Oliver's Hunger (Scanguards Vampires #7) (18 page)

Zane looked into the girl’s eyes, focused on her mind and worked his magic, wiping every memory of this horrific event from her mind. But to stop the bleeding and heal her, he needed help. As a blood-bonded vampire he couldn’t drink blood other than that of his hybrid mate, and if he were to lick the girl’s wounds to close them, he would inadvertently consume some of her blood. It would make him violently ill. He needed a vampire who was either not blood-bonded or blood-bonded to another vampire—they were able to digest blood not coming from their mates.

Besides, the girl’s injuries were severe. She needed vampire blood to heal, simply licking her wounds and allowing the vampire saliva to close them wouldn’t be sufficient.

“We need Cain,” he said to Amaury. “And where the fuck is Thomas?”

***

Cain refrained from holding his hand over his nose and mouth, but it was hard not to puke at the sight of gore that presented itself. The girl on the dirty floor of the room was dead. Her throat had been ripped out, and it was evident that a vampire had savagely fed from her, then finished her off with his claws. As if he’d been angry. No, not just angry: furious! He’d wanted to punish the girl for something.

Her almond-shaped eyes were open, still staring at him in horror. Proof enough that the vampire who’d done this hadn’t bothered using mind control so she wouldn’t realize what he was doing. The poor girl had known what was happening to her.

Cain turned away from the bloody scene and surveyed the room for any sign that could lead him to the vampire who’d done this. Instinctively he knew there would be none. He’d come too late.

He dropped his head when he noticed a small ray of light coming from under one of the mirrored panels. He walked toward it. There was no image in the mirror—even though he was used to it, it still startled him from time to time, making him wonder whether he truly existed, or whether he was only a shadow of his own imagination. Shaking off the wayward thought, he ran his hands along the mirror, searching for any indentations or hooks that might allow him to get behind it. There were no latches, but when he pressed against the panel, it moved away from the wall, revealing another room behind it, by the looks of it a storage room.

A figure jumped at him, the movement a blur, but Cain’s reaction was instantaneous. He slammed his body against the attacker, whom he recognized as a vampire. The stench of blood still clung to him, and he was broader than Cain and a little heavier. Cain landed a right hook under his chin, whipping his attacker’s head back, then followed it up with a balled fist against his windpipe, then a kick against his thigh.

But the guy didn’t buckle as easily as other opponents had before him.

“Shit!”

The vampire shot him a nasty grin. “Better blood!”

Momentarily distracted by the odd comment, Cain couldn’t avoid the hit to his neck that slammed him against the storage unit on one wall. Pain whipped through him, but it was only momentary. He pulled himself up immediately and was thus able to evade the next blow. Cain jumped to the side, kicking his attacker in the hip, catapulting him against the opposite wall.

“Fucking murderer!” he cursed, glaring at the jerk.

The vampire growled, narrowing his eyes as he prepared for a counterattack. “She didn’t have the right blood! Bitch deserved it!”

The crazy vampire was clearly delirious, his mumblings not making any sense. Bloodlust was written all over him: his breathing was ragged, his eyes bloodshot, saliva dripping from his mouth as from a rabid dog. Unfortunately, another thing was true too: like other vampires in bloodlust, he seemed stronger and more ferocious.

As they fought, trading blows, kicks, and hits, Cain frantically looked for any weapons he could use to subdue his opponent without killing him. He had a stake in his jacket pocket, but he wasn’t going to use it. Zane’s order had been to take the crazy vampires they’d been hunting alive. If they could capture one alive, they would have a chance of figuring out what was going on.

With his next blow, the rogue vampire swiped Cain’s neck with his claws. Blood ran from the stinging cuts.

Fury charged through him, and he pushed back, pulling up his knee and driving it into the guy’s nuts. As his torso folded over, Cain kicked upwards once more, sending him against the cabinet behind him, making the supplies on it rattle and the items stacked in the shelves fall out.

Cain pinned him against the shelving unit, his arm across his opponent’s neck. “Gotcha!”

