Waves of shock went through my body. Everything that had happened in the last twenty- four hours ricocheted in my brain, and it threatened to explode. Even this gesture of kindness almost brought me to my knees.
“But, I thought you were working with Blade,” I whispered.
“We were, and it was a mistake,” he said. “You’re our Mistress, and we need to protect you.”
Those words made the room spin around me. I could hardly believe what I heard. Everything I’d believed until last night was totally backwards. I had to hold on to the dresser behind me to keep myself steady. “Thank you.”
“It’s our duty,” Ryder said without any sarcasm. I hadn’t expected to gain respect simply because my rival was a lunatic, but I’d take it any way I could get it.
Holly sat silent, rolled up in the sheet at the corner of the bed.
“We need to bring Holly with us,” I said.
“No!” she cried.
“You’re our only real weapon against Blade.” I tried to reason with her. I didn’t even know if what she could do could be used against him, but it was better than what I had.
“It doesn’t work like that,” she protested.
“You can tell us what to do.” Ryder stood up, conversation over. “Let’s go, ladies.”
“Beautiful.” Tristan’s voice was weak. “God, am I glad to see you.”
I had to hold it together. If he knew how bad he looked, would he want to heal? It took everything I had not to run out of the room. His skin looked like it had melted and cooled badly, with deep red grooves and raised wrinkles. The smell of burned flesh lingering from him made my stomach spin violently. But instead of running away, I smiled as brightly as I could, running my hand through his hair, which was short and stubby. Burned off.
Before I could stop myself I flinched and gasped.
Tristan chuckled. “I got a haircut.”
“I guess you did.” I plastered the smile back on my face and tried not to scream as the short hairs bounced up against my hand.
“It will be back in no time.” He smiled at me, but then grimaced in pain. “I’ll only be ugly for a few days.”
“I don’t care about your hair.” I wanted to curl up in a ball beside him, and just lay there with him until everything was better, but I was afraid to hurt him. I pulled back a little, considering my options and frowned. “Is it okay if I lay down?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He visibly braced himself for impact. I stood up and shimmied out of my jeans before joining him. The roughness of the fabric scraping against his delicate skin would set him back days. He grunted a few times as I made my way under the covers. “I always wanted a naughty nurse.”
“It’s going to have to be a few days until you’re ready for that sort of treatment.” I positioned my head on the pillow next to him. I held my breath so I wouldn’t pass out from the smell.
“See, you do think I’m ugly!” He laughed.
“No, I don’t.” I sighed. “You’re obviously in pain.”
“Yeah,” he admitted. “I still feel like I’m on fire.”
The memory of the burn Blade sent inside me rushed back, my insides searing with the thought. I had to think about anything else, but it was so hard, looking at this ruined version of Tristan just inches from my face. “What happened?”
Tristan took a deep breath, and I started to wonder if this visit was too much for him. Fire could kill us, he was just lucky this time. “I knew you were out with Lennon, so I decided to go out for a few drinks. Believe it or not, I got a little carried away.” He smiled, but I didn’t return it.
“Something happened to Lennon, too.” I gulped. “Cash turned on us. He threatened us, saying he was going to kill her, and now she’s gone.” The panic rose, mixing with the burn. Time ran out for me last night before I had a chance to look for Lennon, and this morning Ryder woke me to this news. I couldn’t feel guilty about not being able to rescue Lennon from Cash yet. I could only be in one place at a time.
But Lennon needed help. She needed me, but so did Tristan right now.
“I knew that bastard was too good to be true,” Tristan groaned. “Who’s looking for her?”
“No one right now, not that I know of.” God, I was the world’s worst friend. Look what I let happen to the people I loved. “But Cash has to have her. I need to get her away from him.”
“Send the girl for her.” Tristan’s voice was already weakening. “She got me away from Blade.”
“What girl?” I asked. I still didn’t know who could be trusted.
