BittenandDefiant (2 page)

After staring at him for an extended second she nodded. “I
will.” With that she sprinted up the steps toward the main floor of the
library.

* * * * *

Bursting through the library doors, Frankie raced down the
steps. As soon as she reached the street she ran for all she was worth. She had
to hurry or she would miss the opportunity she had been hoping for. The meeting
that was about to go down was an important one for the drug dealers involved
and she felt she needed to be there to witness the one arriving.

Also she had to get away from Kellen to analyze what had
just happened. Sure, she’d already decided to have sex with him if necessary. A
means to an end. But that was not what it was. Or was it?

When she was within a block of her destination she slowed
her pace, letting her breathing return to normal. She didn’t know which had her
heart racing more, running full-out for blocks or no-holds-barred sex with a
too-hot-for-her-own-good vampire. But she couldn’t dwell on him now no matter
how much she might want to. She had things to accomplish that were far more
pressing.

Frankie paused in the shadows. She was pleased to see she’d
made it before the start of the meeting. Her reckless behavior hadn’t ruined
her plans. As she checked her pocket to make sure she hadn’t lost her camera at
some point, the car she was waiting for arrived. It was black with tinted
windows and looked damn expensive. Not that she’d expected anything less
considering the business the owner was in.

She flipped on the camera, snapping away as a man emerged
from the back. After giving him enough time to get settled inside the building
he’d entered she stepped into the street, still taking picture after picture.

“Hey, what are you doing there?” one of the men standing
around called. “Stop that. Get away from here.”

Frankie ignored his directive, moving closer instead. “Don’t
you just love historical buildings such as this one? I can’t tell you how often
I’ve walked past here and admired it. The lighting makes it even more
spectacular,” she gushed cheerfully, waving her camera. “Thank goodness I
finally remembered to bring my camera for a change. I’ve been kicking myself
every time I came by without it.”

“Lady, you shouldn’t be here.” A second man joined the
first.

Frankie flashed her most charming smile. “Whyever not? Oh
sure, it’s not the best neighborhood anymore but it hasn’t gotten that bad yet.
Besides, you gentlemen are usually around. You’d come to my rescue if I started
screaming, wouldn’t you?” She paused expectantly, giving them a wide-eyed,
innocent stare.

“Well…” Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the
driver opening his door. “Move along now, ma’am,” he said instead. “You have no
business here.”

“All right but I still say it’s the most beautiful building.
Gosh, I just love the huge windows. And the turrets! Amazing.” She gave them
another huge smile with a tiny wave. “Bye now.”

Frankie strolled off down the street, continuing to take the
occasional photo for effect. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking.
Good thing she’d had the camera to grip. Hopefully she’d managed to hide her
nervousness. Nervousness? Hell, terror was a much more appropriate description
for it.

As she headed home she reconsidered what she was about to
start. It still wasn’t too late to change her mind about harassing the head of
the drug ring responsible for the loss of her family. Only it was. Doing so
would seem disloyal, as if she didn’t care what had happened to them. No, she
had to go through with her plan to force him to admit his guilt. Otherwise
she’d never be able to live with herself.

An hour later Frankie was back in the shadows across the
street from the same building. This time she really was nervous. Nervous but
determined. Finally she was doing something proactive. True, it would never
make up for what she’d lost but at least it was something. And in her mind
something, no matter how insignificant and lame it might seem to some, was
better than nothing. It was his fault and he had to own up to it. Okay, so it
perhaps wasn’t entirely his doing but she had to blame someone and there was no
other choice. Not one who was acceptable to her.

She almost had to laugh at herself. The time she’d spent
choosing the perfect rock for her mission was insane. She shook her head. The
truth was the whole thing was beyond insane, as was she. Taking photos of a
visiting drug lord, wrapping one of the pictures around a rock to throw through
the local drug lord’s window, were not things sane people did. But it didn’t
matter. She was all set. Just as soon as the perfect moment presented itself.
She took a deep breath. Once begun there would be no going back. She would have
to follow it through as long as she could.

Frankie had no idea how long she stood there, motionless,
almost afraid to breathe for fear of drawing attention to herself, ridiculous
though she knew that was. It felt close to forever but it was probably only
half an hour. The men she’d chatted with earlier certainly were diligent. They
held their posts like well-trained attack dogs.

She was nearing panic. What if they stayed put and observant
all night? She had made up her mind. She was ready. If they didn’t wander off
for even a few seconds she wouldn’t have the opportunity she needed. If she
didn’t start this now she didn’t know if she’d have the nerve to try again.

Finally she got what she’d been waiting for. They moved off
to the side of the building. It was time. Frankie shifted into position. All
the hours she’d spent over the last few months, taking out her sorrow and
frustration throwing rocks at the windows in the abandoned building near her
place, were about to pay off.

