Authors: Leia Shaw
“Not only is that insulting but do you really think to
order me around this whole trip? That may work on other ‘females’, as you say,
but it will not work on me!”
Marcelo’s eyes darkened and narrowed, his teeth snapped
together echoing across the parking lot. She gulped.
Perhaps
provoking the vampire was a bad idea,
she thought as the image of poking
a wild bear with a stick came to mind. Subconsciously she grabbed onto her
locket. He didn’t miss that, and she thought she saw a flash of humor in his
eyes before it was gone. Replaced with a sort of lustful anger.
With his chest only inches from her face, he bent down
and whispered in her ear, “Under normal circumstances,
querida
,
should you have an issue with my request, I would seduce you, doing
unimaginable things to your body that would make your toes curl until you did
as I please.” A shudder traveled the length of her spine. “But since you are in
danger – something you forget far too easily – I
will
be giving orders and you will be following them.”
Her mouth snapped open in shock. She wasn’t sure what was
worse, that she was scared shitless or curious about this toe curling.
Marcelo stepped back, keeping that black look on her. “If
you have a problem with that, take it up with your sister. She’s the one who
sent me.”
Erin forced her mouth to close and squared her shoulders.
“I
will
take it up with her. Give me my phone so
I can call her and have her send someone else in your place.”
“No.”
Surely he’s jesting. “No?”
“That’s what I said.” He crossed his arms in front of his
massive chest.
“How am I supposed to take it up with her if you won’t
let me talk to her?”
“I’m sure she’s indisposed at the moment so you will just
have to wait until you see her in a few days.”
Erin’s eyes grew wide. “But…that…doesn’t even –” She
sputtered through an incoherent sentence. She was so mad she actually stomped a
foot.
“Until then, my rules. Now hand me the keys.” A cocky smirk
crossed the vampire’s face. She wanted to wipe it right off with her fist,
which shocked her. She wasn’t normally a violent person.
Cursing under her breath she slapped her keys into his
palm and slid into the passenger seat, slumping down with her arms crossed.
“When does the flight leave for Colorado? I can’t wait to be done with this.”
He didn’t answer. Worse, he seemed hesitant. Like he was
holding back information she wouldn’t like.
“We don’t have tickets, do we?” she guessed. When he
still didn’t answer she knew she was right. “If you take me to my apartment we
can buy airplane tickets and I can pack some clothes.”
“Your apartment? Don’t you think the Counsel is already
waiting for you there? Do you have any sense of self-preservation?”
“How will you buy tickets? Unless you have a smart phone,
which I don’t –”
“We’re not flying. We’re driving.”
She shot upright in her seat. “What? You can’t be
serious! That will take forever!”
He jammed the keys in the ignition and her car thundered
to life. Marcelo’s body shook from the vibrations of a motor with a blown
piston. The engine roared, the gear shift fought to stay in first, the back
window was jammed half open, and the heat was stuck on full blast. Yes, her car
was a beast. Slowly she turned her head and gave him the biggest, cheekiest
grin she could. The look on his face was priceless.
“Still want to drive to Colorado?” she asked, smiling
brightly.
With a grunt he forced the stubborn shifter into reverse
and backed out of the parking spot so fast Erin flew forward and might have gone
through the windshield had Marcelo not stopped her with an arm across her
chest. He slammed on the brakes, grabbed her seat belt, pulled it around her
body then snapped it in place. It all happened so fast she hadn’t even finished
drawing in a breath.
“Safety first,” he chirped in a perky voice that made her
want to run him over with the car. “Now, do you really think I’m going to take
someone prone to panic attacks on an airplane?”
Erin had never flown before, but she and Jimmy had been
saving to take a trip to California next summer so she’d already put some
thought into how to handle flying. “That’s what the little bottles of alcohol
are for. I’ll just take my anti-anxiety meds before the flight then keep me
loaded and I’ll be fine.”
He scowled down at her.
“Think about it,” she said. “It will be at least four
days stuck in a car. With
me
. If we fly, that’s
three days off our trip.”
