Death Takes a Holiday (34 page)

“Well, I’m a frightening person.”

“I see you made it through with your sense of humor intact.”

“If you can’t cry, laugh.”

“Sensible,” he says with a nod. He eyes me up and down and not in the good way. “So, in his haste to leave, Oliver was not forthcoming with details. What happened?”

“Kidnapping. LSD. Psycho ex-boyfriend sacrificing me to a troll so he can play Batman.”

“You certainly lead an interesting life.”

“Yeah,” I say quietly. I push the bad feelings away. “So, I hear you and your minions helped search for me.”

“Oh yes,” he says with pride.

“And why would you do that?”

“I was protecting a valuable asset.”

“And that’s it? I’d think you have ulterior motives to your ulterior motives.”

He grins, showing off those fangs. “We have only been acquainted a short time, and you already know me so well. My ulterior motive in this instance was the belief that your compatriots would think that if I was assisting in the search then I could not possibly be the culprit.”

“Well, it worked for Steven.”

“It did. Nary a person, the exception being yours truly, suspected him. I always had my doubts.”

“Why?”

“I recalled his fury the night at the club. He was capable of cold-blooded murder, without a doubt. Though no one would listen to me. He played his part to perfection. And had an alibi.”

“Which was one of his fellow crazies, I’m sure,” I say. “Well, thank you. I guess I forgive you for trying to force me into marriage.”

“I did have to take my chance,” he says. “You have no idea how valuable you are.”

“Yeah, next time just ask me to a movie or something. Make a mix tape.”

“Agent Alexander, I am taking my life in my own hands simply visiting you,” he chuckles. “Your wolf would rip my tongue out just for speaking with you. He has attempted that very thing twice already.”

I frown. “Yeah. I heard about that. Sorry. He’s just very … overprotective. You’re not going to have him arrested or anything, are you?”

“I have been considering it. I am well within my rights. He nearly killed two of my men and myself.”

“I’ll owe you one,” I say, knowing full well this is exactly what he wants.

He raises an eyebrow. “Anything?”

“Within reason.”

Connor nods. “Then all is forgiven. I only hope that forgiveness goes both ways.”

“Meaning?”

“Upon reflection, I have come to realize I have behaved abysmally toward you. When one has to rule with an iron fist, one forgets that honey draws more flies than napalm. I can only hope as we continue to associate, you do not judge me too harshly by my past trans-
gressions.”

“So you’re apologizing for threatening to kill me if I didn’t sleep with you?”

“In essence, yes,” he says with a smile, those beautiful eyes crinkling. “From now on, I vow to be your ally, not your enemy. And perhaps later … ” His smile turns mischievous, “something more.”

I lean in, once again so close we can kiss. “Prove it, Danny Boy,” I say cocking an eyebrow.

As if reading my mind, his smile grows.

“If I do shoot, it’ll have to be one handed. I need something with a little less kickback. Damn, I wish I had my machete.”

I must still be high. I’ve checked myself out of the hospital against doctor’s orders, left with a man who less than a week ago threatened my family, and am now on my way to confront a cult and their pet troll. At least I’m traveling in style. Nothing like riding shotgun in a Ferrari with one of the most powerful vamps around.

“Jim, did you hear her?” Connor asks his minion over the phone.

“Yes, sir,” Jim says over the speaker. “I have a .38 that should suit.”

“Bring what you have and meet us at the rendezvous. Neil?”

“Yes, sir?” Neil asks over the speaker. Yes, we’re having a conference call in a Ferrari.

“What is your ETA?”

“Fifteen.”

“How many are you?” I ask.

“Four.”

“Should be enough,” I tell Connor.

“Excellent. See you all at the rendezvous.” He presses a button to hang up. “I just hope we do not miss all the fun.”

