DraculaVille - New York - Book One (22 page)

Talia shuddered in horror. They wanted Drake to be the vampire pied piper, bringing innocent women down here to be used as food.

“I thought you could go anywhere and get anything you wanted. Why do you need me?” Drake asked.

Maron flipped a dismissive hand. “We can, of course. But enticing victims out of crowds to secluded areas isn’t easy. We strive to keep our existence a secret from the outside world. It would be so much easier with your popularity to have blood whenever we want it for no work at all and very little risk of discovery.”

“I see,” Drake briefly cut his eyes to Talia.

“I thought you would.” Maron smiled. “It’s a great plan. We both benefit.” He drew near and slapped Drake on the back. “So we can count you in?”

“No.”

Snarls and hisses spat from the gathered vampires. Hot amber eyes flashed against pale skin, and fangs glowed in the flickering light of oil lamps. Talia trembled and sidled closer to Drake, their shoulders almost touching.

The patron’s brows came together. His lips curled in a grimace. “You defy me?”

“I’m not going to join your group.”

“Then you’ll die.” Maron whirled and headed to his throne. Their guards pressed closer.

Drake appeared calm, but his hand grasped hers in a crushing hold. “It’s one thing to kill a rogue vampire, but quite another to kill a member of another flock. That could bring a lot of trouble down on you.”

Maron froze. He slowly swiveled around. “What?”

“I’m a member of Carlotta’s flock. She won’t be happy if you kill me. She’s none too happy with you anyway.” Drake loosened his hold on Talia’s hand.

She let out the breath she’d been holding. Sharp pains shot through her hand as circulation returned.

Murmurs ran through the crowd, and Maron’s eyes shifted away. Lucilla stepped forward and grasped her leader’s arm. “He has to die for this insult to you. Carlotta will never know.”

“No.” The patron jerked his arm. A flicker of fear passed over his features. “We don’t break the sacred rules. If he’s part of Carlotta’s flock, he must be set free.”

“What about the woman?” Lucilla slithered closer to Maron, wrapping her black tipped fingers around his upper arm and pressing against his side. Her tongue snaked over her lips as she glanced at Talia. “She has no protection. Let us have her.”

Shouts of encouragement and approval echoed around the subterranean space. The vampires moved closer, like creeping cats ready to pounce.

Once again, Drake’s fingers bit into the flesh of her hand. Her heart thumped. They would rip her to shreds, and if Drake got killed in the process of defending her, they would no longer have to worry about Carlotta’s revenge.

Maron’s evil grin returned. He’d come to the same conclusion.

She had to do something or they’d both die. A guard grabbed her upper arm. She jerked free and stepped forward. “No. You can’t kill me,”

The noise decreased. All eyes went to Maron.

He let out a laugh. “Why is that, human? There’s no reason for you to live. You’re nothing to us.”

Her voice shook, but Drake’s steady grasp on her hand gave her courage. “You can’t kill me because we…” She pointed to Drake and back to herself. “We’re
armantor
.”

Lucilla let out a bloodcurdling shriek and clamped her hands over her ears. The rest of the vampires went berserk, yelling and screeching like crazed banshees. Maron waved both hands in the air for several seconds and brought them back to order.

“How dare you use our ancient words. They are sacred to us,” the patron snapped, striding over. He glared at her, his face only inches from hers, his eyes cold, and hard. Breath sour from old blood spewed forth.

“Exactly,” she said, glaring right back, refusing to be intimidated by this caricature of a vampire lord. “That’s why you can’t kill me. The relationship of
armantor
is one of the most sacred vampire traditions.”

“Silence,” Maron roared.

Lucilla whimpered, hands still clutching her head. Talia had a strong crazy urge to stick her tongue out at the vampire bitch.

Maron paced in front of them He glowered, his hands planted on his hips.

Talia glanced at Drake and he raised one brow. Hopefully he’d play along even if he didn’t know about
armantor
.

“Is this true?” The patron stopped in front of Drake.

“Yes.” Drake gave him a cool look. Talia squeezed his hand in thanks.

Behind the anger, fear glittered in Maron’s eyes.

Hope surged in her gut. Maybe they would make it out of here alive...well, not hurt, in Drake’s case.

