Not Another Vampire Book (17 page)

He
lowered his forehead to hers, his empty heart turning in his chest.  “I will
not leave you.” 
And I won’t allow you to leave me, either
.

Satisfied,
his frustratingly oblivious captive burrowed her head under his chin, again.  Damien
had no idea how long she planned to cling to him, but he was perfectly willing
to wait it out.

Sooner
or later, the humans would regroup and return.  They had to have Winchesters at
a cowboy show.  Damien wasn’t particularly worried about their efforts,
though.  He should also probably destroy the dragons’ bodies before the police
arrived and saw them, but he didn’t care enough to bother.  Slade had sent
them, so let that bloodsucking jackass worry about exposure.  Truthfully,
Damien had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of his endless life except
hold this woman.

And
kill Vampires.

His
revenge was still the most important thing.

The
only thing he cared about.  Still, he could complete his plan to destroy the
Vampires without using Slade’s Eternal-One as bait.  Especially, if that
damnable book of Karalynn’s told him anything useful.  Damien was beginning to
realize that his previous plotting had all been far too complicated.  The
clarity he felt since Kara had arrived grew stronger all the time.  His earlier
schemes had been so flawed.  He could see that now.  But, he could fix
everything.

He
could still have his vengeance.

But,
he could have Kara,
too
.  The woman took away his loneliness.  If she
left, he’d go back to being a solitary shadow.  He just needed to integrate her
into his life with as little disruption as possible.  Which seemed… feasible. 
If she’d just huddle next to him for the next few centuries, everything would
be fine.

Of
course she didn’t, though.

Kara
let out a shaky breath and lifted her face from his chest.  “Wait.  I forgot. 
I found her.”  She scrambled off his lap and Damien instantly felt the loss. 
“I saw her running passed and I tried to catch her, but then one of the green
guys knocked this barrel over and she fell and…”  Kara gestured towards the
human woman lying on the ground.  “It’s Melessa.”  She hurried back to her
side.  “She’s unconscious.  And back to being a blonde.”

Damien
grunted.  His attention flicked over to the dragon whose legs he’d shattered. 
The guy was struggling to sit up and fly away.  Since Damien wasn’t about to
push his luck in front of his mate anymore today, he figured he’d better let
the bastard live.  Still, the dragon could make himself useful.  Rising to his
feet, Damien prowled towards the man.

Crimson
eyes widened in trepidation as Damien seized him.  “Don’t.  Please, just…”

“Go
back to Slade.”  Damien gave him a shake, pitching his voice so Kara couldn’t
hear. “Tell him any man he sends after my woman won’t come back.”  That warning
had enough single syllable words that even Slade should understand it.

“Damien!” 
Kara called, impatiently.

“Coming,
cari
.”  He deliberately answered her with his gaze still locked on the
dragon.  He saw the guy’s face sag in shock as he realized who Kara was.

“The
human is your mate.”  The dragon whispered.

“Yes. 
You tell him that, too.”  Slinging the guy back to the ground, he headed over
Kara.  She was crouched down next to the unconscious human.  The strange female
was sprawled out, blonde hair framing her sleeping face.  She wore some kind of
brown buckskin outfit, with fringed boots and a western style hat.  “This is Meredith?” 
The girl must have achieved her dream of joining Buffalo’s Bill’s rodeo. 
Either that or she just dressed like a lunatic for fun.

“
Melessa.
 
Yep, this is her.”  Kara felt the woman’s pulse.  “She’ll be okay, I think. 
She’s just high-strung and… faint-y.  I mean you’re the doctor, but…”

Damien
grudgingly checked the human.  “She’s fine.”

Kara
glanced at him, something like uncertainty in her brown eyes.  “I told you she
was beautiful.”

“Yes,
you were quite clear on that.”  Even in the idiotic clothing, what’s-her-name
was stunning.  Rationally, Damien saw that.  The woman had a classical kind of debutant
beauty that would have been hard to miss.  In fact, on some bizarre level,
Damien felt like he
should
be attracted to her.  Like he was
supposed
to be.

Only
he wasn’t.

Not
at all.

That
off-kilter feeling struck him, again.  It felt
wrong
to be so completely
unfazed by the woman.  Wrong in the same way he’d been baffled when Karalynn
refused to leave with Slade in that barn and had come with him, instead.  He
didn’t believe Kara’s crazy ‘book’ theory, but he did suddenly understand why
she
might believe it.  It
did
feel like a script had been changed and
everyone had new lines to learn.  He didn’t know another way to describe it.

