TheBrokenOrnament (2 page)

If that one person should expire, then their change reverted back to them. It helped to keep their population low. The council made the laws in an effort to keep them from outgrowing their food source. Though they could feed off animals, the blood wasn’t nearly as potent, nor did it cause the same rush as human blood.

Usually, Hunter fed on animals. Even then, he never killed his prey, though it took at least ten animals to assuage his thirst. For a lack of a better way to put it, humans were more satisfying.

“Remember this, human,”Hunter said as he lowered his head toward the other man’s neck. “I could kill you now, but I choose not to do so. Keep that in mind the next time you wish to attack one of our kind. Yes, we could easily take your life, but we
choose
not to kill you. Attack me again, Paul and I will make you regret it.” He took control of the other man’s thoughts, masking the pain as he sank his teeth into Paul’s neck. When he was finished, he pulled away, looking into the man’s eyes as he stood swaying on the boardwalk.

“Remember, Paul, this was just to show you that we
can
feed without killing. In fact, that is what I do. However, should you ever attack with the intent to do me or anyone else harm, I
will
make you irrevocably…dead.”

Hunter turned and made his way down the boardwalk. He hadn’t felt so good in months. He took a deep breath of the warm salty air and headed back to his hotel. He wanted to get inside before the sun rose. Not because he would burn in the sunlight, not because he looked different in the light of day, but because he had always been a night owl and he was tired.

Contrary to popular belief, vampires didn’t need to stay out of the sun because they were cursed, they merely chose to walk the night because they had needed to out of necessity for so many years, that it was difficult to change.

The sun peeked over the horizon as he continued to make his way back to the hotel room where he had spent the holiday. He had no idea why Arty had called and demanded his presence here. Normally, he would have ignored the human’s summons, but Oberon had insisted he listen to the government man. No one crossed Oberon.

Arty, employed by several governments, had some sway over their council. Whatever his power was, Hunter noted the man was never more than fifteen minutes away from any given location. How Arty managed to get from one area of the world to another was anyone’s guess. Hunter had always chalked it up to some form of previously unknown magic. Hell, anything was possible.

Chapter Three

When Cherie woke, the room was dark. Bright strips of sunlight shone into the room around the thick, room-darkening drapes at her window. Reaching over to her bedside lamp, she fumbled for the switch and light flooded the room.

Blinking, she sat up and looked around with a frown. “How did I get here?” This was
not
her bedroom. Biting her lip, she thought back on the day before and wondered if she’d attempted to drown her sorrows in alcohol again. She shook her head. No. She’d tried it once and the guilt over getting drunk had assailed her the next day. After all, alcohol was the reason she lost what was left of her family.

Sitting up, she eased her legs over the side of the bed and moved to the window. Cherie pulled back the drapes and gasped. This wasn’t the view from anywhere in her town. How in the world had she gotten here?

The view was gorgeous. She looked out over a deserted, sandy beach and what appeared to be the ocean and a glorious sunrise. The sun rose over the horizon with beautiful red and gold streaks. The midnight blue sky, lightened to a medium blue as the sun rose, driving the darkness from the world.

Turning with a frown, she looked down at her clothes. Apparently, she hadn’t felt like dressing for bed the night before. It wasn’t surprising. She hadn’t felt like doing much of anything since the accident. If someone
had
kidnapped her, at least she wasn’t in her nightgown. Thank God.

She looked around the strange room, trying to figure out where she was. Either someone had kidnapped her and taken her to Chicago, or she was somewhere on the east coast and that was the Atlantic Ocean she’d seen outside the window. “Either way, you aren’t in Kansas anymore, Dot.”

“No, Dot, you aren’t. You’re in Virginia Beach. In
my
hotel room, I might add.”

Cherie jumped at the sound of the man’s voice and spun around. “Who are you and why did you bring me here?”

