Love Bites (20 page)

“Pudge will be dealt with one way or another,” Etienne said with determination and started up the stairs.

“You have your cell phone, Bastien,” Lucern pointed out. “You can call the police on the way over. It can be an anonymous tip. You saw some guy forc
ing a woman into his house at gunpoint.”

“Good thinking,” Bastien agreed as he followed them into the kitchen. “What's his address, Etienne?”

Etienne hesitated. He kept seeing Rachel in his mind's eye, trying to look brave despite her worry as a line of blood beaded on her throat beneath the slice of the knife. For the first time since all this nonsense had started, he wanted to kill the pathetic creature everyone called Pudge.

“Etienne.” His mother's voice was firm, carrying a warning. Marguerite obviously knew what he was thinking. He wouldn't put it past her to have Lucern and Bastien restrain him “for his own good” until he released the information, and he cursed himself for not being able to get out of the room on his own. Had he been able to, Pudge would already be dead and Rachel safe.

Before, killing Pudge to get rid of the problem he represented had seemed extreme. He was such a pathetic fellow, motivated by jealousy and anger. Etienne had actually felt sorry for the little weasel…until now. Now he heartily wished he'd killed him while he'd had the chance.

“I'll give you the address on the way. I want to get there before the police do. Their presence might threaten her well-being. I want to be there to be sure she's all right,” he said as he led the way to the garage.

 

Rachel struggled with the rope tied around Mrs. Craveshaw's wrists, her attention distracted by the idiot prancing around in the next room. He kept swooping past the door, posing and dancing about to what she suspected was the soundtrack from the movie
The Lost Boys.
Fortunately, he was too busy flashing his fangs and testing really bad vamp pickup lines to notice that she was out of her coffin and trying to free his neighbor.

Trying. Rachel sighed and returned her attention to the ropes. He had really knotted them good, and she was working with very little strength. She sagged against the wall next to the woman as she worked. The woman's bulk helped keep her out of view of the door, but her position was also the only thing keeping her upright. She was growing weaker with every passing moment, finding it more and more difficult to think. It also left her temptingly near the other woman's throat, where perspiration was shining like the glitter of a diamond. Rachel could smell her anxiety and fear, but even more overwhelming was the scent of her blood. Rachel was fighting the instinct to bite the woman as she wrestled with the rope, and she seemed to be losing both battles. Tears welled up in her eyes as she glanced at the woman's neck again.

Just a little bite, a nibble, her mind tempted her. Just enough to be strong enough to untie her.

“No,” she told herself firmly.

“No, what, dear?” Mrs. Craveshaw asked.

Rachel shook her head, then glanced around frantically when Muffin suddenly let out a bark. Terrified that the animal would draw Pudge's attention, Rachel hushed the pet. “Shhh, Muffin, nice doggie,” she hissed.

The little dog sat down, but his gaze was fixed on the stairs and his tail was wagging hopefully. Rachel twisted to see the stairs and felt her heart lodge in her throat at the sight of Etienne descending them. He'd come.

“Thank God,” Rachel moaned and sank against the wall. His arrival wasn't a moment too soon. One more second and she might have done something she could never forgive herself for. She doubted Mrs. Craveshaw would have forgiven her either.

“Rachel.” She let her eyes flutter open as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Thank God you came,” she whispered then fell silent as his lips dropped to press on hers. It was a sweet kiss, almost reverent.

“Of course I came. I care about you.”

Rachel's eyes had drifted closed when he kissed her, but now they flew open again. It wasn't a proclaimation of love, but it was nice just the same. “You do?”

He smiled at her expression and brushed her hair away from her face. “How could I not? You're beautiful, brave, intelligent, and stubborn as hell.” He grinned at the way her lips twisted, then added, “And
you like my games. That shows you have incredibly good taste.” He kissed her again.

“Ahem.”

Rachel and Etienne pulled apart at that rather loud throat clearing from Mrs. Craveshaw. The woman gave them a pained smile. “Everyone loves a lover, dears, but there is a time and place for everything, and this really isn't the time or…” She glanced around with a wrinkled nose. “Or the place, really.”

