JAVIER (2 page)

“Don’t make a fuss. We are going to leave calmly and
quietly, understand?”

The woman gasped in shock then nodded. Javier wound
his arm round her and steered her towards the exit, bending his head down
towards her;

“I am sure you realize that I am armed.  Smile nicely
querida, you and I are going to have a little chat.”

He smiled at the two women at the bar as they watched
him leave, their expressions disappointed. Some other lucky woman had hooked
the tall, utterly gorgeous Spaniard.

CHAPTER 2

A group of men and women stood laughing easily
together and Cassia positioned herself close to them as though part of their
circle. She had entered the club using the side door she had found when she had
checked out the building a couple of weeks ago. It had been locked but that
wasn’t a problem for an expert lock picker like her. She really hoped her mark
would turn up tonight; weeks had passed since she had pulled that little stunt
on Treaty signing day. God, she had been lucky and it was a good thing she was
so fast because those guys had very nearly caught her. Still, she had ensured
he had seen her as she had been instructed. She was very careful to do
everything as instructed; it wasn’t just her life that depended on her
obedience.

Her shoulders were tense and her head itched under the
thick chestnut wig; it was an expensive one, pure hair. These people were going
to a lot of trouble. She was just about to head for the bar and order herself a
drink when she froze; there he was at last, the one from the Arctic Circle
encampment, the one they called Javier of Seville. Melting into the background
she watched him; the surveillance photo she had been given did him no justice
at all. He was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen.

She knew he was tall like all male Vampires; she had
registered that when he had leapt up and started to chase her. Now, as he
lounged against the bar laughing and flirting with those two women she noticed
the easy fluid grace with which he moved his powerful body. He leaned forward
to listen to something the red head was saying and as the light reflected on
his slightly long and untidy golden brown hair she found herself wondering what
colour his eyes were. Angrily she rebuked herself; this would not do. She just
had to carry out her instructions, lure him out of here and then she would be
free and so would Flavia.

She was suddenly jostled as, with loud cheers and
laughter, the group she had attached herself to started hugging and
congratulating one of the couples. Oh, lucky for some, thought Cassia sourly,
they had just got engaged. Steadying herself she turned her attention back to
the bar; damn, where had he gone? One minute he had been leaning back drinking
and now he had disappeared. She searched anxiously round the room hoping he
hadn’t left, that she wouldn’t have to spend yet another night waiting in the
club wearing this damned wig.

She gasped with shock as her arm was grasped in a vice
like grip and she felt herself pulled back against a hard muscular body.  A
quiet voice speaking with a soft Spanish accent told her not to make a fuss;
that they were leaving. How had she not heard him? How had he known? He had
appeared to be completely relaxed and engrossed in his conversation with the
two women. Tucking an arm around her he pulled her close into his side as
though they were lovers; she felt his breath warm against her cheek as he
leaned his head close to hers and whispered a few words in her ear.

As she was guided firmly towards the exit she knew
full well that he was armed.  He had pulled his gun and, under cover of the dim
lights and their tight embrace it was digging extremely painfully into her
ribs. Looking up she saw him smile at the two women at the bar. Well, he was
certainly a cool customer.

Cassia had no choice but to go where he steered her;
as soon as they were clear of the door she would act. Her main objective was to
get him to follow her and she had been told that he would. They passed the
doorman and he must have felt her body tense because he dug the gun even harder
into her as he bid the man a polite goodnight and continued that casual saunter
down the road till they came to the mouth of the alley that ran alongside the
club.  Then everything changed.

His grip on her arm tightened as she was propelled
into the dark alley then slammed back against the wall, the gun pressed hard
against her temple;

“Who the hell are you?” Javier of Seville’s voice was
soft and deadly, his canines fully descended and razor sharp, his eyes cold as
they bored into her.

Cassia felt her first twist of fear.  Based on the
scraps of information she had been given she had assumed he was some sort of
rich international playboy but she had miscalculated. Her eyes slid to the
left, she could see her motor bike where she had left it strategically parked
and ready. His gun screwed harder into her, pain shot through her skull;

“I’m waiting, who sent you?”

She needed to regain control.  Summoning every bit of
her strength Cassia brought her knee up quick and sharp; he grunted with pain
and doubled over leaving her the few seconds she needed to race towards her
bike. Jumping on she gunned the engine and accelerated away sharply causing the
bike to rear up into a wheelie before it sped down the alley.

