Vampires Dead Ahead (25 page)

“I am bringing in Vampires from all over the United States and Canada.” Volod sounded pleased with himself. “We will have a gathering, a conclave of Vampire leaders from across the continent. Together we shall plan how best to strike paranorms.”

“Where are you doing that?” I asked.

Volod waved me off. “I will divulge the location to no one. You will not know where we are going until we arrive.”

“When?” I asked.

He studied me for a long moment. I wondered if he was questioning his power over me. “You will learn when the time is right.”

“How many Vampires and Vampire paranorms are there?” I held my hands in my lap and laced my fingers together as I struggled to calm myself.

“Truly all of that is none of your concern.” He waved off my question. “You need not worry about numbers or who leads the Vampires to turn or kill humans.”

He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his desk, his hands folded in front of him. “I will have you work on paranorms.”

I listened to what he was saying with mounting fear and confusion. Everything inside me was so twisted. I didn’t know how to think or feel because my allegiance to Volod was growing and growing.

“Monique and Rodán are each in charge of a territory. You will serve under Monique.” He nodded as if giving himself approval.

“Let us not concern ourselves with talks of our destruction of paranorms,” Volod said. “For now our kind must have a night to celebrate victory.”

Volod got up from his chair and came around to stand beside me. He held out his hand and I took it, and he drew me up to my feet so that our bodies were touching.

He released me and brought his hands to my neck before he slowly ran the pads of his fingers along my skin. The movement was sexual, his eyes filled with raw lust.

“You will do whatever she or I require of you,” he said. “You will even share my bed. Is this clear?”

“Of course.” I forced myself to remain still and to agree with him. “I serve you now.”

“Of course.” Volod echoed my words as he smiled, a slow, evil smile. “I am your Master.”

THIRTY

That day I slept like the dead.

Volod had ordered me to sleep in the coffin I’d been buried in, down in the basement. Perhaps forty of his Vampires and Vampire paranorms stayed there.

When I woke, I climbed out of my coffin and almost stumbled. I felt dizzy, light-headed. My stomach growled and my mind went to thoughts of blood and raw meat.

And sex. I wanted sex in the most intense way possible. I’d heard that Vampires associated sex with blood, and now I understood.

That need turned my thoughts to Colin. How could I have not thought of him sooner? It was as if being a Vampire was wiping out my past life.

What about my parents? What about all the people I loved?

“Change into this.” Elizabeth came out of nowhere and shoved a dress into my arms. “Volod wants you to wear this, and he wants to see you in his study.”

She put her face close to mine. “You’d better watch yourself, bitch. When your end comes, I’ll be the one driving a stake through your heart.”

“Good morning to you, too,” I said beneath my breath as she turned and walked away. “Or rather good night. I guess.”

I looked at the royal purple dress she’d handed me. It went well with my amethyst skin tones. I wondered why Volod was having me dress up as if I was in medieval times, like Elizabeth. Monique wore modern and sexy clothes.

The basement was empty save for myself and a whole bunch of open coffins. In the corner was a screen that I changed behind. I said
“Avanna”
before I put on the clean dress, and the magical cleansing spell of the Elves made me feel as fresh as if I had just taken a shower.

I didn’t know what to do with the dress I had been wearing so I folded it and laid it on top of my coffin to worry about later.

No doubt Volod wouldn’t be crazy about waiting, so I made my way out of the basement, up the stairs to the second floor.

As I stood at the doorway to Volod’s study, he looked up from paperwork on his desk and he frowned. “I do not tolerate those who do not do as they are told when they are told,” he said. “I expect no delays whenever I call for you. You simply drop what you are doing and come.”

I lowered my gaze. “Yes, Volod.”

He got up from his seat behind his desk and came around to where I stood. “You must desire sustenance.”

My stomach clenched and growled and I nodded.

“Good.” He said the word as if it was meant to be comforting. But I knew what he meant—my hunger gave him control over me.

“Here’s one of the paranorms like you requested.” A male voice came from the doorway, and I turned to see a middle-aged Doppler female beside a Vampire paranorm.

“Excellent.” Volod went to the doorway and took the Doppler by her shoulders. “Wait here,” he said to the Vampire paranorm who had brought in the Doppler female.

