Hard Bitten (14 page)

He tilted his head at me, interest in his expression. I fought the urge to slink back and hide from his intrigued stare, but as long as I was the target—and the girl wasn’t—I figured I could stand it.

“You are . . . interesting.”

I almost rolled my eyes, but then I realized the gift he’d handed me. I glanced slyly at him.

“Would you like to find out how interesting?”

Like a coquettish teenager, I twirled the end of my ponytail, then threw it back over my shoulder, revealing my neck.

As bait went, it might not have been much, but it worked well enough. He dropped his eyes—staring at me beneath hooded lashes—and began stalking toward me like a hunting lion. I’d seen a vampire stalk before—I’d seen Ethan in his prime, moving in my direction with lust in his eyes. This wasn’t that kind of lust. This wasn’t about love or connection—but control. Ego.

Victory.

I stared right back, even as the intensity in his expression made my skin crawl. He would drink—but he wouldn’t stop, not until there was nothing left of me or her. Maybe it was the magic in the air that pushed him toward the brink; maybe it was his own predatory instincts.

Whatever the reason, I wanted no part of it.

In a silky-smooth move that would have filled Catcher with pride, I whipped a hand around and slid the dagger from its sheath. And then it was up and in my hand, light pouring down the blade, the steel leaving a comfortable tingle in my palm.

I tightened my fingers around the handle.

The vamp finally seemed to realize I was serious. His expression fell.

The dagger in hand, I looked down at the girl.

“Can you get up?”

She nodded, tears slipping from her eyes. “I’m okay. But I want to go home.”

I reached out my hand. When she grabbed it, I tugged her to her feet. Unfortunately, getting her to her feet didn’t help us much. We were still surrounded—by one vamp pissed that I’d poached, and by a dozen more who didn’t have a specific interest in the girl but seemed bizarrely eager for a fight.

Was this the violence Mr. Jackson had spoken about?

I swallowed down fear that knotted in my throat, and stood straight, gazing out at the crowd with forced bravery. “I’m taking her out of here right now. Anyone got a problem with that?”

I should have known better than to phrase it in the form of a question.

“Try me, cupcake,” said the vamp who wanted me, and cold trickled down my spine. I was strong and fast and immortal, but the girl was not.

Even if I fought my way through the crowd, I couldn’t fight full out and protect her at the same time.

What I needed, I thought, was a distraction.

His timing couldn’t have been better.

“Goddamn it!” I heard across the room, followed by the crash of glass that silenced the rest of the crowd.

The metallic tang of blood filled the air, and all the vamps in the vicinity turned toward the locus of the smell. I saw Jonah through the crowd, staring down a cowering vampire.

Blood had been spilled, maybe from a broken glass or pitcher. Not a bad way to get the attention of vampires—and to give me a way to get to the door.

I looked at the girl on my arm. “What’s your name?”

“Sarah,” she said. “Sarah.”

“Well, Sarah, we’re going to make a run for it.

You ready?”

She nodded, and as soon as the brawler and the rest of the vamps began to move toward the waves of scent, we bolted.

I understood the draw of the blood. I was beginning to get hungry. We were nearing the end of the evening, and it had been hours since I’d eaten . . . or had blood. The smell was becoming undeniably delicious, so I gnawed on my lip to stay focused, the sharp sting of pain pushing back the hunger. As was so often the case, this wasn’t the time or the place.

I guided Sarah through the vampires now rushing toward the blood, her arm over my shoulder, my arm around her waist. We weren’t exactly graceful, but we got closer to the door and the edge of chaos.

And chaos had definitely erupted.

The room became a hurricane of violence as vampires stepped and crawled over one another to get to the blood. One angry vampire spurred a brawl with another, and that brawl pushed its way into someone else’s conversation, which angered those vampires, as well. The violence traveled like a virus through the room, spreading as it made contact. And as the violence increased, so did the magic—spilling into the air and making the vampires even more predatory than they already had been.

“I thought you might need the cavalry.”

I looked to my right, relieved to find Jonah at my side again. “Took you long enough. Thanks for the distraction.”