Javier doubled over in pain. Dios! He had
under-estimated her. Well, she wasn’t getting away from him a second time.
Dropping to one knee he brought his SIG up with both hands and fired twice at
the motor-bike aiming for the rear tyre. As the bike slewed wildly and hit the
wall he was on his feet and running. The woman was thrown wide and rolled then
slid into the waste bins lined up along the side. She had barely scrabbled to
her feet when Javier was on her, grabbing her arm and twisting it up behind her
back. She cried out with pain as he pulled her sharply against him, his other
arm clamped tightly round her waist as he took a deep breath and concentrated
his mind to shift them out.

The pain hit Javier’s neck with sharp searing heat and
he instantly lost focus and lurched forward, his arms dropping. He felt his gun
slip out of numb fingers and spun round blindly with a roar of fury as his
vision started to blacken. The woman’s scream was loud and ringing in his ear
before it was abruptly cut short. Reaching out for the wall he fell to his
knees, desperately trying to haul himself upright as agony ripped through his
body. Death, he thought, death had come for him.  Everything was hard and cold,
he must be on the ground. He felt a sharp kick to his ribs and would have
grunted with pain but his voice was gone; his thoughts were fading. Beatriz, he
thought, my little Bee. The world went black.

CHAPTER 3

Cassia groaned, dragged off the wig and touched the
back of her head carefully again, feeling the wetness under her fingers.
Someone had hit her very hard. She had done everything as they had instructed
yet here she was locked up in this dingy room with pretty boy as company. And
he was out cold. She had done her job; he had followed her and now they had
him. Except that they had captured her too. That hadn’t been part of the deal
and the fact that they had double crossed her filled her with blind terror
about what they would do to Flavia.

Squinting at her watch Cassia saw that she had been
unconscious for about two hours. Her eyes stung, of course, she still had those
lenses in. She removed them carefully then stood up unsteadily and touched the
metal ring around her neck. Who were these people? How had they got hold of an
electronic restraint? The question had baffled her before when they had locked
one around Flavia’s neck. The devices were designed to prevent Vampires from
using their ability to travel through space. Civilians had no access to such
advanced technology. No time to think about that now, she had to get out of
here. Cassia reached into her bra and smiled; this was going to be easy.

There was a low moan from the floor and she stopped.
Javier of Seville was no concern of hers. The only thing she had to do was find
Flavia and get the two of them out. She had an advantage; the Empaths who were
holding them had no idea how well she knew this house. She stood by the locked
door for a full minute before sighing and turning back. Wincing at the twinge
of pain in her head she knelt by Javier’s side as he turned towards her and
moaned again, his eyelashes fluttering slightly as though he was struggling to
regain consciousness. God, Cassia thought, even out cold the man was drop dead gorgeous.
There was no collar around his neck and that didn’t surprise her. They had shot
him with a tranquilizer dart; they obviously expected him to remain unconscious
for hours. She had seen the dart hit him just before she had been knocked out.

Gently she reached out and touched his forehead; it
was cold and clammy. A tremor shot through his body and he appeared to try to
force his eyes open again as a low sound came out of his mouth. It sounded like
he was saying the letter “B”. What did that mean? Suddenly he turned
convulsively on his side towards her and gave a massive dry heave. Great, he
was going to throw up all over her.

Cursing the fact that she had always had a lively
conscience Cassia reached under Javier’s shoulders and dragged him into a semi upright
position, her muscles screaming in protest under the dead weight of his body.
Then she eased two of her fingers into his mouth and jammed them down his
throat. His body convulsed again and he coughed then Cassia scrambled away as
fast as she could as he was violently sick. He carried on, bent over with his
knuckles braced on the floor till he was reduced to dry retching heaves. Then
all Cassia heard were deep shuddering breaths as he pushed himself upright onto
his knees, his body trembling visibly as he peered at her.

“Who…” he managed to croak then coughed.

Cassia looked round then stood and uncapped the bottle
of mineral water left on the rickety table and poured some into one of the
plastic tumblers. Skirting around the pool of vomit she knelt by his side;

“Here, drink some. They shot you with a dart, some
sort of tranquilizer I think.”

Javier took a mouthful of water, swilled it round his
mouth and spat then drank some and cleared his throat. His left hand shot out
and grabbed her wrist. His voice was hoarse and again she noticed the soft
Spanish accent;

“Not Charlotte. I knew that. Who are you?”

