Black Heart: Coeur de Sade (Black Heart Series) (12 page)

            "How could you?" Momma said.  Her look of betrayal stabbed deep.  "You saved a vampire."

            "No time to explain," I said.  "Love you, bye."

            I ran away, with Jerry right behind me.  We headed for my car.  I didn't have time to argue with my parents about right and wrong, good and evil.  We'd have that discussion another time.  And maybe they could explain why I wasn't invited to my own memorial service.

            Three police cars were struggling to get through the mad rush out of there, lights flashing and sirens wailing to no avail.  I raced through the parking lot, but Jerry was struggling to keep up.  I guess a full clip of silver bullets slowed him down.

            Yeah, I was kinda pleased with myself for that.  Just a little payback for kidnapping me.

            "This way," I said, leading him to my Mustang.  Opening the trunk, I pulled out a thick brown towel and threw it at him.  "Take off that bloody shirt.  If you get my new car dirty, I'll stake you."

            Jerry didn't argue.  He pulled off his shirt, toweled off the blood and got into the car.  We left the bloody shirt and towel behind.  It gave the police something to play with.  They like that.

            I pulled my cell phone, and punched in Jeff's pre-loaded number.  He answered on the second ring.

            "I got him," I said.  I paused to look him over a second.  "A little worse for wear, but he isn't dead."

            "I knew you would," Jeff said.  He sounded pleased.  "I'm in Uptown.  Meet me at the corner of McKinney and Harwood."

            "How long before you are there?" I said.  It would only take me a few minutes.  That was just the other side of downtown.  "We are at the Hyatt Regency and heading that way."

            "I'm already here," Jeff said, and hung up.

            I forgot about the road construction, so it took us a little longer than anticipated to reach McKinney and Harwood.  A long, black Lincoln limo was waiting.  The back door opened at our approach.

            "You're home," I said.

            "Thanks," Jerry said.  He frowned at me.  I don't think he liked the idea of me saving him.

            "It won't happen again," I said.  "Get out."

            I waited for Jerry to climb into that limo.  I was about to put it in reverse and go home, when a male hand reached out the door and beckoned me.

            I ground my teeth and gripped the steering wheel tightly for a long moment.  Talking to a vampire leader wasn't what I wanted to do.  So, taking a deep breath, I climbed out and walked over to the open door.

            Squatting, I peered in.  Valerie St. Clair smiled back at me.  Rather smugly.  She was straddling Jeff's lap reverse cowgirl, slowly going up and down shaft.  Her breasts were exposed and her lipstick smudged.  Her long, slit skirt was on the floor.

            "At least you weren't alone while you waited," I said.  The stench of sex and desire saturated the air.  They both reeked of it.  Kinda turned me on.  "Though, I'd wash my dick twice when I got home if I were you.  That bitch is skanky."

            "Ha.  You did good tonight, Sable.  Really good," Jeff said.  "I knew you'd come through."

            "Stay away from my family, Jeff.  Stay away," I said, putting steel in my voice.

            It wasn't easy.  Valerie's grunts and gasps were getting to me.  All that need and desire and vampire pheromones wasn't helping.

            "Sure," he said.  "You know what to do."

            "Yeah.  I know what to do," I said.  "But if you betray my trust...bad things will happen."

            "Are you threatening me?" Jeff said, eyes narrowing.

            "Yes," I said.  "Yes I am.  Don't forget it."

            With that, I returned to my car and went home.

CHAPTER 7

            "Gabe?" I said, answering my cell.  It was just after sunset.  "What's up?  And how did you get this number?"

            There was a brief hesitation.  I could almost see his sly smile.  The wheels were turning in his head.

            "Hello, Sabe.  Are you coming over?" Gabe said.  "The coast is clear.  I lost police protection this morning."

            I knew what "coming over" meant to him.  Gabe wanted sex.  He was as bad as a vampire in that.

            There was nothing to stop me from visiting.  I was actually in my car, only about a mile away.  If there was no police guard then I could walk right in.  But that would set everything in motion, and he knew it.  I didn't want to waste that much time.

