Up in Flames (2 page)

She ran all the way home, her headache long forgotten. When she reached her front door, she fumbled with the lock for a moment and then staggered inside. Her phone began ringing as soon as she shut the door. She answered it, a bit out of breath. “Hello?”

“Hello, Meredith. I know you saw me tonight. We need to meet. I always tie up my loose ends.”

“Oh, God, he’s going to kill me!” Meredith wailed to the silent room as she threw the phone as if it had burned her hand. She fell to her knees, unable to stand any longer. What was she going to do now?

Suddenly, scenes started playing in her head. That it was
her
in the woman’s place.
Her
body being dropped lifelessly to the ground after being drained of all her blood. From the torn clothing on the woman, it looked like her attacker had abused her before he drained her. As these scenes played over and over in her head, it became difficult to even breathe. Meredith crawled on her hands and knees into her bedroom and over to her small closet. Reaching up and yanking a handful of clothes off the hangers, she pulled them over her as she shut the door and curled up in a little ball. Yes, this was her safety spot. The same spot she’d had when she was a kid and became frightened. She was safe. She was safe. She said her mantra over and over until her tears stopped and her breathing finally became closer to normal. She gently rocked herself on the cold closet floor. Nothing could reach her. She was safe.

It was going to be a long night.

*****

Lucas looked down at the body in front of him and shook his head. He hated rogues. They gave all of his kind a bad name, and he was sick of it. This made number eight. Eight women found dead after having been raped. Eight women who had been drained of every ounce of blood in their bodies.

The one in front of him wasn’t that much different than the others. All of them had been in their early-to-mid-twenties. The killer or killers evidently took a liking to blondes, since seven of the deceased had blonde hair, including this one; but number four had been a redhead.

It seemed they were always one step behind, no matter what they did or how hard they tried to catch these bastards. Lucas wanted justice. He was sick of going to the families of these young women and breaking the news that their daughters or wives would not be returning home. He wanted closure. He wanted closure for the victims, their families, and the team. They had been working this case non-stop, trying to keep it under wraps so as to not raise suspicions with the humans. However, it was only a matter of time. If his team didn’t find and stop these rogues quickly, it could very well jeopardize all of them.

Chapter One

He was a dead man. Okay, technically, many would say he was already dead because he was a vampire, but he didn’t believe that for a moment. He was made up of flesh and blood, just like everyone else. He had feelings. He had morals and values. He had goals in life. Goals he wouldn’t live long enough to reach if he didn’t get out of this damn blasted Texas sun and heat.

Lucas Nate Calloway was a Texas Ranger, and a damn good one at that. Most of the Rangers were vampires these days, a change the human population knew nothing about. Unfortunately, he had been ambushed by a group of rogues and left to die a slow, painful death, tied down with reinforced steel ties that even a vampire had little hope of breaking. It didn’t matter anyway; once the sun started baking him, he lost his strength. Now, after being out in the hot Texas sun for three solid days, he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

His team would be out looking for him. They would have realized something had gone wrong within thirty minutes of the ambush. All team members were required to report in every half hour while on assignment. The problem was he had veered off-course when he caught their scent, and hadn’t had the chance to report his new position before the ambush. Then, the rogues decided to make sure he wasn’t found. They tied him to the back of his own horse and dragged him for miles and miles before dumping him, chaining him, and leaving him for dead.

He closed his eyes, hoping the end would hurry up and come. The pain radiating through his body was more than he could bear.

*****

Lucas dragged himself back to consciousness. Even before he opened his eyes, he heard machines beeping beside him, and smelled hospital disinfectant. Did that mean he had made it? He certainly didn’t
feel
dead. He cracked open one eye and instantly wished he hadn’t, as shards of ice pierced his skull.

“Well, glad to see you decided to join us.” His mentor, boss, and friend stated from beside him. “Had us worried there for a bit. Next time you decide you want some personal attention, you just let me know. No need to go through all the dramatics to get it.”

