Seduced by Crimson (28 page)

The vampire sighed. "Yeah. Couldn't stand not being a vamp. He fell off the highest tower of Strata Plus One." They started descending toward the ground. "Could be he forgot he couldn't fly—he was completely plastered. Could be he just didn't want to live."

Xiao Fei didn't answer. She didn't know what to think.

The vamp said, "You thought you were curing him, didn't you?"

She nodded.

He set her feet on solid sand. She'd never felt more pleased to feel grit between her toes.

"Look. I think it's great that you exist, that there's an option for those who change their minds."

She frowned as she looked at him. The vamp's back was to the sun, but she could still see warmth in his brown eyes. Reassurance in his tired face. And then she felt it: the Earth in him. He wasn't a natural-born vampire. He'd been turned.

"I could heal you," she said, stunned by the impulsiveness of her action. "Not right now; I'm too weak. But later…" She would never have offered just like that, but the words were out before she could stop them, and this man invited confidences. Especially when he smiled, slow and sweet like that.

"That's my point, Cambodian woman. I am cured. This is exactly how I want to be."

She didn't doubt him. There was so much joy in the statement, so much passion in his words, that there was no room for doubt. Whatever the reason, he absolutely wanted to remain a vampire.

She nodded. "Okay." What else could she say?

"So, no more unturning people who don't ask."

Xiao Fei felt her face tighten with anger. "Stan turned Donny Chen against his will. And Stan tried to take over Chinatown. I just stopped him, that's all. I wouldn't have touched him if he hadn't taken Donny."

The vampire arched a single brow. "I know, and believe me, I've got no love of Stan. But next time, come to me. Let us vamps take care of it."

She gave him the look, the one that said:
I'll trust you when hell freezes over. Or when I'm trapped behind a Dumpster with a horde of angry demons attacking, and not a second before
.

He sighed. "I'm Dain Reston. I used to be with B-Ops. I'm trustworthy."

She didn't even bother giving him the look for that statement, but he understood.

He shrugged. "So, is that why the demons are after you? Because your blood accentuates Earth energy? What about that pretty little necklace around your boyfriend's neck?"

She shrugged right back at him. "If it is, they're too late. I've burned everything I got. And my power works only in conjunction with that pretty little necklace, so don't get any ideas there either."

"But you'll recover," he pressed. "Perhaps we should protect—"

"Ungh…" came a voice.
Patrick
!

Xiao Fei pushed away from Dain, the strangely nice vampire, and dropped to her knees beside Patrick. He was lying in the sand, his skin tone looking better by the second, and he was coming around. His eyes fluttered, and she leaned down to press a kiss to his lips.

"Hey, baby," she said. "How's it going?" Part of her was stunned by her words. She'd never called anyone
baby
in her life, much less in that cooing, goo-goo-eyed tone. And yet she couldn't stop it. When his gaze finally steadied and she saw his moss-green eyes, her heart started beating and beating like it hadn't been working at all before.

"Hey," he murmured, and her heart flopped in joy. Then he looked around at the surrounding vamps, at the sky, at the ocean. "Is this Redondo?" Trust him to recognize the beach.

Dain's cell phone chirped. The vampire pulled it out in one motion, withdrew a few paces, and began talking earnestly into the receiver. Xiao Fei couldn't have cared less. Her eyes were all on Patrick, who seemed to be growing stronger by the second.

"Too bad the demons attacked," he was saying. "It'd be a nice day to surf." Okay, so maybe his brain wasn't all back yet… "How about you? Any cuts or anything I should know about?"

His eyes were intense, his meaning crystal clear. She smiled, relieved that his mental facilities weren't really in question. Well, no more than usual. "I'm fine. You're the one who passed out."

He sighed. "I take it the vamps rescued us?"

"Well, after you rescued us, they did some taxiing."

He reached out and stroked her cheek. "You're the one who beat them off with a folding chair."

"You're the one who—"

"I know," he interrupted. "But I'm done now. No juice left."

Okay, so he didn't want her talking about his powers in front of strangers. It was a wise precaution, and one she would have thought of herself if she hadn't been so ga-ga over one too-pale druid.

Dain snapped his cell phone shut and quickly returned to their side. "Something's happened. The demons are reorganizing. They've laid off the werewolves and are massing again at the main gate." He looked pointedly down at Patrick. "Something you'd care to share about that?"

Patrick pushed himself upright so that he was sitting, and he faced Dain. "The gate's shrunk but not closed."