With a grunt she heaved the rock with the picture wrapped
around it at the window that was most often lit. Her guess was that it was the
study or his office. Even if it wasn’t it would surely be the one occupied and
her deed would be noticed fastest. When the glass shattered it was all she
could do to remember to run. As soon as they saw the photo of the man who had
arrived earlier, going around the back of his car with the license plate
clearly visible, in front of the historical plaque posted on the brick pillar out
front, they would know who had taken it.

Part of her wanted to stick around. At least some of the
yelling would surely take place. But it wouldn’t do to be caught red-handed.
Not this early in her scheme for revenge. One broken window and one picture
weren’t nearly enough. No, he’d caused her more suffering than she ever knew
existed. He needed to have some of it returned. And the best way to do so had
to be interfering with his business. There was no doubt in her mind that she
would die in the end, but if she hurt him in even the smallest way it would be
more than worth it.

As Frankie neared home she felt guilty. Not only had she
broken what really was a lovely window, she’d more likely than not caused some
sort of trouble with at least the first man who she’d encountered earlier if
not both. True, they were thugs who obviously didn’t care about the harm they
were helping to inflict but they were minor in the scheme of things. The only
one she wanted revenge on was the man in charge, the man who made all of it
possible.

By the time she let herself into her apartment Frankie was
in tears. It was started now. There truly was no going back. Her life was
unconditionally guaranteed over. Now if only she knew one way or the other what
to do about Kellen. Perhaps it was wrong of her to involve him in her plan but
the actual participation required from him was negligible and indirect.

One thing for sure, she certainly didn’t expect to like him
as much as she was beginning to. One brief conversation with him had her
fascinated. It showed her how wrong many of her assumptions on vampires were.
Or maybe it was just he who was the exception to what she’d believed. And she
certainly hadn’t anticipated how overwhelming sex with him would be.

When she crawled into bed, exhausted after her adrenaline
rush faded, the last thoughts she had were how it had felt coming on his
incredible cock while she tongued his fangs, how deliciously her pussy was
still throbbing at the memory of being filled with his huge rod, and how much
she wanted more of him.

Frankie drifted through the day in a fog. She had no idea if
she actually accomplished anything at work or not. At least she hadn’t gotten
fired. Not yet anyway. With all that had happened, destroying life as she knew
it, it had become very difficult for her to keep a job. Over the past few
months she’d had several, each more meaningless and mindless than the last.
Soon it wouldn’t matter now that things had begun.

It was just before dark when she went out to look for
Kellen. From observing him over the past few weeks she knew it wasn’t his habit
to feed daily in the library, but she sensed he’d be around anyway. For her.
She was filled with both anticipation and dread at the thought of seeing him
again. There was little chance he’d let her get away without an explanation
again. And now that she’d set things in motion she really couldn’t afford a
delay. If he refused her, she’d have to find someone else immediately or it
would be too late.

Even though she wasn’t entirely sure he’d be around two days
in a row she headed back to the library entrance. It was as good a place as any
to wait while she pondered what she might say. There was so much rolling around
in her mind that she didn’t notice him approaching until he was right in front
of her.

“Heavy thoughts?” he asked almost cautiously, as if he
wasn’t sure he should intrude.

“What?” She was slightly startled by his appearance even
though she’d been hoping for it. “Oh. I guess.”

“You’re frowning. What’s going on, Frankie?” Apparently he’d
decided on the direct approach. “You are waiting for me. Aren’t you?”

“Well. Yes,” she admitted, reminding herself there was no
turning back.

“Come on.” He took her hand but paused, giving her the
chance to refuse.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Someplace more comfortable so we can talk.”

“Okay,” she agreed. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy
telling him all she needed to. She hadn’t really spoken to anyone about any of it
yet. Perhaps sitting on open steps where anyone could listen in wasn’t the best
location for it.

Frankie was once again lost in her thoughts. When Kellen
stopped she realized he’d brought them to a nearby park. It was a place she’d
walked through many times without really seeing. Now that she took a moment to
look around she discovered it was nice. Peaceful almost. A good choice as a
place to sit and talk.

Taking a seat on the closest bench, Frankie sighed. “I
suppose I owe you an explanation.”

“You owe me nothing. Although I admit I am curious.”

“Why are you being so kind?” she blurted.

He smiled. “I have a sense about you. A feeling deep in my
gut. I can’t explain it. There’s just something about you. I don’t know. It’s
as if you’re totally self-contained to the point of isolation. It’s
fascinating. I have no idea what’s going on but I think you might need me
somehow. Do you, Frankie? Need me?”

She studied him in the half-light and nodded slowly. “I
think so.”

