Black Heart: Coeur de Sade (Black Heart Series) (26 page)

            “Not a problem,” I said, leaning over her to untie her wrists.  It was a brass bed, big fancy headboard.  “But I expect full — ”

            “Get off her!” Heidi cried.

            I turned toward the door.  Heidi was standing there, pistol in hand.  She pulled the trigger and hit me right below the left boob.  Then shot me in the neck, followed by two shots in the belly.

            I’m just a new vamp.  Blessed silver does a number on me.  Wailing in pain, I staggered back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor.  The pain was exquisite.  All I could do for a long moment was just gawk incredulously as she walked up, smiled cruelly at me, and shot me in the face.

            Blackness engulfed me.  When I woke up everyone was gone.  The pain in my head was debilitating.  The only other silver bullet burning inside me was in my chest.  The bullets passed completely through me on the neck and both belly shots.

            “I don’t think Heidi likes me,” I muttered, and smiled.  Yeah, I tell jokes to myself.  Doesn’t everyone?

            Staggering to my feet, I started looking for something to cut myself open with.  I needed to remove those damn sanctified bullets.  Finding a butcher knife in the kitchen, the bullet in my chest was soon out.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t perform brain surgery on myself.  That bullet would stay.

            I only spent a few minutes looking around.  Fritz’s jeep was in the garage.  It was hunter green.  I’m afraid that silver bullet boiling my brain made me cranky.  I slashed all of his tires, and his seats.  After that, it was too late to stick around.  Sunrise was approaching.

            Soon, I was roaring down the street on the Ninja.  Heading for the only safe haven I knew.  Kale’s house.  Roger was too squeamish to help me.  The house was completely dark when I arrived.  I couldn’t sense him inside, but with that blessed bullet in my head I couldn’t sense anything at all.  It scrambled all of my vampiric abilities.

            “Kale, help me!” I cried, rather pathetically I admit.  I was hurting.  I pounded on the door.  He opened it quickly, just blinking at me in the porch light.  “Hi.  Can I stay here?  I have problems.”

            “What?  Sure!” he said.  He stepped back and waved me inside.  I stumbled on the doorstep.  He caught me, looking worried.  “What’s wrong?  Are you hurt?”

            “Hurt.  Yes,” I said.  “Silver bullet in head.  Can’t think straight.  Hurts.  Bad.”

            “What can I do?” he said.

            “Get an ax. Split my head open and find that damn bullet.”

            “What?  I can’t do that,” he said.

That request just horrified him, so I dropped it.  Boney would've done it, but I wasn't talking to Boney and didn't have time to get to him anyway.  It would be day soon.

"I just need a safe place to lie down," I said.  "It'll burn itself out of my skull if given time."

CHAPTER 16

            Sleep was denied.  Somehow I had avoided being shot in the head up until Heidi tried to off me.  As much as blessed silver bullets burned, I was getting a little "whatever" about being shot with them.  Getting shot was just part of doing business.  I discovered getting shot in the head was a whole nother level of hurt.

            Boney told me on numerous occasions that silver bullets would burn their way out of a vampire's body.  I always cut them out.  Why suffer?  But Kale was unable to hack my skull open and look for the burning bullet, so I laid on the cold tiles of his bathroom floor and waited for that bullet to burn its way out.  The sanctified silver burned and burned for hours and hours.  Then around five in the afternoon, I checked the back of my head and discovered it had burned completely though the bone and was pressing up against the skin.

            I cut that out with a knife.

            "Oh, I am so going to bite Heidi," I said, eyeing the offending bullet lying on the floor by the toilet.

            "You're going to kill her?" Kale said, the stench of fear filling the air.

            "Don't be ridiculous," I said, dismissing that with a haughty wave of the hand.  "I just want to bite her.  It'll put the fear of fangs in her,
my
fangs, and it is a way for me to establish a mental link, so I know where she is at all times.  The bitch snuck up on me last night while I was distracted."  I glanced at the offending bullet, all bloody in the corner.  "Never again."

