Sleeping With The Vampire (Immortal Vampire #2)

Chapter 15

Izzy

The night is crisp and cold, the temperature dropping as soon as the sun is down. The various people staying with us go back to their rooms, lock their doors. All of us are feeling unsettled, worried.

I find my mother in her greenhouse, fussing with her plants. They are dying, she fears there is something in the air. Even our groundwater appears to be changing. My mother does not look well, her skin is blotchy, her eyes are swollen, bleary. She wasn’t at dinner, which we all had together and I want to check that she is okay.

“I don’t want food now,” she says in a soft voice, her long fingers stroking the petals of a plant. “That is not what we need.”

She turns away from me and I go outside, into the freezing night air.

My phone rings and it is Costello.

“I had a call from Joe,” he says. “He is taking Dominic out of the Citadel, somewhere safe.”

“What happened?”

“A package was delivered, some kind of nerve bomb. When Dominic opened it, this vapor released. He stepped away but not in time. Joe says he is paralyzed, blind. The medics don’t know what to do, they’ve never seen anything like it.”

“No way,” I say, shocked.

“Joe says they want to get rid of anyone who is against the new powers. He is not making a lot of sense right now, but he’s scared. He said he didn’t want to come here because it won’t be safe for long.”

“Are you serious?”

“Uh-huh. Says they’re getting armies up to control things out West, and then they’re coming for the rest of us.”

I wonder what that means. But I can’t sit around anymore, waiting for whatever shit is coming our way to hit us. I need to be doing something, anything.

“Who is behind this?”

“Fuckin’ vampires,” Costello says. “They’re comin’ for us. Again!”

“Not Lucca,” I say quickly. “It’s not him.”

“They’re all the same, Iz, you should know that.”

“No,” I say quickly. “They tried to kill him too, remember?”

“When it comes to war, we have to stand together. Us against them, that is the only way.”

But we don’t stand a chance, I think. The vampires in the Citadel are evil and powerful. I think of what Lare told me.

“I can’t sit here, doing nothing,” I say. “I’m going to go after Chakrat.”

“What about your mother?” Costello asks.

“There are others here, she isn’t alone.”

“Chakrat is too much for you,” he says, but he sounds defeated. “I’d come with you but I think he will swat me like a fly.”

“Not a fly! A big bug maybe,” I joke feebly.

Costello promises to come by to check on my mother and I am about to go and get ready when I feel the familiar sensation. I turn around and look out over the open plains of the desert, the empty road.

Lucca is out there, I can feel it, he is coming.

I pull the jersey around me and wait.

I don’t know where he is coming from, but I can feel it.

My heart starts beating faster, there is a quickening in my pulse. When I turn to go to my room, I see him standing outside on the patio.

I go towards him and walk into his arms. Feeling his embrace on the cold night warms me, the heat between us engulfs me.

“How are you?” I ask, pulling away, concerned.

I check his face, but he looks better than when I last saw him.

“Getting there,” he smiles at me. “I’m an old man, you see, no longer young.”

“Bullshit!” I respond. “You’re a beast!”

There is a moment of silence. He pulls me closer, kisses me and for a few seconds, the world stops, I feel myself falling into him, into our world which exists outside of the one I inhabit with my family, my people here. There is no talking, no reason there, just an energy and a force field that is fed by the two of us, a current that pulses through our bodies.

His kiss is intense, fierce, I feel his arms around me, strong, pulling me in deeper and there is no pulling away now. It rises between us, this incredible desire and he pushes me against the wall of my bedroom, ripping open my clothes to get to my body. The look in his eyes is of naked desire, and it arouses me in ways I cannot even begin to understand. He peels my clothes off of me and I stand naked in the freezing air, not feeling a thing. His hands are all over me, caressing and stroking, pinching and squeezing, bringing me to life and causing sensations I have never felt before in my life.

