Not Another Vampire Book (28 page)

“Shut
the hell up.”  Damien stalked out of the darkness, greatcoat swirling against
his legs.  “Kara Lynn, come here.  Now.”  He was pissed.  Fury and frustration
came off him in waves, as he swept towards her.

Highhanded
tone or not, that actually seemed like a good idea.  Kara hurried over so she
was safely beside him, grabbing her flashlight off the ground as she went.  “I
thought you weren’t going to help Slade.”  She whispered.

“I’m
not.  I’m just making sure my bleeding-heart mate doesn’t die from sheer
stubborn stupidity.”

Gee,
who wouldn’t love this sweet-talking guy?  “Well, can you kill fifteen Vampires
by yourself?”

“If
I could, I would make it sixteen and take out Slade, as well.”  He growled. 
“The only way to kill even one of them is with a diamond sword, though.”

“Well,
do you
have
a diamond sword?”

“Of
course, I do.  But, not on me.  Diamonds are immune to magicks.”

Of
course
.  Kara rolled her eyes.  “Then why did you come
here to kill To’kel in the first place, if you couldn’t really kill him?”

Damien
obviously didn’t have an answer for that.  His brow creased into a frown.

Tanya
must have rewritten what it took to kill a Vampire somewhere between that
chapter and now, making it harder.

Wonderful.

“Bitch.” 
To’kel staggered to his feet and pointed at Kara.  His head faced forward
again, but it swayed unnaturally on his neck.  “You’ll pay for that.”

Kara
clicked on the flashlight again, trying to look as hardass as possible
considering the ball gown.  “Don’t make me use this.”  She warned with a great
deal of ‘I’m-about-to-drop-the-atom-bomb-God-help-our-souls’ menace.  “I got it
at Target and I’ve been aching to test it out.”  What the hell would they know
about flashlights?  She slowly raised it so the light pointed towards the sky. 
“It’s an LED.  I guarantee you boys, it’ll work just as well on Vamps as it
does on all my other victims.”

To’kel
eyed the small beam as if he expected it to turn into a lightsaber.  Slade made
an impressed ‘oooh’ sound.  The other Vampires edged further away from the
shaft of light like it might burn them.  Even Damien frowned, trying to figure
out how the pink aluminum tube inflicted its terrible damage.

Kara
had never felt cooler in her life.

Not
knowing exactly what she could do with her ‘weapon,’ To’kel reluctantly backed
off.  “You’ve won for now, Witch.”  He spat out.  “One day you won’t have your
led
to
target
, though.  Then, we’ll see who has the most real power.”  His
eyes cut over to Damien.  “And you… You’re supposed to be on
my
side,
you bastard.”

“I
am
on your side.”  Damien sounded disgusted.  “Or I
was
, until
you touched my mate.  Now, I have to kill you
and
Slade.  I’m extremely
bored, just thinking about the added trouble.”

“I
only want that book.  I won’t harm your woman.  I swear.  Force her to give it
to me and we can rule over this entire universe.”  His expression glowed with
fevered promise.  “We can finally kill Slade, you’ll have your vengeance and
I’ll have the crown.  We’ll accomplish all our goals and be unstoppable.”

Kara
glowered up at Damien.  “Don’t you dare.”  She warned, not trusting him to
resist the word ‘vengeance.’  It was like crack to him.  “Not if you ever plan
on seeing me naked, anyway.”

That
earned her a quick glance.

She
arched a pointed brow.

Damien’s
eyes gleamed.  “My
cari
has made the most persuasive argument.”  He
decided, his gaze staying on her.  “She will keep her book and I will keep
her.  The Vampires can work out their own monarchical problems.”  He shrugged
at To’kel.  “One of you will kill the other and save me the effort.  Honestly,
I don’t see the downside.

To’kel’s
face went red with rage.  “You’re a pussy whipped traitor!”

“I
would not let him speak to me that way, if I were you, sorcerer.”  Slade
called, helpfully.  “You are not a traitor, this day!  You fight for the
freedom of the real king.  Me!”

Damien
shot him a look that could have withered grass.

