by Terry Spear
She smiled at the memory as she had thrown the first of the men on his back, and he’d let out a loud “oof,” and stared at her in disbelief. She’d muttered something about having a double black belt in ju-jitsu and given him an apologetic smile. He’d stayed cleared of her after that while the others had ribbed him for letting a woman toss him around.
She pushed her hotel room door open.
Before turning on the room lights, she closed the door, then moved to the window. The white car had vanished. Guess he knew where she stayed now and could report back to his master.
Didn’t matter. Tonight, she’d sleep like the dead. No one would disturb her. She yanked her curtains shut and turned on the lights.
Two matching queen-sized beds covered in black and white floral bedspreads took up most of the floor space, with a table between them. A desk, television, and a chair made up the rest of the furniture. She placed her suitcase on a stand and opened it. Time to unpack, take a shower, and hit the sack.
In the middle of her shower with her face covered in vanilla-scented soap, a deafening bang rang out. She jumped and screamed. Blackness enveloped her. She opened her eyes. Immediately, they burned from the soap. She rinsed off in a hurry, then grabbed a towel.
Nicolai couldn’t have gotten in. Not this time. Could he have?
6
Leaving the bathroom, Crystal sniffed the air. No spicy scent. She took a deep breath and headed for the window. Intermittent forks of lightning and sheets of white illuminated the blackness as volumes of rain dumped outside. All the lights in the buildings across the street were out. It was just the storm.
After grabbing her satin nightgown, she tugged it on. Another thunderous boom shattered the quiet. Her heart raced. If she didn’t get enough sleep tonight…
The clock-radio alarm rang at five in Crystal’s ear the next morning. She rolled over and groaned, fumbling to turn off the ear-shattering noise. Dog tired, she felt as though she’d tried out for the triathlon, and she’d lost the race. Being a huntress, minor injuries healed themselves quickly and aches didn’t last long. The weariness from not getting enough sleep still plagued her. She’d have a devil of a time staying awake all night for staff duty again.
In slow motion, she dressed in her Army fatigues and once she’d secured her hair in a bun and applied makeup, she exited her hotel room. And spied the white convertible sitting across the street at the hamburger place again. Her jaw clenched. Okay, he wasn’t a vampire, not if he was out in broad daylight. He had to be a human host. She wasn’t being stalked any further, damn him.
She climbed into her car, intent on finding out who he was and what he wanted. As soon as she turned the key in the ignition, he drove off.
Damn. She gripped the leather-covered steering wheel, wishing it was the host’s thick neck…or at least she assumed he had one. She didn’t really know as her gaze had focused on his dark, dangerous glare. She took a calming breath. She’d get him…later.
After a morning of handling personnel staff actions, preparing a welcome brochure, and working on the Army Emergency Relief Campaign, it was time for lunch, and a stiff caffeine-filled soda.
She pulled into a fast food Mexican restaurant on post and parked. Inside, she hurried into a line. Tapping her combat boot on the floor, she waited. The girl who served the customers in her line was undoubtedly new.
When she reached the girl and saw her familiar face, Crystal’s mouth dropped open. Lila, the human host, stood ready to take her order. The girl smiled slightly at her. “Nicolai was mad his brother lured you to his house last night. They had quite a row afterward.”
Crystal frowned. She had assumed her brothers and her killing of Dimitri’s bloodsuckers would have incensed them more.
“Nicolai wished to see you last night after you left the bash, but you had company.”
Nicolai had watched every move she’d made, just like her brothers had predicted.
“He was disappointed you left your apartment to stay at a hotel. Why did you do that? He wished so to see you last night. To explain that his brother wasn’t to bother you any longer.”
The customer behind Crystal grumbled under his breath. “Service ain’t what it used to be.”
Lila leaned over the counter and grabbed Crystal’s hand. Her cold touch made Crystal shiver. “He wants to see you again tonight. He’ll find a way, if he hasn’t already.” Crystal yanked her hand free, and Lila smiled. “So what would you like to eat?”
No longer hungry, Crystal stared back at the woman. How could she allow Kostya to drink her blood and make her carry his child? Lila was like a drug addict, needing Kostya’s bite to give her a rush.
Lila turned, grabbed a basket, and filled it with two cheese enchiladas. Then she gave Crystal a cup. “Meal’s on me. You’ll need to keep your strength up to manage Nicolai.”
Her strength. Yes, she had to keep it up.
She pulled her money out of her wallet.
Lila shook her head. “It’s on me, being you’re one of us now.”
Crystal’s face burned with anger. She tossed the money on the counter. “Wrong, Lila. I’m not one of you, now or ever!”
The girl’s smile broadened. “That’s why Nicolai likes you so much. You’re a challenge. The others…they come to him too easily. But not you. That’s why Dimitri wants a go at you, too. I’ve never seen the two of them fight over a woman before. You don’t know how lucky you are to have the heads of the family desire you that much.”
Like a cult follower, Lila had been totally brainwashed. Crystal studied the petite, blue-eyed girl, whose natural blond hair showed at the roots. The bloodsucker had hold of her good. Crystal couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. No one seemed to be around to fight for her cause…to save her from Kostya’s plans for her.
