The Last True Vampire (29 page)

“I’ll call you if I remember anything, though.”

Rourke blinked as though remembering he had an act to keep up and smiled. “That would be great. And we might send someone over for a follow-up. Will you be here all day?”

Not if she could help it. Every internal alarm in her body blared and Claire had never wanted to run as badly as she did now. “Yep.” It took every ounce of will she possessed to appear calm. “I work until five.”

“Great. Thank you for your time, Claire. I’ll be in touch.”

A dangerous aura surrounded Detective Rourke. One that made Claire think she wouldn’t want to tangle with him a second time. She needed to get out of there. And she needed to find Mikhail. God, she’d been stupid to so easily shun his protection. The connection blazed between them, whatever cosmic force that had bound their souls. In that moment the decision had been made for her. Whatever came from here on out, they’d have to be in it together. Claire was through with going it alone. She needed Mikhail. And she wasn’t going to live another moment without him.

CHAPTER

22

Mikhail paced the confines of Siobhan’s lair, all the while cursing the reviled sun that kept him from going to Claire. He’d fought against the crafty female’s stalwart guards in an effort to get to her, only to feel the searing heat of the sun lick at his body while blisters formed on his flesh moments before they’d pulled him into the protection of the shadowed alley.

“You’re making me dizzy,” Siobhan complained. She lounged on a makeshift throne, one shapely leg bouncing over the arm. “You’re here until sundown, Mikhail. Why worry about what you can’t change?”

For thirteen hours he’d been cooped up in the ramshackle building Siobhan claimed as her own. He’d awakened well before sunset, his body fighting against daylight’s hold in his need to get to his mate. Honestly, he was surprised they hadn’t killed him the moment daylight had put him down. It was unsafe for a vampire to be away from the protection of his home during the day and this was why. Gods, Siobhan been talking for hours and already Mikhail was sick of her. He rounded on the dhampir, fangs bared. “And just what do you expect me to do?”

Her emerald eyes flashed with silver as a half smile tugged at her full lips to reveal the delicate point of one fang. “I think we should talk, don’t you?”

He snorted. “I have
nothing
to say to you.”

“Nothing?” Her mocking laughter echoed in the empty building. “Not even for the female who saved your life?”

“Dragging me away like a hostage is hardly saving my life.”

“True,” Siobhan agreed. “Though I could have let the slayers have you. Or I could have watched you burn in the sunlight. But since I was feeling benevolent, I chose to help you.” She paused, a calculating smile spreading across her face. “And to look after your mate.”

Mikhail stiffened, a growl building in his chest. He forced the words from between clenched teeth. “If any harm comes to her—”

“Relax, Mikhail.” Siobhan gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I couldn’t be bothered to give a single shit about who you’ve chosen to bed. She’s safe. Carrig followed her from that rathole diner to an apartment building on South Westlake. I’ve got to say, I never took you for the type that would slum it.”

Anger churned in his gut and rumbled in his chest. “Mind your tongue, female. You’re speaking of my mate.”

Siobhan gave a superior smirk. “For such a favor—protecting what’s yours—I think I deserve a boon. Don’t you,
Your Highness
?”

Mikhail chose to ignore the sneer in her tone. If he didn’t rein in his temper, he’d rip open her throat and start a war he didn’t have time to fight. “I gave you my thanks. Is that not enough?”

Another round of amused laughter answered him. “Not by a long shot.”

Of course not.
Not for someone as devious and calculating as she appeared to be. “What do you want then?”

“I want Ronan.”

Mikhail quirked a brow.
Ronan?
No, Siobhan wanted
power
. A higher rank than that of her current existence. How could Ronan possibly elevate her, unless she knew that the male had been turned and sought to exploit that power somehow? “Ronan isn’t mine to give any more than he’s yours to possess.”

“He’s sworn allegiance to you. Release him of his troth.”

Not likely.
“Why?” With Ronan in her court, Siobhan could turn her entire coven, create a force to be reckoned with. But she’d made no secret of her disdain for vampire-kind and wanted no part of being soulless and untethered. So why, then, would she want a vampire in her folds? “Perhaps your disdain of being turned is simple pretense? Do you want to be turned, dhampir? Do you secretly yearn for the strength
your king
could give you?” She sat up straighter, baring her teeth as a warning hiss gathered in her throat. “Whatever your plans, Siobhan, I will not release Ronan from his troth. Only he can do that. If he wants to break his allegiance with me, then so be it.”