Maron whispered something to a guard. Baldy, as Talia thought of him.

“You’ll return to your room. I need to consult with our elder. I’ve never heard of
armantor
between a human and vampire. Until I am certain, you will wait.” The vampire leader strode away.

Their guards herded them toward the cavern exit.

Talia caught a glare from Lucilla.
Sorry, bitch. You don’t get to kill me.
Yet.

Chapter 26

“Do you mind telling me what you were talking about in there?” Drake asked once they were back in their storeroom prison. His eyes burned hotter as his hunger increased.

“I blurted out something I thought might save us. Seems they’re still bound by the ancient vampire traditions, given they wouldn’t kill you once you told them you belonged to Carlotta’s group. So I used another one.” Talia shrugged, not relishing the necessity of explaining the delicate subject of
armantor
.

“What does it mean,
armantor?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.

She let out a deep breath and gave him the story Lydia had told her. She left out the part about why she’d met the witch in the first place. He didn’t need to know everything.

Drake’s brows went up. So if they believe we’re some sort of fated couple, they can’t kill you?”

“I guess. I was hoping that would be the case.” She kicked off her high-heels and perched on a box, rubbing her feet.

He stroked his chin. “I hope it works.”

“So do I.” She mostly hoped it didn’t matter that no one had heard of a vampire-human version.

The door creaked open and one of their guards came in with a box. He shoved it into Drake’s arms and left.

“What the hell was that all about?” Talia stood.

He brought the box over and opened the top flaps. “Looks like they aren’t going to starve us to death.” He pulled out a bag from a fast food chain and handed it to her, then extracted a jar of blood.

Her stomach rumbled, and she ripped open the bag. Inside was a bottle of water and a hamburger with fries. She hadn’t eaten fast food in ten years, but she devoured the fat laden meal with fervor fueled by hunger. He tipped back the jar and drained the blood in a few gulps. She was glad his eyes returned to their subdued brownish tint.

“At least we bought some time.” She crumpled her burger wrapper and stuffed it in the bag. “Until Maron talks to their elder and finds out it was just a ploy.”

“Maybe it’s true.” He glanced at her sideways.

She stopped crushing the paper bag and stared a him.

“That we’re
armantor.”

“There’s one problem. I’m not a vampire. It’s supposed to be between vampire mates.” She hoped he didn’t want to explore how she could become a vampire mate with him.

“You can’t deny there’s something between us, Tal.”

“Maybe it’s something else.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. How about plain old human lust?”

He snorted and turned away. “It’s more than that and you know it.”

She bit her lip. He was right, but she wouldn’t admit it. It would make things way too complicated. They needed to focus on getting out of here.

“Dad! Your Majesty!”

Talia jumped. Pip’s voice had come from the grate. His pale face stared at her through the metal bars.

Drake leaped onto the box pile and stuck his fingers through to grasp the boy’s. “What are you doing here?”

“How did you find us?” She climbed up beside Drake.

“Uncle Felix told me what area you were in last night. I been ridin’ around in a cab all night until I found an alley with a red circle on a door. It was easy to find an old sewer cover and get in.”

“You’re a genius, Pip.” She patted one of his little fingers poking through the grate.

He beamed.

“We can’t get out of here,” Drake said, giving the bars another tug.

“You can’t break ‘em?” Pip asked.

“No, they’re solid.”

“Maybe I can get inside the hall and open the door.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Talia said. “I’m sure they have guards out there.”

The boy’s face fell.

“I know what you can do.” Drake glanced at her. “You have to get Felix to take you to Carlotta.”

Pip’s face lit up again.

Talia gasped. “Drake, he could get hurt.”

“If he doesn’t go, we could get killed.”

“I can do it, Mom. I promise.” Pip’s eyes pleaded with her.

“He’ll be okay with Felix, and Carlotta wouldn’t hurt him.” Drake nudged her with his elbow, and she understood he was just trying to get Pip away from here.

She nodded. “Okay, that’s a good idea.”

“Tell Felix to take you to Club Ariba on the Upper West End. Carlotta should be there. Tell her Maron has us and is going to kill us.”

Pip’s eyes grew to bright round saucers. “Okay, I’ll go right away.”

