Authors: Emma Holly
Tags: #Ghost stories, #Vampires, #Horror, #Paranormal, #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal romance stories, #Motion picture producers and directors, #Occult fiction, #Ghosts, #Occult & Supernatural, #Love stories
Angel at Dawn (35 page)
“God,” he said, his tone so dark and thrilling it made her wet. “You have no idea how much I want to make love to you. How much I want to slide inside you and have you know who I am.”
She spread her hands across the small of his back. “I want that, too, Christian.”
“Give me your key. Before I crush your doorknob.”
She had to fumble in her purse, but she found it. With one arm, he held her tight against him as he used it, that big male ridge digging into her belly insistently. When he had it open, he lifted her off her feet and walked her inside.
“Your clothes are history,” he warned her, kicking the door shut. “I’ve been waiting to do this for half a millennium. You’ll be lucky if you can walk tomorrow.”
“I’ll be lucky if I can’t,” she gasped.
He laughed, but the sound was tight. He groaned her name and licked up her neck.
“I love that,” she cried, clutching his shoulders. “Oh, God, I love that.”
The kitchen telephone rang shrilly.
“No,” he growled. “We are not postponing this again.”
“What if it’s your friend? What if he found my father?”
He cursed more than she was used to and picked it up. As before, the call was for him.
“Slow down, Charlie,” he said, his fingers tunneling with frustration into his hair. Grace thought it unfair that he looked sexy doing it. “I don’t understand what you’re saying about Viv.”
“Something happened to Viv?”
He put up a hand to request patience. “Which hospital did they take her to?”
A
s Grace and Christian rushed out of the cottage, Miss Wei was vaulting—high heels and all—into her pink Fury. Grace felt oddly embarrassed to see her, now that she knew she was a vampire and had been lying to her for years. Her boss looked surprisingly at home behind the wheel.
s Grace and Christian rushed out of the cottage, Miss Wei was vaulting—high heels and all—into her pink Fury. Grace felt oddly embarrassed to see her, now that she knew she was a vampire and had been lying to her for years. Her boss looked surprisingly at home behind the wheel.
“You heard?” Miss Wei flung her white silk scarf back around her neck. “I just got off the phone with Philip.”
“We heard,” Christian said. His hand rubbed Grace’s elbow. “Why don’t we meet at the hospital?”
Under normal circumstances, Grace would have volunteered to chauffeur her boss. Chances were she still should. Instead, she edged an inch closer to Christian.
Miss Wei furrowed her brow at her. “Are you all right, Grace? You left the set without saying goodbye.”
“Yes,” she said, sure she sounded unnaturally stiff. “I’m just worried about Viv.”
Miss Wei’s head tilted like a bird’s. “Very well. I’ll see you both there.”
Christian let her pull out of the curving drive before he started his Thunderbird. For the first few minutes of their journey, he was silent.
Seeming unsure whether he should change that, he rubbed his chin and shot a quick glance at her. “The queen truly cares about you, you know. I don’t think she’d hurt you.”
“She bit your father’s men to make them stronger. She ensured your side wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight. And she did this for no better reason than wanting you to be hers.”
“I know.” Christian’s hands shifted on the wheel. “Believe me, I don’t like being in the position of defending her.”
“Then don’t.”
“She’s changed, Grace. Maybe not completely, but some. God knows she can be ruthless, but neither of us would make the same choices we did then.”
Grace looked out the window. She didn’t want to be forgiving. The emotions she felt toward Christian might be confused, but one thing she knew for sure: the way Miss Wei had treated him and his friends was wrong. She hadn’t been fighting for her country or defending her life; she’d simply wanted to claim someone who’d said no to her.
“We should be focusing on Viv now,” she said aloud.
Christian reached out to squeeze her leg. “We can do that,” he said.
A
s Christian and Grace pulled into the hospital parking lot, they spotted half a dozen clustered paparazzi with their big-flashed cameras strung around their necks. Someone must have tipped them off about a passing driver’s call for an ambulance. Eighteen-year-old Viv Lavelle being rescued from the roadside, fall-down drunk and beaten up, was big news.
s Christian and Grace pulled into the hospital parking lot, they spotted half a dozen clustered paparazzi with their big-flashed cameras strung around their necks. Someone must have tipped them off about a passing driver’s call for an ambulance. Eighteen-year-old Viv Lavelle being rescued from the roadside, fall-down drunk and beaten up, was big news.
