She looked to the white bedroom door. It opened. Jonathon stepped through, dragging something behind him. I looked at the b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.s he threw on the floor before us. It took me a minute to understand what it was. My heart rose into my throat. It was Ken"s body. He lay on his stomach. His naked body was covered in blood. Large, long gashes covered his back, b.u.t.t, and legs. The whip--she had torn him open with the whip.
"Oh, my G.o.d," I said, and started towards him. Pallo grabbed my arm and tried to hold me back. I looked at him, terrified. "Let go of me," I said, pulling myself free of him. I fell on the floor next to Ken"s body.
Ken was so still. I thought he might be dead. I tried to find a spot on his body that wasn"t cut open. When I finally found a tiny area, I touched him lightly. He made a small moan. He was alive! I was so happy I almost hugged him. I didn"t want to cause him more pain, so I settled on leaning over him. I could see his face now. She hadn"t cut him with the whip there. His eyes were black and blue. He had been beaten. His once handsome face looked bloodied and bruised. He looked like a side of beef in a butcher"s shop. The Ken I had known and loved was a lump, a sh.e.l.l on the floor. I had to choke back my tears.
"I"m here Ken, I"m here," I whispered to him.
I caught sight of Talia"s spiked boot coming at me and ducked out of the way. She ended up straddled over Ken"s naked body, glaring at me. I could tell she was surprised that I had been able to dodge her vampire speed. She looked p.i.s.sed.
"Touching. Now get away," she ordered, lifting her whip in the air and bringing it down to strike Ken"s body.
I threw my self at her feet and used my body to shield his. The leather strap of the whip ripped into my back. At first there was no pain, only heat. Blood ran down my back. I heard screams. First Pallo"s, then mine. I didn"t lift my body off of Ken"s. If she wanted to beat someone, it would have to be me. For some odd reason I didn"t think she"d have a problem with that.
"Pallo, the little faerie makes my head hurt. You should really teach her some manners." Talia stepped over my still hunched body. I held my arms close around Ken, and tried to keep my body from touching his. He was in enough pain. I didn"t want to add to it.
Pallo"s energy pushed against my skin. It trickled down my back and touched my open wound. His energy pushed at me harder, almost knocking me over. I heard Pallo"s voice. It sounded low and barely human. I let my eyes close. I remembered my vision of him attacking me in the hall. I knew what I would see if I turned around, so I didn"t.
"She is not my little faerie. I took what I wanted from her, I am done," Pallo said.
I froze. He couldn"t mean what he just said. He couldn"t. My body tightened.
"Pallo, you don"t really expect me to believe she means nothing to you." Talia said. "I watched you beg for her life, remember?"
The air in the room seemed to be getting humid. I heard Pallo"s raspy voice again. "That was before she let Giovanni touch her--mark her." He snarled.
"But Pallo, you hid her away from everyone. Do not forget that it was I who walked in on your little mystical love making session," Talia said.
A demonic laugh rose from Pallo"s throat. I slid a hand to my knee and gripped it tight. "I did not make love to that donnaccia. I f.u.c.ked her."
His words hurt worse than Talia"s whip. I tried to fight back my tears. It didn"t work. Something gripped me by my hair. I kept my crying eyes closed, as I was pulled to my feet. Someone licked my cheek.
"She weeps." Talia"s breath was hot on my face.
"Shall we see if she bleeds as well?" Pallo asked, his voice coming closer. I fought to keep my eyes closed. I didn"t want my last vision on this earth to be his black eyes and twisted face before he killed me.
Talia licked my salty tears again. "Either you have grown powerful enough to hide your lies from me since we were lovers, or you truly feel nothing for her." She pressed her onto my cheek. "Have you found your anger again, Pallo? Have you embraced your demon?"
"Yes." The way he said it made me shiver. He betrayed me. My knees shook harder now. I had to concentrate on standing. I smelled Pallo"s flesh near me. He was close enough for our faces to touch. "She cannot even bare to look at me." He felt foreign as his hand rubbed my cheek. I squeezed my eyes closed tighter.
He moved his other hand and touched me between my thighs. "You looked at me while I pleasured you, but now I am not good enough?"
Talia yanked my hair back and my face touched Pallo"s. I cried out, my eyes opened. Pallo leaned his head down to me. He was monstrous. There was no trace of his sweet brown eyes, only black holes looked back at me. I screamed. He pulled his hand away from my face quickly, and brought it back down hard, striking me. Talia let go of my hair and I fell to my knees, clutching my face.
