On The Run With A Vampire

21. Lucien

CHAPTER 21

LUCIEN

A rush of panic overwhelms me as Raven’s heartbeat vanishes. I whirl around toward the alcove.

There’s no sign of her.

I don’t understand. One moment she was there, her heartbeat a comforting pulse while I watched the two buffoons approach. The next, nothing. It’s like she’s been plucked from existence. I strain my senses as far as I can, but this blasted mall is still full of people, and I can’t get ahold of her unique heartbeat. I don’t think she’s even here anymore.

She’s gone.

The silence hits me like a physical blow. And then Buffoon #2 actually does hit me. He slams the butt of his crossbow into my face, and my head snaps backward.

“Todd!” Buffoon #1 says reproachfully. “There’s no need for that. He’s not doing anything.”

“Can’t take any chances,” Buffoon #2 says with a self-important sniff. “After what he’s put us through, we need to make sure he understands who is in charge here.”

“Well, it’s certainly not you,” I snarl. The attack on my face was annoying, but he’s done no damage. “What have you done with Raven?”

Both buffoons exchange a confused look.

“Your accomplice?” Buffoon #1 asks. “Nothing. I was just about to ask you where she is.”

Something is wrong.

Something is deeply, deeply wrong.

I stand up, all thoughts of continuing with the plan abandoned. “As lovely as it always is to see the two of you,” I say, already pushing my way through the scattered chairs around us, “I’m afraid we’ll have to do this another time.”

“W-Wait!” Buffoon #1 stutters. “You are coming with us. Your reign of terror is over.”

“You simple idiots,” I snarl. “You haven’t even begun to know terror.” But if I don’t find Raven soon, rest assured they will.

“Stop!” Buffoon #2 barks. He lifts his crossbow a little higher. “We have orders to bring you back, dead or alive.”

Buffoon #1 winces. “Not quite. Boss did specify he wants him back alive.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand given the circumstances,” Buffoon #2 says shrilly. “Now, this is your last warning. Come with us, or I’ll have to use lethal force.”

Enough. I’ve allowed this to go on for far too long. Raven is in trouble, and every second I spend on these two imbeciles is a second wasted.

I hiss at Buffoon #2 and bare my fangs. “Allow me to show you what lethal force really is.”

I lunge for Buffoon #2 and get a sweet sense of satisfaction as I watch his eyes widen in horror. The feeling, unfortunately, is short-lived.

A sharp pain suddenly explodes through me, and I crumple in an embarrassing heap on the floor. She has, for the third—third!—time impaled me with a stake.

I will simply never, ever, ever be able to live this down.

“Shit,” Buffoon #1 says as she comes over to inspect my writhing body. “Are you alright, Todd?”

“F-F-Fine!”

“This is unacceptable,” I grit out. “You cannot keep doing this to me.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you murdered a bunch of people,” Buffoon #2 sniffs.

“I didn’t?—”

“Let’s get out of here,” Buffoon #1 says quickly. “Before he can start to heal from that.”

“What about the other one?”

She shakes her head. “We’ll deal with her later. This is the one Boss really wants anyway.”

It hits me then that they’re not lying. They really haven’t done anything to Raven and have no idea where she is.

The realisation doesn’t bring me any relief. Because if these two morons aren’t the ones behind her sudden disappearance, who the hell is?

“This is just overkill.”

I’m currently lying on an operating table, my arms and legs restrained by unforgiving leather straps. Pointed just above my head is a particularly sharp-looking stake. The stake is attached to a device that will, I assume, cause it to plunge into my heart if I attempt to break free.

As I said, overkill.

Buffoon #1 and Buffoon #2 are sitting on two metal chairs directly opposite me.

“How long am I expected to wait here?” I ask.

“You don’t get to ask questions,” Buffoon #2 snaps.

“Until Boss says he’s ready for you,” Buffoon #1 says at the exact same moment.

Buffoon #2 glares at her.

She shrugs.

Hm. I’m sensing a hint of discord here. Buffoon #1 is clearly the brains of this operation. If there’s any hope of me getting out of here, she’s going to be my best bet.

I clear my throat. “Listen, um—” What is her name? Raven’s said it so many times, I really should know it by now. “Listen…Melanie…?”

“Melody,” she corrects.

Damn it.

“Right, yes, of course. Listen to me, Melody. You’ve got this all wrong.”

Buffoon #2—Thomas, I believe—guffaws. “You’re telling us you’re not a vampire?”

“Well, no. Not that.”

“You’re telling us you haven’t killed anyone in the last few days?”

My thoughts drift to Meredith, my last snack before all this started. “I haven’t killed the people you think I’ve killed.”

Thomas rolls his eyes. “Exactly what a murderous vampire would say.”

Melody frowns. “Um, no, actually. That’s not what a murderous vampire would say, Todd.”

Todd! That’s it. Blasted Todd.

Melody leans forward, frown deepening. “What did you mean by that? You’ve killed others that we don’t know about?”