“You’re welcome. I didn’t exactly expect you to have pulled a blade and kidnapped a human.”

He glanced at Sarah. “What happened?”

“Don’t know. Drugs? Glamour? I’m not sure.

Either way, we need to get her out of here.”

“I’m right behind you,” he said with a nod, and we made our way to the elevators.

The doors were open when we got there; I helped Sarah inside while Jonah mashed buttons until the doors closed, muting the sounds of fighting behind us. I slipped the dagger back into my boot.

It wasn’t until we were halfway down the building again that I let out the breath I’d been holding. I glanced over at Sarah. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m okay. But all those other people in there. We need to get them out, too.”

Jonah and I exchanged a glance.

“Maybe you could call the police?” she asked.

“Tell them about the party, and when they come, they can get the rest of the humans out?”

Jonah looked back at me. “If the cops come . .

.”

I nodded, understanding his concern. If it took cops to shut this thing down, we’d be swimming in bad press and right back in the mayor’s office

—assuming Tate hadn’t already issued Ethan’s warrant.

But maybe we didn’t need the cops. Maybe we just needed the fear of the cops. . . .

“We can beat them to it,” I said as the elevator doors opened again. “Help her outside. I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

We shifted positions at Sarah’s side, and while they shuffled to the front door, I hustled to the security desk. The guard’s gaze followed Jonah and Sarah out the front door, his hand on the walkie-talkie on his desk.

“Hey,” I said when I reached it, drawing his attention to me. “We just got a call—the cops are on their way to the top floor. You better head upstairs and make sure they clear out, or there’s sure to be arrests and a gigantic mess. I know you don’t want that in the papers tomorrow. Your, um, fanged clientele won’t be happy about it.”

The guard nodded with understanding, then picked up his walkie, turned a knob, and asked for backup. I hoped he had enough of it—and maybe some vampire repellent while he was at it.

I left him to his preparations, gulping in fresh, untainted air when I made it outside again. I watched Jonah and Sarah hobble across the street to a small square of green. He helped Sarah to a wrought iron bench; I stayed where I was until I was sure my mind was clear and my hunger was under control.

A minute or two later, I crossed the street.

“Evacuation in progress,” I told Jonah, then crouched down in front of Sarah. “How are you feeling?”

She nodded. “I’m okay. Just really, really embarrassed.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. Whatever haze had silenced her passed, and she began to sob in earnest.

Jonah and I exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

“Sarah,” I softly said. “Can you tell us what happened? How did you end up there?”

“I heard vamps were having this party.” She rubbed a hand beneath her nose. “I thought, oh, vampires, that could be fun, you know? At first it was okay. But then—I don’t know. The tension in the room got kind of high, and then I started to feel really weird, and I sat down on the floor. I could see them out of the corners of my eyes.

They’d move around and take a look at me, like they were trying to see if I was ready.”

“Ready?” I asked.

“Ready to give blood?” She shuddered and sighed. “And then you came along.” She shook her head. “I’m just really embarrassed. I shouldn’t have been there. I shouldn’t have gone.” She looked up at me. “I really want to go home. Do you think you could find me a cab?”

“On it,” Jonah said, stepping back to the road to scan for passing cabs. It was late, but we were still within a couple of blocks of Michigan, so it wasn’t completely unlikely that we’d find one.

As he moved away, I looked down at Sarah again. “Sarah, how did you find out about the party?”

She blushed and looked away.

“It would really help us if you could tell me. It might help us put a stop to these parties.”

She sighed, then nodded. “My girlfriend and I were out at a bar—one of those vampire bars?

We met a guy there.”

“Do you know which vampire bar?”

“Temple?”

My stomach sank. That was the Cadogan bar.

“Go on.”

“So, I went outside to get some fresh air—there were a lot of people in there—and there was a guy outside. He said a party was happening and we’d have a good time. My friend, Brit, didn’t want to go, but I wanted to, you know, see what it was about.”

So Sarah had gotten info about the rave at Temple Bar, and Jonah had found the phone at Benson’s. That meant the folks who frequented the bars also knew about the raves. Ethan was going to be pissed about that one.

