Vamped Up (15 page)

Dylan circled the desk, then planted her behind on the corner. She leaned over, cupped his cheek, and gazed into his eyes. Six months ago his insides would’ve flipped at her caress. Now all he could think about was Eve and keeping her away from this mess. It was crucial to keep his work at ReVamp with the scrolls and their relationship completely separate.

He should never have brought her into all this. He should’ve watched her from a distance. Loved her from afar. She didn’t deserve this life. She deserved the best. Right now, that wasn’t him.

“You are one of the most sincere vamps I know,” Dylan said, her words falling on deaf ears. “But these recurring dreams are beyond your control. I really believe this has to be some sort of sign from the Ever After. Don’t you feel it? Your dreams, no matter how dark they are, are trying to tell you something. Maybe you should give in to them a little bit and listen.”

“Well, shit,” he said, jerking his face out of her hand. “You’d rather I embrace the dream that has me killing the love of my life and the pure blood source of the race. That should turn out great. And hey, while I’m fuck-buddies with Satan, why don’t I get into cahoots with whoever’s killing these elders and hunt one down myself?”

Wincing, she recoiled at his tone, his words.

“Damn it, I didn’t mean . . .” He reached out for her shoulder and shook his head. “Dylan, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” She was at the door in a heartflicker, her eyes shadowed over, her complexion pale. “It’s fine.”

He dropped his hand.

If things were fine, he wouldn’t be having these nightmares, and elders wouldn’t be hunted for their death shades, their mawares used against them.

Wait
 . . .

Tracking down an elder would be much too difficult, especially since they’ve probably tunneled further underground to escape whatever evil was killing them for their shades. But over the course of his hundred years, he’d heard rumors of a therian-run black market—one that had its fingers in all kinds of dirty business in Crimson Bay, including the kidnapping and selling of elders for their mawares.

Even though the market wasn’t around anymore, someone had to have information about how those corrupt shifters got their hands on so many elders for so many years. Someone must still have the skills to track them down or know something about how to find one.

That’s all he’d need.

Elders were the only ones who knew how to read the lost tongue, Valcish, the language of the scrolls. Even if an elder didn’t know every aspect of the ancient language, they’d know more than anyone else. More than he did.

Ruan spun around the desk and planted a kiss on Dylan’s cheek before she could react. “You’re brilliant.”

She smiled, her blue eyes glistening. “Not that I’d argue with that, but what’d I do this time?”

“I could spend years trying to decipher these pages and still mistranslate them. I’m going to try to track down an elder and ask them to decipher the scrolls.” He grabbed his coat, shoved his arms into the sleeves, and double-checked the clock. Ten minutes past sundown. Perfect. “This is the quickest way we’re going to figure all this out.”

He snatched the vampire tracking record off his desk and scanned through the list, his gaze finally coming to rest on a bloodlusting son of a bitch who had a penchant for hanging out with other misfit criminals—the exact group of vamps Ruan needed right now. He folded up the paper, shoving it into his pants pocket. He pushed through the office door and stormed into the lab, nodding to Slade, who was at his desk in the middle of the room, helping two young females fill out ReVamp’s standard paperwork.

“Okay, now you’re delirious,” Dylan said, color returning to her cheeks. “Elders have gone underground. You’re not going to be able to find one with a snap of your fingers.”

“I’m going to find someone who has the answers. I don’t care how many people I have to question or how long it takes me. I’ll find an elder one way or another.”

“Even if you do manage to track one down, what makes you think they’re going to translate Valcish for us, just because we ask them to?” Dylan remained at his office door, arms folded. “They’re not too keen on handing over that kind of knowledge.”

He turned back, fangs dropping into place. “Wasn’t it you who said I should give into the dark nature of my dreams?”

“Sounds like this mission’s right up my alley,” someone growled from behind him. He expected it to be Slade, eavesdropping on their conversation like he always did. When he glared over his shoulder, though, he spotted Dante, head to toe in black leather, a sinister grin curling the corners of his mouth.

