Blood and Sand (18 page)

His silent heart thumped in his chest as he stared back. His sire would not listen to him. Ernesto had tied his hands behind his back, crippling Baojia from safeguarding those he had vowed to protect: Natalie, his sister, even Ernesto himself.
 

He had only one recourse. “Ernesto Alvarez, I have been your loyal child for one hundred twenty-nine years—”

“Do not do this.”

“—I have served you faithfully and without question for all that time, as honor demanded.”

“You cannot take this back,” his father hissed. “Once this is done, it cannot be undone.
Think
.”

“I have,” he said, the pain flooding his chest as bloody tears came to his eyes. “I ask to be released from your aegis this night.”

“Foolish boy.” Ernesto shook his head. “You foolish, foolish boy. After all I have done for you.”

He ignored the tears that tracked down his cheeks and lifted his chin proudly. “Sire, do you release me as I have asked?”

Ernesto let out a long breath. “I release you, Chen Bao Jia, as you have requested. Leave my aegis this night.”

It hurt. Even knowing it wa {knop> s the only way, it ached to hear his father say the words that cut him off from the only family he had known since boarding a boat a world away.

With an air of finality, Ernesto said, “I owe you no protection. You owe me no fealty. Leave this place and do not come back.”

He forced his lips to form the appropriate words. “Thank you, Don Ernesto Alvarez. May honor sustain you, even as I leave your clan.”

Baojia’s eyes rose to Ernesto’s one last time. Then he turned and left the room.

He did not stop at the door. He did not stop at the gate. Ernesto would have to tell his sister she was not his sister anymore. Baojia drove aimlessly through the black streets of Los Angeles, suddenly realizing that for the first time in over one hundred years, he had no mission. None. No protection. He was fair game for any challenger. No human under his aegis could seek refuge or help from Ernesto’s clan. No backup was coming if he got into a fight.

The woman from Mexico.

Natalie. Ernesto knew about Natalie. She was the only one directly under Baojia’s aegis, the only human he had publicly claimed, and now her safety was at risk, not only from Ivan and whoever was working with him, but possibly from Ernesto himself. He didn’t think his sire would physically harm the human unless she threatened him in some way. And Natalie wasn’t likely to threaten a vampire…

Never mind. He closed his eyes in frustration. She’d threaten him.

Ivan was bound to hear that he wasn’t in Ernesto’s clan soon, then he’d make his move, backed up by the cartel. As a newly independent vampire, Baojia had no confirmed allegiance or established allies. And custom dictated he shouldn’t linger in Ernesto’s territory for longer than was necessary to get his personal business in order. Added to that, he had a human woman he had become responsible for. The idea of disappearing into the night to start a new life on his own was no longer an option.

Baojia raced through different scenarios, most of them ending with Natalie and him both dead, until he settled on one that had a chance of working. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but he’d at least survive long enough to make sure Natalie would be safe. Turning back toward Pasadena, he gritted his teeth and prepared for the night to get even worse.

He parked a block away, knowing that approaching on foot would be less threatening. As he neared the gate, he heard the fluttering sound overhead and the slight smoky smell that permeated the grounds. By the time he was in sight, the Italian was already leaning against a brick pillar, his guard vampire perched on top with her legs crossed under her and an enormous smile on her face.

“I told you,” she said.

Baojia halted across the street, hands hanging in his pockets as he stared at the fire vampire who stared back.
 

This was going to suck.

“Giovanni Vecchio,” he said. “I need your help.”

“Natalie, we have to go now.”

He hated to wake her, but it was close to dawn and though Vecchio’s house was only a few blocks away, he needed to make sure Natalie was secure and out of Matt and Dez’s house before he could rest for the day. The last thing he wanted on his conscience was the human family coming into harm’s way because of their presence.

“Natalie.”

She murmured something and rolled over. “In the sun. Can’t be in the sun.”

She saw her eyes flutter open and an unexpected warm rush filled his chest. She was so vulnerable. And beautiful. He brushed the hair out of her face.
 

“You need to wake up. You can go back to sleep soon, but we have to move first.”

“You’re handsome when you smile, you know.”

Baojia felt the corners of his mouth turn up. “And you’re beautiful when you’re sleepy. But you need to wake up.”

He rose and began tossing her things into the duffel bag he’d taken from her house. Had it only been three nights ago?

“What are you doing?” She finally sounded more awake.

He tried to make his voice as businesslike as possible. “I have been forced to leave my father’s aegis. We need to move. I have found a safe place for us to go right now. I don’t want the Kirbys to come to any harm because of us being here. It’s not far away, and I upgraded the security on the house a few years ago, so I know it’s very safe.”

“Baojia—”

“Dez will be able to come and visit you there with no problem, but the Kirbys are not vampires, so I don’t want to put them in a bad position. It’s complicated. Political. The place we’re going… It’s neutral territory. Sort of.”

“Why did you leave your father’s aegis? What does that mean?”

The unexpected question caused him to halt. “It means I am no longer his son. Please don’t ask me why right now. Please just wake up and get dressed and cooperate, Natalie.” He turned around when she didn’t make a smart comeback. She was looking at him with eyes that saw far more than he had intended to reveal. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

She finally nodded. “Okay.”

He left the room so she could dress. Within a few minutes, she had pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt along with her running shoes.

“Are you cold?” he asked. “Do you need a jacket? I didn’t get you a jacket.”

“I’m fine.”

She held her duffel bag, which he grabbed from her hand. As she started toward the stairs, he pulled her back and laid a searing kiss on her mouth. He felt her hands reach up to his cheeks, gripping his cool skin as he kissed her ravenously, almost desperately.
 