“Sorry, ma'am.” Etienne gave her a charming smile.

“I was having trouble untying her,” Rachel informed him.

“She's awfully weak, the poor child,” Mrs. Craveshaw informed him as Etienne began to untie her ropes. “I don't know how long he's held her here, but he's obviously been starving her. Why, he kept calling her a vampire and trying to make her drink mine and Muffin's blood. Norman has obviously lost his mind.”

“Norman?” Etienne paused in surprise. “You mean Pudge?”

“Pudge.” The woman tsked in disgust. “He insisted people call him that. His mother hated that nickname, God rest her poor soul. She was a dear woman, you know. And a good neighbor too. It was a dark day when she died and Norman was left to live here alone. Norma—his mother—kept him in line while she was alive, but I knew the moment she was gone he would go bad. I was rather hoping he'd move away, but no, he had to stay. His brother wasn't too pleased and I
don't blame him. The house should have been sold and the profits split between them, but it wouldn't sell with the mess Norman keeps it. I think he keeps it that way on purpose, and so does his brother. He—”

“Er—ma'am?” Etienne interrupted. “You're untied now. Maybe you could go call the police while I get Rachel free.”

“Oh, I'm afraid you'll never get her free without the key. But, yes, of course, I'll go fetch the police.”

The woman had been tied up long enough that she needed assistance rising. Rachel watched as Etienne helped her up and hurried her over to her dog, whom she insisted on taking with her. He watched her go up the stairs, then moved quickly back to Rachel.

“How bad is it?” he asked once he was again kneeling at her side. “I can tell you're in pain. Did he hurt you again?”

Rachel nodded. “It was an accident. The crossbow went off when he hit Mrs. Craveshaw over the head with it, and he staked me in the chest.”

A curse slid from Etienne's lips as he slipped a bag of blood out of his shirt. “It'll be warm and won't be enough, but it should ease the pain a little bit at least.”

She didn't care if it was bacteria-ridden blood; she lifted it to her lips and slammed her teeth into it. The liquid drained out so quickly, Rachel could hardly believe she'd ingested it. She did feel a little better, though, and right away too, but it was only a little, a slight easing of the ache and perhaps a bit more
strength. At least she didn't feel like she would pass out if she didn't bite someone immediately.

Rachel sucked every last drop out of the bag, then crumpled it up and shoved it in her pocket as Etienne snapped open the manacle around her ankle. He did it as easily as if it were made of nothing more than paper. He was obviously back to full strength thanks to the blood in his fridge.

“How did you get out of the office?” she asked as he helped her to her feet.

“Mother, Lucern, and Bastien,” he answered. “They had to cut a hole out of the door with an acetylene torch. They're waiting out in the van,” he added. “It took some talking to convince them to wait there too, I can tell you. I had to promise not to kill him.”

Etienne caught her against his chest as she swayed. Concern flickered on his face, but it didn't hide the fury radiating from his eyes, and Rachel thought it would be a good idea to get him out of there before Pudge noticed their presence and the inevitable confrontation occurred. Promise or no promise, she didn't trust him not to kill the man—or get himself killed trying.

“There's more blood in Bastien's van. I'll take you out there, then come back and see to Pudge.”

“No. Let the police handle him, Etienne,” she said urgently.

“I have to—”

“Holy shit!”

Rachel and Etienne both turned toward the other end of the room. Pudge was frozen in the doorway, shock on his face as he stared at Etienne and Rachel.

Etienne immediately started toward him, but Rachel clung to his arm desperately, managing to hold him back. Or perhaps she merely reminded him of her presence. Whatever the case, he stopped and peered down at her, then moved her behind him and turned to face Pudge. But there was no Pudge to face. While Rachel had distracted him, the other man had disappeared.

“Where the—” Etienne began, then paused and stood a little straighter. He pushed her backward toward the stairs, his body blocking hers as Pudge reappeared, crossbow in hand. It was armed with a fresh stake and aimed directly at Etienne's heart.