“Who is Charlotte? My name is Cassia of the bloodline
of Hugo Mathrafal.”

“Charlotte is…was the woman you were impersonating. I
see you’ve ditched the wig…” he peered closer, “and the lenses.”

Cassia tried to pull her arm away. Javier of Seville
was still shaking and he looked like hell but the grip on her wrist was iron
hard.

“Let go of me, I need to get to Flavia. They’re going
to kill her, probably right after they kill me. I don’t know what they’re
planning to do to you.”

Javier took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut
for a second as a fresh wave of nausea washed through him. He needed to clear
his head and then he needed to get out of here. Looking up he saw the woman
Cassia staring impatiently at him. Her eyes were nothing like Charlotte’s
hazel, they were a deep midnight blue fringed by long black lashes that matched
her raven black hair. She tugged her arm back again then reached out and shook him
urgently;

“Done staring? We need to move, do you hear Javier of
Seville? You can sit here if you want but I’m going to be through that door in
minutes and I’m going to get Flavia. Come on!”

“Who is Flavia?” Javier let go of her wrist then
hauled himself to his feet, steadying himself against the wall as he swayed.

“My sister. They took her to make me agree to their
plan. It’s you they want. They said you would be sure to follow me. Look, she’s
an innocent in all this.”

“You can’t shift. How were you planning to get through
the door?” Javier pushed himself away from the wall and tried the door then
stared as Cassia reached into her clothing and pulled out a set of lock picks.

“There isn’t a lock made that I can’t pick. Move over,
I’d be really surprised if you can shift out yet. You look awful.”

“Amateurs.” Javier muttered as she knelt down and set
to work on the lock. He reached down under his trouser leg into the side of his
boot then grinned as he pulled out the knife he had concealed.

“Rank amateurs.” She was right. He doubted he would be
able to shift out till his body had recovered a bit more; whatever they had
pumped into his system disagreed with him violently.

There was a soft click and Cassia shot to her feet and
grasped the door handle. Javier clamped his hand over hers;

“Wait! I’ll go first…” he stopped in surprise as she
pushed his hand away and hissed;

“I don’t think so. You are still unsteady on your feet
and I know this house. I know where they’ve got Flavia and I know the way out.
I’ll go first, you follow.”

Their eyes met and held for a few seconds then Javier
nodded once sharply. Cassia eased the door open. Golden brown, she thought as
she listened intently, his eyes were golden brown like his hair. What an odd
moment to be noticing something like that. Turning to him she whispered;

“To the left then up a flight of stairs.” Slipping out
into the dark corridor she headed off swiftly and silently. Javier followed
closely behind her, feeling the adrenaline surging through his body helping his
strength to return second by second. He reached out with his acute hearing and
sense of smell knowing she would be doing the same. There was no living being
on this floor. Stealthily they ascended the stairs then Cassia stopped as they
reached a door and whispered;

“We need to be careful, Flavia is blind. If we startle
her she will cry out. I’ll get the door open. Let me go and get her, you keep
watch.”

She knelt in front of the door and Javier squatted
down by her and whispered;

“Who are they? Our captors.”

Cassia frowned as she delicately manoeuvred the picks,
her eyes narrowed;

“Empaths.  We need to keep a lid on our emotions. They
think we’re still locked up. You know how they can sense danger…”

There was a soft click and she got silently to her
feet and glanced at Javier. He nodded as she slipped into the room. She was
right; Empaths had an uncanny ability to sense danger and a confrontation could
be deadly. He took a deep breath; his head had cleared and he was shaking less,
he would probably be able to shift but the restraining collars would stop him
from taking the sisters. He couldn’t leave them, they would have to find
another way out. He felt movement by his side as Cassia emerged from the room
accompanied by a woman who looked like a smaller more delicate version of
herself. Obviously the sister. Javier leaned towards her and whispered;

“My name is Javier, we are going to get you out.” then
he turned to Cassia;

“Do you know if they have a car?”

It was Flavia who nodded, turning deep blue unfocused
eyes towards him;

“Yes, they do. More than one, I’ve heard them.”

Javier turned back to Cassia;

“You said you know the house. We need to get to a car.
Can you lead us out?”

