by Emma Shade
I closed my eyes and exhaled noisily. This was the most conflicted part of the story of Jamison Master’s life. Something the man was never proud of was the manner in which he had become a vampire. I filled Blake in on some of it. How we’d never struck it rich in the gold mines and settled in California for a few years. Then one night my sire, Lily’s father, showed up at my home with a band of vampires. I said, “See, you weren’t supposed to let humans know about us. So, being my friend put his head on the chopping block. However, he was given a choice. Die or become a vampire. He chose vampire.”
“So, Jamison’s sort of your vampire brother then? Because Lily’s father changed him?”
I sadly shook my head. “No, Lily’s father didn’t change him.”
Blake frowned and wrinkled his brows. “So, who changed him then? By your expression something’s not right. What’s so bad that you don’t even want to tell me?”
My eyes met Blake’s and I hesitated. The next thing that came out of my mouth changed everything. “Jamison was changed by Conrad Steele.”
The silence in my house was deafening. Blake continued to stare as though he hadn’t heard me correctly. While I knew Jamison would never hurt the girls, Blake didn’t.
Jamison’s life had been a living hell after that choice. Where I, on the other hand, lived with the regret of dragging him into my world. Sadly it took me about fifty years later to find Jamison and rescue him from Con’s grasp. It was my fault he’d suffered for so long. But, Jamison was a better man than I could ever be. He grabbed his new life by the horns and moved up in the ranks. Never looked back at his past or blamed me for it.
Finally Blake blew. “And you trust this son of a bitch with Lily and Paige!? Are you out of your fucking mind!? I can’t believe you’d put then in the hands of somebody who’d been sired by the very evil piece of shit that caused Sam and Lily so much suffering!”
I put my palm out in front of me and replied, “Blake, trust me. The man is nothing like Conrad Steele and never will be.”
“Trust you?” Blake scoffed. “What have you done to show me an ounce of trust lately? Not a damn thing. You lied about your pact with Sam, you lied to Lily, and you lied about Jamison!”
“What about saving your ass so many years ago, Blake? I’m not the monster you make me out to be!” I roared and my fangs stabbed my tongue, filling my mouth with blood.
“We’re going to leave first thing in the morning, only because I’m going to slit the bastard’s throat if he touches a hair on her head. Besides, it’s my best chance at finding Lily too. But believe me, if she’s got a scratch on her, I’ll take her and disappear.”
I grasped Blake’s arms and shook him in frustration. “Listen to me. I’m telling you the truth and I’d never put her life in danger!”
“The mere thought of you sinking your teeth into her puts Lily’s life in danger. I’m not arguing about this any longer. I’ll be here in a few hours. Be ready or I’m on the first plane out without you.” Blake stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.
“Vegas here we come.” I groaned as I made my way to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of blood. Chugging it down in several gulps, I leaned against the counter and growled. This trip had to be over quick, or I’d kill Blake and ruin my promise to Liliana about not murdering the insolent ass.
CHAPTER TWELVE
LILY
Today was Friday and the big masquerade ball a few hours away. Paige and I had spent the day shopping, eating, and lounging around the hotel room. My mind riddled with thoughts of the people back home in Indiana, I almost wondered if Carlotta and Jeffery had gotten even closer to my location. Why else had they arrived in Las Vegas?
“A penny for your thoughts,” Paige said, munching on potato chips from the vending machine.
The sound on the television at a near deafening level, I turned down the volume and shrugged. “Just thinking about home. Carlotta and Jeffery’s appearance brought a lot of emotions barging through my carefully constructed barricades. Why do you think they’re here?”
“Well, they could be on vacation. I mean, it’s an adult playground of epic proportions. But, for real? I think they’re getting closer to finding you. Why else would they be in the exact same casino we happened to be in? My main question is, why send the couple and why didn’t Ashton show up himself? Unless he’s a major pussy, which I know better than to think that.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. But what if they’ve been chasing my ghost all across the country? Maybe Ashton and Blake don’t want anything to do with me anymore,” I replied, and rubbed the pain against my ribcage, “and they’ve moved on.”
