Vampire Food 08: He Smelled Like Peach Pie (9 page)

Em fought him. “Let me go! She is still alive.”

The expression on his face mirrored what hers must have been moments before. “That’s impossible.”

“Touch her, she reacts.”

Shanagar stepped around Em, touching Mia’s foot. The muscle jerked and he took a step back. “Mercy.” He flashed to Mia’s side, sitting down so softly the mattress barely shifted. Shanagar gently moved her head, positioning it back upon the section of neck that was still on Mia’s shoulders. “She needs your blood, Em. I can’t give her mine.”

Em nodded and strode to the bed, biting into her wrist. She dripped it into the line of unattached flesh, watching as it knitted itself back together. Shanagar pushed the torn sections of Mia’s upper chest back together, holding the slices closed as Em repaired them. He moved downward, allowing her to drip blood onto each section, and Em watched in astonishment as the wounds closed.

Once Mia was back in one piece, Em held her mouth open. The wound on her wrist had closed up twice already and she was forced to bite herself a third time to get it flowing again. She didn’t have much more to give and was growing weak herself, but she had to help Mia.

Shanagar snatched her arm, grabbing her wrist to stop her. The wound closed, but she was hungry, truly hungry for the first time in weeks. He smelled incredible, sweet like homemade peach pie when it first came out of the oven. Food had repulsed her for years, but this was different, the scent amazing beyond imagination. She could almost taste it, the sweetness slathered in globs of her mother’s holiday whipped cream. Em closed her eyes. She could smell it, her tongue tingling with the imaginary taste. He stroked her cheek, his skin like satin against her own. Em forgot his warning as she snatched his hand and bit deeply into his skin. His blood was like lightning, searing her mouth before he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

Em screamed, holding her throat, it was on fire, burning as the fluid flowed downward. Shanagar growled, the sound filled with anger as he lifted her in his arms. “Why did you bite me? I told you that my blood was poison.”

“I know.” Her body went slack in his arms as everything went numb. Em could feel nothing, the room bobbing as he carried her from it. The movement was making her head spin, it was so hot in the caves, unbearably hot.

* * * *

Shanagar tossed her unconscious body over his shoulder and lifted his sword. He would have to find someone to give Mia blood and then find a quiet place for Emerald. It was his own fault that she had bitten him. He should have been more careful with her. It was his curse that vampire women found him enticing, and it was even worse because he wanted her. His shifter side controlled the mating scent and that was probably why she had been so eager to take his blood. Of course, now it didn’t matter how much he liked her and wanted her because she would probably die.

His blood was poison, to both vampires and shifters.

Once long ago, his mate had been injured in a fall. The broken bone had come through the skin of her leg and he had tried to save her. His blood had killed her rather than heal her. That was one of the many regrets that he had to dwell upon in years of seclusion. If not for the long periods of sleep that his body had endured, he probably would have lost his mind. He would have lost his will to live as Vidar had planned, but it had not happened.

Whoever had caused his cave to shatter had set him free, and he had begun his freedom faced with death and agony that he could do nothing about. Now he had caused one more death, of this beautiful queen. What of her mates, were they dead or alive? Would they mourn her death as he had mourned the death of his queen? He felt for them, even though he only knew one of them. He was a strong shifter, an alpha, yet he had bowed his head and body before a king that he had never known. Would that same man now lose his life trying to seek revenge? Shanagar feared that he would, and this man Russell would lose.

Maybe he was better off to allow him to win. Would it really be so bad to die and meet death? Would the gods still accept him into Valhalla? Did the gods that he knew still reign or had they passed on their titles to others in the heavens? Shanagar pushed open a door, glancing inside. Two young men were huddled in a bed, terror written in their expressions. “Do you know Mia?”

One man nodded.

“Are you willing to give her blood to save her life?”

Both men nodded.

“Then please go do it. Do nothing else to her, but give her blood. She will eventually die without it. Then if you can, you are needed to help in the large hall. Many vampires are burned. Gather others if you can, please.”

The two men sat staring at him. “Go. Now. Please!”

