vampireinthebasement (3 page)

“Tris, you find anything?” Lori asked from the doorway.

He put his finger to his lips and pointed over to the sofa. Lori held his sword and stepped behind Tris, going around the bookcase. The couch had a ragtag, handmade quilt crumpled up on the seat. The dark head of hair he saw was hunkered down even lower and trying to become one with the wall.

“Tris, there’s the butterfly,”
Lori said to him.

Tris saw a fairly large critter fluttering in the air. It was black, with stripes of crimson on its wings. It hovered for a moment, flew over to the survivor in the room, and landed on the arm of the sofa. It lingered and meandered off again. He lowered his sword and wondered why this butterfly was in a warehouse with vampires. How could such a beautiful creature end up being among such filth? Tris shook his head and sheathed his sword. They had exterminated the nest and
Balthus
was on the loose, but he would find the vampire one day. It was not over between them.

“Hello. You can come out now. They won’t hurt you anymore,” Tris called out to the person hiding behind the sofa.

It took a minute, but a woman slowly came out of hiding. Dark curls framed a heart-shaped face. She was quite attractive, with mocha-colored skin, and the moonlight that streamed in brightened her dark eyes. Gold flecks burned deeply among the brown. Her lips were rosy, and her clothes clung to all the right places. He glimpsed the shapely curve of her calf as she stepped out from behind the couch. She curled her fists into her shirt and glanced frantically between him and Lori. The poor creature was frightened beyond her wits. She was only a little bit of a thing, maybe only standing five three or four at the most. Her ample breasts strained the fabric of her shirt and after seeing her wide, luscious hips, Tris’s cock hardened at the thought of seeing her naked. Few humans had this effect on him.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked in a low, husky tone.

“We’re not going to hurt you. We took care of the monsters that kidnapped you. If you come with us, we can return you to your home,” Tris said to her, glad they had found one survivor.

“I’ll come with you if you promise not to hurt me.”

“Of course we’re not going to hurt you.” Tris smiled. How had this bit of a thing escaped the bloodthirsty creatures who had taken up residence in the abandoned factory? He went to take her hand, but Lori grabbed his wrist. “What now?”

Lori leaned in close to his ear. “This is the one Joe wants us to bring back.”

Tris looked between him and the small woman before them. “Are you serious? She doesn’t feel like one of them.”

“Our clue was the butterfly. It landed next to her.” Lori pulled out the silver manacles and approached the woman.

How could she be a vampire? She did not have sallow skin or the dark circles under her eyes that were tinged purple. Her eyes were not haunted, and her cheeks were not sunken from the thirst. His partner had to be mistaken. They had killed the nest, and she had to be a survivor. It had to be a mistake. Lori slipped past him and held out the shackles. The vampire retreated until her back hit the wall. Shadows fell across her face as the moonlight slid along her flesh, but she did not vanish into the darkness and disappear. Maybe she was incapable of it, or this was all part of a trap they had been lured into. He did not sense any other vampires in the nest or any other life besides the vermin that already called the factory home. Lori held out the fetters to the bloodsucker. Tris drew his dagger and pointed it at the female vampire.

“What is this all about? What is this nest of yours plotting?”

She shook her head. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. There are no plans. Do whatever you want to me, but make it quick.”

“Let me see your hands. We aren’t going to harm you.” Lori took her hands and clasped the handcuffs on her.

The woman winced once the silver touched her skin, and she hissed. Faint wisps of smoke wafted from where the metal touched her. Tris gripped the dagger at his waist and grabbed the chain connecting the restraints. He dragged the woman behind him. What was so important about this one? Why was she so complacent? Vampires always fought. Joe had to be wrong about this one. She grunted from being towed around. What did he care if she was in pain? She was just another bloodsucker. They walked through the hallway, and he kept tugging until she yelped. Then there was a thud. When he glanced back, she had fallen to the floor.

“Get up.” He clutched her arm and hauled her up.

“You don’t have to be such an ass. I’m going with you.”

“Quiet. You will do what we say. Is that understood?”

“Fine.”
She bit her lip and stared at him with those wide, doe eyes.

His partner cleared his throat and got his attention.
He swung around, almost ready to take Lori’s head.
“What now? We got the creature that Joe wanted. Let’s deliver her and be done with it.”

“Fine, we’ll bring her, but you don’t have to be so horrid to her. She once was a human being.”

Tris rolled his eyes. “
Used to be
is the operative phrase here. See her over there? Disgusting evil monster working for the
Grigori
and scheming, I bet.” He could not help the revulsion that rolled through him dredging up ancient memories.

“I’m not scheming. Please, I’ll do what you want, but can you take these off me?”

“Let’s get her back to Joe, and then we can talk about it,” Lori suggested. He walked before him and helped up the vampire.

Tris ran his hands across the straining muscles on his neck and the faint twinge of pain where there was none from his past exploits. He tried to massage the tension away, but he was not sure that anything could. Lori ripped a section of his shirt off and wound it around the shackles so most of the metal did not touch her flesh. Tris shook his head and wondered why his partner was being so amiable toward the vampire. If it was just orders to take her back unharmed, then he was following them to the letter. It seemed there was something more behind it. Did Lori know the vampire? Maybe when she had been human?

