Paul
I huddle in a corner,
crying softly. Afraid if I close my eyes to the darkness I’ll never wake again. Remembering all I’ll lose if I pass out works as a good motivator, but as the sun creeps higher in the sky, I’m not so sure how much longer I’ll last.
Hugging my legs to my chest, I begin to rock, replaying the past few days in my mind. The horrors of the week came at us fast and furious. I think over every choice, wondering what went wrong, when did this trip slip so far out of control.
Was it our impulsive decision to rent a plane and fly here? Would staying on an island with humans mind-altered by Vivian’s enemies be any better? The rhythm of the small back and forth motion offers a lull to my scattered thoughts, steering my mind to a time I rocked my son in my arms, soothing him when he woke with a fever one night.
Will I see him again? Will I hold either child again, or will I die in this stinky hellhole underground? I dry my eyes with the back of one hand, disgusted by my emotional breakdown, but still unable to shake the feelings of despair.
Steps sound in the hall outside, pausing when they reach my door. “I hear him crying behind this one,” Drew’s hushed tone comes through the dark.
“I’m in here!” I scramble to my feet and follow the wall to the door, avoiding the broken furniture.
The door crashes against the opposite wall and Rafe’s scent spills in with the light. “Come on, Paul. Let’s go.”
I trip as I cross the threshold, my tiredness making me clumsy. Drew catches me and draws me to his side, away from the hard visage of our master’s husband. I nod my thanks while staring at Rafe. His rugged, good looks have transformed into a face that sparks pure terror into my soul.
His blue eyes glint like chips of ice, his clenched jaw makes the muscles of his neck stand out, and a hollowness in his cheeks lends an air of madness to him. I’ve never experienced the self-assured and relaxed man do more than raise his voice, and yet, right now he appears like a person comfortable with murder.
I pull back, shocked at what I see. I glance at Drew, and he looks away, discouraging any questions on my part. Without a word, Rafe kicks in the next door.
“She’s here somewhere.” He flicks on the light and looks around before marching to the next door. “I’m not stopping until I find her.”
He carries on like this along the entire hallway. At the last door, he rushes in and hope blooms within me. Drew and I race to the doorway. He gets there first and holds up an arm to keep me back. Rafe straddles the sleeping form of a black haired vampire, the greasy strands sticking against the golden skin of the man’s forehead. Rafe raises a dagger and plunges it straight into the unresisting vampire.
Drew shoves me into the hall, whispering, “You don’t want to see this, Paul.”
I land against the far wall, staring back at Drew, my mouth hanging open. “What the hell is going on?”
The sickening sounds of hacking flesh and the scent of vampire blood billow from the room. A wave of nausea hits me, forcing me to double over and wrap my arms around my middle.
“Dear God,” I choke out. “Has he gone mad?”
All of a sudden I wonder if I’m dreaming. There’s no way Rafe is on the other side of that wall butchering a vampire while the creature sleeps, is there? Aside from the moment in the hangar when I attacked Emiko, I’ve never fought anyone, even in self-defense. I haven’t been dead long enough that the thought of butchering someone in cold blood appeals to me, either.
Drew steps away from the door and slides down the wall—the shock of fighting exhaustion and the call to sleep clearly plague the other man, too. “He’s a demon possessed, searching for Vivian.”
“Is there a chance she’s still alive?” I ask.
Rafe looms in the doorway, staring down the hall, not looking at us. “Of course she’s alive. I would know if she wasn’t.” He strides through the corridor, heading for the stairs. “Keep up or I’ll leave you behind.”
Drew and I lurch to our feet, the weight of the sun and our recent healing from the fall through the trap door taking its toll. Our staggering steps give Rafe pause and a flash of the man I knew flicks across his face and disappears. “You two move like zombies,” he says, a trace of humor in his voice.
“Good,” Drew quips back, his exhaustion making him reckless. “Glad we fucking amuse you, you ruthless bastard.”
