Between a Vamp and a Hard Place (30 page)

Tonight? Waiting felt like an eternity.

There was no sign of Gemma. Vlad had tossed her to the far reaches of the graveyard. I didn't know if she was dead or alive and simply unconscious, but my heart cried out in misery at the thought of her being hurt or dead. She'd been such an incredible friend, risking her own life to help me and Rand. She deserved better than this, and I'd destroyed her.

It seemed I destroyed everyone I came into contact with, and that sent another wave of misery through me.

“He comes,” Vlad intoned, his hand tightening on my aching throat. “Even now, he rushes through the streets, hell-bent on finding me and rescuing you. Such loyalty. Such love. It would warm my heart . . . but it stopped beating many, many years ago.” The vampire chuckled. “Even now, his mind is full of terrible images, picturing all the things I could do to you. I'd love to humor him, but I find I'm getting selfish in my old age. I want to savor your taste, not waste your life on petty revenge.”

Well, that was a small blessing, I supposed. I swallowed hard, trying to think. The other vampire's ashes were long gone, blown into the cool night wind. My stakes were scattered somewhere amongst the tombstones, lost to me. The holy water flasks still dug into my bra, but if they were poison, I didn't know that they'd do any good if I flung them on Vlad. You had to drink poison, right? I didn't want to alert him to the fact that I had holy water on me, either. I needed to get Vlad to drink from me without trying to be obvious about it. The moment I even suggested something as innocent as
Hey, are you thirsty,
his hackles would go up and he'd suspect something. He wasn't stupid, and I'd already underestimated him once. I had to think of a new tactic.

And I needed to think of something fast, because if Rand got here first, it'd be too late for him.

Rand,
I thought, fresh pain coursing through me.
I'm so sorry I fucked this up. I wanted to save you. Please forgive me. Don't die thinking I betrayed you.

“Close now,” Vlad said softly. “Can't you taste him on the breeze?”

For a second, I imagined that I could. That his spicy, intoxicating vampire scent filled my nostrils. I closed my eyes and willed it to go away.
Run, Rand. Run and never look back.

Footsteps.

I held my breath, waiting.

Then there he was at the gates of the graveyard. So beautiful and masculine that it hurt me to look at him. His stance was one of total ease, his posture that of a man confident in his territory. His sword was out, reflecting the low light of the moon. He looked ready for battle. Only his eyes betrayed his turmoil—they were narrow slits that scanned the area looking for something.

Looking for me.

“Call him,” Vlad murmured, hand tightening on my neck. It wasn't a request but a command.

A knot formed in my throat. I wet my lips and tried to say his name, but all that came out was a soft whimper.

Rand's gaze immediately turned to me.

Our eyes locked.

Maybe he saw the begging, the pleading, the love and fear in mine. The regret. Whatever it was he saw there, he seemed to understand it. He gave me a brief nod, then his gaze flicked to the man holding me captive.

“Let her go.” Rand's voice was quiet. Direct. “She has no quarrel with you.”

“On the contrary,” Vlad said, rising to his feet. He didn't let go of my neck, which meant I had to awkwardly follow, or else my head would be pulled off. When I stood, he yanked me against him, an unwilling shield. “She came here with her little friend and botched an assassination attempt. Now she is going to be mine to play with as I choose.”

Rand's gaze flicked to me again.

“I wanted to save you,” I said.

“Isn't she sweet,” Vlad purred. “So giving. I'm going to take that giving spirit to new heights, you know. I haven't tasted one like her before. I'm looking forward to it.” He slid his tongue over my neck, and I shuddered.

Rand's nostrils flared and he stepped forward.

Vlad held up a finger. “Ah ah,” he warned. “Do that and I'll rip this pretty little thing's head right off, tasty or no.”

A whimper escaped me. I couldn't help it.

Rand stopped. A tortured look crossed his face. “Do not harm her. Your fight is with me.”

“No, there is no fight,” Vlad said. “You have simply forgotten that you belong to me.” His smooth voice turned vicious, the hand holding my throat tighter. “I am your master. I own you. Shall I possess your body again and show you?”

Rand blanched, and I knew that one hit home. He hated the Dragon being in his head. Hated it. A reminder that he'd been possessed had to hurt.

