Accidentally Married To...A Vampire? (15 page)

The man blinked. “Four. That’s my final.”

Helena’s mind toggled. Hadn’t the crazy cabby said something about four-hundred?
Weird.

“I’ll take it.” Helena only hoped she’d be able to buy the ring back somehow. Her mother would be devastated to know Helena had sold it.

A few minutes later, Helena emerged from the pawnshop and there, standing across the street, was the same man she’d just seen outside Niccolo’s building minutes earlier.

She froze.

His lips twitched with a predatory smile.

How had he found her? Who the hell was he?

Once again, he slid his dark sunglasses down his nose and drilled into her with his fierce golden eyes.

Helena’s body stiffened. “Darn it,” she spoke under her breath. Where had the crazy redhead cabby gone? Helena hadn’t even paid her.

With no time to lose, she raised her arm and flagged down a new yellow chariot.

Again, the stranger made no movement towards her as she loaded herself in a cab.

***

Andrus smiled to himself as he watched the bus, bound for Chicago, pull into the rest stop as it entered Ohio. He’d been leisurely following in his black Hummer the last six hours, ensuring none of the Executioner’s guards had followed the female out of the city.

They had not. But that didn’t mean they weren’t coming. Like him, they had their ways of finding people.

Andrus parked across the lot from the silver bus and waited for the passengers to unload. He immediately spotted Helena peering out the dusty window, looking side to side. She rose from her seat and came down the steps of the bus. This was it.

He quickly left his vehicle and stalked towards her, summoning shadows to camouflage himself until he was on her heels.

“I think you lost this,” he said and then held out his hand. She pivoted and gasped. He quickly grabbed her arm to keep her from fleeing. “It is your ring, yes?”

Helena looked at the ring then up at his face. Was she frightened or confused?
No…relieved. Wait. No…angry?

“I’m not going to hurt you, you have my word,” he said in a low voice. His eyes suddenly felt dry. He blinked several times.

“That might actually mean something if you were someone I trusted or knew,” she replied.

“Andrus Gray. I am a scientist—the paranormal kind.”
Lie.
“I just want to speak with you.”
Another lie.
His eyes felt drier. Why did that always happen?

Helena jerked her arm away. “Speak to me about what?”

“Your fiancé.”

Helena frowned. “He’s not my fiancé, and why the hell should I trust you—you’ve been following me.”

Andrus nodded. “He’s your boyfriend then?”

Helena didn’t respond and turned to get away.

Andrus had to say something fast to gain her trust. “Okay. His kind”—Andrus rubbed the stubble on his chin—“does not…appreciate the work my organization does. If we are spotted, it often ends poorly. This is why I’ve been following you, waiting until it’s safe to talk.”
All true.

“Not my problem.” Helena looked at his closed hand to his side. “I can’t afford to pay you back, and I don’t take charity. So, your little plan was a waste of time.”

Andrus’ lips curled into smug smile. He liked this beautiful woman’s feistiness.
Lucky vampire.
“I propose an equitable exchange: a few hours of your time for the ring.”

She paused, considering his offer, then narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

She didn’t trust him.

Smart woman.

“I can’t do that,” she said. “The bus leaves in twenty minutes.” She turned toward the convenience store. Andrus moved quickly, blocking her way.

Helena slammed into Andrus’ chest. “What—what are you? Another effing vampire?”

I’m something far worse.
“No. Like I said, I’m a scientist—or, more accurately put, a student of the paranormal.”
Lie.
Blink. “I’ve learned many of their tricks over the years and can teach you. You’ll need my help if you really want to run from him.”

He watched intently as her radiant blue eyes locked on his face. She was still afraid.

Time to close the deal. If she resisted, he’d have to take her and risk witnesses or police being called. That would leave an easier trail for the vampires to follow.

“Look. I know you’re afraid, but I’m your only chance. Vampires never let anything get between them and their mates. He’ll go after the people you love if he has to. He won’t rest until he gets you—”

“He says we’re married,” Helena interrupted, her eyes filled with anger. “That it happened when he took a drop of my blood. Do you know how I can break the bond?”

“I do not,” he answered. “But I can teach you how to evade him. I can even keep him from sifting you away if he gets close.”

“What’s sifting?”

He’s never sifted in front of her? Idiot,
Andrus thought.
He’s probably worried about using his vampire talents in front of her because of that idiotic Pact
. Well, he could give a rat’s ass about the Pact. Besides, what could the gods do to him that hadn’t been done already?

“It’s how vampires travel. They can move from one place to another using their minds. Although, they cannot travel far—it burns up too much energy.”

“Crap. Then there’s no way for me to outrun him?” Helena’s face showed her desperation.

Andrus suddenly found himself feeling sympathetic toward the poor woman. Like him, she felt trapped.

Stay focused.
“We rarely do this, but we have an archive. It’s the only one of its kind—centuries of texts and artifacts. Perhaps we can find an answer for you there.”

Was that a flicker of hope in her eyes? Today was turning out much better than he’d planned.

“Where?” she asked coldly.

“North of San Francisco.” The Demilords’ archives were in fact there, but the records were mostly profiles of vampires on their watch list or documents they’d confiscated. Fact was, Demilords didn’t care much about history, just killing vampires. Preferably Obscuros. Now, if a “good” vamp or two—or three or four—got in the way…oh well. No loss.

Three hundred years ago, the vampire queen’s army began failing at containing the Obscuros as the Pact dictated. It was then that the Demilords were created, and it was then that Andrus’ hell began.

