BloodlustandMetal (4 page)

Layla also wore a lot of silver jewelry. I guessed it was
some other metal or even plastic. Silver had an incapacitating effect on
vampires. It burned them and sapped their powers. Vampires and silver didn’t
mix, which is why I had special ropes in my arsenal. A thin rope with silver
chains embroidered throughout it. With it, I could bind my prey, rendering them
almost powerless, without burning their flesh.

A vision of having Layla tied up entered my mind. Instead of
the satisfaction of having caught her, my response was far more erotic in
nature.

Luckily this wasn’t one of the clubs that had a metal
detector at the front door. It was still underground enough and far enough away
from the city to have the illusion of safety.

I looked around for the exits, preparing for whatever might
ensue.

As if reading my mind earlier about Nirvana, she sang
About
a Girl
,one of their earlier songs from the
Bleach
album.

While I watched Layla sing, I felt someone’s eyes on me. The
guitarist. Watching me closely as if assessing me. I got the impression that he
wasn’t happy about me being here. Why? Did he consider me a threat? If so, for
what reason—her safety or her affections? I saw how they flirted onstage during
that Van Halen song. If that was staged, they were both quite convincing.

He wasn’t a supernatural creature, that much I determined.
Nothing but a regular human. His interest in me then sparked other questions in
my mind about their relationship. Were they sleeping together? The thought made
my heart quicken.

Why? What did I care who a vampire slept with anyway?

I tried to dismiss his interest in me as protecting his
buddy. Perhaps he was protective of her since they were in a band together,
after all. A woman in a band with a bunch of guys. He had to know she’d be hit
on regularly and he’d look out for her.

Or perhaps he sensed that I was a danger to Layla.

I didn’t see how an ordinary mortal could have the capacity
to understand the motive or nature of a shapeshifter or vampire so I dismissed
that thought rather quickly.

Humans! They don’t even know we exist although we’ve lived
among them for centuries.

I kept it in mind to keep an eye out for the guitarist
before I went for Layla. He could pose trouble.

Bloodlust Diamond played a number of other songs—Guns n’
Roses, the Scorpions, Ratt, Bon Jovi. At the end of the set, Layla said good
night and thanks for coming. She mentioned upcoming gigs in New York and
Philadelphia in the next few weeks.

Might not want to buy your tickets tonight, people.
Especially if there’s no money back guarantee if the band doesn’t play.

Depending on how Stefano would take care of Layla once I
brought her to him, Bloodlust Diamond might have to look for a new singer again
real soon.

After Layla left the stage, I watched as the fans descended
on her and the rest of the band. That was okay. Let them have their moment and
then the crowd would thin out. The fewer people around, the better.

Layla Costa, I’m coming for you.

I walked straight up to her and said, “Hello, Angelica.”

She appeared flustered at first, which pleased me. “Hi.
Devon.” She twirled one of her black-and-white strands around her index finger.
“You’re back. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What can I say? I’m a fan.” I smiled in a way I hoped was
more seductive than overzealous.

“I guess so,” she said.

“Can I buy you a drink?” I asked.

She looked around. There were definitely other people who
wanted to speak to her, but she said “Sure” in an almost breathless tone.

I took her hand boldly as I led her to the bar. The warmth
of her hand struck me and once again I was reminded how my presumptions of
vampires being cold to the touch were unfounded.

Or maybe it was just Layla. Oddly enough, I didn’t cringe at
the thought of touching her, but craved it.

“What would you like to drink?” I asked her.

“Oh, how about a Tempting Fate,” she said.

I smiled. Yes, she certainly was tempting fate tonight. Her
fate was inextricably linked with mine from this moment on. Now that I had her
hand in mine, I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight.

After I ordered her drink and a beer for me, I saw the
guitarist watching us. He walked over to us and said, “Hey, Layla. Everything
all right?” He eyeballed me.

“Yes, Joey.” Her voice took on a hardened edge. “Don’t worry
about me. Everything’s fine.”

He glared at me again as if sending me a warning. I stared
right back. As if a human could intimidate me.

Humans were funny. He wouldn’t have much of an impact on
someone like me. The human male bravado, especially when it was exacerbated by
alcohol, was a toxic mix.

Still, I’d better keep a watch out for him. I couldn’t have
some stupid human interfering with my plans now that I had her within my reach.

Finally that bloody fool walked away.

“How long have you been singing with the band?” I asked.

She squinted before answering. “I thought you were a big
fan. Do you already know the answer and are just making small talk? Or do you
really not know?”