I will keep you safe. I made a promise, and I do not break my promises.

Finally, he broke away and wrapped his free arm around her, burying his face in the soft skin of her neck. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent. It centered him. Her hands remained on him, stroking his hair and playing with the collar of his shirt. For a brief moment, he felt her warmth seep into his skin and allowed himself the luxury of her touch.

“Do you need to drink?” she asked quietly.

“No. Matt had some bagged blood he gave me earlier. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

“We should go.” He pulled away and grabbed her hand, walking her down the stairs and out the front door. Matt was there to lock up behind them; Baojia paused at the door. “Matt, my thanks. If there is any assistance I can offer you or your family in the future, it is yours.”

The human smiled. “Thank you. Good luck. Be safe. And don’t kill anyone I like.”

Despite the grim situation, Baojia had to smile. “I’ll do my best.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

~th=p>p w

When Natalie woke, she was resting on dove-gray sheets in another room she could barely remember entering. She was still in her T-shirt from the night before, though her jeans had been pulled off and her hair fell loose around her face. A note with her name written neatly on the front lay next to her, illuminated by a shaft of sunlight from the window.

Natalie,
 

Hopefully, you will get enough sleep. You are safe here, and I’ll see you as soon as I wake. Please make yourself at home here, but do
not
leave the house. There are humans and vampires here who can see to any need you have while I am resting.

Baojia

She took a deep breath and tried to remember the previous night. Waking had been a blur. She hardly remembered getting dressed or packing. He’d kissed her—she remembered that. He’d been… upset. It was hard to tell with him, but she would have sworn he was deeply, deeply troubled. When he’d kissed her by the stairs, it had almost seemed desperate, and her only thought was that she wanted to comfort him. Probably ridiculous when she’d been such a basket case herself.

She’d been barely conscious when they pulled up to the luxurious home only a few blocks from Dez and Matt’s. She had faint memories of thick hedges and a wrought-iron gate. A fountain and a dimly lit kitchen. At some point, Baojia had picked her up in his arms and simply taken her to a bed—it must have been the one she was sleeping in—because she couldn’t remember much else except his whispered voice in her ear.

Rest, Natalie. I’ll be close by.

Where was he? Where did he sleep? In a bed like this in a room with no windows? Did he breathe? Did he need to? He was so… inhuman. So how had he become so familiar?

Natalie groaned and rolled over, burying her head in the cool sheets. They were safe. For now, at least. She needed food and a shower, maybe then she could get her feet under her. Sitting up, she surveyed the room she’d been sleeping in. It had sage-green walls with warm mission-style furniture. Her mangy duffel bag was sitting on top of a dresser with a bottle of water and fresh flowers placed next to it. She saw two doors, one of which she hoped was a bathroom. Rolling out of bed, she walked to the window, enjoying the sunlight streaming into the
room.

Her room was on the second floor of what looked like a luxurious, Spanish-style house. Mansion might be a little too grand of a term, but not by much. The grounds were surrounded by a wall and a hedge she could just barely see over, and fruit trees and roses dotted a yard with ponds, fountains, and a large swimming pool.

“Beautiful.” She blinked. Where on earth was she? Lifestyles of the Rich and Fangy? This couldn’t be Baojia’s sire’s house, so where had they landed? She looked around the room again and walked to the painting that hung over the dresser.

“Georgia O’Keefe. I think… that’s not a reproduction.” She moved her duffel bag farther away from the priceless painting, somehow thinking it might explode and spray her bargain wardrobe all over it. “Holy shit. Holy shit, Natalie.” Baojia’s house in San Diego had been nice, but simple. This place…

She peeked in the bathroom. “Marble tub. Of course there’s a marble tub.” She let out a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings. In the past three days, she’d woken in a strange oceanfront house, what could only be called a c beSheave, and now this. She shrugged. “Nicest prison so far. I must be moving up in the world.”

Grabbing her bag, she made sure the other door was locked and went to the bathroom, mentally taking stock of how her life had changed as she showered with the Italian-labeled bath products she found.

First order of business, call Kristy. Her editor was used to her disappearing for a few days, but by now the woman was sure to be frantic and had probably called Marty and the boys. Maybe her dad, even. She tried not to wince at that. Also, she needed to get ahold of her notes. They were at the office in a locker down by the fitness center, but Kristy could get them. And she knew there was information in there that would mean more to Baojia than it had to her. Between the two of them, they might be able to find out more about Ivan and his connection to the women Tulio had buried in the desert.

Speaking of Tulio, she’d like another conversation with the strange vampire. He’d buried the bodies, but had he looked at them? Had there been any identifying documents? Any evidence that might have been destroyed? And where, precisely, had he found them? Was it even important? From what they’d discovered two nights ago, it sounded like the girls were being killed somewhere else and transported to the California desert, possibly by truck. Where had they been killed? If Ivan was behind it—and it seemed he was, judging by the death of the waitress from the bar—then Mexico was the most likely scene of the crimes. Were there any vampires in Mexico who might be friendly, or did they all owe allegiance to this mysterious cartel?

Natalie had a sudden vision of the vicious vampire Tio and others like him, chasing girls through the desert, feeding on them and killing them as if the girls were no more than prey. She shivered even in the steaming water. This was so much more dangerous than anything she’d ever investigated. She’d fallen into a world that barely seemed real, filled with creatures that looked human but were decidedly not.

And putting aside the physical danger, there were layers of history and grudges and politics she could only guess at. Forget human feuds, vampires seemed to take family dysfunction to a whole new level.