            With the bullet boiling my brain, I hadn't been in the mood to discuss the previous night with Kale.  Once the bullet was out, my marvelous vampire body was back to normal within seconds, and I felt good.  Still royally pissed at Heidi, but good.  So I told Kale what happened the previous night.  Well, not the part about my tryst with Roger.  I hadn't had sex with Kale yet, and thought that would be cruel to mention.

            "So you know where he lives now," Kale said.  "Shouldn't be too hard to stake the place out."

            "Never say 'stake' to a vampire," I said.  His eyes went wide.  "Joking.  Ha!  Gotcha."

            "Well, you're in a much better mood," he said.

            I shrugged sheepishly.  I wasn't good company while that bullet burned inside me, and the sun beat down upon his roof unmercifully.  Normally, sleep would spare me the torture of the sun's light trying to get to me, but the bullet hurt too much to sleep.

            "Hey, the sun's down and I'm still alive.  I love it when I wake up and there isn't a stake through my heart.  Life's good," I said.  Well, it wasn't that good, but it sure beat being dead and in Hell.  But I had calls to make and places to go.  I pulled out my cell and was shocked to see it barely alive.  The battery was almost dead.  When was the last time I charged it?  "Mind if I use your phone?"

            "As long as you don't call long distance," he said, grinning.

            "Thanks," I said.  "Um, do you have any blood in the fridge?"

            "No, but I have plenty inside me," he said, turning his face to expose his neck.

            "No thanks," I said, though his blood called to me.  I could almost smell it.  I could hear and sense it surging through his body.  I heard his heart beat, ramping up a bit at the prospect of me feeding off him.  My mouth watered and throat tightened.  "I'd rather buy some nice cow's blood."

            "With what?" he said.  "I thought you said you're broke.  Didn't the other vampire girl and witch clean out your accounts?"

            "Oh shit," I said.  "I forgot.  But my bank was trying to pull the funds back in.  Let me call them."

            The phone was beside the bed.  I avoided sitting on the bed, because in my condition it would be too easy for Kale to seduce me.  I didn't have time for a tryst.  Wet, wild, and wicked sex would've been great, and would've made me feel better, but Fritz's trail was growing cold.  I had to get over there fast and get on it.

            I called my banker.  Simon Roach answered.  Perfect.

            "Simon, Sable Hart here," I said.  "Any luck recovering my money?"

            "No," he said, sounding disgusted.  "They are pros.  The money went to an account, then was immediately transferred out to another account.  Our rivals refuse to help us trace the money.  It's gone."

            I just stood there in silence a long moment.  It was official.  I was flat broke.  Dirt poor.  Destitute.  You can imagine how scary that was.

            "Do I have any options?"

            "Not really, though I would suggest closing these accounts and starting new ones," he said.

            "Can't I just change my passwords?"

            "Yes," Simon said cautiously.  "But I would strongly urge you close and open new accounts.  Just to be absolutely safe."

            "I'm busted.  Broke," I said.  "They even got my cash reserve at home.  I don't have the money to start an account anymore."  My heart was racing, and my mind spinning.  It was too much to grasp so early.  "I'll let you know.  Thanks for all you've done."

            Licking my lips, I stared at Kale's throat a long moment.  He noticed and walked over to me, smiling knowingly.  I thought he said before he wasn't so much into giving blood, as into sex with beautiful, wicked vampires.  But by giving blood, he probably hoped to seal the deal.  Feeding off him meant I would be back, and give him what he wanted.

            I put my hands on his chest, and leaned into his neck.  Nuzzling his hot skin, I breathed deeply of his heady scent, of his needs and desires.  Breathed in his overwhelming
lust
.  I gave his neck a lick over the jugular, the carotid was paired with it, a bit deeper in the neck.

            The carotid artery gave the best blood.  The jugular was marginally safer and easier to reach.  But, the carotid carried the nutrient and oxygen rich blood straight to the brain.  It tasted
much
better, and provided more nutrition to vampires.  More nutrition per ounce meant we needed to drink less blood.

            "Are you sure?" I said, glancing up to lock eyes with him.

            "I'm sure," he said.

            Pressing my fangs firmly upon his skin, the surge of his blood so close and alluring, I paused to give him another chance to stop me.  He didn't.  Instead, he sucked in a sharp breath and waited.  So I bit, sinking my fangs deep into his neck, past the jugular and straight into the carotid.  I wasn't planning to take much, so needed the most bang for the buck.

