Courted by the Vampire (28 page)

The room is on fire.
Two light fixtures exploded in the fire’s heat. Magical beings raced for the exits. The smoke alarm’s shrill blare screamed into the room as small flames spread farther along the walls. Hannah lifted her face, surprised by the moisture from the sprinkler system, but grateful for its cool wetness.

Do not worry about that now. Concentrate. He is ready.

A dry heave rocked her body, and she swallowed hard to keep from retching. Andre’s presence shimmered on the outskirts of her mind.

Tendrils of deep dark blackness seeped into the gold of Edwin’s emotion. The
tingling in her fingertips spread upward into her fingers and hands and produced warmth that could rival the fire raging on the far side of the room. She gasped at the wonder, wished she knew what to do with the power.
What do I do, Edwin?

Concentrate. I am almost there.

Andre’s blackness pushed farther into her mind, bent on consuming and obliterating all traces of Edwin’s presence.
Join me, Hannah. Together we will rule the world. We will be able to control finance, technology, and politics. Anything you have ever wanted can be yours.

Terror gripped her heart, clogged her throat and tightened her chest. Fear
crowded out any other emotion as Andre marched across her consciousness. The cloud of his evil malevolence devoured everything in its way.

“No.” She gritted her teeth when tendrils of wickedness trickled through
her brain, intent on pushing into every nook and cranny. She whimpered, helpless. Her breath came in small bursts, she clawed at the armrests of her chair. Frissons of pain burst in her head. Icy sparks of cold black hatred systematically broke down the barriers she had erected.

Give yourself to me, Hannah. I am all you need. I can give you everything you’ve
ever wanted. I, alone, have the power to help you fulfill your destiny.

Do not listen to him
.

Her head lolled against the back of the chair as Edwin fought for
dominance.
Your future is your own making, you know this.
The sapphire color of his calm, comforting presence spilled into her mind like jewels to chase the blackness and beat it back.
You alone can decide what you want to become.

Edwin believed in her. Hannah smiled and stirred on her chair.

Determination built within her heart. Vivid fuchsia streaks flashed through her mind, but gunfire and a high-pitched bark of pain momentarily distracted her. Was Xavier hurt? Glass crashed somewhere in the room, and the roar of the fire grew louder as it continued to consume the far wall. She clamped down on the extra activity in her mind. Hannah pushed Andre out as far as she could, nearly biting her tongue with the effort.

As she struggled to her feet, her hands tingled to the point of being
painful. She concentrated on the fire, pleased when a torrent of water rushed down the wall to snuff out most of the flames. “Take cover, Andre.” Hannah quickly moved underneath a table to one side of the stage, and knocked over a microphone in her haste. Two seconds later, hundreds of goldfish rained down on the room to swim in the water that swirled about the floor, twelve inches deep. Gasping at the sharp stab of pain behind her eyes, she caught her breath as Edwin came into view. He clutched a wicked looking dagger and the blade winked under the subdued light.

Hannah. Pay attention!

“I’m trying.” She focused on the battle in her mind, and bit her lip. Andre’s hold was strong as he attempted to keep the connection between them alive.

The black evilness thrived like a living entity, to spread over half of
her mind. She couldn’t penetrate the cloud no matter what she threw at it. Panic foamed in her throat as the left side of her body grew weak. “Edwin!”

Frantically, she erected guards inside what was left of the untouched recesses,
struggling to keep the blackness at bay. She staggered down the steps. Blessed awareness returned when she encountered the water.

Do not give in, spatzi. We can fight him. He does not own you or your power. Be
strong.

“I’ll try
.”

A cry in the near distance brought her head up. Edwin swung a right hook
into one of Andre’s men. As her heart swelled with love for the bounty hunter, fuchsia waves rushed in to fill the gaps in her consciousness. She huddled against one of the intact cases, the coolness of the glass against her back a welcome relief. Her breath came in ragged gasps.

Hatred screeched into her head, careening over and over in deformed,
blood-red pinwheels.
The bounty hunter is nothing compared to me!
The cold, fathomless blackness of Andre’s rage spilled through Hannah’s mind to cut savagely into the sapphire of Edwin’s calm.
His power is insignificant and I will crush him.

Cold from the water seeped up
her legs, but she couldn’t move. Frigid dread held her captive as Andre advanced steadily on her, both physically and mentally.

“Join me, Hannah. Give in to me. Merge with me.”
His smile was a demented shell of what it had been at the beginning of the night. “What can he possibly give you that I can’t?” His hypnotic voice cut through her mind like the sharpest knife.

She
wanted to scream, bang her head against a wall, anything to silence his malicious words. Waves of nausea rolled over her as the blackness grew in intensity. Pinpricks of pain stabbed behind her eyes. “Edwin is everything that’s good in my life.” Hannah clenched her teeth. Talking took too much energy. She pressed her hands to her forehead, and tried to summon calm.
He gives me love, compassion, understanding. These ideas are foreign to you, Andre. You cannot gain immortality by brute force.

Heavy blackness threatened to consume her. Holding onto the bright
threads of hope that glimmered in her mind from Edwin’s presence, she gasped as the pain intensified. Her vision was now impaired, her left side weak. She stared at the demon lord. “You won’t win.” Every word she uttered was torture.

Give in to me, and I will spare your life
and take away the pain. I alone can save you. Give me your power and you will live and your discomfort will go away.
His evil presence pushed further into her mind to overrun Edwin until she could no longer feel the vamp.

I would rather die than give in to you.

When her vision blurred, she cried out in pain. Darkness consumed most of her mind. Agony rocketed around inside her head, but she fought against the release unconsciousness would bring. Hannah clutched the glass wall. She clenched her hands into fists. Her fingernails bit into her palms, keeping her aware.

