Stealing Time (32 page)

No time,
I thought to myself.

I fell repeatedly, but made it to the bottom of the stairs and stepped out onto the hardwood floor as the other vampire did the same on the opposite side. The humans were halfway between us and, through the hunger’s inferno, I wondered which of us was the bigger threat to them.

I stubbornly headed toward the humans and the sole enemy who’d noticed their vulnerability—Nathaniel.

“You look all done in, poppet.” He shook his head. Casually, the way a human would lift an apple, he grabbed a middle-aged man and buried his teeth in his neck. The bastard’s mocking eyes never left mine and he saw when the scent of fresh blood threw me into a swoon. It felt as if lava poured down my throat.

“Aaah. It’s wonderful,” he called, watching me watch him lick the blood gushing from the bite. The human struggled weakly in his grasp and Nathaniel backhanded him, flinging a crimson spray across the floor. “This is what we’re meant to be. Come, join us and see for yourself.”

I tried to speak, to shake my head, but my entire being was locked on the human.

Nathaniel made an impatient noise and dragged the bleeding man until he stood before me, holding him by the neck to keep him from collapsing. Close like this, I could see that Nathaniel hadn’t merely pierced the man’s flesh with his fangs—more than sufficient to feed—he’d viciously torn the human’s throat wide open. The sight of so much blood, thick in the gaping wound and painting Nathaniel’s lips, and…
oh,
the heady, luscious scent of it on his breath and heavy in the air, shredded my insides and ripped me apart.

My pulse and the agony of my scorching thirst pounded in my ears and brain like some freakish metronome—
TAKE HIM, spare him, TAKE HIM, spare him
—and I wavered. Nathaniel swore and smeared his hand with blood before painting it across my mouth. Even as I staggered away from his cruelty, the taste of fresh human blood, warm from the vein, blasted through my system more powerfully than the power lines’ seventy-six hundred volts of electricity had. It was more intoxicating, more exhilarating, than anything I’d ever experienced. Nothing in my existence compared to the taste—hot, thick,
fresh.
Craving filled me to the cellular level, obliterating all thought and leaving only the aching, scorching need. Unable to stop myself, I licked my lips and tilted my face skyward at the searing jolt of pure rapture.

My instincts sang to me—
this
was what I was meant for,
this
was the essential purpose to my existence, for my being, the very meaning of immortality, all within easy reach.

No! I am Evie! I will live as
I
choose…

My two distinct selves grappled, making me feel like I was being ripped straight down the center as instinct and intellect warred viciously. It took a supreme effort of will, but I turned my face away, a keening wail deep in my chest and close to hyperventilating.

Then I felt the impact of the human thrown against me. My hands automatically clamped on his upper arms, both supporting and restraining him. Nathaniel’s voice whispered temptations, adding a blinding layer to the extreme sensory overload. The man’s thundering heartbeat, his terrified breathing, the scent of adrenaline and fear…The sound I was making morphed into a moan of pure desire.

Resisting the bloodlust was the definition of agony—every cell felt as if it were bathed in acid and I burned with certainty that the only thing that would provide blessed relief was to bury my teeth in warm flesh and drink the human dry.

Blood.
Hot, luscious, fresh blood, thick and sweet, pouring, pumping,
gushing
from the human’s severed artery, inches from my teeth, a gorgeous red pool of it spreading on the floor, going to waste.

Dimly, I heard James bellow my name.

I sank to my knees, dragging the prey down with me as I stared into its terrified, brown gaze. The whites were showing and it was panting, the hot breath bathing my face in delectable swirls. My hands tightened on its arms and its cry of pain was exciting.

“Yes,” Nathaniel hissed by my ear. “It is yours to take.”

The wound glistened from the overhead lights and my gaze was drawn inexorably to the red flow, pulsing rhythmically onto the warm, dusky skin. I ran my tongue over the tips of my fangs, savored the vision of sinking them into tender flesh, and I bent closer, inches from the flow, luxuriating in the delectable aroma, my eyes closing with desire, craving a taste…

Mine.

Over the pounding in my head and Nathaniel’s insistent voice, the prey chanted, its words spoken on gasps of breath. Desperately, I fought off the bloodlust for a precious second and caught the meaning, just a few words.

