Vampire King of New York (14 page)

Avron sneered. “Yes, you do. Be honest. Be a vampire instead of this sham you’re pretending to be.”

Max threw Avron onto the deck, which splintered beneath him. He disappeared into the bowels of the boat.

“Come on down, Max,” he called from the dark.

It was a trap, of course, but Max jumped into the guts of the ship. Rotten corpses stunk to high heaven. They probably died weeks ago when the ship was still at sea. Even in the middle of the bodies, Max could scent the ancient ones circling him. Five pairs of red eyes were glued on him, their chalk white bodies emaciated from deprivation. They hadn’t fed enough for battle; fighting sucked the life right out of a vampire. To be at war meant to constantly feed.

Two leapt tearing at him with their talons. He grabbed one before it could jump away, and ripped off its head. The creature gushed blood before disintegrating in his hands. The others moved off, moaning and whimpering, savages without a brain between them.

“I don’t have a quarrel with your unfortunates, Avron. Take them with you when you leave.”

The master vampire laughed. “I have a quarrel with you, Maximillion Vander Meer, King of New York. You’re giving vampires a bad name. We were the terror in the night, not some benevolent organization that actually funds activities for the humans. We are not human!” With a loud war cry, he rushed at Max, his hands becoming claws and tore at his stomach.

Max changed into a wolf. Though wounded, he ripped off his enemy’s arm and spit it out on the floor. Severely injured, he changed back, though it hurt like hell to do it. With one hand, he held his stomach together.

Avron jumped in front of Max then vanished. Twisting in a whirlwind, Max drew everything in the air. The debris would create enough a barrier to give away the vampire’s location.

Suddenly Noblesse landed behind him followed by a hail of arrows. She took several in the back.

Avron appeared in front of him. Lightning struck, and the master vampire burst into cinders. His minions flew screaming into the dark.

Quickly, hunt them down. They must not feed on the populace.
Max’s silent command reached the Arnhem Knights. They coordinated their efforts into teams and went off in pursuit.

Lifting Noblesse in his arms, he carried her back to the car. She needed the antidote and blood.

Laura slowly lowered them to the ground and stepped away from her sister.
Now aim straight up and give it your all.

David watched from the doorway of the roof.

Evelyn held her shaking arms to her side, then made a fist. With all her strength she punched the sky above her, throwing open her fingers. There was no burst of flame. Her fingers barely glowed.

Her heart sank to the roof floor. “I have no powers, Laura. It was all just residue from you.”

She ran to the door. Max was standing in the shadows behind David.

“Max, I’m glad to see …” Evelyn stopped short. He was covered in blood.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’ll heal.”

She put one arm around his waist and helped him down the stairs. David went ahead of them to open the door to the apartment. Laura followed behind.

When they entered, Hatcher and Cassandra were in the kitchen pulling an arrow out of Noblesse’s back. There were several holes in her back already. Hatcher stopped the blood with a towel, while Cassandra took the vials of antidote out of the fridge and handed them to Noblesse.

Still holding onto Max, Evelyn paused. “Thank you, Noblesse.”

“What for?”

“For watching Max’s back.”

The vampiress smiled. “Any time.”

David opened the door to Evelyn’s bedroom, and she eased Max onto the bed. He had no arrows sticking out of him, but there were several long gashes in his chest, stomach, and arms. Laura rushed out, returning seconds later with the vials.

Handing then to Max, Laura said, “Drink them. One at a time.”

“I didn’t get hit by an arrow.”

“Did you get cut by a blade?”

“Talons.”

“What if the talons were soaked in the same poison?”

Evelyn sat next to him on the bed. She managed to get his ripped and bloody shirt off to see the extent of the damage. “Don’t argue with my sister. Drink it.”

For the second time, he drank down the antidote, first one vial and then the other. Max handed Laura the empties.

Evelyn dabbed at the cuts with a cloth and antiseptic. “Max, we really need you to shower. Do you think you can manage that?” She kept hold of his arm.

“Yes.” He stood and made his way to the bathroom, kicking off his shoes and socks along the way.

