Once Burned

Chapter 35

I’d been waiting in the indoor garden, and I jumped up as soon as I heard the front door slam accompanied by the mutter of voices. But close as I was to the entrance, I still only caught a glimpse of a red-soaked Shrapnel and Maximus restraining an equally bloody stranger before they disappeared toward the entrance to the underground stone staircase. More vampires I didn’t recognize appeared and disappeared just as quickly, one of them cradling a body with achingly familiar curly brown hair.

Ben. Tears pricked my eyes that I fought back. I’d grieve for him properly later. Right now, I had to trap the vampire responsible for his death.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Vlad said in a tone I never wanted to hear directed at me. Then he strode toward me, smelling strongly of smoke and charred meat, but as usual, without a singe mark on him. The only things that marred his gunmetal-colored shirt and black pants were smears of red that required no explanation.

“Vlad—” I began.

“After your vision, I wanted you to see for yourself that I’m safe,” he cut me off in a much gentler tone, “but I must join Maximus and Shrapnel now. We only managed to take one of Szilagyi’s men alive and I intend to question him myself.”

He’d already turned away, moving with that inhuman speed toward the entrance of the staircase that led to the dungeon, when my voice chased after him.

“I doubt he knows where he is. Szilagyi considered anyone at that abbey expendable since he intended to flatten it with the mountain. Besides, I know how to find him tonight.”

That stopped him cold. He whirled to face me, green sparking in his coppery gaze.

“How?” A single word heavy with surprise and lethal intent.

“You’re not going to like it, but hear me out.”

His brow went up at that. Then he walked over in a leisurely way that somehow looked more dangerous than his supersonic bursts of speed.

“Continue.”

I glanced around. I didn’t see any of the dozen or so guards he had on this floor, but they were there. Maybe I should’ve waited until we had more privacy.

“I trust everyone in this house implicitly, so speak,” Vlad stated, overhearing that in my mind.

“Let me go into town by myself. I’ll pretend to run away, then link to Szilagyi and tell him I want to switch sides. He’ll snatch me up, take me to where he is, and then I’ll link to you and you can come and fry him.”

Vlad said nothing. Time stretched until the silence was painful. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression. It was so bland, he might have been daydreaming.

“Even if he didn’t have his men kill you on sight, Szilagyi won’t let you discover where he is,” he finally replied. “He’d make sure you were unconscious when you were transported to his location. Before you arrived, he’d have you stripped of any objects, clothes included, that you could link through in order to contact me. Then, because he wouldn’t trust you, he’d torture you until he was satisfied that every word you told him was the truth. In short, it’s a brave but stupid idea.”

I bristled. I might not be the world’s most famous vampire like some arrogant people I knew, but I was not stupid.

“How do you think I connected to you when I was trapped at the club?” I snapped. “I hadn’t seen you that day. Your essence wasn’t on a single piece of my clothing, yet I still managed to link to you. Szilagyi could have me stripped naked without a single clue as to where I was, and in ten minutes, I could still be transmitting my location to you.”

“I thought you’d brought something I touched with you,” he muttered, his gaze narrowing. “How did you do it?”

I walked the last few paces that separated us, taking his hand and not flinching at the stains that coated it.

“You’re in my skin,” I said. “The day before, you’d traced my mouth with your hand and almost kissed me, so I followed the essence you imprinted on my lips back to you.”

His eyes glowed, emerald against bronze, as he brought my hand up and kissed it. The gloves I’d put on meant I didn’t feel that silky brush of flesh, but I imagined that I could still feel his heat through the current-repelling material.

“He’s no fool. He’ll restrain you to keep you from touching anything, my dark-haired beauty. Even your lips.”

“Then you’ll imprint some of your essence onto my hand,” I replied steadily. “You’re probably doing that right now.”

That fathomless stare bore into mine. “But how will you know where you are to tell me?”

“By following essence trails left in that room. Someone’s bound to know where they are. Even if I can’t pull a location from that, I can link to whoever ties me up and follow that person. Szilagyi won’t know what I’m doing. You told me you can’t hear my thoughts when I access my power. The rest of the time, it’ll be the worst of the eighties songs in my head.”

“He’ll know you’re using your power, and be suspicious as to why.” He dropped my hand. “At best, he’ll torture you until you can’t block him from your thoughts and he learns what you intend to do. The answer is no.”

“I’m not her, Vlad.”

I said it knowing full well that I was tearing open his deepest scar, but I didn’t let that stop me. He was merciless and unapologetic when he knew he was right. I’d be the same way.

