His face lit up. “Oh, Professor Natalie Segova.” He took the glove off his right hand, extending it toward her. “Hey, I’m a big fan. I read your article on the mystical relevance of Egyptian burial practices, great stuff.”
Her brow dipped as she shook his hand in an automatic response. “Uh, thanks. I think.”
This was so weird. He cocked his head as he clasped her hand. “Wow. You’re...interesting.”
She tugged her hand free. Was he trying to read her? She knew some witches could. She eyed him suspiciously. “You don’t look like any of the witches I’ve met.”
He grinned as he slid his glove back on. “Oh, I can assure you, there are no other witches like me.” Then he frowned. “Why are you here? I mean, I guess it’s got something to do with Vivianne Marchetta, but why are you here, hiding?” The alarm continued to peal. Irritatingly so.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why would you think I’m here for Vivianne Marchetta?” she asked. How closely associated was he to Vincent Marchetta and Dr. Morton? Lucien?
“Well, I told Lucien about your field of study. I thought there was a chance you may have come across something in your research that could help Vivianne.”
Her lips pursed. “So, you’re the reason I’m here.”
He stared at her for a moment and she found looking at his sunglasses a frustrating block to trying to gauge his expression. All she could see was herself reflected in the lenses. And why was he wearing sunglasses in a dark room, anyway?
He folded his arms, his leather jacket creaking with the movement. “Why do I get the impression there’s some tension here?” he said, lifting his chin to the door and the alarm and confused staff in the hall.
“Maybe the alarm gave it away—”
A knock sounded at the door behind her and she started.
In a flash, Dave had stepped up to her, covering her mouth with his finger on her lips. He shifted her to the side, gave her a cautioning waggle of his finger, then opened the door, pulling it wide so that she was effectively hidden from whomever might walk inside the room.
“I thought I told you all I wasn’t to be bothered?” Dave said harshly, his features stern. Natalie would have trembled, if there was enough room between the wall and the door to do so.
“We apologize for the intrusion,” a woman’s voice answered. “We’ve got a patient on the loose. A little addled, I’m afraid. Quiet dangerous. We’re doing a room check.” Natalie heard a footfall and through the crack between the door and wall, she saw a tall blonde woman, dressed in a black uniform, step inside the room.
“Are you kidding? I’m trying to rest, to save my energy to help your vampire prime’s sister, and you’re wanting to search my room because you’ve lost a patient?” Dave barked.
The female guard hesitated. “I apologize, Mr. Carter—”
“Apologize to your prime when I’m too drained to perform any more spells,” he said through gritted teeth. He stepped to the side, effectively concealing Natalie behind his large form. “Look. There is nobody here except me and you.”
The guard held up her hand as she backed out of the room. “I apologize, Mr.—”
“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Dave snapped and slammed the door in the woman’s face. They listened at the door, and Natalie sagged in relief when she heard the woman’s boots retreating down the hall.
“Now,” Dave murmured, folding his arms and leaning against the door, blocking off any attempt for Natalie to leave. “Can you please explain to me how the professor of occult studies who I recommended has wound up as a ‘patient’ in Vincent Marchetta’s research lab?”
Natalie gave him the condensed version.
Dave swore softly then dipped his chin. “So, what do you want?”
“I want out,” she said softly. “Will you help?”
“You don’t need my help.”
She gestured to the door and the guard beyond. “It appears I do,” she whispered back.
His head tilted from side to side, as though he was weighing his options. “You’ll owe me one,” he said in warning.
She’d be happy to pay whatever price he demanded if he got her out of this nightmare. She nodded.
He nodded once. “Fine. It so happens I’m free at the moment, anyway.”
“Where is she?” a familiar roar echoed down the hall and Natalie’s breath caught. Lucien. And he sounded pissed.
She flattened herself against the wall, her eyes wide. Lucien had sacrificed her for his sister, now he was helping the guards find her. To put her back on blood donation duty?
Dave gave her an exasperated look. “Not all Marchettas are the same, Natalie. Vivianne didn’t ask for this, and while she may be a bitch on wheels when she’s not in a coma, she wouldn’t have condoned any of what has happened to you. Lucien can be a tool, I know, but he does seem to have a streak of fairness running through him.” The witch dipped his head. “Okay, you may have to look really deep to find it, but he values a promise. Remember that.”
“Why are you defending them?” she angrily whispered at him.
Dave pulled a face. “I wouldn’t normally, but I have to be fair and give credit where it’s due,” he whispered back. He shook his shoulders, as though trying to shake off something creepy. “Ugh, can’t believe I said that about vamps. I need a shower.”
“Where is she?” Lucien bellowed down the hall again.
She flinched when she heard a body hit a wall.
“We’re looking for her now, sir.” Footsteps could be heard running down the hall. “She escaped—”
“She shouldn’t have been here in the first place,” Lucien snapped. “You had no right to hold her.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. Dave looked at her for a moment and then they both pressed their ears to the door, listening intently.
“But your father—” The words were cut off on a gurgling gasp.
