The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo (Love at Stake) (9 page)

“Aye.” He shrugged his shoulder, and his gaze grew more intense. “I’m in charge of security here. I’ll be keeping you safe.”

A shiver pebbled her skin with gooseflesh.
He
would be keeping her safe? He presented a bigger danger than anyone else.

To be honest with herself, she knew that she’d based part of her decision to stay on him, so in an alarming sense, she was flirting with danger. And even more alarming, she was looking forward to it.

Chapter Seven

L
eah woke with a jolt, sitting up in bed. For a second she felt disoriented, then she remembered where she was—a guest bedroom in Roman Draganesti’s townhouse in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. More memories from the night before flooded back. Vampires, shifters, hybrid children, and
him
. Dougal.

With a shudder, she pulled the blanket up to her chin. He had given her a chance to escape, but then he’d also become a major reason to stay.

She shook her head, not comfortable with that thought. In truth, she had many reasons to stay. She was intrigued by this new supernatural world, challenged by the work, and honored to have a chance to save lives. Those were legitimate reasons that made her decision sound much more noble than the way her heart pounded whenever he looked at her.

Even so, he was the one who dominated her thoughts. When would she see him again? Where was he now? Light filtered in around the curtains, so it was daylight outside. He would be sleeping or whatever happened to vampires during the day.

To her surprise, the bedside clock read a few minutes past noon. She jumped out of bed and headed to the shower. As she washed her hair with her favorite jasmine-scented shampoo, she let her mind wander back to the night before. After her decision to stay, she’d gone back to the lab with Abby to study the two remaining blood samples.

Abby was right. Tino was basically human. But the third sample, taken from a soldier for Master Han, had shown an alarming number of mutations. Changing him back to a normal mortal would not be easy, but it was a challenge she was looking forward to.

By two in the morning, she’d been exhausted, so Gregori and Abby had driven her back to the townhouse before going on to their own place. Abby had promised to pick her up at 3:30 p.m. so they could return to Romatech and get what she called an early start. Leah supposed these strange hours would become the norm for her now that she was working with vampires.

She was too hungry to mess with her wet hair, so she towel-dried it, threw on some jeans and a T-shirt, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. To her surprise, she heard voices inside. And smelled coffee brewing.

She peeked inside the swinging door. There were two women and three children. Two of the kids looked like twins, and they were sitting in high chairs.

The younger woman, a pretty redhead, glanced her way and smiled. “Hi, Leah. Come and have breakfast with us.”

She eased inside. “Good morning. I mean, afternoon.” She’d been introduced to the party crowd the night before, but there had been so many of them that she couldn’t recall any names.

“
Buenos dias,
” the older woman said. “I’m Fidelia.” She placed pieces of toast and jelly onto two plastic plates. “The little ones are Jillian and Jean-Pierre.”

“We call him John for short,” added a young girl. “I’m Bethany.”

“And I’m Heather.” The mother poured milk into two cups and snapped spouted lids on top before passing them to the toddlers.

“Papa’s still asleep,” Bethany added.

Fidelia snorted. “That’s a nice way to put it. Dead as a rock is more—” She paused when Heather cleared her throat.

Dead?
The older woman must be exaggerating. “So you’re married to a vampire?” Leah asked Heather as she eyed the children. They were probably hybrids like Tino.

Heather nodded, smiling. “Yes. I’m married to Jean-Luc Echarpe. You met us briefly last night.”

Leah blinked. “The famous fashion designer?” He was a vampire?

“That’s Papa!” Bethany sat up in her seat, grinning.

“We came for the party last night, but we’ll be staying a while, getting ready for fashion week.” Heather motioned toward the counter. “We bought some groceries yesterday. Please help yourself to whatever you like.”

“Thank you.” Facing the counter, Leah twisted a bagel in half and dropped the pieces into a toaster. She located a saucer, a knife, and some cream cheese. “So I guess you live in Paris?”

Fidelia scoffed. “I wish.”

“We’re in Texas.” Heather sipped some coffee. “Jean-Luc went into hiding there when the media started wondering why he wasn’t aging.”

“And then he fell in love with my mom,” Bethany added.

Heather smiled at her daughter.