Cassia gave a quick sharp nod and moved rapidly down
the corridor holding Flavia firmly round her waist. She bet Javier could shift
out by now. Why hadn’t he? He didn’t owe her anything. Who was he? Briefly she
remembered her flash of fear in that dark alleyway; not a rich playboy being kidnapped
for money. Rich playboys didn’t keep evil looking knives stuffed down their
boots and the way he had handled that gun had been professional.

They slipped down the stairs into a dimly lit hallway.
Suddenly a door opened and Cassia froze as they came face to face with one of
the Empaths. He smiled mirthlessly and raised his hand. She glanced quickly
behind her; Javier had disappeared. Great, the first sign of trouble and he had
shifted out, saving himself.

“Well now, the lovely Mathrafal sisters. How did you
get out? We would have shot you by now but the boss thought the boys deserved
some fun first. Now I’ll just have to knock you out again.”

As the Empath raised his hand higher Cassia felt the
air around her seem to fill with static and pushed Flavia behind her as she
braced herself for the impact of the energy wave that was about to be unleashed
against them.

It happened so fast she barely had time to register
it. Suddenly Javier materialized in a black vortex behind the Empath, reaching
out and grabbing him round the neck with one arm as the other seemed to move
forward with a swift stabbing motion. The Empath fell to the ground as Javier
pulled his knife out; he had been killed instantly with deadly skill.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Javier motioned them over, “There
are two more of them outside. One of the vehicles is unlocked.”

Cassia stared in shock and hugged Flavia tightly.
Javier had not only killed the Empath, he had also checked out the lie of the
land. In seconds.

Dragging Flavia by the hand she skirted round the body
and followed him. Suddenly it was Javier who was completely in charge.

“Keep your heads down till I say. They’ll come for us
the minute we start the engine.” he whispered as he helped Flavia into the back
of a black SUV and fastened her seatbelt. Then the engine started up and the
vehicle took off as Javier floored the accelerator. Bullets were the least of
their worries; if one of the Empath’s energy waves hit the car it could very
likely knock out all the electronics and stop them in their tracks.

Javier ducked instinctively as the back window
shattered. He saw the Empath with the gun in his wing mirror. Another shot rang
out then he saw a flash of pure white light heading their way.

“Hold on!” he shouted as he swerved to the side. The
energy wave narrowly missed the car and hit a tree, blasting off one of the
branches in a shower of sparks. Swerving back onto the long drive Javier
floored the accelerator again and roared towards the gates cheering silently to
himself; the gates were made of wood, not metal. Bracing himself as the car
hurtled towards them at full speed he lowered his head and let out a loud war
cry as the SUV burst through the gates then careered wildly for a split second
before continuing along the narrow country road. Breathing a sigh of relief he
gave thanks for German engineering before calling out;

“Alright? Stay down a little longer. They may follow.
Where the hell are we Cassia?”

“The house is close to Windsor. You should see signs
soon. The M4 motorway would take us back to London.” Cassia’s voice was muffled
from the back seat.

“Are you alright Flavia?” Javier called. The sister
had seemed in a state of shock but the voice that answered was strong.

“Yes. Are they following us?”

Javier checked again. No lights. Briefly he wondered
why. Perhaps they were awaiting their leader. Perhaps this vehicle had a
tracker. He accelerated; he would dump the SUV at the first opportunity and
change cars. Stopping at a crossroad he checked the signpost and steered
towards the motorway. They had to move quickly. He had to get them all to a
safe place before dawn. Just before the motorway he stopped in a small hamlet
and ushered the women out. He had spotted his target.

“Why have we stopped here?” Cassia whispered as she
stood holding onto her sister.

“Changing cars. They didn’t chase us. That SUV may
have a tracker fitted.” Javier pulled off his jacket and wrapped it round
Flavia. The young woman was shivering, perhaps with a combination of shock and
cold. He touched her cheek reassuringly and smiled;

“It’ll be alright querida. I’m taking you somewhere
safe.”

Cassia felt a sharp pricking in her eyes as she
watched him take something out of the back of the SUV then move with stealthy
grace to a line of three cars parked on a grass verge. He was inside the oldest
car in minutes before gesturing them over. Stealing cars seemed to be one of
his skills as well as killing, she thought, perhaps he was some kind of
gangster. She settled Flavia in the back then climbed into the front passenger
seat, watching as he hotwired the car expertly then set off smoothly down the
road towards the motorway.