“Yes, sir.” The Vampire paranorm bowed from his shoulders and stood to the side.

“Come here, Nyx,” Volod ordered as he turned the Doppler to face me, holding her shoulders from behind. “Vampires understand instinctively how to feed, just as a suckling baby does with its mother. But I will show you the best way. I want to watch you the first time.”

My belly twisted as I looked at the Doppler he was holding. I could smell her fear, more intense than I would have smelled even as Drow.

But what called to me more than anything was her blood. My mouth watered. Pain made me wince as my fangs dropped from my gums, where they had retracted.

“Hungry, are you not?” Volod said in a soothing tone that I recognized as him manipulating me.

Yet I couldn’t take my attention from the Doppler. I imagined how good her how goodblood would be as it entered my mouth …

My stomach twisted harder at the thought of drinking a being’s blood. I’d only liked char-burned steaks and super-well-done hamburgers, never anything even slightly pink.

And now I was visualizing myself drinking blood, and even eating bloody hunks of meat.

My stomach growled again. I felt sick at the thought of what I wanted to do. And sick at the thought of doing without.

Volod motioned for me to come closer. I took a step forward.

A look of impatience flashed across his face and I hurried to reach him. He ran a finger down the side of the female’s neck. “This is the carotid artery. It is very special. It is what we drink from.”

I couldn’t take my eyes from that spot. The Doppler’s fear excited me while I watched the pulse of her blood in the artery.

Volod traced the vein with his fingertip. “Feed, Nyx.”

“No,” the Doppler female whispered and began a futile struggle as I lowered my face to her neck. “Please, no.”

Every word she said and every struggle she made only made me want what she had to offer even more.

Like the way prey running from an attacker only heightens the instinct to attack. I wanted to attack. Wanted to jerk her to me and ravage her neck.

Instead I moved my head slowly toward the spot and drank in the smell of the sweat of her skin and her lifeblood.

I slid my fangs into the vein Volod had shown me. The taste was incredible. Better than anything I had imagined.

The Doppler female had gone slack but was making soft, almost erotic whimpers. The power of a Vampire’s bite was not only mesmerizing but sexual, too.

“Stop,” Volod said after I had taken only a few long draws from her.

The command brought me up short. I didn’t want to stop, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to do as he ordered—it was built into me somehow.

“I want you hungry for later,” Volod said. “This is only a dining lesson.”

As I drew away I noticed the two spots leaking blood. Hunger made me lick up the blood. The two holes sealed over, like they had never been there.

“Very good.” Volod’s tone held a note of approval. He turned to the Vampire paranorm, whom I had forgotten about. “Take her back to the holding cells.”

The Vampire paranorm bowed again. “Yes, sir,” he said before guiding the now dreamy-looking Doppler away.

“Find Monique,” Volod said to me, his tone dismissive. “She is to start your training at once.”

“Yes, Volod.” I bowed my head in acknowledgment. It was as if I had no control over my thoughts or my words or even my actions. “I’ll go to her now.”

“Most likely you will find her on the third floor in the bedchambers, the sitting room, or the library.” Volod returned to his seat.

“Yes, sir.” I got to my feet and left through the door I came in.

I had to pick up my long skirts to make my way up the stairs. As I went I thought about the Doppler female and how good her blood had tasted. Volod had left me hungry, wanting more.

When I reached the landing I heard voices down the hallway and paused at their intimate sound.

With curiosity, I peered around the corner and saw Monique and Rodán standing in the hallway just outside the door. Monique’s hair was a little messy—it had been perfect when I’d seen her earlier.

Rodán looked at her with an expression that was so familiar to me. Sexual and satisfied, in a way that was entirely sensual and always made a woman want to go straight back to bed with him.

The scent of sex met my enhanced senses and I felt myself grow warm. I felt like I was invading a private moment, and I started to turn to go back down the stairs, but stopped and pulled a glamour.

“Monique,” Rodán said, “I know I can trust you and I will.” She cocked her head, and he continued. “I’ve planned a coup against Volod.” At her surprised look he said, “We must stop him. The destruction he wants is not who we are, Vampire paranorms or not.”

