Zen and the Art of Vampires (23 page)

No, not one vampire . . . two. What sort of a horrible woman was I that I so callously threw away my relationship with Alec in order to give in to lust for another man?

Shame washed over me, leaving me hotly uncomfortable and perilously close to tears. What was I going to say to Alec when I finally saw him again? How was I going to face him when I'd slept with his friend?

And how on earth was I going to look Kristoff in the eye? I'd all but thrown myself at the man. He said time and time again that he didn't want me, didn't like me, and yet I took advantage of the fact that he was a man and I was a woman, and we were thrown together for a night of such erotic sex that I seriously expected to see scorch marks on the blanket.

“Bull,” I said aloud, quickly getting to my feet and gathering up my clothing. “He wanted it as bad as I did. If I'm to blame, so is he, and if he tries any of that crap on me, I'll let him have it.”

I put on a fresh pair of pants and shirt, stuffing yesterday's clothing into my bag before emerging from the barn. I could see more of the area around us, some sort of farm that had clearly known better days. Fields lay in unkempt wilderness, while a good mile away sat a low, squat farmhouse and a couple of outbuildings. There was no one there but me.

“At least he left the car this time,” I muttered sourly, shoving my bag into the backseat. “But I'm beginning to be a little distressed about this recent trend of men disappearing rather than sticking around to face the morning after.”

There was a movement at the end of the barn. Kristoff stood in the shade cast by the building, frowning at me. “Who are you talking to?”

I had a momentary pang of embarrassment. How do you face a man who you know doesn't like you, but who a few hours ago was moaning his pleasure into your mouth as you writhed around together?

I eyed him. He stared stonily at me, no emotion visible whatsoever on his face. Well, if that's the way he wanted it, that was fine with me. Two could pretend nothing had happened between us.

Besides, I wasn't entirely sure anything had. Oh, we'd engaged in some pretty intense sex—my still-shaky legs reminded me of that fact. But emotionally, had anything changed?

I shook my head at that question, not wanting to try to evaluate the tangled mess that was my emotions. I lifted my chin and gave him an equally cool look. “Oh, there you are. I was talking to myself. Is there an outhouse or something around here?”

He shrugged and remained where he was.

“What, you don't have to ever pee?” I asked, marching toward him, looking for a spot I could use to relieve my bladder.

“Not unless I eat food.”

I paused as I was about to pass by, glancing at him in surprise. “You're kidding. You don't really ever have to . . . go?”

“We can, if that's what you're asking,” he said with an unreadable look. “But it usually isn't necessary unless we've ingested food.”

“Oh.” I thought about that for a moment, then continued behind the barn. “That must be awfully darned handy. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

He was in the car when I returned, the driver's overhead flap pulled down and to the side, so it blocked the sunlight filtering in.

“I never thought about it, but you must really hate the midnight sun,” I said, getting in the car while avoiding looking at him. Try as I might to ignore him, I was very aware of his nearness in the close confines of the vehicle, aware of the way his leg moved as he started up the car and backed out onto the road, aware of the unique scent he seemed to possess that still lingered in my nose just as the almost indescribable taste of him lingered on my tongue. A little zing of electricity shimmered up my arm when his hand brushed it while shifting. Oh, yes, I was aware of him . . . but he seemed just as remote and threatening as he had the day before.

Nothing had changed, not really. We might have sought comfort from each other for a bit, but that was all it was. I could stop beating myself up for betraying Alec's memory, since clearly our little interlude meant nothing to Kristoff.

Alec was who I should be thinking of. But as we drove back to town, I realized with a sick feeling that whatever I might have had with Alec was now over. I wasn't the sort of woman who hopped from bed to bed without a care, despite my actions of the last few days.

“Did you get ahold of Alec?” My voice seemed somewhat hoarse. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Did he get away from the police?”

“Yes to both questions. We're going to meet him in Reykjavík.”

“Why Reykjavík?” I asked as he got onto the highway that would take us into the capital.

“That is where the airport is.”

“Alec is leaving?” I asked, my heart dropping despite the fact that I'd only just decided we had no future together. Still, it left me feeling oddly deflated to know I was being abandoned so thoroughly.

“We all are.”

I glanced over at him, ignoring the little flutter in my stomach. “By ‘we all' you mean you and him, not me, correct?”

“You're coming with us. The council will want to talk to you.”

I stared at him in blank incomprehension. “You do realize that the police are after me, don't you? They are bound to be watching the airport. There's no way I can get out of Iceland, even if I wanted to, and quite frankly, I don't intend to go anywhere else with you. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you could drop me at the north end of Dalkafjordhur. I'll take it from there.”

“Alec told me to take you to the airport,” he answered without bothering to even glance toward me.

“And you always do what Alec says?” I asked waspishly, feeling some horrible need to be snarky to him. I beat it down as being a symptom of hurt feelings.

What did I care that a night spent (literally) rolling in the hay meant nothing to him? So he drank my blood and gave me the most incredible orgasm of my entire life, and then proceeded to act as if I was a complete stranger—no, not a stranger, a slight acquaintance who was barely tolerated. So what? It didn't mean I had to feel rejected. Again.

Damn Kristoff. Damn Alec. Damn, damn, damn.

“Hardly. But about this, we agree—the council wants to see you. He can't take you all the way to them, so I've been elected babysitter.”