“Where we headed?” Dante asked, opening the flaps of his leather trench coat, exposing the weapons on his belt.

Slade piped up from his desk, his usual welcome tone unmasked. “Who’s this sucker? And why’s he armed with slingshots?”

“I’m Dante,” he fired back, voice thick as gristle. “I’d hardly call these slingshots.” He moved into the lab, patting his Glock and stood near a white table behind Slade.

Growling, Slade spun round in his chair.

“Cool it, Slade,” Ruan said, moving between Tweedle Dee and Dum. “He’s my trainee. And he used to work for Eve at CBU.” Ruan rolled his eyes as Slade readied his mouth to fire. “Don’t ask,” he said, stopping the verbal attack short. “Dante was just leaving.”

Dante squared his shoulders, facing Ruan, as Slade returned to helping the two females with their ReVamp questionnaire. “I’m only leaving if you are.” Dante’s eyes shifted around the room, setting on Dylan as she walked to the industrial-sized refrigeration system in back. “You were right about what you said earlier and I want to help.”

Slade chuckled, low and husky. “Well ain’t that sweet,” he mumbled under his breath.

Dylan emerged from the walk-in refrigerator with two bags of AB for the blonde clients Slade had been prepping. “Ruan, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get anywhere near an elder—especially right now, with what’s going on at the haven and the Crimson Council. There has to be another way.”

“He’s right, Dylan,” Slade interjected as he entered the girls’ completed information into ReVamp’s database. “We’re running out of time.”

Ruan sighed. He knew the possessive sucker was listening in on their conversation in the office. Step one, paint his hideous office walls a puke-less shade. Step two, heavy-duty insulate.

As Dylan passed between the men and handed the seated girls packs of chilled nourishment, Dante extended his hand. “Dylan, as in, the owner of this place? Your reputation precedes you.”

She smiled, lighting up the room. “Thanks. ReVamp has come a long way from its humble beginnings, that’s for sure. The place is dead right now, but it really gets hopping around midnight. You should see it sometime.” She placed her hand in Dante’s, but instead of shaking it, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. The tap-tap-tapping of Slade’s fingers silenced as he spun around and shot Dante death glares from beneath his heavy brow.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Dante released her hand.

“Any friend of Ruan’s is a friend of ours.” Dylan slid beside Slade and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, though Ruan wasn’t sure if it was her usual loving gesture or a motion to keep Slade from leaping up and connecting Dante’s grin from ear to ear. “Right, Slade?”

He smirked, as close to an agreement as Dylan was going to get, then swiveled back to finish tending to the female newborns who were sipping greedily on the AB packs.

Chuckling, Ruan strode toward the lobby. It was nice to see Slade’s anger directed at someone else for a change. “Come on, Dante, I’ll walk you out.”

Dante followed Ruan outside—smart move, given that Dylan wouldn’t be able to hold Slade back if he really wanted to do some damage.

Night had just fallen, dragging the three-quarter moon into the sky. Thick plumes of mist dusted their leather trench coats. The air was chillier than normal, promising a frigid-ass night. People bustled about, fumbling with umbrellas, hailing taxis, heading home from work. Thanks to the maware protecting ReVamp from unwanted mundane attention, the enormous gothic building went unnoticed. Passersby simply thought the place was rundown, closed up and vacant.

“What’s the plan?” Dante asked, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

Ruan should’ve told him to hit the road, but damn it, he might be able to use Dante’s abilities if he started questioning the wrong people. He pulled the vampire tracking record out of his pocket and unfolded it. He pointed to a warehouse on the Embarcadero near the Bay Bridge. “Here.”

Dante’s eyebrows pinched. “You looking to buy an elder?”

Ruan’s gaze snapped up. “No, I’m going to talk to a vamp named Juan Carlos. This was his last known residence, and if I remember right, there was a rumor floating around that he worked for the therians who used to run the elder black market.”

“He still works there.” Dante said nonchalantly. “But he’s no vamp. He’s therian. A shifter through and through.”

