Demon's Kiss (19 page)

Topaz gazed up at Jack, unable to take her eyes off him. Her relief, her joy at him actually showing up to help her, was so overblown that it even overwhelmed the excruciating pain.

He wasn't looking at her, though; he was looking at the fox, and Topaz realized he was speaking to it, mentally. She could tell by the intent look in his eyes, by his focus. But he was blocking so no one else would hear. She shot a look at the fox, which seemed for all the world to be listening intently, because it stared at him, ears perked forward, then spun, flicked its tail and shot out of the room like a bolt of lightning. Topaz glimpsed a crack in the stone wall, through which the animal vanished.

And even before she could begin to make sense of any of it, Gregor was on his feet, and two of the goons had Jack by the arms.

He didn't fight them, just smiled and shook his head. “You can let go, or I can rip you apart. Your call.” Then he glanced at Gregor, who was brushing the dust from his pants and scowling. “You're already short a few goons, Gregor. You really want to lose two more?”

“I can make others,” Gregor said, but he nodded at the drones. They released Jack, who straightened his shirtsleeves.

“Care to explain yourself before I kill you?” Gregor asked.

“What's to explain?”

Gregor grunted, but said nothing.

“She came here to warn us. And you respond by torturing her?”

“I never claimed to be a nice guy,” Gregor said.

“No, but at least a loyal one. I've been your right hand. Is this how you repay me? By marking up my woman?”

“
Your
woman?”

“
My
woman. She risked everything to warn me. That tells me she can be trusted, and if you were less than an idiot, it would tell you the same.”

“All she needs to do to prove herself to me is tell me where Reaper and his band are staying. If she's really on our side, she'll tell us. If not, she's an enemy and will be dealt with as such.”

Jack glanced at Topaz. She saw his gaze move to the mark on her cheek, saw him flinch and quickly hide it, and then his eyes met hers, and he spoke to her alone.
Tell him.

Never!

Vixen will warn them. She's on her way to do just that, even now, I promise you, they'll be out before he can get to them.

Vixen?
Topaz blinked at him, then quickly looked away, because Gregor was looking at them and maybe noticing the exchange. If he wasn't now, he would soon.

“I'm out of patience. Jack, if you can't stand to watch, you'll just have to leave.”

“Tell him, Topaz. For God's sake, tell him.”

She lowered her head, closed her eyes, wondered when the hell Jack had been able to converse with Vixen, and what the hell had been up with that little fox, and—

And then she paused, her eyes going wide. Fox. Vixen. What the hell?

“Bring me an ax,” Gregor commanded.

Topaz brought her head up sharply.

I swear to you, they'll be warned,
Jack's voice whispered in her mind.

She sent him a look, then slid her gaze toward Gregor's. “There's an antebellum manor house on a former plantation known as Mariposa—five miles due east of here.”

He lifted his brows. “I know it.” Then he smiled. “Oh, I know what you're thinking, pretty one. You're thinking you could warn them, mentally, from here just as soon as I leave you alone long enough. But you can't. We've taken precautions. This place is a dead zone. You can't send thoughts through its walls.”

“How…how is that possible?”

He sent her a look that said she was an idiot if she thought he would tell her that. Then he nodded to the drones. “Toss her back into the cell.”

“Gregor,” Jack snapped. “It's enough. I told you she's mine. She's coming upstairs with me. Or I can take her and leave. Your choice.”

“We still don't know if we can trust her.”

“I'll take responsibility for that,” Jack said. “I'll keep her in line. Watch her.”

Gregor narrowed his eyes. “She's our only leverage to get Vixen and Briar back.”

“Within forty-eight hours, Reaper will be begging you to take Briar back. And Vixen's no great loss.”

“Bull. You saw what she did just now. With her abilities, she could be an asset like nothing else.”

“Could be, but won't be. She hates you, Gregor, and she'd rather die in captivity than help you. Take my advice. Settle for Briar. Let the little shape-shifter go.”

Shape-shifter,
Topaz thought. Holy God.

Gregor stood silent for a long moment; then he finally sighed and nodded. “Untie her. Take her where you want, just don't leave the premises with her and don't let her out of your sight. She's your responsibility, Jack. You fuck up, you die. Right after she does.”

“The depth of your caring for me is overwhelming,” Jack said. “I swear, I'm going to cry if you keep on with the sentimental bullshit.”

“Don't even
think
of betraying me, Jack. I'm not one of your marks. You can't con me.”

