Younger, Bree - Burn [All American Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

He lay there a long time, his mind busily considering what he needed to do while his body slowly healed. As his strength gradually returned, so did more and more of his memory. He knew he had to get them to safety as quickly as possible, but he was trapped by the sunlight.

The vampires who had taken him would be returning at nightfall to retrieve his remains so they could deliver their “message” to Quinn. When they didn’t find him in the clearing, it wouldn’t take them long to start searching for him. He wasn’t sure how far Libby had managed to get them in her car. It had seemed like the drive had taken forever, but it could have been only minutes. He just didn’t know—he’d been so out of it. And he didn’t yet have the strength necessary to defend himself and Libby against several pissed-off vamps. No, they had to get the hell out of there. Immediately. If not sooner.

He was still much weaker than usual, but the pain of his burns was fading more with each minute that ticked past, thanks to the blood he’d taken and the fact that his body no longer had to fight the effects of sun damage. He lay there until he felt that he would be able to move around without too much discomfort. Tentatively, he lifted his head and looked at the burns on his body. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but as he tested each muscle, he knew that he would be able to function almost normally.

At last he rose up to look down into Libby’s pale features. God, she was beautiful, but so tiny. She couldn’t be more than five foot one or two at the outside. How the hell had she managed to get him into her truck and back to this barn? She might appear small and delicate, but she was obviously one determined little lady. He shook his head in amazement, realizing the enormity of the debt he owed her. She had without a doubt saved him from an incredibly painful death. He owed her his life.

He rose gingerly, his legs unsteady but growing stronger, thank God. He climbed from the truck and walked over to the barn doors. The sun was almost down. He’d obviously been out of it for a while. They didn’t have much time if they were going to get away. He figured they had maybe thirty minutes, an hour at most, before his escape was discovered and the vamps came looking for him. And he didn’t have any idea where the hell they were or in which direction they should go.

He crossed back to where the woman lay. Placing his hand on her neck, he felt the steady flutter of her pulse. She was weak, but not dangerously so. She’d be all right as soon as he got her back to Biloxi and got some fluids in her. He took a few moments to straighten her clothes from where he’d unfastened them earlier, feeling another stab of lust as his fingers brushed against the silky softness of her breast as he put her shirt back on her and pulled up her shorts.

Thankfully, she was still unconscious. If she woke up and remembered him biting her and taking her blood, it probably wouldn’t be too pretty. Ty didn’t have the time right now to soothe fragile female nerves, and it was too late to cloud her memories. That had to be done during the bite. God, he hoped he hadn’t injected her with his venom. He’d been so out of it…well, he’d deal with it if later if he had to. Right now he couldn’t even worry about that. He had to get them out of here as quickly as possible, or her rescue of him would be for nothing. He would die for sure, and he didn’t even want to think of what the vamps might do to the woman if they were caught.

He began looking through the vehicle and soon discovered the gun lying in the passenger seat. Vaguely he remembered echoes of gunshots right before being released from his bondage. He grabbed it up and checked it. Fully loaded.

Well, well. The little lady was full of surprises. It probably wouldn’t kill the vampires that were after them, but it would sure as hell slow them down a little. He set it aside and continued his search. Her purse was lying on the floor. Inside he found a cell phone, but its battery was low and there was no signal. He tossed it onto the dash. Figures. That would have been too damn easy. When he opened the center console, he found the phone charger. Yes! He reached for the phone and hooked it to the charger. If they could get to an area where he could get a signal, he would be able to call Quinn for help.

Moving to the back of the vehicle, he saw a duffle bag shoved to the side, clothing and personal items spilling out of it. After digging through for a few moments, he found an extra-large football jersey and a pair of gray athletic shorts with an elasticized waist that he guessed the woman—Libby—probably used for sleeping. He grabbed them and set them to the side. The jersey held no scent but the woman’s, and Ty didn’t stop to wonder why he was relieved he didn’t detect the scene of a male on the garment.

