Nate
felt the second sword give. If his and Cyd’s lives hadn’t been at stake,
he might well have paused to enjoy the show but thanks to Cyd and her mystical
magical mojo he was no longer pinned securely to the deck, time to break free,
get Cyd to safety and kill a vamp Queen.
He’d no sooner had the thought when the sensual vibe Destiny had been
giving off as she played with Cyd abruptly changed.
Destiny
broke the kiss and cat-quick grabbed hold of Charisse’s face in one hand,
forcing Charisse up on tippy toe unless she wanted five deep gouges in her
face. Destiny’s incisors looked very white and sharp by the light of the
moon.
“Excuse
me for being a tad suspicious Cyd. A bikini clad bimbo saunters out of
the night.
Mind fucks my minions and
tries to ply her wiles on yours truly. It practically shrieks of a badly
thought out plan to save the warrior from the clutches of the beautiful vampire
Queen. Just blink once for yes if I’m right, because if I hear even a
squeak past those tasty lips of yours, I might be forced to chew them off.”
Charisse
made a slight sound.
Destiny tightened
her grip, forcing Charisse to strain upwards even further.
Shit,
this had all gone south in an instant. Nate flexed and then heaved with
all his might, ripping the four metal stakes right out of the wooden floor,
sending broken wood flying. Destiny reacted fast, ripping the sword under
her hand right out of his shoulder, grabbing Charisse by the throat and using
her as a shield as she turned them to face a pissed off, elite warrior of Maat.
“I
love a toy full of surprises.” Vampira absently tapped the flat of the
sword against her thigh as she shook Charisse like a puppy, her five razor
sharp nails piercing the tender flesh of Charisse’s throat, blood beginning to
trickle down Cyd’s pale alabaster skin.
Standing
upright, breathing hard but still in chains, Nate reached up and yanked the
remaining sword from his shoulder, pointing it in Destiny’s direction.
“Let the girl go.”
“I
don’t think so. She’s interfered in my fun.” Destiny looked over in
the direction of the still wrestling minions. “Created havoc amongst the
help and… correct me if I’m wrong here Lover, but I can’t help but think she
might have mind-fucked you as well, captured your heart when you should be
ripping it out of your own chest and offering it to me. I don’t know what
she is…” Destiny gave Charisse another hard shake.
“Enough!”
Nate snapped out the word, hating the sight of the blood dripping down Cyd’s
throat even as she bravely gritted her teeth, refusing to give the vamp Queen
the satisfaction of making any noise. Okay, he didn’t have much time,
Destiny could very well rip Cyd’s head right off if she grew angry… or even
bored for that matter, she was a fickled bitch, on top of which, at any moment
one of the minions would finish beating his fellow minions into submission and
want to claim his yellow, bikini-clad prize.
Nate
didn’t have time to unravel himself from the trailing chains and spikes so
there was only one possible solution… use them to his advantage.
Lightning fast he grabbed hold of the chain around his left wrist and yanked it
back hard before snapping it forward, sending the attached metal stake whipping
outwards fast to sink deep into Destiny’s thigh.
Even
as Destiny howled out a shriek, Charisse bought her fist down hard on top of
the spike, slamming it even deeper into the vampire Queen. Nate barrelled
into them both, ripping out the stake as he gathered Charisse up in one arm,
yanking her away from Destiny and spinning them towards the safety of the
house.
Hisses
sounded from the minions, who’d broken up their fight upon hearing their
Queen’s scream of pain. Though by the way the two least damaged of them
leapt after Cyd, Nate was willing to bet it was more the idea of losing their
new lady love that had them reacting so swiftly rather than coming to their new
Queen’s aid.
Nate
hauled Charisse through the broken conservatory doors, mindful that he’d
probably hurt her in the process but bruises were preferable surely to being
snacked upon by a vampire. He took a deep breath; they were over the
threshold… safe. That’s when he was nearly yanked off his feet. One
of the minions had grabbed hold of a trailing chain and pulled.
Fuck,
he scrabbled around, managing to grab hold of the chain wrapped around his
right boot just in time, the heels of his shit kickers digging into the floor,
only inches from the threshold. Across the invisible barrier he came face
to face with the snapping jaws of a pissed off vampire, black blood oozing from
several cuts across its too pale face.
Two
could play at the tug-o-war game, with a hard yank, Nate pulled the surprised
vampire still holding on to the end of the chain right over the
threshold. Closing his eyes and holding his breath as it exploded in a
large black cloud of dust over him. Shit. He waved his hand in
front of his face, even as he double checked that all his other chains were
safely inside the boundary of the house.
Turning
he looked towards Charisse who was standing a few feet away, looking pale, her
eyes wide with shock.
“Cyd? You
okay? Cyd?” He lurched to his feet.
