Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down (28 page)

“Nothing.  The point is, I’m not beholden to this guy
just
because he made me.  I’m my own vampire.  He can’t step forward and claim me without getting into a whole passel of trouble, right?  That’s my safety.”

“Unless he’s an
Ellri
.”

“I thought you said that almost never happens.”

“I’m starting to think it’s the most likely option though.  Anja, an Elder can do as he pleases, your life won’t be your own.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I muttered. 

“You wouldn’t say so if you’d ever met one.  They can be very… persuasive.”

“So what’s the point in dwelling on it then?  I might as well enjoy myself now if I’m doomed to this eternal servitude at some point, right?  Besides, maybe I’ll like being in his thrall.  You were very close to your Sire, right?”

“Yes,” he admitted begrudgingly.

“Don’t I deserve the same kind of connection with someone?  Someone to share my life with?  Someone who will appreciate my… unique attributes and find a way to love me the way I ought to be loved?”  We were very close now, though I don’t remember either of us moving. 

“Yes,” he breathed, and I was almost afraid to believe my ears. 

“What was that?”

Bishop tipped my face up to his by the chin, his thumb brushing across the bottom of my lip
as his eyes swept over my face
.  “Yes, you deserve all that and more.  I hope you find it some day.”  He let go of me and the sudden loss of his touch had my eyes pressing shut to hold back the tears. 

Nothing.  No kiss, no words from the heart, he didn’t even blink when I talked about loving someone else.  Maybe Mason was a sadist
,
or I was incredibly naïve to listen to his advice
.
  I hoped he never actually tried to date my sister
,
his views on relationships were obviously flawed.  

“Right,” I cleared my throat
.
“Good, then you work on finding my
Sire
,
I’ve got a date,
brother
.”  I threw the word back at
him
.  I
t was the only
weapon
I had left.

“
Fine
.”

“
Fine
,” I nodded
.
  “Okay, I’m going.”

“
Go then
,” he frowned, arms crossing over his chest.

“I will, just as soon as you move away from the door.”

Bishop stepped aside, his face a mask as he murmured, “
H
ave a nice time.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak, or even meet his gaze as I pulled the door open, managing a tepid smile for the driver in the hallway. 
Motherfrakker!
  I was hopelessly in love with Bishop and he couldn’t care less… what was I going to do now?

Chapter
Twenty-three

There isn’t much in the world that can’t be cured by music.  At least I’d always thought so.  But that night no number of dancers leaping about in tights to a marginally talented orchestra could drag me out of the funk I’d sunk into.  Oh sure, my toes still tapped to the
allegro
bits
,
but
the slower
numbers made me want to cry.  If my date noticed, he didn’t say so until we were back in the limo again, on the way to his hotel. 

“You seem subdued tonight,
milaya
,” he observed aloud, his hand covering mine.   

“I’m sorry, Aleksandr,” I squeezed his hand back.  “It’s been one of those days, so to speak.  I’m sorry if I ruined your evening.”

“Not at all.  Don’t worry though
,
I have something I believe will put a smile on your face.”

“Oh?  Like what?” I asked, but he wouldn’t say anything more about it until we got to his place.  The gray suits were back in place again, conducting their own synchronized ballet of servitude as we were escorted into the luxurious penthouse suite.  Kursik went straight to a side table where a bottle of champagne sat chilling.  There was no sign of the big bodyguard Booth, but I had no doubt he’d come running at the first hint of danger to his boss.  Almost as if he was reading my mind, Aleksandr turned to me,
a
cautious expression on his face. 

“You aren’t expecting a visit from Bishop tonight, are you?” he hesitated, glass in hand. 

“No, I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again for a while.” 

“Have you found another place to live then?  I was surprised to find you still sharing a residence with him, given your conflicts of late.”

“I’m currently considering my options,” I hedged, accepting the tall glass and sipping politely. 

“If I may urge a little patience, he might be relocating soon enough, then you have no need to leave your home,” he winked, raising his glass to me before he drank.

“Relocating?  He didn’t say anything to me about that.”

“It hasn’t been finalized yet, but I have reason to believe your troublesome brother will be out of our hair for quite some time.”  There was no mistaking the satisfaction in his voice with that statement. 

Did he mean that he’d had a hand in sending Bishop away?  Or was that another reason why Bishop hadn’t wanted to start anything with me?  Had he known he was leaving town soon?  Why hadn’t he said as much? 

