Blood Eternal (18 page)

A rebellious retort seemed to curl up on the tip of her tongue as if the words themselves retained more sense than she. Luke’s expression hadn’t changed—same intrusive stare, same straightened lips. And yet she sensed he’d reached the end of his rope.

“Fine.” She stood and took a step toward him. “Do you have a dress color preference this time? Or maybe there is a hairstyle you would find more becoming?”

He closed his eyes a moment then met her gaze. “Since you mention it, the deep lavender dress would suit the event nicely and loose curls will do.”

“Damn it.” She pushed at his chest. “You won’t give an inch will you? Why must we go to this…wherever it is we are going? Answer me. Over the last few days, I’ve been attacked, screwed my employer, learned you’re a vampire and to top it off, you accused me of trying to kill you when in actuality your kind is trying to kill me, use me or whatever. It’s been overwhelming to say the least. The last thing I need is you dragging me around and dressing me up like a doll.” She wavered, suddenly exhausted with the pendulum of her emotions.

“Sit down, Savannah.”

She sat, too tired to argue.

He strode forward, squatted in front of her. “You truly think so ill of this? You believe what we experienced together was a roll through the hay, so to speak?”

“That’s all you got from everything I said?” She leaned forward over her thighs. “Vampire, human, it doesn’t matter. A man is a man.”

“I am sorry I did not admit what I am until now, but considering the circumstances of our meeting, I am sure you can understand my logic. I am no longer a human male and you cannot categorize me as such.” He tilted her chin until she met his gaze. “What is it you want from me?”

Life, love and happiness? She could have pinched herself for such wishy-washy thoughts. “I want to know what happens now.”

“We go to the masquerade auction and we learn what we can.”

“What kind of auction is this, if we must enter through ruins?”

Luke stood. “So you were listening.”

“Only to part of what the man said.”

“It is a blood auction.” He glanced away, breaking the connection with her stare.

Her stomach rolled and she thought she’d be sick. Why had she not expected this? “Of course.” She swallowed a wave of nausea. “You have to eat. What was I thinking? I hadn’t even considered.” Or rather, she’d avoided it.

“I’m not going to drink blood, Savannah.” One side of his sensual lips lifted in a knowing smirk. “The auction is for rare blood types. What your blood did to me today, I’ve never experienced. I don’t know any other vampire who has. At the auction, there may be others like you.”

“But there’ll be other vampires there.” It would be like entering shark-infested waters.

“And? You went to Blood Bar multiple times, not to mention the first auction I took you to. Who do you think goes to these events?”

“I went before I realized what you are.”

His hands clenched at his sides as he straightened into a stance she’d seen before. Head erect, shoulders back. She wasn’t going to change his mind.

“I am not leaving you here,” he said.

“What about everything you told me? What if they try something with me?”

He shook his head. “It is a masquerade. They won’t know who you are.”

“Still vampires can probably sniff out the fact I’m human, right?”

“Clearly. Vampires have highly sensitive senses.” He frowned as if she’d asked a silly question.

“Don’t look at me like I’m an idiot. You’ve only proven my point. If they can sense I’m a human, what’s to stop them from sinking their fangs into me?”

“You shall go as my blood slave. Unlike humans, we rarely covet possessions of others without permission.”

“Wait a minute.” She crossed her arms. “Are you telling me I’ll be your
possession
, as in a
thing
?”

Luke’s mouth curved up slightly on one side. “It is the safest way.”

* * * *

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Broderick asked. “If it were possible, I’d say this latest stint with Savannah is giving you alcoholic tendencies. What are you on, glass four in the last thirty minutes?”

Fortunately, Broderick had missed his indulgence in Grey Goose last night. “
If
it were possible, I would have to agree.” Luke downed the glass of whiskey and leaned his head against the sofa’s cushions. “One more thing. After this is done, you are fired.”

“Good.” Broderick crossed his arms across his chest. “Saves me the trouble of quitting.”

“Glad we are on the same page.”

Broderick nodded. “So what now?”

“You heard the human messenger,” Luke said. “I am taking her to the auction. Would you have me do something else?”

“How about not going?”

If only it were that easy. “None of this is going to stop unless I put an end to it.”

“Or the Ancients will put an end to you.”

A real possibility but one he would risk. “I will not change my mind.”

“So she matters.” Broderick stuck a toothpick between his lips and rolled it along with his teeth and tongue.

Luke lifted his head. “Yes, she does.”

“I know it doesn’t matter as I screwed this up royally, but the ex hid everything pretty well. He has to have some kind of insider connections. I’m talking botched police reports, missing hospital records. On paper, Savannah is a borderline psychopath who made an attempt on her own life by running into the street. A high-strung woman who targeted wealthy men—never mind Whitman didn’t have a cent when dating her. None of it makes sense when you dig deep. And before you give me hell, save it. I know I messed up.”

No doubt he did know; dark circles marred Broderick’s eyes. “You never told me she was a borderline psychopath on paper. In fact, your file explained nothing about an accident.”

“I know. I’m not trying to excuse my errors but pages and pages of her medical history were missing. None of it makes sense and I have a feeling I haven’t even scratched the surface.” Broderick let out a long breath. “What’s more is, I haven’t heard from Dominique in a couple months.”

