Death Takes a Holiday (24 page)

“Good thinking. Thank you.”

“Do you know a way to exit without arousing suspicion?” Oliver asks.

“We can hop the fence and cut through the neighbor’s back yards. It’s only two houses.”

“Good.” Oliver turns to Will, who hasn’t taken his eyes off me this entire exchange. “And you, William? Will you be storming the castle, risking life and limb to save the fair maiden from the evil Lord who wishes to steal her away from us?”

His eyes bore into mine, all doubt and sadness vanishing. My whole exhausted body suddenly springs to life in tension and anticipation. A peaceful smile I never thought him capable of forms on his face. He says one word. Just one word and everything crappy in my life, all the pain, degradation, and doubt melts away. One word changes everything.

“Absolutely.”

After I instruct Nana not to go outside for anything, we wait until we hear the police sirens out front before escaping over the back fence. My neighbors must be preoccupied with the three squad cars because they don’t even check to see why their animals are going nuts as we run though. Two back yards later we’re across Hilltop Street standing outside the huge gates of the cemetery.

From here I can still see the commotion on my street. Three police cruisers and six officers move around the house across the street while others try to answer my curious neighbors’ questions. Merry and Pippin are being questioned by an officer, neither too thrilled. Ha ha.

“Why does it not surprise me that you live beside a cemetery?” Oliver asks, staring inside at the gravestones.

“Shut up,” I say.

A minute later an SUV pulls up to us. Will climbs into the very back with me and Oliver in the middle. Agent Wolfe quickly drives down the street past the circus.

“Worked like a charm, huh?” Agent Wolfe says.

“Let’s hope the cops keep them busy for the next ten minutes so they can’t call Connor,” I say.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Agent Wolfe says. “I said I was positive the shots came from inside the car. They’ll search it, which should take awhile.” He turns onto Market Street. “Are we sure this guy will still be at the club?”

“No, but if he isn’t one of the other vamps should know where he is.”

“We shall just have to pull it out of them,” Oliver says, tone so cold I get a shiver.

“Are you cold?” Will asks.

“Um, a little,” I say, not wanting to admit the real reason. I have to be tough and unemotional from here on.

Will takes off his brown suede jacket, passing it up to me. “Here.”

Smiling, I take it and slip it on. It’s huge on me but really warm. From his body. “Thank you.” He smiles back, and the temp rises, not from the coat. He hasn’t smiled at me in months and now twice in minutes. A familiar girly gooey feeling returns.

“What a gentleman you are, William,” Oliver says.

Both our smiles drop. “Shut up, Oliver,” I say.

Agent Wolfe clears his throat. “So, um, is there a plan or are we just going in guns blazing?”

“There’s bound to be people in the club now,” I say.

“How many vamps were there before?” Will asks, all business now.

I fill them in on the players and layout of the club.

“They won’t want to attack us in front of civilians,” Will says.

“Violence should be a last resort anyway,” I say.

“But we should be prepared for it,” Oliver adds. “Only if reason and persuasion fail.” He turns around to Will, challenging him with his narrowed eyes. “And they must believe we are capable of it.”

Will’s expression matches Oliver’s. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Good.” Oliver turns back around.

“Thank you,” I say. “All of you.”

“You’d do it for us,” Agent Wolfe says.

“Still. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Will says with another delicious smile.

Agent Wolfe cruises past the club, and sure enough there’s a line of scantily clad girls and coiffed men waiting to get in. The bouncer seems fully recovered from earlier. Agent Wolfe rounds the corner, parking on the side of the street. “So. Plan?” he asks.

I shrug. “Wing it.”

We pile out of the car to congregate at the back. Inside is a black duffel with an arsenal inside. Pistols, sawed-off shotguns, knives, pepper spray, and my Bette. We load up. I hand Will his coat so I can have easier access to my 9mm with silver bullets. Bette and her black leather holder attach on the opposite side. Covered by my long sleeve is a silver dagger velcroed to my forearm. Will chooses a two-sided shoulder holster with a gun on either side, Bowie knife, and silver-plated baton. The coat covers them all. Agent Wolfe selects a Kevlar vest with hidden vial of Holy water, two guns, baton, and silver cross with spring-loaded blade inside. Oliver just watches us prepare for battle.