Lori wrapped his arm around the bloodsucker and held her tight. Tris saw a quick flash of midnight blue, and he felt the great whoosh of his partner’s wings blow back against him. They were headed for Joe so he glanced around the factory, hoping to catch a glimpse of
Balthus
so he could take the elder vampire’s head. However, he felt a tug deep within him and knew he was being summoned. He focused on the jerking and willed himself to follow the connection.

* * * *

Daniella tried not to panic as she was being led by the hunters. It took everything in her to face them. If she had tried to escape, then they would have cut her down the way they had the rest of her nest. Their agony had descended on her as each was slain. That was not what had driven her to hide, nor was it the hunters. She had been in her lair long before they had shown up. When
Balthus
returned with dinner so they could all share a communal meal, her stomach had turned at the thought of such innocent victims being chewed on.
Balthus
had tried to coax her into feeding with them, to sate her burning thirst, but she lost her appetite when she saw the others gnawing away at the victims’ veins. Her hunger might have risen, but she was not going to indulge in it or let the beast win.

Then the hunters came. They did not realize she was one of the brood at first. Maybe it was one of the reasons they had not found her the night before. Maybe that was one of the reasons her master said he was keeping an eye on her. Tonight she had stood in the shadows while the cool moonlight played over her skin and if she had known how to ride the shadows, she would have fled into them wherever the darkness would have taken her. But that was a resource she could not take advantage of yet because she still did not know how.
Balthus
said it was a skill she would learn over time. Whenever Daniella reached for the power to blend with the darkness, it was not there.
Balthus
had tried to describe it to her. It was like breathing for vampires, if they could breathe anymore.

The blond one had been horrible to her. It was the red-haired one, Lori, who had been kind and tried to ease her discomfort from the silver chains she wore. Even now, their power was cold and warm upon her skin at the same time. The one who had hauled her along seemed to hate her because she was a vampire, but that did not make her a bad person. Was she even still a person because she was dead? Daniella tried to remain in touch with her humanity and not end up like the others in her nest, turning into monsters. They might have been her brood, but she did not feel any of them were her companions except
Balthus
, who had turned her. He was the most handsome thing she had ever seen, and he had offered her forever.

“Are you okay?” her red-haired captor asked.

She studied him. He was well over six feet tall, nearing seven from what she could tell. He was powerful, but wiry. He carried a curved blade at his waist, but he made no move to threaten her with it.

“I’m fine. Why didn’t you kill me?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you run away?”

“You would’ve tried to kill me, and I like my existence. It was easier to acquiesce to your wishes than get my head chopped off.”

He stared at her with stunning silver eyes that glittered like the stars, and she saw the kindness in them. He was not an ordinary human; he was something else. Well, she knew he was not an ordinary when he
whooshed
her through the air so fast it seemed that time stood still. “We were told not to harm you. I follow orders very strictly. You’re special to our boss.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t ask questions. Neither should you.”

Daniella bit her lip and heard the order in his voice, but she was not going to be deterred by whatever had captured her. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“I suppose you don’t, but you should if you want to survive.”

She gazed around their surroundings, taking in the humidity of the domed garden. Lush plants filled the atrium. Moonlight barely filtered through the glass ceiling, but everything was lit up by floodlights hidden within the small groves. Daniella had never seen such a place while human and wondered what it would look like in the light of day. Brilliant orange and red orchids dangled from above, while large palm trees arched over the walkway of great stones they were standing on. Small yellow butterflies like the ones on her shirt floated around them. One of them fluttered down and settled on her palm. It flapped its wings, and she could feel the life of the small insect and hear the splashing of a waterfall in the background. This would be a tranquil place if she had a chance to come here and sit in the moonlight when she was not in the grips of hunger or not being held captive.

“Survival is one thing, but you killed my nest. And then your companion treats me like I’m some kind of animal. I’m not.”

Her captor flashed
her a
small smile. “Tris shouldn’t have acted that way, but he has his reasons.”

“What do I have reasons for?”

Daniella cringed at his voice and did not glance at the newcomer. She could already feel the hatred radiating off of him. She focused her gaze on a large boulder to her left. There was no one there. The butterflies congregated over it and huddled together in a mass that formed into a man. His calm demeanor helped ease the panic growing in her chest. She tried to touch the silver chain connecting the handcuffs, but pulled away from the burning of her fingertips. Daniella missed being able to wear the metal.

“There is no need for those now,” a smooth voice said from the stone. The shackles fell to the stone walkway.

“Aren’t you afraid she’s going to run away?” Tris asked.

“Tris, you don’t have to worry about Daniella. Isn’t that right?”

She glanced at the other blond-haired man and the dark-haired one who had appeared out of the coagulation of butterflies. “Um....”

“And you’re going to trust this one? She’s a bloodsucker, and you’re going to stand for that? We had to take the nest because we weren’t given any information on which female you wanted. Really, Joe, what did you want with this creature? She is—”