"It's rather late for a meeting, isn't it?" she said.
"Well, once I spoke to Jackson, he realized this was of immediate interest to the group. All the board members will be there. And I recommend you be there too."
Mina shook her head at how fast that little snitch had gone back to the board. But she intended to be there. She was going to tell them the truth. That she was no longer involved with Sebastian Young, and that Carfax Abbey and its owner were in no way a threat to humans or anyone.
She brusquely asked Daniel where the Society was to meet, then hung up the phone.
She hurried to her bedroom to change. She was going to tell the Society exactly what she thought of their list of the most dangerous vampires. And she was going to tell them exactly what she thought of Daniel.
"So, I was standing there with one pair of Hypes and one pair of Enzo Angiolinis. And I just couldn't make up my mind."
"Yeah, that's tough," Sebastian said vaguely, having no idea what the woman was talking about. He shifted against the booth seat, the nap of the velvet seeming like nettles through the fine lawn of his shirt. He moved again, then took a swallow of his scotch, hoping the liquor would calm the anger and the agitation inside him. Not that the four before this one had done much good.
"In the end, I didn't get either pair, because they didn't have either of them in orange, which is my signature color this season." The blonde gestured to the orange-and-white retro dress she wore.
"Very nice," Sebastian said automatically, then took another longer gulp of his drink. He'd decided to talk to this woman when she'd mentioned she was a model. A model-he glanced at the woman. A tall, stunningly gorgeous model. The surefire thing to get Mina and her deception right out of his mind. Okay, he'd been played the fool, but losing himself in this gorgeous woman's body would help soothe his wounded heart.
Pride, he corrected. Wounded pride.
"… Isn't that the funniest thing you ever heard?" The blonde laughed, leaning toward him, giving him an eyeful of tanned cleavage.
"Yes," he said with conviction, though he was pretty sure that even if he had heard what she'd said, it wouldn't have been the funniest thing he'd ever heard. But she didn't need to be funny to fulfill the needs he had tonight.
She giggled some more, the sound as nettling as the velvet against his back. He polished off the remainder of his drink, then set the glass away from him with a sharp bang.
"What do you say we head up to my place?"
The blonde seemed a little startled by his sudden request, but she nodded with a blinding grin. "Sure."
He smiled back, rising from the booth. He gestured for her to go ahead of him, then he followed her toward the back of the club. Just as they would have slipped through the backdoor, Rhys appeared.
"Where's Mina?"
Sebastian scowled at his brother. "Who?"
"Mina. Your girlfriend. The one you've been with for every moment for days, weeks."
Sebastian glared at him. Weeks. He made it sound like so much more than it was. Weeks. Right. Sebastian glanced at the woman beside him, offering her an indulgent smile.
"Rhys, as you can see, I'm a little busy at the moment," Sebastian said tolerantly, politely.
"You were busy with Mina earlier. What happened?"
Sebastian shot the woman next to him another glance, then forced a polite smile and said to her, "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to chat with my brother."
The blonde nodded, clearly bewildered. Not that that was unusual for the poor woman.
Sebastian followed Rhys back toward the booth where Christian still sat. Thankfully, Jane and Jolee were gone or he'd have really gotten an earful.
"What the hell are you doing?" Rhys demanded as soon as Sebastian sat down in the booth with them.
"What do you mean?" Sebastian said casually. "I'm doing what I always do."
"What about Mina?"
Sebastian's chest tightened at her name, but he managed to keep his voice cool. "What about her?"
Both Rhys and Christian gave him disbelieving looks.
"Umm," Christian said as if he clearly thought Sebastian had lost his mind. "You are in love with her."
The tightening in Sebastian's chest threatened to strangle him. But he managed a look that matched Christian's. "Where did you get that idea?" He forced a brief laugh. "Me love Mina. That's quite funny."
Christian gaped at him. Rhys just looked thoroughly unconvinced.
"You two know me," Sebastian said. "I'm not the type to settle down. I like my freedom." He turned and waved to the blonde, who actually looked confused by the gesture, but she did wave back.
"I like my women."
"Yeah, and you love Mina," Rhys stated. "So what is all this about?" He jerked his head toward the other woman. The other woman — that made it sound like he was cheating on Mina, which he wasn't. How could he cheat on a relationship that hadn't been real to begin with?
Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest, wondering why he didn't just get up, tell his nosy brothers to mind their own damned business, and head up to his place with the redhead.
He glanced over his shoulder. The blonde. The blonde. Mina would have a field day if she knew that he was now not only forgetting their names, but their hair color, too. The tightening in his chest suddenly became hideously painful. Mina. She'd been playing him the whole time.
"Sebastian, what's going on?"
Sebastian stared at Rhys, the words right there. The truth of what Mina had done, but he couldn't bring himself to say them aloud. To reveal what a total sucker he'd been.
"You know you were the one who urged me not to let Jane go. And you were right," Rhys said. "Why are you blowing your chances with Mina? When you have a chance at the same happiness?"
Blowing his chances? Sebastian hadn't been the one to blow anything. He'd started to believe he could be with Mina forever-that maybe she was his Jane. His Jolee.
Yeah, the idea had scared him. How could he let a person have that much control over him? What if she hurt him? But he'd been right there, ready to take those chances.
Then all his what if's happened. Mina had hurt him. God damn it.
"You really don't know shit about this," Sebastian gritted, irritated that his brothers assumed he was the one who'd ruined things. Had he? Had he been wrong to make her leave while she was begging for him to believe her? Trust her?
"Then tell us what happened." Christian said.
Sebastian hesitated, but then he couldn't seem to stop himself. He had to have his brothers see the truth, and come to the same conclusion. He needed them to verify he hadn't just mistakenly sent away the only woman he could ever love.
Mina frowned as she peered at the warehouse. She checked the address. It was the one Daniel had given her, but the place looked abandoned. Still the Society did meet at some strange places, and they often changed meeting venues because they didn't want to draw too much attention. Again making her wonder if the Society was the one who believed they were oppressed, not humans.
She glanced over her shoulder, debating if she should leave. Something didn't feel right here. But she took a deep breath and pushed open the large metal door. She couldn't risk Daniel's being the only one heard tonight. She didn't want to think of what they might decide to do to Sebastian and Carfax Abbey.
She remembered Lizzie's suggestion that Mina just burn the place to the ground. Mina knew others in the Society wouldn't have the same hesitations she'd had. And she couldn't let something awful happen.
She stepped inside. The place was dark and definitely deserted. A noise of something scurrying away from her scratched on the concrete floors. But she saw a light in a distant room.
She walked slowly in that direction.
"Hello?" she called as she reached the doorway. The room was small and appeared empty, but there were chairs set up in neat rows. Maybe she was early. She stepped into the room, looking around.
"Hello?" she yelled again.
This time her call was answered by the loud slam of a door behind her. She spun to find Daniel leaning on the doorframe through which she'd just entered the small room.
"Daniel," she breathed, her gaze moving warily to the closed door at his back. "Where is everyone?"
"Hmm," he said as if he was considering the question. "They couldn't make it."
Her fear immediately flared, although she tried hard to block it from him. "Are they going to meet another time?"
He nodded. "I'm sure they will. The Society does love their meetings, don't they?"
Daniel stepped away from the door, but rather than moving toward her, he walked a slow circle around the room. She glanced at the door, taking a small step toward it.
Daniel stopped, spinning to look at her with his eerie dark eyes. "Don't bother. I'm much faster than you."
She paused, trying to calm herself. Trying to pretend she didn't know what he meant. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that you and I need to have a little chat."
"W-why?"
"Because you have made things difficult for me."
"H-how?" She forced herself to meet his eyes, even though something there terrified her. Something so familiar, even though she didn't know what it was.
"Surely what I'm doing with Sebastian Young should have no effect on you," she managed to say.
"No, not really," he agreed. He began walking again, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes focused on the floor just in front of his precise footsteps. "But you have ruined a good thing for me."
"What? How?"
He stopped again. "You really don't remember me, do you? I was so certain you did."
She frowned, staring at him. His profile, then his back as he continued his circle.
"Daniel, I have no idea what you are talking about."
He turned back to her, a smile splitting his face, as creepy as his eyes. Again she did feel she should know him, but she couldn't quite place from where.
"No, you don't, do you?" He smiled smugly.
Suddenly, whether it was something in that smile, or it was the fact that she could now sense him in a way she hadn't been able to before-not until Sebastian had helped her focus her vampire senses-she knew why this vampire made her so uneasy. So scared. Yet, what she was realizing couldn't be possible.