Once he’d finished looking through everything, he put on the shirt, wincing at the feel of the rough fabric against his sensitive skin. At least it was just the front—his back had been protected from the harmful rays of the sun by the position in which he’d been chained. The shorts were too tight, so he tossed them aside, but he thought his dark blue boxers would do well enough as shorts as long as no one got too close a look. He was barefoot, but that was the least of his worries.

He looked thoughtfully down at the Harrison County car tag. Might be best if no one was able to give anyone that information. He bent down and in just a short time had the tag unbolted. He laid it in the back of the SUV, satisfied that at least he had eliminated one possible problem. He looked over the vehicle. It was a dark gray, almost black, and fairly nondescript. Yep. If they were spotted, it would be difficult to get a good description of the vehicle from anyone.

 
At last the sun went down enough for him to move outside safely. The sky turned a deepening purple as afternoon faded into night. He opened the barn doors and looked carefully around. They were in the middle of a field. A small country road curved off to the left. He didn’t see any other buildings or traffic. He had no idea where in the hell they were or how to get them out of there.

He turned and went back inside. Walking around to the back of the SUV, he studied the unconscious woman for a few more moments. He felt the guilt rush through him at what he had almost done to her. God, if he had killed her carelessly after she’d saved him… The thought cut through him like a knife. Well, he would protect her from now on. No matter what. They would have to go through him to get to his pixie.

He didn’t find it strange that he already felt a possessive bond with her. It just seemed natural that he would take care of her as she had taken care of him. Gently, he picked her up and carried her around to the passenger seat of the SUV. He laid the seat back as far as it would go and positioned her so that she looked comfortable. After he fastened the seatbelt around her, he shut the door and moved to the driver’s side. The keys were in the ignition, thank God. He checked the time on the dash. He had to hurry. If the vamps had a lair nearby, they could be arriving at any time. He wanted to be long gone before they started to search for him.

Maneuvering the SUV expertly across the overgrown field, he soon reached the road and stopped, looking both directions and trying to decide which way he should turn. He was pretty sure they’d made a right turn to reach the barn, which meant they’d been coming from the left. So he turned right and proceeded as quickly as he could, praying that he was correct about the direction he took and wasn’t driving straight into their lair.

After about fifteen minutes, he came to a fork in the road. Making up his mind quickly, using pure instinct, he continued right again, seeing on the dashboard compass that he was heading southeast. After long stretches of nothing but fields and woods, he began passing the occasional driveway, so he knew they were coming to a more populated area. Which was good and bad. Good because they should hit a main road soon and be able to figure out where they were by the road signs. Bad because that probably meant that this was the direction that the vamps would be coming from. He didn’t want to meet them head-on. They’d see him and recognize him for sure. Figuratively crossing his fingers, he continued forward, keeping a sharp eye out for any sign of oncoming traffic.

They continued on for a couple of miles without any sign of another vehicle. He had begun to think that maybe, just maybe, they’d make it out without any trouble. But as he rounded a particularly tight curve, he spotted the glare of approaching headlights. Shit! He scanned the nearby roadway, but there were no turns or drives that he could see. No way to avoid the car. His hands tightened on the wheel and he continued forward, praying for the best. When the two cars passed, he glanced over. Damn it to hell! His eyes met those of the vamp he’d considered the one in charge, and Ty saw the other man’s jaw drop in shock. The loud squeal of brakes pierced the night.

With no other choice, Ty slammed down on the accelerator. He had to get as much headway as he could before the other car could get turned around and after them. Luckily, the narrow pavement and the deep ditches on either side would make that slow going. They’d have to find somewhere to turn, which would hopefully give Ty the time he needed.

He drove as fast as he dared on the narrow, twisting road. Luckily, they didn’t meet any other oncoming traffic, and he was able to increase his speed even more, aware of the danger should another car suddenly appear. He kept one eye on the rearview mirror. So far he didn’t see any sign of pursuit, but he knew that their luck would probably not hold out much longer. Each time he had to turn, he went south. Wherever he was, the coast, and home, was definitely to the south.