“Wouldn't even think of trying,” Jack said. Then he knelt in front of Topaz, putting his back to Gregor. He bent to untie her ankle and ran his hands over her calf in the process, and though she knew it was probably all for show, for Gregor's sake, damn, it made her shiver all over, just the same.

“I've missed you,” he told her. “I hate to admit it, but I have.”

“I've…missed you, too,” she whispered. It hurt to say it, because it was true. And she knew that in his case it was only a line, spoken by an actor. He was the best actor she'd ever seen.

She had to remember that. He was running a con. Maybe not on her, this time, but she was definitely a part of it. No, this time it was Gregor he was conning, though she wasn't entirely certain why, what he stood to gain from it. There had to be something though. Jack never did anything unless there was something in it for him.

Gregor left, stomping up the stairs to the main part of the house. The drones faded away, as well, and the minute they did, those fingers tenderly caressing her flesh went all business. Jack quickly untied the other leg, then moved behind her to release her hands.

“How bad is the pain?”

“Excruciating,” she said, and she wasn't referring entirely to the physical pain of the burn on her face. It was the pain of having to sit there and bear his pretending while hating him, while wishing it was real, while loving him, while wishing he was dead.

Her hands were free. He came around in front of her again, scooped her up and carried her to the stairs.

“You don't have to—”

“It's nothing.”

“There's no one here watching you, Jack,” she reminded him.

“You can never be too sure about that. Besides, there will be witnesses upstairs. Always are.”

She relaxed into his arms, let her head fall against his chest. She was too weak from pain to stand on pride. “What will Gregor do now?”

Jack glanced down at her face, and his eyes seemed to get stuck there for a moment as he strode up the cellar stairs. “My guess is he'll go check out your friends' headquarters, see if you were telling the truth. Don't worry, though, they'll be gone by then. Vixen's probably warning them even as we speak.”

“That was Vixen, that little fox?” she asked. “God, Jack, how can that be?”

“It's a great story. I'll tell you in bed, all right?”

She shot her gaze to his again and kept it there as he carried her through the mansion. She probably should have paid attention to the layout of the place, to where the exits were, to what other people they passed on the way. But her observation was limited to noting the ceiling above his head, the glittering crystal chandeliers, the lamps mounted on the walls that resembled old-fashioned gaslights, but which were, in fact, electric.

She noticed that his steps were muffled in some places and guessed the floors were carpeted. She heard the click of his shoes in other rooms and presumed marble or tile or granite.

But mostly, she noticed his eyes. His hair. His face, so beloved to her. And she remembered vividly staring up at it, while he lay on top of her, or down into it when she lay on top of him, making love, time after time.

And she hoped to God he wasn't just teasing about taking her to bed. Because she wanted him. She always had.

V
ixen raced all the way back to the secluded spot she'd chosen earlier, and then shifted back into her normal form. She was exhausted, but slightly less than she might have been, thanks to the substantial sips she'd had of Gregor's blood.

It was evil blood, but powerful enough to help her through the struggle of shifting. The process had always drained her—much more so since she'd become a vampire. But it was less exhausting tonight. And maybe, she thought, Gregor's blood was only part of the reason. Part of it was surely her own all-too-human emotions. She was angry, furious at Gregor for inflicting pain on Topaz. She was frightened for Topaz's safety. She was desperate to get back to the mansion to warn Seth—to warn everyone that Topaz would have to reveal their whereabouts. Maybe she already had. Maybe Gregor and his band of evil vampires were on their way to raze the place, even now. Maybe she would be too late.

All of these things drove her, so that she shifted far more quickly than she normally would have, and then threw her clothes on in a rush and raced through the forest back to the mansion, praying all the while that she would make it in time, and fearing what she might find awaiting her if she didn't.

The image of Seth, dead or dying, lifeless eyes staring up at her, haunted her mind and propelled her ever faster through the night. Until, finally, she arrived at the plantation house and sensed that beyond the doors, behind the walls, all was well. Relief washed over her, nearly leaving her limp. So much so that she paused there in the gravel-lined drive and lowered her head into her hands with the sheer magnitude of the feeling.

Then hands closed on her shoulders, gently, comfortingly. “What happened? Are you all right?”

She lifted her head and stared into Seth's worried eyes as they probed hers. It was genuine fear she felt wafting from him, fear…for her.

“Did they hurt you again, Vixen? I swear to Christ, if they hurt you I'll—”

“No. No, no one hurt me.” She had hurt
them,
though. With a secretive smile, she recalled sinking her teeth into Gregor's arm and hoped she'd reached the bone. And then she reminded herself of the urgency with which she'd fled that place. “We have to leave here.”

