Not Another Vampire Book (20 page)

No,
no, no, no, no.

Damien
needed to stop To’kel.  Benedict Arnold was
his
little buddy, he’d just
have to insist that the Vamp stop this take-over bid.  It was the only option.

Right.

Kara
tried to think.  How was she going to get out of here and tell Damien that? 
Her mind raced, finally settling on something simple and sort of nuts.

If
she
couldn’t get through the door on her own, then she’d just get someone
to open it for her.  Someone
not
supernatural, who the magicks wouldn’t
stop.  Someone human.  Damien hadn’t said anything about his powers keeping the
humans out.  He didn’t see them as threat.

He
was about to learn better.

Kara’s
eyes narrowed.

And
wasn’t it lucky that she had a working phone to call for some human-y help?

She
flipped through the manuscript.  Now, which character in
Eternal Passion at
Sunset
was most likely to ride to the rescue?

To’kel leaned across the table, his eyes bright with
unsuppressed evil glee.  “The human woman is still the key.  We can kidnap her
at the World’s Fair Ball tonight.  If we prevent the Council of Elders from
sanctifying their Eternal-Bond, we can still prevent Slade from keeping his
crown.  We can still win, Damien.  Still have our revenge.”

“I must have my vengeance.”  Damien’s dark voice
seeped out from the shadows, his hand curling into a fist.  “I have waited
centuries to avenge myself on Slade through his mate.  Nothing else matters.  Certainly
not a human woman.”

Eternal Passion at Sunset- Chapter ten

Damien
swept into the human tavern, impatient to get back to Kara.

She
was too smart to be left alone for long.  Not if you expected her to be there
when you got back.  The woman didn’t think like normal people.  You couldn’t
predict what she’d do.  From the glint in her chocolate colored eyes when he
left, he was positive she was already concocting trouble and he needed to be
there to head it off.

He
stalked over to the bar, casually shoving two humans out of the way, so he
could frown at the guy behind the counter.  “What sort of food do you have?” 
He demanded.

The
barkeeper stopped waiting on the other customers and focused on Damien with the
same wide eyed, frightened stare that humans always seemed to get when he
confronted them.  It was probably the scar.  Or the bird.  Or the fact that he really
didn’t work hard to keep the contempt out of his voice.  Humans were such a
noisy, destructive species.  He’d never seen the point in keeping them around.

Until
he met Kara.

His
human.

“Um…” 
The useless looking bartender scanned right and left as if hoping the question
was directed at someone else.  “Food?  Um…  We ain’t a restaurant.  We don’t
serve meals.  Just booze.”

Damien
arched a brow.  Obviously some sort of magicks were in order.  He wasn’t going
to let Karalynn starve, so someone needed cook her dinner.  “Go find a
restaurant and get me some food, then.”  He gave the command a compulsive
mental push.  “Enough for two people.”  He started away and then had to
backtrack.  “No,
three
people.” He’d forgotten about Melinda.  Karalynn
would no doubt insist on feeding the woman when she awoke.

“What
kind of food, sir?”

He
wasn’t sure what Kara liked, so he just dumped a stack of gold coins on the
bar.  “Just buy a lot of expensive things.”  Actually paying for items was
frustrating, additional step to his normal way of dealing with humans. 
Karalynn would probably refuse to eat stolen food, though.  The woman was
baffling.

Thankfully,
the bartender took off to do his bidding with gratifying speed.  Why couldn’t
Kara’s mind be so easy to control?  The thought flashed though his head,
logical and desperate.  Why did she have to be the one being who could resist
his powers?  It would make things much simpler if he could just make her
want
to stay with him.  Make her forsake her bond with Slade.  Make her desire him
the way he desired her.

Damien
sighed.

Except,
it would all be… fake.

Even
if he
could
have compelled her thoughts, he would never actually do it. 
Damien wanted her to feel something
real
for him.  He’d rather have her
legitimately hate him, than pretend to love him.  He didn’t want a paper shell
for a mate…  He wanted
Kara
.

Damien
made his way through the crowded bar, annoyed by the mass of drunken humanity
he was forced to endure.  Meeting in busy, low rent, human bars seemed safest. 
They were anonymous, supernatural beings didn’t drink alcohol so no Vampires
would spot them, and the overwhelming stench of the places usually made
tracking very, very difficult.