The rogue’s eyes danced first to the left then to the right, his arms reaching out. “No you don’t!”

When his attacker’s arm pulled forward, Cain saw him holding a piece of wood.

“Shit!”

Releasing the guy’s neck, Cain reached into his pocket in the same instant as he made a half-turn getting out of the way of the swinging arm that held the makeshift stake. Palming his own stake now, he completed the turn and slammed it into the guy’s chest.

Noise behind him made him turn on his heels, while his opponent disintegrated into dust. He raised his stake, ready to attack whoever had entered, when he sighed in relief.

“Thomas,” he breathed. “About time!”

Next to Thomas, Eddie popped his head into the room. “Sorry, there was an accident involving a bus on Mission. We got stuck,” Eddie explained.

“I had no choice,” Cain said, looking back at the place where the vampire’s dust now settled on the floor. “I guess there goes another chance at finding out what’s going on.” He’d failed, and he didn’t like failure.

“Don’t worry.” Thomas motioned his head to the room where the dead girl lay massacred. “He deserved it. Besides, Zane and Amaury got a live one.”

Cain let out a sigh of relief.

“Clean up time,” Eddie suggested.

Cain squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “She must have suffered terribly.” When he looked up at his two colleagues, they answered his look with sad gazes of their own.

“He’ll burn in hell for it,” Thomas claimed.

Cain shook his head. “He’s free now. I should have let him live to show him what hell really is.” Because hell wasn’t on some other plane. It was right in this world.

***

Cain left the cleanup to Thomas and the other vampires who’d arrived shortly after him, and transported the prisoner that Zane and Amaury had taken back to Scanguards’ Headquarters in the Mission. While Zane and Amaury took the still-struggling vampire to one of the holding cells in the basement, Cain headed for the
V
lounge, a large room only accessible to vampires via their specially-coded ID cards.

He needed a distraction from what he’d seen tonight, and he knew the lounge would provide it.

As he entered, the calming atmosphere of the room instantly eased away the tension of the night. The lounge felt like an old gentlemen’s club with comfortable seating arrangements, a fireplace and a bar with blood on tap.

This was where vampires rested between assignments, caught up with their colleagues, or enjoyed a quick snack. Visiting vampires who weren’t part of Scanguards were also entertained here, but tonight Cain saw only colleagues. No visitors were present. He nodded to several of the vampires as he walked up to the bar and leaned against the counter. The woman behind it smiled at him.

He let his eyes travel over her black dress which hid none of her curves. His mouth watered at the sight. Even though he had no actual memory of it, he knew he preferred curvaceous women.

“What can I get you?” she asked politely.

How about you on a platter?
he thought, but stopped himself. It would do no good screwing somebody in Scanguards’ employ. After all, he wasn’t interested in a relationship, and things could turn awkward if he had to see her again after a one-night-stand. She was a vampire and therefore wiping her memory after the act was not an option. That particular trick didn’t work on vampires, only on humans.

He would have to go to a night club on his night off and pick up a human for some uncomplicated sex, just like the vampire he’d met earlier tonight had done. But the thought of visiting a nightclub didn’t appeal to him right now, not after what he’d seen there tonight. Perhaps a visit to Vera’s brothel would be in order. Her girls were pretty and asked no questions. And ever since he’d started working for Scanguards, he had enough money to spend on diversions like that.

Cane pointed to one of the taps. “AB positive, please.”

His eyes continued to watch her as she poured the red liquid into a wine glass and put it in front of him, then tapped her register. Without having to be prompted, he swiped his ID to pay for his drink. The price of the blood was subsidized by Scanguards. In fact, Scanguards sold it to its employees at cost, a service they provided in order to convince more vampires to drink bottled blood rather than feed directly from humans.

Cain liked the convenience of bottled blood, but on occasion he went out to hunt. It wasn’t something he flaunted, particularly in front of Oliver, who had enough problems with keeping himself in check. It wouldn’t help him if he knew that Cain also enjoyed a little hunt now and then. He fully agreed with Quinn, though, that Oliver first had to learn to control himself before he could be let loose on the general public. And from what Cain could see, Oliver was as far away from that goal as he’d ever been.