* * * *

Quinn Buchanan looked up from the paperwork he was plowing through as the door to his office swung open with no warning. Nicolette Girard, his PA at the Midnight Moon Casino and Resort, came rushing through. Nic, the Creole daughter of Southern plantation owner, had been turned right after the Civil War. She looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth with her dark brown hair and big brown eyes. But her looks were definitely misleading. She had a mind like a steel trap. Quinn wasn’t even sure he’d be able to run the casino or handle his other responsibilities to his vampire clan and the Council without her. He could tell from the expression on his usually unflappable assistant’s face that she had bad news.

As soon as the door closed, Quinn told her. “Spit it out, Nic. What’s wrong?”

His assistant drew a deep breath before replying. “It’s Ty, Quinn. He’s missing.”

“Since when?” Quinn tried to suppress the jolt of alarm he felt at the news of his brother’s disappearance.

“Last night. He went out with a couple of other vampires to The Well. He left early, heading home, he told them.”

Quinn laughed and dropped back down into his chair, the tightness in his chest dissolving. “Is that all? Hell, you had me worried. You know how Ty is, Nic. He’s probably holed up with some female vampiress in her lair. I’m sure he’ll show up sooner or later.”

Nicolette shook her head. “His truck’s still in The Well’s parking lot.” She paused for a moment. “They found his keys on the ground beside it.”

Quinn’s grin faded, and he ran one hand through his hair in a gesture that Ty would have easily recognized. His brother loved that stupid fucking truck like it was his own child. There’s no way in hell he would have left it parked at some bar. And he damn sure would’ve noticed if he’d dropped the keys. Quinn flipped open his cell and dialed his brother’s number. It rang a few times then went to voice mail. Ty would never ignore a call from Quinn. Something was definitely wrong.

“What do you think?” He looked at Nicolette. “A kidnapping?” The Buchanan brothers were worth millions of dollars. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to get rich the easy way.

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t think so. Everyone around here knows that they would be taking their lives in their own hands if they did that. They’d have to be completely insane to take him. What about anyone Ty might have had a run-in with lately? Could someone be out for a little revenge or payback?”

Rubbing the back of his neck to ease the tension, Quinn thought a moment. Had Ty mentioned anything to him recently about problems he was having? Hell, the truth was, he had been so caught up in business lately, he and his brother had hardly spent any time hanging out and just shooting the shit. “Ask RJ. Or maybe Mick. They’d know better than I would if he’d gotten into it with anyone recently.” He grinned weakly. “You know as well as I do, Ty has been in his share of bar brawls. That temper of his gets him in trouble too damn easily sometimes. But I can’t imagine him letting some lowlife get the drop on him.”

“True.”

Quinn leaned back in his chair, forcing himself to concentrate on what could have happened to Ty and not the worry he was feeling. “Could it be humans?”

Nicolette shook her head. “I seriously doubt it.”

“But it’s possible?”

“Anything is possible. But to get a vampire as strong as Ty without drawing a lot of attention in a busy parking lot next to a bar full of other vamps and paranormals—that would take a whole lot of humans. And a whole lot of nerve and dumb luck besides. No, I’m pretty sure it would have to be paranormals.”

Quinn crossed to the window and looked out. “Damn it.”

“Anything you might have had him working on as Shield?” Although Ty was part owner of the casino, he was mostly a silent partner as far as the business side went. Ty couldn’t stand being cooped up in an office all night and much preferred doing jobs that required a more physical approach. Officially, he was Quinn’s community liaison. Unofficially, Ty was a Council Shield. It was Ty’s job to check out any issues or problems that came up that might require Quinn’s intervention or that might need to be reported to the Council of Nine. He thought for a moment. “Well, I asked Ty to look into some bodies that were found over in Waveland. They’d been drained. I thought it might have been a rogue. I hardly think that could be connected.”