Falling from the Light (The Night Runner Series Book 3) (21 page)

I hadn’t liked him allowing Chastity to sit on his lap, had hated the fact that his hands had been on her. So why
hadn’t
I said anything then? It wasn’t as if I was known for my tact or restraint.

“What about this one?” Thurston said. He inclined his head and I followed the direction of his gaze to a guy in stiff, dark jeans and a designer track jacket. The glasses were right, but the gap teeth weren’t. My head started to ache.

“No.”

“There’s another,” he said, leading me toward the far corner. As I passed, a tall blond vampire in a black V-neck shirt leaned down and inhaled audibly.

“Suck it,” I snarled. He laughed and reached for me. Thurston intercepted the guy’s hand. Twisting it into an unnatural angle, he shoved it back at him.
In the right hands, bones are so delicate
. Abel’s voice in my head. The memory of his fingers digging into the sides of my neck, his palm pressing against my throat. His other hand on my wrist, twisting, twisting.
Will you do what I’ve asked, Sydney, or should I break something else?

I stumbled into a heavily cologned man forlornly holding the muddled green remains of a mojito.

“Did he touch you?” Thurston asked, looking me over.

“No.” I shook my head and folded my arms across my stomach. “I’m fine. Keep looking.”

I was beginning to think that Kevin was never coming, that we were out of luck, when Thurston tapped my arm and pointed toward a well-lit spot beside the door. And there he was, in a gray windbreaker with a high, banded collar. He was laughing at something a man—no, a vampire—beside him said. Like he didn’t have a care in the world. The bastard.

“That’s him,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. It took a moment for my whirling thoughts to land, then I scanned the crowd. Soraya was on the other side of the club, sitting at one of the high tables off the dance floor.

“I will find Mr. Kelly,” Thurston said, for once sounding energized.

I kept my head down and aimed for Soraya. I reached her as Kevin made it to the bar. He signaled the bartender but the crowd was thirsty. He’d be there awhile. Good.

“He’s here,” I said. Soraya turned, her eyes brightening as she slipped off her stool.

“You’re sure?” she asked.

“It’s not a face I’d forget,” I said through clenched teeth. She nodded, glancing around before narrowing her gaze on Kevin. Swallowing, I rocked back on my heels. I wouldn’t ever want to get between her and her prey.

“I’ll keep him there until we’ve cleared a path,” she said. “We’ll go out the back door. Wait beside it.”

I scanned the room again, but caught no sign of Mal. Apologizing in rhythm with my steps, I pushed through the crowd until it thinned. I passed the bathrooms and turned the corner to find a set of metal stairs leading up to an exit.

For a disorienting second, I thought Malcolm had gone outside, the feel of him was so strong there. Then I spotted him on the other side of the stairs. His broad back was to me and perfectly still, and his hand held Thurston’s head to the side. Thurston was pressed back against the wall, his eyes closed. A deep line creased his forehead between his heavy brows, and his fangs stretched out of his open mouth to press divots into his lower lip. His body jerked, and Malcolm’s hand tightened until his thumb pressed a white patch into the other vampire’s jaw. Thurston grabbed his shoulder, wrapping his fist in the fabric of Mal’s jacket.

I’d never seen him feed before.

I glanced nervously over my shoulder, not that anyone was nearby. When I looked back, Malcolm had stepped away. He slid two fingers across his lower lip, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his mouth. My pulse quickened when his eyes caught mine.

“Kevin’s here,” I said pointlessly.

Thurston rolled his neck, then pulled his collar closed. His demeanor was completely normal.

“Good.” Mal straightened his shirt and came to stand in front of me. “Are you all right?”

I nodded jerkily. His lips were red and slightly swollen, and his energy was a smooth ripple that seemed to amplify when it hit my body. On impulse, I rose on my toes and kissed him. For a moment, he didn’t react except to go stiller. And then he tilted his head, improving the angle. His hands framed my face and a sound escaped me, delight and desire combined.

He pulled away too soon. I licked my lips, expecting the copper tang of blood and getting nothing but a concentrated dose of him.

“Let’s take him before this gets any more complicated,” he said, steering me away when he turned.

“What’s the hurry?”

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” He inclined his head in one of those antiquated gestures that escaped him occasionally. They were adorable. I threaded my fingers through his.

“You don’t have to insulate me, you know. You’re drinking. It’s necessary, not some diabolical shit that you decided on for yourself.” I wanted him to trust me, needed him to know that I could handle anything. “And it’s not like you’re ever going to do anything worse than what you’ve seen me do in the last day.” I twisted my arm until our hands fit as tightly together as they could, and stared down at them.