Cain took his drink and slunk into an empty Wingback armchair in front of the fireplace.

The words of the vampire he’d killed echoed in his head.
She didn’t have the right blood.

What had he meant by that?

21

Ursula leaned back in the passenger seat as Oliver navigated the van through the nearly empty city streets. She felt tired and relaxed at the same time. As well as a tiny bit embarrassed about her behavior. She’d never been so . . . forward. And with a vampire of all creatures.

She could only hope that she hadn’t made a mistake by trusting him.

“Do you regret it?” Oliver asked out of the blue, casting her a sideways glance. “Is that why you’re frowning?”

“I’m frowning? I’m sorry. I was just wondering how you’re going to find the vampire whose wallet I stole and what you’ll say to him.”

“Don’t worry. That’s what I’m trained for. He won’t be hard to find. There’s a driver’s license in the wallet. That’s where I’ll start.”

“And then?” She cast him a doubting look. “When you find him, what will you say?” Would the leech admit that he’d been to the blood brothel and fed off the girls? Or would he deny its existence?

“I’ll make him talk. I promise you.”

She nodded. “And if he doesn’t know where they moved the operation to?”

“I have the feeling that he does. I would imagine that they told all regular clients where they were going. Why go looking for new clients when they can bring the old ones back? They must have a way of letting their existing cliental know where they can be found now.”

“I hope you’re right. We have to find where they’ve taken the other girls.” She had to keep her promise toward them and help them get out of the hellhole they were in.

“You care about them,” Oliver stated.

“We were like sisters. We weren’t allowed much contact, but we found ways to communicate anyway. Going through the same pain binds you together.” That’s why she had to help them, because knowing they were still suffering hurt her.

“I’ll do what I can. But you know that once we know where they’re holed up, we have to involve Scanguards. It’s not something I can do on my own.”

Ursula knew what he was alluding to. “But you won’t tell them about my special blood, will you?” She looked at him, but he continued to stare straight ahead.

“Why are you so afraid about them finding out? You told
me
about it.”

“I don’t know them. What if they’re like the vampires who held me captive? What if they want the same?”

Oliver shook his head. “You don’t know me either.”

Her breath hitched. What was he trying to tell her? “You want my blood too?” Her voice broke. Had she made a huge mistake by trusting him?

She heard him breathe hard, then she noticed a shudder go through his body.

“It’s not what you think. I want your blood, yes. Because of what we just did.” He cast her a predatory look. “When a vampire makes love, he wants to take his woman every way he can. And that means sinking his fangs into her and drinking her blood.”

Ursula shrunk back into her seat, inching closer to the door.

He seemed to notice and lifted his hand from the steering wheel. “You don’t have to be afraid of me. I won’t take your blood, because I can’t.”

With disbelief, she stared at him, not understanding what he was saying. “But you just said—”

“I know what I said,” he interrupted. “But there’s something you have to know. If your blood is like a drug, then it will be forever off limits to me. I was an addict a long time ago. When I was human. And I’m never going back to that. Never.”

His blue eyes sought hers, looking at her with an intensity she’d never seen before.

“Because if I ever go back to drugs, no matter what kind of drug it is, I won’t make it this time. It’ll destroy me, but I won’t throw away the second life I’ve been given.”

His determined voice gave her pause. Was he really strong enough to resist the temptation?

“I’d rather forego the pleasure of feeding from you when making love to you than become an addict again.” He paused for a moment. “That is if you ever let me make love to you again.”

One single word escaped her lips. “Oh.” He wanted to make love to her again? She lowered her gaze.

“You don’t have to answer me now. I only ask that you don’t dismiss me outright because of what I just told you. But I thought you’d appreciate the truth.”

She raised her eyes to look at him, wanting to tell him that she wanted nothing more than joining her body with his when she noticed a red glow in his eyes. It was something she was more than familiar with. Her gaze instantly dropped to his hands gripping the steering wheel. Claws started pushing through his fingertips.