Unending Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 1 (17 page)

“And then what? No,” he shouted. “Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t work. I won’t allow it.”

“If I have to, I’ll die fighting with and for you, Nikoli. But I will not allow you to face these monsters alone.”

Unwilling to argue, determined to do what he must, Nikoli reached behind himself, wrapping his fingers around her wrists to pull her away from him.

Regina resisted, her strength a surprise, fueled by what he suspected was her guilt, him offering his life to save hers.

Shoulders sagging, he slid his hands to her back, so narrow and seemingly frail, yet so strong. “Regina, don’t do this.”

She swallowed audibly, then continued. “Just listen to me. I was thinking about how we escaped them when they came into my office. With your device, you opened the portal. What if we used it to our advantage, not to escape them but as a means to—” Her words stalled. She dug her fingers into his ribs.

Instantly, his body tensed. “What is it?”

She didn’t answer.

Nikoli pulled back.

Regina’s attention was on something past him. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

Chapter Ten

She released Nikoli and hurried to the counter, grabbing the TV remote.

“What is it?” he asked again.

Holding up her free hand for silence, she increased the set’s volume, praying she’d been mistaken about what she’d just seen.

The female newscaster spoke gravely. “The two young women are co-workers at Cup-a-Joe’s, a popular Seattle coffee shop.”

Again, the girls’ pictures flashed on the screen, along with a shot of the establishment where they’d worked—the building where Regina had her office suite.

Her body went weak. She leaned against the granite counter.

The announcer continued. “Both went missing last night after their shifts. A local business owner found their purses and identification in the alley behind his office supply store, approximately two blocks from the coffee shop, on a route the young women were known to take to their respective apartments.”

The camera shifted back to the newscaster. Her frosted hair shone beneath the bright studio lights. “Upon finding traces of blood on the purses, the business owner contacted the police. They found no signs of a struggle in the alley. Relatives are holding out hope that the young women are still alive. If anyone saw or heard anything last night, the authorities ask—”

Regina muted the sound. She tried to stop trembling but couldn’t. Her lids sank at Nikoli’s approach.

He turned her to face him, folding her into his embrace, his big, warm body pressed close.

She splayed her fingers on his broad back and spoke without emotion, unable to stomach any more horror. “The girls are gone, aren’t they? Either killed or turned by Sazaar and the others.”

With no hesitation, he nodded.

Regina swallowed, thinking of the young women, kids really, barely into their twenties with their whole lives ahead of them, until now. She pulled in a shaky breath.

Nikoli stroked her back. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have predicted or prevented it.”

“But those things came for me,” she whispered. “If I hadn’t agreed to take Sazaar as my patient, then those girls and you wouldn’t have been in any danger. You’d all be—”

“Regina stop.” He held her close. With his cheek against hers, he murmured, “There was no way for you to stop any of them. Not even if you had guessed what Sazaar was.”

It made perfect sense, as reason always did, but it didn’t ease the ache in Regina’s soul. “Their parents are never going to see them again, Nikoli. They’ll never have the comfort of knowing where their children are, putting their bodies to rest. Their mothers…” She stopped, unable to continue, thinking of her own mother if she’d had to go through anything like this.

Nikoli murmured something indistinct, his tone deep and soothing. Wind brushed past the house. Sizzling sounds came from the skillet, followed by a sharp pop.

Flinching at the sound, Regina looked over. She’d forgotten about the bacon she’d been frying and the cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. Food bought by the man who’d once lived here. A breakfast he’d never had a chance to enjoy because Andris had murdered him so casually and callously.

Prick. Fucking prick.

Sudden and frightening rage boiled within Regina, heating her limbs, chest and face. Never a violent person, she wanted to tear Andris apart, to annihilate him as he’d destroyed so many of his victims. Who would he have his sights on tonight? Someone else in her building? A poor soul who would be there past dusk when it was safe for Andris and the others to leave the protection of their lair, to sneak through the night like roaches or—

Regina’s thoughts stalled, then raced. What if he returned for her and found someone she knew?

Carly.

