The Nightlife Moscow (Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Suspense) (The Nightlife Series Book 5) (13 page)

A few seconds later all three women blacked out.

* * * *

Aaron finally closed his eyes and lay back against the
couch. Blessed rest. No one blew anything up, no one shot at him, and no one
tried to cut his head off. His overlapping aches and pains began to recede as
he floated on a haze of exhaustion. Then a bastard fallen angel found the light
switch and ruined his peace.

He sensed her standing before him, and slid an eye open –
the one that didn’t hurt. Her aura glowed intensely as she went down on one
knee and touched his torn shoulder. As her power flowed down into his body, he
caught another flashing glimpse of her alien-inhuman face. Though unsettling,
the benevolent concern she showed him came as a welcome comfort. In seconds his
pain drifted away under Urvashi’s magical touch.

She truly was his angel, fallen or otherwise. When she let
go of him, she visibly sagged, her aura far weaker, and for the first time ever,
he saw her wince in pain at her own injuries.
How fascinating.
The great
Urvashi wasn’t indestructible after all.

Her breath came labored, as if she had finished a heavy
workout. “Healing takes a lot out of me. Though you are weak, and I’d rather
not burden you further, I must ask for blood in return.”

Aaron nodded and held out his right wrist. “It’s the least I
can do.”

She smiled at him. Damn, the woman looked tired. He’d never
seen her look so … human, frail. The battle and injuries had drained her
bigtime. Baring sharp little fangs, she bit down hard on his wrist and sucked
from him for a couple minutes. He could feel the drain on both his blood and aura,
but she’d given him so much of herself, it felt like he got the better end of
the deal.

Looking refreshed, she licked his wrist once and then
cleaned the rest of her meal off her lips. She stood up and turned her
attention to Ivan.

Aaron cringed at the sight of the man-beast he had
considered a friend. Urvashi kneeled at his side, and touched the gore of his
broken face with her fingertips. The woman looked sad, damn near crying. Aaron
had never realized that his master might actually have some emotional
attachment to these wolves. Her power flowed through Ivan, but it was different
this time. Aaron felt her forcing her will onto him.

She wasn’t healing him.

Suddenly Ivan’s body started vibrating, quivering. Like
flipping a switch, he changed under Urvashi’s hand. The man-beast reformed into
a wolf, and a blood-curdling howl of pain echoed off the walls of the room. She
stood up quickly and the wolf whined and nipped at her hand, then slipped free
of the shreds of Ivan’s clothing and body armor before backing away on shaky
legs. The creature was in pain, but, the bloody wreck of a man-beast was
completely gone. This clean, new wolf padded over to the corner of the room and
settled down on its haunches with a slight whine. It watched Urvashi and Aaron,
for a moment, then promptly closed its eyes and fell asleep.

“Well isn’t that fucking convenient.” For the first time
ever, Aaron envied the wolves for their ability to shake off just about
anything. All they had to do was change.

Urvashi found Katya lying on the floor on the other side of
the dining table and kneeled down to touch her forehead.
Oh shit
. Katya.
Michelle. Aaron fought past the pain and exhaustion to scramble to his feet.
Limping and cursing all the way, he found Michelle face-down on the floor on
the other side of the couch.

“Oh God, please no…” He fell to his knees in front of her,
praying that her nine lives still had one chance left. He rolled her over
gently. Her beautiful blonde hair was matted with blood from a scalp wound, and
the black fabric of her torn combat suit was soaked in blood. He bit into his
right wrist and shoved it up against Michelle’s mouth. “Come on! Drink!”

He flowed down into her mind and found her there,
unconscious, but still alive. She was extremely weak, needed blood right now.
“Michelle, wake up! Feed!”

She wasn’t taking it, no response.

Aaron looked around frantically and his eyes settled on a
downed soldier three feet away. Ignoring the pain in his leg, shoulder, and
everywhere else, he leapt up and snagged the soldier and dragged him over to
Michelle. One hard chomp and he opened the guy’s wrist and shoved it against
Michelle’s mouth.

Nothing happened.

Aaron squeezed and kneaded the man’s arm and worked it like
a sponge. The blood gushed out into Michelle’s open mouth, and she sputtered,
almost choking on the syrupy fluid. Finally, she slurped up the blood and when
he shoved the broken skin against her lips, she bit down.

“That’s a good girl. Yes!” A wave of relief hit him so hard
he rocked back on his heels and almost fell over.

Another howl split the silence of the room and Aaron whipped
his head around to watch Urvashi stepping away from a sleek black wolf that
shook off Katya’s combat gear. The animal noticed him staring, and for a
moment, he could have sworn her golden eyes registered with cognizance. She
padded over to him with a soft whine, and rubbed her nose under his hand.

