4 Vamp Versus Vamp (17 page)

Kellan came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. He kissed my neck, drawing me deeper into his chest. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He kissed my ear. “Bake some goodies. I suddenly have a hankering for some cupcakes.”

“
Hankering?
” I giggled.

“
Yes.
”
He kissed my head. “I’m going to the office to talk to Kalel for a bit, but I’ll be back to taste some stuff.”

I smiled as I nodded my head. He flipped me in his arms and captured my lips unannounced. His kiss was full of promise for later. With one final press of his lips to mine, he pulled away and disappeared into the office with Kalel.

“Lexi.” I looked up the moment he called my name. Jack stood there, a black netbook open in his left hand as he considered me from the threshold of the dining room and kitchen. “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”

I laughed, the unease leaving my body. It wasn’t a brilliant statement, given the topic, and yet, despite that, it tickled my fancy. “Thank you, O great philosopher Jack.”

“Somehow I knew that would cut through your tension.” He casually tapped his right temple with his pointer finger. “I’m going to work on the prototype for your trademark.”

“Thanks, Jack.” He left Gabi and me to get to work. “You ready to bake?”

“I’ve been ready.”

I grabbed a bag of flour and some measuring cups from a drawer on my way to the stand-up mixer. “The more time I spend with him, the less he feels like a bad omen.”

“I’m going to ignore the negative ending and thank you for being open to him, period. Kai has been less than amicable and Kalel is only tolerable.” She sighed. “What’s a girl to do when her heart belongs to a man everyone seems to despise?”

“We don’t despise him, Gab, but he does have to prove himself after the wild goose chase he sent us on and the danger he put us in. Perhaps it was inadvertent, but we wouldn’t have been in harm’s way had it not have been for Jack’s shenanigans.”

“I know. Trust me, I know. And if I didn’t, Kai has been all too willing to shove that little fact in my face every time I talk to him. Jack isn’t even allowed on Bladang property and I own one-third of all of it.”

I measured three cups of flour into the mixer and turned it on
‘
Low.’ “They were close to Rafi. You all lived together for several decades. Vampires aren’t as immune to human emotions as they’d like to think. The guys actually cared about Rafi and, I think, looked at him like another brother. That’s hard to ignore when you’re staring into the eyes of his killer, inadvertent or not.”

“It’s not like Jack shot Rafi. Trust me, no amount of love could erase that from my memory. And talk about caring, I was practically married to Rafi. The guilt is there, Lex. I know I shouldn’t be with Jack, but I can’t seem to pull myself away from him.”

“I’m not judging you, Gabi. I’m not telling you what you’re doing is wrong. The heart is a funny organ. It bypasses all logic and connects us directly to our soul. Sometimes it’s a blissful union; other times it defies all reason. Don’t fight it. Everyone will come around eventually, and even if they don’t, as long as you’re happy, then no one can fault you.”

“You really need to start hanging out with people your own age.” She grinned.

“So I’ve been told.”

“Thanks, Lex. Sometimes I feel like you and Imara are the only ones I have left.” I noticed the beginning of tears welling in her eyes.

“I’ll always be here, Gab.” I hugged her.

Her arms immediately wrapped around me, pulling me firmly to her. “You don’t know how much that means to me, Lex.” She sniffled.

“You deserve to be happy, Gabi. Don’t let anyone else’s opinion of your life rob you of that.” I released her, leaning back. I smiled. “Let’s bake some yummy treats.”

She wiped her eyes. “Yes! Please. I could use some yummy goodness to cheer me up.”

Over the next couple hours we whipped together an army of desserts. I baked two thick layers of chocolate cake and pressed them together with a solid layer of thick, raspberry blood jam and
covered it in a raspberry blood glaze. I used a pastry bag to pipe dollops of bloodied whip cream decoratively around the edges of the round cake and a flower in the center. We created two batches of cupcakes, one vanilla and one chocolate, with a bloody pudding filling and topped with a blood-red icing. The final dessert of the day was
shortbread cookies
half dipped into a blood and white chocolate glaze.