To’kel
allowed two other Vampires to lift him gingerly into the air.  “Just stay out
of this, Damien.”  He warned.  “Not even you can handle all the enemies you’re
collecting thanks to this Witch.  You don’t want to get on my bad side, too. 
Maybe you’ve heard.  I’m going to be King of the Vampires tomorrow.”

“The
hell you will.”  Kara’s mind was already racing with ways to stop him. Surely,
she could think up some plan to save Slade over the next twenty-four hours. 
How hard could it be to outsmart the frigging Vampires?  They were scared of
flashlights, for God’s sake.

Damien
kept his attention on To’kel.  “If I were you, I’d kill Slade, now.  Trust me. 
Fortune always seems to favor that idiot.  He’ll escape somehow.”

“Stop
helping the bad guys.”  Kara hissed.  God, he just couldn’t stop himself from
the villainy, could he?

“Thank
you for your confidence in me, sorcerer.”  Slade nodded, shifting through
Damien’s statement and somehow coming up with a compliment.  “You know, you are
not so bad for a creature.  I forgive you for earlier your treachery.  Your
species cannot help its evolutionary limits.”

Damien’s
jaw clenched.

Kara
grabbed hold of his arm, afraid he might ask To’kel to borrow a diamond sword
and finish Slade off himself.

“I’ll
execute my cousin how
I
want to.”  To’kel retorted.  “After all,
I’m
the one who finally caught him.  For hundreds of years, I’ve been a nothing but
a pawn.  You and Slade have always thought you were the only ones with brains. 
But, I see
everything
now.  Now,
I’m
in control and
finally
I have a scheme that will actually work.”

“I
never thought Slade had a brain.”  Damien corrected as if To’kel just insulted
him.

“You
can’t
be at the center of this, To’kel.”  Slade whined.  “It just isn’t
done.  Have you a tragic back story?  Have you a noble, misunderstood heart? 
Have you a love of animals and small children?  No, you don’t.  So, how do you
presume to be a true hero without these things?  You are not even possessing an
uncontrollable sexual magnetism that women are helpless to resist, but which
you are too manly a man to feel vain about.”

“Can’t
someone
just kill him, now?”  Damien asked the world at large.

“
I’m
the star of this show, cousin.”  To’kel bit-off, his too bright eyes fixing
on Slade with total hatred.  “Things have changed.  Tomorrow, you and your
constant, sickening heroism will be nothing but a memory.”  His head snapped
around to Damien. “And if you interfere, you’ll join him in the beyond,
sorcerer.  You and your Witch.  I won’t go back to being anyone’s flunky.”

He
and the other Vampires took off into the sky, dragging poor Slade with them. 
All they left behind was gold pixie dust, a bunch of zombies and the Slade’s
echoing voice declaring that they were all going to face the wrath of the
mighty Witch.

Kara
groaned as her big, dumb, return-ticket home disappeared into the
stratosphere.  There was no way she could catch-up with them and rescue Slade,
short of growing wings.  She turned to Damien, hopefully.  “I don’t suppose you
can fly, right?”

“No.”

“Have
you ever tried?”

“Give
it up, Kara Lynn.”

“Well,
that’s just perfect.”  She sat down heavily on the ground.  “Now what?”

“Now,
I’m going back to my lair.”  Damien stood above her, his patience apparently at
an end.  “It’s been a tiring, aggravating evening.  You have driven me to the
edge of madness and then pushed even further.  I’m done debating that book, enduring
idiots of all species, fixing ceilings, and fighting zombies for you.  I’m
going home and you’re coming with me.”

Unbelievable. 
“What about Slade?”

“He
is not invited.”  Damien held out a hand to her.  “He will live or die
tomorrow.  I’m also finished discussing Vampires for the night.  We’re leaving before
you find more trouble to embroil yourself in.  I want my mate.  In my bed. 
Now.”

Just
like that the arousal came flooding back.  “You think I’m going to have sex
with you?”  She demanded, anyway.  “That’s what you’re focusing on, right now?”

“With
you, it is all I ever focus on.  Now more than ever.  You run off and nearly
get killed, without any concern for your safety, and I will not have it.”

“And
sleeping with me will fix that?”

