by T. S. Ryder
"Hmmm." Tiana peered at her. "Look, Audrey, you are in an amazing position right now. How many reporters out there would kill to be close to the vampire king? You have the ability to—"
Audrey shook her head. "Stop."
Her boss fell silent. If only for a moment. "Wait… you're falling in love, too, aren't you?"
"Not falling. Fell. Hard." Audrey took a deep breath. "I was terrified at first, but that was because I never thought that they would actually want me, and my feelings were getting too strong to deny. I love them, and I want to be their mate."
Tiana's face creased. "What about your career?"
"There are more important things than a career. For the first time in forever, I feel like a real person. There are people who love me for me, not because I wrote a fantastic article."
"You're in deep."
"Yes. And loving every second of it."
***
By the time her meeting with Tiana was done, Audrey was exhausted. She drove back to her apartment with heavy eyes. It probably wasn't the best idea to drive all the way back to the palace in this state of mind. As much as she wanted to go home to her vampire and shifter, safety came first. She was too tired to drive any distance. A quick nap would take care of that.
Once in her apartment, she checked her phone. A frown crossed her brow. There were a half-dozen missed calls from Dimitri. She quickly phoned him back as she kicked off her shoes. It only rang once before he answered.
"Audrey, are you okay?"
"Yes."
"You weren't answering your phone."
"I was in a meeting with my boss. Why? What's wrong?"
There was a brief pause, and then the phone call took on a slightly echoing quality that indicated that Dimitri had put it onto the speaker. Sanjay's voice came over the line.
"Have you seen anything suspicious?"
Audrey's heart began to beat faster. "No. Why?"
"Another woman was murdered this morning," Dimitri said. "She was seeing a shifter. They were both killed and dumped at the palace gates."
A cold ball of dread hit Audrey hard. She clutched her phone tighter, trying to calm her racing heart. "I'm coming back right away."
"No," Dimitri said. "We'll come get you. Our relationship is all over the tabloids, I wouldn't be surprised if you were being watched. It would be too easy to run you off the road on your way here and take you. Lock your doors and sit tight. We're already on our way. We'll only be fifteen more minutes."
"Okay." Audrey pinched the phone between her ear and shoulder as she rushed around her apartment, stuffing everything she needed into her laptop bag. It was a good thing she had left most of what she needed at the palace when she left yesterday.
"You have to tell her," Sanjay said over the phone, his voice lowered like she wasn’t supposed to hear.
Audrey stopped her frantic packing. "Tell me what?"
Silence.
"Tell me what?"
"Dimitri has received a lot of threats of late."
"There are always a certain amount of threatening letters written around the time of the Harvest Moon Festival," Dimitri interrupted. "There have been more than usual this year. The most recent ones we've received have stated that there will be more murders unless all the women who participated in the festival are ejected from the vampire palace, and all vampires with human mates are handed over to human authorities on charges of rape."
Could the Fist of Humanity people really be so deluded as to think that Dimitri would bow to such demands? Let alone the humans who had vampire mates. They would never accept it.
"They aren't concerned about the women," Audrey realized. "Otherwise they wouldn't be murdering them."
"Exactly." Dimitri's voice was grim. "We're almost there, hang tight."
Audrey opened her mouth to confirm she was ready as soon as they got there, but never got the chance.
There was a loud crashing behind her. The door flew off its hinges, splinters of wood shooting every which way. Half a dozen men wearing ski masks and carrying semi-automatic weapons surged into the room. Audrey screamed. One of the men yanked her phone from her hand while two other grabbed her arms and began pulling her out.
"King Dimitri, I presume," the man who had taken her phone said. He chuckled and dropped the phone, crushing it beneath his foot.
"Let me go!" Audrey screamed. They didn't so much as slow down as they dragged her towards the stairs.
Chapter Nine
When the men took off their masks, Audrey knew they meant to kill her.
She stayed hunkered in the back of a nondescript van with tinted windows, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. The only chance she had at escape was if their concentration lapsed long enough for her to bolt. But where could she go in a moving vehicle?
The city skyline soon disappeared, replaced by trees. They were taking her out into the bush to kill her. There was no doubt in her mind that these men were the Fist of Humanity. Would they torture her like they did the first woman they killed?
"Do you think your precious king will listen to us if our message is written in your blood?" one of the men asked, a crooked grin on his face. "Rumor has it that he's chosen you as his mate. Is it true?"
Audrey didn't look at him. What would Dimitri and Sanjay do when her body showed up at the gates of the palace?
"Ah, it is true," the man purred. "Do you know why he chose you? Not because he cares about you. Vampires don't care about anybody but themselves. You're a reporter. A popular one, too. All that your precious Dimitri wants from you is to have you in his bed and for you to spew out your ridiculous stories of women flocking to the Harvest Moon Festival every year, so the vampires can corrupt them."
It was exactly what she expected to hear. Audrey turned her face away. If she pretended to agree with them, would they let her go? Or was this all just words, trying to provoke her? If they truly believed that Dimitri didn't care about her, why take her in the first place?
