Blood Life Seeker (6 page)

I didn't know what to say to that. I certainly did not want Michel to think he was in control of me, but then, did I want to be in control of him? I opened my mouth to come back with a retort, but was beaten to it.

“Are you giving away all my secrets, Bruno? Or just the ones close to my heart?”

Bruno stood and spun to face Michel, a blur of preternatural speed. “Master.”

They didn't usually go for all this
Master
crap, not Bruno and Michel, but with so many new vamps in the family line all of a sudden, they had upped the ante a bit on the dominant master of the line crap. It got the message across to the newbies, if Bruno showed that level of respect, they sure as hell could too.

Another blur and Bruno was gone, across the room and out a side door. Michel just stood there staring at me with a look on his face I couldn't quite place. Resignation with a hint of humour? He slowly walked towards me, hands in his pockets, all debonair ease. He was dressed in his more casual attire of black trousers and black shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off his muscled forearms, neck loose displaying his smooth cream skin. He knows how I love black. Usually, on a business night he'd be dressed in an Armani suit, just off black, with white shirt and some shade of blue tie. He was always so well turned out. But I love black on a man and he knows it. He also wears it well.

I swallowed, he didn't miss the movement, just grinned, flashing me a sparkle of violet and blue from his eyes.

“So, how did the phone call go?” I asked, returning my attention to my drink.

He came and slid into a seat next to me. There was already a glass of red wine, probably Merlot, sitting waiting, Doug back down the other end of the bar. I hadn't even seen him pour it, I'd been too busy gawking elsewhere. Idiot.

“We have a reprieve. Jerome has issued a directive.” When he saw the look of slight confusion on my face, he added, “A command. No Taniwha is to act against us until his return. He will not offer more until he can ascertain in person from his Hapū what has happened.”

“Will it be enough? Rick seemed pretty determined.”

“Yes. His directives are as binding as my commands to those in my line. The Hapū will not be able to disobey. However, I do think it best you not exercise at the Gym for a while,
ma douce
. Crossing paths with the Taniwha would be unwise.”

I noticed how Rick had been relegated to
the Taniwha.
I was not surprised, I was kind of thinking along those lines right now too. What had happened to my Rick? How could it have got this messy, this quickly? How could he have turned on me, his friend, so easily?

I was shaking my head slowly from side to side, looking down at the floor of the bar, unaware of what I was doing. Michel's hand came up and brushed against my cheek, the backs of his fingers tracing down to my jaw, his thumb rubbing along the edge there.

“I am sorry,
ma douce
. I know how much he meant to you.”

Already we were talking in the past tense, was there no going back from this? How do you rebuild a friendship when one of you has tried to physically harm the other and when war has been declared? I wasn't sure it was possible, but I also wasn't prepared to give up on him just yet. I'm loyal, it's just who I am. When you become my friend, it's forever. I don't roll over that easily.

Michel sipped his wine and watched me, he could probably feel the emotions playing through my body. He couldn't read my mind though, only those thoughts I chose to throw his way. He was trying to decipher my thoughts from my emotions though. I could tell, he did it every now and then. It was kind of like a game. Eventually he gave up. I wasn't going to help him. He got free rein on my emotions, but not my thoughts, they were all mine.

“
Well, it seems
my
luck is holding and I get to see you earlier than planned this evening,
ma douce
.” He lifted my hand up to his mouth and lay a lingering kiss there, keeping his eyes on mine. I knew what that look meant, it had a tendency to distract me, to lure me in. I bit my lip, then noticed a flickering off to the side, in the centre of the bar.

Nero appeared and slowly looked around the room in casual interest, raising his dark eyebrows at the clientèle. His short, thick black hair shined in the light of the room, making his fine Egyptian features stand out in stunning relief against the backdrop of the room. He was dressed in black. Not his usual style, normally it's off white linen trousers and long linen shirt, rolled halfway up his arms. The white shows off his dark skin to perfection. But, he also knows I like black. Am I that readable? He made eye contact with me and just stood there, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth. The cinnamon and bronze flecks in his eyes mixing with the darker coffee colours within and sparkling in the artificial lights around the room.

“
Ma douce
?”

I turned back to Michel, his eyebrows raised, a slight look of amusement on his face. I was sure it wouldn't be there for long.

“Um, can you hold that thought for a while?”

“Hold that thought for a while?” The amusement was slowly leaving, best to land the hammer blow.

