21 Shades of Night, page 230
Briefly, she wished David was watching out her window. But if he had been, he would have come to her aid already. He was probably busy with the call he was going to make when she left him. He probably was updating her father, too, about the turn events with Sutton Bastrop.
Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, then lunged. With a ballet-like grace, the rogue shifted out of her path. Without locking onto her target from a frontal position, she took a chance, whirled around, and sliced her sword at what she hoped would be the vampire’s chest. She connected with his shoulder instead.
He stifled a cry and grabbed his injured shoulder. The iron scent of his blood drifted to her on the nippy breeze. His eyes narrowed into darkened slits.
Without hesitating, she thrust the sword at his chest. As agile as before, he leapt out of her path. But he still favored his injury. The wound would heal, but depending on the severity, it could take several hours.
Again she attacked. He vanished and appeared behind her. His warm breath, smelling of iron, of blood, possibly of a recent kill, swept across her cheek, he stood so close. Gooseflesh erupted on her arms and legs.
Grabbing her hair and yanking back, he sent a shooting pain through her scalp.
She swung around to free herself and struck his shoulder again. His eyes blackened, and he cried out. But the lucky strike gave her encouragement she could win the battle.
His uninjured arm swept around and the back of his hand slapped her across the cheek. She stumbled backward. The blow smarted, but nothing like it would hurt if he sank those vicious fangs into her.
Advancing for the kill, he readied his teeth, no more games. She swallowed, but the moisture had evaporated from her throat.
If she didn’t cut him now in just the right spot...
He jerked his head to the side as if another hunter had appeared, threatening his flank. With a precise aim at his unprotected chest, she stabbed her sword between his ribs and into his heart. He collapsed, his face wizening like a bleached raison, his black cape covering the rest of his body, flattened against the wet asphalt.
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to settle her raw nerves, the rush of adrenaline still racing through her blood. A feeling of accomplishment, mixed with apprehension washed over her.
Glancing around the parking area for signs of who had come to her rescue this time, she expected to see David, but didn’t find a soul. A fresh set of chill bumps covered her arms.
Then dread pooled into every fiber of her being. Why target her? What had she done to earn the contract of death by the vampires... actually by a particular group of vampires? She knew her father and the League would be looking into the Brotherhood, but she had every intention of finding out what was going on herself. Stopping this so called Brotherhood from accomplishing whatever they had on their sick agenda was her next priority.
Grabbing the handle to her bag, she pulled it behind her as she hurried toward her car while the rain rinsed off her bloody sword.
“Alena,” Sutton said nearby, his voice dark and concerned.
Swiveling around, she attempted to squash the panic racing through her.
He appeared next to her and relieved her of the bag. “More of them are after you. Why?”
Had he distracted the rogue vampire?
“I haven’t a clue,” she said to Sutton.
Every molecule in her body still tensed with worry, but his appearance gave her a slip of relief. But what if he was one of them, giving her false hope before he tried to terminate her himself?
“Come with me. I can keep you safe at my home,” he said. His words weren’t said matter-of-factly, but with a hint of pressure and pleading.
Something about his actions touched on raw emotions she fought to quell.
Wanting to get someplace safe before any more renegades learned she wasn’t dead yet, she unlocked her car door. She was almost sure that Sutton had helped her terminate the rogue because vampires normally didn’t shift their attention to something else while they attempted to kill their victim, unless something threatened them. She had to know for certain—whose side was Sutton really on?
She motioned toward the dead vampire. “Did you distract him?”
“Aye. I called to him using mental telepathy. Because he was an ancient vampire, I had to give you an advantage. He would have killed you.”
So he’d been there, silently observing her, for how long? Waiting to see how she’d react? Studying her technique? Before he took her on?
But there was something more to his admission. As if he’d been watching her to ensure she didn’t lose the fight, yet wanted her to win on her own, if that was possible. Or not. She was probably seeing way too much into the situation than really existed. He probably had just arrived, saw her fighting the vampire and helped her out.
Why was Sutton so concerned about her? He was a rogue. Rogues didn’t care about what happened to huntresses. Although, neither would any vampire care for what happened to the hunter kind, truth be told.
But then another thought occurred to her. Since Ephraim was a rogue, he’d probably know about the Brotherhood. Maybe that had something to do with his secret mission. Maybe through him, she could learn what all this was about.
“Is he with the Brotherhood?”
Looking into Ephraim’s eyes, the fathomless depths drew her into a cave as black as night—and the haunting feeling he’d attempted to lure her into one in the distant past forced a shiver up her spine.
She knew then, he was more dangerous than any vampire she’d ever encountered.
Chapter 4
BERATING HIMSELF FOR leaving her alone for even the short time that he had—thinking she was still discussing matters with her cousin, and if anything, Sutton had left her under he cousin’s capable protection—he was one of the most renown hunters in the Maryland area. Sutton couldn’t believe the hunter had let her out of his sight for even a moment. But he wondered why she hadn’t been more cautious either, if she’d known anything about the Brotherhood.
Sutton tossed her suitcase in the back seat, then speared her with a hard look. “How do you know about the Brotherhood?”
