by Debra Dunbar
“I’ll do it. Assuming I don’t need to wear a dress, and can have my sword with me. Honestly I need the money for a security deposit on a new place. I’m being evicted in two weeks.”
He felt a surge of fury, an urge to go kill this landlord. And behind that the overwhelming need to provide for her, to make sure she was safe, to get her out of that rat hole of an apartment and somewhere nice. Somewhere like his house. Jumping in to help would only drive her away, but he had to do something to make sure she wasn’t living in her car, or on a park bench, in two weeks.
Dario took a deep breath, pushing all the emotion back. “Do you have some other place lined up?”
She shook her head. “I just got the notice on my door this evening, so no. I’ve got a few leads from Craigslist for people looking for a roommate. Worse comes to worst, I’ll see if I can hole up at Brandi or Megan’s until I find something.”
Again he felt a battle rage inside him, wanting to take care of this problem with one quick phone call versus the realization that he needed to respect her autonomy and agency. It was the money. And if she wouldn’t take money from her parents—money they freely put into an account for her each month—then she’d hardly take money from him. There was something else he could offer, though. Something she’d just as likely refuse, but that he needed to put out there.
“You could stay at my place over on Federal Hill. There’s plenty of room. Temporarily, of course. Until you find something.”
Not temporarily. It wouldn’t matter during daylight hours, but waking and feeling her presence nearby, having her smell in every room of the house, would be the closest thing to heaven he could imagine. He wouldn’t have that sharp dread upon waking that something might have happened to her as he slept. He could bed down for the day with her right there instead of across town. Yes, it would be agony waking up with the hunger raging inside him and knowing he couldn’t taste her, that he’d have to make do with whatever donor he’d arranged to have brought in.
The thought of her in his house made him want her—want to bite her—even more. Her blood filling his mouth as he filled her…it would be incredible. Maybe the gift of both her blood and her body would finally quench this incessant hunger.
Or as always, maybe it would just make him want more and more, until the hunger owned him and he forgot about her in his insane need to fill the hollow spot inside him.
Aria turned her head to look out the window. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Which meant “no.” If he couldn’t take care of her the way he wanted, then he’d have to be sneaky about it. “We contract with a company who deals with our properties. Call them and one of their agents will scout out rental listings in your price range to show you.”
He reached into a slot in the middle console of the SUV and sorted through a few business cards, handing her one. She hesitated, then took it, a frown creasing her brow.
“Your properties? I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to live in a vampire-owned house. It would be a huge conflict. What if I needed to do something against Leonora’s interests? I don’t want her holding this over my head—”
“Leonora only has commercial properties,” he cut her off. “Office buildings, retail establishments, a few warehouses. The Balaj owns a high-rise, but it’s more of an arm’s length sort of thing. There’s an investment trust, and a property management company who deals with day-to-day stuff. Even if you move there she’s unlikely to realize you’re a tenant. I don’t think she even knows exactly what holdings are ours.”
Aria turned the card, running her fingers over the embossed letters “What’s the REIT name? If I knew, I could ask the realtor to exclude any of their properties from my search. I doubt the high rises would be in my price range, but just in case it would be wise to check.”
“Silver Dagger Investments.”
He held his breath, trying to seem casual, to convince her that wouldn’t be a big deal. It was the truth. Leonora personally owned no residential buildings, and the Balaj only owned that one high-rise.
Finally, she slid the card into a pocket. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
He nodded, his mind whirring as he thought through all the possibilities. If she couldn’t, wouldn’t, move in with him, then he’d do whatever it took to help her. On the surface he was just offering her the help of an agent, one who he’d make sure found her a safe place to live, but he knew if he had to, he’d subsidize some of the rent on the sly.
The alley where he was supposed to meet Madeline and the others was up to the left. Dario pulled the SUV over into a nearby parking space under the glow of a dirty street light.
“Ready?”
She grabbed her sword. “Ready.”
Chapter 8
Dario put the SUV into park and turned to face me. “I don’t know how far gone Marcus is going to be. He’s killed two humans, but regained enough control to call for help, so I’m hoping he’s going to be able to hold himself together. I’m just warning you to keep your distance. He’s still on the edge, and you’re human. He may go for you.”
I appreciated the heads-up. I’d never seen a vampire in bloodlust before beyond that time with Dario in Middleburg, but given their speed and strength I’d need to be prepared. “I’ll stay back. And I can defend myself.”
He scowled. “I know. That’s the problem. I don’t want you to defend yourself. You’re just starting to gain the trust of Leonora and the other vampires in the Balaj. You go killing one of ours, even in self-defense, and it will erase all the goodwill you’ve build up so far. Stay back, and trust me. He’s my family and I’ll make sure he doesn’t get out of line.”
Fair enough. I followed Dario out of the car and down the dark alley toward four figures standing at the end next to a stack of pallets. As we got nearer, one of them approached.
“Boss. I spoke to the Mistress and she said with everything going on right now Marcus either needs to be cast out or put down.”
“You can’t cast him out if he’s losing control,” I protested. “How many will he end up killing outside of the city until someone finally catches him? Can’t you lock him in a cell like you did the others?”
