Don't Blackmail the Vampire (13 page)

Wordlessly, Kristen walked up to Brent.

“I didn’t even have to push them,” Charles murmured in her ear from behind her, just loudly enough that she could make out his words. “But to help you—to help your sister—I would have.”

She wasn’t sure if she found that comforting or disturbing.

The music stopped, just a break in the songs, but the timing couldn’t have been better—or worse.

Kristen stood over Brent for a second until he noticed her. He began pushing the dark-haired young woman off his lap. Rachel couldn’t hear them, despite the lack of music. Her pulse thundered through her ears. But the desperation and anger was obvious in his expression, his pallor. Everything was a blur of sound and emotion.

Her sister didn’t say anything, and she didn’t look away from her fiancé. From her knight. But when she placed her engagement ring on the table, it spoke volumes.

Chapter Ten

“Uncomfortable” was too simple a word for the p
alpable tensi
on that filled the car during the cab ride back to the hotel. And Charles felt none of the triumph he’d thought he would feel upon successfully breaking up the not-so-happy couple. Rachel’s obvious distress wasn’t helping.

Brent had stayed behind at the bar, after his efforts to get Kristen to so much as look at him failed, but Kristen rode back with them. All Charles wanted was to be alone with Rachel. Scratch that. What he wanted was to go back in time and be alone with her like they had been this afternoon. Because no matter what happened now, everything was going to change.

He could smell it on the air.

She’d tasted like a dessert—sweet and delicious. And he could hardly concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing when he got Brent to the bar, his thoughts so locked on how much he wanted to love her body again with his own. To hold her close and hear her laugh, as the dogsled rounded a tight bend. To taste her again.

To taste more of her.

She was an addiction. One that he’d never be able to let go if her blood ever touched his tongue, filled his mouth.

The cab pulled up at the hotel and they exited the vehicle. Kristen seemed out of it, in shock. And he could practically feel the worry rolling off of Rachel.

Once they got outside, the cold around them was biting, oppressive. The women didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll come with you,” Rachel said to Kristen. “Stay in your room tonight. Or if it’s easier, you can stay in mine—”

“No. I want to be alone.”

“But I don’t think you
should
be alone right now.” Rachel’s words came too fast, her nerves obvious. “Why don’t we—”

“No.” Kristen paused in her tracks, but she didn’t turn around. “I said no.”

“Kristen…”

Without another word, Kristen disappeared into the hotel.

Rachel took a haggard breath, and Charles wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tightly against him. He couldn’t think of anything comforting to offer her, anything that would make this easier for her to process that wasn’t a lie. And he wouldn’t lie, not to her.

“I made a mistake,” she muttered, sounding so lost that it broke his heart.

“No, you didn’t. You knew she would be upset, right? Things will look brighter to her in the morning. Given enough time, she’ll realize that this was the best thing that could have happened to her in this fucked-up situation.”

“Do you really think so?” She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes, and his chest constricted fiercely. If she cried—hell, he had no idea what he’d do, but it might involve shaking sense into her sister and hitting Brent a time or four. He’d never killed a human, but he’d never been so tempted.

“Yes,” he said, rubbing her arm even as he hugged her closer. Kristen wasn’t an idiot; she would come to her senses eventually.

Luckily for Brent—he might have ended up in a body cast, otherwise—Rachel’s spine stiffened and her expression hardened. “You’re right. I just didn’t realize how hard this would be. Knowing I’m responsible for making her feel like that sucks.”

“There was no way to prepare yourself for this. Not really.” He stepped around her so they were face-to-face. “You opened her eyes, but Brent’s the one responsible.” With a gloved hand, he tipped up her chin and kissed her softly on the lips. Then he stepped back and took her hand in his and led her into the hotel.

With some fresh hot chocolate in hand that Charles made for her from packets and microwaved water, she finally seemed to relax a little. He wished he could do the same. But there was so much still up in the air. And he still hadn’t helped his brother figure out if Brent was the man responsible for threatening his family.

“I wonder—” She shook her head.

“What is it?” He sat by her on the bed, where she’d propped herself up on some pillows.

“I just hope that she’ll be able to get past this.”

“She will. Some of us are slower than others at figuring ourselves out, figuring out where we belong in the world.” He gave her a reassuring grin. “But we figure it out eventually.”

She studied him, her interest clearly piqued. “I take it you know from experience?”

