by Terry Spear
She poked at him again, encouraging him to move faster. He turned and ran. She dashed after him, finally exiting the makeshift hall.
Robert and his brothers had resorted to killing the human hosts, through no choice of their own. Two vampires lay dead. Were there more? Two hosts headed for her as soon as they caught sight of her. She ran for the outer wall and the wooden ladder that would allow her to climb up the crates…and give her access to the blackened windows.
As soon as she climbed four feet off the cement floor, a host yanked at the ladder, trying to unbalance her. She jumped to a crate, then began to climb to the next.
“Get her!” Panic laced the man’s words and spurred her on. They assumed she’d let the sunlight into the building, meaning, more vampires slept in the warehouse.
By the time she reached the first window, three hosts had made it to a crate just below where she stood. She raised her cane to strike the glass pane.
A flapping sound behind her stilled her heart.
“Crystal! Behind you!” Robert yelled from the base of the crates.
38
Crystal twirled ballet-style and swung her cane. The dark-haired male vampire, wiry, his narrowed eyes and his open-mouthed growl indicating his annoyance at being awakened at this hour as he stood behind her on top of the wooden crates only feet from the blackened windows of the warehouse. Before he could react, she struck his shoulder with the cane and knocked him into the glass.
With a crash, he fell through the shattered windowpane outside into the sun-drenched street. His scream ceased abruptly as his body disintegrated into ashes. The remains floated to earth like huge gray snowflakes.
She glanced down at the hosts inside the warehouse who stood momentarily paralyzed on the crate below her. Then she stormed to the next window and struck it with the cane. The glass crackled and crumbled letting in more sunlight. Her hands shimmered with sprinkles of glass that glittered in the light.
Another vampire screamed below when Robert struck it once, then twice, the second time cleaving the vampire’s head from his body, momentarily distracting Crystal.
Two of the hosts scrambled atop the crate she stood on, instantly garnering her attention.
She struck another window before they reached her. She turned to face them. Her boots crunched on glass shards as she spread her feet slightly apart, preparing for the attack. Her breath came quickly. She was ready to fight them if they pushed her.
Still, she had to try to dissuade them. “Long ways down, boys. Back off and I won’t have to hurt you.”
They ignored her and drew closer.
She swung her cane and struck the one in the shoulder so hard he screamed out, and dove to his face on the top of the wooden crate to avoid being hit again.
The next bared his teeth at her. The canines only extended slightly. His green eyes glared at her like burning embers ready to devour her in a burst of flame. The vampires had turned him in part. This one was a weak vampire, but if left to feed off more humans, he’d become as powerful as Nicolai someday.
Could he fly if she knocked him off the crates? Or was he too recently turned? Would he fall to his death instead like any normal human?
The sunlight from the windows poked inside, but not far enough for her to draw him into it.
When he lunged at her, she dodged toward the sliver of light. With darkened eyes, he considered the rays. Then he shifted his attention to her eyes. It didn’t matter to the vampires that she was a huntress. Their natural instinct was to attempt to will her to do their bidding.
“I won’t step away from the sunlight,” she cautioned.
Another host joined the vampire. He bared his baby canines at her, too. Were the others turned also?
She hollered down to Robert, “These hosts have been newly turned.”
“We know, Crystal. Why do you think we’re killing them?” His breath came in spurts as his sword struck another.
The men were no longer hosts, but weaker vampires, blood bonded. She pursed her lips.
“If you’ll go quietly with us, we won’t hurt you,” the blue-eyed vampire said. His eyes bore into hers.
“Would you take me to see Nicolai now?”
He turned to the other who nodded.
“We’ll take you to him.”
“You can’t. Not until the sun sets. If you were a host, you could take me to his…home now.” What was he up to?
The blue-eyed vampire’s mouth dropped open. “He’s awake.” The words slipped off his tongue…a mistake, most likely due to his being so newly turned.
