And then she heard a sound. A man"s voice, crying out in pain.
Lou"s voice.
"G.o.ddammit!" She stopped walking, grabbed a torch and ran. And she knew d.a.m.n good and well that her best friend was right beside her. "What the h.e.l.l did I do, Stormy?"
"What do you mean? You didn"t do anything. He came out here on his own!" "I wasn"t here. I took off, left him alone, and brushed him off because he hurt my feelings. Burst my little fantasy bubble. Didn"t feel the way I wanted him to feel. I left in a huff, and he did just what he always does. He tried to fix everything for me. He came charging out here thinking he"d have the vamp on ice and the girls safe and sound by the time I got back, and then I"d forgive him for the rest."
She paused at a fork in the trail, held her torch out in front of her, peering in each direction.
"He didn"t come out here because of you, " Stormy said.
"Of course he did. If it wasn"t for me, he"d be on a fishing boat, sucking down a beer and telling cop stories with his friends."
Even Stormy couldn"t argue with that.
The gut-wrenching cry came again, and, a moment later, another sound. A voice, deep and rich. Not loud in a normal way, but so full it carried all over the island, as if it were aided by a loudspeaker or megaphone. And yet Max had the feeling it wasn"t.
"Miss Stuart, don"t keep us waiting much longer. I don"t want to have to keep hurting your beloved, but I will if you delay."
Max clenched her hands into fists at her sides and released a feral shriek that split the night.
She heard the vampire"s laughter then, echoing like that of a G.o.d, through the trees and reverberating on the very air.
Clutching her torch in her fist, she began running, racing for all she was worth, until finally the house rose into view, palatial and elegant. She lunged up the steps and pounded on the door.
It opened. Just swung slowly inward, as if by itself. She sprang inside and shouted, "Where the h.e.l.l are you, you sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
"Shall I provide more sound effects for you to follow?"
"That"s it. I"m done" She lunged at the nearest window and swung her torch, painting the beautiful, lush draperies in strokes of pure fire. Then she moved to the next window, and the next.
"You don"t know who you"re messing with, do you? But you"re about to find out. And then you can burn in h.e.l.l, you son of a b.i.t.c.h. Starting right now."
Chapter 21.
Lou heard Maxie"s challenge, and saw the b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s face change from malicious and amused to afraid.
G.o.dd.a.m.n, that woman was something.
His woman. That was what the vamp had called her. And he"d liked the sound of it. G.o.d, he"d been an idiot.
The vampire set the cattle prod down on the table with his other "tools" and, turning, sniffed the air. "She dares..."
"She dares anything, " Lou said. "And if you hurt her, I"ll make you suffer like you"ve never suffered in your life?"
The vampire slanted a look at Lou. "If you had any inkling of how I have suffered, you might realize how difficult that will be" Then he was gone.
Lou tugged at the chains that held his arms to the wall in a rough approximation of a crucifixion. But it was no use. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d had jolted him with enough electricity to reduce his muscles to jelly. He was still shaking with it, feeling the ghostly aftershocks zapping his nerve endings. And even at full strength, he couldn"t have hoped to snap chains like these.
In a moment, the vampire was back, and he was dragging Max with one hand and Stormy with the other. He held each by one arm, and when he let them go, they stumbled to the floor.
"You"re both fortunate I managed to douse those flames. If you"d burned my home, I"d have seen to it you burned with it. And your friend here, as well."
Max lifted her head, spotted him and then shot to her feet. "Lou!" She ran to him, her arms snapping around his neck, her mouth pressing to his face, his neck, her hands threading in his hair. .
d.a.m.n his body for reacting to her touch, even in this sorry state, Lou thought. Who the h.e.l.l had he ever thought he was kidding, anyway?
Eventually she backed off a little, and her beautiful green eyes slid over his face and then down his body.
His ragged, torn shirt hung in tatters, hiding very little from her probing eyes. And then those green eyes narrowed, turned deadly dangerous as she spun to face the vampire.
"You hurt him. You low-life sc.u.m. You dare to hurt him? Do you even know who I am?"
