Dead Rising (15 page)

I felt sort of nauseous as I nodded. “Will that be enough for Leonora? Without knowing who the caster is, I don’t think I can find the answers to your other questions.”

My words were greeted with silence. The roast beef in my stomach threatened to come back up. If I hadn’t demanded payment, I could have held firm on only giving her the knowledge we had as Templars, but I’d demanded payment.

“Leonora will not be satisfied,” he admitted.

Yep. Gonna puke. “So I won’t get the rest of my money?” If I needed to return what she’d already paid me, I’d have to dip into the other checking account—the one I hadn’t wanted to touch. Maybe she’d take it in payments?

“She’ll consider it a breach of contract.”

I understood what Dario meant. If she was really pissed, I’d be dead. If she was feeling charitable, I’d be passed around as a blood slave for a few days before being dumped in an alley to crawl my way to the hospital. I might have some immunity from retribution as a Templar, but to an angry vampire, payback trumped immunity.

It wasn’t fair. I knew the vampires were withholding information from me. How the heck was I supposed to find the caster when I didn’t know what was going on? They couldn’t just shove some piece of paper at me with a symbol on it and expect me to wave a wand and know all.

Wand. It made me think of the demon who’d come when I summoned Vine. It had to have been a fluke. Maybe I could summon a different Goetic demon and get the information that way. One who had some skills in divination, perhaps? But before I went down that road again, I had one more angle to check out. The Robertsons hadn’t been a test case. They were significant somehow. If I could get to see that reporter, swap some information with her, then maybe I could figure out who the caster was without having to summon a demon.

Although if it came to a choice between facing Leonora or risking a summoning, I’d take the demon. Ironic how I was more afraid of a vampire Mistress than a being from hell.

“I’ve got a few more avenues to explore. Just let Leonora know what I’ve found out so far, and that I’ll have the other answers to her by the deadline.” I would, even if I had to replace another window in my apartment.

“Good.” Dario leaned closer and inhaled. “I’d hate for Leonora to kill you. Although I might be able to convince her to give you to me instead.”

I froze like a rabbit in the briars. “I’ll get her the information by the deadline. Then I’ll collect the rest of my money and be on my way.”

He edged nearer. I couldn’t move, could barely breathe. “I’d make it enjoyable for you. Weeks, months if I can keep control. I like you, Aria. Maybe enough to turn you so you’d always be mine.”

What the hell was going on? I caught my breath and leaned back.
No sudden moves.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll get the information and we’ll never see each other again.”

We wouldn’t either. I’d completely avoid those pubs he liked to frequent, stay as far away as possible from the side of town he’d clearly claimed as his hunting ground. Heck, I may never go out at night again.

“But we will see each other again,” he murmured. “I’m your boyfriend, remember? We’re supposed to be having sex right now. Isn’t that what you led your parents to believe?”

Shit. I tried to break out of the deer-in-headlights reaction I was having. “I was joking, messing with my parents.”

I reached out to push him aside and turned to swing my legs off the bed, well aware that I needed to get out of here and fast.

Touching him was a bad idea. Dario shot forward with inhuman speed. I recoiled, twisting to roll-off the bed. I’ve got good reflexes from a lifetime of training, but there was no way I could evade a vampire this close to me. In a blink, I was on my back with his arms on either side of my shoulders, his legs pinning mine to the bed.

“Boyfriends get certain benefits.” He shifted, his thighs straddling mine, his upper body completely supported by his arms.

“Get off me,” I choked out. “Dario, snap out of it and let me go.”

I felt ready to burst into flame. The nearness of him, the smell of myrrh and cinnamon on his cool skin, the intense way his gaze traveled over my face and neck, lingering on the pulse in my throat. If he’d been human, if I’d had any confidence in his ability to keep this just sexual, then I would have lost myself in the feeling of his body against mine. Instead all I could think of was his fangs sinking into my neck, and how that was beginning to sound like a good idea.

“Words have power,” he whispered. “You’ve called me your boyfriend repeatedly. It is too late for you to take that back now.”

