Reign of the Vampires (12 page)

Danika nodded again. “I see,” she said. “Well, then, my second question is how much are each of you willing to pay the other, to relinquish his claim to the store?”

The two men met gazes and then turned to Danika again. When she didn’t move, Coleman squirmed.

“Nothing, I would never give that vamp any money! The store should be mine, and that is all there is to it. I would rather neither of us get it than to give any of my money to him,” Coleman spat.

Sustin watched Danika, a look of comprehension crossed his face. He calculated for a minute, and then said, “M’lord, I would pay whatever you deem fair value that I should pay this man to relinquish his claim.”

Danika nodded then turned to Coleman. “Sir, you have shown no willingness to be either fair or gracious to a fellow being. Whereas, Mr. Sustin has offered to compensate you for your time and your claim. Therefore I award the claim to Mr. Sustin and order him to pay you, Mr. Coleman, ten thousand dollars. The money will be exchanged within twenty-four hours, and then the contract will be drawn up for the purchase of the store.”

“How can you make such an unfair judgment?” Coleman yelled. “I offered first, then
he
came in and made a higher offer; he tried to steal the store from me. And now you are siding with him? I demand to see the three kings!”

Danika’s eyes blazed with anger. But instead of crossing and ripping his throat out, she spoke in a dangerously quiet manner. “How much do you want then, sir? This is about money, after all, is it not? So how much do you want to walk away?”

“A million dollars.” He didn’t hesitate.

Danika leaned back in her chair. “You are all witnesses. He has three times insulted me, here in my own house, by not addressing me with respect. Therefore he has forfeited his right to be heard here, or by any higher court. My ruling is now that the store goes to Mr. Sustin, and that is the end.”

“That is the end,” said all three underlords together.

Danika motioned for William to show them out.

“You can’t do this!” Coleman shouted. “You cannot give him that store. It is unfair! It is un-American! I won’t allow—”

“How dare you!” Danika bellowed, rising from her chair. “You have insulted me, in my own home. For that alone, I should have your throat ripped out! But for you to tell me what you will or will not allow? Whom do you think you are addressing? I’m not a common slave. I am a Vampire lord! Go now, and if I ever see you in my court again, you will be stripped of all possessions and sent to the slave auctions.”

Coleman had gone from his regular blue-gray color to almost an ash white. He backed away from Danika’s wrath. “Yes, my lord. I apologize, my lord,” he whispered. William took him by the arm and turned him around.

“Well decided, m’lord,” said Oliver.

There were murmurs of consent from the other underlords. William returned and Danika pulled out the next file.

“Bring in Smith and Mitchell please, William,” she said, her voice again impassive.

“Yes, my lord.”

* * * *

The next four cases went without incident. Danika chose to take a small break before the last case. Everyone stood and stretched. William asked to use the bathroom. In his absence, the underlords spoke about trivial matters while Danika steadied herself for what was coming. She closed her eyes in an effort to gather her thoughts, but when she did, all she saw was Xenock running at her from across her bedroom.

She took a deep breath, then motioned for William to bring in the group. Danika braced herself for whatever would come next. She rubbed her temples while she waited. How she wished she had a mate at times like this. Her thoughts traveled to Mason. His strong body, tall and warrior-like, popped into her head. With him at her side as a turned vampyr, no one would dare challenge her. As much as she hated to admit it, Vampire, vampyr and vamps alike, didn’t fear her like they did a male. But she didn’t have time to think about him now, the entourage entered the room.

Neeman and two trackers had a vamp between them. She was average-looking, about twenty-five human years. She had the classic gray-blue skin, and dirty blond hair below her shoulders. Her clothes were clean, and she smelled like she’d been washed down.

Danika would’ve thought she was a normal, everyday vamp, except for her eyes and hands. The eyes darted around the room, taking everything in. A look of both anger and terror etched her face as she stood under the scrutiny of the underlords and Danika and twitched. Deep scratches covered her arms. Even with flex cuffs on, the vamp clawed herself in nervousness. Neeman put his hand on her arm to stop her. She glanced up at him, and he shook his head. She wrung her hands instead.

