Vampire's Hunger (13 page)

“Duncan said you almost died.”

She waved one hand. “He exaggerated.”

“He said your heart stopped. Twice.”

She remembered her heart pounding, stuttering, remembered seeing the floating sparks behind her eyelids. She knew what had happened, but she couldn’t let it stop her. “You’ll be there to stop me if it looks like it’s going too far.”

“No.”

Kimber dropped to her knees beside his chair and looked up at him. “Aodhán, please. I’m begging you. Help me find a way to set things right.”

His bright blue eyes narrowed on her. “I know what tapping into the Unseen does to you, Kimber. I’ve been around when you’ve had nightmares.” He cupped her cheek in one broad palm. “Just a couple of days ago I watched you nearly die. I don’t call many people ‘friend’.” His mouth thinned. “I value your friendship,
mo chara
. I would hate to lose it to death.”

She couldn’t give up on this. “Please.”

He stared at her in silence. Finally he gave an abrupt nod. “Fine. We’ll try it.”

She jumped to her feet and ran over to the door to grab her ankle boots. “Excellent!” She sat on the couch and shoved her feet into her footwear.

“For the record, I think this is a very bad idea.”

One of the bedroom doors opened. Thinking it was Duncan, that he’d overheard her plan and was coming to put a stop to it, her breath skittered in her throat. When Natalie came shuffling into the room, a big yawn only partially hidden behind one small hand, Kimber gave a sigh of relief.

Natalie stopped and stared at her. “What’re you up to?”

Kimber frowned. “Nothing.”

“Uh-huh.” Her friend went into the kitchen and put the pan, still with water in it, back on the camping stove and lit the burner. “You looked guilty.” She pointed to Kimber’s feet. “And you have your boots on.”

Kimber decided to ignore that. “I need you to stay here and keep an eye on things. Duncan’s sleeping.”

Natalie put one hand on her hip and looked from Kimber to Aodhán and back again. “Why? Where are you two going?”

“I’ll tell you later.” No way in hell did she want Duncan waking up and finding out from Natalie what was going on. And he would find out. Natalie couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.

“We won’t be far,” Aodhán said. He opened the door and looked at Natalie. “Lock this behind us.”

“Oh, do you really think I should?” she asked, her voice rife with sarcasm. “I thought I’d leave it open and invite potential ravagers and looters to come in.”

A growl of frustration rumbled up from deep in his chest.

“Not now, you two,” Kimber muttered. She smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. “Come on.”

Twenty minutes later they were in the basement of the apartment building, a somewhat fresh zombie attached with chains to one of the empty vending machines lining the hallway that led to the laundry facility. This shuffler looked like it had turned within the last few weeks. He didn’t smell too bad, and his flesh, though mottled, hadn’t started putrefying yet.

The zombie lunged for them, teeth snapping, arms reaching. Thankfully the vending machine was heavy enough that he couldn’t get close enough.

“Just how are you going to do this?” Aodhán asked. He stroked his chin. “Whenever you reanimated a corpse, you had to touch them to direct the Unseen into the body, correct?”

She nodded. “Yes.” She didn’t want to get close enough to this thing to have to touch it, but she wasn’t sure she had another option. “Can you chain his legs to the bottom of the machine? I can touch his ankle.”

“If six months ago someone had told me I’d be into zombie bondage, I’d have punched him in the face.” He heaved a sigh and set about lashing the zombie’s ankles to the feet of the vending machine, this time using rope. “There. He’s as secure as I can make him.”

“Okay.” Kimber drew a deep breath. “You stand where he can see you and keep his attention on you. Maybe he won’t realize I’m down at his feet.” She dropped to her knees and sidled forward slowly. The zombie kept its gaze on Aodhán, hands grasping in the air as the undead thing tried to get hold of the fey warrior.