“The guy you talked to—what did he look like?”

“Oh, um, he was kinda short. Older. Dark hair.

Kind of grizzled-looking? And there was a girl with him. I remember because she had on this, like, gigantic hat, so I couldn’t see her face. Oh, but when I was walking back inside, he called her name. It was kind of old-fashioned, like Mary or Martha. . . .” Sarah squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to remember.

My heart thudded in anticipation. “Was it Marie?”

Her eyes popped open again. “Yeah! It was Marie. How did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” I said. I may not have known a particularly short man, but I knew a vamp with a predilection for causing trouble. And once upon a time, she had been known as Marie.

Before I could ask a follow-up question, Sarah grimaced.

“Are you okay?”

“Just a headache. There was something weird in their air, I think.”

Excellent segue to my next question. “Did you take anything while you were there? Maybe a drink someone handed you?”

She shook her head. “You’re asking about drugs, but I don’t do drugs. And I know not to drink anything I didn’t pour myself. But I did see this. Another girl—a human—handed it to me.”

She pulled a small paper envelope, the kind that might hold a gift tag, from her pocket. It was white, and there was a
V
inscribed on the front. I stuffed it into my pocket for later. And then I asked a question that made me hate myself a little bit, but it had to be asked. The stakes were too high.

I had to know if she posed a risk to Cadogan.

“Sarah, are you thinking about going to the police?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, God, no. I shouldn’t have gone to the party, and if my parents found out, if my boyfriend found out, they would
freak
.

Besides,” she shyly added, “if I called the cops, you’d get in trouble, too, right? You’re a vampire, too, but you helped me.”

I nodded, relief in my chest. “I am a vampire,”

I confirmed. “My name’s Merit.”

She smiled a little. “Merit. I like that. It kind of describes you. Like you were always meant to be good, you know?”

This time, I was the one sniffing back a sudden errant tear.

The clack of a car door opening pulled my gaze to the street. Jonah stood beside a black and white cab, door open. “Let’s get you home.”

Sarah nodded. She still wobbled on her feet, but we made it the dozen or so feet to the cab. At the door, she turned back and smiled at me.

“Will you be okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry they made you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s forgotten. But I won’t forget this,” she said, “not what you did tonight.”

When the door closed, we watched the cab pull away.

Jonah glanced back at me, and then at the eastern sky. “Dawn will be here soon,” he said.

“We should get home.” He gestured down the street. “I actually parked pretty close. You want a ride back to your car?”

“That would be great,” I agreed, the adrenaline giving way to exhaustion.

We walked in silence a few blocks, then stopped at a hybrid sedan.

“Thinking about the environment?”

He smiled ruefully. “If the climate goes bad, we’re going to be here for it. Might as well plan ahead.”

When he unlocked the doors and we climbed inside, I gave him directions to my own parking spot, then closed my eyes and dropped my head back to the seat.

I was out in seconds.

UNLESS YOU’RE

IMMORTAL AND

UNDERSTAND COMPOUND

INTEREST

I
shuddered awake, blinking in the glow of unfamiliar lights. I was curled into a ball atop a giant sleigh bed that smelled like woodsy cologne and cinnamon. I sat up and took in unfamiliar surroundings. A massive bed, topped by a pile of taupe bedclothes. An equally large flat-screen television at the end on a facing bureau. And leaning against the bureau, arms crossed over his chest, was Jonah. He was dressed more casually today in a V-neck T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

“Good evening, Sentinel.”

“Where are we?”

“Grey House. My room.”

“Grey—,” I began to repeat, but the night began to replay. I fell asleep in his car, and he must have brought me here. No, not just brought me—carried me—into Grey House while I was out.

“I wasn’t comfortable dropping you off at your car. You were completely out, and your being here was easier to explain than my showing up with you at Cadogan House. Dawn was moving in; I had to make a call.”

That made sense, although I wasn’t thrilled that I’d been carried around like a hapless girl in one of my favorite bodice rippers.