Forever As One (9 page)

“I’m calling about the property. You know…Sex
and Sunburn?”

“You have a price?”

Evangeline put her hand over the receiver.
“How much do you want for your property?” she asked Dane.

“I don’t have any property,” he replied.

“Sex and Sunburn?” She tilted her head as if
that would trigger his memory.

“I gave it to you.” He grinned. He couldn’t
possibly hold a blank expression with the way she inhaled through
bared teeth.

“Would you be serious?”

He attempted it, but it wasn’t easy. It took
a few moments to get the blank expression back in place. “It’s a
cute little place. Brings in a hefty profit and a large crowd. You
might not want to sell it. And just think. You’d be my boss. You
can even fire me.”

“Give me a figure, Dane.”

“Invent one, my love. After you marry me, you
can do whatever you want with whatever chunk of real estate you
want. You might decide to keep that one. We don’t really need more
crime on the coast, do we?”

She turned her back on him, and spoke softly
into the phone. “I’ll have to call you back. Apparently, I’m still
in negotiations.”

“But—”

She clicked the END CALL button, cutting off
the man, and her hand was shaking as she put the phone back down.
Dane shoved back against the headboard and waited for her next
move. One thing he had to give her. This mate of his was an
intelligent, feisty woman. It was very entertaining just being
around her. And the view was spectacular.

“You just made me look like an idiot,” she
told his dresser.

“What’s one drug lord, more or less?”

Her head snapped around.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I never said that. I don’t even know for
sure.”

“But you suspect?”

“I never said that, either.”

“You contacted someone about them, didn’t
you?”

“How did you—? Uh…no. I didn’t.”

This time he didn’t hide the smile. Or the
fangs. “Come back to bed, darling. Negotiate with me.”

“Dane.”

He patted the bed beside him. “Come on,
already. The sun will be up soon and then I need to leave you. You
can rest. Or make calls. Or I’ll send one of my assistants to help.
You’ve got a lavish wedding to plan. Or…you might prefer a
beachfront, barefoot-in-the-sand type affair. Either way you need
sleep and it sounds like I’m going to be busy…with lawyers and
estate people.”

“Are you serious, Dane?”

“Yes.”

“I mean, really, truly, serious?”

“Yes, yes, and yes.”

“Can I trust you?”

“Totally.”

“I don’t know. Trusting and opening your
heart…it’s so scary. Things happen. People…die.”

He was at her side a second later, cursing
the impulse that made him move that rapidly, before folding her
into his arms. She turned her nose to the center of his chest and
just stood there. Trembling. Fighting tears?

He knew his heart was dead, but the solid
thumping radiating from there sure didn’t feel like it.

“This is the place?” Dane looked up at stone
walls topped with jagged barbed wire, and back at the black clothed
man beside him.

“You’re looking at the headquarters for
Karakov Enterprises, with their million ways to help. Exactly as
specified.”

“You’re sure?”

“You doubt me? Not very flattering, Babyface.
And I spent almost five minutes tracking the number from your cell.
Vampires. Sheesh.”

“Looks deserted.”

“Well…I’d expected them to have all the
lights on, too, but I guess if you run a crime syndicate, you keep
advertising to a minimum. ’Course with a Russian name like theirs,
I’d have thought they preferred some ancient eastern estate, but
there you go. Florida weather attracts all sorts of people.”

“You talk too much.”

“Passes time…and you never did tell me what
you want with these guys. Aside from the fact they just paid a
hefty sum into a VAL account. That wouldn’t have anything to do
with this little excursion this evening, would it?””

“Did they?”

“Four million. Wire transfer. Came through
yesterday. That information took me a lot more than five minutes,
by-the-way.”

“You didn’t tell anyone?”

“The boss doesn’t know a thing. Invaris is
only slightly wiser. You wanted us off the grid, we’re off the
grid. So…you going to tell me what’s up? Or do I get to continue
guessing?”

“Later.”

“As long as it’s personal. That’s all I’m
asking. I mean, there’s not a member of Karakov Enterprises that
doesn’t deserve the wrong end of a bullet. Word is they’re behind
the dead bodies washing ashore. The last guy didn’t even make it to
the water. They skinned him alive and then fed him to sharks. And
I’m rather fond of my epidermis.”