“He's taking an awfully long time.”

Bastien shifted behind the wheel of the van and glanced in the rearview mirror at his mother's face. Her expression reflected the worry and concern that had been in her voice, the same worry and concern he himself was suffering. Bastien had been most reluctant to let his younger brother go into Norman “Pudge” Renberger's house alone. Etienne had been so cold and furious, he'd feared what he might do. But that was Etienne's problem. It was his woman and his battle and, in the end, Bastien had decided to let him handle it…until he proved incapable of it.

“It hasn't been all that long,” Lucern said from his position in the front passenger seat. “Don't forget he had to—What's this?”

Bastien glanced back to the house in time to see an older woman come rushing out. Short, gray-haired and cherubic, she carried a small furry bundle in her arms. They watched in silence as she rushed across the yard and into the house next door.

“That doesn't look good,” Marguerite spoke the thought they all shared. They had expected Pudge to have Rachel here but hadn't even considered that anyone else might be in the house. Now they didn't know what to think. What had the woman been doing there? Had she seen Etienne? Or Rachel? She'd been fleeing as if all the demons of hell were on her tail.

“Perhaps you two should go in and see if Etienne needs any help.” Their mother sounded anxious.

Bastien exchanged another glance with Lucern, reading the uncertainty in his brother's mind. Neither of them were sure they should interfere. Etienne wouldn't thank them if he had everything under control. The younger man hadn't said as much, but it had obviously been important to him to be the one to find and rescue Rachel, not to mention deal with the man who had been making his life such hell.

“Why don't we give him another couple of minutes?” Lucern finally suggested and Bastien nodded. They fell silent as they turned their attention back to the house. It was a short, tense wait. The three of them stiffened in their seats and exchanged wary glances when they heard the wail of a siren in the distance. They remained where they were as it drew
nearer. It was a big city; the vehicle could be either the police or the fire department, it could be headed anywhere.

Bastien and Lucern reached for their door handles, however, when a police car turned down the street they waited in.

“Wait,” Marguerite barked, making them pause. The brothers stayed where they were but unrolled their windows as the cruiser pulled into the driveway of the house next to Pudge's—the one the woman had just dashed into. She ran back outside now, still clutching something small and furry to her chest as she rushed the patrol car. There were two officers in the vehicle, one short and blond, the other a tall brunette. The dark-haired officer was the closest and the one the woman ran to as he got out from behind the steering wheel and slammed the door closed.

“He's gone crazy!” she shrieked. “He thinks he's a vampire! He wanted to eat my Muffin!”

“I certainly hope her muffin is the furball she's carrying,” Lucern said with a dry humor that made Bastien laugh and dispelled some of the tension that had been gripping him.

“Who's gone crazy, ma'am?” They heard the blonde officer ask as he rounded the car to join the pair.

“Norman. My neighbor.” She pointed toward the house Etienne had disappeared into. “He has a poor young woman chained up in there. I think it's that girl from the news, that hospital worker who went missing
a couple of weeks ago. She's pale and doesn't look well at all. He's obviously been starving her. He tried to make her eat my dog.”

“Your dog?” the darker officer asked with disgust.

“My Muffin.” She lifted her arms slightly, then petted the trembling ball of fur she held.

“Was that before or after he tried to eat your Muffin himself?” the blonde asked with a trace of amusement that made Bastien frown. It was obvious that at least one of the men thought the woman was batty. Apparently, he wasn't alone in gathering that. The woman narrowed her eyes on the officer like a first-grade teacher spotting a troublemaker in her class.

“Don't mess with me, young man. I'm not some dotty old fool. There are two people in that house right now in jeopardy.”

“Two?” the second man asked.

“Yes. That pretty redhead from the news and a handsome young man who came in and set me and Muffin free and told me to call you.”

The officers glanced toward the Renberger house, then back.

“Why didn't they come out with you?” the blonde asked.

“I was just tied up. He was able to untie me, but the girl was chained to a coffin.”

