Chandler: Books 4 The Witch and the Vampire (6 page)

Chapter Ten

Chandler
cautioned himself about encountering
Johannes
as he stepped across the threshold of the nightclub. Wary of the noise and on guard for the master vampire, he scanned the interior of the club, searching for clues to the presence of the creature. His ears picked up every nuance of sounds from the stage, and the lowest of murmurs from those seated in the booths lining the walls of the room. His gaze darted from one form to the other, leery that at any moment
Johannes
might appear in front of him, set to destroy him. A hand clutched his arm suddenly. Quickly, he jerked his body around, tensed, ready to defend himself.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He looked down into Jada’s pale blue eyes.

She cocked her head to one side and stared at him.

Chandler
tried to gather his senses, held her gaze, took her hand and turned her body toward the door of the establishment.

“I can’t leave yet. I have to be on stage again in fifteen minutes.”

He paused as she turned to face him, then took his hand and tugged him toward her dressing room at the back of the nightclub.

Chandler
glanced over his shoulder as he allowed her to tow him along behind her. There was no sign of
Johannes
and he was relieved, or at least momentarily pleased that he didn’t have to do battle with the vampire.

Jada pulled him through the door of her small dressing room. “I want you to go check out the office.
Collins
left about half an hour ago. I suspect he went to meet another cohort, maybe to pull off another robbery—” She pulled in a quick breath and placed one hand against his chest. “Look for a safe someplace where he might be hiding his business papers.” She smiled suddenly. “I’m sorry. I guess I just took it for granted that I’m the primary on this case and I give the orders.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I don’t have to tell you what to look for once you get inside Collins’s office. After all, you’re an experienced detective.” She cocked an arched brow. “How long have you been working undercover?”

He tried to make sense of what she was saying, but the threat of
Johannes
being in the same building as he, unnerved him to the point he hadn’t been paying attention to anything she had just said. He grasped her upper arms, pulling her body against his large frame. He kissed her, hoping to take her mind off her questioning him.

She moaned and raised her arms around his neck.

Chandler
tightened his arms around Jada’s waist and deepened the kiss, relieved that his little plan was working for the moment. He tried to shut out everything else, the noise of the club beating at his brain, the threat of
Johannes
perhaps lurking just outside the closed door, the approaching daylight and his need to leave the city forever. It was impossible. His ears picked up every little sound and his ability to sense danger jumped into express mode.

Chandler
tried to concentrate on the taste of Jada’s mouth and the feel of her body. She was warm and pliable, yielding to his every touch. He stroked her back and grasped her buttocks in his big hands, pressing her belly into his crotch. He was growing hard, wanting to fuck, as he warned himself that he should leave and forget he ever met
Jada
Harris
.

She wrenched her mouth from his suddenly as a knock sounded on the closed door at her back. She pressed her palms against
Chandler
’s chest and pushed him toward the bathroom off the small room. She raised one hand to her mouth, positioning one finger across her lips in warning.

Chandler
felt the presence beyond the door.
Johannes
!
He bristled, his fists drew into tight knots as Jada pressed him toward the small bathroom to hide. He allowed her to push his body forward, but his thoughts were beyond the closed door, attuned to the vicious master lingering beyond.

“Stay in here and be quiet.”

He stood still as she pulled the door closed, sealing him inside the small space.
Jada, you aren’t fooling
Johannes
. He knows of my presence.
Fright gathered inside his body. In the blink of an eye,
Johannes
could be at his throat, tearing and rending his flesh, ripping his head from his undead body and leaving him withering on the floor. He clenched his fists. He would not go down without a fight. He may be the loser, but he would fight to the death. He listened to the voices beyond the bathroom.

“How’s my girl this evening?”

Chandler
heard the rustle of clothing, then a low toned moan. His keen ears picked up the sounds of kissing and his throat tightened. He gnashed his teeth, keeping his anger at bay.

“I want to fuck you, Jada. I want to lunge my prick inside your hot body.”

“I have to be on stage,
John
. You have to go now. I have to change my costume.”

“I’ll watch. Here, let me get that hook. Oh. I love to look at your tits. They fill my hands.”

“You have to go,
John
.” She giggled. “Really.”

Chandler
listened to the exchange and grew angrier by the moment. If Jada only knew his ability to hear was so immense, she would not have insisted he hide in the closet.

Johannes
bates me! He plays with my woman to torment me! He knows I stand just beyond this closed door!
His rage nearly drove him to break through the door and challenge the vampire. He fought the strong emotions surging through his insides, telling himself over and over that to act rashly could very well mean his demise…and Jada’s as well.

