Vampire Thirst (20 page)

Tardieh shifted on his seat. He’d better get the answers he needed from Alejandro before the bastard made him lose his patience. “I’ve been checking out a few opportunities myself.” He pulled the bunch of black and white photos from his jacket’s internal pocket and laid them on the coffee table. “I’ve developed a fondness for old mansions.”

Alejandro’s eyes went wide as he registered the images. “These are interesting dwellings, my lord. Where did you find them?”

“You tell me.”

Alejandro took a sip of his own drink. The air in the room was so charged, electricity crackled in it. In the corner of his eye, Tardieh spotted Joel and Dyam, ready for action. They knew exactly where this conversation was going.

After a long pause, Alejandro finally unglued his mouth from the glass. “I’m not really sure I can, my...”

“Try.”

He took one of the photos in his hand. “Oh, wait. I remember this one. It’s in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, northeast of London.”

Tardieh was hoping he’d say something stupid like that.

In a flash, Joel was at Alejandro’s throat and at the same time, Dyam pulled his combat knife out and chopped the bodyguard’s head off. The vampire disintegrated into grey dust in just a few seconds.

Tardieh remained on the surprisingly comfortable armchair. “I’m glad you can read, Alejandro. But I expected more from you.”

“I...I really don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.” Alejandro croaked. His wide eyes went from the pile of ashes that used to be his bodyguard to Joel’s firm grip.

Tardieh shook his head, tutting. “Why don’t you try again? I’d hate to have Barcelona deprived of its best wine bar.”

Joel clutched Alejandro’s nape and smashed his forehead against the coffee table. The vampire’s blood splattered on the glass.

“Alright, alright,” the prick finally cried out. “All I know is that Yerik was working on a new weapon.”

Tardieh clenched his jaw. “You’re boring me, Alejandro.”

Joel tightened his grip and gave him a quick, but very effective, shove. Alejandro cried out like a little girl.

“He was testing it in humans. And...” A desperate gurgling sound muffled his last words.

Tardieh jerked his head upwards, a silent command for his man to take it down a notch. Just a notch. “And?”

Alejandro took a deep breath and coughed the words out. “And he was working with someone called Burvis.”

“Vampire?”

“I wouldn’t know, my lord.”

With only one hand, Joel lifted Alejandro’s head up and smashed it down again. “Are you sure about that, pal?” More bright red blood was splattered staining the white
fur rug
underneath.

“I swear I don’t know. Burvis may be a vampire but I’ve never really seen or heard of him before! Please, please!”

The faint smell of urine reached Tardieh’s nose.

“Oh, for Hiad’s sake!” Dyam cursed.

The sucker pissed on himself.

Tardieh stood up slowly. “I hope it is true, Alejandro. For your sake.” He waved to Joel to release the pathetic S.O.B.

“I promise you, my lord. I don’t know anything else,” Alejandro said from where he’d collapsed on the floor.

The elevator bell rang, indicating that a newcomer was about to enter the room. Dyam materialized at the door. Alejandro’s other bodyguard stepped out holding two tall, redhead females under each arm. At the sight of his master’s blood staining the white rabbit rug, he parted his stance and flashed his fangs, ready for the attack. But Dyam was already half way to slicing the bastard’s throat up.

“Wait!” Alejandro’s shout was barely audible over the girls’ screams. He knelt down and kissed Tardieh’s boots. “Forgive me, my lord. I am but a humble worker. Please allow my establishment to remain.”

Tardieh pulled his feet away from the man’s lips. He was never comfortable with extreme displays of subservience. “I may consider your request.”

“Oh, thank you, my merciful Lord,” Alejandro exhaled and followed Tardieh’s boots to give them another shower of kisses.

Oh, for Hiad’s sake!
Tardieh pulled his foot away again and crossed the room. “If, and only if, you keep me informed of every single movement from this Burvis guy.”

“Yes, I will. I promise.”

Tardieh nodded.

“Now, please, my lord. I’d like to offer you two of my best chalices,” Alejandro said, flashing an awkward blood-stained grin. He motioned to the two human girls to go to Tardieh. They were probably in their early twenties and were absolutely petrified.

