He seemed puzzled for an instant but then he gave me a small smile of resignation. “That is too bad.” He leaned closer and spoke in a soft voice. “You’re not like the other girls here. It’s quite refreshing.”
Not sure how to take that, I quipped, “If the girls here don’t suit your tastes, maybe you are looking for women in the wrong place.”
His eyes flashed in amusement and he settled back in his chair. “I think you may be right.”
I saw Roland waving me over. “Looks like my friends are ready to leave.” I stood and my companion stood too. “It was nice talking to you.”
The corners of his mouth turned down slightly. “Are you going to run off without leaving me a name to put with your lovely face?”
Smooth
. “I don’t give my name to strange men.”
He raised his eyebrows and gave me a beguiling smile. “Not even a first name.”
“Sara,” I replied without thinking. I immediately wanted to kick myself.
“Sara.” He said my name like he was tasting an exotic fruit. “I’m Eli and it has been a pleasure. I hope to repeat it sometime.”
I doubted the likelihood of that ever happening, but I smiled anyway. “Well enjoy your band.” I turned toward the stage, blinking several times to shake off the feeling of lethargy that stolen over me while I sat. I must be more tired than I thought.
“You ready to go,” Roland asked when I reached them. I saw with some amusement that the brunette was hanging off Samson now and the blond drummer was looking around helplessly for someone to come to his rescue.
I glanced over at Eli as we headed for the exit and saw that the seats around him had already been snatched up by some new girls who were vying for his attention. He gave me a slight nod as we passed and I returned a polite smile.
The Attic was on the second floor of a converted warehouse and we had to descend a set of stairs to get to the street. Music had started playing inside the building again and it wafted down the stairs after us.
I yawned. “That was fun but I’m pooped all of a sudden.”
“You guys stay here and I’ll go get the car.” Roland set off running to the parking garage at the far end of the street. I sat on the bottom of the staircase while Peter called someone on his cell and started raving about the band.
I took out my own phone to call Nate and let him know we were leaving the club and I’d be home in an hour or so. Nate was pretty cool about me staying out late as long as I let him know where I was. Before I could dial, the stair above me creaked and Eli appeared beside me. I tried to hide my surprise and dismay. I hoped he didn’t think I had been flirting with him upstairs because I wasn’t; at least I didn’t think I was. It was not exactly my area of expertise.
“Have your friends abandoned you?” he asked and I felt a little tremor pass through me at his nearness. Really, what was this guy’s secret?
“No, Peter’s right there...” I trailed off when I realized that Peter had wandered off. I could still hear him talking on his phone so he wasn’t that far away.
“I thought you were leaving,” Eli said, his breath warm against my cheek. Too close for comfort.
I shot to my feet not caring what he thought. Okay enough of that. “We are. My friend went to get the car and we’re waiting for him.” I knew I was babbling but I wanted to put some distance between me and Eli. Something didn’t feel quite right about him and he was starting to make me nervous. I started toward Peter until I felt a hand on my arm. It wasn’t restraining me, but it still set off alarm bells in my head. Nikolas’s earlier words rang in my head.
“Stay with your friends. This part of town is not safe for a girl alone at night.”
“You seem to be in such a hurry to leave all of a sudden. Nothing I have done, surely?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. I just think I hear my ride coming.” I tried to swallow but my mouth was dry. Where was Roland?
“You are a terrible liar, you know,” Eli said softly. He moved so fast he was standing right in front of me before I knew what was happening. “But you are such an intriguing creature that I will forgive you for it.”
My mind struggled to grasp what my eyes were seeing.
How did he…?
The truth hit me like a truck, knocking the air from my lungs and sending spikes of fear into my brain. I opened my mouth to call for help, only to find myself rendered mute by a hard hand. The street blurred and I found myself in the alley, pressed face-first against the building and unable to move or call out.
“Sara,” he hissed against my hair. Terror threatened to choke me as the image of my father’s mutilated body swam before my eyes.
Oh God no. Please, not like this.
I screamed into Eli’s hand and struggled wildly to twist out of his hold, but his grip was like steel bars holding me fast. He laughed softly in my ear and pressed his body against my length. “You are a fighter, I like that.” I could hear the excitement in his voice and I felt his body respond to my fear. My heart threatened to explode from my chest.
“As soon as I looked into those beautiful green eyes of yours, I knew I had to have you. Those other girls, they simper and fawn and they would do anything I asked of them. But you… you are different. You are an orchid in a field of dandelions.” He ran his free hand along my throat and I whimpered. “Now you are mine, little flower and I cannot wait to taste your sweet nectar.”
His words sent shudders of revulsion through me. Pinned between him and the wall, his scent assailed my nostrils and I almost gagged at the sickly odor that permeated his skin. It had been faint at first, camouflaged by expensive cologne, but the longer he held me the stronger it grew. I found a fox once with a badly infected cut. Eli reeked of that same stench of rotting flesh and death.
“I just have to know one thing first,” Eli whispered and spun me around to face him while keeping me silenced with his hand. In the weak light of the alley I could see him as he smiled at me almost tenderly. “How did you do it? How did you break the compulsion? No one has ever resisted my will before.”
He started to lift his hand from my mouth and I sucked in a deep breath to scream my head off. He tilted my head, forcing me to look into his eyes. “One thing, little flower. If you call out, I will rip your little boyfriends to shreds. You don’t want that, do you?”
My eyes widened even more and I shook my head frantically.
His lips parted in a smile and I watched in horror as two curved snake-like fangs grew from his mouth, gleaming in the pale light. In that moment I knew what a mouse feels like when it looks into the eyes of a rattlesnake. The mouse knows it is going to die but it is too mesmerized with fear to move.