“I…
thought that whole threshold thing was just a myth.” She murmured.
Slapping
vamp dust out of his hair Nate grimaced. “Nope… though remind me next
time to stand back a little.”
Charisse
glanced past him, pale but her spine was now ramrod straight, a fierce look in
her eyes. “Okay then warrior… stand back.” Turning she looked at
the other vamp minion pacing in front of the open conservatory doors, eyeing
her with blood lust in its eyes.
She
began to sing, ignoring Nate as he reacted by slapping his hands over his ears…
seriously, what did he have against her singing? It was enough to give a
Siren a complex, but not enough to stop her from luring the blood sucking
vampire assassin to take just three steps forward. POW… another cloud of
vampire dust billowed into the air. Two down, three minions and a mad
vampire Queen to go.
Destiny
let out another loud shriek, racing towards the open conservatory doors,
stopping just short. Eyeing the two of them with fierce eyes, Nate’s
sword in one of her hands, whilst the other was clenched over the hole in her
thigh where Nate had ripped out the metal stake.
“I
cannot express with words right at this moment how much I loathe your wide,
bikini-wearing ass, Cyd. Those were two of my best minions… Helmut and…
and the other one. I don’t know what you are bitch, but I’m very much
looking forward to carving you open and finding out, and just for shits and
giggles I think I’ll let the warrior here watch while I do it. It’s always so
much more satisfying when one has an audience.”
“Goddess
you love the sound of your own voice, don’t you?” Charisse shook her head
in bemusement.
Next
to her Nate unwound the last of his chains, dropping it to the floor.
“You okay?” He moved to stand next to Charisse, concerned with how pale
she was suddenly looking now that the encounter with the vamps was over and the
adrenalin was wearing off. She’d been incredibly brave… kind of stupid,
but still, heart-stoppingly brave.
But
now she was beginning to shiver and her eyes had taken on a slightly glazed
look.
Suddenly
her pallor turned deathly pale indeed, her eyes widened as she instinctively
bought a hand up to her mouth. “Bathroom?”
“Upstairs…
third room on the right.” He watched as she turned tail and ran.
“I’m
really going to enjoy killing that girl.” Vamp Queen sneered at Cyd’s
exit.
Nate
turned to look at Destiny. “I’ll be waiting for you. Come back real
soon Vampira.” Walking over he slammed shut the conservatory doors,
kicking the piles of chains over to keep the doors firmly closed.
Turning, he flexed both his shoulders, they ached but they were through and
throughs, no bone or muscle damage. He should be able to heal them
fast.
Walking
across the room he knelt by the all but forgotten pizza delivery guy.
Rolling him over, he noted the nasty bruise and accompanying knot on the side
of his head.
With a bump like that, the
kid would be out for a few more hours he guessed.
Standing
up he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. It was time to go find out
how Charisse was doing and more importantly, discover just exactly what sort of
mojo the girl wielded that had vampires, and now he came to think about it,
drunks, fishermen, sailors and every bloody passing tourist, literally
worshipping at her dainty bare feet.
Chapter
Nine
Charisse
splashed her face and cleaned the blood from her throat with cold water before
studying her reflection. Now that she’d emptied the contents of her
stomach she was beginning to feel half-way human again. Grabbing Nate’s
toothpaste she used her finger to clean her teeth. Part of her was still
kind of gob smacked at how casually she’d just ordered the destruction of
another living being. Were vampires living beings? Or were they
undead beings? If they couldn’t cross thresholds… what else was true
about the legends?
“Cyd?”
She
jerked around, by the dim hazy light of the only working bulb in the large,
clean, but hopelessly ugly and out-dated bathroom, she eyed the door.
“Cyd,
you okay in there?” The polite knocking came again.
Oh
Goddess, what was she thinking hogging the bathroom like this? Poor Nate
had just fought with six vampires, saved an innocent bystander, been chained to
a floor and had two swords driven through his body and the foolish man was
asking after her well-being?
She
threw open the door and strode out past Nate into the master bedroom, dimly lit
by two battery operated lanterns. It was a huge room with high ceilings
and large windows that looked out over the private cove to the sea
beyond.
Nate
had stripped the room back to the basics, new floorboards had been laid but had
yet to be stained or polished. Hideous flowery wallpaper, peeling in
multiple places clung to the walls. There were four deep cracks in the
ceiling and in several places the decorative picture rail had crumbled
away. The only piece of furniture Nate had added was a large king-sized
bed, covered with crisp dark grey sheets. So perfectly made, the bed
looked as if no one had ever slept in it.
Charisse
paced the room, ignoring the harsh feel of the unpolished boards under her bare
feet. On about her tenth pass across the room Nate intercepted her,
leading her over to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling a dark wine coloured
throw over her shoulders.
