The Vampire's Seduction (14 page)

Most of the time I didn’t think he had any.

“This charm—
collier
—has been blessed by the Voudoun. It will protect you as much as you can be protected at this point. I can’t say how right now. It’s too complicated.” He tried a stiff little smile. “Please wear it. For my sake.”

Olivia came down the steps, smelling like sex on a stick. Part of that smell was human. She had fed, in addition to who knew what else. She reached into the car and took the charm off the rearview mirror. “Be a good boy, Jackie,” she said as she put it around my neck. “Wear the pretty necklace.” Her soft pink tongue slid out from between her bloodred lips and she licked my cheek like a child would lick an all-day sucker. “Nice lolly,” she purred. For the third time that night, I needed that damned cold shower.

“So I take it now that Algernon’s dead you’re lookin’ for love in all the wrong places,” I said to cover my reaction.

Something in her eyes cooled. “I’m always looking, sweet cheeks. Besides, Alger was my muse, not my mate.”

William stepped between us. “Is Huey taken care of?”

“Hmm?” I was starting to feel bewitched. It took me a second to realize that William was talking. “Yeah, he’s . . . right where he needs to be.”

I got into the backseat. William and Olivia got in front. Olivia blew Eleanor a kiss as William put it in reverse. Hell, even a human—and a female to boot—got more attention than me. The thought of Olivia’s mouth made my gut tighten. I decided not to clue William in on my meeting with what’s-his-Werm. After all, William didn’t tell me anything to speak of, so why should I keep telling him about everything? Little Werm might prove useful.

Since I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, I kept my mouth shut on the drive out to the warehouse. William gave Olivia a whole travelogue’s worth of information about Savannah. It was like he wanted to make sure she didn’t do any talking about herself and her situation within earshot of me. When we got to my sleeping place, I got out and slammed the door a little too hard.

“See you tomorrow night, Jack,” William said. “Remember what I said about the charm.”

“Yeah,” I responded without looking back. As I unlocked the door to my room, I noticed that the SUV was still there. William was waiting until I was safely inside. He’d only do that for a reason. He definitely knew more than he was telling me about what we were up against. I just hoped what I didn’t know wouldn’t kill me.

I couldn’t wait to find out whatever I could talk, or squeeze, out of my new friend, Werm. I thought again about how badly the little dude wanted to be a bloodsucker, wanted to be strong and fearsome. If I made Werm a vampire, maybe I’d have someone I could really tell my troubles to. But if I did, would he be in as much danger as William and I were? As I’d told him, I’d never made another vampire before. And it was probably a bad time to start.

William

As Jack disappeared into his night quarters, Olivia shifted in the passenger seat to face me. Well fed and free of any sexual temptation, she looked almost human again. Dead but beautiful. “You’re going to have to tell us something sooner or later,” she said, inclining her head toward the whining electric gate.

My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I turned the car toward home. “I know. The question is ‘what?’ ”

“Why not everything?” She smiled. “As far as help goes, we’re pretty much all you’ve got.”

“You and Jack are too reckless. Knowledge is the only kind of power with any leverage in this situation—not immortality, or strength, or even loyalty.”

“Jack would face a dragon for you, if you asked him.”

“Yes, and the dragon would very likely eat him for breakfast.” The comparison of Reedrek to a dragon was an apt one. He was as ancient, as dangerous as the fabled coldblooded, fire-breathing beast, and he killed without any trace of humanity. Perhaps the legend of Vlad the Impaler as the original blood drinker was untrue. Perhaps when the last dragon fires had gone out, the remaining beasts had learned to walk on two legs, and to live on blood.

Wouldn’t Jack love that story? A grandsire who was a dragon. He’d be asking the girls at Eleanor’s to search him for scales.

Poor, guileless Jack was going to have a surprise when he awoke the next evening—the arrangements had already been completed.

“I’ll tell him as much as I feel necessary. But I’m going to have to sleep on the matter.”

“Speaking of sleeping . . .” One of her hands caressed my arm.

I allowed the touch but kept my distance mentally. “You’ll sleep with me tonight, then I’ll arrange delivery of your own temporary coffin.”