When Eli lifted a hand to my face I tried to jerk away from the inch long black claws where his fingernails had been. He touched my cheek lightly and I shuddered at the feel of the cold hard claws on my skin.
“Now tell me how you resisted me and I promise your friends will not be harmed.”
“I–I don’t know.”
He sighed impatiently and his clawed hand moved down to brush against my throat. I swallowed convulsively. “I’m not lying. Please… I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed and he stared down into mine. “I think I believe you. Hmm, can it be that you don’t even know what you can do? It makes me wonder what other charming little talents you might be hiding.” He licked his lips and gall rose in my throat at his meaning. “What a delight you are. To think I almost settled for one of those insipid blondes.”
He put his mouth to my ear and his words sent waves of fresh terror through me. “I am going to savor you, little Sara. I had planned to have you now but why rush when we can take all the time we want later.”
“No…”
“But I think a taste first to whet the appetite.” His face lowered as he forced my head to one side, baring my throat. His lips touched my skin and his tongue lapped at the spot where my pulse beat. Blackness swam before my eyes.
“What is this?” he murmured and sniffed as if he was trying a new wine. His tongue touched my skin again. “You taste like –” His head whipped up and his eyes glittered like he had just been served a favorite dessert. “You’re a –”
“Now that is no way to treat a young lady,” said a deep masculine voice from the other end of the alley. The voice was cold and menacing and the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
Eli moved so he was backed against the wall with me dangling in front of him like a rag doll. “You are very brave my friend, but you will move on if you know what’s good for you.”
“I have been told that I don’t heed orders well.” The shadows shifted and a tall shape moved forward into the meager light. He wore the jeans and navy blue sweater I’d seen him in earlier, but over them he now wore some kind of leather harness that crisscrossed his muscled chest, holding an assortment of knives. Behind his right shoulder I could see the handle of what looked like a sword strapped to his back. I was so happy to see him that I almost sobbed his name.
Eli stiffened and let out a hiss. “Mohiri!” Fear crept into his voice and my dazed mind wondered what on earth scared a vampire.
Nikolas chuckled and I felt a tremor run through my captor. “I see there is no need for introductions. Good. I hate to waste time on formalities.”
“Stay back or I will rip her apart.” Eli’s hand was at my throat now, the icy claws biting into my skin. I was afraid to breathe and risk being sliced open. I froze and focused on Nikolas’s face, praying he would save me from this nightmare. For a second his eyes met mine and I saw barely controlled rage in them, I glimpsed something feral and lethal simmering below the surface.
“A bit melodramatic, don’t you think?” Nikolas quipped but steel laced his voice. He took a step forward and Eli jerked in response.
“Her death will be on your hands, Mohiri.” Eli’s claws pressed tighter against my throat and I felt warmth trickle down my neck. He shuddered at the scent of warm blood beneath his nose and I could tell he was about to lose it. Nikolas would never reach us before those fangs tore my throat out.
Nikolas’s expression never changed. His voice grew deeper, colder and I shivered at the power radiating from him. “Do it and it will be your last act, vampire.”
Eli quailed but he did not loosen his grip. I could sense the struggle inside him. He was afraid but he craved my blood. Would he stay and fight for his prize or run for his life?
“Brother, how like you to sneak off and sample the sweets by yourself,” drawled a male voice from above. “And look at the trouble it has wrought you.”
Dread filled me as I looked up at the figure standing on the fire escape above our heads. I felt Eli’s grip on my throat loosen and his sigh of relief against my hair.
“Come now Joel, you know I always save some for you,” Eli’s voice rang with triumph and the hope I’d felt a minute before died. What chance did we have against a pair of vampires?
Joel laughed and leaned against the metal railing. “I think I deserve a little more than a nibble this time. Mmm… she looks like a tasty little bit.”
Eli caressed my cheek. “This one is mine.”
“No!” I shouted, twisting out of his hold. For a second I was free and my eyes immediately flew to Nikolas. I saw his body tense to spring.
Eli snatched me back against him just as Joel landed softy beside him. I found myself flanked by two snarling monsters and my newfound courage floundered.
Nikolas drew a long lethal sword and faced them with no trace of fear on his face. In that instant I knew that no matter what happened, he would not desert me. For whatever reason he had risked his own life for mine and live or die, we were in this together.
“You can’t take us both and save her,” taunted Eli. “She will die and your efforts will be for naught.”
The ghost of a smile passed over Nikolas’s face. “Then I will have to settle for killing only you.”
If Eli reacted to that statement, I did not see it. But I thought I detected a small quiver in his voice when he said, “Bold words for one outnumbered.”
Before Nikolas could reply a new voice cut through the tension in the alley. "Sara?” called Roland, followed by Peter shouting, “Sara, where are you?” My heart constricted and I had to bite my lip to keep me from calling out to them. I couldn’t drag them into this and watch them die beside me.
Eli’s head jerked a little and Joel’s eyes darted from Nikolas to the alley entrance.
Nikolas laughed harshly. “Do you smell that my friends? I believe the odds just changed.”
I shot him a horrified look. Was he planning to use Roland and Peter as decoys to draw the vampires away from us? I would rather die than watch my friends get hurt because of me.
“Come Brother, there are sweeter meals to be had,” Joel said, not taking his eyes off Nikolas.
“No.” Eli spat. “I want this one.”
Nikolas shifted and his sword gleamed wickedly. “Release her or die: your choice. And you’d better make your mind up very soon.”
“Sara, damn it where are you?” Roland sounded frantic. They were closer, almost at the mouth of the alley.
Eli’s hold tightened convulsively and I let out an involuntary cry.
One of my friends shouted, I couldn’t tell who it was. I heard a commotion in the street, followed by a growling noise that made my hair stand on end.
Oh God what is that?
I didn’t want to think about what horrors Roland and Peter could be facing now too.