“Cyd,
talk to me. Are you okay?” He crouched down, assessing her for
shock.
She
assessed him right back, wrinkling her nose at the vampire dust in his hair and
the smears of blood and grime down his throat and chest, visible through the
gaping tear in his shredded t-shirt. And worst of all, the two wide
jagged tears in his flesh, where the swords had been thrust through his body,
the material around the wounds heavily encrusted with blood.
“Cyd…”
Nate visibly swallowed hard, tamping down on the rest of what he’d been about
to say.
Charisse
tensed, clutching the throw tighter. “What?”
Nate
shook his head, staring up at her. “Nothing… it can wait, you’re tired,
cold… still in shock.”
Charisse
squared her shoulders. “I’m fine Nate… just tell me.”
He
stood up, moving back a few feet, eyeing her still with a wary careful look in
his eyes. “You’re sure you’re fine?”
Enough
with the pussyfooting around already, she gave him a look with a little bit
more heat behind it this time. What could he have to tell her that was
worse than vampires and a mad Queen hunting him? Was someone dead?
“Talk.”
“Are
you out of your ever loving mind?” He glared her way. “What could
possibly have possessed you to sashay into a situation that you knew nothing
about?” He threw up his hands and started pacing the room. It was
either that or throttle her.
“But…”
“What
we’re you thinking? Barefoot? Wearing a bikini? No
weapons?” He laughed but it wasn’t in humour. “You didn’t have any
idea of the kind of threat you’d be facing, how many there were or what weapons
they might be carrying. Seriously, for fuck sake Cyd, what were you
thinking?” He all but roared the last few words.
Charisse
shot to her feet, dropping the throw, hands coming to rest on her bare
hips. “I kissed an insane vampire Queen for you! You ungrateful
bastard!”
“Don’t
try to distract me by bringing that up.”
“Distract
you? What are you talking about?”
“What
possessed you to take such a stupid idiotic risk tonight?”
Charisse
grit her teeth together. Stupid? Idiotic? How dare he?
“You have some nerve buster. If I’d known you were going to get this
upset about me turning up to save your ass, I would never have bothered.”
“I
had everything under control.” Nate returned through gritted teeth of his
own.
“Oh
sure, everyone could tell you had them on the ropes. I assume being
chained up and pinned to the floor with two swords through the chest was all
part of your clever plan to lull them into a false sense of security?”
“I…”
This
time it was Charisse who wouldn’t let him get a word in edgewise. “You
are being impossibly male. I am not having this conversation whilst
you’re wounded, dirty and in pain. Have you seen the bruises on your
face? Also, it might have escaped your notice, but with all your prancing
about and ranting you’ve managed to reopen one of your shoulder
wounds. And for Goddess sake, what is all that black goo splattered
all over you?”
Nate
glanced down with surprise at the state he was in, he’d kind of forgotten about
it in his concern… anger, regarding Charisse turning up and gleefully and without
any forethought risking her life so fucking nonchalantly. “The black
stuff is vampire blood.”
“That’s
it.” Charisse held up a hand. “I’m done talking to you until you
clean up and let me take a look at those wounds.”
“Then
you’ll talk?” He pinned her with his hardest, most threatening look.
“Maybe…
if you stop ranting, raving and quit giving me that stupid macho look.”
Nate
scowled. “Look, just tell me…”
“No.”
Charisse mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.
“Seriously?
How old are you?” Nate muttered under his breath staring at her.
Noting that her long hair was all but dried now and floating like a glossy
cloud down her back, her green eyes were alert and flashing emerald fire his
way and that skimpy bikini top of hers was working overtime to contain her
heaving bosom.
Okay,
so maybe he was the one with maturity problems, now was not the time to get
distracted by Cyd’s all too obvious charms. He needed to know what she
was, and more importantly he needed her to understand how much danger she’d now
placed herself in. “Cyd…”
Charisse
compressed her lips tighter together, looking him up and down before wrinkling
her nose in distinct distaste.
“Fine.”
Nate conceded, perhaps a shower, preferably a cold one was exactly what he
needed at the moment to get some perspective. “Do not move a muscle.” He
turned and stomped off to the bathroom, yanking off his soiled and all but
ripped to shreds already t-shirt as he went.
*
*
*
Phew,
if she was going to have to work that hard to win an argument with Nate in the
future then they’d never leave the bedroom. Okay, not quite the picture
she’d intended to paint, since the thought didn’t upset at her at all.
Instead a warm flush travelled down over her body to settle between her legs
with laser point precision. The man was impossible… he was being
ridiculously macho… and he was safe.
