Deathless Love (19 page)

“No! Dom—” she pleaded.

“Do
not
argue with me.”

“I'm scared,” she croaked.

He took her roughly into his arms and squeezed her so tightly he took her breath away. He murmured something softly in Italian, kissing her hair several times. Then he put her down and held her face in his two hands, looking at her with a fierce intensity. “I'm going to make sure that nothing happens to you.
Capiche
? But I need you to do everything I tell you to. And right now that means getting the hell out of here. Now come on.”

Stella took her home and stood on the porch clearing her throat until Kate remembered to invite her in. She put the tea kettle on and started picking up the clutter, embarrassed. Stella joined her, clearly as incapable of relaxing as Kate. “You don't have to do that,” she protested, but Stella just ignored her, moving through the little adobe casita with a relentless efficiency. She scrubbed the toilet and bathtub, swept and mopped, vacuumed and dusted while Kate took care of putting all her things where they belonged, washing, folding and putting away her clothes and cleaning out the fridge.

By the time dawn rolled around, her place looked better than it ever had before and she was dead tired. Stella grabbed her, gave her a quick kiss and dematerialized.

She crawled into bed and slept till two in the afternoon. All she wanted to do was call or text Dom, but he had forbidden it. She wondered if she was allowed to contact Fox. That question was answered for her after sundown, when she saw Fox's car pull up in front of her house. She swung the door open and walked toward the kitchen to get a beer for him, but he called out to her from the porch.

“Kate? Come here for a sec.”

She walked back to the door. “Come on in,” she said with a note of impatience, then she saw why he'd called to her. Fox wasn't alone. With him was a beautiful male vampire. He looked like he'd been about 35 when he'd been turned. He had shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and large square jaw. Her eyes went from Fox's to the vampire's. Dom had said he didn't want any of the vampires to see her. But Fox wouldn't have brought him if he wasn't safe.

“Kate, this is Randolph,” he introduced her.

She stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Won't you come in?”

“Thank you,” he said with a British accent, shaking her hand and following Fox into the house.

“Would either of you like a beer?”

They both accepted her offer and she cracked one for herself, too, sitting down with them in the living area. Randolph was staring at her neck—her carotid artery, to be precise—in a way that made her uncomfortable. It was oddly like having someone ogle her breasts.

“Is Dom okay?”

Fox nodded.

“Did you get everyone out of the house?”

“Yes,” he sighed.

She continued peppering them with questions until they'd told her all they knew, which wasn't that much. She still hadn't figured out who Randolph was, either.

She offered them a second beer, but Fox stood up. “Actually, I'm supposed to take you to buy a car tonight,” he said.

“What? No way,” she insisted.

Fox shook his head at her. “Don't argue,” he said rather grimly. “I'm answering to Dom on this one. Come on, I called some dealerships to make sure they'd stay open for us.”

“Fox,
no.
What are you talking about?”

“Let's go,” he said, ignoring her protests. She followed dumbly to Fox's car. She didn't want a car. She didn't want Dom to buy her a car. She quite liked sharing Dom's car, thank you very much. And the part that frightened her most was that this felt like Dom was putting his ducks in a row in case something happened to him. She blinked back tears as she got in the back of Fox's car and saw Randolph eyeing her throat again.

“So do you two know each other from England, then?”

“Chicago, actually. But like attracts like, I suppose.”

“Right. Probably not that many English vampires around, are there?”

Fox gave a short laugh. “
Gay
English vampires. I guess not in the U.S., anyway.”

“So, were you a couple?”

“Yes,” Fox said without explanation, and Randolph seemed to grow a little stiff.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Is your name really Fawkes, as in Guy Fawkes?”

“You just now figured that out?” Fox said drily.

“So did you make up the last name McQueen?”

“What do you think?”

“What was your original first name?”

“That, my love, I'm not going to tell you.”

“Why not?” she asked indignantly.

“Because that boy is dead.”

“Oh. Right.” She could understand that.

Fox pulled into the car dealership. “I'm thinking a Mini Cooper,” he said, turning around and looking at her. “You would look hot in a little red one.” He had summoned a faint grin. She managed one back at him.

