Haven

by Celia Breslin

  “You did this.” My voice shook with nerves.

  “No. Not this one.” The woman’s perfect bow lips parted in a smile, revealing dazzling, white teeth, complete with fangs. My heart pounded and my legs twitched with the urge to jump up and put some distance between us. She might be tiny, but I sensed big-time power in her. I didn’t want to be her next meal.

  Faith inched closer to me. “Stella’s mistress.”

  I glanced at Thomas and Alexander for confirmation. Thomas gave me an indulgent nod from the couch. Alexander crossed his arms and scowled at the female vampire. I liked him even more for his fierce crankiness on my behalf. I gave him a hesitant smile. His gaze flicked to me, softened for a moment then hardened when it returned to the other woman.

  I cleared my throat. “If you don’t mind my asking, why punish Stella? Why did you care she attacked us? Me, in particular?”

  The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “My minion is fortunate I did not rip out her heart and feed it to her, one tiny morsel at a time.”

  I stiffened. Gross.

  Faith leveled one of her all-knowing stares at the vampire. “Translation, she loves you.”

  The lovely vampire’s face brightened and she laughed. A bolt of pain seared my head along with a flash of her gazing down at me, laughing just like this.

  Hand in hand we spun and twirled, one in the dance. “My little star,” her voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere.

  A light caress across my cheek jerked me to the present. I massaged my temples. Another childhood memory, another painful shock to the system.

  The vampire knelt in front of me and searched my face, one slender hand resting on my arm.

  I like her touch.

  “I know you, but I don’t, I can’t—” My throbbing head made me stumble over the words.

  Adrian moaned. Faith eased away to check on him. I focused on the vampire, no, the woman in front of me. Dead or alive, I cared for this beautiful creature and instinct assured me she shared the sentiment. I reached for her. She leaned forward.

  At the last second, I pulled back. “I can’t remember your name.” I tapped my temple. “It hurts when I try.”

  Thomas called from the couch. “Then let us open the door and reveal—”

  The woman raised her hand and he shut up. Interesting. Thomas wasn’t the only undead big and bad around here. Good. I felt safe with her. Foolish feeling, maybe, but I clung to it.

  “Mi chiamo, Isabella.” Loss clouded her eyes and the musical chime of her voice sounded subdued.

  I didn’t want her sad. I wanted her to laugh and hold my hands and whirl me around the ballroom like she had when I was five. I wanted to squeal in delight and chant her name. It echoed off the walls in my memory now, not Isabella, but…

  “Tessa,” I exclaimed. “Mia bella contessa!”

  Tessa made a happy sound and crushed me to her chest. She was soft and warm and smelled like lavender. My heart hummed in happiness.

  “Hey, babe.” Adrian interrupted our reunion with a weak smile.

  I extracted myself from Tessa. “Hi.” I kissed his cheek and addressed the room. “Okay, someone tell me how my friend here ended up on your dinner menu.”

  “Come, my darling,” Tessa beckoned me. “Sit with me and all will be revealed.”

  “But—” I objected, even as she led me away from Adrian.

  “Come. The doctor arrives. Our Adrian will be well cared for.”

  Our Adrian?

  The door opened and Stella entered with a tall, gaunt bald man carrying a classic black doctor’s bag. His tight, black, topcoat buttoned to his pointy chin, black pants and shoes gave him the look of a Goth undertaker. His mask-like face chilled me with its black eyes, hook nose, thin-lipped mouth, and sunken cheeks.

  I didn’t like him at all.

  Stella curtseyed in front of Tessa, eyes on the ground. “Mistress.”

  “Mistress,” echoed the doctor, bowing low.

  “Go,” Tessa commanded.

  The two vampires whooshed to Adrian. From his bag, the doctor produced a large hypodermic needle and a syringe containing a red liquid.

  Unease stirred in my gut. I pulled away from Tessa. “What’s that?”

  She joined Thomas on the couch then gave the doctor a regal nod.

  “Hydroxocobalamin injection,” the doctor replied.

  “Vitamin B12,” Faith translated.

  “Okay.” I nodded my approval though no one asked for it. “You were serious? B12, steak and potatoes?”

