Captiva Captive (8 page)

   “Don’t whine, Blythe.  It’s tiresome.  You’re in love with me, so stop this game before you lose everything.”

   She dug her fingernails in her palms and fought the juvenile urge to give him the finger. Ryan opened her door, and helped her up on the tattered vinyl seat.  She decided to sit on both hands since the need to flip the ever-loving bird was still overpowering.  Childishness withstanding, she was going out in class, riding in a rusty, orange truck far away from Captiva Island…at least, over the bridge. 

  
Blythe watched the palms go by as she bid farewell to the colorful houses that dotted the beach.  She was supposed to live here after marrying the man of her dreams, making a love nest in the house of her dreams - on an island where the rich played while making babies in the sun. Admittedly, a fairytale most girls discarded when they actually grew up.  She should have, too. 

   Therefore, Blythe put away her fairytales, understanding they could never exist when a faithless bastard owned her heart.  After such a thorough devastation, she wondered when she would ever get it back.

 
The tears she thought wouldn’t come escaped anyway, pooling at her jawline before they streamed down her throat.  Ryan had given her every moment to contain herself until he pulled up at the tollbooth.  After handing a ten to the operator, he said, “I know what I want you to do, but you have to be sure, Blythe.  You can’t move forward if you’re always looking behind with regret.”

  
“Narrow is the path, right?” 

“Something like that.” He manually rolled up the window, giving it a good slam when it stuck, and crossed the invisible train tracks from Captiva Island to Fort Myers.

“– so I know that it’s a lot to take in, but I’m asking you to understand,” Sixten said warily.

Blythe’s mind came back to the present.  He had both of her hands in his, rubbing circles over her knuckles and giving her that infamous eye-smolder trick of his.  He must have been rambling during her mental outage, and she hadn’t heard a word he said, but she figured it was for the best. 

She pulled her hands aside and placed them in her lap. “You stayed away for almost two years the last time.” Sixten always came and pleaded his case every birthday.  She never could enjoy them past the age of eighteen.  No matter where she was, he always seemed to find her and ruin everything. 

At that precise moment, Sixten’s eyes grew dark, dangerously so, as he fixated on something above her shoulder.  “I’ve already loaded everything in the trunk, let’s go,” Ryan said, instantly by her side, pulling her up by her arm.

Pain shot through to her shoulder. “Ow,” she hissed, but was careful to keep her string of complaints to herself. Her arm felt raw. Considering the nurse had trouble finding a good spot to poke her, she wasn’t surprised. However, no one, especially Sixten, needed to know her business.   Ryan and Dakota were enough.

“Sorry, sweetheart, that was careless of me.”  Ryan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and towed her away.  “There’s a bag of frozen peas in the car. We’ll ice down your arm, and I’ll have you feeling better in a few minutes,” he whispered faintly.

“Goodbye, Six,” she heard herself say.

Ryan looked over her head and spoke to Sixten in a very vampiric way,
“Stay away from her.”

“No one marks property around here, not for centuries.”
 Sixten trailed behind them towards the exit.

“I’m not too worried about that.”

“You may not be worried about that, but you should be worried about me.” 
Sixten circled Blythe.  “I want you to take my number in case you need anything.”

“She won’t need anything.”

“And think about what I said, angel.”

“She’s not thinking about anything you said.”

“Hold on,” Blythe said between them, flattening her palm against Ryan’s chest and realizing Sixten was letting her go too easily. “You’re… not just visiting here, are you?”

“Not anymore.” A slight smile curved Sixten’s flawless lips.

“Last warning, asshole, you will stay away from her.”

“Ryan, you’re about to find out why that’s something I just can’t do.  And if you continue to get in my way, you’ll also find out that you have a serious problem on your hands.”

“Not anymore?” she asked.  “You’re here for good?”

“Yes.  I
will
see you soon, moja láska.”

Blythe stayed frozen for a long moment, staring after Sixten as he walked away.  The Florida sun beat down on her with its overwhelming heat, or maybe that was just him.  Her arms ached.  Her head swam, and anemia weakened her body.  Above, a gull startled her with its sharp cry as if it warned of something impossibly worse headed her way. 

