Dying to Date (4 page)

He’d woken this morning to find a list of reasons to fight against the vampires taped to his bathroom mirror. Eilin was far more passionate about the cause than he’d given her credit for. Then again, he well remembered what it was like to be young and blinded by hatred. Maybe he should take her and run. Leave New York behind and hide his sister from their grandfather’s bloody crusade.

Tarian closed his eyes. That would mean moving yet again. Hopping from city to city trying to stay a step ahead of his family. After running for so many years he was just…

Tired.

New York was their fresh start and he wanted to make the most of it. See what life could be like with a permanent address. Living here might be an impossible dream for a necromancer, but he’d had enough of his bloodline limiting his choices.

The elevator doors opened, and he strode out into the lobby. He could afford to give the situation another week or two. If Eilin showed any more signs of wanting to throw her lot in with their kin, then he’d whisk her away. Until then, there was no use upending their lives again when they’d just gotten settled.

Two weeks,
he thought. More than enough time to see where this connection with Melissa was leading. Hell, maybe they’d both get lucky and it would amount to nothing more than a few nights of great sex and an amicable parting of ways.

He stepped out into the crisp night air and did his best to ignore the fact that he rather doubted it.

…

“But how did you know?”

Abbey’s chuckle rose from the phone’s speakers.

“I very much doubt you want me to go into intimate detail about my own mating,” Abbey said. “After all, it’s your father we’re talking about.”

“Yes, yes, I appreciate your discretion.” Getting a straight answer out of her friend was like pulling teeth. Melissa had spent her hours since waking trying on dress after dress, hunting for the perfect outfit for her date tonight. She would have loved to have Abbey there, not only as a second set of eyes, but also so she could pick the other woman’s brain when it came to discovering mates. Abbey, however, was tied up at work, so a quick phone call was all she could spare.

Melissa tapped the speakerphone icon on her cell before tossing it onto the bed. “I was speaking in more general terms. How did you know Lucian was the one for you?”

Standing in front of her full-length mirror, she eyed the A-line lacy white dress with a critical eye. Though it fit her slender frame, it was a tad too innocent for the vibe she was hoping to project tonight.

“I didn’t,” Abbey’s voice rose from the bed. “Not really. It took me a long time to come to terms with what Lucian and I were to each other. And it took your father even longer than that.”

She tugged the dress over her head before rummaging through her closet. “How did you feel when you first met him? When you first went out with him?”

Grabbing a sexy black cocktail dress, she shimmied into it.

“I felt…” Abbey’s voice trailed off into a small, helpless laugh.

Melissa paused. That sound, the light, confused yet happy laugh exactly fit the coil of emotions she was trying to name.

“I felt off balance,” Abbey said. “He consumed my thoughts. My heart raced just being in the same room with him.”

“Did you feel more attracted to him than anyone else in a long time?”

Another laugh escaped her friend. “I’ve never needed anyone the way I do Lucian.”

Melissa smoothed a hand over the sinful black dress as she examined her reflection. It hugged her body in all the right ways while being demure enough to justify wearing to dinner. Butterflies filled her stomach at the thought of seeing Tarian in less than an hour.

“Does this phone call have anything to do with your date tonight?” Abbey asked.

“You know me. I like to have all the facts before entering into any new enterprise.”

“Finding your mate has very little to do with logic or facts.”

The words were nothing new. Her father had said much the same thing when he’d fallen for a human. Still, she couldn’t help wishing there was some magical way to know in advance whether Tarian would work out.

“Thanks for the chat, Abbey, but I’ve got to get across town.”

“Call me once your date’s over. I want to hear all the juicy details.”

“Promise,” she said. “Talk to you later.” She disconnected the call before throwing the phone into her black clutch. With one last look in the mirror to ensure everything was in place, she swept from her bedroom.

As she walked down the hall to the main door she did a mental review of her apartment. The living room was picked up, and her bed had new sheets. The kitchen was clean, not that dishes in the sink were ever much of a problem with her. The place was ready to entertain some company and so was she.

Melissa checked her watch as she left the apartment. Less than half an hour before she was supposed to meet Tarian. Her driver had his work cut out for him tonight.

She took the elevator down to the parking level and stepped out to see her town car already waiting for her.

The driver stepped from the car as she approached and opened the back door for her.

