Crimson Debt: Book 1 in the Born to Darkness series (25 page)

“Vampires don’t feel?” I shook my head. “But
Taylor—”

“Is still much more human than vampire in
many ways and so her emotions are much closer to the surface. But a
vampire can, if he or she wishes, bury their emotions to the point
of almost not having them at all.” He looked at me seriously. “Mine
were buried for centuries…until I met you.”

“But…why me?” I asked, shaking my head. “Is
it just because I look like Janet?”

“You don’t, except for your hair. No, it was
your attitude. Your fierce temper and your refusal to be afraid of
me.”

“I’m an Auditor,” I pointed out. “That’s my
job.”

“And yet you are the first who wasn’t afraid
to do that job. Do you remember the first moment we met? I do.”
Corbin laughed softly. “The first time you ever inspected me. You
were looking for problems at
the Fang
and couldn’t find any.
So you demanded to see my liquor license and when you found it to
be two days out of date, you gave me the highest fine possible and
tried to shut me down.”

“I remember,” I grumbled. “I still don’t know
how you got out of that one.”

“Not without considerable trouble and
expense.” Corbin smiled. “Any other Auditor might have given up but
not you—you were determined to make me pay.”

“I want them all to pay,” I whispered,
looking down. “To pay for what happened to Taylor.”

“But I am one of them,” Corbin said softly.
“And unless I am very much mistaken, you no longer hate me
quite
as much as you did.”

“Maybe not,” I said, looking up at him. “But
that doesn’t change what we are. Doesn’t change the fact that
you’re a vamp and I’m human.”

“I could bind you to me with blood,” Corbin
murmured. “It would make you more durable. Love between us would be
much less risky.”

“But still completely illegal.
And
it
would tie us together forever and make me practically immortal,” I
pointed out with a frown.

Predictably, Corbin shrugged off the illegal
part.

“What is wrong with being immortal?”

“Nothing except you have to watch your entire
family get older and older and die all around you,” I said. “And
what do I tell people at work when they ask why I’m not aging? My
superiors will know right away what’s going on—fraternizing with
the enemy will get you kicked off the force. I might as well hand
in my badge right now if I let you bind me to you.”

“What was it you did before you decided to
harass my kind for a living?” Corbin asked. “I thought you said you
were getting a degree in some kind of literature.”

“I was.” I looked away. “I never did finish
my dissertation, though.”

“Finish it then,” he urged gently. “Give up
your grudge against vampires and go back to doing what you truly
love. You can’t tell me you really enjoy the endless inspections,
the gory crime scenes, the executions…”

To tell the truth, I didn’t enjoy any of it.
In fact, lately I just about loathed it but I wasn’t about to admit
that to Corbin.

“So, what—I’m supposed to give up my job to
become your good little wife?” I demanded, pulling my hands out of
his. “You’ll put me up in a sweet penthouse somewhere in the city
and visit me whenever you want to fuck?”

Corbin frowned. “You know it would not be
like that, Addison. You could live with me—or I with you. Provided
you don’t mind me making some modifications to your house. I must
have a light-tight place to stay during the daylight hours.”

For one crazy moment, I actually let myself
consider it. There was no denying that there was something between
us. But was that electric spark I felt every time he touched me
enough to give up my job, my family…basically my entire life? Also,
I had spent the past six years upholding the laws that separated
vamps and humans in the most basic and vital way. Was I really
going to throw all that time in the toilet and jump the fence? Was
I willing to live with Corbin and take the chance every single time
we made love that he wouldn’t lose control and kill me? After all
the horrible, gory crime scenes I had been witness to?

Was I crazy?

“No,” I said at last with a sigh. “No, I’m
sorry, Corbin. I’ll admit there’s something between us. We
have…really good chemistry. But I can’t give up my life and
everything it stands for just to be with you.”

“And this is your final decision?” He looked
at me, his silver-blue eyes serious and infinitely sad. “Think,
Addison…really consider before you refuse to give me your heart. A
love like this doesn’t happen very often—for me it has happened
only twice in four hundred years. I lost my first love—I don’t
intend to lose you.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, forcing the words
out around the lump that had somehow formed in my throat. “But I
can’t. Please…just let me go.”