“I do.” He leaned back, draping his back over her legs, and settled on his elbows. “There was…a kind of war among vampire factions. It went on for centuries, and it didn’t end until around the turn of the last century.”

“Around the time you were…born? Made?”

“Whatever you’d like to call it. Yes.” How much to tell her? Hell, she already knew way more than was allowed a human not on the path to becoming one of them. But still, it would be better to keep it vague. “My father—my vampire father—he is a warrior. A very old, very adept general. The vampires he created were chosen for a very specific purpose. To fight on his side of the war.”

“So he picked tough guys, huh?”

He laughed. “Tough, yes. But that wasn’t the only quality he looked for. Not that he’s ever sat me down and explained it to me, but it’s pretty obvious he selected people he thought would choose his side, morally. Ones who would choose to keep our presence hidden, and who had a predilection for protecting people.”

She sipped her cocoa, face scrunched adorably as she thought about his story. “Ones who wouldn’t want to hurt humans?”

Hell, she was smart. “Exactly. Let’s just say the faction he fought didn’t see humans as much more than food.”

“I’d have thought finding your way in life would be pretty simple, then.” She frowned. “Only the war ended.”

“Yes. There was no one left to fight. My brothers—my vampire brothers—Noah and Alex, they’ve had a hard time of it, too, I think. Alex especially. They’ve had to find a new path. But I had to figure out my place without the benefit of purposeful time spent in my new skin.”

“Your father…” She took a deep breath and her gaze shifted to her cup. “He wasn’t around to help you?”

Her father was the reason she shied away from men, didn’t trust them, just as he’d thought. “Kane disappeared not long after. He shows up just often enough to drive my brothers batty. But he and I never had the chance to bond over killing things.”

She choked out a laugh. “You seem to have found your way.”

“I did. But it took me a while. A couple decades of nothing but decadence and stupidity. Then I figured out something important.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m a people person. And my brothers are decidedly not. Someone has to keep this family flush.” He winked.

Her smile was small, but genuine. “I suspect you do a lot more than that for your family.”

Something pinched in his chest at her words and he sat up. And he had to force himself to say the words past a sudden tightness in his body. “Not much else.”

A text pinged, saving him from her reply, and Charles retrieved his phone from his coat pocket. Noah.

Got another threat.

When?
Charles replied.

Thirty minutes ago. Phone call. And he’s upped his game.

Hell. Brent had been very occupied with his waitress thirty minutes ago. Charles had watched him carefully, and despite the couple of drinks he’d imbibed, Brent hadn’t even gotten up to go to the restroom during the last hour they were at the bar. If it was Brent making the threats, he wasn’t doing it alone.

He sent a text to Noah to that effect. Then asked him for the threat’s wording.

Noah replied quickly.
I’m done warning you. You’ve made your bed, hospital corners and all. Now you’ll have to lie in it.

Fuck. That didn’t sound ominous or anything—only like the psycho was ready to kill her. And hospital corners? Freak was off his rocker.

“What is it?” Rachel asked, her brows scrunched with worry.

He kept his sarcasm to himself and stuck to the facts. “Another threat against Alice.”

“Oh.” Guilt was as plain as day to read on her face.

“You read the others?”

“Yes…”

A grin tugged at his lips. “Good. I left the email open for you.”

“Bully.” She tossed the pillow she’d held in her lap at him. “When did he make the threat?”

“While Brent was otherwise occupied.”

She didn’t look surprised.

“You didn’t think it was him.”

“No. Not after I read that summary. Brent isn’t a terrible planner, but whoever is pulling this off—he’s good. Way more careful than Brent would be. And way more focused. Brent couldn’t even keep his affair with my sister secret from Alice longer than a couple of weeks.”

“I agree. It’s a stretch.” A thought flashed. “You don’t think Cole—”

“No.” She chewed on her lip for a moment, thinking. “It’s not that he isn’t smart enough, because I’m sure he could pull something like that off if he really put his mind to it. I just don’t see him going that far for Brent. Lately, it seems like he’s been pulling away from him. In fact…” She shook her head. “I’m not even sure why Cole came here. It seems like he’s spent half the trip in his room, working.”

“I think I know why he came. And why he spent most of the trip away from the rest of us.”

She frowned, confusion showing in every line of her face. Then a flash of understanding crossed her features. “Kristen,” she breathed.

“Pretty sure. If I’m any judge of how he was looking at her, when she wasn’t looking at him.”