The sound of the dressing room door closing came to his ears. He clawed at the doorknob, yanking the bathroom door open and bolting into the room.

“You scared the shit out of me!” Jada clutched her throat with one hand and hurried across the room.

“You forgot to mention that you’re fucking the bastard!”

She took a step back, a surprised look on her face.

Chandler
tried to control his rage. He turned his back to Jada, needing a moment to draw his fangs back and let his eyes stop glowing.

“Sometimes you have to do unsavory things when you work undercover. But then, I shouldn’t have to tell you that,
Chandler
. You should know already.”

Chandler
combed one hand through his hair and over the back of his neck. He felt weary suddenly, as though his body needed rest. He knew his time to sleep was drawing near. He pulled in a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions, and turned to face Jada. Her features bore the remnants of fear and surprise. He reached for her.

“I had no idea you…had such possessive feelings for me,
Chandler
.” She smoothed one hand across his cheek. “That’s sweet.”

You can’t begin to understand.
“You need to get off this case, Jada.” He halted his words, afraid he would scare her unnecessarily rather than convince her that her efforts to thwart
Johannes
’s actions were useless.

Jada smiled at him. She raised one hand and caressed his cheek. “You’re jealous,
Chandler
. Admit it.”

He stared down at her.

She smiled up at him and waited for his reply.

“The man you call
John
Collins
is very dangerous. Your life is at risk just because you’re here.”

Her brows furrowed. “How do you know so much about
John
Collins
? I thought you didn’t have time yet to do much investigating on the case.”

“Trust me.”
You wouldn’t like hearing the truth. And you wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Jada shook her head and pushed out of his arms. “I can’t just walk away,
Chandler
. Hell!
Mike
and I have been working this case for six months. We’re just now finding it possible to have Collins trust us.”

“And you’re opening your legs for the bastard, Jada!” He raked one hand angrily through his hair and strode across the room.

“Look! I told you, sometimes you have to do what an investigation calls for.” She turned on her heel and took a seat at the dressing table. “Besides, that was the only way I could get close to him,
Chandler
.” She shook her head. “There isn’t a man alive who can resist pussy when it’s served to him on a silver platter.”

His brows furrowed.
Platter? What the fuck?
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“The guy steals art, he’s not a mass murderer!”

But he is, Jada! He is!

“So help us with this case, and maybe we’ll make an arrest soon, then we can all go home,
Chandler
.”

Indecision gripped his insides. He stared at her as she sat at the dressing table, her body clad in the skimpy two-piece red outfit. She had no idea she played such a deadly game with such an unscrupulous adversary.

Chapter Eleven

Chandler
was torn between wanting to protect Jada and continuing his own existence. If he left,
Johannes
would surely kill her, rip her body to shreds after he had sated himself sexually and appeased his blood thirst. He could close his eyes and envision her end, the sheer destruction levied by the master vampire was beyond anything he would ever do to a victim.

He had seen the works of
Johannes
’s hands, the brutal force with which he commanded his victims and the unrelenting joy he exhibited when he took a mortal life. The sight of a body that had been ravaged, the blood drained away, was not something he could readily erase from his mind. He stifled a shudder. For all his vampire brutalism, he failed to measure up to
Johannes
.

Once, shortly after the master had turned him, he had been privy to watch
Johannes
subdue a mortal. It was a chilling sight, especially to a newly turned creature. He had been kept by
Johannes
for nearly a month, forced to endure immeasurable consequences because of his undead state, when one evening a stranger appeared at the door of
Johannes
’s castle. He had lost his way and sought direction from
Johannes
when he answered the door.
Chandler
had listened to their exchange and cringed.

Weakened by the attack on his body, he had been unable to help the poor man. He lay on
Johannes
’s bed and looked on, though every fiber in his body tried to reject the impulse to do so. Sometimes he could close his eyes and still hear the screams of the man as
Johannes
pierced his body with his sharp fangs.

Johannes
enjoyed being the brutal creature, a vampire with enormous skills, cunning and unpredictable. He was a deadly force to face.
Chandler
heaved a laden sigh. He wasn’t a coward by any means, but the notion to flee rose up strong inside him. Though he was dead already, there was still the threat of losing his existence if he continued to stay in
Johannes
’s territory. The master was very possessive.

Jada’s refusal to drop the investigation centering on
Johannes
disturbed him almost as much as losing his existence forever. Had she any idea that the man she called
John
Collins
was actually the worse creature she would ever want to encounter, she would leave the scene and never look back.