“Ha-ha. Fuck you, Walt. What are you doing here?” Lucas asked through clenched teeth as he attempted to figure out why his head hurt so damn bad.

“Well, it seems you scared the shit out of half our team when they couldn’t find you. Then, I get a call while out in California visiting with Sissy’s family that they had found you, but that you were on death’s doormat, like something the cat brought home but had too much pride to bring in.” He stopped and stared at the one vampire who had always seemed unflappable. There wasn’t anything Lucas couldn’t do. And Walter had yet to see the man lose his temper or let anything get to him. Yes, Lucas Nate Calloway was one of the most level-headed individuals he had ever known. So what in the world had happened to put his friend so close to death’s door? “Do you remember anything?”

“Yeah, I do.” Just that little bit had cost him. His head felt like a bass drum was pounding some incomprehensible rhythm inside. “Damn, I never knew we could get headaches. I feel like I went out on an all-night binge.”

“Ah, you are probably still running low on blood. I’ll be right back.” Walter went to stick his head out the door, to alert someone that Lucas was awake and in need of blood. Then he walked back and sat down.

Dr. Weathers walked into the room a moment later. “Hi, Lucas. How are you feeling?”

“Other than my head is about to split in two, I’m fine,” Lucas stated softly with his eyes still shut.

“Well, you had a gash on your head when you came in late last night, but that has completely healed and shouldn’t be causing you any problems. Hmm, I wonder if it is because you are running so low on blood.” He turned on his heel, ready to head back out, when a nurse walked in with two bags of blood, a cup, and a straw.

“Ah, thank you, Nurse Amy,” Dr. Weathers said as he took everything from her. “I’ll take it from here.”

He brought the blood to the side of the bed. Lucas was still lying on his back, his arm up over his eyes to block all light. “Lucas, how do you want to do this, man? Are you able to sit up? If not, we can just pour it in a cup and you can drink it through a straw.”

Lucas was sure he heard Walter snicker as he snorted.
Drink from a straw…what am I, a damn invalid?

Although a moment later, he wondered just what kind of shape he was in when just sitting up in bed had him sweating and shaking. Damn, he was weaker than a human if just sitting up took everything he could muster.

“Hand me one of those bags, Doc.” Dr. Weathers placed the bag into his outstretched hand.

He tore off the end of the bag and then tilted it to his lips, making a seal so as not to spill any of the life-giving nectar. He didn’t stop until the bag was empty. As he removed the bag from his mouth, he noticed his head had stopped pounding, and he was feeling better already. He held out his hand for the other bag, again downing it within a minute.

“Should I go round up a few more bags?” Walter asked from his chair beside the bed.

Dr. Weathers studied his patient for a moment. “Yes, try to get another two or three if you can.”

While they waited for more blood to arrive, Dr. Weathers addressed his health issues. “Okay, you’ve still got some nasty burns that have not completely cleared up. I think now that you are awake and we are getting some blood in you, the burns should start healing more rapidly. There were no broken bones, although your back is a mess. We’ve put a large gel pad over it so it wouldn’t bother you when you were sleeping. You know, you are very lucky to be here with us right now. If your teammates hadn’t found you when they did, I seriously doubt you would have still been alive. You came in here in pretty bad shape.”

Lucas closed his eyes as memories of being left to die in the hot Texas sun swam through his brain. His captors hadn’t thought he could possibly survive what they had planned, so they had run their mouths as they were dishing out their punishment. Lucas now knew a bit more about the case, and wanted to try to put the pieces together before another woman paid the price.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and reopened his eyes. Dr. Weathers was standing in front of him, a bit of a concerned look on his face. “Are you okay? I kind of lost you for a moment.”

“Yes, I’m fine. Just reliving the nightmare of being chained up in the sun for three days straight.”

The door to his room opened, and Walter walked in with a pretty young nurse on his heels.

Dr. Weathers looked up and smiled at Walter. “Oh, good, you were able to get plenty.” They were not at a regular hospital per se. The office of the Texas Rangers had its own medical wing especially for vampires who needed medical care, occupying the entire second floor of the building the Rangers called home. Dr. Weathers worked there, along with two nurses, to ensure the vampires in the surrounding area were taken care of.