“My father does not give the orders here. I am your vampire prime. I release Natalie Segova, do you hear me? She is free to leave, and you and the rest of the guardians will not harm her. Do you understand?”
Even though the words were uttered with such menace, with such suppressed violence, they stirred a soft warmth that bloomed inside her like a rose in the sun.
“Yes, sir,” the female guard choked out.
Natalie clutched her chest, a smile tugging at her lips. Dave leaned closer. “Told you,” he whispered.
Natalie opened the door and peered out into the hall.
Lucien’s head whipped around, his eyes red and incisors extended, but his aggression retracted the moment he saw her.
“Natalie,” he breathed, dropping the guard to the floor without a glance.
* * *
Lucien ran toward her, wrapping her in his arms. “God, I was so worried about you.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” His heart pounded in his chest and he closed his eyes, chin resting on her head, as he held her. He just wanted to hold her.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He pulled back to gaze down at her, cupping her face. “I had no idea what my father intended,” he told her. “There is no way I would have let you go if I had known.”
She stared up at him and he could see the dark, haunted shadows in her eyes. “I thought... I thought you’d left me, again,” she admitted in a hoarse whisper. He closed his eyes against the guilt her words sparked. He couldn’t blame her. He caressed her cheek as he stared down at her again. “I’ll never leave you again, Natalie. You’re stuck with me now.”
He lowered his head, infusing his kiss with all the solemnity, all the promise and resolve he possessed. She opened her mouth to him, and he sighed as he deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with hers as his passion for this woman in his arms awoke.
“Ge
t a room,” a deep voice interrupted them.
Lucien frowned as he lifted his head. Dave Carter. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on vacation. What do you think?” the witch responded, rolling his eyes as he turned to stroll down the hall.
A chill of worry crept over Lucien’s shoulders. The last he’d heard, Dave had been trying to boost the suspension spell his sister was under. “Vivianne?”
“Hanging in there. She’s stubborn.” Dave cast a casual glance over his shoulder. “That trait runs in your family.”
Lucien looked down at the woman in his arms. She had the power to save his sister. Saving Vivianne’s life had been his life’s mission for the past eight and a half months. It had been what he’d lived and breathed, what had kicked him out of bed in the evening. He’d blackmailed Natalie. He’d put her in some risky situations. She’d saved his life in such a brave action that he was still humbled by it. And as a result his family had abused her. Hurt her. Held her against her will.
He couldn’t ask any more of her.
“Come on,” he said quietly, clasping her hand. “Let’s get you out of here.”
The decision pained him, but the relief in her eyes did a little to assuage the guilt he now wore like a mantle.
They walked to the end of the hall. One wall was glass, revealing an empty lab with various supplies and equipment. He frowned. Maybe it was time he paid a little more attention to what was going on down here under the main house. They turned the corner. Lucien walked toward the double swing doors that were the main entrance to his father’s underground facility, but halted when the doors burst open. Enzo ran through, pausing when his eyes met Lucien’s. Vincent wasn’t far behind.
Lucien shook his head. “Don’t.”
“Ah, Lucien...?” Dave called.
Lucien looked over his shoulder. More guardians were jogging down the hall. Some wore the uniform of his father’s guards. Some wore casual clothes—his own Nightwing guardians. And some guy in a white lab coat.
“You can’t take her, Lucien,” his father called to him. Enzo stepped closer.
“You can’t stop me, Dad.” He was furious. Vincent was creating an internal war between his guards and the Lucien’s Nightwing guardians. “What do you think you’re doing? You were once Nightwing and now you’re fighting against your family?”
“I’m doing this to protect our family,” Vincent growled, his eyes flashing red in rage.
“Her blood works,” Dr. Morton called out, and Vincent nodded.
Lucien heard Natalie shake out the chain she normally wore around her neck, and it made a soft ringing sound as the links snapped together. He’d seen her use it before, back at that facility in the mountain.
Dave held up his hands. “I think we can all take it down a notch and—”
Enzo growled, eyes flashing as he leaped at Lucien. That action was like a signal to the rest of the vampires and all of them sprang at the trio in the middle.
Natalie lashed out with her silver chain and the vampires screamed as it sliced through their skin and bone with laser-like precision.
Lucien caught Enzo, fists clenched, and they went down fighting. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dave land a few punches that made jaws break and heads spin.
Natalie ducked and darted like some little crackerjack ninja, her chain lashing out like a whip. He saw her grab both ends and charge at a vampire, changing direction at the last moment by bracing her leg against the wall and leaping over him. She twined the chain around his neck and gave it a vicious tug. The vampire’s eyes widened as the chain sliced cleanly through flesh and bone, separating his head from his shoulders.
Where the hell had she learned that?
He grunted as a stray kick caught him in the solar plexus and then he felt Enzo’s muscular arms slip around his shoulders and grab his chin. No. He tried to remove the hand from his chin. All it would take would be one swift jerk to break his neck and this fight would be over by the time he revived.
Natalie saw the move, recognized it for the impending kill it was, and she screamed in rage. Lucien gaped as his lover’s eyes flashed bright silver. She launched herself at Enzo, tackling him.