I can’t tell her he’s a fucking vampire. She won’t believe me. People don’t believe vampires exist, like fairies and goblins or witches.
He sighed. The witch Drucella and her evil coven had been very real in his medieval time. They had wrecked havoc on the villagers of Morganford and the surrounding countryside. And he had encountered a few fairies in his time, too. Drucella had a naughty little imp that did her biding—

He pushed his thoughts aside as the music came to a halt and Jada pranced off the stage. He glanced around the club, shutting his ears to the loud male voices yelling for Jada to come back and turned his feet toward her dressing room. For the past half hour he had stood in the back of the club and watched her entertain the audience, against his better judgment. Now he intended to get her out of the club as quickly as possible and into the safety of her own house.

He stifled a groan. In his heart he knew
Johannes
could find her wherever she dwelled. She was safe only because the master vampire hadn’t chosen to take her life yet. The fact that the creature was taking advantage of her sexually was just one of
Johannes
’s many ways of exploiting the mortal in his midst.

 
Chandler
gritted his teeth as anger surged through his insides. If only he had not chosen to remain in the city, but upon his waking and finding himself in another era, had fled and never looked back. Perhaps he would be enjoying himself at this very moment. Perhaps biting a pretty neck, then having sex to celebrate the new rush of warm blood surging through his veins. “Hurry up, Jada. Let’s get out of here.”

“What’s your rush?” She unhooked the top of her costume, smiling at him as she bared her breasts.

He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “I’d love to fuck you. But not here.”

She poked out her lower lip as though he wounded her in some terrible way. She strode toward him, swaying her hips provocatively. “Just one quickie?”

Chandler
shook his head and grasped her upper arms as she drew near. “Put on your clothes and let’s get out of here.”

Jada laughed slightly and allowed him to push her toward the clothes rack in the corner of the room. “Remember, I offered and you said no.”

He feigned a slight smile for her benefit. He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb and watched her pull on jeans and a t-shirt.

“Have you been in Collins’s office yet?”

“Nope.”

She jerked her head toward him. “If we’re ever going to crack this case,
Chandler
, we have to take advantage of the time
Collins
is out of that office. I’m reasonably certain that every bit of information we need is right there, in his desk or safe.”

“Are you quite sure he’s the thief you’re after?”
I can’t see
Johannes
needing to steal paintings and sell them to support himself. Hell! He’s a master vampire! The world is his oyster!

“We have evidence that points to him as the boss of the art thieves. He has the connections here and abroad to make the sales.”

He held his tongue. Short of him carrying the act of pretending to be a cop to the apex and helping her and
Mike
apprehend
Collins
, he saw no way of making her give up the investigation.

“Why are you questioning me?” She frowned. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Chandler
shrugged his shoulders. Short of lying to her, he had nothing to say that she would believe.

“I didn’t think so. You’re just jealous of my having sex with the guy.” She smiled and winked at him. “Believe me. It means nothing. Its just sex.” She walked toward him, zipping her jeans. “And, if it’s any consolation, he’s not nearly as good in bed as you are. His cock is puny and he finishes much too fast—”

“Enough!” his voice bellowed into the small room, making Jada jump in sudden fright.
Damned if I can listen to you describe how
Johannes
fucks you!

“Sorry.”

He grasped her elbow and pushed her through the door of the dressing room. Rushing her down the hallway, he didn’t loosen his grip on her arm until they were on the sidewalk out front of the building.

“Stop being so fucking rough,
Chandler
! You don’t own me!”

Jada’s words gave him cause to pause. He glanced down into her face. Her eyes were shadowed by a heavy frown. He felt her anger. He pushed his hands into his pockets for fear he would grab her around the waist and take to the air just to show her how much he wanted to protect her.

“Maybe we should keep this relationship on a professional basis only.” She rubbed her arm where he had been holding it. “You find a way to get into Collins’s office and go through his personal files.” She stepped off the sidewalk and waved an arm in the air, hailing a cab. Yanking open the back door, she slid across the seat. “I’ll be in touch.”

Chandler
watched Jada slam the door and stared at the cab until it was out of sight.
Damn! Women of this era are easily offended.
He massaged the back of his neck, contemplating his next move. He could follow her, or take to the air and be at her house when the cab arrived. Or he could do as she suggested and help with the investigation. He turned around and stared at the upper floor of the nightclub. He would be risking everything if he stumbled across
Johannes
while he snooped around for some inconsequential papers that Jada and her cop friend
Mike
thought was evidence.

Do I have a choice?
He suddenly felt as though he was a man intent on impressing a woman he had fallen in love with. The unfamiliar feeling coursed through him in a flash, leaving him wondering as he stared at the brick building façade.