"Why not?"
Somewhat tentatively, Bryan took her in his arms.
He was a pretty good dancer, though not nearly as smooth as Dominic… she slammed the door on that train of thought and focused on the music. The jukebox was playing an old Heatwave tune, Always and Forever.
Tears stung Tracy's eyes and she blinked them back. Dominic had vowed to love her forever.
Their table was ready when the song ended.
Tracy ordered shrimp. Bryan ordered steak.
Abruptly, he reached across the table and took her hand. "Tracy, you know I'm in love with you."
She blinked at him.
"If I decide to go back home, I want you to come with me. As my wife."
"Bryan."
"I know this is sudden. I don't even have a ring to offer you, but I had to tell you how I feel before Host my nerve."
"Oh, Bryan."
"I guess that's a no."
"I don't know what to say." She had known he thought he was in love with her, but a proposal was the last thing she had expected.
"I don't guess you need to say anything else."
"It's just so sudden."
"Maybe you could think about it?"
"I will."
He brightened a little at that.
They were walking down the street toward the theater when Tracy saw Petrina and Zarabeth coming toward them. Petrina wore a short black miniskirt, a black crop top, and knee-high black boots. Her long black hair framed her pale face. Zarabeth wore skin-tight black leather pants and a blood-red tank top. Her blond hair was cut short, dyed black on the ends.
The two vampires stopped in front of them. Petrina glanced from Bryan to Tracy, a smirk on her face. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked.
"Bryan, this is Petrina and her friend, Zarabeth. Ladies," Tracy said, emphasizing the word, "this is Bryan Longstreet."
Petrina ran her fingertips down Bryan's arm. "So pleased to meet you," she purred.
"I'm happy to meet you, too," Bryan replied. "Both of you."
"Does Dominic know you're out with another man?" Petrina asked, and then answered her own question. "Of course he doesn't."
"Where are the two of you going?" Zarabeth asked.
"Uh, to the movies," Bryan said, obviously ill at ease.
"Sounds like fun," Petrina said.
"Yes," Tracy agreed, taking Bryan's hand. "Too bad you can't come with us."
"Oh, but we can." Petrina smiled. "Can't we, Bethy?"
Zarabeth nodded.
With a sigh of exasperation, Tracy pushed past the two vampires, pulling Bryan with her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Who are they?" Bryan asked.
"Just a couple of… of girls I met. They're friends of Dominic's."
"Ah," Bryan said, as if that explained everything.
Bryan bought their tickets and they went inside to find their seats.
Moments later, Petrina and Zarabeth slid into the two seats behind them.
Tracy was glad when the lights went down and the show started, though she found it difficult to concentrate on the movie, knowing there were two vampires sitting behind her. Now that she had sent Dominic away, she was no longer under his protection, making her fair game for the vampires. The thought sent a cold shiver down her spine. Even if she was still somehow under Dominic's protection, Bryan wasn't.
Tension seeped into her and by the time the movie was over, she was ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
She clung to Bryan's hand as they left the theater, acutely aware of Petrina and Zarabeth strolling along behind them, their heads close together.
What mischief were they planning?
"Hey, Trace, you all right?" Bryan asked.
"Yes, sure, I'm fine."
"Are you cold?"
"No."
"You're shaking."
"Oh. I…"
Before she could come up with an explanation, Petrina and Zarabeth moved up beside them, one on either side.
"We've decided you should come to The Catacombs with us," Petrina said.
"No, thanks," Tracy said, her hand tightening on Bryan's. "We have other plans."
"We won't take no for an answer," Zarabeth said.
"Petrina," Tracy said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "Not tonight."
"Oh, yes, tonight," the vampire insisted.
"You heard the lady," Bryan said. "We have other plans."
"And you heard Zarabeth," Petrina said, taking hold of Bryan's arm. "We won't take no for an answer."
Bryan winced as her hand closed over his arm like a vise, her fingers digging into his skin.