“I am a vampire,” I sigh. “Of course I’ve killed others. It’s how I survive.”

“Guilty!” Todd trills.

“But I’m not the one behind those murders on the news.”

Melody looks at me uncertainly. This would really be a lot easier if I could use my glamour to compel them to believe me, but with my injury I’m not sure I have the strength for it. Besides, I don’t think using my powers will endear Todd to me very much.

“You have to believe me.”

“Don’t listen to him, Melody,” Todd says. “He’ll do anything to worm his way out of this.”

Melody looks at me, then turns to Todd and nods. “You’re right. He’s just desperate.”

True. I am incredibly desperate.

“It wasn’t me,” I insist. “I’m being framed.”

Todd snorts. “And who would want to frame you?”

“Your boss.”

The room goes quiet for a moment. Todd blinks at me in disbelief, but it’s Melody’s reaction I’m really paying attention to. She doesn’t look anywhere near as surprised as she should right now.

“You’re not sure about him, are you?” I say, latching onto this sudden new thread of hope. “Your new boss, you’ve got some suspicions about him, don’t you?”

Melody hesitates. “I?—”

Todd suddenly picks up his crossbow and aims it in my direction. “He’s using his power to get you to say what he wants. Don’t listen to him, Melody. Fight it!”

“No,” Melody says, shaking her head. “I don’t think he’s doing anything. I’m in complete control of?—”

“You fiend!” Todd howls. “Clearly your powers of coercion are stronger than we ever thought. Fight it, Melody! Fight it!”

“There’s nothing to fight,” I groan. I don’t have time for this particular brand of idiocy. Raven needs me. “I’m not doing anything!”

“I’ve had enough of this.” Todd pulls back the trigger on his crossbow. “You won’t get Melody. I won’t allow it. It’s time for you to—” He lets out a gargled scream as Melody brings the butt of her crossbow down over his head. Blood squirts from his nose, and he manages to whimper out one pathetic cry before his eyes roll back and he hits the floor.

Good riddance.

“Thank you,” I huff, wrinkling my nose at Todd’s twitching body. “I’m not sure how much more of that I could’ve endured.”

“I didn’t do it to help you,” Melody says stiffly. She pulls Todd into a seated position and dabs gingerly at the blood still pouring from his nose. “I did it because people are dying and I need to know that we’ve got the right person.”

“You haven’t.”

Melody swallows. “Oh. And—And about what you said about our boss…”

“He is the one behind all of this,” I say. “And I think you know it, don’t you?”

Another thick swallow. “I—I don’t know. I don’t know what I know.”

“What made you suspicious?” I ask.

“Melvin,” she says. “I was investigating Melvin’s disappearance, and he suggested a wolf pack might be responsible. I found hints of a pack and was doing my best to uncover their identities when he suddenly pulled me off the case. He suddenly didn’t care at all about a pack of violent werewolves in our city or about solving what happened to Melvin. The only thing he cared about was finding you.”

“And you didn’t think that was strange?” I ask dryly.

“Of course I did,” Melody snaps. “But then the bodies started piling up and it became clear that you were a bigger threat. So I did what he asked and put my all into finding you.” She approaches the table and takes a deep breath. “Did you kill those people?”

“I didn’t.”

She looks at me for several long seconds, then squares her jaw and nods. “Don’t make me regret this, vampire,” she murmurs as she pulls away the stake above me and unbuckles my restraints.

“Thank you.”

Melody lifts her crossbow. “Don’t thank me yet. You get one chance. Any funny business and I’m putting a stake straight through your heart. Got it?”

“Understood.” I climb off the table and crack my muscles. “I need to find Raven.”

“The girl you’ve been running around with?” Melody frowns. “I told you. We don’t have her. She’s probably?—”

I hold up a hand to silence her. She glares at me but, wisely, clamps her mouth shut.

I don’t doubt for a second that Melody is telling the truth and that she has absolutely no idea where Raven is. But that doesn’t mean the S.B.E.F isn’t behind her disappearance.

There’s still one member left.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“S.B.E.F headquarters.”

If Raven’s anywhere, she’s got to be here. I strain my senses, listening for even the faintest hint of her.

Silence.

More silence.

More excruciating silence.

The only heartbeats in this entire building belong to Melody and Todd. Their mysterious boss isn’t even here.

Damn it all to hell.

Where is she? Where? Where? Whe?—

The most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard reaches my ears. It’s faint, dull, barely there. But I’d recognize it anywhere.

Raven.

She’s here.

I can’t see her, but I can hear her fear in her heartbeat, and it feels like another stake to my chest.

“We need to go,” I say, already marching to the door. “She’s here.”

“She’s what?” Melody squawks.

“She’s in this building, and I think she’s hurt.” A million worst-case scenarios fly through my mind, and the anger that ripples through me at the thought of it is all-consuming.

I’m still not entirely sure what is going on, but I do know one thing: Whoever hurt her better watch out, because there is going to be hell to pay.