Vampire Charming (33 page)

Fang
looked over at Slade for a diagnosis.  “What’s wrong with her?”  He demanded. 
“What have you done, Vampire?”

“It
must be the transition.”  Slade sounded appalled.  “Grandma Dawn said she
wasn’t sure how it would affect you, Jane, but I never imagined
this
.”

His
grandmother?  Had
From Here to Infinia
really called in Cat Woman as a
deus
ex machina? 
Grateful as Jane was for the assist,
that twist was even dumber than even this amnesia crap.

“The
transition causes amnesia?”  Fang threw his hands up.  “It just keeps getting
worse!”  He restlessly paced around.  “What else does it do?”

“I
don’t know!  Hardly any humans survive it.”  Slade ignored Fang’s frustrated
cursing and focused on Jane.  She could see his mind racing for a solution. 
“Jane, you will be alright.  I swear it.”

Jane
responded with more tears.  “Why can’t I remember?”

“I
don’t know, but I will find a way to get your memory back.”

“You
will do nothing except die in the sun, Vampire.”  Fang spat out.  “
I
will care for my woman.  It is obvious that you have done nothing but harm
her.  I am not surprised.  Your whole species is thoughtless and stupid.”

Slade
disregarded that, too.  He somehow managed to slam two Goblins together, so
their skull collided with a sickening crack.  Momentarily escaping the others,
he knelt in front of Jane.  “My One, try and recognize me.”  His palms cupped
her face.  “I am
Slade
.  I am,” he paused, trying to settle on words she
would accept in her current state, “your husband.”

Yes,
he certainly was.

Jane
stared into his eyes and saw her whole future staring back.  A future that
no
one
was going to steal.  Without meaning to, she reached up to put her hand
over his.

Triumph
briefly lit his features.  Then, more Goblins rushed forward to pull him back
from her.  This time it took twelve.  The whole time Slade struggled against
the onslaught, his attention stayed on Jane.  “Jane, I love you!  You said you
loved me, too.  Try and remember!”

She
somehow managed to look away from him and blink up at Fang.  “Is the Vampire
telling the truth?  Is he my husband?”

That
line prompt was all the Werewolf needed to get on board with Jane’s new script
direction.  “No.”  Fang gave an eager smile.  “
I
am your husband, Jane
Squire.”

“
No.” 
Four Goblins hit the floor as Slade fought.  “Jane, do not listen to him!”

Fang
disregarded the commentary and helped her to her feet.  “I am Fang, King of
Infinia and you are my mate.”  He ran his hands over her body and Jane couldn’t
even look at Slade.  If she did, he was going to see that she was terrified. 
“My beautiful, obedient mate.”

Clarissa
wouldn’t call him an asshole, so Jane didn’t either.  “If you’re my mate, what
was I doing with him?”  She pointed at Slade.  “That’s what you’re saying,
right?  That I was at the mercy of this Vampire, for God knows how long?”

“He
kidnapped you and I have spared no expense in getting you back.  You have
caused me much worry.”

Slade
got free again and stalked forward.  The guy just would not quit.  It was the
hero thing again.  Thank heaven he had unheroic Jane Squire to save him, because
he was totally not helping this situation.  “Fang is
lying
, Jane.  Look
into your heart.  I
know
you sense our connection.  You must.”

She
did sense it.

Even
if the amnesia had been real, Jane would
still
know this man was hers. 
The Eternal-Bond thing had sewn them together in ways that she couldn’t
explain, but it went even deeper than that.  The love Jane felt for him went
straight down to the core of her.

…So
it was nearly impossible to back away from Slade when he approached.

Luckily,
she was one hell of an actress and she was giving the performance of a
lifetime.  Jane made her body moved closer to Fang, her hand coming up to rest
on his arm.  “He’s crazy.”  She whispered in her most traumatized voice. 
“Please, Fang, don’t let him hurt me.”

Slade’s
eyes nearly bugged out.

Fang
smirked, his arms coming around Jane and pulling her closer.  “Do not worry. 
The Vampire won’t ever touch you again.  He won’t be alive long enough.”