She seemed pleased but not surprised. “Mmmmm, what pleasant dreams we’ll have . . .”

When we arrived home, Deylaud met us at the door. I immediately recognized he’d been up to something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. Rather than pressing him, I waited for a confession. It was impossible for him to lie to me, not because of any punishment or spell-binding but because he loved me above all others, except perhaps Reyha. With that love came honesty and a ferocious willingness to do my bidding.

I could feel dawn tingling just over the horizon in the east. No more time to work the puzzle of my killer sire.

“Reyha, show Olivia to my quarters and help her get settled. I’ll be down shortly.” I might have smiled at the gruesome face Reyha made to show her displeasure, but it wouldn’t do to encourage her. “Go now, please,” I added. “And take her bag.”

Ever obedient if pugnacious, Reyha shrugged, yanked up the leather duffel, and led the way downstairs. That left me with Deylaud. I took up a pen and a pad to write Melaphia a note. We would be receiving a very special delivery that very evening. Plus, I needed to remind her to go over the checklist for the charity event on Saturday night. Although I let Jack think he was doing most of the work, the reality was that he had no clue how much organization it took to host the top social movers and shakers in Savannah. The hospital fund-raiser had had the triple purpose of supporting the blood bank, introducing Alger as Lord Something-or-Other to pave the way for his escape into this country, and providing cover for a meeting with the usually far-flung leaders of other American vampire clans. To cancel now would raise too many questions—Olivia would have to do as a replacement for Alger. As I anchored the note with a glass paperweight, I noticed that Deylaud had disappeared into the front of the house.

I followed and found him seated on the oriental rug in the parlor, next to a lump where something had been shoved under the carpet. I flipped back the edge of the rug and found a book—a very old book.

“Why are you hiding books here? You know where they go.” I pointed toward the library. He didn’t answer, he just looked guiltier.

As soon as my fingers touched the binding, I received a jolt. The pages seemed to whisper and warn.
Not yours. Not for your eyes.
Obviously, it was not part of my collection. I picked it up and let it fall open in my hands.

Names—female most prominent—with lines connecting. Some sort of genealogy. “Where did you get this?”

Deylaud ducked his head. “From the bag.”

“What bag?”

“Miss Olivia’s,” he answered, looking miserable. He held up his hands and his fingertips looked slightly scorched, as if he’d gotten too close to a burner on the stove. “I read it. I’m sorry. I—”

Suddenly Olivia was standing in the doorway. “I’ve been looking for that,” she said. She held out her hand for it.

“You’ll have to excuse Deylaud,” I said as I gave it over. “He’s fascinated by books. I think his first master must have been a writer or a librarian.”

“Papyrus,” Deylaud whispered, keeping his gaze on Olivia’s feet.

“This one belongs to me,” Olivia said. “Leave it alone.” With a tight smile she retreated.

I had the distinct feeling she’d been warning both of us. Another puzzle to ponder. With Deylaud at my heels I followed Olivia downstairs, through the short underground passageway flickering with candles at each altar, and on into my bedchamber. I waited, allowing Olivia to settle herself, her book, and her bag of dirt in my coffin. Then, after soothing Deylaud’s guilt by giving him a quick hug and offering a kiss to Reyha to appease her annoyance at being relegated to sleeping with her brother, I stretched out next to the only woman I’d slept with in five hundred years.

Olivia was an unfortunate distraction. Deylaud closed the coffin lid over us, and the sweet, safe darkness blanketed our bodies. I’d planned to concentrate on how to fight Reedrek, at least until the growing sunlight outside lulled me to sleep, but my female coffinmate wouldn’t be still. I heard a hiss near my ear as she slipped a hand inside my shirt and angled her thigh over mine. She was a worse bed hog than Reyha. I pushed her hand away from my bare skin but it came back without hesitation.

“Do you mind?” I muttered under my breath.

The only answer I received was a pleased sigh. She was obviously already asleep. Her natural affinity, even when unconscious, for sleeping close to another made me wonder what connections she’d left behind in England.

England.

I felt around in the dark until I found the bag of soil she’d brought. Home base as it were. Slowly I raised the bag to smell the contents.

Home.

