Tempted in the Night (32 page)

At first, she didn't know what to do. The music was playing so loud, she could hardly think. Around her, everyone's image wavered like they were passing before a funhouse mirror.

Jess knew she had to act. She had the skill and training to kill a vampire, even under the influence of whatever drug she'd been injected with.

A man eating a sausage-on-a-stick stepped up beside her, temporarily blocking her view of the vampire. As she tried to see around him, her gaze fell on the food. As the crowd surged forward, she grabbed the sausage from his hand and disappeared before he could stop her.

When she knew she was safe, she used her fingers to remove the sausage and stared at the sharp stick she was left holding. It wasn't the ideal weapon, but she was short on options.

Now she was ready to do what needed to be done. She would find the vampire and before she killed him, she would find out what he'd done to John.

Clutching the stick in her hand, she moved into the crowd. Up ahead, she spotted the vampire and moved toward him. She was only a few feet away when he glanced back and saw her. Again, he smiled and she saw the fangs. Surprisingly, he didn't try to run from her, but turned back to whatever he'd been watching earlier.

She moved right up to him and pressed the stick against his back, applying enough pressure to get his attention.

There was a surprised expression on his face when he looked down at her.

"Over there," she said, gesturing to the side with her head.

He nodded and did as she asked. Thankfully, despite how crowded the streets were, no one seemed to pay them any attention and Jess directed the vampire to the nearest alley.

"I don't know what it is you want, lady—," the vampire began, but Jess didn't give him a chance to finish. She kicked the back of his knee and he fell to the ground with a cry.

Before he could do anything, she was on him with the pointed end of the stick pressed painfully into his back. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" the vampire asked, his faked innocence making Jess furious.

"Listen, you fucking bloodsucker, I want to know what you did with John. Tell me, now."

"Jess," a familiar voice said quietly behind her. She looked over her shoulder and squinted to bring the face into focus. "Harris!"

"John called me," he said calmly. "He said you were in trouble; that you had been kidnapped."

"Something happened to John. He was with me in the crowd and then he just disappeared. I think this vampire knows something about it."

"No, man, I don't," the vampire said urgently. "You
gotta
help me. She's nuts."

"Shut up," Jess said, applying more pressure. Blood welled up where the stick punctured the skin, soaking into the fabric of his shirt. Jess told herself to be careful not to stake him before she got the information she wanted.

"Jess, you don't want to hurt him."

"You're wasting your breath," she growled. She dug her knee into the vampire's back a little harder, until he cried out. "Tell me where John is."

"I don't know," the vampire cried. "Please, lady, I'd tell you if I did. I don't even know who John is."

"Jess!"
Harris shouted. "You're making a mistake."

Jess snorted in disgust. He'd shown his true
colors
at last, trying to save one of his own. Well, she'd deal with him next. Knowing she'd get nothing more from the vampire, she raised her hand, gripping the stick as tightly as she could and brought it down—hard.

Before the stick met flesh, Jess was hit by something powerful that knocked her off the vampire and pinned her to the ground. She immediately began fighting for her life. Whoever attacked her, though, was stronger and faster. Too soon, the stake was ripped from her fist and she was forcibly subdued.

Fighting the panic at being rendered so helpless, she glared up at her attacker and saw Harris holding her. "I should have known you'd save one of your own," she spit out.

"No," he replied with a patience that sounded forced. "I'm trying to save a
human
life."

She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "Don't argue with me," he said sharply. "Look at him." Suddenly, he was off and jerking her up to stand beside him, but not releasing her hands. "Look.
At.
Him," he commanded again. When she refused to cooperate, he shook her until she felt like he'd scrambled her brains.

Too dizzy to disobey, she looked at the other vampire. Slowly, his face came into focus, but instead of the bright red glow of vampire eyes, she saw bloodshot blue eyes, bright from unshed tears and staring at her in terror. Her gaze fell to his mouth, where a pair of plastic vampire fangs dangled, nearly bitten in half. Slowly, reality returned. She had almost killed a human.

