Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10) (7 page)

Maybe the glass was made of a special, UV-impenetrable material. After all, twenty years had passed since he’d been on the outside, and even inside the vampire prison he’d noticed technological changes over the years. Perhaps somebody had invented glass that didn’t let UV light through.

Involuntarily, he took a few steps toward the glass-paneled exit, wanting to look at the glass from up close. But before his eyes could zoom in on the shiny surface, they were drawn to a poster that had been affixed next to the double doors.

It was an announcement of the play that had taken place tonight.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
, it read. A photo of what appeared to be a dress rehearsal was on the top half of the flyer, while a list of the major players graced the bottom. In the middle though, it was written in large letters:
Directed by former Hollywood star Kimberly Fairfax
.

Words bounced around in his head.

Hollywood.

Actress.

Kimberly.

His eyes snapped to the picture. And then he saw it. Saw her. The woman with the green eyes like a cat. The actress on the posters in the cell. Though her hair color was different, her eyes were unmistakable.

Kimberly.

It wasn’t
I’m not in Berlin
or
I’m not Amberly
.

I’m not Kimberly
was what Isabelle had tried to tell her kidnapper. Kimberly had been the target, not Isabelle.

“Let’s go, buddy,” his vampire escort said from behind him and gave him a shove toward the door.

Luther obeyed automatically and stepped outside, where another vampire stood guard. Behind him the door closed. The cool night air whirled around him, and he slipped on his jacket. He turned left and walked to the next corner. Hesitating, he stopped there.

No wonder he’d thought he knew Katie when he’d encountered her in the corridor at the university. She was Kimberly Fairfax, the actress whose posters had been plastered over the other V-CON’s cell. The posters Summerland had torn down.

Katie was the intended victim. She’d been the target, and most likely still was.

Goddamn it!
This wasn’t his fight. He was leaving tonight. Samson had made it clear that their next encounter would be a bloody one. Next time he would strike first and ask questions later.

Luther pulled the lapels of his jacket up, firm in his resolve to leave, when a woman’s voice drifted to him from the entrance to Scanguards’ headquarters.

“But I have to speak to Samson. It’s important.”

Luther glanced over his shoulder. Katie. Or Kimberly. Whatever her name was.

“Sorry, Ma’am, but I have orders to deny access to any non-Scanguards associates tonight.” The vampire blocked the entrance with his bulky body.

“Please, I’m Haven’s sister. Let me see him.”

“No family members on the premises tonight. Besides, Haven isn’t in right now.”

Katie cursed. “Then Blake. I’ll talk to Blake.”

The vampire didn’t move.

“Damn it, why are you so stubborn? I have vital information about the abduction. I have to get it to Samson or Blake. I have to show them this.”

For the first time Luther noticed the letters in her hand, which she now waved at the guard.

“Do you have a cell phone, Ma’am?” the guard asked calmly.

“Yes, why?”

“I suggest you use it and call Blake. But I can’t let you in tonight. We’re on lockdown.”

Katie gritted her teeth. “Fine!” Then she walked a few yards in Luther’s direction and stopped at the curb, her face turned away from him.

Luther remained in the shadow of the adjacent building, undetected, and watched her as she pulled her cell from her pocket.

With his vampire hearing, he had no problem picking up every single word she spoke into the phone.

“Blake, damn it, why are you not picking up your phone?” She sighed. “It’s Katie. I found something. You have to check the video footage of Isabelle’s abduction. Read her lips. She’s telling the kidnapper that she’s not Kimberly. Blake, the kidnapper wanted me, not Isabelle. He got the wrong person.” She lifted her hand, holding the letters as if wanting to show them to Blake through her cell phone. “I think I know who it is. I’ve been getting letters. Some obsessed fan. They are different from the usual fan mail I still get. I think he was threatening me. Threatening to come for me. Blake, please, you need to check this out. The letters were posted somewhere in the Sierras. He isn’t far away. He could have found out about the performance tonight. Please, call me as soon as you get this message. You need to see these letters.”