"Come, Pallo, we have had our fun here. Let us go enjoy ourselves." I watched as he followed Talia out of the room. The door shut. Something made a low, growling noise. I didn"t have to look, I knew it was Jonathan. I didn"t care if he attacked me, I didn"t care what happened to me. Pallo"s betrayal hurt worse than anything Jonathan could do to me.
I crouched on the floor next to Ken"s lifeless body. I wanted to reach out to him, but I didn"t dare move. Something tickled the hairs on the back of my neck. A strong breeze blew in from Ken"s bedroom window. Jonathan let out an ear piercing howl and leapt upon my back. His momentum sent us both rolling across the room. His paw tore through the black nightgown, pushing deep into me. I looked down in horror as his claws broke out the other side of my stomach. I cried out in pain.
He was in human form now. He pushed his clawed hand deeper into my body. The pain consumed me, it rattled to my head and I let go of myself. I pulled back into myself, and felt nothing anymore. I was numb. Ken"s hair blew gently as Jonathan"s hand tore free from me. He rose off me and into the air. His body dropped down on the other side of Ken"s. There was no longer a head attached to it. The door to the room crashed open.
Growls and snarls surrounded me. h.e.l.lhound bodies flew over my head, each one was torn to shreds. Some were decapitated; others were simply split in two. The growling had ended. I was still numb on the floor. I wasn"t going to die like this, and neither was Ken if I could help it. I tried to reach my hand out to him, but something picked him up.
Cool, wet hands slid under my body. I was lifted into the air gently. I looked and saw Makonnen, the large bouncer from The Raven, holding Ken"s body. He wore black from head to toe. Something dark was smeared all over his body. It was blood.
"I am here, Bella, you are safe. I will never let anything happen to you again." Giovanni whispered gently into my ear. My eyes felt too heavy to keep open.
Giovanni carried me out Ken"s bedroom. We stepped out into the hall on the upper level of Ken"s townhouse. He carried me towards the stairs. As he held me, we walked past Ken"s spare bedroom. It had been the place where I kept my clothes when we were sort of living together. Ken had so many business suits taking up the master bedroom closets that I volunteered to use the spare bedrooms. The door to it stood open. Giovanni tried to turn my body so I could not look in, but he was not quick enough. What I saw made what was left of my stomach turn. Pallo was naked and spread eagle on the bed while Talia rode him. She cried his name out. He reached up to caress her neck, then I saw no more.
As Giovanni carried me, Talia"s cries for Pallo stopped abruptly.
"Get Pallo," I heard Giovanni"s voice say to someone behind us. I was terrified. I didn"t want him dead. I didn"t want anymore bloodshed, unless of course it was Talia"s. No matter what Pallo did to me, I would never want him injured. That much I was sure of. Caleb had been enough of a loss for me, I couldn"t handle another. I tried to free myself from Giovanni"s arms. He held me effortlessly.
"Do not be afraid. I will not harm you." He whisked me downstairs and out of Ken"s apartment. Cramps seized my body. My stomach burned and the pain threatened to overtake me.
"We"ve got to get her to a hospital." A familiar voice said. I had known others were with him, but I didn"t know who or how many.
"Yes," Giovanni said.
Chapter 20.
I was lucid enough to know that Giovanni did take me to the hospital. We just sort of appeared there. I quickly learned how amazing a vampire"s power really was. I should have been absolutely terrified that Giovanni was anywhere near me. I knew deep in my heart that he was not a good man. With all of the medication they were giving me through the IV, I had trouble staying awake long enough to worry about Giovanni"s intentions.
The nurses sucked their breath in when they peeled the black, blood-soaked nightgown from my body. I had caught sight of a pair of dark black eyes staring at me--Giovanni. He held my hand. His hand was cold, yet comforting. I wanted to let myself rest, but I felt his pull on me. He shared his power with me to help me hold on. I knew that without his help, the wounds Jonathan had inflected would kill me or leave me in a coma for all eternity. Even being a faerie had its limits.
Nurses were shouting that everyone except family had to get out. Somehow, he managed to convince them to let him stay. I could make out talk of possible surgery, and it being too bad to repair. Horrific pain seized hold of my body. I screamed out. A tall female doctor came forward with a shot of something.
"This will help her rest," she said to Giovanni. He let go of my hand and stepped out of the tiny curtained emergency room.
"Did you see the guy who came in with her?" I heard a nurse speaking softly to her coworker.
"Yeah, he"s pretty bad," a tiny voice replied.
"She"s worse," the first nurse said.
My eyes closed.