The part of me that was screaming a warning faded away, hidden beneath a fuzzy-headed lust and need. My breath caught as he bent his head, moving his mouth lightly across my jaw and down the side of my neck. His hips brushed against mine and I arched my back upward to touch him, something between a whimper and a moan escaping from my throat.

“Do you want me, Ari?” My hands clawed at him in an affirmative response. I couldn’t think straight beyond my desperate need to feel his naked skin against mine, to have him fill me.

His kisses grew more insistent, teeth nipping along my skin. “Can I share your blood, Ari? You’ve never experienced ecstasy until you’ve had the double hit of coming while I taste the sweet nectar of your gift.”

I was gone. Drunk. High on the equivalent of a vampire roofie. He could take anything he wanted—blood, my body, anything. Just let this liquid pleasure washing over me continue, let me come in his arms with his teeth buried in my neck.

Dario shifted backward, crossing his arms as he stripped off his T-shirt. I couldn’t move. I could do nothing but watch him. Then I reached for him, welcoming the weight of his body on mine, welcoming the press of him between my thighs.

Sharp fangs glinted between his lips. His eyes were dark, expressionless. He moved against me and although my body was completely with the program, my mind suddenly wavered, then rebelled. This wasn’t the Dario who ate Linguini Alfredo with crab meat, who dryly annoyed my mother, who teased me about my love of pastries. This wasn’t Dario, this was a predator. And I was held tight in his grasp.

“No. Don’t. Dario, please don’t do this.”

I’d cast no spell but still he froze, the muscles in his jaw tensing as he stared down at me. Slowly, careful not to brush against me, he rolled away and sat up.

I didn’t say another word, just bolted out, down the stairs and into my room. There I leaned against the closed door, stared at the pink walls decorated with kittens and unicorns, and tried to catch my breath.

Close call didn’t even begin to describe this. I’d been ready to give in. Part of me still wanted to go back up there and let him do whatever he wanted with me. Instead I went into the bathroom across the hall and took the coldest shower I could. Then I lay wide awake in bed until the first rays of dawn crawled across my floor.

N
ORMALLY “FAMILY TIME”
dragged, but Sunday afternoon went by in a blink. As expected, I slept in until noon, had lunch, then played bridge and swam in the pool as the sun raced toward the western horizon. I dreaded seeing Dario, dreaded being in a car with him for several awkward hours as we made our way back to Baltimore. I prayed there wouldn’t be the usual traffic and that I could speed like a maniac and end what was best case scenario going to be a horrible drive, worst case scenario a deadly one.

I ate dinner, said my goodbyes, packed my bag, and met the vampire as I was throwing the duffle, along with a giant sack full of armor, into the back of my car.

“Ready?” I wasn’t sure what else to say to him. I didn’t even want to look at him directly.

“Mmm.”

That was it. The lack of communication on his part was actually a relief. He could have been a mannequin for all the interaction we had as I drove home. My mind made up for the silence by thinking of last night, of how I would have been completely willing to have sex with this guy if it hadn’t involved the aftermath from the donation of blood. Why couldn’t vampires be like they were in the movies, all sex and little sips from your neck now and then? I could totally get into that if it was just some kind of kink like rubber nun’s suits or ball gags. Booty call, little biting action, then see-ya-later, gator.

I had a feeling it wouldn’t be just a sip if things went that direction with Dario and me. And I worried it would be the beginning of a serious addiction on my part. Whatever was in vampire saliva that made the experience so pleasurable for victims also left the blood donor craving a repeat experience. The need eventually subsided—unless the vampire came back for more, setting up a cycle that resulted in the stereotypical blood slave/master relationship.

I’d seen those one-time victims the day after, dazed and still floating, then seen them later in the week with shaking hands and hungry eyes.

I had no desire to go through that kind of withdrawal, and from what Dario had said in the heat of the moment last night, I doubted his control. If he caved and came back to me, if I somehow managed to find him and talk him into a round two, three, and four, I’d wind up a blood slave. And blood slaves died. His promise of a few months would probably be optimistic.