“What? What happened?”

She looked past him for the others, but no one was in sight. It was only Seth, then, who'd waited for her all the way at the end of the drive. Waited and worried. For some reason the knowledge made her feel warm inside.

“Let's go inside. We have to tell the others.”

He nodded, not pressing her further, and walked with her up the gravel driveway toward the towering front doors. As they walked, he closed his hand around hers, interlocking fingers, squeezing tight. She glanced down at their joined hands and felt that they symbolized something beyond just physical contact. It was a possessive gesture, but an intimate, caring and protective one all at the same time.

She liked it, she decided.

They entered the house, and the others crowded around her before she even got through the entry hall. Roxy was barking questions about whether Topaz was all right. Reaper wanted to know what she'd seen and when she'd seen it. Briar was howling from the room above, but Vixen paid no attention to what that one was saying. She held up her hands for silence, then kept her voice low, her thoughts guarded, as she spoke.

“First, none of this must be revealed to
that
one,” she said, with a look toward the ceiling to indicate that she meant the wild thing on the second floor.

“Of course not,” Seth said, shooting a look at the other two. They both nodded in confirmation.

Vixen nodded, too, then swallowed and tried to think where to begin. “We have to leave this place.”

Reaper lifted his brows. “Topaz told them where we were staying?”

“She hadn't when I left, but I imagine she has by now.”

He looked disgusted. “I can't believe she would—”

“Gregor held a hot poker to her face, Reaper. He burned her.”

Roxy turned her head away as one hand flew to her mouth. Seth swore under his breath and clenched his fists. Reaper lifted his gaze slowly, and there was, Vixen swore, murder in his eyes.

“Then Jack attacked Gregor, knocked him to the floor and kicked the poker away.”

“Jack Heart? Gregor's right-hand man?”

“I've never believed Jack to be anyone's man, besides his own. He tried to convince Gregor that Topaz had come there to join them and to give information, and that torturing her wasn't necessary. But Gregor insisted she had to prove herself by telling him where we're staying.”

“And she
did?
” Seth asked.

“No, and that's when he burned her.”

Reaper swore under his breath.

“Jack spoke to me mentally. Told me to get back here and warn you, that Topaz
had
to betray us or face a slow and cruel death, and that he was going to convince her to cooperate, for her own sake.”

Reaper nodded slowly, and Vixen couldn't read his thoughts on the matter. They were guarded.

“We have to go,” she insisted. “Gregor won't waste any time giving us a chance to elude him. He's coming, Reaper.”

“All right. Grab what we'll need, and anything that might give them information we don't want them to have. Roxy, take the van. Seth will ride with you. Vixen, you ride with me in the Mustang.”

Seth started to object, but Reaper shot him a look full of meaning. Vixen didn't understand it, and she shivered a little at the thought of riding with Reaper. He was a powerful man, dark and tormented, and, she'd sensed from the start, a dangerous one.

They made quick work of gathering their belongings and trooping out to the garage. Reaper tranquilized Briar again, though he was reluctant to do so, and bound her, then carried her out to the garage. He moved toward the Mustang, where Vixen stood waiting.

“Will you get the door for me?” Reaper asked.

Arms crossing over her chest, she shook her head.

Reaper frowned.

“If you insist on me riding with you, that's fine,” she told him. “But I will
not
ride in the same vehicle with her, drugged or not.”

He looked down at the woman he carried, then sighed and nodded. Then he turned and carried her to the van. Seth opened the door for him, and Reaper laid Briar, unconscious, onto the rear seat.

Vixen reached for the passenger door of the Mustang, but before she got it open, Seth came to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

“He only wants to speak with you alone, Vixen. There's nothing to be scared of.”

“Then why am I afraid?” she asked in a whisper.

“A lot of people are afraid of things when they shouldn't be.”

She shook her head slowly. “Not me. I'm not the kind who feels fear without cause, Seth. It's instinctive, a survival mechanism. And it's never let me down before.”

“Look, as soon as he seems to be finished with whatever it is he wants to discuss, just tell him you want to ride with me. Ask him to pull over so we can put Briar in with him, all right?”

She nodded. “All right.”

“You sure?”

She tipped her head to one side. “Why are you so protective of me, Seth?”

He smiled a little, but it died when he saw in her face that it was a serious question, not a teasing one. “Because I care about you, Vixen.”

