Sex and the Single Vampire (31 page)

I stood next to the bed, hesitating, knowing that if I didn’t do something, Sebastian would slip away. He needed
help, and I couldn’t turn to either Roxy or Raphael for that help. They simply did not understand.

I hope you’re all right, Christian. I hope you understand that I have to do this first.

Sebastian moaned a wordless protest as I sat on the bed next to him.

“You need blood,” I told him quietly, rolling up my sleeve. Roxy moved away from the bed, giving us room as I offered my wrist.

Sebastian closed his eyes, his lips thinned into a tight line.

“Come on,” I said, shaking my wrist beneath his nose. “I’m offering this to you of my own free will. Please take it. Christian would want you to.”

His breath hissed through his teeth.

“I
want you to.”

He turned his face away from my wrist.

I squished his lips apart and shoved the delicate flesh of my inner wrist up against his teeth. “For God’s sake, I’ve never had to beg anyone to drink my blood. Now will you just take it!”

His hands fluttered against the bed. “Not you,” he mumbled against my wrist. “Beloved.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake …”

“What’s wrong?” Roxy asked as I straightened up.

“He won’t feed off me. I think it’s something to do with the fact that I’m Christian’s Beloved.”

“Glad to know you’ve finally seen the light,” Roxy said, then tapped her chin as she thought. “You know, I think he’s right. You haven’t Joined with Christian, have you?”

I shook my head.

She continued chin tapping. “That makes sense. Once a Beloved is claimed, you go into kind of a holding zone, a limbo as far as other Dark Ones are concerned. You’re not Joined, so you’re not a Moravian, and yet you’re not
quite human because you’ve completed all but a few steps of Joining.”

“There’s just the last one remaining,” I admitted. “Wait a minute—what do you mean I’m not quite human?”

“According to what Christian wrote in one of his books—you really need to read them; you’re sadly ignorant of even the most basic Dark One lore, and that’s bound to be a handicap when you’re married to one—your blood is actually like poison to any other Dark Ones.”

I gaped at her. “Of all the ridiculous things I’ve ever heard! My blood is not poisonous!”

“Not to Christian, no, but just you dribble a bit on poor Sebastian’s lips and he’ll be stiffer than a three-day-dead dog.”

We all looked at Sebastian. He lay so still, so lifeless he almost looked as if he were already dead. I couldn’t leave him like that, I just couldn’t. Not only would Christian not want his friend to suffer; I couldn’t allow it. Not when there was a way to help him.

“Now what will you do?” Raphael asked. I turned toward him and smiled.

He was out even before he saw the punch coming.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Roxy gasped as Raphael hit the floor. She looked from his massive body to my small fist. “And more important,
how
did you do it?”

I grabbed one of his arms and nodded toward the other one. “Come on, help me—he won’t be out for long. I used a spell to add some wallop to my punch, but it doesn’t last long. I’m not very good at casting spells.”

Roxy grunted as we heaved Raphael’s torso up onto the bed, his head lolling next to Sebastian’s thigh. I rolled up his sleeve and dragged his arm up over his head. “Dinner’s served,” I told Sebastian.

He looked from the wrist in front of his mouth down to the unconscious man lying half-on, half-off the bed.

“You don’t have any other choice,” I told him. “I realize you feel weird about dining off of someone who helped save you, but I won’t force Roxy, and you turned me down. It’s Raphael or nothing.”

Sebastian nodded, his reluctance evident even as his lips parted.

“Raphael is going to be
so
pissed at you,” Roxy said, her eyes wide as she watched Sebastian’s fangs sink into Raphael’s wrist. “I mean, majorly pissed. We’re talking world-class pissed here.”

“Tell him he has to take a number,” I said, pulling the rag doll keeper from beneath my sweater and setting it carefully on the floor. “There are a lot of other people who were angry with me first. I might as well do this while Sebastian is filling up.”

“Do what? What’s that doll?”

I explained about the ghost Guarda had Summoned as I chalked out a circle.

“Wait a second, if she Summoned the ghost and bound it to a keeper, how can you do anything for her? I thought there was some rule that said first come, first served.”

“There’s another rule that I like better,” I said as I pulled out a small pair of scissors, a length of ribbon, and the bottle of holy water. “Finders keepers.”