Crystal grabbed the meal and glass. With proper planning, maybe she could free Lila from their clutches. That’s what Crystal hoped for. Her family would have told her otherwise. Humans taken in by the vampires were brainwashed for good…that’s what they’d say.
After filling her glass with soda, Crystal crossed the terra cotta tiled floor to an empty booth. Sliding onto the burgundy vinyl seat, she made herself comfortable. Before she could unwrap one of her enchiladas, Lila approached the table.
“My break time. Can I sit with you?”
Making friends with a human host was forbidden in her family’s tradition. But Crystal wasn’t part of the family any longer, so why not? Perhaps she could save the woman before it was too late. She motioned to the other seat, ready to take on a new mission…save a human host from being turned.
Lila sat down.
“Where are you from, Lila?”
“Here in Killeen.”
“And your family?”
Lila shrugged and sipped a soda. “All gone.”
The tension in Crystal’s muscles returned. “Gone where?”
“Don’t know. Can’t we talk about something else?”
Had Kostya killed the woman’s family? Families interfered more often than not when vampires targeted one of the family members for keeps. They wiped the images of the killings from the targeted host’s mind. To the host, all they knew was their family just vanished. The vampire’s overwhelming presence in the host’s life, made them care about nothing else. That’s the way the vampires preferred it. Mindless hosts.
Crystal shuddered. “Have you ever had any male companionship before Kostya?”
“Yeah.” Lila’s voice turned gloomy as she stared at the table. “My previous boyfriend beat me, and when I tried to leave, he found me and nearly killed me.” Her cheerful smile returned. “Kostya saved me.”
So that’s what made her so attracted to Kostya.
“You know you don’t have to stay with him, Lila. His draining your blood isn’t good for you.”
She grinned broadly. “Kostya and Dimitri said you’d say so if I ever managed to speak to you. I’m sorry for telling you that you couldn’t attend Dimitr
i’s party. When you said you were Nicolai’s guest, I knew you’d lied.”
“I thought Kostya was one of Nicolai’s…friends. He led me to the party. So I wasn’t lying.”
“Oh.” Lila finished her drink. “Oh, I almost forgot. Nicolai said if I ran across you while you were on post, to give this letter to you.”
Crystal took the note, noticing Lila waited for her to read it. The glint of sun off a windshield in the parking lot caught Crystal’s eye. She glanced out the window. The white convertible was parked on the other side of the lot opposite hers.
“Do you know who owns that car?”
Lila glanced out the window. “Why, no. Who?”
“He was at Dimitri’s party last night.”
“Don’t know him by his car. Didn’t know anyone at the party at all except for Kostya and Dimitri. Kostya wants to keep me for himself. He’s not as powerful as some of the others. So he keeps me isolated from the rest most of the time.” She looked back out the window. “He doesn’t seem to want to come in.”
“That’s all right, I’m leaving.”
“Aren’t you going to read Nicolai’s note?”
“Yes, later. Thanks for the lunch and company.”
“You’re welcome. It’s nice to get to know another lady like me.”
“I’m not like you.” Crystal grabbed her cap and stood, hoping the irritation didn’t show in her voice too much.
Lila stood. “Nicolai said that. That’s why he wants you so badly. He doesn’t talk to me much, but I overheard him speaking to his brother. Well, they were pretty loud…fighting. He wants you because you have special abilities and his and your child would, too. That’s what he said.”
Nicolai had to be crazy to think he could have a child with her. If their blood wouldn’t mix, they couldn’t have a child together. What in the world was wrong with him to think otherwise? She stared at the floor. Nicolai had to have known something she didn’t as many years as he’d lived. But what?
Her legs wobbled a bit as she let go of the bench seat. “I’ve got to go.”
Lila wrinkled her forehead. “You’re not interested in someone else are you? Nicolai won’t like it.”
“I don’t care what Nicolai likes or doesn’t like. I’m sure he knows everything there is to know about me. I’m not seeing anyone. Haven’t for two years.”
“What happened?”
Crystal shook her head. Nothing she did was the woman’s concern.
Lila smiled. “It’s good to know there’s no one in your life. Nicolai can get pretty jealous. He and his brother truly fought last night.”
For the first time, Crystal listened to her words. “How?”
“Oh they heal really fast. They tore into each other pretty good with those canines of theirs. As soon as they extended them, I knew there’d be trouble.”
Too bad they hadn’t killed each other.
Crystal glanced back out the window, intending to check out the driver of the convertible. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
“Me, too.”
Crystal strode toward the door, figuring Lila watched everything she did. The woman wanted in good with Dimitri and Nicolai, and would undoubtedly report her movements back to them.
Crystal was dying to find out what the man in the convertible wanted, too. Did he think she was some blond bimbo who didn’t see him following her? Or was he trying to intimidate her?
7
Fighting the urge to check the owner of the white convertible out in front of Lila, Crystal returned instead to her car. Lila would report the driver of the white convertible back to the vampires anyway. They wouldn’t be happy he trailed her like he did, unless he was under their guidance to do so. If not, let them take care of one of their own.