The horror of what she'd almost done hit her, paralyzing her with its sheer magnitude until she could hardly breathe, let alone stand.

Harris, as if sensing this, lowered her gently to the ground and walked over to the man.

"I'm sorry, sir. My cousin isn't well." He pulled several of the crisp hundred-dollar bills John had given him earlier from his pocket and held them out to the man. "There's enough here to cover any medical costs as well as a little extra to compensate you for the, uh, inconvenience."

The man, now sensing he had the upper hand, bowed up. "I'm going to have your cousin arrested, and then, I'm dragging her ass to court. This," he said, snatching the bills from Harris's hand, "
ain't
enough for what I've been through."

Harris agreed, but he didn't have time to negotiate with him because of all the things Jessica had said, crazy as they sounded, the part about John going missing bothered him the most. If there was one thing he knew about John, it was that there was no way he'd have left Jessica alone, especially when she was clearly in a bad way.

He grabbed the man's hand and, using some of his vampire strength, forced the fist closed around the money as he stared into the man's face. His vision bled to red and he watched, with satisfaction, as the other man's eyes widened. Then, in a move too fast for the man to follow, Harris reached into the man's back pants pocket and pulled out his wallet.

He flipped it open and read the license before closing it and handing it back. "I think my offer is more than generous, don't you agree, Steve Lambkin of

"No, no," Steve said nervously.

Harris nodded. "Okay. Then I guess our business is concluded. You should probably run along."

The man nodded and beat a hasty path out of the alley.

Alone now with a woman who seemed to hate him, Harris turned to look at Jessica where she sat, still stunned. He walked over and squatted beside her, but didn't say anything.

"If you hadn't stopped me, I would have killed that man." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She shivered and rubbed her arms with her hands.

"It was the drugs."

She blew out a breath of air. "We both know that doesn't matter. I almost killed him. If you hadn't stopped me…" She looked up at him. "I know you didn't do it for me, but thank you."

"I bet that was hard to say."

She gave him a pensive look. "Not as hard as I would have thought."

So many retorts sprang to Harris's mind, both petty and magnanimous, that he decided to let them all pass. "You said John was with you earlier?"

"Yes. He found me in a building." She looked around. "I'm not sure which one. We escaped into the parade." She rubbed her head. "Things are still a little vague, but one minute, he was behind me, and then the next, he was gone. I tried to look for him, but…" She took a deep breath. "I don't think I imagined him, and I know he would never leave me like that. I think something's happened to him, only I don't know what."

"Can you stand?"

"Yes, I think so."

He reached down a hand and after a moment's
hesitation,
she took it and let him pull her to her feet.

"How will we find him?"

She spoke so softly that Harris wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. He answered her anyway. "I guess we'll retrace your escape and maybe search the building where you were held. That might give us some clues. I just think we should get out of here, in case Steve comes back with the police."

She nodded and Harris considered taking her elbow to escort her, but thought better of it. He didn't need to have her cringe from his touch to feel rejected.

They started walking through the crowd and Harris, who had left Lucy back at the
chupa
colony, sent a probe along their shared link to make sure that the creatures were all right and Brody hadn't been seen in the area.

The response from Lucy shocked him.

He focused on the image she sent and after some effort, it came clear.

"Shit." He reached out and grabbed Jessica by the elbow and steered her away from the crowd of people.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I know where John is."

"What?" Her face lit with anxiety.
"Where?"

"Brody has him.
Back at the cemetery."

John came
to
slowly, feeling like his entire body was weighed down. The pressure in his head made thinking painful and he was sure that at any moment, his head would split open.

Lying very still, he thought back to the last thing he remembered. The memories returned slowly. He'd found Jess bound in the room. They'd escaped into the Mardi
Gras
crowd. There'd been so many people, he'd been afraid of getting separated.

Then he remembered the sting in his neck. It hadn't been a mosquito, but a needle. What had they given him, though, to make him feel this bad? Was it the same thing they'd injected into Jessica?

A spasm of pain started low in his abdomen and spread upward. The feeling was so excruciatingly intense that when the darkness enveloped him again, he welcomed it.