The nurse stepped around Walter, hoping she could get her patient’s vitals before he drank his blood. She had already been told by Nurse Amy that their patient was a Texas Ranger and had been seriously injured in the line of duty. Dr. Weathers said goodbye to the patient and told him he would be back by later to check on him. As she approached the bed, she glanced over to her patient with what she hoped was a pleasant smile. The minute their eyes met, and his scent hit her at the exact same second, she froze.
Holy shit, this man is gorgeous! And he is huge! And he is my mate!

The woman walking toward him reminded him of an angel in her white scrubs. Long black hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and a body that was made for pleasure. She reached the side of the bed and gave him a tentative smile. “Hi, I’m Nurse Baldwin. I’ll be your nurse while you are here. Is there anything I can get you?”

Lucas looked up at the angel above him. She was beautiful. He ran his eyes down the length of her body, wishing it was his tongue instead. Her breasts looked to be an easy handful to fit his large hands, hips made for a man to grasp ahold and fuck into oblivion, and long legs that would wrap around him nicely. “Your name and phone number, mate.”

Although she was trying to keep up a professional front, she was a nervous wreck on the inside. First, he was just so…so big. Second, he was a Ranger,
a Ranger
! Surely there had been some sort of mistake. She could only imagine how Fate must surely be laughing her butt off for saddling him with plain-Jane Meredith Baldwin.

I’ve never been this nervous in my life! Wonder what I am supposed to say? “Hi, my name is Meredith Baldwin, I don’t get the whole concept about sex and I am currently being hidden away from the guys that did this to you.” Yeah, that should have him running in the other direction.

She gave him a nervous glance and her hand slipped as she was checking his blood pressure. Lucas heard Walter groan from behind her, “Oh, bloody hell, yeah, he’s just fine. And on that note, I’m out of here, man.”

She took the arm cuff off and checked his pulse. “I’m pulsing for you, sweets,” he murmured, watching as her long eyelashes fanned out as she looked down.

She leaned over him, gently running her fingers through his hair. “The chart states you came in with a nasty gash, but I’m not seeing anything. Is it already healed?”

“Yes, darling, my head is fine. You know our kind heals fast. But if you want to keep running your fingers through my hair, I’ll not stop you.” Her hand came to an abrupt stop as she realized she had been standing there running her fingers through her patient’s hair like some lovesick teenager.

Gently, as not to spook her, he reached up and clasped his hand around her wrist. As he watched her, she reminded him of a scared doe. Pitching his voice low, he asked, “Do you have time to sit and talk with me a minute or two?”

In keeping hold of her wrist, he gently maneuvered her until she was sitting on the side of the bed facing him. He continued to hold her wrist, while gently running his thumb over the inside.

Lucas turned to his side and propped his head up with his hand. “So, what’s your name, baby?”

“Meredith Baldwin,” her response but a whisper as her eyes were glued to the spot on her wrist Lucas was tantalizing.
Oh, God, if he keeps doing that I am going to be leaving a wet spot under me! How is he doing that? I’ve never really been turned on to a guy like this. It must be the mate thing. I can’t believe I got a mate that looks like him! He is gorgeous, even if he is as big as a mountain! I wonder if he is disappointed.

Oh yeah, she is so getting turned on by my touch. I can smell her juices flowing, and her nipples are poking right through that scrub top she is wearing.
“Meredith. Now that is a pretty name for my own little angel. You’re beautiful. You know we are mates, correct?”

Meredith could only nod. She cleared her throat twice in order to respond to him, all the while wondering if she really was going to leave a wet spot on the bed. She could feel her juices leaking from her pussy at an alarming rate, and her nipples had stood at attention the moment their skin touched. But what would happen if he found out the trouble she was in? What would he think when he realized his own team was protecting her, giving her shelter in this very building? What would he think when he discovered that she was only a half-vampire, and because of that, she didn’t have vampire strength?