Vampires relayed their messages to one another secretly through mental telepathy. If this vampire knew Nicolai was awake, he had to be nearby. Then again, the new vampire in turn would have relayed the message to Nicolai that he had Crystal within his reach at the warehouse. Nicolai couldn’t come for her, not yet. But he’d undoubtedly send reinforcements.
“I’ll take you to him.” The blue-eyed vampire stretched his hand out.
“You can’t transport me to any place but somewhere inside this warehouse. Not until the sun goes down.”
When he moved closer, she pulled the sword free and lunged forward, jabbing him in the heart. The other vampire charged her before she freed her sword.
He ran into her body, shoving her against the brick wall dividing the windowpanes. She quickly grabbed his shoulders, and swung her right leg behind his. When she pushed him back, he lost his balance and fell backward into the enlarged block of sun illuminating the crates.
The sunlight seared his skin, then turned him into a heap of clothed ashes. No time for remorse or feelings. They had to leave before other hosts arrived. But first, she’d destroy the rest of the windows in the warehouse that she could reach. She retrieved her sword from the dead body of the other vampire, then picked up her cane.
“Nicolai’s awake nearby, Robert. One of the vampires let it slip.”
Robert and his brothers still fought off the vampire fledglings. Thomas dodged the blow of a pipe wielded by one of them and yelled, “We’ve got to get her out of here, now!”
Robert yelled, “Come join us, Crystal!”
“I will. Let me just get the rest of these windows.” With no hosts or vampires to stop her, she ran along the top of the crates and struck the remaining unbroken, blackened windows with her cane. The screech of tires caught her attention. Her skin grew clammy as the late model black hearse slammed on its brakes in the warehouse.
“Crystal, get down from there, now!” Robert hollered, sounding panicked.
God, if Nicolai rode in the hearse, he could…
Suddenly, he appeared before her on the top of the wooden crate.
…transport himself.
Dark circles shaded the white skin beneath his eyes, and the whites of his eyes were tinged red. She dashed for the sunlight and stood in its protective arms. A black robe cinched at the waist, hid whatever garment he wore beneath it, and his feet were bare. His hair hung loosely over his shoulders, uncombed but shiny. Evidently, he’d come for her in a hurry.
“Crystal!” Robert cried out. He bolted for the ladder and began the climb up.
“I’m fine, Robert! He can’t get to me!” Dread bunched in knots in her stomach. Robert had to heed her warning.
“Robert, no!” Thomas yelled, his voice deep and troubled.
She wanted to scream at Robert, shake him, make him understand he put both of them in further peril with his heroic actions.
Nicolai extended his hand to Crystal. “Come to me, my love, or the hunter dies.” His voice demanded her obedience.
“Return to your brothers, Robert! He can’t reach me, nor can he get to you if the four of you stick together!” God, why wouldn’t he listen to her?
Nicolai’s eyes pierced her with a penetrating command. “Come to me, before it’s too late for him. He doesn’t trust you to stay away from me.” His lips turned up. “Nor would I, if I were in his shoes.”
“Robert, go back!”
Crystal’s eyes blurred with tears. Robert was forcing her to go to Nicolai by putting himself in harm’s way. Couldn’t he see what he was doing to her? She whipped the sword out of the cane. Unless Robert distracted Nicolai, she’d never manage to strike the vampire with her sword in time. Not as strong as he was. If Robert didn’t stay with his brothers with his hands free to fight, Nicolai could easily…
“One last chance.” Nicolai’s words were spoken ominously. If she didn’t obey him now…
The ladder creaked as Robert climbed up it, drawing closer every second. Nicolai watched her, but she could tell by the way he turned his head slightly toward Robert, he monitored the hunter’s progress with his sensitive hearing, calculating the precise moment when he would attack the defenseless hunter.
Just as she had difficulty in her heart with fighting the vampire, Robert had the same amount of turmoil in breaking off the attack. He was determined to protect her, no matter what. The thought would have consoled her some other time, under different circumstances.
