Beyond the Grave (23 page)

No telling how long it would last, though. If he had a hope to save himself, he'd better come up with something fast.

The vampire stood between him and the kitchen so the holy water he kept in the cupboard over the fridge was still out of the question.

"Is that little cross the best you've got?” the vampire's voice slid over Britt's flesh like black oil.

Britt didn't want to push his luck by reminding him that Jess's cross did serve its purpose. He'd lost control. At least temporarily.

"I've still got a few things up my sleeve."

"Really? Well you'd better get out the big stakes because I'm getting bored. You only get to stay alive as long as I find you entertaining.” He stepped closer. Even in the dark Britt saw eyes that were obsidian and cold. Eyes that were probably the harbinger of his death.

"I'm a trained vampire hunter. Maybe you've heard of my team?” He'd either make the vamp think, or he'd piss him off even more. Either way, he was still trying to bide his time.

No answer except a guttural laugh. Did he really expect one?

Then the vamp said, “Humans who aren't afraid are always the most surprised when they die, because they think they're stronger than they are. They think they can actually put up a fight against someone like me."

Britt swallowed. The big guy had a point. But Britt had a point too. On the end of a spike. Adrenalin surging, he dove for the vampire. He slammed his arm out with such force, muscles tore in his shoulder. Before he made contact, though, the vampire deflected his assault with one arm, as if he was batting at a fly.

Britt sailed across the room and slammed onto the couch, flipping it over with the momentum of his body and forcing the air out of his lungs as he smashed into the wall. Shaking his head, he pushed himself to his knees, ready to jump up as soon as he could catch a breath.

The vampire waited for him to regain momentum. Why did Britt feel like they were playing cat and mouse, and he was the mouse?

Yeah, he was in trouble. This vampire hadn't even worked up a sweat. Not that they could sweat. While trying to move out of the way, Britt remembered the holy water in the kitchen.

He'd never make it that far.

"And now you die. This is going to give me ultimate pleasure,” the vampire said.

Britt moved around the couch and faced the brute. If he was going to die, he'd at least die fighting. The vampire moved quickly to block his escape. Must have thought he was trying to run.

"Quitting so soon, human? How disappointing.” The vampire smiled, his feral teeth glistening in the low light of the room. “Maybe you would've fought a little harder if I'd told you I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to make you a vampire. One of my slaves.” He grinned and his eyes became evil slits.

No way in hell would that happen! Britt actually had a suicide pill in his collar. He swiftly extricated it and popped it into his mouth.

"Sorry, but I'll kill myself before you can turn me into a monster. And I hear aberrations like you don't like your victims filled with toxins."

If he bit down, the cyanide would end his life, but he wasn't in a hurry to die. He hadn't lost all faith in his own abilities, at least not yet.

Stake gripped tightly in his hand, and arm raised over his head, he advanced on the vampire with as much mean-cop aura as he could exude. Besides what he'd learned on the streets of New York, he'd seen enough Bruce Willis movies to know how to project mean.

Unexpectedly, the vampire stepped back. His gaze skirted to the apartment door. “It appears our little meeting will have to be rescheduled. Looks like you get to live today, human. Enjoy what time you have left, because I will be back and the next time you won't be so lucky."

"No way. We'll settle this now,” Britt's self-preservation mode kicked in. He'd fight now, rather than wait to be picked off later. He dove at the vampire just as the ultra-large villain swirled away toward the shattered balcony window. So fast, it was like trying to catch a tornado. Britt swung at nothing and spun nearly all the way around before he landed on his ass just as the apartment door opened and Jess stepped inside.

"Why's the power out?” she asked. “Better question. Why are you on the floor?” She held a bag from his favorite breakfast place in her right hand.

Britt sat on the floor next to his upturned furniture, and judging by his pissed off expression there'd been a vampire in his apartment not very long ago. “I take it I interrupted your fun?” Jess said.

In anger, he spat the cyanide onto the floor, got up and brushed off his legs, barely masking his anger. “You arrived just in time. I was about to be eaten by the big bad wolf, and my what big eyes he had."

