Blood Bath & Beyond (17 page)

“Oh, man, you’re right. She’s a looker.” The flashlight then moved toward Victoria. “A kid? That’s going to be weird, man. I’ve never slayed a kid before.”

“It’s a vampire, not a kid,” the hunter who’d darted us replied.

“Still. It gives me the creeps.”

The flashlight returned to my face and I’d plastered a fake but confident smile on my lips, avoiding baring my fangs, small though they were. “So, let’s talk about this, boys.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

I commanded myself to be brave. “Oh, I don’t know. Stuff. Like how awesome you two are. You totally win.”

“Win what?”

“The prize,” I said as if it should be obvious. “You know how they have secret shoppers in department stores who report on how the salesclerks do with customers? Well, we’re a team of secret vampires who test the skills of fantastic hunters. All you need to do is let us go and we’ll report to your superiors about how amazing you are.”

“That sounds great,” the new hunter said.

“Don’t be an idiot,” the first hunter snapped. “She’s trying to fool you. There are no secret vampires.”

“How do you know, Shane? I mean, if everybody knew about them, they wouldn’t be secret, would they?”

I liked slow-witted hunters. Too bad I didn’t have two of them to work with today.

The flashlight shone on the sharp silver blade one of these guys held. I suddenly couldn’t look anywhere else.

“Her fiancé has money,” Victoria offered shakily. “He’ll pay big bucks if you let us go.”

“The kid speaks,” the dim hunter said with a smile. “She’s so adorable. She looks like that—what’s her name?—Shirley Temple. From the old movies. Hey, is that you, Shirley? You stayed the same age all these years?”

“Sure, that’s me,” Victoria chirped immediately, not missing a beat. “Adorable, right? I can sing a song for you if you’d like. ‘Good Ship Lollipop’? Remember that one?”

“That would be delightful!”

The flashlight shone on the stupid hunter’s face. “Seriously, Dan. Shut up.”

The second flashlight shone on the other’s face. “Why do you always have to ruin my fun?”

“Fun is what I brought you down here for, dumbass. Singing isn’t a part of it.” Shane moved toward me, shining his flashlight right on my face. “So here we are, pretty little vampire.”

“What do you want?” I asked without humor. My throat was tight. “Money?”

“Money’s never really held much appeal for me.”

“Spoken like someone who comes from it.”

“Good guess.” He stroked the hair off my forehead. His touch made me shudder with disgust. Quite honestly, he wasn’t a bad-looking guy. My guess was that this was a rich kid who’d picked up a hobby that filled his boring days—someone who liked to kill just for the sport of it. From my brief experience as one of the hunted, those were the absolute worst kind.

His friend I might be able to manipulate. Shane, the vampire hunter whose trust fund helped buy his wooden stakes, was another story.

This wasn’t going well at all. “I’ve never hurt anyone. I know you see the fangs and you think I’m a threat, but you’re wrong.”

“Sure. And what about the trail of dead bodies left around the city this week with fang marks in their necks? That’s the doing of just another nice, nonthreatening gal like you, right?”

So news of the serial killer’s victims had reached the hunters. I wasn’t too surprised by that. Hunters were hateful, but resourceful. And they loved to gossip as much as blue-haired grannies. “Are you looking for whoever did it?”

“As far as I’m concerned, the one who did it is tied
up right here in front of me.” He cupped my cheek and dragged his thumb across my bottom lip. “Looking all cute and innocent.”

“You’re right,” Victoria growled, sounding as dangerous as a fierce kitten. “Sarah plays innocent, but she’s a beast. Better watch out. You’re close enough that she could tear off your hand with her teeth if she wanted to.”

Shane yanked his hand away from me a split second later. Victoria’s threat proved that this hunter could be intimidated by a vampire he’d tied up.

I couldn’t do anything about it since I couldn’t freaking move, but it was still interesting. Extra speed and strength, or even the ability to see in the dark, did me absolutely no good right now, not until these ropes came off. My only weapon was my words. I had to choose them very wisely.