How to play this? Stay in character or come clean?

“You caught me,” I said, trying to appear embarrassed as if
caught in a lie. “I don’t know much about the band or the music. I heard you
singing last night and wanted a chance to talk to you. Asking for your
autograph seemed like the best way to approach you.”

“Why not just say hi?”

“I don’t know. Good question.”

She blinked a couple of times before speaking. “What did you
want to talk to me about?”

“Something about you intrigued me. I wanted to get to know
you better.”

“In other words, you’re just trying to sleep with me.”

“I didn’t say that, you did!” I protested. “What I said was
I wanted to get to know you better.”

She appeared unconvinced. “Now you have me here with you.”
She took a sip. “So what do you want to know?”

“It’s too loud in here. And it’s a beautiful night outside.
Want to get outside for a minute?”

She hesitated and I thought she was about to shoot me down,
but then she said, “Just for a few minutes.” She looked around the club. “I’ll
have to tell my bandmates. If they don’t see me here, they’ll worry.”

“I don’t blame them. Lots of creeps out there.”

“Sometimes I think it’s part of the whole ‘we have a girl in
the band, we have to take care of her’ thing. I don’t think they worry so much
about each other.”

“It can’t be all that bad though, can it? Must be nice when
someone cares about you.”

She turned to me. “The way you say it makes it sound like
nobody cares about you.”

“Just a statement. Go ahead and tell one of the guys. I’ll
wait for you out front.”

She walked to the guitarist. Figures, it had to be him.
While she spoke to him, I made my way to door. I could almost feel his eyes
shooting daggers at my back. Out front, I counted slowly, trying to slow my
racing heartbeat. Maybe the guitarist would change her mind. Or he’d come out
here and tell me to stay away from her.

When I reached the number one hundred forty-five, Layla came
out.

“You made it.”

“It wasn’t easy. One of the guys gave me a hard time about
leaving with a stranger.”

“We won’t be long. Let’s walk around the block. It’s so much
nicer out here than it is in there. A beautiful spring night.”

She scanned the warehouses surrounding us as if unconvinced
about the scenery, but then closed her eyes and breathed in the air. “Yeah,
it’s nice out.”

I reached for her hand again and was thrilled that she
didn’t pull away. Her hand fit perfectly in mine. A small, warm thing that sent
jolts of pleasure through me.

It’s only adrenaline. That’s all.

“Are you just visiting the US?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Just a little while. Taking care of some business.”

“Oh,” she said and cocked her head. “What do you do for a
living?”

“I work for myself.”

“Doing what?”

“I take care of my clients.”

Her brows furrowed. “Take care of them how?”

“Why? Are you in need of some help?”

“No. Just curious. And find it odd that you haven’t answered
me straight out.”

“My clients pay me good money for my discretion.”

“Hmm. Now I’m intrigued. Illegal off-shore accounts?” She
looked me up and down. “You don’t look the type to want to deal with bank
accounts all day. Drug deals?”

“I’m offended,” I said with a smile to let her know I wasn’t
serious. “Do I look like a drug dealer to you?”

“Sorry. You can’t blame me for being curious, can you?”

“Let’s talk about you. How did you end up the singer of a
metal band?”

It was her turn to be evasive. “It just sort of—happened.”

“Hold on one sec. This is my car. Let me grab something.” I
looked around to make sure nobody was watching us, especially the guitarist. I
wouldn’t put it past him to follow us. But I didn’t see or scent any sign of
him. I opened the back door on the passenger side.

The streets were empty. One good thing about the club being
in the warehouse district was that most businesses were closed and the
neighborhood was quiet by night. The only people out here at this time were the
clubgoers.

“What do you need to get?” she asked.

I leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Her eyes
fluttered close. This was supposed to be part of my ruse, a simple tactic to
distract her, but when my lips met hers, I was the one who became distracted.
Her lips were even softer than I imagined and tasted like sweet strawberries.
Her scent was the one I’d picked up at Stefano’s place and now inhaling it in
her presence, it had an even greater impact on me, a devastatingly disarming
effect.

Forcing myself to get back into the game, I took her hands
and put them on my chest, guiding them as she stroked down my torso. God, it
felt good to have her little hands touch me that way. But that wasn’t why I had
her do it. With her hands in front of me right where I wanted them, I pulled
out the rope and wrapped it around both wrists before she knew what was
happening.

She reacted as quickly as I expected any vampire to, but it
was too late, the silver was already on her wrists, binding her.

“What are you doing!”

