Silent Bite-A Scanguards Wedding (1001 Dark Nights) (10 page)

Tonight, on her wedding night, she would die. And her father would have to watch helplessly.

12

Oliver watched as Blake tied the wedding rings onto the tiny pink pillow and handed it to Isabelle. The toddler grinned up at them, looking adorable in her pink dress. Together with Delilah, they all stood at the French doors of the living room that led to the tented walkway leading into the tent. The music from the tent where a string quartet played came through the loudspeakers into the living room.

“You sure she’s gonna be able to do that?” Oliver asked and grinned.

Delilah exchanged a look with her daughter. “Of course she is. Aren’t you, Isabelle?”

The toddler beamed.

“Now go into the tent just like we practiced.”

Isabelle turned around and staggered along the path, still a little wobbly on her feet. Delilah followed her closely, ready to catch her if she fell.

“Well, it’s almost time,” Blake said, grinning. “You can still change your mind, you know. I’ll take her off your hands in a heartbeat.”

Oliver boxed him in the side. “Not a chance.”

His half-brother chuckled. “Just thought I’d give it one last shot.”

“Hey, thanks for being my best man.”

“Glad you asked me.”

Suddenly the door to the corridor opened. “Are we too late?” a familiar voice asked.

Oliver swiveled on his heels and saw Dr. Drake rushing in, his Barbie-doll receptionist on his arm.

“Sorry, I hope this is the right entrance, but there was nobody telling us which way to go. Luckily the door was open.” He shrugged apologetically.

“The guard outside should have directed you,” Oliver said.

“What guard?”

Oliver’s heart stopped. Without answering, he charged past Drake and rushed into the foyer. He ripped the entrance door open, but the vampire guard Cain had stationed there was gone. He turned back toward the foyer when he stepped on something. He bent down and inspected the item. A dime was wedged between the grout of two travertine tiles.

Though finding a lost coin wasn’t something unusual, the hairs on Oliver’s nape rose and a cold shiver ran down his spine.

Something wasn’t right. Cain would have never pulled the guard off his post.

Blake came running from the living room. “What’s going on?”

Oliver was already charging toward the stairs leading to the upper floors. “Alert Cain and have him sweep the premises for any intruders. Discreetly. I don’t want anybody to alarm the guests.”

“Got it.”

But Oliver barely heard Blake’s reply. He’d been a bodyguard long enough to know when to listen to his gut feeling. And his gut feeling told him to make sure Ursula was safe. That it was presumably bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding didn’t matter.

When he entered the upper floor, his suspicion was confirmed. Ursula was in danger. A muffled cry drifted to his sensitive ears. A human wouldn’t have heard it, but he had.

He flung the door to the guestroom open and barreled into the room, assessing the situation within a split second without slowing his movements.

A vampire pressed Ursula against the wall, his hands preventing her from fighting against him, though she kicked her legs against his shins, while the vampire’s head neared her neck. Panic and desperation shone from Ursula’s eyes. A few yards away, Yao Bang struggled to rise from the floor but appeared weak and dazed.

The vampire’s head whirled around, noticing Oliver instantly. He snarled, his eyes glaring red, his fangs protruding from his lips. Oliver recognized him now. He was one of the addicts that Scanguards had treated.

“Michael Valentine!” Oliver ground out.

Valentine narrowed his eyes and moved so fast a human would only see a blur, bringing Ursula in front of his body like a shield, his arm wrapping around her upper arms so she couldn’t move them, and the claws of his other hand pressing against the soft flesh of her throat.

“One move and I’ll slice her open!” he warned.

Oliver arrested in his movement. He couldn’t risk Ursula’s life, and he knew that one slice of Valentine’s sharp claws across her neck would kill her almost instantly. Oliver wouldn’t even have enough time to turn her into a vampire to save her life. She would die.

He had to buy himself some time. “You won’t kill her,” Oliver hedged. “You want her special blood.”

A flicker in Valentine’s eyes confirmed that he’d guessed right. The vampire was still an addict. Zane had been right. Rehab hadn’t worked on everybody.

“Get away from the door!” Valentine ordered.

“No!”

Oliver flicked his gaze to Ursula, who had been the one to voice the protest.

