Blood and Destiny (10 page)

Luke stopped me at the bottom of the stairs. The vault-like door was the reason for the combination. Without asking, he stepped around me to swirl the large dial. When the last number was in place, there was a loud sound as the tumblers gave way. He glanced at me and hesitated before opening the door.

At my nod, he pulled the handle, disengaging the door, and nearly fell when it came open soundlessly on well-oiled hinges. Music blasted us. It was so shocking after the relative quiet that I

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flinched. With more bravado than I owned, I walked into the room with Luke at my back. It was a small comfort.

Vampires of all shapes, sizes and lifestyles watched us survey the room. Booths, chairs and couches provided comfortable arrangements for everyone, and it wasn’t nearly as full as I expected.

Of course, some of the denizens of this place were probably down the hallways that sprang off the main room. I was willing to bet the vault area was larger than the perimeter of the house.

With a feeling of having bitten off more than I could chew, I spotted the man from the pictures at the last booth-style table against the back wall. He huddled there, his gaze darting about nervously.

He looked scared.

I didn’t even want to think what could make a vampire look that scared, even a newborn like this one.

As I crossed the room, one thing struck me as out of character. Most hells specialized in the rare opportunity to feed on people willing to embrace death. They were usually either suicidal or working on the mistaken belief that simply being killed by a vampire was enough to make them rise as one. The vampires didn’t correct them by telling them there was a ritual involved. They simply enjoyed their willing food. But this one was lacking in victims. A few humans snuggled up with vampires who obviously weren’t interested in sharing them as blood for the pool.

It was a setup. Not only had I walked right into it, I’d brought another victim along for the ride.

Me and my grand ideas.

Sheer force of will kept me moving across that wide expanse of carpet. “Sam” watched us come like a fox watches the hounds when the hedge is too thick for it to get away. I stopped beside the table with Luke close behind. Since being trapped between the table and the wall wasn’t my idea of comfort, I leaned on the table and spoke as softly and calmly as I could.

“Hi, Sam. You look like you’re expecting us.”

“My name is Todd. I don’t know anyone named Sam.”

I inhaled, hoping to find a hint of honesty. The room smelled too much of blood, alcohol and smoke. Maybe Yasmine’s nose would have picked something up, but not mine.

“Okay, Todd. Where’s Betsy?”

“Who?”

His face hid nothing and showed honest surprise and confusion. This was definitely not going according to plan. Since I’d packed pictures that showed faces rather than incriminating positions, I didn’t even have the proof to show him that I knew exactly how well he knew the lady in question.

“Maybe she used an assumed name, then. You do know her. Tall, leggy blonde with a very expensive stylist and clothes to match? Blue eyes…and favors blue lingerie?”

His face remained blank and I cursed. The proverbial bad feeling pooled in my stomach as I pulled

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Betsy’s picture from the bag, leaned forward and pushed it toward him. Whatever I was going to say was forgotten as a psychic tremor rocketed through the room when the vault door opened.

Glancing over my shoulder, I gaped at Marcus strolling toward me with Peter and Emanuel at his back. The look on his face was not happy.

Two things stuck me. No one ran for cover and he was apparently not a stranger as he nodded a greeting to several of the closer sets of vampires.

Then the realization clubbed me over the head. This was no more a hell than the Vantage was. I cursed myself for a fool. It was a private Blood Club and Marcus knew all about it. Lord, I was slow. Feeling incredibly stupid, I straightened and had the forethought to move between the approaching vampire and the lion. My romantic life was about to rain all over my investigation and all I could do was watch the storm come.

Marcus’s face was carved into chiseled lines of perfection as he looked past me at his rival. With a dismissive tilt to his head that was vaguely insulting, he turned his attention to the vampire at the table. Todd’s gaze wasn’t on the picture on the table. It was locked on Marcus with an expression that could only be described as pure unadulterated terror.

Peter and Emanuel, like two avenging angels, one light and one dark, stepped around Marcus.