Aaron sat down on the floor and happily petted his
bloodslave wolf. All was right in his world. The women who he needed, who
needed him, were well and good –
relatively
. Katya-wolf scooted up to
him and whined once more as she laid her head in his lap, perfectly content to
rest with him. He had never imagined what it might be like to deal with her as
a wolf. Having this beautiful animal cuddled next to him put a huge, stupid
grin on his face.

The sounds of a little girl crying shattered Aaron’s peace.
Lana.

“Mama? Mama!” She was lying beside her mom, and Aaron
noticed that her fluffy blue coat had a dark red stain splattered across one
side.

“Fuck me.” Aaron slid out from under Katya-wolf and rushed
over to the mother and daughter. Lana was bawling, pushing on her mom, crying
mama
and blathering on in Russian.

He pried Lana away from her mom. “Shhh, let me see.” The
girl was shaking, and it was all he could do to quiet her.

Katya-wolf padded up to Lana and her presence silenced the
girl. Katya-wolf licked at Lana’s face and whined in unmistakable sympathy. The
two of them stared at each other, face to face, and Aaron caught a hint of the
fascination Lana felt looking at a fully-grown black wolf with expressive
golden eyes. Though she didn’t know it yet, the child was looking at her
future.

Aaron took a closer look at Kristina and found the source of
the blood on Lana’s coat. Her mother had been shot twice in the chest. Kristina
didn’t have body armor like the rest of the gang. They had dragged Kristina and
her daughter into the middle of a war zone with no protective gear, not even a
pistol.

How fucking stupid. How ridiculously idiotic and selfish.

Her eyes flickered open in pain and confusion. Her breathing
sounded
wet
and she coughed up blood. Aaron’s hands shook as he cradled
her head in his lap.
She’s dying
.

He had to do something,
now
. “Urvashi help!” He
looked to his master who was checking on the downed bloodslaves lying under the
arch. Urvashi’s eyes glazed with exhaustion found him. Her aura wavered and
flickered, like a flame that had died to embers. She tried to stand up, and
swayed on her feet.

“I … I can’t do any more. I …” She fell flat on her ass. Her
eyes shifted from dark brown to the alien thing. Her batteries had run dry, and
she could barely maintain her own façade of humanity. “You can do it. Focus on
her, Aaron. Focus on your desire to help her. You must want it, Aaron. You must
want to help her with all your heart and soul.”

He looked at the little girl whose teary eyes watched him
expectantly, waiting for him to fix her Mama. He had to try. But he didn’t believe
he could, not like he’d done with Katya. Those moments had been intensely
sexual, and perhaps something more than sex.

Aaron hugged Kristina close and placed his left palm over
her bloody chest. He tried to picture her healthy, happy. He’d never seen this
woman smile. He’d never seen her happy or joyous. All he could think about was
the fact that she was dying in his arms.

“You can save mama?” Lana tugged on his jacket with eyes
full of the hope of a child who still believed in magic and happily ever afters.

“I can try.” He dredged up a smile from somewhere, and was
rewarded with her teary grin in return. Her smile was beautiful and pure and
lovely. For her smile, just to see her smile once more, he could try to save
this dying woman.

Aaron memorized Lana’s smile and closed his eyes to focus
all his heart and soul and energy on Kristina. The words came to his lips once
again, the words Urvashi had taught him to use when he healed Katya. “
Vitae
essentia est amor.” The essence of life is love.

As soon as he spoke, the draining weakness hit. He pushed
all his drive, will, strength and energy towards Kristina. He shoved everything
into the woman in his lap and felt her bucking in his grip as his power slammed
through her body. With Lana’s smile held firm in his mind, Aaron kept on giving
it to Kristina. He gave her all he had to give and damn near passed out from
the vertigo.

Dizzy and barely able to sit up, he opened his eyes as
Kristina gasped in air, still sputtering bloody spittle from her lips. Once the
room stopped spinning, he locked gazes with Kristina’s dark hazel eyes and hope
blossomed inside him. She was aware, breathing heavily, but awake and alive.

“Mama!” Lana smothered Kristina in a hug. Kristina was too
weak to hold her daughter, instead Aaron held the both of them. His vision
blurred with bloody tears of relief.

They spoke to each other in Russian with murmured
reassurances. Kristina’s weak hands tried to push her daughter back, and Aaron
helped pull Lana to one side to better see her mother. The woman stared hard at
Aaron, then back at her daughter. Aaron saw it in her mind before she spoke.
She knew she was dying.