“Now then,” he
said, gesturing
for me to take a seat on the couch beside him.  I took my place at his side, and he immediately closed the distance between us, his thigh pressed to mine.  “To getting to know each other better,” he proposed.

“The better to know you,” I agreed, lifting my glass.  This time I was prepared for him, I knew my bio backwards and forwards, but Aleksandr didn’t seem interested in my past.   

“I was thinking
…
”
H
is fingers reached from the back of the couch to stroke the edge of my shoulder in the lightest caress.

“Yes?”

“That we could be of mutual benefit to each other.”

“Mutual benefit?”  I wondered if he was going to suggest I become his mistress or something.  I’m sure there would be all manner of benefits socially and politically, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to get into bed with him, if you’ll pardon the expression.

Aleksandr continued his caress, fingers exploring the curve of my shoulder, across the back of my neck, to rest on my other shoulder.  “Yes, if we align our interests, there
’s nothing we might not conquer
on the west coast.”  A light of avarice shone from his eyes and I realized we were thinking about two different things. 

“Oh, you mean business.”  Lord, he must think I had quite a portfolio.  How did vampires make their money?  It seemed like they never had to worry about it much, and I made a mental note to ask Bishop about it.  “Sorry,
I thought you
were referring to something else,” I admitted sheepishly.

“
They aren’t mutually exclusive, are they?
”
H
e pressed a kiss to my shoulder and I had to force myself to relax. 

“Ah no, I suppose not.  I was always taught not to mix business with pleasure, or at least, that’s the old adage.  My mother never really broached the subject of pleasure with me or business really
,
I guess it’s more of a guideline than a rule.  But um…”
shut up Anja, shut… up!
I was babbling, unable to stop as he pressed another kiss to my shoulder, neck, jaw… until he covered my lips with his, stemming the nervous flow of words as he took possession of my mouth in a deep kiss. 

I tried, I really did.  But as sexy as Aleksandr was in a rakish sort of way, it wasn’t what I wanted.  He wasn’t what I wanted.  “I’m sorry, I don’t think this is such a good idea after all,” I apologized, breaking the kiss. 

“
Surely you don’t tease
…”
T
here was a hint of coiled anger in his tone, and I scooted farther away from him, not liking the direction things were going one bit. 

“Well no, I… that is, I think maybe we’re moving a little fast is all.”

Quick like a snake, his hands encircled my wrists, holding me fast.  “I am accustomed to getting what I want.”

“Let me go,” I wriggled against his hold but didn’t gain a centimeter.  I knew he was older, but I hadn’t expected him to be
that
much stronger than I was. 

“How prettily you protest,” he chuckled, shifting both my wrists to one hand to leave the other free to explore and conquer.  Had I thought he was sexy?  God
,
how could I have been so stupid?  Bishop had warned me and now this was my own fault. 

“Stop it… I don’t want this.” 

“No worries,
milaya
, I know your game.  I wonder, will you taste as sweet as the scent of your fear?”  I felt the sting of his teeth at my throat in the same instant he reached inside my bodice and I screamed. 

“I said, no!” 

All at once the door burst open from the terrace and I felt
Aleksandr
lifted bodily into the air and thrown across the room. 
Oh no, not again…
! 
Not
that I wasn’t grateful for Bishop’s interference, far from it, but he’d said so himse
lf
-
Kursik was a dangerous man, and now he’d made an enemy because of me.

“I’ll have him flayed alive,” Aleksandr muttered darkly, picking himself up. 

“Please, Aleksandr, he’s just trying to protect me
.
”
I started to put myself between them before it erupted into an all out fight
.  A
s I scrambled to my feet, I saw it wasn’t Bishop at all, but a complete stranger standing over his body. 

No, not a complete stranger… 

As he turned, I saw those same blue eyes and flowing blonde hair that caught my attention from across the auditorium that night.  “You…” I gasped, frozen in place.

No sign of recognition lessened Aleksandr’s rage as he picked himself up.  “I don’t know who you are
,
but let me assure you, this will be the last mistake you make.  Booth!”