“There’s more like me,” I said evenly, channeling what little confidence I had left into my voice. If Shane was legitimately afraid of vampires, I might be able to work with that. “I’m in constant contact with them thanks to my…vampire telepathy. I’ve waited until you got back to call them in. They’re almost here and they’re going to hurt you very badly. And maybe, eventually, if you’re really lucky, we’ll let you die.”

Both hunters shuddered at the threat. Then they cast their flashlights off to the left and I followed the track of the beams to an opening that led to a set of stairs.

Exit stage left. Noted for future reference.

“Not long at all,” I said again, trying my hardest to keep my voice steady. “I think I can hear them coming
through the darkness. You’ll never see them until it’s too late.”

“Shane…”

“Just relax. She’s bluffing.”

“I don’t want my throat torn out by a vampire.” There was genuine fear in Dan’s voice.

Even though I was absolutely, positively not any more evil than I was when I was human, there was something exciting about eliciting the fear of an enemy. I could taste it, smell it, feel it. And somehow, on some deep level, I liked it. Especially when it came to these two.

The bright flashlight shone on my face again and I winced. Shane didn’t look the least bit afraid anymore. He looked like a rich kid ready to unwrap his latest expensive toy. But now he’d just be extra careful not to get a paper cut while he did it.

“So, vampire,” he began, drawing closer. Confidence had filled his hateful expression again and a cold line of perspiration slid between my shoulder blades. “I think you’re all talk. You’re not telepathic. And I know that silver keeps you pinned like a butterfly on a board. You’re bluffing. And it’s not working.” He twisted a piece of my hair around his finger and tugged on it painfully. His flashlight shone down onto my hand. “Engaged, are you? Do you think he’ll miss you when you’re gone?”

“Any second now,” I said, struggling not give in to despair as my heart thundered in my chest. “Vampirepalooza. All over you.”

He slid his fingers over my ring. It felt like more of a violation than if he’d grabbed my butt. “Will he seek
vengeance for what I’m going to do to you, do you think? Can monsters really fall in love?”

“I don’t know,” I bit out through clenched teeth. “Why don’t you tell me?”

That earned me a grin just before he put the tip of his knife to my throat and then slid it slowly down to my chest right over my heart. “I was going to take my time, but you’re a bit of a wild card, I think. Best to get this over with.”

“Do it!” Dan urged him on.

I wouldn’t scream. I wouldn’t beg. I knew neither would do me any good. Fury rose up level with my terror and I kept my eyes open, blazing into those of the hunter—the one who would finally manage to kill me in the dark storm drains underneath Las Vegas. But first he’d had to tie me up to do it so I wouldn’t be able to fight back.

Some hunter.

I’m so sorry, Thierry,
I thought.
I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to save you…or Victoria.

I braced myself for what he was about to do.

And then, with a loud crash, all the lights went out.

L
uckily, finding myself in pitch-black surroundings again didn’t mean I was dead.

It meant the flashlights had been smashed. I saw a shape move in the darkness, which would have been completely indiscernible to a human eye. Shane flew backward and away from me. Then there was the sound of the hunters’ heads smacking together and their bodies hitting the ground.

Total silence hung in the inky blackness for a good ten seconds while I tried to find my voice.

“See?” I said shakily. “I knew you wouldn’t abandon us.”

A low chuckle. “You didn’t really know that for sure.”

“No, you’re right. I didn’t.”

Charlotte flicked the light back on, but I figured she did it for my benefit, not hers.

“Holy cow!” Victoria exclaimed. “Who the hell are you?”

Six years old or 102, Victoria Corday was not the most tactful creature on the planet.

Charlotte’s black eyes tracked to her and her lips curved back into a chilling smile, showing off her sharp
fangs. “A nightmare you’ll be having for weeks to come, little girl.”

“Stop messing around and untie us,” I snapped.

“I took out the hunters—you can untie yourselves.”

“Charlotte,” I snarled.

“Nice tone. Maybe you’ve learned something down here. Being pretty and polite will only get you so far.” She came toward me and crouched down. “There’s just one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t do this because I like you. I did it for payment.”

“I would be happy to pay you for saving us in the nick of time. How much money do you want?”

“No, I’m thinking of something else.” Her black eyes moved to my left hand.

I tensed. “Don’t even think about it.”