“Why aren’t you getting ready?” I ask as I secure my belt.

“It would be unwise for me to confront Connor armed,” he says. “It could aggravate the situation.”

“He’s right,” Will says, placing his gold badge visibly on the outside of his coat.

“I trust you will protect me if need be,” he says. Agent Wolfe tosses Oliver his gold shield and hands me mine. I set it next to the gun. Oliver sticks his in his pocket as Agent Wolfe closes the trunk. “Are we ready?”

“Let’s have some fun,” Agent Wolfe says with a grin.

I lead the way around the corner with the men a foot behind. People stop and stare at us with a mix of concern and awe. One girl’s mouth literally drops when she sees the gun. I wink at her. The others whisper to each other and a few actually leave. Smart of them.

The bouncer went on high alert the moment he saw me, his bulky body visibly tensing. He folds his arms across his chest. I give him my sweetest smile and bat my eyelashes. “Hello, sweetie.”

“You are not welcome here,” he says.

“That has never stopped us before,” says Oliver.

Will steps forward. “I’m Special Agent William Price with the FBI,” he says, holding out his badge. “We have business with Connor McInnis.”

“He’s not here.”

“Then where is he?” Agent Wolfe asks.

“Not here,” the man says, close to gnarling.

“I grow bored with this conversation,” Oliver says. “Elder Oliver Montrose and representatives from the legal body, the F.R.E.A.K.S., demands an audience with Lord Connor. If our request is not met, then in accordance with bylaw 57.8 we can bring him before a tribunal of his peers, including the ruler of Los Angeles. Tony would adore that.”

The bouncer’s lip twitches. Got him. “No weapons are allowed.”

“Don’t think so, cupcake,” I say.

“We are members of law enforcement,” Will says, “we’re required to carry at all times.”

“Yeah. Sorry,” I say with another smile. “Though no shotgun this time. Promise.”

He’s trapped, and he knows it. “Go in.”

“Thank you,” I say cheerfully as I pass.

“Bitch,” he mutters.

The club is packed, dark, and loud. House music blasts from the speakers with the people and lightshow moving to the beat. I liked it better before. Through the crowd I spot the bartender, Matilda, and two men I think are humans serving drinks. Like the bouncer, Matilda is nowhere near happy to see me. She even reaches under the bar for the gun, but I shake my head and she scowls, moving her hand away. The horde clamors for their drinks, but she ignores them as my posse saddles up to the bar. “What are you doing back here?”

“Guess,” I shout over the music.

“He’s not—”

“Yes, he is,” Oliver says.

“We’ve been through this with the man outside,” I say. “Call Connor. Now!”

She flinches with my last word. Still afraid of me, I see. This pleases me to no end. She picks up the phone and dials. “Sir? She’s back.” She listens. “No. Three others. One’s a vampire.” Pause. “Yes. Yes, sir.” She hangs up. “He’ll see you and the vampire alone. No weapons.”

“We’re all going up,” Will says. “If you have a problem with that, miss, then I suggest
you
stop us.”

Nobody does. I lead my posse through the dancers, up the stairs past the skinny doorman who almost drops his clipboard when he lays eyes on me, and through the velvet curtain that hides the office. Neil stands guard directly in front of the door. “I cannot allow you to enter with weapons.”

“That’s nice,” I say before pushing him aside with my mind and throwing the door open. Connor sits behind the desk with a phone pressed against his ear as I storm in. “You bastard.”

He holds up a finger. “Lawrence, I am going to have to call you back.” He hangs up.

“I am sorry sir, they simply walked in,” Neil says.

“We will discuss it later, Neil,” Connor says. “Please wait outside.”

“Sir, are you sure—”

“If I need you, I shall call for you.”