“Chicas, van con él ahora!” Alejandro’s sharp order shook them out of their catatonic state.

Still trembling, they crossed the room toward Tardieh. Their naked bodies were covered only by red panties and two long tattoos that went from their left shoulders to their right hips. Two identical sphinxes danced at every hesitant step they took.

Even though he was starving for blood and desperate for a good fuck, Tardieh couldn’t think of being with anyone else but Zoricah. The mere thought of tasting another woman brought bile to his mouth.

He lifted a hand to stop them, but the tallest one took that as an invitation and licked his fingers. The other one was already on her knees, unbuckling his belt.

“Wait…”

The elevator dinged again and Zoricah stepped out. Her brows creased in the middle, then her eyes went from warm amber to dark chocolate.

Fuck.

Chapter 9

Zoricah couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d stepped out of the elevator, troubled that her last resort had probably double-crossed her yet again, and was struck by the sight of Tardieh on the couch with two redheads. One was sucking on his fingers, the other was half way to giving him a blow-job.

Zoricah saw red. Her mind went into overdrive. All she could think of was tearing those bitches off him, limb by limb. She crossed the room in two strides, grabbed both sluts by the hair and threw them against the far wall. Alejandro gave out a little girly squeak.

“Get these whores out of my sight, now!”

The vamp leaped with the force of her words, then darted to the elevator, followed by his cock-sucking twins.

Zoricah turned to Tardieh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Dyam, Joel, wait for me downstairs,” Tardieh commanded, but his eyes never wavered from Zoricah’s.

Yeah, he knew better.

She heard the familiar sound of the elevator doors open and then close. They were alone.

“You have two seconds to explain yourself,” she growled. Her hands were balled into fists.

“Don’t threaten me, Zoricah. I don’t take it very lightly.”

“You don’t take…” She closed her eyes and contained the wave of rage from emerging. She counted to three. The intension was to go til ten, but her fury was riding her on the edge. “How would you feel if
you
saw
me
wrapped by two naked men, and their fucking mouths all over
me
?”

 “I’d think it’s your business, since you broke up with me weeks ago.”

“Broke up with you? Are you mad?”

“No, Zoricah.
You
are, by the sound of things.”

“Watch it, Tardieh. You have no idea how close to the edge I’m skating here,” she snarled.

“
You
are? Ha!” His sarcastic laugh echoed in the room. “You leave me hanging in New York, disappear for weeks, then come back, thinking you have the right to be mad at me for moving on. That’s the most twisted logic I’ve ever heard in my entire life!”

“You knew where I was all along. If you had wanted to talk things through, you could have come to London. Besides, I never broke up with you.”

“You refused my proposal! What else does that mean?”

“I didn’t say
no!
I asked for some time to think about it,” she shouted back.

Tardieh’s eyes flashed red and his fangs burst out. Zoricah had never seen him so out of control before. A tiny part of her was weirdly glad about that.

“If you pull your head out of your ass, Tardieh, you’ll remember I told you I loved you, but I wasn’t sure if marriage was a good next step at the moment.”

He marched across the room and stopped just inches from her. His powerful presence was almost too much, but Zoricah held her ground.

“I remember it very well, Zoricah,” he growled back. “I remember you babbling bullshit after bullshit, just to elude the truth. But then again, why did I expect anything else? It’s always been like that with you, hasn’t it? Riddles, half-truths.
I
was the fool for expecting more.”

His raw anger cut her deep. She didn’t realize she’d hurt him that much. She had never intended to. A suffocating lump formed in her throat. For the first time in her life, Zoricah felt bare, naked, and completely vulnerable. She loved Tardieh like she had never loved anyone before, but was that enough to guarantee a happy-ever-after? She hadn’t accepted his proposal straight away for a number of reasons, but the main one was out of concern for
him
and
his
future. How could he not see that?

“It’s political suicide for you to marry a dragon,” she whispered, trying to block the tears that threatened to flood her eyes. “I didn’t want you to lose everything you’ve fought so hard for your entire life.” She swallowed. Took a deep breath. “But you’re right. It’s better we both move on and forget whatever there was between us.”

