A Kiss of Blood: A Vamp City Novel (3 page)

With her third shot, he flew back. Micah disappeared, and, a second later, so did the Trader who’d hit the floor. Both materialized moments later in the dark foyer, Micah’s skin smoking from that short dousing of simple daylight. Not even direct sunlight.

But she had no chance to celebrate. Before she could swing her aim to his companion, the second Trader was upon her, ripping the gun from her hand. Though she fought him with everything she had, he pinned her easily, wrenching her arms behind her back. In her peripheral vision, she saw him make a fist, as he’d done the last time he caught her. He’d knock her out, and she’d awaken in Cristoff’s dungeon. Or within the clutch of Cristoff’s torture-loving hands.

Raw terror slid through her veins, making the power inside her crackle and spark. But when she tried to use that power to throw him off, it failed her. Naturally.

A blur caught her eye, then the Trader at her back was gone, joining his buddy a heartbeat later in the shadowed foyer, slammed up against the wall by a second male, this one scorched and charred beyond recognition.

As the acrid smell of burning flesh raked her nose, the male healed, slowly at first, then more and more quickly, revealing a handsome, dark-haired vampire she knew all too well.

Arturo.

Chapter Two

Q
uinn stared at the vampire who’d assured her he would be trapped in Vamp City until the magic was renewed. A myriad of emotions hit her at once—disbelief, despair, terror. Fury.

Did his freedom from V.C. mean the magic had been renewed? If so, it hadn’t helped Zack, not at all. Or had the vampires being trapped been just one more of a long string of Arturo’s lies?

He turned to her, his dark gaze colliding with her stunned one, his eyes filled with hard determination as he turned back to the Trader in his grasp.

“How did you find the sorceress?”

As the Traders struggled ineffectively against the far stronger vampires, Quinn searched for her gun, spying it against the wall behind her reading chair. She reached for it, picking it up as Arturo’s voice dropped to that hypnotic tone of his that appeared to work as a low-level mind control. What she always thought of as his Obi-Wan voice.

“Tell me how you found her.”

The Trader fought to free himself to no avail. “We saw her a couple of days ago but lost sight of her near here. We’ve been looking ever since. Today, we saw her again and followed.”

Arturo glanced at Quinn. “Is he telling the truth?” His gaze pinned her, his eyes at once hard with violence and soft as he waited for her reply.

Her heart pounded, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of his being here, as she tried to untangle all of his lies. “I don’t know. All I know is that they’re the ones who caught me and sold me to the slave auction a couple of weeks ago.”

With a brief nod, Arturo reached into the Trader’s chest and pulled out his heart, killing him instantly. Mike did the same to his companion.

Quinn swayed from the shock of the violence as the bodies fell to the floor. She wasn’t sorry to see the Traders dead, but . . . good grief. Death meant nothing to the vampires.
Nothing.
But, of course, she knew that.

Even as she reeled, the bodies turned to smoke, evaporating. Definitely not human.

As the vampires turned toward her, keeping to the shadows of the hallway, Arturo pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped the blood off his hands.

Vampires.
In her world, her apartment.

“Has the magic been renewed?” she demanded.

“No.” A hint of guilt flashed through Arturo’s expression. “You are the only one who can renew it.”

But she’d known that. On some level, she’d known he hadn’t really let her go. “You lied.”

“You were safer here. Cristoff could not reach you.”

“But you could. You have.” She frowned. “You’re not trapped by the magic. Are none of you trapped? Was that just another of your multitude of lies?”

Arturo spread his hands. “I did not lie, except about myself. I am one of few who were not within the city when the magic began to fail. I was not caught by it, and am still able to come and go as I please. As can Micah. Most within Vamp City are trapped there.”

“You wanted me to feel safe here, didn’t you? And to not try to escape.”

He shrugged, then propped one shoulder against the wall just inside the shadows. As usual, he was dressed, head to toe, in black—a silk shirt tucked into dress pants—the fit of the clothes setting off his lean, muscular build to masculine perfection. Dark hair, cut short, framed high cheekbones, a well-defined jaw, and a beautifully sculpted mouth. Even his skin had the kiss of a warm Mediterranean sun, though he hadn’t been near sunlight in centuries. Damn him for a handsome, lying bastard.

“You are no longer safe here,
cara.
The Traders might have stumbled upon you by accident, as they claim, or they might have been sent to capture you, as I suspect. Others will follow.”

She lifted her gun and aimed it at his chest. “You’re not taking me back there.”

