Ironic Sacrifice (2 page)

“Then say it!” he ordered harshly.

Charise flinched but obeyed. “I-I’m grateful!” she half-shouted.

“No, you stupid bitch, I don’t want or need your gratitude, but
she
does.” He inclined his head to Jayden. “Now thank her.”

The woman slowly approached Jayden, eyes full of awe. “Th-thank you.”

Jayden nodded.

“Now kiss her hand.” The icy command was irrefutable.

Charise took Jayden’s hand, face screwed up in disgust at the dirt and grime that covered the flesh, and quickly brushed her lips across it. Jayden was confused about Razvan’s motives for such a pointless demand. Maybe he just wanted to be cruel. One glance at the wicked glee in his eyes confirmed her suspicion.

“Very good, Charise,” he said in a way a teacher congratulates a pupil.

Then, quick as lightning he pinned her against the brick wall. Jayden thought he had changed his mind about letting Charise go, but it appeared she was wrong.

“Now you are going to redeem yourself, yes?” he whispered. “I am certain you will, Charise. I am certain you will treat every person you encounter from this day forward with respect and dignity. Do you know how I know this?”

“H-how?” she stammered.

“Because, my dear, if you don’t… if you remain the same self-centered trollop that I summoned into this alley, I will know and I will bring you here again. And trust me, you will not be so lucky as to survive the encounter. Now go!”

She didn’t move, only stared dumbly.

“Quickly!” he growled, “before I change my mind. I am getting very hungry.”

Charise ran. The sound of her clacking high heels echoed down the alley long after she was out of sight.

“Now, Jayden, where were we?” Razvan turned to her.

Oh God, she was going to die now. Jayden gazed up at the vampire, desperate to study the last thing she would ever see.

Razvan was taller than she, about six feet. His hair was long and dark and fell in rich waves to his shoulders. His eyes were like perfectly carved onyxes and when she met them it was like looking into eternity and slowly slipping over the edge. She shook herself, unwilling to fall under his spell, which he was surely trying to exert upon her, and turned her attention to the rest of his face. It was all harsh masculine planes and angles, with a firm jaw under a goatee and high, almost hollow cheekbones. The brows were thick and arched in such a way that he would always look malevolent. It was the same with his lips; they were so sharply sculpted and tinged with cynicism under a rakish mustache, it was doubtful that they could ever portray a smile of joy or honesty.

“What is the matter, Jayden?” Razvan asked suddenly. “Don’t tell me I’ve now frightened you speechless. Not after you so boldly confronted me.”

“No. Nothing’s wrong,” she said too quickly. “Well, besides the fact that I’m about to die. It’s kind of a large thing to grasp, if you don’t mind.”

His smile faded, eyes turned serious. “Don’t worry. I will give you time.” He held out a hand. “Come.”

She frowned in confusion. Was he toying with her? Unease trickled down her spine like rivulets of ice water. “What do you mean? Aren’t you going to kill me now?”

Razvan shook his head. “No, I think not. You amuse me too much right now. And I would at least prefer to have you fed and bathed first.”

Her cheeks grew hot in embarrassment. She didn’t think about how badly she must smell to him, having not bathed in a week.

“Well?” He raised a brow.

Shivering in apprehension with a touch of excitement, she placed her hand in his. It was cool to the touch, but not as cold as she had expected of an undead creature. His other hand clamped about her waist as he pulled her body against his. The shocking intimacy made her tremble.

Suddenly, they both began to rise up into the air. Jayden clung to him in support, but as their ascent quickened, the wine, malnutrition, lack of sleep and shock got to be too much for her. Blackness closed over her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Razvan shook his head in incredulous mirth as he laid the unconscious woman down on the hotel bed. Why did he make such a ridiculous bargain? He could have easily fed on both women or spared Jayden by washing all she had seen from her memory. But he had not.

Her offer to sacrifice her life for a stranger’s had both intrigued him and struck a chord within his blackened soul that he had thought long dead and buried. What had spurred her to such a rash action? Was she really so noble, so selfless that she would die for a stranger? Or did she feel that her own life had no value? He had to know.

And then there was her incredible psychic power. He hadn’t encountered a mortal with such strong abilities before in his near millennium of existence. It amazed him, this power. Her clairvoyance could be a near match to his prodigy, Silas’s, and he was well over five centuries old.

Usually his kind stayed far away from any human with even a scrap of psychic power, for their abilities were dangerous to vampires for obvious reasons. Razvan, however, used to seek them out to help him find his missing brother. All had failed... but this woman... Dare he hope?

He looked at her again. She was so dirty and wrapped up in faded worn clothing that it was hard to determine her appearance. It didn’t matter. There was something about this one, something that drew him more than his previous pet psychics.