Siobhan’s emerald eyes narrowed. “You’re as arrogant as you are foolish, Mikhail. I have absolutely
no
interest whatsoever in leaving the light—
or my soul
—behind. Keep your strength and oblivion. I want none of it.”

He rounded on her with blinding speed, hands braced on the arms of her so-called throne as he snarled in her face. “Then what do you want? Stop posturing and casting threats, and
wasting my time
!”

She bucked her chin defiantly and swung her legs over the arm of the chair, knocking his arms aside. The pointed heels of her stiletto boots struck the floor with a snap as she settled back and faced him fully. “I’m not a fool, so do me the courtesy of not treating me like one. I know all about your mate, Mikhail. She’s human.” Siobhan’s statement, coupled with her superior smirk, caused a rumble of anger to erupt in Mikhail’s chest. “Tsk-tsk, Mikhail. If I were you, I’d watch my temper.”

He pushed himself away from the chair, lest he be tempted to sink his fangs as far as they’d go into the female’s throat. Nothing would please him more than silencing her once and for all and the only thing keeping him from doing the deed was the army of dhampir soldiers she’d amassed to watch her back.

Between rotting underground in a foul, dark tomb and spending his daylight hours with this female he’d gladly take the tomb. “Whatever my mate might be, she is not your concern.” He pushed the words through his teeth. “And a threat against her, no matter how veiled, will result in your death, female.”

A satisfied smirk tugged at her thin lips. “Worthier males than you have tried. And failed. It’s not me or mine that you need concern yourself with, Mikhail. I couldn’t give a shit about your mate’s shortcomings.”

“Then why cast threats?”

“Because I can be a bitch when I don’t get what I want.” She dusted a fleck of invisible lint from her upper arm. “Give Ronan to me and I’ll keep her identity secret. Otherwise…” Silver flashed in her eyes and she bared her fangs. “I’ll help incite an uprising that will make the Sortiari raids that wiped out your kind look pathetic in comparison.”

With every passing day this female was becoming more of a thorn in his side. “I told you, he’s not mine to give.”

“Of the thirteen covens, how many do you think will be faithful to you? And what of the covens outside the city? There’s a coven in Seattle that despises humans.” Her light, conversational tone grated on Mikhail’s ears. “They hunt them like wild game once a month and glut themselves on blood. I can only imagine what they’ll think when they discover the queen of the vampires is a creature they hold in as high regard as a doe in the forest.”

Mikhail’s temper flared. His fangs dug into his bottom lip and the taste of blood only spurred him toward violence. “Say another word and I’ll flay the skin from your body.”

From the shadows Siobhan’s guards made their presence known, the silver of their eyes reflecting like those of a pack of wolves. This was intolerable. The sun would be setting in a matter of minutes and he was tired of putting up a calm, defenseless front for her benefit.

“You’d die before you could even think of laying a finger on me.”

It was time that Siobhan realized just who she was up against. In a blink he grabbed her by the collar and took her down to the floor. She struggled against him, reached for the dagger sheathed at her side, but he was faster and snatched it before she could wrap her palm around the hilt.

The steel sang as he ripped the dagger free from the scabbard and straddled her body. He held the sharp edge to her throat. It nicked the skin, and blood welled from the wound, a crimson teardrop that ran in a dark rivulet down the pale column of her throat. “I’ve more than a finger on you, Siobhan,” he growled next to her ear. “So you’ll forgive me if I find your threats … idle.”

A feral hiss escaped from between her bared fangs as she struggled against him. He shot upright, bringing her with him just as her force of bodyguards attacked. The flash of steel caught his attention and Mikhail spun away. He released his grip on Siobhan and she flew across the room, sliding over the neglected tile floor before her body crashed into the wall.

Surrounded by a formidable force of dhampir warriors, it took every ounce of his concentration to keep from feeling the bite of metal on his skin. He parried several downward stabs, one of their sweeping cuts equal to three of his. They fought with ferocity and he admired their valor. Siobhan’s dhampirs were warriors worthy of their station and so much more.