Giving herself freely to a vampire wasn’t a choice she thought she’d ever have to make. She gulped back the tears when Nicolai stepped backward to the edge of the crate and peered down. He glanced back at her. “Now, Crystal! Come to me!”
She moved out of the sunlight, but stood with her heels on the fringe of light. She prayed Robert would have sense enough to back down and rejoin his brothers before it was too late for both of them. If she lunged at Nicolai, he’d easily sidestep her action as far as she stood from him. Then he’d grab her. Once his hand held any part of her body…
“Come closer.” Nicolai’s voice commanded and pleaded at the same time, but she knew he’d kill Robert if she didn’t obey.
With a deep breath, she blinked her eyes, swallowed hard, and took a step closer. If she moved much farther from the sunlight, she’d be his. The notion wrenched at her insides.
“Drop the sword,” Nicolai demanded of her.
39
Crystal let the sword slip from her hand. It fell with a clang on the wooden crate. At Nicolai’s mercy now, she felt her shoulders sag in defeat.
“He dies if you don’t come farther away from the sunlight. You know I’ll kill him.”
He would. Robert remained his competition, the only hunter who would fight for her life after her family abandoned her. Robert would continue to be an obstacle to Nicolai, until the vampire ended the hunter’s life. She faltered to move away from the sun’s rays as Nicolai commanded.
For the moment, if she did as he asked, Nicolai would take her away and leave Robert alone. Her life for his. It was the only choice she had.
With her heart thundering, she took another step forward.
Before she had time to think of her action, Nicolai swooped in front of her and grabbed her wrist.
He transported her to some place dark and confining. With alarming clarity, she realized she could only be in one place. Her chest constricted as she fought screaming out in terror.
He kissed her cheek. “Comfortable?”
He rested on top of her, his body suffocating her. His breathing grew more rushed as he nuzzled his face against hers, pushing it aside so he could get to her neck. “Slightly confining, and a bit difficult to do much of anything, but it’ll suffice until we return to my place.” He touched his mouth to the corner of hers.
“I can’t breathe,” she managed to squeak out. “Oh, my God, Nicolai.” Tears streaked her cheeks. “I can’t breathe.”
“There’s plenty of ventilation in here.”
She couldn’t stem the worst attack of claustrophobia she’d ever had as her fingers touched the silk-lined, padded coffin. Her heart pounded as she gasped for air. “Please, let me out of here.”
“I never thought I’d hear you beg for anything, my love.”
Her breath came rapidly. “Nicolai, please.” Her mouth, arms, and legs tingled as they grew numb.
Robert and his brothers’ muffled shouts drew closer to where she was, distracting her momentarily. They came for her. They tried to save her.
The hearse screeched backward in a hasty retreat. She closed her eyes, her stomach churning as if she rode a roller coaster when the hearse twisted and turned, then dove forward. The tires squealed in angry response. Could Robert and his brothers rescue her before it was too late? The sinking feeling they wouldn’t manage in time filled her with futility.
Nicolai’s hand stroked her cheek. “If I could, I’d make you sleep. Close your eyes and we’ll be there in a little while. Pretend you’re with me in my king-size bed.”
Her panic spiraled into uncontrollable fear. Being confined in a dark coffin underneath a bloodsucker, paralyzed her. “Let me out, please.” She choked on the words and squirmed beneath him, but even that caused her fear to escalate. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
He rested his face next to hers. “Sleep, my love.” His breathing grew shallow. He was falling asleep on top of her?
She would have screamed, if she could have gotten enough of breath to do so.
She calmed her breathing and attempted to open a wrist blade, to no avail. With her hands pinned beside her thighs and no room to maneuver, she couldn’t do a blasted thing to help herself.
Why had Robert come to rescue her? Her face heated with anger. If he’d stayed with his brothers, and she’d stayed in the sunlight…well, until the sun faded. Damn. Now she was Nicolai’s and unless she came up with one miracle of a plan, she’d be in a world of hurt.
She tried to wriggle her arm free. If she could shove the top to the coffin open and get some more air…Nicolai reached back and held her hand.