She turned on her heels and left the room. She didn’t bother waiting for the elevator. She rushed down the stairs, and managed to hold off the tears until she was on the dark streets of Barcelona, safely away from his ears. Then her sobs came out like an opened dam. She ran to the closest alleyway, released her wings, and let the wind take her. Far, far away from Tardieh.

Chapter 10

The scotch whiskey infused with blood burnt down Tardieh’s throat. He watched the maroon liquid swirl in the glass. If only it could get him drunk, but he knew it would only give him a light buzz. He’d heard of cases where vampires had taken too much alcohol and their bodies had simply shut down, only to wake months later. His race was not able to process any liquid in great amounts, not even blood. If a vampire took too much of anything, bad things happened. Bloodlust was just the most widespread side effect.

He blew out a long breath. Tonight Tardieh didn’t care. He would welcome a coma with open arms. It would at least block out the memory of Zoricah’s tortured eyes in front of him. It killed him to see how much he’d hurt her, no matter how much she had hurt him. He shouldn’t have let out his rage like that. He had never seen her so…vulnerable. At that moment, he had realized she really hadn’t meant to hurt him, but, the fucking irony was – she had. Even if she had a point. Fine, he admitted, it was a political suicide for him to marry a draco but he didn’t fucking care. For him, she was a strong, fair and honorable leader, not a member of the opposing team.

After she’d stormed out of Alejandro’s wine bar, Tardieh had cleared his head and gone after her. He’d gone to every draconian joint in Barcelona, searched everywhere, but she was nowhere to be found. He’d even tried to contact Hikuro, just in case Zoricah had decided to fly back to London, but his second-in-command was also out of reach. Now it had been almost 24 hours and still no sign of her.

Unusual worry crept into his mind. What if she’d been caught by Yerik’s partner? What if she was hurt? Tardieh ran his fingers through his hair. He was a bundle of nerves, just like she said she was. By Apa Dobrý, why couldn’t she just accept the fact that they were meant to be together and agree to marry him? To Hiad with what people would think and the never-ending animosity between dragons and vampires, and his stupid senate. To Hiad with them all! He didn’t care about politics. How could she not see that?

“My lord,” Dyam’s soft call brought him back from ugly thoughts. “Should I call you a feeder?”

Tardieh shook his head. “I don’t need to feed.”

He did, but the mere thought of drinking from a professional and not from Zoricah churned his stomach once again.

Dyam leaped up and landed on the ledge next to him. It was only then that Tardieh realized he was on the roof above his sleeping quarters. He didn’t even remember getting up there.

“Joel is checking out a lead; he’ll be here soon, hopefully with good news,” his friend said, then sat down. His legs dangled off the roof like Tardieh’s.

Tardieh tipped his head back and downed the rest of his drink. “We’ll find her only when
she
wants to be found. It’s been that way since I first met her, over two hundred years ago – and it drives me insane every fucking time.”

“Females are like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, my lord. Some days it’s easy to understand, and others you can’t piece even one little bit together.  On those days, it’s wise to leave them be.”

Dyam’s strange analogy made Tardieh chuckle. “Very true. But I think Zoricah is more like a drug I can’t be rid of.”

“Drugs are destructive, my lord. From what I see, she’s trying to be the opposite.”

Tardieh turned his head at his friend’s bold words. Dyam was a half-breed and had gone through a lot of suffering in his long life. Being the aftermath of a vampire’s fling with a Native American shaman wasn’t the usual setup for an easy life. Tardieh had always admired his friend’s ability to take a step back and listen to reason. But not tonight. Dyam was starting to get on his fucking nerves.

“She’s afraid of commitment.”

“She’s afraid the vampire senate will not approve.”

“So what?” Tardieh retorted between clenched teeth. “I don’t give a fuck if the senate crucifies me. They’ve done it before and I survived.”

“You mean, you don’t care if your mating is just the excuse the extremists need to start another war?”

“They wouldn’t dare…”

“And if Zoricah does care about you, wouldn’t it be only natural for her to worry about your future as king?”

“She needn’t worry. If our mating leads to distress in my kingdom,
I
should worry about that, not her.”

Silence.

Tardieh stared at the dark horizon, his jaw tight with rage. The minutes ticked by.