Rafe gets in Drew’s face. “Do you have a problem with how I’m handling the situation?” There’s no fear on the larger man’s expression as he stands toe to toe with the smaller, hundred and fifty year old vampire.
“If by a
problem
you mean watching you hack out the hearts of vampires like you’re carving a Sunday ham?” Drew asks. “Then yeah, I may have a problem.”
A stillness comes over Rafe, making his earlier quip about zombies seem like it didn’t happen. “What do you think they’re doing to my wife? Calmly questioning her to reveal what she knows about manipulators?” His eyes cut to me, and I gasp. “Do you think she’d give up Paul no matter what they did to her?” He steps closer and Drew retreats. “Or do you think they’re torturing her beyond all she can handle, to the point when her own sanity may break?”
The stiffness in Drew’s spine deflates, and he slumps against the wall. “I’m sorry, Rafe. You’re right. I’m stretched beyond all I can handle.” He runs a hand over his face. “I don’t know what good we are. And frankly, you’re scaring the crap out of me.”
Rafe punches him lightly in the shoulder. “Buck up. Let’s get you two closer to the surface and hide you someplace while I continue on.”
“If you waited ‘til after we slept,” I say. “We’d be able to help.”
He snorts and climbs the stairs two at a time. “Yeah, and everyone would be awake, too. Think, man—the best time to strike is when they are very weak or sleeping. Anything else is suicide.”
The logic of what he says sinks in, but I’m no help, dragging one foot after another, hoping like hell I can stay upright long enough to do as he bids.
We climb two flights of stairs, not encountering anyone in the elaborate underground warren. No surprise, since the time is well past noon and any smart vampires are tucked in their beds.
This floor looks different from the others. The ceilings are higher, and the lighting is better. The man Drew accused of being a wizard steps into the hall, stopping Rafe with his sudden appearance. “It’ll be easier if I tell you where she is,” he says and looks away, perhaps not liking what he sees on Rafe’s face.
“Why would you help us?” Rafe asks, clenching his fists, looking like he’s going to leap on the man and beat the information out of him if the wizard changes his mind.
The young man meets his gaze. “Because I was hired to place security wards on the Tribunal property. Elaborate work, acting like an early warning system. I was apprehensive when Cora approached me to cast a binding spell. If I had known where it was going to lead, I would have refused the extra money.” He squares his shoulders and raises his head. “I’ve no desire to get in the middle of a vampire feud.”
“Well, bully for you, Justin.” Rafe steps closer and draws his knife. “You’re in the middle of it, now.”
Justin shrugs. “Yeah, well, maybe telling you where she is will matter for something when the shit hits the fan.” He smiles a crooked grin, slow and sure of himself, with a measure of respect showing in his eyes toward Rafe. “And trust me, I’d bet my bottom dollar when the head honchos wake up tonight there’s going to be hell to pay.”
Rafe nods, accepting his explanation of self-preservation. “Lead on.”
The two move down the hall, and I fall to the floor, my exhaustion finally getting the better of me. Drew trips on my foot and crashes on top of me.
“Crap,” Rafe says. “This is as far as they go. Help me drag them into a closet and then let’s get going.”
I hear their steps toward us… and then nothing.
Asa
Over an hour ago,
Pat raced down to the basement with Jon’s bloody form draped over his shoulders. Dr. Cook was already on the premises and began working on his wound immediately. Candy paced the halls, unwilling to be too far from her new lover’s side.
The delectable scent of werewolf blood filled the lower level, prompting Cy to leave, getting out of temptation’s way by locking himself in Paul’s room. I would have thought being married to a werewolf meant he’d have his fill of their potent brew, but maybe the opposite has occurred and he’s been too long from his wife.
Romeo and Elsa left with a few of their pack to help Pat retrieve the captured hunters and Eric. The hunter who shot Jon, the one called Greg, turned out to be the man who organized the expedition. We had to hold his questioning until Jon could attend. While everyone wants to know what’s going on, it’s been agreed only Romeo, Jon and I will interview the man.
