Microsoft Word - The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.doc (21 page)

“Maybe so, but this one is old. And it rots, just like the ones  we encountered in the underground lab.” She hesitated. “You  don’t think it could be the same ones, do you?”

“I  doubt it. The Directorate cleaned that whole place out,

didn’t they?”

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“Yeah, but who’s to say one didn’t escape?”

“It still makes no sense for it to come here.”

“It does if it wants revenge for its kits and partner being  killed. It might well hold us responsible because we discovered  them.”

It was possible. While chameleons were often considered little more than basic animals, that wasn’t based on any actual scientific evidence, as the creatures were elusive and difficult to study. And this creature
 
had
 
led them here. That in itself suggested a high degree of intelligence.

“In which case this trap will be a well-prepared one.

Perhaps you should retreat and call in the Directorate,” he said.

“Leaving you to face this thing alone.” It was flatly said,

and the air fairly burned with her disapproval.

“Riley, I have an advantage over these ”
–

“Quinn, I’m not going to walk away and leave you to face

this thing alone.”

Annoyance rolled through him, and he was tempted,
 
so
tempted, to roll her with power  –  forcing her to leave, and therefore keeping her safe. But she would never appreciate the concern behind such an action. Indeed, even if he succeeded in forcing her away from danger, in the end it would probably damage his long-term aim of making her his.

So  he shook his head and continued walking. The chill in the air seemed to sharpen, as did that sense of anticipation. The rank aroma of sewage swirled around them, but underneath it ran the fresh aroma of earth. His gaze swept the dank walls

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ahead, but he couldn’t see anything that indicated another break

in the walls.

He glanced at Riley. “Can you smell that?”

“Define
 
that
.” Her voice was clipped. “Because this place

has a lot of different smells, most of them vile.”

“Earth. Freshly dug earth.”

“It’s ahead, another ten yards or so.”

He couldn’t see it, but then she was relying on senses other

than sight.

“The sense of anticipation is growing,” she added. “I’m not

liking the feel of what we’re walking towards.”

Neither was he. He slowed his pace, forcing Riley to do the same. Another fissure came into view, this one larger than the other. Dirt, rocks and concrete had tumbled out, half blocking the meagre flow and redirecting it into the crack.

“There’s something odd ”
–

Her words were abruptly cut off,  and her hand ripped from his. He swung around but there was no sense of her in the darkness, no spark of her life force. It was as if she’d completely disappeared.

The fury that swept through him was as cold and as angry as anything he’d ever experienced  in his 1,200 years of life. But as quickly as it rose, it went, replaced by a hard emptiness.

An emptiness that was filled with the certainty that he

would get back what was his.

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He turned around, using his psychic senses to search for any

hint of her.  The darkness held its secrets well  –  there was no

sign of her life force, no melodious beat of life.

She had to be unconscious, and in the grip of the  chameleons, hidden by their ability to merge with the  background.

She wasn’t dead. Not yet.

He reached  down, deep down into that place in his soul that had never been human, had never been vampire, using powers long since gone from this world to disappear into the darkness.  It was more than just wrapping the shadow around him, more than just merging with the background, as the chameleons did.  He became the darkness, became the air, became a shadow that held no substance  –  one that would not be seen or heard or felt.

He floated towards the fissure. There was nothing else he could do. The chameleons had sprung their trap; all he could do now, was track them down and make them pay.

The water that trickled beneath his feet began to swirl as he reached the obstruction he’d noticed earlier. He swung left, into the fissure created by the creatures. The walls were  raw, bleeding moisture, the air thick and rank. Though the sense of anticipation had gone, and there was now no sign of either the creatures or Riley, he knew they were up ahead.

The part of him that had shared blood could feel her nearness, even if he could not see her life force or hear her thoughts.

The tunnel continued on through the earth, winding slowly downwards. Gradually, the way began to widen, until he was in a huge old cavern.

They were here.

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He stopped, taking it all in. He saw the dark-red  blurs of life that were the chameleons; saw Riley, a blaze of heat and life lying on the ground. He regained form and attacked.

There were four of them  –  one larger, three smaller  –  and they hadn’t sensed his presence. They were too intent on their prey.

He swept in, grabbing two of the youngsters and tossing them across the cavern. He grabbed the third one just as the mother lashed out, her claws raking his side and drawing blood.  The scent of it stung the air and hunger stirred through the darkness. But the flesh eaters wanted more than just blood.

He crushed his hand around the neck of the third one, and flung it with all his might at the mother. She screamed, a high-pitched sound of fury, as she tried to catch and save her child.

With the  chameleons  distracted, he grabbed Riley and dragged her out from under their feet, hauling her across to the other side of the cavern, near the fissure but not actually going into it. Fighting in close quarters  was never a good choice.

With one eye on the creatures , he slapped Riley’s face.  Hard. There was no time for niceties in moments like this. She muttered something unintelligible, then her eyes opened. “That hurt.”

“So will the chameleons if you don’t get moving.”

The mother’s roar just about drowned out his  words. He

turned, standing in front of the still-groggy Riley.