With trembling fingers, she slipped her hand beneath the zombie’s tattered slacks and rested her hand on his leg, just above where his sock had scrunched around his ankle. Closing her eyes, she focused inward, drawing on her ability to tap into the Unseen. After another moment or so she stretched out with her mind to the bit of the Unseen that animated the zombie. A few seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Then raw, black energy surged up, lunging for her just like it had all those months ago with Richard Whitcomb.

The zombie went crazy, jerking against his bindings, his mouth open, ferocious snarls coming from his throat. His teeth snapped together, the sound loud in the otherwise silent basement. She heard the rattle of chains, then a screech and a metallic moaning sound. It took a few seconds for her to realize the zombie was pulling free of his chains.

Just as Aodhán yelled her name, she scrambled away from the undead thing. The fey warrior pulled his sword and shoved the blade through the zombie’s mouth with an upward thrust. He twisted the sword and pulled it free, leaving the lifeless shuffler dangling from his remaining bindings.

She sat on the floor, dragging in air, and tried to calm her thundering heart. The coolness of the concrete bled through the fabric of her sweatpants.

“Well,” Aodhán said. He wasn’t even out of breath. “That went well.”

Kimber, on the other hand, had trouble gulping in enough air. She pushed to her feet. “It didn’t go like I thought it would.”

“Really? You actually thought this out?”

She glared at him. “Well, you could have said something.” She was being unreasonable and she knew it, but crap! That zombie had almost had her for breakfast.

“I believe when I said ‘This is a really bad idea’ that
was
me saying something.”

“Sorry.” She stared at the zombie. “There’s something wrong with the Unseen.”

“What does that mean?” Aodhán came to her side. A quick glance at him showed her that his gaze, too, was on the zombie.

“At Whitcomb’s animation, when I first tried to return him to true death, the Unseen reached for me. It was dark. Evil.” She shivered anew at the memory. “Something other than Richard Whitcomb’s soul attached to him.”

“Like a stowaway?”

She nodded. “Or a parasite. But I don’t know what it was. What it
is
.”

“But you think that, whatever it is, it’s what started the apocalypse?”

“Yes.” She rubbed her palms down the front of her sweatpants. She gestured toward the wilted zombie. “We need to get this thing out of here.”

He stared at her. “Promise me you won’t try to do this again.”

She met his gaze. “I don’t think I can promise that, Aodhán. I need to figure something out, and I can only do that by trying.”

“And failing.”

“Hey, three-quarters of the world’s inventions came about through failures, you know. Edison tried like ten thousand times until he finally got the light bulb to function properly. At least I’ll know what doesn’t work.”

He shook his head. “You promise me, or I’ll tell Duncan what you did here today.”

She widened her eyes. “Are you serious? You’re gonna run and tell Dad?”

“I hardly think you look on him as a father figure, and I know he sure as hell doesn’t think of you as a daughter.” He folded his arms and broadened his stance. “But I’m very serious, Kimber. This is too dangerous, messing with the Unseen this way. You saw what happened with this one. You made it stronger. Worse. Imagine if that happened with a horde. Or all of them.”

He was right. They’d never survive if zombies got any stronger than they already were. But she couldn’t stand by and do nothing. She had to keep trying, and if that meant lying to Aodhán, then so be it.

“Fine.” She made sure her voice was less than gracious. “I promise.” She crossed her fingers behind her back. If he could be childish enough to threaten to tattle on her, she could be childish enough to believe her promise was negated by the simple act of putting one finger over the other.

The Outbreak was her fault, and she would find a way to fix it.

Chapter Eight

T
wo nights later Duncan answered the knock on Kimber’s door. Murray stood there, just as fragile looking as ever. “What now?” Duncan asked.

The other vampire lifted his chin, motioning toward the inside of the apartment. “Maddalene wants to see your little necromancer again.” His face was expressionless but Duncan caught the smirk in his voice.

He clenched his jaw. No way in hell was Kimber going back there until he and Maddalene came to an understanding. The fact that Maddalene had overridden him and allowed hungry vampires into his living quarters, to threaten Kimber and her friends, had driven home the point that the sense of loyalty he felt toward Maddalene was a one-way street.