His gaze flicked to her gun with a hint of amusement.

Her brow rose. “Wooden bullets.”

His amusement fled. “I will keep you safe,
cara.
”

“You’ll hand me over to Cristoff again.”

“
No.
” He stepped forward, then pulled up on a curse as the daylight once more began to sear his skin. “I will not give you back to him.”

“I don’t believe you,” she snapped. She ought to just shoot him, shoot them both, and be done with it. Though with their vampire superspeed, they’d probably just step out of the way of the bullets.

And Mike . . . dammit, she’d thought he was her friend.

“Quinn,” Mike . . .
Micah . . .
said, drawing her gaze. “Arturo’s promised he’ll not hand you over to Cristoff this time, and I can assure you he won’t. He screwed himself good by taking you from Cristoff in the first place.”

“Cristoff knows it was him?”

“No. Cristoff is on a rampage to find the traitor who freed you. He can never know it was Arturo and Kassius, or their lives are forfeit. Mine, too, now. Since your memories can’t be erased, if Cristoff gets his hands on you, he’ll learn the truth. Our only recourse now is to hide you and find a way for you to renew the magic without Cristoff’s ever finding out we were involved.”

Which meant that after it was done, they’d have to ensure she was silenced. She had no illusions about what that meant though it didn’t mean they’d succeed. Still, if what Micah said was true—and having met Cristoff, she suspected it was—Arturo couldn’t let her get anywhere near his sadistic master.

She still wasn’t going with the lying bastard.

Shoving her gun in her waistband, she moved to Zack and shook his shoulder. How he’d slept through gunshots, she didn’t know. “Zack, get up.”

To her relief, he rolled over to face the room, blinking sleepily, his hair a mass of tangles, and a pillow mark on one cheek. His skin looked more gray than before, the dark circles beneath his eyes more pronounced. And his eyes . . . The whites had turned nearly silver.

“
Dio,
” Arturo muttered, then turned an accusing gaze at Micah. “You didn’t tell me.”

At the sound of Arturo’s voice, Zack glanced up. “What’s
he
doing here?”

Micah stared at Zack with a frown. “I didn’t know. I haven’t seen him in days.”

“Arturo lied about not being able to leave Vamp City,” she told her brother, acid on her tongue. “And Mike is his vampire bitch. Liars, all,” she added with disgust. “We’re getting out of here.”

Jumping from a second-story window onto a concrete sidewalk probably wasn’t the best idea, but their options were limited, with vampires blocking the only door. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t have to jump. There was a construction crew working halfway down the block. If she leaned her head out the window, and yelled, “Fire!” ten bucks said they’d bring her a ladder.

“Quinn,” Arturo said, his voice hard with warning, as if he’d read her mind. “Zack is suffering from magic sickness. He’ll die if you don’t reverse it.”

She glared at him. “Right. And of course that means returning to Vamp City with you. No thanks.”

Arturo opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it again, his frown deepening. “How long has he been ill?”

As much as she wanted to ignore him, his worried tone had her answering. “More than a week. You told me he’d sicken if he left the area. He left.” Enough of this. She turned and lifted the sash on the window, flicking away a dead fly to reach the rusted screen latch.

Micah spoke to Arturo behind her. “You said Kassius sensed something when he bit her. That Zack has somehow gotten tangled in her magic.”

Arturo grunted. “But he has no idea what that means. Nor do I.”

“His eyes . . .” Micah’s voice rose slightly as he addressed her. “Quinn, I’ve seen magic poisoning before. If we don’t figure out what’s causing Zack’s, Ax is right. He’s going to die.”

She straightened slowly and turned to face them with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “So his leaving town didn’t cause it? That was just another lie?”

Arturo shrugged, a hint of a smile lifting one corner of his mouth. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I prefer to call it a lucky guess.”

She just stared at him, the fury seething, burning. “What in the hell did you do to him?”

His expression turned serious, perhaps even puzzled. “Nothing. I do not know why he’s sick. Perhaps it was leaving the area. Perhaps it was leaving Vamp City. Perhaps it was something else.”

Damn him to hell. Lies, lies, lies. If there was any truth buried anywhere within that, how was she supposed to know? Whirling toward the window, she began prying one of the screen hooks loose.

“You would jump,
cara
?” Arturo asked quietly. “You will injure yourself. In Zack’s weakened state, he might not survive at all.”

She ignored him and pried the second screen hook loose, then glanced back to find the two vampires watching her.

