Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) (25 page)

“
Club Vampyre
, seriously?”

“You
must give the Damned credit when it comes to PR. They know how to entice the
humans into their clubs and society.”

“Yeah,
they sure do. Alex, we aren’t staying at hotel owned by the Damned, are we?”

“No.
We’ll find another to stay at, one where we can defend ourselves or escape, if
the need arrives.”

“Good.
Can we make a stop before finding a hotel? I really need to purchase clothes
and personal items, especially a hairbrush. I really need one.” Running a
self-conscience hand over her wild hair, Kai cringed. “God, I must look awful.”

“You
look fine.” Pulling over, he parked and shut the engine off. “And I agree. We
need clothes befitting our changed circumstances. The ones we stole are fine
for the country, not for clubbing.”

“Or
hunting the Damned. I miss my Slayer’s suit and the silver band I earned on my
first kill,” she pouted, her lovely brow furrowed.

“When
we are done here, we will return to the plane and search for your luggage. Let’s
do some shopping.” He opened his door and got out as she did.

Holstering
their guns, they blurred them. She reached into her rucksack and pulled out her
wallet. When he met her on the sidewalk, Kai asked, glancing around the stores,
“Think a clothing store will be open this late?”

“Damn,
I didn’t realize it was midnight. We should be able to at least purchase some
shaving cream, razors. Hairbrush and shampoo.”

Running her hand over his rough cheek, Kai teased,
“Of the seven years I’ve know you,
never
have I seen you untidy.”

Running a hand through his hair, he realized it
was as disheveled as hers was. Alex grimaced. “I must look a ruffian.”

“I think you look sexy, and it’s turning me on.”

“Really?” he said huskily, “perhaps we should skip
shopping and find a hotel room.”

Her eyes went wide and her lovely mouth parted as
what he implied sunk in. Instead of accepting his idea, she surprised him by
saying, “Uh, I-I
need to brush my
hair and find clothes that fit me.” She plucked at the tight tee-shirt she wore,
avoiding eye contact.

The fabric clung to her breasts like a second
skin. Alex swallowed hard, his mouth gone dry. Forcing his gaze to drop to his
own set of clothes, he had to laugh. “We look like teenagers.”

“Our professional selves are completely
diminished, huh?” She grinned, back to her normal self.

Was she having second thoughts about him and her?
It sung that she might reject him, especially after he opened himself to her.
He decided to let the matter drop until a better time to talk to her about it.

Inspecting the store fronts, Alex pointed down the
street. “Hey, there’s a clothing store open for business. Let’s see what it
offers.”

To Kai’s delight, it was a store offering
assortment of garments ranging from sleepwear to evening gowns. He offered,
“I’ll wait out here while you shop.”

“Be right back!” Kai nearly skipped away in her eagerness.

Alex couldn’t blame her. The clothes they stole
were uncomfortable and something he normally would not wear. He kept alert, in
case other vamps were in the area. People walking past him nodded politely to
him, and he returned the gesture with an amused smile. Germans were such a
happy and pleasant people. For the first time since the war, Alex found he
missed his country.

The culture today seemed a blend of the old ways
and a new, more technology advanced society. There were a lot of tourists
walking about, eagerly sampling the treats offered by the small shops lining
the narrow street, open late to accommodate their needs. The smell of aged ale
and beer made him thirsty. Peering into the clothing shop to see where Kai was,
he nearly swallowed his tongue. Kai was pressing a black, lacy bra to her
chest, frowning as she tried to decide whether or not to purchase it and the
matching underwear. Watching her, he found himself hoping she was reading his
thoughts. Wanted her to know how much he wanted her. To his disappointment, she
was busy shopping, seeming intent only now on selecting a pair of jeans.

Sighing, he entered the store. “Kai, I’m going to
walk about, perhaps purchase a pint of German ale.”

“Go for it. I’ll try not to be long.”

Eyeing the bra and underwear wistfully, he
replied, “Take your time.”