Her heart ached as Dimitri and Sanjay's faces came to her mind's eye. How close had they been when she was taken? Had they seen these men drag her into the van and take off? And if they had… would they be following?
Don't cling to hope, she told herself. Think. There has to be a way out of this.
"He threatened to kill my parents and sister if I didn't write those stories," she said, making her voice waver. It wasn't hard, although making herself say the words was. If she could make them think she was on their side, she might be able to get out of this. "If I didn't… mate him, he would have killed them. I didn't want to, but he didn't give me a choice."
The man laughed. "We've done our research. You don't have any family. He wasn't blackmailing you, you're just like all the rest. Women who want to tear down what makes society, destroy our families."
"I thought you just said that the vampires corrupted the women that came to the Harvest Festival."
"Think you're smart, hey? Well, you're good for one thing at least." He smirked. "Let's get started."
Another of the men pulled restraints from a black bag he was holding. Audrey stared in horror. What were they going to do? Didn't matter–she wasn't going to give in without a fight!
Audrey lashed out, but they caught her wrists and twisted them behind her back. She screamed–and the van jolted to one side. A screech, deep, terrible, and totally inhuman, echoed through the air. The men cursed, pulling away from her. Audrey looked up just in time to see a massive cat leap over the front of the vehicle. It sank sink its claws into the roof of the van. Metal screeched as it tore the roof clean off.
"Sanjay!"
Gunfire erupted, making Audrey scream. She pressed her hands over her ears. Sanjay jumped back. His body was as big as the van, fur a tawny-gold with bold black stripes. His tail twitched and he yowled, his massive paws batting at the van, shaking it from side to side.
The back doors opened. Audrey opened her mouth to scream again when a pair of arms wrapped around her. A co
uple of the men started to turn. One of them pointed a gun in her direction. And then Sanjay was back on them, tearing the side of the vehicle open.
Dimitri pulled Audrey from the van. He tucked her into a ball in his arms and ran. Gunfire, Sanjay's howls, and screams followed after them. Audrey clung to her vampire king's arms, protests of leaving the Liger behind getting caught in her throat. The vampire bolted through the forest, jumping over logs and ducking under branches to put distance between them and the kidnappers.
Eventually, they emerged from the trees again. A white Lexus sat on the road, doors open and the engine still running. Dimitri slid her into the passenger seat before leaping over the vehicle and getting into the driver's side. Audrey could still hear gunfire among the trees.
"Stop," she gasped as Dimitri threw the car into gear. "Dimitri! Stop!"
The vampire ignored her, eyes sharp as he scanned the road ahead of them. They were off within seconds. Dimitri's foot pressed the gas petal flat to the floor. The forest whipped by around them, making Audrey feel sick to her stomach. She clutched at her seatbelt and the armrest. But she knew better than to try to open the door.
"Dimitri," she said again, her voice cowed. "Dimitri, you have to stop. Sanjay… we can't just leave him behind. They'll kill him."
"The shifter is far stronger than you realize, Audrey." Dimitri glanced at her. Worry was etched into his face, but he managed a small smile. "He'll be fine. Besides that, there are other vampires on their way to help him. As soon as we saw them taking you, we knew what we were going to do. We needed you safe above everything else."
A lump rose in Audrey's throat. "But Sanjay… if he's killed, I don't know how… I love him."
Dimitri slowed just a tad and reached over to grasp her hand. "I know. And he knows. It's going to be okay, Audrey. He's going to be fine."
Audrey closed her eyes and prayed he was right.
***
Even back at the palace, Dimitri wouldn’t leave Audrey's side. He was constantly on the phone, getting updates from the vampires he sent to help Sanjay or calling the human police to get them involved. If Audrey wasn't so distressed about the possibility that Sanjay might never come back, she would have admired the way he set things in order.
Hours stretched by, and each minute felt like an eternity. Finally, the vampires called and told Dimitri that they had smoked out the rest of the humans involved in Audrey's kidnapping. They returned quickly after that, driving ambulances painted all black.
Sanjay, in his human form, was wheeled into the palace on a gurney. Audrey wasn't allowed to see him, but doctors came to update her on his condition. Major blood loss. Riddled with bullets. Immediate surgery required.
Audrey's mind was in a haze as Dimitri explained what had happened, how Sanjay had found out where the kidnappers were taking her, and that he had gone after the rest of them on his own. The vampires were barely able to get there in time. He took more bullets than anybody Dimitri had ever met, but he was alive.
"He's one strong shifter," the king said with admiration. "No wonder the other shifters are in so much awe of him, even though he doesn't have his own pack. I thought the stories were exaggerated, but they're not."
"He does have a pack," Audrey whispered. Her eyes were dry, though guilt consumed her. "He has me and you. But all this is my fault. If I hadn't run away—"
Dimitri wrapped his arms around her. "No. Don't think that way, Audrey. We were forgetting that you were human, and we put too much pressure on you. It's our fault that you ran away."
"I don't know about that. I always do this. Do you know how many relationships I've had that have lasted more than three months? None. Because I always get stressed and scared and confused. And my job has always been my excuse. It's like I'm addicted to it."
"We aren't asking you to give up your career."