“What do you mean, he still works there?” Ruan faced him. “The elder black market’s been closed at least a hundred years. We would’ve heard something if therians had started it up again.”

“I’m telling you, he still works there. He lives in the upstairs part of the warehouse and oversees all the workings. Therians thought it’d attract less attention if it took place out of his home.”

“You just said he’s therian.” Dante wasn’t making a lick of sense. “Why would ReVamp have his drinking preferences on file like he’s a vamp who’s sought services before?”

“Maybe that’s the easiest way to keep enemies off his tail. You wouldn’t exactly go barging into the home of one of your own, would you?” Dante shrugged nonchalantly. “Wouldn’t take much of a disguise. Anyhow, if it’s a vampire elder you want, hitting up Juan Carlos’s place is your best bet.” He pointed to the warehouse in question on the Embarcadero. “Elders are just too hard to track independently right now.”

How the hell did he know all this?

Before Ruan could rapid-fire questions about Dante’s past, he continued. “I hope you realize that even though no one will ask what your plans are for your elder purchase, therians are everywhere in that place and they often follow you home. How bad do you need one?”

More than life itself. Eve’s life depended on it and to save her, he’d give everything.

Ruan weighed his options. He could continue on his original course, question a bunch of shady suckers about elder whereabouts, and hunt one down himself—though he could spend months or years hunting and still come up dry. Or he could sneak into the battle pen, avoid therian eyes, spend a shitload of money he didn’t have on an elder, question them without revealing his identity, and get the hell out of dodge before he attracted too much therian heat. If that’s how the place was run.

Although the former was semi-risk-free, the allure of the latter made his veins sizzle with anticipation. He’d been jonesing for the rush of a mission like this.

“Can you get us in?” Ruan asked, crossing the street, Dante on his heels.

“Getting in will be easy . . . the problem will be getting out.”

Chapter Nineteen

“Living long enough to transition into an elder is a privilege, not a guarantee.”

Elder Baylor, 750 year-old vampire, oldest male on record, whereabouts unknown

E
VE PINCHED HER
eyes tight, focusing hard on Lilith’s touch. Her perfectly soft hands covered her own, stroking small circles around the heart of Eve’s palm with her thumbs. It tickled like a feather’s caress.

Eve stifled a laugh.

“You’re not trying and it’s very frustrating.” Lilith dropped the connection. “Perhaps you do not know how little time there is or how much work you have left to do.”

It was no wonder she’d given up trying to tap into this energy Lilith spoke of. Eve’s legs had gone numb from sitting pretzeled on the floor, and her hands ached from being held out, grasping Lilith’s for such a long period of time.

Eve let her shoulders slump. “We’ve been at this for hours and I’m just not getting it. Maybe we should try something else, or a different position—like sitting up on the couch, for starters.” Those cushions looked rather lonely. Eve tried to stand up but Lilith tugged on her arm, pulling her back down.

“This is the way it must be. To draw on your powers you will not always have a couch, a chair, or a nice room like this one to channel in, but you will always have an uncomfortable floor to sit upon.”

Well wasn’t that profound.

Lilith brushed a fire-red lock of hair over her shoulder like a beauty queen from a forgotten age. Eve tried fluffing life back into her own hair, but it was too flat to be saved. “You will get it if you keep trying. You have to focus all your energy on our connection. You must feel my energy run through you in order to warm the amulet and use it the way we need.”

Eve sighed and readjusted her knees, pulling them tighter. Man, she was going to have bruises on her backside from this. “Fine, but I’m telling you, I don’t feel any different.”

Lilith’s eyes closed, her eyelashes settling lightly on the curve of her cheek. “You will.” She stretched out her arms. Eve filled Lilith’s hands with her own, feeling Lilith’s delicate fingers wrap around and curl over the sides.

