Forbidden Drink (24 page)

Just how Amisi was going to react was uncertain, but I had my stake out and against Dillon's back, hovering over his heart, before she fell into his arms with abandon. He caught her and pulled her tight and I pierced his skin, maybe only a few millimetres, but enough to get his attention and everyone else in the bar too.

The room was silent for a moment, everyone's eyes on us. Dillon had stopped breathing, but still held Amisi tight.

“Bruno,” I said quietly into the room, never removing my gaze from Dillon or shifting the stake. I had no idea if Bruno was here or not. It was Jett, however, who answered.

“He's not here, Luce, but I'm happy to help.” He stepped up beside me.

“Secure the room, look after the Norms.”

“Yes, mistress.”

I never could get used to them using that phrase with me, but as Michel's kindred Nosferatin, whenever I issued a directive in his absence, they tended to call me that. Creepy, but handy.

“Now, Dillon, you're going to let her go, slowly and carefully. And Dillon, one false move and the stake slides home, I don't give a fuck who's pet spy you are.”

He swallowed slowly, but did as I asked.

I noticed Erika at my back, I sensed rather than saw her Svante out, she had her back to me, so was covering my arse, like a good little bodyguard should. I recognised the heightened amount of
Sanguis Vitam
in the room right then, the other vampires were a mixture of scared and turned on, all of them avidly watching the scene though.

I removed my stake from Dillon's back once Amisi had sat down. She looked drained and dazed, not quite with us, as though she had been under a spell too. I didn't doubt it, whatever mojo Dillon had going on, it was powerful and clever. I hadn't even felt it, even though I'd seen it operating right before my eyes.

“Here this, all Durand Nosferatu," I let my voice carry to all in the room. "Amisi is off limits. Your sole objective is her protection and nothing else. Is that clear?”

Really Michel should have issued this directive already, it would have held more weight coming from him, but as his kindred, I could only hope it made it through their thick skulls and rampant hard-ons when they looked at the girl. I could not hand her back to Nafrini and Nero harmed. It would be tantamount to starting a war with the Egyptians and as they are the strongest vampires in the world, aside from Michel, that was a path we just couldn't afford to tread.

No one had spoken, the Norms had been removed from the club, their memories wiped, so it was just me, Amisi and a bar full of vamps. Cool.

“Is that clear?” I said and followed it up with a flash of Light around the room. If they wouldn't listen to me as Michel's Nosferatin, then they would bloody well take heed of my Nosferatin powers.

Immediately they all nodded, whispered words of agreement, even bowed in the case of some of the more fragile amongst them. Dillon just looked at me with cunning. I don't know what he was thinking, but I had the distinct impression that he and I were no longer on the same side.

“She's just one girl, Dillon, no need to fall out over this.”

He stared at me long and hard and then gave a short nod and turned away. In his wake I felt his power wash around me, almost stripping me bare. What the fuck? This guy was definitely more of a concern than twenty minutes ago. Did Michel know how strong he was?

It was as if thinking of Michel opened up a door I hadn't realised was closed. And it wasn't one I had closed either. It was Michel, trying to keep me out of his head. Not that I'd been going there a lot lately, but he obviously didn't want to risk an unannounced visit. Too late, I was screaming down the tunnel towards him and all I could see at the other end was his fear and pain and a whole lot of fucked off-ness.

And he wasn't alone.

There were Taniwhas around him. And lots of them.

I stumbled against the table and let out a gasp. Michel was hurt and chained, silver I think and he was pleading with me not to come.

Amisi was on her feet, stake out at the same time that Erika spun around to look at me, Svante still at the ready.

“What is it?” They both said in unison.

“Michel.” It was a whisper, but the entire room stilled and sprang to alert.

Jett was beside me in an instant. “Where? What does he need? He hasn't called to us, is he out cold?”

I took several shattering breaths in, trying to stop my world from spinning out of control. Oh God, Michel. Oh my God.

“Where's Bruno?” As his second in command I wanted Bruno here, he'd know what to do.

“He went out with Michel earlier this evening, neither said where they were heading.”

I held my hand up to Jett to stop him continuing and let myself sink into the Bond connection and go to Michel.

Is Bruno still with you?

He grimaced as I spoke in his mind, I'm not sure if it was from the pain of my voice in his head or the fact that I had come to him, even metaphysically, when he so obviously didn't want me involved.

His reply made me collapse to the floor.

No. He has met the final death.
I felt his pain at the words, I felt his desolation at the loss of a close ally and friend. I felt his heart weeping.

And mine wept with him too.

I'm coming for you, stay strong.

No, Lucinda! That is what they want, they want you. They won't kill me until they have you. When you turn up they will stake me, just to watch you die.

As far as plans went, it was a pretty good one. How could I stay away from Michel when he was like this? Yet, how could I go to him knowing this would lead to his death as surely as if I thrust the stake in myself?

