Authors: Amanda Ashley
Bending down, he kissed her lightly. “Good evening, love.”
Daisy grinned, thinking he sounded just like Dracula.
Erik glanced at Alex, snoring softly on the sofa.
“Did you hear what he said?” Daisy asked.
Erik nodded, then sat down on the floor beside her chair. “Do you think we can count on him?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
“It might be best if Rhys and I do this alone.”
“Or I could take Alex’s place.”
“No!”
“You need someone to make the initial contact,” Daisy said. “Someone he won’t suspect.”
“We’ve already had this discussion. I won’t put your life in danger.”
“My life’s been in danger since I was eighteen years old,” Daisy retorted.
“Be that as it may, I want you to stay here. I don’t want to be worrying about you when this goes down.”
“You know who it is, don’t you?”
“I have a pretty good idea.”
Daisy leaned forward. “Does Rhys know?”
“I’ll tell you what Rhys knows,” Costain said, coming into the room. “He knows he’s sick and tired of being cooped up.”
Erik shook his head. “Is that right? Try spending a few days in that dungeon of yours.”
“Yeah, yeah, I said I was sorry,” Rhys muttered, pacing the floor in front of the fireplace. “I need a drink.”
Daisy froze as Costain stopped pacing to stare at her.
Rising smoothly to his feet, Erik moved to stand in front of Daisy. “Forget it.”
“I have some wine, if that will help,” Daisy said, disliking the tremor in her voice.
Rhys snorted with derision.
Daisy shrugged. “Take it or leave it, but that’s all I’m offering.”
“Fine, I’ll take it. Some hostess,” Rhys muttered after Daisy went into the kitchen. “Doesn’t keep anything on hand for her guests.”
“I don’t think she was expecting you,” Erik remarked.
“Yeah, well, I’m just edgy from being cooped up.” Rhys spun around when, with a low groan, Alex sat up, stretching.
“What are you looking at?” Alex asked.
“Dinner?” Rhys asked hopefully.
Alex sprang to his feet. “No way!”
“Whatever happened to hospitality?” Rhys complained.
“It went the way of the cassette tape and the phonograph,” Erik said with a grin. “Hell’s bells, suck it up, Costain. You’re whining like a week-old fledgling who hasn’t fed yet.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Rhys smiled at Daisy as she offered him a crystal glass of red liquid. “My thanks, dear lady.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well,” Alex said, “it’s dinnertime and I’m hungry. Daisy?”
“I could eat.”
“Yeah.” Rhys looked at Daisy, his gaze lingering on the pulse throbbing in the hollow of her throat. “Me, too.”
“Rhys.” The warning was clear in Erik’s tone.
“Come on, Alex, I’ll help you fix dinner,” Daisy said, and made a hasty retreat into the kitchen.
Rhys laughed softly as he watched Daisy hurry out of the room. “Is she as tasty as she looks?”
“You’ll never know,” Erik replied. “Not as long as I draw breath.”
Dinner was over, the dishes were done, and Daisy was a nervous wreck. She sat on the sofa in the living room, pretending to watch TV, while Erik, Alex, and Rhys sat in the kitchen formulating a plan for the midnight meet. From what little she could overhear, their plan was ridiculously simple. Alex would show up for the meet. Erik and Rhys would stay out of sight until the deal was made, and then Rhys would take control of the situation. Apparently Erik’s only function was to act as backup for Rhys.
In theory, it sounded simple enough, but doubts plagued Daisy. What if the one offering the reward didn’t come alone? What if something happened to Alex? How would she explain it to her parents? They would never forgive her if he was injured or, worse, killed. She would never forgive herself.
She glanced at the clock, certain it must be near midnight. It was only a quarter after nine. She had never known time to pass so slowly!
At nine thirty, the meeting in the kitchen broke up. Rising, Daisy grabbed Erik by the hand and gave it a tug.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Yes. No. I just need some time alone with you.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said, smiling. “What did you have in mind?”
She looked at him as if he wasn’t too bright. “What do you think?” she asked, her voice pitched low so that only he could hear.
“Ah.” Erik glanced over his shoulder.
Rhys stood in the kitchen doorway, his arms folded over his chest, a knowing look in his eyes. Alex glowered at him from in front of the fireplace.
Chuckling softly, Erik looked back at Daisy. “I’m yours to command.”
Alex swore long and loud as he watched Daisy lead Erik up the stairs to her bedroom. If he was going to be totally honest with himself, Delacourt wasn’t such a bad guy, all things considered. He treated Daisy with respect. If Daisy was to be believed, Delacourt had saved his life. But still…it just wasn’t right!