I pushed her into the backseat. I slammed the door shut just
as she tried to rebound from being thrown down and tried to kick me.

I shot around to the driver’s side and opened it to grab the
duct tape I’d stashed underneath the front seat. She was trying to unbind
herself from the rope, but the silver slowed her progress.

I opened the back door and she screamed. “Who are you? Let
me out of here! Help!” She extended her fangs and lunged forward to bite me.

I taped her mouth shut with the duct tape and then wrapped
some around her wrists to fortify the restraints. Her purse had fallen off her
shoulder, dangling down her arm but not falling off due to the restraints. I
unzipped it and pulled out her cell phone, stashing it in my pocket. She
thrashed around in the backseat, kicking her combat boots my way. Seeing her
writhing around like that excited me in more ways than I wanted to admit.

“Stop that or I’ll throw you in the trunk. And I warn you, I
have plenty of silver back there.”

She stopped thrashing, panting wildly and spewing hatred
from her eyes. They blazed red around the brown pupils now, the vampire in her
clearly furious.

“The calmer you are, the easier this will be for everyone.
Especially you.”

She looked around the streets for someone to see her
predicament and come to her rescue.

“Sorry, sweetheart. But a job’s a job.”

I took one pair of handcuffs and fastened one restrained
wrist to a handle on the back door. Then I took another pair and tried to
fasten them around her ankles. Her combat boots were too bulky so I used the
duct tape to hold them together.

Before I climbed out of the backseat, I caught her eyes. In
the blazing look she gave me, I imagined she was plotting how to kill me and
get away.

Joey

Angelica was going to be pissed when I went looking for her
because she said she’d be right back. But minutes had passed. How long did that
mean anyway? When you told someone you’d be right back, you’d figure a few
minutes, right?

I tapped my foot, trying to be patient, but kept checking
the time. I tried to distract myself by scanning the club. Whoever designed
this place had a thing for gargoyles. Not that I had a problem with that. It
was better decor than the club in Boston I used to go to where they used fake
rats as decorations.

A few more minutes passed. Enough, I’d waited long enough.
When Studley asked, “Where you goin’?” I ignored him. He’d give me shit if I
told him. I had to go and make sure she was all right.

On the way out, I asked the bouncer, “Did you see our singer
come back in?”

“Who’s the singer? We have lots of bands playing these
days.”

“A woman. Totally hot. Black hair on one side, white on the
other, and all kinds of stripes thrown in. She was wearing a little white lacy
dress. And combat boots.”

I was hoping by being that specific, it would ring a bell. A
lot of women wearing tiny outfits and having outrageous hairstyles tonight so
whether it would jolt anything might be a long shot.

“Oh yeah, the stripes in her hair. Some of these women do
some crazy shit…” His voice trailed off.

“Well? Did you see her come back in?”

He grasped his chin and looked off at the front door. “She
left with a guy, I think. Big guy. Lots of tattoos. They said they’d be right
back so I stamped their hands.”

“So did they? Come right back?”

“Nah. I don’t think so.” He looked at his watch. “It wasn’t
that long ago now that I think about it. They’ll probably be back soon.”

“I’ll be right back,” I said, rushing to the door.

“You need a stamp,” he called after me.

“I’m in the goddamn band tonight,” I said. “I’ll be right
back.” I pushed out the door and looked from left to right. A couple of smokers
to my right, but no signs of them.

“Have you seen a woman with black-and-white hair walk by?”

“No. Just got out here, man,” one of the smokers said.

I tried not to run as I hustled down the pavement along the
buildings. Which way had they gone?

A sleek black Nissan drove by and although the windows were
dark, I caught the eye of the driver. It was that guy she’d left with. At least
he was alone as she wasn’t in the passenger seat. I hated the thought of her
going home with him. He looked away and sped up. I hope she told him to fuck
off.

I must have gone in the wrong direction and missed Angelica
on her way back to the club. Feeling somewhat foolish, I trekked back to Vamps.
If anyone asked me where I’d been, I would say I went out for air.

Back inside, the bouncer said, “No luck?”

My face must have dropped at the same moment every muscle in
my body tensed up.

“She didn’t come back?” I asked.

“Not yet.”

Where the fuck was she? I walked outside again and pulled
out my cell phone. I hesitated for another second, knowing she’d give me a hard
time for keeping tabs on her again, but I didn’t care. I called her.

Her phone rang and rang. Why wasn’t she answering? After
several more rings, it went into her voice mail.

“Hi, this is Angelica. You know what to do.”