I sit in the conference room, sipping my bloodcoffee and glance at the clock. It’s almost ten a.m. and I’ll not be much good at mesmerizing the dude if Jon doesn’t hurry. The pale Were staggers into the conference room, swathed in bandages and rolling an IV drip alongside.
Candy helps him with the IV pole then leaves, respecting the privacy we’ve requested.
“I’m here,” Jon says. “Let’s get this over with.”
Before the door closes, we hear Eric bellow as the doctor sets his broken ankle. I wince at the sound, pity for my brother welling up.
“Wipe that sad sap look off your face, man,” Jon directs my way. “I’m the one who got shot.”
I smile at the bloody alpha. He didn’t even shower off the dried blood before coming in. The bastard is tough, I’ll give him that. “Yeah, whatever, Jon. I’m not related to you.”
Romeo drags in the hunter, throwing his cuffed form in a chair and placing his hands on his shoulders to keep him in place.
“You freakin’ animals!” Greg screams, spittle flying in his rage. “I’m gonna—”
I place my hands on the table and lean forward, pressing my will to voice while saying, “You’re gonna be quiet.” The man’s jaw snaps shut and a glassy look overtakes over his eyes. “Now, you’re going to truthfully answer every question we ask.”
There’s a hushed expectance in the air as the group waits for Greg to nod. Once he does, Jon launches in. “What brought you here to hunt werewolves?”
Romeo no longer needs to hold the man in his chair, and walks to the other side of the table to sit down and join in the questioning.
“One of you killed my sister,” Greg says, the pain clear in his voice.
I look at Jon, raising an eyebrow. “Dude,” he says. “It wasn’t me. I told you I’ve been here.”
I direct my attention back to the hunter. “What made you think it was a werewolf?”
“I tracked the prints for hours after the incident. They eventually led to a large clearing where only human footprints led away.” He shrugs, the anger in his posture making him stiff. “It was easy to track cars into the park via the cameras at the entrances.”
Romeo clears his throat. “Where did your sister die?”
“North of Winnipeg, we were camping off season where I’m a ranger.”
A look of sorrow passes over the Manitoba Alpha’s face. “When?”
“Last fall, late October. The cops closed the investigation, no matter what I said. Saying she was mauled by wolves—but I knew better.”
“What made you think they were wrong?” Jon asks.
“Because I was there at the end. I’d returned from showering and saw the creature leaving the campsite. It was too big to be a regular wolf.” Greg appears drained, remembering the incident. “I called for help but it was too late. After the cops investigated, I did a little searching of my own.”
Romeo’s face collapses and a heavy sadness fills the Were. “I know the accident he’s talking about.”
Greg looks ready to leap out of his chair. “You call killing my sister a fucking accident?”
One glance from me has him lowering back down.
“What happened?” Jon asks Romeo.
Romeo looks toward me, pain in his eyes before he looks away. “He doesn’t know he did it.”
A cold steals down my spine, and suddenly I’m very afraid for my brother, and not because he’s moaning down the hall over his fractured ankle. “Spill it, man.”
A sigh escapes the stocky alpha and his shoulders hunch. “It was Eric’s first change. Freezing rain came down heavy that night, making it hard to keep on top of both him and Pat. He broke away from the pack and it took us hours to track him. By then it was too late. He’d ripped the girl to shreds.”
I sit in shock, listening to the recounting of how Eric killed an innocent woman.
“Asa,” Jon says, pulling my gaze to him. “It wasn’t his fault.”
“Oh yeah?” says Greg. “Then who’s fucking fault was it?”
“Mine,” says Romeo, he looks at me with steel in his gaze. “And Eric doesn’t need to know what he did. He was too out of it—like a lot of new werewolves, the animal side had almost complete control during that first shift. When he remembered some of the details, I told him the girl lived. Reassured him she didn’t contract the disease since he hadn’t been a wolf long enough to spread it.”