“Yeah, okay. That sounds great,” she said dully.

She ended up with a cream colored convertible Mini Cooper. She ought to feel like she'd just won the lottery, but instead, driving the beautiful new car Fox picked out and paid in cash for her felt like a defeat of sorts. A step away from Dom.

The next few days continued the same way—either Fox or Stella stayed with her through the night, with no word or contact from Dom, who they said was still okay. She was relieved when Thursday rolled around and they had a gig at a loungey kind of bar near the university.

She sang sad songs that night and Fox didn't razz her about it. It worked with the atmosphere of the bar and she was able to lose herself for a little while in the music. They took a break between sets and she sipped on a ginger ale with lime. All five of the band members were squeezed into a booth together when an impossibly beautiful woman in short skirt and high heels stopped at their table.

“Well, hello there, Fox,” she purred. Fox froze.

There were five vampires flanking her, all looking deadly.

Fox just stared back at her with hatred in his eyes. This must be Roxanna.

“What, no hello? Where are your manners?” Then she turned to Joe, the band member on the end of the booth. “Get out,” she said.

One of her minions reached down to forcibly help him out of the booth and onto his feet. She saw him stare into Joe's eyes, no doubt erasing his memory of this event. There was a scramble of activity as the minions pulled them out of the booth one by one. When it was her turn, she avoided his eyes, but he caught her head and tilted it back. “This one's got bite marks,” he announced.

“I use her for blood,” Fox said quickly. “She doesn't know.”

Kate played along. “What? What are you talking about, Fox? What's going on?”

“Bring her along. She may prove useful,” Roxanna said.

She shoved them into the back of a van, duct taping their wrists behind their backs. Fox didn't fight, but his eyes were alert, darting everywhere, as if he were taking in all the information he possible could, making a plan to get them out this.

They took them to a hotel nearby, hauling them roughly out of the van and marching them into the building, flanking them to hide their taped wrists. Kate's heart was beating double time, but she followed Fox's example and kept her mouth shut.

They took them to a suite on the top floor. The windows had cardboard duct taped to them. They shoved Fox into a seat. “Bring the girl to me,” Roxanna said, taking a seat herself.

Kate was hauled over in front of her, and to her shock, Roxanna pulled her down firmly onto her lap and held her jaw with iron fingers, turning her face in her direction. “So…” she said slowly. “You're the girl that Fox gets his blood from.”

“I-I don't know what you're talking about,” Kate said, allowing her real fear to come through.

“No?”

Roxanna was staring into her eyes and Kate found herself strangely lost for a moment, when Fox hissed, “Don't-” at the same time she realized her mistake and squeezed her eyes shut.

Pain exploded in her cheekbone and she found herself flat on her back, blinded with agony. The bitch had cold-cocked her.

“You two lied to me,” Roxanna hissed. She was confused for a moment, trying to understand what lie she was being accused of—what Roxanna had seen in her mind. Was it that she was Dom's girl? But then she realized it was simpler than that. By closing her eyes, she revealed that she
did
know they were vampires.

After a moment, she said in an oily voice, “Pick her up. Give her to me again.”

Kate's limp body was collected and placed back on Roxanna's knees. She felt sick to her stomach and more than a little bit dizzy. The pain in her face was unbelievable. She tried to twist around to look at Fox, but Roxanna grabbed her hair and wrenched her head back to look at her again. Her face swam into focus. For a horrifying moment she watched as if in slow motion as Roxanna bared her fangs and leaned toward her. Then she felt a stab as she struck her neck.

She heard Fox yelling, then.

“Sorry, Fox,” Roxanna purred, licking the blood from her fangs. “I couldn't help myself. She just looked so tasty.”

“But you answered my question. You
do
care about this little mortal, don't you?”

Fox didn't answer.

Roxanna slipped her hand into Kate's shirt, fondling her breast. “She
is
a sweet little thing, isn't she? I think I will save her for dessert. I'll need the blood after I turn you,” she said, looking past Kate at Fox.

Kate still couldn't see Fox, but she heard his voice, deep with regret. “I would keep her alive if I were you,” he said.