Everyone had gathered in the kitchen at the finishing of the baked goods, even Craig and Mr. Hartford. “The cake is for when Mel gets up. Leave one of each kind of cupcake and a cookie for Mel, too. Everything else is up for grabs,” I stated.

I quickly set down the final tray of cookies and backed away from the table as hands flew for the desserts.

“These are heavenly,” Aunt Claire said as she stuffed half a cupcake into her mouth. Her eyes widened, finding mine as she moaned around the dessert.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

She swallowed and squared off with me. “It’s okay, sweetie. I knew we weren’t going to agree on everything going in. We’re both headstrong. As long as we never let it permanently divide us, I don’t mind a debate from time to time.”

“I think I can handle that.”

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me.” She headed back to the table. “Someone needs to move their butt over so I can get some more. Craig, you’re not the cookie monster. Stop shoveling them in
like
a garbage disposal.”

“Mmmm. These are delightful, Lexi,” Jack said.

“Thanks.”

He frowned. “You don’t eat your own desserts?”

“I’ve never been a big sweets person. I’d rather have a hearty meal any day.” I shrugged.

“More for me that way,” Kellan called from across the table around a mouth full of chocolate cupcake.

I giggled at his icing mustache. “Sexy.”

“I understand my wife’s obsession with them. They are addictive for those who enjoy the sweeter things in life.” Jack grabbed another cupcake.

“I had forgotten how good your pastries were, Leka.” Kalel pushed Steven’s hand out of the way so he could snatch up another cookie. He’d hung around at the smell of the food baking.

I felt myself blush. “Okay, guys. I get it. I know you want me to do the bakery thing. I agreed to start off small.”

“Good. I’ll donate one case of blood a month if you’ll drop some of your stuff off every once in a while,” Kalel offered, licking a finger as if to prove a point.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“You do have a unique niche, Lexi,” Mr. Hartford stated. “I’ve never come across anything like this, even at the annual conventions that are catered by the vamp companies.”

“Hopefully that will translate well for business.”

“Be positive, babe. You’re going to do great.” Kellan came around the table, grabbing another cupcake on his way.

“Thank God I made a lot.” I was in awe of how quickly the pastries were disappearing from the trays.

“Told you forty-eight cupcakes was just enough,” Gabi said.

“I want someone to invent a mechanical dipper for me. Hand-dipping ten dozen cookies isn’t exactly my idea of fun.” I pretended to pout.

“Oh, please, you loved it.” She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, so I did like it,” I conceded. I tried to find a negative point, a potential downfall to my new business idea, but couldn’t thus far.

A faint brush of two hard materials together caught my attention. Gabi spoke, but I tuned everyone out as I cocked my head and searched around the table. No one had stopped, meaning I was the only one who had caught it. There. I heard it. Another heartbeat. My heart took off.
Mel!
I flew to the basement.

Chapter 17

I didn’t know what I was running into, who I was going to run into. The stairs were a blur — everything was a blur until I came face to face with him.

“Damn it, Jones. I told you not to shoot yourself yet,” Cesar bit out in a rushed whisper.

“Too late. He already gave you away.” My eyes were focused on my best friend’s coffin, hoisted in the arms of two vampeens dressed in business suits. “How exactly were you planning to escape with that?”

Cesar smiled wide. “I wasn’t. I’m planning to escape with you.”

“Over my dead body,” Kellan growled. He came around in front of me, officially blocking Cesar from me. Kalel stepped up next to Kellan, followed by Aunt Claire.

“Don’t even think about taking another step towards her,
Daddy
.” His title was full of spite on Aunt Claire’s lips.

Another heartbeat began to echo in the dark space, followed by another. I pressed my back to Kellan’s, searching the room, but no one else was in there, which meant it was their hearts that’d begun beating again slowly.

“How did you do it?”