“Thanks for coming, Luke,” she said as she drew closer.

Luke didn’t respond.

A frown crossed her face as her steps slowed.

“Luke?”

Still no response.

Her instincts flared to life. Her driver didn’t have a quiet bone in his body. Nothing stopped his incessant flow of chatter.

Something wasn’t right.

But before she could run, bodies burst from the cars around her. Shadows surrounded her, grabbing her arms and holding her down.

“Use your powers,” someone said.

“It isn’t bloody working,” another replied.

Fangs sprang to life in her mouth and claws shot from her fingertips as she fought her captors. She heard a cry of pain and grinned in feral satisfaction for having wounded one until a sharp prick hit her arm. The sight of a depressed syringe filled her vision even as the world started to spin around her.

Her struggles slowed and grew sluggish. Melissa tried to keep her eyes open but against the drug, there was nothing she could do.

The pavement rose up to meet her as she fell into utter blackness.

Chapter Five

“Call on line two, Mr. Drake.”

Tarian waved to the secretary before reaching for his phone. “Drake speaking,” he greeted the caller, turning back to the spreadsheets littering the desk in front of him. “How can I help you?”

“Mr. Drake, this is Abbey from Fated Match.”

He set the pen down and leaned back in his chair. “Hello, Abbey.”

“I need to ask you a few questions about your date with Ms. Redgrave.”

There was a strain to the matchmaker’s voice that seemed at odds with her usual cheery disposition. “What’s wrong?”

“You saw her last night, correct?”

He frowned. “Actually, I didn’t. We had plans to meet, but she never showed up. I tried to call but couldn’t get through. I assumed some emergency had come up. She didn’t strike me as the type to just leave me hanging.”

“No, she’s not. Mr. Drake, Melissa never came home last night. Her driver is also missing. I believe you were one of the last people to see her. Did she mention anything about going somewhere?”

Ice slithered down his spine. “As far as I knew the only place she was planning on going was to the restaurant with me.”

Abbey sighed into the phone. “Then I apologize for what’s coming your way. Melissa’s father will not take her disappearance lightly, and as soon as night falls I guarantee he’ll be paying you a visit.”

“Redgrave,” he said. The most powerful vampire in the city. If anyone would be able to sniff out his necromancer blood, it’d be Lucian.

“I swear we don’t normally have such drama at Fated Match but safety is our primary concern.”

“Of course. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

“Thank you. If Melissa contacts you, please let me know.”

The phone went dead as Abbey hung up.

For a moment he sat frozen in his chair. Melissa missing. Right before she was supposed to have met him. It looked bad from every angle. Add in his heritage and it was a disaster.

Who knew where we’d be?
he thought.
The agency didn’t divulge that information. Melissa could have mentioned it to a friend. And I—

“Goddamn it.” Grabbing the phone, he dialed a number by heart.

“Hello?” Eilin answered.

“What did you do?”

Silence reigned.

Fury sizzled through him, banishing the cold shock. “Tell me this wasn’t you, Eilin.”

“Grandfather said it was our best chance.”

Tarian bit back the curse on the tip of his tongue. “You will start a war.”

“We just want to ransom her to her father. No fuss, no muss.”

“If you believe that, then you are more of a child than I thought,” he replied, jumping to his feet. Grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and his briefcase from the floor, he strode out of the office like a storm.

“Where did they take her?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you.”

“Dammit, Eilin. Let me undo this mess before someone ends up dead. Where is Melissa?”

He could imagine his sister chewing on her lip in indecision. “I’m the last family you’ve got,” he hissed into the phone. “And if she dies, I will never forgive you for this.”

“She’s just a leech.” But the conviction in Eilin’s voice was wavering.

“You knew about my date, little sister. Not only have you put a genuinely decent woman in harm’s way, you made me an accomplice to this abduction. No one will believe I wasn’t a part of it. You might be ready to destroy a vampire’s life but are you ready to destroy mine?”

Another heartbeat of silence.

“Eilin.”

“The ranch,” she whispered.

Tarian punched the elevator call button. “You flew her across state lines?”

“Everyone thought it would be best to keep her far away from her father.”

“Listen to me, Eilin. I will fix this, but you don’t leave the apartment until I’m back. You hear me? Necromancers will be the first people they blame for this. And rightly damn so.”

