Taken by the Others (30 page)

Royce’s people didn’t seem to be holding up too well. There were only two other women in the room, both human, each one huddling and weeping in the protective arms of a lover or friend among the vampires left behind. There were bite marks and bruises on a lot of the humans cringing behind the vamps.

I have to admit, I stared when I saw a couple of the men fall into each other’s arms. It’s not that I’m homophobic so much as it wasn’t the sort of thing you see every day. The poor guy who’d made a run for it downstairs was being cradled by a sobbing, dark-skinned man who had better taste in clothes than most women. Another was crouched beside them, rubbing the guy’s back and whispering sympathies, his pale skin and ashy hair a stark contrast against the bloodstains around his mouth. By the angle of his neck and the limpness to the limbs, it looked like Peter had killed the crying man’s donor.

Mouse was pacing, back and forth, back and forth, like a caged tiger considering means of escape. The look in her eyes was positively predatory. I was very glad that she was on my side. Even though Max had kicked her ass, I had the feeling he was the only vampire around with the age, strength, and speed to have done so. I’d bet good money John would’ve been creamed if he’d tried besting her in a physical fight.

I got up, too, feeling way too jittery to sit still, especially with the way Mouse was stalking around. When her gaze shot to me, drawn by my sudden movements, I ignored the spark of hunger in her eyes. The two guards on the door, vamps I didn’t know, watched with deceptive boredom. I was sure they’d be on us quick enough if we tried anything funny.

Mouse stopped moving, staring at me. It was creepy as anything, what with the ruby gleam flashing from dilated pupils. What was her problem?

Before I could blink, she was on me. One of her hands was at my waist, bruisingly tight as she yanked me close, the other pulling my wrist to her mouth, fingers working at the edge of my armored clothing. Her fangs raked over my skin. As I inhaled to scream, Max’s men started shouting and pulling at her, tearing her off me.

She twisted away from them without a sound, staying down when one of them shoved her to the floor. He held a gun on her, the other one taking my arm and pulling me close. I lifted my shaking hand to see what she’d done, shivering in reaction as the guy holding me grabbed my wrist to examine the tiny scratches her fangs had left on my skin. Holy Mother of God, she was fast.

“Max isn’t going to like that,” he observed, a brief glimmer of hunger making his eyes turn red. “Bad move.”

“Shit, did she bite her?”

“No. Just a nick.”

The guy holding the gun grimaced, gesturing to the room in the back. “Just have her wash it up, Bill. I don’t want the boss thinking we fucked up again.”

“Is there a bathroom?” Bill demanded of Mouse. When she nodded, gesturing weakly to the back of the room, he shoved me toward the closed door. “Move it. Go rinse the blood off, and hurry the fuck up. Don’t keep us waiting.”

After stumbling to catch my balance, I skittered around Mouse, who was staring up at me with an expression I couldn’t read. Her guard waved his gun at me, and I moved faster, ducking into Royce’s bedroom.

He slept on, of all things, a futon. A big futon, true, but a futon nonetheless. The sheets were rumpled, and it made me wonder if he’d left it that way when he got up, or if it was from the vampires dragging that girl in the blue shirt out of it. Before they dragged her out, what would she have been doing there? Waiting for Royce to come home and slide into bed with her maybe? I hadn’t given much thought about whether all of a male vampire’s “equipment” worked after they were turned, but–

No. That was quite enough of that train of thought.

Any other time, I might have been more interested in examining this most private part of his home to see if I could get more insight into the man. Instead, I hurried into the ridiculously large bathroom. The floor was slick marble and there was a shower and tub that looked big enough to host a party.

I pulled my jacket aside to examine where Mouse had clutched at me, grimacing at the feel of a forming bruise at my waist. To my surprise, she’d tucked a cell phone into the belt. In all the confusion, I hadn’t noticed.

Why would a mute vampire have a cell phone? Whatever the reason, I wasn’t going to question this fortunate turn of events. Mouse was unbelievably sly to have thought of pulling that stunt right in front of Max’s men. I wouldn’t waste the opportunity she’d given me.