“I’m a vampire, Len. They can’t touch
me.”

“Stay close, then. So, hey…back to the
question. I’m all for cleaning out a nest of vipers. It’s just
sweeter if it’s personal. It is personal. Right? We’re not just
sneaking around Akron providing clean-up service for the
community?”

They put out a hit on my mate
. “Oh,
it’s personal,” Dane finally replied.

“Vampires. I don’t know why I ask. I really
don’t. It’s a waste of breath.”

“You have a plan?”

“Yeah. Go in. Kill everybody. Leave.”

“Good plan.”

“The one behind your cell phone call is Serge
Karakov. CEO. He’ll have an odd heat signature. Elevated temp. He’s
got leukemia. Just found out. Goes to show that no matter how
good-looking and rich you are, everybody gets pain and everybody
dies. Nice to know there’s a bit of justice to the world, you know?
Why am I asking you? You’re immortal. You never had a day of pain
in your life. Uh…I mean your afterlife.”

“I took a spear in the belly, Len.”

“Well…that had to hurt, I guess.”

“Thanks for the warning. I owe you
again.”

“What?”

“Serge Karakov’s blood. It’s tainted.”

“You planning on doing a little take-out, are
you?”

“No time. I have an appointment at midnight.
Can’t be all bloodied. I might even have to don a tux.”

“I’m not asking. I don’t care if you’re
escorting Miss America down a catwalk. But with that kind of
timeline, you’d better quit interrupting me and listen up. We’ve
got more than one target. Apparently, Serge likes to keep the
entire board of directors close to him. They’re partying somewhere
behind that monstrosity of a wall. Odd. I thought every lavish
estate in the Keys was open and airy, and had million-dollar curb
appeal. This one’s more like a thousand year old fortress. If I
wasn’t looking it over, I wouldn’t believe it.”

“Five hundred. Maybe.”

“No way. Not in the Keys. If that was real,
we’d have archeologists swarming the place.”

“It’s real. Early sixteenth century. Maybe
later.”

“Right.”

“You don’t know your own history?”

“Unlike present company, I wasn’t there at
the time.”

Dane smirked before answering. “Spanish
conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the state in 1513. He
thought he’d found another island. The crown knighted him and
granted him governorship of the entire peninsula.
If
he
could hold it. Building a fortress like this one could hold
it.”

“Oh…come on. That’s pure speculation. Karakov
Enterprises probably had that chunk of stone designed, and
constructed, and purposely aged. For the effect on visitors.”

“Nope. But it’s been updated.”

“Oh, I guarantee it’s updated. You hear that
hum? That’s electricity. Early twentieth century invention. And he
says I don’t know my history.”

“Nineteenth.”

Len rolled the curse through his lips. “It’d
be easier to take you seriously if you looked old enough to
drink…Babyface.”

“I’m twenty-four. Maybe twenty-five.”

“Maybe? How do you lose count of your
age?”

Dane looked over at the man. “You ever work a
Viking long-ship?”

“Not recently.”

“Trust me. Every day’s the same and they’re
all shit. Easy to lose track of all kinds of things. Land. Food.
Sleep. Time.”

“Sorry I asked.”

Dane looked back to the fortress wall. “You
know how many?”

“How many what? Years? Conquistadors?
Long-ships?”

“Targets.” Dane said it through clenched
teeth. He had to remind himself that Len was good. That’s why
anybody put up with him. The man was more than good. He had
perfectly honed skills.

“The board of directors is an eight member
unit. All Karakov relatives. They keep it in the family, and still
don’t trust each other. Hmm. Whatever happened to family
values?”

“We have eight targets?”

“Once you get us over that fourteen foot span
of rock, there’s an electrified fence. That’s the humming noise,
remember? They’ve got 25,000 volts running through it. I don’t know
about you, but that’s enough to fry my ass. So, you’ll just have to
get me over it, too. Then we’ll probably face real humans. With
real guns. They’re not very friendly, either. They probably shoot
pizza delivery guys. That’s why I’m pretty much dressed head-to-toe
in Kevlar.”

“Sixteen.”

“What?”

“The walls are sixteen feet.”