“I can’t believe I never saw it.”

“The man isn’t an idiot. He never gave Brent an excuse to ditch him. But there is something there.” He tapped his chest. “People person, remember?”

“It fits.” Her frown deepened. “Subtle,” she murmured.

“Yeah, subtle. Like he—”

“No. Not Cole.” She waved a hand at him to silence his explanation. “Can I see the latest threat?”

He shrugged and handed her the phone.

“Oh!” Face alight with something way too close to glee for their current situation, she jumped up from the bed and flipped open her laptop. “Can you log back in and pull up that email for me? I need to check something.”

“Sure.” Quickly, and doing his best not to let hope grow too strong, he pulled the email up for her and handed the laptop back.

She scanned the threats, her body practically glowing with excitement by the time she’d scrolled down to Noah’s additional notes.

“What is it?” His patience had finally hit its end.

“These are obviously from someone who doesn’t want to be identified. He uses a voice changer and burner phones and leaves email trails that end in Timbuktu.”

“Right. He’s scared we’ll catch him before he can hurt Alice. Rightly so. He’s probably getting off on the whole thing—freaking her out before making his move. Scaring her.” Noah wasn’t a normally violent man, but Charles could imagine him doing some pretty gruesome things to anyone seeking to harm the woman he loved.

And Charles would be happy to help in this case.

“I don’t think so.” Her eyes met his and there was a surety in them that he hadn’t seen from her the last couple of days. Confidence. “These aren’t threats. They’re
warnings.
”

“What?” he said, but the pieces were already clicking together in his head.

“You’re not hunting someone who hates Alice. You’re looking for someone who
loves
her.”

“Holy shit.” Charles took the laptop from her and glanced th
rough the emails quickly, and then grabbed his phone to recheck the latest one. “Holy. Shit,” he said again.

He hit a button on his phone, pressed it to his ear, and then kissed her soundly, a hard and fast press of his lips that made her wish he’d lingered. A voice sounded from the phone, and Charles stepped back.

“Noah. We’ve been looking at this all wrong.”

She couldn’t hear Noah’s side of the conversation, but Charles looked immediately irritated at the other vampire’s response.

“Reread the messages. They’re not threats. No, I’m not saying that. Just check them. Quit arguing with me and pull up the list.” Charles paced the room, his energy level suddenly off the charts.

Unsure of how to help, she sat in one of the chairs at the small table and sipped the last of her once hot, now lukewarm, chocolate. Alice’s boyfriend might need convincing, but Rachel was certain that she’d come to the right conclusion. That’s what had been bothering her since she’d seen the so-called threats. They only read that way if that’s what you were expecting. And given the audience—vampires who had no doubt dealt with many threats through the years—it was no wonder they’d been perceived that way.

Then again, the person making the phone calls and sending the emails hadn’t done himself any favors by choosing to go about it this way. But whoever he was, he probably thought he was saving Alice, or trying to.

“Do you see what I’m talking about? Someone is warning her away from you.”

The other voice was still muffled, but the excitement was clear.

A sudden doubt hit her—what if she wasn’t right? What if she was giving them false hope? Worse, giving the person making the threats a break so they could hurt Alice the second the brothers lowered their defenses?

No. She swallowed the panic in her throat and wiped her hand on her pants. She knew she wasn’t wrong; her confidence was only shaky because of the insanity of the last few days. And even on the off chance she was wrong, she didn’t see this Noah guy lowering his defenses anytime soon. Not if he cared for Alice the way it sounded like he did. And not if he’d spent a good portion of his vampire life in some kind of war.

“I know this changes everything. We need to look at her history again. Figure out who would warn her, not threaten her. Yes. Yes, I know. I’ll be out on the next flight. You arrange it while I pack.”

Her stomach dropped with disappointment and she set the dregs of her hot chocolate on the table. What had she expected? That he’d stick around and let his brother sort it out? He wasn’t that sort of man. He’d see it through.

And then…what? Maybe his leaving was for the best. She needed some time alone to think, to sort out lusty hormones from real feelings. To give the rational side of her brain a chance to actually kick in.

The phone landed softly on the table and she found herself being hauled out off her chair and into Charles’s firm embrace. Instinctively, she settled into his welcoming warmth, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her face to his solid chest. She inhaled his scent; a tiny voice in the back of her mind made her wonder if this would be the last chance she’d have to memorize it.