Endless Days (The Firsts) (24 page)

“I have an accomplice. 
A first blood.”

“I don’t understand.”

“A first blood is working with me.  Has been from the beginning.  And a pretty powerful one.”

Cherise took a sip of the water the waitress brought her.

“Wow.  That’s amazing.  So, where did you find him?”

“She.
  And she came to me.  I would never have believed it.  We would never have been able to capture Patric without her help.”

“That’s…amazing,” she repeated.  “So, she’s still working with you then?  She would be willing to help with my problem?”

“Oh, yes.  She knows as well as I do that he’s nothing but trouble now.”

“Very nice.
   Does she stay in France?”

“Yes, I keep an apartment for her. 
She’s a bit… I don’t know…strange…for a first blood.  But all that counts is she joined my cause and has helped me catalogue at least half of all supernatural species.”

“Impressive.  So, when do you plan to execute your
plan?”

“Tonight.
  She’s here with me.”

“In Iceland?
  Now?”

“Yes.  It would be too dangerous for me to be here without her.  She’s my sole protection.  I bring a small security force with
me everywhere I go, but I know they’re no match for first blood vampires.”

“I’m glad to hear it.  Didier, do the others in the family know anything about your project?”

“No, Cherise, they don’t.  They wouldn’t understand.  I know you don’t either, but I know you need to be rid of the bond to this vampire, so you understand, at least.  Let me fix this for you, sister.”

God.
  He
actually
thought he was helping her by murdering David.   He thought it was the right thing to do.  He was sick.  But she smiled and nodded her head, and sent a message of happiness to him.  Didier smiled back, pleased.  

Cherise had all she needed now.  Didier was lost to her, no doubt in her mind.  He loved her but he was willing to do anything for his own means.  And the evil first blood was close.  Combined, the other first bloods should be able to locate her.  It would be over.

“Well, brother, I should return to the house before they know that I am gone.   So they don’t suspect anything.”

“No, too dangerous.
  You will come with me.”

“I disagree.  It will be better if I keep them complacent until you can engage your plan.  You don’t want them on the offensive.”

“It’s okay.  Tamesine is very, very powerful.  I’m not worried.  But they might use you.  So, you’ll come with me.”

He stood and took her arm to pull her with him.  Cherise knew he didn’t have the power to force her, so she followed him out the door.  When they were outside the restaurant, he pointed to a large sedan with darkened windows.

“That’s our ride, sister.  Come on.”

Cherise pulled her arm free of his cloying hands.

“No, Didier.  I won’t go with you.  I came here to see you face to face, to see if the man I loved was still there.  You’ve become something I cannot bear.  You’ve lost your humanity.  It breaks my heart that I can no longer call you brother.  Go to your vampire, Didier.  I’ll go to mine.”

She began to walk away as he and several large men in dark suits tried to stop her, but she put her hand up and stopped them in their tracks.  Literally froze them.  A trick she’d learned from Park.  An ability she actually thought she’d
received
from Park.   She’d realized last year that she had the ability to clone other abilities.  In this case, it came in handy.

As she neared the truck, she felt a sudden dark presence and looked around.  Oh, that couldn’t be…could it? 
A presence that exuded power and menace…like a playful child with evil intensions.  The rogue first blood was here.  Somewhere close.  She glanced back at Didier and his men.  They were still frozen.  Well, she couldn’t unfreeze them, anyway. Maybe this Tamesine wasn’t as strong as they thought.

And as she thought that, she felt her feet lift and her body rolling around in air.  She could hear Leo’s voice, and then nothing but wind, as she was carried away, images and colors blurred.  Moving vampire-speed across the landscape, there was nothing she could do.  How was this vampire out during daylight? All she knew for certain was that she was in deep trouble since she was now a captive herself of the very creature that hurt another first blood.  Her skills were useless against this woman.

Please, Leo, let them know.  I’m in the hands of fate now.

David awoke startled.  He couldn’t feel Cherise’s presence.  But he
did
feel something…something was wrong.  She was in danger.   How could she be in danger if she was in his rooms? 

He knew immediately that she had disobeyed him and left the household.   And he could feel that it was still daylight for a few more hours.  He could do nothing to find her. 

With a fury he hadn’t thought he would ever feel again, he blew out of the bed and up the stairs to a protected area of the main floor of the house.  Gunnar was in the control room sipping a coffee.  He looked up when David entered on a stream of air.

“David, hi.
  You’re up early.”

“Cherise left the house.  Someone has her.”

“No, that’s not possible.  No one has passed any of my security points.”

“Doesn’t matter what your men or your machines say.   She’s gone and someone has abducted her.  She has powers most humans don’t have, so I don’t think it was her brother.  I think it was the first blood. 
This Tamesine.”

Gunnar was checking all his instruments, video at each entry point.

“David, I believe you, but I don’t see her anywhere.  How could she get out?”

“Fuck!  The elf!  He masked her and she walked right out in front of your own fucking eyes!  I’m sorry, not your fault, bu
t I should have thought of it.”

Just as he did, there was a voice behind them.

Leo unblended his presence. 

“I’m sorry, friend.  She convinced me she would be safe, and she would have been, if the first blood hadn’t been able to move through daylight.  This one is different, David.  And she has Cherise.  I’ll never forgive myself for allowing her to go.”

David stared at the little elf in rage.   If he hadn’t…

He sighed.  It wasn’t Leo’s fault.  He knew how hard it was to dissuade Cherise. 

“She would have found a way.  It’s okay.  We just have to figure out where she is and get to her before the hag harms her.”

“Her brother may know.  She met him for lunch, and when he tried to detain her, she froze him and his men.  They might still be that way.  I came back here immediately when the first blood took her to let you know.”