The woman turned to me, a frown creasing her forehead. She was pretty in a classical sort of way that bordered on plain, with a pale oval of a face, a straight, somewhat sharp nose, and lips that might have been full had they not been clamped into a tight line at the moment.
“Since when does a human weigh in on Balaj matters?”
“When that human is a Templar concerned about human lives in and out of the city,” Dario drawled. He gestured toward me. “Aria, Madeline. Madeline, Aria.”
So this was the woman who’d called him. I got the impression she was old—probably older than Dario, although her staticky vampire feel wasn’t as intense.
Madeline peered at me with interest. “And you’re about to have a Templar blood-slave? Not the wisest move, Boss.”
“She’s not my blood-slave.”
“I’m right here,” I complained. I hated when vampires did this, as if I were an object to be discussed.
Madeline’s eyebrows shot up. “Not yet, but you’ve obviously been—”
“You’re overstepping, Madeline.” Dario’s voice sent a shiver through me, and I saw Madeline flinch. “I’ll talk to Marcus, then decide which option to take.”
He held out his hand and Madeline unstrapped something from her belt, extending it to Dario hilt first in a reverential manner. He pulled the knife free and handed the scabbard back to the other vampire. It was a kukri, beautifully fashioned with a ten-inch blade and an elegant leather wrap on the bone handle.
I clamped my mouth shut, knowing that if Dario let Marcus out of the city as an exile, he’d become my problem. I couldn’t let an out-of-control vampire run loose in the county, but killing the man seemed harsh, an excessive punishment by modern human standards.
As we walked closer, I revised my opinion. Two bodies lay next
to the pallets—very pale, grayish looking bodies. Both had telltale fang marks on their necks along with smears of blood all over their skin. Both had torn clothing. The man had bite marks on his face and shoulders, actual chunks of flesh missing in some places. Beside them, on his knees with his head bent was a vampire. Two other vampires—one male and one female stood beside him, their faces grim.
“Marcus, tell me what happened.” Dario’s voice was soft, smooth, but there was no hiding the thread of command in the words.
Marcus lifted his head. He had short, dark hair and a broad nose in a narrow face. His eyes were so bloodshot I could barely tell the whites from the dark irises in the dim alley lighting.
“I was with Shelly tonight, but was still hungry, so I came out to feed. I brought the girl back here, but just couldn’t stop. She didn’t struggle. It was fast.”
“Then why is her clothing torn?” Dario asked. He still had the knife in his hand, held casually by his side. No one looked at it but me.
Marcus tilted his head and regarded the other vampire with a puzzled look. “I don’t know. I was still so hungry. I think I was going to tear through her skin to see if I could manage to get any more blood from her.”
The thought was horrifying. I looked down at the dead woman, aghast. It probably was fast. I imagined that after he’d taken a few pints from her, she’d most likely passed out.
“The man saw us and ran. I couldn’t let him get away, so I caught him and brought him back here.” Marcus looked down at the corpse, then reached a hand forward to touch the bite marks. “It wasn’t enough blood to quell the hunger. It still isn’t enough. Just one more. Can I just have one more?”
“You’ve had more than enough, Marcus.” Dario exchanged a quick glance with Madeline. The other vampire shrugged. “Do you understand the penalty?”
For the first time I saw fear in Marcus’s eyes. “I called the Mistress and she told me to call Madeline. I stopped. I only killed the two, and then I called. I’m in control now. I’m starving, and I haven’t made a move to attack that human you brought. I’m okay now.”
“You have sufficient control not to poach from a member of your own Balaj, but that’s not enough to claim you’re okay. Two humans, Marcus. And one of them you were chewing on. These aren’t the actions of a vampire in control of his hunger.”
Marcus raised both hands in supplication. “I’m fine now. Fine. It was just two. Aubin would have taken care of it. Two humans wouldn’t have mattered to Aubin.”
“I’m not Aubin.” Dario took a step forward.
I couldn’t look away. In one fast motion, Dario sliced the kukri through Marcus’s neck. The head toppled onto the pavement. Vampires had no heartbeat, so instead of blood geysering everywhere, it flowed from his neck onto his body and the ground in a sluggish stream. I knew the type of force it took to decapitate someone. There was a reason executioners used guillotines or an axe. Even with a strong downward blow and a heavy two-handed sword, there were stories of some beheadings taking several strokes. Dario had done it cleanly, as if he were cutting through warm butter. And he’d done it with a knife.
The vampire wiped the blade on his pants leg, then handed it back to Madeline. “Take care of this—both Marcus and the human bodies. We don’t have long until sunup and I want this alley spotless.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“No, Boss,” I argued, finally finding my voice. “These humans have families who deserve closure. I need to call Tremelay and have him file a report. At the very least, they’ll be able to bury their loved ones.”
“No.” Dario’s voice was firm as he turned and took me by the elbow, steering me back down the alleyway. “They’ve been drained of blood, covered with bite marks. There will be no police reports, no medical examiner’s ruling as to cause of death, and no need to call your police friend. This is an internal matter to our Balaj. I let you come here as a courtesy, so you could see that we take these things seriously and that we punish offenders. I can’t have you involving other humans in this.”
