They Come by Night (30 page)

“He’s almost done.”

“Do we need to get him to the ER?”

“Why?”

“His neck. It was bleeding pretty badly.” And how could we get him to the nearest hospital, which was in Knoxville? It was still dark, but the sky was lightening. I hurried to the window and made sure the curtains were drawn tightly.

“It’s almost healed.”

“Huh?”

“That’s why he had to drink from me. Get a washcloth. And would you mind lending him a shirt?”

He’d had my blood. Why should it matter if he had a shirt as well? “Sweatshirt? Button-down?”

“A button-down will be easier to put on him.” Adam used his free hand to fish out his cell phone.

I hurried to my bedroom, yanked the first shirt I saw out of the closet, and slung it over my shoulder, then stopped in the bathroom long enough to get a washcloth and wet it.

Rául raised his head. Blood was smeared over his lips. He was shivering.

“Adam?”

He murmured something into his phone before putting it away, taking the washcloth, and carefully wiping Rául’s throat. The flesh was pink, but there wasn’t even a scar.

“Adam… where’s his talisman?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll go look for it.”

“Take Mina with you.”

“You’d better get him into the bedroom. And you better stay there too.” I’d put shutters on that window last fall, when I’d had nothing better to do; I’d go around and make sure they were closed. I waited until Adam got Rául to his feet and helped him leave.

It was when I started to stick the knife in my waistband that I realized I needed to do up my fly.

So much had happened in such a short period of time.

“Ready, Min?” With the knife tucked away, I reached for the baseball bat and hefted it. “Okay, let’s go.”

I opened the door and poked my head out. Oh, crap! I could just make out what a disaster the yard was. The trellis was knocked over, eggs shattered, flowers torn up…. All the work Jimmy and I had done, all for nothing.

Mina ran past me, not even bothering with the spot on the porch she had the hate-on for. She dashed one way and then another, nosing through the grass before coming back to me. Her head was held high and something dangled from her jaws.

“What’ve you got, pup?” She waited until I took the object from her.

It was Rául’s talisman.

“Good work, Mina.” The cord was in two pieces, and it was wet. Remembering the way Rául’s neck looked, I knew it had to be with his blood. I tucked the bat under an arm, tied the ends of the cord with a square knot, and tucked the talisman into my pocket. “All clear?”

She woofed.

“I’ll just hold on to the bat if you don’t mind.”

She didn’t seem to mind, but she followed me as I went to the back of the house, and waited patiently while I made sure the shutters for my bedroom window were secured.

The back of my neck began to tingle. I hated that sensation. Mina started growling again, and I hated that even more. I forced myself to look around, but I didn’t see anything.

“Come on, pup.”

She followed me to the front of the house, staying close on my heels.

“Okay, now what’s that?” What looked like steam was rising from the front walk. I approached it, still keeping an eye out for any untoward visitors. “Holy…!”

As I watched, the last of what must have been Rául’s blood evaporated.

I thought I heard a sound and I whipped around.

A fog was descending, and I could have sworn I saw something about man high glowing red. Mina’s growl became threatening, and I shivered.

“Uh…. Let’s go in.”

She had no quarrel with that, but she placed herself between me and whatever was out there. I jogged backward up the walk, unwilling to turn my back on it, then spun around, took the steps to the porch in one stride, and yanked open the door. Only when I was inside did Mina come in.

“Ty?”

“Yes, Adam?” I locked the door.

“Did you find it?”

“Yes.” I fished the talisman out of my pocket and held it up. It was a little battered, but it was in one piece.

“Thank Lilitu!”

“Who’s…? Forget it.” Adam had mentioned that name once before. I’d need to look up this Lilitu. “What would have happened if I hadn’t found it?”

“Rául wouldn’t have survived to see another moonrise.”

“The moon isn’t—Oh, figure of speech. Look, can we go to bed now?”

“Yes. Do you mind that Rául will be sharing it with us?” We walked through the dining room and into my bedroom.

“Adam, this is the second time tonight you’ve asked me that. Don’t you know anything I’ve got is yours for the taking?”

