Haven (8 page)

Our trajectory aimed us at the band shell where four leather clad smokers lounged, watching our approach. Their unblinking attention knotted my stomach.
Trouble.

I slowed to a walk and hitched my thumb at the W-T across the street, addressing my friends. “I’m thirsty.” We needed to get away from them, now.

“Me too,” murmured the female smoker. She flicked away her cigarette, still lit, and pushed off the stage, landing with unnatural, predatory grace. The three men with her followed suit.

My boys fell into fighting stance in front of Faith and me. “Back off,” Mark growled.

“My, aren’t we a brave little piggy?” The woman’s voice dripped with disdain.

Slim and delicately-boned like Faith, Mark and Ren towered over her, all muscle and aggression. She along with her companions, all about my height and slight of build, caused the hairs on my nape to stand at attention. My instincts yelled,
‘Danger. Run.’

Her men moved in a blur, reappearing behind us. “Hello there, little girlies. I bet you taste as good as you look,” one of them drawled.

I delivered a quick back-kick to the talker’s stomach. He made a lovely
oomph
sound when his body hit the gravel. My attention turned to the second man, but he snagged Faith, one arm banded around her waist, the other at her throat.

Like a deer in the headlights, her eyes went wide and she froze in his grasp. “Vampires.”

The vampire patted her head. “Gold star for you.”

The one I’d put on his back sprung up as if pulled by invisible strings. “No star for you.” His voice slurred as he spoke around impressive fangs.

My heart jumped into my throat, muscles twitching with fight-or-flight tremors. “Guess you’re not another long lost relative.”

I heard the female vampire taunt my boys. “Little boys with little toys. Our snacks want to play.”

I didn’t spare a glance in her direction since a predator hovered in front of me waiting for an excuse to pounce and eat me, but I imagined my boys produced their knives.

“Fuck off,” Mark spat.

The vampires snickered.

“Drop your weapons, meat,” the woman commanded. To my dismay, the clatter of steel meeting gravel rent the air. “Sit.” Her voice sliced at my skin, tone as razor sharp as the asymmetrical line of her bobbed black hair. My boys sat on command, living statues once again.

Damned mind control.

The male vampire inched closer, considering me like a cat coveting a tasty bird. “You smell good.” His growl rumbled across my skin like an icy touch. To his cohorts, he added, “Dibs.”

“Fine, I’ll take this tiny one, if Stella will share one of the big pigs.” The vampire holding Faith tightened his grasp, enjoying her squeak.

“Plenty for all,” Stella assured her minions. “Look at these two meaty animals. Enough for us and a friend or two.”

“I’m not sharing this pretty one,” my hungry vampire snarled. His hand snaked out to touch my face.

I produced a faux sultry smile for the possessive boy and kicked him where it counted. He doubled over with a howl. I grabbed his shoulders and struck his face with my knee, three times hard and fast, willing his head to crack open like a cantaloupe. Sadly, it didn’t happen, but he collapsed in a heap at my feet.

The vampire on Faith threw her to the ground and lunged for me in a blur of speed. I braced for impact, but the female grabbed me by my ponytail and wrenched me out of harm’s way. My knees hit the ground. Gravel stabbed my knees and my scalp burned from her pull.

“Enough. Stop fighting us.” Stella’s eyes glowed black and her command pushed at me—
obey, obey
—but it was a benign breeze with no true impact.

She can’t compel me. Bingo.
Two could play the power game. “Your mind tricks won’t work on me, vampire. Don’t you know who I am?”

Stella released me. “You are nothing more than an evening snack, little lamb.”

I rose and faced off with her, body humming with tension, my heart racing a million miles per second. My poker face sucked, meaning I didn’t have one, but I had to try, and try with gusto. I’m not a great actress, but I’m good at cocky. And cranky. “I’m much more than that, you undead pest. Mess with me and my family will tear you apart.”

Stella tilted her head, amusement creasing her cheeks.

“Names have power,” Faith whispered from where she huddled at our feet. “Call him.”

“We fear no humans.” Stella snarled the words, eyebrows up at the humor of the suggestion.