"Yeah, we noticed." The vampire said nothing else, but his eyes showed keen interest in exactly how a druid and some Cambodian bleeder fit into all this.

Patrick shrugged. "We can't do anything more. We're both spent."

"But—"

"We won't recover. At least not fast enough to help you. We're out of the game."

Dain shifted uncomfortably. "Still, if there's a chance that you can do more… You need to be protected."

"We are," answered Patrick with surprising vehemence. "And I'll recover faster on the ground." He gestured to the other vamps, who were obviously anxious. "You need to get back into the fight."

"But—"

"My name's Patrick Lewis. And you're Dain, Fleur's guy." The vamp nodded, so he continued, "You'll be the first to know if I can help any more. Honest. Right now, I've got people I can call. We're just going to hide for a while until things get better." He stared pointedly at the vamp. "Until you make things better."

Dain nodded, and for a moment it looked like an acknowledgment between warriors. "We'll keep things under control. We live here, too."

"I know," Patrick said.

Dain looked at Xiao Fei. "And no more—"

"Bleeding on vamps. Yeah, I got that," she said.

He grinned. "Not unless they ask, and I can watch." He held out his hand. Xiao Fei looked at him, not understanding. "The Glock," he explained.

"Oh!" She gave it back to him. No use keeping it if she didn't have ammo.

Dain waved good-bye with the gun; then he and his vamps launched straight up into the air. Xiao Fei watched them go—up, up, and up, straight into the clouds. And just like that, she and Patrick were very alone and very exposed.

From
The Hollywood Reporter.

MIRACLE OPENING!

December 1, 1992

By Howard Berns

Hollywood's elite celebrated in style yesterday in a most unusual gala opening
. Miracles by Jason,
another health spa for the rich and famous, opened its doors with glittering fanfare. With a client list that includes the most powerful in a city of power brokers, Jason charges equally astronomical prices
.

But what exactly are his services? That, apparently, is a mystery to all but those who pay.

"We offer health and energy miracles," claimed Jason, who declined to give his last name. "My customers are very satisfied."

And indeed they are, if the turnout is anything to judge by. But only time will tell if
Miracles by Jason
survives past the initial faddish nature of Hollywood or passes into obscurity like yesterdays glitter
.

Xiao Fei hadn't felt vulnerable with all those vampires around, but now she had to repress a shudder.

"You really don't like vamps, do you?" Patrick's voice was soft, more intimate than a moment before. Xiao Fei happily returned her gaze to his golden freckles and sparkling green eyes.

"I've never met one who—"

"Was nice? Was a decent guy?"

"They feel… off."

"That's just the vampirism. Their energy is different, that's all. They're still a part of the Earth. They're natural in their own way."

"Can you walk?" She didn't want to sit here in the sun like ducks waiting for the hunter. She also didn't want to pursue this line of thought, but Patrick was insistent.

"So, when we tried to close the gate, you felt it? The gate? The world?"

"Mother Earth in all her vibratory glory." Xiao Fei spoke in a mocking drawl, but only because she felt strange speaking of things like vibrations and Earth energy. She believed in them, knew such things were real from her time as a Phoenix Tear, but she'd never actually discussed it in the open. Not like he did, and certainly not in English.

But he would not let her off the hook. "Xiao Fei, did you feel it?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"You're the reason it worked as much as it did. You're very powerful. You closed it."

"I didn't close it!" she snapped. "I just made us a demon target, that's all. A half-open portal is still open. Now let's go. The demons haven't stopped looking for us, you know. They'll never stop now. So can you get up off your lazy ass and walk?"

He grinned. "Yes, ma'am," he said. Then he smoothly rolled to his feet—something only a druid surfer could ever do on the dry, powdery sand.

"You were only pretending to be wiped out, weren't you?" she accused.

He grinned and held out his hand. "Never know what you might hear when people think you're unconscious."

"But you were sick." She took his hand and started to stand. "I saw—"

"Yes," he said as he jerked her into his arms. "Yes," he repeated right next to her lips. "I was… I am pretty damn tired, but I'm not completely useless. Yet."

"I never said—mmph."

Wow, he was a good kisser. And it was even better that he was alive, she was alive, and no demon was roaring down the beach at them. His mouth was warm, his tongue was playful, and his chest was very, very solid where she pressed against him. A girl could feel pretty safe against a chest like his. A girl could get pretty warm, too, and not just because it was hot in the sun.