“Anything?” He reached up and stroked my neck.

“Of course.” I wrapped my fingers around his. “How much blood did Rául take?”

Rául was sprawled out on the bed, tossing restlessly.

“He took what he needed.” Adam went to him and looped his talisman over his neck, and just like that, Rául relaxed into a peaceful slumber.

That was not what I’d asked, but okay. “Do you need to feed?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” I shoved my shirt out of the way.

“I don’t know if we’ll have enough time….” He looked toward the window, but the curtains and shutters did a fine job of blocking out the dawn.

“Then shut up and make time.”

He smiled, but he looked exhausted.

“Get on the bed.” I shoved Rául to the side, and Adam lay down. “Okay, now forget about foreplay. Chow down.”

“I refuse to hurt you!”

“Don’t worry about me.”

He pulled me into his arms, and I braced myself for pain. I wasn’t a wuss. I could do this for the vampyr I loved. And the hell with the sabor/vampyr dynamic and my destiny. I loved Adam.

His mouth settled on my throat, and he licked me. Once, twice, I lost track of how many times.

“Adam, you’re supposed to be feeding!” But I was on fire.

One more lick, and his fangs slid into me.

I should have known that no matter what, he would make it good for me. I groaned, climaxed, and passed out.

M
Y CELL phone woke me up. I tried to roll out of bed but found myself unable to move. Before I could panic, Adam mumbled something, tightened his grip on my pendant, and nuzzled my hair.

And then the other vampyr mumbled something and flipped over, pulling the blankets over his shoulders.

How had I become the filling in a vampyr sandwich?

How had I become part of a vampyr threesome?

I shook my head. “Whoa!” The movement made me dizzy.

My cell phone was still ringing. “My Buddy,” the song from the 1920s, was what I’d chosen for Jimmy’s ringtone, because Jimmy
was
my buddy.

I loosened Adam’s hold on my pendant, scrambled out of bed, and almost fell on my face.

Mina looked up from her bed. “Woof.”

“I know, I know. We’ll eat as soon as I answer this!” I grabbed up my phone, wobbled into the bathroom, and slid the door shut. “Hello?” I whispered.

“Ty? What took you so long to answer? And why are you whispering?”

“You woke me up.”

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“No.”

“Geez, Small, it’s almost noon! What are—He stayed over!”

“Um… yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just a little tired. It was a wild night.”

“No, no, no! I don’t want to hear about you having gay sex with your boyfriend!”

“Well, I wasn’t going to tell you.” I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the black trousers, and the red shirt hung open. Actually, I’d been thinking of the attack on Rául. “Jimmy, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. That’s why I’m calling. I’m sorry I made such an ass of myself last night.”

“You didn’t make an ass of yourself.”

“I didn’t slug you?”

“Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that. I’m so sorry, buddy.”

“It’s okay. Seriously, Jimmy. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Besides”—I peered into the mirror above the sink—“the swelling’s gone down and it’s not even black and blue.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” Okay, so I lied a little. “How’d class go?”

“Good. I… uh… I asked Trish out.”

“And?”

“We’re going for pizza after her last class today.”

“Dude, is that a good idea? I mean once she sees how much you can put away….”

“Ass. So… uh… everything is good?”

“Huh?”

“Between us.”

“You bet!”

“Good.”

“Listen, Jimmy. I’m going to walk my dog and go back to bed.” I didn’t know what came over me, but I couldn’t resist teasing him. “Where my boyfriend is waiting. My hot boyfriend.”

“La la la! I can’t hear you!”

“Bye, Jimmy.” I laughed.

“Bye, buddy.”

Maybe if he was still seeing Trish at Easter, I’d ask him to bring her to dinner too.

Would Adam be able to stop by Easter evening? I’d have to ask him.

While I was in the bathroom, I decided I might as well take care of business. Then I washed my hands and opened the bedroom door.

The room was dark, but I could see well enough. Adam and Rául were curled up, back to back, and this time Adam had the covers up around his shoulders.

“Come on, Mina,” I whispered.

She trotted out, her tags making a cheery jingle. Her license had joined the other two tags. I’d need to ask Adam what the engraving on the gold tag said.