There was no simple answer, but the only path was the hardest. I had to stay away. I knew without a doubt that Rick and his Taniwhas would stake Michel as soon as I arrived in that clearing and because he and I were joined - and Rick knew this - I would die too. They were all on Hapū land, they knew the terrain well, they had laid the trap, but how had they caught Michel?

Call all your vampires to Sensations, Michel. I'll stay away, but let them come get you.

I could feel his relief at my words, not the vampires part, but me saying I would stay away. That's why he hadn't called them yet, he knew I would have just come running, now at least he had convinced me to stay safe.

The vampires in the room shifted suddenly and I heard Jett beside me say, “He's summoned us to you here.”

Go, ma douce. I cannot concentrate on you and the Taniwhas at the same time. Je t'aime, ma belle.

I love you too.

I fell back out of the link and into chaos.

“Jett, you're temporary 2IC.” The room stopped in motion, the realisation of my words sinking in immediately. We had lost Bruno. But I couldn't afford to dwell on that right now. There would be time enough to grieve later, hopefully. “How long until the bulk of Michel's line gets here?”

He coughed slightly, obviously trying to come to terms with his new, albeit, temporary promotion. I knew Jett was who Michel favoured as his next in command under Bruno. He had spoken of it to me before. Despite Jett being from another line originally, he had proven loyal and strong. He carried himself with an air of regal standing, Michel was always his
Master
, not just Michel. He believed in the sanctity of a family line, he had pledged himself wholeheartedly to Michel's. If Michel trusted him, so could I.

“Another ten, maybe fifteen minutes. The command was urgent. They will sense the repercussions. They will know our master is in peril.”

I just nodded, still sitting on the floor. I seemed to have lost all ability to use my legs. It was Erika and Amisi who helped me into a chair. Jett sat down next to me at the table, as did Amisi and Erika, then out of no where, Doug slipped a
Bacardi and Coke
in front of me and simply said, “Drink.”

I didn't argue, I downed half of it in one go, before realising it wasn't a double, or a triple for that matter, it was practically a
Bacardi
with a hint of
Coke
.
Still, I needed the wakeup call and once I got the the sudden influx of watery tears in my eyes under control, I felt the warmth of the alcohol seep through me, warming me up and making me clear headed and ready to face the minutes ahead. Doug, a man of little words, but great virtue. He knew exactly what I had needed.

“He's being held on Hapū land at Whenuapai. You know where that is?” I asked Jett.

He nodded. “We've had it surveyed. Michel has never felt confident with their compliance. We know the layout of the land, even if we haven't ventured on it before.”

“Don't get too cocky, they live and breathe that forest surrounding their homes. They could run in it blindfolded and they are fast.”

“You escaped.”

I hadn't realised Michel had told anyone about that. “Well, I was lucky and I think we're going to need a bit of luck tonight.”

He nodded again. A good soldier.

“
He's in the clearing, by the houses in the middle of the land. They've got him strapped to a table top, silver chains across his entire body.”

There was an audible gasp in the room, the vampires cringing and looking stricken.

“How much damage will the chains do?” I asked quietly.

Jett flicked a glance at Erika, I didn't see her response, too busy looking at him. She must have given an indication to go ahead and tell me. Good girl, I didn't need protection from the truth, not now.

“If he is at full strength, then he will be ale to tolerate them for a few hours, but he's been gone since sundown, so we can assume he's been there at least one hour already. And as to if he is at full strength, you would probably know that better than I.”

I felt my shoulders sag in defeat and couldn't bring myself to look at Amisi. Her hand came out and clasped mine, offering a meagre amount of support.

“OK,” Jett said, equally as quietly as I had. “I'll take that as not at full strength then.” He paused. “In that case, he will be suffering and the longer he is under silver, the more damage it will be doing to his
Sanguis Vitam
. If he is left there too long, even a stake won't be necessary. His flesh will begin to melt where the silver touches and the contamination will quickly spread. He will be using everything right now to stop its progress.”

I couldn't hear anything else for a moment, there was a thudding in my ears, a thumping that drowned out all other sound. It took a moment for me to realise it was my heart and it
was racing. My Michel. In pain, suffering. I tried not to let the images of Jett's words play out in my head. It would do no good to succumb to the grief and heartache I felt knocking at my door. If we were going to get Michel out, I needed to stay strong and focused. I needed to give him strength.

I brushed at non existent tears and took another swig of my drink. Fortification, I told myself.

“There are approximately fifty fully grown shape shifters, I'm not sure how many were surrounding them, but at a guess I could see twenty, all in Taniwha form. The rest may be spread out on the land, but that's just a guess. I could only see Michel and those nearest him.”