“Laura, I can take care of things from here.” Evelyn closed the door to the bathroom, secluding herself with Max. Then she unbuckled his belt and slid his pants down to the floor.

“Now that’s erotic.”

“Stop it. Please, step out of your pants.” He did. She scooped up the slacks and put them carefully into a plastic bag, in case they carried traces of poison. Next the boxers fluttered down. Those too went into the bag, which she tied and placed just outside the door. Reaching into the shower, she turned on the hot water.

“Please, adjust it the way you want.”

He leaned out of the shower. “Evelyn, you should come in with me. You’re soaked to the skin from your rain dance, and you’re shivering.”

She’d been so focused on Max and his injuries, Evelyn hadn’t realized she’d started shaking.

“I guess I could …”

He lifted her up, sopping clothes and all, into the shower with him.

“Too hot.” She gasped pressing her face against his chest.

He adjusted the water to an in-between level and she relaxed. Looking at him more closely, she examined each open cut and gash. They were closing very, very slowly. Some were actively bleeding. Of course, he must have been poisoned.

Max peeled off her blouse and tossed it into the sink. She shivered so badly that he helped her under the hot spray and rubbed her back and arms.

Evelyn laughed. “I’m supposed to be helping you.”

“We’re helping each other.”

He removed her bra and tossed it with her blouse. Evelyn braced herself for what she imagined he would do next. He didn’t. Instead Max bent down to unbuckle the belt to her skirt. Tossed that out onto the floor. Then he pulled down the skirt. She leaned on him to lift each foot. He took off the shoes and put them on the floor. The skirt joined the clothes in the sink. Only pantyhose remained now. In an instant, they were ripped from her body. Her lace panties, too.

“Max, I needed those. ”

“I will buy you new underwear.”

That done, he pulled her into his arms in a tight embrace.

“Max,” she whispered. “I have to dry you and see if we can get some of those wounds to stop bleeding.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of research on lifemates lately.”

“You’re obsessed. I’m not your lifemate remember.” She tickled him playfully. Even though, she knew she couldn’t be, she was almost sure she wasn’t his lifemate, she did want him.

“Don’t you want to know what I found out?” He tickled her back.

“You’re going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?”

“There are five ways that lifemates can help each other when one is injured. Skin to skin contact is one. You’ve diminished my pain level dramatically, my Evelyn.”

She blushed. Even though she wasn’t sure about this lifemate thing, Max certainly had a way of getting to her. His hands caressing her shoulders sent her over the top, making her craving more than that.

“What are the other ways lifemates can help each other?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Just tell me.”

“If you lick each of the open wounds, they will close.”

“They will close anyway because you’re a vampire.”

“They will close more quickly if you help,” he countered.

Normally licking him all over was one of her more erotic dreams about him involving an empty Viking long ship and a bearskin. Evelyn shook that thought right out of her head. “I’m not a vampire. There’s nothing special about my saliva.”

Max kissed her on the cheek. “Being lifemates, our bodies react to each other’s chemically. If you are not my lifemate, nothing will happen.”

Evelyn thought a minute. Though the idea repulsed her, it was a definite way to find out if they were lifemates. Besides if she could spare Max pain, she would do this for him. He watched over her and loved her. She was certain of that.

“There’s a six inch gash in your stomach. I want to do this first.” Bending down, she gingerly licked at the large gaping wound.

“Lick the edges.”

She licked the edges, the entire circumference of the gash. With the hot water drizzling over it and her, Evelyn was fascinated by how the skin immediately knitted together. She couldn’t help but notice how aroused he’d become with her licking him. Evelyn decided to ignore that for now, though his hard length aroused her too.

Focusing only on his injuries, Evelyn proceeded to lick every cut she found on Max, until every injury had knitted together or faded.

“I’m done licking you.” She stood up, facing him and more than a little pleased that she was able to do something amazing. Whoa. That meant Max was her … But why couldn’t he hear her thoughts?

“Oh, by the gods, I hope not.” He lifted her mouth to his and kissed her long and deep. He played with her tongue, rubbing and sucking. Her knees buckled, and she swooned into his arms.