Tracy looked up at Bryan. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he said, trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing. But Tracy saw the sweat bead on his brow.
When they reached Bryan's car, Petrina and Zarabeth climbed into the back seat.
There was no conversation on the drive to The Catacombs.
"I don't remember ever seeing this place before," Bryan remarked as they exited the car. "Is it new?"
"New?" Petrina laughed as her fingers curled possessively over Bryan's arm. "Hardly. It's been here for years."
Tracy glared at Petrina. "Bryan is my date."
"You can't have them all," Petrina said, pouting. "Make up your mind. Do you want Dominic or this mortal?"
"Bryan's with me." She knew instinctively that the only way to survive this night was to bluff her way through.
With more courage than she felt, Tracy peeled the vampire's fingers off Bryan's arm, then took him by the hand and walked into the bar.
Stepping through the door, she wondered if Dominic was inside.
The bar was dimly lit, as usual. A slow, sultry tune was being played on the piano. Several couples were dancing, their bodies pressed intimately together.
Tracy recognized a few of them, including Marcus and his human companion. There was no sign of Dominic.
Petrina slithered up to Bryan. "Come on, honey," she crooned, "let's dance."
Petrina led Bryan onto the dance floor. Zarabeth grinned at Tracy, silently daring her to make a scene.
Instead, Tracy moved to the bar and sat down between two vampires. She recalled Dominic had introduced them as Laslo and Turk. She nodded briefly at both of them, then turned to watch Petrina and Bryan dance.
Petrina was pressed so close to Bryan that they looked like they were joined at the hip. She was whispering in his ear; whatever she was saying brought a rosy flush to his cheeks.
Zarabeth sauntered over to stand in front of Tracy, blocking her view of the dance floor. "So tell me, where is Dominic this evening?"
Squaring her shoulders, Tracy met the vampire's gaze. "I don't know. I'm not his keeper."
Zarabeth laughed softly. "Petrina will be delighted to hear that. I must tell her, when she gets back."
"Gets back?" Tracy leaned to one side and peered around Zarabeth. There was no sign of Petrina. Or of Bryan. "Where did they go?"
Zarabeth shrugged, her eyes wide with mock innocence. "I'm not her keeper."
Tracy slid off the bar stool and pushed her way through the crowd onto the dance floor, her gaze searching for some sign of Bryan. If anything happened to him, it would be all her fault.
She was suddenly aware that all conversation had come to a halt.
The music stopped, and a heavy silence fell over the room.
Like wolves on the scent of prey, all the vampires save for Marcus moved toward Tracy until they had formed a tight circle around her. The air hummed, vibrating with preternatural power. Their eyes glowed red with their lust for blood.
Tracy broke out in a cold sweat as the vampires gathered around her. She looked over at Marcus. He was sitting in a booth, his arm around his human companion. She saw regret in his eyes before he turned away.
Pulses racing, heart pounding in her ears, she sent out a silent plea for help.
Chapter 21
Bryan opened his eyes to dar
kness. He blinked several times, hoping to clear his vision, but the darkness remained. Reaching out, he realized that he was lying on a bed with no memory of how he had gotten there.
Rising, he felt his way around the room, searching for the door, only to discover that he was locked in what seemed to be a small, windowless room.
Moving blindly across the floor, he made his way back to the bed and sat down.
Where was he, and how had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was dancing with some really weird Goth chick while she whispered obscene suggestions in his ear. Bryan knew he wasn't a man of the world but he wasn't a complete innocent, either. Still, he had felt himself blushing furiously at some of the outrageously salacious filings Petrina had proposed.
Too nervous to sit still, he rose and began to pace the floor beside the bed. Where was Tracy?
Was she being held here, too? How long had he been here? And where the devil was he?
He tried to tell himself there was nothing to be afraid of, that Petrina was just playing some sort of sick joke, but as the minutes passed, fear took hold of him. He broke out in a cold sweat, began to tremble convulsively as he recalled her grip on his arm. No mere woman was that strong.
