Save the Last Vamp for Me (17 page)

He followed me when I brushed past, right into the living room. Tonya sat on the couch, her red-rimmed eyes following me as I crossed to grab a photo of Mom and me off the mantel. Her arms were locked around her husky’s neck.

“Miss Jones.” Rothman tapped me on the shoulder.

“I have to take this to the Barrows.”

“Wait a minute.”

“No. There’s a vampire lord who’s going to help me look for her. They know the Barrows best, and can find her faster than you can.” I looked at Tonya. “Pack a bag. Take all the dogs with you to David’s, and tell him what happened. He’ll call Kate in. Stay there until I tell you it’s safe to come home.”

She nodded. “All right.”

“And call me if they come up with anything useful.”

“I will.”

I turned my attention back to Rothman. “Do not leave her here alone.”

“Miss Jones, you can’t leave right now.”

“Yeah? Watch me.” I teleported.

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S
tone was in the library when I arrived. He took the photo and waved his hand at the table. “There’s coffee. Help yourself. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Once he vacated the room, I called for Leglin. My hound silently appeared, his mournful eyes rising to meet mine. “I want you to go back and keep an eye on Tonya until she leaves. After she pulls out of the driveway, come back to me.”

“
Yes, mistress
.” He disappeared, and my knees began shaking. I had to sit down. Somehow I’d left my purse and phone home. I really needed my phone.

Once before, I’d teleported an object without being in contact with it: Damian’s gun. Theoretically, I should be able to do it again. Except for the whole bit about I hadn’t exactly been aware of what I was doing the first time, what with being under a curse and all.

Yet I really, really needed my phone.

I closed my eyes, envisioning the device and willing it to appear so hard, my head throbbed in protest. After a minute or two, a small weight dropped into my lap. I opened my eyes and felt a smile start at the sight of my phone. It felt wrong to be smiling. Grabbing my phone to begin scrolling through the contact list, I quickly found the number I wanted and made the call.

“Hello, Miss Jones. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Thorandryll, elf prince, asked after the third ring. I wondered if he knew I’d borrowed some of his hounds while answering.

“I need help. My mom’s been kidnapped by vampires.”

“I’m truly sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I’m in Canada at the moment, taking care of some rather delicate business matters.”

“That’s okay, I just need to borrow your hounds. All of them.”

“Do you have permission from a council member to take them into the Barrows?”

Crap, really? I should’ve just jacked them like I did the first time, instead of calling to ask the favor. “Not exactly. I mean, not yet.”

“I’ll contact Alleryn...do you have his number? No?” he gave me his healer’s number. “Once you’ve been granted permission, call him. He’ll order the hounds to obey you and send them to you.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“We’ll discuss the price later.”

My blood pressure soared. “Are you seriously going to charge me something because my mother’s missing? You know what? Never freakin’ mind.”

Before I could end the call, Thorandryll said, “Wait. No fee for the use of my pack, Miss Jones. My apologies.”

“Thank you, and apology accepted.”

Stone returned as I ended the call. “I’m having copies of the photo made, and have three dozen of our people ready to begin searching.”

“That’s not enough.” I wasn’t certain exactly how large the Barrows were, but thirty-six people, even vampires, surely couldn’t cover the whole area very quickly.

“My master sleeps, as do many others of our house. I can’t leave the estate unprotected.” Stone scrubbed a hand over his face, drawing the stubble on his cheeks and chin to my attention. “We have others out searching for Merriven, so we’re a little short-handed right now.”

Perfect opportunity to bring up the call I’d just made. “Prince Thorandryll has agreed to loan me his hounds. I just need permission from a council member first.”

The dhampyr grimaced. “Lord Derrick would probably give permission, but he won’t awaken for another two hours.”

“Can’t you give it, in his place?” Time was speeding by. How long had it been since Mom was dragged out of the house? I checked the time on my phone. At least over four hours. The less time it took to find Mom, the better for her.

Stone’s grimace became a full-fledged frown. “No, I can’t speak for him on this. I know he’d want to instigate a search, but whether he’d definitely agree to having a large pack of elven hounds running loose...I simply can’t. I’m sorry.”

Part of me wanted to tell him to stuff it, I was calling in the hounds anyway. Kind of shabby since he’d offered to help, and was helping. I forced my anger away. It wasn’t going to help find Mom. “Okay, we’ll wait until he wakes up. What can you do now?”

“Send people to search the homes of those under watch, and to check certain areas where illegal activities regularly take place.”

Solid plan. Cover the places an unwilling donor might be hidden away. Made sense, but... “What do you mean by ‘those under watch’?”

Stone poured two cups of coffee, the heavenly aroma of dark roast spilling into the air. “Think of drug addicts. They have difficulty kicking the habit. There are vampires addicted to the rush of feeling that occurs when experiencing the life of their victims slipping away. Those who admit their addiction and ask for help are given it.”

