Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) (6 page)

"Please don't be afraid of me." He spoke in a
gentle tone, but she knew he was anything but
gentle
.

The man came into her home armed with a bow
and arrows, and had daggers hidden up his sleeves.
And
let's
not forget she'd witnessed him in action. Robin Hood without the
tights came to mind. Didn't he steal Maid Marion away, too?
Gentle
was
so
not a word she'd use to describe Derek
Hayes.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he told her.

She narrowed her eyes as she tried to gage
his intentions.

"I promise," he added and for some odd
reason, she actually believed him.

Despite the situation, she wasn't picking up
creepy vibes from him. Then again, she'd never been kidnapped
before.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked
with a tilt of his head.

Her gaze riveted to his. So he did know who
she was. "Not at first…but yeah, I know who you are. Let me tell
you, this is not how I envisioned a reunion." He let out a long
sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Man, he had great hair.

"I had hoped it wasn't you."

This made her frown. Would things have turned
out differently if he hadn't known her? She was afraid to ponder
the answer. "Why am I here?" She glanced around the room, looking
for ways of escape, which seemed silly since she was chained to an
iron headboard. Unless she suddenly developed superhuman strength,
she wasn't going anywhere.

A desk and computer stood near a window. The
thick shades were down, blocking any view to the outside world. A
worn lounge chair was situated to the right of her, facing a
portable television set that sat on the dresser. To the left, there
was a door leading to a bathroom. She could see a glimpse of a
shower curtain. "Where is
here
, anyway?"

"My home." He didn't hesitate to tell her. "I
didn't know where else to take you. It's secure and no one will
find you."

"Uh… not making me feel comfortable with that
statement."

He ran a hand down the back of his neck. "I
suppose it wouldn't." He grimaced. "I meant that you're safe from
Tim and… my brothers."

"Tim wouldn't…" She was going to say he
wouldn't hurt her, but after his last visit, she wasn't so sure.
"Why would your brothers want to harm me? I don't know them."

"It's a long story," he sighed with
regret.

She jiggled the chains. The metal felt warm
against her skin, making her wonder what sort of metal it was, but
she had more important questions to ask other than where he shopped
for his handcuffs. "Looks like I'm here for a while. How about you
tell me why your brothers want to harm me."

His gaze swept over her again, measuring her
with a cool appraising look. He must have decided she could take
the truth. "They think you're a vampire."

She laughed before she could stifle it. She
was not making points with the crazy person. "Sorry, but wasn't
Halloween months ago?"

"This isn't a joke. My family is from a long
line of hunters."

"Soooo, you and your family hunt down
vampires?"

"Among other preternatural beings that harm
humans."

She didn't even want to ask. "Your family
hunts vampires. So why would they come after me?"

"Because Tim bit you." He gestured to her
neck.

"Tim's not a vampire either." Even as she
made the claim a part of her questioned the validity of the
statement. Tim had bit her, drew blood. He had
fangs
.

"You're starting to question everything,
aren't you?" he asked.

She snorted. "Vampires are a legend and
nothing more."

"All legends have some truth to them."

He leveled his gaze on her and didn't waver.
He really believed supernatural beings existed. He hunted them down
and killed them. "Are…are you going to kill Tim?"

He didn't look away from her. "He's not human
now. If he hasn't killed to feed, he will soon."

"You spoke of Tim's family…are they?"

His features revealed what she had already
known without him confirming it. He'd been telling her the truth or
at least the truth he believed. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins were dead and
Kylie… Omigod, Kylie was gone, too. She held the little girl when
she was born, babysat her, read to her…

"There was an original vampire, a rogue," he
began to tell her the horrific details. "He decided to make the
Wilkins' home his hunting ground, but for some reason he recruited
a few members. Usually these septs…

"Excuse me. Septs?"

"There are different vampire clans."

"Of course there are. So this vampire
randomly chooses Tim's family and turns them into vampires."