His smile slowly faded as he became aware of the change in Mina. She tried to block her emotions, her thoughts, using the techniques Sebastian had showed her. Focusing outside of herself. On Sebastian.
"But it will be great fun getting reacquainted," he said and began walking again, his back to her once more.
She took another backward step toward the closed door. And another, but she stopped as he spoke again.
"Let me refresh your memory, cara mia."
Daniel turned back toward her, but this time it wasn't that cadaverlike face that greeted her. It was a wide, charming smile. Dimples. Dark eyes and curly hair.
Mina stumbled back, fear seizing her, strangling her.
"Oh my God," she cried, scrambling backward not even aware of where the door was, where she was. She just needed to get away.
He slowly walked toward her.
"Now is that any way to greet your first love?"
"Earlier I discovered Mina with one of the members of the Society," Sebastian admitted to his brothers. "She was telling him that the sabotage was working. She had me under control, and it was only a matter of time before she convinced me to close this place."
Both Rhys and Christian looked surprised by his words. Not nearly as surprised as Sebastian had been to hear them.
"Mina said that?" Rhys said.
Sebastian nodded. "She told this guy that she was doing whatever she had to do to control me."
Again Sebastian thought of her offer to let him bite her. An offer that he'd seen as the moment when they'd truly be committed to each other. Sure, he'd bitten many women, but this was going to be the first time he'd bitten, not solely for sustenance, not solely for pleasure, but to make them one. He'd believed that was what she was offering.
What a fool.
"Did you confront her?" Christian asked.
"Yes."
"What did she say?" Rhys asked.
"She denied it all. She claimed that she'd said those things to protect me."
Both brothers stared at him for a moment.
"And why didn't you believe that?" Rhys finally asked.
"I don't need protecting from those idiots."
"But maybe Mina didn't believe that. Maybe she thinks they are a bigger threat than you do. And she should know. She was a member, after all," Rhys said reasonably.
"Apparently she's still a member," Sebastian said bitterly. "A very active member."
"Sebastian, why is it so impossible that she was honestly just trying to protect you?" Rhys asked.
"I don't need her protection," he said again. "I'm very capable of protecting myself. She should have defended me. She should have told that guy that she knew I wasn't a threat to anyone. And that Carfax Abbey wasn't a threat. And that she was in love with me. Period."
Understanding lit both his brothers' eyes, and Sebastian wished he'd just remained silent.
"Sebastian, you are a friggin' bonehead, you know that," Christian said with a shake of his head. "That's exactly what she was saying by trying to protect you."
Sebastian opened his mouth to argue, but he saw his brothers' expressions. They believed Mina. And his brothers were not quick to believe in anyone. Lilah, the evil vampiress who'd crossed them over, had seen to that. Yet, they trusted Mina.
Suddenly, Sebastian knew they were right. Mina had been trying to protect him. But he'd refused to listen. He'd been too worried that she was going to hurt him. That he'd finally fallen in love, and she'd just been pretending. But that wasn't Mina. And he should have known that. He should have trusted her, as she'd trusted him.
Rhys clapped Sebastian on the back. "Don't worry about it. The Young Brothers are notoriously slow on the uptake when it comes to love. Just go find her and apologize."
Sebastian nodded, praying that his mistrust and, he cringed, his threatening behavior hadn't ruined his chance with her, with the woman he did want to spend eternity with.
He waited for that idea to scare him senseless, but now he was far more scared that she wouldn't want him back.
He started to slide from the booth, when he suddenly heard Mina in his head. Her voice clear-and terrified. He fell back against the seat, overwhelmed by the intensity of the echo in his head.
"Sebastian?"
He could hear Rhys, although it sounded as if Rhys was far, far away. Sebastian blinked, trying to clear his mind, to calm her voice in his head.
He turned to his brothers, trying to tell them what was happening, but before he could speak, he heard her again. Scared, desperate. And this time he could see an image. A room. A face. A face he didn't know, but that had been described to him.
"It's Mina," he managed to tell them. "She's in danger."
He was barely aware of Rhys and Christian helping him from the booth and leading him to the club's exit. All he could do was center on Mina, calling to him.
"D-Donatello," Mina heard herself say as if her voice was very far away from her.
"In the flesh." He smiled, strolling toward her.
She backed away, bumping into one of the lined-up chairs, stumbling.
