Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (42 page)

All amusement was gone when Lucien spoke again. “This does not make me happy, Rudolf.”

“Don’t tell us. Tell The Council,” the hostile voice retorted.

Lucien’s body changed like it did when Katrina came to visit. The muscles stood out, defined, deadly. I didn’t take this as a good sign.

“Marcello,” a third voice, also accented, said the name as a warning.

There seemed to be some kind of standoff happening. I could only see Lucien’s half of it but I
felt
it and it scared the freaking heck out of me.

Finally, Lucien’s body relaxed, he stepped back, opening the door wider, his voice now courteous. “Wait inside. I’ll be a moment.”

His eyes cut to me. I read his intent and moved to him. His arm curled around my waist, shifting us back so the three, large vampires could fill the foyer. Two were dark, both looking Latin or Italian or something. One was fair. All were gorgeous.

My heart skipped a beat.

The fair one closed the door then turned which meant all of them were staring at me. I pressed into Lucien’s side.

“Leah, this is Rudolf, Marcello and Cristiano,” Lucien introduced, indicating each with his hand. Rudolf was the fair one.

I nodded and gave a lame wave.

Cristiano and Rudolf smiled. Marcello scowled.

“It’s a long awaited pleasure, Leah,” Rudolf murmured, his eyes calm and gentle on me. I suspected his words held greater meaning because Marcello’s scowl deepened. At the same time Cristiano’s smile widened.

“Thank you.” My voice was soft and breathy and something changed in the room when I spoke. It was powerful, electric, weirdly both dangerous and seductive and it was emanating from all three.

“We won’t be a moment.” Lucien’s voice cut through the thickened air and he started to move us away.

“Leah’s to wait here,” Marcello announced, Lucien stopped and his eyes sliced to the vampire.

“Leah will come with me,” Lucien replied.

Marcello’s gaze moved to me, raking me from top-to-toe and something about the way he did this freaked me out. I didn’t know how but I sensed Rudolf and Cristiano tense and I
felt
Lucien’s body change to that freakishly scary alertness of moments before.

“Leah will stay,” Marcello declared.

Lucien didn’t reply; he moved us toward the stairs.

Before we even got close suddenly Lucien was gone from my side.

I knew why. I’d only caught a flash of it but I saw Marcello dart forward, his arm extended toward me. Then there was a blur of bodies and Marcello was against the wall in a poof of broken plaster (boy, Edwina was going to be ticked, she’d just had the damage from the last vampire fight in the foyer repaired).

Lucien held him like he did Katrina, at the throat but his body was close, pressing Marcello against the wall, his face not an inch from the other vampire’s. I could only see their profiles but the expression on Lucien’s was ferocious.

Cristiano got close to their sides as Rudolf circled.

“You’d touch what’s
mine?
” Lucien ground out in a voice so sinister, a chill raced up my spine.

“Marcello,” Cristiano murmured in soft reprimand and I found his accented voice beautiful even in this tense situation. “You know better, my friend.”

“He made no contact with Leah,” Rudolf pointed out quietly. “Let him go, Lucien.” It was a request, not a demand.

Lucien and Marcello glared at each other. Finally Lucien dropped his hand and stepped back.

He walked to me and again took my hand.

“If The Council wants this to go smoothly, control him,” Lucien warned Rudolf with a jerk of his head toward Marcello and Rudolf nodded.

Then Lucien turned us and guided me up the stairs.

As he did, he issued orders.

The minute I leave, call Stephanie,
he told me.

Okay,
I agreed promptly.

She’ll come immediately. You can trust her.

Okay,
I repeated.

Don’t answer the phone. If it rings, Stephanie deals with it,
he went on.

Okay,
I repeated again

I don’t want you to be frightened, sweetheart. I’ll handle this.

I wanted to laugh. Not that it was funny just that I was scared out of my ever-loving mind and no order, even from the Mighty Lucien, was going to stop that.

What’s this about?
I asked when we made it to the dressing room.
Why are they here? Why are they taking you away?

I’ve broken the law,
Lucien replied calmly, as if this wasn’t a scary-as-shit announcement. He took off his pajama bottoms and started to dress in one of his suits like he was doing nothing more important than preparing to go to work.

While he did this, I stared at him frozen in shock.

Then, my mind breathed to his,
You’ve broken the law?

Yes
.

What law?

I’ll explain later.

I didn’t want him to explain later.

What did it mean, he’d broken the law? Did that mean they were going to throw him in vampire jail? Did that mean he was going to have to hire a vampire attorney and stand vampire trial? He’d just admitted to doing it! Was he going to plead guilty?

I needed
way
more information.

Okay then at least tell me what kind of law? Was it like a jaywalking kind of law or a murder in the first degree kind of law?

Now dressed, he turned to me and lifted both hands to cup my face and bring me closer.

His eyes staring into mine, he repeated,
I’ll explain later.

I felt my patience, already strained to the breaking point, snap.

Un-unh,
my mind retorted,
give me something to go on here.

He smiled like I was amusing.

Yes!
Smiled!

I felt my eyes narrow.

He watched this, his eyes went that sexy-vampire-hooded I wished I didn’t like so much then he murmured, “Christ, you’re adorable.”

My temper flared and instead of shouting, out of necessity, I mumbled irately, “Boy, I wish I could kick your ass.”

