Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) (33 page)

“This is harassment.”

“All I want is the truth.”

I stopped squirming, a silly grin coming over my face. “Me, too,” I said. “That’s all I want. Let me know when you find out, will you?” My head lulled back. The last thing I remembered was Henry gripping me tighter.

I didn’t have to worry about standing upright any longer. When I came to, I was lying on a bed. I wasn’t tucked in, cozy-like. Henry had laid me on my back on top of the blankets. He stood on the side, arms folded, staring at me with the cold detachment of a mortician. The overhead light above him glared in my face. I squinted to block it out.

At least I wasn’t tied down or duct taped, but my body still felt like jelly. I tried to lift my head, but I didn’t move an inch. I turned my head to the side, instead. Nothing to see besides an oak dresser topped with a vase of fresh white lilies.

“Hurry up. You waited so long she’s awake now,” Henry said.

I turned my head to the other side. A scrawny teenage boy in slacks and a polo shirt jumped when he noticed me looking at him.

Of course Henry was too much of a pansy to test me himself.

“Is this one of the tasting rooms?” I asked.

My body might’ve been dysfunctional, but at least my words sounded better, a bit bewildered, but better than slurred.

“We’re inside a guest room on the second floor,” Henry said.

“You actually answered my question.”

“I’m not a villain, Aurora. I’m just doing the job I was hired to do. Now why don’t you answer mine?”

What a jackass. And to think I’d once had an oral fantasy about him. Well, he could just forget about an encore.

“Okay.” I lifted my head and smiled at Henry sweetly. “I’m not a vampire hunter and I didn’t kill Marcus.”

“We’ll see,” Henry said. “My associate here is going to verify your statement.”

“Associate?” I looked at the scrawny dude and snorted. “More like guinea pig.”

Henry ignored me. “Go on,” he said to his
associate
.

The boy didn’t move or look at Henry. He kept looking at me, his body hunched, all but quivering.

“If she’s lying and she really is a vampire hunter, her blood will kill me.”

Henry sighed. “It won’t kill you. The most you’ll experience are some slight shakes and those quickly go away.”

Ha! Who was the liar now?

“Hey, twigs,” I said. “I will kick your ass if you get those chapped lips anywhere near my body.”

The boy’s eyebrows shot up. He looked at Henry. “If it’s not that bad, why don’t you bite her?”

Henry’s menacing glare wasn’t half bad. He looked the boy up and down.

“Are you refusing to cooperate?” he asked softly.

The boy swallowed before answering, “No, of course I’ll cooperate.” He said the words, but made no move toward me.

I’ll admit I pitied the boy. Being forced to follow orders sucked. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t kick his ass if he bit me, though.

“I don’t have all night,” Henry said.

The boy took one step forward. He glanced at Henry and moved to the bedside.

All right, Aurora, how are you going to get out of this one?

I had a knife. No, wait. I’d left it inside the car.

I had my kung fu moves. Nope, those wouldn’t do me much good,
either, being drugged and all.

The boy crouched beside me, eyeing my arm warily.

“Permission denied,” I said.

“Do it,” Henry said louder. “Bite her.”

A loud knock at the door made the boy jump.

“This room is occupied,” Henry called out.

The knocking stopped.

Dant
e
, I commanded inside my head
,
come through that door and kick these suckers’ asses
.
But it wasn’t Dante who burst through the door. It was Fane.

He sauntered inside, looking around the room, eyebrows rising when he saw me on the bed. He flashed Henry a chilling smile.

“Want to explain what the hell’s going on in here?”

“Just asking Aurora some questions,” Henry said, lifting his chin. If he wanted to make himself taller around Fane, it wasn’t working. Fane still dwarfed Henry.

Fane glanced at the bed. “And you decided to make her more comfortable while you were at it?”

“She had too much to drink and wanted to lie down.”

“Liar,” I said.

Fane locked his eyes on Henry.

Henry lifted his chin higher. “You may have heard that I was hired by Richard Stanton to investigate Marcus’ death.”

Fane snorted. “And you think Aurora did it?”

Henry’s eyes narrowed on Fane. “I have good reason to suspect her. No one at the party saw her leave that night. Her scarf was still hanging by the door when the last of the guests departed.”

“That’s it? A scarf.” Fane nodded at the boy quivering by the bedside. “What’s he doing here?”

“He’s here to test Aurora’s blood and make sure she’s not a vampire hunter.”