Jess pretended to laugh, but couldn't take her eyes off the cyanide pill. “Only you could make a joke of such a serious situation. “Who was he?"

"Whoever he was, it appears he didn't want to come face-to-face with you."

Jess froze. “Really? Why not?"

"Probably because you could kick his ass. Which would be a lot more than I could do. I was dead meat before you showed up. This guy was massive. A giant vampire with black eyes."

Jess's heart contracted and she held her breath. This was the same vampire she'd chased across the buildings that night she'd nearly jumped off the bridge.

"He started to control my mind, but he didn't really even have to bother, physically I didn't have the means to combat him. He was too strong for me."

Jess's blood turned colder than ice and her flesh contracted against her bones in a fear so deep she felt impaled by it. Britt couldn't physically fight against a big vampire intent on controlling him. She hadn't given him all the tools he needed to survive.

She couldn't lose him now.

"Time to learn a few more tricks then,” she said in the best casual tone she could muster. Best not to let him know just how scared she really was by this particular vampire. That he had abilities even she'd never seen before. He could become a ghost—impossible to track. He could dive off buildings where even she couldn't follow.

"What kind of tricks?"

"Nothing physical. There's a way you can stop a vampire, at least long enough to get away, or stake him, if you're really fast."

Britt frowned. “And you didn't teach me this little trick before now because?"

"I tried it out when we fought Prometheus. I don't even know if a human can make it work, but it's powerful. Ancient text that Sampson found in his studies on vampires. A lost language that speaks to the heart of the vampire and in some cases can put him in a kind of trance for a few seconds."

"Teach me then,” Britt said. “Because, this guy is coming back for me."

[Back to Table of Contents]

"What do these words do, Sampson?” Britt watched him take down the flip chart in the Board Room after tirelessly going over the intonation of the words, syllable by syllable.

With Sampson's unflagging instruction, Britt had worked on memorizing the short set of ancient Romanian words for two days. Not a master in languages, he'd found it a challenge to wrap his tongue around some of the syllables, but now he had them down pat.

"Okay, here's the thing. I'm not sure what these particular words do.” Sampson rattled the papers in the air. “Unfortunately, there's only one way to find out and that's in the field. Not scientific at all. This phrase is different from the one Jess used against Prometheus in your last battle because that phrase only helped for seconds before it made him stronger. We don't know enough about the text yet, but I'm postulating that the phrases can set off genetic memories vampires haven't used for a millennia. The last thing we want to do is inadvertently make them stronger as a race. That's why we'll have very tight parameters with regard to their use. These words can be dangerous. Maybe to us. Maybe to them. Fact is, you'll have a fifty-fifty chance this phrase will help."

"Why haven't you tried them out on Jess or James?"

Sampson's face became very serious. “I'm just beginning to unravel this language I managed to dig out of an old library in Romania.” I have found a passage that indicates some of the words grouped together can kill a vampire instantly. Needless to say, I'm not going to experiment with them unless it's on someone we don't mind turning into collateral damage."

Britt blinked hard and looked at the long table in front of him. “Jeez, we'd be untouchable if you could find those words."

"I have the feeling, if words that can kill vampires really do exist, they'd be well protected and are not one of the phrases left lying where just anyone can find them.

"Shit."

"Exactly.” Sampson tucked the folded pages of ancient text into a special sheath of acid free paper. “The phrase you just learned is for use only as a last resort."

"Understood."

"If you ever do have to use it...” He cleared his throat. “...and if you survive to talk about it, I'll catalogue each phrase used so we'll be able to build them into our arsenal of combat tactics."

"Yeah, can't say I'll be lining up for that job unless I absolutely have to."

"Good idea."

When Michai Constantine, or Mannie as he was known to Drago Vaslov, had exited John Brittain's apartment by scaling the building then jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he'd wanted to obliterate Brittain so badly he could taste it. Just his damned luck the beautiful vampire had turned up.