            Gabe's desire for me was so intense it ignited my own libido, and once I start down that road it was hard to put the brakes on.  I had visited Gabe in the hospital twice when there weren't any others in the room, and both times I ended up naked and in bed with him.

            "Not tonight," I said.  "I have vampire and werewolf problems.  The kind that have to be dealt with right now."

            "Really?" he said.

            Gabe could understand that.  When he wasn't thinking of sex, or watching porn, or visiting strip clubs, he was hunting and staking vampires.  Killing vampires was an obsession with him.  I may be the only vampire Gabe had met that wasn't dead-dead.

            "Yes.  Now, how did you get this number?" I said.

            "Desiree," he said.  "I need your help."

            Three nights back he said the same thing.  My left brow rose high as I signed and changed lanes.

            "I don't consider giving you a BJ as help," I said.

            We shared a knowing chuckle.

            "Yeah, but it really did help," he said.  I could hear the strain in his voice.  He was really thinking about that BJ right then, and wanting it real bad.  I was willing, but not right then.  "But that isn't it.  I'm getting kicked out of the hospital tomorrow.  I need someone to take me home."

            "They are releasing you?  So soon?" I said.  Were they crazy?  He was shot in the leg with sanctified silver.  A few days in the hospital wasn't enough to clear the silver poisoning.  Was it?  "Did you get a second opinion?"

            "Ha!  That won't work.  My HMO says I'm a-okay.  All of the opinions will come from HMO doctors," he said.  "They won't pay after tomorrow, so I've been told I will be released at six tomorrow evening."

            HMO?  I never thought about insurance, or how he was paying for his hospital stay.  Could a werewolf even get insurance?  Heck, they healed almost as fast as a vampire, so why would they need it?  Aside from silver poisoning, that is.

            "I can't get there until eight, at least," I said.  Sunset was around seven.  "I can't do it."

            Talk about feeling like crap.  The first time he asks me for help, that didn't involve sex, and I had to refuse.  He had never said no to me, and I've asked for some really big favors in my time.

            He laughed.  "Don't worry, this is a hospital.  Nothing happens when it's scheduled.  I'll be lucky if I'm actually released before midnight."

            "Oh.  Yeah, I guess you're right.  Okay, I'll be there," I said.  Strangely, though Gabe was a royal pain in the butt, I was pleased as punch to be able to help.  Then I grinned with an evil glint in my eyes.  "Does this mean you are going to let me know where you live?  How daring of you.  I can't wait to see your super secret home."

            He laughed.  "I was hoping you'd take me to your home, so you can nurse me back to health," he said.  "Do you have a sexy nurse's uniform?  You'd be so hot in all white."

            A thrill chill crawled up my spin.  I didn't have a naughty nurse outfit, but Desiree did.  She had three, in white, black and pink.  All were latex and quite kinky.  I briefly wondered if any of them would fit me.  Then I remembered the business at hand.

            "Whateva.  You're a pig," I said, with a smile.  "I'll be there.  And I'm taking you to
your
house.  My landlord is a fang whore and doesn't like hunters.  She might stake you."

            "Wouldn't that be ironic?"

            "Yes.  Now, back to my problem," I said.  "I'm heading out to DeSoto to find your werewolf friend, Quentin Scott.  Anything I should know about him?  I don't know much about werewolves."

            "Be strong and firm," he said.  "They are all about the pecking order.  If you show the least sign of weakness, they will be all over you.  Remember, they don't like vampires.  They aren't quite as afraid of vampires as normal people, but they know you're at the top of the food chain.  And they don't like it."

            Well now.  How encouraging.

            "Is it safe for me to go there?"

            "No," he said.  "But I called him and said you might contact him."

            "And?"

            "He wasn't thrilled," Gabe said, and laughed.  "But he owes me.  Big.  Besides, he knows you are Black Heart and a hunter."

            "So, if I don't show them I am at least his equal, they he will try to kill me?" I said.

            All my knowledge of werewolves came from the entertainment media, old wive's tales, and hearsay.  Since werewolves were not abominations in the eyes of God they are not hunted or killed on sight like vampires.  They were still citizens with rights in America, though not necessarily in other countries.  In Eastern Europe they were hunted just as vigorously as vampires.