“…y líbranos del mal…”

Spanish. It was the Lord’s Prayer…
and deliver us from evil…

My brain stumbled. He meant me.
Evil
echoed through my mind.
Evil.

Recoiling from the raging agony of need to drain him dry, I clung to the person I chose to be, buried deep within the maelstrom. Thrusting the human far from myself, I was vaguely aware that he slid some forty feet across the arena floor. Spent, I closed my eyes and my chin touched my chest as I knelt at center court.

“That was stupid,” Nathaniel’s voice hissed in my ear. “Why not kill him? You are starved and it hurts, doesn’t it? He’s human. He’s
nothing.
Make your pain go away.”

“No.” Only another vampire could have heard me.

Nathaniel raged, “He’s going to change, become one of us. Do you think he’ll be happy about that? Or will he curse you for eternity for not ending his suffering?”

“No…”

Standing over me, waves of hate and fury rolling off him, Nathaniel snarled, “Then die.”

I sensed a swift movement toward my chest but was powerless to defend myself. Before his fangs made contact, a sharp
crack
echoed through the arena and he toppled backward, thudding wetly when he hit the floor. James was there a second later, kneeling to gather me in his arms.

“It’s all right now,” he whispered, holding me close. “I’ve got you.”

I opened my eyes to see his beautiful face gazing down at me. There was a laceration across his forehead that ran down his cheek to the edge of his jaw. It closed as I watched and I lifted a hand to shakily trace it.

“Hi there,” I whispered, hoarse.

“Hi yourself. Are you okay?”

“I almost didn’t stop.” My voice trembled.

“But you did, love. You did.”

Taking a deep breath, I gathered myself to stand, getting vertical only with James’s help. Once there, I leaned heavily against him. “What will happen to the man?” I asked, not daring even to glance in the injured human’s direction.

James’s mouth drew into a thin line and he said reluctantly, “Nic or Siska will take care of him.”

“You mean kill him.”

He nodded. “If he does not wish to allow the change to progress, yes.”

“Oh.” I tilted sideways. The human’s blood was on my shirt and the exquisite aroma made me even more lightheaded. I wouldn’t have thought it possible that there was any tissue left to burn, but the scorching flames in my throat and stomach escalated. And it felt as if red-hot knives and razors joined in the assault. James’s arms were all that kept me upright, and my eyes were opening and closing on their own.

There came a brief feeling of cool air and I realized James had slipped my blood-soaked shirt off. In seconds, he had his sweater on me and he was bare-chested. I forced my eyes open and glanced at the sweater—it was torn in a few places but bore no human blood. Vampire blood? Sure. Lots. And while I still burned and the pain was pure hell, that extra-unbearable, tear-your-guts-out agony created by the scent of human blood eased.

Leo’s voice floated to me. “Are you all right, Evie?”

“Fine, fine. I’m fine,” I mumbled, leaning on James.

“She’s starving,” he said.

“Time to go, folks,” Jack drawled and I caught a glimpse of him peering at me from up close. There was a whiff of smoke and the acrid scent of gasoline. “Lady, I’ll gladly have you on my side in a fight any day.”

Without warning, the arena swooped like a rollercoaster plunging down a ninety-five degree drop and the floor did its best to throw me. Everything spun impossibly fast and the world went dark.

For a time, my surroundings consisted of blurred images and distorted voices, all sensory input subsumed by the agony in my throat and stomach, escalating impossibly until the first thirst was a mere shadow of discomfort. A luscious scent intruded for a brief space and I roused, forced my eyes open and snarled with rage as a male blocked prey from coming closer. Its fear came to me, exhaled on quick puffs of air. The sound of its heartbeat and the gorgeous liquid throb of its pulse drew a moan from my throat.

I struggled to rise, to spring, fighting the iron hands holding me back. There was a flurry of motion, another vampire interfered, then the prey was gone. I thrashed against the restraint, snarling with impotent rage, resisting the waves of comfort that filled my mind. The waves built higher and, despite my frantic efforts, soothed my shattered nerves and softened my hunting frenzy.

James’s voice came to me. “Easy, love. Rest easy.”

Everything went dark for a time. When I next roused, we were home and James was gently laying me on the sofa. Leo handed him a large mug and the world narrowed to the gorgeous scent wafting from it. My hands shook violently as I struggled to get vertical, yearning to reach the cup. James caught me and kept me from doing a face-plant onto the hardwood floor.

