by C. L. Quinn
Staring at the fone after she left her message, she hit one more button. “Call Chione.”
Near an abandoned airstrip outside of Brazil
Will woke first, aided, he thought, by his earth magics. Hands and feet tied together with brixstix, releasable only with a coded wand, he assessed the dimly lit room where whoever had taken them kept them secured.
Dani lay beside him, breathing normally, her face pressed into a concrete floor. Sitting upright, he moved his banded hands to gently roll her face away from the rough surface. The movement roused her, and seconds later, she groaned and opened her eyes.
“Will? Where the fuck are we? Why?”
“I just woke up, so I have no idea. Jealous boyfriend?”
“Hardly. You’re talking to a girl who had sex so long ago, I’m probably a virgin again.”
“Didn’t know that could happen. And TMI, darlin’. All right, first, you’re okay, nothing seems hurt? Broken?”
Supporting each other, they scooted up against a wall behind them, concrete too, but covered with dirt and organic growth of some kind. It was none too clean, but neither of them were stable enough to sit upright very long without something to lean against.
“Ummm….I don’t think so. You?”
“I’m okay. After that healing pool, my body seems to go into hyperdrive to repair itself.”
“Handy, especially since we’ve apparently been abducted.”
Will slid his hand down to his pants pocket and grimaced. “Dani, do you have your fone?”
“No. I usually keep it in my side pocket and it’s empty.”
“Fuck. Next question. Have you fed from any of the vampires?”
“No, never.”
“All right, then, they can’t find us. No problem, we’ll just do this ourselves.”
“Break free? Well, let’s see, we’re locked in what looks like a concrete room and tied up with unbreakable bonds. If you’re expecting me to use my sex appeal to convince someone to let us go, you might want to know I suck at flirting.”
“Never gonna believe that, but not necessary. No, Dani, I think…”
He stopped when raised voices outside the room were followed with the scrape of stone as a heavy door pushed open. Three large men entered, two holding laser pistols, and one carrying a great big smile.
Artificially tanned skin set off the smiling man’s perfect white teeth as he moved close and bumped Will’s foot.
“Hello there. How are we feeling tonight? Anyone have a headache? Hungry? You will be happy to know that we all want to get along. If you’d like something to eat or drink, or need to shit, you need to let me know. Our plane arrives in half an hour.”
Calmly, Will caught the man’s attention.
“Plane? You can’t put me on a plane.”
“Big motherfucker like you afraid of flying? Wouldn’t have guessed it. Of course, you have exactly no choice in the matter. Suck it up, buddy. Now, who’s hungry? How about you beautiful?”
Dani shook her head, although it struck her that since she was going to die soon, she might as well have a last meal.
“Sir, you need to listen to Will. You can’t take him off the ground. If you do…”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, babe, you two got someplace you need to be by tonight. Boss has sent one of his fastest jets. That thing’ll have us in Las Vegas in four hours.”
“Listen to me, we’ll crash if you put me on any plane, especially one with fast take-offs like those hyperjets. I’m bonded to the earth…”
“Save your breath. You are going into that plane if I have to cut you into pieces to do it. So, no requests? Suit yourselves, we’ll be back to get you in thirty minutes or less.”
“Stop! Listen to me, asshole! I’m not fucking with you, we’ll hit the ground in a big fireball!”
White Teeth shook his head, laughing, as he motioned for the gun-toting sentries to follow him.
The door closed behind them again, neither Dani or Will spoke at first. Both knew how serious this situation was and if they couldn’t get their kidnappers to understand it, they were all dead.
Hyperjets took off so fast, they would be high in the sky when Will’s earth bond pulled them back, and when it did, with that kind of speed and elevation, no one would survive the yank back to the ground.
His eyes on the nasty room at first, finally Will turned to Dani. He wouldn’t be the cause of the death of another woman he cared about. She had a long, beautiful life ahead of her and this, a tragic death at her young age, was not going to fucking happen.