"I fully expected to be asking you that question by now. Do you know who I am?" He shrugged. "It is of little consequence. I did your friend no permanent damage, Miss Stuart. And finding out who you are-and more precisely, what you know and how you know it-is only a small part of the reason I brought you here." As he said that, his gaze slid toward Stormy. But he dragged it back to Max again.
"You are some sort of a...detective. An expert on my kind. How is that?"
"Why do you want to know?" He smiled slowly, walked to his table and picked up the long metal rod. Turning slowly with it, he took a step toward Lou, and Lou felt himself tense up in expectation.
Max stepped bodily in front of him. "I get the message. I"m here to answer questions, and if I don"t do so fast enough to suit you, Lou gets hurt. You"re smart, I"ll give you that."
He nodded, seeming surprised when Stormy walked right up to him and gently took the prod from his hand. She put it on the table. He spoke to Max, but his eyes were on Stormy. "I pride myself on finding others" weaknesses. Scanning your mind was not easy."
"I"ve been taught how to guard my thoughts from the Undead."
He nodded, impressed. "And what about you, little one? Do you guard your thoughts, as well?"
Stormy met his eyes. Hers were smoky and distant, as if she were walking in some kind of a daze. "I wouldn"t know which thoughts to guard these days. Some of them are mine. Others are...someone else"s." She couldn"t seem to break the grip of the vampire"s eyes on hers. Max wondered if she even wanted to.
He frowned at her, searching her face intently. Then Max went to Stormy, took her arm and led her to a chair in the corner, easing her into it. "Just rest here, babe. Okay?"
Stormy nodded. "Something"s off, Maxie. Something"s..." She closed her eyes, pressed her hands to her head.
"It"s okay. Just take it easy. Get a handle on it. I"ve got this."
Max returned her attention to the vampire, but Lou noticed the way his gaze kept shifting to Stormy. He also noticed the way she sat there, almost in a stupor. He wondered if the vamp had done something to her before bringing her in here. Drugged her or something. Or if this was another of her spells. He worried about her.
"What did you find when you scanned my thoughts, vampire?" Max asked.
The vampire jerked his attention back to her. "I found that this man is the most important person in your life. That you would die for him without a second thought. You love him?"
"Madly," she admitted. "So much so that I"ll tell you whatever you want to know-but I"ll ask for one concession first." The vampire lifted a brow. She went on. "Take him down from there."
The vampire glanced Lou"s way. "He"s too resourceful, and far too fearless."
"He"s right, Max. He cuts me loose, I"m going to find a way to hurt his a.s.s. You ought to take Stormy and get the h.e.l.l out of here. Leave me to it."
She closed her eyes slowly. "I couldn"t leave you behind, Lou."
"Storm"s on the edge and she"s teetering, Max."
Max looked at Stormy. Stormy lowered her hands, opened her eyes, and met Max"s, then Lou"s. "Wearen"t leaving you, Lou. I"ll be all right."
Max nodded. "Then I guess I"ll make this fast." She looked at the vamp again. "My twin sister is a vampire. Her name is Morgan de Silva. She"s married now, to the vampire Dante. Do any of those names mean anything to you?"
He shook his head slowly.
"Dante was sired by his great-aunt, a very old Gypsy vampiress named Sarafina."
"Aah. This name I know. Sarafina has a...reputation."
"Lou and I saved Dante"s life last year. Sarafina would tear anyone to ribbons who threatened to hurt either one of us." Lou knew that was a lie. Sarafina didn"t even like them. But it was a good bluff. "And she"d have plenty of help, " Max went on. "Trust me"
The vampire smiled slowly. "You are not going to intimidate me with threats, Maxine. Don"t waste your time" He shrugged. "Besides, I can see you"re lying. In fact, Sarafina doesn"t even like you all that much."
"Wouldn"t matter. She owes me."
He still didn"t seem impressed. "So being related to one of us is why you know so much about us."
"No, " she said. "Not entirely. Are you familiar with the DPI?"
He frowned, looked over at Stormy again, as if checking on her before returning his gaze to Max"s. "I"ve heard of them. The government agency devoted to the research and elimination of the Undead. They"re defunct now, yes?"
