by K. L. Kreig
She forced herself out of Sarah’s room and into a dimly lit hallway. Down the right side of the hallway were a series of closed doors. She slid into the room next to Sarah’s and once again found the fair-haired young woman she had seen before, who was severely pregnant. She looked peaceful in sleep, but Kate knew she was anything but.
She slipped out of that room and into the next and found a very frail, very young-looking Hispanic woman, with stringy, dark matted hair. She wore a torn, faded yellow T-shirt with a giant smiley face on it, ironic that, and blood soaked cream panties. Kate noticed how bruised her arms, hips and inner thighs were. Her glassy, vacant eyes were sunken and she could see the outline of her ribs through her minimal clothing.
This was almost too difficult to bear, and as much as Kate wanted to wake up so she wouldn’t be witness to any more of this torture, she needed to gather as much information as possible before she was pulled from her dream again.
Kate slipped out of this room and into the next eight rooms, all holding women in similar states and most in various states of pregnancy. She began to distinguish the women that had been there for a while and those that hadn’t, not only by the condition of their bodies, but the expressions on their faces. The newer ones had hope and anger. Those in longer captivity were apathetic. Void of any emotion or life behind their dead eyes.
One young woman was clearly near death. Kate doubted she would be alive in time for them to rescue her. This was absolute agony to bear witness to their torture.
The woman in the last room gave Kate pause. She wasn’t as young as the other women. Definitely not the young nineteen-to-twenty-two-year-olds that had been kidnapped recently. She suspected this woman had been kept prisoner for quite some time. But what caused her stomach to drop was that she looked strikingly like Jamie Hallow. That couldn’t possibly be. Could it? Jamie was never found, but how could she have been kept prisoner for eleven years? Kate couldn’t think about that now, as she had a job to do.
Moving on, Kate found the surgical room where she’d previously witnessed two women being raped. Blessedly, there was no activity in that room at the moment, so she kept going. There had been nothing so far that gave her any further indication of where this place was located and she was hoping to find an upper level with more windows.
She stumbled upon a few more rooms with supplies and office equipment. She scanned the offices for any papers lying around that would give her anything useful and found nothing. Nothing, until the last office she came across, which was a bit bigger than the rest.
The office was extremely cluttered and there were stacks of paper everywhere. On the desk. On the filing cabinets. On the floor. In the chairs. There was almost no surface she could see without the piles of paper. Only a narrow path on the floor, leading from the door to the desk was devoid of paper.
She quickly scanned those, finding none of them useful, and noticed that the computer monitor had been left on. Unfortunately, she couldn’t understand much of anything on the screen. It looked like a bunch of meaningless numbers in a spreadsheet, but she thought it was some sort of master medical document on the kidnapped women. Column headers indicated Subject A, B, etc. She noticed what looked like dates too. She had a fairly good memory, so she’d try her best to remember what was on here so she could tell Dev and the doctor when she awoke. She wished she was able to actually bring things back from her dreams because a flash drive would come in handy about now.
She was about to leave the office when she noticed a newspaper sticking out from underneath the desk, like it missed the trashcan. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the newspaper was the Door County Advocate. Door County was at the end of the Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin. Her family had vacationed frequently in Door County when she was younger. Holy shit! Was it possible that they were really a mere forty miles or so away?
Kate quickly left the office and continued down the series of sterile-looking hallways. As she neared the end of this particular hallway, a feeling of evilness seeped into her pores. She was both drawn and repelled by the door standing in front of her and she warred with herself on whether to enter. She thought of those poor women she saw earlier and quickly decided to forge ahead, before she lost her nerve. For some unexplained reason, every instinct inside of her screamed this would be a defining moment in her life.
She went through the door and was met with stairs that led to a lower level. She was plunged into darkness as she descended down. When she reached the bottom, another series of hallways lay ahead. She was drawn to the left and while she wanted to explore each room on this level, she knew time was running out and she felt an unexplained urgency to get to the room at the end of this hallway.
Kate was outside the closed door and a feeling of terror unlike any she’d felt before passed through her body. She forced herself through, not knowing what she was about to see, and was surprisingly met with an empty room. Empty, as in, no one was currently occupying it, but someone obviously lived here. It was a small sitting room of sorts, with a tidy, nondescript desk and a large Italian black leather chair, which looked luxurious and very much out of place in the sparse room. She took note of a caramel colored liquor in a clear decanter, which sat on a shelf alongside a lone crystal tumbler and a few books.
She didn’t get a chance to look any further, as she heard a muffled cry coming from behind a door to her right. Upon entering the secondary room, she was struck still. To her horror, in front of her on the blood-soaked bed, lay a naked young girl, probably not older than fifteen, covered in blood and bite marks on her neck, breasts, and inner thighs. Her skin was frighteningly pale and she was sobbing uncontrollably.
A low growl brought her attention to the butt naked man—no, correction—vampire at the foot of the massive bed. He was moving toward the young girl like a lion that had successfully taken down its prey. Kate gasped and his head whipped around in her direction, as he stood tall.
Oh shit. He can’t see me, can he? He’s not supposed to be able to see me.