“Lord Danika Chekov, this is Mandy Tenmore. She’s the vamp we sent word of.” Neeman prodded Mandy forward. She stumbled and shuffled forward a couple of steps. “Bow,” he said under his breath. Mandy managed a small bow.

“Mandy,” said Danika. “It’s obvious that you ingested human blood. Tell me how you came about that human from whom you fed.”

Mandy dropped her gaze to her feet, scratched at her neck, and then looked at Danika. Her eyes flickered to William, then to her feet. “I-I...don’t know. I mean, I think I do, but I’m not sure.”

“Well, why don’t we start with what happened the night you think you ingested human blood,” suggested Danika in a slow tone. Mandy wasn’t looking at Danika; she was staring at William. Her eyes dilated and contracted. She licked her lips as she watched him. “Mandy.” Danika snapped her fingers, causing the girl to whip her head toward Danika. “I believe you were about to tell me what happened that night.”

Mandy glanced at William again. “I... I went out with some friends. We’d been studying all week for our exams and wanted to have some fun. We went to our usual bar, Big Red’s. We stayed there for a while and had some drinks and got something to eat. Then we went to another bar called Mickey Mike’s. We’d decided to call it a night when some Vampires came in. I hadn’t seen them before. They were cute, even if they were kind of older than us.” She’d started scratching her arm again. Danika was afraid she was going to dig all the way through it.

“What happened next?” Danika prodded.

“They said that they knew of this great new place and asked if we wanted to come along. They had a big fancy car and took us in it to the other bar. It wasn’t anything like we were used to; it must have been a Vampire-only club. I didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. We had a few drinks, and the Vampires got a bit friendly. Two of them had paired up with my friends. The third, the older Vampire, talked to me. We excused ourselves and he started showing me around. It was like he owned the place or something.” She stopped talking and stared off in the distance. Danika let her think for a moment, but the instant her gaze focused on William, Danika pressed her.

“He seemed like he owned the place. Then what?” Danika tapped her fingers on the edge of her seat.

“He took me into a room, a private room. He had drinks brought in, and then told me that he thought I was pretty. He kissed me and asked if I wanted to add a little kick to the champagne. He said it was special, like me. He called for a bottle and poured something into our glasses. It tasted amazing.” Her eyes drifted to William again. “It was like nothing I’d ever tasted before. He gave me more and more. Then we—” Her voice dropped. She scratched more feverishly, and looked from William to Danika, then at the floor.

“When I woke up the next morning, I was in my apartment. My head hurt more than it ever had in my life. I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t. I spent the next day and night in my bed. By the following morning, my head was worse and I was so hungry for more of what he had given me. I wandered into the street to try and find more, but I couldn’t find the club again.”

Danika sat silently. A male Vampire had fed the girl human blood on purpose. But to what avail? He had to know what would happen to her. Why in the world would a Vampire do something like that? “Can you think of anything else about the club you went to? Anything about the Vampire who fed you the human blood?”

Mandy bit her nails and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Occasionally she looked up at William, and then down again.

“You need to tell me everything if you want mercy. I cannot trust you if you won’t be forthcoming.” Danika let the weight of her gaze fall on the girl.

Mandy whimpered and bit her nails harder.

“Tell me!” Danika pounded on the arm of her chair.

“I... I don’t know. I have this...this thing in my head. I don’t know what it is. After the Vampire and I...well...after we were intimate, I felt funny. I lay on the couch and someone came in. The Vampire said, ‘She’s done, and I need more. Go get a girl.’ Then the other person left. I passed out at that point, but when I woke up, he was bent over a human, feeding from her. He threw her on the floor when he’d drained her. I wanted to drink from her, too, but I was so out of it I couldn’t. Then the Vampire came to me and said, ‘Do your job well now, sweetie,’ kissed me, and...that’s all.”

Danika’s knuckles were almost white gripping her chair arms. “Are you saying a Vampire just called for a human girl and someone brought him one? Like room service?”

“It seemed that way.”

Danika turned to the underlords; they were as stunned as she. “What does this mean?”

“Possibly an underground slave market?” suggested Victor.

“That doesn’t sound like a slave market. No one drains slaves. It’s too expensive. And why would a Vampire give a vamp human blood on purpose?” She shook her head.

