Vampire Thirst (15 page)

The front door to her mansion creaked open. “Oh, Miss Austen!” a male nurse exclaimed. He was holding a couple of garbage bags filled with shredded paper inside. “Sorry, we didn’t hear the bell ring. Were you waiting long?”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t ring it,” she replied holding the door for him to pass. “Mrs. Wilkinson decided it was time for another spring cleaning?”

He gave her a tired nod in reply. Sam smiled and stepped inside.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Hikuro said as he came in. “Is your surname really Austen?”

Sam shook her head. “No, I lost most of my memory because of the… you know,
treatment
at the mental institution. So I had to choose another one.”

“So, why Austen?” Hikuro narrowed his eyes at her.

She
gently bit
her bottom lip
, then reminding herself she could trust him, she explained. “OK, you’ll find this incredibly lame, but the truth is Jane Austen’s books helped me recover after Zoricah broke me out. It was her stories that gave me hope, that made me
want
to live again.” She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. “So laugh all you want, I don’t mind.”

He regarded her for a moment, then he leaned over and whispered. “I like her books too.”

Sam chuckled and couldn’t stop the silly grin from reaching her ears when he winked at her impishly. “Come on, Mr. Comedian, we need to find Yara.”  

The corridors were full of staff members and doctors going about their business. Sam nodded and greeted them all. She felt like chatting, like inviting them all for dinner. Maybe she should have a Christmas-in-July party. She shook her head and shoved the thought to the back of her mind. Right now, she had to focus on their mission. Unfortunately.

“I need to debrief Yara on what we found out last night, then how about we go back to Broxbourne and do a stake out?”

Hikuro gently pulled her arm, making her turn around. “Sam, I don’t think it’s prudent for us to go back to that place before King Tardieh returns.”

“But...”

“It’s too dangerous. What if your old psychiatrist is Yerik’s partner and is running the operations from there? If Phillip was really telling the truth,
you
are the key to all of this,” he said, pointing at his own body. “We need to be very careful and plan the attack.”

He had a point, but Sam was itching to find out more about Dr. Marquis de Sade. “What if that facility is temporary and they move out before we return with the cavalry?”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’m not risking your life for nothing.”

“What if
I’m
willing to risk my life for the sake of catching that bastard?”

Sam saw Hikuro’s jaw tense up, then he exhaled. Ouch.

“OK,” he mumbled.

“OK?”

“I’ll go to King Tardieh now.”

She glared at him. “That’s so not an ‘OK.’”

“You stay here. I’ll debrief him on what happened. I’ll bring them back as soon as possible.”

“But...”

“No buts, Sam. Wait for me here.”

And with that, he marched back out and vanished into thin air.

Sam sighed again. “What a great start to a relationship.”

Feeling quite deflated, she climbed the stairs to her room. Yara wasn’t there. Sam turned on her heels and went to the main common area. Maybe she was eating with the others at the cafeteria.

Nope, not there either. On the way out of the secure area, she bumped into Mrs. Wilkinson.

“I saw her go out not even ten minutes ago,” her director informed her. “You must have missed each other by seconds.”

Sam thanked Mrs. Wilkinson and returned to her room.

She lay down on the bed – she had barely slept last night – but she was too hyped up to rest, so she pushed up off the mattress and opened her closet. It was a mess. Yara had been there and left a trail of chaos behind. Sam started organizing her clothes, but that didn’t get her mind off Hikuro either.

Damn him! Why couldn’t he have stayed and discussed their plan before disappearing on her? Now she had to sit around and wait like a freaking gate keeper. He must be having quite a debriefing with his king to take so long. Sam paused and ice settled in her stomach. Hikuro was telling Tardieh that
Sam
had finally found Yerik’s headquarters in Europe. They had been searching for it for over a month now. Tardieh and the others would be ecstatic. But what if she was wrong? What if the man she saw stepping out of the car in Broxbourne was just someone who
looked
like her old psychiatrist? What if all of it was just her mind playing tricks on her again? Zoricah and Hikuro would come back, all full of hope and admiration for her, just to be crushed by the cruel reality.