“It bothers you,” Costain said, “the two of them?”
“Damn right!” Unable to stand still, he began to pace the floor. He glanced upward. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why it was so quiet up there. It made him sick to his stomach to think about what Daisy was doing, and who she was doing it with.
Rhys grinned as he took a place on the sofa, one arm resting along the back. “He’s a good man.”
“He’s not a man at all. And neither are you.”
“No?” Rhys shrugged. “I would wager I’m as much a man as you are. More, perhaps.”
“All right, then. He’s not human,” Alex amended, his voice gruff. “And neither are you.”
Rhys laughed out loud. “Mortals!”
“Jealous?”
“Hardly,” Rhys said with a huff. “We are superior to you in every way. In another hundred years, I’ll be more powerful than I am now, and still making love to beautiful women. Where will you be?”
Faced with his own mortality, Alex dropped into a chair. He had hunted vampires. He had killed vampires. But he had never really talked to one. Never tried to understand them. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. “You really like being a vampire?”
Rhys grunted softly. Mortals were so predictable. They always asked the same questions, as if there were no more to being a vampire than blood and death. “Yes,” he said. “I like being a vampire.”
“So, drinking blood? Killing innocents? None of that bothers you?”
“Blood is a necessity. Killing is a choice. A choice you’ve also made.”
“It’s not the same. You can’t kill something that’s already dead.”
“You’re judging a way of life for which you have no experience. You have no idea what it’s like, to have the strength of twenty men, to be able to transform into mist, to move faster than the human eye can follow, to scale a building or leap a barrier with no effort at all, to cross the country with a thought, to see and hear and touch the world in ways that mortals can never know. You don’t know how addicting that power can be.”
Alex stared at Costain, mesmerized by his voice, by the picture he had painted. Maybe being a vampire wasn’t such a bad thing after all. To always be young, powerful, in control.
Rhys smiled faintly. “The thought of being a vampire no longer seems so repellant, does it?”
“Of course it does!” Alex exclaimed, but they were just empty words, and Rhys knew it.
“You’re a hunter. You’ve killed my kind. Have you never tasted our blood?”
“Of course not!” Alex said adamantly, and even as he denied it, he heard Daisy’s voice in the back of his mind.
Erik saved your life.
He had never asked how, never let himself dwell on it, until now. Had Erik given him his blood? Even as the thought rose in his mind, he was afraid the answer was yes.
“Never been curious?” Rhys asked.
“Sure, I’ve wondered. They say it gives you a high like no other, that it lets you experience, for a short time, what it’s like to be a vampire.”
Rhys nodded. “So they say.”
“They also say that too much will kill you, and that some people come down hard, and some never come down.” Just his luck, Alex thought. The one and only time he’d had a chance to find out what it was like, and he’d been unconscious.
“So they say.” Rhys bared his fangs. “It’s better straight from the source.”
Alex stared at the vampire, at the gleaming white fangs. What would it be like to taste vampire blood? He had tasted his own blood. What human hadn’t pricked a finger or received a small cut and licked the blood away? It was a natural reaction. But to drink vampire blood—Undead blood—to feel what it was like to be a vampire—the power…the invincibility…he wasn’t unconscious now. What would it be like?
With a shake of his head, Alex sat back in his chair. What the hell was he thinking?
Rhys laughed. “Where’s your courage, hunter?”
Erik stared at the woman lying so trustingly in his arms. Never in all his existence had he expected to feel this way about a mortal woman. With Daisy, he felt anything was possible. Almost, he could believe he was just an ordinary man in love with a woman, that they could have a future together. A nice dream, but that’s all it was. There was no place for them in the world he lived in, and certainly no place for him in hers.
She smiled up at him, a sleepy, satisfied smile, one that stroked his ego because he had put that smile on her face.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“How incredible you are.”
“You are.”
“There is something I’ve been wondering about,” Erik said. “How did you find me at La Morte Rouge?”
“I felt your pain, and I followed it.” She frowned at the memory, then reached up to cup his cheek. “How did you stand it? I’ve never experienced anything so awful, so…I don’t know. I can’t describe it.”
Erik shook his head. “How could you feel it? I blocked the link between us so that you wouldn’t.”
“Well, I guess it didn’t work.”
“You really are incredible.” He kissed her lightly. He hadn’t wanted her to know what he was going through, had been afraid she would do exactly what she had done and ride to his rescue. “My brave, foolish flower.” He glanced out the window. It was time to go. “It’s a quarter after eleven, Daisy darlin’.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“I know.” Erik trailed his fingertips down her cheek. “Don’t you think I’d rather stay here with you?”
