Bloodstorm (Heart of a Vampire) (22 page)

If he had an answer, he might have spoken. Instead, he merely crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his sister.

At the other end of the hall, one of Jordan’s Viking guards rushed down the steps and hurried toward him. Eric stopped abruptly when he caught sight of Fionah.

Jordan’s guards never knew what to make of his sister, either. She could switch from child-like to screaming fury in a blink, even without cause. Her mind was a strange thing, had been since they were children growing up on clan lands in Scotland. A thousand years had only made her a little more touched in the head.

A whisper of movement came from the room at his back. He scowled, the urge to rejoin Dalia pressing. “It there a party going on down here I wasn’t informed of?”

Eric turned from Fionah and met his gaze, eyes usually full of laughter instead worried. “Luci is missing.”

Jordan straightened as heat fired his veins. Not again. “Where?”

“
She was making the blood run to the hospital.”

Jordan barely refrained from slamming his fist into the stone wall. Who in the hell was still taking his people? He’d thought the problem solved when the rogue vampire responsible for Dalia’s condition had been killed.

“
Did Luci make it to the hospital?”

Eric shook his head.

Fionah stepped forward, brushing long blonde curls over her shoulder. Her eyes held more intelligence and her child-like grin was gone. “How do you know?”

Eric shot her a glare. “’Tis my duty.”

Jordan rubbed the hilt of the dagger at his belt. “Get some men together. We’ll--”

The sound of stirring inside the cell stopped him. He glanced from Eric to the door, torn. He couldn’t leave Dalia, not during her wakening.

Eric’s eyes flashed. “I’ll get a group together. We’ll find Luci.”

Jordan nodded. “Report to me on your return.”

Eric glanced at Fionah before headed down the hall to the stairs.

She stared at Jordan, her blue eyes flushing with red. Waving at the door, she demanded, “You put that woman before the clan?”

“
I turned her. It is my duty to help her tonight.”

“
Why?” She shook her head. “What’s so special about this girl?”

“
I don’t know.”

Fionah studied him, then shrugged and glided down the long hall. Jordan sighed, relieved she hadn’t continued her questions. He didn’t have any answers.

He slipped back inside the room. The woman was barely stirring, but it wouldn’t be long now.

***

She woke with a start. Agony seared through her, nearly bringing a scream to her throat. Her heart beat a deafening rhythm and her stomach clenched in fiery hunger. She jerked up, staring into the darkness, her thoughts scattered like petals on the wind.

She reached up to rub her pounding temples but cold metal weighed heavily on her wrists. Chains rattled.

From the shadows a soothing whisper came. “Hush.”

Only then did she realize she was keening sharp cries from a need she couldn’t name. But she hurt, oh how she hurt. Her body ached, her stomach roiled. And she was so damn hungry.

A match flared. Candlelight spread a flickering pool over a man sitting near the bed. His features were harsh, yet his blue eyes held kindness.

Her attention was drawn to the pulse beating at his throat. She could hear his calm heartbeat over the erratic thumping of her own. The fire consuming her flared and she lunged.

The chains yanked her back to the mattress, keeping her from reaching the man.

Sharp canines pierced her tongue and the coppery taste of blood welled in her mouth. Startled, she slowed, trying to think.

The man left the chair to crouch by her side. She couldn’t control herself as she jumped for him again, but he stayed just out of reach.

“
It’s all right, Dalia. You’ll feel better soon.”

Dalia? That was her name. Yes. Her thoughts finally began to slow, though the pain rushing through her body was only getting worse.

He raised his wrist to his mouth. An urgent scent, making her stomach clench in hunger, bit into the air. He lowered his wrist and her gaze locked on the blood welling on his tanned skin.

“
Drink.” He held his hand in front of her face.

A red haze covered her vision and she sank her teeth into his skin. Blood filled her mouth, warm and comforting. Mindless with a hunger she couldn’t place, unable to even pull up any disgust at what she was doing, Dalia drank greedily.

The fire in her belly roared and she took more, wanting to pull him closer, to wrap her hands around his arm. The chains rattled loudly, still keeping her from grabbing him.

Slowly, the flames in her stomach dampened.

Voices in her head began screaming and she jerked back against the headboard, breathing heavily as clarity came and she realized exactly what she’d done.

Shadow’s filled the man’s eyes. His lips turned down in a fierce frown. She shivered at the anger blazing across his face.

With a cry, she scrambled as far as she could across the small bed, pressing herself to the ice cold wall it sat against.

“
It’s all right,” he said gently.

She shook her head, glancing around the room, trying to straighten out her thoughts.

“
Dalia.” His voice rumbled, his accent thickening. “Come to me.”

Heat flared in the room as his voice tugged on her. The warmth slid over her, prickling her skin, and burrowed deep inside her mind. She shook her head as a buzzing grew, the urge to do as he said increasing. His voice echoed and repeated in her head, calling for her to go to his side.

She concentrated on listening to the crazed screaming and jabbering of her own internal voice. Curling into a ball against the cold, metal headboard, she fisted her hands over her ears, trying to ignore his strange call.