Roxy hesitated for a moment, then came around to where I had drawn a circle.

“Is Raphael going to be all right with him?”

I glanced over to the bed. “Sebastian.”

The Dark One’s eyes opened, and I was startled to see they were a clear, true blue rather than the grayish black they had first appeared. His lips caressed Raphael’s wrist.

“Don’t take too much; he’s one of the good guys. All right?”

He managed a small nod.

I sat down before the circle and snipped a long strand of my hair.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but do you … er … trust him?”

“Yes.” I glanced up at her. “I thought you were an expert on the Dark Ones. You of all people should know that Sebastian feels a sense of obligation to Raphael. He would never harm him.”

“Oh. I guess you’re right. It’s just that Raphael’s a friend, and I don’t want to see him … er … drained dry, for lack of better word.”

I smiled. “He won’t be. Sebastian will take care.”

“You can feel that?”

I nodded. “I can feel it.”

“Okay.” With one last glance at them, Roxy sat down beside me. “So how do you ‘finders keepers’ this ghost?”

I set the keeper in the circle, my strand of hair laid across the doll’s neck. “I’ve never actually done this, so I’m not sure if it’ll work or not. Theoretically it should, but who knows?”

The ribbon was used to bind the doll’s hands behind its back. I dug into my bag until I found a length of plum-colored cloth wrapped around a long silver object.

“That’s gorgeous. What is it?”

I held it up so Roxy could see the figures of two lovers entwined on the top. “It’s a hatpin, really, one of the old-fashioned kind. A wizard friend of mine made it for me. I use it for spells, though.”

“Cool. Does he take orders?”

I shook my head, glanced over to make sure Sebastian and Raphael were all right, then sketched a binding ward and closed the circle, the keeper and my hands within it. Using the hatpin, I pricked the doll’s heart.

“This pin pierces your heart, I see, so let it now be bound only to me.”

“Wow, magic,” Roxy said, her eyes huge.

I snipped the ribbon binding the keeper’s arms, signifying the spirit’s bindings to Guarda being destroyed. “Threads your body first entwined, now find you are bound to mine.”

“Why do spells always have to rhyme? I mean, it makes for some fairly bad poetry.”

“It gets worse, I’m afraid,” I told her as I wove the strand of my hair into the ragged, twisted cloth that made up the doll’s hair. “As I am now part of thee, so you will answer only to me.”

Roxy groaned.

“Last one.”

“Good. I don’t think I could survive much more. You really need to take a couple of poetry classes before you do this again. I’m thinking something along the lines of an ode would help.”

I used the hatpin to prick my finger, pressing the drop of blood into two marks on either side of the circle. “With my blood I do command you to heed my call and stand.”

“Oh, that was
so
lame—Hey! It’s working!”

I pulled my hands from the circle as the air within turned opaque, first light gray, then darker, until the image of a small girl in Victorian dress shimmered in the air.

I grounded the spirit. “What is your name?”

“Honoria Entemann.”

Roxy blew out a low whistle.

“Honoria Entemann, do you wish to be Released?”

I swore tears glittered in her ghostly eyes. She hugged the ghostly image of the rag doll to her chest and nodded. “Please.”

I stood up, traced the ward of protection, and sprinkled ginseng all around the spirit, focusing my mind and
speaking the words of Release. With my eyes closed, I summoned every last ounce of will to urge the spirit to move on.

“That was interesting. Is it actually supposed to do something?”

I opened my eyes. The teary-eyed ghost still stood before me. I swore under my breath and carefully stoppered the ginseng.

“Yes, it’s supposed to do something, but I don’t have time to figure out what went wrong. Esme, I Summon you.”

Esme materialized before us. “Oh, my, you’ve sneezed up another one! What an adorable, sweet child! Where did you come from?”

Honoria threw herself at Esme and sobbed.

I limped over to the bed. “I didn’t Summon her; I cut her loose from Guarda. Are Joy and the others all right?”

Esme stroked Honoria’s head. “Yes, she’s fine. She beat Antonio three hands in a row at strip poker, but I don’t think he minded much. Jem decided to pierce his tongue, but something went wrong and now it’s gone missing.”

I blinked. “The piercing stud?”

“No, his tongue. He’s most vexed about it, too.”