Gunnar grabbed his cell.  “On it,” he barked and put together a team to go get Didier and bring him back here ASAP.

David dropp
ed into a chair and covered his face with his hands.  He would kill the motherfucking first blood the moment he saw her for this.   What she did to him was personal and unforgiveable.  But he would kill her for threatening Cherise.  Nothing mattered more now than getting her back unharmed.  Nothing!

Cherise lay in a ball, her head pounding as if someone had dropped her off a building on it, her eyes so painful she couldn’t open them, her equilibrium totally shot.  She couldn’t have stood up for anything in the world at that moment.  She wrapped her hands around the intense pulsating pain in her head and tried to wait out the pain.  She had no idea how long she’d been there like that. 

Eventually, she thought she must have passed out because she came conscious again.  The pain was still there in her head, but less intense.  When she tried to open her eyes, it
took a few tries, but eventually she could keep them open.  When she tried to sit up, the world spun, but she kept herself upright, and it slowed, then stopped.   She looked around. 

The room was very ornate…to the point of tacky.  A lot of gilded surfaces and brocade fabrics with candles everywhere and heavy coverings over what she assumed were widows.  She was alone, but there was a strong scent of lavender in the air.

She pushed herself forward and off a heavily tufted, gold embroidered loveseat.  As her feet touched the carpeted floor, they sunk in deeply.  She looked down at her bare toes and wiggled them.  No shoes.  And she was naked beneath a pale pink satin robe.  Her fingers slid across her breasts and belly.  Well, she didn’t seem to be hurt.

A tray with wine and jam covered sweetbreads lay on a table a few feet away.  She wandered up to it and lifted a glass, smelled it and set it back down. 
Very fruity.  It took a moment to remember what had happened and how she came to be here.

When she heard a door open behind her, she turned around.  The woman standing there was gorgeous.  So much so, she knew she had to be a first blood.  And she did not recognize her.  Ah, this had to be the rogue. 
Tamesine.  She was dressed in the same satin robe, only it was in pale blue.  It accentuated her waist length blonde hair highlighted heavily with blue streaks.  She, too, was barefoot.

“Hi, sleeping beauty.  I would have thought you were used to vampire movement.  You’re with a vampire.  But you’ve been asleep for over an hour.  How are you feeling?  Did you try the treats?  Isn’t that wine divine?  Come have a seat here beside me.  I haven’t really had another woman to talk with in centuries.  No, much more than that!”

The vampire sped to Cherise’s side so quickly she didn’t see her move. 

“I’m Tamesine.  I know from your brother, your name is Cherise.  It’s pretty.”  She tilted her head.  “So are you.”  She moved in close and lifted Cherise’s hair and brought it to her nose, then moved in close
r, her lips against her neck.

I’m lunch
, Cherise thought.

But Tamesine just nosed around,
then touched her neck with her tongue.  She moved back, but only within a few inches of Cherise’s face.

“You smell divine, too,” she whispered.  “I bet you taste incredible.”

Then she pushed Cherise back down on the loveseat and threw herself down next to her.

“You’re David’s woman.  He’s a lucky guy. 
For a vampire who should have died a long time ago.”  Tamesine moved closer again and stared into Cherise’s eyes.  Then she kissed her softly on the lips, nipping at them, but not with fangs.

“Well, you’re
mine now.  We’ll have a good time together.”

Cherise realized suddenly that she was more than lunch.  She just replaced David as this crazy vampire’s toy.

Tamesine got up and pulled the table with the tray closer and handed a long stemmed glass filled with the sweet wine to Cherise.  Then took one too.

“I enjoyed David.  He doesn’t even remember me.  I had to erase myself from his mind after we fucked.  But, he’s good, isn’t he?  Such a magnificent cock! 
And he really knows what to do with it.  But…”  She swallowed the wine sensuously and then poured a little of it on Cherise’s chest.  Sliding back over, she  pulled the satin lapel back to expose a breast, and licked the wine that slid down it. 

“Umm.
  Nice.  Sometimes I get tired of cock.  I just want something softer.  You’re really beautiful, for a human.  Good times ahead, little playmate.  But…”

She stood suddenly.

“We’ll get to that.  After I get rid of David.  Your brother told me you can’t enjoy sex with anyone else since you’re bonded to him.  So.  Give me a few hours.  He’ll come for you, and I’ll kill him.  Then…”

Tamesine dropped back down in front of Cherise and slid between her legs, pulled the robe loose, and bent down to kiss her on the stomach.

“Then, we’ll see how much fun we can have.  I haven’t had a woman in a long time.  You are going to taste
so
good!”

She stood up and drained her wine.  When she noticed Cherise still held hers untouched in her hand, she frowned at her.

“Bottoms up, little human.  Don’t get left behind.”

Cherise hesitated.  She hadn’t moved or spoken the entire time Tamesine had been with her.  It was apparent the vampire was either off her rocker or power-drunk… she
was like a spoiled child.  And that was very, very dangerous.  Cherise needed to be compliant to survive.  So she smiled, and tipped the glass back, repeating Tamesine’s motion and drained the glass.

Tamesine grinned and walked over to a heavy brocade curtain, then pulled it back a little.

“Sun’s gone.  They’ll be here soon.   Stay in this room.  I don’t want you getting hurt in the crossfire.  It’s going to get ugly.”  She sighed.  “You know David.  He won’t come alone.  I’ll be back shortly, cutie.”

And she was gone.  Cherise dropped back against the cushions.  Oh, fuck!

Then she scrambled up, went to the curtain and pulled it back to see if she could tell where they were.  Well, they were in a high rise, a cityscape of buildings lit for night that were surrounded by a skyline of deep vermillion.  Was this Reykjavik?