I woke to find Makonnen sitting at the end of the bed with his head back in a chair, resting. I lay there frozen for a minute, trying to get my bearings. I looked up to see a white canopy above me. I lay on a large four post bed. The room I was in was large, and I couldn"t be sure, but it looked like the walls were blood red. I really hoped it was just a good painting technique. I didn"t think the hospital had taken to making there rooms feel like a demonic palace, so it was safe to a.s.sume I wasn"t there anymore.
I grabbed my stomach. It was whole, no chunk of it missing. I reached around and touched my back. It was fine, too. I wore a red satin short nightie. I pulled it up. Someone had put me into tiny matching underpants. I"d worry about that later. I ran my fingers over my smooth stomach and smiled. I wasn"t dead or seriously mangled, only a small pinkish white scar remained. I let myself relax and look around.
To my left was a door, and to my right was a set of Queen Anne chairs that were blood red. I saw a pattern here. No actual blood had been shed in here.
The room smelled of freshly cut flowers. At least four dozen red roses sat on the mantle of a large stone fireplace.
Makonnen stirred in the chair and was suddenly next to me.
"You okay? Jonathan really did a number on you. Thank the demons that you"re not human, you"d be dead." His low voice startled me.
He stood and walked over to the side of the bed.
"Can I get you anything? Giovanni would have my head on a platter if I didn"t take good care of you."
"I reached my hand out to touch his. "No, I"m fine..."
Before I could finish the sentence, a vision struck me. Makonnen held Ken in his arms. I saw Giovanni walking out, carrying me ahead of them. Then, to my surprise, Caradoc and James appeared in the room. I hadn"t known they were there. I watched as Makonnen handed Ken"s body over to Caradoc, then headed out the door. He followed behind us. It was like my spirit floated high in the air above Makonnen, watching as a spectator at a sporting event would. I watched him stop and turn into Ken"s spare bedroom.
The temperature in the room rose dramatically, and I saw Talia"s naked body riding Pallo. I could see her ghastly white hands feeling his chest as she moved her body on him. I watched the replay of him reaching his hand up to caress her neck. The next frame opened my eyes wide. Pallo lifted Talia"s naked body with just one hand, gripping her throat. Pallo"s face held none of the beauty that it had before. Now, it was twisted and hideous. Demonic was the best way to explain it. He smiled up at Talia, showing his fangs. Her eyes pleaded with him for forgiveness, but he didn"t waver. In one quick motion he threw her body across the room, but still clutched her throat in his hand.
Makonnen"s eyes looked upon the crumpled, b.l.o.o.d.y body of Talia. I could feel his terror. He looked back up at Pallo, whose face was smeared with blood. He rushed towards Pallo. James appeared next to him, and the two of them tackled Pallo to the ground.
I dropped Makonnen"s hand immediately. He stood there, looking down at me. I know that he relived the event with me. I felt sick to my stomach. A wave of nausea washed over me and I bent over the bed and vomited until I pa.s.sed out again.
I woke to Giovanni sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat up and moved away from him. His eyes fell upon me, and I could see a tear well up in his eye. He lifted his hand out to touch me and before I could even think, I screamed.
"Do I terrify you still?" It took all he had to keep his composure and I knew it.
I nodded. He laughed.
His dark black eyes looked at me. I couldn"t read him. I didn"t know what he thought.
"You saved my life." The words slid out of my mouth. I didn"t even know I"d been thinking about that.
"Yes, it was an old debt that has now been repaid," Giovanni said. His long, hair hung close to my hand. His hair looked too soft and shiny to be real. I had to fight the urge to reach out and touch it. I didn"t want to give him the wrong idea. I didn"t know if he could possibly think less of me, since I was all over him on the dance floor, but I thought it best not to push it.
The right corner of his soft, thin lips curled into a smile. "My, you certainly have changed."
I rose to my feet. I had no idea how long I had been in his home, but I was positive the sun had risen already today. "I thought vampires slept during the daylight? I thought you tucked yourself away in a coffin all day?"
A laugh roared from his belly and his eyes twinkled. "You"ve watched one too many movies. I have slept next to you in this very bed for the last four nights. I didn"t go to a small coffin and hide away." He let himself smile, and his face lit up.
I had been so lost in his dashing good looks that the fact that I had been here four nights had almost pa.s.sed me by. "Four nights? We slept in the same bed?" My stomach knotted up on me instantly.
"Do not fear, Bella, I was a perfect gentleman. I have waited hundreds of years to have you with me again. I would never of dream of spoiling it." He reached his hand out to touch my leg, and I didn"t back away this time.
"Patient? That"s not a word I would use to describe you, Giovanni." A familiar voice boomed through the room. Sharon entered the red bedroom.
"Sharon, you two know each other?"