Returning outside, he wandered around the town
square, purchasing a pint of local brew, he sipped it, finding it good, just
not near as delicious as Herrick’s brew. A cold chill slithered down his spine
and he faced the Hartz Mountain. He could feel her eyes on him, watching him,
and plotting on how she could make him suffer some more.

A hand touched his back, whipping around; he began
to draw his gun. Kai put her hand on his, stopping him from drawing it front of
the people walking past them. “Easy, Alex, it’s just me.”

“Bloody hell, woman! You know better than to sneak
up on me.” Wiping a hand across his face, he growled, “I’d thought Lisle had
slipped past Waters’ men and come to torment me.”

“Sorry, I should have been more careful. I was
just worried about you. You had that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“A man with his back to the wall.” She sat down two
sacks of clothes she’d purchased. “Can I have drink?”

“What?”

“Can I have a drink of your beer?”

Blinking, he finally understood what she was asking.
“Certainly.” He handed her the plastic cup, watching as she took a sip. “It’s
not as good as Herrick’s.”

“I like the taste of honey in Herrick’s.” Kai handed
the cup back to him. “The woman at the checkout counter said there’s a men’s
store a block over. When we rise, we can head there to purchase clothes for
you. Oh, and she recommended the
Hotel Geheimer Rat. Said it was
very clean and near the park. We can go to ground there at dawn.”

“Good. Let’s find a convenience store and
purchase the personal items you listed. Afterward, we’ll check in at the hotel.
Damn, I could use more blood. How about you?”

“I could feed again.” She blinked in surprise
when he took the bags from her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Bemused by her change of
attitude, Alex refrained from commenting that it wasn’t long ago she would have
been insulted by his offer of help. How the last couple of days had changed
them both.

Purchasing what they needed at the convenience
store, they returned to the car and drove three blocks to where the woman had
said t
he
Hotel Geheimer Rat was. Baroque-style in its design,
the hotel was clean and well-cared after. Blurring their swords, they went inside
to the lobby. Due to the music festival, there was a shortage of rooms. Taking
the last one they had to rent, he filled out the form and paid with cash. The
clerk signaled to a young man wearing a red bellman uniform.

“Please follow me, sir, miss.” Surprised the
kid had an American accent, Alex motioned for Kai to walk in front of him as
they followed the bellhop to the elevator.

The doors opened, and the human waited for them
to enter it first. Following, he pushed the third floor button. When the doors
opened, he escorted them to their room. The human offered to open their door
and explain the amenities before Alex withdrew his wallet and gave him a large
tip, effectively quieting him.

“Thank you, sir. I’m Edgar, and if you should need
anything or have questions, please call for me.”

“Will do.” Alex opened the door, pointedly making
it clear it was time for Edgar to leave.

Kai laughed softly, and the human smiled at her
dreamily. “If we need any help, we shall call upon you, Edgar. Have a nice night.”

“You as well, miss. Have a pleasant stay.” Edgar
nodded to Alex on his way out.

Closing the door behind the human, Alex leaned
against it, amused by the human’s tactics. “Good thing we don’t sleep in beds,
huh?” he said as he indicated the king-sized bed.

“Yeah, sure,” Kai replied, turning her face away,
not before he saw her cheeks were red.

“Kai, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine. Just hungry … for more blood,” she
added quickly, turning a brighter shade of red. “Weird meeting an American kid
working in Magdeburg.”

“Did you take a peek into his head?”

“Didn’t need to. Edgar is pretty open. Nothing
dangerous about him.”

“Would you like to change first?” he asked as she
withdrew the items she bought and placed them in the draws of the white dresser.

“No, I’d rather not waste time changing. I need
blood badly.”

Contemplating their options, he commented, “We should
use Edgar as a donor.”

“Alex! How could you suggest such a thing,” she
exclaimed, shocked by his callousness toward the youth.

“Don’t get me wrong, he was a nice enough fellow.
I was just thinking the evening has presented a goodly number of surprises and
thought we might not want to press our luck further by going out.”