They seemed like a happy family, Leah thought wistfully as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Those Vamps, they’re very macho.” Fidelia bit into a bagel, and her eyes narrowed on Leah. “You’re a pretty young thing. I bet they’ll go after you next.”

“Fidelia,” Heather whispered. “You might frighten her.”

“She should be frightened,” Fidelia insisted, then twisted her square frame in the chair to face Leah. “If one of those Vamps sets his sights on you, he’ll be like a dog with a bone. A rabid dog. With a boner.”

“Fidelia!” Heather gave her a warning look.

The older woman shrugged. “Okay. They’re more like those heat-detecting missiles. If they think you’re hot, they’ll zoom right after you till they catch you. And then,
bam
!” She clapped her hands together. “It’s an explosion of love!”

Bethany giggled.

Leah swallowed hard. Was that why Dougal had watched her with such an intense, hungry look in his eyes? Had he set his sights on her?

“They’re
muy macho,
very sexy.” Fidelia patted her hair, which was black with two inches of gray roots. “I had my eye on Robby, but he found a girl a few years younger than me.”

“More than a few years,” Heather muttered.

“I like the Scottish ones the best.” Fidelia’s eyes twinkled. “And I like what they’re wearing underneath their kilts.
Nada
!”

Bethany grinned. “Aunt Fee, you should marry Dougal. He’s still single.”

Leah’s breath caught. She turned her back, pretending to wait on the toaster.

“Ah, Dougal,” Fidelia murmured. “He’s a handsome
hombre
. Never says much, but I suspect he’s more a man of action.”

“He’s real good with a sword,” Bethany said.

Fidelia chuckled. “Those Scotsmen have some really long swords. And I bet they know just how to use them.”

Heather cleared her throat. “I’m afraid Dougal won’t be our guard anymore. He’s going to be in charge of night security at Romatech.”

Where I’ll see him every night
. Leah started when the bagels popped up in the toaster.

“I’m going to miss Dougal,” Bethany whined. “Who’s going to guard us then?”

“Don’t worry, honey,” Fidelia replied. “Mr. Glock and Senor Beretta will keep us safe.”

“Oh God, no,” Heather whispered. “You brought them with you?”

“Of course,” Fidelia said. “That’s why I love teleporting with the Vamps. They never take my guns away.”

Leah glanced back and saw the older woman patting her large handbag.

Heather sighed. “You didn’t need to bring them.”

“How else do we stay safe during the day?” Fidelia asked. “We left Billy in Texas to guard the house, and Dougal’s dead as a doornail right now.”

Dead?
That was the second time Fidelia had said the Vamps were dead. How could that be possible? Wasn’t being Undead different from being dead? Leah spread some cream cheese on her bagel. “Where is Dougal?”

“In the basement, most probably.” Heather sipped some more coffee. “That’s where the guards stay when they sleep here.”

Leah brought her bagel and coffee to the table. The basement. Maybe she could sneak down there when no one was looking.

“Guess what?” Bethany asked her. “Mom and I are going to a show this afternoon.
Mary Poppins
!”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Leah sat.

“Don’t worry about me,” Fidelia muttered. “I’ll just stay here with the twins.”

“John and Jillian?” Bethany asked.

“No.” Fidelia patted her handbag, her eyes twinkling. “Smith and Wesson.”

Leah shot a wary look at the handbag. How many guns were in there?

“We’d better hurry.” Heather stood, stuffing the last of her bagel in her mouth.

While Leah ate, they bustled about, putting things away and cleaning up the happy toddlers, who had grape jelly smeared all over their faces. Then they went upstairs to a playroom Heather mentioned. She and Bethany would be leaving soon for their Broadway matinee.

With it quiet in the kitchen, Leah’s thoughts kept returning to Fidelia’s insistence that Dougal was dead. It didn’t make sense. A body couldn’t remain dead for hours and then magically revive itself. He had to be in a deep sleep or something like a coma.

The more she thought about it, the more she had to know the truth. She set her dirty dishes on the rack in the dishwasher, then left the kitchen in search of the basement. She didn’t have to go far. The first door she tried opened onto a staircase.