My savior seemed unconcerned with the threat, his eyes never leaving mine.  The hint of a smile curved his lips
.
“One moment,
p
etal,” he promised, s
topping Aleksandr’s charge
one hand
ed
without even looking.  Booth appeared, guns drawn, but before he could squeeze off a single shot, he’d been disarmed in a blur of motion too fast for my eyes to track.  As I stared in horror, Boot
h sank down to his knees, a
look of shock
mirrored
on his face as he keeled over, a gaping hole where his heart used to be.  While we watched, his skin darkened, turning a mottled purple as he started to decompose. 

“Who are you?” Kursik demanded, still sounding a little too uppity in my books and obviously to the newcomer’s thinking as well.

In one swift movement, he had Kursik down on his back, easily holding him down without breaking a sweat.  “I do not judge you because you infringed upon my property
,
as I have not publicly claimed her, in that I have no quarrel with you.  I judge you because you attempted to soil this delicate flower with violence, and that I can not abide.”  His voice was deep and rich, in perfect English with an odd cadence I couldn’t quite place.  He commanded our attention as though we were his subjects, but he wasn’t dressed in a kingly fashion.  His faded blue jeans and long sleeved shirt had obviously seen plenty of wear, but they were scrupulously clean, except for the new spatter of blood from Booth’s chest wound.  Pale blonde hair fell past the tops of his shoulders, giving him a slightly wild look,
as if the bloody hand wasn’t enough
.  He scared me to death, but at the same time I couldn’t look away.  He was magnificent.

Aleksandr was definitely having second thoughts about his earlier threats.  “Master… please, I did not know she was yours.  I thought...”

“Think again.”  Slowly… far too slowly, he reached into Kursik’s chest, grabbing hold of his heart, he squeezed.  Kursik gave a strangled cry and I sank to my knees beside him.

“No… you can’t just kill him!”  Nevermind the fact that the guy had
attacked
me not two minutes before, I couldn’t stand to see the torturous death Kursik was subjected to because of me.  My hands chased his away from the wound, knowing that he only budged because he’d decided to, not because I had the strength to stop him doing anything he wanted to do.  I pressed my hands to
Aleksandr’s
chest, knowing it was too
late
,
there wasn’t anything to be done.   “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” I breathed as he started to decompose, his body turning to little more than ash in seconds, the moment the spark of life left his body.    

“Why do you weep for this
vermin
?”
H
e frowned down at me
.
“
H
e would have taken far more than you were willing to give had I not intervened.”

“I know,” I sniffed, looking down at my bloodstained hands.  “But he didn’t deserve to die like that.”  No one did.  At least Booth’s death had been quick.  A glance showed he was still mostly intact, slowly decomposing. 

“Enough,” he reached down to pull me to my feet.  “We must be off.”

“You’re him, aren’t you?  My Sire,” I blinked.

“Guilty as charged,” he sketched a half bow.  “And now you must take your place by my side
,
as is your right.”

“By your side… I don’t even know you.”

“Don’t you?” he smiled, his eyes sweeping over my body in an overly familiar way and I was reminded that he’d stripped me and dressed me in Viking clothing on the night he’d turned me. 

Killed me. 

“I’m not going anywhere with you.  Who do you think you are, anyway?  You show up after ruining my life…”

“I gave you eternal
life
,
it seemed a fair trade at the time.” 

“You left me to figure out what’s going on all by myself without even the tiniest of instructions!  I had no idea I was even a vampire until I tried to eat my best friend!”

“All due to circumstances completely out of my control.  Now, leave off being cross with me, we have much to discuss and this is not the place to do it.”

“You want me to go with you?”  I couldn’t help but hesitate.  Though I felt a definite pull to him, I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave everything behind to cater to his master plan. 

“All I want is to take care of you.  Come with me and you will want for nothing.  You have all eternity to ask me your endless questions
.
”
A
smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and I was struck by the fact that he must have watched me for a
whil
e to know about my tendency
to ask questions.  The idea
unsettl
ed me
,
despite my need for answers.  Even if I did need someone to guide me through the vampire world, somehow I knew that if I left with him, Anja Evans would cease to exist. 

Still, I had so many questions!
 
“How about we slow this down a minute?  Why don’t you let me get cleaned up and we can talk?” I proposed.

“I would like nothing better, but we really must leave now,
p
etal.” His hand stretched out towards me, the same bloody hand that had gone through Aleksandr’s chest.  My Sire didn’t seem to notice, or think I’d care,
and
that alone kept me from taking his hand without another thought.