I nod and lean toward the hunter, ready to wipe all their minds of what they know and block out the secret I’ve learned of my little brother. “Now, who else knows you’re here?”
Vivian
The stink of death
hangs over Rome like thick smoke on a day with no wind. Less than an hour after my arrival, my senses became overwhelmed with the rotting bodies of plague victims clogging the cobblestone streets.
Young, old, women, and children stacked up like wood, waiting to be hauled away. I’ve seen this before when death ravages a city—there are not enough people to do the work. Having a rogue vampire preying on anything healthy doesn’t help, either.
The council sent me when other vampires fled the city, reporting the plague wasn’t the only thing sweeping through the population, killing with abandon. From what I was told, this same scenario has happened in the past—a high death count triggers something deep in a vampire’s psyche, destroying the tenuous hold they have on their inner monster, pushing them rogue.
A few conceal their insanity, walking the fine line of hiding their many kills from society and their brethren for decades, while others snap and slaughter blindly until caught and eliminated.
The moist heat of the Italian summer wraps a suffocating hold around me as I slip through the darkened, deserted streets. I’m dressed like a nobleman in hose, breeches, a linen shirt, and a sleeveless doublet—with my sword in a scabbard at my side. My long hair is bound under a hat, my face darkened with coal to look like facial hair.
I searched for days to discover where the rogue hunted. The residences of the city’s merchant families don’t have many bodies outside, indicating they’ve shut themselves off from the lower classes whom the sickness often hits first. I came across three separate piles of sheet-wrapped victims, none of them reeking of disease.
Tonight, I wander those same streets, listening for any movement in the darkness, pausing next to posts… waiting to see what the evening may bring. As midnight looms closer a lone figure roams the cobblestones, his head swiveling back and forth scanning for signs of prey.
He strolls past piles of garbage, then hesitates outside a dwelling where a candle flickers inside. The sound of a baby crying for a midnight feeding rouses the home’s occupants—perfect preoccupied targets for a deranged murderer. I sneeze, turning the simple noise into a loud hoot of air to draw the vampire’s attention, and step away from the post, walking straight toward the beast.
I keep my head down, looking through my lashes, watching to see what he’ll do. He glances from the house to me, then settles on the meal coming at him—can’t get much easier than that.
The rogue’s unwashed stench hits me from fifteen feet away, a sign his madness might have progressed past the ability to blend into society. My powers are locked down tightly and the illusion of a healthy human pulses around me like a second skin.
Halfway across the street, I drop my coin purse, making a big show of retrieving it and displaying my neck as an effortless target. The insane vampire can’t resist, and lunges, covering the distance between us in the blink of an eye. Anticipating his move, I draw the sword from my side, sweeping my arm up in an underhanded strike.
The blow guts the advancing vampire from stomach to chest. Wobbling on his feet, his innards spill onto the stones. The rush of his released power fills me, the high of killing coating my mind, urging me to finish the kill.
A shocked scream of outrage spills into the night, but I pay it no mind. I step to the side, gripping the blade with both hands, and slice his head from his neck. Blood spurts into the hot night as the body crumples to the ground.
My instincts race to the surface, driving me to follow custom, and drink. Spoils to the victor.
The hot liquid flows down my throat, instantly changing from the acidic taste of the crazed to the rare flavor of love. Memories flood my mind as I spiral into the darkness, gulping down the blood like my very existence depends on it.
Passionate kisses, loving embraces… sweaty, frantic coupling with the man I love… the memory of a life I thought would be forever denied me, calling me back… my hands latch onto a warm wrist and the smell of my husband fills my senses.
“That’s it, liebling… drink. I have you now.”
I drink for several minutes, afraid to open my eyes and see he might not be real. The burning in my body lessens with every pull. I stop when I hear a change in the heartbeat under my ear, telling me I’ve taken enough from my willing donor.
A rough hand travels up and down my shoulder, soothing me while I’m rocked gently on a warm lap. If this is a dream my mind has created to escape the torture I don’t want to wake up.