Oh my God. Oh God. Kate was frozen with fear.
Standing before her was one of the handsomest and most hideous creatures she had ever laid eyes upon. When she was eleven and in sixth grade, a boy in her class had played with matches and accidentally burned down his parents’ house. He barely made it out alive, and was horribly burned on over sixty percent of his body. He survived and didn’t return to school until the seventh grade, but he was scarred for life. So she knew all too well what severe burn marks looked like.
The right half of this vampire’s face, including his entire nose and right side of his lips, was horrifically scarred and disfigured. Half of his head was entirely hair free, while the other half was clearly shaven clean to the skull. His right ear was almost missing entirely. His entire upper torso and most of both arms, except his upper left shoulder was also scarred. His whole right leg also bore the same painful marring’s. Even his private parts appeared scarred. Not that she tried to look. The part of his face that wasn’t scarred, however, was divinely handsome and mesmerizing and she instantly knew who stood before her.
Xavier.
“Well, well, dreamwalker,” he drawled. “I know you’re here. I can feel your presence.”
He could feel her presence, but couldn’t see her? Both pieces of information were good to know.
“Would you like a demonstration of what I’m going to do to you once I get my hands on you?”
No. Nope. No demonstration needed. Thanks for asking, though.
He snarled and grabbed the young, frightened girl by the foot, dragging her to the foot of the bed and rammed himself into her small, fragile body. She cried out as he bit her savagely on the neck, sucking her lifeblood so hard and fast that most of it spilled down his chin and throat. As quickly as he struck, he let her go, throwing her toward the headboard. She landed half way off the bed, unmoving.
He stood at full height again, as he let the blood drip unnervingly off his chin. He talked to the air, w
hile turning in a circle. Comical, really, if the situation weren’t so dire and horrific.
“If you give yourself up to me willingly, Katherine Martin, then I promise to let you and your lords live. If you do not, then I will rain hell on your lords, their Regents, and the human race. And every single day I let you live in my company, you will pray for a death that I will never grant.”
Holy shit. He knew who she was. By name! This was sooooo not good. Okay, Kate. Time to wake up any time now.
“And you can tell your lords that I will enjoy fucking you, while I drink freely of your blood. Every. Single. Day.”
Kate turned to flee when she felt herself waking up. Thank you, God, for small favors.
As she was being pulled back into her body, she thought she heard Xavier say, “Until we meet again, sweet Kate.”
So. Not. Good.
Chapter 52
Mike
He was fucking pissed. He was now sitting in Devon Fallinsworth’s office, at his fucking house, a place he’d hoped he would never see, with an equally pissed off Giselle blocking his escape. Blood was dripping from the cut above his eye and, quite frankly, he was more than a little concerned the bloodsucker wouldn’t be able to control herself. He was in a house full of vamps and expected them to circle like vultures any minute.
A half hour ago he’d been headed home, after several of the longest, shittiest days of his life. Just as he’d reached his car, Giselle popped up, blocking his entrance. He hated it when vamps flashed. It was completely unnatural and unnerving. She’d given him some bullshit about being in danger, blah, blah, blah. He couldn’t go home, blah, blah, blah. He’d told her to fuck off, shoved her out of the way, started his car and drove off. He hadn’t been home in days. Between his binge drinking and sleeping at the station, he needed a good long shower. Even his lumpy mattress sounded good tonight and he hated that old thing.
He’d just turned onto the highway, heading south toward his meager house, when she suddenly flashed in front of his goddamn car, causing him to slam on his brakes and swerve into the ditch in order to miss hitting her. He almost clipped a one hundred-year-old oak. He should have just mowed her ass down instead of trying to avoid her. That bitch was going to pay every cent it cost to repair the damages to his now incapacitated car. Maybe it would be totaled and he’d make her pay for a brand new one.
Before his head had even cleared from the impact, she’d had his door open and had flashed him to Devon’s house. Where he now sat. Glaring at her. Blood dripping down his face.
“Listen up, Giselle. You get me the fuck back to my car right now or so help me God, there will be hell to pay.”
She stood there with a smirk on her face and arms crossed against her bountiful chest, which pressed her quite lovely tits even further above the black lace corset she wore. Christ, if she weren’t a vamp, he would have fucked her ten ways to Sunday by now. God knows his dick didn’t care what species she was. That bastard wanted a go at her anyway.
“My eyes are up here, detective.”
Buuuusted. He started to speak, but she talked right over him.
“Believe it or not, I’m trying to save your pathetic little human life. Why, you ask? I can’t even understand that myself. But you are in danger, Detective. If you’d shut your piehole for five seconds, I’ve been trying to tell you that we received intel this evening that your house is being staked out by Xavier’s lackey’s, who were sent there to kidnap you. I saved you from certain death, and the thanks I get for that are your futile threats.”
Mike began to protest when she cut him off…again. Bitch.
“And before you pull your macho bullshit and tell me I’m full of shit and that you can take care of yourself—yada, yada—I checked out your place before I came to the precinct and I could smell their stench a mile away. So they are there. They are waiting for you, and they will take great pleasure in killing you once they’ve tortured you for an indefinite period of time.