She disconnected the call.

Posted somewhere in the Sierras.

The words echoed in Luther’s head. The Sierras, where the vampire prison was located.

Shit!

9

Katie shivered. She’d thrown only a cardigan over her T-shirt before leaving her house and jumping back into her car, too excited about what she’d found to look for a thicker jacket in one of her many closets. Besides, she’d not expected to be denied entry into Scanguards, and to have to stand in the cold, arguing with a security guard.

Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the cold, she ran back one block to where she’d parked her car in a quiet alley. Having spent half her life in Southern California, she had yet to get used to the cool winters in San Francisco, so unlike the balmy weather down south.

Her hand trembled slightly as she dug into her handbag, where she’d shoved the letters back, and pulled out her car key. She turned to the driver’s door of her Audi, when a movement in her peripheral vision made her snap her head to the side.

There was… nothing.

She tried to shake off the odd feeling, but a shiver raced down her spine and settled at her tailbone. The sound of somebody breathing made her swivel on her heel.

All her breath rushed out of her lungs when she saw the man who stood less than a foot from her.

No, not a man. A vampire. And an ex-con.

“Luther.” She breathed more than spoke the name.

“I see I don’t have to introduce myself. Saves me time.”

Instinctively, she stepped back. Her back hit the car, effectively trapping her between it and the big vampire.

God, close up he seemed even bigger than before. Broad-shouldered and tall. Her gaze drifted away from his penetrating eyes and full lips to his neck and farther down still. Down to his marred skin. Then she realized it: though he was wearing a shirt and jacket, both were unbuttoned, giving her an unobstructed view of his scarred torso. Oddly enough, the sight didn’t disgust her. Didn’t repel her. Instead, it fascinated her, made her want to touch him.

“Freak show’s over,” he grunted.

Embarrassment coursed through her, and she felt her cheeks heat despite the cool night air. The urge to defend herself was automatic. “I wasn’t…” His narrowing eyes made her change her tactic. “I thought they’d locked you up.”

“Couldn’t pin it on me. ‘Cause I’ve got nothing to do with it.”

The deep timbre of his voice echoed in the alley and sent tiny vibrations through her body. Like little shockwaves pulsing through her.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t sneak up on people associated with Scanguards, or they might change their mind.”

“So what’s your association with them?”

She lifted her chin. “None of your business.”

“You’re not a hybrid. Frankly, I’m not quite sure what you are, ‘cause as sure as shit you’re not human.” He sniffed, trying to make his point.

“What do you want?”

Luther motioned to her handbag.

“You’re a common thief? Here to rob me? Oh my God! How despicable!”

“I want the letters! Give ‘em to me! I want to see them.”

“The letters?” How did he know about the letters?

“I know you have them.” He made a grab for her handbag.

She tried to hold onto it, but he was too strong. Within seconds, he’d pulled out the letters and was leafing through them.

“What do you want with them?”

He ignored her question and pulled one of the letters from its envelope. His eyes flew over the scribbled handwriting.

“Ah shit!” he cursed under his breath, then looked at the envelope again. He thumbed through the stack. “All postmarked in Grass Valley.”

“So what?”

Luther glared at her. “You can’t show these to Scanguards.”

“You have no say in what I show to Scanguards or not! The kidnapper wanted me, not Isabelle.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“The surveillance recording. I read her lips. She told him she wasn’t Kimberly.”

“Then you’ll understand how important it is that I get these letters to Samson.” She reached for them to take them back, but he held onto them. “These letters will lead us to the kidnapper. It has to be him. The things he says in his letters. He says he’s coming after me. I didn’t take it seriously. I thought he was just some crazy fan.”

“Yeah, hazard of the trade, I guess.” The sneer on his face negated the notion that he had empathy.

“Give them back to me.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because these letters will lead right back to me.”

Katie gasped in shock. “You wrote them?”

“I didn’t say that,” Luther growled, leaning even closer. “But the postmark on these envelopes will suggest that I did. Samson isn’t acting rational right now. Once he sees the letters he’ll accuse me and draw resources off the search for the real kidnapper. Is that what you want?”