Yeah, this is going to be a blast. Okay, why am I doing this again? A pound of flesh? In part. I want to see those bastards’ faces when I come back from the dead with my vampire buddies. But it’s not all blood lust. I’m worried. Worried my team will underestimate the bad guys. They’re cops. They’ll never give up without a fight. And I’ll just be there as backup.

But mostly it’s the revenge thing.

“I’ll see what they’re up to.” I punch in Will’s number on the console.

It rings twice. “Special Agent William Price.”

“Will, it’s Bea.”

“Where the hell are you?” he asks frantically. “Your grandmother just called! She said you left a note and checked out. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m with Connor.”

“Felicitations, Agent Price,” Connor says.

“What? Connor? Why? Bea, what the hell—”

“We’re on our way to meet you guys. I’m bringing six vamps with me.”

“What? No. No! Absolutely not! You’ve been shot. You have a broken arm. You need to go back—”

“I’m fine. I have six bodyguards with very sharp teeth to protect me.”

“
This
!” he shouts. “This is exactly what I’m talking about! You do … I … ” He’s so angry he can’t talk.

“Give me the phone,” I hear Oliver say over the speaker. “Trixie?”

I close my eyes to savor this moment. “Hi, Oliver.”

“Trixie,” he says it as if he never thought he’d say it again. “You have … no idea … ” But he doesn’t finish. Then he’s quiet for a moment. “Are you well?”

“Yeah,” I say, emotion quaking in my voice. “You?”

“Infinitely better now,” he says. He clears his throat. “So, you are with Connor?”

“Yeah. We’re about ten minutes from the cabin. Some of his vamps are meeting us there.”

“There is no way I can talk you out of this, is there?”

“No. I need to do this.”

He’s silent again. “I know.”

“See you a mile from the cabin?”

“I will attempt to hold off the siege until you arrive.”

“Appreciate it.”

“And Connor?” Oliver asks.

“Yes, Oliver?”

“If any harm comes to her tonight, and I mean
any
, I will kill you. And nothing will stop me. Do you understand me?”

The always composed vamp actually looks frightened for a second. “I understand.”

“Good.” The line goes dead.

Connor reaches across, shutting off the phone. “I must say, there is never a dull moment around you, is there Agent Alexander?”

“Still think I’m worth all this trouble?”

He switches gears, and we zoom down the freeway. “Oh yes,” he says with a wink.

My vampire posse and I arrive too late. Jim, a burly, plaid-clad survivor-
man vamp with an arsenal in the back of his jeep, was the first to arrive and scouted the cabin. He made it just in time to find the F.R.E.A.K.S. walking out. Connor and I blow in five minutes later, not bothering to hide our arrival. Nancy and Carl sit on the porch with Agent Chandler. Agents Wolfe and Rushmore come out with a bunch of rifles. Will and vampire Jim stand at the hood of a car examining a map. Everyone welcomes me back, Agent Wolfe actually hugging me, but Will makes it a point not to look up.

“I gather we missed them,” Connor says.

“Their cars are still here,” Carl says.

It does look like a car lot. Seven cars, including the Gran Torino and Steven’s Jeep. All the tires are slashed, though. They’re not getting far.

“Then they must be at the mine,” I say.

“Wherever the hell that is,” Agent Rushmore says with his Jersey accent. “It’s not on any maps.”

“We can wait for them to return,” I offer.

“High on troll blood,” Agent Wolfe says. “And there’s no guarantee they’ll all come back here at once.”

“So we have to find the mine,” I say.

“Yep,” Nancy says.

“Wish I could help more,” I say. “I just sort of ran. Wasn’t paying attention to anything else.”

“Did you bleed?” Connor asks.

“Only toward the middle when I got shot. But Artie did.”

“Then that is how we locate them,” Connor says. “Follow the blood trail. Jim!”

Jim gazes up from the map over to his Lord. “Yes, sir?”

“Find the blood trail into the forest.”

“Yes, sir.” The vamp starts sniffing the air in search of blood.

Will glances at me, then back at the map. Still mad I see. I clear my throat. “Where’s Oliver?” I ask Carl.