Bloodaholics Anonymous, the twelve-step program for death-addicted vamps. The idea tickled my funny bone even under the circumstances, and laughter bubbled out of me. It leeched away my tension and anger, leaving only my fear for Mom. My laughter became sobs, and I buried my face in my hands, aware of the dhampyr leaving the room.

Stone returned to slide a box of tissues onto my lap while sitting down beside me. The mighty—that would be me—fell low about two seconds after he tentatively put his arm around my shoulders. He was warm, not cold. Felt human.

I turned to bury my face in his shoulder to finish my crying session, and felt the beating of his heart against my cheek. Another reminder that he wasn’t a vampire. My sobs became hiccups, and after the third one jolted through me, I straightened to swipe a fistful of tissues from the box.

While I dried my face and made a huge production of blowing my nose, Stone rose to return to the other sofa. Not looking up, I muttered, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “We already have teams out scouring the Barrows for Merriven. I’ll see that they receive copies of your mother’s photo.”

Right back to business. I liked that, and nodded. “I’ll walk around, do some telepathic scanning for her.”

“Once your backup arrives.”

“I knew I forgot something.”

Stone took a drink of his coffee, his lips twisting slightly. It had cooled off during my mini-breakdown. “Since we don’t know who took your mother, or why, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to wander around unaccompanied.”

Neither did I. “My hound will be here soon.”

“More backup than him. Elf hounds are quite intelligent, but they’re still dogs. They can be tricked or overwhelmed.”

Maybe, and being kidnapped myself certainly wouldn’t help Mom. I sighed, picking up my phone, which had fallen between the sofa cushions. “Let me make some calls.”

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“I
’ll be there soon,” Kate said before hanging up. “Make certain there’s a map.”

“I will.” She’d promised to tell the boss what was going on.

My next call was to Jo, because Leglin had appeared. He climbed onto the sofa with me, my purse dangling by its strap from his mouth. “Thanks, bub.”

I took it and scooted to give him room to lie down. Leglin pinned me with one of his forelegs and his head across my thighs. Jo finally answered. “Cordi, what the hell is going on? Tonya showed up, her car full of dogs, and all we understood was ‘Sunny’ and ‘vampires’.”

Reminded that I wasn’t the only one dependent upon Mom being okay, I asked, “Is she okay?”

“David’s house guest is making her tea and trying to calm her down. Now what was she trying to tell us?”

My explanation didn’t take long. Jo offered to come, but I pointed out the same thing Stone had: We didn’t really know what was going on, who had Mom, or why. “Kate’s on her way and I have Leglin with me.” I stroked my hound’s back, or at least as far down it as I could reach. “Tonya and Angelique need to be kept safe. Some of Derrick’s people are already out searching for Mom.”

“Okay, is Nick with you?”

“We broke up. He’s not working right now.”

Jo snorted. “Call him. He likes Sunny. He’ll help look for her.”

“Yeah.” I had no intention of doing it. Didn’t need the additional drama.

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will, thanks.” Ending that call, I wasn’t sure who to call next. Ronnie was out of town, and Damian would find out through work, if he hadn’t already. The tigers had Terra to worry about. Of course, Soames was on loan. I decided to call him.

“Hey, something came up. Can you meet me at Derrick’s?”

“Sure.” He sounded groggy. I’d woken him. “But it’ll take me a half hour or so.”

“That’s fine. See you when you get here.” It’d probably take him longer than that, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Time wasn’t an energy I knew how to manipulate. If I did, I’d have already done it to go back in time, to be at the house before the vampires arrived. Mom and Red would be safe, because I would’ve been there to save them.

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A
bout twenty hours later, in spite of vampires, telepathic scanning, and elf hounds, we’d learned nothing new and hadn’t found my mother. I saw the sun rising for the second time since I’d last slept as Mr. Whitehaven escorted me out of the Barrows Thursday morning. “Threatening those who are assisting you isn’t conducive to keeping them properly motivated.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, my last adrenalin surge wearing off. Exhausted, sick with fear, and angry at the lack of success—at any progress whatsoever—I only vaguely remembered what all I’d said while having a screaming meltdown.

“Dane will take you home to rest. Don’t return here until nightfall,” my boss ordered. “I will stay, and immediately inform you of anything important.”

“But,” I couldn’t come up with a coherent protest and closed my mouth. Didn’t resist as they bundled me into Soames’s truck. In fact, I fell asleep before Soames pulled the vehicle away from the curb.

When I woke, it was with no idea where I was or what time it was. The room was dark and my eyes felt dry and crusty. Rolling over, I managed to make out enough to realize it was Logan’s bedroom. What the hell was I doing here?

The low murmur of voices in the living room caught my attention, but so did an insistent message from my bladder. First things first.

A few minutes later, I opened the door to find Terra sitting on the couch, her eyes glued to a daytime soap opera. “That stuff will rot your brain.”

“Discord.” The blonde teen jumped to her feet and nearly knocked me off mine as she threw her arms around me. “You’re awake. Are you hungry? You didn’t wake up at all when Soames carried you in this morning. We thought you’d gotten hurt, but then he explained everything. Logan said to put you to bed and let you sleep.”