Drake gripped the boy’s fingers a second. “Be careful, Pip. Remember we love you.”

Talia couldn’t speak through a lump in her throat. Tears burned her eyes.

“I will. Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll save you.” He backed down the narrow passageway behind the grate and was soon lost in darkness.

“Good-bye, Pip,” she whispered. She didn’t even care that he’d called her Mom. She might never see him again. A sob choked her. She grabbed Drake’s shirt, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her back.

“It’ll be okay, Talia,” he murmured against her hair. “By the time he finds Carlotta and realizes she’s not going to rescue us, we’ll either have escaped or be dead. But he’ll be safe.”

Her shoulders shook with sobs, and her heart ached. She’d give anything to be in her apartment with her friends and her little flock of vampires, all sitting around eating one of Drake’s fabulous meals. To top off her sorrow, now her fabulous project for the Romanians would go to some other agency. A stab of anger shot through her stomach.

She looked at her watch. Three a.m. The sun would rise in another three or four hours to begin Sunday morning. Damn it. Time was running out. They needed to escape soon or she wouldn’t complete the advertising pieces for DraculaVille. She brushed tears from her eyes and struggled off the box mountain.

“Tal?” Drake followed her.

“Only four more days until the meeting with the Romanians. I could lose the account if we don’t get out of here.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and bit her knuckle.

Drake took a few steps backward. “I can’t believe you’re worried about the campaign at a time like this.”

“I can’t help it.” She paced the floor. “The thought that some schmuck is going to benefit from my idea and hard work makes me furious.”

“Once you’re dead, it won’t matter.”

“You don’t understand.”

He threw up his hands. “You’re right. I don’t. That stupid project is the last thing on my mind.”

“Stupid?” She slapped her hands on her hips. “It’s not stupid.”

“You know what I mean.”

She did, but she preferred anger to sentimental weakness at the thought of never seeing Pip or Felix or Gerri again. They were the only people who would miss her. Well, Harv would miss her after she lost the account, but that wasn’t the same.

To keep her sanity had to focus on something other than dying. She climbed on a large box, tucked her legs under her and started making a mental list of the changes she needed in her schedule to still meet the deadline.

At some point, Drake climbed beside her and leaned back, yawning. He closed his eyes and rested his head on a smaller box behind him. She wanted to crawl next to him and snuggle into his arms as she had yesterday. But fueling her ire kept her from crying, so she continued her mental lists. Later she began a new one, which included all the things she wanted to do to Lucilla.

***

“Let’s go.” Baldy motioned them to leave their cell.

They filed out, Talia behind Drake, and Baldy bringing up the rear. The same cordon of guards on either side escorted them through the maze of halls and tunnels.

She wished she’d talked to Drake more last night. It might have been the last time they spent alone together. She’d been close to falling apart, and discussing their feelings would have broken her completely. It was one thing to think about never seeing Pip or her friends, but to imagine losing Drake was unbearable.

They passed the opening to the big cavern. The laughter, murmurs of conversations and the clink of glasses of the vampires gathered there floated out. At the end of the tunnel, a set of iron rung steps led farther into the earth. Half the guards led the way. Talia and Drake descended, followed by their remaining escort.

She shivered at the cold dampness of this level. Drake glanced at her, and she tried to smile. He reached out to take her hand, but Baldy pushed them apart and forced them down this new passage.

This tunnel was carved entirely out of stone. Oil lanterns hung at intervals and provided slight illumination every six feet or so. She tripped constantly over the uneven stone floor in her spiky heels, but managed to stay on her feet. A musty smell of death and decay pervaded the chilly air and she trembled.

The passage ended in a large rounded area with several tunnels leading off it. A heavy wooden door criss-crossed with iron bars was sunk into the back wall. A bulky vampire stood beside the door, arms folded over his chest. Beside him, Maron waited.

The patron’s face showed no expression, which Talia took as a good sign. He was the type who couldn’t help gloating if things were going his way.

“Our elder, Gosen, is inside this room.” Maron took a step toward them. “He’ll determine if you’re
armantor
or not. You won’t be able to fool him, so put that out of your mind.” He stalked closer and jabbed a finger at her. “You have evoked a most sacred tradition. If you lied, you’ll die a horrible death.”