“Tell Maddalene to forget it,” he told Murray.

“I’m not your messenger boy, MacDonnough.” The skinny excuse for a vampire gave a grunt and pointed to his head. “Still attached, the way I like it. You got something to say to Maddalene, you say it yourself.” He gave a sardonic salute with two fingers and sauntered off.

Damn it.

Duncan closed the door and turned to face the other inhabitants of the apartment. Natalie stood in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter, her hands braced on either side. Aodhán was kicked back in the recliner, his gaze steady and calm. Kimber, his lovely Kimber, stood beside the sofa, arms crossed and one foot tapping on the floor.

“I am not going back there,” she said.

“No, you’re not.”

“I mean it, Duncan. Maddalene wants the impossible, and I won’t do it.”

“I agree.”

“No matter what you…” A frown dipped between her brows. “Wait. What?”

He couldn’t stop the small grin that quirked his lips. She was adorable when she was confused. It wasn’t a look he got to see very often because she had such a sharp mind. “I said I agree. You’re not going to see Maddalene.”

“Oh.” Her hands dropped to her sides. “Um, why not?”

Ignoring the interested gazes of Aodhán and Natalie, he walked over to Kimber and took her face in his palms. “Because I don’t trust her right now, and I mean to keep you safe.”

Her lips parted and he couldn’t stop himself from dipping his head to press a soft kiss against her mouth. When he drew away, her lashes fluttered and swept up to show slightly dazed eyes. That was a good sign, anyway. He knew she wasn’t indifferent to him. If he could prove to her that he wouldn’t lose control and drain her, maybe one day she’d trust him enough to let him close again. To let him love her.

He took a step back. Where the hell had that come from? He didn’t love Kimber. He couldn’t love her. She was mortal. He was not. He didn’t deny he wanted her—his lust for her was nearly a living entity on its own. But love?

No.

He didn’t have the time for love. He didn’t have the luxury for love.

He didn’t have the right. He’d done things he wasn’t proud of. Kimber deserved better than him. She certainly didn’t deserve the danger he’d be putting her in if Maddalene found out he had a soft spot for Kimber. And he deserved…

He firmed his jaw. He deserved only what she gave him. But that didn’t negate the fact that she had something he wanted—well, actually, two things he wanted: the ability to contact the Unseen and a body he wanted to lose himself in. Both might be within his reach if he could just get Maddalene to back the hell off.

Yeah, Duncan. Just keep telling yourself all you’re interested in is her body. You might really believe it someday.

He turned away from Kimber. Grabbing up the tire iron from where he’d placed it underneath the coffee table, he headed toward the front door. “I’m going to talk to Maddalene.”

“Wait.” Kimber’s soft voice stopped him. When he looked over his shoulder at her, she said, “Be careful.”

He gave a nod and pulled open the door. As he closed it behind him, he heard Aodhán say, “He’s strong and he’s fast. On his own, he’ll be able to get around any zombies out there. He’ll be fine.”

Fine against zombies, yes. Against his own heart? He wasn’t so sure.

*  *  *

Half an hour later Duncan stood in front of Maddalene, watching her eyes flare with rage. Her two human attendants, clad only in black bikini briefs, knelt at either end of the chaise. Dried blood streaked their inner forearms and the strong muscles of their throats. Four well-fed vampire guards stood in front of the closed door, blocking the exit. Even as strong as he was, Duncan wasn’t a match for guards who’d recently fed.

“Repeat what you just said to me, Duncan,” Maddalene said, her voice dangerously soft. “I think I must have misheard you.”

“You didn’t mishear anything. I told you to leave Kimber alone. She’s fragile right now. She just lost a friend.” He maintained eye contact with her, refusing to look away and show weakness. “With the Outbreak, everything’s changed. Everyone’s fighting to survive. What you want Kimber to do for you doesn’t matter anymore.”