            "Not really.  He's more likely just rip out your throat and chase you away.  They aren't as bloodthirsty as vampires."

            "Thanks."

            "No problemo, baby-cakes," he said, and laughed.  "Just be strong, and don't try to
force
them to do anything.  They don't like to be pushed into anything."

            "Great," I said.  Shouldn't be too bad.  I was nice people.  Everyone liked me.  Didn't they?  "But, if it comes to a fight, how strong are werewolves?  I am stronger than him, right?"

            Gabe was silent a long moment.

            "Maybe.  I think a male werewolf is as strong as a female vampire," Gabe said.  "Some alphas are as strong as male vampires, but only in their half-wolf form."

            Not good.  But I've dealt successfully with stronger vampires.  I should be able to fight off a werewolf.  Now I was glad to hear he had to transform to become super strong, which corresponded with what I'd always heard.  The ability to transform into a wolfman was the determiner of who was an alpha.  Most werewolves could only change into wolves.

            "So, Quentin could actually be stronger than me?"

            "Yes, but I doubt it," he said.  "He is a pack leader, the Alpha Male of the Moonblood Pack, but no where near the strongest in the area."

            "Okay, thanks.  I'll be careful," I said.  Downtown was just up ahead.  Going through the mix-master while on the phone wasn't fun.  "I have to go; traffic is starting to get bad."

            "Will you visit me tonight?"

            "I doubt it," I said.  I had other plans for later tonight.  I couldn't shake thoughts of Roger Rippner and his wings.  "Tomorrow.  If you're nice, and not too much of a pig, I might
linger
a while at your house."

            "Promise?"

            "Yeah."

            Okay, I was committed to "linger" now.  Not that I minded.  Few men enjoyed having sex with me as much as Gabe.  You'd think I made his entire life by sleeping with him.  Only the downside, Gabe was kinky and crude.  Some of the things he wanted to do with me were just wrong.

            To my surprise and delight, traffic passing through the mix-master was light.  No one to protest my extreme lane changes.  I hated going through it.  As often as not I'd end up in the wrong lane and shot out in the wrong direction.  Just thinking about it made me tense.

            DeSoto was a suburb of Dallas, on the south side.  I took Interstate 35 south out of downtown.  I kept my speed down to just ten miles an hour over the speed limit, and made the trip in no time.  Traffic was a little on the heavy side, but moving without any hitches.

            Finding Quentin was easy enough.  He actually was south of DeSoto, on a farm.  Gabe called it the Moonblood Run.  It was where the pack got together to chase rabbits and deer, I guess.  Considering what I'd heard about werewolves, they were more likely chasing each other.  They were almost as randy as vampires.

            The farmhouse was an old, two-story wood frame.  Painted white, it had a deep porch on three sides.  The drive was gravel, and I found eight cars, four pickups, and ten motorcycles parked out front.  The pack was bigger than I thought.

            Though all lit up, the house was empty.  I could tell without knocking on the door.  Everyone was out back in a large red barn.  The barn door was open, and flickering yellow light poured out.  People were laughing and cheering, almost drowning out the deep growl of wolves.

            Two wolves.  Fighting.  At least that was what it sounded like to my supernaturally powerful ears.  I frowned and headed over.  It was early autumn in North Texas, so it hadn't rained much since spring.  The ground was rock hard.  Good thing, too.  I was wearing heels.

            In anticipation of meeting with an alpha male, I had vamped it up.  I wore bright makeup, my long black hair was curled to fall in silken waves down my back and my body was sheathed in black leather — bustier top, snug pants, and thigh boots.  My only accessories were a matching dog collar, silver bracelets, and big silver hoop earrings.

            Totally vamped.

            I went unarmed.  Quentin couldn't be allowed to think I was afraid of him, or that I was a threat either.  He might refuse to help me.  Of course, I had my pistol, shoulder holster, and black leather bolero jacket in the trunk of the Mustang.  For later, if necessary.

            "Hope I'm not interrupting any sacred ritual or anything," I said, and struck a pose just inside the barn door.  "The door was open."