“I wouldn’t rather die than fall into your enemy’s hands,” I continued. “Even if everything you fear happens, I can take it. I’ve relived every terrible thing that people—human and otherwise—do to each other, and though it broke me once, I came back stronger. Szilagyi kidnapped me, tried to kill me, did kill my friend Ben, and is now holding my dearest friend hostage. I want revenge, and I want Marty safely back.”

“I don’t fucking believe it,” a feminine voice gasped.

I swung around. Gretchen was about fifty paces behind me in the hall, and from the way her mouth hung open in a classic expression of disbelief, she’d overheard everything.

“What is wrong with you?” she went on, now marching toward us. “You’d think getting electrocuted, cutting your wrist, and dating a vampire would be close enough to death for anyone, but no! You’ve got to offer yourself up like a present to some freaky vampire who’ll probably kill you!”

Of all the times for my sister to come out of her room. “Gretchen, now’s not—”

“Not what, a good time?” she finished angrily. “It never is with you, Leila! But since you’re about to try and get killed again, I’m not waiting. So here’s a news flash: You’re not the only one whose life went to shit when Mom died. And if Dad going emotionally catatonic afterward wasn’t bad enough, you started shoving me away as soon as you came out of that coma.”

“Shoving you away?” My voice rose as long-buried wounds rocketed to the surface. “I was a little busy trying to cope with getting Mom killed and electrocuting everyone while reliving their darkest secrets, remember?”

“Know what I remember?” While I’d gotten louder, Gretchen’s voice became soft. “Coming home from school to find you in a bathtub full of blood. Calling 911 while holding your wrist together and praying I wouldn’t have to bury someone else I loved, and I remember that as soon as you got better, you left.”

If she’d screamed it at me, it would’ve been easier, but the quiet despair in her voice cut me deeper than that knife had back then. How could I explain the darkness I’d felt trapped in? Or the conviction I’d had afterward that if I didn’t get away from her, I’d destroy her life more than I already had?

I couldn’t explain, and in hindsight, it didn’t matter.

“I was wrong, Gretchen,” I said, blinking back tears. “I couldn’t see past my own pain so I let it swallow me up. By the time I fought through it, you wanted nothing to do with me and Dad was wrapped up in his job again. Marty was all I had. That might have been my doing, but I abandoned you once when I shouldn’t have. I’m not making that mistake with Marty now.”

Then I went over and touched her cheek, my new gloves making it possible to do so without hurting her. She swatted my hand away, but her blue eyes were shiny, and redness peeked through her artfully applied makeup.

“I’m not trying to get killed, I just want this over with,” I said softly. “Szilagyi wants me for my abilities. I’ll let him think he’s got me, and then Vlad will bring the pain.”

She looked behind me to the vampire I still hadn’t convinced yet. Her chin lifted.

“I’m supposed to trust Dracula with your life?”

“Not Dracula,” I said with a faint smile as I turned around. “Vlad Tepesh, former voivode of Wallachia and the most arrogant, deadly, frightening man I’ve ever met.”

His lips curled with disdainful amusement. “Compliments won’t sway me any more than the word please, Leila.”

“You take those as compliments?” Gretchen was incredulous.

“Of course.” His smile bared his fangs. “She named all of my best qualities.” Then that unrelenting gaze landed on me.

“I’ll consider this as a possible option for later, but for now, the answer is still no.”

“You promised,” I said angrily, ignoring the look of surprised approval Gretchen shot toward Vlad. “You said if I came up with a plan to rescue Marty that didn’t put your people in too much danger, you’d act on it. Well, here’s the plan!”

“It endangers you too much” was his implacable reply. “As my lover, you’re also considered one of my people.”

“But not as valuable,” I countered, a hurt I hadn’t known I carried causing me to say the next part. “You’ve admitted that you’ll never love me, so if something goes wrong, it’s not that hard for you to find another girlfriend. Marty does love me, and he’s the best friend I’ve got. I refuse to abandon him.”

Vlad’s eyes turned flat green and he stood so still that it made looking at him almost painful. Not a breath or twitch disturbed his beautiful, inflexible frame. Even his gaze didn’t waver by the slightest degree. No one alive could hold himself so immobile, and it was as if he showed me the unbridgeable distance between us with that icily rigid posture.

“My people will continue to scour the area,” he stated after a silence that sliced like knives across my emotions. “Starting tomorrow, you will also visit nearby prominent vampires’ houses looking for a trace of Szilagyi’s essence. Someone has to be assisting him. Once we find out who, that will lead us to your beloved friend.”

Then he walked away, throwing one last scalding comment over his shoulder.

“If you need something else tonight, you’ll find me in the dungeon, doing what I do best.”