The Vampire's Seduction (29 page)

The look in her eyes turned to horror and I could see Reedrek reflected in them. Not his image, but his presence. It was as if Olivia’s orgasm had shattered her defenses and a barrier to her true state of mind came tumbling down. He’d been here, spying on us somehow through Olivia’s mind. Still staring into her eyes, I knew the moment she snapped out of Reedrek’s control and back to her senses.

I took a few seconds to get my breath before I loosened my grip on her waist. She fell backward, and I had to lurch for her to keep her head from hitting the floor. I picked her up and rose unsteadily with her, not knowing if she was strong enough to stand on her own.

After a few more moments, her lids fluttered and her eyes began to focus. She squirmed in my arms, so I set her on her feet. Her skirt settled down around her hips, but she was still topless and barefoot. She seemed to be gathering her strength and her thoughts.

It’s always a little awkward right after your first round of wild, athletic sex with a woman, but this time took the cake. The encounter we just had felt like a to-the-death, no-holds-barred championship-title wrestling match from hell. Was that what sex with another vampire was like? Every time? Cool. I could do without the cloak-and-dagger stuff, though. Other than that . . .

The charged silence continued as Olivia wavered on her feet like a candle flame in a sudden breeze. I reached out to steady her, feeling the need to say something to break the tension. Being that it was a sensitive situation, and being that I’m a man and all, I chose something entirely inappropriate.

“Uh, was it as good for you as it was for me?”

For somebody who looked as washed out as a dishrag, she sure was fast. She drew back her arm and slapped me across the face with enough force to send me flying backward. My feet were still tangled up in my jeans so I couldn’t land with any grace whatsoever. I just hit the wooden chair and went right on over, my feet shooting straight in the air.

“What are you, and what did you just do to me?” Olivia screeched.

“What are you talking about?” I put my hand to my stinging cheek. “And
ow
!”

Her face mottled with rage. “There
is
something wrong with you, something very wrong with you indeed!”

“Me?” I righted myself and the chair and struggled back into my jeans. “What about you? You were channeling Reedrek the whole time we were doing it.” The meaning of that struck me like a hammer blow. “Gross!”

“Okay, maybe I was.” Olivia corralled her bra, still dangling around her neck, and fastened it. “But I’m all better now. What I want to know is, why am I knackered?”

“What?”

Olivia rolled her eyes as she buttoned her shirt. “You weakened me, you wanker. I was supposed to be able to draw power from you. But instead I feel shattered . . . dazed.”

“I’m sorry.”

She gave me a murderous look. “Of course you are.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. Honest.”

Olivia smoothed down her hair and narrowed her eyes. “What exactly happened when you had sex with Shari last night? What was happening at the precise moment that she began to fail?”

A terrible realization began to sink in. “I—I guess it was the same thing that was happening right about the same time you started to get all weak.”

Olivia studied me for a long moment. “How do you feel right now, Jack? Completely relaxed from a really good shag?”

I flexed my muscles, then stretched. “I feel great. Really great.” The truth was, I felt strong. Superman strong. I peered at her boobs, trying to tell if I had the X-ray vision to see through her clothes. I almost thought I could. “Kind of like I could leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

“I’ll be damned.” Olivia crossed her arms and stared at me like I was some new species of vampire. “In all the years I’ve been studying the effect of gender on vampirism, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Hell, maybe I
was
a new species of vampire. “What do you mean?”

“I didn’t gain strength from you—you sapped nearly every bit of strength that I have. Even now I feel as if I could faint.”

“You need to feed. Let me get you some blood. William keeps some human blood from a lab on hand for emergencies. That ought to help you get some of your strength back.” I went to the little refrigerator under the bar, found the human blood tucked far in the back, and emptied a bag of it into a glass. Olivia walked slowly over to the bar and leaned against it. She took the blood and nearly gagged on her first deep swallow of it.

“Small sips. It’s strong stuff,” I said. I waited until she had finished the glass and poured her another round. It would probably take more than two to improve her mood. “Olivia,” I began, hating to have to ask the question, but needing to know, “did I kill Shari last night?”