“Making
you admit that I’m your mate will fix it.  It will make you listen to me.”  He
loomed there, immovable and commanding, standing over her like a conqueror. 
She felt her heart rate pickup in response, her desire growing bigger at his
primitive tactics.  Damn, but he should come with a sexual warning label.  “And
you
will
mate with me, Kara Lynn.  We are passed the point where
anything could save you from your fate.”

Kara
looked up at his beautiful black eyes.  “You think you can hypnotize me with
sex?”

“I’m
certainly willing to try.”

She
considered that challenge.  He was kidding himself, obviously. But, she did
love it when he got all sexy and primal on her.  It was a shame to waste the
opportunity to see him in action.  And it wasn’t like she could do anything
about To’kel, right now, anyway.  She wasn’t going to think of her new plan
here in
Zombieland
.  “What the hell.”  She took hold of Damien’s palm
and let him pull her up.  “Let’s go prove you wrong.  But, I’m warning you, if
you try anything too kinky, I’ll have to flashlight you.”

Slade’s body held hers gently.  “Fear not, Eternal
One.  I will not claim you fully until tomorrow at our bonding.  Then, we will
know the bliss of a perfect sexual union.  For now, I shall just cradle your
sweet body against mine and hold you close all the night long.”

“Oh, Slade.”  She gazed up at him worshipfully.  “You
are such a considerate man.  I never worry that your passions will frighten me,
though I am but a young and innocent girl.”  Her eyelashes fluttered down,
shyly as he petted her soft red hair.  “You treat me like the shy flower I am,
beneath my spirited exterior.  To think, I feared you would be disappointed by
my shyness.”

“Melessa, my dearest heart, I understand and respect
your wishes.  I would never ask you submit to my urgent, primal desires as
though I was a dark kidnapper and you my helpless captive.  Only a woman who
truly favored villains would enjoy that.  It would terrify any good human girl,
to give a blackheart such trust.”

Eternal
Passion at Sunset- Chapter Fourteen

Damien
slammed the door to his bedroom, not particularly caring that Miranda and some
blond male were asleep in his sitting room.  They could just stay down there
until morning.  He had a more important problem to deal with.

One
small, curvy, human problem.

He
crossed his arms and watched broodingly as Kara looked around his dark
bedchamber looking oh-so innocent.  “How many times did you search this room
while I was at that bar?”

“Just
the once.”  She smiled at him, but she was nervous.  He could read it on her
face as she stood before him.  Apprehension and anticipation and trust. 
Knowing everything and nothing about him, she would mate with him.  Knowing he
couldn’t care for her, she still felt safe with him.

How
the hell had such an innocent being survived in the world?

How
was he going to
keep
her surviving?

Damien
had always felt superior to Slade, because he knew the Vampire’s Eternal-One
would ultimately be his weakness.  Well, actually, he felt superior to Slade
for
many
reasons, but the fact that a human girl would be the thing that
finally destroyed the mighty king had always brought Damien a lot of
satisfaction.  He appreciated the irony of it.  He’d planned to take the woman
and lure Slade to his death via the Vampire’s bond with her.  Slade would want
to protect her.  He’d fail.  Damien would kill him.  It had seemed very simple
and neat.

Now,
it didn’t seem that way, at all.

Now,
Damien
had the fragile, human girl to protect.  Now,
Damien
had
the plotting enemies and a blatant, curly-headed weakness.  Worse, his mate was
the most reckless, illogical, stubborn being alive.  She ran into danger
without any thought to how vulnerable she really was.  Keeping Kara safe meant
constant vigilance and killing many people.

He
could accept that.

After
they were mated, Damien could convince her to listen to him and pay more
attention to her own safety.  A
cari
wouldn’t ignore her mate’s wishes. 
After all, what he wanted wasn’t unreasonable; just common sense: 
Don’t die
.

How
hard was that to comply with?

In
return, he would do anything the woman asked.  Anything to make her happy.

Almost
anything.

There
were some things that he just couldn’t compromise on.  Not even when he knew it
would upset her.  Not even if it went against the customs of his people to deny
her requests.  She needed to understand his limits right from the beginning.

Damien
sighed and cut right to the heart of the matter.  “Kara Lynn, I cannot feel
anything beyond my vengeance.”