“Babysitter!” I gasped, outraged.

To my utmost surprise, a quick smile flickered on his lips. “I thought you might appreciate that term.”

I was too incensed to be charmed by the smile, even though I had a feeling there were few enough of them. “So you intend to haul me in front of this vampire court? To charge me for crimes against other vampires? You know, as tempting as that thought is, I think I'll pass. A few days ago, I didn't even know you guys existed. I'm sorry that your girlfriend died at the hands of the Brotherhood, but I'm not going to make myself a martyr over it.”

At the mention of his girlfriend, Kristoff's fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He said nothing, however, just kept driving.

I had no intention of being dragged out of the country, either. “Do you have any knockout drugs with you?” I asked in as calm and sweet a voice as I could muster.

He shot me a startled glance. “No.”

“I see. Perhaps you have a gun?”

He frowned. “I prefer bladed weapons to guns.”

“Ah. And do you have any knives, daggers, swords, axes, or other weaponry that might possess a blade upon you at this very moment?”

Another quick glance showed I had his interest. “At this moment? No. I left them behind since it's hard to get them through airport security.”

“I imagine it is.”

“In case you had any ideas, I'll point out that I don't need a weapon to defend myself.”

“Indeed.” I was silent for a moment. “How about a Taser?”

His frown deepened. “What, exactly, are you getting at? That I'm unarmed? I admit to that, but if you think you can overpower me, you're sadly mistaken.”

I smiled at him. “You yourself admitted you have no hypnotic powers, so how, exactly, do you propose to get me onto a plane?”

The light of understanding dawned in his eyes, his jaw and fingers tightening. “You wouldn't.”

“On the contrary, I most definitely would. I will make the biggest scene that has ever been made in an airport. I will attract the attention of anyone with ears in a five-mile radius. I will bring down the full force of security, airport officials, and airplane employees. In short, I will throw the hissy fit to end all hissy fits. You'll have to drug me or knock me out to get me onto a plane, and I'm willing to bet that much as you talk tough, you're not going to hurt me.”

He pulled the car over to the side of the road, and before I could even take a breath, he was leaning over me, one hand on my throat, squeezing out almost all the air. “I have killed reapers before, and will kill them again. What makes you think you're any different?”

“You didn't marry any of them,” I croaked, realizing with some surprise that something had changed since I'd spent the night with Kristoff—I no longer feared him.

His lips pulled back. “That was a sacrifice on my part to keep you from gaining your full powers.”

“A sacrifice that ruined my life as well as yours,” I said, swallowing as his fingers released their grip slightly. A little song of triumph sang in my head. I was right—he wasn't going to hurt me. He might be a revenge-motivated vampire, a man who thought nothing about killing those who tortured his own people, but there was something in him, something honorable that I must have sensed during the night.

His eyes narrowed in question.

“Not that I believe for one minute that the marriage ceremony you forced me into was legal, but let's just say it was. Did you ever stop to wonder what happens if you find a woman you really
do
want to marry? Or me? What if I run into the man of my dreams tomorrow? I won't be able to marry him.”

“Marriage is a mortal legality.” He snorted, releasing my throat to sit back in his seat. “It means nothing to Dark Ones.”

“Well, it means something to me,” I said, rubbing my throat. “And you ruined any chance I had of having happiness with a man.”

His fingers twitched. “You do realize if you create a scene at the airport the police will be down upon you instantly?”

“Oh, I realize that. And thank you, I think I'd rather take my chances with the Icelandic police than a kangaroo court filled with vengeful vampires.”

He sat staring out of the front window for a few minutes, clearly realizing that he wasn't going to be able to bully me into submitting to his wishes. “I should just dump you on Alec's lap and let him deal with you.”

“I really do need to talk to him,” I said, indulging in a little frown of my own. There was a lot I wanted to ask him, but more importantly, I needed to see how he felt about me. If he wanted to continue a relationship, I'd have to tell him about the night spent with Kristoff. And I could just imagine what his reaction would be to that.

Kristoff hesitated for another couple of seconds, then slammed his hands on the wheel and jerked the car into a very illegal, and highly dangerous, U-turn. “I will take you to Alec. I am through with this.”

What was “this”? I wondered. Me? The whole situation? Seeking revenge for his girlfriend's death? I pondered that, and what I was going to say to Alec, while he drove us back to town.

I blinked a few times to adjust my vision to the relatively dim light of the library as compared to the bright sunshine outside, smiling at a librarian who glanced up at me as I made my way to the very back of the library where I remembered that a small clutch of study carrels were arranged against the wall. As I thought, the area was empty. I plopped down on one of the carrels and waited.

“There you are!” Marta appeared out of nothing and wafted over toward me. “We were worried when you didn't come back! Is everything all right?”

“As all right as we can expect. I'm sorry I couldn't call you like I did the Brotherhood folk and let you know I was OK, but obviously, that wasn't possible with you all. Where are the others? Oh. Good morning, everyone. Can you gather around, please? I'm going to have to talk kind of quiet so no one overhears. Er . . . please remain transparent, too. We don't need to wig out some innocent library patron.”

The ghosts appeared one by one, forming a small circle around me, each of them with an expectant look that I hated to dash, however briefly. “First of all, I'm very sorry for disappearing last night and not coming back. I ran into a . . . well, you can call it a situation with Kristoff, and I couldn't get back here until now.”