"I know that now. But I think it would be healthy for me to scale back, anyway. And to have others to live for besides myself." She had to repress a sob that crawled up her throat. "What if Sanjay doesn't make it?"
"Of course he will. And we'll make this work. Once Sanjay is healed, the three of us will talk."
Once Sanjay was healed. Audrey buried her face in Dimitri's shoulder, breathing in his scent.
I'd give up everything for them, she thought. Was that why I was so frightened before?
It had to be. But that didn't matter, because from this point forward, she wasn't running away. She would give her all to Dimitri and Sanjay. Her life, her love, her forever. And she knew they would give her the same back.
Chapter Ten
Audrey hurried back to Sanjay's room, gulping down the bottle of water he had insisted that she go get for herself. He had made it through surgery without any particular difficulties, although he was on bedrest for a few days just to make sure he was going to be okay. He was already bored with it, so it didn't look like there was any worries there. Audrey didn't want to be away from him for more than a few minutes at a time, though.
As she got closer to his room, she heard his deep voice rumbling down the hallway. He said her name, and she strained to hear what he was saying. Dimitri's voice answered, too quiet for her to catch.
"I completely agree," Sanjay said. "It would be utterly unfair to expect her to give up all of her career dreams for us. And I understand that you have your duties here, but I can still travel with her if need be. I don't have a lot out in the bush I'll be giving up on."
A murmured reply had Audrey speeding up, wanting to hear what they had to say. Both men were watching the door when she entered. They must have either smelled or heard her coming. She smiled at them both as she moved to sit by Sanjay's side. He was fully dressed, sitting on top of the blankets.
"How are you holding up?" she asked, taking his hand in hers.
"Ready to get out of here," he said with a frown. "I just want to get back into the forest for a couple of hours."
Dimitri cleared his throat. "That is something that you would have to give up, Sanjay. I can't go live in the forest, and I'm not sure it would work if we weren't all living together at least most of the time."
"I can't live in the forest, either," Audrey put in. "At least not full-time."
Sanjay's brow furrowed. He nodded slowly, glancing around. "I'm not sure how well I'll do in stone walls. But we can plan for trips out to the woods. And you have extensive orchards, don't you Dimitri?"
"Yes."
Audrey sat straighter and clapped her hands. "I see what you're saying. We can build a treehouse. We can have it out in the middle of the orchard. I know it's not the same as being in the forest, but we'll still have cell service and we won't be stuck in stone walls."
Dimitri looked doubtful, but Sanjay nodded. "My thoughts exactly."
Audrey beamed at him and squeezed his hand, then turned to Dimitri. "Would it work for you?"
"Well…" the vampire king hesitated. "I think it would be okay. It would have to be more than just four walls and a roof, though. There are security issues that we have to take into consideration. And it gets cold in the winter months, I wouldn't want you to get chilled, my dear."
He kissed her hand, making her giggle, but Sanjay rolled his eyes and pulled her into his lap. "I know how to keep this honeysuckle warm, even if you don't. And as for your security issues, you just told me that you and the human police both agree that the group that was killing the human women have been eliminated, and your security has already been increased."
"I do believe the killings will stop," Dimitri agreed reluctantly. "But there are other issues that we have to consider."
"Issues like you're too fond of your carpets and feather beds and golden halls to trade them for a humble wooden house?" Sanjay challenged, a grin on his face.
Audrey smacked his shoulder. "That's enough. We all know that we'll have to make changes in our lives. And as long as we're not feeling overwhelmed and going to run out because we've stressed ourselves out to the point where we can't think, it sho
uld be fine, shouldn’t it? We'll figure it out."
Dimitri and Sanjay eyed each other for a long time, as though waiting for the other to agree first. Audrey frowned.
"We agreed to compromise," she reminded them. "I know that you've both decided to give up on your things for me, but if it's going to work for all three of us, then all three of us have to sacrifice for each other. Maybe we can have three houses. The palace, a nice house in the orchard, and a little lean-to out in the woods."
Dimitri's face fell into a mask of horror. "A lean-to?"
"I'm fine with the house in the orchard." Sanjay chuckled and nuzzled into the back of Audrey's neck, making her moan. "I can take you out into the woods anytime I want."
"Not any time," Dimitri said, sounding dazed. "She has work."
"I'm going to scale back. A lot. Focus more on humanitarian stories, rather than the sensationalist stuff that I've been writing. I think I'm going to quit my current job… Tiana's great, but she doesn't want to hear about how shifters are oversexualized or that vampires aren't all posh snobs. I want to write the real stuff. Help people. And of course, have lots of time to be with you two."
Sanjay growled as he nibbled her neck, making her moan again.
"A house in the orchard will work," Dimitri said, as though just working through his shock at her suggestion of a lean-to. "And as for your job, I'm sure that we can make whatever you want work."
"I've got a few shifter families lined up for you to live with for your article when you're ready," Sanjay whispered, nipping at her earlobe.
"And I'm ready for that interview you want whenever you want," Dimitri added. "That should make your boss very happy… I hope it makes you happy, too."
Audrey pulled them in closer, grinning. "It does make me happy. There is a lot of misinformation about vampires I want to clear up."