“Lie still.” His words were said in an authoritative, grumpy manner. He hadn’t had enough sleep, and she was irritating him. He slipped his hand between their waists and tugged at the belt to his robe.
Her throat grew dry.
“The knot is burrowing into my stomach. Is it not the same for you?”
She hadn’t noticed, not with everything else that concerned her at the moment. Now that he mentioned it, a hard bulge poked her in the stomach, only she didn’t think it was the knot in his belt. Once he pulled his tie aside, the hardness remained.
He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. She knew then no matter how terrified she was with being in the coffin with him, she shouldn’t have awakened him like this. Now she was in real trouble.
His hot, wet tongue licked her neck, sending a chill down her spine. She shivered.
His lips curved up against her mouth. “I’m a night person, Crystal. You’ll find I’m much better at this in the evening hours. If you keep disturbing my sleep, I’ll have to appease you now.”
As much as she hated having to do so, terrified of the enclosed in space, she choked out a response, “I’m sorry, Nicolai. Go to sleep.”
He chuckled, the throaty sound deep, dark, and deadly. If he made love to her, the hunters would have no choice but to kill her. No way could they allow her to carry a vampire in her womb.
Too dark to see anything in the coffin, she couldn’t quash her elevating fear as his breathing grew rapid again. He combed his fingers through her hair while he kissed her neck. Then the softness of his mouth against her skin turned to something hard. His teeth? God, he was going to bite her. Her skin freckled with perspiration, and she squirmed against him. Panic filled her again.
A nice bedtime snack? Even if he couldn’t turn her, if any hunter found her with bite marks in her neck, she was doomed.
Suddenly, the car’s tires screeched, and men’s voices yelled out in panic. She steeled her back while she concentrated on the sounds outside of the coffin.
Nicolai hissed and squeezed her body hard. His actions warned her, she was in trouble. If they crashed, he’d survive, but she might not.
The coffin slid forward and hit the seats in front, then slid back and banged against the car door.
Nicolai gripped her shoulders firmly as if he feared he’d lose her any second. The
brakes squealed. The vehicle slammed into something like a wrecking ball smashed into a brick wall. A resounding crash filled the air. Metal ground against metal, and panicked male voices shouted.
The vehicle teetered back and forth, then flew forward. Again an explosive crash followed. For several seconds, the hearse rocked back and forth like a boat on troubled seas. Crystal’s heart pounded in her throat.
Nicolai continued to grasp her with a stranglehold.
“Master!”
Nicolai grumbled something under his breath. Then he shoved the coffin lid off. He never said a word, but slipped out of the coffin, then pulled Crystal from it. The dim light in the hearse from the darkly tinted windows gave her a momentary sense of relief. But then the hearse sank into the darkness of a swiftly flowing river.
“Yes, master,” one of the hosts said who seized her arm. Undoubtedly the hosts had kept him informed of what was happening through telepathy. The host pulled her into the front seat of the vehicle.
Water filled the inside of the hearse at an alarming rate as it drifted toward the bottom of the river. Claustrophobia seized her all over again.
Once enough of the inside of the vehicle was filled with water, the pressure stabilized, and the host shoved the door open. Crystal looked back, but couldn’t see any sign of Nicolai. Had he returned to his coffin?
The host grabbed her arm, then pulled her from the vehicle. The cold water chilled her instantly while she held her breath and fought her way to the surface. Being stronger, she dragged him halfway up.
When their heads bobbed to the surface, he released her and swam away. Every man for himself. She was relieved because dragging him was like carrying a sack of wet cement.
The current pulled her sideways, and though she headed for the shore, the water continued to push her downstream. Why had the hearse crashed into the water?
Pine trees and oaks lined every bit of the shoreline, and she couldn’t figure out how they’d ended up in the water. After she dragged herself onto the shore, she looked back. A twisted metal railing dangled precariously over the side of the bridge crossing the river. She raised her brows. They’d flown through that?