“The vampire girl.” He closed his eyes, as if he was fading away, scaring me half to death. The real kind. “Tell her what you just told me, then come back.”
Rachel.
My legs were like rubber crawling out of that bed. I barely remembered to put my jeans back on before going out to the living room. Tristan was in worse shape than anyone was willing to admit to, and Lennon might be dead. I wished these cowards would come directly at me for once instead of hurting everyone I loved. It didn’t make any sense. Yeah, I was the leader, but at times like this, it felt like it was in name only. I wasn’t strong or exceptionally smart. I should have been an easy target. Maybe too easy, if you got off on this sort of thing.
“Is Rachel here?” Everyone turned around and looked at me, mouths open. I had to look like hell. I certainly felt like it.
“What’s up?” Rachel raced out of the kitchen, bringing a glass to Josiah, then rushing to me. “Are you okay? You started screaming last night on the phone—“
“I’m fine.” I shook my head as I said it. Physically, it was true. “But Lennon, I’m scared for her. Did Ryder tell you what I told him, that Cash and Blade are working together?”
“Yeah.”
“Tristan thinks you can get Lennon away from Cash.” I hugged myself as I said it.
“It was a fluke! I don’t know how I did it,” Rachel said sadly. “I wish I did, but I don’t.”
“What happened?”
“She made the fire stop,” Noah said. In my distress, I hadn’t even noticed him. I stared at him, waiting for him to say something crude. It actually crushed me when he didn’t, because that meant we really were in trouble.
I looked at Holly, who sat on one of the bar stools by herself. The only other human in this crowded room was Melanie. Holly must have wanted to crawl out of her skin, surrounded by this many vampires. How must she feel being under Cash’s thumb?
And what had they done with Blade? I couldn’t really care about him, with Lennon in trouble and Tristan mangled, but I wondered.
“So she can start fire,” I pointed at Holly, then my finger moved to Rachel, “and she can make it stop. They’re both tied to Cash…”
“What are you thinking, Callie?” Ryder asked.
“Together, they might be able to neutralize his powers. If Rachel could make Blade’s powers stop, maybe it would work on Cash.”
Ryder nodded, that must have sounded solid to him. “None of us have ever been in this situation before. Cash is a powerful vampire. He poisoned Josiah, and we didn’t think that could happen. Who knows what else he’s got up his sleeve?”
“Why can’t we all just do the same things?” I flopped down into an empty chair, exasperated.
“Because you’re all freaks!” Holly declared, the whole room turning to look at her. “I don’t want to be involved in this.”
My mouth dropped open, and I sat forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “You won’t help Lennon? Someone who’s done nothing wrong, and has absolutely no defense against this guy.”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I can’t go against Cash, and I won’t help him.” She pointed at Noah.
“Get her out of here!” I roared, even if I could sympathize with the Noah thing. “I don’t want to look at her.”
She didn’t apologize as she was led out of the room by one of the Soul Divider guys. I didn’t care if I never saw her again. She was on her
own. Well, maybe not, since she cowered in the wake of Cash.
The room fell silent after the door closed. In the distance, I heard someone groan. It was probably Tristan, tearing my heart into pieces, but it could have also been Blade. It was strange that no one had mentioned him.
“What did you guys do with Blade?”
“Don’t worry about him right now. We have that under control,” Josiah insisted, with Rachel on his lap. “Lennon needs you now.”
I met Rachel’s eyes. “You and me, then?”
She stood up, walked towards me, and held out her hand. “You and me, Mistress.”
The crowds for Cirque Macabre at Circus Circus were beginning to rival the mania found at the Alta Vista. Rachel and I had to weave our way through the wild crowd that had gathered in the lobby. Rumors had leaked out that Cash was performing human sacrifices nightly, and who could pass up the chance to see that on their vacation?
“Have you seen this show before?” Rachel said to me over her shoulder. We had to lock hands to make sure we stayed together. Our work needed to be fast and efficient. The clock was ticking for Lennon, and I actually hurt, probably feeling Tristan’s pain as he healed. I just wanted to get back to him.