  “Yes, child, dinner awaits him below. Now, come. Sit. Let us renew our bond.” Her words wrapped around me, nudging me in her direction.

  I took one step then stopped. No. First, I needed to check in with Adrian. Then chat with the vampires about their mental and physical abuse of my friend.

  Thomas raised a hand. “You see, it is as I told you. Even cut off from her whole self, she has the ability to resist our charm.”

  Tessa tilted her head. “Ah, but that was the gentlest of touches, nothing more. Surely she cannot fend off a truer persuasion.”

  “Indeed not. Yet I am curious to witness her strength of will once the barrier has been removed.”

  “Oh, I am sure it will be magnificent,” Tessa touched Thomas’s arm. “Though I question whether it would withstand a push from the oldest among us.”

  “We shall see soon enough, shall we not?”

  “Uh, hello, standing right here.” My voice betrayed my annoyance. I felt less like their long lost loved one and more like a lab rat.

  The two vampires ignored me, deep in conversation about the finer points of power plays.

  Adrian hissed as the needle sank into his arm. “Easy there, doc.”

  It took a long time for the red liquid to leave the syringe. Adrian caught me staring. “Rina, I’m fine. Relax.”

  I shook my head. “No. It’s not okay. They used you. I won’t let them feed on you and wipe your mind. It stops now.” I shot Thomas a glare.

  The doctor pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton ball to the entry wound, securing it with a strip of surgical tape.

  Adrian nodded his thanks to the doctor, eyes on me. “It’s not like that, babe.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I wasn’t forced. I volunteered.”

  I closed the small distance between us. Stella and the doctor sped past me in a swish of air. Faith remained at Adrian’s side. She gave me a cautionary look and mouthed ‘no,’ but I ignored her.

  “You volunteered. You’re their voluntary midnight snack. They didn’t enthrall you?” The guilt on his face made me add, “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

  “Well...” he averted his eyes from my heavy stare. Faith patted his arm.

  I gaped at him in disbelief, too angry to speak. Faith backed up against the glass of the overlook, out of the line of fire. Perfect. I kicked his leg.

  “Ow, Rina, dammit.” He rubbed his shin. Lucky for him, I held back and didn’t break it. Lucky for him, I still cared despite his betrayal.

  I paced back and forth in the middle of the room, cursing under my breath in Italian. Thomas opened his mouth and I rounded on him. “Neanche una dannata parola,” I warned. If he dared say one more word...

  Thomas locked his lips with an invisible key and tossed it into the air with an elegant flick of his long fingers. I eyed Alexander seated atop the bar. He raised both hands in surrender. I resumed my angry pacing and muttering.

  “English,” Faith suggested. I halted my heated pacing. Right. Adrian needed to hear every single word of my rant.

  “I can’t believe you lied to me. I know you’re the King of Excuses with the people you screw and dump, but you never lie to me.” My fist thumped my chest.

  Adrian winced.

  “How long have you known what they were? How long have you been food? Just how long have you been letting Thomas and his people use our club as a fast food restaurant?”

  �
�Carina, that is not—” Thomas objected.

  I threw him a one-fingered salute to shut him up and targeted Adrian. “How long have you been a freakin’ monster snack?”

  Adrian squirmed in his seat, still massaging his leg.

  I took a slow breath to quash the urge to pummel my treacherous friend. “You know, life was simple a couple of days ago. Exercise, eat, work, return some calls, hang out with friends, argue with my brother, go shopping. Normal girl stuff. Then my birthday happened and now left is right, down is up, dead is alive, and friends,” my eyes daggered Adrian. “Are enemies.”

  Adrian glanced at Thomas. That one look spoke volumes.

  “How long?”

  “Long enough,” Thomas replied.

  “Long enough,” I mimicked him. “What does that even mean?”

  No reply.

  Fine. I pushed ahead. “How many of them are you doing, Adrian?”

  His hands fisted. “Rina, please, you don’t understand.”

  I scowled. “You’re right. I don’t. How many. Tell me.”

  He slumped in the seat. “It’s not like that.”