“A window will never separate me from my target,” my grandfather stated. He stood tall, his arms folded behind his back; his arrogance was palpable.

“Your hearts. You stopped them from beating, at least temporarily.” That also explained why I didn’t hear anything at my house.

He chuckled. “We all have our secret weapons, Alexa.”

“I suggest you leave at once,” Mr. Hartford said. He stepped forward, officially joining the front line.

Cesar laughed boisterously. “Or what? You don’t think I have your home surrounded? See, it’s much easier for a vampeen to slip in amongst the thread of human heartbeats in a residential area. My men are out there. Likewise, I’ve instructed them to bomb this home if I don’t walk out in — ” He lifted his left hand, sliding back the cuff of his shirt to reveal his watch. “Oh, my. It seems I have less than three minutes to meet my men with Alexa. So, what do you say, granddaughter?”

Serum flooded my mouth. The room felt claustrophobic under the mounting tension from every angle.

“Don’t!”
Kellan’s single cry hit me hard. I closed my eyes to the pain, the emotional cry in his sharp command.

We both knew there was only one way for this to end, though. I had to go. If I didn’t go, they all died. Even if I refused, we had about two minutes to fight off these men, grab Mel, and get out. Then we would be attacked from who knew how many angles by who knew how many vampeens outside. We were likely outnumbered.

“You’re bluffing,” Kalel snarled.

“Perhaps.”

I screamed when my grandfather had Kalel at gunpoint faster than the speed of light. “Stop!” My veins lit up in a flash, illuminating the space.

I heard Gabi gasp behind me. I knew Jack would be in front of her, ever her protector, by now.

“Don’t, Leka.” Kalel breathed heavily as he glared into my grandfather’s eyes. Cesar had the barrel of the gun pressed to Kalel’s head at an angle.

My heart beat erratically. Sweat began to dot my brow as I gazed helplessly at them. “I’ll go. Put the gun away.”

He immediately tucked the weapon into the waist of his pants. “I knew you would see things my way.” He smiled sweetly. My stomach churned with disgust. I couldn’t believe I was related to him. “Let’s go.”

The men dropped the casket. Kellan and Craig caught it before it could hit the concrete floor. Mr. Hartford was right behind them. They quickly set Mel carefully on the ground.

I met Kellan’s gaze. His nostrils flared, and his muscles bunched beneath the fabric of his clothes.
“I will get you back. I swear.”

“I know.”
I felt peace descend upon me. I believed in Kellan. I believed in my friends as much as they believed in me. I was going to be
alright
. Slowly my flesh returned to its normal hue, no longer a blue map of my bloodline. Cesar roughly gripped my upper arm and jerked me towards the stairs. We ascended in a hurry, his two men behind us to prevent any attack efforts. “
I love you.
” Cesar pushed me outside into the cool morning air. The sun was just beginning to peek its head over the horizon, meaning it was about 6 a.m.

KELLAN

Damn it! I can’t believe I lost her again!
This was war. Cesar wanted to play hardball; I was going to play even harder.

“Claire, call Auggy and have him get a team of vampeen soldiers out here. I need vampeens to infiltrate Cesar’s camp. Kalel, call Kai and get him to send a team of weapons experts. I want freaking black op–ready vamps to swarm his place once the vampeens get us in. Jack, I need your computer skills. Lexi should have her cell phone on her — see if you can hack into the tracker inside. It’s set up through the vamp army.”

“No problem.” Jack raced upstairs to get his computer. Kalel and Claire followed him, phones already placed to their ears.

“Gabi, you stay here with Steven and Craig. Guard Mel. I don’t think he’ll come back since he got what he wanted, but you never know.”

“We’ve got it covered,” Steven assured me. The heat in his eyes said he was ready to battle anyone who came at his daughter again.

“Fudgin’ fish sticks!” Craig roared. “My girl is safe, yours isn’t, mate. Stop piddlin’ and let’s crack some donkeys.” He met my gaze; determination blazed from his stance. He was going with me; I wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of it.