A Destined Death (28 page)

 “Wait!” Tina screamed, calming only slightly. “So, what do we have to do to clear this little misunderstanding up? I hear virgin blood is pretty hot for you guys.”

All three men paused. “You’re trying to negotiate with your blood?” the redhead asked.

“Oh not just mine, my two friends’ as well.”

I gritted my teeth.
Oops!

“It has been a long trip, Josh,” the brunette said.

“Smells damn fresh here,” said the blond.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t believe that Tina might be talking them out of taking Armando and Draven for a little blood. Dead silence lingered as Josh appeared to be pondering the offer on the table. Finally he said, “We could just take your blood if we wanted to. You know that, don’t you?”

“I’ll kill you first,” Draven promised.

Josh tilted his head and then shrugged, suggesting it was a possibility, just not a likely one. Silence rang out again until Candy burst out of the house with blood running down her arm. She gasped for breath as if she was terrified. Her heart rate and the smell of blood must have been enough to make up Josh’s mind.

“All right. I’m taking this one,” he said, his fangs extended as he moved toward Tina.

Candy tilted her head and bared her neck. I did the same. I closed my eyes and prepared for the pain. When it didn’t come, I opened my eyes and saw the blond vampire dangling in the air. Draven had him by the throat in a firm grip.

“No!” Draven commanded. His cold and deadly voice made all the vampires pause and turn toward the disturbance.

Draven, please let him down.

“They won’t honor this deal.”

You can’t know that. Nothing is set in stone, remember? Please, let us try! It’s just a little blood.

When Draven released the vampire, the brunette immediately grabbed my arms from behind and held me firmly in place. Draven stepped toward me, but a metal bar thrust straight through his stomach from behind. It all happened so fast, I could only stare in horror.

“Not a virgin,” the blond said in Draven’s ear before he hit the ground, “but obviously a favorite.”

“Put him in the car,” Josh ordered.

Screaming, I fought to get free and watched helplessly as the blond threw Draven into the long limousine. He wore a tortured look on his face, and I felt trapped inside my weak body, unable to do anything as the vampire dragged away half of my heart along with him.

“So you want to make a deal?” Josh asked, moving again toward Tina.

“Yes,” she said bravely.

With lightning speed, the brunette let go of me and grabbed Candy. He yanked her hair back to gain access to her neck. The blond did the same to me. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful they were making a deal or scared that they’d kill us now that Armando and Draven were in the car.

“Interesting idea,” Josh said, gripping Tina’s hair. “Too bad we don’t deal with humans.”

I closed my eyes when the strange vampire sunk his teeth into my neck. The pain seemed to go on forever but when my knees started to go weak, I feared he wouldn’t stop.

“Enough!” a male voice demanded, “unless you want to die this evening.”

The vampire finally dropped me, though I could barely move.

“Ah, if it isn’t the infamous Van Horning.”

Ben?
I thought weakly. I couldn’t move my head to see who was talking.

“Now I suggest you all get in that car and go back to Hell where you came from.”

“That’s quite all right. We were done here anyway.”

I heard car doors close before the engine started and the car rolled out of my driveway.

Sobs fell from my mouth uncontrollably, and I heaved, nauseous from the internal pain that threatened to eradicate me. I knew I would die without Draven. There
was
no life without him. Tears rolled down my cheeks with the silence in my head. Draven was gone. Possibly gone for good. I could still see his reflection inside my eyes, his face engraved with a tortured look that mirrored my emotions. Could that really be the last look I ever saw on his face?

When my chest tightened painfully, I realized that I was barely breathing, and for a moment, I wished they had killed me, rather than leave me in the state I was in. We were never supposed to be separated again. Everything we’d gone through together had been for nothing. I felt numb right before I felt my heart stop.

Sunshine filtered in through the window when I awoke in my bed. Candy dabbed a cool rag on my forehead, her shadow shading my eyes. 

“Draven?” I breathed frantically. “Did they really take him?”

Candy nodded through moist eyes.

My heart wretched with pain but I ignored it. I clenched my fists and strengthened myself for him. I wouldn’t allow myself to believe that everything we’d been through had been for nothing. After all, I was a romance girl, happy endings and all. With the decision made, I closed my eyes and fortified the small fragment of my heart that remained. 

“Are you all right?” I asked, looking up at Candy.

“I am now, Milady,” she said with a little smile.

Propping my left elbow under my body, I reached up to touch the bruised wound on her neck. “Savages.”

“It’s all right.”

I reached up to my own neck, finding it bandaged. “Thank you. Is Tina okay?”

She nodded. “She’s making some food. We need to eat.”

My body moved slowly when I got up but my mind steadily searched for answers that might help Draven. I felt as though I was forgetting something. “Is Ben really here?”

“Yes. I don’t know who he is but I think they would have killed you if he hadn’t…” She stopped speaking, her bottom lip quivering.

“What did he do?”

“He held a crossbow on them, which I didn’t think would be enough since there were three of them but they did seem shaken at the sight of him.”