Good grief, the man was gorgeous. She couldn’t help but stare at his blond good looks. Usually, she wasn’t attracted to light-haired men, but this one was compelling. His short hair wasn’t blond in the sense that it was golden. His hair was streaked with white and yellow highlights that almost looked as though it had gotten that way in a salon, but somehow, Cherie knew it hadn’t.

Dressed in khaki slacks and a white button down shirt, the strange man projected authority. He stood leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. The pose accentuated the size of his… Cherie looked away from him. What was she doing, looking at
that?

The man also exuded sex appeal. Frowning, Cherie licked her lips. She shouldn’t be attracted to the man, for goodness sake. She
should
be outraged at finding herself in his hotel room—and Virginia Beach? How in the hell long had he kept her sedated?

“Don’t look so surprised. Did you think I would not eventually return?” He cocked his head and looked at her. “Did Arty send you?”

What? Did this lunatic think she was here because she wanted to be here? “Arty? I don’t know an Arty.” She brought her hand to her throat and looked around. Was there someone else here as well? “I want to know how I got here.”

Leaning to her right, Cherie tried to look past him thru the open door. Was this a suite? She could swear there was a sofa through the door behind him and maybe a chair or two.

“What am I doing here?”

“I was about to ask
you
that, as well.” He gave her a level look that would have scared her had she had anything to lose. As it was, he just annoyed her. “I think Arty
did
send you and I’m about to get to the bottom of it.” He pulled a smart phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times.

He brought the phone to his ear, waited a minute, pulled it down, then looked at his phone and frowned. “I hate voicemail.”

Cherie couldn’t agree with him on that one. She loved it. She had called her sister’s cell phone at least three dozen times since her death, just to hear her voice. For a minute, Cherie could pretend that nothing had happened that fateful night and her sister and niece were still only a phone call away.

Forgetting his phone for a moment, the man looked up at her, a lock of his unusual-colored hair falling over his brow. His black eyes pinned her in place as he looked her up and down. His expression was blank, cold, as though he didn’t quite like what he saw before him.

Cherie stood up straighter, thrusting her chin out. So what if he didn’t relish the way she looked? It wasn’t as though she wanted the man to throw her to the bed and make wild, passionate love to her. No, she gave a mental shake of her head. She just wanted to go home.

“How did I get here?” She moved away from the window. The sunrise climbing over the horizon made it increasingly difficult to look at him and for some reason, she
needed
to see some expression in those black, seemingly soulless, eyes of his or she just needed them in shadow. Maybe she could get him to change places with her somehow.

“How in the hell would I know, lady?” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and pushed away from the wall, making his way over to the mini fridge in the corner of the room. Opening the door, he pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it to her. “Drink this. You must be thirsty.”

Catching the bottle was easy. Drinking its contents…well…not so much. Eying the bottle suspiciously, Cherie wasn’t sure if she should take anything from the man or not.

“It’s sealed. Check the cap.” He sighed when she still hesitated. “I’m not some sort of serial killer, though I’m sure you must think so, under the circumstances. Perhaps things will make more sense, once I talk with Arty.
If
I can ever get him to answer his damned phone.”

His phone rang, playing a rather annoying tune and he grinned at her. “Speak of the devil.” Turning, he pulled his phone from his pocket and answered the phone. “Hello, Arty. I just tried to—”

After a short pause, he gave Cherie a sharp look. “Yes. She’s here in my room. What?” He turned around and said something in a low voice.

Cherie shook her head and set the bottle of water down on the stand next to the bed. She had to go to the bathroom. Whatever Mr. Personality had to say, could wait until she was done. She wanted to take advantage of the fact that he was distracted because who knew what he would do if he knew she was in the bathroom half naked—even if it
was
for just a few short seconds.

Chapter Four

“You’re stuck with her—at least for the time being.” Arty exhaled deeply. He was most likely smoking.

Hunter grimaced. He didn’t understand the need humans had for their vices. If he were human, he would take care of the body given to him. He would never want to become a vampire to stave off death. Had he had a choice, he would have taken the opportunity to grow old and die with a human woman.