“That’s temporary.” His voice was rough. “You’re recovering. I won’t.”

“And I know that.” I met his eyes. “Can’t you trust me to know all of you?”

“Syd.” He shook his head as though denying a thought, then extracted his hand.

Soraya appeared. “The human has moved into a booth. Customers are beginning to approach him. How do you want to do this?”

“I’ll present myself as a buyer. You two clear a path.” Mal’s face transformed into a smooth, gorgeous mask. “Syd, if you’d be so kind as to pull the car around?”

I went out the back door and autopiloted myself to the parking lot. I moved slowly, wrapping my arms around my middle even though it wasn’t cold. My arms ached. My sides ached. Frustration wormed along my spine. He was hiding things from me, hiding himself. He wasn’t supposed to do that.

“
T
hey’re adjacent
, but one’s a handicap-accessible room,” the motel clerk said. I nodded like that was no big deal, but in the mirror behind him my eyes were big as moons. I’d never kidnapped anyone before. He slid the keys across the counter. Not key cards. Not big, fat works of art like at Tenth World. Just pieces of metal on grungy plastic tabs. I signed a carbon copy agreement with a fake name. Hopefully the beds didn’t revolve or vibrate or anything. It was that kind of a motel.

I steered the Bradigan around to the back, hating the way the engine faltered. The vampire-proofing had gotten us to LA and part of the way back, but the amount of insulation crammed into the SUV was no match for the power bouncing around inside of it, especially now that my traveling companions were aggravated. So we were at a roadside motel, in the wee hours of the morning, in a surprisingly humid southern Mojave Desert. I backed up to the motel, to the door at the end of the row. Freeway traffic whizzed by on the other side of a few scrawny pines. Someone a few rooms down had their window open and their TV on hella loud. Hopefully it would cover us.

Malcolm, Soraya, and Thurston rolled out of the car. Soraya checked the rooms while I popped the tailgate. Thurston pulled Kevin’s prone body out of the cramped space and carried him into the room on the end.

“You should get something to eat,” Malcolm said.

“Yep. Yeah.” I nodded vigorously, staring at the closed door. They’d whisked him out of the club and jammed him into the back of the Bradigan so quickly that I’d barely seen him. But now we were stuck until Petr could send another vehicle. In the meantime they would interrogate him. My head hurt, a sudden, crunching pain that rolled my stomach.

I jerked when Mal touched me.

“And water. I’m not sure we should trust what’s running in these pipes. Syd?”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember the number Petr gave you?” His voice was so carefully even, it could have been covering anything. He’d never confide in me if he thought I couldn’t handle something like this. I straightened.

“Of course.”

“Are you tired? Why don’t you lie down? I’ll take care of this.”

“Yeah, right. Even I know the sun’s about to rise.” I shook myself. I wasn’t going to let him expose himself to daylight because I had a headache, no matter how things were between us.

“I’ll be back soon.” I climbed stiffly into the car.

Two blocks away, I coasted into the parking lot of a gas station and lurched to a stop. At least we hadn’t tried to make it to Phoenix or the vampires would have been trapped in the car under the scorching sun. Mickey said the vamp vehicles had built-in releases so that, barring an onslaught of energy, small parts gave out before the entire machine was compromised. That made me feel slightly less awful about killing such a beautiful vehicle.

From a pay phone, I called the number I’d been given and left a message describing the exit and motel. A couple of aspirin and a bottle of water later, I felt a little better. The sun rose as I walked back to the motel, a crinkly bag of snacks, candles, and toiletries swinging from my hand.

The building was two stories, with sun-bleached orange metal pipes supporting the outdoor walkway of the second floor. The concrete was covered in plasticky green indoor/outdoor carpet. In the soft glow of the rising sun, it looked whimsical. In broad daylight, it was probably hideous. I slowed as I turned the last corner. The back of my neck prickled and I glanced back twice, but there was nothing suspicious, only a crumbling cement wall that once upon a time was intended to be decorative.

Our rooms were quiet, not that I was expecting a commotion. With three vampires exerting influence, Kevin wouldn’t be able to make a sound until they decided he should, if he was conscious yet. That should have upset me, but there were worse things in the world than these undead and Kevin had chosen to work for one of those things.

