Shon (The Seeker Series Book 2) (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shon entered the house that Gina Calimari had acquired for her stay in Polk County.

The scent of her sickened him. It seeped through his pores, choking him with its putrid essence. How had he never noticed it before?

“Shon,” Gina purred, gliding into the room. “You have come to bring me the heart of the Impaler?”

“I’ll get you the damn heart after you release the Donovans.”

She blinked up at him. “The who?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Calimari. I know you took them.” He took a step forward. “Are a couple of insignificant humans really worth fucking up your plans over?”

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes. “Why are they so important to you?”

“I could give a rat’s ass about them,” he lied. “But Vlad has called a meeting with the elders over their disappearance. They arrive tomorrow.”

Gina paled. “The elders would not come all this way over a couple of humans. You lie.”

“They are more than that. They are the parents of Ember’s closest friend. Vlad fears the Seeker will become involved.”

Shon intentionally left out the fact that he and Vlad were already aware of the Seeker’s presence in Polk County.

Gina studied her nails. “And what do I get in return, should I release the old folks?”

“Me.”

“But I already have you, my pet.” She reached up and ran a pale hand down his chest.

“Willing,” he ground out. “You would have me willing.”

Her eyes lit up with his proposal. “For how long?”

“Forever.”

“Well, now. I can’t pass up an offer that sweet.”

Gina sashayed over to the door and spoke softly to someone in the hall before turning to face Shon once again. “Theodore will take them home.”

“Not good enough,” Shon barked. “I take them home or no deal.”

Gina’s eyes narrowed. “You do not trust me?”

“Hell no, I don’t trust you. I’m not an idiot, much to your disappointment.”

“I do not trust you either, Shon Wells. How do I know you will return after you have seen them safely home?”

“Because, you sadistic witch. You have my brother.”

A smile curved Gina’s ruby-red lips. “That I do. Very well. But I want you back before sunrise. I have big plans for you.”

Shon held back the gag that rose and nodded in her direction. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Bring them in, Theodore,” Gina called, brushing at her long skirt.

Irene and Arthur Donovan stumbled into the room, pale and confused.

“Shon!” Laura’s mother cried, staggering forward into his arms.

“Shhhhh. It’s going to be okay, Mrs. Donovan. Let’s go now. I’m going to take you home.”

“Hurry back, gorgeous,” Gina breathed, following the trio toward the door. “I’ll be waiting. If you’re not back here within the hour, your brother will pay the price.”

Shon continued walking. “I heard you the first time, Hazel.”

He had the satisfaction of hearing her gasp before leading the Donovans to Ember’s car.

Come on, Angel, Shon silently pleaded. Hurry up.

Angel rounded the house with an unconscious John thrown over his shoulder. He blurred his way to the car and tossed Shon’s brother unceremoniously into the back seat before climbing in behind him.

Arthur and Irene squeezed into the front as Shon slid behind the wheel and sped out of the drive like a bat out of hell.

“Is he all right?” Shon asked, meeting Angel’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

Angel nodded. “He’ll be fine once the drugs wear off.”

Shon’s jaw tightened. “You drugged him? With what?”

“Don’t ask,” Angel murmured, adjusting John’s body to a more comfortable position.

“You’re vampires.”

Irene’s softly spoken statement caught Shon off guard. He glanced at her momentarily before turning his attention back to the road. “I’m sorry you are involved in this mess, Mrs. Donovan.”

“Where is my daughter?” Arthur growled from his position next to the passenger door.

Shon’s stomach tightened at the mention of Laura. “She’s safe.”

Irene stared straight ahead, her body stiff with tension. “Does she know what you are?”

“She knows,” Shon quietly responded.

“Then I hope she has the good sense to stay away from you. You’re monsters.”

Arthur wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her close to his side.

Shon spoke without taking his gaze from the road. “You won’t have to worry about Laura. I doubt she’d ever look in my direction again.”

“Thank God for that,” Irene spat, huddling closer to her husband.