He wouldn’t have had to wait centuries to find a woman compatible with his vampire side. A woman that he couldn’t completely control would be a godsend.

“Did you try?”

The sound of Arty’s voice brought him from his musings and he frowned. “Tried what?”

“Have to tried to control her? She is a human, you know. She could very well be your mate,” Arty said dryly.

Hunter looked around the room with a frown. Where did she go? His gaze settled on the closed bathroom door and he gave an inward sigh. She was no doubt in the bathroom seeing to her human needs.

He didn’t believe he hadn’t tried to control her. It had become almost habit for him to do so whenever he met a woman. He’d probably been so irritated to find that the woman had slept in his bed that he hadn’t bothered to attempt it.

“No. I haven’t.” He stared at the door, willing her to come out so he could give it his best shot. If he gave it a go while she was still in the other room, he wouldn’t be sure. To totally control a strong-minded human, the person in question had to be in one’s line of sight.

He heard water running in the sink just after the toilet flushed and he waited impatiently for his opportunity.

“Try to control her already. I called because our equipment tracked another human from an alternate dimension and we wanted to be sure she didn’t run around talking crazy and getting herself locked up.” He chuckled. “Though our world believes in magic, no one really believes that traveling though dimensions is possible.”

“Traveling through dimensions?” What the hell was the human talking about now? “Even
I
find that difficult to believe.”

“Well, believe it.” There was a short pause on the other end of the phone then Arty added, “You remember Gregori’s mate?”

“Gregori Tesco?” He did remember Gregori falling in love only to have his mate taken from him by slayers. If he remembered correctly…“Didn’t the woman return from the dead somehow?”

“Yes.” Hunter could almost see the other man nodding his head. “Kaylee didn’t return from the dead as most would claim. Slayers killed our world’s version of her. The woman we all now know as Kaylee Tesco somehow managed to find her way from another dimension. Only her dimension didn’t have vampires or magic of any kind. She was difficult to convince. Don’t think this woman will be any different.”

Hunter sighed. “And what do I do with her if she’s not my mate?”

“Take her to a council meeting. We’ve found that humans brought over from other dimensions are doubles of humankind who have already died in this dimension.” He chuckled. “They also tend to resist mind control.” Arty cleared his throat. “That isn’t saying that you won’t be able to control her, if she’s your mate. Chances are you
will
be able to control her. Gregori does so with Kaylee on a regular basis when she’s in danger. You just won’t be able to make her forget you did so. Call it a quirk.”

“A quirk?”

“Yes. If she was from this dimension you wouldn’t be able to control her indefinitely as you have been taught. From what I’ve seen, vampires can control mates that come from other dimensions. However, you cannot wipe their memories, which can be problematic if you intend to bend her to your will.”

The bathroom door opened and the woman walked into the room. He watched as she brushed her long, brown hair back over her shoulder with a toss of her head. Hunter couldn’t take his eyes off her. Even with her hair still a bit disheveled and her clothes looking as though she’d slept in them—which she had—the woman was a beauty. There was no denying it.

“I’ll let you go for now, Arty. Keep me posted on what you find out about the situation and I’ll do what I can from here.”

He hung up the phone, locked the screen and stuck it back in his pocket. “I think we got off on the wrong foot.” He strode over to her and held out his hand. “I’m Hunter Vasko and you are?”

He watched as several emotions skittered across her face. She bit her lip and looked toward the door as though wondering if he’d let her leave. He could have just pushed into her mind and found out exactly what she was thinking, but if her world had no magic as Arty suggested, it would frighten her to find out that he could read her mind.

She looked at his proffered hand for a moment before slowly lifting her hand to place it on his own. “I’m Cherie Gardner.” She stiffened a bit when he tightened his fingers around hers, but softened when he bent to press his lips against the back of her hand.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Cherie Gardner.” Straightening, he released her hand and moved away. “I have no idea how you managed to find your way into my hotel room and I also don’t know how you managed to get here to Virginia Beach. I can only say that I was as startled as you to find you in this room.”