“Dria? Can you hear me?” The ragged whisper breaks through my haze, the pain in the voice unmistakable. Small drops hit my face as lips press to my mouth in a brief kiss. “Come back to me. Fight the dark and come back to me.”
Unable to put off the agony of not knowing any longer, I open my eyes, unsure what I’ll do if I see the taunting forms of Lucas and Cora standing over me again. But they’re not.
The only link to my remaining humanity looks down at me, the soft smile on his face full of love. “I’d thought I lost you there for a while,” Rafe says.
My husband stands, carrying my battered body and steps over the decapitated body of Lucas on his way to the door. The aroma of death lingers on him, the scents too many for me to discern at once.
Tears sting my eyes, mingling with Rafe’s, as they course down my cheeks. “I thought I’d already lost you.”
His smile grows, easing the ragged lines of exhaustion carved into his face. “You should know by now—I will never give up.”
The mental wall I hold close crumbles and sobs wrack my body. I hug the man I love more than anything in the world—clinging to him with a ferocity born from the desperation of my own insanity. I was there. I was locked inside of the killing.
I didn’t want to come back.
Without him, there would be no coming back.
The rest of the afternoon
zips by in a blur. Rafe hustles me, and the covered forms of Drew and Paul, out to a waiting car. He says it’s borrowed from someone named Justin, but I have no idea who that is, nor do I particularly care.
We’re unloaded in the garage of a hotel downtown and transported upstairs to a suite of rooms with Chelly, Bob, and Tommy waiting for us. Rafe force feeds me two bags of Jon’s blood, then cleans my limp, healing body in the shower and bundles me in a fluffy robe.
The horrors of my torture still linger close to the surface, and I’m grateful we’re alone in the bedroom. I don’t think I can take the curious stares and questions.
My strength is returning, drinking Jon’s blood really helped, but mentally I’m not quite myself, nor has the silver poisoning worked its way through my system yet. I crave a deep restorative sleep for the first time in years, and yet, a part of my mind fears letting go… of what I’ll see lurking in the dark when I’m weak. As I lie on the bed and hold my husband’s hand, a tingle presses against my mind.
“I need to call Jon,” I say, pushing myself to lean against the headboard.
Rafe nods, looking for the world like he’s about to drop. “Call this satellite number.” He rumbles off the numbers of one of the phones I keep in the tunnels.
“Why? Has something happened?”
He nods and closes his eyes, putting his head in my lap and wrapping an arm over my thighs. “Yes, but they handled it.”
I pick up the phone on the bedside table and dial the number while sending out a mental push of
Answer your phone
through the mental link I have with Jon.
The phone rings six or seven times before the breathless Were picks up. “Hello? Dria, is it you?”
I smile at his use of my real name, an intimacy he rarely allows himself. “Yes.”
A heavy sigh comes over the line. “What the hell happened? I couldn’t feel you in my mind.”
“It’s a long story…” I relay everything that happened—not lingering over the bad parts like my torture and temporary loss of sanity—and answer his questions when he butts in.
He fills me in on what happened in Alaska, including the mind wipe of the three hunters, and the implanted story that a rabid wolf really killed the girl, a wolf they followed all the way to Alaska to hunt down and kill. Sticking as close to the story as possible always helps the new memories stick.
I chuckle when he gets to the end. Apparently, the likelihood of a rabid wolf traveling from Manitoba to Alaska didn’t seem too far-fetched to the men when they thought up the idea.
I try to end the call when the exhaustion gets to be too much. Jon’s voice takes on a note of panic when he hears my voice trail off for the third time. Before he’ll let me hang up, I have to promise to call back after resting.
Despite my earlier fears of what might await me, I wrap my arms around my snoozing husband, and lean back on the pillows, letting myself go.
We wake after midnight
and everyone gathers in the living room of the large multi-bedroom suite. Drew and Paul informed Chelly, Bob, and Tommy of what happened at the Tribunal before Rafe and I join them, which is fine by me. I’d rather not have to discuss the details again, if I don’t have to.
