Minty (12 page)

“Do you still deny this meeting?”

“Yes, I have no memory of it?”

He looked at her. “Could he have wiped her memory?”

“I don’t see how, I am older by centuries than Bider and I can’t find an entry into her. She is one of the rare that cannot be influenced.” They all looked at her for a long time.

The one on the table nodded. They brought a woman forward. She seemed to be on drugs or in a trance. She walked forward, but her eyes seemed to not see anything in the room.

“So, he didn’t tell you that he was a nightwalker?”

She looked from the woman to him. “As I said, I’m not familiar with the term.”

“And he didn’t say he was a nightwalker. He did request you serve him?” He was reaching out for the woman. Minty watched, but she shook her head
no
.

“Do you know what a Vampire is?”

She looked at him for a long moment.
Okay, where are we going now?
“I have seen the movies and read the books. I don’t believe them.”

“Really.” There were a couple of chuckles in the room. She felt pressure on her shoulders as she was held tightly by the two heavy hands.

He looked directly at her and opened his mouth and she saw the impossible. His canine teeth began to grow, to extend downward. He pulled the woman over, grabbing her hair. He twisted her over until he had her exposed neck in front of him. He stared at Minty’s eyes over the woman. He sank his teeth into the neck and began to suck.

The woman sighed and shuddered almost as if she was having a sexual experience. He never took his eyes from Minty as he drank the blood he sucked from the woman. The woman began to fall from weakness. He finally withdrew and ran his tongue over her neck and let her fall to the floor. One of the men stepped forward, half picked up the woman and dragged her away.

“Everyone in this room is what you would call a Vampire, with the exception of you and that useless trash. We call ourselves nightwalkers because we prefer the night. Now, your Alex is definitely one of us. Do you want to tell me one more time that he did not reveal himself to you in any way?”

She couldn’t answer. Her mind was working somewhere inside, but telling her that her body was able to keep her alive, to keep all the processes working. It didn’t need her conscious brain to supply the body. That was good because she was still processing what she had just been exposed to with this feeding. She didn’t even have the relief of fainting. She just sat there, held in place by some monster behind her, while she watched these monsters in front of her.

“I believe her. He never let her know about nightwalkers. Take her back up to the office until we find out why he wanted her, what we should do with her. I need to return to Rome, and you need to get your men together to see if you can build a bigger army.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was strange
—
Alex was in the middle of a meeting at the large conference table. He sat in one of the large chairs at the head, looking out without much interest at the group at the foot of the table.

They had only allowed two of the petitioners to sit. The rest stood around the chairs or against the wall, all pleading their cases. This was a no win situation. No matter how the Council ruled, everyone was going to lose. Even the Council was going to have to give up something. Politics fucked. Alex was glad to have the interruption of the vibration of his cell phone. He had been holding it on his thigh so he just raised it enough to let him view the screen. It was a text from Rad. He opened it and felt his breath freeze.

“She is gone and it looks like she was taken by a rogue. Rad.”

Alex was up and moving out of the room immediately. He heard the shouts behind him. At the elevator he waited for Deck. Deck was his shadow and self-appointed bodyguard. Due to saving the male, and the male saving him a couple of centuries ago, Deck was attached to Alex. “I need you to stay here. Report to me the actions of this untrustworthy vermin.” He halted the denial from Deck. “It is important that I leave. It is also important that I know, first hand, what they are up to. I depend on you.” He turned, entered the elevator, not acknowledging the protests behind him.

On the way down, he dialed for his car. It was pulling up at the curb as he left the building. In the car he made arrangements for a private jet to get him to England. From there he got a first class ticket on the first available flight to New York. He told his servant in New York to be sure to meet him with his usual package. This would include fighting clothes and two important knives. The small one was for his boot but the larger one had leather wrapping. The smell of her was strong on it.

On the flight over the ocean he talked first to Misty and Rad. That didn’t gain him much, so he talked next to Rex. “Give me the details, leave nothing out.”

“Lord Alex, I went to her apartment. She didn’t answer. I went in and it was trashed. There had been a fight. Whoever took her, she didn’t go easy. The rooms had the smell of rogues.” Fuck, someone was going to pay in a very painful way. His dark side was going to be very happy. “I went through the building and viewed the manager and the tenants. She was rather private, but they hadn’t seen her or heard her for days. Either they had taken her when no one was there or their memory was wiped.

“I went to Angela, you remember the blond with the big tits? I have kept her, giving her a little education, anyways she told me the last day the female was at work. She also had some interesting info. She and the female had stopped at a coffee shop. A tall dark dude was scoping out the female. This was about two days before she missed work. Based on this it means she has now been missing for about four days.”

There was silence on the sat phone and Rex spoke again. “What can I do to prepare for your return?”

“Rex, there are rogues in your area that we missed. Find them and hold them for me. Get as many as you can. I will be there in twelve hours. I don’t want anyone in the interrogations except for you, understand?”

“Clear, I will have the right area for your needs.”

Chapter Fourteen

Minty gave no resistance as she was taken and pushed into another office. She stood as one of the men tore the door off the lavatory. Finally she was alone except for the backs of the guards outside the cloudy windows.

She lay down on the floor to just wait. She got up to eat when they brought her food. She used the lavatory. This went on for days
—
she had no idea how many days, but finally, she was leaning up in the corner, her knees drawn up, her arms wrapped around them with her head down. She was tired, dirty and totally confused.

She heard the voice in her head.

“Do you know who this is?”