My gaze focused on Rand, and I tried to communicate with him somehow. Maybe I could provide a distraction of some kind. When Rand's eyes fixed on me, I gave him a meaningful look, flicking a glance back at his sword then at his face again.

Vlad laughed, the sound brittle and wheezy. “Even now you both think to surprise me? I can hear every thought in your head before it even surfaces, Rand. I am intimately attuned to you. And you will
not
win.”

A growl erupted from Rand, and he charged forward.

Things became a blur. I heard the snap of bone, the slap of flesh meeting flesh. A wet snarl. The Dragon had left my side before I'd had time to blink, and he and Rand fought in a flurry of limbs and movements so fast my eyes couldn't focus. Rand was good, his motions smooth as he parried, but the Dragon was so inhumanly fast that it was a losing battle. I watched as a blur of black shoved Rand backward, and then the sword went arcing through the air and clattered to the cobblestones a short distance away.

Rand was disarmed. Just like that. Vlad was so fast that it had taken less time than it took for me to draw a breath. As I watched in horror, Vlad slammed an arm across Rand's back, knocking him forward to his knees. One of my warlord's arms hung at a weird angle, broken.

He'd lost.

A sob broke from my throat. “Rand,” I cried out, moving forward to him. I wanted to touch him, to hold him one last time.

Just like a flash of lightning, Vlad was back at my side, gripping my throat and pulling me close once more. “No no, little betrayer. I trust you even less than I trust him. At least I can read his thoughts.” Vlad's smile was toothy and evil. “I always wonder what's going on in that silly little human mind of yours. Like what could possibly make you think you could take me on? What did you expect to do with me?”

I looked at Rand, then back at Vlad. This might be my only chance to explain to Rand what I was doing. That I wasn't betraying him. “I wanted to stake you,” I told Vlad baldly. “Stake you and put you in hibernation so Rand wouldn't have to kill himself to destroy you.”

The Dragon's eyebrows rose and Vlad gave another cruel, mocking laugh. “So he could stay with you? That is charming.” His thumb ran over the vein in my neck, digging into my skin. “You were trying to have your cake and eat it, too, weren't you? And look what it's gotten you.” He glanced back at Rand, his arm cradled to his chest. “Your lover, beaten before you. All hope gone. Even now, he watches me to see if I'm going to take a bite out of you.”

Rand's nostrils flared with anger.

I stilled. “No,” I breathed.

YES. YES!
my head shouted.
DO IT.

Vlad's mouth curled. His thumb dug harder into the side of my neck, and I whimpered as it broke the skin, blood trickling.

Rand made an incomprehensible sound of anger.

Vlad's eyes just lit with cruel pleasure. “Smell that. How utterly wonderful the scent of you is.” He leaned in and sniffed. “Like the purest honey. No wonder he cannot resist.” He dragged my face toward his, forced me to look into his eyes. “Imagine how he'll suffer to watch me drink from you.”

“No,” I said again, struggling against the hands that held me. “Don't you fucking touch me!”
Touch me! Drink from me!

“Leave her alone,” Rand gritted. “She's human. Vulnerable. Weak.”

“Delicious,” Vlad pointed out, licking his lips.

“I'll do anything you ask,” Rand said in a defeated voice. “Just don't hurt her.”

Oh, my sweet Rand.
How I loved the man. I blinked back more tears.

“Fool,” Vlad said cruelly. “You know you have no control here.”

And he leaned in and licked at the blood spilling down my neck.

I froze in place, barely daring to breathe. At the feel of his gross tongue on my throat, though, I pushed at him, struggling. I had to make it look good, after all.

“No,” Rand cried, even as Vlad's arms went around me and he sank his teeth fully into my neck.

YES!

My glee at tricking him faded away in a blink. His bite hurt. Even as his teeth burrowed into my throat, he began to suck great mouthfuls from me. I struggled feebly against him, but I couldn't budge him at all. How much blood would it take to poison the original vampire? How long would it take?

And as he continued to suck at my throat and my head grew foggy, I wondered if I'd even be alive to see it. I pushed at the vampire again, hoping against hope he'd stop drinking before he took too much.