“Drink, Evie,” he murmured and put the mug to my lips.

Vaguely, I was aware Leo kept a supply of full mugs by James’s elbow and replaced the empties as I drained them, and the agony that filled me eventually subsided. At long last, I pulled back and settled on the sofa with my eyes closed.

I whispered, “I never want to feel like that, ever again.”

“It is pretty awful,” James agreed as he brushed a lock of hair from my face.

I looked up at him, anxious that he had suffered such pain. Seeing my expression, he smiled. “It was a long time ago, just after my change.” His light tone didn’t fool me. “When I realized what I had become, I rebelled against it and refused to feed for several weeks.”

I gasped. “Weeks?”

He nodded. “It took a week to build to the level you experienced. From that point on, it was…memorable.”

“What did you do?”

“Found a solution I could live with. I hunted criminals.” He grinned. “New York’s crime statistics were never lower.”

Sitting up, I wrapped my arms around his shoulder and buried my face against his neck. It was wonderful just to hold him and to be held.

“Ahhh, you’re looking much better, my dear,” Leo’s voice boomed. I looked up as he came into the living room. “So good to see you smiling, Evie.” He handed a sweatshirt to James, having apparently gone to get it for him.

“Thanks, Leo,” I said. “What happened to the humans? And to the man Nathaniel bit?”

“The human did not wish to be changed and we honored that wish. Another human was already dead. We left both bodies in the building when we burned it down. The fire consumed the vampires’ and
cadejos’
remains too.”

“And the humans who lived?”

James grinned. “Siska, Jack and Leo whammied their memories.”

Leo repeated, “Whammied? That’s as good a word as any. I pray our efforts will hold. The humans went through so much, it took all three of us to…” He broke off, shaking his head. “Ah well, even if some of their memories return, their stories would be too fantastic to be believed.”

Trying resolutely not to think about it, I asked, “Where’s everyone else? Are they all okay?”

“Our friends are fine, dear lady,” Leo said as he sat on a chair next to the sofa. “Gage, Siska and Nic are in the kitchen. Jack and Kate are in the backyard.”

“Nope, now I’m in the living room,” Gage said as he came in and plopped onto the chair next to Leo. Stirring restlessly, he got up again and prowled around the room. He stopped in front of the bookshelves that held my stereo. “Do you have any music?”

“There are a bunch of CDs already loaded,” I said. “Just turn it on.”

Gage fiddled with the controls for a minute, then
Lullaby
by the Dixie Chicks began playing. Knowing this was one of my favorite songs, James hugged me close and sang very softly, “
How long do you want to be loved? Is forever enough, is forever enough?
”

“Geez, are they always like this?” Nic asked from the doorway.

Gage snorted. “Yeah, pretty much.” He stalked out the front door, shutting it hard behind him.

“What’s got his knickers in a twist?” Kate asked as she and Jack squeezed past Nic to sit close together on the loveseat.

I glanced at her in surprise. Was she that unaware of Gage’s feelings?

Leo said smoothly, “He needed some time alone after all the excitement.”

The song ended and I smiled up at James. Siska and Nic went to sit in the remaining chairs. Other than Gage, our group was complete.

I caught Kate eyeing me warily and I lifted an eyebrow.

“Just wondering how you’re feeling,” she said.

“Great. How’re you?”

She had a hard time meeting my gaze. “So. You’re not hungry or anything?”

I leaned back in surprise and it clicked. “You were the human? When I was starving?”

“Kate didn’t understand the thirst, that’s all,” James said soothingly.

“She sure does now. Jack knocked her on her ass to keep you from getting her, Evie.” Nic snorted derisively and looked at Kate. “If you’re going to hang with vamps, sweetie, you better stop treating them like humans.”

“I was just checking on her to make sure she was okay. I thought she passed out,” Kate snapped.

“We don’t pass out, Kate,” Siska said. “When we get that hungry, we go dormant until prey comes close.”

“But still, it was
me.
I didn’t think Evie would try to bite
me.
” Her voice quivered on the last word.

Studying her, I realized this was the crux of her upset. The initial fright had passed, but this perceived betrayal lingered. “I didn’t know it was you. All I knew was that prey was close at hand. The thirst…”

She interrupted. “Didn’t know it was me? You told me all about how keen your senses are. Why wouldn’t you recognize me?”