Kellen sat and waited for her to continue. It was as if he
sensed how difficult explaining would be and intended to give her all the time
she required.

“My sister was nine years older than I am,” Frankie said
before falling silent.

After a minute Kellen took her hand. “Was?”

“Yes. Was. Kate.” Another pause. “Her daughter, Amber, was
nine years younger.”

“You said ‘was’ again,” he observed.

“Yes. They’re both gone.” Frankie fought back a sob. In all
the months since they’d died it was the first time she’d said it out loud. It
was even more awful than she’d anticipated.

Kellen pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her. He
didn’t speak but seemed to want to offer comfort with his nearness.

“My parents died when I was not quite eight. Car crash. Kate
pretty much raised me even though she had just turned seventeen. She was
wonderful. Strong. Clever. Didn’t even hesitate to fight when they tried to
take me away from her. She convinced them she could handle it and she did. She
filed the petition to become an emancipated teen and won. Then she got custody
of me. She even graduated early so she could go to work full-time.”

“Wow. Seems that she was something special.”

“She was. She was the best. The absolute best. With me
anyway. But she wasn’t so good when it came to guys.”

“Oh?”

“No. She had a knack for choosing the wrong one. Even when I
was a kid I could tell they weren’t going to be good for her. That they’d end
up breaking her heart sooner or later. Amber’s dad was the worst. He was
hateful. Took off as soon as Kate realized she was pregnant, but not before
saying all sorts of horrible things to her.”

“I’m sorry, Frankie.” He brushed away the tears she hadn’t
known were falling.

“Me too,” she said, trying to pull herself together. “Amber
was a beautiful baby. So tiny. Such a sweet, funny kid. She was my niece and my
little sister all at once. Just as Kate was my sister and my sort-of mom. And
they were both my best friends. I helped as much as I could. Tried to do well
in school. Spent most of my free time at home so Kate didn’t have to worry. She
was still mostly a kid herself, but she worked and took care of me and Amber,
so she was very tired. It was the least I could do.”

Frankie stopped to look at him but Kellen merely waited. He
didn’t seem to mind that she was taking the long way, leading up to what she
wanted. But it was necessary for him to understand everything before she got to
her request

“The one argument we had was about college. I wanted to go
to the local community college so I could live at home. Kate refused. See, I’d
gotten a full scholarship to the state university, which was almost three hours
away.”

“She wanted you to have the best opportunity possible,” he
commented.

“Yeah.” Frankie sighed. “In the end she won. After the first
year I didn’t get home all that much on weekends. Then I got an incredible
internship offer for the summer before my senior year.”

“So you weren’t home at all?”

“No.” She sniffled and Kellen tightened his arms. “It wasn’t
until Christmas that I figured out there was something wrong.”

“What was it?”

“Amber. She’d started using drugs.”

“Ah, damn.”

“And she had been for some time. Kate never told me. I would
have talked to her when it first started. She was so young. I would have tried
to help. Gotten her to see the danger she was putting herself in. I don’t know.
Done something.”

“Don’t do that to yourself.”

“What?”

“Blame yourself. I can tell you are. Your involvement sooner
may or may not have made one bit of difference. You can’t torture yourself.”

“No, I suppose not. But I still feel guilty.”

“Frankie, don’t.”

“I know. It isn’t my fault she eventually overdosed.”

“I’m so sorry,” he soothed.

“Thanks,” she finally said after composing herself. “Amber
was extremely pretty. Damn gorgeous actually. She looked much older than she
was. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the line she convinced
herself that a pretty face was all she was. That she had to use it so people
would like her. It was ridiculous but nothing either of us said made any
difference. Kate and I would talk until we were blue in the face, but Amber
would go right back out without hearing a word.”

Kellen seemed a little confused by the direction she was
going but still he let her continue without interrupting. He must have decided
she’d get around to tying it together sooner or later.

“She had been a party girl for years before Kate figured out
she wasn’t at the mall with her girlfriends the whole time she was out, as she
claimed she was.”

“Ah.”

“In the end she was going to fancy parties at the big drug
dealer’s place. We tried to keep her home, away from there. We even sent her to
one of those places for teens who need more help than their families could
provide for a while. No matter what we did she always managed to find a way
out. Kellen, she was trading herself for, for the drugs.” She broke down again.

Kellen held her silently. His hand caressed her back as if
trying to soothe her since he seemed to sense no words could.

“They found her lying in a ditch. Naked. She must have died
at a party while she was, well, doing whatever, and they just tossed her out.
As if she was trash. Disposable.” The fury surged through her once again.

“That’s horrible.”

“Isn’t it? I never thought I’d hate anyone but I do. I hate
that man more than I ever knew possible.”

