and her heart pounded even harder than before. She swung hard in the tight space, concentrating on the strongest one, who seemed the biggest threat. The weaker woman held back, probably trying to save her own skin.
“Cho, where’s Nic? I need some help.”
“Fiona needs help, Nic.”
“I can’t get to her right now.”
“Hang in there, Fiona. Nic’s tied up.”
“Just great. Where’s a man when you need him?”
•
Ivan watched as Fiona swung her sword for all she was worth, but the two vampires had her pinned against the wall. He could tell it could go either way.
Deciding he’d do what he could while he still had strength, Ivan wiped his bloody hands on his shirt for a better grip, picked up the crossbow on the floor beside him, cocked the bow, and loaded an arrow. Blood from his hands left dark red smears obscuring the gleaming metal of the crossbow.
Slowing his tortured breathing, he tried to stop his body’s shaking. He’d lost too much blood.
Damn, I’m so cold.
Taking aim with the crossbow at the powerful female going up against Fiona, Ivan held his breath to steady the bow. The bolt flew straight and hit the bitch square in the back, and she disappeared. The crossbow slipped from his hands, and, exhausted, he leaned back against the wall. He was healing, but it was very slow, and he was still losing blood.
•
“Ivan got one of Fiona’s vamps!”
“Great, now he’s saving my woman.”
“That’s what he swore, remember? Same as you’re doing right now.”
Nic held off the three remaining vampires from getting to Amy and Annie.
“Don’t take too long, Nic.”
“I’ll make it short ’n’ sweet.”
Nic blocked and then, with a quick reverse, caught one in the chest. The others paused, and he took advantage of it. He pulled back his elbows, freed his sword, and, with a quick forward thrust, impaled the other. Fear flickered in the last one’s eyes, but he held his ground. With a spin, Nic’s sword knocked the vampire’s sword free and cut off his head. Nic searched the room for possible stragglers.
“Just one left, and Fiona’s handling it.”
“Right.”
•
Freed from dealing with two female vampires, Fiona advanced on the one remaining as her sword cut the air in ever-tighter arcs. The vampire backed up, pressured into defensive mode as Fiona attacked. Stepping to the side to avoid a thrust of the female’s sword, Fiona lunged, sinking her blade into the vampire’s heart. The blade dropped to the ground.
“That’s my girl.”
“Did you doubt me?”
“You? Never, princess.”
•
Annie left her sister and ran to Ivan.
Nic turned to Amy to remove her manacles.
Amy held her shaking hands out for Nic to pry off the chains. “Get them off me,” she sobbed.
“We need the keys!” Nic shouted, as he struggled with the manacles.
Fiona searched the room and found a key ring near the overturned card table. “Try these.” She tossed them to Nic. There were about ten keys on the ring, and he tried several keys until one slipped into the lock, and with a turn, it clicked, freeing Amy.
“Nic. Fiona. I think Ivan’s in trouble.”
•
Annie knelt next to Ivan as he sat against the wall. She held his head between her hands as she stared into his face.
“I don’t think I’m going to make the trip to the beach, baby.” His eyes drank her in. God, she was so beautiful it hurt.
“Ivan, no, you can’t give up. I need you.”
“You’ll be fine.” He reached a bloodstained hand to her, and his fingers brushed her cheek, leaving a smear of his blood. “You don’t need me. You’re stronger than you think.”
“I do need you. You’ll heal,” Annie assured him. “Just hang on.”
“I’ve lost a lot of blood, and I’m bleeding faster than I’m healing. Ironic, huh? A vampire bleeding to death.” Resting against the wall, he stretched his legs out in front of him. His head felt as if it weighed too much for him to hold up. More than anything, he wanted to lie down and close his eyes. Slip away.
Amy approached, her eyes wide with horror at Ivan’s wound. She turned to Nic and Fiona. “You have to help him. He’s dying,” she cried out.
“I don’t know what to do.” Nic shook his head.