With a sigh, Daisy snuggled closer to his side. Some people were addicted to vampire blood, she thought, but not her. She was addicted to a vampire. Just looking at him made her high. His kisses were as intoxicating as the touch of his hand—that big, powerful hand that was gently stroking her thigh, making her quiver for more.
She sat up, reluctant to let him go, but knowing she couldn’t ask him to stay. She didn’t trust Rhys Costain to watch out for Alex, but she knew Erik would take care of him, not because Erik cared whether her brother lived or died, but because he loved her.
It was eleven forty-five when Erik followed Daisy into the living room. Rhys was stretched out on the floor in front of the TV. Alex sat on the sofa, going through his vampire hunting kit.
Erik felt the tension in the room rising with each tick of the mantel clock.
He glanced from Rhys to Alex and back again. “So, what have you two been doing?”
“Not much,” Rhys said with a shrug. “We spent some time comparing the merits of being a vampire as opposed to being a mortal.”
“Is that so?” Erik looked at Alex, one brow raised. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about joining the ranks of the Undead?”
“Hardly.” Alex glanced at his watch. “Isn’t it about time we were going?”
“Finally.” Rhys stood and moved toward the door in a single fluid movement.
Daisy took Erik’s hand in hers. “You’ll be careful, won’t you? You won’t let anything happen to Alex?”
“Stop worrying.” Erik slipped his arm around Daisy’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
“That’s right, kid,” Rhys added as he went out the door. “And your brother will be two hundred grand richer.”
Daisy blew out a sigh as the door closed behind Rhys Costain. She tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about. Rhys was a powerful vampire. Erik was a powerful vampire. Between them, they would make sure that nothing happened to Alex.
But what if Rhys was just stringing them along?
What if Rhys couldn’t be trusted?
What if he intended to kill whoever it was who had put the hit out on him, then kill Alex, and maybe Erik, too?
What if the man who had hired the hit brought backup with him?
She told herself she was worrying for nothing, that she was just letting her imagination run wild.
What if she wasn’t?
Was she just going to sit home and wait and worry?
“No.”
She filled her pockets with vials of holy water, grabbed a handful of sharp stakes, a silver-bladed knife, and her keys, and left the house.
Whatever happened tonight, she was going to be there, hopefully only as an observer.
A light rain began to fall as Alex pulled up in front of La Morte Rouge. He had dropped Costain and Delacourt off a few blocks back, just in case the man he was supposed to meet was holed up somewhere nearby, watching.
After killing the engine, Alex spent a few minutes checking the place out. It looked deserted. No lights shone from inside. There were no other cars along the curb; from where he sat, he couldn’t see any cars parked in the lot.
He glanced behind him, wondering where Costain and Delacourt were hiding. Damn! How had he gotten mixed up in all this? Maybe it was time to rethink his career choice. He had always loved the excitement of the hunt, but lately…hell, he had put Daisy’s life in danger, not to mention his own. He’d wager he’d had more close calls in the last month than he’d had since he staked his first vampire. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. Putting his own life in danger had been one thing, but now Brandon was dead and Alex couldn’t help feeling it was his fault. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he owed his life to a stinkin’ bloodsucker. He pounded his fist on the steering wheel. A bloodsucker who was in love with his sister. And, worst of all, Daisy was in love with him.
Alex glanced out the window. He’d farted around long enough. It was time to go. Muttering, “Ready or not, here I come,” he stepped out of the car. Turning his collar up against the rain, he reached into the backseat for his backpack. After slinging it over his shoulder, he slammed the door shut, then sprinted across the parking lot. He paused a moment at the top of the stone stairway, wishing, however briefly, that he possessed a vampire’s enhanced sense of sight and smell.
Screwing up his courage, he walked cautiously down the rain-slick stone steps that led to the club’s back door. He knew it was only his imagination, but the night seemed to grow darker and more ominous with every step he took.
He saw the figure near the back door as soon as he rounded the corner of the building. Even in the dark, he could see that it was a woman. A beautiful woman, he thought as he closed the distance between them. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. Wisps of light blond hair peeked out from the hood of her long red cloak.
“Alex?”
His surprise turned to uneasiness when he looked into her eyes. Dark brown eyes with a hint of madness. “You’re MC?”
“Mariah, actually.”
“But…you’re one of them. A vampire.” Alex didn’t know what shocked him more, the fact that MC was a female, or the fact that he knew she was a vampire. He frowned inwardly, wondering how he knew, and then realized it had to have something to do with the fact that Erik’s blood was running in his veins. But there was no time to think about that now. “Why do you want to kill Costain?”