He lifts me up and I fold my legs around his hips as his cock enters me, thrusting with an intensity that excites me. With every thrust, I am shoved against the wall, the power of his body seems to shake the room.

I can feel my body respond to him, to his power, wanting more of it. I feel myself offering my body to him and I sense the change in him, a different energy as the fangs come out and the teeth pierce my skin. It is an exquisite moment of pleasure, and it is as if more than our bodies are coming together, my blood is flowing and in some strange moment of madness, I see blood from one of his wounds, which has opened during our passion, the blood running down his chest. I lick it and the taste of his blood burns my tongue. My world explodes then. There are no words to describe the sensations coursing through my body and he collapses on top of me, the two of us sliding to the ground, spent.

I don’t tell him anything about my plans as he starts telling me about what is happening in the world, how he fears there are plots to get rid of him. He wants to act but he wants to be sure, he is unwilling to instigate the conflict.

“But you were attacked, right? Your supply trucks have been under attack for months? Shouldn’t you strike back?”

“I don’t know where to strike,” he says, his face grim.

He tells me about his meeting with the fifth councilor and sending Ragnar to the capitol.

“And Sunil? Where is he?” I ask even though I knew I shouldn’t.

He pulls away, his face closes off.

“He’s in the Capital,” he says.

“I see,” I say.

“What?” he says and I should have let it go. But this is not my character.

“Doesn’t it strike you as strange that you are being attacked from all sides, without being able to find out who it is? It is someone close to you, and they’re being protected.”

“Don’t!” he raises a hand to shut me up. But I don’t do well with people telling me what to do, I never have.

“Or what?” I challenge him.

He turns to me, his gaze fierce and aggressive. I feel an incredibly hostile energy coming towards me and I refuse to look away, finding myself shaking to the bone.

“You asked me to find out who killed your wife and I have! Now, you’re behaving like every other man I’ve ever met who hasn’t wanted to face the truth!”

He stares at me and his face changes from the sexy, handsome man I know, into something else, something dangerous. The very air around him seems to quiver with a destructive force that scares me. For the first time, I think he might actually hurt me. His anger is too much.

“Get out,” I snarl. “Go away!”

He lashes out, as if to punch a wall in anger, the mere force of the movement is enough to smash the wall and it crumples into a heap of dust.

“Lucca! Stop!”

My shout seems to have brought him back from wherever he was.

“Izzy,” he says, stunned. “I’m…I’m sorry…”

“No,” I say, firmly. “Leave, we’re done here. I have to be somewhere anyway.”

“Where are you going?” he asks, coming closer but I step away.

“None of your business. We’re done, I’ve completed the assignment, given you your proof, so I’ll be happy to receive my payment.”

“Wait, Izzy,” he calls out to me, his voice apologetic now but I’m not having any of it.

I nod at him, curtly, coldly and politely. “I bid you goodnight,” and with that I bow to him and turn away.

My heart is beating fast but I will not be spoken to in that way.

I don’t care who he thinks he is or how excellent he is in bed. The one thing I will never accept, is a man who tries to push me around. Fucking vampire king or not.

If that is the way he wants it, he can forget about it.

Right now.

As I will be doing.

I have much more important things to focus on.

As soon as he leaves, I gather my things and set off right away.

I had called around earlier in the day, trying to find out where Chakrat was and it wasn’t even that difficult to find him. Seems the fucker is out in the open now, helping to wreak mayhem in the West. A source told me of some house outside Ginnerlong and I travel all night to reach it. I want to hit it in the daylight, when he is weakest.

But I am not prepared for what I find as soon as I reach the mountains east of the West Mountains. The clouds are heavy with smoke, you can smell it in the air, the chaos and the destruction everywhere. The war is already here, you can tell. Cars block the road and burnt-out wrecks are scattered everywhere.

It is impossible to travel by road. In one of the smaller towns, I manage to find someone willing to sell me a horse, a crazy beast that will take me across the pass.