“I'm sure you would, Fox,” Roxanna said absently as she pulled Kate's blouse off her completely.

“No, I mean she's not mine. I was just guarding her.”

Roxanna went still at that. She leaned back to look past Kate at Fox. Then she grabbed Kate's hair and pulled her face in close again. “Who do you belong to, little girl?” she hissed.

Kate's eyes filled with tears. There was no way she was going to be the cause of Dom's demise. Fox should not have told the bitch what he had.

“Who?” Her voice was deadly quiet. “Dominic DeParma?”

Something in her face must have given way because Roxanna suddenly smiled widely. “Excellent. Excellent, my dear,” she said, shoving Kate off her lap and onto the floor again. “Throw her on the bed and tape her ankles up, too,” she barked and two of her minions hauled her off the floor to comply.

She watched in horror as Roxanna approached Fox. He tried to get away, but two men held him firmly and Roxanna sunk her teeth into his neck and drank deeply. She drank for a long time and then she used a fang to slit her own wrist and held it to his mouth. He squirmed and tried to get away and they tussled around, ending up with Fox flat on his back on the floor, three of the minions pinning him down as Roxanna held her wrist to his mouth. He coughed and spluttered, but one of the vampires punched him in the face and knocked him out cold. Kate wept as she saw Fox's body convulse with the new blood entering his mouth.

Chapter Eleven

The bad feeling he'd had all week had sharpened to a point when his cell phone rang. He was at No Return driving all the staff crazy with his irritable demands. It was Fox.

“What's up?”

“Dominic,” a silky female voice came through. His heart stopped completely—
Roxanna
. “I have not one, but
two
of your dear friends with me. Scream for me, sweetheart,” she said and he heard a scuffling sound, and a whimper that sounded like Kate. “I said
scream
!” Roxanna snarled and then there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Kate shrieked. Dom's fangs fully extended and he snarled into the phone.

Roxanna laughed. “Let's meet, shall we? Top of the parking garage at Park and University in 30 minutes. Come alone.” The phone went dead in his hand.

He whirled around and caught Stella's eye. She saw the fangs and came across the club to him at a run, smacking Randolph's shoulder on the way. Dom walked out the back door to the parking lot and sent out his sensors. There it was—a clear marker in space. “Way to go, Fox,” he murmured. Stella and Randolph met him at his car. He opened his trunk and pulled out the wooden stakes that they'd sharpened to a point.

“They have Fox and Kate,” he briefed them grimly, handing out the stakes. “Fox set a marker, though. We follow it now. Surprise is the only thing we have going for us. Kill as many as you can as quickly as you can. Try for Roxanna. When and if I say the word 'go’ that means I have to surrender. I want you two to flash out of there. Maybe somewhere nearby to watch and see if you can get another chance at her. But you will go when I say go. It may be the only thing that can save us.
Capiche
?”

Stella and Randolph both nodded. “Promise me?”

They nodded again.

“Okay. Ready?”

The other two nodded and he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and dematerialized. He arrived with his stake poised to strike and took down the first live body he saw. Stella and Randolph were right behind him. They were in some kind of hotel suite. Eight bodies. Kate on the bed, bound. Fox, on his feet, not bound, looking ready to fight.

“Fox has been turned,” Kate screamed.

He killed another one but the stake stuck in the fucker. Fox materialized in front of him and lunged for his throat with his fangs bared. He tried to knock him back with a blast of energy, but it had no effect.
Dammit.
He wrestled Fox away from his throat and punched him as hard as he could in the face. Fox flew back and hit the wall, breaking a hole in the plaster. The entire scene was a blur of bodies dematerializing and materializing around the room, making quick strikes when they could.

“Say goodbye to Girlfriend!” Roxanna screamed, a knife poised over Kate's heart.

“NO!” he yelled. In a lower tone, he said “Go,” and true to their word, Stella and Randolph vanished.

“Dammit!” Roxanna cursed.

Dom stood perfectly still, his hands held up in surrender. Four vampires lay dead on the floor. Fox was recovering, getting up and shaking himself off. One more vampire was standing up, rubbing his face.