“Coffin?”

“I told you, he thinks he's a vampire,” she explained with exasperation. “He's insane! Now stop dawdling
out here. Go help that young man rescue the girl. That's your job.”

When the two officers still hesitated, obviously unsure what to make of her wild claims, she made a sound of disgust and turned toward the house. “Very well. I'll go get the young man and have him come out…if he hasn't already been noticed and killed by that nasty Norman.”

She was out of her yard and across Norman's before the officers kicked out of their frozen state and hurried after her. The little woman could really move when she wanted to. She mounted the porch and entered the house before they could reach her.

 

“Turn me.”

Rachel shifted a little to the side to look around Etienne's shoulder at Pudge. After the tense silence that had passed since his reappearance with the crossbow, those weren't the words she'd expected to hear.

“Come on,” Pudge whined when both Etienne and Rachel stared at him blankly. “Why should you have all the fun? Turn me. Please?”

Etienne glanced toward Rachel, seeming to ask her whether Pudge's request was for real.

“Turn me and I'll give you rest,” Pudge promised.

“Rest?” Etienne echoed with amazement.

“Vampires always want rest,” Norman announced solemnly, then frowned. “Well, mostly they do. Once
they're staked they look at peace in the movies. Sometimes they even thank their staker. Except for Dracula. I don't think he wants peace, but he's been alive forever.” He peered at Etienne curiously. “Have you met Drac?”

“Pudge, do you understand the difference between fiction and reality?” Etienne asked.

“Of course I do,” he said with a scowl. Then he added impatiently, “Just turn me already, and I'll put you to rest.”

Etienne released a short laugh. “Are you even thinking about what you're suggesting? You're asking me to give you an eternal life…and in exchange you'll end mine? Hellooooo. You want eternal life. What makes you think I don't?”

“Oh, come on. You must be tired by now. How old are you? Five, six hundred years old?” he guessed. “You have to be way old. I looked up the Argeneau name and it goes back a long way. There's a reference to a Lucern Argeneau back in medieval days, and that's your brother, right? There was a Lady Marguerite married to some Claude guy too. And I know that's your mom and dad.”

Rachel noted Etienne's startled expression. Apparently, he hadn't considered that Pudge might do research. It was obvious he didn't care for the fact, or the possibility that his family might now be targeted as well. She shook her head with disgust. Woe and betide the idiot for bringing Etienne's family into it.
The man was as easygoing as could be most of the time, but he also had a protective nature and that was coming to the fore. His usually smiling face had become a cold, hard mask.

Etienne moved so quickly that he was across the room and grabbing Pudge by the throat in the blink of an eye—far too quickly for Pudge to stop with his crossbow. It did go off as he dropped it, but the stake harmlessly hit the wall. Rachel saw Pudge reach into the front pocket of his black jeans but didn't understand the significance of it. She didn't realize trouble was coming until he pulled out a remote control and pushed several buttons. Light immediately exploded in the room even as a whirring sound filled the air.

Rachel gaped at the sunlamps pouring warm illumination down on her, then her head twisted to the side as the whirring was explained by a huge cross sliding out of a recess in the wall and swinging across the room like a pendulum. Her gaze shot to Etienne to see that he had been startled enough by the sudden explosion of light and sound that he was gaping as well. But he hadn't seen the six-foot cross crashing toward him.

Rachel cried out in warning, but it was too late, merely making him turn toward the large object in time to take a full frontal blow. She cried out again as he was slammed backward and crashed into the far wall. She started to run toward him, but changed direction and ran at Pudge instead when she saw what
he was up to now. The moment Etienne had been knocked down, Pudge had bent to retrieve his crossbow. He tugged a fresh stake from his pocket.

Despite her speed, Pudge had the weapon reloaded by the time she reached him. His back turned to her, he didn't see her coming, and she took advantage of that fact and jumped on his back. He straightened with a shriek and attempted to throw her off, but Rachel held on like a monkey as animal rage poured through her. With one arm around his arm and over his chest, she snaked the other around his neck and grabbed his jaw. Rachel wasn't even thinking when she twisted his head sideways. It was pure animal instinct that made her do it, and bend her own head to his neck with every intention of biting the little weasel and draining him dry.