“Call an ambulance,” Amy suggested. “He needs to get to a hospital.”
Fiona stood next to her. “That won’t help him.”
“You need to eat, Ivan,” Annie told him.
“No, Annie, baby.” Taking her hands in his, he brought them to his lips. “Just let me go. It’s better this way. You’ll be fine.”
God, I’m so tired.
The only thing holding him back was Annie. In the clarity that comes only in moments like this, he knew he didn’t want to leave her, and that he should tell her before he died how much he loved her.
“You have to stay with me! What would I do without you? I don’t know how to be!” Annie clutched at his blood-covered hand.
“You’ll find someone else to help you.”
“I don’t want anyone else, you old fool. I love you. Now you’re going to shut up and feed and gain some strength so you can heal.” Her face was set. Determination shone in her eyes.
“You’ve got that look, Annie. The one I love.” He sighed.
“Feed. Now.” She positioned herself at his side, pulled off her black turtleneck sweater, and handed it to Fiona. Pulling him to her, Annie exposed her neck to him. Like a mother encouraging an infant, she cradled him in her arms. His lips touched the soft skin of her shoulder.
“What is she doing?” Amy’s bewilderment showed in her eyes.
Fiona pulled Amy to the side. “Ivan and your sister are vampires, Amy.” The girl looked confused as she turned to look at her sister and then back to Fiona.
“Feed, Ivan. Please. I can’t be without you,” Annie whispered into his ear.
“Let me go.”
“Never.”
Ivan’s lips rested on her shoulder. He could smell the scent of her hair, the way her body smelled. Closing his eyes, he knew what he should do. But he was too weak. Instead, his tongue searched for her pulse. Annie’s eyes closed, her head tilted, and she pushed her long hair aside. Waiting.
Ivan extended his canines and, with great tenderness, bit into Annie’s neck.
“Oh my God! Stop him!” Amy threw herself toward the couple, but Fiona caught her by the wrist, pulling her back.
“She’s all right, Amy. She isn’t being hurt,” Fiona reassured her.
Ivan fed. Each beat of Annie’s heart pumped the life-giving blood out of her wounds and down his throat. The more blood he drank, the stronger he felt, and his healing quickened.
Now he slipped his arms around her, and he pulled her body to his, taking everything she gave him, whether he deserved it or not. As he drank, her arms slipped from around his body as she gave herself to him. Ivan’s wounds stopped bleeding. The transfer had taken only a few minutes. Ivan lifted his head from Annie’s throat, and she collapsed into his arms.
“Annie?” He leaned her back against the wall.
Her eyelids fluttered and then opened. “Ivan, you’re alive.”
“Did I take too much?”
“No. I’m just a little tired.”
The marks on her neck were gone. Annie reached for her sweater. F
iona handed it to her, and she pulled it on. Ivan struggled to his feet and helped Annie to stand. Blood covered their clothes, and the cloying metallic scent hung in the air.
Fiona cleared her throat. “Are you both all right?”
Ivan leaned against the wall for support and responded with a curt nod as Annie smiled, clutching his hand. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
Amy stared at her sister. The stare morphed from astonishment to horror to disgust. “You’re one of them.” Her soft voice was filled with recrimination.
“Amy, please. Let me explain. Can’t we talk?” Annie tried to go to her.
Amy stepped back, the disgust in her eyes turning to fear. “Keep away from me.” She held her hands out to ward off her sister.
“No, Amy, don’t say that.” Tears welled in Annie’s blue eyes, so similar to her sister’s.
“Did he make you like this?” Amy pointed to Ivan. “That, that monster!”
Annie held very still. “He didn’t make me like this. He took me in and helped me. I’m in love with him, Amy. He ... we are not monsters! Maybe not human anymore, but we’re not monsters. I know it’s hard to accept because I don’t think I’ve accepted it myself, but…”
“Just shut up!” Amy placed her hands over her ears and turned away from her sister and Ivan. “Why couldn’t you have just stayed dead?”