“Don’t do it. Don’t let him take me. I’d rather die than be imprisoned again.” Her eyes pleaded with him.

He knew what was going through her mind. If Valentine took her, she would face the same ordeal as she had for three years while imprisoned in the blood brothel.

“I won’t let him take you,” he promised her.

“I don’t see how you can prevent it,” Valentine said and started walking sideways, pulling Ursula with him.

“The house is crawling with vampires. You’ll never get out!”

From where Ursula’s father lay on the floor, a gasp came. But Oliver couldn’t turn his face to look at Yao Bang, though he knew his eyes were open and he was watching them in horror.

Valentine let out a mocking laugh. “They’re all in the tent in the back of the house.” He motioned to the window. “We’re going out the front.”

Oliver was poised, readying himself to attack. His eyes searched the room for any weapon because he carried none in his elegant tuxedo. There had been no place to conceal a stake.

A few more steps and Valentine would be at the window. Oliver’s breathing accelerated. He had to do something now.

As Valentine dragged Ursula with him, her dress caught in the legs of a chair and she stumbled sideways. Valentine held on to her, but the claws on her throat slipped momentarily.

Seeing his chance, Oliver pounced. His claws lengthened in mid-flight, and his arm pulled back for leverage then swung forward to punch Valentine’s shoulder to knock him back and make him lose his grip on Ursula.

Ursula fell, her balance uprooted by the power of the impact. Her legs, already tangled in her long dress and the petticoats beneath, lost their footing, and she fell forward. From the corner of his eye, Oliver saw her reach for the chair to brace her fall, but he couldn’t help her, because Valentine’s claws were coming toward him in a one-two punch that knocked Oliver’s head sideways.

Without as much as a breath in between, Oliver aimed a fist at Valentine and hit the side of his neck, whipping him sideways. As Valentine fell against the window frame, Oliver’s eyes darted around. But there was no time to find anything to fashion a stake from.

Valentine pushed himself off the window frame with such speed and agility that Oliver was taken by surprise when his attacker body-slammed him, tackling him to the ground. Oliver landed hard with his back on the wooden floor, making the floorboards moan in protest.

A claw came toward him, but Oliver blocked it with his forearm, pushing back while he twisted underneath his attacker. The rage flowing through his veins gave him added strength, and he managed to toss Valentine off him. However, his opponent was agile and found his feet at the same time as Oliver rose to his own.

This time, Oliver didn’t let Valentine’s next punch find its intended target. Instead, Oliver twisted on his heels and evaded him gracefully.

Their combined grunts and groans filled the room and mingled with the heavy breathing of Yao Bang and Ursula, who’d both managed to get to their feet.

Ursula had run to her father, and from the corner of his eye, Oliver caught a glimpse of the two as Ursula tried to calm her father, while her eyes darted around the room, seemingly looking for something. But he couldn’t concentrate on her, because fending off Valentine’s kicks and punches took all his concentration. And in the uncomfortable tuxedo, he felt less mobile than usual, though his opponent had the same handicap, wearing a tuxedo as well.

With every blow, Oliver realized more and more that he and his opponent were of equal strength. They were equally tall and well built. What he needed was an advantage. Because it could be minutes until one of his colleagues came up to this floor to find them.

Oliver gritted his teeth and punched harder. Valentine swayed on his feet, giving Oliver hope that he was tiring, but it wasn’t the case, as he found out an instant later. As fast as a bullet train, the other vampire jumped to the side, gripped the chair, and slammed it against the wall, breaking it.

“Shit!” Oliver cursed, as he saw Valentine clamp his hand around one of the wooden legs that had broken off.

Now his opponent had a stake.

The evil grin on Valentine’s face confirmed that the bastard couldn’t wait to use it.

“Guess that’s it,” Valentine said with a self-congratulatory smirk, then jumped toward Oliver.

The power of the impact slammed Oliver backward and the back of his knees hit the bed frame, making him tumble onto the bed, landing in a supine position. Valentine jumped onto him, pinning him and trapping one of his arms under his knee.

With his free arm, Oliver fought his attacker as best he could, but Valentine had both arms available to fight. On his left Oliver perceived a movement, something red clouding his vision, but he didn’t dare turn his eyes away from Valentine.