Enzo thrust Lucien away, where he fell into the waiting arms of two guards.
“No!” Lucien roared as Enzo caught both of Natalie’s hands, preventing her from using the chain on him. They crashed to the floor in a twist of limbs. Lucien struggled against his father’s guards as Natalie cried out in pain. Enzo trapped her legs beneath his own and smashed her wrists on the floor until she dropped the chain.
Lucien lashed out with his feet, connecting with one of the guards behind the knee. The guard went crashing down, dragging Lucien and the other guard on top of him. He roared, eyes flashing red as Natalie screamed again, but this time her scream was different. There was so much rage contained in it and she used the only weapon left to her disposal. She reared up and bit Enzo savagely in the neck.
Chapter 22
Natalie felt her teeth puncture skin, tasted the warm flood of blood on her tongue, and it was as though a haze of red descended upon her. She heard Enzo bellow in pain, but it was as though the sound came from a distance. Power coursed through her, awakening and sharpening her senses. She could feel the hairs on her arms lift, her muscles contract. Then she felt a bone pop.
She screamed, stunned and a little afraid of what was happening to her, but the sound that erupted from her through was a guttural growl. She felt as though hot rods were emerging from her upper jaw. She clenched her teeth against the burn as her body twisted and jerked, and Enzo’s neck snapped.
She tilted her head back and roared as a slow burn radiated down her arms and out of her fingertips. She lifted her hands up, staring in stunned amazement as sharp claws protruded from the ends of her fingers. Energy unlike anything she’d ever experienced flooded through her and she rolled to her feet with graceful agility.
A vampire sprang at her and she lashed out, her claws ripping through his abdomen. He fell to his knees and she struck his face, turning to face the next vampire before the first one’s head hit the ground. More vampires leaped toward her and it was as though everything slowed down, as though time paused to watch what she’d do next.
Her movements quick and efficient, she neatly dispatched three before the rest could back off. She bared her new fangs, a low growl emerging from her throat. Those in uniform turned and ran.
Dr. Morton caught her eye as he shakily loaded a tranquilizer gun. She shook her head. Nuh-uh. No more tranqs.
She sprang at him, knocking him to the ground. His eyes glowed red at her attack and his incisors lengthened as he raised the gun and leveled it at her.
She flexed her claws and sank them slowly into his chest. His eyes widened and he howled at the pain as her claws kept going, until she could feel his heart beating in her hand.
“What was it you said...‘we all remember our first?’” Her voice came out as a rough, husky rumble. She smiled at him grimly. “Forgive me. I’m a little rough, but in time I’m sure I’ll acquire a little finesse.” He stared at her in horrified realization. She pierced his heart with her claws, preventing it from beating any more.
Natalie rose and turned to face the stunned collection of vampires in the hall. She saw Vincent Marchetta’s shocked face, and her eyes narrowed. She stalked toward him, casually flinging a guard out of her way as though shooing a fly. Vincent backed up, but she grasped his neck and thrust him against the wall, lifting him with one hand until his feet were dangling three feet off the ground. He was making a gurgling sound.
“Call off your guards,” she hissed.
Eyes wide, he nodded, glancing at the uniformed guards. She could sense them backing away warily, and looked over her shoulder to make sure they’d let Lucien go. They had. She turned back t
o the man who’d planned to place her into a blood slavery for the rest of her life.
“Your son loves you, so I won’t kill you. But for the last time,” she said in a low voice, “I do not give you permission.” She flung him to the floor. “Don’t make me regret letting you live.”
She took a deep breath, consciously willing her heart to slow down, and it was as though there was a relaxation of tension throughout her body. Bones creaked, shrinking back into place, and she could feel her fangs and claws retract. Wow, that was an interesting sensation.
A movement in the hall caught her attention. Morton drifted up from his body, his face taut with anger.
“You fool,” he snarled. “We could have done so much.”
Black shadows flickered around him and Natalie squinted, trying to make out was happening behind the doctor’s ghost.
Her eyebrows rose as Grace Perkins flickered briefly before fully manifesting behind Morton. Her shirt was clean, her badge shiny. Beside her stood the teen ghost who’d attacked Natalie in the mountain facility. But he looked different. Before he’d looked gaunt, starved. Now he looked fit and strong, and—Natalie gasped—whole. More shadows flickered to life, more figures from the facility now whole again.
She met Morton’s gaze. “I think some folks want to say hello,” she said, lifting her chin to indicate behind him.
Morton frowned and turned, then screamed as all those he’d tortured and murdered charged at him. He twisted, trying to fight them off, but grew weaker, more ethereal, until he disappeared in a puff of inky vapor.
One by one, the ghosts left behind brightened. Natalie had to put her hand up to shield her eyes as each of the spirits flared into a ball of blinding light, drifting peacefully up to the ceiling and beyond. Grace was the last to go. She smiled, mouthing the words “thank you” as she waved goodbye, her presence shifting into golden light before disappearing.
Natalie turned back to the vampires, startled as they all stood, stunned. Lucien stepped forward, his expression awed.
“Did you see that?” she breathed.
Vampire Undone Page 23
