Decatur the Vampire (8 page)

“Right, back to the delightful Maxine.” She was, as Marduk indicated, a painful personality. However, like all the Maxines in the world, she was useful and Vulcan had learned a lot about Marduk Howell that he planned to use later if events did not go his way. After all, he was at this human hellhole called her work to keep an eye on her and Decatur. Vulcan knew the vampire would no longer be in the storeroom. He would disappear in the blink of an eye after the woman had rejected him. “No doubt he’ll be cursing Archimedes about now.” No one, especially a man, mortal or immortal, liked to be pushed around by another male. It smacked at their pride.

As Vulcan turned, he ran into Sumerian. He smiled. Of course. She was so predictable. The red-haired angel had never been one not to meddle. It was part of the reason she had gotten kicked out of heaven. Vulcan wondered if she knew the full reason and just not the sanitized version they had given her. Probably not. Sumerian was too passionate to look below the surface. Her deep green eyes only sought out injustice as she tried to save her precious innocents.

“Vulcan.” Sumerian was not surprised to see him. Vulcan always had a plan. She had followed Decatur as she followed Amory and Morphos wherever they went. She needed to know what was going on. However, neither of them did anything like come to a mortal’s place of work on the pretext of fixing a machine. From what she knew about vampires, they rarely helped anyone or fixed anything. That alone made Decatur’s movements suspicious. And that Vulcan was here?
Doubly suspicious.

“Always a delight, Sumerian.”

Although he was dressed in a simple, bland business shirt and trousers, Sumerian knew the outer façade he projected was a hoax. Once, a long time ago, she thought she had seen a glimpse of the real Vulcan. It was the real reason they had gone their separate ways. Even though she was no longer an angel, Sumerian had her principles and honesty was paramount to her. However to Vulcan it belonged on a sliding scale of what suited him at any given time.

“The spectacles are a nice touch.” She saw his eyes glow in amusement behind the glasses.

“Well, you know humans, they tend to believe what they see.”

“Whereas we both know nothing is ever as it seems.”

“Very true, my dear,” Vulcan responded, his eyes never leaving hers. “You’re wondering why I’m here.”

Sumerian nodded, all the while knowing the ancient demon before her was unlikely to tell her anything but a lie. “I know you never do anything without a reason.” Sumerian had already seen the woman leave. That a vampire was pursuing a mortal woman was nothing new. That he struck out was. How strong was this woman? Was that why she was caught up in this mess they found themselves in?

“Maybe I’m a romantic at heart.”

The look Vulcan gave her made her jump slightly as Sumerian remembered a time not so long ago when she might have believed that of Vulcan. “And maybe you’re a liar.” Before the fall, Sumerian had believed in so many things. Archimedes was not the only one she had been foolish over. She had always been a pushover for a demon, wanting to believe that she could turn a bad boy good. It was madness of course but that was her nature. Vulcan had carved a notch in her heart that she thought she would never get over—and she hadn’t and he knew it. Sumerian stiffened her spine. There was no point dwelling on the past. “What are you playing at?” Vulcan was very good at games.

“You were always so suspicious, Sumerian.”

“As are you.” That was one trait they had in common.

“But you are rash,” Vulcan added as if he knew what she was thinking.

Sumerian knew she would never be allowed to forget what had happened. “He had to die. I do not regret that.” She almost bit her tongue as the words came out. She did not want Vulcan knowing any more than he had to.

“I’m not talking out him. I’m talking about us.”

She took a quick, shallow breath to strengthen herself. This was typical of Vulcan to remind her of the past and try to lead her off track from his true intentions. “There is no us.” Vulcan had made that only too obvious. The day he betrayed her was the day they ceased to be.

“Once there was, after Archimedes. Maybe I even led to your fall.”

Sumerian had no one to blame but herself for the fall. Maybe, she should not have acted as rashly as she had but that was in the past as was her relationship with Vulcan. “I know you like games, Vulcan, but I’m not playing with you today.” The lessons he taught were too painful.

“You used to like to.”