“Yeah, it’s actually really cool, if you take out the killing people part.” Words I never thought I’d say.
We passed the box office and headed straight for the door.
“Whoa, hold on girls.” The middle aged usher held up both of his hands. “You need tickets.”
Rachel bared her fangs, snarling, and pulled the usher into her body, so her mouth rested against his neck. The poor man looked like he was going to piss his uniform. “We don’t need shit.”
When she let him go, he fell back against the turnstile. He somehow managed to hold out his hand, welcoming us inside.
“Rachel!” I gasped. “Don’t do that in public.”
“Sometimes, it just feels good.” She laughed. “No one believes it’s real.”
“He works for Cash! And the staff has to be nervous, knowing not everyone makes it out alive.” I said as we made our way into the arena. “It’s only so long before they become a part of the show.”
“What do we care what they think?” Rachel asked. “We’re not human, we don’t play by their rules. I don’t miss that fear. I spent my whole life afraid, and it got me nowhere. Cash might be a ruthless bastard, but he gave me a second chance. I wasted my life. I’m not going to waste this.”
We leaned up against the wall, surveying the crowd. Everyone said that Rachel wasn’t powerful, and they were all wrong. Anyone who was fearless had power.
I envied her.
“We don’t play by any rules.” I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “We’re supposed to hate each other.”
“Right? How dumb is that?” She laughed and then motioned at the crowd. “So how has this been happening?”
“Well, the other night the girl was in the crowd, and no one knew anything until they pulled her on stage. But Lennon, if Cash is holding her hostage, might be backstage.” I focused as hard as I could, trying to find Lennon. Tristan said he knew I was in Vegas before we actually saw each other. It was time for me to figure out that trick. Fear hung thick in the building. I didn’t know if I was picking it up from Lennon, or the staff, or someone completely different, but it made my head throb. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like a tracking system, and it didn’t tell me where it was coming from. “Let’s go.”
The uniformed security guard must have gotten a heads up that two female vampires had entered the building, or maybe our looks of determination just said don’t fuck with us. He stepped aside as I pushed open the door that led to the backstage area without saying a word to us.
“That’s far enough, ladies.” Cash’s thugs blocked the hallway. Tony stepped out from behind them. “Your little game is over.”
If he was hoping for shock factor, that had come and gone already. I’d been on to him for weeks. His big reveal wasn’t going to throw me off my mission. “I hope Cash has a job description for you in his office, because you’re going to need it. Get the hell out of my way.” When no one budged, I let my eyes go red, and relished the fear it created in front of me. “Whatever happens to Lennon, I’ll make sure it happens to you.”
The color drained from the faces of all the men as they all made a small step aside to let us pass. My reality began to swirl, knowing whatever was happening to Lennon affected these men trained to protect and maim if need be.
“Lead us to her,” I demanded. I couldn’t rely on my memory right now. I was so depleted from all the trauma of the last day that my guard was down. Cash could invade my thoughts easily and throw me off the trail.
Tony began to protest, but Rachel didn’t even let him get the words out before she grabbed him by the long, thin hair concealing his bald spot and raised a knee to his groin. He slid down the wall, but she didn’t let go of his head until his scalp hung in her hands. The contents of his skull spilled on to the concrete floor.
“Eew.” She threw the skin and hair down into the crumpled heap of Tony’s corpse. She dug in to her purse and pulled out hand sanitizer, cleaning off her hands, then offering the bottle to me. I stared at her in disbelief, but I took a squirt.
“Do we make ourselves clear?” I asked the remaining guards as I rubbed the sanitizer into my palms. They nodded, their eyes wide and mouths open. “Lead us to Lennon. Now.”
The guards walked quickly to get us to our destination before they did anything else to piss us off. We headed down the stairs to Cash’s lair. All I could hope was Lennon was at least comfortable here.