“You’re insane to go in there now,” says the horse’s owner. “There are vampires all over the place, they’re basically feeding on the people openly now. They’ll kill you.”

“Let them come,” I say grimly as I saddle the horse and get on it. The horse, a stallion going by the name of Strider, is nervous and bucks and kicks and I have to pull the reins tight and talk to it in a soothing voice. Then I dig in my heels and we fly through the night, taking back roads through the forest. I have memorized the map to get to the manor house outside Ginnerlong and a few miles away, I come to a huge blaze in the middle of the road. The horse refuses to continue and as I try to get the horse under control, I feel something fly towards me. Slashing towards it with a blade and catching the body as it is upon me. There is another coming at me and a third comes at me as well and I respond instinctively, throwing blades and slashing necks quickly, without thinking about it too much. I am so fast on my feet, more agile than ever before. It is Lucca’s blood, I realize, giving me more speed and dexterity.

When I leave the scene at the burning house, there are four dead vampires around me and the horse has bolted. I start running in a northern direction, with only one thing in my mind. Or one person. One vampire.

The one responsible for killing my father, for ruining my family and now, helping others to ruin the world. I will not sit by and wait for that to happen. If I die while this happens, so be it, but I am not cut out for sitting passively, waiting for shit to come my way. My mother is already leaving, I have no desire to be here if my entire family’s gone. What do I have to live for then anyway? My Guard’s promise of protecting the weak is not enough to keep me going.

When I near the estate, I find a low stone wall, which I easily scale and then I slow down, trying to scout the area. The day is breaking and I want to wait for the light before I enter the house. I find a good place to hide and sit it out for a few hours, until the sun is high and it is fairly bright outside. Then I approach the house slowly. It is a big mansion, in ruin. One side of the house is a pile of rocks and the windows have been boarded up. There is no sign of movement, no sense that anyone is about the place. I walk round the back and get my knives ready, to be ready at the smallest movement. The house inside is a mess, broken furniture and tables turned over. It looks like a huge fight took place here. I walk through a large entrance hall into a kind of dining room where plates and rotting food have attracted buzzing flies. There is a staircase that looks like something was thrown off it, perhaps a sofa. Wood has been ripped off and it looks unsafe.

I carefully tread around the broken steps, feel my way to the upper floors. I know he’s here, I can feel it. On the top landing, I scan the hallways, decide where the bedrooms are and carefully open the doors. In the first, there is only darkness when I open the door. The door creaks softly and I hold my breath, listening to hear if I’ve attracted attention. There is someone lying on the bed. I scan the rest of the room quickly and pounce without making a sound, aiming for the neck and slashing quickly, severing the head.

I turn around and go to the next bedroom where someone is sleeping in a huge chair by the window. From the long hair and the fancy clothes, I gather it is someone a little more important than my previous victim. As I get closer, the body sits up and the eyes open, suddenly alert, a hand grabs my arm and I have to act quickly, plunging the silver-tipped dagger straight into the heart.

The body slumps back.

I stand back and take a breath, when I hear a voice behind me.

“Looking for me?”

I turn around quickly, but still not fast enough. Before I know what is happening, my hands are tied behind my back and I am pulled into the room by my hair, thrown on the bed, my feet tied to the railing at the bottom, my hands to the top. In front of me, a man crouches, laughing.

“Izzy, right? I have been waiting for you…”

“Chakrat,” I say.

“So lovely to meet you, at last! Have you come alone?” He perks up. “Hardly seems wise, does it?”

I struggle against the rope but I find myself unable to move.

He laughs again.

“I am hoping to see your lover soon. I’m sure he will come running to your side, aren’t you?”

I shake my head and grit my teeth. “He won’t come.”

Chakrat laughs again. “Oh, but he will my sweet. He will smell your distress and come running like the old fool he is.”

He bares his teeth. “Then I will cut him down and that will be that.” He crosses his arms with a satisfied smile.