Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (18 page)

This unholy attraction to Dev. His whispers in her head. This God awful, but oddly intensely pleasurable whooshing noise. Her keen eyesight in the dark?
WTF?

She’d come this far, so pushing all errant thoughts to the back of her head for later examination she kept moving forward. This level looked like a series of underground tunnels with cold, damp limestone walls and concrete floors. The only thing missing were wall torches. On a scale of one to ten, this ranked at least nineteen on the creepy scale and she had no qualms admitting she was scared shitless. Still, an unseen source pulled her toward the noise. She was unable to stop.

Coming to a fork, instinct told her to turn left. She passed several doors, but had enough sense not to open any. After another left turn, she heard voices and the noise intensified further.

Oh crap.
Whooshing, Superman eyes and now voices? She had officially lost it.

She was drawn to a door about halfway down and the noise pulsing in her head was now almost as loud as a jet engine.

Taking a deep breath to calm the swarm of butterflies in her stomach, she slowly opened the door. The crushing noise in her ears muted the voices, but as soon as the door opened, all of the noises stopped. Just stopped. And ten sets of glowing eyes turned toward her.

C
hapter 28

Xavier

“Bill, you’re not lookin’ so good ol’ buddy. In fact you’re looking downright peaked.”

A vamp on each arm was physically holding up Bill, as he watched Xavier tie his naked wife and daughters to the kitchen chairs.

“Please, please don’ hurt them, master. I gave you what you wanted! Please let them go and you can do anythin’ you want to me. They have nothin’ to do with this. Please!” Hot tears were streaming down Bill’s face.

“Now, Bill. If I were to let them go, that wouldn’t set a very good example for the other minions, would it? And I’m nothing if not a man of my word. I told you to get me the woman or you would watch me slaughter your lovely wife here, Camille, and your precious daughters, Becky and Ashley. You failed. I’m afraid this is the consequence for failure, human.” His wife and daughters were crying and screaming hysterically, pleading with Bill to help.

Bill sobbed and thrashed, trying to free himself to help his family.

“It’s not my fault. There was someone watchin’ her. I did everythin’ I could. I swear. And you have the woman and Thatcher’s addresses. You’ll be able to get them. Please let my family go!”

Xavier didn’t have to do this. He’d get the woman eventually. He didn’t have to do this, but he was a bastard of epic proportions and he
wanted
to. He’d been looking quite forward to it actually.

He never broke Bill’s gaze, grabbing his wife by the hair with one hand and a naked breast with the other, he ruthlessly twisted her nipple and jerked her head to the side, before slowly sinking his long fangs into her carotid and drinking deep. The human female screamed out for her husband to help her, sobbing and fighting in earnest. The daughters were screaming and blubbering. They were next. Young blood was the sweetest of all, especially with fear coursing through it.

Yes, he was going to enjoy every second of the long night ahead.

C
hapter 29

Mike

Mike lay in the cheap motel room’s lumpy bed, eyes fixed on the water stained and crumbling popcorn-style ceiling overhead. He thought he’d have drunk enough to be in a coma by now, but nope…his fucking mind wouldn’t shut off. It never shut off. He had yet to figure out that little trick. And yet, each year on this day…he attempted just that.

He desperately wanted to forget. Forget the emptiness inside his shell of a body. Forget the heartache of a love lost. Forget the stabbing pain he felt when he thought about a future that would never be. Forget what he’d lost eleven years ago today.
Eleven years?
How was that possible? It seemed like just yesterday. He dreamed of her often, and while it was comforting, it was also pure hell.

This was his unique brand of torture. His mind wanted to forget; yet his heart couldn’t. It
wanted
to remember, but he couldn’t quite do that either. He couldn’t remember the exact cadence of her voice. He couldn’t remember the exact smell of her skin. Or the sound of her laughter. Or the last thing he said to her.

He was alive and she was dead.
Presumed dead
.