Triumphantly, the other vampire lifted the stake while Oliver tried to push him back with his free arm. To no avail: the hand holding the stake lowered.

“Fuck!” he pressed out from between clenched teeth.

Oliver heard a cracking sound. Had a bone in his forearm broken? He couldn’t tell for sure, but he only knew that he couldn’t hold Valentine off much longer. And once Valentine had killed him, there was nobody stopping him from getting Ursula.

“No!” he screamed. “Noooooo!”

With his last ounce of strength, he pushed Valentine back, managing to catapult him off him. Valentine staggered backward a few paces, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise and shock.

A groan came from his throat. Then he disintegrated into dust. Behind him, Ursula stood, her arm stretched out, holding a makeshift stake. He recognized it as a piece of the chair. It hadn’t been his forearm breaking. Ursula had broken a leg off the chair and used it as a stake.

She had saved him.

Oliver jumped from the bed and ran toward her, wordlessly pulling her into his arms. He pressed her trembling body to him. For a few moments, he couldn’t speak.

“It’s over,” she murmured.

“I’m so sorry.” He kissed her.

From the hallway, several people came running. Cain burst into the room first, followed by Blake and Zane.

“Where is he?” Cain yelled.

Oliver pointed to the floor where dust had settled. “He’s dead.”

Cain sighed in relief. “He killed Bob, who was stationed at the front door. I found some of his belongings. Who was he?”

“Michael Valentine.”

“Fuck!” Zane cursed. He’d been the one who’d first interrogated Michael Valentine when he’d come to Scanguards’ attention. And Zane had also been the one who had guessed that rehab wouldn’t work on all the addicted vampires.

“You were right. Rehab didn’t work for all of them,” Oliver said to Zane. Then his gaze fell on Yao Bang who still stood where Ursula had left him only moments earlier, looking at them cautiously. He appeared uninjured.

“Buy us some time downstairs,” Oliver ordered, looking at Blake.

“And say what?”

“Wardrobe malfunction. Whatever,” Oliver said. Then he looked at Zane and Cain. “Are we sure he was the only one?”

Both nodded. “Positive.”

“Good. Then give us some privacy.” He motioned to Yao Bang and his colleagues nodded knowingly. They realized what he had to do now.

When the door closed behind the two vampires, Oliver looked at Ursula. She ran to her father and wrapped her arms around him. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “Just a few bruises.”

“We have to wipe his memory,” Oliver said to her, avoiding her father’s eyes.

Ursula nodded with a grim expression on her face. “I’m sorry, Dad, but it’s for the better. You should have never seen this.”

Oliver took a step toward him, but Yao Bang stretched out his hand as if to stop him. “Please don’t!”

“It won’t hurt. I promise you. You won’t even know.”

Yao Bang shook his head. “Please. Whatever you’re gonna do, don’t do it. Leave me my memories.” He pointed to the floor where the vampire had died. “I don’t
want
to forget what dangers are out there.”

Ursula shook her head vehemently. “Dad! Please! You’ll only worry if you know.”

Yao Bang’s eyes softened when he looked at his daughter. “Wei Ling, my little one, but I’ve worried until now. I’ve always worried about your safety. When you moved to New York to go to university, I worried about you. Because there is so much evil in the world. Now I won’t have to worry any longer. Don’t you see?” He pointed to Oliver. “Now I know you’ll be protected.”

Oliver watched as Ursula’s forehead wrinkled in surprise. “But aren’t you shocked that I’m going to marry a vampire?”

A kind smile curved her father’s lips upward. “He loves you. When he attacked the other vampire to save you, he didn’t hesitate even a split second.” Then he shrugged. “Though I guess a vampire wouldn’t have been my first choice, particularly since I didn’t think they existed. But at least that means he can protect you from other vampires.”

Ursula sighed.

“Please, by leaving me my memories, you’re granting me peace of mind,” Yao Bang pleaded.

Oliver exchanged a look with Ursula, then he took a step toward her father and stretched out his hand. “I have your word that you’ll never divulge our secret?”

Yao Bang nodded and took Oliver’s hand. “I promise you, son.”

It was the first time his future father-in-law had ever called him son.

“What about my mother?” Ursula interrupted.