"Really, Wilhelmina, you were ungainly when you were alive, didn't undeath help at all?"
She didn't answer, she just kept moving away. Terror making her movements jerky.
"Have you been following me all this time?"
He laughed at that, his dark eyes dancing. "Hardly."
"But-but you disguised yourself as Daniel. Went to the Society meetings. Always spoke to me."
"Actually," he stopped stalking her, "this is my disguise. Much more effective with the ladies, as you can attest to. As for seeing you again at the Society meeting, that was sheer coincidence. But I did enjoy speaking to you, making you uncomfortable even though you didn't understand why. Until now. Sadly for you."
"Why did you ask me here tonight?" Mina asked. She glanced at the door, realizing that in her fear she'd backed away from it, rather than toward it.
Donatello, or rather Daniel, followed her gaze, then smiled complacently. "Well to finally finish you off, of course. After all, I left you to die the first time, but somehow you didn't."
Her fear threatened to overwhelm her, render her unconscious, but she knew she couldn't allow that to happen. If she did, she was as good as dead. Truly dead.
"Why now? Why after all this time?" she managed to ask.
"Because you have ruined a very good thing for me. I was using the Society as my cover, you see. It was perfect. I'd kill lowly humans and see that those deaths were blamed on the Society's most dangerous preternaturals. It allowed me easy access to humans, such as Franny Millhouse's escort service, and the perfect scapegoat when I was done."
Mina frowned. "But you don't need a scapegoat since you can change your looks, no one would know it was you to begin with. You'd never get caught."
"True," he agreed. "But it's not nearly as much fun. I like killing a human, and then walking into a Society meeting and being heralded as-what is that silly name again? Oh yes, a Society's Savior. It's deliciously ironic, isn't it?"
Mina stared at this monster that could hide behind the mask of an archangel. He was like a serial killer who liked to stay at the crime scene, watching the police struggle for clues. Pure evil.
"How-how did I ruin things for you? I didn't know any of this."
"No," he agreed. "But you did start to ask questions. Enough questions that Jude began to watch me. Jackson Hallowell, of course, never would have put it together, but Jude, he has a dark soul. And your questions about the escort service got him thinking. Of course, he doesn't realize yet that I'm on to him. But I know it's only a matter of time now before I'm added to the most dangerous list. But of course, unlike the case of your lover, I am very dangerous."
"Why did you attack that woman outside of Sebastian's club?" Mina asked at the mention of Sebastian.
Daniel shrugged. "For fun. To scare you. To make sure Sebastian stays firmly planted on that most dangerous list until he and his club are destroyed." He smiled sweetly. "Just to be mean."
"Is that why you chose to attack me from the beginning? To be mean?"
"Oh no," he said sincerely. "I needed you."
"Why?"
"You were a virgin, and I need virgin blood to survive. That's what sustains a creature like me."
"What are you?" she asked.
"I am a vampire, but I'm a variant of the undead. An incubus-far more powerful than an average vampire. But to maintain that power, I must survive on the blood of virgins."
She stared at him, even surrounded by all the preternaturals that she was, this seemed almost unreal.
"But why did you cross me over if you intended me to die?" she asked.
"Because the blood is so much sweeter if I cross the victim over. And until you, I don't believe any of my other victims did survive. I left them, just like you, and they burned in the sun. Or starved. Or were killed because they'd become little more than raving lunatics."
Mina stared at him, realizing she could have easily suffered any of those fates. She'd been lucky-an odd thought given the horror she had survived.
"But why me? Why not my sisters?" She always wondered that. Since he hadn't wanted her money? Or her sexual favors?
He laughed. "Well, that is simple. They weren't virgins." Then he sobered. "Enough talk. It's time to do what I came here for. To finish what I started so long ago."
Mina watched as the handsome mask of Donatello melted away, replaced by the hideous creature who'd haunted her for so long. Jagged, razor-sharp teeth, skeletal features, glowing red eyes.
Panic filled Mina, but she tried to stay calm. As he started to stroll toward her, she darted for the door. She made it, her hand on the handle, when he caught her by the back of the neck, hurling her into the center of the room. She landed amid the chairs, fallen, breathless. She scrambled along the floor as she heard him approaching, but he easily caught her, picking her up by the throat. She gasped as he lifted her off the ground, her feet dangling several inches from the floor.