Temporary salvation came as the electricity flickered then finally went out
completely, plunging the room into murky gloom. There was no time to rejoice. Her body slammed against the case with enough force that the glass fractured beneath her skin. Strong hands went around her throat, closing her windpipe. As the auxiliary lights came on, she gazed in horror at Duncan’s face. The dim light reflected off his sharp fangs, his hot breath singed her neck. Her vision cleared as the connection to Andre weakened. “Duncan?” Hannah struggled to break away from the vampire, as fear clutched her chest in tight bands.

“You will submit to me,”
he snarled. He increased the pressure on her throat.

“I’m kinda in the middle of something at the moment,” she wheezed.
She scrabbled at his hands. His sharp fangs hovered above her neck, and she shivered.

Without warning, Duncan pulled away as if burned. “You are the bounty
hunter’s woman. You are protected by him.” He fingered the chain around her neck, and his fingers brushed over the platinum ring. “I will spare your life… for now. If I encounter you alone again, I may not be so forgiving.”

Drawing gulps of air into her abused windpipe, Hannah slumped against
the glass. Duncan turned away. His eyes glowed a deep red before he vanished into the general mêlée of the room. “Enough is enough already.” Sweat broke out on her forehead.

Andre exploded into her mind once again. Great splotches of black anger
slashed through her calm. “No more.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. Her body shook under the new onslaught.
Edwin?

I am here
. You must remain strong.

Hope buoyed her sagging spirit when
he raced over to join her. He clasped her shoulder. A trickle of blood painted his left cheek. She touched his chin with a shaking finger. “I can’t hold him off much longer.” Her body stiffened. Icy tendrils of fear and pain reached for her heart as the blackness tore across her mind. Her head throbbed behind her eyes, and her vision blurred.

She squinted. Andre lashed out at Edwin with a jagged piece of glass. “I
have the power to spare his life, Hannah. I will gladly exchange your life for his. You only need to submit to me.” He made a wild slash in Edwin’s direction, growled low in his throat as Edwin met the thrust and blocked it with the dagger. “Allow me to join our minds, blend our power, and I will release you from your torment.”

“No.” Now that Andre’s attention was occupied with fighting, the
pain in her head had lessened somewhat. Smoke continued to pour into the room from the dying fire to obstruct her vision and prevented her from drawing a deep breath.

Xavier bounded over. Water sprayed around him as he joyfully bumped
his furry head against her leg. Kneeling down, Hannah tried desperately not to freak out as the goldfish surged about her lower limbs. “I need you to hang onto his for me. Under no circumstances can you lose it.” She looped the cord of the barrel-shaped evening bag twice around his shaggy neck then gazed into his honey-colored eyes. “I meant what I said. If I survive this night, I will search the world to find you that one special woman.”

A growl was his only answer.

“Good boy.” She patted his head then he circled the combatants. His eyes were alight with the hunt, the hackles of his back stood at attention. Nearly sick with worry, she turned her attention to the other men.

Edwin lunged at Andre and succeeded in slashing him across the chest
with his dagger. A thin line of blood marred the crisp white of Andre’s shirt. “Surrender now, or I will be forced to kill you.” He grunted when Andre jammed the sharp point of the glass shard into his shoulder.

“I hardly think you have enough authority to issue orders.” Andre’s laugh
echoed in the cavernous room. “Once I dispatch you, Hannah will be mine.”

As the two men fought,
her gaze stalled on the crystal chandelier overhead. She grinned. Summoning any available strength, she concentrated on the chain that held the light fixture suspended. Why couldn’t she get it to break?

She groaned when the only thing she gained from the effort was a severe stab of
pain. Narrowing her eyes, she tried again. A glimmer of red atop the chandelier caught her attention.

Roosevelt waved merrily then hacked the chain with a knife. Hannah
added a dose of kinetic energy, and then rejoiced as the chain disintegrated with a shower of golden sparks. She held the chandelier in the air with her mind. The crystals tinkled under the spray from a sprinkler.

“Edwin, move!” She called out the warning and sent the light fixture
crashing downward.

Rolling away, Edwin assumed a protective stance as thousands of icy blue
butterflies filled the damp air to swirl around them. “Amusing,
spatzi
, though inappropriate.”

Disappointment cut a bitter swath as the chandelier dangled two inches
above Andre’s head.

“Very good try, Hannah, but I must decline your invitation to an early
grave.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. The chandelier flew across the room to crash into one of the last glass cases.

“Damn.” Hannah clutched her forehead until the sharp pain subsided.
“Then I guess I’ll try again.” She winced when Andre jabbed into her mind. The powerful force of his presence blackened her consciousness and flattened brain function. She dropped to her knees under the onslaught, shivering as the goldfish swarmed around her legs.

“Submit to me now. I will strive to spare you.” Andre laughed. The sound
of it echoed in her mind like a requiem played on a pipe organ. “I can make your pain stop. I can take your torment away.”

“
Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
!”

Surprise mirrored in his eyes then a slow smile parted his lips. “Pardon
me, but I don’t believe I speak Gaelic.”

“She cursed you to the devil, Andre.” Edwin staggered to her side. “If I
were you I’d run. Hannah is a force to be reckoned with when she is angry.”

“I fear no one, Mason.”

Hannah gaped at Andre. She blinked in astonishment as great, black wings unfurled from his back, the leathery appendages blotting out the dim light. “Just like my dream.” Pain skittered through her brain in jagged stabs. She gasped when her left arm and hand grew numb. “You won’t win.” She could barely form words since the facial muscles on her left side wouldn’t respond.