His hands left my face, his arms blurring around me with vampire speed, caging me tight against his chest. He threw his head back and roared with laughter.

Usually, I liked his laughter. Okay, being honest with myself, usually, I loved it. And I hadn’t heard it in weeks. And, worse, even though I didn’t want to lament that loss, I did. Every day. For
three stinking weeks.

However at that particular moment,
I did not
.

“This isn’t funny,” I muttered angrily to his chest.

I felt him kiss the top of my head.

It’s something between jaywalking and murder in the first degree,
he told me.

That doesn’t tell me much.

It’s all you’re going to get, sweetling.

I had no chance to reply. He took my hand and walked us back downstairs.

The three vamps were waiting for us. I knew Cristiano and Rudolf heard the very little we spoke out loud. It would be hard to miss Lucien’s shout of laughter even if you didn’t have vampire hearing. Both of them looked highly amused.

Our whispered conversation made Marcello move from surly to openly hostile.

Casual as can be, Cristiano moved to and opened the door, walking through it. Rudolf and Marcello followed. All three stopped outside and waited.

Lucien walked me to the opened door.

Lock the door behind me. Stephanie has a key,
he said.

Instead of nodding, I replied,
Okay
.

Then he demanded,
Kiss me.

Did he just say what I thought he just said?

My eyes widened and I whispered,
What?

Do it, now.

He told me to take my cues from him. That wasn’t exactly what one would call a cue, more like a command.

Still, in this troubling situation I felt it sensible to do as he ordered.

I leaned in, hands to his abs, getting up on tiptoe and tilting my head back. His own dipped down, I pressed my lips against his and his opened. Another cue I was forced to follow, my tongue slid into his mouth. The instant it touched his, his arms came around me like vices, pinning my hands between us, hauling me into his big, hard body.

It had been three weeks since he’d kissed me like this. For three weeks, even during feeding, he’d been the perfect gentleman. Often during those weeks he’d brush his lips against mine before going to sleep. Or he’d stop, bend and touch his mouth to the top of my head when he’d walk past me while I was reading. But he hadn’t really kissed me.

Clearly my body missed it, so much I forgot our audience. My head tilted to the side, my hands forced themselves from between us, one wrapping around his waist, the other one going into his hair to hold him to me. Our tongues dueled, taking, giving, making my body burn and my heart race.

Like his laughter, it gave me sustenance. I demanded it and took it and more of it and even more of it because it had been so long, I was starving.

He broke the kiss and when he did I sensed he didn’t like the fact that he had to.

“I’ll be back soon,” he murmured against my mouth and stepped away but only after I took a deep, calming breath and nodded.

He moved out the door and I finally felt the air. It was again thick with that seductive danger, so thick, the minute I sensed it, it nearly choked me.

All three vampires were watching me, now with no hostility and no humor. It didn’t take a mind reader to know they were hungry. For what, I wasn’t sure but my guess was it was me. It wasn’t my blood they were after but something far more profound.

Definitely a menace.

Lucien turned to me,
Lock the door.

Then,
whoosh
, they were gone and all I saw or heard was the doors slamming on the car.

I closed and locked the door. Then as fast as my feet would carry me, I ran to the phone and called Stephanie.

* * * * *

Terror seared through me, all I could think was escape.

I collided with something strong, powerful, iron bands went around me, holding me imprisoned.

“Leah, honey, what on earth?”

Loss. Pain. Anguish. Fear. Too much. I couldn’t cope.

Burning, burning, the heat was too immense. Overwhelming. Scalding my eyes. Singeing my throat.

Falling, sharp, uncontrolled, something tightened around my neck. I couldn’t breathe.

I struggled against my gentle prison.

“Jesus, Leah, calm down. What’s the matter?”

Clawing at my bounds, I could hear my choking breaths hitching through my wracking sobs. Fingers forced open my mouth, pressed against my tongue, searching for the source of my suffocation.

Need. Need. Desperate need. Touch. Skin. Warmth. Strength. Power.

Him.

Needed him.

Needed his hands, his breath, his presence,
him
.

Soothing, soothing, soothing.

I had to have him. If I didn’t get him, the noose would tighten and I’d die.

“Please.” It was my voice but I didn’t recognize the rasping, raw, agonized noise.

“Oh my God.”

Somewhere far away, the phone rang. My prison moved and I struggled to no avail.

“Lucien, thank God. Something’s wrong with Leah. She can’t breathe and I can’t find out why. She’s fighting me and if I let her go, I fear she’ll do herself more harm. You need to call an ambulance.”

I gasped for breath. My lungs were burning. The blackness was encroaching.

“
What?
Are you
mad?
She’s choking, goddamn it, call an ambulance!”

The noose tightened sharply. I feared it’d snap my neck and I sensed the sickening strangled noise I heard came from me.

“Listen, Leah, honey, please, listen to the phone…” the female voice implored urgently.

“Sweetling…” His voice sounded in my ear.

Breath filled my lungs.

I took it in in gulps.

“Hold on, I’m coming.”

My mind cocooned, nothing came in, nothing went out, nothing went on.

Catatonia.

Then he was there, his arms sliding around me, lifting me. I was cradled in his lap, his heat enveloping me, his hold fierce and protective.

The aftereffects of the hideous living nightmare still held me in their thrall and, although my senses were returning, I was utterly powerless. A blind, mute ragdoll in Lucien’s arms.