“So
you’ve said.  Repeatedly.  I don’t want to believe that, though.”

“Well,
it’s true.”  He scrapped a hand through his hair.  “That is why, tomorrow, I
know you will ask me to save Slade and
I
will not do it
.”

Kara
stared at him.

“A
better mate would put your desires first, but I cannot.  I can’t give you what
you need.”  He shook his head.  “By tomorrow, you’ll think up some plan to get
onto the Vampire Isle and stage a rescue.  It is inevitable.  I would lock you
up, but I know it would do no good.  So, I will go with you to ensure that you
are protected.  But, I won’t lift a hand to save that Vampire.  I will not help
him to draw one more breath.  Not even for you.”

She
was silent for a long moment.  “Alright.”

Damien
clenched his jaw.  “Alright?”  He repeated, harshly.  He’d expected an
argument.  Was ready for one.  Her easy acceptance annoyed him.  “I tell you
that I will not help you with your quest and you say
alright?
”

“What
do you want me to say?”

“I
want you to...”
care
.  He wanted her to
care
that he wasn’t a
good mate.  He wanted her to
care
that he couldn’t care for her
properly.  He wanted her to be angry or to invoke
cariNa
and forsake
him.  A
cari
should not accept this.  Not unless she viewed the
relationship as meaningless.  Something not lasting.  Something that merely
happened in a book.  “I just want you to understand.”  He finally muttered. 
“So you will not be hurt tomorrow when I refuse you.”

“I
do understand.”

“Do
you?”

“Of
course.  So you wanna mate now?”

Damien’s
temper sparked.  “You do not see this as real.”  The words were out before he
could stop them.  “To you, I am a character from a novel, living in the past. 
I have waited for you my entire life and you don’t even think I exist.  You
give no thought to the future, or you would not be so cavalier about how I’m
failing you.  Or about your own safety.  Or the irrevocability of this mating.”

Kara
squinted at him, like he was the one behaving irrationally.  “The future?  Did
you notice how many pages are left?”  She held up the manuscript.  Damien could
see that the new chapter she’d marked was very near the back cover.

Too
near.

A
cold sensation slid down his spine.  “The book is ending.”

“Exactly.” 
Kara tossed it onto the nightstand.  “Tomorrow the story is gonna be over. 
Either, I’ll die trying to save Slade, or you’ll die trying to kill him, or
we’ll all die when To’kel screws-up the plot so badly we’re sucked into a
wormhole.  Or –hey!-- maybe I’ll even finally go home.  Now, I do understand
what all
that
means.”  She stepped closer to him.  “It means you and I
will get exactly one night together.  That
is
our future.”

The
cold feeling spread through his whole body.  “I don’t accept that.”

“I
know you don’t.”  She gave a strange smile.  “And I know that you won’t accept
this, either, but I’ll say it anyway because I don’t want to regret not telling
you.”  She laid a palm on his cheek.  “I love you, Damien.  I love you so much,
it scares me.”

Damien’s
mind went blank.  For the first time in his memory, he couldn’t think of
anything to say.  For an endless moment, he experienced true peace.  Perfect
and pure.  He wanted her to say it, again.  He wanted to hear it forever and
let it soak into his mind like a balm.  Having Karalynn Donnelly love him was
vital.  He hadn’t realized how much he needed it until she said the words.

Then,
reality crashed in.

Damien’s
luck would never sustain such a gift.

Whatever
gods had forsaken him would ensure that he lost in the end.  He knew that.  Saw
it so clearly it blinded him.  Nothing this good would ever happen to him.

Something
close to panic began to claw its way through him.

“I
wasn’t going to ask you to save Slade tomorrow.”  She continued as if Damien
wasn’t standing like a statue in front of her.  “That’s why I must have seemed
cavalier.  I just expected you to say no.  I understand that I asked too much
back at the Fair.  I’m sorry.  I just freaked out and I put you in that
situation and...”  She shook her head.  “If Vampires killed my family, I
wouldn’t want to save one, either.  I get it.  I do.”

That
was exactly what his argument would have been.

It
sounded wrong.

When
she said it --accepted it-- it seemed wrong.

Something
wrenched inside of him, shifting, wanting to tear free.

