Dominion of the Damned (26 page)

He looked back down at their hands, and gently, carefully, stroked her fingers with his thumb. He felt her go very still, but she didn’t pull away, nor did she back up when he moved closer, close enough to share her breath. Still slowly, as if reaching for a deer that might dart off into the woods at any second, he brought his other hand to her cheek. She gasped at his touch, but she held still, allowing his caress. He could hear her heart pounding, her blood rushing through her veins. Her mouth went slack, and her bottom lip, so full and luscious, begged to be tasted. The scent of her arousal made him bold, made him hungry for something other than blood, something he hadn’t allowed himself to taste in a lifetime. As his thumb traced her lips, she let out a soft sigh, and as her eyes locked on his, he saw his own hunger reflected back at him. He leaned closer, closing the small gap between them.

Hannah went stiff. “The sun,” she said. Her voice sounded desperate, afraid. “It’s coming.” She started to tremble.

“
Damn the sun,” he wanted to tell her. He wanted to taste that bottom lip, to pick her up and carry her to her room and taste all of her, to soak up her warmth and feel her heart beating against his chest, to stay with her forever and make sure she never again knew what it was like to feel alone and afraid.

Instead, he redirected his unspent kiss, and placed it on her forehead. Then, without another word, he walked out into the remains of the darkness. She didn’t try to stop him.

THIRTY-TWO

The buzzer mounted over Alek’s bed screamed at him as the flood light it was attached to snapped on, nearly blinding him and signaling that it was time to end the charade of trying to sleep. Already wide awake after a day of tossing and turning, Alek rolled out of bed and padded into the front room, but he paused before reaching the front door. The scent coming through from the lobby was familiar, but it didn’t belong to Zach.

A basket of clean laundry that he hadn’t gotten around to putting away sat next to the coffee table. Alek retrieved a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans from it, and put them on. He raked his fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth it into something presentable as he headed for the door. “Hannah,” he said as he opened it.

She reached for him and took his face in her hands. “We have unfinished business,” she said before crushing her mouth against his. He welcomed her kiss as he drew her into his arms. She went gladly, leaping up and wrapping her legs around his waist as he stumbled backward and into a wall. He turned around,leaning her against the wall as he ravaged her face and neck, all of the desire he’d felt for her that morning cranked up to eleven.

“Alek,” she moaned as his lips traced the line of her jaw and moved down her throat. “Alek.”

“Alek!”

He blinked, and came back to reality, and looked down at the real Hannah. She still stood in the hall, holding a plasma bag, wearing her scrubs and a look of concern. “Are you okay?”

He needed a cold shower, and he needed to not be near her for a while. But instead he said, “I’m fine. Sorry. I didn’t sleep well.” He stood back and held the door open for her. “Come in.”

“How’d you know it was me?” she asked as she entered.

He paused before answering. Humans tended to find it disturbing that he could smell them coming. “I sensed you.”

“
Oh.” She seemed nonplussed by that. She looked down at the bag in her hands, and held it out to him. “Brought you breakfast.”

“
Thanks.” He took the bag and started for the kitchen. This time, she followed. “Can I get you some coffee?” he asked as he put the plasma in the fridge. “I need to make some.”

“
That’s okay.”

“
How’s Noah?”

“
Better. His fever’s gone. Paula managed to scrounge up a humidifier for his room. It seems to be helping.”

“
Good.”

She moved closer, and he could sense her heart speeding up as surely as if it were his own. “I wanted to thank you again,” she said. “For helping out with him. I still don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been there.” She seemed nervous as she spoke. Afraid. Her face remained composed, but she kept fidgeting with her hands. If she was so afraid of him, why did she come? Why was she standing so close?

He put some distance between them as he busied himself making coffee. “I was just doing my job,” he told her. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“
Oh.” Was that a note of disappointment in her voice? “Anyway, I’m sorry I kicked you out so abruptly.”

He faltered on his way to the sink, then sighed. “I’m sorry I gave you a reason to. That was… unseemly of me.”

An awkward silence fell between them as he filled the carafe. Finally Hannah said, “I’ve been thinking about Chris.”

“Right.” Alek shut the faucet off a little more forcefully than necessary. “Your boyfriend.”

“What? He’s not— we went out
twice
. That doesn’t exactly make him my boyfriend.”

“Sorry.” He was losing the battle of keeping sarcasm out of his voice. “I didn’t realize. So what about him?”

“I’ve been thinking that maybe I shouldn’t see him anymore.”

“So, what,” he asked, irritably, “you came to me for breakup advice?” When she gave him a look that said he was being an idiot, he held up his hands. “Sorry. You can’t break up if he’s not your boyfriend.”

“You sound jealous,” she said, and her voice was hard to read. It seemed somewhere between irritation and… amusement? “And kind of bitter,” she added.

Because that’s exactly what I am
,
he thought, but kept silent as he scooped grounds into the coffee filter.

“Anyway,” she went on, “it’s not like I’m exactly swimming in people to talk to about this sort of thing. The closest thing I have here to a mom or a girlfriend is Paula, but considering she’s his
mom…
”

“Great. So that makes me your default best friend.”

“What? No! Would you stop… you’re like a hundred years old. How can you still be such an idiot?” Her words struck him like a glass of cold water in the face. He didn’t have an answer for that, but she didn’t give him a chance, anyway. “Alek, you’re… you’re a freaking
vampire
!”

“This isn’t news.”

“No, but it’s… I mean, you’re great. Okay? You’re this awesome guy, and you keep saving my life, and my brother’s, but you’re still… I don’t know. I mean, that’s it. I just don’t know. I don’t know what to think, or how to feel, or what’s okay…” He heard a tremor in her voice, as though she were near tears. “I just don’t know, and it’s scary.
You’re
scary. The things you make me
feel
are scary.”