Eve listened to the familiar sounds of her apartment, letting her senses drift past the numbness of her body. The buzz of the city outside her window soothed the ache in her arms. The hum of her refrigerator lulled her mind while the ticking of the clock mounted on the kitchen wall matched the soft pitter-patter of her heart. When those sounds began to merge into one hypnotic rhythm, her shoulders grew heavy like lead. Her neck lolled downward to her chest. Her breathing slowed until she felt as if her body was asleep while her mind was still awake. She let herself drown in the deep waters pulling her toward complete relaxation.

The amulet warmed against her chest . . .

Lilith squeezed her hands ever so slightly. “It’s already inside you, Eve,” she whispered, her voice warm like honey. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along. The mawares in the amulet are drawn to the purity of your spirit. It’s undeniable. When you’re not fighting the pull, they will work even without your know-how. You’ll just
be
. Breathe in and out slowly for me . . . that’s it.”

Eve took a deep breath, feeling those last fragments of tension leave her body.

As the amulet began to tingle with luxurious warmth, something happened. Tiny white streams of light snaked out of the amulet, twisting and turning along one another, reaching through the space between their two bodies. Eve didn’t have to open her eyes to know what was happening; she could sense it. The energy from the amulet was binding together, cascading through the glass, gathering into a ball of white shimmering light inches from her chest.

“That’s it,” Lilith hissed slowly. “You’re almost there . . . you’ve almost done it . . .”

With those words, everything flipped on its head. Eve’s skin broke out in chills. Her chest trembled erratically. Her relaxing breaths turned to jagged pants. Her palms twitched. Her eyelids fluttered, struggling to open.

“No, no, no, don’t—” Lilith began, squeezing her hands harder.

But it was too late.

The light collapsed upon itself, extinguishing in a puff of cold air. Even the wall sconces lighting the apartment blacked out. Eve’s eyes shot open as the amulet lifted, then thumped awkwardly against her chest. Her breathing returned to normal as she peered into Lilith’s disappointed eyes.

“You were so close.” Lilith dropped her hands into her lap. “What happened?”

Yeah, like she had the answers.
“I’ve never done this before. How should I know? One second I felt like I had control over what was happening, and the next, I lost it.”

“What do you mean, you lost it?” Her eyes narrowed to red, concentrated slits.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking me the questions like I have the answers.”

“What did it feel like?”

Eve rubbed the face of the amulet, her fingers slowing on the tiny onyx. “It felt warm. Like whatever’s inside this thing was heating up, trying to get out.”

“And then?” Lilith purred.

“That’s it.” Eve sifted her fingers through her hair. “It felt fragmented or incomplete somehow, like something was missing and I’m rambling and not making any sense now, aren’t I? Listen, bottom line is that it didn’t work and I don’t know if it ever will.” She dropped the amulet and rubbed the goose bumps scattering across her shoulders. Even through her jeans and sweater she was frozen. Right down to the core. The hair at the nape of her neck stood on end. Were they being watched?

She scanned the windows, leaned back to check the kitchen. Nobody there.

Lilith sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and worried it back and forth. “Do you remember when I told you that you’ve lived this life before?”

Eve nodded, not sure she wanted to hear what had Lilith perplexed.

“During the Crimson Bay Massacre of 1912, right before Ruan drained you the second time,
damn him
to hell
, you tried to summon the mawares in this amulet. I tried to teach you the best I could, giving you every resource you needed to discover the power within you. It didn’t work then either . . . and you said those exact same words. You said something was missing. You said it was fragmented. Do you have any idea what that could mean?”

She was talking much too fast and Eve’s backside was much too numb. Groaning, shifting to get more comfortable, Eve ran through what Lilith said, her mind picking up bits and pieces, stringing them together. “How do you know what I did and said back then?”

Lilith leaned closer. “Because you were with me that night. You were in my charge and I was protecting you.”

“Then what was I doing at the Crimson Bay Massacre? Seems like a war-strewn fort would be the last place you’d stick someone to keep them safe.”