Shon couldn’t blame her for the contempt she felt for him. He’d feel the same if he were in her shoes. “If it’s any consolation, I’m truly sorry for everything.”

Irene jerked her head in his direction. “It isn’t. I will see that Laura gets as far from this area as she can go. And you, Shon Wells, can go back to hell where you came from.”

“Mrs. Donovan?” Angel murmured from the backseat. “None of this is Shon’s fault. If you want someone to blame—”

“I don’t give a damn about whose fault it is. You’re demons. All of you. You’re not natural and don’t belong here.”

Shon met Angel’s gaze in the mirror once more. He shook his head, signaling to the older vampire to let it go.

“No matter what you think, there are far worse things out there than Angel or me,” Shon reasoned, glancing at Irene’s profile. “And once we get you home, you are to grab some clothes and whatever else you need to take, and head to Arthur’s brothers in Alabama until the danger has passed.”

Laura’s mother didn’t answer, only stared straight ahead.

Jesus, Shon thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. How had things gone from a dream come true to a complete nightmare in less than twenty-four hours?

* * * *

Shon pulled the car into the parking lot of Angel’s condo and switched off the engine. “I will be so glad when this night is over.”

Angel gripped the door handle. “Unfortunately, it’s only just begun. The elders will be arriving shortly.”

“Shit,” Shon growled. “Things are about to get hairy, aren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so.” Angel turned to look over the seat. “What are you going to do about John?”

Shon got out and opened the back door to the car. “Take him to your condo, I guess. He can stay in the room Laura used.”

The thought of Laura not being there any longer hurt more than Shon cared to admit. He decided he’d check with Ember to see if she’d heard from Laura as soon as he got his brother settled.

Angel stepped from the car. “Gina is not going to be pleased about this. She will seek retribution. You can bet your ass on that.”

“I know.” Shon lifted his brother, tossing him over his shoulder as Angel had done earlier. “Do you think she will run?”

“She won’t run.” Angel shut the car door and started up the stairs. “She’ll have no choice but to appear before the elders once she is summoned.”

Shon followed close behind Angel. “Where the hell are fifteen vampires staying while they’re in town?”

Angel glanced over his shoulder. “I’ve arranged for them to stay at the hotel across the street. It was the closest one to the condo.”

A feeling of foreboding came over Shon. “Great. The noose grows tighter.”

Shon and Angel parted ways at the top of the stairs. Shon unlocked the condo door and stepped inside.

Locking the door behind him, Shon carried his brother to the guest room and laid him on the king-size bed.

Laura’s scent hit Shon square in the face. His stomach tightened with the need to touch her again. Not that she’d ever allow him to after his treatment of her.

Damn it…

Chapter Twenty-Three

Laura winced against the pain throbbing in her shoulders. Her arms had been bound behind her for hours, and her hands had gone to sleep.

The godawful pictures continued to flash overhead until she’d memorized each and every face.

“Ellis?” She yelled to be heard over the mantra of screams and pleading. “Ellis? I need to use the bathroom.”

The door opened to admit a wild-eyed Ellis. He stepped into the room and snatched up the remote. Blessed silence followed.

Laura took a shuddering breath, relief pouring through her with the screams on pause. “Thank you,” she croaked, watching Ellis move closer to the bed.

He gripped her by the arm and jerked her to her feet, leaving Laura to bite back a cry as pain stabbed through her shoulder.

Ellis pushed her forward, nearly planting her face-first into the carpet.

“First door on the left,” he murmured in a deadpan voice as she stumbled through the open doorway.

Laura staggered inside the bathroom and glanced down at the button on her jeans. Mortified that she’d have to ask him for help, she lifted her gaze and met his emotionless stare. “Can you untie my hands?”

Ellis stepped forward and popped the button free on her jeans before yanking the zipper down and sliding the pants to her knees. “Do your business and hurry it up.”

Humiliated beyond words, Laura took care of her bodily needs with the Seeker watching her every move.

“I’m finished,” she ground out, rising to her feet.

He yanked her jeans up and secured the zipper. “Move.”

