Siren Nights (Series Part 1) (The Lure) (8 page)

I put the opened purse between my knees,
then slid down until my shoulder blades touched the stained concrete ground.
Hiking my knees up, I barely managed to grab the purse in my shaking right
hand. I fumbled around desperately, finally managing to snag the phone inside
and drop the rest. I twisted my head to the side of the beam and looked up at
the phone, flipping it on.

It read four twenty-nine P.M. Fifty percent
battery life. Most importantly: four bars reception. I laughed, suddenly
deliriously giddy.

With trembling hands, I turned on the GPS
and waited for it to find me, straining my ears for Roloth and praying that he
would not return soon.

The GPS icon blinked on and off, on and off.
Then the blue triangle appeared. I noted down my location, then speed-dialed
Tony.

My heart pounded as one ring passed, then
another. Then, a click. “Anna!” he exclaimed. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I croaked. I sounded hideous, I
thought in disgust.

“What? Are you okay? Where are you?”

I cleared my throat. “I’m fine. I’m at the
corner of Tin mill and M Yard. Warehouse 2nd floor.”

“On my way!” his voice faded on the last
word. Was he about to hang up?

“Wait!” I yelled, suddenly panicked.
“There’s going be a vampire here soon, an old one.”

“Got it.” Then a click, followed by a dial
tone.

I sighed and hung up, carefully opening my
purse with my knees and dropping my phone back in. Then, I kicked it back to
about where it was before. That would have to do.

I sat up and waited.

***

Unfortunately, Roloth came for me first,
wearing a long, hooded off-white coat and thick sunglasses. He tossed them off
and smiled down at me. “Sorry to leave you alone, Princess.”

I didn’t answer. He walked over to me.
“Here, you must be uncomfortable.” With a snap, he unlocked the cuffs and they
slid off onto the ground. I dropped my hands and massaged my wrists and
shoulders.

“I apologize for the rough accommodations,
but I simply could not lose you again.” He leaned down to stroke my face.

My revulsion to the touch of his cold hand
fought with my curiosity. Curiosity won. “What do you mean by ‘again?’”

He laughed, “In a matter of speaking. What
you are, my dear, is a treasure, of the sort that only appears once in a mortal
generation.”

He picked me up and set me on my feet.

“You are a treasure that deserves better
storage than this dusty warehouse, to be sure. Soon I will bring you to more...
accommodating environs, where you will be treated as the Princess you are.”

My heart clenched, “Soon?”

“As soon as the sun sets, it shouldn’t be
more than a half-hour now.”

My mind raced. Would Tony and the others be
too late?

I had to think of something. “I’m...” I was
interrupted by the growling of my stomach. Perfect. “I’m feeling... almost
faint from hunger,” I simpered.

“Of course, Princess,” he said as he bent
down and handed me the bag that Claire had given to me. “Here, you will want to
eat before you leave.” I saw the sandwiches; he had taken the money. Easy come,
easy go, I supposed.

But I was too hungry to care and the sudden
stand had made me as dizzy as I was claiming to be. I tore into the sandwiches
with a vengeance and before I knew it I was licking the crumbs off my fingers.

Though it was a trying effort, I managed to
slow down on the last two sandwiches, taking my time and eating slowly. By the
time I was done, the sunset was shining through a crack in the window.

He saw it too. “Almost... just a few
minutes more.”

I swallowed. Stall. I had to. “You keep
calling me a Princess, but I don’t understand. You seem to actually mean it.”

He laughed. “All women are Princesses,
even--no, especially, the ones that I devour in the night.” He stroked my neck
and I fought the urge to jerk away or run. “But you are right. You are
different, special.”

“You are destined to walk in the darkness
with us, my dear. And you shall become the greatest nightwalker of all. The
blood of Our Queen runs through your veins and when you are turned... it will
fully manifest.”

He embraced me. “Your power shall rule the
Night, my dear Siren and I shall rule you.”

“I am... to become a nightwalker?” I
murmured, fighting the disgust I felt at his touch.

“All in good time,” he assured me. “Once
you accept me as your master, I will show you into a new world.”

I cast my mind around for something to
extend the conversation, anything. “I don’t know...” I said. “It sounds
frightening.”

“As frightening as being born from a womb
is to the unborn,” he said. “But necessary. Your true life shall begin soon.”

He reached in his pocket. “Enough talk. I
will take you now and you will be silent.” He threw something at me,
glimmering.

No! The charm powder! I quickly closed my
eyes and turned my head away. The wave of rosy relaxation made my head spin,
but nothing else happened.

He was still a monster and I wouldn’t go
along with him.

“Stubborn girl!” he snarled. “I thought you
would respond to gentleness, but it seems I was mistaken.”

A stinging slap struck the side of my face
and I lost my balance, tumbling to the floor. “I’m sorry!” I yelled, thinking
fast. “I... I sneezed.”

Roloth growled, “Fine. Just don’t make a
sound as we go.” He glanced out the window.

“At least the sun’s long since set,” He
scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of wheat, then walked
towards the window.

“We’ve wasted enough t--Arrgh!” He stumbled
back and we fell together in a heap on the ground. He was staring at the open
window and I followed his gaze to a crossbow bolt embedded in the window frame.