Drew shares his thoughts on what was happening on the island, and we agree to fly back tomorrow to check out everyone and correct any vampire mind meddling that may have occurred.
Later, in the privacy of our bedroom, Rafe tells me about the wizard Justin. How the man was hired to place protective wards around the Tribunal and paid extra for the binding spell. Now that I think about it, both spells had a similar feel to them. That certainly explains the apprehension I felt when we stepped out of the limo that first night, and again in the bathroom suite before they slipped the hood over me.
Rafe relays his own plight after we were abducted, and how they questioned him about other Manipulators.
I sigh and snuggle into the bed. “I never would have expected Rolando to be involved.”
A heavy sigh issues from my husband as he sits up. “I’ve got some bad news. I didn’t cross paths with Rolando when searching for you.”
A cold chill spirals down my back. “I thought you got them all. You told me you killed everyone who was in on the abduction.”
Rafe runs a hand over his face, squeezing the bridge of his nose like he’s trying to ward off a headache. “I killed Cora, then the two guys who held me, then Lucas. I’m sorry, I missed Rolando.”
I nod, my thoughts turning inward as I contemplate our next move. “He wanted me to name who I had turned over the centuries.”
“I know that look, Dria.” Rafe’s face pinches. “You can’t confront him, right now. You need to heal and get stronger.”
I look at my husband—the man who’d slaughter anyone who stood between us without batting an eye—and run my hand down his chest to his flat stomach. “You’re exactly right.” My hand dips lower to cup and tease, rousing what I need almost as much as blood. “And when we come back, we’ll get him off Tribunal property to find out exactly what in the hell is going on.”
With a growl, Rafe pins me to the bed and plants kisses down my neck, nudging open my robe in the process. “Not for a very long while.” His attentions move lower, where he nips a breast, then licks the skin. “Not if I can help it.”
~~*~~
Read on if you’d like to see a sneak peak at the first prequel novel from the
V V Inn
series,
Death’s Servant
. It tells the tale of how Jon came to be Vivian’s werewolf servant. The book is set to release in early January, 2013.
~~*~~
The release date of this book, April 23rd, 2012, marks the two year anniversary of my nephew Eric’s fatal accident on a motorcycle. He was 21 and recently back from his first tour in Iraq. A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to a group dedicated to increasing motorcycle awareness in motorists. Stay off your phone, never text when driving, and be aware of bikers—they have every right to the road as you.
About the Author:
C.J. Ellisson lives in northern Virginia with her husband, two children, two dogs, and a fluffy black cat who makes her sneeze. She is battling numerous autoimmune diseases and a plethora of bacterial infections while her immune system slowly attacks her body. She turned to writing when she could no longer work outside the home. While undergoing extensive medical treatment she writes contemporary fantasy and erotica, as well as non-fiction and middle grade fiction (under the pen name C.J. Stern, titles to be released soon).
Big Game
is the third book in the
V V Inn
series and there are currently six novels and four prequeal novellas planned, with more to be added if there is enough reader interest.
Please, stop by the author’s website (
http://www.cjellisson.com
) and sign up for her email distribution or “friendship rate” list to find out when the next book in the series will be available for three days only at 99 cents. C.J. is also available via skype for interviews and book club question & answer sessions.
Do you miss signed books? C.J. offers free, full-color signed 4x6 postcards of all her novels to readers who’ve left honest reviews on any retailer or book reviewing website. To obtain yours, please email your review URLs to
[email protected]
with your mailing address, international readers welcome.
You can also visit her on Facebook at (
http://www.facebook.com/c.j.ellissonfanpage
). C.J. is very active on Facebook and has a large street team of readers who help spread the word about her books via social media and handing out author swag to co-workers, libraries, bookstores, universities, and book clubs. If you’d like to join, please check the ‘seethe’ out at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/cjeseethe/