Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (3 page)

Out of curiosity, she wanted to take a
few more moments to figure out what he was, but unfortunately she didn’t have
the luxury of spare time.

“I can’t believe you’re back.” For a
second, Kara considered running out of the gas station and getting into her car
and driving away. “Oh my God, it’s wonderful to see you. I’ve been worried
sick.” Emily wrapped her arms around her and held her close.

 “I’m sorry you were worried. I
wish I had the time to talk and catch up, but I’m running late. When Emily
released her, Kara took a step back. “I’ll call you later.”

“Wait. Why are you so close to home?
It’s too dangerous for you here. You shouldn’t even be in the state.”

“Everything is fine.” Attempting to
appear casual, Kara shrugged. “It’s over now.”

“That’s a lie. I know you don’t believe
it any more than I do. Tell me the truth. Why did you come back here?”

Every second Kara spent talking to her
was placing Emily in danger. She needed to end the conversation. “I’m in the
process of working it all out with him. We actually have plans to have a late
dinner tonight.” The best way to get past his guards was to set up a meeting.
Truthfully, Kara was planning to lure her father to Multnomah Falls. She knew
the area well. The sick son of a bitch wouldn’t be able to resist the
opportunity to kill her himself, or at least witness her being killed. 

“Oh God, no, Kara!” Emily cleared her
throat and lowe
red her voice. “No way. Absolutely not.
It’s a trick. You need to leave town. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot go have
dinner with your dad. He’s crazy mad. He’ll kill you. Get your butt in your car
and leave town right now.”

Kara took a deep breath and released it with
a sigh of frustration. “I don’t want to discuss it with you. I know what I’m
doing.”

“But…”

“Drop it, Emily. I’ve made up my mind.”

Emily took Kara’s hands in hers. “I’ll
help you.”

“You can’t. No one can,” Kara said,
immediately regretting it.

“You’re wrong.” Revealing her distress
over the situation, Emily’s voice elevated and cracked. “Please. Oh God, please
don’t go after him. Leave the state. I have a few thousand dollars hidden. I’ll
give it to you. He won’t find you again.”

“I’m not taking your money. I know what
I’m doing, Emily.”

“Really? I think if you did you wouldn’t
have returned. You certainly wouldn’t be under the delusion you have any chance
of killing him. Even if you could get to him, you’re not capable of committing
murder. And, like it or not, that’s a fact.”

“You’re wrong. He almost killed my baby.
He will eventually succeed if I don’t kill him first.”

“Oh, Kara. I’m so sorry.” She paused for
several seconds. “I thought you were going to die.”

Kara frowned. “It must have been horrible
for you to see me like that. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to go after him alone. I
know someone who can help. I’ll sneak you into the club tonight and we can talk
to him.”

“You haven’t left the club yet?”

“No. I met a…I can’t. It’s a complicated
situation. I’ve a friend that needs my help.”

“Who?” She shook her head. “Never mind.
It doesn’t matter. You can’t help your friend while she is still there. You
shouldn’t be anywhere near that place.”

“It’s not a woman. It’s a man.”

“A boyfriend?”

“No. His name is Zack Savage. I barely
know him. He saved my life about two years ago. I was being attacked in an
alley. Now it’s my turn to save him.”

“Look at all the young girls working in
that place. I bet a number of them are underage. You were underage when you
started dancing for Mary. You’re still underage. All of those girls are
addicted to crack. If Zack chooses to be a customer of that club he isn’t worth
sticking around for.”

“Everyone says that. I look younger than
I am. I’m nineteen. I’ll be twenty in a few months.”

“That’s way too young to be throwing
your life away and dancing in a skanky hellhole like that.”

“I’m not dancing anymore. And he wasn’t
there to enjoy the entertainment. He was trying to convince me to leave. I
wouldn’t do it. I wanted to. But I couldn’t.  And now, because he wouldn’t
give up and just leave me behind, they’re keeping him prisoner. They’re
torturing him, killing him slowly. It’s my fault.”