She sat upright and looked at the door and at the backs of the guards. They hadn’t heard the voice. Only she heard the voice.

“Close your eyes so that you are in the dark. Talk to me in you mind. I order you. Who am I?”

She gasped and tightened all her muscles. She felt the panic of her dark fear, but there was light in the room. She had to do what the voice said, she wanted to do what the voice said. She lowered her head and closed her eyes.

“You are my Master.”

“And who do I have with me, sharp and silver, rough with leather?”

She shuddered, but actually began to feel warm. She had to answer and she had to say it correctly.
“You have the knife that I love, Master.”

“Good, we are coming to rescue you so that we both can let you show that you love us. But you must do some things to help us.”

She turned into the corner to make it darker and went to her knees.
“What would you have me do, Master?”

“Can you tell us where you are at? the knife thrusts for the blood of those who touched you.”

“I am in an office in a warehouse.”

“I do not wish to punish you except for pleasure for both of us, but you must tell me more and better. Where are you?”

She sobbed, but she didn’t want the guards to know she was crying. She didn’t want the Master or the knife to punish her. She tried.

“They put me in a car, and yes, it went west because when it was dawn, the sun was behind us. We drove one afternoon, all night and one morning until we reached a city. We drove in traffic until we went to a warehouse. It is new, not old and dirty. We drove right inside. Please don’t punish me except for pleasure.”

“I am your Master and I will decide what you will do. Now tell me more. How many came to your apartment and did they hurt you?”

“Two came in fast and I fought because they were not you, and I wouldn’t let them touch what belonged to my Master. I hurt one and that made him mad. He hit me and knocked me out. When I woke up I was in the car between these two and two more were in the front seat. My jaw is black and blue. It hurts when I eat on that side but they are feeding me. I am sorry, Master. Am I saying too much?”

“No, I require everything. Knife is crying out for the blood of the one who struck you. He will make that one die very slowly with a lot of blood. How many are with you now?”

She took a moment to think about this and decided that he needed to know all of it.
“After I was here a couple of days, two men came in who questioned me. They were also Masters as everyone else obeyed them. They told me that they were nightwalkers and that you are one also. One of them drained blood from a woman to prove this to me. Then he told the other that he was going back to Rome. There are now eleven men and no Masters here today. Did I do good, Master?”

There was silence and she was worried. She needed his voice. She needed him to come and save her.
“Master, did I do wrong? Don’t punish me with the dark. Please tell me what to do?”

“I am your Master, I have no need to tell you if you do good, I only punish you if you do bad. I won’t be with you for another day, but I want you to fight them. Also, see if you can find any view outside. See if you can find out what city you are in. Now when it is dark, and they think you are sleeping, you will place your hand inside your jeans and rub your clit until you come. You will do this two times and you will think of the knife in your ass both times. I will be there in the future to rescue you.”

She dried her tears and smiled. She looked at the back of the guards. They were dead
—
they just didn’t know it.

Later when they brought her the boring fast food hamburger lunch, she sat down and ate. As she was folding up the papers she noticed a small white piece of paper in the bottom of the bag. It was the receipt and on it was the
Thank You,
the number of the store and the location in Kansas City, Kansas.

She left the receipt in the bag and threw it all away as usual in a trash container that was getting full. She used the lavatory, getting used to the lack of privacy. She walked and stretched in order to wear herself out.

After dark she lay on her back, looking at the pale stars above. She looked over at the windows. The guards were out of sight. Evidently they had gotten used to her sleeping. She rolled over to face the wall. She loosened her jeans and inserted her hand down between her legs to push between her folds and felt the moisture form immediately as she closed her eyes. But she flinched as she remembered the intrusion of the knife in her rectum. Her Master said she must, so she worked her fingers against her heat. The tender nub rose up and loved the attention. She shuddered as she climaxed, but she kept on, rubbed again. It took longer and she thought of the rough intrusion in her ass. Suddenly she came with a huge climax, then all thought went away as she fell asleep.

Chapter Fifteen

Rex met Alex at the airport in Chicago and swept him through the busy terminal to the waiting limo sitting at the curb.

“We must wait only a moment while your servant claims your luggage. I can report briefly. I have also let Rad know the details. He is here with our team. There is something larger going on. It wasn’t just Bathromo trying to get back in power. There are too many to just be a group of rogues forming a clan.”

Rex looked at the Council Lord. “Rad tells us it looks like someone is making an outright attempt to take over the Council and change the ruling party. You are going to find out he isn’t happy with you away from Rome.”

“Fuck him
—
where is my luggage? I have a lead on where she’s being held.”

Rex nodded, making his way to the limo. The servant was now running towards them with two bags bumping behind him. Rex went back and opened the rear door for the luggage.

As the dark car traveled west towards a safe house, Rex phoned his sire, Radames. “Sire, we are moving to the safe house. We have the Council Lord now. Yes.” Rex held out the phone to Alex who was sitting like a hand grenade someone had already pulled the pin. Rex could still hear Radames at the other end.

“We need you in Rome
—
we will find the female.”

“Fuck you, I will find her and I am here, for all I care Rome can cave in on the stinking asshole it created. I want this female.”

There was silence. Both men had heard the long sigh from Rad again. “Alex, I know your need, I have been there. Where is your shadow, Deck? Okay, I am with it. Go get her and ask Rex for whatever help, because there are Vamps out there that need to be dusted, but we also need answers. We need to know how high up this goes and who is at the top. Between you and Rex, if you get your head in the right place about this female, you can get those answers. Then you can get back to Rome to clamp down on this. Hear me?”