I showered, dressed, and went though the motions before I met the other girls in the kitchen. Candy handed out vitamins, tears still forming in her eyes whenever she looked at me. We ate in silence, and then I went outside to meet the man in the yard who leaned against a rented sedan, puffing on a cigarette.

Dressed like Van Helsing, his long, black hair fell stringy around his pale face. His eyes bore dark circles, and he regarded me with a deep-set scowl. After a moment, he dispensed a sheepish smile which revealed a dimpled right cheek. Then he tipped his big hat.

“Thanks for coming, Ben. I like your new look, by the way.”

His blue eyes widened. “I’m incognito. You weren’t supposed to recognize me.” He raised his hat, and a thick strand of dark black hair fell over his left eye.

I laughed easily. “Well, at least you look the part now but that dimple will always give you away.”

He replaced his hat on his head and took another long drag off his cigarette. He exhaled slowly, creating a cloud of smoke around his face. “What the hell happened here last night?”

“You saved our lives. Thank you.”

“Glad to find you alive,” he said with a nod. “I thought that God-forsaken vampire killed you. I’ve started a new campaign just because of that night.”

The reminder sent a shockwave of hot anger surging through me. I grabbed the flaps of his jacket that lay open overtop his strong chest. “Don’t you even think about trying to murder Draven again or I will kill you myself!”

“Christ,” he chuckled, disregarding my fury. “What happened to the live and let live chick?”

I let go of his collar and my arms dropped, an emptiness consuming my eyes. “They hauled her away along with him.”

He took another puff from his cigarette and then dropped it onto the ground, smashing it under his foot. “The bounty hunters that were here last night?”

“Bounty hunters?”

“Yes, darling. Why do you think I didn’t kill them?”

“Why? What do you know about them?”

He shrugged. “They’re in the same business as me, getting those bastards off the streets.”

I frowned. “Yeah, well, they’ve taken my fiancé and his brother.”

“Fiancé?” he spat with disgust. “You’re going to marry one of those?”

“He’s not like the ones in Paris. He’s not evil, and he doesn’t kill people.”

“Well, that’s all well and good,” he mocked, “but sweetie, he’s not human.”

“I won’t be either.”

“Oh bullshit!” Ben charged as his face creased with lines revulsion and disbelief. “What are you saying?”

With a sigh, I held up my hand. “Listen, I don’t have time for this discussion. I have to save them.”

Ben shook his head. “I’m not in the business of saving ‘em, baby doll. I’m afraid you’re talking to the wrong guy.”

“I was bait for you,” I reminded him. “You owe me, damn it!”

“It wasn’t enough I saved your ass last night?”

I stared at him, hoping to find some fault in his logic. Regretfully, I found none. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Consider us even.”

He tipped his hat again. “Anyway, that’s not why I came here.” His fingers traced my jade necklace before he gripped it in his hand and yanked on it, breaking the chain.

“What did you do that for?” I huffed.

“I found some interesting information on this little cross. This, not you, attracted those bloodsuckers into the barn that night.”

My mouth fell open as I stared at the harmless-looking cross. “How?”

“It’s called the Cross of Anguish, and it attracts evil vampires. If somebody gave this to you…well, then I believe that somebody wants you dead.”

I shook my head, recalling the woman on the street. “No, the woman who gave that to me acted like she barely knew what day it was. It couldn’t have been intentional.”

He chuckled. “That’s a pretty dangerous coincidence, sugar.”

Blocking out the thought, I looked him straight in the eye. “You can keep that thing and either stay or go but I have a rescue to plan.”

“Oh, I’m staying, love. Hanging around you is easier than hunting the leeches down these days.”

I nearly smirked. “Fine. Just remember what I said about Draven and his brother.”

In the kitchen, Candy, Tina, and I convened at the table for the expected meeting. We all wore a T-shirt and jeans with a scarf to cover the bandages on our necks. Ben came in but leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

I thought of Draven’s plea and the look on his face when he begged me not to try to find him. The image burnt like a wild fire in the back of my mind. After a moment, I shook my head and added a mental raincloud to douse the flame. I had to find him and do everything I could to get him home safely.

Determined, I scanned the faces of the two girls in front of me. “How are you feeling?”

“We’re good,” Tina said, her eyes unusually sharp.

Candy nodded.

“Good. I’m going to Paris to get Coty, and then I’m going to find the Elders and demand that they let Draven and Armando go. I’ll find a way to fix this.”

“I’m in,” Tina insisted. Her glare alone told me her decision would not be swayed.

Surprised, I turned to Candy who nodded. “You know where my loyalties lay, Milady. I won’t let you go alone, and I owe Draven my life.”

“What are these Elders?” Ben asked.

“A group of ruling vampires who keep all other vampires in line,” Candy explained. “If a vampire breaks the law, the bounty hunters bring them in for a trial. At least, I assume that’s how it works.”

“But they wanted Draven,” I said. “He didn’t commit a crime.”

Candy raised her left shoulder. “I wish I understood, Milady.”

Ben grinned. “Just so you know, Candy, every time you call her that, I picture you two making out.”

She turned to him and smirked as she whispered, “So do I.”

When Ben and Tina broke out laughing, I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. “So we’re all going to France?”