Being
held against Fang nearly made her gag.  He smelled wrong.  He felt wrong.  He
was
wrong.  Jane had no idea how she could keep this up.  Just to give herself
some room, she shoved him back.  The Werewolf might say he wanted an obedient
mate, but she was betting the script was right and he wanted to
force
compliance. 
Her resistance was just turning him on more.

“The
Vampire had
better
not be alive for long.”  She snapped.  “I expect you
to make him pay for this, husband.”

“This
is just not
possible
.”  Slade sounded like he was about to lose it
completely.  A mass of Goblins was wrapping him in some kind of glowing rope
and he barely seemed to notice.  “Jane, you cannot believe him!  You are the
smartest person I’ve ever met. 
Think!
”

She
wanted to give him some kind of sign to reassure him, but she was afraid that
Fang would see it.  Besides, Slade would try and stop her if he understood her
plan.  The guy wasn’t so great at subterfuge and he would battle an army before
he let her put herself at risk.

Jane
turned back to frown at Fang.  “How could you let me get kidnapped by a Vampire,
anyway?  What kind of mate are you?”

Fang
blinked at her biting tone.  “Well, I did not…”

Jane
kept going.  Clarissa had always been an unreasonable bitch.  It was the main
reason Jane liked her. “And now you say you’re going to kill him, --which you
should
--
but how are you going to make him
suffer?
”

“I
am going to stake him in the sun.  Aside from blue diamond blades, that is the
most effective weapon against Vampires.”  He paused.  “Blue diamond blades can
cut through all magicks, you know.  They are rare in this land, but they can
break through many enchanted…”

“That’s
it?!”  She interrupted the random exposition, with an aggrieved scowl.  “You’re
just going to leave Slade here in the middle of wherever-the-hell-we-are with
no one to
see?
  What kind of message does that send to our enemies? 
That they can just kidnap me and you’ll give them all a quick death?”  She
arched a brow.  “Or do you
like
the idea having other men abducting me? 
Is that it?  Do you get off on imagining me helplessly submitting to some
depraved Vampire’s twisted fantasies?”

Just
as she’d anticipated, that set him off.

“Of
course I don’t want you fucking Slade!”  Fang roared.  “Are you out of your
goddamn mind? 
I
am the one you submit to. 
I
am your mate.”

“Jane,
I swear to the gods, if you do not get away from him, I will not be responsible
for what happens.”  Slade warned in a dark voice.  The glowing rope must have
incapacitated him somehow, because he couldn’t seem to break free.  That didn’t
keep him from trying, though.

“Save
your threats, Vampire!”  Jane cried with dramatic zeal.  Clarissa was also a
dramatic kind of girl.  “My mate will
never
allow you to hurt me.”

“I
wasn’t threatening
you
, Jane!  I would
never
…”

“Don’t
threaten her!”  Fang shouted talking right over Slade’s objection and backing
up Jane’s version of the dialogue.  Once you started working off a new script,
your costars didn’t have much of a choice except to adapt.  “Christ, I thought
Vampires prided themselves on caring for women, but now I see you’ve been
terrorizing her this entire time.”

“He’s
a bully.”  Jane nodded.  “And he must have
forced
me to become one of
his wretched kind.  I cannot wait to see him suitably punished.  Dragged before
our people and publically executed for his crimes.”

“All
my enemies will be suitably punished.”  Fang caught her chin in his grasp, slightly
suspicious of how well this was going for him.  “Including
you
, mate, if
you think to betray me.”  He looked over at Slade.  “As long as she knows the
truth
,
though, she is safe from my wrath.  Isn’t that right, Vampire?”

Slade’s
eyes narrowed, understanding that threat.  Fang wasn’t trying to hurt Jane,
because she seemed to be buying his lies.  Slade wouldn’t risk the Werewolf
turning on her.  Not even if it meant he was going to be drawn-and-quartered,
or whatever
Braveheart
inspired tortures Infinia had up its sleeve.  He
leveled a furious glare at Fang, but he stopped trying to jog her memory.

God,
she loved that guy.