Walking
over to the bed Charisse took a seat, her legs suddenly feeling like they were
made of rubber. Shaking with relief, she allowed her shoulders to
drop, letting go of all the tension she’d been holding onto since the moment
she’d glanced up at Kaleidoscope Folly from her seat in front of the cabin,
where she’d been indulging in a third… possibly a fourth glass, of chilled
white wine, to witness Nate sail through a first floor window to engage an
unknown number of assailants waiting below.
He’d
asked her what she’d been thinking… well she hadn’t been. She’d just
known he was in danger and outnumbered. Okay, so perhaps she’d
overestimated her effect on Queen Destiny; that had probably been the alcohol
still buzzing around her system. But still, thanks to her efforts, Nate
was free and safe. She couldn’t quite work out why he was so upset with
her.
Of
course she hadn’t known his assailants were blood vamps and nor had she known
if her Siren powers would be effective against them. But it had all
worked out, hadn’t it? So what was Nate’s problem?
She
was just contemplating lying down for a small rest, suddenly weary to her very
bones when the bathroom door opened and Nate emerged, wearing nothing but a
towel wrapped around his narrow waist. Charisse sat up bolt straight, no
longer weary at all.
Goddess
the man was magnificent, all that golden skin and rippling muscle, his hair a
wet dark blonde, slicked back from his face bringing to the fore his gorgeous
whiskey coloured eyes, strong jaw and sensually wicked mouth.
Damn,
she stood up abruptly, unsure of what to do exactly but pretty sure that she
should stop staring. “Um… I’ll get some towels and water for your
wounds.” She hurried into the bathroom before she could do or say
anything stupid. Rummaging around in there to give herself a few extra
minutes to get her head straight she found a small first aid kit.
Emerging she was pleased to see Nate had put on a pair of faded navy trousers
in her absence and was now sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her.
“Okay
so talk… start by telling me what you are?”
“What
I am?” She moved to sit next to him on the bed, focusing first on the
wound in his left shoulder, the one still seeping blood both front and back.
Nate
scowled at her. “Well according to you we can rule out sea nymph,
assuming you were telling the truth earlier. So that leaves… daughter of
Aphrodite?”
“You
think I’m a descendent of the Goddess of Love?” She enquired neutrally,
head bent; her focus on cleaning away a few small bits of debris clinging to
the ragged edges of Nate’s wound.
“The
charm offensive. The lovesick men. It would explain a few things.”
“So
you think I’m some grand seductress, making men everywhere my willing slaves?”
“Am
I right?”
“What
about you?” Charisse picked up the small bottle of anti-bacterial and
sprayed his wound both front and back along with the fast healing furrows on
his chest and the bite on his forearm for good measure.
“What
about me?”
“Are
you under the sway of my… charm offensive?”
“I’m
immune.” Nate jumped, gritting his teeth as a soft cool breeze hit his
shoulder wound. “What are you doing?”
“Just
drying it.” Charisse gave him an innocent look as she pursed her lips
together again and blew softly across his skin.
“Just
slap a bandage on it already. It will be healed in an hour or so.”
“So
manly.” She laughed under her breath, slapping down hard the requested
bandage before gathering the first aid kit to move to work on his other
shoulder. Making sure she arched her back and gave him a good long look
down her cleavage as she brushed past him. Daughter of Aphrodite… what a
dolt.
“Quit
it.” He gritted out through clenched teeth, meeting her green eyed
assessing gaze.
“Quit
what? You’re immune and I’m a descendant of a nymphomaniac… sounds like
you have it all figured out.”
“Fine,
so you’re not a daughter of Aphrodite, what then? Selkie? Sprite?”
“Why
is it so important for you to know what I am? What my powers are?”
“Why
are you so determined not to tell me?”
Charisse
rolled her eyes; honestly the man was like a dog with a bone. She peeled
off the backing of a large waterproof bandage and covered his second lot of
wounds with rough carelessness.
Nate
appraised her haphazard work. “Well, I think we can rule out healer,
can’t we?”
She
opened her mouth to tell him the truth but something prevented the words from
coming out. It felt very similar to the magic that prevented her from
talking to her female relatives about being a Siren. What was going
on? It wasn’t a secret she was a Siren. Everyone at the Sanctuary
knew what she was. They just weren’t privileged to what being a Siren
actually involved. Something… or someone… maybe Bettina, didn’t want Nate
to know she was a Siren.
Misreading
her silence as stubbornness, Nate issued a frustrated sigh. “Do you have
any idea how much danger you are in?” Nate ran a hand through his damp
hair. “As if I don’t have enough already to deal with. Look, if I
have some idea of what you are, what you can do… maybe I could let you leave
but as it stands… consider yourself under house arrest.”
“Excuse
me?” Charisse reared away from him.
“You
heard me Cyd, house arrest. You met the Queen of the lunatics and her
merry band of misfit minions out there tonight, and what’s more you pissed her
off. Do you really think she’s just going to forget about that?
Forget about you?”