Karalynn
wasn’t done.  “Anyway, I really do appreciate you offering to come with me to
the Vampire Isle to make sure I’m okay.  That’s
way
above and beyond. 
Whatever happens, I’ll always remember you did that and you remember that it
meant everything to me, okay?”

Damien
realized where the sensation of foreboding came from.  Why his body was tensing
for a fight and why he could hear his pulse beating in his head.

She
was saying goodbye to him.

Karalynn
was preparing for the end, before their mating had even begun.

Something
snapped inside of him.  A fundamental alteration.  The fog that sometimes
seemed to confuse and control him melted away entirely.  Damien drew in a deep
breath.  It felt as if he was bobbing to the surface after spending a lifetime
underwater.

Whatever
had twisted with painful joy when Kara said “I love you,” abruptly broke free
and shot through his system like an electric current.  For the first time,
Damien started feeling a fresh emotion.  Not vengeance, but even more
obsessive.  He had no idea what it was, but it shattered the coldness lodged in
his chest and filled him with something scalding hot.  It burned its way through
every fiber of his being.

She
was saying goodbye to him.

He
would fucking die first
.

Kara
smiled, again, but it looked strained.  “As sweet as the offer was, though, I
don’t think you should be anywhere near Slade tomorrow.  You need to stay here,
safe from the temptation of trying to kill him.  It’s the only way you’ll
survive, I think.”  She nodded earnestly.  “I can rescue that dingbat on my
own.  To’kel’s a free-agent now, but all he knows he learned inside the book. 
I’m pretty sure I can outmaneuver him.”

Damien
cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice level.  “So, you plan to go to
the Vampire Isle alone, then?”

Apparently,
his neutral tone was a pleasant surprise for her.  She smiled in relief at the
polite inquiry.  “Well, I don’t have all the details worked out, but I’m
thinking maybe I can recruit the Dragons.”  She looked suddenly smug.  “You
said they’re mercenaries, right?  And they worked for Slade to kidnap me, so
they must be buddies with him.  Maybe I can pay them enough to make them forget
you killed that Nestor guy and get them to help me.”  She hesitated.  “This is
going to sound really crass, but can I borrow some rubies from you, by the
way?  That’s the currency, right?  I think the Dragons are gonna be expensive
to hire.  Also, we might need to buy diamond swords.  Where do you think they
sell those?”

Damien
didn’t know whether to laugh wildly or start ripping out his hair.  “You are an
amazing woman, Kara Lynn.”

She
blinked, like he’d caught her off guard.  “Oh.”  Another smile curved her
lips.  “Thank you.  Boy, you’re taking this really well.  I
thought
you’d be okay with it, but I was a little worried you might think I was trying
to run off to be with Slade.  You kinda had that idea in your head for a while
and...”

“You’re
not his Eternal-One.”  If Damien had a soul, he’d owe it some god or other for
making that wish come true.  Karalynn was only his.  The Vampire had no claim
on her.  “Since both of you seem reconciled with that fact, I am no longer concerned
you might bond with him.”

“Great!” 
Kara beamed.  “Damien, I am so impressed with you, right now.  Really.  I was
hoping we could get all this stuff out-of-the-way and just have a really nice
night that we could remember.  I’ll deal with the rest tomorrow, but right
now....”  She trailed off with a contented sigh.  “You’re making it so simple. 
I really appreciate that.”

“I’m
happy that you’re happy,
cari
.”  There was a frenzied buzzing in his
head that grew louder with every second.  “Is there anything else you’d like to
discuss before we continue with the mating?”

“Hmm...” 
Kara frowned.  “Well, there’s Melessa.  She needs to be with Slade.  If
something does go wrong on my end, do you think you could... You know... Give
her back to him for me?”  She held up a palm.  “I know, you’d like to use her
as bait, but that’s just a dead end for you.  I’m not doing all this so you can
get yourself killed when I’m gone.  Let her go free, alright?”

“Of
course.”  Damien agreed, the words staggeringly insincere.  “With you gone,
Melessa’s happiness will be my very first concern.”

The
sarcasm caught her attention that time or maybe it was the fact that he’d
actually gotten the woman’s name right.  Either way, Kara frowned at him.