“What difference does that make to you?”
“None,” Alex said, shrugging. As inconspicuously as possible, he checked the surrounding area. Where the hell were Costain and Delacourt?
“Where’s the proof?”
“What? Oh, right.” Alex delved into his backpack for the jar filled with ashes from Daisy’s fireplace. “Where’s the money?”
She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”
Alex hesitated, then offered her the jar. Dammit, where was his backup?
Mariah unscrewed the cap. She looked at Alex, then sniffed the jar’s contents. “What kind of joke are you playing?”
“What do you mean?”
Mariah hurled the jar against the side of the building, where it shattered. “You fool! Did you think I wouldn’t know the difference?”
Alex took a step backward as her eyes blazed red.
Mariah glided toward him, her hands curled into claws, her fangs running out.
Muttering an oath, Alex turned on his heels and sprinted toward the staircase. And barreled into one very angry vampire.
She hissed at him as she dug her claws into his shoulders. “You stupid, puny mortal. Did you really think you could get away from me?”
Alex glared at her. Swallowing his fear, he lifted his chin defiantly. “Kill me if you want. It won’t save you. Rhys knows all about you.”
A flicker of fear sparked in her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“He’s here,” Alex said, praying he was right.
Mariah’s gaze darted from right to left. “Lies won’t save you.”
“Nothing will save you,” Alex said with more bravado than he felt.
“Let him go!”
Alex’s head jerked around. “Daisy! What the hell are you doing here?”
Daisy waved the wooden stake in her hand. “Backing you up, of course.”
An unladylike snort rose in Mariah’s throat. “You think you can save him with that sliver of wood?”
“Just let him go!” Daisy said, her voice rising. “Let him go now!”
Mariah snorted with disdain. “Stop waving that silly thing around. I can rip his throat out before you reach me, and kill you before you realize what’s happened.”
“You can try.”
Mariah’s laughter sliced through the air. “You’re a cheeky little broad,” she said, and then frowned. “You’re the Blood Thief, aren’t you?” She laughed again, genuinely amused. “To think, Rhys was concerned about a puny little female like you.”
“We almost killed him,” Daisy said. “I don’t think you’ll be a problem.”
Alex glared at his sister. What did she hope to gain by antagonizing the vampire? He slid a glance at Mariah’s face. Was it just wishful thinking, or did the vampire look worried?
Alex held his breath. Apparently distracted by what Daisy had said, the vampire had loosened her grip on his shoulders.
“If you don’t let him go, I’ll come after you,” Daisy said. “And I’ll find you. The same way I found Rhys. The same way I found Saul.”
Mariah’s eyes narrowed when Daisy mentioned the vampire she had destroyed.
It’s now or never,
Alex thought. He jerked his arms straight up, breaking the vampire’s hold, and then he drove his fist into her face just as hard as he could.
With a startled cry, Mariah reeled backward as blood spurted from her broken nose.
Alex raced toward Daisy, delving into his backpack for a stake as he went. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Daisy didn’t argue. Side by side, they raced up the narrow stairway to the top of the hill.
“Where’s Erik?” she asked, gasping for breath.
“Damned if I know. Let’s get the hell out of here while the getting’s good.”
Daisy risked a glance down the hill. She had expected to see the vampire coming after them, but nothing moved on the stone stairway behind them. That was odd, she thought. Surely a broken nose wouldn’t put Mariah out of commission for long.
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief when Erik materialized in front of her.
“Where the devil were you?” Alex demanded. “Some backup you turned out to be! You almost got us killed.”
“Mariah wasn’t alone,” Erik replied. “She had a dozen zombies hidden around the building. It took us a few minutes to dispatch them all.”
Daisy shuddered as she imagined Erik and Rhys battling an army of zombies. She wasn’t sure how you made a zombie, or how you went about killing one, but then, she didn’t really want to know.
She glanced around, then asked, “Where’s Rhys?”
A muscle twitched in Erik’s jaw. “He’s taking care of business.”
“Taking care of—oh. What will he do to…?” The question died in Daisy’s throat as a horrible keening sound rose in the air. She shivered as the anguished cry went on and on, scraping along her nerves like fingernails on a blackboard. Pressing her hands over her ears, she buried her face in Erik’s shoulder.
“Damn!” Alex exclaimed. “What’s he doing to her?”