Chewing on her lower lip, Kai thought it over. “We
probably should call in someone to feed on. Yet, it’s been a long time since
I’ve played tourist. I’d like to look around Magdeburg. Especially since I keep
having these split visions of the city in 1819 and now.”

“Should we leave our swords or take them?”

Checking the digital clock set on the night table,
she answered, “Let’s take them in case we cut it close. Dawn is only a four
hours away.”

“Want to go to ground early?” Alex asked her as he
went to the window and gazed at the city.

“Not really.”

“Good,” he said, turning to face her, “because I
want to check out
Club Vampyre
.”

“Now?”

“Yes. I think there is more to Jeremy than wanting
to help us kill Lisle. Remember he offered us a room at
his
hotel?” She nodded. “Why didn’t he say
it was Angel’s?”

“You think he doesn’t want Angel here, to find out
he’s buying property and putting it in his name and not hers?”

“Angel will stake him out in the sun, if she found
out he was in business for himself and not the greater good of the Damned.”

“Great. Your agreement with him was that we’d be
unharmed until Lisle was dead. Once she’s gone, we’ll be outnumbered when
Jeremy makes his move to finish cleaning up the mess Lisle made of his plans.”

“Which is why we’ll head over to
Club Vampyre
now, instead of tomorrow night.
I want to scope out how ambitious Jeremy Waters has become outside Angel’s
shadow. We need to see who is at the club. The mercenaries, who were with him
at Wulf Manor, were at least fifty years turned and trained soldiers. Either
Waters is attempting to make a bid to rule the Damned, or Angel might have made
him a general in her army.”

“Sin said he was one of her generals during
Angel’s declaration of war against the Borne. If Angel is a creature of habit,
she will attempt to create her army in the same fashion. Waters is loyal to
her. It would make sense she would send him out to recruit and build her army.”
Kai grabbed the straps of her rucksack and tossed it over her shoulder. “Faeroes
is aware of Angel’s plans and made a sweep of Berlin, shutting down the clubs
ran by the Damned. He said he took back the city. Do you think Angel has spies
watching him and the Council, keeping track of them?”

“I would, if I wanted to win.” He saw her worry. “Faeroes
isn’t lack with his and Anya’s safety. In fact, he’s taken extreme precautions
to protect them and the Council members. Besides, it would take an organized assault
to breach the fortress’s security systems and the Damned are fond of hit and
run tactics. Anyways, the Damned are only one of Faeroes’s problems since
taking command of the Borne.”

“Other problems?”

“He’s having difficulty organizing the ancient Borne
and bringing them into the 21
^st
Century.”

“Still? I thought he’d resolved most of their
complaints years ago.”

“You must realize the ancients are confused. They
long for the past and do not want to deal with the future. They clash
continuously with the younger vampires, who lack the patience to deal with
their oddities. Which is why Faeroes transformed the castle he purchased into
the European meeting ground, to ease the older Borne in accepting new ideas.”

“Great. We are at war with the Damned, and the
Borne can’t persuade their own to become unified. Why are the Damned so much
more organized and determined than us? What makes them band together, stay
loyal so strongly?”

“When I worked with Jarred, I remember fear was
his favorite tactic to keep the Damned in line. Angel is a different creature.
She knows her kind, what appeals to them, what they desire out of their
immortal lives. She rules with an iron-fist, generous to those who are loyal to
her. For example, Waters was a ghoul elevated to vampire. Never has a master
vamp done that before. It will give other ghouls hope to be made vampires and
that’s dangerous. For us.”

“Alex,
I’ve been profiling a long time and have never encountered anything as
organized as what I saw in London. The Undead are willing to work with each
other, which was scary to see. If Faeroes can’t get the Borne to work together,
Angel has a good shot at accomplishing her goal.” She fell quiet for a moment. “Ya
know what we need to do, don’t you?”

“What
would that be?”

“We
need to break their bond. Divide and conquer the Damned.”

“Hmm,
never thought of it that way. I’ll suggest it to Rathe and Faeroes. You might
be onto something here. For now, let us do some recon on our enemies.” Heading
to the door, he opened for her. “Shall we?”