I took a deep breath and pushed from my mind the thought of a disattached ghostly tongue. “I tried to Release Honoria but didn’t have any luck, and I have to go save Christian just as soon as I talk to Sebastian and figure out what’s holding Christian there, so if you could just take care of her for a bit …”

“I’d be delighted to. Come, little one. I have the most amazing thing to show you. It’s called a television, and if we’re lucky,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
will be on BBC 2….”

Their forms evaporated as I gently touched Sebastian’s head. “I think that’s probably enough.”

Slowly he pulled his mouth from Raphael’s wrist, his tongue giving it a final flick as he gently released the arm.

“Wow,” Roxy breathed, looking at the faint twin puncture marks on Raphael’s wrist. The marks dissolved into nothing as we watched.

I eyed Sebastian. He still looked awful, but at least his skin had lost the grayish cast. “Rest for a minute; then I need to talk to you.”

His eyes drifted shut.

Roxy and I managed to get Raphael onto the armchair next to the bed. I covered him up with a blanket, and quickly ran downstairs while Roxy stayed behind to watch over Raphael and Sebastian.

She looked up as I set a plate of pound cake and a glass of apple juice next to Raphael for when he woke up. “You know, I used to think this whole Dark One world was so fascinating, but I have to admit, it’s a bit freaky seeing a vampire drinking your friend’s blood.”

I put my hand on Raphael’s forehead and opened my mind up to him. I’m not very good at sensing people’s emotions, but he didn’t seem to be in any distress. “I think he’s okay; Sebastian was careful. Raphael probably won’t even know what happened unless you tell him.”

She looked faintly sick. “Think I’ll pass on that.”

I glanced at Sebastian. He was watching us now, his eyes the clear blue of a summer sky, a faint flush of color on his cheeks.

“Can you talk?”

His throat worked as he nodded. “A bit.”

He had an accent, but one that sounded slightly different from Christian’s. More French, perhaps.

Roxy winced at his words. “Ow. Sounds like you’re gargling glass.”

I agreed, but felt little remorse in questioning him. I had done what I could to tide him over until he could be helped properly; now it was his turn to help me. “Did you
see what happened to Christian when he went in to rescue you?”

He shook his head, lifting one fragile hand to touch his eye. “Couldn’t see. Blind.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. But you can see now, yes?”

He nodded.

“You do know that Christian saved you?”

His lips stretched into what must have been a smile, but just looked terrible with him so emaciated. “Yes. Knew he would. Brothers.”

I stared. Christian had never mentioned a brother, other than having lost one when he was young. “Christian is your brother?”

He shook his head, his long fingers fumbling with the cloth until he found the area over his heart.

“Oh, I see, he’s the brother of your heart. Well, good, then you understand why I’m so concerned about him. Is someone holding him?”

Pain filled Sebastian’s blue eyes. “Didn’t know. Hadn’t thought he’d come back so soon.”

“Who? The person who captured you? Is that who has Christian?” The air in my lungs seemed to thicken until I couldn’t draw a breath.

Sebastian’s throat worked as if he had a hard time saying the word. “Asmodeus.”

My blood froze solid. Now I was not only not breathing; my heart had stopped as well. It was amazing I could still think. Then again, perhaps I was delusional. Perhaps I had just imagined that Sebastian had named the demon lord, the being who had once been a man and now ruled a dark army of such power that even wizards and mages feared to meet with them. Yes, I’m sure that was all it was—a mistake. Sebastian hadn’t just spoken the name of one of the most frightening beings in all of existence.

“A demon lord.” I exhaled, air suddenly finding its way into my lungs again.

“Oooh, I’ve read about them in Christian’s books. They’re bad news.”

The knowledge of what Christian must be going through was dark in Sebastian’s eyes, bringing tears to my own.

“I am not going to leave him there to suffer as you have suffered,” I vowed, closing my hand around his fingers. His hands were weak, but I could feel the strength that they once held. “You have to help me, Sebastian. You have to tell me everything you know about Asmodeus, and how he came to be in cahoots with Eduardo and Guarda.” I grabbed the tattered remains of his shirt and shook it to drive home just how serious I was. “You must tell me exactly what happened to you, how they caught you, how they kept you so weak you were unable to escape or even answer Christian’s call, and most important, you have to tell me everything you can remember about Christian saving you!”