I still felt wobbly, so I took the orange juice from the fridge and drank down huge gulps right from the container. There was no one else in the house who’d want any, so I had no qualms about doing that.

“Can you wait a bit to go out, Min? Are you hungry?” I filled her food and water bowls and placed them in a corner of the dining room. She dove in as if she hadn’t eaten in forever.

Come to think of it, I pretty much felt the same way. I put a couple of frozen waffles in the toaster, and once they’d popped up, a nice, golden brown, I slathered them in butter and syrup. While I ate the first two, I put in a couple more to toast.

Feeling better, I left the dishes soaking in the sink, put on a jacket, and found a pair of boots in the coat closet. Once Mina’s leash was snapped to her collar, we went out the front door.

The fog had burned off, and the sun was shining. The yard looked even worse than it had earlier, but I had the rest of the week off.

I’d take care of it later.

Meanwhile, I had a vampyr in my bed… well, two, to be precise… but only one who mattered.

“Done, pup? Okay, let’s go in.” I locked the door behind us, then unhooked her leash and dropped my jacket over the back of the love seat.

It was dark in the house with all the curtains drawn, but I had no problem seeing where I was going.

Mina followed me. As soon as I opened my bedroom door, she slipped in and went to her bed.

I had to smile at the sight that greeted me. Adam was sprawled across the bed, while Rául was now curled up on the floor. I covered him with a spare blanket—he was my guest, after all—then toed off my boots, stripped off my trousers and shirt, and put on a sweatshirt and my sleep pants. I nudged Adam aside to give me some room and got under the covers beside him.

“Tyrell?” he murmured, rolling over toward me.

“Yes.”

“Good.” He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close.

Yeah, it was good. I closed my fingers around his talisman, closed my eyes, and inhaled the dark chocolate of his scent.

In spite of the utter craptasticness that had been the night before, I was smiling as I fell back to sleep.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT
:
C
OME
S
OFTLY

I

R
HIANNON HATED when Juan de Vivar summoned her. What did he think she was, his maid?

Fucking macho chauvinist pig.

It was because she was unlucky. She knew it.

First there were her grandparents. Why couldn’t they have been English nobility or French or even Italian royalty? But no, they were from Romania, and peasant stock at that. When they’d arrived on Ellis Island, they’d chosen the surname “Jones.” Seriously, could it have been any more ordinary?

Then there were her parents. She’d been born during the height of the baby boom, and they’d christened her Jane. Jane Jones. How pathetic was that?

To top it off, when her brother arrived a couple of years later, they’d named him Richard.

Dick and Jane. Lame, lame, lame.

Was it any surprise she’d split as soon as she turned sixteen? She changed her name to Rhiannon. No last name. Cher did okay without one, and so would she.

The sexual revolution of the ’60s was just coming into full swing, but even with the advent of the Pill, she’d had the bad luck to become pregnant. She found a medical student who helped her get rid of the little parasite, and she hadn’t cared he’d done his job too well—what did she want with kids anyway?

As soon as she was well enough, she’d dumped him and headed for the West Coast.

She reversed direction when she met a petite singer of blues and folk music, and joined her and her band on their East Coast tour, finally arriving at Woodstock in August. The affair was intense, but it ended when she crossed paths with a tall musician who wore his hair in a wild Afro, played wicked electric guitar, and made love to her in the same manner as he did to his Fender Strat.

Another stroke of bad luck, because both he and the singer were heavy into the drug scene. Why did all the people she was attracted to prefer doing drugs to doing her?

She left Woodstock as soon as the festival ended and resumed her trek to the West Coast. San Francisco seemed to call to her, and she was looking forward to wearing flowers in her hair.

Once there she became a groupie to a psychedelic band that had been banned from variety television. The lead singer flirted with her and promised he’d write a song for her.

But she’d gone to the Fillmore West on Halloween to see Ike and Tina Turner; that was where she’d had the worst luck of all. She’d met Juan de Vivar.

Even after all these years, she still had no idea why she’d gone with him. He wasn’t even her type.