“I’ll save you the trouble. I’ve tasted it many times to no ill-effect.”

The boy heaved a sigh of relief. “So I don’t have to bite her?”

Henry looked from Fane to me before answering, “You can go now. Shut the door on your way out.”

No one spoke while the boy hurried out, shutting the three of us inside together. The room went silent. All I needed was an extra vampire and Dante to complete the scene from one of my most disturbing fantasies. For a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming. I wished this were a dream. At least then I could wake up safe and put it all behind me.

Henry stared at Fane for a long time.

A lot of people would find this unnerving, but Fane inspected his fingernails as though royally bored.

“Have you really bitten her?” Henry asked.

“No, I’m only a pretend vampire.” Fane made a sound of disgust deep in the back of his throat.

“Prove it.”

Fane’s body tensed. “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

“Then I’ll get someone else to do it.”

Fane and Henry stared each other down. Suddenly, Fane’s shoulders relaxed. He smiled sardonically. “Haven’t had any action in a while, have you, Henry? Looking for a show?”

Fane turned to me so quickly his features blurred, turning him temporarily into a dark inky blot. His fingers curled around the hem of my dress. In one swift move, he lifted and pulled the skirt over my legs. The fabric slid up my body. It was so smooth and seductive
that I didn’t think to protest.

Fane gathered the skirt just below my hips.

It hit me. This couldn’t be happening. I wouldn’t let it.

I reached for Fane’s hand, crying out, “Fane!”

“It’s the only way to get him off your back,” Fane whispered.

He pressed one knee into the mattress and swung his leg across me, straddling me above the knees. His hands slid up my thighs, pushing the dress over my hips. He sucked in a breath.

The air between my legs turned deliciously warm when he exhaled. God, it felt like his mouth was only an inch away. Maybe it was. I’d closed my eyes. It made the whole thing less humiliating. Not that I was coherent enough to experience anything other than a sense of weightlessness and disbelief.

My nipples tightened and rubbed against the fabric when I squirmed beneath Fane. Liquid heat rushed between my legs.

It’s the drugs, I told myself. They were messing with my mind and making me crave things I shouldn’t want.

Fane placed a firm hand on my belly. If he bit me, he’d convulse. I didn’t think he’d go through with it. But a second later he dipped down, hot breath on my groin, and bit my inner thigh. Hard!

My eyes flew open. I screamed instantly. Henry covered his ears.

As Fane lifted his head, he pulled down my dress, covering my knees.

I forced my leaden head off the mattress to stare, bewildered, at Fane. He grinned at Henry, teeth covered in blood.

My jaw dropped.

Fane ran his tongue over his teeth and swallowed, smiling the entire time. “Can I have seconds?”

Henry folded his arms across his chest. “You proved your point, Francesco.”

Fane’s eyes narrowed on Henry. “Don’t ever question me again.”

Henry nodded curtly and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I stared wide-eyed at Fane.

“You—you bit me,” I stuttered.

Fane’s eyebrows lifted.

I gathered my dress around my waist for a closer look. A set of teeth marks marred the skin of my inner thigh, but there was no blood.

My head snapped up. “But, how…”

Fane’s grin widened. “I bit my tongue.”

I sat up. “You bit your own tongue?”

“It was the only way to convince Henry you weren’t what he thought you were.”

I felt my heart floating with the knowledge that Fane had lied to one of his own and hurt himself to protect me.

“I had to find a place he wouldn’t examine closely,” Fane said. “I’d say it worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.” He smiled smugly.

I took a moment to stare at his lips, lips that had been between my legs moments ago. Fane’s eyebrow rose like the curly part of a question mark.

“I’m with Dante,” I lied. I looked down at the mattress, avoiding Fane’s eyes.

“In that case, he can send me flowers for keeping you alive.”

I nodded. “Thank you for that.” The movement of my head made everything fuzzy again. I stopped.

Fane scooted off the bed, stood, and reached out a hand for me. “Let’s get you out of here.”

I looked from his hand to his eyes. “I can’t leave. I’m working.”

Fane’s eyes narrowed. “You’re in no condition to do anything until you’ve slept off whatever Henry had the bartender slip into your drink. I’ll drive you home.”

“But Dante…”

Suddenly Fane grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. Our noses nearly touched. I stared at Fane’s lips, watching their movement as he spoke.

“You said you want to live. If you meant it, you’ll come with me now.”