Beautiful Death (15 page)
The girl smiled and dropped her arms showing a large red spot where Tristan had slugged her. “A man who’s not afraid of breaking conviction, sexy.”
Behind Tristan, the crowd was getting denser as it moved in around the other two boxing it out. There were moans that sounded nothing like fighting and everything like bedroom noises. Tristan wanted to turn around so bad to look it hurt, but the chick messing with him grinned a very Desmond-like grin and lunged. Tristan back peddled only to trip right into the arms of another. He had hoped it was Ash, but his luck was obviously shit. He didn’t need his sinuses filled with the scent of cloves and musk to know it was a man at his back.
“What the fuck,” he grumbled and then let out a low pained noise when the girl tumbled into him, forcing him back. Tristan and the one holding him fell back as she landed on top of him, kneeing him right in the ribs.
She opened her mouth wide showing blocky, human teeth. Tristan wondered what she possibly thought she was going to do with those. But his throbbing arm reminded him again what damage the vampire could do with just hands and that maybe he should count himself lucky she was de-fanged. And right now, he had two vampires on him… in supposedly neutral territory.
The arms of the one under him tightened and he felt something against his backside he wished he hadn’t. The woman grinned into his face and leaned down for a kiss or a bite. Tristan didn’t care for either as he started to writhe to get away, groaning with the effort, and failing horribly.
“Look,” Tristan snapped at his captives. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, we’re just here to see Yukihime.”
Instead of a coherent answer, he got a deep groan that ended in a growl, raising the hair across his arms. Behind him, Ash made a noise he was sure was a moan. Dammit, just what the hell was going on?
A tiny, but strong and angry voice rose over the commotion and the room fell silent. “
Nani
shiteru no
?”
The crowd cheering on the fighting vampires parted, leaving Ash & Desmond alone in their promiscuous lump in the middle of the floor. Tristan had to crane his neck up to look and caught a glimpse of the one under him—he was only a boy.
“Oh my god,” he whispered when he saw who’d entered the room. The small build, alto voice, and long white, almost transparent hair said the person was a woman, but with the white and red fox mask, it was hard to say. Staring through the eye holes of that eerie mask were two pale iridescent gems, like moonstone. There were no breasts or womanly curves to speak of under the layers of snow white silk draped over the small frame, but if her size was any indication of age, this person was only a child. And pale. Tristan had never seen anyone who was so pale they practically glowed in the dark.
“Tristan,” Ash snapped even as she tried to catch her breath. She was going to have to teach him how to block his thoughts—for everyone’s own good.
He would have shoot her a dirty look if he could see her from his place on the floor.
“Grazia, Ezio,” the tiny voice snapped.
The two grappling with Tristan scrambled to get away from him, freeing him. He quickly moved away, trying to watch this newcomer, find his gun and see what Ash was doing all at once.
“
Kono teppō
?” the woman behind the fox mask asked as she lifted the hem of her garments to show his gun resting under a tiny naked foot.
He wasn’t sure what she said to him, but he had a good idea. “Yeah, I’d like that back, thanks.”
“Tristan, mind your manners.” Ash took large strides over to the pale creature in the mask and dropped to her knee. “Shi—”
“Damare,” the newcomer snapped at Ash. Those cold eyes fixed on Tristan. “You are here to see the Master of the home?” Again the voice was tiny, like a child’s, but her English was very good around the Japanese accent.
“Yeah. I’m here to see this Yukihime. And I don’t fucking appreciate her goons, or whatever, coming after us. Thought you guys were supposed to be Switzerland here.”
The chin behind the mask rose slightly. “Switzerland,
dato
?” She laughed, the sound of tiny bells and Tristan shivered having felt that sensation again, like someone touching him intimately. “The way I see it, you drew first blood.”
Tristan looked at his hand, his blood already dried on his knuckles and then to Ash. Her lips were drawn in a severe line, jaw stiff. Tristan shrugged, looking back to the tiny person. “The McBastard deserved it.” Tristan borrowed the term from Lucien. He didn’t like the kid vampire, but found the label for Desmond more than fitting.
The tiny person burst into laughter. Everyone in the room moaned, including Tristan. This time it felt like someone had just shoved their hand down the front of his pants and grabbed him. Jesus, was that really their laughter that did that to him?