“Care,” she repeated, turning over the word's meaning in her mind. “But you care about all of us, don't you?”

“Of course I do. But it's…it's different with you.”

“How is it different?” She searched his eyes, really wanting to know the answer.

He seemed to hunt for words, but before he found them, Reaper was clapping Vixen on the shoulder. “Time to go. Don't worry, I'll have you back with Seth in no time. I just want a private word, okay?”

She turned, nodded, and felt that her instincts were pointing toward risk, rather than impending doom.

Seth touched her chin, turning her face to his again, and then he leaned close and pressed his lips to hers for just a moment.

“See you soon,” he promised.

“Yes. Soon.”

Then he left her and got into the van, while Reaper reached past her to open the passenger door of the Mustang. She got in. He went around and climbed behind the wheel, and moments later the engine roared to life and they were leaving the plantation far behind them.

 

“Torch it.”

Immediately a dozen of Gregor's drones surged forward with their tools in hand: cans of gasoline, matches and lighters, fuel-soaked rags and too few brains to realize they could go up in flames just as easily as the stately plantation house could. Or maybe they realized it and had too few brains to care.

Jack watched them, saying nothing, though he thought it was a crying shame to burn such a valuable piece of real estate. There was no reason whatsoever, besides Gregor's temper. Not a single member of Reaper's gang was inside.

Then again, he figured the drones had probably trashed the place anyway, when they'd been sent in to search. Gregor hadn't sensed his enemies within, but he'd already learned how adept Reaper was at blocking his essence.

Jack had never seen Gregor quite as furious as he'd been when the drones returned to report the place empty. Abandoned.

“How do you suppose they knew?” Gregor turned to face Jack as he asked the question. The look in his eyes made it feel more like an accusation, though.

Jack squared his shoulders and looked Gregor squarely in the eye as he answered. “You know the answer to that as well as I do. You saw the fox—up close and personal, as I remember it.”

“Yes, but I've since decided it was just a fox. It wasn't Vixen.”

Jack was struck mute for a second. Was the boss truly that dense? “What other fox would be lurking around the place, attacking when you tried to torture one of Vixen's rescuers? You think that was random?”

“There was no essence. No sign of vampiric presence, and I would have felt it.”

“She could have been blocking,” Jack countered.

“She didn't even know she couldn't go out in sunlight until you told her, Jack. We transformed her, we didn't teach her anything.”

“Perhaps Reaper has.”

“She was right on top of me. There's no way she could have learned to block
that
well in so short a time.”

Jack shrugged. “Maybe, when she's a fox, she's not exactly a vampire.”

“Don't be stupid.”

Jack didn't think he was the one being stupid, but he hesitated to say so just then. Gregor was in a murderous mood, and Jack needed to stay on his good side until he got a better feeling for which way the wind was blowing. He didn't owe any particular loyalty to Gregor. His only loyalty was to himself. He could play any role in any situation, convince anyone of anything he chose. His intent, always, was to be on the winning side, the side most profitable to him—and, he supposed, the side most likely to ensure his continued survival.

He hadn't decided just yet which side that would be.

“It wasn't Vixen,” Gregor said again. “Though I suppose she could have sent some animal to act on her behalf.”

Jack blinked, but bit back his comment. That Gregor thought it impossible she could fail to emit the essence of the undead in fox form, but entirely rational to think she could command other wildlife—Damn, the man was deluded.

Or maybe he was fishing. Looking for a reason to lay this at Jack's feet, or, worse, at Topaz's.

No, wait, that wouldn't be worse, that would be better. Slightly better. Because he only looked out for number one. Odd how he'd forgotten that for a moment.

Flames were lighting the night now. Every few yards, near the base of the mansion, flames leapt to life. And there were several more on top of the wide staircase near the front door. The drones who had set them were already heading back toward Jack and Gregor, while the ones who'd gone inside to set the fires there were taking a bit longer. Jack didn't suppose it had occurred to the idiots outside to let the ones inside get clear before lighting up the outer walls.

Gregor was still watching him, awaiting some kind of response. He decided not to dance around it but to meet the accusation head-on. “It certainly wasn't me. And it wasn't Topaz, I guarantee you that.”

“And just how can you be so sure?”

“Come on, Gregor, do you need the details? I've
been
with the woman. I've shared blood with her. You know what that does to the psychic connection between vampires.”

“Not to mention the bond.”

Jack shrugged that off as if it were of little consequence. “I can read her. Even when she's blocking, I can read her. I would have known if she'd been trying to warn Reaper and the others.”