They scrambled from the bed and walked quickly around him as if afraid he might kill them. Shanagar sighed. Humans were such silly creatures, afraid of their own shadows. That thought was an untruth. The humans of his age had been brave warriors. Things had changed as the years had passed. Such were the ways of nature. It was ever changing.

Russell struggled to move the huge rocks that were keeping the metal sheet down upon the bed. Rory and Salt said they were okay, but they feared trying to push the metal off and rip the canvas. Russell was taking great care not to do just that, as he pushed the boulder off them. It crashed over the side of the mountain, rolling downward into the walkway below.

From what Russell could see, most of the chambers on this side of the mountain were flattened or missing. They would have to do a more extensive search after the sun went down, but that would be many hours from now. They also needed to get the hole patched up so the sun wouldn’t come in on the following day. It was completely amazing that the birds stayed where they were. They weren’t moving or calling to one another, a silent layer of black feathers against the gray of the remaining stone.

“The metal is free. Try and lift it.”

The flat surface before him rose slowly into the air. Russell knew that they were testing the canvas. “You might as well sit tight until nightfall. There is no way you are going to be able to climb down without exposing yourselves.”

“Shit!” muttered Rory. “That sucks. Are you sure Em is okay?”

Russell chuckled. “She was when I came outside, frantic, but okay. Then again, you know Em.”

“Very funny, Russell. Can you please go back in and tell her that we are safe?”

“That sounds like a plan. I wanted to tell you something first. Have you ever heard of King Shanagar?”

Rory was silent for a moment. “Wasn’t he a mythical cross between shifter and vampire? A huge Viking with radiant blond hair, different color eyes, a sweet heart and poisonous blood.”

“That about sums him up. Only one problem, he isn’t mythical. He is real and the explosion freed him from the prison that Vidar had sealed him in.”

“What?”

“After the explosion from out of the dust came this huge, absolutely striking man. I knew who he was in a heartbeat. I have seen many images of him in accounts of our early history. He disappeared in the mid-seventeen hundreds and everyone assumed him dead. He isn’t dead. He is alive.”

“Shit, how old is he?”

“I’m figuring that he is over a thousand. He said that he has been sealed up for almost three hundred years. Given our history and the knowledge that he came from late age of Vikings, he was born between the tenth and eleventh century. Vidar was a descendant from the people who called themselves Vikings in later years, but Shanagar is the real thing. He is fucking huge.”

“How the hell has he stayed alive so long?”

“The tales of our ancestors say that until he disappeared, they thought him immortal. I mean can’t-be-killed immortal. I presume quite a few people tried over the years, just to dethrone him. It is presumed that the only way to kill him is to behead him, but he was a crafty warrior and no one ever succeeded. I don’t know why Vidar didn’t try that. It might be because it was said that his blood was poison to vampires and his spirit was strong enough to come back from the grave and seek revenge.”

Rory snorted with amusement. “That might keep me from killing him.”

Salt broke his silence. “This is all very interesting, but poor Em is waiting to see if we are dead or alive. Can you please go tell her?”

“I’m going. See you when the sun goes down.”

“Will do.” Salt replied with obvious impatience in his voice.

Russell got to his feet and turned back into a gorilla. It was the easiest way to scale back down the mountain. The explosion had provided quite a few outcropping as hand and footholds, but his human body wasn’t as adept at grasping them. He got to the bottom and changed back into a man. Russell was glad that he had grabbed his clothing so his dick wouldn’t be jangling in the wind as he ran. He really needed to get back to Em and put her mind at ease. She would be overjoyed.

* * * *

Em opened her eyes, groaning. Her mouth was so dry. She could hear yelling from outside the door. Whose chamber was she in and what the hell were they yelling about? She had a headache that felt as if she had been kicked by a horse. Damn her head hurt.

Where the hell was Shanagar? Why had he dumped her in an empty chamber and left her. What the hell had happened to her? It had something to do with peach pie.

How she had loved her mother’s pie. Em wondered again if the vision of her mother had been real or just some kind of stress-induced illusion. Maybe someday she would find out, but not today.