It didn’t mean he wouldn’t put them down if need be.

He caught one of Siobhan’s guards in the ribs with the dagger, cutting just deep enough to immobilize him. Another Mikhail took down with a kick to his knee. The third went down in a blur of motion as he snatched the male in his grasp and lifted the male’s body high over his head, bringing the guard to the floor with enough momentum to create a fissure in the old tiles.

That left one lone opponent, and he was a burly son of a bitch.

Mikhail spun the dagger in his palm, choking up on the hilt. He hadn’t felt so alive in centuries as he circled the dhampir whose hawkish gaze assessed his every move. “Your affront to my queen will not go unpunished, vampire.”

Cocky. And a little misguided. Siobhan was no more a queen than the slayers were human, but Mikhail wasn’t about to mince words at this point. “And her affront to me will not be
tolerated
.” He attacked with blinding speed, sending the dhampir immediately into retreat. The male fought like an animal, snarling, swinging out with wild thrusts, the dagger held tight in his right hand while he parried Mikhail’s attack with the dagger in his left. A surge of strength shot through Mikhail as the sun finally dipped below the horizon. It was time to go to Claire and end this nonsense between them once and for all.

Mikhail spun, catching the dhampir on the backswing, and the male went sprawling to the floor like a felled tree. The male flipped onto his back and rolled his legs up, propelling his body from the floor in a graceful arch. With a wide sweep of his leg Mikhail caught the dhampir before the male could get his footing and sent him back to the floor. Mikhail brought his fist up high and rammed it into his opponent’s gut, knocking the air from his lungs.

The male rolled onto his stomach, scrambling to his knees as he fought for breath. Mikhail’s lungs didn’t require oxygen and perhaps he’d shown the dhampirs in the course of their fight that they could benefit from the transition. Truth be told, he didn’t want any of them—including Siobhan—as enemies. But until they came to their senses and cast off their prejudice and sense of entitlement he had no choice but to consider this coven hostile.

He stalked across the vast room to where Siobhan lay against the far wall. Still dazed, she stared up at Mikhail, her eyes flashing with angry fire. “I took you in,” she seethed. “Sheltered you from the sun and watched over your mate. And this is how you show your gratitude?”

“My gratitude is shown by the fact that you’re still alive, Siobhan.” Mikhail tucked the procured dagger into the empty sheath at his thigh. “Don’t forget it is I whom you answer to, not the other way around. Pray I continue to show you
my
benevolence. I’ll send someone to retrieve my confiscated weapons, and in the meantime I suggest you think long and hard about your future.”

She pushed herself up to sit and graced him with a sweet smile. “And perhaps you should do the same, Mikhail.”

He inclined his head and turned his back to her, strolling slowly from her presence and that of her guards. It was time for Mikhail, the last true vampire no longer, to show those who thought him weak just how powerful he was. And in order to truly do so, he needed his mate by his side.

*   *   *

Claire paced her tiny living room as her stomach tied itself into an unyielding knot. Mikhail was likely being tortured right now by Sortiari assassins and she had no idea who to turn to for help. Despair pooled in her gut until her entire body ached from the worry she felt. Since dropping the mental and emotional barrier she’d constructed to block her connection to Mikhail she’d hoped that if he could get free from his captors he’d find her easily. The detective who’d questioned her had Claire freaked the fuck out. She wasn’t safe. None of them were. And it was time to circle the wagons if they had any hope of surviving Mikhail’s enemies. If she’d had only herself to worry about, Claire doubted she’d be quite so worried. But the little guy growing inside of her deserved all of the protection he could get. And she couldn’t keep him safe without Mikhail’s help.

Not for the first time, Claire cursed her lack of a phone. Even if she did manage to find the number to Mikhail’s house in the hopes of tracking Alex or Ronan down, how in the hell was she supposed to get ahold of them? Using the pay phone down the street would leave her too exposed. If the Sortiari knew where she worked, it wasn’t a far cry to assume that they knew where she lived.

God, Claire. How could you be so stupid?
An unspoken rule of the hustle:
Always
cover your tracks.