Olivia looked at the polished marble surface of the bar, as if searching for a reflection long gone. “Almost certainly,” she said. “You have to promise me you will never attempt to make a female vampire again.”

“Of course I won’t.” I leaned my elbows on the bar. As much as I wanted to drown my sorrows in more Scotch, I had to try to keep my wits about me. The world was spinning fast enough as it was. I refused to think about Shari. I’d make like Scarlett O’Hara and think about it another day. Right now, William was gone and I no longer knew if I could trust Olivia. She seemed to be thinking straight right now, but maybe Reedrek would be able to take control of her again. When she’d first shown up tonight, she’d seemed suitably concerned about Shari and perfectly normal. Then she’d changed. I couldn’t afford to turn my back on her again.

Everything was so damned confusing. I didn’t even know if I could trust William any longer. Maybe Olivia had been right when she said that I should go over to Reedrek’s side. It would be a whole lot simpler. Why not just give in to the evil? I knew Olivia had been under Reedrek’s thrall when she’d suggested it, but that might not make it any less of a good idea.

Olivia was still steadying herself with one arm propped on the bar. “Do you feel any better?” I asked.

“Yes. Somewhat.”

“Good. Now, where’s William?”

Olivia couldn’t meet my eyes. “He’s with Reedrek.”

“What? How?”

“Reedrek was holding me. William exchanged himself for me. He told me to come back here.”

“Shit. Do you think you could get me back there?”

Olivia shook her head. “I got so confused in those damned tunnels. In this condition, I’ll never find Reedrek unless he wants me to. Jack, what the hell do we do now?”

“You don’t do anything. You’re not going hunting for Reedrek in the shape you’re in. He’d drain you in a heartbeat. You’re staying here.” I didn’t tell her that the other reason she was staying here was that I couldn’t afford to trust her. Not until I’d had a chance to figure things out, and maybe not even then.

“Like hell. If you’re going out after William, I’m going with you.” She slammed her glass down on the bar and thrust out her dainty chin.

“I’m not playing nursemaid to a sick vampire. It’s daylight out. You get your restorative rest, and maybe—
maybe
I’ll let you out when the sun goes back down.” Olivia started to protest, but I skirted the bar and lifted her up again. She felt as light as a feather. I could have raised her above my head with one finger. I carried her to my coffin and laid her in it.

“Jack, don’t you dare!”

Rehya came out from under the leather chair, wagging her tail and sporting a soppy, doggy grin.

I pressed Olivia back against the cushions, closed the lid, and locked it. I could hear her muffled curses from inside. “Let me out, you bastard! I’ve got to prepare Shari!”

“You can work with Shari after you’ve recovered. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Damn you, Jack.”

“Nighty night. You’ve been a really good sport.”

I jammed my boots back onto my feet and let Reyha out the vault door to the upstairs. “Go to Melaphia, girl.” She licked my hand and did as I told her.

I went to the door to the tunnels and pushed it open, not knowing where I was going and not particularly caring either. I headed out in the general direction of the garage. I wanted the comfort of familiar surroundings—not to mention a shower and a shirt that wasn’t ripped to shreds. If I took my time it might be dark by the time I got there. If not, hell, in the mood I was in maybe I’d just step on out into the sun and light myself up like a Christmas tree. Fa-la-la-la-freakin’-la.

At the first street grate I paused and looked up toward the world of the living. If I stood off to the side and avoided the shafts of light coming down, I could see a bit of the sidewalk and the feet and lengthening shadows of humans passing by on their way to work. More than ever I longed to be one of them again.

But here I was, Jack McShane: bloodsucker, murderer of wannabe female vampires, scourge to the true ladies of the night everywhere—a literal ladykiller. I hung my head and thought of Connie. A wave of longing rolled over me like the tide coming in on Tybee. My dark-haired Latin beauty. At least she had a beating heart, so I knew I couldn’t kill her. Well, I
could,
but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head in a million years.

An autumn leaf from one of the oak trees on the square blew across the grate, lodged briefly on the edge, and fell between the iron bars. It floated down to me like a gift from an unseen hand, and I reached out for its golden loveliness, forgetting about the shafts of morning sunlight. My flesh began to burn, and I pulled my fingers back and put them to my mouth to ease the pain.