Amy threw open the door and ran up the steps.
Chapter Ten
During the ride back to the park, the silence was so loud it blocked out the noise of the van. The tension arcing between the sisters was a live thing, growing, ebbing, and then taking on a steady, angry pulse.
Fiona watched Amy, sitting across from her in the back of the van, refuse even to look at her sister, her shoulders hunched up tight around her ears. Good grief, Fiona wanted to shout, cut Annie some slack.
Annie, sitting next to Fiona, kept her eyes down, her body slack and lifeless, as if all the fight had gone out of her. The trembling of her chin and the rapid blinking of her eyes told Fiona she was trying to keep a hold on her fragile emotions.
Amy alternated between glaring at the floor and glaring at the back of Ivan’s head.
“It’s a good thing Amy doesn’t have a weapon, Cho.”
“Yeah, I can feel the hostility from back there.”
“Amy’s had a nasty shock and what she saw in that lair must have been horrific.”
“I hope you never see that, princess.”
“Pretty bad, huh?”
“Well, it isn’t good.”
“How’s it going up in front?”
“Not bad, considering these two are sworn enemies. At least the truce is holding.”
“I think Nic sort of respects and likes Ivan.”
“Yeah, but he’ll never admit it.”
“Got it.”
The van pulled in next to the Jag, and everyone got out. Fiona and Nic went to the car and began cleaning and putting the weapons away, giving Amy and Annie some room. Glancing over at Ivan leaning against the van, Fiona gave him a small shrug as if to say, “What now?”
The sisters stood several yards apart. Amy seemed unwilling to come any closer, whether out of fear or anger, Fiona couldn’t tell.
“Amy, please, just talk to me.” Annie reached out her hands to her sister.
Amy shook her head and stormed off. Spinning on her heels, Annie ran to Ivan, burying her head against his chest. As he held her, his pleading gaze met Fiona’s over Annie’s head. Giving Fiona a small jerk of his head, he indicated she should talk to Amy.
Fiona sighed and approached Amy.
“Amy, listen, about your sister…”
Amy turned on Fiona. “I don’t want to talk about it. I saw what they are! I watched them feed on some poor man, heard his screaming as they tore him apart right in front of me. They were animals! Inhuman monsters!” Amy wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. “Now she’s joined them!”
Fiona had reached the end of her patience. She did something that, before tonight, she would have sworn she’d never do. Then again, she’d done a lot of things tonight she thought she’d never do. Never was a tough word to live up to, she’d discovered.
She reached out, took Amy’s arm, and jerked her around. “How dare you judge your sister? She didn’t join up with them. They attacked her, and made her into some sort of slave.”
“A slave?” Amy’s eyes flicked to her sister.
“That’s right. But you know your sister better than I do, I suppose. So if you say she’s some monster, who am I to argue? But in the short time I’ve known her, describing her as a monster is about as wrong as you can get.”
“She was the best sister ever.” Amy’s eyes welled with tears. “When she was alive.”
Fiona continued, “I believe she’s doing the best she can to come to terms with her new condition. Look, tell me about the Annie you knew.”
“She was smart. She wanted to be a doctor. And she was brave. Annie was always the first to try anything.”
“She’s still smart,” Fiona assured her. “The only reason you’re not dead right now is that your sister, your vampire sister, insisted you be rescued. She came up with the plan to free you. She wouldn’t let it go. Not until we agreed to help get you out of there.”
Amy’s concrete wall of resolution seemed to crack as she looked at Annie.
“And she’s still brave. Even when Ivan insisted she stay behind to be safe, she demanded to come along and to carry that knife so she could fight for you. She stood up to that vampire, risked her life, and killed him to keep you safe.”
Amy bit her lip and lowered her head. Another crack formed.