I unlocked the second door from the end. Threadbare carpet and two double beds with cheerful, scratchy polyester bedspreads greeted me. Blowing out a breath, I closed the door, and hooked the chain, then pulled off one of the bedspreads to fortify the curtains. The other bedspread secured the crack at the bottom of the door, and the bathroom didn’t have a window to the outside world. There. As secure as I could make it.

Voices carried from the other room, Malcolm’s and then Soraya’s. Kevin’s groggy response sent fragmented memories pouring through my head. How cute it was when we’d bartered snacks in the break room at Goya. How scared I was for him when he showed up in Abel’s basement, followed by the raw realization that he wasn’t a prisoner.

Will you do what I’ve asked, Sydney, or should I break something else?

A flood of images pressed against my mind, and I scrambled for the remote, wanting to drown them out. The device snapped out of my hand, pulled by the short cord attaching it to the nightstand. Shit. I took a breath, fished it out from behind the nightstand, and turned on the TV. The appliances wouldn’t last long around the vampires but I needed a distraction.

A blonde with a Southern accent cheerily listed today’s high temperatures across the country as I lit four candles in glass jars. I’d found a few tucked in the back of a bottom shelf at the gas station. They were seasonal—apple pie, “Christmas Wreath” that smelled like pine cleanser, and pumpkin spice.

Kevin started yelling and I dropped a candle. The wick extinguished, right before the TV screen blanked out. I gripped the side of the dresser, taking deep breaths. More yelling, and my headache came back with a vengeance.

Will you do what I’ve asked, Sydney, or should I break something else?

I stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. The pipes clanked before heavily chlorinated water shot into the sink. I pulled off my hoodie and tossed it into the bedroom, then wet my hands and ran them over my face. I didn’t want to be here. I should leave. They could handle things without me. I could go. They’d never have to know.

Malcolm filled the doorway, all wide shoulders and surging power. Running a towel over my face, I straightened.

“Hey,” I ventured.

“We need someplace quieter,” he said. “Thurston scoped out an unoccupied warehouse about a quarter mile away. It’s surrounded by empty lots. We need to move.”

I shook my head, confused. “The sun’s up.”

Soraya came through the door from the adjoining room. “We can cover ourselves for the short exposure. A regular vehicle will make it that far.”

I headed for the door, rubbing my hands against my pockets. “I’ll go call to let him know that we’re moving.”

“They won’t be coming during the day,” Malcolm said, his words prickling against my mind. “That can wait. Or you can come back to flag them down.”

Panic bubbled up and I started breathing shallowly. This wasn’t the plan. If we moved, I was in trouble. If I didn’t tell him, I was in trouble.

“I’ll get a car.” I reached for the blanket beneath the front door. Soraya’s hand got there first, and she held it down. I met her gaze, dark and focused, and shrank back. “What’s going on? I need to get out. Mal?”

His lip curled over elongating fangs. “The chemist said that Abel blooded you three times.”

I looked back and forth between them. “I don’t remember that. It was really scary—”

“Three times, Sydney.” His harsh tone made me wince. “If he’d bitten you once after that, a single nick, it would have triggered the change.”

My pulse kicked up, anger overriding the other feelings swamping my mind. “I guess that makes me lucky after all.”

Soraya stared at me for a long, tense moment, then rose to face Malcolm. When he nodded, her eyes closed for a moment.

“What’s going on?” I asked. This was wrong, this was so wrong. I couldn’t handle anything else. I just couldn’t.

“You can still feel him,” Malcolm said gently. “Can’t you?”

Pressure built in my mind. “I don’t know.”

“You’ve been so like yourself, but subdued. At first I thought it was because of what happened, that you would get better. But that’s not it, is it?”

“Mal, I don’t want to talk about this.”

“When you broke his hold on your own, it gave us hope that you weren’t under his control. But it was only a moment, a single instant where your anger was stronger than his orders.”

“He didn’t order me to do anything.”
They cannot know. You’ll have to be subtle, Sydney. They cannot know you’re doing this for me.

“The chemist says Abel didn’t like your resistance, and he’s not known for his kindness.” Mal smiled tightly, his brows drawing together in a look I knew too well. Pity.

“I don’t remember.” I didn’t want to.

“I pushed and pushed, did things and said things that would have pissed you off a week ago. But nothing made you angry. Nothing made you react. Not until you got far enough away from him that his control weakened. But we’re closer again and you’re fading.
You
are fading. You’re still bound to him. You’re still doing what he instructed.”