All
in all, a tavern was the perfect place to meet a spy.

To’kel
huddled in the farthest, darkest corner of the room, hunched over a pint of ale
that he hadn’t touched.  Like most of his ridiculous species, he had long blond
hair, an Old Master face, and wore his ubiquitous white shirt unbuttoned to the
navel.  The Vampires were even more irritating than the humans for many
reasons, but their idiotic appearances definitely made the top five.

“To’kel.” 
He sat across the Vamp and hated being there.  Not just because he detested
Vampires, either.  He hated being in this dirty, hot, shithole of a bar when
his mate was on the other side of town.  He hated being away from her, at all. 
He’d waited over a thousand years to find Kara.  A thousand years of thinking
she’d never show up.  And when he finally got her, he had to leave her and go
deal with the fucking Vampires.

For
the first time in centuries, Damien questioned his own choices.

What
was he doing here?  Why had he pushed Karalynn into seeing the truth about her
kidnapping?  Why couldn’t he have just let her believe the lie for as long as
possible?  What if she never wanted him now?  Why did her warnings that he’d
die in this quest for vengeance seem so inescapably correct?

What
if this was all the time he’d ever have with her and he was wasting it?

“You’re
late.”  To’kel leaned closer to him over the table, his grin wide and manic.  “I’d
think you’d want to celebrate with me.  We’ve done it!  Done it!”

“Done
what?”  Damien dumped a small sack full of rubies on the table.  The Vampires and
most other supernatural beings used the gems for currency, which was a royal
pain in the ass when it came time to bribe them.  Damien could make rubies with
his powers, something he didn’t advertise or everyone would just raise their
prices, but it was still aggravating to have to carry them around like a jewelry
store.  “Did you get it?”

To’kel
ignored the second question.  “Done
what?!
  We’ve brought down Slade,
that’s what!  You stole his woman and I’ll have his crown!  It’s everything
we’ve hoped for.  I never thought it would happen!”  He grabbed the bag,
lifting his body so he could shove the stones into the pocket of his leather
pants.

Leather
pants.

In
July.

Gods.

Damien
pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Did you get it?”  He repeated, tiredly.

To’kel
didn’t seem to hear.  “Somehow, I never expected the plan to work, ya know? 
Not really.  I expected Slade to do something and spoil it, but he didn’t!  I’ve
won!”

To’kel
was riding high on excitement, not listening to Damien.  Why had he agreed to work
with this idiotic Vampire?

Damien
frowned as To’kel chattered away, drunk on his own brilliance.  In fact… Why
would he agree to work with
any
Vampire?  He hated their entire
species.  Did he think that this moron could actually help him?  Why did it
matter if Slade lost his crown, since Damien planned to kill him anyway?  When
had he even come up with this needless step of the plan?

It
suddenly seemed… ridiculous.

“Slade
is so pissed!”  To’kel didn’t even sound like his normal self, the words less
stilted and more emotional.  “I didn’t know you’d claim the woman as your own. 
That was brilliant!  He’s sure that you’re… you know…” To’kel lifted a
shoulder, “screwing the human, trying to mate with her, just to get back at him.” 
He hesitated.  “Are you?  I mean, is the woman really your
cari
, or is
it all a…?”

“She’s
mine.”

His
tone had To’kel flinching.  “Well, congratulations.”  He muttered, coming down
from his high.  “No need to bite my head off.  We both want the same thing. 
Slade gone and me on the throne.  It’s all coming together, right?”

“I
don’t give a damn if you’re the Vampire King or not.  I just want Slade to
leave my mate alone.”  Damien smiled without humor.  “And to die horribly.”

To’kel
chuckled.  “He’s completely losing it.  The Council of Elders was
incensed
that he hired the dragons and exposed our world to the humans.  It was so gratifying. 
I never thought I’d see Slade publically censured.”  He shook his head in
amazement.  “My cousin’s usually untouchable, but since his –
your
-- human
arrived, everything has turned around.  I swear, I’m even
thinking
clearer!”

“One
can live in hope.”