"A gang of vampires burned their headquarters to the ground and killed most of the agents a little more than five years ago. I was a curious teenager and lived near the site. After the fire I wandered onto the grounds and found a CD full of information-files on vampires they had studied, tests they had done and so on. It read like a horror novel. But it was real." She shrugged. "I"ve been studying the subject ever since."
The vampire lifted his brows. "If any of them survived and know about the files-"
"Several of them survived. Frank W. Stiles being the most dangerous of the bunch. And he does know.
He"s targeted me, my sister, and her friends." She lifted her chin and stepped closer to him. "He shot my friend Stormy in the head and tried to frame Lou for the crime. She spent a week in a coma, and we didn"t know if she would live or die. We, all three of us, have risked our lives to protect our vampiric loved ones from the likes of Frank Stiles and the vampire hunters. The last thing we ever expected was to be repaid like this. With torture and trickery. But then again, I guess there are bad apples in every group, aren"t there, Mr..." There she paused. "What"s your name, anyway?"
He smiled slowly. "So you can send your army of preternatural protectors after me?"
"Oh, they"re already on the way. Those children you abducted made their way back to sh.o.r.e." She looked at her watch. "It"s been more than an hour now. I sent them out of town with instructions to call my sister, and I"m sure they made that call long before now. Your time is extremely limited, my friend. So if there is anything more you need to know from me, you"d better ask fast." His face went utterly blank.
"I"m not bluffing. So get to the point. What is it you want to know?"
"I want to know about Gilgamesh."
"The first vampire. Why?"
He reached for the cattle prod.
"Nu! Stai!" Stormy cried. She surged to her feet. Her face was fierce, and her eyes had changed color.
They were gleaming onyx jewels now.
Though she didn"t want to, Max gripped the vampire"s arm. "Don"t hurt her. She"s got no idea what she"s doing. Look at her eyes."
He did, and then he couldn"t seem to take his eyes from hers. "What"s wrong with her?" he asked, his voice a whisper now.
"We don"t know. It"s some sort of possession. That"s not Stormy right now, it"s...it"s someone else.
When she comes back to herself, she might not even remember what she did or said in this other state.
She gets violent when she"s like this. If she attacks you, please, don"t hurt her. It"s not her fault."
He glanced at Max as if she were insane. Then at Stormy again. Her eyes were fixated on his and filling with tears.
He lifted a hand. "Relax, little one."
"Let them go, " she whispered. "Va rog."
He glanced toward Max, then Lou. "Tell me what you know of Gilgamesh."
"I ask you again, why?"
"Because he was the first. Because he sought power over life and death. Power he gained. Power I need."
"So you intend to kill him?"
"Don"t judge me. You"d do the same to bring this one back, " he said with a nod toward Lou, "if you were in my position."
She frowned. "You want to bring someone...back? From where? From the dead?"
"Dead is dead, " Stormy muttered. Then she screamed it. "Dead is dead! Dead is dead! Dead is dead!"
She kept shrieking the words over and over as she launched herself at the vampire, her fists pounding him, hands clenching into claw shapes and scratching at him.
He went down onto his back under the force of her a.s.sault, and a set of keys flew from his pocket. To his credit, he was trying not to hurt her but simply to fend off her a.s.sault without causing her any injury.To that end, he gripped her wrists and held them in his hands.
Lou didn"t have any clue what to expect next, but suddenly Stormy wasn"t fighting the vampire anymore.
She was kissing him. Lying atop his p.r.o.ne body, legs straddling him, body pressing close. She murmured things against his mouth. "Unde-i dragoste e si cearta. This love is sweet torment, print meu. My prince."
Max scrambled after the keys and quickly went over to Lou, while the vamp was so distracted he couldn"t possibly pay attention to her. She didn"t know what the h.e.l.l was going on with Stormy, why she-or maybe the being possessing her-was making out with the vamp, but he was clearly swept up in it.
Dammit, he"d better not try to bite her!
She quickly unsnapped the manacles at Lou"s wrists, at just about the same time the vampire groaned deep in his throat, closed his arms around Stormy, and began returning her kisses with a fervor that bordered on desperation.