“Whoa, this just went sideways fast.” Dani’s voice defied the nerves that had to be frayed by the situation.
“I won’t let them put us on that plane.”
“Okay. Well, good. Because death by fire or drowning have always been off my list. Now, smothering in whipped cream, maybe.”
“Dani, it’s okay.”
“No, Will, it’s not okay. And it’s also not your fault, so don’t you fucking dare think it is. If this is our last hour alive, I want you to listen to me. This past year has been electric. I wouldn’t give up a moment. And you, you hot, sexy, broody guy, are one of the best things in it. I think you’re the first close friend I’ve had other than my brother, and I won’t have you going to your eternal rest thinking that you caused my death.”
“I will, if they do this. I’ll cause several. Although they might deserve it, you don’t.”
Dani scooted closer to Will and leaned against him, stretching up to kiss him on the lips. As she dropped back down, her eyes tear-filled, he felt her fingers lace into his.
“It’s really okay, Will. It really is. I’ll meet you over the rainbow. We both know that this isn’t the end.”
Tears sliding onto his cheeks, Will couldn’t stop shaking his head. No, no, no…
“I’ve lived a lot, Dani, and while I have some major regrets about dying now, I’m okay, I’ve made peace with mistakes I’ve made and who I am. But, you, sweet girl, I won’t let them put you on that plane with me.”
“Hum, well, I don’t think you have a choice. And if this is our destiny, I’m okay with it too. But Will, if they don’t separate us, will you hold onto me? If you can?”
“I’ll hold on for all I’ve got. If this happens, I’ve got you. But now, this destiny thing, I’ve yet to embrace it as immutable.”
Holding her to his chest, Will decided at that moment that there was no fucking way in this world that he would let Dani die tonight.
At Serenity Tower in Las Vegas
All three drunk, Olivia led Corri and Rochelle into her apartment. Rochelle, still dancing, arms swinging, belted out a loud and out-of-tune rendition of an old dance song called Disco Inferno from over a century ago.
“Sh-h-h-h.” Olivia put a finger to her lips, giggling. “You’ll wake the baby.”
Corri popped her in the shoulder. “Baby what? Hey, you don’t even have a dog. Why don’t we have a dog?”
Baby? Olivia wondered why she’d said something so ludicrous. “Let’s get some dogs! I’ll call the desk clerk.”
“Yay!” Corri yelled and started to move along with Rochelle.
“Yup, I’ll just call…hey, where’s my fone?”
“It was on the table at the club. You didn’t grab it?”
“Nope. I’ll send one of Sam’s guys to get it. Hey, we should get Ro to bed.”
Rochelle had just dropped onto the sofa, her head lagging to the side.
“Uh, huh. I’ll do it, and then I’m going to sneak out. I’m kinda feelin’ like some Vaz tonight.”
“Lucky, lucky girl. When am I gonna get my Vaz?”
Corri watched Olivia sigh, moving toward the balcony, and followed, slipping off her high-heeled shoes.
“Oh, honey, your Will will…”
“Nope. Don’t. No cheering me up tonight. I’m drunk and horny, and I think I want to wallow. Wallowing can be cathartic.”
“Yeah, I guess. Honey, we’ll talk all this out whe
n we wake. You okay?”
At the railing, overlooking her favorite view in the world, Olivia nodded. “I’m always okay.”
“I don’t know about that. You know I love you, don’t you?”
Her gaze softened, Olivia turned to face her closest friend. “I do. Right back to you, my dear Corri. Get that girl into bed and get out of here. You’ve got a man waiting for you.”
Fifteen minutes later, she heard the door swoosh closed and turned to face her living space. For some odd reason, her stomach was upset tonight, an ailment usually unknown to vampires.
“Stress. Worry. Loneliness. You pitiful fourth-generation first blood vampire. He’ll come.”
Wandering to her bedroom suite, she instructed the apartment’s AI to close the lights to dim, lock the apartment down, and slide all the UV security panels into place.