As I stared at the leaf, it began to glow along the edge where I’d held it. By the time it landed, it was on fire, ignited by my oh-so-brief touch. It struck me then that I couldn’t have Connie, not
really
have her till death do us part. If I were to ever win her living heart, if she ever came to love me as I now knew I loved her, my version of “eternally yours”—making her a vamp—would kill her as surely as I’d killed Shari and almost killed Olivia.

I watched the leaf in horrified fascination until there was nothing left but a wisp of smoke, which disappeared with a sudden downdraft from the grate leading to the living, sunlit world. Then I retreated into the shadows where I belonged.

William

I awoke in the dark.

It’s nearly impossible to knock a vampire unconscious, but then, Reedrek had had hundreds of years of practice. I kept still, taking stock of my situation. There were familiar tomb smells, along with tabby and brackish water. I could sense Reedrek nearby. His personal odor of grimy decay seemed to permeate my skin.

Have I mentioned that I cannot kill Reedrek? Not unless I’m willing to die in the effort. You see, there’s this inconsequential, well-known rule, or custom, you might say: An offspring cannot kill its own sire. I imagine the rule evolved from that whole Oedipus incident a few thousand years back. Or perhaps it’s a defense mechanism bred into the blood mutation of the species. Without it there would be precious few of us around. I am the perfect example of an offspring who would’ve happily killed my sire the first night I awoke as a blood drinker, if I could have.

Just then things didn’t seem to be going well for me. I tried to move and found my arms pinned straight out to the sides, hands palm up. The only things missing were nails in my wrists. The rest of me seemed . . . contained, as if I’d been wrapped in a cocoon—a juicy bug caught by a spider. There was cold rock or concrete at my back and something extremely heavy—also rock or concrete—balanced on my chest. I felt like a vampire sandwich.

I almost smiled. Jack would have a fine laugh if he could see me now. But thinking of Jack sobered me. Where was he? What had Olivia done to him?

I stepped off the platform of my worry and focused my thoughts on more practical issues. I could feel the sun high somewhere out in the waking world. Perhaps Jack was being a good boy and sleeping. But Olivia had had a whole night to find and influence him. I truly believed Jack was clever and resourceful, but in my current situation I had little hope he could outsmart Reedrek. After all, I’d done such a spectacular job of outsmarting him myself.

And then there was the vision—of Jack betraying me. I’d thought to deal with Reedrek before that could occur. My only remaining hope rested on Jack’s pure Irish pigheadedness. I could vouch for the fact that he rarely did what anyone tried to force him to do. Charming him was another thing altogether. Even so, the odds that Olivia would be able lead him astray were at best even.

The memory of her lusty ride in Eleanor’s playroom surfaced. If my sire had set Olivia on a course of seducing Jack, she would weaken his natural power with every orgasm. That would make him easy prey.

Damn Reedrek.
My chest expanded with my anger, and the bonds encircling me tightened.

“So you’re awake.” A rustle of movement—wading through water—from an unseen part of the room heralded Reedrek’s approach.

“No thanks to you,” I managed through clenched teeth.

He made a sort of clucking sound, then, suddenly, there was light shining in my eyes. I could see part of a room. I was laid out on a stone table. We were in what I deemed to be one of the older family mausoleums near the center of the cemetery. Moldering bones littered the shelves built above the water line and a net of roots like spiderwebs clung to the damp rock. A human head, freshly harvested, stared down at me from an upper shelf. It seemed Reedrek had taken to heart the medieval custom of placing a skull on the dinner table. On the opposite wall were three sets of manacles and chains, two of which still had arm and hand bones hanging from the rusted circles. It seemed that some family members had been buried before they were completely dead—unlike the newly added headless human crumpled in the corner.

“We’re in Bonaventure,” I said.

“Yes. I brought you here for a little privacy.” Reedrek gave me a sad look. “You should know by now, child, I will have what I want. There is nothing you can do to trick me or to stop me.”

“I am not your child.”