            I groaned as that delicious, invigorating blood gushed into my mouth.  It spurted with the beat of his heart.  Drinking it down as fast as it came to me, I sated my dark thirst and immediately healed the twin punctures.  I planned to only take about a pint, but probably swallowed closer to two.  I was full, and buzzing with the glory of living human blood.

            "Jesus, that's good," I whispered, and sat on the bed.  "Human blood is the best.  Wow."

            "Yes," he groaned, plopping down beside me with a look of bliss on his face.  "I'd almost forgotten how good that feels.  I could get used to that again."

            "Me, too," I said.  Standing up, I stretched.  "I have to go.  Thanks for everything."

            "Will you be back?"

            "Oh yeah," I said, grinning mischievously.  "And you better be ready for a wild and wicked ride, baby."

            "Tonight?"

            Oh, he looked eager.  He was ready to go right then, and so was I.  But, there was still the Coeur de Sade problem, so I had to find Fritz.  Fast.

            "Maybe," I said.  I shrugged.  "It all depends where I am come morning."  I shuddered.  "It's really quite scary sometimes.  I've barely made it to safety a couple of times."

            That confused him.  He frowned at me a moment.

            "Why?  No matter where you are, you can just bury yourself," he said.  "My former vampire lover did it all the time.  In fact, she preferred the cool embrace of the earth to a coffin."

            I was dumbfounded.  I
knew
that.  I knew it from my research as a vampire hunter.  Until Kale mentioned it I had forgotten all about it.  No one else, not even Boney, ever mentioned it.

            Knowing it can be done and the actual doing of it was two different things.  I needed another vampire to teach me transforming into a bat and wolf.  Heck, I need to be taught how to bite and feed off a mortal, and then how to heal them.

            "I've never tried it," I said.  "Mind if I try it out in your backyard?"

            "No problem.  I'll check to make sure the sun is all the way down," Kale said, and hurried out of the room.

            It was.  Barely.  I could feel it.  It was still light outside.  Going outside now wouldn't be fatal, but it would be uncomfortable and extremely bright to my eyes.  But with sunglasses I could function in twilight just fine.

            While waiting for Kale, I sifted through my purse.  Gun, bullets, makeup, three small bags of M&Ms, wallet, but no money.  Not a penny.  So I tossed half a handful of M&Ms into my mouth and stuffed the purse back into the small backpack.

            I know, it is weird to carry a purse in a backpack.  If you have one, you don't need the other.  But the pack held things the purse didn't, and couldn't.  And I hated being without my purse.  I can be a bit anal at times about my purse.

            "It's safe," Kale said.

            I slanted a roguish smile at him.  That roused him.  Yeah, that's the reaction I wanted.  I can't help being a flirt sometimes.  It's the vampire curse, I think.  So, to keep his interest up I stood in the most sensuous manner possible and paused so he could soak in the sight of my leather and latex sheathed body.

            "You know what you need?" Kale said with a breathtakingly mischievous grin.  He should grin at me like that more often.

            "Um, spurs?" I said, remembering Gabe's suggestion.

            That response took him aback. "What?  Oh.  Yes, spurs would be hot on those boots," he said.  "But I was thinking about a belly ring.  Sparkling diamonds in you belly button would be cool."

            Mention of navel rings made me think of the Giorgi sisters again.  They wore diamond navel rings.  I needed to find them, too.

            "Desiree wants me to get one, too," I said.  "I'm considering it."

            He knew all about Desiree.  During the long day, while he skipped work to sit with me, we shared our life histories.  I knew everything he was willing to share about his life, and he knew what I was willing to share about mine.

            "While you're at it, you might think about a tongue stud," he said, getting a truly lecherous look on his face.  "My ex-wife had one, and man how it improves giving head."

            "I don't think so," I said, shaking my head.  "You get one.  I can't imagine having a chunk of steel, or is it silver, forever in my mouth, through my tongue.  Yuck."

            I shouldered my small pack and stepped around him.  Going to the backyard, I dropped the pack on the covered patio and looked around.