What was Broderick going on about? Luke stood and paced. “What does your friend have to do with any of this?”

“Nothing, but last I spoke with her she was on assignment in Europe. She usually wouldn’t go so long without at least giving me an update.” He drove a hand through his hair. “I’m concerned something has happened.”

“You should have told me from the beginning you had other things on your mind. Christ, we could have avoided this entire bloody mess.”

“Hey now,” Broderick said. “This so-called mess started way before Savannah so if we’re going to be calling each other out, we might start with the fact you’ve been too far gone for a long time.”

Luke whirled and faced him. “Bollocks. Are we going to begin this game over again? Too far gone for what? Damn you. If you did this as some sort of sick lesson, I swear—”

“Fuck no. It’s not a lesson. Although admittedly, yeah, maybe I’m taking a bit of pleasure in the fact you’ve got to step back from this.”

“That is not your—”

“I’m not done,” said Broderick. “You’re like a ticking time bomb. For the past few months you’ve been a drone on this greed nonsense. Victoria is gone and has been gone for over two hundred years. To say it’s time to move on wouldn’t be sufficient. I’m not saying you should forget her, but she would want you to live your life as best you can.” His shoulders rose and fell with a restless exertion. Face flushed, he frowned, massaged his temples.

Luke closed his eyes. Two hundred years of vengeance weighed heavily on his shoulders. “Fine. What now? You must have finally done the job I paid you to do originally. Otherwise, you would not be here.”

Broderick nodded. “What do you want to know? Shit, there is so much to say I don’t even know where to start.”

“Everything. Who is she? Was any of the information you gave me true?”

“Yes, a lot of it. She has a history of dating rich men. Her longest relationship besides Ben was with a wealthy art collector. Bit of a strange man, if you ask me. From what I gathered, he thought of Savannah as part of his collection rather than a living, breathing human being. I’m surprised their relationship lasted the few months it did.”

No wonder she despised being a trophy. “That explains why she did not like me telling her what to wear.”

“Wait,” Broderick said, brow furrowed. “You told her what to wear?”

“She asked. And she possesses the same annoying trait of sarcasm you have.”

“Probably keeps her sane, especially when dealing with you.”

“You can keep side commentary to yourself.” Despite Broderick’s explanations, why a woman like Savannah would answer a random companion ad was a mystery. She had no problem mingling within society’s more exclusive circles. Seemed to feed off wealthy men. And yet, she struck him as neither pretentious nor egoistic. If anything, she behaved in the complete opposite manner. Could it be an act? Or perhaps her accident changed her. “What about the accident? You have yet to mention it.”

“Have you asked her about it?”

“I am asking you,” said Luke.

“I’m still making sense of it. Her two years in physical therapy were painted as an overdue trip to the psych ward. Forget identity theft. Her ex has replaced her identity completely. But get this.” He pulled an iPhone from an inside jacket pocket. “I got two eyewitness accounts stating Mr. Benjamin Whitman was actually quite cozy with his so-called psychotic wife-to-be on the night of the accident. Not what you’d expect to hear, considering he didn’t come to visit her once at the hospital.”

“The guy sounds like a bastard.”

“I’d say you’re being kind. I pulled some strings to get this but he sent her flowers via some floral website. Take a look at what his card read.” Broderick flipped through a few photos on his iPhone then zoomed in.

Dear Savannah,

Look, there’s no easy way to say this... You’re in it for the long haul. From what I hear, doctors are estimating a year plus in intense physical therapy. I’m not sure we can handle that. You know, the job and everything... Anyway, I think we should take a break for now.

“Signed the thing
love, Ben
.
Love
, my ass. I bet he wouldn’t know the emotion if it came back and bit him in the neck,” Broderick said.

Luke growled. “Do not tempt me.” He handed the phone back to Broderick. “If I ever see him, I will drain the prick dry. Although at this moment, I cannot say I am any better. I may have made her a prime target for the Ancients.”

“I’m sorry I got her in this mess too.” Broderick bowed his head. “And I hate to tell you this but it gets worse.”

“What are you talking about?”

Broderick huffed. “Have you ever heard of the Blessed?”

Luke leaned back. He had no idea where this would lead but Broderick’s paler than normal complexion did nothing to provide him any comfort. “No. Are they some kind of order?”

“Not really. They’re human, just special. Sometimes humans die, stop breathing, caput.” Broderick slashed his hands like knives for emphasis. “Some come back.”

“You mean near-death experiences.”

“Yeah, exactly. Legend says there are those who die long enough to reach heaven. Not everybody does.”

Luke nodded, rubbing his chin. “You mean, assuming the Bible is right and it is either eternal happiness or a lake of fire, we are talking those headed for eternal happiness?”

“Actually, I referred to the length of time one must be considered dead, not whether or not they go to heaven—although that’s sort of a given.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it turns out the magic number is three hundred and thirty-three seconds. Get it? Number three, there’s three of them, trinity, et cetera.”

“I understand.” How often did this sort of thing happen? “Cutting the noose a bit close, is it not? On average, a human brain can only survive up to six minutes without oxygen once the heart stops.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“So what goes on with these Blessed? They reach heaven and what happens?”