First, I turned the water on to cover my actions. Next, I opened the phone and put it on silent mode. Scrolling through a long list of contacts, I found Royce’s name and tapped out a quick message.

THIS IS SHIA. I’M AT YOUR HOUSE BY CENTRAL PARK. JOHN BETRAYED US– MAX HAS THE HOUSE AND YOUR PEOPLE. PLANS TO KILL US BOTH. BE CAREFUL.

Hopefully, this would give him enough time to round up the cavalry. It didn’t take long before a reply message popped up.

ALMOST DONE WITH THE POLICE. THEY KNOW IT WAS MAX AND HIS PEOPLE. I’LL BE THERE AS SOON AS I CAN.

I never thought I’d say this, but thank God Royce was coming to the rescue.

Tears of relief stung my eyes. I couldn’t let them fall, though. To keep the guards from catching on, I shoved the phone in my pocket and buttoned up the jacket so they couldn’t see any telltale lumps. Next, I rinsed my hands and face. In addition to the shallow scratches on my wrist, there was blood on my fingers from touching the dance floor earlier to wash off. Gross.

When I walked back out, I headed quietly to the chaise, settling down on the cushion. Mouse was back to pacing, the guards had resumed their bored expressions and posts at the door, and most of Royce’s people had retreated to the far corners of the room. One of them stumbled closer to sit by me, his expression dull and shocked. There was some dried blood at the corner of his mouth. Max must have bound him, too.

“Are you okay?” I asked, unnerved he’d come so close but didn’t bother to say anything. He turned to look at me, his eyes a pale seawater green, peering out from behind a few stray tendrils of shoulder-length brown hair. He was barefoot in jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt, leaving a good portion of his chest and stomach bare to view. He was lean, his skin littered with scars, and I tried not to stare.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be okay. Are you with that … that guy?” His voice didn’t match his appearance. It was deep, rumbling, like Tiny’s or Chaz’s. It seemed out of place on that slender, wiry frame.

“I’m unwillingly along for the ride.” I turned away to watch Mouse pace instead of staring into those dull, injured eyes.

“Did he kill Alec?”

I started at that, not badly, but enough to make him really look at me instead of stare through me. “No. He wants to, but no, he hasn’t killed him.”

Hope lit his features, at odds with the blaze of red in his irises and flicker of fangs visible when he whispered, “He’ll save us. He’ll kill them all.”

I suppressed a shudder and nodded, looking away again.

After a little while, some of the other vamps and their toys came to join us, gingerly settling down on the cushions like a flock of nervous birds ready to take flight at any moment. Most of them kept their distance from me. It was weird to see the vampires protectively holding people against them. It was even weirder to see the people clinging to them in return.

The only one who never sat down was Mouse. All she did was pace, endlessly following a circuit, back and forth, back and forth. The most unnerving thing about it was that she was utterly silent. Those leather boots she was wearing didn’t make a single sound against the polished hardwood.

After a while, I shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to watch Mouse or see all the helpless tears or the agonized expressions of the vampires.

I must have drifted off. It startled the hell out of me when I felt a hand close on my upper arm and drag me roughly to my feet. I started reaching for one of the stakes or a gun, but my jacket was buttoned closed, hiding and blocking easy access to my weaponry. Peter shook me a little until I straightened up. That had me more pissed off than afraid. Like John, I would make sure he paid in spades for all he had done.

Peter didn’t pay me any mind, dragging me behind him toward the door. Mouse rushed forward, but when the guards trained their guns on her, she halted. He shot her a warning glare and a few terse words.

“Max told you to stay put.”

She looked like she would’ve screamed if she could have. Her hands moved in abrupt, angry gestures. Though I didn’t understand sign language, it wasn’t hard to figure out that she was venting her frustration. I tried to give her as encouraging a look as I could, to let her know as covertly as possible that I’d found the phone and contacted Royce. I’m not sure if she got it, as she kept gesticulating at us.