“I didn’t. I mean, David just told me they have a contract to kill me. But I have no idea who they are or why they’d want me dead.”
Sutton narrowed his eyes as he glanced up at her apartment. Her cousin had known that she was under contract. Damn him to hell for not watching over her better, but Sutton had only heard rumors about the “Brotherhood.” He hadn’t really believed any would be that stupid to go against the powerful League of Hunters in this area.
He shifted his gaze back to her. “I promise I’ll keep you safe. Will you come with me?” His words sounded like a command rather than a question, and he couldn’t help the tinge of desperation in them. Lawfully, he couldn’t force the huntress to go with him or risk being labeled a rogue, but he would be damned if he’d let her risk her life further. She couldn’t fight off ancients by herself. If she didn’t agree to go with him, he’d go against the League’s rules and take her against her will. He couldn’t lose her this time.
The rain stopped while lightning streaked across the sky, intermingled with wicked forks of flashes striking the ground in the distance in an intermittent light display. When she didn’t respond, he added, “You can follow me and leave anytime. I’m not a rogue, and I have no plans to violate the rules of the League.”
Yet Sutton did have every intention of disobeying League rules. He’d win Alena over, help break the back of the Brotherhood and the League at the same time. In his heart, he knew it could be no other way. When he won her trust, her love, and seduced her, the League would terminate her, no compromise, no questions asked. No way could Sutton allow them to murder her. He’d not make the same mistake again.
Alena tried to figure him out. The way he observed her was devilishly sinful... like he wanted her for his next meal, every mouth-watering bit of her. If he’d been a hunter, she might have been intrigued. But he was a vampire to be avoided unless business dictated otherwise. “Why do you want me at your home? Really?”
“Beyond offering to protect you?” His dark brown eyes appeared nearly black in the low light of the parking lot.
“Vampires don’t usually offer to protect a hunter.” She imagined it had never come to pass in the history of their kind. She slipped her sword into its sheath.
His mouth turned up wryly.
“Well?”
“To seduce you.” His words were rough and husky and although a hint of humor reflected in his tone of voice, he also sounded deadly serious.
She couldn’t believe he could be though. He knew what would happen if he acted on his words. “You know, your kind are so arrogant.”
“That’s what you love about me.”
She drew taller. “Let’s get this straight. Some redheaded huntress fell in love with you and you with her, but it has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
“You’re much different than she, I must admit. Although both of you are high-spirited. Or I suppose I should say she was and you still are.” His face seemed haggard at the mention that the love of his life was gone.
A pang of remorse twitched deep inside. Alena wasn’t immune to feelings the way her cousin seemed to be. She only hoped when the day came for her to find a hunter mate, he’d cherish her the way Sutton did his Elizabeth.
She glanced back at her apartment and saw David watching her and Sutton from her kitchen window. Now, David looks out the window. She pointed with a single finger to the vampire’s body in the parking lot, and David shifted his attention there. He quickly turned to look at Alena, and she tilted her head to the side to silently ask, What is truly going on?
Turning to Sutton, she poked a finger into his hard chest and said, “All right, I’ll stay the night. But only one night. And you’re not to disturb my sleep.”
He took her hand and kissed her fingers and her body quickly was suffused with heat. She jerked her hand away before unbidden images of them making love filled her thoughts again.
“You’re not one of those fun-loving women who enjoy a quick roll in the hay? How do they say... no strings attached?”
Fearing Sutton had some preconceived notion Alena was like his former lover, she asked, “Was Elizabeth like that?”
“Nay,” he said, solemnly, his gaze capturing hers, testing her. “You and I were meant to be.”
Her cheeks burned, the memory of her having been with him coming back to her in a flash, as if at one time they had been meant to be as one, had once been, in fact. Yet she didn’t know him, and at that thought a shadow of reprieve race through her. She meant to dissuade any notion he might entertain that she could succumb so easily to his vampiric charms.
“You are so conceited. And believe me, if you have any thoughts of putting the moves on me, forget it.”
“I love it when you blush. It compliments your fiery hair.” He motioned to the car. “We can have this discussion over a brandy.”
Brandy. Right. If he thought she’d fold under the influence of alcohol...
Yet she harbored a secret desire to fold right under him, let him show her just how much he loved his Elizabeth. To experience the bond they had once shared.
She shook her head at herself. Finding a hunter mate needed to be her next priority if she hazarded desires to be with a vampire.
* * *
A HALF HOUR later, Alena and Sutton circled around a brick drive at the entryway to a large French-provincial style home, nothing like what she expected a vampire to own, yet her skin prickled with distaste at the notion he feasted on his victims here.
Brass lamps dotting the landscape highlighted the gardens and home. Blood red geraniums and shy blue violets nestled at the foot of cherry trees in full bloom, painting the two or three-acre lot in a wash of vivid colors. A striking contrast to the setting she normally found her renegade vampires living in, darkened alleys, flophouses, warehouses even.