"Only Tim and his brother."

"Trent? Where is he?"

He didn't answer and her heart fell. "He's
gone, isn't he?" Gone in the fact, Derek or his brothers got rid of
him.

"Most likely Trent is who changed Tim and I
think Tim wanted change you, too."

She stared at him for a long moment as she
digested the information. "Crazy is definitely catchy, I almost
believe you." Her eyes widened as she realized what she said. "I
don't mean you're crazy. I meant—"

His hand rested on her leg. It felt warm and
reassuring as he patted her thigh. "I don't take offense," he said.
"I've been called worse."

She just bet he had. Especially if he went
around kidnapping women for their own good. "Let's say I really
believe what you told me. I'm assuming you have me chained because
you think I'll turn into a vampire."

"Yes."

Other than having a queasy stomach, she
didn't feel any different. "What are the odds that I will?"

"Pretty good."

She blinked a few times. This couldn't be
good. If he believed she would turn, she truly was in danger. "No,
I can't." Not the best argument, but she was never good with the
spur of the moment debates.

"When I challenged you back at your place,
your eyes glowed red."

It took her a moment to realize he'd been
talking. "What? Did you just say my eyes turned red?" She furrowed
her brows. Tim's eyes had turned red. If she hadn't seen it for
herself, she wouldn't have believed Derek's claim that hers had
changed, too. Her gaze riveted to his. "You really are telling me
the truth, aren't you?"

Chapter Eight

Derek hadn't thought it would be easy to
convince Sloane there were monsters in the world, but after they
talked until the sun rose, he could pretty much say, Sloane McBride
believed him. When she drifted off to sleep, he caught some shuteye
in the chair. He couldn't remove Sloane's chains, not yet anyway.
He wanted to believe if he watched over her, everything would be
all right and he could somehow protect her.

When he awoke a few hours later with a crick
in his neck, he unfolded his body from the awkward position he
found himself in—curled on his side in a chair that had no business
being a bed—and headed for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and
make breakfast. By the time he returned to the room, Sloane was
awake, too.

"I made you an omelet." He gestured with the
plate. She had to be hungry and this would also be a test. If she
were changing, she wouldn't be able to stomach conventional human
food.

"And coffee." Her gaze landed on the mug he
held.

"I didn't know if you took it black or with
cream and sugar."

"Cream, no sugar."

"Good, I splashed a wee bit of cream in the
mug before I thought about it." He handed her the cup, but stopped
short when he realized she couldn't reach it with her wrists
bounded. He placed the cup and plate down on an end table.

"I'm going to unlock one of your cuffs so you
can eat."

"Okay, but before I eat…uh… I need to…you
know…" Her face flamed a nice crimson color and then it dawned on
him what she needed.

"Sure. Sorry, I didn't think." He hurried to
unlock the restraints. "The bathroom is there." He gestured with a
quick wave of his hand.

"Thanks." She scooted off the bed and hurried
into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

He let out a breath he'd been holding. He
hadn't thought this all through. He wondered if she wanted to take
a shower. He didn't bring a change of clothes for her. He could
stop by her house, pick up a few… His gaze landed on the closed
door and he narrowed his eyes. He detected no sounds on the other
side. No water running, no flushing of the toilet… "Hey, are you
okay in there?"

Silence greeted him. He strode closer to the
door and tapped lightly. "Sloane?"

No answer.

"Shee…et!" He slammed at the door with his
shoulder. On the third go, the door gave way. Sloane had made her
escape out the window. It was too small for his big frame, but
Sloane was a tiny thing with slim hips. He strode over to the
window and peered out. The sun sat high in the sky, bright and
beautiful. Since there wasn't a pile of ash on the cement below, he
could only assume Sloane had not made the transition from human to
vampire as of yet. A good sign, but she still wasn't out of the
woods and she sure as hell wasn't safe out there alone. As soon as
night fell, Tim would be looking for her and his brothers were out
to nab her, too. It was only a matter of time before one of them
caught up with her.