She sucked in air through her fangs. “I made some oversights, yes, but I took the measures I thought proper at the time. If it’s anything this tired life has taught me, it’s that you can’t look back. Now we must figure out what you speak of. We must discover what is missing.”

Eve’s heart thumped slowly in her chest. “Maybe it’s me. Maybe you have the wrong person.”

“Then why can’t you take off that powerful necklace, my dear?”

She had her there, though she’d rip it off in a heartbeat if she could.

“You know what I don’t understand?” Eve asked. “If you know how to do this, and you have the energy within you that I’m supposed to channel, why can’t you do this yourself?”

Lilith’s expression softened. “My sole purpose in this life is to get you to realize yours. Without you, I cannot fulfill my destiny of making sure the elders in my command reach the Ever After.”

Something struck Eve like a thunderbolt. “Who else knows about this? About my ability to . . .”
God, was she really going to admit this aloud?
“ . . . bind the death shades and release them to the Ever After?”

Lilith’s full lips pulled back into a luminous smile. “Let me show you.” She stood as gracefully as if she’d been sitting on the most comfortable throne in the world and glided to the window, her velvet skirt flowing perfectly behind her.

Bending over, joints achy and muscles tight, Eve pushed herself off the floor, disjointed like she’d been sleeping on a bed of nails. Rubbing her backside, she followed Lilith. By the time she reached the window, Lilith had parted the curtains and was peering down to the street.

Hidden amongst the shadows of the building across the street were two or three people standing stoic in the night, staring up at them.

“There,” Lilith said, pointing to a light-post and a newspaper stand. “They know about you, about your destiny and they’re waiting for you to achieve it. Do you see them clearly?”

Eve squinted through the condensation on the glass. “You mean, those two people down there?” Why were they just standing in the middle of the sidewalk gazing up at her window?
Creepy.

Lilith laughed. “Not two, my naïve child.” She spread her arms from one side of the window to the other, her fingers ghosting over the glass. “All.”

A draft blew through the room as dozens of people came into view . . . but not people, Eve corrected. They looked much too pale, even for vampires. They almost appeared . . . translucent.

“Wha—what are they?” Eve fumbled, her breath fogging the frosted window.

“They’re the white shades of elders, my dear.”

Eve took a careful step backwards, away from the glass, her blood running like ice water through her veins. “And they’re, ah . . .” Words evaporated off her tongue.

“Ghosts.” Lilith turned. “They are trapped on this earth, the dark part of their shade having been stolen by evil. They are drawn to you, sweetheart. Drawn to the pieces of maware trapped in the amulet like moths to a brightly burning flame. We can’t let them roam the earth for eternity, Eve; they’ve done enough roaming in this life.” Her voice droned. “You must set them free to the Ever After. They’re waiting for you to release them. Time is wasting and they’re growing very impatient.”

Shock morphed into panic. Ghosts who knew where she lived and what she could—or couldn’t—do, tracking her down and haunting her? No, this wasn’t happening. “They know where I live? They’re following me? But you said earlier about Ruan . . .
Oh, God
. . . he’s coming. If the elders’ shades . . . if they found me, then elders who haven’t had their death shades used against them . . . ones who are still whole and in hiding . . . they know where I live, too, don’t they?”

“Yes, and they’ll come for you, too. The shades are drawn to you, Eve, because they long to be set free. But once you start building the energy around that amulet, elders will come. They want the fragments of maware to be bound so they can become whole again—able to use their full power. They’ll find you.”

“But Ruan’ll be home any minute. They’ll leave him alone when he shows up, right?” She paused. “Right?”

Lilith’s smile flickered. Eve’s body warmed in response, slowing the racing of her mind. The sweet smell of cinnamon wafted through the air as Lilith wrapped an arm around Eve’s shoulders and guided her around to face the living room once more. “I wouldn’t worry about any of that right now, my dear. All you need to do is focus on the energy within you and do what must be done. Now are you ready to try again and work out those nasty little kinks? We still have much to do tonight.”

Eve nodded and walked back to her spot on the hardwood living room floor.