“Shoot,” Grace said, shutting the convertible’s door behind her. “Why do they have to be such vultures?”
“Nim Wei is with them.” Christian took her arm and pointed. “You don’t have to worry about them being vultures much longer.”
When she looked closer, Grace saw her petite employer had been hidden by the circle of reporters. She appeared to be speaking calmly to each of them—too calmly, actually. There might have been a faint glow around her, like a misty halo. The paparazzi looked to be hanging on every word.
“What’s she doing?”
“Thralling them. We can do that to most humans who meet our eyes.”
“Well, that
is
like the books and movies.” She remembered Charlie’s not-so-minor accident with the Harley. “You did that to Charlie and the boys! You made them think he hadn’t broken his leg.”
is
like the books and movies.” She remembered Charlie’s not-so-minor accident with the Harley. “You did that to Charlie and the boys! You made them think he hadn’t broken his leg.”
“I can’t thrall you. Nim Wei blocked my influence.”
“But I—”
“You convinced yourself you didn’t see what you saw.”
“I’ve been very stupid,” Grace said slowly.
“Stubborn,” Christian corrected, his lips curving crookedly. “And determined. But at least you know that . . . whatever you feel about me, it’s really you feeling it.”
They’d stopped at the end of a row of cars. Christian used his gentle hold on her elbow to remind her to continue. As they passed Miss Wei, she acknowledged them with a nod.
Christian leaned down to Grace’s ear. “She says she’ll wait outside to head off any more reporters.”
“She can talk to you telepathically?”
“If I let her,” Christian said darkly.
Though she’d been the one to advise it, Grace was having difficulty focusing on their female star.
“Are you afraid of crosses?” she couldn’t resist asking as they crossed the hospital lobby.
“No.”
“Stakes?”
“Not wooden ones.” He steered them onto an elevator.
“I know you go out during the day.”
“Hush,” he said as two interns joined them.
“Bats?”
“
No
,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
No
,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Grace shuddered in relief. She didn’t think she’d like it if he turned into one. Then another thought occurred to her. “Bugs?”
His eyebrows shot up. Grace lowered her voice. “Like that fellow Renfield. You wouldn’t, um, make your human friends eat spiders?”
Christian’s laugh snorted out his nose. Luckily, the elevator doors opened and he nudged her out. “I promise you, Grace, I wouldn’t find that any more appealing than you do.”
They remembered they shouldn’t be amused when a formidable-looking nurse stepped into their path. Her hair was improbably blonde and unconvincingly roller curled. She crossed arms as sturdy as a blacksmith’s across her ample chest. The door to what Grace presumed was Viv’s room was behind her. Christian’s vampire powers must have led him here.
“Who are you two?” the nurse demanded.
“Christian Durand and Grace Michaels,” Christian supplied.
“I’m Miss Wei’s assistant.”
“Her second in command,” Christian clarified.
Wade was closer to being that than Grace was, but the nurse nodded, satisfied. Grace glanced at Christian to see if he was using his tricks on her. Unable to tell—possibly the glowing mist effect didn’t show under fluorescents—she turned her attention back to the nurse.
She’d planted her hands on her generous hips. “That poor lamb consumed a lot of liquor, then got herself whaled on good. She was crying and raving when she came in here, but she’s sobered up some. You can talk to her if she’ll see you.”
They found Charlie, Philip, and Matthew already inside, having snuck or charmed their way in. Grace couldn’t restrain her sympathetic hiss when she caught her first glimpse of Viv. Someone had really lost control with her. Grace didn’t remember ever looking this bad after her father had beaten her. The head of the bed was raised, so Viv was sitting. She seemed weak, but she was awake.
“Oh, great,” the actress said as if she weren’t bruised and purpled all over. “More ghouls to hover over me.”
Charlie gave Grace the seat by the bed. Hardly knowing what to do, Grace took it and laid her hand over Viv’s bare, mistreated arm.