At my throat, Vlad made a coughing, choking noise. I felt his fangs pull away, and he shoved me backward, wiping at his bloody mouth.

I slammed into a gravestone and clung to it for strength.

“What . . .” Vlad touched his fingers to his mouth, then gagged. “What is this?”

“That's a big ‘fuck you' from me to you,” I said. Blood dribbled steadily from my neck, the wound unsealed. My shirt was sticking to my skin with it, and I knew I was losing too much. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore other than delivering this last final screw-over. I was a bit gleeful when I added, “It's holy water and all the garlic I could pound back.”

His eyes widened and he hissed at me, full of anger. Behind him, I watched Rand slowly reach for his sword.

I forced a smile to my face, even though I felt weak and unsteady. “Gotcha, Vlad.”

With an inhuman growl, Vlad lashed out, backhanding me. That, combined with the blood my throat was now leaking all over the place, made me go down this time. My head smacked into the dirt, and I lay there on the grass, stunned and nearly passed out.

A few feet away, Vlad staggered, his fingers curled, and he clawed at his own throat, as if trying to pull my tainted blood back out of his body.
That's what you get for being a greedy jerk,
I thought foggily. I watched as Rand raised his sword behind him.

He was going to behead him.

“No,” I breathed, just as the sword whistled through the air. He couldn't do that! Not while Vlad was disabled and we could stake him and have our lives together. “Wait—”

“This is for Lindsey,” Rand bellowed as he swung his sword. Vlad's head went flying.

Losing blood, utterly broken, I blacked out.

T
he world was black.

Every bone in my body ached, but my head hurt the worst. I tossed and turned in the narrow, uncomfortable bed, unable to adjust myself in a way that would make my throbbing head and neck stop hurting so much.

“Poor Linds,” a familiar voice murmured. “You want some ice chips?”

My eyes fluttered open, and I looked into a wonderful, sweet face. “Gemma?”

She smiled at me, one eye black and puffy. “Hey. How you feeling?”

I looked around. I was in a white room. Completely unfamiliar. The surroundings were bland, neutral, and there was a shower curtain on one side of the bed, which threw me off. I squinted at it. Huh. How did I feel? “Like I was stomped on,” I said, struggling to sit up.

She put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Stay down. You're not well. As for being stomped on . . . you probably were. Both of us were.”

We were? My brain was full of fog, my mind throbbing. “I can't think straight.”

“I know, Linds. You're still missing a lot of blood. The hospital tried to give you a transfusion and almost killed you. I had to make them understand about your blood type. That was a fun conversation. Thank God for your bracelet, or you'd be toast.” She wrinkled her nose. “Luckily you're on the mend, but you're still weak and tired. You can't get up yet.”

Blood loss? I vaguely remembered a graveyard, and Gemma flying across the air. My eyes widened, and I looked at her. “You're not dead?”

She picked up a paper cup on the side of the bed. It had a plastic spoon in it. She dug a few ice chips out, then offered them to me, and I realized how utterly dry my mouth was. I accepted the ice chips without a word of protest. “I'm all right,” Gemma said, her voice cheery. “A cracked rib and a shitty black eye, but otherwise I'm dandy. You, however,” she said with a shake of her head, “had a concussion and a class two hemorrhage. You nearly went into shock. So it's been a slow road for you, girl, but I'm glad you're finally awake.” Her smile was weak, wobbly. “I thought I'd lost you for a bit there.”

I reached out and clutched her hand, surprised at how weak I was. “Oh, Gemma,” I breathed. “You're not dead. I'm so glad.” Tears, again with the tears, rolled down my cheeks. “I thought he'd killed you. I really did.”

“Does it make me a chickenshit if I admit I played dead? Because I did. As soon as I smacked the gravestone, I went unconscious from the pain, but when I woke up, I pretended I was still gone. I didn't want him to find me and start chomping on me like he did you.”

I touched my neck. It was swathed in bandages and hurt like the dickens. “I'm still fuzzy on things.” I felt like I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. Like something vitally important was gone, and I couldn't think of what it was. It hovered on the edges of my mind, on the tip of my tongue, but I had nothing. My head hurt really freaking bad, though. I rubbed my forehead, wincing. “Can I have more ice chips?”