She stopped, and put a hand over her mouth, obviously fighting back tears. It struck him, then, just how young she was. And he really was an idiot. If he couldn’t figure that out, with his century of experience, how could he expect her to have her feelings worked out with only twenty years behind her?

Fighting the urge to go put his arms around her, he turned away from her, and stared at the coffee maker. He stared at it a long time before reaching out and punching the button to turn it on. The he said, “You should keep seeing Chris.”

“What? Why?” She sounded confused, and a little hurt, and that killed him, but he didn’t let it change his mind. This was right. This was what he had to do.

“Because he’s a good kid. And he’s your own age, and he’s
human
. He’s
not
scary, or complicated.” He looked at her before adding, “And he probably won’t break your heart.”

She met his gaze, and held it for a moment as a look of resolve settled over her face. She took a step toward him, tentatively, and said, “There’s only one problem with that. I—”

The buzzer cut her off. They both looked out of the kitchen toward the door. Alek held a finger up as if to say he’d be right back, and then they could finish, and then went to see who was at the door.

He couldn’t detect any signs of life coming from the other side of the door, and the smell wasn’t human. Bracing himself, Alek opened the door to find Carl. “We have a situation.”

Alek looked back at Hannah, standing in the kitchen doorway, and thought how badly he wanted to hear whatever it was she had to tell him. With a sigh, he turned back to Carl. “Of course we do.”

THIRTY-THREE

Within moments, the three of them filed out of the elevator into the building’s main lobby. Zach joined them as they followed Alek outside to greet their visitors.

A line of vehicles rolled up in front of the building; an old school bus, covered in makeshift armor, flanked on each end by two modified Hummers with machine guns mounted on their roofs. The Hummers were each packed full of men with guns, and more armed men peered out from the windows of the bus, along with a few women and children. Most of the men wore some combination of camouflage and trucker hats. To Hannah, they looked like something out of a redneck version of
The Road Warrior
.

The driver of the lead Hummer got out and came around to greet them. He wore ripped and faded jeans and a blood-stained Lynyrd Skynyrd tee-shirt underneath a camouflage tactical vest. A camouflage bucket hat, the kind with a band around it for holding ammunition, was crammed down over a mass of long, bushy blond hair that blended into a big, bushy blond beard. He stopped in front of the SUV and gave all of them an appraising look before settling his gaze on Alek. “You the head vamp in charge?”

A jolt of recognition went through Hannah, and she took a closer look at the man. It was hard to make out his face under all that hair, but his voice was unmistakable.

“
I’m Alexandr Konstantin,” said Alek, heading down the steps. “I’m the doctor here.”

“
A vamp doctor?” The man smiled, clearly amused, and looked back at his companions. “Well, if that don’t beat all.” Behind him, men laughed.

“
Who are you?” asked Alek.

“
Just a merry band of free survivors. We heard tell there was a refuge here, where people and vamps like you were living in peace and harmony. We just had to come and see that for ourselves.”

“
Really? Where did you hear about us?”

The man shrugged. “Here and there. You know how people talk.”

“
I wasn’t aware there were that many people left outside the camps.”

“
Well, there’s more of us than you’d think.”

“
Uncle Eddie,” said Hannah. Between his voice and his mannerisms, Hannah was positive it was him. She started down the steps, and he stared at her as she approached, a look of disbelief on what she could see of his face.

“
Hannah? Is that you, girl?” He broke into laughter as he rushed forward to sweep her into his arms and spin her in a circle. “Look at you!” he said when he set her down. “Last time I saw you, you were all braces and pimples. Now you’re all grown up.” He pulled her into another bear hug, and Hannah had to hold her breath. Clearly, surviving out in the wild didn’t leave a lot of room for showering. He released her, but kept hold of her shoulders. “Are your mama and daddy here?”

The grin she was wearing faded as she shook her head.

He let go of her, his hands falling to his sides in defeat. “Damn. When I saw you I hoped…” He drew the back of his hand across his nose. “Last I heard, your mama was expecting.”

“
She was,” said Hannah. “She had him before… anyway, he’s here. His name’s Noah.”

In spite of everything, Eddie grinned. “Your daddy sure did like those Bible names.”

Suddenly Hannah realized Alek was standing beside her. “Of course you and your party are welcome here,” he told Eddie. “Especially if you’re Hannah’s family. You can stay in the barracks until we can set you up with permanent homes.”

“
We won’t be needing anything permanent,” said Eddie. “That is, unless we’re not allowed to leave.”

Alek shook his head. “This isn’t that kind of camp. You can leave any time, as long as you follow procedure to make sure nothing gets in. Although like I said, you’re welcome to stay.” He nodded toward the bus. “Do any of your people need medical attention?”

“
Nope. Surely not from the likes of you.”

Hannah bristled at Eddie’s attitude, but if Alek took any offense, he didn’t let on. “I’ll hold a clinic tomorrow. You can all get some rest tonight, and something to eat. If anybody wants to come see me for a checkup, I’ll be here all day tomorrow. I’ve got vaccinations if any of the children need their shots. Vitamins, too.”

“
I’m sure you do,” said Eddie. “A healthy human’s a tasty human, right?”

“
It’s not like that,” Hannah blurted, a little shocked by her own defensiveness of Alek. “Alek’s a good doctor. You’re lucky he’s here.”

“
They can come to me,” Alek repeated, then with a shrug added, “or not. Their choice. Either way, I’ll be here.” He turned to Carl, who had hung back on the steps along with Zach. “Will you show them to the barracks and help them get settled? And tell Paula about our guests. She’ll make sure they get fed.”