“I will, for now.” He stroked a strand of
hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear in a gesture of
tenderness that made my eyes sting. “But I refuse to give up. I
love you, Addison. If you’ll only give me a chance, I will prove
it.”

“Prove what? My, my—do excuse me. I hope I
haven’t interrupted a tender scene.”

We both turned to see Roderick standing in
the doorway, smirking.

Asshole,
I thought, looking at him. I
reached automatically to my side and then remembered I didn’t have
my gun with me that night—Corbin had insisted that I leave it in
his private bathroom after the incident the night before.
Considering how badly I wanted to shoot the vampire Inquisitor, it
was probably a good thing.

“Ah, Roderick.” Corbin inclined his head to
the other vamp. “How good of you to join us. I trust Lucinda was
satisfactory?”

“She was…until I accidentally broke her.”
Roderick said it in such an offhand way it took a minute to sink
in.

Corbin’s face darkened. “What exactly do you
mean?”

Roderick shrugged. “She was paying the
Crimson Debt and I got rather…carried away. You’ll find her in the
dumpster out behind your establishment—what’s left of her,
anyway.”

I stared at him, uncomprehending. I had
plenty of experience with vamps who S and F-ed their human lovers
to death but I had never heard of one vampire doing it to another.
Considering how strong they all were, even the fledglings, it must
have taken unimaginable strength to kill the hapless Lucinda. The
poor girl must have been ripped limb from limb and probably
decapitated as well.

“That’s horrible,” I whispered.

“It is despicable.” Corbin took a step toward
the other vampire, his face white with rage. “How dare you kill one
of my people? Especially one who simply wanted to entertain and
service you?”

“Oh, she did both before she met the true
death—never fear about that.” Roderick laughed, a very ugly sound.
“She served her purpose and I disposed of her—just as I will
dispose of you, Corbin, if you displease me.”

“Lucinda had only one star to her credit—I
have four. I think you will find me considerably more difficult to
kill,” Corbin growled. “I challenge you, Roderick—you will pay for
what you’ve done.”

Roderick’s eyes gleamed greedily. “By all
means, please
do
make a formal challenge. I will be happy to
annex your little territory when you are gone. And I will take
Taylor and your human consort with me to court. The Empress will
love
that—you can imagine how popular human Auditors who
attempt to control our kind are with her.”

Corbin’s eyes blazed. “How dare you threaten
my consort?”

“You mean the one not actually bound to you?
The one who is technically still available to any male strong
enough to take her?” Roderick turned his greedy gaze on me and
showed his fangs. I felt my stomach turn over. Oh God, was he
serious?

“You will never have her.” Corbin put me
behind him and seemed to grow larger. “Listen to me, Roderick, you
may be strong enough to best me but if you attempt to take her, I
will not hesitate to sacrifice for your death!”

“You would do that—for a mere
human?”
Roderick shook his head. “That is most surprising, Corbin.”

“Nevertheless it is true,” Corbin growled.
“Try me if you don’t believe I’m sincere.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.” Abruptly,
Roderick retracted his fangs and went from menacing to mild. “I
refuse your challenge, Corbin. I think we have had enough bloodshed
for one night.”

“Is that what you think?” Corbin asked
angrily. “Now that you have had your fill of bloodletting you wish
to go back to your inspection?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Roderick shook his
head. “I grow tired of this stupid little town. Simply show me the
tribute you have prepared and we will call it a night, as the
humans say.”

I held my breath, waiting to see if Corbin
would take the offer. He was still clearly very angry over
Lucinda’s brutal murder but I knew that under vampire law, there
was nothing he could do about it. Vamps are like lions on a
savanna—the strong take from the weak. He could, of course, renew
his challenge but if Roderick took him up on it this time and
killed him, everything Corbin had and all the people who depended
on him would belong to the Inquisitor.

I tried to look at Corbin objectively. Could
he take Roderick in a fight? He was incredibly strong and fast but
the other vamp had two centuries on him, which made him stronger
and faster. I had the sense that Corbin would have fought him
anyway—even if it meant certain death—if no one else had been
involved. But the idea of everyone he cared for being handed over
to Roderick to torment and torture like a cruel cat playing with
mice deterred him.

