Here Comes the Vampire (17 page)

“Look!” I pointed overhead and sure enough, his head snapped up and I took advantage of the distraction. I leaned down and scooped up the steaming pile of werewolf dung that Viola and her buddies had left for my dad, and tossed it straight at Riley.

The poop hit him square in the face and he stumbled. I was on him then, shoving him backwards. He slammed into a tree. His body jerked a split second, stunned before his fingers tightened around the gun.

Uh, oh.

I started to turn, to run, but he was too fast.

The liquid hit me, dripping into my eyes, my mouth. The scent rushed into my nose and clogged my lungs. My muscles clenched and jerked. I fell to my knees, my body going into spasms for several long moments before the paralysis gripped me. I hit the dirt face-first. My heart slowed. My eyes closed.

And then I tumbled into a big black pit of smelly nothingness.

#

Where was a Tylenol when you really needed one?

That was my first thought when I blinked.

My second?

I so needed a can of Lysol. My nose wrinkled as the scent of werewolf poop lingered in my nostrils. My head throbbed and my eyes felt gritty and heavy.

I became acutely aware of the cold dirty floor beneath me and the ropes binding my hands and feet. The confrontation with Riley came rushing back in an instant and I stiffened. Pain shfenaware ofot through me. Hammers pounded at my temples and a soft crying echoed in my head.

I glanced to my left, my watery gaze pushing back the darkness to see the cluster of mops and brooms stacked nearby. I turned toward the right, to the rows of shelves stocked with paper towels and toilet paper and cleaning products.

I sniffled and caught my bottom lip. The noise instantly stopped.

Okay, so the crying was me. What can I say? I’m super sensitive.

I gathered my control and tried to slow my pounding heart. My stomach hollowed out. Hunger gnawed at me, my first clue that I’d been stuffed in this storage closet more than a few measly hours.

My entire body ached and my lips felt dry and cracked and swollen. A hot tear slid down my cheek and I clamped my eyes shut against the sudden flood that threatened me.

No more crying.

I needed to think.

To get a grip and get the hell out of here.

I forced my eyes wide and gave my surroundings another good once over.
Here
definitely looked like the inside of a storage closet.

But where?

I knew I wasn’t in my parents’ house. I’d been in and out of every room, and nothing looked like this.

Was I nearby? Still in Fairfield? Connecticut, even?

A sliver of light outlined the door in front of me, illuminating my bare feet and reminding me that Riley had caught me wearing nothing but my undies and Ty’s over-sized T-shirt. Another tear squeezed past my lashes and I gave myself a mental shake.

No crying. No falling apart.
No
.

I focused my hearing on the sounds beyond the door. The ding of an elevator. The roll of dice. The shuffle of cards. Wayne Newton singing Sweet Caroline—

Shit.

Shit. Shit.
Shit
.

I was back in Vegas. Mother-freakin’-Vegas.

Nah.

That would mean I’d been out of commission for more than a few hours.

Days?

Weeks?

I tugged against the ropes, but it was useless. I opened my mouth and called out, but my throat was so dry, my body so weak from lack of blood that the only thing that came out was a hoarse croak.

“Easy,” came the oddly familiar voice and I turned to see the apparition standing in the corner.

Mona the ghost wore the same ungodly blue prom dress and hair bow that she’d had on that first night at the Mayan and my chest tightened.

And I thought I was in deep shit? She was stuck in that dress
forever
.

“So it’s true,” I said with trembling lips. “I’m actually in Vegas. At the Mayan.”

She nodded. “If it’s any consolation, your hair still looks great. Messy, but nothing a hairbrush can’t fix.”

“Where am I?”

“Jimmy Montana’s room.”

“Jimmy Montana?” My brain rifled back to our first conversation when she’d told me all about the mob boss who kept a suite at the hotel. “But Montana is a werewolf.”

“And?”

“And the man who brought me here is a born vampire.”

“So? Jimmy plays hosts to the vampires all the time. He’s got a born vamp, buddy, as a matter of fact. The chief magistrate of the born vamp council.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Jimmy and the chief magistrate? I tried to wrap my head around it, but I couldn’t make it past Riley and the DVD footage I’d witnessed. Had Riley offed one of Jimmy’s guys? Probably. The murder had happened here and Jimmy ruled the werewolf roost at the Mayan. So why bring me straight to his enemy?