He slammed the window shut with a curse for
being so stupid. "You'd think this was my first hunt." Well, it was
his first save. He usually didn't have to worry about keeping a
target alive.

He headed for the front door, grabbing his
keys as he went. She couldn't have gone far on foot. Possibly he
could find her before Cassandra and her vampire lover showed up on
his doorstep. He'd never live it down if his sister found out he'd
let a possible vampire slip away under his watch.

He cruised the neighborhood looking for a
lone figure on foot, but searching for Sloane proved more difficult
than he thought.

After circling around the neighboring streets
at a slow pace and getting strange looks from the people who lived
there, he decided to head for her house before someone called the
cops on him.

He should have thought of her house before
now. Sloane had a dog to care for. She'd show up there sooner or
later. Hopefully sooner, since in a few hours he'd have to go home
and explain to his sister why Sloane was missing.

He parked his car on the neighboring block.
He didn't want to chance Sloane spotting it or him sitting behind
the wheel. He made his way to the house that stood directly in back
of the McBride's home. He entered the neighbor's backyard and
jumped the fence separating the homes and landed in the McBride's
backyard. The dog, whose name he found out from his chat with
Sloane was Lad, greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, boy, it's good to see you, too." He
rubbed the dog behind its ears before continuing with his task of
breaking into the house. He picked the lock with ease. Silently
thanking his mother for insisting he learn the trade. It came in
handy when tracking down potential targets. Breaking down doors
tended to ruin the moment of surprise and it was damn hard on the
shoulders and legs if they had to use bodily force to break and
enter.

He checked the teapot first. She had it on
last night and he could only assume she had meant to have a cup of
tea or perhaps hot chocolate. The teapot was cool to the touch. A
quick look around the house told him Sloane hadn't been home—at
least not yet.

In the next hour, his instincts proved spot
on. He heard the scraping of metal as a key was shoved into the
lock. She must have a key hidden somewhere in her backyard,
probably in a fake rock or perhaps hidden under the welcome mat. It
always surprised him that people left their keys in such obvious
places. He sprinted to the wall separating the living room from the
kitchen and leaned against it to wait for her to come inside.

"Come on, Lad," Sloane said to her dog. "We
need to hurry."

Hurry was right. She came barreling round the
corner of the kitchen and plowed right into him. Her momentum made
him lose his balance; and add a seventy-pound dog to the mix they
went down hard with Sloane on top of him, knocking the wind out of
him in the process. The woman sure did know how to make him look
like the fool.

He recovered before Sloane did and held on
tight to her before she could fly to her feet and run again.

"Let me go." She glared at him with those big
blue eyes under dark brows and lashes.

"Sloane, stop struggling. Ouch!" She came
close to kneeing him again, luckily he moved faster than she did.
He rolled and brought her beneath him, straddling her waist so she
couldn't use her appendages as a weapon. He pinned her arms down,
too. "Are you through?" She squirmed beneath him and a part of his
anatomy liked it way too much. "Sloane, cut it out."

Lad seemed to think this was some kind of
game and joined in by licking Sloane's face then his. He couldn't
help but chuckle and soon Sloane's laugh joined his. "Come on. This
isn't funny," she whined.

"You're laughing," he reminded her, but he
took pity on her and shooed Lad away. He stood and offered his hand
to her, but she slapped it away, scrambling to her feet in a huff.
He had to give her credit. She faced him with her hands on her
hips.

"I'm not going back with you."

"You can't stay here," he countered.

"I hadn't planned to. I came back for Lad and
a few items, and then I'm out of here."

"And where are you going?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not
telling you."

He rolled his eyes. "Fair enough, but tell me
this, has Tim ever been to this place you're planning to run off
to?"

She moistened her lips and didn't quite meet
his eyes, which told him Tim was definitely privy.

"What if he has?" she questioned. "There's no
reason—"