"Hey, babe! Nice outfit!" she smiled with that same old best friend kind of grin. "Yeah, I"ve known Giovanni all of my life. He and my father go way back. He"s an all right guy, once you get past that tall, dark, and p.i.s.sed off exterior." She strolled closer to me. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a yellow short sleeved shirt. Her long hair was smooth and black, and she had let it fall to her shoulders today. Normally, Sharon kept it pulled up and pinned back. She was always complaining about it being a work hazard, but didn"t have the nerve to cut it off.
Giovanni"s hand still rested on my leg. I didn"t want to push it off, but I didn"t feel comfortable with it there either.
"I should really be getting home." I slid my leg away from him and stood. "Thank you for everything."
Sharon let out a small sigh. She was pretty used to dealing with me, and knew what a pain I could be. "You aren"t going back to your apartment. It was ransacked by the h.e.l.lhounds. Apparently, the crazy redhead went looking for you there first."
I couldn"t hide the shock on my face. My apartment wasn"t much, but it was home to me. The thought of them hiding out in my apartment waiting for me sent chills up my spine. Had Ken experienced that, too?
"Is Ken...?" I couldn"t bring myself to say the words.
"Ken"s doing okay. He"s pretty drugged up. He"s in good hands, Gwen."
I didn"t know what I was going to do. I couldn"t go to Sharon"s place. She was in between leases, and stayed with her brother and his wife. I couldn"t go to Ken"s--it was probably in worse shape than mine. I sat there for a minute.
Giovanni"s voice broke in before I freaked out. "You are most welcome to stay here, Gwyneth," he said.
I wondered where "here" really was. I could have been in another country. I didn"t know what to do. I did know that he had saved my life, and even stayed with me at the hospital. I needed to trust someone. Could I trust him?
"I guess I can hang out here with the Count for a little while," I said. Part of me wanted to go out to the farm house, but I didn"t relish the idea of being alone.
"Ouch, that hurt!" Giovanni smiled now. He led me to the far wall and pulled the red drape back, exposing a large wooden door. I turned and looked at him, not sure what to do.
"It"s the lavatory, it will not bite you." Giovanni grinned as he said it.
"Well, file that under the ever dwindling column of things-that-won"t-bite-while-here-list." I opened the door and headed in. I could hear his laughter behind me as I closed the door.
The bathroom took my breath away. For one thing, it was bigger than my entire apartment. On my right, there was a long vanity that held three sinks. The wall had a mirror running its entire length. There was a huge tub that looked more like a mini swimming pool than a bathtub. It had a small ledge that wrapped around it. There were long-stem red roses lying along the edges of it. Someone had taken red petals and tossed them into the water, letting them float on the surface. A chandelier hung over the tub. It had a chain that allowed it to be raised and lowered. It held at least a dozen lit white candles. They reflected off of the water and the shimmer took my breath away. The mood of the room reminded me of Pallo. It seemed to fit some of his bizarre tastes. I had to fight to keep thoughts of him from taking me over. I concentrated on the bathroom.
I had never seen a toilet look like a work of art before, but whoever did his decorating had managed to do just that. I caught sight of a large, corner shower unit to my left. It had at least six different sprayers at various heights. The thing even had a seat built into the side of it. I desperately wanted to take a hot shower, but someone had gone to the trouble of setting up a bath for me. It would be rude not to take one now.
I eased myself out of the red nightgown, and looked in the mirror. I looked tired. I looked drained. I had been to h.e.l.l and back in a few short days, and it showed.
The bath water was smooth and refreshing. I could feel the tension in my shoulder easing as I lounged. My mind drifted. It wandered to the events of the last week. I didn"t like thinking about how seriously screwed up my life was, so I quit. I got myself all cleaned up and cracked the door open, just a bit. The room was empty and my bags were lying on the huge four post bed. I wrapped the towel around me and headed out to get dressed.
"Gwyneth." The sound of Pallo"s voice made me stop in my tracks. I turned around slowly, and saw him standing in the room. I still couldn"t get used to how quick vampires could move. I took a step back, refusing to take my eyes off of him.
He moved towards me. I backed up and b.u.mped into the dresser.
"Stay away from me!" I shouted at him.
"Gwyneth," he said my name sweetly, softly.
"Don"t do that."
"What did I do?" he asked.
I pushed my body back against the dresser to keep from running wildly at him and clawing his brown eyes out.
"Don"t say my name all sweet, you f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" My voice was strong. I was proud of myself for maintaining my composure.
"Please quiet down. I promised Giovanni that I would let the two of you have time together."
"You made a deal with Giovanni? I thought you guys hated each other?" I was intrigued, but worried that I"d forget I hated him now.