The creatures merged with the darkness. He switched to infra, following the muted flame of the mother’s life force, waiting until she was almost upon him before he launched at

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her, hitting her hard in the gut, thrusting her backwards, into her  milling kits. One caught the full force of her weight, driving it  into the ground, its short scream suddenly cut off.

He wrapped his hands around the creatures neck and squeezed as hard as he could, but  the skin was thick and leathery under his fingers, its neck thickly corded with muscles.

Claws tore at his back, shredding skin and drawing blood.  He hissed in pain but refused to release his grip, tightening instead.

“Hey bitch,” Riley said from behind  them. “Let him go or

I’ll kill your munchkin.”

The chameleon froze.

“Quinn,” Riley added, almost casually, “I don’t think

strangling it is the way to go.”

“You might be right there.”

He may have killed chameleons before, but never with bare hands. Weapons were best  –  the only trouble was, they didn’t have any. Heaven only knew where her laser was.

He rolled off the creature, felt its hatred sweep across  him, frying his senses. But as he backed away the wrongness in the air increased suddenly.

“Riley,  watch out ”
–

The words were cut off as a huge paw swept him up into the air and tossed him like rubbish against the cavern wall. He hit it hard and fell to the ground on all fours, the cavern spinning around him and anger rising like a thick and bitter wind within him.

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He got to his feet. Riley had been backed against the wall, a blob of darkness towering above her, slashing with sharp claws.  Though she managed to avoid most of the blows and land a few of her own, bloody rents marred her golden skin and a  darkening bruise decorated her forehead.

No one hurts what is mine
.

He ran forwards and leaped upwards, landing on the back of the creature, wrapping his arms and legs around its body. But instead of trying to choke it, he reached again for that ancientpart of his soul, becoming one with the darkness and the air.  Only this time, he rolled it outwards, moving it from him to the chameleon, letting it flow across every part of the creature’s body, until they were both encased.

It didn’t sense the danger.  Didn’t know it was about to die.

He drew the net of air and darkness tighter, letting it invade skin and muscle, blood and bone, until the creature was one with the air just like him.

It sensed the danger then, sensed the wrongness.

It began to writhe and twist in a effort to get him off its

back, but it was too late. Far too late.

He drew in all the threads of energy, then took a deep breath and exploded outwards, thrusting the particles of air and darkness that were both him and the creature into  a  1,000different directions. Scattering their molecules and forever destroying the chameleon.

His molecules reformed, until what stood on the earth of the

cavern was once again vampire.

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A vampire whose veins pounded with the need to take blood

and regain the strength he’d just expended.

Riley was staring at him, eyes wide and perhaps a touch of

fear in those silver depths.

“What the fuck did you just do?”

“Destroyed it.” He turned to the muted flame that was the  mother chameleon. “Your partner is dead, as  is one of your kits.  Two remain. If you leave now, and forget this madness, they  just might stay that way. Stay, and I will destroy you all.”

The chameleon screamed, a sound filled with fury and pain.  He felt nothing for her  –  certainly no pity  –  and he  would kill her if he had to. But the truth was, his strength was down and one chameleon might still be more than he and Riley could handle.

The creature screamed again, but this time her remaining

kits gathered around her.

“Go,” he said softly. “And live. But return here, go after  either of us again, and I will hunt you down and destroy you all,  if it’s the last thing I ever do on this earth.”

The creature left, which only proved that they were far more

intelligent than anyone had presumed.

With the danger gone, weakness returned. His knees buckled, and, if not for the fact that Riley was suddenly there, offering him a shoulder, he would have fallen.

“You need blood,” she said, and underneath the concern he

could taste her alarm. She feared what he’d done  –  feared it

enough to perhaps walk away.

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He couldn’t allow that. Wouldn’t allow it.

“Yes,” he said softly. “It took more strength than I

remembered to destroy that creature.”

She hesitated just a little, then shifted and offered her neck.  The sweet pulse of life called to him, and his canines lengthened.

She gasped as his teeth broke her skin, but the sound became one of pleasure as he began to drink. The richness of her blood flushed the weakness from his body and, as she became lost in the experience of a vampire’s feast, he let his mind merge with hers, becoming one with her, keeping her unaware and unknowing as he drove down into those parts of her mind that held her memories, altering what she remembered. No one knew what he could do and he intended to keep it that way  –  for now.

As he began to retreat, he did one other thing  –  left her with the gentle desire to take fewer loves and not visit the wolf clubs as much.

Unfair, perhaps, but he’d learned long ago that those who

played by the rules, lost.

This time, he had no intention of losing.

He withdrew his teeth, then kissed her neck to take the

remaining sting away.

She smiled at him, bright eyes still filled with lust, the desire he’d raised by feeding from her unquenched by his own design.  The dreams that had begun this night had yet to be fulfilled in the flesh.

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“I think,” she said softly, her fingers twining through his,  spreading the warmth of life across his flesh. “That we both  need to go upstairs and take a bath.

“As long as the bathing involves sex. I don’t really care.”

She laughed, a rich, throaty sound that rolled across his senses and raised a hunger of a different kind. “You vampire, are insatiable.”

“I think it’s the company I keep.”

She grinned and tugged him into the tunnel. They moved quickly back through the sewers and into her apartment. It didn’t take long to run the bath, and in the aromatic water they washed the grime and blood from each other.