“Promise.” Her voice was small, lacking the certainty it had first held.

He disconnected without saying goodbye.

As he rode down the elevator he told himself he’d be this enraged if any other vampire had been kidnapped, but he knew the truth. The idea of Melissa in danger twisted something inside of him. That her date with him had given her captors their opportunity slayed him.

“I’ll find her,” he vowed.

And somehow stop the vampire community from eradicating his race in the process.

…

Voices tuned in and out. A blur of shapes moved around her, but she couldn’t force her eyes open.

“Dose her again,” someone said. “We’ve got a ways to go.”

“We don’t want to damage her,” someone argued.

“You’d rather fight a vampire on a plane?” the first voice snapped. “We’ll all crash.”

“Why can’t we control her?” a female voice mused.

“A problem for a later date.”

Pain flared in her arm again, and blackness claimed her once more.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer on a moving plane but instead in a soft bed.

Melissa pushed herself up, groaning as her brain pounded in protest.

“What the hell?” she hissed, clutching her head.

“That would be the deadman’s thistle,” a voice said. “I hear it affects vampires much like chloroform does humans.”

Despite the pain in her head, she launched herself off the bed. Claws burst from her fingernails, and fangs exploded in her mouth. “Who are you?”

An older man sat completely at ease on an armchair across the room. He watched her with calm brown eyes. Though tiny wrinkles ringed his mouth and white had started to pepper his black hair, she would not mistake this man for being anything other than a threat. Power radiated from him, the kind of magic only very old beings could command.

Shifting around the bed, she sidestepped until the wall was at her back.

“I thought you’d like the room,” the man said. “Complete blackout curtains for the window of course.”

She glanced around the spacious chamber to ensure they were alone. If the Mad Hatter had ever yearned to be an interior decorator, he might have created a room rather like this one.

A canopied bed dominated the space, complete with the lace and frills every little girl would envy. Though the theme of the room seemed to be a Victorian tea party, everything clashed, from the yellow wallpaper to the shaggy pink carpet.

Two things were apparent about the room. First, it was wired for security. She saw the camera above the door and the bars on the windows. Second, nothing would make a decent weapon. Old wooden furniture and lacy bed sheets were the extent of her arsenal.

“What am I doing here?” she demanded.

The man wrapped his hands around the black cane he carried and pushed to his feet. “You are a guest.”

“Yours?”

He sketched her an elegant bow. “Dominic Salverg, at your service.”

“You kidnapped me.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Unfortunate business to be sure, but I needed to get your father’s attention. We need to start a new relationship between your people and mine.”

She swallowed. “Who are your people?”

A brief grin flashed across his face, “Why, the necromancers, of course.”

Melissa was no stranger to danger. Growing up as the daughter of a Redgrave ensured her world was never boring, but facing a necromancer sent fear shooting through her entire body.

“Now, about that,” he said, taking a step toward her. “It seems that during your, shall we say, recruitment, you showed a surprising resistance to our powers.”

She blinked. That wasn’t possible.

“How did you do it, child?”

“Even if I knew, do you think I’d tell you?” she snapped.

He shrugged. “I was being polite, but we will get to the bottom of this.” Moving to the door, he rapped his knuckles on the shining wood.

The door opened to a group of people, none of whom looked remotely friendly. Melissa shifted to keep them in her line of sight. There were too many to fight. She was woefully outnumbered.

“Susanne here has quite the gift when it comes to magic and is sympathetic to our cause,” Dominic said, gesturing to a small, dark-haired witch. “As vampires cannot develop a natural immunity, our leading theory is that you’ve been enspelled.”

“Not that I know of.” But then again, she had no explanation for this resistance either. Not that she’d be willing to give it up.

Susanne stepped forward. She might be small, but her green eyes were hard. Looked like vampires were not wildly popular in this house.

The witch stretched out her hand and Melissa felt a flood of magic wash over her. It wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling, but alien and unwelcome, like fingernails scraping against her skin.

“There,” the woman said, wiggling her fingers.

Metal slid against her wrist and Melissa looked down to see her silver bracelet unclasp by itself. She made a lunge to catch it, but the trinket flew across the room into the witch’s hand.

“Hmm,” Susanne said, studying the accessory. “This was the problem.”

Dominic limped over to touch the bracelet. “She wore a rield?”