Paige chuckled and shook her head. “You’re so dense. Neither of those men are going to give up trying to find you. The ones who love you would never leave you. Even if there are a hundred reasons to give up, they’ll find one reason to hold on. And trust me, those two have to be the most stubborn men I’ve ever met. Well, besides Alistair who’s not only an asshole, but a party pooper too. Alistair’s picture would be found next to the word ‘prude’ in the dictionary.”
I smiled at her reference to Alistair. “Well, either way, we’re going to have to eventually call Alistair and tell him who we saw.”
“Yeah, but not yet. We’ll do it in the morning after the masquerade tonight. Knowing Alistair, he’s sitting in his library stewing about our attitudes. And you don’t know how much joy that gives me,” she said and winked.
“You know you like Alistair. Just admit it.”
“How can you like somebody who’s never let somebody get close enough to pat them on the back, let alone actually give them a hug. It doesn’t matter, it would never work anyway. We’d end up killing each other.”
“Well, you know what they say, Paige,” I said and waggled my eyebrows. “Opposites attract.”
She snorted and removed herself from the bed. “Yeah, well, in this case it’s not a matter of opposites attract. Alistair could catch a cold with the ice inside his heart.”
I frowned. Alistair never seemed as callous as Paige mentioned. But, she knew him longer than I, and truth be told, something was off with Alistair. Maybe he was scarred and damaged from heartbreak in the past. Could that be the reason he ran?
Paige interrupted my inner rambling and said, “We better get ready. I’m going to make sure we look amazing tonight. If there’s somebody out to get us, at least we’ll look marvelous when we kick their ass.”
“Or get our asses handed to us.”
“Yeah, that too,” she admitted with a shrug and headed to the bathroom.
Not what I wanted to hear, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
*****
“Shit, girl. We look good!” Paige cried as we checked ourselves out in mirror.
“Good enough to eat?”
Paige glared at me through the reflection. “Not funny, Lily.”
“Well, you never know. We could be their dinner guests so to speak.”
She shivered. “Con was bad enough when trapped in that basement on your rescue mission. I don’t want anyone sinking their fangs into me again.”
I smirked. “Except for Alistair, right?”
She frowned and stormed away from the mirror to rummage through her purse. “Will you let the Alistair business drop for once?” she retorted, and shoved several items into the small handbag that matched the dress. “I’ve already told you that I don’t feel anything for him and that, even if I did, nothing could come out of it. He’s damaged, broken, and has way too much baggage for even me.”
I applied my lip gloss and turned to face her. “Who are trying to convince, Paige? Me or yourself?”
“Will you just fucking drop it?”
“Fine. I’ll drop it. But when you come running back to me after you’ve fallen madly in love with him, don’t be pissed when I tell you I told you so.”
Paige pinned her hair high on her head and ringlets bounced on her shoulders. My hair was slightly
curled and pulled up high as well. Without a word, she tied my masquerade mask under the curls with a little too much force. My head jerked back a few times when she tied the bow and tightened it. I knew better than to pressure her about Alistair. At least now I’d get the silent treatment. It’s not like that was a bad thing.
I’d finished securing Paige’s mask on her face when the cell phone rang.
“Speak of the devil,” she muttered and answered. “Alistair, what a surprise. I’m putting you on speakerphone. I need to finish getting ready.”
“Get ready for what?” Alistair asked through the speaker.
“Oh, you know, a night on the town.”
“Seriously, Paige. Don’t play games. You both have been avoiding me for days. What’s the status update on finding the vampire in charge of the blood trade?”
She chuckled and sat the phone down on the dresser next to us. “Actually, if you must know, we’re both getting ready for a masquerade ball at Desert Sands Casino. We suspect that’s the place the vampire owns. Our limo’s going to be here in about ten minutes.”