Arturo’s gaze caught hers and held fast, frustration and determination swirling in those dark eyes. “Even if you escape, you cannot hide from me, Quinn. After your last escape, I put a magical tracer on you. I may not be able to follow you during daylight, but come nighttime, there is nowhere you can go that I cannot follow. How do you think Micah found you so quickly?”

Unfortunately,
this
she believed because Micah had introduced himself to her just hours after Arturo freed them. As soon as the sun had gone down.

Her blood steamed. Maybe she’d shoot him after all. Shoot them both.

“I want to go back, Quinn,” Zack said, sitting up slowly. “I want to go back to Vamp City.”

Zack’s quiet words stopped her cold. She met her brother’s tired gaze. “They made you say that.”

“No.” He swallowed and looked away. “I want to see Lily again before I die.”

“You’re not going to die.”

He turned back to her, his eyes older than she’d ever seen them. “Yeah, I am. Something’s happening to me. I can feel it. And I’m not going to survive it.”

Her breath caught. He sounded so sure, but he was wrong. He had to be wrong. “You’ll be okay once the magic is renewed.” Her own words, repeated so many times, came out automatically. But the moment she heard them, she froze. Her gaze flew to Arturo as the truth crashed over her with a shattering understanding. She was the only one who could renew the magic. Phineas Blackstone’s sons couldn’t do it. There was no escape. Not for her.

She sank down onto the sofa beside Zack, stunned. “I have to go back to renew it.”

Her brother took her hand. “No. Blackstone’s sons . . .”

“Can’t. That was just another of Arturo’s lies.”

Zack said nothing for a moment, but his grip tightened. “Don’t go back, Quinn. Let them die.”

“Renewing the magic might be the only way to save you.”

“Don’t worry about me. Stay here,” Zack urged. “No,
leave
here. Leave now and drive as far and as fast as you can. You can get away.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Certainly not
to die.
Just a month ago, she’d been bracing for the day he left
her.
When he graduated. When he moved to California with Lily.
Lily.
He said he wanted to see her again.
Again.

Quinn turned to stare at her brother. “Did you find Lily when you were there?”

Zack released her and looked away. Slowly, he leaned his long frame back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “She was at Castle Smithson.” Where he’d been a slave. “She was a maid or something.”

Quinn felt the words like a blow. He’d known all along where the girl was, yet he’d said nothing.
He’d left her behind.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His jaw hardened, tightening in that way it used to when he was small, just before the tears started. “What difference did it make? It’s not like I could save her. I couldn’t even save myself. I was fucking useless.”

Oh, Zack.

Her gaze swung to Arturo on a surge of hope that he could help save Lily as he’d saved Zack. But as she stared at that handsome, charming visage, as the vampire’s mouth began to open, she turned away, chastising herself for forgetting, even for a moment, that she couldn’t trust a word he said. He would promise her anything to get her out of the sunlight and back within his reach. Then he’d take her back there, use her to renew the magic, then try to kill her so she could never be captured by Cristoff and reveal what she knew about her escape from his vile master.

She turned to Zack. “You can’t go back there. Your chances of seeing Lily are next to zero, you know that.” If the girl was even still alive. “You’ll just be enslaved again.”

“I will find her for him,” Arturo said quietly. “And I will keep all three of you safe.”

Zack’s eyes snapped open, hope flaring within those sickly depths.

Quinn threw the vampire a look of disgust. “He’s a liar, Zack.”

“He freed us, didn’t he?”

“Did he? And yet, here he is.”

In the distance, she heard the wail of sirens.

Zack took her hand again. “Leave, Quinn, I mean it. Let that godforsaken place die.”

“And let you die with it? I’d give my life for you,” she whispered, emotion clogging her throat. “You know that.”

He dropped her hand, pulling in on himself as he scowled. “Why? I’m nothing. You’re the one with the X-man-like power. Figure out how to work it, then come back and kill the vampires that survive Vamp City’s destruction. You’ll be a hero, Quinn. Why waste all that on
me
?”

“Because I love you.”

“I love you, too,” her brother said matter-of-factly. “So do what
I
want this time. Let me go.”

Let him go.

Swallowing hard, Quinn shot to her feet and turned away, staring, unseeing, out the window as her emotions knotted together until she didn’t know what she was feeling, let alone what to do. The last thing, the
last thing,
she wanted was return to Vamp City. Nothing good awaited her there, only the threat of torture and the risk of death. But how could she walk away,
run
away, knowing Zack was going back there? Because whether or not going back there cured him, Zack’s chance of survival in that place was miniscule unless she went too.