“A what?” Melissa demanded.

“Rield,” he replied, turning his attention to her. “They are very rare and very hard to craft. Only the most powerful necromancers can create them.”

For a moment she was at a loss for words. She’d never heard of necromancers having the ability to create a shield from their powers because, really, why would they ever bother? Their power lay in their ability to manipulate the dead. Giving a vampire a shield would strip a necromancer of their greatest weapon.

“Who gave you this bracelet, Melissa?”

Tarian’s face flashed across her mind. Had he known? Fear clutched her heart. He’d refused to tell her his race, after all. But as soon as the panic gripped her, it faded. The idea of him being a necromancer was ridiculous. He never would have willingly pursued a vampire, let alone kissed her the way he had. And if he’d been her enemy, he’d never have given her such a powerful weapon against him. Especially not at a first meeting.

But how had he come across it in the first place?

“Vampire, who gave you the rield?” The friendly Southern charm had dropped from Dominic’s voice.

“My father,” she lied. “Who else would be able to find something like that?”

“Damn Redgrave,” Dominic muttered, pocketing the bracelet. “Well, at least that’s one problem solved.”

He flicked his fingers at her, and ice swept through her body. Melissa tried to open her mouth, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even blink. Dominic’s magic sank into her like a second skin.

“Come here,” he said.

Melissa wanted to tell him to go to hell but instead, her feet moved forward. No matter how she screamed in her mind, her body refused to obey. It glided toward the necromancer with natural grace. Someone watching her would never know she wasn’t in control of her own actions.

“Perfect,” Dominic said. “Come down for dinner with us, Melissa. We have quite a bit to talk about.”

Her lips stretched into a polite smile when all she wanted to do was rip him to shreds.

Instead, she turned and walked out of the door. She swept down the hall completely surrounded by her people’s worse nightmare.

Though she’d been sure she was walking to her doom, Dominic really had just ordered her to dinner. A massive table had been set with easily twenty places. Her seat was just to the right of Dominic. After ensuring she was seated, the necromancer’s magic had faded away, leaving her able to move.

Not that she had many options. Running to the door would have been a waste of effort in a room full of people who could stop her with a thought. All she could do was sit in silence as the group ate.

A glass of blood was placed before her, but she made no move to touch it. Though she needed to replenish her strength, she didn’t trust these people not to drug her again.

A wide window cut into the wall opposite her, treating her to a night view of desert wasteland beyond the house. Where was she? Arizona? Texas? Certainly not New York, that was for sure. Just another nail in her coffin. Lucian wouldn’t even know where to look for her.

Halfway through their first course, Dominic finally turned his attention back to her. “Is the blood not to your liking?”

She glanced at her chillingly solicitous host. “Not hungry,” she lied.

“Nonsense. Drink.”

Her hand reached out of its own accord and brought the glass to her lips. She swallowed twice before her hand set the blood back down.

“See, this won’t be so bad,” Dominic said. “I doubt you’ll be here more than a few days, and now that the rield problem is taken care of, you will have full reign of the house. Though I caution you, this home is always full. Someone will be close to you at all times if you choose to make…poor decisions.”

“What do you want with my father?” she asked.

“To broker an exchange, so to speak.” Dominic cut a precise piece of meat and popped it in his mouth. “Your father is the vampire elder of New York.”

“Yes.” It was common knowledge. Each faction of supernatural had an ancient representative speaking on behalf of their people. Lucian was, for all intents and purposes, the king of the undead in New York.

“He has the power to give us what we want.”

“Which is?”

“Why, a home.” He took a sip of his wine.

Melissa waited, but Dominic seemed to be finished with his explanation. “What do you mean, home?” she said. “What’s this then?”

“Not a house, child,” he said. Though his smile remained in place, his eyes were blank. She’d seen gazes like that before and never in well-adjusted, peaceful individuals. “For centuries necromancers have been unwelcome in the supernatural community merely because of the threat we pose to the leading race. To avoid further conflict, we took our banishment in silence and did our best to stay away. We stick to rural areas. We scatter to avoid detection. Well, no longer. We want New York.”

“The…the city?”

“Precisely. You for the city. Finally we’ll have a place where we can live in peace. Vampires can go anywhere. You’ll be fine.”

“But…do you have any idea how many vampires live and work in the city?”