“Agent Wolfe, keep him company?” Will orders, not taking his eyes off the strangely impassive Connor. I was expecting quaking boots, not amusement. Neil and Agent Wolfe eye each other before walking out.

Connor gazes up at me, that gorgeous face lit up with a smile. “Well, Miss Alexander. Twice in one night. If you continue to show up like this, people shall think we are in love.”

“Not in this or any other lifetime, pal.”

“We shall see.”

“You shut your fucking mouth,” Will says.

Connor ignores him, shifting his attention to Oliver. “And Oliver,” he says. “This is unexpected. It has been what? Two hundred years since Venice?”

“Three,” Oliver says with a matching smile.

“And how is Alain?”

“I do not know. We have not spoken for over a century.”

The smile drops. “A pity.” Now he acknowledges Will with a glance. “And who is your friend?”

“Special Agent William Price, F.R.E.A.K.S.,” Will says, voice sharp enough to cut glass.

“Oh, I believe I have heard of you. Were you the wolf who assisted in the massacre in Dallas?”

“Yep,” he says with a hard scowl.

“And now you are all here. I suppose I should be frightened,” he says, anything but.

“Oh yeah,” I say.

A small smile crosses his face as he surveys us and sits back in his chair. “And yet, I am not. I have done nothing to warrant this visit. I have not threatened, I have not harmed. You have no reason for further recourse.”

Will rips off his badge, tossing it on Connor’s desk. “What makes you think we’re here in an official capacity?” Will, nostrils flaring, stares down the not-as-confident-as-he-was-a-second-ago vamp. Their eyes remain locked in battle for a few seconds until Connor looks away first. I do believe we have just obtained the upper hand.

“You should have stuck to our deal,” I say, crossing my arms. “I let you live, you leave me alone. Simple, easy, fair. I’m not
that
irresistible, Danny Boy.”

Connor’s eyes pass over us again, settling on Oliver. A smirk forms. “I believe every man in this room would beg to differ, Miss Alexander. Is that not right, Oliver? You take a consort, what? Once every two centuries? Mind you, I only made her acquaintance this evening, but I can see why you chose her.” He eyes me up and down, savoring me. Will’s breath quickens, and his hands ball into fists. If Connor notices, he doesn’t let on. “Brains. Beauty. Power.” Now he meets my eyes. “And I imagine she tastes of ripe cherries. Her blood, her lips, her tongue … everywhere. I wanted to rut her the moment I laid eyes on her.” I try to stop the oncoming lust, but those words coming from that mouth with that accent, my nethers go as warm as the rest of me. Damn vampires. “To taste her. Explore her. With my tongue. With my cock. To slide inside her. In and out. In and out as she screams in ecstasy. Pure heaven.” He licks his lips. “And she feels the same about me. I can smell it on her. She wants me. Inside she is begging for me. And it will be my name she calls out as I ride her. A—”

The blur of a man snaps me out of my lust bubble. “You motherfucker!” Will flips over the desk, the only thing is his way. Connor leaps out of the way in time to avoid being crushed, but he’s not fast enough to avoid being grabbed by a two-hundred-twenty-pound pissed-off werewolf. Will’s fingers wrap around Connor’s throat, his wolf growling through his humanity.

“William, no!” Oliver shouts, leaping toward the fray. I’m too shocked to do anything but stare.

“You will not talk about her that way!
Ever
!” Will shouts with savage intensity, throttling the passive vamp by the throat. Oliver attempts to pull them apart, but apparently vamp strength is trumped by crazy werewolf power.

Neil and Agent Wolfe race in, but when they see the scene, they stop for a moment, unsure what to do. Join the club. Then I notice Connor hold up his hand, and Neil’s tension wanes. That’s when it hits me. The sneaky bastard. “Will! Stop it!” I dash over to them. “He wanted this! You’re playing into his hands!” I meet Will square in the eyes. “Will, let him go!
Please
! He’s not worth it.”

“He threatened you! Your family!” There’s a sickening crack from Connor’s throat.