Mike took another healthy swig of the nearly empty bottle of Gentlemen Jack. Even the bottle was mocking him. He was no gentleman. He was alive, but he was dead inside. He poisoned his body with alcohol and cigarettes with disturbing regularity. He took untold and unnecessary risks in his job. He fucked women without discretion or emotion, all the while thinking of her. He had a dick after all and it needed to be used, or it would fall off. Or so Johnny, his best friend in middle school had told him.

He simply didn’t give a shit what happened to him. He was a walking dead man. He was solely consumed and overtaken with the need for revenge. Hell, he wasn’t much better than most vamps he knew. He’d find the one responsible one day. One day soon. He could feel the time was drawing near.

God, he missed her. A tear seeped out of his eye, rolling into his ear. Although intellectually he knew there was nothing he could have done to save her, the man in him thought he should have, and he’d played a sick game of what-ifs for the last eleven years.

What if he’d insisted she go out with him and instead of to that frat party? What if she weren’t drinking, would she have been able to better defend herself? What if he’d picked her up after the party and drove her back to her apartment, instead of letting her walk home? What if he’d stopped by after she was supposed to be home? They would have known she was missing earlier.
What-ifs. His life was one big fucking wasted what-if.

Another swig and the bottle was finally empty. He dropped it on the floor beside the bed and flopped back on the flat motel pillow. As he began to finally succumb to the numbing effects of the alcohol, he thought about his ritual tomorrow. He always took the day off after this particular binge. He’d nurse his

hangover for a good portion of the day, pick up marigolds, her favorite flower, and make the long drive to northern Wisconsin to visit her grave.

I miss you so much, Jamie
. That was his last thought before he blessedly passed out.

C
hapter 30

Dev

For indeterminable seconds, Dev simply stared at Kate standing in the doorway of the boardroom, not believing the sight before him. How had she found the lower levels? How had she made her way to the boardroom in the pitch black of the tunnels?

Two things happened simultaneously. T, one of Damian’s guards, growled and in a lightning fast move, lunged toward Kate. At the same time, Kate screamed and threw up her hands in a protective gesture, stopping T dead in his tracks. Not dead, as in literal, but she had rendered him completely immobile.

What. The. Fuck?

Kate turned and fled, making it half way up the stairs before he was able to flash in front of her. Seeing him in front of her so suddenly threw her off balance and she stumbled backwards, cracking her head on the limestone wall right before he could catch her, preventing her complete tumble down the hard steps.

The minute her skin split apart, her sweet blood pooled to the surface. Involuntarily, his fangs shot down and his dick hardened painfully.
Holy. Mother. Of. God.
Her blood smelled better than a forest full of lilac bushes in full bloom.
Fuck, Dev. That was such an inappropriate thought, you asshole.

Dev pushed back his involuntary bodily reactions. Taking care of Kate was his only priority. As he cradled an unconscious and bleeding Kate against his chest, he knew he would never forget the confusion in her eyes as she opened the boardroom door. Or the fear in her eyes as T lunged toward her. Or the betrayal in her eyes as she looked up at him on the stairs.
Goddamn it!
He did
not
want her to find out this way. He’d planned on telling her tomorrow, but on his terms.

He didn’t know whether she was unconscious from shock or the fall, but he could hear her strong and steady pulse, so he prayed she would be okay. She
had
to be okay.
Please, Kate…be okay. I can’t live without you, love
.

“
Giselle, keep everyone in the boardroom.”

The last thing he needed was a bunch of vamps running around the house while his Moira was bleeding all over.

“Ren and Leo, I need your help in my bedroom. Now. I need some wet cloths and bandages ASAP. Flash in. Be prepared, she’s bleeding and unconscious.”

“Right away
,” Leo answered.

Ren’s response was a bit different.
“What the fuck just happened, Dev?”

“I have no fucking idea. Just get up here and we’ll figure it out later. All that matters right now is Kate.”