At the base of the stairs, she found a washer and dryer. Then she entered a large, well-lit room with a billiard table in the middle. Sofas and chairs lined the walls. A small fridge held bottles of something called Bleer. Synthetic blood and beer. Racks lined the upper walls, where an assortment of weapons were stashed—swords, knives, guns and rifles. Interspersed between the racks were four coats of arms belonging to four clans. The MacKay, MacPhie, Buchanan, and Kincaid. The plaid background on the Kincaid coat of arms matched Dougal’s kilt.
Dougal Kincaid
.

So where was he? She spotted a closed door and opened it. The creak made her wince. If he was sleeping, the noise might wake him up.

The room was dark, so she left the door open to allow light to filter in from the billiards room. Two rows of twin beds lined the walls. All were empty except the first one on the left.

“Hello?” she whispered.

No answer.

She approached the bed slowly. It was him. Dougal. “I don’t mean to interrupt your sleep,” Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She fully expected him to wake up any second. After all, he was a security guard. Weren’t they trained to be light sleepers?

His large frame filled the bed to the point that his feet practically hung off the bottom edge and his shoulders took up the entire width. He was flat on his back, his hands folded at his waist, his left hand resting on top of the prosthetic right hand.

She eased closer. “Hello?” Her gaze drifted down his body. What on earth was he wearing? Some kind of nightgown? It looked like the sort of thing Ebenezer Scrooge would wear. It was white, baggy, and ended at midcalf. His feet were covered with white tube socks. The gown had long sleeves buttoned at the wrist, and another row of buttons marched up his chest to the high collar.

She smiled. The collar even had a ruffle at the top. How old-fashioned could he get? At least he wasn’t wearing one of those silly nightcaps on his head.

“Are you awake?”

No answer. She leaned over to see his face, prepared to jump back whenever his eyes opened. His hair was loose about his shoulders. His jaw and mouth were outlined with dark whiskers. His mouth was closed. How could a man have such a pretty mouth?

She glanced back at his eyes. Still shut. “You know I’m here, don’t you? You’re only pretending to sleep?”

His face remained completely still. Not a twitch from those dark eyebrows. She’d never seen eyebrows or a forehead that could be so expressive. Her mother’s emotions showed in her eyes and her voice. Her father either smiled slightly or more often, his lips thinned in disapproval.

But Dougal—she’d recognized anger, fear, pain, hunger, curiosity, approval, and inquisitiveness all from the way he’d moved his brow and eyebrows. Without thinking, she reached out to touch his forehead. It was smooth and cool.

She lifted her hand quickly and checked his eyes. Still closed.

“You’re breathing, aren’t you?” She held a hand an inch below his nostrils.

No air.

She rested her hand on his chest. Hard as a rock.
Dead as a rock?

“Come on, wake up.” She shoved at his chest. “You can’t be dead. It’s not possible.”

She touched his cheek. Cool. The dark whiskers prickled her fingertips. “You’re just too pretty, you know that?”

She glanced at his eyes again. “Sexy rascal. Shall I have my way with you?”

No response. Wouldn’t a normal guy stop faking it and make a grab for her?

But he wasn’t normal. She pressed her fingers against his carotid artery, but his high, ruffled neckline was in the way.

“Well, this should wake you up.” She unbuttoned the top three buttons of his nightshirt, then slid her hand to his neck to feel his pulse.

Nothing.

“This can’t be.” She felt the other side.
Damn
. He didn’t have a pulse.

With her own pulse racing and fingers trembling, she unfastened more buttons. She peeled back his shirt and froze. This was the last thing she expected. A green and purple dragon curled over his right shoulder and down toward his chest. The mouth was wide open, breathing red and orange flames. An Oriental-style dragon, colorful and fierce. She placed her hand on the fire etched over his heart.

Nothing. She lay her head on his chest to listen. His skin was cool against her cheek.

No heartbeat.

“Oh God,” she whispered, straightening. Should she attempt CPR? Would that even work on a vampire? It was almost two in the afternoon. He could have been dead since sunrise that morning.

“Dougal.” She pulled the edges of his nightshirt together and looked at his handsome face. He couldn’t be gone for good. He had to come back at sunset, right? Wasn’t that what vampires did?

Her eyes burned with tears. “You will come back, won’t you?”

Why was she feeling so drawn to this man? He couldn’t be doing some sort of hocus-pocus glamour on her, not when he was dead. So that could only mean her attraction was real.