“Nero's here.”

He didn't move, still holding my hand. He didn't bother to look around the room either, he knew he wouldn't be able to see him. Nero was Dream Walking.

“In my bar?” Each word, however, was annunciated slowly.

“Well, it would have been my apartment, but I'm here. He's homed in on me, so he goes where I go.” I bit my lip and held my breath. This should be fun.

Michel blinked slowly. “There are several things I could say to that.” He stopped as if considering which phrase on the tip of his tongue to use.

“We had planned to practice some moves tonight. He is my trainer,” I added.

“So you have declared.” He paused, then looked sternly at me. “Moves? In your apartment?”

Oh boy. I knew Michel wouldn't have approved, that's exactly why I hadn't told him. I chanced a glance at Nero. He was still standing in the same spot, relaxed, watching the scene play out before him, with a slightly amused smile on his lips. He was enjoying the entertainment.

“Can we discuss this later? I need to talk to Nero any way, about the Dream Walk last night.”

That seemed to do it, Michel straightened, looked resigned, and just sighed.

“Be sure to
train
in the basement,
ma douce
. I would not be amused if you chose our chamber.”

I hadn't missed his use of
our
for the chamber. He knew Nero would be listening. It was his final dig. He stood up from his seat and pulled me to him, wrapping one arm around my waist and pulling me close, the other he ran through my hair and rested at the back of my neck tilting my head back slightly. His kiss was deep and full of meaning. Michel could take no prisoners when he wanted. Sometimes it was like he kissed as though the world would end and there was only so much time to show me he was mine. I always felt a little weak at the knees when he did that. Hell, not just weak, totally jelly-like.

He finally pulled away and smiled, that knowing smile he so often wore. “
That
,
ma douce
, was the final dig.” And then he was gone.

Leaving me catching my breath and gripping the bar to stay upright and frantically wondering if I had actually flung that thought out at him or not.

I managed to pull myself together eventually and walked towards the door to the basement. Nero would follow, I didn't have to ask and right now, I wasn't sure I could look him in the eyes anyway.

The basement has a series of storerooms and day-time sleeping quarters for Michel's vampires. The room we would use is the largest storeroom, it's partially full but there's still heaps of room to move. Plus, recently, Michel's vamps had put in a sofa and table and chairs, almost a private day-time retreat for the sunshine challenged.

I slumped myself down on the couch, still avoiding Nero's eyes. I was going to have to get over this. Damn it! I'm a big girl, I shouldn't be embarrassed.

When I lifted my head to look at him, Nero was taking in the room, glancing around the stored liquor bottles at one end, taking in the table and small mini-bar off to the side, the remnants of a poker match still evident on the table top. Finally his eyes found mine.

He just looked at me for a moment, his eyes an intense golden brown. Nero's always quite intense, it's just the way he is. He's been around a long time, almost as long as Michel, he tends to take things rather seriously. But, I have seen a lighter side to him, occasionally he lets it shine.

“Kiwi. You always manage to surprise.” His voice was soft, low and luxurious, the Egyptian accent unmistakable.

“Change of plans Nero. My apartment is not safe right now.”

That got a response. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, then proceeded to come forward and sit on the couch next to me. There was room for him to have sat further away, but Nero was a touchy feely kind of man, he liked a closer proximity.

“Do tell, Kiwi. What have you been up to now?”

Why is it that everyone thinks I get myself into trouble? I know I attract a certain amount of otherworldly attention, but it's not always my fault. Somehow, when someone asks me
what have you been up to now
, I get the feeling it's all because of me. All my fault and no one else's, as though contemplating that I was a mere innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, is impossible.

Then come to think of it, they're probably right.

I sighed and told him all about my adventures with homicidal Taniwhas.

“I thought you had an alliance with the shape shifters,” Nero asked.

“I do, or at least I did. Maybe that was forfeited when they fought alongside me against Max. Maybe the alliance no longer stands.”

“From what you have told me, Kiwi, this should not be so. The Beta has made an error. His Alpha will put this right.”

“I wish I could be as optimistic as you, Nero. But, I saw the look in Rick's eyes.” I shuddered from the visual memory, Nero's hand came to rest on my shoulder, the warmth spreading through my body and chasing away the chill. “Jerome has issued a directive, so for now, I should be safe, but I can't get my head around why Rick would do this, how he could be so cruel. He is my friend Nero, friends don't do this to each other.”