The guy with the seawater green eyes rose up to put his arm around her. He whispered something to her until she relaxed, sagging against him.

I had more pressing concerns. Namely, Peter dragging me out of the room. I contemplated using my new strength to break his fangs and pound his face into pulp, but until Royce got here, I shouldn’t tip my hand too soon. Whatever it was that kept me from thinking bad thoughts about Max didn’t do a damned thing to make me feel less vindictive toward Peter or John.

“You know, if you asked nicely, I might just follow you,” I snarled at him.

He grunted in response, not bothering to look at me. I almost tripped on the stairs, finding it awkward to follow him this way. He ignored my blunt curses all the way down to a fastidiously clean cellar where Max, John, and a couple of other vampires were waiting.

Peter yanked me around and shoved me forward. I braced myself, catching my balance, and whirled with a snarl to punch him.

The hit never connected. Max caught my arm mid-swing, and it stopped me so abruptly I nearly ended up on my knees. It was like having a band of iron wrapped around my wrist. Peter looked as surprised as I felt.

“That’s enough,” Max said, the harsh command in the words unmistakable.

I gathered my balance with as much dignity as I could muster, slowly straightening my back and loosening my muscles, letting my fingers uncurl out of the fist. Max didn’t release my wrist until the tension left me. I rubbed the place where he’d grabbed as surreptitiously as possible. No doubt there would be a bruise there come morning.

Putting a hand on my shoulder, Max guided me to the others, continuing the thread of whatever conversation we’d interrupted.

“In your estimation, would it be better to leave her here as bait or bring her in as a distraction later?” Ah, I just love it when people talk about me like I’m not even there.

John shrugged, eyeing me thoughtfully. “Probably better to use her as a distraction than as bait. If you rough her up, it might make him angry. If he gets angry, he’ll make mistakes.”

I pointedly mouthed you are so dead at him, knowing Max would miss the murderous look. John’s eyes widened and I felt Max tense, sensing I’d done something I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should’ve been more lovey-dovey distracted by Max, but, for some reason, watching him murder an innocent girl right in front of me took the sparkle out of the relationship. His touch felt as warm and inviting as before, but I no longer felt the desperate urge to lean into it or please him. Maybe I was getting used to the bond.

Yeah, and next maybe winged monkeys would fly out of my butt.

John backed up a pace, putting some distance between us. “She’s a tough-willed little bitch. Maybe you should lock her up, away from the others. Mouse or somebody else up there might be trying to help her somehow.”

Max’s fingers tightened on my shoulder. I leaned into his touch. Not so much because I wanted to, but because I thought it might help the illusion that I was deeply under his power. All I needed to do was keep in mind that looking into his eyes was a bad, bad idea, and I should be fine. The belt dimly concurred with me.

“You may be right. Have you fed tonight, John?”

What was with the sudden shift in topic? John shook his head, looking just as confused by the question as I felt.

“Let’s test the theory then.” Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good. “Shiarra, pull up one of your sleeves and let John get a taste of you.”

For the love of all that’s holy, would nothing go my way tonight? I could either do as he commanded and keep up the ruse, or I could refuse him and end up forced into it anyway. I couldn’t think of the right words to say to deflect the command while still making him think I was thoroughly, hopelessly under his influence.

My phobia of being bitten made me hesitate too long. Max laughed, though whether it was my indecision or the others’ astonishment he found funny wasn’t quite clear. His hands slid down to hold my upper arms, pinning them tightly at my side.

“Well, that answers that question. You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Damn, you got me.” I fell back on sarcasm, as I am wont to do when stressed, pissed, tired, and generally in fear of my life. Call it my form of denial. “Does this mean I don’t get the award for best actress?”

His grip tightened, squeezing until I voiced an involuntary gasp. “No, you won’t be getting any awards. Peter …” His attention shifted, though he didn’t come anywhere close to loosening his grip. “Peter, hold on to her for me, will you?”