Before he could think any further, Razvan bit his finger and coaxed her lips open to receive his blood as he recited the words that would Mark her as his property. “I, Razvan Nicolae, Lord of Spokane, Mark this mortal, Jayden Leigh, as mine and mine alone. With this Mark I give Jayden my undying protection. Let all others, immortal and mortal alike, who cross her path sense my Mark and know that to act against her is to act against myself and thus set forth my wrath as I will avenge what is mine.”

The Mark flared between them in an electric blast of hot energy. Razvan stumbled backwards, eyes wide. Was this a normal reaction? He had no way of knowing, for he’d never Marked a mortal before, not even the only one he’d felt a smattering of affection for and later, to his undying regret, Changed. What the hell had possessed him to do this thing, and with such a pitiful scrap of humanity that lay before him? The more he thought about it, the more his chest tightened in near panic. Shaking his head, he forced the disturbing question away. The deed was finished.

With that settled, Razvan went into the bathroom and started running bath water. Amusement curved his lips as he recalled the resort staff’s shocked expressions at the well-dressed gentleman carrying in a vagrant from the streets. When she was bathed, fed, and dressed in new clothes they wouldn’t recognize her.

His amusement faded. A hotel was not the best place, but Razvan couldn’t think of anywhere else to take his new possession. His home wasn’t suitable, especially for one in her malnourished and mentally unstable condition. And, of course, when immediate necessities were taken care of, there were other things that needed to be done.

When the bath was full Razvan returned to the bed and began to undress Jayden. Whether from exhaustion or malnourishment, she had not yet awakened. His breath caught in surprise when he felt a tremor of desire at the sight of her naked flesh. She was much too thin, but he appreciated the sight of her small pert breasts and narrow, yet still feminine hips. Her legs were long and graceful as a dancer’s and her stomach was smooth and flat.

Again, the sense of irony struck him. Though he was a vampire he still had a man’s needs, but not quite so often or intensely. He rarely bedded mortal women, for not only were they food but their ignorance and frivolousness annoyed him. Instead, he found his release with females of his own kind. But this woman… even dirty and half-starved …she ignited his lust more with every second that he looked upon her.

She began to stir, moaning softly when he lowered her into the steaming bath water. As he gently began to scrub her with a soapy washcloth, her eyes snapped open and for what felt like an eternity their gazes locked in what seemed a violent battle of wills.

The spell broke. Jayden’s mouth opened in a silent scream of terror and she began to squirm desperately out of his grasp. Hot water sloshed in the tub, splashing him.

“Shhh…” he whispered in a placating tone he didn’t know he had. “It’s all right. I am only trying to help.”

“Oh God… Oh God!” she gasped over and over again, arms crossed over her breasts in an age-old feminine gesture of defensiveness. “It wasn’t a dream!”

There was a long moment of silence in which Razvan stood up and watched the emotions play across her sculpted features, dancing within eyes that were so dark and deep a green they were nearly as black as his own. Then she lowered her head so that her hair covered her face and her shoulders began to shake as a soft gasping sound came from her lips.
Damn it.
She was crying. The only time he dealt with crying women was when they were pleading for their lives and all he had to do was sink his fangs into their throats to resolve the matter. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't want to kill her. She was too interesting.

Then, her face lifted. To Razvan’s shock Jayden was laughing. She looked up at him and laughed harder. His brow creased. Was she having hysterics?

Tears of mirth streamed down her cheeks. “You’re a real live honest-to-God
vampire!
And… and I
asked
you to kill me.”

“My apologies, but I fail to see the humor in this situation.” Razvan replied. Why did he always end up with the mad ones?

“Don’t you get it?” she cried in a choked voice. “Every time I touch somebody I see their darkest secrets in living color and
I can’t take it anymore!
And then… and then
you
come.”

This time the tears were of pain, not laughter. “I don’t belong with people anymore. And the pain of my warped existence is becoming unbearable. Thank you so much for taking me, Razvan. But please,
please
end it soon.”

Razvan stared at her in stunned awe of her passionate, painful declaration. He wanted to tell her that her powers really were a blessing, that she could use them to fulfill her most unimaginable desires, she only needed to learn how to control them and that he was going to take her to get help. But now was not the time, not when she was in such an overemotional state.

Instead he said, “That will come later, Jayden. Now finish your bath and I will order you something to eat.”

With that, he left the bathroom to call room service and ponder the woman’s outstanding power and courage and what he was going to do about it. Everything with Razvan Nicolae had a means to an end.

When she came out bundled in an overlarge terry cloth robe, skin pink, freshly scrubbed and smelling of feminine arousal, he felt another tremor of desire.

And he still had no idea what that end would be.

***

Jayden stared at the exquisite furnishings of the hotel suite in awe. Never before had she seen so much luxury in her life. The bed, which suddenly appeared intimidating, was large enough for five people to sleep in.

Remembering her odd situation, she pulled the lapels of the terry-cloth robe tighter around her body and fixed her gaze upon the vampire, death incarnate who was to take her pain away. A verse from a John Keats poem flitted through her mind.