Rest would help. When the sun dropped, things would be normal again and she’d get back to her life.
After sliding out of her dress, she dropped her black spike heels on the floor and slid between satin sheets that caressed overly sensitive skin. Olivia hadn’t been kidding when she admitted she was horny, but the idea of sending for one of her sexy blood-bonds didn’t appeal. The idea of anyone else inside her, for the first time in her life, felt wrong and alien.
Sleep finally took her from consciousness, but her unconscious mind wasn’t through with her. Much of the night, she saw Will standing distant, a bright sun above his head, and knew, no matter how badly she wanted him, there was no way she could possibly reach him.
Suddenly awakened somewhere mid-day, a sense of panic struck her and she couldn’t breathe. Pushing off the bed, she paced, a hand on her chest, confusion, because she had no idea why she felt like this, she needed to get out of the apartment and onto the balcony. Daylight locked her into the room more than the three inch thick titanium panels that circled the apartment. A full glass of water later, and a shot of whisky helped to calm her down, and she fell onto her bed, uncovered, her eyes moist, she didn’t know why, and finally fell into restless sleep.
At Ife’s Compound
“Chione, is there any way to find them?”
“Yes. I need to pull together at least four of the earth warriors and we can reach across the air to discover where they are. You are all so spread out now, it will take a few hours.”
“Please hurry. I have no idea who’s taken them, but I sense something bad may happen.”
“I’ll call as soon as I know their whereabouts.”
“Thank you.”
Ife turned to her waiting friends. Torin sat on the top of one of her best sofas, his feet in the cushions, Scottie still stood at attention waiting for Chione’s answer and Brigitte sat rigidly in a chair.
“She may be able to trace them, but she needs physical connection to four of us warriors, and has to put them together. I’m sorry, but that isn’t quite good enough. Scottie, call Zia and Mac and get them back here. They only have about an hour to make it before daybreak.”
“You’re going to try to do a trace with us.”
“Yes. There are five warriors right here and we’re searching for two more who should still be within this continent. What do you think?”
“It’s worth a try. I’m on it.”
Crezia and Mac had hiked into the interior of one of the jungles to gather samples of both animal and plant life in preparation for an upcoming project. They’d left just after Brigitte had arrived, but Scottie knew the general vicinity, and it wasn’t beyond the timeframe to get back before the sun trapped them.
At the airstrip outside of Brazil
Dani rested against Will’s chest. He could feel her heartbeat under his fingers. Her eyes closed, she wasn’t sleeping, but it gave him the moment he needed to think about what he could do. Powerful magic rode inside him and now, at this desperate moment, he asked the universe to give him reign over them.
Silently praying to the living planet, he reached for his magics, drawing them from the earth as he had so many times, bidden and unbidden. As expected, they moved into him, waiting for release, stronger than before. Could he do what he hoped?
Dani opened her eyes and slid back away from Will.
“I feel it, the power moving around us. What are you doing?”
“What I was made to do. Move away from me, Dani.”
Without delay, she pushed onto her feet as Will did the same.
Standing now, anchored to the ground, he squatted and placed both hands on the concrete surface. Dani watched, fascinated, as he pressed his fingers into the slab and they began to shake. Seconds later, the unbreakable was broken.
Will’s hands were free. He looked at her and smiled.
“There’s a bit of magic for you.”
His eyes on hers, he walked to her and wrapped his hands around her cuffs. Pressure built, the magic swirling around her, almost tangible, and silently, with no warning, the band around her own wrists split and fell to the floor.
Rubbing sore wrists, she nodded. “My hero.”
“All in a day’s work. Now we have to escape our cinderblock.”
“Can you get the door open?”
The look Will shot her made her laugh. “What was I thinking?”
“The question is, what happens when we open it?”
“We have no weapons, no vehicle, and they are probably outside the door. The guy said we would board the plane shortly, so I doubt they’re far.”