Regina fought against Nikoli’s embrace.

He tightened his hold. “What’s the matter?”

“I have to call Carly, my receptionist. I don’t want her in that building.” Breaking free of him, Regina glanced around the room, searching for a phone, not seeing any. Panicked, she opened drawers, slamming them when she didn’t find what she wanted.

The bacon popped again.

Hurrying to the stove, she turned off the burner and oven.

Nikoli went to her, his naked feet slapping the hardwood floor. “What are you looking for?”

“A cell phone.” She shut another drawer and yanked open the next. In it was an iPhone with a security hurdle to overcome before she could even use the damn thing. She was about to toss it back into the drawer when she saw a Post-it note with a series of figures. Passwords?

Her hands shook so badly, her thumb trembled above the device’s sleep/wake button. Holding it down, she whispered, “Please work.”

Within seconds, the Apple icon appeared on the screen. Remembering to pull in air, Regina grasped Nikoli’s wrist so he couldn’t leave her side. “Don’t go,” she begged.

“Regina.”

“Please.” With the password prompt, she tried the first set of figures on the Post-it note. They worked. Bouncing in place, she tapped in Carly’s number. The call connected. Regina sucked her bottom lip through the first and subsequent rings. “Come on,” she muttered during the fifth, “answer.”

After the ninth ring, the jangle cut off, replaced by silence.

Regina prayed an answering machine wasn’t about to come on. If Carly had ignored the rings because she didn’t recognize the number on her caller ID or if she didn’t listen to the message, she’d eventually head to the office.

“Carly?” Regina blurted at the lengthening quiet.

A sleepy voice answered. “Who is this?”

“It’s me—Regina. Is that you, Carly?”

“Uh…yeah.” She sounded confused. The noise of her sloppy yawn came over the phone line, followed by her sharp intake of air. “Oh my God, did I oversleep again?”

“No. It’s not even seven.” Regina continued quickly, “I’m sorry for waking you, but I’m not coming into the office today. I have a terrible migraine.”

“Oh. Okay.” Carly cleared her throat, then spoke through her next yawn. “As soon as I get there, I’ll call your patients and tell them—”

“No. Do it from your house.”

She fell back to silence.

“Carly?”

“You want me to call them from here?” she asked, her confusion returning. “Their numbers are in my computer at the office.”

The back of Regina’s neck prickled with sweat. “I have them in my email account, along with the schedule of appointments. I’ll give you the login information. Do you have a pen and paper nearby?”

“Ah, I guess. Let me turn on the light.” Carly grunted. Something crashed to the floor. “Shit,” she growled.

“Hey,” a male voice complained, the volume muted by his distance from the phone. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. Go back to sleep.” After what sounded like a drawer shutting and a rustling noise, Carly said, “Okay, shoot.”

Regina gave her the email account, username and password, then added, “Call tomorrow’s patients too.”

“You’re serious?”

“I really don’t feel well.” In the background, Regina heard Emma’s piercing cries, the baby no doubt awakened by the noise of whatever had crashed to the floor. “Spend the next two days with your daughter.”

“Wait a sec,” Carly said, sounding concerned. She spoke softly, as though she didn’t want her husband to hear. “As much as I’d like to stay at home, I have work to catch up on. Regina, are you pissed at me because I left a little early last night? Are you firing me?”

“What? No. Not at all.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely. You have my word.”

Carly blew out a sigh. “Okay. Thanks. I was a little worried.” After another deep breath, she said, “Since there won’t be any patients there for the next two days, I’ll just bring Emma with me to the office and—”

“No. Don’t go in. I want you to stay home. You’ll still be paid.” Expecting another argument, she lied. “While we’re gone, I’m going to have building maintenance check on that heating problem. You don’t want to expose Emma to all the noise the workers will make and the possibility of toxic materials, do you?”

“No, of course not.” Carly sounded torn between renewed bewilderment and relief. “Thanks for paying me for the two days. Hank and I could really use the dough.”

“Enjoy the time off with your baby and husband, but please make certain to call the patients.”