“Okay.” Helena nodded. “I guess I don’t have a choice. But if you lay a hand on me, I’ll make sure Niccolo finds out.”

Oh, I hope he does.

***

“She
what?!”
Niccolo screamed at the top of his lungs into the phone from his lavish 180-degree Strip View Suite at the Four Seasons in Vegas. “How could you let her leave? You had two orders: keep her safe and don’t let her leave! How hard is it for five vampires to keep an eye on one tiny human woman?”

What if something happened to her? He would never forgive himself. He hadn’t even had the chance to apologize for their fight or to make it up to her. This was horrific!
He
was horrific. He’d made her feel so badly that she’d fled him.

He wanted to wretch. Thank goodness she couldn’t get far; she had no money or anything much of value.
Yes, thanks to you, you evil bastard.

“I’m sorry, Niccolo,” Viktor explained with a hint of humor in his voice, “but your human is”—he paused—“sly. A very fitting mate for you. Speaking of, how are the wedding plans coming along? Are you going with the
Gone with Wind
or the
Star Trek
theme?”

Niccolo cringed. He was, as Viktor would say, “busted.” Attempting to make amends, the fiercest vampire in the world thought to surprise Helena with an extravagant theme wedding in Vegas. A suggestion from Sentin who insisted she’d enjoy the “hip scene.”

“Do you find this humorous? Do you?” He paused and took a breath. “Truth be told, my primary objective here is to conduct a little clean up.”

Niccolo suddenly felt sick again as the fresh memories assaulted him. The carnage left behind by the Obscuros was horrific. They’d attacked a large group of humans at a
quinceañera
—a fifteenth birthday party for a young woman—and slaughtered children, expectant mothers, the elderly...they spared no one.

“My apologies, Niccolo. I was only trying to lighten the mood. Has the team been able to bring Las Vegas back under control?”

Niccolo and the local team who were permanently stationed in Vegas—it needed constant monitoring—had mowed the vile Obscuros down, but he didn’t feel like reliving those memories. He knew Viktor would understand if he diverted the conversation.

“Control, no. This place—I simply do not understand it. The humans here wear giant cocktail glasses around their necks and insert exorbitant amounts of money into little machines that light up. I still cannot understand, however, why they call them ‘slut machines.’ Is because they steal your money?”

“I believe the correct name is ‘slot machine.’ They’re kind of fun…” As Viktor spoke, Niccolo’s mind involuntarily shifted back to the topic of Obscuros. According to his calculations, he’d personally executed two hundred rogue vampires in recent weeks; over a thousand had been killed by his soldiers, yet the list only grew longer each day. Niccolo needed to make a bigger dent. He’d heard all about the Demilords who’d supposedly been put in place to control the outbreak during his absence, but where were they? From what he could see, no one had been keeping the Obscuros in check. Suspicious, to say the least.

“It matters little what the machines are called,” Niccolo interjected. “This place is loathsome. But if a wedding here will please Helena, then I shall do this for her. Please tell me one of your men is tracking her.”

A long silence, then, “Not exactly. She slipped away too quickly. We couldn’t pick up her scent—it is pretty sunny today.”

“
Inferno!
I am in no mood to blindly sift all over the goddamned—”

“Don’t go ballistic,” Viktor added, “I gotcha covered—GPS tracking. I had it added to her phone—she busted into your office and took it back. I’ve been watching her movements via Internet. You can use the live satellite map to find a safe place to sift nearby—away from any structures—then, boom. You’re there.”

Thank the gods for her thievery and for this “GPS.”

“Where is she now?” Niccolo asked.

“Heading west toward the Windy City. I’ll send the link to your phone and get you hourly updates.”

“
Buon. Grazie.”

Niccolo hung up and rubbed his hands over his face. He had to get her back quickly and make amends. He had only six days left until their three-month anniversary. She had to be turned willingly or the prophecy would not be fulfilled, and Niccolo’s one chance of leaving the queen would be lost.

That meant he’d never have the chance to know peace or a day of freedom. He’d never know Helena’s sweet body inside and out. His mind toggled through the catalog of fantasies awaiting their day in the spotlight. His standard: taking her for the first time over a bed of velvety red rose petals, the midnight crackle of a fireplace, the sweet scent of her arousal filling his lungs as he plunged himself repeatedly inside her. Then there was the fantasy of taking her in the shower, pinning her against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist as she panted his name in his ear.

Niccolo grew hard for the fifth time that day and shifted himself.

Gods, he could not wait to bed her. Gods, he needed to buy looser pants. Otherwise, his cock might not make it to their wedding night. Or, perhaps, he needed to stop thinking about her.

Idiota. You realize that’s impossible. Any second now you’re going to get the itch. You won’t be able to resist wanting to feel her with your mind.

His attempt to fight his craving for her, indeed, lasted all of one glorious second before he gave in. He focused to catch a whiff of her mind in the atmosphere. Distance dulled the connection, but it was always there.

Aaah, Helena... Right now, she’s annoyed, but no longer angry.
In any case, the guilt was almost unbearable; he’d caused her pain. Thank the gods he didn’t love her. He couldn’t imagine how miserable he would be if they shared more than just a powerful bond and insatiable lust.

For a moment he considered using his gift to sift to her, but blind sifting was extremely risky. And sifting toward a moving target was unthinkable. He could end up landing inside a steel girder, slab of cement, or hit by a semi. No. He’d have to wait until she stopped moving and then do as Viktor suggested.