There was no response that Sumerian could give that would not incriminate her. He has used her feelings and he would again.
Remember that. Remember him. Old feelings no longer count.
“The woman is innocent.” It was best to get back on track. Whatever any of them planned, Sumerian could not let the woman suffer.

“The vampire is not.”

“No.” Vampires were reckless, uncaring beings who were more interested in having a good time than following rules. The breaking of those always had consequences. “I have no idea what any of you are planning to do but I will not allow her to be hurt.”

“You no longer belong to heaven, my dear.”

If Vulcan thought to wound her he was mistaken. “You’re correct. I belong to me and I do as my conscience dictates.”

“At your own cost.”

“As always it is pointless talking to you, Vulcan.” He was like the riddle of the sands, always moving and changing to suit the force of the wind as he sought to harness more power.

Vulcan smiled in delight. “And yet I find you charming.”

Sumerian rolled her eyes. There was no point in talking to him or being there. She waved her hand and disappeared.

“What a woman,” Vulcan growled in deep appreciation.

Archimedes was wild. “How could I not know?” He had tailed Sumerian to find out where she was going. She had a habit of forcing her way into his plans and disrupting them. Once he had thought it was cute. Now it was just annoying. “Sumerian and Vulcan? Together?” He still did not believe what he had just heard and seen. Archimedes had heard rumors but they had been so laughable that he had not taken them seriously. Until now. Their banter and the way they looked at each other was that of past lovers still holding on to something each did not want to completely let go of. Not only did that not suit Archimedes’ plans but a small part of him burned with jealousy at the thought of Vulcan with Sumerian. While it was true he had thrown her over long ago, Archimedes was the possessive type and always had trouble letting go of those things that had once belonged to him.

That he felt jealousy somewhat surprised Archimedes. He had cut Sumerian adrift. She did not have to explain herself to him. Besides, Archimedes knew she could not resist getting involved in things that had nothing to do with her. It was her nature. It was her downfall. However she had the ankh and that made her important to his plan and he would not allow an ancient demon to turn her head.

As for Vulcan, no one knew at any time what was going on in his head. He was in a league of his own. The perplexing question was why was Vulcan involved in playing dress-up office worker? It was not something his assistant had discussed with Archimedes. “Assistant, my ass.”

The only good thing to come out of this was seeing the woman called Marduk looking flustered and lipstick-smeared. Regrettably she was not at the vampire’s side but he was confident she soon would be. There was nothing a vampire hated worse than having a woman turn him down or having someone know his weakness. Both woman and vampire would come together. “It’s the way it’s meant to be.”

* * * * *

Chrissie rushed to Marduk’s side. “What happened? You were in there for ages.”

“Nothing.”
Something. Everything. Crap, I don’t know.
One minute she was kissing him and the next he was telling her a fairytale.
But it is anything but.
Marduk closed her eyes as she once more remembered the taste of his mouth on hers.

“You look angry and your lipstick is smeared.” Chrissie looked pleased. “You kissed the hot guy, didn’t you?”

Oh yeah.
Marduk could still feel the firm, seductive pressure of his lips on hers. “He’s psychotic.”

“Bummer.”

“Yes, as he tells it, a demon commands him and he has been sent to be with me.”
He is also my dream lover. Lordy, if I said that Chrissie would think I was out of my mind. And who the hell is this Vulcan dude? If I had more sense I should have asked the man, er, my dream lover…I mean the vampire, that.
That the other Smith boy had been watching was not a fluke. She felt sure of that. So what was going on?
And why me?

Chrissie shook her head. “Oh, I just knew someone that good looking had to be loopy.” She nudged her friend’s arm. “What was he like to kiss?”

“Pretty damn good. It was the best kiss I have had since— Well, since maybe forever.”
Or last night.

“What a shame.”

Marduk blew out a sigh. “Yeah well, you get that.”

“You know what everyone will think you were doing in there.”

“That he was fucking me up against the wall?” Marduk didn’t care what her colleagues thought. Some other bright, shiny object would take their attention away soon enough.

“No, that you’re probably the one nicking stationery supplies. You know we’ve had a rash of paper thefts.”

Marduk waved her hands in dismissal. “As if I would take paper. I’m strictly a pen and sticky notes thief.”