  “You doing Thomas? Tessa? Stella? Those huge, linebacker monsters? Who’s such a good fuck that you’d lie to me? Don’t even try to deny the sex. I know you, remember? Or I thought I did.”

  “Babe, please—”Adrian started to reply, but Faith’s gasp cut him off. Eyes wide, she focused on the shadowy corner behind his chair.

  “What is it now, Faith,” I grumbled, unfazed this time. So many wrong things were happening all at once, what was one more? Tough thoughts, but I still jumped when a pale hand snaked out of the shadows and slid onto Adrian’s shoulder.

  ~ * ~

  The darkness itself solidified into a pale, young man with straight black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Dressed in black, he looked about my height and age, though my gut said much older. And undead. A small gold ankh dangled from a gold chain around his neck. Delicately boned for a man, I nonetheless sensed the power in his slight body.

  I stared into his dark, glittering eyes—pure black, as if the pupil had swallowed the iris—and swayed, trapped by his hypnotic, snake-like gaze.

  Come to me, his eyes commanded, or did a voice say it in my head? Regardless of the origin of the compulsion, my legs moved me forward.

  A swish of cold air announced Alexander’s arrival at my side. His strong, cool fingers braided with mine, breaking Snake Boy’s hold on me. Speaking of holding, Alexander is touching me.

  I raised our joined hands. “How is this possible?” No crazy energy spikes erupted and I still breathed like a pro.

  “We’re mitigating the effect of your connection,” Thomas explained from the couch.

  “We?”

  “In terms you can understand,” Tessa continued. “We are holding back the wave.”

  “For the moment,” Thomas cautioned.

  “Okay, thanks, I guess. So, are there any more invisible vampires in the room? Because apparently when you ordered everyone out, there were exceptions. How many more surprises do I have to deal with?”

  Thomas’s green eyes narrowed. “This is it, cara mia. We near the end.”

  My stomach clenched at his words. I squeezed Alexander’s hand and returned my attention to the monster in the corner. He massaged Adrian’s shoulders while Faith stared at him in horror, frozen in place and in need of rescue. I moved in her direction, but Alexander pulled me back.

  “What’s wrong, Youngling,” the dark vampire taunted Alexander. “Afraid I will take away your new little trinket?”

  I stiffened. “Did you just call me a toy?”

  And he’d called Alexander, Youngling. Apparently, my new guy is the baby vampire on the block. I filed away the info for another day, another conversation. Assuming, of course, we made it out in one piece. No guarantee of that, given the powerful, creepy vampire in the corner. I glared at Mister Creepy, refusing to let him see how much his unblinking stare unnerved me.

  Adrian opened his eyes, head resting against the vampire’s torso. “Jonas. Rina. Please don’t.” He gazed up at Jonas like a lovesick puppy.

  My irritation ramped up another notch. “Don’t what? What’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you act so whipped.”

  Jonas quirked one dark brow. “There was no flogging. Not tonight, anyway.”

  I threw him a disgusted look. “Okay, I get it. You’re lovers. So what? But looks to me like you had way more than a little bit of sex tonight. Look at him. Were you trying to kill your snack? Or is it always that kinky with you two?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?” His reply confused me, but I received no clarification. The already frigid temperature in the room dropped further. I shivered and Alexander wrapped his arm around my waist. It felt nice. Natural. I like it.

  Too bad I had a mere millisecond to enjoy it.

  Jonas snared Faith with his gaze. “Do not move.” His voice reverberated around the room, the power in it snapping at my skin like sharp static. A small cry escaped Faith.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I yelled and sprang forward. Alexander caught me, trapped me to his body. “Let go.”

  He shook his head, tightening his grip.

  “Little witch, do not pry where you do not belong.” Faith whimpered at Jonas’s words.

  I struggled against Alexander’s hold. “She’s not a witch, you idiot. Leave her alone, you’re hurting her.”

  His dark eyes locked on mine. “So?”

  Evil vampire. “So, stop it, you freak.”

  His lips twitched. “Make me.”

  I stilled in Alexander’s arms. “With. Pleasure.”

  “Release her, Alexander.” This from Tessa.