“You’re lying.”

His face came closer. “Do you know what’s near Grass Valley?”

Pressing herself firmly against the car, she shook her head.

“The prison I was released from last night.”

Realization hit her. “If it wasn’t you who wrote these letters, then you know who it was.”

“No, I don’t.”

She shook her head, not believing him. The intense exchange of looks they’d had earlier in the night came back to her. “When you saw me at the university, you recognized me. You knew who I was, didn’t you? You knew because the vampire who took Isabelle showed you my picture, didn’t he?”

“No.”

“Who are you protecting?”

“Nobody!”

She felt his warm breath on her face and shivered again. “Give me back my letters, or I’m gonna make a hell of a lot of trouble for you.”

“You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

He lifted his hand and reached for a strand of her hair that had escaped the old-fashioned hairdo she was still sporting. “No, you’re not the quitting type, are you?” He looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. “I should warn you. I’m dangerous. And if you think you can fight me, you’re wrong. You’re not strong enough compared to me. So give up. Go home.”

Katie narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m a witch. I’m stronger than you. So you’d better be careful.”

She noticed the surprise on his face. He didn’t believe her. And rightly so: even though she’d been born a witch, she had no powers to speak of. While Wes had regained his powers through hard work and practice, and now smelled like a witch again, she knew from other vampires around her that the smell of witch on her was so faint that most vampires dismissed it. She could only hope that Luther believed her. It would protect her, because no vampire took on a witch. And Katie knew she needed that protection.

“A witch. Interesting. Just like that other witch. The one who kissed you.”

His comment seemed strange to her. Why emphasize the fact that Wesley had kissed her?

“Well, at least you don’t smell as intensely of witch as he does. Who is he? Your lover?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“Well, let’s find out, shall we?”

Before she could comprehend the meaning of his words, his lips were on hers, robbing her of her next breath and the ability to speak.

Instinctively, she raised her hands, slamming her fists against his chest. But an ant barreling into an elephant would have been more successful at making the massive beast budge. The vampire who was currently keeping her captive with his mouth didn’t move an inch—at least not away from her. He pressed her against the car, leaving no space between them.

The heat from his chest scorched her, making her even more aware of the fact that his shirt was open. Her fingers were drawn to that heat, to the comfort it provided to ward off the chill of the night. Her fists unfurled, not wanting to beat against the hard flesh any longer. Instead, her palms searched for the contact of skin-on-skin.

Maybe it was his drugging scent that made her touch him. Or maybe the imploring press of his lips against hers and the unrelenting strokes of his tongue. When had she parted her lips to allow him to explore her? When had she slanted her head to give him better access to her mouth?

He tasted of real man, of power and domination. And of danger. She could taste that, too. Yet it didn’t stop her from responding to him. Arousal spread through her body. Lust and need collided. Desire flared. Passion surged. Not even in the make-believe world of the movies had any of the characters she’d ever played been allowed to feel like this.

Luther’s kiss was a demand as well as a challenge. If she backed down from it, she would lose. He would think her weak. How she knew that, she had no idea. But kneeing him in the nuts, like she would any other man in this situation, wasn’t an option. Besides, he was no ordinary man. He was a vampire. The most dangerous one she’d ever encountered. And if she knew one thing about vampires, it was never to run, or they would hunt you as their prey.

She tried to remind herself of the many things her brother had taught her about vampires, but only one thing came to mind at present: a vampire’s lust for sex and blood were intimately connected. If he couldn’t satisfy one, he needed to satisfy the other. And once engaged in one activity, the other would follow suit. Simple as that. Whatever she did, she was doomed.

Though at present, that doom seemed rather exciting. Luther’s hands were roaming her body, touching, exploring where nobody had in years. She hadn’t yearned for the touch of a man in a long time. But Luther’s kiss ignited that long-buried need to feel a man’s hands on her, to taste his lips and tongue, to feel his sex grind against her.