He had given it his best, but his best wasn’t good enough.
Instead, he’d only bartered for a few more moments of life. Kristina coughed
again, more red stains on her lips. She was bleeding out in his arms.

Though he very much wanted to, he couldn’t look away from
the hold her eyes had on him. Her weak hands pulled on his jacket. “You
promised to take care of Lana.”

Oh shit
.

“Yes, I promise I’ll get her out of here safely.”

She shook her head and tugged on Aaron’s jacket harder,
pulling him down towards her face. “You promised to
take care
of Lana.
Not just tonight. She is different. Humans will never understand her. You know
what she will become. Only a man who lets wolves into his heart can help my
Lana. Will you honor your promise?”

No fucking way.

“I … I’m no good. Look at me. Look at what I am. Look what I
did tonight … to you.” Aaron could hardly speak he was so shocked at the hefty
weight of burden put on him.

“I see a man that does what is right, what is necessary. You
are not Dmitri. You would not break promises to a dying woman.” Her eyes
flicked to Lana again, then back to Aaron. “Don’t trust the pack. They left me
here, and now I have no one. Promise me, for Lana, you will do what is right,
what is necessary, for as long as she needs you. Please
take care
of my
Lana.”

Horror froze his mouth shut. He could think of nothing to
say. Hasty denials died on his lips. There was nothing to say. Nothing to do …
except for the right thing.

He wasn’t exactly known for doing the right thing.

He held Kristina’s head in his hands and laid his forehead
to rest on hers. Eyes locked, he made his pledge. “I promise.”
Oh God, please
don’t let me fuck this up.

* * * *

Wolf-Katya sniffed at Aaron and rested her head on his
shoulder as he watched Kristina say goodbye to her crying daughter. He looked
in the animal’s eyes, and knew that his promise to Kristina would soon put him
at odds with the pack and his bloodslave lover. As much as he wanted a simple
life with Katya and Michelle, he began to suspect it might never happen.

Nothing in his world was simple anymore.

Urvashi regained her feet and made her way to Aaron, staggering
as she walked. She must have worked her magic on all three bloodslaves. He
wanted to offer her more blood, something, but, he was already a pint shy, and
could hardly keep his eyes open. She didn’t give him any choice when she
plopped down at his side and grabbed his arm. Without warning she bit down and
sucked hard.

The last bit of energy that had kept him awake drained away
through his arm along with his blood. His vision doubled, blurred, and his world
tilted sideways and faded to black.

* * * *

The wonderful flavor of blood oozed down his throat, and
Urvashi’s insistent voice hammered his mind. {{We cannot rest yet. I command
you awaken, Aaron.}}

Suddenly his eyes popped open and he was aware. Every
instinct in his exhausted, pain-ridden body begged him to sleep until sometime
in the New Year. Her compulsion forced his mind to focus on her words, on her.
Urvashi held a dead soldier’s arm over his face, and squeezed more blood into
his mouth. The blood came as a much welcome thirst quencher on his parched
tongue that tasted like three day old ass. He let the meal fill his mouth and
wash away the nastiness. When the fluid slowed to a dribble he leaned up to
take a good bite and suck down the last drops from the corpse.

It wasn’t exactly fresh.

The guy had probably been dead for a while, but, Aaron
wasn’t in a position to complain. He savored every drop and felt better by the
minute. A blood-filled corpse hit the spot.

When there was nothing left, he dropped the dead flesh and
found the strength to sit up. He stared at Urvashi with his left eye –
his
only good eye
– the right eye had swollen shut from Dmitri’s walloping.

Then suddenly he felt it come over him,
sunrise
.

Vampires are generally comatose through daylight, and that
would have been the case for Aaron, had he not tasted Urvashi’s blood. He felt
that heavy lethargy weighing on his limbs, dragging him down to sleep, but he
had to deal with his master’s needs first.

The sounds of slurping and crunching registered from across
the room, and Aaron focused his one good eye on two black wolves chowing down
on the stripped carcass that was once a soldier in Dmitri’s employ. Aaron
almost gagged up his meal right there. His stomach flopped and turned, and he
looked away. After a few calming breaths, he regained the ability to speak.

“That is … that’s fucked up.”

Urvashi’s half-lidded exhausted face grinned at him without
any real mirth. “This is the way of wolves. They need fuel for the change. They
must eat meat. Wolves are carnivores, Aaron. Didn’t you pay attention in high
school biology?”

“But … it’s cannibalism.” He shivered in disgust.