He
just knew that he didn’t want Melessa.

He
wanted Kara.

Damien
looked at his mate and felt the absolute rightness of her.  The disorientation
faded, Damien’s instincts pushing past the confused fog and locking onto what
he absolutely
knew
was true.  Karalynn Donnelly was his.  She was real. 
He
was real.  And the connection he felt for her was absolutely genuine.

Everything
else was just static.

Kara
bit her lower lip.  “You don’t seem very ‘dazzled.’  You’re supposed to be
dazzled
by her royal blonde-ness, even in the early chapters.”

“Sorry
to disappoint you.”

Kara
blinked.  “You mean, you’re not feeling
drawn
to her?  At all?”

“No.”

She
still didn’t look convinced.

Damien
sighed.  “The woman’s pretty.”  He allowed.  “Very candy-coated.  Slade will
like her.”  Hopefully, the Vampire would change his mind and want this human
instead of Kara.  Damien was already scheming to decorate Melessa with a bow as
part of his trap for Slade.

“You’re
really not
irresistibly drawn
to her angelic goodness?”  Kara must’ve
seen something in his face that convinced her he was telling the truth, because
she frowned in confusion.  “But, the book’s so clear on that part.  I haven’t
done anything that should have changed your mind.”  She ran her hand over the
manuscript, like it might start speaking to her.  “That plot point has nothing
to do with Slade and Melessa not meeting in the stable.  Why are you different
than the Damien in chapter eight?”

“Because,
I’m not a character in a book.  Or are you searching for a reason
besides
that?”

“Be
serious.”  She held up her hands.  “Or you know what?  It doesn’t even matter,
right now.  Let’s just take Melessa back to your hotel.”

“So,
you wish to kidnap this woman.”  Damien clarified.

“Yeah,
I do.  You gotta problem with that, Vlad?”

“No.” 
He said, honestly.  “I don’t have a moral objection against kidnapping, at
all.”

Melessa dressed for the party, but felt none of her
usual joy at the knowledge that she was sure to be the prettiest girl at the
ball.

How could she enjoy an evening of fun and frivolity,
knowing that Slade was out there somewhere alone?  If only he would return to
her, they could overcome the differences in their pasts and species.  If only
he trusted that their pure and perfect love, could defeat everyone who opposed
them.  All the reasons that he was wrong for her meant nothing compared to the
overwhelming passion in her soul and the deep knowledge that he was her one
true love.  The one rich and handsome man she’d been waiting for all her life. 
Some things couldn’t be logically explained, just felt in the deepest recesses
of your heart.

Eternal
Passion at Sunset- Chapter nine

“Damien,
I don’t
know
.  Everything I understand about medicine comes from
Grey’s
Anatomy
.”

“Well,
that’s a reputable text.  Or as close as the humans can come to one.”

“No,
not the book.  The TV show.”  His black eyebrows tugged down in confusion and
she waved that aside.  “Doesn’t matter.  The thing is, I have no clue how CAT
scans work.  They just sort of… take pictures of the brain.  That’s what Melessa
needs.  A CAT scan.”  Karalynn had been hoping that Tanya would toss some
modern medical technology into the novel.  Given Damien’s blank expression, it
didn’t seem likely, though.

Kara
went back to fussing over the unlucky heroine.  Poor Melessa had been out cold
for an hour now.  Her lovely self was draped all over the sofa in Damien’s
sitting room, one delicate hand grazing the wooden floor.  The curvy, red
velvet piece acted as a graceful showcase for Mel’s fragile beauty.

God,
Kara couldn’t wait to pass her over to Slade.

For
some reason, Damien didn’t seem fascinated by the girl and Kara wanted to keep
it that way.  It wasn’t that she was jealous.  That would have been…
ridiculous.  Damien wasn’t hers.  It wasn’t like they could even date or
anything.  He was a super powerful, supernatural, super sorcerer and she…
wasn’t.  She was devastatingly ordinary.  Kara considered it an eventful day if
she managed to find a pair of matching socks in the morning.

Usually,
anyway.

When
she wasn’t trapped in Wonderland.

Which
was actually the biggest reason
not
to think about Damien in a proprietary
way.  She wasn’t going to stay in this God forsaken book.  She needed to leave
and he was trapped in here.  Damien would never be free of
Eternal Passion
at Sunset
.