Will’s mind working overtime, he knew they couldn’t plan without knowing what was out there. He had a thought, and no idea if it would work.
“Dani, pick up the cuff, slide it back around your hands, the opening to the back. When they come to lead us to the plane, I’m going to try to freeze them. If I can do it, we can get to the car and get the hell out of here.”
“You really think you can do it?”
“I think I have to try. Dani, we don’ t know how they’re going to react to my attempt. Stay behind me. Promise me.”
“Will…”
“Promise me. I can’t concentrate if I’m worried about you.”
“All right, I promise.”
“Okay then, we have a plan. Get your cuff and I’ll get mine.”
No sooner had they slipped the cuffs back around their wrists, the door opened and the same three men entered. The one who had barked out the orders before motioned to Will. “Come on. You don’t have any choice, so no thrilling heroics. Follow Duke, the guy with the awful Mohawk and the biggest gun.”
Duke waited at the entrance, and when Dani and Will stepped through, he pushed in front of them. Will immediately began to assess the scene. It was daylight, but he’d already assumed it was. These guys would be stupid to try anything when the vampires could come for them.
Stepping toward a small jet waiting on a paved runway surrounded by nothing but grass, Duke kept a slight distance and the gun on Will. His eyes moving swiftly over the landscape, it was apparent that this was an isolated airstrip for illegal business. No help here.
Dani stayed close as requested. Behind her, the second armed man kept some distance too, the man giving orders taking up the rear, as they proceeded to the open hatch of the high-speed jet.
Careful with his hand motions, Will saw only one other vehicle; a lift-car parked about thirty feet from the jet. The ground vehicle that must have been used to transport them there was nowhere in sight.
That, then, was the only option. He couldn’t escape in the lift-car, but Dani could.
Time to try out his other new skill. Focusing, he sent his thoughts to Dani, praying that he got it right. First, he spoke her name.
Dani.
Her head shot up and her eyes went to his. Success.
Hi, I wasn’t sure this would work. Telepathy is so weird. I am going to try to freeze these guys. If I succeed, you need to run to the lift-car and get out of here. Hopefully, one of these assholes left the keyfob in the ignition.
He could already see the immediate rejec
tion of the idea.
Dani, this is our only chance. I can’t go with you, you know that, but if you get out of here, you can bring help. I can see in your eyes that you don’t want to leave me behind but I’ll be okay. I think I can use my magics to disable the plane. Nod, Dani, to let me know you understand and will go.
Her eyes were wide, but he watched her tamp down her panic, and she nodded.
Good. Just, when I tell you, go and don’t stop. Trust me.
She didn’t have to speak, he knew what she was thinking. He’d have felt the same about leaving a friend behind, but this was the only way he could be sure she was clear and safe.
Twenty feet from the hatch of the jet, Will stopped suddenly, forcing Duke to turn on him.
“Get movin’! You got a sweet ride to Vegas waiting.”
Will did the opposite, dug his center of gravity into the earth and lifted his hands to the sky to reach for earth and universal elements, for power to do what only first blood vampires could do. Air began to whip around them as Will pushed for enough power to do what he needed to.
“Locktite, what the fuck is he doing?” Duke barked, looking to the leader behind them.
“I don’t fucking know. They’re human, I know that, so they can’t do anything dangerous.”
The second gunman had noticed the change in the air and felt the unnatural pressure. “I think you guys might be wrong about that.”
As suddenly as the moment began when Will stopped to reach for the magics, he lowered his hands and looked at the men. He pushed his need, waited, breath held, as he watched Duke, the man with the biggest gun.
He didn’t move.
Will moved his eyes to the second gunman, and the last man. Neither moved, and when he turned back to Duke, touched his cheek and saw shock in his eyes, Will turned to Dani. “Go.”
“Will, come with me, I’ll fly low.”
“No, I don’t know what height is dangerous. Get out of here. Dani, go get Torin and a security team.”