“I know that but people talk.”

Yeah, they did. If the shoe was on the other foot Marduk would have been the one wondering why a coworker and a repair man had to both go for paper. “Let them wonder.”

Chrissie stopped near the photocopier. “Do you think he’ll fix this before he leaves?” She looked around for him. “Did he come out with you?”

“I left him in there. He should have come out by now.” They would have seen him but they hadn’t. Marduk doubled back to the storeroom. It was empty. That was odd. There was no way he could have passed them unnoticed. “Oh, I know, his demon master must have beamed him out.”

“Yeah, I hate it when that happens to me.”

“What a weirdo.” It was better to think that way than to relive his kiss in her mind.

“He was hot though.”

“Oh yeah, but typical I get a nutcase.”

Chapter Five

Suddenly, at nine o’clock that night, Marduk knew she wasn’t alone in her home. She shared it with no one, be it human or pet. There was no sound yet she was aware that she had an intruder inside her house. How did she know?
I just do.
It was more a feeling. A sense that everything was not right within. Marduk knew she had locked all the doors. It would have been unlike her not to have. While she wasn’t over the top with safety, she liked to be comfortable in her own home. At that moment, she wasn’t. Her thoughts went straight the vampire. Decatur. Was it him? She felt the rush of wet heat between her legs. “And why am I so excited? He’s not normal. None of this is normal.”

Marduk dropped the book she had been reading and slid out of bed, picking up the baseball bat that leaned against her nightstand. She had never thought she would have needed to use it. But then anyone coming unannounced into her home would get what they deserved. The theory was to kneecap them while she screamed at the top of her lungs. That was if she got the chance. There was no time to change from her star-covered sleep shorts and white singlet. But then, Marduk doubted anyone coming into her home would be worried what she looked like.

She walked to the bedroom door and twisted the handle. She had attended one self-defense lesson. She knew where to hit if she had to—eyes, throat and groin—but it also helped to have a big stick just in case those options failed her.

“Okay, whoever you are get ready for an ass kicking,” she muttered low as she tried to steady her heartbeat and give herself confidence.

“Sounds impressive,” replied a distinctively droll male voice.

Marduk swung around in fright. “What the—” She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. “You! How?” Decatur was leaning casually up against a wall in her bedroom. She brandished the baseball bat in front of her. “Why?” He made her bedroom look small. “How?”

“You’ve said ‘how’ twice but I guess ‘where’ was already established as we’re in your bedroom.” Decatur looked around with interest. “It’s cute but messy and awfully purple.” His dark eyes looked on hers. “I think that’s the color of repressed passion.”

Marduk felt a wild flash of heat rush through her body. His voice made her tremble. “What?” She was completely out of kilter. She wasn’t sure whether to be angry he was in her home unannounced or relieved that he was at least someone she knew—sort of—who believed demons commanded him.
Right. Not normal.
Marduk swung the bat before her. “What the hell are you doing here in my bedroom?”

“Well, I know what I’d like to do to you in—”

“Get out!” Marduk swung the bat once more in defense. It was a needless move as he was hardly rushing to attack her.

“No.” Decatur pushed off from the wall. “Do you know how to use that other than with a ball?” He started walking toward her.

“Yes.”
No.
But she was counting on adrenaline to help her when required. Besides, Marduk had never played any sports so it was doubtful she could even hit straight. He was so close she could touch him. Now was the time to strike out but for the life of her she couldn’t hit someone who was so calm and chatting to her.

“Really?”

Okay, so looking menacing was out of the question.
“The thing is, it will hurt when I clobber you.” Marduk stepped back. He was too close and this was all too confusing.

“If you can catch me.” In the blink of an eye, Decatur disappeared.

“Holy crap!” One minute he was in front of her and the next he was behind Marduk, tapping her on the shoulder.

“Bloody hell!” She yelped and jumped forward in fright, dropping the bat, as she ran to the opposite side of the room. There was nowhere to go but out the window. Marduk’s heart pounded. She was trapped.
And possibly hallucinating. How had he got by her so quickly? Oh, wait—head slap. He’s a vampire. They probably do that as a party trick.