All the air left my lungs, the motel, the state of California. Abel’s voice flooded my mind.
Find that human and bring him to me. If you can’t return him discreetly, then call this number and we will retrieve him. Give him to no one else. Ingratiate yourself with Malcolm Kelly. Do anything it takes to draw him closer. Make him confide in you. Where he is going, what he is doing for Bronson. Bring me his secrets. If you don’t, you know what will happen.
His hands wrapping around my forearm. The squeeze. The pressure. The break.

A strange, ghostly noise filled the room and I realized it was me. I bit off the sound and held myself tighter, fingers digging into the backs of my arms.

“It hurts,” Malcolm murmured, moving closer. “Fighting him hurts?”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry, baby. This should never have happened to you. I should have broken his hold the second I got you back. I’m a coward, Syd. I wanted you to be all right so that I wouldn’t have to do anything.” He shook his head, pain and regret bright in his eyes. “I’m going to break his hold. I’ll do…
fuck
. I’ll do everything I can to ease you through it.”

Relief surging, I opened my mouth to agree. But the words I wanted to speak didn’t come. Instead,
she
reared up again, that disloyal wuss that lived inside my brain, obliterating my ability to think and locking my muscles. I wanted to tell him to do it, to break me free. Instead…

“Don’t.” I heard myself speaking, voice full of delicate fear even as I fought to regain control. Malcolm took a step forward and I backed away, hands rising to fend him off as he reached for me. “Don’t do it. Please. It’ll hurt. Please don’t hurt me. Mal,
please
.”

The look on his face, the sadness that weighted his entire body, shattered me. A savage sound rose out of my mouth in place of false words. I fought the compulsion, but pain rose to subdue me. Programmed pain. My arms, my ribs, my face. How many places had Abel broken me?

Powerless, I felt myself shoving at Malcolm. I sagged inside of my own mind as my traitorous body scrambled past him into the bathroom, clawing at the walls as it tried to escape. Reduced to a mindless beast as she—
I
—followed Abel’s orders. I’d been programmed. And I knew it, but I still couldn’t do anything about it.

“Mal, please don’t.” Sobbing. “You know it’s me. It’s not him. Can’t you see? Please,
don’t hurt me
.” The taste of Richard Abel’s blood filled my mouth, and my own blood welled to the surface when the curtain rod broke from the wall and raw metal scraped through my skin.

He caught me, carrying me into the bedroom even as I kicked and scratched at him. He turned me around, crossed my arms over my stomach, and held them there with one arm. He breathed hard against the back of my neck, and I felt him shake his head.

“Malcolm,” Soraya said, turning off the water steaming up the room, “it has to be done.”

“Please, Mal…” I screeched.

Abel’s voice filled my mind, ricocheting through it.
Blend in. Act as Sydney Kildare would act. Bring me the human. Bring me the secret behind Malcolm Kelly’s place in Bronson’s hive. Do anything you have to in order to avoid getting caught. Do this, or die in the attempt.
So much power in that voice, not the skittering chill of ambient vampire energy but hard, undeniable command. My head dropped back against Malcolm’s shoulder and tears streamed down my face.

Soraya’s fists clenched at her sides. Her eyes were full of orange fire. “You shouldn’t have to do this. I will.”

Malcolm’s arm tightened around me. Abel’s power surged as strong as the first time he’d gotten into my head and turned me inside out. The second time had been worse, and that was when he’d started hurting me, burrowing deeper when the pain shattered my ability to resist. And by the third time…

“I hate you,” I snarled, kicking off of the bed with both feet. Malcolm slammed into the wall. The overhead light flickered out. I threw my head back, striking his chin. Soraya stalked toward me.

“No,” he growled through his fangs. “Leave us.”

He swiveled, nearly knocking the wind out of me when he shoved me against the wall. His hand fisted in my hair. I dug my nails into a crack in the drywall and willed him to bite me even as I snarled at him.

“Breathe, just breathe,” he murmured, influence lacing his tense words and seeping into me like nitrous oxide. “You’re going to be fine, Sydney. If I could spare you the pain, I would.” A wave of numbing euphoria swept over me and, with my first breath, I slumped in his arms. He tipped my head to the side. Hot breath ran over my skin. His hand rose, sliding over my throat before it covered my mouth.

He bit me.

I screamed, but his hand clamped down with bruising force, absorbing the noise. Pain shot through me. It was as if my nervous system was being torn out of my body by barbed-wire hands. The sensation changed abruptly, overrun by a rush of pleasure. My vision blanked out, and I saw nothing but white haze even though my eyes were open.

His fangs withdrew and slid a half inch higher, digging in only deep enough to hold me in place while he drank. Heat and hardness and sweet suction. I arched back.