“Who said anything about humans? See the museum over there? That’s the Ward-Tranquilli museum.
My family’s
museum.”

The male vampires—including the one whose face I’d pulverized—laughed. Stella did not. Her power burned like fire ants nipping at my flesh. Her eyes narrowed, lips stretched in a thin, disbelieving line. “Clever girl, you try to lie, but your heart beats like a trapped bird and you smell of fear.”

“Call to him, Rina,” Faith repeated. “Call Thomas Ward.” His name exploded in the air like a cannon blast.

The three male vampires tensed and glanced around.

Stella wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Thomas Ward has no
human
family.”

“Want to bet?” I replied, dialing up the cocky. “Let’s give him a call and tell him you’re about eat his relative. See what he says.” I stepped up close and poured on the aggression. “The name’s Carina Agostina Ottavia Tranquilli, adopted niece of Thomas Ward—” His name cracked the air like lightning and I tried to hide my surprise by continuing. “Blood niece of Maurizio Agostino Ottavio Tranquilli.”

All four vampires stepped back as one. One blink and they disappeared.

My legs buckled. I collapsed on the gravel next to my boys. They rubbed their heads, shaking off the mind control. Faith crawled over to us.

I broke our silence. “Holy crap, I get one little memory back and now I’m a freaking vampire magnet?”

Faith chuckled. The boys did, too. I grinned. We fell against each other and laughed and laughed. Seriously, what else could we do after almost having our throats ripped out?

~ * ~

Almost dying gave us ravenous appetites, so we brushed the dirt and dust from our clothes and walked over to the W-T to grab a bite in the museum’s café.

We wolfed down two Mediterranean platters with water and white wine and marveled at the existence of vampires, and possibly other mythical creatures, running amok in the city. Human witches and warlocks and psychics were one thing, but the existence of mythical creatures added a whole new layer of
wow
to our world.

I told them about my vampire uncles sucking my blood and pulling a Houdini with my memories and a mysterious, as-yet-to-show-itself power. They took the news well though Mark stroked his switchblade the whole time, a murderous glint in his eyes.

On our way out of the café, my cell buzzed. “Hi, Adrian. What’s up?”

“They’re here.”

My pace slowed at his odd tone. “Who?”

“Thomas, Alexander, and about seventy-five other people. It’s Sanguine Sunday, remember? And—” He cleared his throat.

“And what?” My stomach tightened and a tension headache taunted my forehead even as my hormones jigged in happiness. Though in no mood for more vampire business, I was excited to hear my hot, potential new boyfriend hung out at my club.

“Thomas asked me to give you a call. Invite you over.”

“Oh he did, did he? How sweet.” How dare he invite
me
to
my
club. “Anything else?”

Silence. No husky chuckles, no
aw babe
, none of his usual banter. So unlike him. Was he under the influence? Of mind control, that is. Did he know Thomas was a vampire? Or did they delete that fact from his head after every interaction? Given what I knew about Thomas and my implicit trust in my friend, I assumed the latter. He couldn’t have a clue.

“Adrian, where are you, exactly?”

“In the office.”

Good
. “Alone?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, of course, why do you ask?”

His too-rapid response activated my bullshit detector, but I let it slide. “Right. Stay there and we’ll see you soon. An hour tops.”

“Why so long? You can walk down the hill in less than ten minutes, the way you move.”

We neared the museum entrance. “Not home. We’re at the W-T. Stay in the office until we get there.”

“Sure, I do have work to do. Just passing along the invitation, as promised. Also thought you’d like to see what your new boyfriend is up to.”

He hung up and I enlightened my friends. “Thomas, the big bad vampire, is at Haven with a whole freak show and we’ve been invited to the party.”

I left out the Alexander part. He was probably a vampire, too, not that I cared. I wanted to see him again—badly—but I didn’t want to defend my desire to the boys. I knew Faith wouldn’t give me a hard time, since she considered him my destiny, but my boys walked on the we-hate-and-totally-distrust-all-vampires side of the fence at the moment.

We pushed through the museum doors, into the cold, foggy evening. My phone rang again. Private number, no ID. Not Adrian. Swell. I stared so long the call went to voice mail.