“Hey, Angelica, it’s me, Joey. Call me when you get this.”

Layla

Sonovabitch!

Who the fuck was this guy and what did he want with me?

My mind flickered over various options: rape, murder,
kidnapping, extortion, robbery, blackmail, torture… Since he bound me with
silver, did he know I was a vampire? Was he one of those freaks on a quest to
stamp out all nonhumans?

When I heard my cell phone ring, I perked up. Someone was
calling me. Then I realized I had no way of getting it, my mouth was taped
shut.

“You’re not going to need this anymore,” he said, pulling
over to the side of the road.

I maneuvered my body up for a second, straining against the
restraints, to see where he’d parked. We appeared to be near a seawall.

I tried to ask, “What are you doing?” but with my mouth
taped, my sentence resulted in an indecipherable mumble.

No, don’t throw it in.

He stepped out of the car and out of the corner of my eye I
caught the throwing movement of his arm. I listened to hear the sound of the
phone hitting the ocean, but never heard a thing. A tiny phone into an enormous
ocean—it probably wouldn’t even register a sound.

He climbed back into the driver’s seat and drove again.

Where the fuck is he taking me?

I tried to focus on landmarks, road signs, anything that
would help me figure out where we were. At my angle lying down, it was difficult
to make out much in the darkness of the night.

Night. It was still dark, but how much time did we have left
before the dawn? The sun would burn me. Kill me as effectively as a stake
through the heart. I’d never seen what happened to a vampire who faced
sunlight, but imagined the pain involved in burning to death was not a good way
to go.

Did we burst into flames? Or was it a slow, agonizing
smolder from within, burning the vampire from the inside out?

Was there even a body left once the sun had done its job?
Maybe a pile of ashes? Or did the vampire disappear from existence?

My heart was racing and my breathing was more erratic as I
pictured a vampire’s destruction—possibly my own destruction. I had to focus on
something other than my inevitable fiery end by the sun if we didn’t seek cover
soon. More questions about my captor came up. Why had he kidnapped me? He hated
vampires and wanted me to perish in the sun?

An image of my burning body entered my mind again and I
forced it out before I had a full-blown panic attack.

Or did he think I was human and he took me for some other
purpose? If so, how could I warn him about the sun before it was too late for
me? I thrashed around on the backseat trying to get his attention.

“You’re just wasting energy,” he said. “You can move all you
want back there, but it’s not going to help you escape.”

Fuck him. I thrashed around again, more out of frustration
than anything else. He was right, I was bound so tightly I couldn’t get out. A
vampire stronger than I might be able to break through this, but then again,
there was something draining me of my strength, making me feel weak.

He must have used silver, that was the only thing I could
imagine that would have this effect on my strength. If so, where was it? I
looked around, but then he spoke.

“Sweetheart,” he said. “I know you’re wondering what the
fuck is going on and I’ll tell you in a minute. But you need to stop going
crazy back there. It’s not going to help your situation.”

“Fuck you!” I tried to say, but once again, it came out more
of a moan than actual words.

I caught a sign for Boston, which meant we were heading
south. It looked like we were headed for the highway.

“I know what you are. You’re a vampire and if I don’t get
you under cover before sunrise, your hot little body will be fried to a messy
crisp come dawn. Don’t worry, that’s not going to happen. I’m not here to
murder you and I’m not here to rape you or anything like that. What I am going
to do is bring you back to the person who hired me.”

Who the fuck would hire someone to bring me back?

Before I finished the sentence in my head, the answer was
clear. The vampire whom I was hiding from. The one who thought I had stolen
from him. The one whose bodyguards, Lee and Garrett, warned me to run before he
found me. Because he didn’t wait for excuses and he’d kill me before I even had
a chance to proclaim my innocence.

Stefano.

“You stole a lot of money from a vampire who isn’t very
forgiving,” Devon said. If that was even his name. “And he paid me a lot of
money to bring you back to him.”

He didn’t say anything for another minute or two. “Here’s a
good spot.” I didn’t know if he was talking to me or to himself. I looked out
the windows, but didn’t see anything besides trees and darkness.

Where the hell are we?

He stopped the car and turned back to face me. “If you tell
me where Stefano’s painting is, it will make this trip a lot easier for you. I
know you sold it by now. I could tell Stefano that I not only have you, but the
money. Maybe he will be in a better mood by the time we arrive in London.”

He got out of the car and opened the back door. Then he tore
the tape off my mouth and said, “Tell me where it is.”