My heart leapt. Tara! It had to be. Which
meant...?

The door behind us burst open and Tony
dashed in. “Die, vampire!”

“Damned hunters!” Roloth snarled, shoving
me upwards and into Tony. Tony caught me and spun me along the wall just as
Roloth struck, punching him in the gut. The hunter flew back into the frosted
window, cracking it in half. He just barely managed to avoid the second punch,
which shattered the window frame and sent him tumbling back onto the catwalk
overlooking the warehouse floor.

Roloth lunged, fist raised. Tony caught his
punch. Roloth’s eyes widened. “Nice... try,” panted Tony. “But I’m no ordinary
hunter.”

Tony yanked Roloth over his head and into a
pile of boxes down below. Tony turned to the outside window. “Change of plans,
Brett! Gimme my sword and head for the spotters!”

The window shattered as a sheathed blade
flew through it. Tony caught it in the air and drew it in one smooth motion,
letting the scabbard fall to the deck. Then, he leapt off the balcony and
disappeared from view.

I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I
was holding and sat down on one of the boxes, shaking. It was out of my hands
now. I heard a ferocious cry coming from below, then a yell from Tony and
several crashing sounds. Then heavy footsteps.

“Damn!” Tony’s voice echoed from below. “I
WILL find you, vampire!”

“Well doesn’t that sound scary,” someone
said right beside me. I jumped.

“Whoa, easy!” said Jason. “Don’t make a
fuss now, okay?”

“How did you get here?” I whispered,
casting a nervous eye out at the warehouse. No one seemed to notice him.

Jason shrugged. Even looking right at him,
I had trouble picking him out from the shadowy environment. “Claire got worried
when Roloth didn’t rendezvous with us. Then she hopped back to the house and
saw he’d broken her ward... not to mention wrecking our deposit. Then we
checked every hideout we knew he had.”

“Ah,” I said. “But why’d you bother?”

“Because it was our fault you met him in
the first place,” he replied. “Also, I think you should put your shirt back on.”

I looked down and blushed at my open shirt
with some buttons still missing. Quickly, I redid the remaining buttons as best
I could.

Jason nodded and extended a hand. “Now come
on. If your Hunter can’t hold him back...”

Bright light flooded through the window
from three blinding spotlights, casting sharp white shafts on the warehouse
floor. Roloth screeched.

“...Or, he may be just fine,” Jason
concluded.

Below, Tony ran at Roloth, thrusting and
slicing with his sword. Roloth leapt backwards, dodging, hand swatting the air
as if to ward off the searing light.

Roloth’s back bumped into a pile of crates.
Reaching behind him, he seized one of them and threw it at Tony. While the
other man struggled around it, he leaped up nearly twenty feet into one of the
empty warehouse windows.

Our eyes met across the valley of crates. I
shivered as I heard his voice in my mind. “I must leave now, sweet Princess. I
shall return.” He jumped off the wall and was gone.

I sighed, relieved, and turned to Jason.
“Okay, we’re fine now. Thanks... for coming back.”

He started to respond, when the spotlight
in the window swiveled to face us. Eyes stinging, I threw a hand up to shield
myself from the blinding light. Jason cried out in pain beside me.

“There’s another one!” yelled Tony. “Tara,
get it!”

The door broke open and Tara barged into
the room. “On it.” She raised her crossbow at Jason and fired a single shot
into his leg. He gasped and fell to one knee. I foundered in confusion and
sudden, stabbing fear, worse than anything I had felt when I had been held
prisoner.

As Jason tried to drag himself to the
window, Tony dashed up the stairs and grabbed him. I saw the stake appear in
his hand, as the two wrestled, Jason trying to get away, Tony trying to gain
leverage. They staggered together out onto the balcony and Tony managed to pin
Jason against the rail. He raised his arm, the stake pointed straight at
Jason’s heart.

No! Jason’s hands clenched the stake arm as
he thrust it closer and closer. Their arms trembled with exertion. Tony clearly
had the upper hand and it was only a matter of time.

My vision swam from the shock and the
bright light. “Stop!” I cried out, but Tony took no notice.

“Die.... vampire....!” he hissed through
gritted teeth.

My body moved on its own. I ran forward and
collided with the struggling men. “Stop, please!” I pleaded, trying to pull
Tony off Jason. I might have well been trying to lift a truck.

In desperation, I lifted Tony’s feet off
the ground with all of my strength.

Taken by surprise, he lost his balance and
they plunged forward. My grip broke and I fell backwards onto the catwalk and
they tipped forwards over the rail.

I caught a single glimpse of Tony’s shocked
face as it fell and then he vanished. I heard a sharp, meaty crack and a louder
weighty thump.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t imagine what
happened or even that anything did. I just remained rooted to the spot.

Tara ran to the balcony. “Tony! Are you all
right?” Silence answered her, but it snapped me out of the spell.

Shaking, I picked myself up off the ground
and walked to the edge of the balcony.

Still half-blinded by the light, I saw two
bodies. One lay unmoving under a pile of crates and I could only see his feet.
The other lay with his neck at a strange angle, one that was impossible for a
live human to maintain. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the handrail in
shock.

What had I done?