He
didn’t know what the hell happened. Kate had found them. How had she found the secret passageway? She’d immobilized T with a flick of her hands. How could she do that? Dreamwalkers didn’t possess powers like that. As powerful as he was, he didn’t possess that power and even if he did, they hadn’t bonded yet, so she wouldn’t be able to access it. He felt like he’d entered the twilight zone, probably much like Kate felt. Shit hit the fan in a matter of seconds.

Dev laid Kate on his bed, careful of the wound on the back of her head. He opened her eyes to see her pupils fully dilated and unresponsive, but everything else seemed okay. Her pulse was strong and steady, her breathing even. Ren and Leo flashed in with some medical supplies.

Leo wanted to help, but Dev shoved him aside, not wanting anyone else touching his Moira. Both men stood to the side, letting Dev care for Kate, knowing better than to say a word or interfere. After he cleaned the blood, he was relieved to find the wound was superficial and the bleeding had pretty much stopped. It had seemed worse earlier. His shoulders sagged in relief, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Removing his bloodied blue silk shirt, he crawled on the bed, gathering a still unconscious Kate in his arms.

“You gonna tell me what the
fuck
is going on, Dev?” Now that it appeared Kate was out of immediate danger, Ren had started pacing again. Dev was sure the dude had restless leg syndrome. He never sat still.

“First of all, calm down, Ren. And if I knew what was going on, don’t you think I would tell you? I have no damn idea. I’m just as confused as you are.” Dev kept stroking Kate’s back, looking for signs of consciousness. Nothing.

Ren continued ranting like Dev hadn’t just spoken, his voice going higher with each word.

“How could she just throw her arms up and freeze a three-hundred-year-old vampire like a fucking icicle? You don’t have that skill and even if you did, you two haven’t bonded yet, have you? And how did she even
find
us in the first place? Did someone leave the door open?”

Dev sighed. He’d been wondering all the same things. Unfortunately, they were going to get no answers until Kate awoke. He had a feeling she wouldn’t be much help in providing the answers either.

“I don’t know, Ren. I guess we’ll have to wait until Kate regains consciousness and try to get some answers. In the meantime, I need you to help Giselle keep control of the situation down there. By now, the way she and Damian constantly go at each other, one of them may already be dead.

“Tell them as little as you can for now. They’ll be demanding answers soon. Answers that we don’t even have ourselves yet. And make it clear in no uncertain terms that no one is to touch Kate.

“One more thing. We need to get Big D here. Tell him it’s urgent. I want him here ASAP.”

“Why do we need the doc? You said you think she’s gonna be okay.” Ren looked genuinely concerned.

“Because we need some of her blood drawn and analyzed. Shit is not right here, Ren, and we need to find out what it is. I’d prefer to have the blood drawn before she wakes up. I’m quite sure she won’t be in such an amenable mood then.”

“Right. I’ll let you know if I run into any issues.” He turned and made it to the door before turning around. He spoke softly. “Do you need anything, my lord?”

Ren and Dev were as close as brothers. They were so close they could feel each other’s emotions and that happened in very few vampire-to-vampire relationships. Ren could feel the fear, concern, and confusion coursing through his friend’s body and Dev was momentarily touched. Two days ago, Ren would have never asked him such an innocuous question, but even Ren had apparently noticed the subtle changes in him since Kate had swooped into his life. He’d have to be very careful around everyone else. They would perceive emotion as a sign of weakness and he would be challenged for his position as Lord. That was the last thing he could afford at the moment.

“
No, my friend. Thank you.”
Ren nodded sharply once and left the room, Leo on his heels.

Dev had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The skill of stasis that Kate demonstrated earlier was most definitely a vampire trait, not human. But vampires were not dreamwalkers. Only human females were dreamwalkers. And Kate was definitely a dreamwalker. Of that he was one hundred percent certain. So if Kate was exhibiting a vampire skill but was a dreamwalker, what did that mean? He’d never heard of such a thing.