“You value friendship.” It was a statement, but I answered any way.

“Yes. Once someone is my friend, they are for life. I don't take it back when it's been given.”

“Am I your friend?”

I turned to look at him then, really look at him. What was he asking? Of course he was my friend. He was my trainer, my link to the Nosferatin side of me. I relied on him, I counted on him to teach me what I needed to know, I enjoyed being with him. He was definitely my friend.

“Yes.”

An emotion fluttered across his fine features, I couldn't quite make out what it was. Relief? Happiness? Confusion? It didn't make sense, but then often Nero didn't quite make sense.

He reached up, as if to stroke my cheek, but his hand stilled mere centimetres from my face. I fought the urge to bring my face closer to his hand, to rub it against his warm skin. I would have done it, but the look of anguish that briefly touched his eyes was enough to stop me in my tracks. I shook my head, unsure what to do. His hand fell back into his lap and he flashed me one of his trademark dazzling smiles. He uses them sometimes, I think it's a ploy to distract.

“So, we train here tonight, Kiwi?”

“Actually, I need your help, your advice on a different matter, Nero. It's a little more pressing than training tonight.”

“I am all yours, Kiwi. Use me as you feel fit.”

I shot him a look, but his face was serious, no hint of flirtation within. Nero could flirt when he wanted to, but lately that had taken more of a back seat. The more serious and intense Nero had been on display recently. I kind of missed the flirt.

“I Dream Walked last night in my sleep. I didn't have any control, I just got sucked into it and ended up on a street in Rome.”

Nero had stiffened slightly, his forehead was creased. “No control at all?”

“None.”

“Were you aware you were about to Dream Walk, or did you just wake up standing in the street?”

“It happened suddenly, I was in a dream and fell away to that nothingness before Dream Walking, but it was a stronger pull than I usually get. I felt like my body was being yanked around on the path to the Dream Walk.

“You were in a dream, or having a dream?”

Trust Nero to pick up on that. “Michel visits me in my Dreams, I was with him.” Even though nothing sexual had happened in the dream, even though it was merely me standing on my parents' farm and Michel being there too, I couldn't stop the blush that rose up my cheeks at talking about it. My dreams with Michel haven't always been so chaste.

Nero noticed, he didn't say anything, he didn't need to, his eyes lingered on my cheeks where the warmth of the blush still sat and he just watched. Sometimes the weight of Nero's gaze can almost be too much to bear.

He cleared his throat softly and went on. “The pull was stronger than usual? Can you describe it?”

“Well, when I usually fall into a Dream Walk I have to seek the nothingness before I emerge in the Dream. This time, the nothingness just enveloped me, and then I felt a tug in one direction and pull in another, whilst still in the nothingness. It was abrupt and fast and I couldn't do a thing to stop it.”

“This is most unusual, Kiwi. As you know, we control our Dream Walk, we initiate it. I have never heard of a Dream Walker involuntarily entering that state. Certainly not whilst asleep. A novice Dream Walker may accidentally cause a shift to Dream Walking, due to heightened emotions, but you are experienced now. I would not have thought this was an accident at all.”

Yeah, Michel had the same thought.

“There's more. I ended up in an alley with a Nosferatin and a vampire already draining him.”

“A Nosferatin in Rome? I have not met this Nosferatin.”

“I gave him your website, he'll be in touch.”

“Good, then you were successful in dispatching the vampire.”

I squirmed slightly in my seat, I hated having to admit my failure to Nero. Nero was my idol, he was wickedly good at being a vampire hunter. He was fast, he was brilliant, he was perfect. I hated letting him down.

“Well, no.”

He smiled slightly at me, his eyes dancing in the light of the room, he knew exactly what I was feeling. I rubbed my face.

“I didn't have a stake and the Nosferatin had lost his.”

Nero paused for a second, digesting that information. “Where do you store your stake when you sleep?”

“Either in my chest under my bed, or in my bag.”

“You don't have one under your pillow or under the mattress?”

“No. Should I?”

“When we Dream Walk, Kiwi, we appear in what we are wearing, but we are also able to take with us, those things nearby that we may need. They must be very close, a stake under the pillow is best. Your Dream Walk will automatically acknowledge it's presence and take the stake with you. That aside however, a vampire entering your bedroom would be hard to tackle if your stake is in a chest under your bed. Time is always of the essence after all.”

“Vampires can't come in unless invited.”