It was too early to let Jess know he was nearby. He'd waited this long to call her back to him. Waited fifty years because her brother had severed their connection through prayers.

If Mannie forced Jess to come to him now, she'd never truly be his. Her love for her brother was too strong. So he'd continue to sit back and wait for her brother to die. After all, what's the short lifespan of a human compared to a super being like himself?

He bit his lip and made it bleed. Blood trickled across his tongue and he fantasized that it was Jess's blood exciting his taste buds. Unfortunately, things had changed since John Brittain came along. Before that arrogant human, Jess had never shown interest in anyone. He'd been happy about that.

But when he saw that inferior mortal press her against the wall and kiss her, he'd decided he couldn't let either of them continue acting like oversexed teenagers. It was unthinkable. As distasteful as it had been, working for that idiot Drago Vaslov for the past twenty years had given Mannie cover. He'd virtually slipped out of the vampire community and was able to keep a close eye on Jess, even when Vaslov had been a low level criminal. Wouldn't Vaslov's rich patrons be surprised to know he'd been a city resident all along.

Other than his taste for women who resembled Jess, he rarely took fresh human blood. Until recently, he had learned to rely on a stocked supply stolen from upper class hospitals.

He sighed and slammed his fist onto the hood of a random vehicle parked on the side of the road. Its security alarms went off, and he slid quickly into the shadows where he could become nearly invisible to humans. Most vampires could, but he was especially good at it.

In fact, he'd even fooled Jess a couple of times. Even though she'd looked his way, she didn't seem to be able to sense him. He attributed that to her priest brother's prayers and her partial redemption. He tasted blood again and licked his tongue across his lip.

Drago, on the other hand, had no idea Mannie was a vampire. Nor did he know Mannie was the vampire who phoned in his orders. The one who wanted Jess and was willing to pay handsomely. Mannie didn't care about money; he had more money than he'd ever be able to use.

Unwilling to wait any longer, he'd decided to have Jess through Vaslov until her brother died. Why wait, when he could have her and she wouldn't remember a thing?

Vaslov's tactics were actually affecting Jess. Mannie had stolen some of the paste and opened Jess's mind to the point that he'd been able to enter her consciousness twice. Though not as competent as Vaslov, he was learning. And as soon as he mastered control over Jess, Vaslov would have outlived his usefulness.

But for now, Vaslov was the only person able to sustain forty-eight hours of control. And that time with Jess would be the ultimate in satisfaction. Plus, she'd have no recollection of anything afterwards.

But first he'd take care of John Brittain. Initially, he'd wanted to kill the man, but now he realized he could condemn the human to a fate much worse than death. Mannie would make him pay over and over again for ever coming between himself and the woman he wanted. Just thinking about it sent shivers of ecstasy through him. Vengeance would definitely be sweet.

Too bad he hadn't been able to turn Brittain earlier, but when he sensed Jess outside the apartment door he'd had to leave. He wasn't ready to face her. Not yet. He wanted his forty-eight hours first. After that her brother would die, and Mannie would make her his. He was tired of waiting, tired of pretending to be a mere human working for an idiot.

Lifting his head, he sniffed the night air. The overwhelming scent of woman assaulted his heightened senses. Dare he hope she'd have dark hair? He'd take a very weak second at this point.

His passions were pitiless. It wasn't just the blood for him. It was the non-consensual sex combined with draining their blood that really made it worthwhile.

The random woman walked by him. Reddish brown hair, a little heavy set. She looked directly at him without even seeing him. He cursed under his breath.

No good. Now he had to go find a suitable replacement. Someone to assuage his burning desire for the most magnificent creature he'd ever created.

So far they hadn't figured out who'd been killing women and leaving them in the park. Even though Jess had a forensic vampirologist on the job, the guy obviously wasn't as wonderful as they seemed to think.

It was possible Sampson had made some sort of connection between Jess's VNA and his, but he doubted it. Jess didn't even remember he existed. They had no clue his VNA would be virtually the same as hers since he'd turned her.