Dead. I needed to keep reminding myself of that. Dead.

“Remember the hunger I told you about?” Dario’s soft voice jolted me out of my thoughts. “It’s no excuse for what happened last night. I’m surprised you trust me enough to let me come with you back to Baltimore.”

“Well, I was hardly going to leave you there with my family,” I snapped back. I wasn’t really angry at him. Yes, he’d lost control and crossed a line, but I should have seen the signs. Wait, no. That was the equivalent of saying I was almost raped because I’d drank too much and wore a short skirt. Actually, I
was
angry at him. “What happened to your being able to go a few days without feeding? I thought you had more control than that.”

He flinched at each statement, as if I struck him. “We are careful not to kill our victims, not to overindulge when we take blood, not to draw notice to ourselves by feasting too often. Every one of us constantly hovers on the edge of starvation. It’s no excuse. I
should
be able to go two days without losing control over my hunger.”

“Why?”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn to face me. “Why what?”

I wanted to ask him why he’d lost control this time, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer, so I asked my other question.

“Why are you on the edge of starvation? There are six hundred thousand people in Baltimore. Are there really that many vampires that you can’t get enough blood without killing?”

Dario sat back and stared out at the traffic for a moment. “We can’t over graze. If we’re careful about tourists, and we take a small amount from only one or two victims per night, then we’ll have enough without needing to go beyond the city limits. We’ll also have reserves if we need to feed heavily to defend our territory.”

It was such a famine mindset. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the logic. “But you don’t have to stay within the city. Baltimore county is huge, and the nearest other
Balaj
I know of is in Philadelphia. Heck, you all could even pop over to D.C. if you wanted.

He turned to me. “I’m trusting that you will keep this between us.”

I nodded, wondering what he was about to say and if I could keep his confidence or not. Templars were not to judge, but something in me tensed as I waited to hear his secret.

“There are solitary vampires, ones without a
Balaj
. There are also
Balajes
that do not have territories. They roam and exist in the fringe areas around claimed cities. Since they have no land to call their own, they don’t care about killing. They’re reckless. If we hunt in the borderlands, we could be killed by these rogues. The only safe way to hunt there is in a pack of our own, which would leave less of us to defend the city if need be.”

I had no idea all this was going on right under my nose. “Do you all police the borderlands for these rogues?”

“Only if they stay and their activities threaten to bring notice to us. Otherwise, we let them be and they quickly move on.”

I had a sudden urge to start checking crime stats and tracking murders in these borderlands, but something else Dario had said struck me.

“When your
Balaj
came from Haiti, when you all were kicked out of your territory in Florida, you were one of these rogue bands.”

“Yes.” He practically spat out the word. “I’m not proud of what I did to survive, or what my brothers and sisters did either. It was a precarious existence until we managed to take Baltimore. Living like that changes a vampire. Some of us manage to regain control once we have the safety of a territory, but some never do.”

“What happens to those who don’t? Regain control, I mean.”

“We do our best to help them. No one wants to lose a brother or sister. No Sire wants to put down a child of their making. If they are a threat to the
Balaj
, then that’s what eventually must be done.”

“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t imagine how difficult that must have been for him. I’d never been in the position where I had to make a difficult decision like that about a loved one, and I hoped I never was.

“About last night…if it had been simple blood lust I wouldn’t have tried to take you like that. I don’t spend a lot of time with humans who aren’t my targeted prey for the evening, and I usually only spend a few hours with them at the most. Being with you over these last few days, actually having conversations with you…I’ll admit it’s caused me to have some rather lurid fantasies.”

His tone had turned light, teasing. I knew he meant what he said, but I also knew he wouldn’t attack me. It lifted a burden of anxious fear I’d been carrying since I’d climbed into the car with him.

“You’re not the only one with lurid fantasies. I seem to remember I threw myself at you that first night. Yeah, I didn’t try to bite you, but I guess that makes us kind of even.”

And just like that the tension was gone and we were back to our weird, easy friendship.