“A coup?” Monique sounded stunned, but I couldn’t gauge how she felt about his statement. “What do you mean?”

I felt drawn to the conversation. I didn’t want to be seen watching, so I pulled a glamour then peeked around the corner again.

Rodán held both of Monique’s hands. “All Vampire paranorms are in danger. Volod does not plan to let any of us live once he attains his goal of taking control of the paranorm world.”

Monique frowned. “Why do you think this?”

“I have heard what he has said and I’ve read between the lines. I have watched his disguised disgust for Vampire paranorms. More than that, though, I have seen a vision of it.” Rodán reached up and brushed her hair over her ear. “If we do not stop him, it will happen.”

“Do you think he is powerful enough to destroy Vampire paranorms?” She was still frowning. “What are you going to do about it?”

“We can talk about all of that later,” Rodán said. “There is no time now. We are having the meeting on the first floor in the conference room. I will give you the details after the meeting.”

“Should I be at the meeting?” Monique asked.

“From what I have seen, meeting together is not all that unusual here,” Rodán said. “From Volod’s perspective we could explain in many ways that would be acceptable. It would be unusual for you to be there at this time, however.”

Rodán let his fingers trail from her ear to her lips. “I would prefer for you to keep Volod distracted while I meet with the others to avoid ans to avoy questions at all from him. We won’t be long. We’re meeting in a few minutes. A brief overview and some planning of our next steps.”

Monique’s eyes did not leave Rodán’s. “Who is attending?”

“Kennedy, Vincent, Stephen, and Frederick will be present. I expect to add Nyx to our ranks, but I need to be convinced Volod doesn’t have a hold on her first.”

“I assumed Volod had a strong hold on all. How much control do you think he has of her?” Monique asked.

“I don’t know yet. I will evaluate her first. I do know that the hold is at its very strongest in the beginning,” Rodán said. “I have been observing and listen to many of the Vampire paranorms. The ones I am meeting with I picked out for various reasons. They have all quietly voiced the same concerns to me about Volod that I have had. I trust them.”

Monique ran her tongue along her lower lip, a movement that distracted Rodán for a moment. “Do you plan on adding others to your ranks?”

“We will consider who else to add to our group.” He continued to stroke her hair almost absently. “For now, the group must be small and restricted to those we know we can trust. Volod has a powerful hold on many who are intoxicated with the power they feel.”

Monique said nothing. I wished I knew what she was thinking.

“I can trust you, can’t I, Monique?” Rodán said.

Raising an eyebrow and reaching up on tiptoes, Monique kissed him. “Need you ask? Didn’t I prove in the bedroom how my feelings have never left you, Rodán?”

“Nor have mine ever fully left you,” he said softly.

“And now, just look at you … a Vampire.” Monique spoke with sensuality and excitement in her tone. “You saw what that does to me, didn’t you? Of course you can trust me. Anything for you.” Monique reached up and kissed Rodán again. “I’ll take care of Volod.”

He took her in his arms and gave her a long, lingering kiss. Old feelings for Rodán surfaced and I felt a moment’s pang. But that vanished as my thoughts turned for a brief moment to Colin. I pushed them aside. This was not the time.

Monique drew away from Rodán, and he left the opposite way from where I was hiding. I assumed he was heading for a back set of stairs.

Monique walked in my direction and I pressed myself up against the wall so that she wouldn’t touch me. She was a powerful paranorm, and I prayed that my new and improved glamour was strong enough. Thank goodness for Desmond’s help.

I felt a presence behind me and a shiver ran down my spine. I looked over my shoulder.

Elizabeth.

THIRTY-ONE

“Elizabeth,” Monique said as she came around the corner.

“Where is Volodl?”

“What is going on?” Elizabeth looked at Monique with suspicion in her gaze. She sniffed the air. “You’ve been with Rodán,” she stated. “I saw you disappear with him. Now I can smell sex on you.”

“That is none of your business,” Monique said, her tone cold.

“Volod will learn of this,” Elizabeth said with venom. “You, the great Monique, will feel Volod’s wrath.” Her lips quivered in anger. “We will see who will be at the end of a leash tomorrow. You will be done. He has no need for Vampire paranorms who don’t serve his purpose, and you have betrayed him now. I will see that you are buried wearing a collar and a leash.”