With the freedom to speak again, I unleashed all my
questions and terror and explanations.

“I don’t have the money. I didn’t take the painting. Who the
fuck are you and where are you taking me? Take this shit off me and let me get
out of this fucking car!”

“One more chance,” he said. “Where’s the money?”

“Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit!”

He laughed and tried to put the tape on my mouth again. I
squirmed and attempted to bite his hands, but couldn’t get a grip on him. My
fangs grew and he said, “Get those nasty things away from me.” He covered my
mouth with the tape despite me moving my head frantically to avoid it.

He left my line of vision and then I heard him open the
trunk. I tried to see what he was doing, but could only see the open trunk
door. After he slammed it shut, he came to the backseat again, this time with a
needle in this hand.

I scrambled frantically to get away, which was useless.

“Sorry, sweetheart. But I need you docile for the journey.”
He stuck the needle into my arm and I tried to scream. “Hey, it’ll actually be
better for you. You get to sleep the whole way.”

I looked at him with eyes blazing with fury. The world was
growing darker and I was suddenly so tired.

When I get the chance, I’m going to kill this guy with my
bare hands!

No, I’ll suck every last drop of blood out of him until
he falls dead to the floor.

Then the drug took its hold on me. Whatever it was had to
specially created for vampires since most drugs didn’t have any effect on us.
Then I was dead to the world.

Joey

Back in Vamps, I found the guys. “You haven’t seen Layla,
have you?”

“She was around earlier. She’s probably around here
somewhere,” Mark said.

“No. She went outside to talk with that guy, the one I
warned her about in the van yesterday. He came back tonight.”

“So they’re probably talking,” Rocco said. Then he turned to
Mark and in an exaggerated whisper said, “Code word for banging against the
side of the building.”

Mark laughed. “Those are my favorite kinds of conversations.
Hmm, I’m feeling kind of talkative right now. Let me see if there’s a fine-ass
chick here who looks like she’d be a good conversationalist.”

“This is serious,” I said. “I went outside to make sure she
was okay and—”

“Oh come on,” Mark said. “You know she’s gonna freak when
she hears you’re following her around like that.”

“Man, you two need to bang to get it over with. Get it out
of your system,” Mark said. “Or you need to give up this obsession you have
with her.”

“I’m not obsessed with her!” I said, sounding defensive even
to myself. “Stop interrupting me. I went outside and I didn’t see her. But I
saw that guy driving away. Alone. And when I asked the bouncer if Angelica had
come back in, he said no.”

“She probably went to get some air.”

“She didn’t answer her cell phone.”

Rocco coughed to cover him saying “stalker”.

“Shut up, Rocco. Obviously something’s up. She’s in
trouble.”

“How is that obvious?” Mark said. “She went for a walk to be
alone and get a breather after a show. She sees you calling—harassing her—just
when she’s trying to get away from everyone. So she doesn’t answer the phone.”

Was I really that bad? So much of a bother that she’d ignore
my calls?

“Maybe you’re right,” I said.

“Have a beer and relax, dude. You’re all hopped up after the
show.”

I ordered a beer from the gorgeous bartender with pink hair.

Rocco leaned in to whisper to me while she went to get my
drink. “The best outlet for all that excess energy is getting laid.” He nodded
to the bartender. “She looks like the perfect cure for any ailment.”

As she returned with my beer, I smiled. “Thanks, doll.
What’s your name?”

Maybe the guys were right. I should relax, have a beer and
find a hot body to warm my bed tonight. Ooh, she had nice tits…

“It isn’t doll,” she said without smiling and dashed off to
take care of another customer.

So maybe she wouldn’t be the one. I surveyed the bar area
and the dance floor. Most of the women who had surrounded us after the set were
now out there dancing.

“Scoping the goods?” Mark said.

“Might as well,” I replied. “It doesn’t do me much good
worrying about someone who clearly doesn’t want me meddling in her life.”

“That’s the spirit,” Rocco said, patting me on the back.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t
right. I checked my phone to see if I’d missed a return call from Angelica. No
calls. I forced her out of my mind and focused on the women in the club.

Devon

I drove us to a hangar where Stefano had arranged for our
transportation back to London. He had to have big money and connections to
coordinate this trip. Especially on a jet designed for vampires. All sunlight
was kept out of the passenger area to allow for a safe passage by day.

“I’m Devon St. Clair. I have the prisoner as Mr. Napoli
directed.”

If the pilot was surprised to see me bring a woman bound and
unconscious onto the jet, he didn’t show it.