Emanuel, with all the courtesy of the Spanish gentleman he had once been, gently urged me back from the table by sliding beside Todd in the booth. It wasn’t very subtle, but effectively put himself between the rogue and me. I watched him slip the photograph off the table and tuck it way in the folds of his jacket.

“Destiny, you seem to be picking up strays. I thought you didn’t like pets?”

Marcus’s caustic comment brought my attention back to him and I flinched away from the mild acid in his tone. Stepping back until the heat of Luke’s chest radiated through my skin, I could feel the other vampires in the room watching us with a sharpening interest that only came with the threat of blood being spilled. Unable to resist, I replied in kind despite that tiny voice in my head screaming I should let it go.

“Marcus, how nice to see you here. Were you just in the neighborhood or is this a place where one of your…meals frequents? I didn’t think vampire whores were your thing.”

It was mean, catty and beneath me. He had started it, but I didn’t have to lower myself to the level of trading insults. I waited for the next volley, but Luke touched my arm and slid it up to my shoulder in a proprietary way. I didn’t move from under his hand, but I didn’t encourage him either. Marcus’s gaze dropped to that hand and stayed there for a heartbeat before rising to stare into my face. Something dangerous and close to rage lurked in the depths of that gaze, but I ignored it.

Marcus reached out in a lightning move to grab my hand. He pulled me away from Luke and steered me a small distance away. With the noise in the room, even a lion would be pressed to hear us. I let him do it because I couldn’t stop him without a fight. Digging in would have given Luke an excuse to escalate the violence. What surprised me most was that Luke let him do it. Maybe he was one of those men who didn’t need to prove himself at every turn. It was a refreshing change of pace.

“What are you about, Destiny?” Marcus hissed close to my ear. “This is the last place you should be, especially withhim .”

“What’s wrong with him? I needed someone to watch my back and he was both available and willing.” I didn’t mean for it to be suggestive. Marcus read into it.

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“As would I have been, if you had bothered to mention this was on your agenda.”

“You were mad at me.” It sounded petty. The sting from the way he’d stormed out of my house roared back to the forefront. “Besides, I didn’t know I was going to be here when you left. It was a last-minute lead.”

“You came here following a lead from your missing-person case?”

“Yes. I received a tip that our photogenic vampire would be here tonight just waiting to be questioned.”

Marcus’s face darkened. He understood the significance. The case now involved two of his places in addition to being centered on a vampire. A less trusting woman would have suspected he might be involved. Maybe I was a fool, but Marcus’s honor was the one thing I would bet my life on. In this case, I wagered both Betsy Vincent’s and mine. The lion could fend for himself.

“Was he able to help?” Marcus asked in a neutral tone.

“Casanova can’t remember his own name much less the woman in question. Since you’re here, maybe you can talk some sense into him. Care to give me a hand?”

At the wordhand , Marcus’s gaze flickered toward Luke. With a snarl, he stepped past me to make his way to the table. “You’re so right. Let’s deal with the business so we can turn to more important matters.”

Even with vampire hearing, his voice was low enough that only those in our immediate circle heard him, but I felt the blush bleeding up from my chest. Hewould put our personal issues above a woman’s life. Of course, he also knew me well enough to understand I wasn’t going to be turned aside until I had what I had come in here for—information.

Magic, strong and furious, poured out of him and washed over us even though it was directed at the man in the booth. Luke responded with a noise deep in his chest. I didn’t know anyone could sound like that in human form. As discreetly as I could, I jammed my elbow into his ribs and barely caught the small grunt of pain at the impact. He stopped, though. I’d hurt myself more than him, but he’d gotten the point.

Abruptly, the magic pulled back and Marcus straightened. With a sharp nod to Peter, he stepped away from the table with a terse order. “Bring him.”

Marcus turned and had my elbow in his hand before I even felt the movement. He started toward the door leaving me the choice of digging in my heels and making more of a scene, or allowing him to sweep me along. Since I had already met my quota for embarrassment for the night, I followed his lead, hoping Luke would too without any noble gestures. If I managed to get both of them out of the room minus bloodshed, I was willing to call the night a success without finding the elusive Ms. Betsy Vincent. The thought didn’t make me feel any better about myself.