He tried the door again. And again and then, in desperation, pounded his fists against it.
"Hello!" He pounded on the door again. "Is anybody out there?"
"Are you so eager, my little mortal? Then I shall not keep you waiting any longer."
The voice was low and filled with quiet menace.
Bryan stepped away from the door, his heart hammering in his chest. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm his nerves. It didn't help.
The door opened and he saw a tall, slender woman with dark red hair silhouetted in the doorway. She wore a long red gown. The skirt spread around her feet, making it look like she was standing in a pool of blood. He frowned a moment, wondering where Petrina had gone.
"I'm going home now," Bryan said. He moved forward, intending to push her out of the way and get the hell out of there.
"Are you?" She smiled, revealing a pair of gleaming fangs. "I don't think so."
Bryan took a step backward. "What are you?"
"I am vampire." Her voice was mesmerizing, seductive.
"Very funny."
"I am glad you think so."
She glided into the room, her green eyes glittering like shards of emerald glass.
Bryan tried to dart past her, but she was too fast for him. She grabbed his arm and with a twitch of her wrist, she hurled him onto the bed.
He stared up at her, terror coiling around his insides as she sat down beside him.
"Fight me, if you wish," she purred, "but it will do you no good."
He had never hit a woman in his life, but this was no time to be squeamish. Sitting up, he drew back his fist and launched a haymaker.
Her head snapped back at the force of his blow, but other than that, it didn't faze her at all.
Laughing softly, she wrapped one hand around his throat and pushed him back down on the bed. "Your puny human strength is nothing as compared to mine, you foolish creature," she chided.
"Let me go." He had meant the words to be a demand, but they emerged as little more than a whisper, the plea of a frightened child.
"Perhaps later."
He stared into her eyes, eyes now glowing and red. He swore aloud as he felt her fangs at his throat, but there was no pain, just a sudden sense of lethargy that drained him of all desire to resist.
He moaned softly, and then the world dissolved in a crimson mist.
Chapter 22
Dominic's head jerked up, his eyes narrowing as Tracy's voice echoed in his mind.
Dominic, help me! Please, come to me now.
For a small moment of time, he thought of ignoring her. He had spent the last few days pondering his past, reliving every lifetime he had spent with Tracy. He was tired, so tired of pursuing her. Tired of existing. Tomorrow, he had planned to end his existence. What would it be like to see the sun after so many years? Would his body go up in flames at the first touch of the sun on his flesh? Would it be over quickly? He was not afraid of death, but to burn… it was something he had feared since burning his hand when he was a young boy. He had never forgotten the excruciating pain.
"Dominic!"
The fear in her voice coiled around his heart and soul.
A moment later, he was streaking through the night, all thought of ending his existence forgotten.
Outside the doorway of The Catacombs, he dissolved into a fine mist before slipping inside.
Anger welled within him at what he saw. All the vampires in the room save for Marcus were gathered around Tracy like wolves closing in on a wounded doe. Eyes glowing, fangs extended, the vampires formed a loose circle around her. From time to time, one of them reached out to touch her, stroking her hair, dragging a fingernail over her cheek, down the length of her arm.
She stood tall and straight in their midst, her expression defiant. For all her outward show of bravado, he could smell her fear; it was a palpable presence in the room, exciting the vampires still more. She shuddered as one of the males licked the side of her neck.
Dominic sent his senses through the room. The boy's scent was strong, yet he was nowhere to be seen. Had they killed him? The boy meant nothing to him, but if they had killed the boy, then they had openly defied the law. Not only the law of the land, but the law that Dominic had set forth decreeing that there would be no blood shed within the boundaries of the village. To defy his law was to defy him.
Zarabeth began to circle Tracy, taunting her with tales of mortals she had killed. Tracy's face paled but she glared at Zarabeth, her expression filled with disdain.