Pushing herself upward, Em groaned at the throbbing in her skull. It was the first time she had ever had a headache as a vampire. Was it normal to have a headache? Presumably her brain was still intact. She was able to think and reason, so it couldn’t be dissolved like the rest of her organs. Em wondered why that was. If a vampire was nothing more than cells filled with life fluid, then why did she still have a mind? If she didn’t, then she would be a zombie, not a vampire. Zombies ate brains, they didn’t think with them.

The entire line of thought was completely absurd and she rolled her feet to the floor. Grabbing the bottom bedpost, she dragged herself upward. Hadn’t her body gone numb for some reason? Em couldn’t remember. She staggered to the door and tugged it open, the light from the hall stinging her eyes. Russell and Shanagar were standing before her, looking as if they were on the verge of going to blows. “What are you doing?”

Both men turned stunned eyes to her. Her head throbbed and Em felt her feet giving way. Shanagar grabbed her and hoisted her into his arms. “You should have stayed in bed.”

“I didn’t want to. I have a headache. I will be fine when it goes away. Got any vampire-type painkillers?”

He frowned. “Any what?”

“Oh, never mind. You can put me down. I’m not going to pass out or anything. Can you tell me what happened?”

Russell glared at her. “You bit him. Why the hell did you do that? His blood is poison. You should be dead right now.”

“Oops. I don’t remember biting him. I only remember peach pie with whipped cream.”

Russell scowled at her. “What?”

Shanagar set her carefully to the ground, but didn’t let go of her completely. He pulled her against his chest so he could hold onto her. To have his body against hers felt far more wonderful than it should.

“Peaches. Women say that I smell like peaches and sweet cream. They want to taste me. That explains why she bit me. She was starving from helping Mia and the scent got to her.”

Russell splayed his palm over his eyes, rubbing his temples. “How is it that you smell like peaches?”

“I don’t know. I only know one other vampire who lived through tasting me and that was long ago. She told me that I smelled absolutely delicious. She said the scent was irresistible and she wasn’t starving like Em was. It wasn’t Em’s fault that she bit me.”

“But I don’t remember biting you.”

“You did. I tried to stop you, but it was already too late. At least you’re still alive.”

She winced as another spike of agony drove through her skull. “I guess. I need to go back and lie down in the darkness.”

Shanagar lifted her back into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed. “I’m so sorry. I should have known better than to get so close to you.”

“I should have known better than to bite you. Peaches taste disgusting. I know, I tried to eat one. How’s Mia?”

“She’ll be okay.”

“So what’s your blood going to do to me beside the headache?”

He grimaced. “In due time. Rest now.” Without an answer, Shanagar got up and walked from the room. Russell came in, lying beside her. He stroked her hair gently, his presence comforting. Em wanted to ask him about Shanagar’s blood, but didn’t think he had the answer. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the drumbeats in her brain.

Em heard the door open and sat up. She felt much better and was hoping that now that darkness fell, it was Rory and Salt. She had woken up hysterical to find out how they were, and Russell had assured her that they were fine and waiting out the sun.

Rory groaned loudly, sounding as if he was going to be puke. It was a really weird noise for him to be making. “Shit, what the fuck happened in here?” asked Salt. “The stench is nauseating.”

Em frowned. She didn’t smell anything bad. With a shrug, she hopped out of bed and raced across the room, throwing herself at Rory. He caught her, gagged, and then pushed her back. “Nothing personal, Em. But you stink.”

“I do?”

“Yes. You don’t smell it?”

“No. What do I smell like?”

“I don’t know.” Rory stepped out in the hallway. Salt joined him a moment later. “It’s like a combination of really sweaty feet and rotting flesh. How can you not smell it?”

Russell walked up behind her and put his arm around her shoulder.

“Do I stink, Russell?”

“Not to me. I’m not a male vampire.”

Em spun on him. “What?”

He grimaced at her reaction, but Em had a feeling he had been expecting this. He did know something about Shanagar’s blood. “Talk to me!”