“I’ve been half in love with easeful death.

“Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme

“To take into the air my quiet breath.”

Not only was Death easeful, but he was beautiful as well. Her knees trembled and her female center quivered at the sight of him. His black eyes locked on hers, glittering with dark knowledge and wicked promise. She opened her mouth to say something—she didn’t know what— anything to break the awkward silence, but was saved by a knock on the door.

Razvan rose from the bed with enviable grace. “Your meal is here, my pet.”

He opened the door and a boy came in with a covered tray.
Coeur d’ Alene Resort
was embroidered above his nametag. So that was where she was. She’d read about the place and driven by it a few times. Only rich tourists stayed here. It struck her as odd that he’d take her across the state line to a fancy lakeside resort in Idaho to kill her. But here she was …On her last night alive. The strangeness nearly brought back another burst of maniacal laughter. Razvan took the food, paid the boy, and set the tray on a table across the room. He gestured languidly for her to come to the table.

My last meal,
she thought, and her amusement dissipated.

She sat at the table, lifting the cover from the tray. Fettuccini Alfredo, calamari, and glazed vegetables graced the plate like an expensive sculpture. She hadn’t eaten in at least two days and the scent of the food made her stomach growl. She blushed in embarrassment but Razvan merely smiled, fangs concealed, and gestured for her to eat.

Tentatively, she took her first bite. It tasted so good that she was lost from then and devoured the meal like a ravenous animal. When the plate was clean, Razvan presented her with a glass of red wine, which she polished off in seconds. Once her belly was warm and full, the vampire stood and reality sank in once again.

Jayden rose from the table and slowly walked to Razvan. She was so close to him that she had to tilt her head upward to meet his eyes.

“Well, now what?” she asked with more bravado than she felt.

For the longest time he was silent, trapping her eyes with his, making her feel she was falling into their blackness. He raised a pale hand and she flinched, but he only touched her hair.

“Your hair reminds me of spun rubies,” he whispered.

“Um… yours is pretty too,” she said awkwardly. He was so frightening, so beautiful, that it made it difficult for her to think.

“Remove your robe,” he commanded softly.

It was time
, she realized. Now she would fall into the arms of this exquisite creature and he would sink his fangs into her throat and slowly drain the pain that was her life away into oblivion. Solemnly she untied the belt and slipped the robe from her shoulders, allowing it to fall into a fluffy puddle on the floor. Some part of her recoiled at being naked in front of a stranger, but the rest quivered with desire.

His cool hands reached out. One caressed her breasts; the other ran lightly down her hip, drawing a tremulous gasp from her lips. He pulled her against him and the feel of his body against hers made her heart pound even harder. Surprisingly, with her ear against his chest, she heard his heart beat in answer. Funny, she didn’t think a vampire would have a pulse. Her thoughts were banished when he cupped her chin and tilted her head to meet his obsidian eyes. The Keats poem sang once more in her mind.

Now more than ever seems it rich to die.

To cease upon the midnight with no pain.

While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad

In such an ecstasy…

“You are beautiful, Jayden Leigh,” Razvan whispered in a voice that made her shiver from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

His lips lowered to capture hers and she began to shake even harder. Jayden wrapped her arms around him as the power of his kiss washed over her, filling her with electrifying sensations. His tongue caressed her lower lip before plunging in to dance against hers. Her knees weakened and she collapsed against him.

God, she’d never dreamed it would be this good.

Razvan lifted her and lowered her onto the bed, all the while continuing the kiss. The weight of his body on hers felt so delicious that a low moan escaped her lips. His hair tumbled down to rest against her shoulder and her hand rose up to tangle in it. It was softer than it looked. His mouth trailed from her lips down her jaw and when he began to kiss her neck she gasped loudly and ground her hips against his. Suddenly, his body broke contact with hers and he sat up. Jayden whimpered, audibly bereft. But he was only removing his black silk shirt.

Not only was Death beautiful of face, he was exquisite of form as well. His sculpted chest was reminiscent of Michelangelo’s
David.
She couldn’t believe that this satiny flesh was being pressed against hers.
If only all women could die like this…

Then, he kissed her again and all coherent thoughts were dashed away. His hips moved against hers with demanding force and Jayden reveled in the intoxicating spell this so-called monster wove around her.

His hands caressed her all over, making her feel cherished, even prized. After what seemed like an eternity, Razvan’s lips once again trailed from her now swollen lips to her throat. This time, she felt the sharp prick of his fangs piercing her flesh. The sensation was painful but there was a poignant undertone of pleasure that seemed to expand as her blood flowed out of her veins and into his mouth.
Dying feels so wonderful
. Desperately, she clung to him, for already dizziness was taking her over and delicious blackness was hovering near, waiting to close its welcome arms over her.

The vampire made a low dangerous sound, pulling her from the brink of darkness. His fangs withdrew from her throat and his body lifted from hers. She could hear the rustle of his pants as he removed them.