“That may be true enough. Come.”
Tristan looked at her skeptically. “Where?”
She stepped aside, showing a long candle lit hallway behind her. “To the very end. Yukihime will be in the last room.”
“Great,” he said and started to leave. He gave the fox faced girl one last look before shooting Desmond a nasty sneer. The step he’d taken came to a jarring stop by the look of murder in the Scotsmen eyes despite the distraction being offered to him as the others started to remove his torn pants. Refusing to let the big vampire know the look unnerved him, Tristan gave him the finger and started out of the room, dragging Ash with him by the wrist.
“You’re going to miss a nice show if you leave now,” the masked girl practically purred.
Someone moaned and Tristan automatically looked back and then wished he hadn’t as he got a big eyeful of naked Scot ass. All around Desmond the others were in various stages of feeding off him and each other. The blood was flowing and Tristan felt keenly sick.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” he snapped to keep from the lump in his throat from turning into a frightened noise and left the room. In passing, the masked girl reached out and brushed fingers across his cheek, barely reaching him she was so short. He had to suppress a sudden shudder that threatened to shake him, the spot on his cheek flaming where those searing fingers touched. The panels slammed shut behind him but did nothing to dampen Desmond’s laughter. Or the moans of the others who’d gathered at his feet like devoted disciples.
Out of the room, he still felt the hum of those vampires at his back, a cold tingling that knotted in his stomach. The fact that he felt anything at all worried him. And there was still the Master of all those vampires to meet. If he didn’t like the underlings, what was the chief going to be like? Tristan was sure he wasn’t looking forward to finding out.
TRISTAN stomped down the wide hallway, fuming. Oil lamps lined the long corridor, sending flickering warm light across the ceiling, but not doing much for the pair underneath them. After he realized Ash was not with him, he stopped and spun to find her resting face first against a wall. Her back rose and fell fast like she was trying to catch her breath. He walked up to her and stopped just out of reach.
“You want to tell me what the fuck is going on here? What was that asshole talking about?”
Ash heaved a final heavy sigh that raised and lowered her shoulders and slowly turned to face Tristan. Her expression was darkened by the hallway shadows but he could see the pain there. And anger. But he wasn’t scared of her in the beginning and he wasn’t scared of her now. Right then, he was just pissed off.
“Because if you lied to me again, I swear to God I’m out of here. For good. I’ll take my chances alone, I don’t need your half-assed lying bullshit on top of all this other shit.”
“Tristan…,” she sighed and stood, turning to face him. Of course he wouldn’t forget what that fool Desmond had said to him. She should have prepared Tristan more for this visit and was paying for it now under the beat of his anger, the scent of blood and sweeter things to be had from beautiful bodies. “I have not lied to you.”
“Maybe not recently… and Jesus, why the hell is it so cold in here?” A shiver tore down his spine and he wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure it was the temperature.
She straightened, eyes narrowing. “Desmond spoke the truth. There
is
much you do not know, but nothing that will cause you harm.”
He snorted a crude laugh. “Then a lie by omission? What is it that I need to know?” He took an angry step into her, pinning her between him and the pillar. “What are you hiding from me?”
“I told you, nothing—”
“That’ll cause me harm. So you said. But I’m the one to decide that, not you.”
She lifted her chin towards him. “You still do not trust me.”
“I’m trying. But, fuck Ash, you don’t make it easy.”
She sighed and relaxed. “I—” She looked away and Tristan took another step towards her so that the front of their bodies brushed ever so slightly. He was still angry, but being close to her helped distract him from that anger. He wanted to be mad, but he wanted to touch her even more. “I want you to trust me, Tristan.”
“I want to trust you too,” he said in a low voice, aware of their closeness. “There’s something… something inside me that demands it. That says I have to, something that wants…”
You
, was that last word he couldn’t speak, but then, he didn’t have to. Ash had that pesky trait that made every one of his thoughts less than private.
To his surprise, she leaned into him, lips parted and eyes heavy with an emotion he knew. He leaned down, meeting her halfway. Her breath was warm across his chin where she panted a little too heavily. “I feel…” Her eyes flicked to his neck, the tip of her tongue swiping over the tip of a tiny fang.