Chapter 7

Naples, Italy

G
ianni Ludovico was every girl’s dream.  That’s why three lovelies were in front of him - a redhead, a blonde, and a brunette.  Since he couldn’t make up his mind today, he figured he’d have the trio together.  They slowly caressed one another while dancing to some disconcerting beat that was driving his hunter insane.  “You want to dance with them, Lovec?”  Gianni mocked.

“Sire,” Salk cleared his throat nervously, “it has been six months now.  I am certain she is dead or hidden incredibly well…like the others.  As you know, our resources are limited due to the fact so many Donors are missing, yet you have us spending an exorbitant amount of time searching for this particular one.”

Pretty faces, pretty bodies, and pretty fingers alternately touched each other. They reached into one another’s slick and ready flesh, as they waited for him to pounce.  But Gianni’s pants were still on, and he didn’t even have an erection. “I have had enough.” Clearly bored, he waved his hand in the direction of the door. There went their pouty faces.  “Why do they think that if they stupidly puff out their lips, I will change my mind?” It just made him angry and disgusted with their selfish petulance.  Or maybe it wasn’t because of the nameless women at all, but the singular woman who he could not seem to get his hands back on:  Blythe Giarrusso. 
Where are you?
 

He had to face it. Yes, his royal pride experienced its first putdown when she fought everything he was to her…everything he made her feel.  In return, he fell in love with Blythe, and emotionally; he couldn’t fight back.  Couldn’t let her go.

“I’m afraid that I’m not an expert on their mannerisms, since humans aren’t my forte.” Salk rubbed his shaved head, speaking with as much patience as he could muster while he watched the women stomp out of earshot. “Sire, please, back to the matter at hand.” He pulled a linen handkerchief out of his jacket and swiped his perspiring brow.  “We have a dozen Donors missing now.  May I be so bold as to say that Lovci cannot spend all their time rounding up the lost and ignoring the possibility of finding the new?”

“Of course I want them to discover the new!”  Gianni stood up, every bit the Marchii he was, and stalked towards the open window that overlooked endless and glorious gardens.  “We have many to feed.”  Dynasty Vampyrs could only drink from born Donors.  Their fangs were deathly toxic to any other creature they bit.  And even if they were starving, nothing besides a Donor could give them a drop of sustenance.  As a nobleman, Marchii Gianni was one of the purest bred Dynasty Vampyrs who walked the earth.

“We have extra males on property.  All are Donors,” Salk explained easily, not worried for his nourishment since hunters could drink from anything.  “Personally, I love to feed from human males on most occasions.”  Salk, as well as the other Lovci, weren’t permitted to drink from Donors. “Surprisingly, their blood is chock-full of virility and innate aggression, which kicks up my hunting instincts.”

“Find her.”

Salk was still giving it his best shot.  “I had quite an exciting luncheon just a few hours ago in a darkened alcove behind the piazza,” he admitted wistfully.  “A male youth of twenty has incredible physical stamina.  After drinking
that
blood, I’m certain I could hunt for a week without stopping.”

“
I
have incredible physical stamina, and I want to share it with one particular Donor.  Who is missing!”

His Lovec continued, “Yes… everyone has a preference, and I understand you prefer your missing Donor.” He shoved his damp handkerchief back into his pocket. “But I’m respectfully asking that you drop the hunt for your specific Donor and allow us to use our resources to find her replacement.” 

Having heard enough, Gianni pushed his body forward, moving across the marbled floors with extraordinary speed.  He landed atop Stalk with an astonishing gracefulness only a Dynasty Vampyr possessed and slammed him against the floor until his head thumped like an overripe melon.  “I want her,” he snarled as an expanse of silken hair whipped around his face.  “You have a lead, hunter.  I smell your deception.”  He extended his toxic fangs and watched as his lifelong Lovec, and sometimes friend, stared back in horrific astonishment.

“The Lovci have one.  Only on her brother, but not h-her,” he stammered.

“I
knew
you were hiding something!”  He hissed so loudly the floor vibrated underneath Salk’s back.  “I drank from her daily,” Gianni roared.  “Because of that, she needs my exchange, or she will die!  Do you hear me?”  No, he shouldn’t have done it.  Gianni shamelessly took from her for the selfish reason that he wanted to sink his teeth in Blythe and Blythe alone.  And for that, she would pay for leaving him…whether he wanted her to or not.  Unquestionably, he wanted her back, but Gianni
never
wanted someone so incredibly precious to pay for his ghastly mistake.