“At the club?” Kara asked. “How? What
are you talking about?”

“Yes and no. There’re secret tunnels
beneath the club. I just learned about many more beneath the entire city. I’ve
been searching for him in them. I’ve been making a map. Vampires built them
many years ago. They use the tunnels to travel unseen from one place to the
next. And sometimes, they use them to lock up and torture their enemies.”

Kara’s heart sank. She didn’t doubt that
vampires were real. She’d had encounters with one when her father first
discovered she was recording him with the intention of turning him in, but the
story about the tunnels and a man being held prisoner seemed too farfetched to
believe. “You promised you would stop getting high, Emily. It’s going to kill
you.”

“I’ve been clean for weeks.” Emily
lifted her chin. “I’m serious. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Mary Tate
has vampires working for her. And you know Demetri Demidov, right?”

“Yeah. Who doesn’t? I sure hope you’re
staying away from him. The man gives me the creeps.” Kara suddenly realized
just how unfair it was to accuse her of being high because the story that
seemed unreal. It wasn’t that she truly didn’t believe the story. The truth was
that she didn’t want to believe it. Even after having her own encounter with a
vampire she’d had trouble accepting the reality of their existence. She took
Emily’s hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you of being high. If you
say the tunnels are real I believe you. But please, stay out of them. They’re
dangerous.”

“It’s okay. I understand. But I can’t
stay out of them. Not yet.”

“Why?”

“There’s more. I thought Demetri was one
of them.”

“You mean a vampire?” Kara asked.

“Yes.”

Kara shrugged. “Why?”

“A vampire, Jeremy Lang, came into my
room one night. He tried to rape me. I think he would’ve killed me. Demetri
appeared from out of nowhere. He didn’t do anything. Not really. He just showed
up and Jeremy dropped to the ground and rolled around in what appeared to be
the most horrible pain imaginable. I thought he was going to die from it, but
he managed to crawl out of the room. Demetri did something to him with his
mind.”

“That doesn’t sound like a very
humanlike ability to me. How does it prove Demetri isn’t a vampire?”

“If Demetri were a vampire why would he
stop Jeremy from attacking me?”

“He probably…I don’t know.”

“And there’s more. Demetri can control
an entire room of people with his mind. I’ve seen it happen.” Emily
straightened her shoulders and stood tall. “I’m not afraid of him. Not one tiny
bit.”

“You know what you’re saying is insane,
right? You need to get the hell away from that club. Demetri isn’t your friend.
From what I’ve heard he isn’t anyone’s friend. Isn’t he Mary’s lover? Never
mind. It doesn’t matter who he’s screwing. I don’t know why he helped you, but
I do know that he’s dangerous.” Kara paused. “Are you sleeping with him?”

“No. Of course not. We’re just friends.
He sort of reminds me of… I wish my father would’ve been like him.”

“I’ve never heard anything about him
that would make him seem the fatherly type. Maybe you should leave town with me
before you get yourself killed.”

“I’m perfectly safe. Demetri is very
powerful and he is looking out for me.” Emily smiled. “I know you don’t believe
it, but I can prove it all to you.”

“How?” Kara shook her head.

“Come back to the club with me. I made a
video of Demetri coming into the club one night. He made everyone freeze. It
was totally awesome. It was like they were hypnotized.”

“He controlled an entire club full of
people?”

“Yes.” Emily nodded.

“Does he know you have the video?”

“I don’t know.’

“Do you know what he was trying to
accomplish?” Kara asked.

 “Mary took Zack from him. She hid
Zack. Demetri was looking for him and didn’t want anyone in the club to know
about it. I followed him.”

 “And, though he didn’t want anyone
to know, he told you what he was doing?” Kara shook her head. “If what you’re
saying is true why would he tell you? Why didn’t he hypnotize or freeze you
along with everyone else?”