As she suspected, the car followed her back to her office. Now he knew where she worked and lived, at least for the next night or two.
She parked, then jumped out of her car, intent on having a word with him. He sped on past, his tinted windows hiding him from view. She fisted and unfisted her hands.
Did his darkened windows keep the sunlight from reaching him? Hell, maybe he was a vampire.
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to quell the irritation rising in her blood. She needed a different vehicle, then she’d turn the tables on him.
She opened the note from Nicolai and read it as she walked into her office building.
My lovely Crystal,
My brother and I had words last night for his having lured you to his party. He assures me he only wished to see if you were good enough for me. But I know him better than that. If he asks you to see him again, don’t. However, I wish to invite you to my home. I will come for you shortly after sunset tomorrow.
Forever yours, Nicolai
She crumpled the note and tossed it in her circular file by her office desk. The next time she saw Nicolai, she had every intention of using the element of surprise.
After work that evening, Crystal left her office to pull staff duty at the headquarters. Sitting at her post, a long wooden table and two chairs, she began her long night vigil. A night person she wasn’t, and while the redheaded sergeant, who worked with her, slept on a nearby couch, she tapped her pen on the table, trying to stay awake.
The phone rang and she answered it. “Post headquarters, staff duty officer, Cpt. Anderson speaking, sir.”
“Three men have been evacuated for injuries due to a rollover of a jeep.” The officer gave the unit and injured men’s names. Crystal made a note for the commanding officer of the division.
For two more hours, she sat, yawning, staring into the darkness, waiting for the night to end. Twice, she thought she saw human shadows moving around in the blackness outside. The lights from the building gave off an eerie glow as fog settled in.
Another call came in, checking to see if all staff duty officers remained on call at their posts. Unfortunately, yes. She answered when her turn arrived, then shut off the radio.
She thought she heard scratching at the back door. Hallucination? Vivid imagination? A chill trickled down her spine. Turning, she looked in the direction where a hallway led to the metal door. Beyond this lay the headquarters parking lot, where her own car waited for her to end her tour of duty.
Taking a deep breath, she rose from her chair. She touched her wrists where the cuffs of her fatigues rested. Now she wished she had her wrist knives. Although no one but the military police were allowed to be armed on post, unless they were in military training exercises. And certainly, getting caught wearing a huntress’s blade would have been the end of her job, too.
She bid her legs carry her to the exit. A bit of exercise would wake her up, anyway, so she could finish her staff duty for the evening, right? The gray door grew closer, looming bigger as she drew near it. She imagined the worst. Nicolai, or Dimitri, just waiting there to pull her into the dark as soon as she opened the door.
She blinked her eyes, weary from keeping them open against their will. She swallowed hard and leaned against the wall for a moment, listening for any further sounds, like scratching…a vampire’s fingernails pressing hard against the metal, dragging up and down. He would will her to take pity and let him in.
She shuddered. The lack of sleep was making her go mad.
She heard no other sounds, except for the rubber soles of her boots swishing on the indoor-outdoor carpet as she inched toward the door. One step, then another, and she reached her destination.
She touched the ice cold handle. If a vampire stood on the other side of the door, would he sense she stood next to it, too? She didn’t think so. Worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, she dreaded seeing a figure…a vampire figure, beyond the door. She’d have time to shut it again, as long as she didn’t invite him in.
She twisted the handle, her nerves raw with deadly expectation. The door opened with a hideous squeak, shattering her concentration. She cringed at the sound. Her eyes attempted to adjust to the dim illumination of the parking lot’s s
ecurity lights trying to poke through the thick blanket of mist. The cool, dampness made her shiver.
An overwhelming feeling of dread wormed its way into her stomach. She stood straighter, not to be intimidated by the nameless disquiet that plagued her. She closed the door tight and strode back to her table…not because she was afraid of the dark, or what might be lurking out there, but because she had to answer the radio, or phone if someone should call…at least that’s what she told herself.
After another hour of sleep-numbed waiting for duty to be over with, a call shattered the quiet, making Crystal jump in her seat. “Ma’am,” an officer said, “Bravo Company must be in the field by zero-five-hundred hours.”
She gave the information to the units that would alert their men and women to grab their gear and head to the field. For once, she was glad she had this job and not theirs.
Then the back door opened with a squeak. She rose from her chair, trying to calm the dread tightening her stomach into knots. It had to be someone from the headquarters staff. No one else would dare enter the building at such an ungodly hour. No one…who was uninvited.
Footsteps hurried down the hall toward her.
Crystal held onto the back of her chair, again, wishing she had a weapon.
Lila entered the room still wearing the orange shirt and skirt uniform she wore at the fast food restaurant. She crossed the floor to join Crystal, a smile stretching across her face.
Before Crystal could utter a word, Lila said, “Here you are. Nicolai has been waiting for you to return to the hotel all night. I’ve been searching all over post for you, as many others have, but then I saw your car parked out back.”
Crystal’s heart rate increased. How had Lila gotten in? Only those on the headquarters staff had a key. Even Crystal didn’t have one. “How did you get in?”
Lila smiled. “Nicolai convinced the commander’s secretary to give him a key. You know…he can be very persuasive.”