“Why
would I betray you, Fang?  Unless… you don’t want me anymore.”  More tears
spilled out.  “Do you blame me for becoming a Vampire?”  Jane didn’t wait for
an answer, before she started wailing in Clarissa’s most irritating whine. 
“You
do
, don’t you?  I don’t remember what happened, but I
know
I
wouldn’t have gone with this horrible man willingly.”

Fang
was really buying this bullshit rewrite.  “Jane, you are being stupid.  The
fact that you are a Vampire is disgusting, but it is not your fault.  I know he
forced you.”

She
kept crying.  “
Please
don’t give me back to Slade.  I want to go home
with
you
.”

“Of
course
you will come home with me.”

Jane
gave a hopefully sniff.  “Really?  You still want me?”

“I
want you so much it makes me crazed.”  Fang’s fingers clutched at the fabric of
Jane’s fairytale dress, like he wanted to rip it off her.  “Gods, I cannot even
think
of giving you up.  You are the destiny I was not supposed to have. 
I am going to claim every inch of your body, while the Vampire watches.”

Jane
suppressed a shudder as Slade cursed viciously in several languages she didn’t
know.  “But, how can you make him watch if he’s dead?”  She asked, going with
the new direction.  “Can’t you keep him alive for a while and make him suffer?”

Fang
frowned, considering her words.

She
wasn’t surprised.  Hollywood black hats couldn’t just kill the hero outright. 
No, the villain’s master plan needed to be a complicated, grandiose scheme
featuring volcanoes and lasers and maybe a lion.  With a little push, of
course
Fang was going to default to that kind of bad guy reasoning.  His natural
impulse would be to chain Slade to a wall and explain every step of his plan. 
It was just how films worked.  For once, Jane wasn’t complaining about the plot
device.  If she was living in a movie, she could at least take advantage of the
loopholes.

“We
shall take the Vampire back to the Obsidian Fortress.”  Fang decided, his lust
and his need to humiliate Slade overcoming his good judgment.  He stared down
at Jane, his breathing fractured.  “But, if this is a trick to save the
Vampire, it will not work.”  He warned.  “It won’t be beauty kills the beast.”

King
Kong
. 
That misquote almost seemed reasonable, considering this was quickly becoming a
horror flick.  “Does it seem like I want to save that jackass Vampire?”  Jane
gave her hair a toss.  “Please.  Just how good an actor do you think I am?”

Slade
froze, his eyes cutting over to Jane.  “Oh my
gods
…”  He wheezed.  “
Clarissa
had amnesia.”

“Who
the hell is Clarissa?  Fang demanded.

Shit.

“How
should I know?”  Jane scoffed.  “I don’t even remember
myself
, you think
I remember somebody else?”

Slade
quickly put the pieces together and, predictably enough, he didn’t like her
plan.  “Jane, goddamn it, you cannot do this!”

Ignoring
Slade’s dawning comprehension and the Werewolf’s wary confusion, she hurriedly
changed the subject.  “Let’s get out of here, Fang.  Do you have something I
can cover myself with?  If I’m a Vampire now, I can’t just stroll outside.”

“Yes,
of course.”  Fang swept towards the door.  “Wait here and I’ll fetch you a cloak.” 
He snapped his fingers at the Goblins.  “Find a blanket for Slade.  He rides
with us.”

The
Goblins fell all over themselves searching for a quilt, which gave Jane a few
precious seconds to talk to Slade.  She stepped closer to him and lowered her
voice.  “You said you wanted to see me on stage.  Well,
that
was
Clarissa’s grand finale.  Once you’re untied, I expect some loud clapping.”

Slade
didn’t seem ready to applaud.  “This is too big a risk, Jane.”  His wild blue
eyes stayed locked on hers.  “Stop it
now
.  I will gladly burn in the
sun before I
ever
let him touch you.  You
know
that.”

“Calm
down.  I have Fang under control.”  That was a lie, but, for the first time ever,
Jane didn’t mind taking a risk.  She’d gamble anything if there was a chance to
save Slade’s life.  “When a girl from the Southside is touching a guy she
hates… she’s playing him, sweetie.”