  Alexander complied and whooshed to the bar. I stalked to the corner with no idea how to fight such a powerful creature. Maybe I’d kick him in the head. I could probably pull off a roundhouse over Adrian and the chair.

  No kicking. Free her with your power, a musical voice sang through my head. Tessa. Clearly Thomas wasn’t the only one with the mind-talking ability.

  “That’s cheating.” Jonas heard Tessa, too. Did all vampires have access to my head?

  No, Jonas replied in mine. But he did.

  “Stay out of there,” I snarled. I spun toward Tessa. “What power?” I tired of hearing about this mythical power I didn’t feel. Not helpful at the moment, therefore irrelevant.

  Tessa scrutinized me. “She feels nothing, Thomas. You did your job all too well, my dear.”

  “Indeed.”

  I frowned. “Enough with the power talk. And you. Release Faith.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Make me,” he repeated.

  My fists clenched, fury battling with fear. “Why are you doing this? We already know you’re big, bad, and scary. What are you trying to prove?”

  “Rina.” Faith’s whisper drew my attention.

  “Black as night, full of light, a universe inside,” she intoned.

  Her robotic tone chilled my skin. “Faith?”

  “Eyes gone black and glowing with power,” she continued. “It’s there for the taking. Use it.”

  “Yes,” Jonas agreed. “Use it. If you dare.”

  My lips twisted in an unfriendly smile.

  Adrian cursed, tried to drag himself out of the chair, and failed. Jonas moved Adrian and the chair aside with one smooth, effortless push. I took the invitation. The way cleared, I attacked. I was adequately trained, but with his unnatural speed and agility, he easily dodged and deflected my every punch and kick. And never once retaliated.

  The bastard is toying with me.

  I stopped my futile attack. “You suck,” I panted, hands on my thighs.

  He arched a brow.

  I rolled my eyes and jerked my head at Faith. “Well?”

  I expected him to ignore my request and taunt me some more with his super powers. Instead, he released her with a regal flick of his wrist. Faith swooned. I made a run for her, but A
lexander beat me there and caught her before she hit the floor.

  I pointed to the couch by the door. “There, please.” In other words, as far away from Jonas as possible.

  Alexander placed her there gently, removed his jacket and covered her. A rush of gratitude ran through me at his thoughtful act. I smiled my thanks at him, but he failed to respond in kind, his face contorted in a scowl. He bared his fangs and hissed at something behind me.

  I pivoted, but too late.

  Jonas rushed me in a blur of speed. He took our bodies airborne then slammed me onto the bar. One cold, iron hand gripped my throat, the other shoved against my stomach. He unleashed his power and a thousand electrified needles pierced my skin. My eyes rolled up in my head.

  “Damn you, Thomas,” Alexander roared. “Let me help her.”

  “No.”

  “Get out of my way.” Alexander’s voice lowered with aggression.

  “Do not interfere, Youngling.” Jonas’s power charged the room, jolting me like some horrible supernatural Taser. I spasmed in his grip, red tinting my vision.

  The power hit Alexander and tossed him across the room into Heaven’s door. The walls shook from the impact. Every glass object behind the bar clanked and rattled. Alexander crumpled to the floor, unmoving.

  Thomas, help me! I screamed.

  Jonas’s face neared mine. “That’s cheating.”

  He trailed his knuckles down my cheek and an image flashed in my mind. His head lowering, lips pressing against mine in a soft, gentle kiss. My eyes widened. A memory? No. I didn’t know this lunatic. No way would I kiss this monster. It had to be a trick.

  “Are you sure?” His thumb slid over my lower lip.

  Unease churned my stomach.

  “Jonas, please. Don’t hurt her,” Adrian pleaded. I’d forgotten he was there.

  “Worry not, lover,” Jonas replied to my friend. “It won’t hurt. Much.”

  But in my head, he taunted me. I lie. It will hurt. A lot.

  A burst of terror-fueled adrenaline torpedoed me. I struggled with everything I had, but his power drove me down, sinking me deep into the black well of his eyes until I surrendered, the resistance melting from my muscles. His electric power crackled over my skin in triumph. My head throbbed, threatening to explode.