Faith scanned my body.

My stomach lurched under her scrutiny. “What?”

She caressed the air between us. “The orange in your aura is very thick.”

As if on cue, Thomas’s voice boomed from nowhere.
Vieni qui, cara mia. Come here now.

I prodded my ear. “Did you guys hear that?”

They shook their heads.

Thomas’s chuckle rippled around me.
Answer the phone.

I complied when it rang again, but remained silent.

“Come now, little one. Have you no words for your uncle? No ‘thank you dear uncle’ for my intervention with Stella, perhaps?”

“You—” I searched for something to pull out of my jumble of emotions. “You bit me. You both
bit
me!”

I expected Thomas to laugh, but instead he answered quietly. “Yes. It was necessary.”

“So I heard,” I huffed. Not that I’d heard why.

“Indeed.”

Awkward silence crackled across the line. Kai cleared his throat. Faith shook her head at him. Mark and Ren regarded me with concern.

“What happens now?” I addressed everyone and no one.

But I already knew the answer.

~ * ~

We showered and changed into ready-for-action gear—T-shirts, stretch denim pants, jackets, lightweight tactical boots—all black, like my mood. I didn’t want to face
uncle
Thomas. It was one thing to know a vampire cared about me, but quite another to feel it emotionally.

I wasn’t feeling the love.

We drove to Adrian’s house on Hartford Street to access the back entrance to Haven, conveniently
located in his yard. A large deck dominated the space and opened out onto a small plot of grass bursting with wild lavender, rosemary, and assorted other flowering bushes. Through this fragrant and colorful mélange, a stone slab path led to Haven’s back door. Only
Adrian and I could enter on this side of club world.

Motion sensitive floodlights flared when we stepped out of the car. The light cut through the thin evening fog, briefly blinding us. We hastened
along the path. Near Haven’s back wall, Stella and her biker boys emerged from the gloom. The two male vampires dropped to their knees, heads bowed. Stella stood, spine straight, pale chin tilted up. Defensive
.
Skintight black leather pants clung to her legs and a black tee stretched taut over her small, perky breasts. Shit-kicking combat boots, red lipstick on her perfect bow mouth, extreme black liner around menacing eyes
.
Cute and scary.

My men drew their guns and fronted us. I glanced at Faith. She shrugged.

“Stand down.” They made a hole and I strode closer to the vampires. Faith followed.

Stella’s dark brown eyes nailed me with her displeasure.

“What do you want?” Still angry over her earlier attack, I didn’t hide my dislike. My cold, clipped tone reflected my mood.

“My mistress sends us to greet you.” She surveyed my body.
Looking for weapons?
No. She lingered on my hair—layered and wavy, not as fancy and well-behaved as her perfect bob. My brow quirked.
Sizing me up?

My hands fisted on my hips. “Your mistress?”

She nodded, body tight with tension.

“Fine. Is that all?” I didn’t care who her mistress might be.
Just go away, creepy, undead chick.

Stella shook her head. “We apologize for the misunderstanding in the park tonight.” Her gaze dropped to the ground. “And beg your forgiveness.” She waved a hand at one of the kneeling vampires. “If it pleases you, we are ready for our punishment.”

The man offered up a knife. Smooth wood grip, blade curved like a roller coaster forged by a drunken blacksmith. A flame dagger, pretty and deadly. A bad feeling flickered in my gut.

“Where’s the guy I bashed in the head?” My attempt to buy time.

“Dead.”

My hand tightened on the grip. “You’re already dead.”

Her expression darkened. “He was destroyed.”

I handed the knife to Mark. “Explain.”

“What more do you want,
human
?” she snarled, her power roiling the air.

My heartbeat sped up, but I held my ground. “Why was he killed?”

“For the accidental attack upon the Tranquilli bloodline. For laying hands upon your person.”

I wanted to point out I’d done the touching, or rather the kicking and the smashing of his head, but I let it slide. “Well, I’m sorry about your boyfriend.”

“That was not my boyfriend.” She cocked her head, almost amused. “He was my pet.”