“At nine, I’m on it. Before you hang up,” she added quickly, “do you want me to reschedule them for later in the week?”

Afraid to look that far into the future, Regina said, “Just tell them their appointments are cancelled for this week.”

“You got it.”

Turning off the phone, Regina faced Nikoli. Determination hardened his jaw line. Sazaar’s scratches seemed all too prominent on his throat and cheeks.

“It’s dawn,” he said.

Above them, ashy beams pierced the thinning clouds to pour through the skylights, stealing the kitchen’s cozy warmth.

Fighting a shiver, Regina argued, “You’re not leaving without me, Nikoli.”

His brows drew together. “Regina, we don’t have time to debate this.”

“I’m not.” She spoke far more calmly than he did. “I’m using reason, the same as you do in your dimension.”

He stepped back.

She followed. “Trying to destroy Andris and the others at their lair is too great a risk. There’s a better way to defeat them.”

Nikoli continued to retreat. “There is no other way.”

“What about the void between the dimensions?” Regina advanced, reducing the space separating them. “Using it to our advantage?”

He backed into the counter. Looking at it, he asked, “The void? What are you talking about?”

“What I was going to tell you before I saw the newscast. When we were in my office, you used your device to open a portal. What if we do the same thing tonight, only this time at my house and lure them into it?”

“No.” He went around the counter, his frown deepening as she followed. “Only a few would be reckless enough to enter. Once they burned, the others would stop.”

“Not if we invite them inside.” Before he could dispute what she’d said, Regina continued, “We can make them believe we’re willing to do anything to ensure our survival, even going as far as opening a portal into E2. But we won’t. We’ll wait until they’re all in the void, and then we’ll slip out of it and close the gateway to this dimension. They’d be trapped between the two realms, Nikoli, unable to enter your side because of the toxic atmosphere. Unable to return to this side because we’d closed it off to them. They’d never again be a risk to your world or mine.”

Even as Nikoli considered Regina’s plan—brilliant by the standards of his own plane—he kept shaking his head, not wanting to put her at risk, needing to handle the vampires on his own.

“What if you fail?”
she’d asked, her earlier words returning to torment him.
“What happens if their protectors kill you first and you leave me here alone to face what the night will surely bring?”

Nikoli’s stomach twisted.

As though she saw that pain on his face, Regina went to him, resting her fingertips on his chest, speaking quietly. “It will work.”

He couldn’t bring himself to comment. It didn’t matter. Conviction burned in her, along with her concern for him and her guilt.

“Are you worried about Sazaar altering the atmosphere on your side?” she asked. “That she’ll try to force or tempt us to open a portal into E2?”

“It wouldn’t matter if she did.”

Surprise crossed Regina’s features. “But before you said—”

“I know. However, E2 will be on full alert by this evening. No one will be able to open a portal.”

“Why? Because of that man you called Thomo?”

“No.”

“Then how could you know that?”

Because he was a traitor. Shamed, he told her the truth. “I left my father a message about crossing over to this dimension and my plans to destroy the vampires. I timed it so that he wouldn’t know what I’d done until you were safe, should you need to open a portal. This evening, he will have read my communication and taken action.”

Regina lowered her hand, the color draining from her face. “Will he alert the people in your realm? Will they come over here looking for you?”

“Their only concern will be to protect E2. They’ll make certain no one will be able to enter.”

Her expression grew pensive at what he’d said. “If they see what we’ve done, they’ll ensure that Andris and the others remain trapped?”

He nodded, then spoke before she could. “I can do this alone, Regina. I must. There’s no reason for you to be involved. The vampires need me to cross over.”

“I need you to be safe,” she said.

“There’s no reason for you to worry about me or feel guilty about what’s happened. None of this is your—”

“Guilty?” she interrupted, then frowned. “Guilt has nothing to do with it. I need you in my life.”

He stared, not certain what she was saying, lacking the courage to ask.

Clearing her throat, she continued, “I’m doing this with you, Nikoli. If you leave, I’ll follow. I’ll look for you on this side or yours. I won’t stop until I’ve found you or those things have found me.”