He sighed. “Do you think that’s the smartest thing to do? You don’t know what these people might be capable of. A night on the town isn’t exactly work.”
“We’ll be fine. Besides, Lily and I can take care of ourselves just fine. No need to be our protector.”
There was a pause for a few seconds and he said, “So anything else to report?”
“Actually, I have a question. It’s been bugging me ever since we saw him,” Paige replied and slipped her feet into the boots. “What do you know about an eight sided star tattoo? It rings a bell with me and I don’t know why. It’s important somehow.”
I smacked her arm in frustration. “Alistair, I’m sure it’s nothing. Paige’s being nosey.”
“Wait. A star tattoo? It wouldn’t happen to be under their right eye would it?” he asked.
Paige and I both froze. At the same time we replied, “Yeah.”
There was shuffling on the other end of the line, and Alistair’s voice boomed, “I’m on the next flight out. You need to stay inside the hotel. Do you understand me?”
“Why?” I asked and edged closer to the phone.
“Those are Enforcers. Conjurer assassins. I’m not sure why they haven’t acted yet, or what they’re after. Something tells me that Lily’s story is out. How or why, I don’t know. But you need to stay locked in that room until I get there. Do. Not. Leave.”
I swallowed in fear. Nobody knew where I was, so how did they find me? It hadn’t made any sense. Something crossed my mind and curiosity got the better of me. Chewing my lip, I snatched my cellphone from my handbag.
Paige shrugged and smirked. “Sure, we’ll stay locked in tight.”
“I’ll call you when I get there. Be careful. Don’t. Leave.” The phone beeped as Alistair disconnected the call.
“We aren’t staying locked up in the hotel room are we?” I asked and raised my eyebrow at Paige.
“Hell, no. We’ve already gotten dressed up. It would be a waste.”
I shook my head and peeled the cover off the phone. Popping the battery out of the back, I gasped. “I have a tracking device on my cell. Who would be tracking us?”
“What?! No way,” she said, and yanked her cell off the nightstand. Removing the battery, she let out a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. “The only person who’d be tracking us with these cell phones would be Jeremy or Alistair. I know what you’re thinking, Lily. They’re the good guys. Maybe somebody hacked into the computer system. Or we were spotted before the hair dying experience.”
I frowned. “Maybe. We’ll be sure and keep an eye out. If these guys keep following us to different cities, then we’ve got our answers.”
A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. She pointed at me on the way to the door, “Take it with you anyway. They’re our only way to get in touch if things go to hell in a hand basket.”
I muttered under my breath, “If they don’t take them first.”
A deep twang flowed through the room like honey, “Are you beautiful ladies ready to party?”
“Jamison, I thought you were sending a limo,” I said and took in his ensemble.
A long, black lace suit jacket with huge decorative buttons hugged his body, a mix of red and black lace vest clasped along his chest, and a deep red silk shirt that matched my dress peaked out at the collar and sleeves. Everything, including his mask, blended with both of our dresses to a tee.
He grinned. “I did. But, I couldn’t miss seein’ you for the first time. I must say, darlin’, you look fabulous. Are you ready to get this over with?”
I heaved a sigh. That line, even though Ashton usually said it, haunted me every damn time. It’s if fate heard those words uttered from the lips of men around me and decided to fuck with my life. Every. Single. Time.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Well, both Paige and I had been wrong about the decor in the ball room. Desert Sands Casino’s masquerade ball was decorated in the Carnival theme. Bright colors, big plumes of feathers for center pieces, and even though the colors were loud, it fit.
A large dance floor was set up in the middle of the room and a DJ on the stage played light classical music. Patrons milled about with different masks, dressed to the nines as though it was an elegant affair. Hell, for all I knew, it was.
Of all the masks, several men wore the big bird ones that resembled the plague doctors of the medieval ages. Also known as death dealers or birds of death, the costumes wigged me out.