“Corbin?” I murmured after a long
silence.

He sighed and looked back at me. I saw that
his eyes had gone from silvery-blue to blood red. “I wish you were
not here, my darling,” he murmured in a low, hoarse voice. “I wish
you were somewhere far away and safe. But since you are not…”

“Corbin? The tribute, please.” Roderick
sounded bored. “I do not have all night.”

Corbin took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. Gradually his eyes went from deep red back to their usual
silver-blue.

“All right,” he said at last. “I’ll get
it.”

Removing a key from the upper right drawer,
he used it to unlock a small closet to one side of his
bookcase.

“Behold,” he said, bringing out a delicate
porcelain vase with a wide bottom and a long, narrow opening. It
was creamy white with a deep blue Chinese dragon curling around it
and flowers of the same color dotting its sides.

I gazed at it in wonder. “Is that…?”

“A vase from the late Ming Dynasty,” Corbin
said. He placed it carefully on his desk and looked at Roderick.
“It was both expensive and difficult to acquire—I trust it meets
your expectations as a tribute,” he said flatly.

“Nice.
Very
nice.” Roderick came
forward and examined the vase carefully. “You know my passion for
beautiful things, Corbin.”

“And for breaking them, apparently,” I
murmured but Corbin gave me a warning glance and I shut up. Somehow
I sensed we were still in dangerous territory here. No matter how
meek and mild Roderick was acting, he still had something up his
sleeve.

“Well,” he said, smiling at both of us. “I
guess I’ll be going now. Oh, except for one last thing.”

“And what might that thing be, Roderick?”
Corbin growled.

“A small detail only—a tiny request I’m
certain you won’t mind granting your royal Inquisitor.” Roderick’s
eyes gleamed. “I simply wish to see a demonstration of your
skill.”

“What skill?” Corbin folded his arms over his
broad chest and frowned.

“The one you boast of so often, of course.
Your ability to fuck your human consort without breaking her—as I
so regrettably broke the lovely Lucinda.”

“What?” I exclaimed before I could stop
myself. “You’re demanding to watch us—”

“Fuck. That’s right, my dear.” Roderick
smiled coldly. “And before you refuse, Corbin, please know that I
am ready to take you up on your offer of a formal challenge if you
prefer.”

“Neither my consort nor myself are whores,”
Corbin said coldly. “We do not perform for an audience.”

“You will tonight.” Roderick showed his
fangs. “If you do not prove to me that you have been telling the
truth, that this human woman truly is attached to you as your
consort, then I will be forced to think everything you have said to
me is a lie. At that point I will either kill you in challenge and
take her back to court to serve as the Empress’s plaything…or I
will go and return with a full retinue of her majesty’s private
guards.”

“You wouldn’t!” Corbin growled.

“Oh, but I
would
. And then everything
you have built will be burned to the ground. Everyone you ever
cared for, every underling both human or vampire who depends on
you, will be taken. And I will
not
be gentle with them,
Corbin. I promise you that.”

“You son of a bitch,” Corbin said thickly.
“You may kill me in challenge but I swear I will take you with me.
I will—”

“We’ll do it,” I heard myself saying.

Corbin turned to me, a look of disbelief in
his eyes. “Addison, no! You don’t have to agree to this.”

“Yes, I do,” I said grimly. “I don’t want you
in a fight to the death over my honor. And I don’t want Taylor and
everyone else who depends on you getting dragged off as slaves to
wherever the court is just because I’m afraid to…to be seen doing,
uh, doing what we do.”

“But—”

“You seem to be at odds with each other,”
Roderick remarked. “And all over my simple request that you prove
she truly is your consort, Corbin.”

“I said we’ll do it,” I said, glaring at the
Inquisitor. “We just need a little time to prepare.”

“Very well.” Roderick nodded. “I will be
happy to step outside for a few minutes. But don’t take too long or
I may decide to
break
someone else.” He gave Corbin an evil
grin and stepped out of the office, closing the door behind
him.