Tristan stared down into her pale eyes, that cold burn low in his belly spreading. He was starting to understand her hunger. The need to wrap her tiny frame up in his arms and devour her was nearly overwhelming. His heartbeat throbbed all over with anticipation. He wanted to give her what he wanted, but was he really okay with that? Alone, he was sure the idea of being bitten was not something he could do. But when she was close, the energy of her body mixing with his to make a new flavor, he just wanted to submit and let go.
Ash made a small noise, half whimper, half moan and pressed closer. She put her hands against his chest, feeling his heart pound against her palms. She traced fingers down the front of his jacket, over his ribs until she reached his waist and wrapped her arms around his back under the leather.
He held her, crushing her to him. The leather of his jacket and her vest moaned against each other. Under the soft plush of her breasts against his chest he could feel her heartbeat.
God, now was so not the time to be getting personal, but he couldn’t help it. The closer he was to her, the less he could think clearly. Maybe it was vampire tricks. Or maybe it was something more primitive and simple. But, he had to remember, he was only food.
Oh hell, he didn’t give a shit. He’d let her eat him whole.
“Ash,” he whispered. “Ash, look at me.” She flinched, her eyes flicking up to fix with his. “What are we doing here?” He wasn’t even sure what he meant by the question, whether he meant why where they in that fucked up home, or him-n-her. Personal like.
“I… I do not know…,” she answered softly and withdrew her arms from under his jacket. He thought she was going to push him away, but then she smoothed her palms up his chest. At his neck, her fingertips lingered at a small cut she’d given him the night before as if testing its durability. Those cold, smooth fingers traced the vein on his neck up until slipping into his thick, dark hair. Tristan shuddered against her, the feel of her fingernails grazing his scalp sending little shivers of excitement all through him. He gave a deep groan and took the last step forward to press her back to a pillar. She made a small, helpless noise as he buried his face into her neck, inhaling the subtle sweet scent of her.
Lips grazed his neck and he wished she would press them to his skin. His thoughts went back to the dream they shared. The memory of those molten lips opening across his neck made him shiver as he felt aroused. Even with the threat of her eating him, maybe even hurting him, holding her to him felt so right, so damn good. She belonged in his arms. Maybe she really could think of him as more than food. But when her tongue flicked across the skin under his ear, when she wiggled closer, coaxing his growing anticipation; when her lips parted across his neck in a wet line and the sharp point of two fangs pressed into his flesh, threatening to break the surface—he knew. She just wanted his blood. Even so, he would give her whatever she desired.
“Do it,” he whispered against her neck. “Take it...” Take whatever you want.
Ash made a small noise of surprise and her chest heaved against his as she pulled in a deep breath. She pushed gently, forcing him back. Tristan let out a shaky sigh and pulled back slowly, turning his face into hers. Her parted lips brushed him softly in passing, wetting a line across his cheek. He stopped, mouth hovering inches over hers as he stared into her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered a few times quickly and just as he was leaning in to close that last two inches between them, press his lips to hers, she pulled away. He let out the breath he had been holding and opened his arms, releasing her. She slipped out from between him and the pillar and walked away, putting her back to him, leaving him bewildered and aching in a way he’d never felt before. God, he just wanted her so badly. There was no way she didn’t know.
“I am sorry, Tristan,” she whispered. “The others they—I let the beast inside rule.”
The others? The beast inside? He wanted to believe it was really her true feelings for him that he just saw. Yes she wanted his blood, but she also wanted him. If she were any other woman, he’d have shown her what he was feeling, scooped her up and kissed her already. But then, she was far from any other woman and deep down, the whole vampire thing still worried him. What would a relationship be like with someone like her? In the beginning, sure it would be great—they all were. But the longer they stayed together, would he start to wonder if she really loved him, or his blood?
“It’s...fine,” he said, unsure of what else to say. Unsure of his feelings. Ash confused him like no other.
She frowned and took a step away from him. “I—” She took a deep, cleansing breath and straightened, looking all business again. “We should go see Yukihime.”
“Yeah, the faster I can get out of this fun house.” His words were strong, but his resolve was weak. There was just too much confusion in his head. “Why did you even bring me here?”
“Yukihime and her brood are… eccentric, but they will not harm you.”
Tristan laughed, he couldn’t help it. “They sure seemed like they were going to take a bite out of me back there. And that whole Fight Club you and Desmond had going, I thought you were trying to kill each other.”