Monique and Elizabeth faced each other on the landing as Monique drew her shoulders back and glared. “I did this for a reason. Volod will understand.”

Elizabeth eyes showed the humiliation she obviously felt. “We will see about that, you arrow-eared bitch.”

Monique narrowed her gaze. “If I was Rodán’s, why would I be seeking Volod out right now to tell him of a rebellion against him?” She put her hands on her hips. “A rebellion that Rodán is planning … a coup. They’re meeting in the conference room in a few minutes.

“So, yes, I was with Rodán. I have nothing to hide,” Monique continued with clear confidence in her voice. “Volod will understand. He knows my allegiance is pledged to him alone. Anything that happened in the bedroom served a purpose for Volod.”

Shock jolted me. Monique was going to tell Volod? How could Rodán be so wrong in trusting her? Maybe she was suddenly afraid for her life now that Elizabeth knew of her with Rodán. Or maybe she just was in fact Volod’s.

It didn’t matter. I had to get to Rodán and warn him. Maybe he couldn’t trust the others, either.

“An uprising against Volod?” Elizabeth said, surprise on her features.

“Where is he?” Monique asked again. “I need to hurry.”

“In his study.” Elizabeth gestured downstairs.

Monique turned.

I had started to go to the conference room to warn Rodán when Elizabeth practically flew at Monique.

It happened so fast. The next thing I knew, Elizabeth rammed a stake into Monique’s back and drove it through to her heart.

Stunned, I watched as Monique’s body slumped to the floor, the stake still protruding through her back. Blood leaked around it. Monique’s body was lifeless.

A satisfied smile crept across Elizabeth’s face. “Volod will get the news from me.”

My surprise shifted to the fact that the odds at this moment were a lot better with Monique dead. She had turned traitor on Rodán and I wasn’t going to mourn her.

Now there was only one to worry about. I dropped my glamour.

Elizabeth looklizabethed at me with surprise as I called to my elements. Her expression changed to fury. She took a step toward me, and I released my air element.

She gasped as I bound her with air magic. With my element, I gagged her and pinned her arms to her sides. She lost her balance and fell to the carpet with a thump.

I didn’t have much time before someone came up the stairs—

A surge of power slammed me up against the wall. I cried out as my head hit the hard surface. An invisible force held me dazed against the wall. I couldn’t move.

The hold I had on Elizabeth failed.

My mind spun. I turned my head just enough to see a figure at the top of the stairs.

Volod.

Fury was on his features as he looked at Monique’s body then cut his gaze back to me.

“It was her.” Elizabeth pointed to me as she got to her feet. “Monique and Rodán were together and she was jealous. She killed Monique.”

“I didn’t kill Monique.” I tried to shake my head but I couldn’t move. It was hard talking the way Volod’s power had me pinned against the wall. “Elizabeth did.”

“You can’t believe that bitch. You know she
lies
.” Elizabeth hissed. “Not only did she kill Monique, but she is plotting to overthrow you … to kill you.”

“Explain what you are talking about.” Volod’s voice was low, deadly.

“I was standing right behind that wall, near the doorway. I overheard them.” Elizabeth lied in an urgent, convincing tone. “Monique and Rodán were planning a coup together.” She gestured to me. “This bitch walked up and was in on it all. She knew that they had just screwed each other, and she was angry at them. She confronted them both.”

Volod scowled as Elizabeth paused. “Continue. And make it fast.”

“Rodán told this one here to focus on what mattered and to meet with the others planning the revolt,” Elizabeth said. “They’ll be in the conference room within minutes.”

Elizabeth glared at me. “When Rodán left, the bitch was furious with jealousy. She stabbed Monique as she walked away.”

“She’s lying.” My stomach twisted. Volod would kill both Rodán and me as soon as he saw that it was true about the revolt. “Elizabeth stabbed Monique in the back, literally. With my powers, I don’t need to stab people in the back.”

“They are meeting in the conference room now.” Elizabeth went up to Volod. “That will prove to you that I am telling the truth.”

Volod released his hold on me. I wasn’t expecting it and I dropped to my knees. He walked up to me and yanked me to my feet by my hair.