I yanked my arm out of his grasp, which shouldn’t have been so easy given what I’d just seen of vampire strength. “You can’t just sweep this under the rug. Justice may have been delivered, but their families need to know.”
“No, their families don’t. Can you imagine how they’d feel seeing all this? They wouldn’t know justice had been delivered, and both they and the police would spend months trying to hunt down the killer. We can’t have that, now or ever. It’s better for both us and the families if they just think these two are missing persons.”
My heart hurt. I wrapped my arms across my chest hugging myself as I thought through all the possible things that would happen if I called Tremelay. It wouldn’t be good. Nothing would bring these two back. And the murderer had already been punished beyond what the human justice system would have delivered.
Dario turned and called back to Madeline. “Find out who they are. Send appropriate restitution to their families. An anonymous donation.”
The other vampire stared, hands on her hips. “Restitution? But boss, we don’t—”
“Restitution,” Dario interrupted. He turned back to me. “Does that help?”
Help what? I nodded, numb. This whole evening had taken a surreal twist. From flirty, light-hearted Dario helping at the shelter, to our passionate encounter outside the church, to this bloody horror show in the alley. Right now he was so unfeeling, so distant, so cold.
But that’s how Dario always was when he was trying to hide his emotions—especially when I had discovered something particularly unsavory about him or his Balaj. I watched him closely, saw the tension in every muscle, and saw something else in his expression—something buried deep. This had not been easy for him. It had been so very far from easy.
“How well did you know him? Marcus, I mean.” I asked softly.
He shrugged and continued walking toward the SUV, me keeping pace beside him. “Every one of our Balaj is family. Marcus was turned in the late nineteenth century by Leonora under Aubin’s directive. Before that he’d proven himself an indispensable Renfield. He knew the movers and shakers here, knew how to get around trade restrictions. As a vampire, he’s been loyal and worked tirelessly in the Balaj’s interest.”
Which didn’t answer my question. “Personally. How well did you know him personally?”
Dario spun about. We were out of the alley, just a few feet from the SUV, under a streetlight that clearly showed me his face. “What do you want to hear? That we used to cruise the speakeasies together? That he was one of the vampires who helped me when I was cast out? That a few months back when we were being attacked by spirits, he’d found your friend Russell and held off killing him against a direct order by Leonora because I asked him to? Is that the sort of thing you want to hear?”
I winced, each word like a knife to my body, but I didn’t back down. “Yes, that is the sort of thing I want to hear. I need to know there’s more to you than a coldhearted monster. I need to see the side of you that cares, that grieves, that feels when he has to make a difficult decision.”
He walked around to the passenger side of the door and opened it for me. “I’m more monster than I am human. I’ve been a vampire for over three centuries, where I was human not even three decades. You do the math. I wasn’t thrilled to kill Marcus, but the other choice put our Balaj at risk, and in these decisions, I will always choose the best path for my family. After three hundred years, I make these decisions with no regrets. Don’t mistakenly paint me with your conscience, Aria. Don’t ever blind yourself to who I really am, or you’ll only end up disappointed and hurt.”
He shut the door a bit more forcefully than needed, rocking the SUV. The whole way back to the church and my car, he brooded like a dark anti-hero from a Gothic novel. In spite of his dramatic speech, I wasn’t fooled. Other women might take his words at face value, but I’d studied the Crusades, I’d learned enough of strategy and warfare to know that indecision was t
he quickest way to get your troops killed. Dario was second in command. Some considered him close to being first in command. Every action he took was, as he said, for the betterment and long-term survival of his family. Personal feelings and regret had no place in those decisions.
It was something I was just beginning to experience for myself, and I wasn’t sure what it would do to me long-term. I still had nightmares over stabbing Dark Iron in the back. I’d been uncertain if I could actually kill the Boo Hag teens because of their age. I’d tried every way I could to save Russell’s life, even when he was on a path to kill hundreds. Could I act for the good of Baltimore, even if it meant putting my own feelings aside? Even if it meant making morally questionable decisions?
Three centuries of this had made Dario brutal and effective, but from what he’d told me earlier today, the seeds of that brutal, selfless leadership were sown very early in his human life. In some eyes he was a monster. Would I eventually be seen as one too?
We pulled up to my car parked across the street from the church. It was two hours until dawn and I knew better than to ask him back to my place. That moment had passed. And judging from the way he slammed the car into park, I knew he thought that moment had passed forever. So I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned across the center console, pulled him toward me by his shirt, and kissed him. It was supposed to be a light, reassuring kiss, but the moment his lips met mine it changed, deepening into something hungry and desperate. When I finally pulled away, I was breathless and wishing we had more time.
“Tomorrow night?” I asked, my voice sounding like I’d just chain smoked a pack of unfiltered cigarettes.
Relief cut through the passion in his eyes, quickly hidden. Then he sat up, the emotionless mask once again taking over. “We’re monsters, Aria,” he insisted.
I opened the door of the SUV and slid out, picking Trusty up from the floor. “We all are, Dario. Every one of us.”