“Amy, we weren’t going to help. Nic refused. She knew he would. I’m not happy about it, but she kidnapped my best friend to force us to agree to help. I know that sounds bad, but the point is she did whatever it took to ensure you had a chance to live, to not be killed, or worse, to become a vampire.” Fiona reached out and lifted Amy’s chin to meet her eyes.
“You owe her an apology and Ivan your thanks. This wasn’t his fight. He could have refused to help and walked away, but instead, he nearly died rescuing you.” Fiona’s voice had quieted. “No matter what else she is or has become, she’s still your sister, and she still loves you. Get it?”
The wall crumbled and Amy stepped through the opening.
“Yeah, I get it.” She took a deep breath and let it out. Then she turned around and went to Annie. Ivan let go of Annie and gave her a gentle push.
For a moment, the two sisters stared at each other.
“I’m not going to bite, you know.” Annie smiled through her tears.
Amy bit off a laugh. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Well, I couldn’t help it if you were always sticking your finger in my mouth,” Annie shot back.
“That’s because it was always open.” She laughed and held out her arms.
Annie fell into her embrace. “I love you, sis,” she whispered as she clung to her sister.
“I love you too, sis. Thanks for coming for me.” Amy wiped away her tears with her hand. The sisters stepped apart. “What do you want me to tell Mom and Dad? Are you alive? Dead?” She raised her arms in frustration.
“Tell them I love them and I’ll miss them. Say I met a good man who cares about me and wants to take care of me. Tell them I’m going off to start a new life with him, and I’ll keep in touch through your e-mail, all right?”
Amy nodded. “Sure. That should hold them. It would be just like you to run off with some guy. I guess I just always thought when that happened, you’d be on the back of a Harley.” They grinned at each other.
Fiona let out a breath of relief as the two young women came to an understanding.
“A Harley? I didn’t know you had a thing about bikes, baby.” Ivan took a tentative step toward them. Annie held out her hand; he took it as she pulled him to her side.
“That was ages ago. Now I’m into plain, white vans
.” Annie gave him a playful elbow in the ribs. He slipped his arm around her waist.
Fiona asked, “Ivan, what happens now?”
“I’d really like to get cleaned up.” Ivan looked down at his clothes. He stuck a finger through the rip in his shirt and wiggled it. “The cleaners are going to hate me when I drop these off.”
“Throwing them away would work better.” Annie shook her head as she looked at her own clothing.
“But these are my favorite jeans.” Ivan made a face and everyone chuckled, and then he grew serious. “Look, Annie and I need to disappear. If I hang around when the Board discovers Marcos and his gang are dead, even the dumbest Board member will figure out I was involved. I may have survived that first cleansing, but surviving two is a dead giveaway.” His wolf grin flashed.
“Get it, Fiona. Dead giveaway?”
“I get it, Cho.”
“Will they come after you?” Amy asked, now concerned about her sister and Ivan.
“Probably not.” He shrugged. “It depends on how many people Marcos pissed off, who his friends were, and what happens when the Board gets over its shake-up. What I do know is that it’s no longer safe for us here. The town has gone to hell, and they’re letting just about anyone move in.” Ivan started to turn away and then swung back and stuck out his hand. “Thanks, Nic. It was a good fight. You really kicked ass.”
Fiona held her breath. Nic hesitated as Ivan’s extended hand held steady. Nic reached out and took it in a firm grip. “You too.”
“I’ll return Beth to her house within the hour.”
“If she’s hurt, I’m coming for you,” Nic replied. “Tell her to call Fiona as soon as she’s free.” He released Ivan’s hand. “And, Ivan, this doesn’t mean we’re friends. If I find you hunting in my town, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Right. Don’t worry, sheriff, just give us a day’s head start, and we’ll be out of town before the next sunup.” Ivan gave a sharp nod that Nic returned, and then turned on his heels and walked to the van.
“Take Amy home for me, Fiona?” Annie asked. “And thanks for believing in me enough to give me the knife.” Her gaze darted to her sister. “And for everything else too.”
Heart of a Warrior Page 16