She clawed at the finger digging into her throat, but she couldn't begin to break his crushing hold. Spots started to appear before her eyes, and she struggled to stay conscious. She couldn't die. She couldn't.
Suddenly, she heard a voice that she never believed she would hear again. "Let her go, or I'll kill you."
Sebastian watched as the vampire holding Mina released her, her body crumpling to the floor. Relief flooded Sebastian as she pushed herself upright, her frightened eyes locking with his. He offered a slight smile, which she didn't return. She appeared in shock.
His eyes left her, returning to the other vampire, now seeing his handsome features, wavy hair, and charming smile.
"So you are Donatello?" Sebastian said, managing to keep his cool. "Mina, what were you thinking? He's not nearly as attractive as you said he was."
Donatello laughed, the sound loud and hoarse. Evil.
"And aren't you the heroic lover?" Donatello said with a smile. "Charging to your lady's rescue." He glanced from Sebastian to his brothers. "And bringing reinforcements, too. Isn't there a phrase that goes something like 'the more the merrier'? I would say that applies to this occasion."
"Just get away from her," Sebastian stated.
"Well, I could do that," Donatello agreed. "Or you could just come get her?"
"Don't do it," Mina cried. "He's not a normal vampire. He's an incubus."
"Oh, Wilhelmina, giving away all my secrets," Donatello lamented.
Sebastian paused at Mina's words. An incubus. How the hell did they fight that? He glanced to Rhys, who just glared at the vampire-demon. Sebastian then looked to Christian, realizing if anyone would know about something this evil it was Christian.
Christian gave Sebastian a look that didn't reassure him.
"You got nothing for me?" Sebastian asked Christian.
Christian shook his head. "Not really."
Donatello laughed again, and Sebastian decided they were just going to have to go for it. Three against one had to be some sort of odds.
Sebastian charged the vampire, both Rhys and Christian right there too. But Donatello easily threw them off, sending them flying. Sebastian hit the wall, fighting back a groan at the force of the impact, but he was on his feet again instantly. Rhys slammed into the metal door, denting it. He seemed slightly dazed, but he managed to pull himself up to his feet. Christian landed on the wooden chairs, several breaking under his weight, but like his brothers he quickly got back to his feet.
This time the brothers circled Donatello.
Donatello watched them, looking unimpressed. Sebastian wasn't heartened by that look.
"This thing is friggin' strong," Sebastian murmured to Rhys.
"And fast," Rhys agreed, not sounding any more pleased about their odds.
Sebastian sneaked a glance back to Mina. She still remained on the floor, although he noticed she seemed to have scooted back among the scattering of broken chairs.
"I tell you what," Donatello said, drawing Sebastian's attention back to him. "Let me have Wilhelmina, and I'll let you boys go."
Sebastian shook his head. "No deal."
Donatello shot Mina a disparaging look. "I really think it's quite a deal."
"No deal," Rhys said this time for Sebastian.
"No deal," Christian agreed.
The brothers geared up for another attack and just as they would have lunged at Donatello again, Mina shouted, "Sebastian."
He turned toward her just as she threw the broken leg of one of the chairs like a spear. But in true Mina fashion, her aim was off. The leg flew toward Christian, who ducked just as it would have struck him in the head. The makeshift stake hit Sebastian, grazing his shoulder, then deflected from him, flying off sideways.
Mina cringed, and Sebastian spun back to Donatello, afraid the vampire would use the distraction to attack them. Instead Donatello remained where he was, staring down at himself. It took Sebastian a moment to realize what the monster was staring at-the chair leg protruded from his chest, just under his left collarbone. Then the incubus's eyes found Mina where she still sat on the floor, giving her an almost surprised look.
He let out an enraged shriek that seemed to shake the entire building. His face began to contort, his features changing from one mask to another, only his sharp fangs and glowing red eyes remaining the same.
She'd been right about the eyes, Sebastian realized. But he didn't consider the monster's features any longer, as he saw that Donatello's long, taloned fingers were curled around the chair leg, trying to remove it. Sebastian charged forward, driving the stake farther into Donatello's chest with a satisfying crunch.
Slowly the incubus's features changed again, and Sebastian saw the tall, thin vampire who Mina had been talking to at Carfax Abbey. Then in a violent rush of air that seemed to suck the oxygen from the room, the monster imploded. Ash rained down in the spot where he'd been.