Her grin widened. “Too late.” She yanked my engagement ring off me so hard it nearly broke my finger before she slid it onto her own. She admired it. “Pretty.”

There weren’t too many things I owned anymore that I really cherished. I’d found that possessions could be destroyed or taken away in a second, and the more you cared about them, the more it hurt to see them vanish.

My ring from Thierry was one of the few things I never wanted to lose. Ever. It wasn’t just a ring—it was a promise.

A promise that I was going to kick this chick’s butt as soon as I got loose.

“Untie me,” I said through clenched teeth.

“You betcha.” She reached around me and fiddled with the knots. “The silver burns a bit, doesn’t it?”

The moment I felt the tight ropes slacken, I burst forward and grabbed Charlotte by her shirt, slamming her against the concrete wall to our right.

“Thank you for saving my life,” I said as sweetly as possible. “I’d be happy to offer payment to you in another agreeable way. But give me my ring back. Now.”

She had the audacity to look amused. “Didn’t know you were a fighter.”

“I’m usually not.”

“Maybe that’s changing.”

“Maybe it is.” Maybe I was evolving and changing with the times. Becoming less of a potential victim and way more kick-ass.

It was a lovely thought.

“It’s good. The world is a tough one. Maybe you’ve been stuck in your bubble for a while wherever you came from, dealing with a couple hunters here and there. But out here in the real world things are way tougher than that. And when you’re faced with your darkest fear, you have to decide right then and there if you’re going to fight it or if you’re going to run away. You looked more like a runner to me.”

“I do like to jog a little. Burns calories.”

“I’m not giving the ring back.”

“Oh, believe me. You are.”

She shook her head. “Finders, keepers—”

Just as I was maneuvering to hold her in place with one hand and grab the ring back off her finger with the other, she managed to twist around so she had
me
pinned against the wall instead. She was strong—stronger than she looked. By a whole lot.

“—losers, weepers,” she finished, and then launched me over her shoulder like a discarded banana peel. I landed hard on my back fifteen feet away, the wind knocked out of me. I gasped for breath while I stared up at the dark ceiling. As soon as I could, I scrambled to my feet and spun around, searching for her.

She was gone.

And so was my ring.

I let out a strangled scream and fought the tears of frustration stinging my eyes.

“Nice try,” Victoria said.

I stared off into the blackness. I had no idea what direction she’d gone or how fast she could run. “Yeah, if nice means pathetic.”

“Sometimes it does, puppy.”

“Don’t call me that anymore,” I growled.

That shut her up for a moment. “Um…are you going to untie me before these two hunters wake up? Please?”

That much I could accomplish successfully. First I grabbed the garlic dart gun lying on the ground and tossed it into my gaping open purse next to where I’d been tied up. I had no idea what I might need it for, but one less dart gun in a hunter’s hands was a good thing. Then I stepped over the unconscious hunters like human-sized land mines and as I did, I searched for that special sense of mine that had told me the guy on the street was dead. These guys weren’t. They were still breathing. It half surprised me that Charlotte didn’t want to add murder to her list today as well as
theft. As far as I was concerned, that vampire’s morals weren’t much better than the serial killer’s.

I would have paid her. I would have paid her
lots
for her help. I knew I would have died if she hadn’t come back. But she didn’t have to steal my damn ring. I ran my hand under my nose as I sniffed while forcing myself to work on Victoria’s ropes. The silver in them burned my fingers as I loosened them enough for her to slip out. I rubbed my hands together and tried not to look down at my naked finger. I hadn’t taken the ring off once since Thierry had first given it to me three months ago. I’d grown very accustomed to the comforting weight of it.

“You okay?” Victoria asked quietly. It surprised me that there was no sarcasm or edge to her words this time.

“I’m alive,” I replied as I zipped up my purse and threw it over my shoulder. “And so are you. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

She surprised me again as she reached for my hand. I let her take it, reminding myself that she was just a kid. And, despite her semitough exterior, this might have been the closest brush with death she’d ever had.

Damn, there it was. My instinctive need to protect things that were smaller and weaker and more scared than me. At the moment, that was Victoria.

I think we both could have used a shot of whiskey at this point. I’d pass on any cigarettes.