“Come.” Still gripping a fistful of my hair, he jerked me to him. My scalp stung. With his free hand, he brought out a wooden stake and placed it over my heart. The point of the stake dug into my flesh.nto my f

Then he started to drag me beside him, going in the same direction Rodán had. “If Elizabeth is being truthful, then you die.”

I ran through all the possibilities in my mind and came up feeling helpless and hopeless. Volod would see that what Elizabeth had told him was the truth.

“Elizabeth,” he said to her, “I want every one of my Vampire guards at the conference room now.”

Elizabeth nodded and flashed a look of pure hatred at me.

“Now,” Volod boomed.

She ran off.

He believed her. My throat grew tight. As we moved, the stake he held to my heart bit into my skin through the dress.

The human part of me struggled to break Volod’s mental hold. My Drow half was growing stronger and feeding the struggle. It was as if Volod’s threat had woken something inside me that had been dulled by his power.

What could I do? How could I warn Rodán?

With Volod still holding the stake over my heart, I didn’t see how I could without dying in the process.

Volod kept me close to him as we went down a back staircase. Because I’m Drow, it didn’t matter that Volod was dragging me along with him—I simply made no sound as I moved. For the first time I wished I would make noise that would warn Rodán.

On the bottom level, we reached a closed door. I heard voices from inside, one of which was Rodán’s. I held my breath as Volod listened at the door.

Volod, like me, had amazing hearing compared with norms. With his ear pressed up against the door, though, Volod could hear what I could not. His features grew dark with rage.

Volod turned the handle and forced the door open. At the same time he shoved me into the room and knocked me to the floor.

I’d expected a long table with chairs, like a traditional conference room, but it was just a good-size carpeted empty room with barred windows on one side and a door opposite.

Five Vampire paranorms were in the room, including Rodán. Expressions ranged from surprised to fearful.

“Elizabeth was telling the truth.” Volod’s features grew even darker with his fury. “You plot against me.”

Volod raised his hand. I dove for his legs and surprised him by hitting him behind the knees with my shoulder.

He didn’t fall, but he stumbled backward.

Rodán emitted the same kind of power I’d seen him use against Demons nearly a year prior. It slammed into Volod, knocking him against the wall.

Rodán bared his fangs as he sent another burst of power at Volod.

Volod threw up a shield, deflecting the magic.

I scrambled to my febled to et and ran toward Rodán.

Volod’s attack on Rodán and me seemed to cut the threads of allegiance that had forced me to obey him. I called to my air element as I reached Rodán.

The Shifter and Doppler Vampires in the room transformed into their animal forms: bear, lion, rottweiler, and coyote.

Behind Rodán the other door of the room opened.

Vampires started pouring in.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw even more Vampires come in behind Volod.

We were outnumbered at least twenty to six in a confined space.

Could Rodán use the transference to get out of here? Could I?

I started to reach for him when I saw a huge blast of power coming straight at me.

It was too close for me to throw up a shield.

Rodán stepped in front of me and took the full blast that had been meant for me.

The power slammed into him so hard it send him flying into me and knocked us both backward, straight into the hands of the Vampires behind us.

Around us the other Vampire paranorms were fighting Vampires. Bodies of Vampires were already dropping, but a couple of the five Vampire paranorms also lay motionless on the floor, stakes through their hearts.

The room smelled of blood and the Vampire stench of old dirt. It was so strong it filled my head.

“Hold him!” Volod shouted as Rodán and I were grabbed.

Rodán glanced at me. “Go,” he said in a hoarse voice that wasn’t like him at all.

The blast of magic must have injured him far more than I’d realized. I started to shake my head but glimpsed a projectile heading straight for me.

Volod had grabbed a stake gun and raised it at me. Rodán shoved me back behind him.

“No!” I screamed just as the wooden stake buried itself into Rodán’s heart.

Rodán slumped against the Vampires who held him. His head fell back. Those crystal-green eyes I’d loved so much stared up at the ceiling, sightless.

Horror, anger, and fear spun through me.

I looked at Volod, who had another stake in the weapon, aimed at me again. I closed my eyes and the first thought that came to me was Colin—

I spun away, into the transference.