And that could not happen. Not now that she had finally found the man of her dreams, now that she had managed to control her energies and would finally receive unconditional respect from her friends.

No, she had to make sure
that
man and
that
facility were exactly who and what she thought they were, before Hikuro returned with Tardieh and Zoricah.

Sam quickly changed into dark jeans, a black long-sleeved top,
flat combat boots, and a black cap to cover her blond hair. Then she found a pen and some paper and wrote a note for Hikuro. She hoped he’d understand and if he didn’t, well, she’d have more time to explain it later. Right now, she had to get back to Broxbourne before it was too late.

Part 2

“Do you love me?”

Chapter 1

Malaga, Costa del Sol, Spain

Four nights earlier.

The heavy rain that drenched the United Kingdom finally stopped once Zoricah reached the Portuguese coast. She flew low, between national parks and deep ocean, to avoid calling attention to herself. Back in the day, she used to fly across the UK, over to France, and get to the Mediterranean in just a few hours. But after the technological boom in the twentieth century, it was too easy for one to get caught by military radar or a curious human with a digital camera.

Zoricah flapped her golden, leathery wings and clutched her claws around the small bundle of clothes she carried. She was tired and hungry, but she needed to get to Tardieh before dawn. She saw the bright lights of Malaga and ducked inland, following the Arroyo del Totalán River. After a few minutes, her dragon eyes spotted the village where Hikuro had told her the abandoned farm house would be. Totalán was a cute little town that looked liked it had stopped in time. Its narrow streets were perched on the edge of rolling hills; the houses seemed to have been done by the same architect and same painter. They were all white with red tiled rooftops. Why change what you know works, right?

She landed quietly behind a commercial building and changed back into her human form. Her long, dark hair cascaded down her chest, touching her ample breasts. Her nipples beaded instantly with the caress. Damn the Soartas. It had been over two weeks since she had last been with Tardieh. Her body ached for him, for his touch.

Zoricah shook her head, chiding herself, and put on her clothes. Never in her two centuries of existence had she been so besotted by a man as she was with Tardieh. He was stubborn, bossy and old fashioned, but he had simply stolen her heart. The week they worked together in New York had been crazy. Between fighting razbians and rescuing the daughter of a draconian senator, Zoricah had managed to find herself in Tardieh’s arms and fall head over heels for him. The problem was that he was the vampire king, her race’s sworn enemy. Not a match made in heaven, one could say.

After she was dressed, she holstered her Glock pistol on her back and assured her combat knife was firmly held inside her knee-high boot.

Right. Time to find the object of her dreams and face his wrath.

Chapter 2

Tardieh was sick and tired of rummaging through dusty rooms and abandoned houses. This was the fourth mansion they had searched and found nothing, no razbians, no experiments, no clue to the puzzle of why his father’s old enemy, the vampire Yerik, had abducted females and impregnated them with some sort of hybrid monster.

“This room is also clear, my lord,” Joel, one of his most trusted advisors, said from the second floor of the immense house.

Tardieh swore under his breath. “What the fuck was your informant on, then?”

Joel appeared in front of him.  “Excuse me, my lord?”

“You heard me, Joel. Or does your hearing need checking?”

Joel’s jaw muscles clenched tight, but he didn’t respond. Yeah, he’d better stay quiet. Tardieh was itching for a good reason to punch someone.

“The informant mentioned he had seen movement here a while ago, so maybe there’s something we are missing,” Dyam pondered as he entered the foyer from searching through the employees’ quarters. Like Hikuro, Dyam had the talent to always find a peaceful way out of an argument. But this time around, it infuriated Tardieh even more.

“My orders were for you to search every fucking inch of these houses. What the fuck were you doing if there are places we haven’t found yet? And where the fuck is Hikuro? He left almost 20 hours ago.”

His two most loyal warriors looked back at him. No challenges, no retorts. They waited patiently until Tardieh came to his senses.

Fuck.

They were good fighters, good friends, and had nothing to do with the real reason he was pissed off at the world.

Tardieh felt the shame in his heart churn his stomach. He ran his hand through his dark hair. “Fuck. I’m...I didn’t mean to...”