“Inside.”

“Thanks.” I peer over at Will, who ignores me, before I enter the cabin. “Oliver?” I call out. He isn’t in the living room, or the kitchen, or either of the two bedrooms all decorated in rustic décor. Which leaves only one place. I have no desire to go back down those steps and into that room, but the desire to lay eyes on my friend is greater. I find him sitting on my cot staring at the blood and blue chemical on the floor. I sure did make a mess. He gazes up, but instead of relief or happiness, he just seems sad. “Oliver?” I ask.

“This is not your blood,” he says.

I sit next to him shoulder to shoulder. “Nope.”

“You look terrible,” he whispers.

“You should see the other guy.”

My quip doesn’t get a grin. We just sit in silence for a few seconds before I rest my head on his shoulder and stare at the ground too. His head lowers onto mine. “Never do that to me again,” he whispers. “
Never.”
I wrap my good arm around his and settle in. Amazingly, I feel at peace in this room.

The footsteps on the stairs a few seconds later break the mood. Agent Rushmore pokes his head in and says, “That vamp found the trail.”

I raise my head with a sigh as Rushmore leaves. “Oh goody.”

“What trail?” Oliver asks.

“Artie left us a breadcrumb trail to the troll only a vamp could find.”

“Blood?”

I smile. We stand up and start toward the stairs. “I was serious.
Wait
until you see the other guy.”

“You do not know how much I live for the moment.”

Everyone has amassed around Will including Neil, the bouncer from Gaslight, and two huge vamps I’ve never seen before. All humans hold automatic weapons or shotguns, standard in a raid of this kind. “About a mile through the forest and—” Will stops mid-
sentence when he spots Oliver and me coming out, but he quickly recovers. We stand next to Connor. “And then there should be a field, a hill, and the entrance to the mine near a stream. There’s just the one entrance, so I’ll want Jim and Wolfe to wait out there in case any make it past us. And I want two people to stay here. Bea and Nancy.”

“Trixie is coming with us,” Oliver says before I can.

“No,” Will states plainly.

“She is the only one of us with knowledge of the layout of the tunnels. You know this.”

Will’s mouth opens to protest, but he bites his tongue when every vamp straightens his back and glares at him. Connor smirks at me. “Fine. Oliver? I want you to go ahead of us as a scout. Follow the trail and wait. Jim will lead us non-corpses.”

Oliver turns to me, and I smile. “I’ll be fine,” I say, squeezing his hand. “See you there.”

“Do not worry, Oliver,” Connor says. “I will not let anyone touch so much as a hair on her head.”

“You had best not,” Oliver says before vanishing into the woods.

Will rolls his eyes. “Nancy, you and Carl stay here.”

“If they do come, do we shoot them?” Carl asks.

“No,” I say before anyone else can. “Only if you have to. Stun them if possible.”

“Sir?” Neil asks Connor.

“You heard the
lady
,” he says, not so subtly emphasizing the last word. “Only kill if there is no other option.”

“
All
of you,” I say, my eyes burrowing into Will’s.

Will sneers before looking away. “Let’s go. I’ll take point behind Jim.” He raises his pistol to the ready, as does everyone else. Connor hands me a .38 special, which I take with a smile. Will’s lips purse before he follows the vamp with everyone else carefully walking behind.

“He is in love with you, you know,” Connor says as he pulls the slide back on his 9mm.

“You think so?” I ask, staring at Will.

Connor follows my gaze. “Oh. The wolf is as well.” He mischievously grins and walks into the woods before I can even process those last words.

Neil and the bouncer flank me as we make our way through the trees and bramble that I was running through for dear life just hours ago. An owl hoots and twigs crackle, but otherwise there’s no noise. Connor walks a few feet in front of us, and I have a million questions for him, but every time I move up to him and open my mouth, he presses his finger to his lips to shut me up. But when all of this is over …