“Not all vampires are subject to that rule. Some of the more powerful are able to override the need for an invitation.”

Huh. I'd always wondered how Michel had entered my apartment, to this day I have never actually invited him in.

“Well, that sucks. Where's our protection?” We rely on the invitation required for a vampire to cross the threshold of our home to keep us safe. It's just one of the rules. They can't keep changing the rules on us. It's not fair.

“There are very few vampires strong enough to achieve this, but they do exist.”

“Yeah. They bloody well do.”

Nero looked at me intently. “You have had experience of this.” Again, not a question, just a statement. This time I didn't bother to answer.

“So, a stake under my pillow then. Beats having to have it down my night dress I guess.”

That received a wicked grin flashing across Nero's face. He recovered himself and said, “Back to the uncontrolled Dream Walk.” It almost sounded reluctant. Almost. “How did you save the Nosferatin?”

“I guess a little bit of luck and the fact that the vampire didn't want to kill me. I don't think he even wanted to kill the Nosferatin, I think he just lost control. I felt his evil when I landed in the Dream Walk, but it vanished as soon as I confronted him in the alley.”

“Vanished. That is unusual. Do you know who this vampire was?”

“Yes, Michel knows him, you may too. Gregor. He's on the
Iunctio
. Michel called him the Enforcer.”

Nero let a breath of air out in a long rush and sat back on the couch looking at me. “He let you go? Just like that? The Enforcer let you go after you had him cornered, draining a Nosferatin against the
Iunctio's
rules? Did he at least threaten you?”

I thought about that for a moment. He had said he would look forward to when we actually met in person, that wasn't really a threat, was it? No.

“No, he didn't. We kind of came to an agreement. Although in retrospect, I was a little naïve. I didn't realise who he was and thought he meant it when he said he would be careful what he told the
Iunctio
about my skills as a Dream Walker. At the time he seemed genuine, I let him go. Besides, I didn't have a stake and
Sanguis Vitam
rolled off him in waves”

Nero nodded. “There was nothing else you could have done, Kiwi. He is very powerful,
but” - he paused shaking his head - “I do not like that he appeared in your Dream Walk. In
this
Dream Walk. It is too coincidental.”

And there you have it. Both Michel and Nero were on the same page.
Too coincidental that the Enforcer appeared in my Dream Walk
. Crap.

“
What does it mean then, Nero? Does he have some control over me, to make me Dream Walk to him?” Saying it aloud actually brought goose bumps out on my skin, I could feel the coolness of sweat on my palms, raised hairs along my arms.

Nero sighed. “It is never straight forward with you, is it Kiwi?” He paused then, in his own little world, then added, “Is there anything else you have not yet told me?”

Huh. I'd totally forgotten about my newest power. I'd been so wrapped up in telling the story of Gregor, that I had forgotten how the Dream Walk had initially felt, like homing in on the evil of his signature, like that had been the reason for the Dream Walk. I had been sidetracked by the idea that Gregor could have control over my Dream Walking ability, when in fact it may not be the case at all.

I felt a slight weight lift off my shoulders at that thought.

“Well, there is one more thing and I admit it's what I first thought this uncontrolled Dream Walk was all about. It just felt like a pull towards evil.” I took a deep breath in. “I have another power I hadn't yet told you about.”

Nero smiled, it was a joyous smile. He wasn't angry that I hadn't told him, he wasn't upset to have been left out of the loop, he was happy, maybe even excited. It was a look I hadn't seen on his intense face ever before.

“Tell me, Kiwi. What treasures have you in store for us now?”

“I can sense all the vampires throughout the world. It's like I'm pulled towards their evil, their Darkness. I see it all laid out in my mind. Where they are, how many there are. And it's what I felt when I started the Dream Walk, well, when I appeared in it, any way. So, it's controlling my Dream Walking, isn't it? This new power. It's taking me to evil so I can deal with it.”

Nero's smile dimmed slightly, he reached and out and took my hand, stroking the back like Michel does. Nero's fingers aren't as soft as Michel's, they're warrior hardened, but they are as warm.

“
It is not the new power that controls your Dream Walk, my Kiwi. It does not work like that. I am afraid it
is,
it
must
be, the Enforcer who controlled that Walk.”

How can you go from being hopeful, even excited at the thought of something, to only have it dashed by the naked harsh truth? I didn't want to believe it was Gregor who controlled my Dream Walking. If he controlled my Dream Walking, he controlled me.