“We know, my lord,” Dyam said quietly.

“Yeah, no explanation needed,” Joel added. “We’re cool.”

Tardieh swallowed dry as the awkward silence descended into the room. Damn the Soartas, he had been the most obnoxious bastard, snapping at every little thing, since they’d left New York, and his band of brothers was still tight with him. That was true loyalty for him. And a slap on his royal face.

“I’m gonna search the garage again,” Joel said, his voice far from his usual cowboy easiness. “Back in New York, their secret passage was in the car shed.”

“I’ll go with you,” Dyam replied. “We still have half an hour before sunrise.”

Tardieh took a deep breath and crossed the foyer toward the lounge room. It was a massive open space with ceramic-tiled floors and wide windows. It would’ve been quite a house if it wasn’t for the rat infestation and rotting window sills. Tardieh ran his hand along the wall, searching for any hidden door, for the fifth time that night.

He had to get a grip on himself. His warriors weren’t to blame for his frustrations. Zoricah was the real reason for his temper.

“Fuckin’ Hiad,” he cursed under his breath.

His chest got tight at the memories of her, of their nights together, then of her dismissal. He had opened up his heart and finally popped the question, but instead of tears of joy, he got a fucking “let’s think about it.”

Let’s think about it?
What kind of answer is that?

At first it hadn’t sunk in, so he repeated his question. “Would you be my queen?” But then, she lowered those golden, exotic eyes of hers and mumbled a bunch of words Tardieh’s brain didn’t register. All he could think about was...

“Fuckin’ Hiad.” That’s what he got for sharing a bed with a draconian demigoddess.

A low flapping noise on the balcony reached his acute ears. Someone was out there. Tardieh pulled his Beretta XX-treme out and dematerialized. Trusting his instincts, he appeared back on the balcony right behind the intruder.

“Don’t you move, motherfucker,” he snarled, his fangs ready to rip off the guy’s head.

“I won’t,” the husky female voice replied.

It was only then that Tardieh saw the golden, leathery wings attached to a lean, tall body, topped by an ass to die for.

Zoricah.

She slowly turned around and faced him.

His heart skipped a beat, his mouth went dry. She looked amazing. Her black tank top crisscrossed on the back, leaving enough room for her stunning golden wings to move freely. It hugged her large breasts perfectly and was very much in synch with her black pants. Her long raven hair was loose and cascaded down her shoulders. Tardieh’s shaft came to life, engorging at the sight of her.

But his pride won over his vampire thirst. “What are you doing here?”

She flinched, almost imperceptibly, at his brusque tone. He cursed silently.

“We were attacked.”

“What?” Tardieh lowered his gun. “By whom?”

“Not sure. Sam and Yara are checking it out. Hikuro stayed back to help.”

“Why didn’t you call?” He would’ve dropped everything to come to her aid.

“It was too dangerous. Whoever found my home could have bugged our communication devices too.”

He felt an invisible hand squeeze his heart. By Apa Dobrý, she could’ve been killed. He should’ve been there. He should’ve protected her better.

No, he shouldn’t. She wasn’t his anymore. Well, she’d never really been his, had she?

“How’s the investigation going over here?” she asked softly.

“A waste of time.”

She took a deep breath. Their eyes met. His mind took him straight to a few weeks back, to the last time they’d been together, when those same amber, almond-shaped eyes had exuded pure heat, while she begged him to plunge harder inside her, to drive her into oblivion. Damn the Soartas, he’d missed her.

“My lord?” Dyam’s voice came from the door. “Oh, hi, Zoricah.”

“Hi, Dyam,” she replied with a nod.

“Is everything alright?” Joel said, materializing next to his friend, just outside the threshold.

“Yes, we’re all fine,” Zoricah said. “My house in Camden Town was turned to ashes though.”

Tardieh’s hands curled into fists. He would find the motherfucker who’d dared to attack his woman, and when...
No
. He forced his mind to stop that dangerous train of thought. She wasn’t his woman and he had to get the fuck out of there before he made a fool of himself.

“We should get going. Dawn is near,” he mumbled, a bit rougher than intended. Without another word, he turned his back on her and left.