A forest green metal roof topped the pink brick house, tying it into the evergreen backdrop. Matching green shutters graced all of the arched windows like darkened eyes viewing the world. Double doors carved in intricate swirls in the lower half and fitted with cut glass on the top, welcomed guests... but how many of these welcomed guests were human hosts who donated their blood to the vampire? How many lost their lives to the renegade?
So used to killing rogue vampires lurking in the shadows of the city streets, she’d never visited one at his or her domicile before. She’d never considered how well they might live. His place was lots nicer than her suburban apartment in Glen Burnie where she could hear the roar of lions at the Baltimore Zoo when the breeze shifted just right.
Still, she wondered what Sutton’s place looked inside. Stark, barren? Coffin like?
She parked her car, but before she reached for her handle, Sutton opened the door for her. After helping her out, he grabbed her bag.
She glanced at the entryway and to her surprise saw Mona standing on the brick walk, watching them.
“She stays with you?” Alena bit her tongue as soon as the words—sounding suspiciously jealous—slipped from her mouth.
“She’s my maid.” His mouth curved up in an amused way. “She has her own room.” He turned to Mona. She nodded, then disappeared inside the house.
Trying to rectify her hunter’s cool standing, Alena took a deep breath. “I haven’t thanked you properly for rescuing me, twice.”
Sutton chuckled seductively, creating a tingling of warmth that spread from her head to her toes. Was this the way her cousin Tanya had felt about her vampire lover?
As was the way of her hunter kind, Alena had never associated after hours with vampires before, except to take care of business. If one became fond of a vampire who turned rogue, then what? The solution was to never get too involved with their kind. Like she was doing now, she reasoned, irritated with her father for forcing this untenable situation on her.
Sutton walked Alena into the house, his hand resting beneath her elbow. “Thanking me properly, now that gives me all kinds of ideas.”
She just bet it did.
He motioned to a hall. “Follow me.”
Carpeted in thick beige plush and furnished in moss green velour sofas and golden oak tables with clawed feet, the living room appeared as elegant as any home featured in a homes-and-gardens type magazine. Which made her wonder where he got his wealth. His victims’ money?
He led her to the bedroom and turned on a light. “Here’s your room, though if you get lonely, you can join me next door.” He smiled in the same devilishly sinful way, his brows lifted at the same time.
Ignoring the suggestion, she peered into the room. A blanket in green, blue, and red plaid rested on the bed, and the image of a dark-haired man wearing a saffron shirt and a kilt, and nothing underneath, flashed across her mind. She blinked twice, clearing the unbidden thought from her mind, then crossed the floor to the queen-sized mattress and ran her hand over the soft wool. “The MacLeod’s clan plaid.”
“Aye.” His voice expressed regret.
She glanced back at him. He smiled but sadness reflected in his dark eyes. What was the story concerning his beloved Elizabeth? On the other hand, she had no need to know. Knowing anything further about his heartache was bound to get her in deeper over her head than she already was on this case.
On a blue pinstriped-papered wall a shield and sword hung prominently above the headboard. The wood itself was heavy and crowned in carved leaves. The bed sat upon clawed feet. She ran her hand over the wood, imagining it was a well-preserved antique.
She didn’t know what made her say the next words that popped into her mind—maybe some inane fear the woman’s ghost would haunt her? But once they’d slipped from Alena’s tongue, she couldn’t pull them back. “Did you make love to her in this bed?”
“Nay, ‘tis old, but no’ that old.” Staring at the bed, a gloomy look of despair washed over Sutton. “I’ll get us some brandy.” He stared at her for a moment as if he were thinking how nicely she would fit against his body in that same bed.
In that instant, she wished more than anything, she could read his mind. But she had no business feeling in such a way. The less she knew of Sutton Bastrop, the easier it would be to kill him. She certainly didn’t want to get herself into the mess Tanya had.
He nodded, then exited the room.
She wasn’t sure what she’d find that the League wanted concerning his secret mission. Sutton had done nothing to make her feel as though he was a renegade. But maybe it was because he desired her so... well, not her exactly, but his lost love, Elizabeth. Perhaps, he’d be careful not to show his rogue side until after he seduced her.
The treacherous thought snaked its way into her mind. Naked and in his arms in bed. The idea they’d share a heated night of passion like she’d envisioned they’d done before, not once but dozens of times. Once in a bed similar to this even.
Touching the mattress, she remembered another filled with straw, hanging over rope braces that creaked as they made love. Even now, she could recall the feel of him nuzzling his face against the hollow in her throat. His fingers caressing her breast, touching her nipple, the sweet tingling that accompanied his touch as she became aroused. Even now her breasts swelled with delicious anticipation, her nipples peaking against her lace bra and soft cashmere sweater.
She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the illicit thoughts. Having past recollections and current cravings of a vampire was insane.
She hung her damp coat in an empty closet. A bottle clinked against a glass from far away. While Sutton was occupied, she chanced a peek at his bedroom.
Upon entering his room, she found a blue and green plaid blanket covering his bed, too. She didn’t recognize the plaid and wondered which clan he belonged to. Bastrop didn’t seem to be a Highlander name. She tried to recall where her Scottish roots had begun. Campbelton, Scotland?