The room was pitch black, not even the lanterns on the wall had been lit. I blinked hard, and tried to prepare myself for what we’d find here.
“Do you think this is a trap?” Rachel whispered. “No one’s here.”
“They’re here. This is the way he likes it,” I told her before calling out, “Lennon!”
My voice echoed in the windowless room.
A faint moan came from the left.
“Lennon!” I called out again. “Crap. Where are you?”
“Doll,” Lennon gasped from the couch. A blanket half covered her otherwise naked body. Her face was turned to the side, swollen and purple. I sat down next to her on the couch, and she groaned at the weight shift. The second person I loved hurt by my mere presence tonight.
Looking at her was painful. I was afraid to touch her, because I didn’t think it would bring her any comfort. Tears welled in my eyes as I saw that her skin was covered in bites, red, angry marks, as if she was a dog’s chew toy. Her breath came in labored gasps.
“What happened?” I asked. I didn’t want to know, but I needed to.
“He said he was going to fuck me to death.” Her voice didn’t even sound like it belonged to her. “He said that’s what whores deserved. He said I left him to rot in that hospital.”
“What? That was over a hundred years ago. That wasn’t you.” Cash had totally lost his mind in this killing spree. I wondered if he could even separate his current reality and Lennon from his past torture.
“I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he just called me a liar.” Lennon’s voice wore thinner, and she had to close her eyes halfway through talking. “He said he only kept me around to get closer to you.”
I was close to passing out.
I looked down her body, the blanket covered her hips. If that was Cash’s method of destruction, I knew I didn’t want to see what she looked like under that blanket. Lennon watched my eyes move down her body, and back up to her face.
“It’s worse down there,” she managed, then slumped. “He tore me up with his fangs.”
“Jesus,” I hissed. And he left her to bleed out. “Is he still here?”
Lennon flinched. “I don’t know.”
I looked at Rachel, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I need to find Cash. I want you to stay here with Lennon. Give her blood
. As much as she needs, whatever it takes.”
“You mean, anything it takes?” Rachel said, wiping her cheeks and coming to replace me on the couch. “I might turn her.”
Lennon gasped.
“Turn her,” I said. “That’s why I want you to do it. With my blood, she might become too powerful. I know she just wants to survive.”
As I stood up, I took one last look at Lennon, who nodded at my words. I leaned down to her, wrapping a lock of her hair in my fingers. It was the only thing I could touch that wouldn’t cause her pain. “You’re going to be okay. We’re not going to leave you.”
She winced, and it was almost impossible to tear myself away. My heart broke for the second time today, as I repeated leaving someone I loved who was suffering.
All because of me.
Cash could not get away with this.
“Cash!” I called out. “You fucking coward! Where are you?” I didn’t know my way around his house. I had no idea how big it was, or what I would find in the other dark rooms. I looked in all the rooms I could find.
The slippery bastard could be sitting quietly, blending into the darkness, or casting an illusion to make himself invisible. Or he might not be here. It had been close to show time when we arrived, it made the most sense. I trembled with anger that I might have missed him.
“Where is he?” I asked the guard, who had waited dutifully for us by the entry way. He didn’t say anything, but went up the stairs. Whether or not he meant for me to follow, I did.
“Rachel,” I poked my head back in to Cash’s apartment. “Will you be able to hear me if I call for you?”
She looked up from Lennon, her face solemn. Lennon’s recovery was taking much longer than the girl Cash tried to kill the other night. I had to separate myself from my despair, lock it in a little box to come back to later. To help her, I needed to stay focused. “I’ll concentrate on you,” Rachel said. “And I’ll know if you need me.”
I braced myself, throwing my shoulders back before I followed the guard up the stairs. No one had cleaned up the mess we’d left with Tony’s body in the hallway yet. But that wasn’t even close to the worse thing I’d seen that evening. Images of Lennon’s chewed up body and Tristan’s burned body flashed in front of me.
We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3) Page 19