“Which means you are going to have to stay here until it’s safe for you to return to your home. Like it or not. Unless you have a death wish.”
This made no sense. “Why in the hell would they want me?”
“They know you are working on the Sarah Hill case and they know Kate was in to see you about it. They are actually after Kate and will do anything to find her.”
His stomach dropped. Had something happened to Kate? “Is she safe?”
Giselle nodded. “She’s been here for the past several days, since they tried snatching her from her home.”
She added, “And before you ask, no harm has or will come to her. She’s safer here than anywhere else.”
Well, fuck. They stared at each other for several minutes. Neither wanting to give in and be the first to break their eye lock. Jesus, they were both stubborn as the day was long. He hadn’t fulfilled his objective yet, so a death wish was off the table. But sometimes it sounded like sweet relief from the constant pain he carried in his soul.
His memory flashed back to the station the other day when she also mentioned she was trying to protect him. This whole situation confused the hell out of him. Mike couldn’t wrap his head around why Giselle even seemed to give a shit if something happened to him. Why not let just him traipse off home and get flayed piece-by-piece? He wasn’t exactly their biggest fan, and she knew that.
So what was her angle? Although she was trying hard to throw him, he was getting the genuine vibe that she actually cared what happened to him. And why would that be? He knew he’d have to tread lightly or she’d Mrs. Hyde into her usual frigid bitch. Then not only would he get no answers, he also wasn’t sure he could restrain himself from trying to kill her. Or fuck her. Christ.
Mike stood and slowly made his way across the room toward Giselle. Her challenging eyes never left his. She didn’t move, other than to drop her arms to her side and stand to her full, glorious six feet. Instead of her red fuck-me heals today, she had black, thigh high fuck-me harder boots, which ended a couple of inches below her tight, black leather mini skirt. As sick as it was, he wanted to know what she had on under that skirt. The thought almost made him throw up a little in his mouth.
Two could play the mind-fuck game, he thought. But was he really playing?
He stopped a couple of inches in front her and could feel her body heat seeping into his. Vampires did have beating hearts and although their body temperature ran a little below that of humans, they still threw off plenty of body heat. And under certain circumstances—like perhaps that which included his cock buried in her hot, wet pussy—he had no doubt Giselle could get even hotter. Concentrate, Thatcher.
“And why would you care what happens to little ol’ me, Giselle,” he whispered.
Her breath caught and he was pleased he’d caught her completely off guard. He leaned even closer. Her eyes dilated, narrowing to slits. Wow…she really wanted him. The thought made his blood run hotter than he was comfortable with.
“I mean, I know you want to fuck my brains out and give me indescribable pleasure, as you’ve already told me, but you’re so fucking beautiful and sexy, you could have any man you want. Why me?” He inhaled deeply. Christ, she smelled divine.
Her breathing sped up and she opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again, saying nothing. She was completely off her game. Good. Because if he was totally honest with himself, so was he. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing here. He wanted her more than he could remember wanting any other woman in his life, and that terrified the hell out of him. Because of what she was, he could never fuck Giselle, but Jesus, did he want to. He wanted to with such ferocity, he almost willed himself to forget she was an enemy. And doing that could get a man killed.
Knowing all of this, he had no idea how his body ended up pressed against hers, pinning her in place against the office wall. He had no idea how his hands ended up on her hips, pulling her closer to his aching cock. He had no idea how his lips started grazing her cheek, her neck, her lips. And he
had no idea how to force himself to stop this madness.
His entire concentration at the moment was on getting Giselle’s substantial tit out of the top of her corset. He was dying to know what color her nipples were and his mouth watered at the thought of their taste.
So since he couldn’t figure out how to stop this madness himself, it was a good thing someone else decided for him before he reached the point of no return. He almost had her breast completely out of its lacy confines, when he heard someone clear their throat. And it was definitely too low and masculine to be Giselle. They quickly pulled away from each other, Giselle straightening herself. Mike didn’t turn toward the interloper immediately. He needed to get his raging hard on under control first. And oddly, he needed to make sure Giselle was covered.
After several seconds, Mike finally turned around, only to face a grinning Renaldo.
Fuck. Color him embarrassed. And pissed. That asshole better have not seen an inch of Giselle’s creamy skin.
“Did I interrupt something?” If possible, Renaldo’s grin widened further. He was really enjoying this, the bastard.
With a quick look to Giselle, he noticed she seemed just as embarrassed as he did, and like ice water to the face, that quickly shook him out of the spell he’d been under. She was embarrassed to be caught with him? Of course she was. He was just a lowly human. A source of nourishment is all.
And now he was pissed for an entirely different reason. He was upset with himself for forgetting who and what she was. How could he let himself get so carried away with her? Because head number two had brainwashed head number one, that’s how.
He looked Giselle in the eyes as he responded to Renaldo.
“No, it was absolutely nothing. You didn’t interrupt a fucking thing.” He almost felt bad when a flash of hurt quickly crossed her face, but he quickly shoved that away. Wow, she was a great actress. And he was an asshole. Good to know they were back to their respective roles.