Marcus let his temper get the better of him during my moment of distraction. Without breaking stride, we swept through the doorway a kind vampire had jumped up to open. It sealed behind us and the sudden silence was deafening. The sound of my boots on the hardwood steps seemed so much louder than the vampires’ or Luke’s, but then men’s shoes aren’t made the same. Even the shoe industry was sexist.

We barely cleared the doorway at the top of the stairs when Marcus let go of my arm and spun from me in a move too fast for my eyes to follow. Luke, who had followed us up the stairs, tried to

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sweep me up and out of the line of fire, but I saw him coming. Vampires might move at that faster-than-sight speed, but a werelion was my equal. A duck and a dodge carried me under his arm and past his rush. My one thought was to keep Marcus’s temper from putting him in a corner he really didn’t want to be in, if I knew him half as well as I thought I did.

Marcus had the man guarding the stairway door pushed against the wall with his hand on his chest.

From the way the man struggled to breathe, he exerted more force than was healthy on the man’s sternum. The man’s eyes were wild with fear and he breathed in shallow gasps, but it was the sight of Marcus’s face contorted with rage that made me hesitate.

“You would give refuge to this? A vampire that slaughters innocents among you?”

“I did not know, Master. Truly…we would not…” The man’s voice trailed off from lack of air and I heard something crack. It was enough to snap me out of my moment. Grabbing hold of Marcus’s arm, I attempted to wrestle it away, but I had forgotten how terribly strong he was. In his current frame of mind, I didn’t think logic would do it, but I had to try.

“Marcus, stop. He didn’t know.”

“He is trusted with the safekeeping of intimates of the inner circle. It is his job to know.”

For the first time since I had known him, an accent I couldn’t recognize thickened his speech. It shook me to the core because it told me more than words how close he was to losing himself to the urge to do violence. Time to play dirty.

“His children are in the house. Any damage you do, they will see and it will scar them for the rest of their lives.”

For an instant, I didn’t think I had gotten through to him. He stood with all that impressive killing strength pressed against the man in absolute stillness. In a movement fast enough to send me sprawling onto the basement floor, Marcus let go and stormed away from the man as if he didn’t trust himself to remain within arm’s length. If he had been human, he would have been shaking with the rage suddenly boiling off him.

He blinked down at me on the floor for a heartbeat before dropping to a knee beside me. “Are you hurt, dear Destiny?”

I searched his face for some hint of the jealous suitor from seconds ago, but it was washed away in his outrage. He did have a right to be angry; however, I thought he was taking it out on the wrong person. The proprietor of the club obviously had failed in his job. If my visitor had paid a visit and had zapped him like he had me, I could understand it. With a show of trust I really didn’t feel, I offered Marcus my hand to help me up before replying as carefully as I could so as not to stir that rage.

“I’m fine. Warn me before you start making those faster-than-light moves next time.”

He smiled as he took my hand and the weight of his temper slowly receded as he pulled me up against his body. It was entirely too up-close and personal, but I went without protest. If his passions were high, I’d let him start thinking of other things besides murder. He had a date tonight with another woman. Maybe she’d send me a thank-you note.

The moment may have stretched to uncomfortable awkwardness, but Luke carefully cleared his throat. It served to remind Marcus privacy was an illusion. With a glare over my head, he loosened his grip and allowed me to step away.

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With casual dignity, Marcus smoothed his shirt and redirected the glare to the man holding his chest.

“It’s no more than a broken rib, but go to the hospital and have it bound. Peter will pay you a visit tomorrow to discuss our arrangements.”

He turned on his heel and strode toward the stairs leading to the exit, leaving the rest of us to follow. Luke closed the distance and was a warm heat against my back. It took some effort not to look at the stairwell at the front door to see if the impish child was still watching.