The
thought depressed her, so she focused on all the less definitive reasons why
Damien was Mr. Wrong.  The guy was high-maintenance, what with his casual
badness and cold sarcasm.  He could rip people limb-from-limb with nothing more
than an arch of his brow.  His main hobbies seemed to be plotting grisly
murders and smirking.  She’d bet a million dollars that he had a speech all
prepared for when he enslaved the universe.

And
still…

Kara
would
not
like him crushing on Melessa.

Really
not like it.

She
needed some perspective here, before being around him clouded everything.

“This
machine takes pictures of the brain through the skull?”  Damien didn’t seem
ready to let the CAT scan subject die.  For the first time, he seemed genuinely
interested in her talk of the future.  He might not totally believe Kara, when
she told him where she came from, but the idea of medical gizmos was apparently
close to his heart.  “That’s a remarkable idea.”

“Well,
I wish Tanya had thought so and had written it into the book for me.”  Sitting
crossed legged on the floor, the hideous pink hoopskirt poofed up around her, Kara
propped her elbow on her knee and sighed.  “Why won’t Mel just wake up?  Are
you sure you can’t do anything?”

“If
she was injured, I could cure it.  She’d not.  She’s just unconscious.  Give
her some time and she’ll come around.”

Kara
didn’t
have
a lot of time.

According
to chapter nine, there was a ball tonight the fairgrounds.  Melessa was
supposed to be there and so was Slade.  He’d tried to distance himself from her
for several heartfelt pages, but he’d changed his mind, again, and couldn’t
stay away.

This
was the perfect opportunity to introduce Romeo and Juliet.

Since
it
should’ve
only been about noon and the party started at eight, there
should
have been plenty of time for Melessa wake up.  Except, Tanya St. Clair’s
brilliant timeline meant that it would be sunset before lunch.  This being
The
Twilight Zone
, night was quickly falling outside, even though it had only
been about an hour since the dragon attack.

Kara
glanced impatiently at the clock on the mantle.  “Have you noticed that the day
sure has flown by?”

The
facetious drawl of her voice wasn’t lost on Damien.  He frowned at the clock
and then glanced out the window.  His brow furrowed slightly and he glanced
away, again.  “As I said, time means little to me.”  Giving his head a shake,
he pointedly picked up a book from the table beside him.  “Perhaps you should just
follow Melody’s example and rest a bit before dinner.”

“Perhaps,
you’re just living in denial.”  Damien noticed the time shift.  He was just
ignoring it, the way he usually did whenever she pointed out the rough spots in
the façade of his world.  “Where do you think I come from, Damien?  You said
yourself I’m not crazy.  You say you saw me appear out of nothing in the
garden.  If you don’t believe me about this being a book, how do you explain me
and the things I know?”

His
fingers tightened on the pages.  “I doubt that anyone
can
explain you,
Karalynn.  I find it tiring to try.  You being here is simply fate.  I accept
that.  We both must.”

Aside
from killing perverted Lou Ferrigno-looking mutants trying to fly her off
against her will, the man was a pretty useless partner.  He didn’t have any
interest in hearing the truth or waking up Melessa.  In fact, since the
Wild
West
Show
, he’d been keeping a careful distance from Kara.

Possibly
she’d annoyed him by clinging to him after the dragons attacked.  It had been
instinctive, though.  All the panic and adrenalin and relief had just propelled
her into his arms.

Into
safety.

When
Damien held her, she was safe.

“You
said you’d help me.”  Kara snapped, mainly annoyed with herself for being such
an idiot about this beautiful, crazy villain.  “You could at least
try
,
instead of ignoring half of what I say.  You don’t ask the questions anyone
else in your position would have.  You don’t listen to me, when I tell you the
truth.  You’re willfully blind, because you don’t want to see.”

Damien
didn’t raise his head, but his ebony gaze moved up to pin her.  “I see you,
cari
.”

Something
about his tone had her stomach tightening.

“Gods,
how I see you.”  Black eyes traced over her face.  “I wish I didn’t.  It would
be so much easier if you’d never come.”

Kara
looked away.  “Well, help me leave, then.  I’m doing all I can to get out of
here, and out of your sight, and out of this book.  It’s
your
fault, if
this is taking too long for your liking.”

He
went back to his reading.  “There’s no such thing as ‘too long’ for an
immortal.”

Asshole.

He
might be content to sit by the fire all night, waiting for fate to disappear
her into the atmosphere and make his life all neat and tidy again, but Kara was
on a schedule here.  Obviously, he wasn’t going to help, so fine.  If Melessa
wouldn’t wake up in time, then Kara just needed to go to that party herself. 
Maybe she could reason with Slade, get him to come meet Melessa or at least make
him cut it out with the dragon attacks.  “Okay, well you’re going to have to
babysit her for a while, then.”