He sighed heavily, his scowl deepening. “Fine. We will
fly. But
no alcohol
!
”
That was going to be a problem. “Marcelo, I need alcohol
and my medication to get on an airplane. There is no way around it.”
“I said no. You will just have to do without.”
“You can’t force me onto an airplane, I’m pretty sure
they frown on th –”
“I will not be forcing you. I have leverage.”
He meant Sage, of course. Fear and desperation coursed
through her. Her breaths came faster, her cheeks heated, and she suddenly
wanted to hit something. Or some
one
.
“If you try to force me onto that plane, Marcelo, I swear
to you I will scream in the security line that you’re a terrorist and…and…that
you have nail clippers in your bag!”
She thought he was simply annoyed before, but now there
was no mistaking his fury. But it was a quiet fury, which was often worse. “You
dare threaten me? You will find,
querida
, that
when it comes to dealing with vampires, it’s best just to do as you’re told.”
She gulped but jutted her chin out in defiance. “You even
look like a terrorist. That will work to my advantage.”
He growled low in his throat and gripped the steering
wheel so hard she thought it might crack under his palm. “All right. You can
have one or two drinks before the flight.”
“And my medicine?”
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Are you afraid then?” She
tsked
under her tongue. “Damn, I thought Sage would have sent the best. Well, I guess
I understand. I’ve heard that sorcerers are very powerful. They could probably
kick your ass without even touching you, couldn’t they?”
His jaw tightened, and, in a voice strained with fury, he
said,
“Where’s your bloody apartment?”
Marcelo had never felt so out of
sorts. Everything about this task was becoming uncomfortable. Flying. Taking
Erin to her apartment though sorcerers and werewolves were doubtless looking
for her. Being manipulated by a mere mortal. He cursed in a multitude of
languages while running a hand through his hair.
As if that weren’t enough, now he was escorting a girl
with anxiety
and
a budding alcohol problem. It
was clear Erin was using it as medication. Hopefully, Sage could rid her of
that habit. He shook his head.
Not my problem
.
Other than when they were on the airplane she would not be drinking near him
and that was final.
Marcelo paced across the confines of the small bedroom in
Erin’s apartment as she chewed her nails waiting for the plane tickets to
print. At least her human boyfriend wasn’t home to complicate things. Anger
seethed through him at the thought.
Some boyfriend
.
He left his woman alone all night knowing she’d planned to go to a bar dressed
as rape bait with the goal of getting drunk. The man shouldn’t be allowed to
live. He brushed the feelings off.
Not my problem
,
he told himself. Again.
“Are you almost done?” he snapped.
She nodded, rising from the computer. “I just need to
pack some clothes.”
“Hurry up.” He resumed his pacing while she rummaged
through her closet. How would he get through the next few days with a woman who
couldn’t even step foot in a gas station? He replayed the conversation she’d had
with Sage in the hotel. Sage had been able to calm her sister down. As a last
resort he could get her back on the phone. “Why did Sage call you Dot?”
Erin looked puzzled for a moment, then mumbled,
“Eavesdropper.” A duffle bag sat open on her bed and she stuffed handfuls of
clothing into it. “
Animaniacs
.”
“What?”
“The nickname Dot is from the cartoon show,
Animaniacs
. It’s about two brothers, Wakko and Yakko,
and their sister Dot.”
“And did Sage get a nickname from this show?”
“Brain,” she answered. When he arched a brow she
explained, “An evil genius lab rat always plotting to take over the world.”
“Fitting.” Eerily so. “And this is a popular TV show?”
“Umm…well…it has a cult following.”
“I see.” He fought to keep a smile from his lips. “Are
you almost done,
Dot
?”
She cast him a look that said she wasn’t amused then
shoved some bottles of feminine stuff into her almost full bag.
“You have two minutes,” he told her, resuming his trek
across the room.
He froze when a thud followed by shushing sounded outside
the apartment door. His nostrils flared as he took a great big whiff of the air.