“They must change back soon, or risk losing themselves to
the animal instinct. They do not stay in wolf form for more than a day or two.
In order to change, they need to feed. The laws of physics and thermodynamics
are simple, food equals energy. You need blood to fuel your existence. They
need meat, and lots of it.”

“Fine. Whatever. Why did you wake me up?”

“We have unfinished business. We must see to the other
wolves and Renault, and I believe you have taken on yet another obligation,
which I must now share.” She pointed at Lana curled up on the couch beside her
mother where she had cried herself to sleep.

Aaron shook his head. He could hardly think straight to
manage any of the shit Urvashi required of him. But, she was the boss. When
Urvashi said go, he was gone. “Alright. Are you coming with me to check on the
others?”

She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I need to rest, and
so do you, as soon as you come back. I will need more of your blood soon.”

He watched her, several questions on his lips. He opted for
the simplest one. “Why my blood? Why not Michelle or someone else?”

She opened her eyes, and for a split second he saw that
other face, the real Urvashi. Like a blip in a film reel that passed too fast
for the eye to identify, it was gone in an instant. “Yes, Michelle could be
helpful, but not nearly as much as you. We are bound, you and I. There is a
part of me inside you, a hidden strength you have yet to fully realize. Your
blood is rich and powerful. Michelle knows this. She gains strength from
feeding off you.”

Urvashi’s words rang true in his mind. To her credit, he’d
never caught her lying to him. And Aaron was well aware how much Michelle
enjoyed the taste of his blood. He’d been giving it to her nightly.

“Okay. If I don’t make it back in an hour, send the cavalry.”
He snickered at his lame joke and managed to groan his way to his feet.
Shooting pains up and down his body brought all his injuries screaming back to
life. “Oh shit.” He swayed on his feet and waited for the agony to subside.

“The cavalry will be here soon. My contacts have blacked out
the surrounding city blocks to ensure our privacy here. They are bringing a
cleanup crew to remove the mess. Be quick.”

Realizing he was in no shape to deal with any problems,
Aaron scooped an assault rifle off the floor and limped up the stairs and out
into the silent mansion. The early morning sun brought to light the carnage at
the entryway, and all the damage from the grenades. Hardwood floors were
permanently scarred by deep gouges and char marks. The heavy, oak front door
stood ajar, swinging in the subzero December morning breeze. Ivan had done a real
number when he kicked through the door latch. Now it was nothing but a mess of
splintered wood.

Out in the street Aaron heard howls and yips from several
wolves. As he rounded the hedge line to the scene of the massacre, he found
three black wolves staring at him, their muzzles covered in gore. They were
getting down on the carcasses of the dead soldiers, a veritable feast. “Nikolay,
Anatoly, and Renault, all accounted for. I’m outta here.”

He turned right back around and limped back to the mansion,
gulping in the freezing air to keep from hurling at the sight of what those
animals could do to a human corpse in such a short time.

Back in the mancave, he found Urvashi right where he left
her, on the floor, resting against the back of the couch. She eyed him with her
half-lidded gaze. “Get the bodies out of the room, then seal the door so we can
rest. The cleanup crew will be here within the hour to remove the corpses.”

Good ole Urvashi. From Paris to London to Moscow, no matter
where they traveled, the woman had friends in low places.

Something that had been nagging at the back of his mind
finally floated to the surface. “Shouldn’t the explosions have brought the police?”

“Shhh. Everything is under control. Trust me. Do what I’m
telling you to do.”

“Yes, massa. I be right on it.” Aaron hauled his exhausted
ass over to snatch the nearest corpse and dragged him out to the stairwell.

* * * *

Katya awoke on the floor of the basement room that Kristina
had led them to, the room that supposedly held the vault. Naked, she shivered
uncontrollably on the cold tile. She had no idea what the hell had happened.
Though she didn’t recall how or why, she had obviously changed in this room,
and probably fed too. She had no illusions about what that meant. It wasn’t the
first time she had eaten her fill of her enemies, and probably wouldn’t be the
last.

Though the corpses had been dragged away, she could smell
the congealed blood and other scents of death that evidenced a recent slaughter.
Her shaking hands cupped around her breasts, she stood and followed her nose
through the entryway leading into the bedroom. She stepped over three sleeping
women who’d been laid out on the floor for whatever reason. They were
breathing, alive, but unconscious. She did a double-take when she noticed they
all had blood crusted noses and ears, along with the tell-tale neck markings
from recent, messy vampire feedings. Their faces lacked the peaceful grace of
comfortable sleep. These women had seen trauma and suffering. Something about
the way they looked, the way they had sprawled where they had obviously fallen,
reminded Katya of women who lived too long under the heavy hand of an abusive
husband.