Images streamed through my mind. My gruff but loving human father, dying in my arms after falling from his stallion. My mother throwing herself on his grave and refusing to move, forcing me to have her carried to her bed where she’d stayed. Both of them buried in English soil. And, as always, Diana. Holding a candle, round with our son inside her. Crying with joy at his birth. Crying with horror as Reedrek killed him before our eyes.

I pushed the bag as far away from me as was possible in the confined space. It took several moments to catch my breath. No, I’d been right to stay in the New World, in Savannah. Going home would only bring more pain.

And now the maker of my pain had followed me here.

Jack and Olivia were depending on me for protection. With the help of Lalee’s blood, I could block Reedrek, I could hurt him. But because I was his offspring, his existence wasn’t mine to end. That left a gaping hole in dealing with him. Our only chance would be for the three of us to combine our strength and work together. But I’d kept Jack from finding his potential—and now it might be too late.

I should’ve known Reedrek would find me sooner or later. No matter how low-profile or humanlike I stayed. Truth be told, immortal or not, I had never thought I would exist long enough to have to face him. Here was my opportunity to find an end to everything—my monstrous memories, my night-prowling half life, my unsalvageable black heart, and most of all my anger. Yet it was the anger that had kept me going, and even now it rose in hot waves to resist the idea that Reedrek should decide any other part of my destiny.

I wouldn’t allow him the satisfaction of killing me.

Although killing might not be what he had in mind. With the help of the shells, I’d seen that he’d meant to trap Alger, not kill him. Once trapped, Alger’s offspring would be fair game. Without protection . . .

I knew I must not be trapped.

And I would kill Jack myself rather than let Reedrek have him. Jack might thank me for the favor. But he wouldn’t thank me for keeping him in the dark any longer. He already believed I thought him stupid or unworthy, and I regretted not being honest with him. I’d told myself I’d been protecting the both of us by refusing to teach him. Each time I considered releasing him from his apprenticeship, I found a reason to postpone.

Jack was no fool. Some things he’d figured out on his own. I could only hope that he wouldn’t use any knowledge he gained against me. At least I could tell Jack about his tainted blood—a blessing and another curse. Not as powerful as my own, but potent just the same. If we were very lucky, I’d have time to teach him to control some of the blessings of his origin. I would have to act fast before the curse—Reedrek—caught up with us both.

I woke to the touch of Olivia’s tongue roaming along my neck. She wouldn’t dare bite me without permission, or so I thought. The vision of her biting the swan played through my mind. Better be safe than be forced to subdue her natural aggressiveness by killing her.

“Leave me be,” I said.

My words seemed only to amuse her. She chuckled and slid over me until we were face-to-face, body to body. She teased my lips with her own and breathed into my mouth. “You know you want to. I saw how you watched me last night.” She moistened her lips before sucking at mine. “We would be so good together,” she sighed. “Count on it.”

My blood stirred. Not only was my body waking up, but the promise in Olivia’s voice, the friction of her mouth moving over mine, brought parts of my body to rapt attention. With a slow grinding of her hips, she brought my erection to full staff.

“Mmmmmm.” Busy hands moved to shove away my clothes.

She was right. I had watched her the night before, and I’d wanted her with a crazed vengeance. I had more than half a mind to let her take me, to see just how good it could be. If nothing else, it was sure to be a novel experience.

A loud banging on the lid of my coffin made Olivia jump and hit her head.

“Fuck!” she grouched, sliding off me so that I could push the lid open.

Jack’s angry face greeted me.

I gave him an evil smile. “Surprise!” I said, then levered myself out of “bed.” Better to be on my feet to face Jack’s righteous anger. I knew I’d been high-handed again. Jack should have been used to it, but the look on his face indicated otherwise.

“Just what in—” He glanced at Olivia, her beautiful nakedness enough to stop any normal human’s heart. “—
blue blazes
is going on around here?” he demanded.

Rather than answering, I made a great show of helping Olivia out of the coffin. It wouldn’t do to accept Jack’s challenge too quickly. As soon as Olivia’s feet reached solid stone, she gaped at the other coffin in the room, Jack’s coffin. It hadn’t been there the night before.