Laura’s mind scrambled for something to say, anything to divert his attention away from returning her to that dreaded room. “Do you have anything to eat?”

“Not for you.” He gave her a little shove for emphasis.

“Please don’t put me back in there. I can’t feel my hands, and my shoulder is on fire.”

He suddenly spun her around to face him. “You can end your suffering at any time.”

“How?” Laura asked, hating the desperation in her voice.

“Call you friends, Angelo and Ember. Tell them that you are stranded on the side of the road and need their help.”

A smiling Lucius entered her mind, small and trusting. “I won’t do it.”

“We’ll see about that.” He grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her back into the room before tossing her onto the bed.

Pain sliced through her shoulders, wringing a cry from her lips.

“Did that hurt?” He turned her on her side and took hold of her bound hands. “How about this?”

Laura screamed as he lifted her arms high against her back. Something popped, spreading unbearable torment to her left shoulder. The room swam before her eyes until she saw no more.

* * * *

“Wake up, Miss Donovan.”

Laura recoiled from the sound of the Seeker’s voice.

She lay on her side, her hair covering her face. Unforgivable pain pierced her shoulder, throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She held her breath to keep from crying out and letting him know she was conscious.

Ellis brushed her hair back and gripped her chin in a crushing hold. “I know you’re awake.”

Laura’s eyes flew open. She tried to jerk free of his hold, but he only held on tighter. “Are you ready to talk yet?”

“Go to hell,” she spat, straining to keep her weight off her shoulder.

“It doesn’t have to be this way.” Ellis released her chin and quickly stood.

The sounds of his footsteps disappearing down the hall did little to ease her mind. She knew he’d return to hurt her again.

Laura rolled to her stomach and shimmied toward the edge of the bed. If she could somehow get to her feet, she might find a way out.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Ellis placed his booted foot against her broken shoulder and kicked.

A tormented scream escaped her as she landed on her back, twisting her injured shoulder in the process.

Laura wasn’t sure how much more she could take. She’d never hurt so bad in her life. “Ellis?” she panted, blinking up at him through her tears. “I’m begging you to let me go. I can get you money—”

“Shut up,” he snarled, backhanding her across the face.

Blood spread across her tongue from the cut on her lip. “Then kill me.”

Ellis tilted his head to the side. “What did you say?”

“I said kill me, you fuckhead. Do it and get it over with, because I’d sooner die than allow you to hurt Ember or her family.”

“You would give your life for a fiend?”

More tears spilled from Laura’s eyes. “She’s not a fiend. She’s a person with feelings, and has more heart than anyone I’ve ever known.”

The more she talked, the more she realized the truth in her words. Being vampires didn’t make them evil creatures of the undead. They had souls and were capable of tenderness and caring beyond most humans that Laura had ever known.

Her mind drifted to the night she’d spent in Shon’s arms. The gentleness in his touch, the passionate way he’d held her, caressed her. He’d shown her what it truly felt like to let go, to feel whole…to love.

And she did love him, she realized, staring up at the horrific images flashing on the ceiling. She always had.

Shon wasn’t capable of the inhumane torture that had been done to the girls in the slideshow. But Gina was, as well as the Seeker.

Ellis’s head suddenly appeared between her and the images moving across the ceiling. Before her eyes, he held a knife in his hand, turning it from side to side. “One last chance to make that call.”

“Fuck you.” Laura spat in his face.

Ellis swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “I’m going to see that you suffer greatly for that.”

“Oh, God,” Laura breathed, glancing around the room in panic.

The breath exploded from her with the slam of his fist against her stomach. Her knees drew up on instinct as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the bed.

Ellis wrapped a hand in her hair and jerked her head back. “There’s plenty more where that came from. The choice is yours. We can end this now, and you can go home. Make the call, Miss Donovan.”

“Rot in hell, you impotent piece of shit,” Laura wheezed, gasping for air. “You’re wasting your time.”

A fist connected with her jaw, sending her into blessed darkness once again.