Defensive injuries,
she thought. Viv fought her attacker. None of her bones were broken, though her left eye was swollen shut. She looked about twelve years old without her makeup. Appearances notwithstanding, Viv seemed determined not to drop her wisecracking attitude.
Defensive injuries,
she thought. Viv fought her attacker. None of her bones were broken, though her left eye was swollen shut. She looked about twelve years old without her makeup. Appearances notwithstanding, Viv seemed determined not to drop her wisecracking attitude.
She cocked her head to indicate Charlie. “Promise me you won’t let him use this as an excuse to steal
my
part.”
my
part.”
“As if you’d let me,” he retorted. “You cling to every line, tooth and nail.”
His worried eyes sent a different message. Viv bared her teeth mockingly at him. To Grace, the pair acted more like brother and sister than people who’d once been intimate. Not seeing how their squabbling was useful, Grace smoothed back the actress’s hair. Christian was standing behind Grace’s chair. The hand he settled on her shoulder made it easier to speak.
“Viv,” she said. “What the heck happened?”
“You heard the nurse: I got myself whaled on.”
“Come on,” Grace said. “That’s not a real answer.”
Viv pulled a disparaging face, wincing as the movement irritated a tender spot. “I broke up with one of the old farts. His pride couldn’t take it. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a darn big deal,” Grace protested. “No one should be allowed to do this to you.”
Grace’s kindness broke the girl’s defenses. Her nose turned pink a second before her eyes spilled over. Viv lifted one arm to wipe the not-so-little Forrester tears away. As she did, Grace spied her missing bracelet watch on Viv’s wrist, complete with its unmistakable movie-themed charms. She drew an automatic breath to exclaim about it, then realized it being there likely meant Viv had stolen it.
Now was not the time to accuse Viv of theft. Unfortunately, Grace didn’t hide her reaction soon enough for Viv to miss it.
Viv’s resultant smile was both cynical and resigned. “Boys,” she said, “why don’t you let Grace and I talk girl stuff for a while.”
Christian’s hand tightened on Grace’s shoulder. “I’ll stay, too, if you don’t mind.”
Viv’s mouth twisted. “I don’t suppose you’re giving me a choice. Fine.” She waved her hand. “Everybody else: out of here.”
Charlie didn’t leave as quickly as the others. He stopped at the door to jab one finger toward Christian. “The police couldn’t squeeze anything out of her. We’re counting on you to get to the bottom of this.”
Grace didn’t know what to say once they were alone. Viv heaved a bitter sigh.
“Yes, I stole your watch,” she said. “I broke into your cottage. That’s why I was late to the read-through. I wouldn’t let the nurses take it from me when they brought me here.”
“But why?”
Viv rolled her eyes at Christian. “I wager he can guess.”
If he could, he wasn’t sharing. Viv sighed again.
“I thought you were like me, Grace,” she said. “You never let the boys get anywhere with you. I wanted a piece of you to carry around. Like Matthew and Philip and their damn shoes.”
“Oh,” Grace said, the light finally dawning. “I—I didn’t know. Viv, I’m sorry.”
“Obviously,
sorry
wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.”
sorry
wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.”
No eighteen-year-old should have looked as timeworn as Viv did then. She wasn’t embarrassed; she was weary of life itself. “Why didn’t you tell us not to set you up on those dates?”
“Oh, please,” Viv said. “I can’t tell people what I am. My career is teetering on oblivion as it is. Being a former child star is too close to being a laughingstock.”
“But, Viv, you’re really talented.”
Viv shook her head. “That won’t matter if this gets out.”
“Viv,” Christian said. “You need to tell us who did this.”
“I can’t. He’s too big a name. He’ll retaliate.”
“I can find out without your help. You’ve only been dating three or four actors.”
Viv’s stare was every bit as cool as his, though Grace suspected the reasons for their icy faces were different. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t. He’ll make sure everyone knows there’s something wrong with me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” The edge in Christian’s voice was abruptly hot. “It’s the world that needs to grow up.”
Viv turned her head to the wall, away from him. Christian stepped around Grace and braced his hands on her bedrail.
“Sweetie,” he said, reminding Grace with that single word that he was not the same age as his costar. “I know you think you’re as hard as nails, but you need help handling this.”
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