When Evelyn became aware again, she was in her bed with Max.

“I believe the process was too much for your human mind to cope with. Are you feeling better now?”

He was naked under the sheet.

“You’re better now and can go home?”

Max chuckled. “You don’t want me here, when you were worried about me the whole time I was gone?” He kissed her again.

Oh, damn, why did everything go all watery when Max kissed her?

“Max, of course, I want you here, I just think we should …”

“I’m well aware of your feelings on that matter. But I don’t think I can leave when my internal injuries have not yet healed.”

“Internal injuries?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a way to speed that process?” She raised an eyebrow.

“If I bit you and took a little of your blood, that would help, but I would not ask it of you.”

“Good. Because it’s not happening.”

“If we were both vampires, we could turn into mist and fold into each other sharing molecules. That would help but we’re not both vampires.”

She frowned at him. He only chuckled.

“There must be another way. What’s the fifth way?”

He rolled over. “You’re not going to like it. You’ll be angry with me if I tell you. I’ll just go to sleep now.” After a few minutes of silence, Evelyn knew he was playing with her. Well, she could play the same game.

With eyes closed, she lay on her side of the bed. A million conflicting thoughts burned and churned through her, throwing her into sleep and familiar dreams.

In a strange land of thatched huts, night blacked out the day
.

Evelyn wasn’t Evelyn and not yet Svenna, the name her Viking husband would give her, but Stevla. She crawled in the dark between the huts of the village. If fortune smiled on her, the man who stole her from her home would not wake until dawn. He liked his drink too much, and she encouraged his excess. Tears streamed down her dirty face, when she gazed up at the countless stars. She hoped they were smiling spirits that would bring her luck. She needed luck. So far her life hadn’t been blessed. She still had to escape to the forest beyond the village, but cooking fires still burned and too many eyes might see her.

A roar split the sky with arrows, and she fell into the mud. Men with painted faces and horns on their heads rushed into the village. Heads rolled into the dark, cut off by axes. Swords flashed silver in the dwindling lights.

Hiding behind a hut, Stevla dared to peek out. A rough hand grabbed her. In his other hand, he held a huge hammer.

“No.” A tall blond warrior, broad shouldered, and strong-armed, pushed the horned one away, tugging on her arm at the same time. The defeated one roared rushing at them. The warrior pushed her aside and swung his sword cracking the hammer’s handle. The horned one stumbled backward. The blond warrior shouted, and her enemy retreated into the dark.

Stevla was about to crawl away when she was lifted and thrown over a shoulder. She screamed but with all the screams and cries in the massacre, hers was unheard. It wasn’t until water splashed all around her did she realize she was headed for a North man’s boat. Squirming and wiggling to free herself from the arms holding her only earned her a slap on the rump.

The world swirled and he climbed into the boat with her over his shoulder. She whirled around and fell down onto a small soft hill. Looking up with fear in her heart, she saw the same golden haired warrior that had saved her from the horned one. Other women on the ship screamed, and for the first time Stevla knew what was going on. They were being raped.

The blond one fell on top of her. He held her against him. She whimpered and implored, “Je vous en prie, Monsieur. Ne fais pas ça, s’il vous plaît. Non, non.”(I beg you, sir. Do not do it, please. No, no.)

“Do not be afraid, my little one,” he said in her language.

She stopped moving.

“I will not harm you, just do as I say.”

She remained frozen. The ship got underway and the screams continued through the night. Stevla, in her fear, clung to her warrior. He did nothing but sleep on top of her. When the ship was beached the next day, the women shrieking and crying were dragged off. Only she and her warrior remained.

“Where have they gone?”

“They have been taken to be sold as slaves.” Then he asked if she needed to wash herself.

She nodded. He carried her jumping into the water, and they went ashore. When she indicated that she needed privacy, he pointed to a stand of trees. “Do not go far. There are wild animals.”

Stevla hurried out of his sight and found a convenient group of bushes. Fixing her skirt afterward, she stood trying to decide whether to run or not.

“Do not run. My men are in the woods. If they find you alone, I will not be able to protect you.”