Erik shook his head. “You don’t want to know. Come on, let’s get out of here.” Wrapping his arm around Daisy’s shoulders, he led her across the damp parking lot toward the car.
He opened the passenger door for Daisy, then opened the rear door and motioned for Alex to get in the backseat. “I’ll drive.”
“I can drive my own damn car,” Alex said belligerently.
“I said I’ll drive. The way your hands are shaking, you’d probably run us into a ditch.”
Alex glared at him but didn’t push it. Truth was, he was more rattled by what had happened than he wanted to admit.
Erik shut the rear door, then slid behind the wheel. A thought started the engine.
As he pulled away from the curb, another high-pitched wail pierced the quiet of the night.
Daisy’s pulse had returned to normal by the time Erik pulled up in front of her house.
As soon as they were inside, Alex poured himself a good stiff drink. He downed it in one long swallow, and quickly poured another.
Erik stood near the fireplace, his expression thoughtful. Curious to know what he was thinking, Daisy tried to read his thoughts, but his mind was closed to her.
After excusing herself, Daisy went into the kitchen and called home to let her parents know that she and Alex were okay.
After she bade her mother good night, her dad insisted on getting on the phone and hearing all the gory details. “What about Rhys?” he asked. “Did you take him out?”
“No, Dad, he was helping us.”
“A vampire helping hunters? I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it. And you can cross Mariah off the list.”
“You destroyed her?”
“Rhys did.”
Daisy could almost hear her father frowning as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea of one vampire destroying another.
“And Erik?”
“He’s here with us.”
“I see.”
“I love him, Dad.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.”
“Are you sure your feelings are your own, and that the natural allure of the vampire hasn’t colored your emotions?”
“I’m sure,” she replied. “Listen, Dad, I’ve got to go. I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
“Good night, daughter.”
“Night, Dad. I love you.”
Daisy ended the call, then stared at the phone. What if her dad was right? What if what she felt for Erik wasn’t real at all? There was no denying that vampire glamour was real. They used it to attract their prey. But she wasn’t prey.
And yet, even as she assured herself that what she felt for Erik was the real thing, a tiny voice in the back of her mind echoed her father’s question:
Are you sure your feelings are your own?
Daisy took a deep breath before returning to the living room. Judging from the way Alex was slumped in his chair staring into space, she guessed he’d consumed another couple of drinks.
Erik remained by the fireplace, one arm resting on the mantel. His gaze caught hers the moment she entered the room.
“Is everything all right?” he asked quietly.
Her defense mechanism immediately went on alert. “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Uh-oh, sounds like a serious talk comin’ on,” Alex mumbled, lurching to his feet. “Me and my good buddy, Jack Daniel’s, are gonna go on up to bed and think about how to spend that two hundred grand.”
Daisy nodded at her brother as he staggered out of the room; then, taking a calming breath, she looked at Erik.
“It’s late,” she said. “I think I’ll turn in, too. You’re welcome to spend the night here.”
“Am I?”
Daisy’s heart skipped a beat, and then seemed to sink into the pit of her stomach. Had he overheard what her father said? Of course he had. He had ears like a lynx.
Erik pushed away from the mantel. “It’s all right, Daisy. I think we both knew this night was coming.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“This isn’t the time to start lying to each other.”
She looked up at him, her mind running in a dozen directions all at once.
“I don’t want you to mistake lust for love, or gratitude for affection.”
“But…” She crossed her arms over her breasts, certain she didn’t want to hear whatever was coming next.
“Hear me out. We’ve been through a lot together in the last few weeks. I think you need to spend a little time by yourself to sort out your feelings.”
“You were listening, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said with a shrug. “In any case, I would have suggested we spend some time apart anyway. I’m a vampire…”
“Really?” she exclaimed with mock surprise. “I had no idea.”
“Daisy.” He closed the distance between them, his hands folding lightly over her shoulders. “You need to think this through. Are you ready to spend your life with me, with a vampire? In a good relationship, each party gives fifty percent. If you stay with me, you’ll be giving up much more than I will. I can’t conform my life to yours. You’ll have to conform your life to mine. Can you do that? Do you want to do that?”
She blinked up at him, doubt and confusion evident in her expression.
“The fact is, affairs between vampires and mortals rarely last. I care for you more than I’ve ever cared for anyone, mortal or otherwise. And because of that, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to steal your youth or your dreams. I don’t want to look in your eyes years from now and see regret for the sacrifices you had to make to stay with me.” He took a deep breath. “Most of all, I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep my promise, that the day will come when I’ll turn you against your will.”
She continued to stare up at him, mute, a single tear glistening on one cheek.