“All right, that's enough to go on. I have a plan of attack. Michel and Bruno had already thought of events such as these, however, it was always under the assumption they would be coming to rescue you, Luce, not the other way around.” He stood up and turned to speak to the whole room then. “We'll be approaching from several directions in a unified attack. It'll be a snatch and grab. We're not concerned with taking them out at this point, that can come later. For now, the priority is Michel and getting him and us out of there in one piece.”

He looked down at me then and in a quieter voice said, “You up to this, Luce?”

And now the truth. They wouldn't even have me.

I took a deep breath in. “I won't be going. The moment they spot me there, they intend to stake him. Their goal is to watch me die and they have chosen to use Michel as the weapon.”

Jett just nodded. “Enough said. I'll leave a contingent of guards here with you.”

“No. There's no need. You'll all be needed for this. Amisi will be here with me.”

“And me,
chica
,” Erika said laying a hand on my shoulder.

But I couldn't have that, could I? She was probably the best suited to this type of job out of all of us. Wielding those swords of hers, slashing and hacking her way through the throng to get to him. I stood up and turned to her, clasping both her hands in mine.

“No Erika. Bring him home to me.” I looked her in the eyes and let mine tell her how much I was depending on her for this, because I couldn't do it, she had to do it for me. I wouldn't trust any other to the task. If I couldn't go, then she had to in my stead.

She nodded slowly. “I will bring him back.”

The club was of course shut to the public, every one of Michel's vampires going on the rescue mission. Numbers would be needed, this was no stealth job, they planned on making maximum chaos in a minimal amount of time. Erika was the one responsible for reaching Michel, Jett would be at her back. The rest were to scatter the Taniwhas and keep them all busy.

The attack would happen all at once but from several different egress points. All in all, there were some 70 of Michel's vampires who were able to respond to his call. He has more in his line and they would have felt the call too, but they either lived overseas, or too far away in NZ to make it in time. Jett warned me though, that some may still arrive and come knocking on the door, so not to be surprised.

With that, they were gone, in a caravan of sleek black Land Rover Discoveries travelling at warp speed nine towards Whenuapai. I pitied any cops who tried to pull them over, they looked formidable and scary as hell. All of them dressed in dark clothing, intent on staying camouflaged with the night.

I spent the first ten minutes after they left praying to Nut and God and anyone else who would hear and trying to send power and Light down the connection to Michel. I have no idea if it worked, or if the Bond was just doing it anyway, taking what Michel needed to stay alive until they got there. I just had to trust that it knew what it was doing and would look out for him as it had looked out for me.

Amisi poured me another drink. She had some skills behind the bar, which surprised me, I really hadn't seen that coming from a young Egyptian girl, but then, I was coming to realise there was more to Amisi than meets the eye. Egyptian or no, she was quite capable of doing whatever the hell she set her mind to. I couldn't have thought of a better person to be flatting with me right now. My life was, once again, turning into a danger zone.
Warning Will Robinson
kind of scenario. Anyone who got close to me, needed to be able to take care of themselves. At least Amisi could do just that.

We had one phone call from Jett to say they were all staged and about to strike, then it was just a waiting game. I tried to feel Michel, I tried to sense him, hear him, go to him down that line that connects us, but all I got was fuzz and white noise, as though the antenna was busted. He had to still be alive, because I was, but anything other than that was pure conjecture. I had no idea and it was eating me up inside.

Amisi had stopped talking to me, had stopped trying to fill the silence and was instead talking quietly on her cellphone. I had no doubt it was to Nero, keeping him abreast of the situation, maybe just seeking council and comfort of sorts. Who knows, maybe she was checking on a vampire back there that she was attached to and wanted to join with. I didn't know, but she kept her voice low and made sure I didn't hear.

Not that I was paying too much attention. I was too busy flipping my car keys in my hand. Michel has tried to gift me many things over the years that I have known him, from roses and jewellery, to the latest being the car. The only thing I had on me right now that he had given me was the car keys, so they were the things I was fingering, tossing up and down, smoothing my fingers over the key ring. Those and his marks.

I don't know how loved ones manage to sit outside the operating theatre and wait for news of their beloved. It is torture, it is Hell on Earth, it is not right. Nobody should have to wait this long to find out the answer. At least for me, if he died I would too. I knew I'd go to Nut, I've been there before, I've met her, I've heard the children laughing. So I knew what awaited me, to some degree. What I didn't know was whether Michel would be there too. He hadn't been when I visited with my goddess mother, so where do the Nosferatu go when they meet the final death? Do they have somewhere just for them? And if so, does that mean I will live eternity without him on the other side?

I couldn't stand that thought. I couldn't bear to be parted from him? Funny, isn't it? Here I am trying to be independent, trying to have distance between us, so I can go out there and do whatever the hell it is I am meant to be doing, without him worrying like a mother hen. And yet the thought of not having him beside me for eternity when I die was excruciatingly painful.