“She’s not with her brother,” Salk answered regretfully.  “We used everything that you gave us to aid in tracking.  After all this time, her scent barely permeates her clothes, so I can’t exactly hunt her.  I need newly worn garments, and the hunt would be successful only if she entered a decent range within my presence, maybe a radius of twenty miles or so,” he sighed heavily. “Then I would be able to release my inner Lovec and bring her back to you.”

“You’re forgetting one important thing,” Gianni said with blazing eyes.  “To this day, I am still full of her blood.  Within that kind of range, I can sense her myself.  We could split up.  Cover more ground.”  Gianni’s chest was heaving.  Choppy breaths punctuated with frustration.

Salk wisely chose not to comment on the fact that royalty never hunts.  “I did not realize you chose her as…a mate?”  The Dynasty did not have Brides as the Species did. They could choose their mates and that particular fact suited their bloated egos tremendously.

“Neither had I.”

“Then I will put together a…traveling party.  And inform the Coven Master that we will be arriving -”

“No Coven Master will hear of this,” Gianni interrupted as he stood up and straightened his clothes. 

“Okay.”

“Let me guess,” Gianni seethed. “Her brother, Anthony, was stupid enough to go back to North America.”

“You are correct, sire.”  Salk rose nervously.

“He is a stupid human,” he said exasperatedly. “Make arrangements.  I’ll get through all my pertinent meetings and have the rest of my schedule cleared.”

Salk rubbed the newly forming lump on the back of his head. “Of course, I’ll inform your pilot of our travel plans.”  Vampires could mist, but traveling overseas ruthlessly drained them, necessitating massive amounts of blood to recoup.  With declining Donors in mind, the Dynasty Vampyrs used planes as an unspoken rule.

“You will call one of those mortal travel agents and book us under American names.  Understand that you will tell no one.”

“No one will know where we’re going…not even security?  They normally escort you.  And there’s the matter of your feeding.” He held both hands out in a plea. “You’ll need a Donor to travel with you.”

Gianni was more determined than ever.  “Fine. Pick out a Donor,” he said irritably, “male or female.  Ensure he or she has padded security.  I haven’t the time to protect property and neither do you.  Our focus is on the end game:  Blythe Giarrusso.”

“An excellent plan, sire.” However, Salk’s expression said otherwise.

“I thought so, now leave.”

Gianni misted to the terrace and stared out over acres of gardens and fields.  Every moment he spent with Blythe etched his memory.  Every inch of her skin, he’d made love to.  Thoroughly.  How could he tell his hunter, he fell in love with his Donor?

He’d never forget the first time he saw her, not just because he was an immortal with a limitless mind, but due to the fact that she was simply incredible: 

Glasses clanked and tinkled alongside a softly playing piano as fireworks lit up the night.  While others gazed overhead at gunpowder concoctions, dancing underneath rainbow colors glittering across the sky.  Gianni stared straight ahead.  Before him was a pure vision.  And he wanted her badly.  She had her hand curled around another man’s sleeve, laughing at something the human said, and jealousy shot through Gianni’s body like a cannon.

The breeze picked up, carelessly tossing her hair around, black silk faceted with strands of naturally copper highlights. Obviously, it wasn’t sprayed into place and anchored like the other fashionistas around him.  He wanted to wrap it around his wrist, hold her head back, and plunge his tongue so far down her throat that she would feel it with those coral painted toes. The human hooked a stray lock behind her ear and Gianni wanted nothing more than to break his hand.

“Are the new Donors to your liking, sire?” Salk asked proudly.

Without a word, Gianni lifted his chin toward the ethereal vision.

“Ah,” he said, “she is…unrehearsed in our ways.  Her brother escorts her.”

Then he wouldn’t have to die, Gianni thought.  “She is completely new to the Dynasty?”

“Yes.”

“Her brother?”

“Not a Donor.  But wants compensation, a lucrative settlement and he will walk away from her.”

“He’ll walk away if I tell him to.”

“Yes, but he has powerful connections I haven’t yet placed.  I’d rather we not dip our toes in those murky waters.  Besides, several other royal houses have placed competitive bids.  She’ll find generous accommodations wherever she goes.”