“This is something we need to look into,” said Oliver.

Danika turned to Mandy. “Is there anything you can tell me about the club? Anything that would help me find it?”

“Please.” Mandy began to shake. “Please, I have to feed.”

Danika frowned. Mandy hadn’t had human blood in a week. She should be a bit better by now. “Hasn’t Neeman been giving you Savor?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t taste right anymore. I need human, please! I promise I can control myself, I just need a little human.”

“Mandy, you can’t have human blood. It’ll make you worse. You need to drink Savor. And within a month or so, you should be better. You’ll need to stay in confinement for the next thirty days, and you’ll be tended to daily by a doctor who’ll monitor your progress. I’ll do this for you in return for your cooperation in helping us find the Vampire and the club. That is your judgment.” Danika waved her hand.

Mandy wailed. She started talking to herself in gibberish, pacing, alternating between chewing her nails and scratching her arms. Danika couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. Mandy kept glancing at William, becoming more and more agitated.

Danika’s senses were on overdrive, the need to protect William becoming increasingly more urgent. Rogues in the throes of bloodlust were as strong as Vampires. “William, why don’t you ask Siad to bring Mandy some water, please.” Danika motioned for William to leave. “I’ll come to your room when we’re done.”

“Yes, my lord,” he said, his voice strained. He moved down the platform, walked around the back of the chairs and tried to make a wide berth around Neeman. What occurred next happened so fast, no one had time to react.

William was to the right of Neeman. Mandy’s protests of “No” became louder, and Mandy lunged. Neeman managed to grab her within arm’s reach of William. Neeman and the other trackers fought to gain control of her. William stepped back, into the platform. Mandy went into an all-out rage. Breaking her flex cuffs, she grappled with Neeman and the other trackers, and Danika had a hard time following the situation. But suddenly the men let go of her and backed away.

Somehow, Mandy had gotten hold of Neeman’s gun, loaded with special ultraviolet rounds fatal to vamps and Vampires alike. Mandy paced, looking from Neeman to Danika, then William.

“Give him to me, or I’ll shoot everyone,” she shrieked.

Danika rose from her seat and William stepped next to her. “William is mine,” Danika commanded. “If you give the gun to Neeman now, I’ll allow you to live.”

“No! Give him to me and I’ll stop."

Mandy was crazed, but wavering. “Mandy, stop this now and give Neeman the gun.”

“No!” Mandy screamed again. “You Vampires are so selfish. You refuse to share with us. Except for the Vampire in the club, he was nice. He didn’t care that I was a vamp. He shared with me. I’ll never tell you who he is!”

Mandy pointed the gun at Danika and pulled the trigger. Hands pushed her out of the way. She hit the step, as the sound of the gunshot reverberated around the atrium. All three underlords, as well as Neeman and the other trackers, tackled the girl and ripped the gun away from her.

The smell hit Danika first, the sweet, wet smell of fresh blood. William lay on the floor, next to her, his eyes wide and staring. The hole in his chest spilled blood onto the floor. Danika’s teeth burst forth from her gums at the smell. She stared down at William, unsure what to do. She pressed a shaky hand over the wound.
Not William.
He blinked at her in slow motion, trying to form words but couldn’t. Danika continued to cover the hole in his chest with her hands. Her brain refused to work. There was something she should be doing.

She stared into his dimming eyes. She’d grown fond of him in the last weeks. Though she hadn’t put him under the slave bond, he was the closest thing she had to a friend. She scanned the room, trying to remember where she was when she saw Mandy. Danika’s rage took over.

In a flash, she jumped the distance from the platform to where Mandy thrashed. The three underlords stood aside as Neeman and another tracker restrained the girl by her arms.

With a swift movement, Danika was on the girl and ripped her throat out. Mandy’s eyes bulged, and then she gasped for air as the huge hole in her throat shot black blood, pouring onto the red carpet.

Danika turned. William’s face grew pale.

“You must make him yours,” said Oliver. “It is the only way to save him.”

She crossed to William and gathered him in her arms. “He isn’t ready.”

“He took a bullet for you, Danika,” said Neeman. “He’s ready.”