“Right. Vampires. Got to love them. I’m
telling you, one of you needs to develop a sense of humor. And
before I turn thirty.”

“You’re thirty-two.”

“No kidding? Well…I’m not getting any younger
while you sit out here shooting the breeze. You ready yet?”

Dane grabbed Len’s shoulders and jumped,
easily leaping the barbed-wire topped wall, landing in
thigh-sucking liquid Len forgot to describe, before launching them
right over the fence that sparked and sizzled with every drop of
swamp muck they dripped on it. Nothing like a grand entrance. Dane
landed in a crouch and shoved Len to the ground where the man
rolled from bullets that sounded like puffs of air.

He’d forgotten to add in that they had
silencers.

A blink later, Dane was behind the first man
on the left, ripping through his thorax with a blow. Second man got
a crushed vertebra and severed spine. Third one received a
compressed skull as his brains separated from his head. The fourth
one went down with a bullet hole between his eyes. A glance showed
Len already taking down the fifth shooter, as well. Dane nodded at
his partner. The guy might talk a lot, but he was a damn good
shot.

The ground about Len started spurting dirt as
bullets riddled the area again. Dane tagged the shooter from above
him, and with a jump went right through the stone walkway. That
fellow got his head severed from his shoulders for his trouble.
Fresh blood gushed from the neck cavity as he fell, soaking stone
and the lower half of Dane’s trousers, while the scent triggered
impulses he had to restrain. Every muscle in his frame tightened,
his canines elongated, while his mouth and throat itched with
thirst.

Not yet.

Len was huffing for breath as he reached him,
jogging the steps to catch up.

“Holy shit, Babyface. I’m speechless. Death
and dismemberment must be part of your Viking training? Yes?”

“No.”

“Looks pretty barbaric. You sure?”

Dane raised bloodied hands. “Nothing but bare
hands.”

“Better and better. You’re more in a
Berserker mode. What a great idea for a video game! Remind me
later. We got work to do. You spot him, yet?”

Len pulled night goggles from around his
throat and adjusted them. Dane narrowed his eyes and scanned stone,
seeing heat tracings in several locations.

“There’s a lot more than eight,” he
remarked.

“Sue me.”

“I’d rather reward you. You use
steroids?”

“No. And what the hell does that matter?”

“Has an effect like Nitrous Oxide, only not
near as fun. When I change you, I don’t want to be riddled with
laughter for hours afterward.”

“Whoa. Hold on there, Babyface. I don’t want
to be changed. Not yet, anyway. I like living day to day.
Honest.”

“You change your mind, start feeling old age,
you let me know. Fair?”

Another round of bullets peppered the rock
about them. Dane shoved Len behind him until the fellow ran out.
And then their attacker tossed a long knife. Dane caught it and
launched it right back, pegging the guy in the throat. They both
watched as the man grabbed his neck and plummeted to the
ground.

“Reflex,” he remarked in the dead silence
that followed.

“That was pretty amazing. Truly. Frickin’.
Amazing.”

“Nice to know I can still do it.”

“What?”

“Part of my upbringing. Dodge and throw.
Forget it. You spot him, yet?”

“I’ve got three in that tower. None of them
Mister Heat. You?”

“No. I’ll handle the main house. I’ll be
busy. You get in trouble, you call.”

“Oh. I’ll be in full-bore screaming. You just
keep your ears—”

The last bit was lost as Dane jumped the
parapet and slammed through double wooden doors, splintering the
bolt that had barred them. Through the blizzard of slivers and
dust, he swiped through one man’s chest, ripped another man’s arms
off, and used them to bat the next fellow’s skull into the wall
before putting the armless fellow out of his misery. The screams
brought more footsteps, and Dane turned into a smear of movement,
slashing through flesh and severing bone, until the amount of blood
running down the walls called to every atom of his existence. Every
sense hammered need through him.

Not just yet.

They were using unsilenced bullets somewhere.
Gunfire sound cut through the scene of carnage as Dane just stood
there, head lowered, teeth elongated, eyes narrowed and deadly. The
only trace of heat came from the newly deceased, and then he caught
a glimpse of warmth and color, shimmering from down a hall. He took
off at a run that sent him to the end of the hall and up a spiral
staircase.