Unless Jimmy wasn’t the enemy and something else was going on. Something involving Jimmy and the chief andt the Mayamagistrate whose daughter had been kidnapped.

Ty’s words echoed in my ears.

Something bigger is going on. Something really big. And really bad.

And whatever that
something
was, I was stuck smack dab in the middle of it.

That’s what my gut told me.

Meanwhile my head kept insisting that this was exactly what it seemed—Riley was simply trying to cover his ass and it was all a big coincidence that he’d hidden me in a storage closet belonging to the biggest werewolf crime boss in the country.

Hey, it could happen.

The possibilities pushed and pulled and a wave of dizziness washed over me. Along with a deep-seated fear because every scenario ended with me getting either staked by Riley, torn to pieces by Jimmy Montana, or spontaneously combusting from all the guilt because regardless of what was happening right now, I was still committed to Remy and Ty now hated my guts. And the chief magistrate? Where did he fit into all of this?

On top of that, I was missing. Remy and my family had to be going crazy. Were they looking for me? Did they think I’d run off with Ty?

The questions pounded at my brain and I slumped back against the wall
.

I needed to get out of there, but I knew I didn’t stand a chance unless I managed to get my strength back. “I need blood,” I croaked. “Can you find me a bottle?”

She nodded. “I’m sure I can rustle up something.” And then she disappeared.

I sat there and tried to focus on the sounds, to stay alert, alive, but I was so weak.

Tired.

Hungry.

I blinked once, twice, and then I was out again.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I opened my eyes to feel the cold edge of a bottle at my lips.

“Drink.” The voice was deep and slightly familiar.

My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring up at Frankie Jenkins, the meaty security guard I’d conned out of the DVDs here at the Mayan.

At least I thought it was Frankie. Same black suit. Same meaty body. Same bald head.

But the eyes...

Blue eyes twinkled back at me and I knew even before he opened his mouth that while it was Frankie’s body, it was Prom Queen Zombie behind the wheel.

“Mona?”

He nodded. “Drink.”

The smell of blood teased my nostrils and the hunger roared through me. I sprang into action, my hands clutching at the bottle. The sweet warmth slid down my throat and exploded in a fireball in the pit of my stomach. Heat pulsed through me and I guzzled more until I’d sucked down every last drop.

“Why?” I finally raised a gaze to those twinkling blue eyes.

Mona shrugged. “I had to figure out a way to get a bottle of blood in here. I can walk through the walls, but I can’t very well carry a solid object with me. On top of that, this bottle is heavy. I’ve got enough energy to turn on an iPod or flick a light switch, but carry a bottle of blood up twenty flights of stairs and into this closet?” the security guard shook his head. “Not happening without Frankie, here. I just hopped in, repressed his spirit which isn’t too hard on account of he’s seriously depressed because he misses his Tijuana lover Raoul, and bam, I’ve got it hanging a hell of a lot better than Dewey, the rat bastard. Besides, when I’m in here Dewey can’t find me.” She smiled. “That’s the best part. You rest.” She gathered up the bottle. “I’m going to slip out of here and get you another one.”

“But if they catch you—“

“I’m secuݏe brity and on Jimmy’s payroll. He thinks I’m in here checking to make sure you’re still out of it. Stay put.” She turned. The door opened and closed. And just like that, I was alone again.

I sighed and slumped back against the wall for several long moments as my nerves buzzed and my brain cells started to vibrate. Bracing my palms against the wall, I pushed to my feet and fought against a wave of dizziness that swept me. I leaned against the wall for a few seconds until the sensation passed. And then I reached for a broom.

Wood cracked and splintered and suddenly I had my own stake. And mine was much bigger than Riley’s.

I thought of waiting for Mona, but I really didn’t want her caught in the middle of this. I had to get out of here. Now.

I reached for the door handle. I turned the knob slowly, slowly,
there
. The door gave and inched open a fraction. I stared through the crack at the men seated around a table in the center of the room. My gaze swept the faces and an odd sense of familiarity struck.