“Meaning
what?”

“Meaning,
I have to go and you have to monitor Melessa.”

“Go?” 
Damien’s head snapped up.  She had his full attention.  “What?  Where?”

“There’s
a ball at the World’s Fair.  And, yeah, I said
ball
.  Like Cinderella. 
Very…”  Kara trailed off, not liking the intensity of his black gaze.  “Okay,
it’s
important
, alright?  And you don’t even have to go.  I told you
that.  But, it’s in the book, so just deal with it.”

He
stared at her, like he was trying to read her mind, again.

Kara
decided to brazen through his growing unhappiness.  “I won’t be long.”  She
left Melessa’s side and headed for the exit.  “Do you think I can crash the
party in this dress or do I need an even fancier get-up?”

Damien
still didn’t move.  “Will Slade be there?”  He asked in a neutral voice.

His
tone twisted around her insides warningly, but Kara kept going.  “Possibly. 
Slade’s the other half of this love connection, so if I can….”

Damien
cut her off, closing the book very gently.  “You think to go to a ball with the
Vampire?”

“Not
go
with
him.  Just go to meet him.”

“No.” 
The word was flat.

Shit. 
He was going to be difficult.  “
Yes.
  I have to go.  If he doesn’t have
a reason to stay in Chicago, I might not be able to find him, again.”

“Good.”

“No,
it’s
not
good, Damien!  I need a way out of here and that lunk-head is
my ticket home.”  She turned to wrench the door open and actually managed to
turn the knob, before he caught her.

One
elegant hand slammed it shut before she could slip out.  “If you think I’ll let
you leave this house alone to go and meet Slade, you really are insane.”

“
Let
me?
”  Wow, he did
not
just say that.  Kara wrenched the door against
his weight, trying to open it, anyway.  When that didn’t work, she started to
turn around and really lay into the son-of-a-bitch.  “I’ll do whatever the hell
I want and…”  She stopped short as Damien’s other arm came up, trapping her
body.

She
couldn’t turn to face him because his body caged her against the mahogany
surface.  Kara’s heartbeat sped up, feeling something entirely different from
anger.  She faced the door, with Damien behind her and arousal rushed through
her system.  The evidence of his desire was pressed against her, his body
dominating hers, and still… she felt powerful.  He could try to intimidate her into
surrendering her, but it wouldn’t work.  They both knew he wouldn’t hurt her. 
Whatever happened between them, she had to green light.  Heat spread at the
primitive, sexual challenge.

Titling
her head, Kara met Damien’s incensed gaze, knowingly.

His
breathing was faster than usual, the glow to his eyes more intent.  The
predatory instincts of his species were in control, now.  Wanting a feminine
submission that he couldn’t just take.  “You can’t go to Slade.”  He growled.  “You’re
my prisoner and no, I
won’t
let you.”

“Your
prisoner?
”  Was he really that dumb?  “Are you kidding?”

“No.” 
He seemed to brace himself for a furious outburst.  She could see his jaw
setting in a stubborn line and his shoulders squaring.  “You can’t leave.”

Kara
kept staring at him.  Honestly, she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream.  “You
were
serious
last night?  I knew it!  I
thought
you were saying
that I wasn’t free to leave, but then you offered me a ride in your carriage
and I…”  She trailed off and slowly shook her head.  “We were getting along so
well.  You really wanna do this to me?”

Damien
gave something close to a flinch.  “No!”  He bit off, angrily.  “I want you to
stay here willingly, but you’ll never do that and I know it.  You will rush
into Slade’s waiting arms the minute I turn my back.  I can’t have that.”

What
book was
Damien
reading?  Apparently the text was totally different from
all the various realities Kara was dealing with, if he still thought she was
lusting after Slade.  “If I wanted Slade, I could have left with him last
night.”  She retorted.  “I went with
you
, instead, didn’t I?”

Damien
dropped his gaze, stepping back to give her room.  Or maybe he was just getting
out of range of her clenched fists.  “You were confused last night.  I told
you, you
make
everything confused.  With you around, my plans
become
confused.” 
He sounded frustrated with her and himself and the world in general.

“Yeah,
let’s talk about your plans, Vlad.  Good idea.  What are you going to do with
me?  Use me as bait?  Is that all I am to you?”

That
hurt.

Really
hurt.

He
swore, viciously.  “No, of course not.”