On the other side of the room was a massive bed, some kind
of custom-made circular thing, at least twenty feet in diameter. The bed
dominated the center of the room. Finally she understood the purpose of this
place, Dmitri’s harem. The bed was designed for something out of an Emperor
Caligula 70’s porno film.

In complete contrast to the perverse surroundings, Aaron,
Urvashi, Michelle, and the little girl, Lana, were curled up side by side, still
in their tattered, bloody combat gear. Even Lana had blood stains on her hands
and her blue jacket.

Poor Aaron looked like he’d been run through the ringer and
hung out to dry in the icy Russian breeze. His sunken eyes were encircled by
dark black and blue bruises, and his nose looked like he’d gone rounds with a heavyweight.
She suspected he’d suffered several bullet wounds and who knew what else in the
way of hidden injuries.

Staring at the exceedingly strange configuration of the
little girl, Lana, wrapped securely in Aaron’s blood-smeared arms, a sick
feeling curled in Katya’s gut.

Kristina.

Katya glanced in all directions, but the traitor was nowhere
to be found. After a few seconds of shivering in the cold – naked, filthy, and
exhausted – Katya released her concerns and squeezed in between Urvashi and Aaron
to burrow in the warm cocoon of their bodies. Though she hated Aaron’s bloody
sex sandwich games, now was not the time for false modesty.

Dmitri had disappeared.
Hopefully dead
. Ivan napped
over in the corner, and she had no idea where the other wolves had gone. “I’ll
sort this later.” For now, she felt as shagged as Aaron looked.

Give me sleep
.

* * * *

Katya woke to the warmth of Urvashi’s hands on her breasts,
and a pair of sharp teeth right where she needed them, straight in her jugular
vein. She held Aaron’s head tightly and rode the wondrous wave of euphoria that
was his nightly gift to her existence. As much as she hated being tied to this impetuous
young man, she loved what he did for her -- and his seductive power was more
than she could resist.

Love might be too strong a word, but, she had to admit Aaron
did something for her that no man before him had ever done. Whether it was the
venom or the awesome sex, or just something special about Aaron Pilan, the
young man sucking on her neck had sunk his teeth into her heart and soul in a
matter of weeks.

Now, if she could get around the dog-pile sex they always
dragged her into, she might actually enjoy his rock-hard cock jabbing into her
thigh as he lapped away the last drops of his meal from her skin.

A month ago, she’d have socked the fool who suggested she’d
bang a vampire, let alone
love
him. And a vampire ménage a trois? Unthinkable.
These damn leeches had a wicked hold she couldn’t break – no matter how much
she coveted her freedom. She had escaped the smothering brotherly love of the
pack, escaped Mother Russia’s deadly clutches, and survived battles that would
have killed a normal person a dozen times over, but she couldn’t shake these
bloody leeches.

Her hand had a mind of its own as she stole under the bed covers
and freed Aaron’s throbbing monster from his pants. In response, he uttered a
low growl full of promise. A nagging thought reminded her she wasn’t alone in
the bed, but, lately, that had become the norm for her brief moments of
pleasure with Aaron. Might as well get used to it.

Urvashi had some plans of her own. She slid away from where
she was curled around Katya’s backside, leaving her nipples aching for more of
that sensual caress, and leaned over into Aaron’s face. “Now it’s my turn to
feed.”

He nodded and pulled down the collar of his jacket to give
his master a clear shot at his neck. The bitch hit him so fast Katya never even
saw her move. She wasn’t gentle about it either. Aaron gasped and gritted his
teeth as Urvashi chomped into him hard. She took her fill and left the poor
bloke sagging, breathing hard.

The wetness in Katya’s hand proved that Urvashi had some decent
bang to her bite. She’d made Aaron blow his wad. In the middle of this weird
exchange, a mousy little girl sat up in bed and squished her nose at Urvashi
and Aaron. “You are all like him, Dmitri?” She shivered, and a hint of disgust
passed over her young features.

The absurdity of the moment struck Katya square in the gut.
This little girl should be shivering at worms and grossing out over brussel
sprouts. She shouldn’t even be aware of what a vampire did to its bloodslaves.
This poor darling had seen far too much at too young an age. Katya’s heart went
out to Lana, and she reached for the girl.

Lana looked at her with even more disgust and leaned away, “Blyadischa.”
Whore
. She spit out the word like clearing her throat of filth. Katya
followed the girl’s spiteful eyes as her gaze traced down Katya’s bare breasts.

Katya’s face burned with embarrassment and she jerked the
blankets up over her chest quickly. She’d forgotten she was starkers, putting
on a show for the brat.