My attention fixed on the Paul Bunyon look-a-like I’d seen on the DVD footage. He’d been the one to pull the ax in the casino on the very man now sitting across from him.

A born vampire.

Fear bolted through me and I tamped it down. I pushed the door open a few more inches until I could slip out and head for the door just a few feet away. I was two steps shy when I heard the voice.

“Nice of you to join the party,” the words slid into my ears a split-second before I felt the sharp point of a stake press between my shoulder blades.

“There wasn’t anything incriminating on the DVD,” I blurted. “I mean, you’re on it and so is the werewolf, but there’s no actual blood. You can’t really see anything, let alone a murder.”

“Is that what you think this is about?”

No, but I wasn’t going to tell Riley that. He didn’t know that I’d figured out some connection between Jimmy and the chief magistrate of the born vamp council.

“You think I’m worried because you saw me off that werewolf in the hallway?” He laughed then, a cold, chilling sound that sent a shiver from my head clear to my toes. “This isn’t about murder, sweetheart. It’s much bigger than that. See those two men?” He pointed to the guys seated at the table. “That’s Jimmy Montana. And that guy...” He pointed to the well-dressed vampire, “is Reginald Terribone.”

The minute the name struck, the pieces started to fall into place. “The president of the Born Vampire Council.” The president who worked side-by-side with the chief magistrate whose daughter was missing.

“Exactly.” He yanked me backwards, pulling me toward the storage closet. Meanwhile, not a head turned away from the card game going on at the table. As if having a born vamp chained in the closet was nothing new.

“Why is the president of the born vampire council sitting with a well-known werewolf mob boss?” I asked as Riley shoved me back inside the closet.

“Now that’s exactly what every voter in the free world is going to want to know when things start to get ugly. See, there’s a war coming between the vamps and the werewolves. An ugly war that’s going to take out a lot of both, particularly those higher-up vampire council members and the big wigs in the werewolf community. The ones who’ve kept a strict division between the races. See, there’s no reason we can’t all work together for a common good.”

“Peace and harmony for all?”

“Money,” he growled. “There are too many governing powers controlling everything everyone else does. The vamps can’t open up businesses without the council’s blessing and the weres can’t piss their pants without their own council sniffing up their ass. There’s too mhermps can’uch regulation and not enough free will. We’re going to fix that.”

“You’re behind the kidnapping,” I blurted, remembering what Ty had said about there being someone on the inside. Someone who’d helped the kidnapper.

He shrugged. “The werewolves didn’t kidnap her. They didn’t have to. Terribone,” he motioned to the born vampire sitting at the table, “handed her over. He’s Charlemagne’s right hand. Not that the old man knows there’s a traitor on his staff. No, he thinks the werewolves just pulled off a clever abduction. He’s pissed and he’ll stay pissed. It’s just a matter of time before he launches an all-out war to get Rose back, but she’ll be dead by then.”

“And there won’t be anyone to tell the truth.”

“Exactly. I’ll destroy the DVDs which tie Montana and Terribone together, and then I’ll destroy you.” His lips fluttered across my ear. “No more loose ends.”

Before I could move, he slammed the door shut and came after me with the stake.

This was it. I was going to die. Really
die
.

No telling my mother that I really did love her even though she made my life a living hell.

No seeing my father bear trap Viola.

No playing auntie to Nina and Rob’s new baby. No babysitting for Mandy and Jack.

No Evie. No Killer.

No Ty.

No telling him how much I loved him and how sorry I was. No begging him for a second chance.

I’d kept my mouth shut because I’d wanted to know that he loved me anyway. For better or worse.

But that wasn’t fair because I’d never given him a reason to love me like that. I hadn’t been one hundred percent honest and now he would never know the truth. That I should have been honest. That I regretted it.

Like hell.

I gathered my determination and jerked to the side just as he lunged again. Before he could turn, I kicked him in the ass and send him sprawling forward toward the wall.

Sheetrock flew as he hit. I moved fast then, flying across the room and landing another vicious kick to his backside before he could get back up.