Zarabeth ran her fingernail down Tracy's arm. "Have you nothing to say? We might spare you if you ask us nicely."
Zarabeth put her arms around Tracy, holding her immobile. She put her face close to Tracy's neck and took a deep breath, her eyes closing in rapture.
"Enough!"
Taking on his shape, Dominic strode across the room.
The vampires immediately drew back, leaving Tracy standing alone in the center of the floor.
Going to her side, Dominic slipped his arm around her waist and drew her up against him. "Are you all right?"
She nodded. "Bryan…"
Dominic glanced around the room. "Where is the boy?"
It was Marcus who answered. "Petrina took him."
Dominic's gaze settled on Zarabeth. "Is he dead?"
"I don't know."
"Would she take him home?"
"I don't know."
Dominic looked at Tracy, then back at the vampires. "To harm what is mine is to harm me." His voice was mild, but Tracy heard the steel beneath. To defy my law is to defy me, and the penalty is death."
Zarabeth shook her head. "No!"
"Petrina has openly defied me."
"Vampire does not kill vampire."
"Be still else I destroy you, as well."
A low murmur of consternation ran through the room.
Dominic silenced them with a look. "This is my chosen territory and my law prevails. When I allowed you to share this place with me, you agreed, one and all, to abide by my law. We have peace here because we do not feed on the villagers. We give them no reason to suspect our presence. The boy Petrina has taken has family. He has a job. He will be missed."
Dominic looked down at Tracy, his expression softening. "Come, I will take you home."
"What about Bryan?"
"I will find him," he said, and with that, he swept her into his arms.
A moment later, they were in her bedroom at Nightingale House.
Slowly, he lowered her to her feet.
"The lights," she said. "Put on the lights."
He waved his hand and the lamps beside her bed sprang to life, chasing the darkness from the room.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Fine," she said, and dissolved in
to tears.
"Tracy!" He pulled her into his arms, raining kisses on her brow, the crown of her head. "Do not weep, my best beloved one."
"Find Bryan," she said. "Please."
"I do not want to leave you alone."
"I'll… I'll be… all right. Please… hurry!"
"As you wish," he said, and vanished from her sight.
Tracy crawled into bed, fully dressed, and drew the covers up to her chin. Never in all her life had she been so frightened. Trembling uncontrollably, she closed her eyes. Into her mind came images of the vampires as they had closed in around her, their eyes glowing with a lust for blood. Her blood. If Dominic had not arrived when he did…
She opened her eyes and the images vanished. She was never going to be able to go to sleep, doubted she would ever feel comfortable alone in the dark again.
And what about Bryan? Would Dominic find him in time, or was it already too late? How would she ever live with herself if anything happened to Bryan? Oh, Lord, he could be dead, or worse. What if Petrina had turned him into a vampire?
He had done nothing to deserve such a horrible fate. Nothing but be her friend.
With a low groan, she doubled over, her arms wrapped around her middle, and rocked back and forth.
"I'm sorry, Bryan," she sobbed. "So sorry."
Reality returned slowly. He was aware of being cold. And thirsty. Opening his eyes, Bryan was grateful to see that he was no longer in the dark. A single candle burned on the table beside the bed. There was a bowl of fruit, a hunk of cheese, a pitcher of orange juice.
Sitting up, he ate ravenously, drained the pitcher of juice and wished for more.
Rising, he began to pace the floor. Where was she?
He tried the door again even though he was certain it would be locked. To his surprise, it swung open. He stood there a moment, wondering if it was some kind of trick.
Heart pounding, he took a step forward, his whole body tensed for an attack that did not come.
As far as he could tell, he was in an abandoned warehouse. A faint gleam of moonlight offered the only illumination and he moved toward it. He had gone about a dozen steps when he saw a door.
He was hurrying toward it when Dominic St. John suddenly materialized in front of him.
A Whisper of Eternity Page 17