“Desmond is…” She let out a heavy sigh. “He and I were lovers once.”
Tristan flinched back. While he kind of expected it, like with Lucien, hearing it so bluntly was a blow. “I… oh.”
Ash sighed again. “He is the constant thorn in my paw. He is what he is and a very long life will not change him. It very rarely changes any of us for that matter.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant and frankly didn’t want to hear about it, not right then. “Ash, what is it you are not telling me?”
“I would not know where to start,” she answered, sounding tired. “Right now, all I want is finish this and leave.”
“Fair enough. But when we get out of here, you and I are going to have a nice long chat.”
Ash broke into a big smile. “Yes, sir.”
He chuckled as the pair moved down the hallway again towards that last door. And the closer he got, the more nervous he felt. It was that same cold burning he felt in the room full of vampires. Now that he thought on it, he felt it too when he was near Ash—in the car when she took him home, their shared dream, up close and personal kendo practice... just now. God, just what he needed right now, something else wrong with him.
They stopped in front of a screen door at the end of the hall. Light showed from the other side giving the thin paper a bright yellow hue. Ash stopped to rest her palm against the wood frame as if reflecting or preparing herself. Tristan wasn’t the type to scare easily but suddenly he had one of those feelings again. That sense of danger, foreboding. He didn’t want to go in that room.
Ash turned quickly. “What do you feel?”
“I—” Tristan started and then closed his mouth. He had a hard time putting it into words. “I don’t—”
A sharp, “
Raikō
. Now!” came from the other side of the screen. Tristan frowned thinking the voice sounded familiar.
Ash visibly winced as she turned to enter the room. Tristan took a deep breath, preparing himself for this all powerful Master who ruled over the house of freak vampires. The pair stepped into a cloud of haze, a layer of smoke that hung heavy in the air. It was a pleasant, sickly sweet smell. Tristan was ashamed to admit that he knew the scent and wondered how long he could spend in the room before he started to feel sick. And very high. The room wasn’t huge, but comfortable and dim under the light of only a few strategically placed candles. This room was even colder than the last and he was glad for his leather jacket.
He came to a sudden stop when he saw the main attraction seated at the center of the room, lounging amongst a mass of silk and satin pillows and smoking on a long pipe like The Caterpillar from
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. “You’ve
got
to be kidding me.”
Ash elbowed him hard in the side and dropped to her knees, forcing him down with her. “Mind yourself,” she hiss whispered, though it wouldn’t matter, not with Yukihime.
“Yeah, but come on…
that’s
the Master?”
The Master in question offered Tristan a flirty wink and rolled her shoulders back as if inviting him to her. The fox noh mask was gone, but there was no doubt, this was the same girl that he met in the other room. And girl she was, she didn’t look a second older than twelve.
“Point in fact, I was fourteen and one half,” the tiny creature said. “
Arigatō gozimashita
.”
“Tristan,” Ash admonished again. “Behave yourself. Please.”
“What?” he whispered back. “You want me to just stop thinking? Good luck with that.”
Ash mumbled something at him that he recognized as dismay even without speaking the language. He sighed and bent forward on Ash’s example, abasing himself to the child vampire. God, he hated that the vampires could read his mind. He needed one of those hats like Magneto had. Yeah, then the old vamp wouldn’t be able to read his mind.
“But I like your mind,
danshi
.”
Forehead still pressed to the tatami mat below the line of opium smoke, Tristan turned his face towards Ash and whispered, “What’s danshi?”
“It—”
“Young man,” the grinning girl answered.
“Young man?” Tristan sat up, though by the screwed up expression on Ash’s face he shouldn’t have without being bade to.
“Hai, like… a child?”
“I’m twenty-four.”
“You are younger than I, danshi. Child.”
He couldn’t help but groan to himself, rolling his eyes. Beside him, Ash gave her own dismayed sigh—just inside the room and already Tristan was being Tristan and letting his mouth run rampant.
“Oh, honestly,” the young vampire said, “You’re too uptight Asta-chan.”
Ash gritted her teeth. Of course she knew Yukihime would call her by her given name. Just as Desmond had. They could not help themselves. It was also like the ancient vampire to be angry one moment, flippant the next. Ash was still trying to access the vampire’s mood tonight.