“I told you why.” Emily smiled. “He is
my friend. He wanted me to go with him. He needed my help.”

“If he’s so powerful why would he need
your help?”

“I don’t know. Please, I know you think
I’m lying, but I can prove it. Come back to the club with me. He’ll help you. I
know he will.”

 “No. I don’t want his help. He’s
dangerous. You need to keep your distance from him. I don’t think you’re lying.
I think you’re confused. I think he is using you.” Kara was curious about the
video, but she couldn’t go to the club. She figured that Demetri had somehow
managed to brainwash Emily into believing he was her friend.

“You shouldn’t be so quick to judge
Demetri. He helped you before.” Appearing to focus on her shoes, Emily lowered
her gaze. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you. He won’t be happy I did.” She looked
up at Kara. “Demetri saved your life.”

“I’ve never met him. I’ve only heard
about him.”

“When I found you unconscious in Mary’s
old burned down club I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared. I was really
high. I freaked out big time. I almost left you. Then, Demetri showed up. He
did something to save you. I think he healed you. It was kind of weird. I saw
energy, like fire and electricity, coming out of his hands and going into your
body. Gashes and bruises on your face and body vanished right before my eyes.
After he was done healing you, he put you in his car and he let me drive you to
the hospital.”

“He allowed you to drive while you were
high?” Kara asked.

“I wasn’t high when I drove.”

“Come on, you just admitted to being
high. How could you’ve driven me anywhere? You can’t trust your memory of that
night.”

“He fixed me. He made it so I don’t need
to get high. I never had one withdrawal symptom. I don’t even think about it
anymore. Not at all. I’m begging you to trust me. Come to the club with me.
We’ll ask him to help you.” Emily paused for a few seconds. “If you don’t want
to ask Demetri for help maybe we can go down to the courthouse in the morning
and get a restraining order.”

“I’m not involving Demetri or anyone
else in my problems, especially you. I know you don’t seriously think a piece
of paper is going to stop my dad from sending another one of his men after me.”

“I’m sure it’ll make him think twice
before he tries it again,” Emily said.

“Breaking the law is his way of life.
It’ll only piss him off.”

“There are shelters for women to hide.”

“Hide? Emily,
he’s determined to kill his own daughter and unborn grandchild. He’s as
powerful as he is crazy. There’s nowhere for me to hide. He’ll find me.” Kara
realized she’d spent too much time talking to Emily. She needed to get rid of
her. It was the only way to protect her.

“But…”

 “Just leave me the alone, Emily.
What I do or don’t do is none of your business. You don’t know a damned thing.
I don’t want your opinions.” Seeing the sadness and pain in Emily’s eyes broke
her heart, but convinced it was for the best she didn’t allow it to stop her.
“I’m serious. Go. Just go.”

***

Eli
walked past Kara to stand in line. Fighting the urge to look at her, he waited
to pay for his gas for what seemed like forever and a day. The last thing he
needed to do was to get involved with whatever trouble she’d gotten herself
into.

He wanted to shut her voice out, but
with his extra sensitive hearing he couldn’t help but overhear the conversation
she was having with another woman standing in the far corner. He turned and
momentarily made direct eye contact with her, but then he allowed his gaze to
wander from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet and back. He hadn’t
noticed she was pregnant. Now, looking at her, the small bump on her belly was
obvious.

He couldn’t think of a reason for
Demetri to help her young friend. He was evil. Whatever he did was for his
gain. What would he gain by helping a female human? Nothing. Well, other than
some sort of twisted form of pleasure. What was really odd was that Demetri
might not have Zack. Everyone had assumed that Demetri had control of Zack.
Mary could never do it by herself. The vampires couldn’t do it. If Zack wasn’t
being held prisoner by Demetri where was he? It was something that needed to be
looked into. He decided to go to Astoria and talk to Nicholas as soon as he
filled up and figured out what to do about Kara.