Not vampires. Not werewolves. Most likely the sorcerers had returned for Erin.
She watched him closely, her hands fisted around the handles of her bag. Then
he shoved her so fast towards the bedroom window, the bag slipped from her hand
and dropped to the floor. Marcelo didn’t give it a second thought.
“Wait!” she yelled, jerking away from him. “My stuff!”
“Leave it.” His hand shackled her wrist as he kicked the
screen out of the window. He released her only long enough to climb out onto
the fire escape. With a look that dared her to defy him he snarled, “Out. Now.”
“Not without my medication.” She scrambled away from the
window as the front door burst open. The bedroom door was closed, which gave
them mere seconds to get away without bloodshed. Before Marcelo could stop her,
Erin ran into the attached bathroom
.
“Get back here!” he hissed.
So
much for no bloodshed. I might just kill her myself
.
He started
to climb back through the small window to haul her out of the apartment by
force when the bedroom door splintered and in marched three male sorcerers,
dressed all in black.
Having the ability to manipulate the air’s electricity,
they already had balls of light in their palms ready to hurl at Marcelo. He
moved at a speed no sorcerer could match, sprinting into the bathroom after
Erin. Depending on their strength, the sorcerers could actually be a danger to
them both. They needed to get out of there. Fast.
In the bathroom Erin scavenged through the medicine
cabinet. He grabbed her around the waist and tossed her into a linen closet.
“Don’t you dare move until I come for you,” he told her
sharply. Without giving her a chance to respond, he slammed the closet door and
walked back into the bedroom.
No more than a blur Marcelo raced behind first one, then
two of the sorcerers, snapping their necks easily. He eyed the other two,
spread out on opposite sides of the room. He couldn’t reach them both at the
same time. One motioned the other towards the bathroom.
Decisions, decisions.
In a fraction of a second he was behind the sorcerer
who’d moved to the bathroom doorway. He raised an arm overhead then stopped
when pain erupted on the side of his lower back. Breath left him in a rush as
he leaned against the door jam. He was on fire, only there were no flames. Painful
sparks shot through his body, electrical jolts rattling against his bones.
There was no mistaking it – he’d been hit with a sorcerer’s Bolt. No, merely
grazed by it. Lucky him.
He pushed back the pain to deliver a punishing blow to
the sorcerer’s temple just as he reached to open the closet door. The body
slapped against the wooden door then slid down to the ground.
One sorcerer left
.
Marcelo
had reached the end of his patience. He stalked back to the bedroom where a
yellow-haired sorcerer with dark glasses barked into his cell phone for back up.
Fury pulsed through his veins, his back burned, blood dripped on the carpet. The
phone dropped to the ground as light exploded in the sorcerer’s hands.
After he gracefully dodged the first strike, Marcelo
picked up the nearest hard object, never taking his eyes off his assailant, and
flung it at the sorcerer. A small bottle of pink lotion bounced
anticlimactically off of the man’s chest. Marcelo sighed. The sorcerer gave him
a confused look before launching another Bolt. He ducked then took a good look
at the object he threw next. The lamp hit the sorcerer square in the head. He
stumbled giving Marcelo just the opening he needed to finish him.
He fed while he had the opportunity, draining the
lifeless body. A supernatural’s blood was richer than a human’s. The taste had
a finer quality as well as being more powerful, which would quicken his healing
time. He wiped any lingering blood from his lips so he wouldn’t scare Erin then
did a mental scan of the apartment and the hallway. There were no immediate
threats but that wouldn’t last long. Calm and cool, he walked to the closet
where he’d left Erin, kicked the unconscious body to the side, and opened the
door.
The stench of fear rolled off her in waves. Her eyes
flooded with relief when she looked up at him. A burst of male pride sprung
forth. He was needed. A smile touched his lips before he pushed it back and put
in place his usual scowl.
Don’t get any stupid ideas,
Marcelo. She may be a damsel in distress but you’re no Prince Charming.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her out so roughly she
grunted and stumbled into him. “Let’s go.”