“What’s up with the disturbing bird men?” Paige asked on a whisper.
As if she read my mind, I shook my head. “Not sure. They’re effing creepy as hell.”
Jamison linked his arm through mine and led us into the crowd of people. Men curiously watched us and women glared. By the attention we received, I figured out that Jamison was not the average being I had originally thought. The man oozed power as soon as we strolled through the door. That either meant two things. One, he was the vampire in charge of the prostitution and blood trade. Or two, he resided high on the vampire hierarchy. Which meant he knew Ashton. Neither situation was ideal.
Paige glared at me. I ignored it for now, because something was niggling at the back of my mind. An impenetrable force needled at my thoughts. Slamming the imaginary brick wall down inside my head, I glanced around the room and scanned the patrons. The mind voodoo reminded me way too much of Con and it scared the living daylights out of me. But, thankfully, that asshole was dead. So whoever was trying to wiggle their way into my head was an unknown assailant.
Jamison must have noticed my posture change and leaned over to whisper, “Everything okay?”
I looked up at him for the first time since arriving and narrowed my eyes. “Who are you really? The power rushing out of you is insane.”
He flinched in astonishment, as if my words caught him off guard. “I’ll fill you in soon. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’d like to use the restroom first.”
“Sure, but if you pull any tricks on us and disappear, then we’re gone for good,” I warned and pointed at him to be sure he got my point.
“I won’t leave, darlin’. Too much is at stake to escape just yet.”
At that, he disappeared down the hallway as the two of us waited at the edge of the hall.
“What was that all about? His face was priceless whatever you said to him. You didn’t tell him you wanted to have his babies and run away to get married did you? That usually has men hightailing it out of there,” Paige said. “He’s probably sneaking out the window as we speak.”
“No, I asked him who he really is. As soon as we cleared those doors, the power radiating off of him was unreal. Couldn’t you feel it?”
“Lily, I’m not the one with vampire genes,” she whispered. “If anything, Jamison is the man we’re after. And you just gave it away.”
A short, dark skinned man strolled in our direction and
cut off my retort to Paige. Dressed in a god-awful purple suit and a matching mask, he bowed in front of us. “Good evening, ladies.”
Taking my hand in his, he lifted it to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of my hand. By the telltale dead air from his touch, another vampire stood in our mists. Two beautiful women and a gorgeous man flanked him as though they were his devoted followers.
I frowned and slowly pulled my hand out of his. “And you are?”
“Ah, yes. Forgive me, my pet. The beauty radiating off of you two lovely ladies caught me of guard,” he said and smiled. “My name is, Victor. Would the two of you like to accompany me and grab a bite to eat?”
“No, Victor, they’re with me,” Jamison announced from behind us.
Victor bowed again. “My apologies, Jamison. I didn’t realize they were spoken for.” He snatched my hand again and pressed his lips to it. “If you change your mind, please let me know. Jamison here can be quite the bore.”
Victor and his cronies sauntered away and into the crowd of masked people. If I thought Jamison was untrustworthy, Victor had him beat by a mile. I wiped the back of my hand off on my dress in disgusted. I shivered and faced Jamison. “Who was that?”
He shrugged and positioned a hand on my lower back. Leading me deeper into the hallway, he said, “Somebody y’all don’t want to associate with. Trust me. Now, on to more pressin’ revelations.” Pointing at Paige, he instructed her to stay put at the end of the hallway to keep watch. With a glare she acknowledged his request, but her face said she’d kick ass if need be.
“Lily, I know who you are,” Jamison stated. “I’ve known from the beginning.”
“Are you going to kill me now?” I asked and let my supernatural powers rush through me. They edged through a little too smoothly this time, which was surprising as my nerves rattled all over the place.
“No, I’d never hurt you. Actually, I’m here to protect you. Those men with the stars on their faces we saw? They want to kill you. It won’t be long until the vampire version of them start to arrive.”