“Freeze!”

Rachel heard that shout and quickly pulled her mouth away from Pudge's neck without drawing any blood. Her head shot up as Pudge wheeled toward the stairs, the crossbow waving wildly. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the two uniformed police officers standing at the base of the stairs, their weapons drawn and pointed in her direction. Then the crossbow went off.

“Oh,” Rachel breathed as the officers tried to jump out of the way of the whizzing projectile. There was a curse, followed by a thud as the blond officer was hit. At first she thought the man had taken the missile in
the arm, but as he began tugging at it, she saw that it had missed flesh and bone and was merely caught by his sleeve, which was now pinned to the wall.

Rachel was still gaping at the struggling man when Etienne suddenly moved. He was at her side, ripping her from Pudge's back and dragging her out of the line of fire before she even considered the need to move. But the officers didn't return fire. The dark-haired one kept his gun trained on Pudge, but his gaze kept returning to the blonde struggling to free himself. It gave Pudge the chance to snatch yet another stake from his back pocket and re-load his weapon.

Pudge had just finished locking the stake into place and turned to aim it at Rachel and Etienne when the trapped officer managed to pull his sleeve free. The two men immediately shifted several feet apart, both aiming their weapons at Pudge.

“Drop it! Drop the weapon, buddy! Just drop it!” the blonde shouted. He sounded pretty angry. Perhaps pissed off was the better word, Rachel thought, as Etienne shifted her behind him and stood like a brick wall between her and the stake Pudge was aiming their way.

She appreciated the concern obvious in this action, but it made it difficult to see what was going on. Rachel ended up having to duck and twist to see past him. She almost felt sorry when she saw Pudge's reaction to finding himself the target of the officers' anger. He was staring at them in dawning horror, his eyes
wide and his mouth agape. He obviously hadn't expected this.

“Come on, buddy. Put the weapon down,” the dark-haired officer suggested in cajoling tones. “We don't want to have to shoot you…but we will.”

“Me?” He stared at them in amazement. “Shoot me? I'm the good guy here. I'm like Van Helsing! It's them you want! They're the vampires!”

Rachel caught the glance the two officers exchanged and knew everything was going to be all right. They weren't buying what must sound like nonsense to them. However, she couldn't help but think that, had their entrance been one moment later and had she managed to sink her teeth into Pudge's neck as she'd intended, this whole scenario might be completely different.

A glance at Etienne had her suspecting he was thinking the same thing.

“Really!” Pudge was squealing like a pig. “They're vampires. Both of them.”

The officers glanced in Rachel and Etienne's direction out of reflex. Both then started to look away, but the one who had so recently been pinned to the wall stopped midway and swung his gaze back. Rachel felt herself stiffen at the recognition on the blonde's face.

“Dr. Garrett? Dr. Rachel Garrett?” the officer asked. “It
is
you.”

Rachel nodded warily but didn't get the chance to say anything. Pudge jumped in there, his voice ex
cited. “Yes. That's her. She was working in the morgue the night I went in to finish him off.” He waved the crossbow wildly toward Etienne, making Rachel flinch. It had already gone off once accidentally and could easily do so again. “She jumped in the way when I went to cut off his head and I axed her by mistake. I hit her in the chest. She should be dead, but he turned her. Now they're both vampires,” he explained, sounding completely insane. “They're both soulless bloodsuckers, cursed to walk the night forever.”

Rachel bit her lip, almost embarrassed for the man. Everything he had said was true, of course. Well, except for the soulless part. But really, where was his common sense? Surely he must realize no one would believe him. She wasn't terribly surprised when the officers began easing farther apart and approaching Pudge in a rather wary manner.

“Okay, buddy,” the dark-haired officer said. “We get it. They're vampires and you're the good guy. But we're here now. You're safe. So drop the weapon and put your hands up, huh?”