“Oh
yeah.”  To’kel took a swig from a flash of holy water.  “It’s everything we’d
hoped for all this time.  Speaking of which… how did we meet, anyway?  When did
we start planning all this?  I tried to remember, but it’s all sort of a blur.”

Damien
felt a chill.  “I don’t know.”  He admitted after a beat.

Why
didn’t he know?  Why didn’t he remember that?  His gaze cut to the window of
the tavern, where he could see the prematurely approaching twilight.  Not only
did it seem very early for sunset, but the sun had been setting for an hour,
now, fixed in the same position in the sky.

Why
was it doing that?

Why
did no one else seem to find it odd?

How
did To’kel manage to leave the Vampire Isle before complete darkness?

As
they had since Karalynn arrived, countless questions filled his head.  More and
more things that made no sense, but that he was reluctant to investigate for
fear of what the answers might be.  Damien felt like if he started pulling at loose
strings, he’d unravel something that could never be fixed.  It unnerved him. 
Unfortunately, the longer Kara was here, the harder it was to ignore the
inconsistencies and oddness he saw.  The more he noticed the frayed edges.

What
the hell was going on?

“Well,
I guess it doesn’t matter.”  To’kel shrugged.  “Tonight Slade’ll be at the
human ball and…”

Damien
cut him off.  “Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why
would Slade go to a human ball with his Eternal-One missing and his kingdom in
danger?”  It made no sense.

To’kel
squinted as if that hadn’t occurred to him.  “I don’t know.  He’s just supposed
to go and so he is.”

“Who
says he supposed to?  The Council of Elders?”

“Oh
no!  They hate the humans.  Especially after what Kara Donnelly’s done.  I mean,
she went willingly with a Wizard Warlock over a Vampire?!  Everyone’s already
ridiculing Slade for losing her to you.  What kind of crazy, idiot human …?” 
He stopped short when Damien’s head snapped around to pin him with a deadly
look.

“Do
you really want to finish that sentence?”  He asked, softly.  “I only have one
cari
,
but I can find plenty of other turncoats, if your heart was somehow permanently
ripped from your chest.”

To’kel
drew back a bit.  “Fine.”  He muttered sulkily.  “We
won’t
talk about
the woman.  You’re the one who brought it up.”

“No,
I brought up this ridiculous human ball.  Why is Slade going to it?  Who told
him he was supposed to?”

“I
don’t know!  It’s just… the way it’s supposed to go!”  The Vampire looked
frazzled.  “Don’t you get that?”

“No.” 
Damien glanced at the window, again, dissatisfied and unsettled.  “I don’t get
it, at all.”

To’kel
gave up on him.  “Well, that’s where he’ll be and that’s where we’ll ambush him.”

“We
never planned an ambush.” 
Had they?
  It was such a stupid idea, but it
was suddenly hard to be sure.

“Are
you kidding?  This is the perfect opportunity for us!  Now, I gotta get back
before anyone misses me.  Here.”  To’kel slid a package across the table.  “It
took some real finesse, but I got you what you wanted.  Most of it, anyway.  I
earned my rubies finding it, too.  If I’d been caught, Slade woulda killed me,
ya know.  He’s obsessed with the girl.”

Damien
opened the lid.  “I know the feeling.”  Inside the package lay the odd pink
purse that the Vampires had stolen from Karalynn.

The
belongings were very much like the woman herself.  Strange and colorful.  He
didn’t know what to make of them.  Damien shifted through the box, unable to
help himself.  A wallet, silver earrings, a pen that glittered in the light and
something called pepper spray.  Interesting.

It
took him a minute to figure out how to open the flower-patterned wallet.  Some
kind of two-sided fabric ripped apart as he pulled at the front flap.  Damien
winced, thinking he’d torn it, but it seemed to be designed with soft fuzz that
hooked onto stiffer material.

Very
interesting.

Inside,
clear sleeves held cards and remarkably clear photographs.  In color.  Damien
blinked.  A very young girl, who could only be Karalynn, sat beside a human
woman on a beach.  Her mother.  It had to be.  The hair was exactly the same.

His
mouth curved.

Flipping
through the other sleeves, he saw more photographs; a flat, numbered object
embossed with the words ‘American Express’; and another card with a small
picture of her face.  Damien slid that one free, a strange feeling gripping him
as he stared at it.