“Understandably.”

“She was only fifteen when she died. Too young to really
have begun to live.”

Again all he could say was, “I’m sorry.”

“It broke my sister. Kate lost all will to live after that.
She blamed herself. It wasn’t her fault either. I do know that. But it killed
her. I couldn’t help her just like I couldn’t help Amber.”

“What happened?”

“Amber had been found near the State Street Bridge. Kate was
in the habit of walking there and sitting at that spot. One afternoon, on the
way home, I guess she couldn’t handle the grief or the guilt anymore so she
jumped off the bridge. It had just stormed so the river was wild. They found
her downstream all broken up. The drugs killed both of them. Not Kate directly
but they did. If Amber hadn’t started using then they’d both still be here.”

“Aw, Frankie,” Kellen began. “I don’t know what to say other
than I’m sorry.”

“There is nothing to say. Or do. I lost my entire family and
both my best friends. I’m completely alone.”

He sat quietly, holding her while she pulled herself
together. “No, you’re not. You have me now.”

Frankie smiled sadly. “Thanks, but that’s not what I had in
mind.”

“No? What is it then?”

“I want you to turn me into a vampire.”

Kellen almost choked. Her request didn’t seem to be at all
what he was expecting. “You want what? Why?”

“Look, my life is over. But I’m not going without a fight. I
want that bastard who tossed Amber in the ditch to pay.”

“Frankie.”

“No, listen. He got away with it. He killed her. Or his
drugs did. Okay, yes. She could have gotten them anywhere, but she didn’t. She
was an addict and I do know addiction is a disease but she was at his place. He
is ultimately responsible and he has to pay. For Kate too. I want him to admit
that he caused them to die.”

“Frankie, be reasonable.”

“Fine.” She huffed, trying to stand. “If you won’t help me
I’ll find someone who will.”

“Now wait a minute.” He tugged her back down onto the bench.
“I didn’t say that. I just don’t see how making you a vamp will solve
anything.”

“I’ve been watching him. Seeing how I could hurt his
business. Last night I took pictures of one of his associates clearly going
into his place. Then I printed one out, tied it around a rock and threw it
through his window.”

“Holy shit, you have balls.”

She smiled for real. “Thank you. I have a bunch of things
planned to mess with him but I know it won’t be all that long before he finds
out who I am and has me killed. I don’t want it to end that fast. I want to be
around long enough to force him to confess his involvement.”

“You want to be a vamp so you can continue with your
crusade,” he concluded.

“Yes. Can you see the look on his face when he thinks he’s
gotten rid of me and I come back?”

“Yeah, I can but you seem to be overlooking one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Vampires are damn near immortal. What happens when you’re
done with him? You’ll have all of eternity in front of you.”

She studied him for a moment. “Um, not necessarily.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“You can destroy me. When I’m finished. You’re a vampire
yourself so you know how, right? You can turn me into a vampire and then get
rid of me once this is over. That’s all I’m asking of you.”

“Yes, I do know how but I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“That’s asking too much, Frankie. I like you. I can see us
becoming friends. I don’t kill my friends.”

“But you don’t know me. And you don’t have to. Just bite me,
or whatever you need to do, then I’ll find you once he’s ruined and you can
kill me.”

“Frankie.” He sighed.

“Okay. Fine. Sorry I bothered you.” She started to leave but
again he prevented her.

“Where are you going?”

“You won’t help me so I’m going to find someone who will.
There’s that kind of smarmy, dark-haired guy who hangs out near the waterfront.
Maybe he will.”

“Justus? You’ve spied on him?”

“A couple of times.” She shrugged. “He seems a little
violent but maybe that’s good. He probably won’t mind getting rid of me when
the time comes.”

“If you watched him before you’re damn lucky he hasn’t
killed you already. As a rule vamps don’t tolerate observers while we’re
feeding.”

“You did.”

“Only you. Because you fascinated me. I wouldn’t allow it
with anyone else.”

“Oh.” She considered his words. “So what do I do? If you
won’t help me…”

“I will help you. Just not by turning you.”

“No. I can’t let you do that. Thank you, but I have to be
the one to destroy him. Can you think of anyone else who might be willing to
turn me into a vampire?”

“Hell no! Not that I’d tell you about. And you’re not going
looking either.”

“But…”

“No, Frankie. No. There’s no way I’m letting you do that.
We’ll just have to figure out some other option.”

“There is no other way. He’ll kill me too fast for me to
have any effect.”

“Dammit, no. I can’t let you do this.”

“It’s not your choice. Well, the turning-me-into-a-vampire
part is but not the rest. You’re not involved in that.”

“The hell I’m not. You asked, which means I am involved. In
all of it. Like it or not, I’m in now.”