She could hear the sincerity in Luis’s voice. Natalie had a pretty good sense of when someone was lying to her, and Luis wasn’t. At least, he didn’t believe he was.
“And he went to a lot of trouble tonight to come get you. Trust me, it was really risky coming here alone, but if Ivan had found out you were connected to Baojia and were in his territory—”
“But I am not connected to Baojia! This is insane. I met him once and he told me his name was George, and we had a drink and that’s all. And it was—obviously—all an act. I’m not his like he said. I don’t even know what all this is about. I’m just investigating a story.”
Luis looked as confused as she was. “Well, trust me, you’re connected somehow. Otherwise, there’s no way he would have done all this. You’re not under Ernesto’s aegis, as far as I know, and that’s the only other reason he would go to all this trouble. He doesn’t really have a human-chick thing. I mean, he likes women. But he’s not a vampire who gets attached, so—”
“Stop!” she fin Sp!ick ally screamed, squeezing her eyes shut. “Just… stop! There are no such things as vampires. This is crazy!”
Luis fell silent, and when Natalie finally looked at him again, there was no trace of the lighthearted young man who had been trying to comfort her.
“You saw it yourself, Natalie. Felt it yourself. You saw Ivan feed from that girl. You felt it when Baojia touched you. Admit it or don’t, but you would have done anything he asked. You wouldn’t have been able to help yourself. Are you gonna be one of those delusional people who tries to believe their eyes are lying to them? Or are you going to accept that there just might be things in the world that you didn’t know about before? The truth kind of hit you over the head tonight, but it’s still up to you. You gonna fight it or roll with it? You don’t seem stupid.”
Just as she was trying to process what the young man was saying, there was a tap at the window across from her. A dark outline stood motionless as Luis unlocked the door. Then Baojia opened it and slipped into the car with barely a whisper. The vampire glanced at her with an unreadable expression before he spoke quietly to Luis.
“Luis, watch your tone when you speak to Ms. Ellis. And drive home. As fast as you can.”
“Where are you taking me?” she finally asked as they left the lights of Ensenada behind them. “My car—”
“I will arrange for someone to pick up your car and return it when we reach San Diego.”
Luis had raised the privacy screen so it was just her and George-who-wasn’t-George in the back seat of the car as they drove north. At least all the highways were familiar, so she didn’t think he was lying about going back to San Diego.
Vampire.
The word, the twisted reality of it, hung in the air between them. A part of her couldn’t accept the idea. The other part—the part Luis had spoken to—knew it had to be true. Baojia was quiet, but the tension in his shoulders told her he was not relaxed in the least.
“If you just give me my keys, my friend Manuel—”
“Ah yes, your friend, Manuel.” His voice was soft and almost frighteningly calm. “Where was he tonight, by the way? A couple might not have been quite so conspicuous. Did Manuel have more important things to do than see to your safety while you ran stupidly into the lion’s den to ask questions about his teeth?”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open. “Are you… Are you mad at me? You? Mad at me? Are you kidding?” He remained silent, but by then, she could practically feel the waves of anger pouring off him. “I don’t think you have any right to—”
“I told you not to go to Ivan!” he burst out. “I told you, ‘Never. Never speak to Ivan.’ And you didn’t listen!”
The privacy screen rolled down a few inches. Natalie could see Luis’s saucer-eyed stare. “Um, Boss—?”
“Put the screen back up, Luis!” The screen immediately went up, but Baojia was still fuming.
“I have no idea how my directions could have been more specific. ‘Don’t speak to Ivan’ is pretty damn clear. How many Ivans are there?”
She was as confused as she was angry. “What are you talking about? When did we ever talk about Ivan? I met you one time and then you show up—”
“I should have known. Should have kept you under house arrest after I met you the first time.”
“The first time?” Oh… Those weird flashes of memory sudden Smemer hly made sense. “We met before, didn’t we? You’re the reason I can’t remember that Friday night.”
She could tell from the look on his face she was right. It wasn’t an apologetic look in the least. Baojia was still angry.
“I told you not to go to Ivan, Natalie. Why couldn’t you just listen?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she yelled. “Maybe because I couldn’t remember it, you bastard! What else did you do to me? Was it the same creepy shit you did back there that made me practically unable to speak? What the hell was that? Do you know I thought I’d been drugged? I thought I had a brain tumor, for God’s sake!”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I might have! I spent hours in the emergency room. Kristy wanted me to have a cat scan!”
“Which you didn’t have.” He crossed his arms. “You did, however, go to speak to Ivan when I told you not to.”
“Baojia. It was your name Dez gave me, wasn’t it? Why did she lie about it? Does she know what you are?” Natalie suddenly gasped, terror clutching her throat. “Is she in some kind of trouble? Oh, my God! Matt. The baby! Is Dez okay?”
His head rolled back as he groaned. “Of course she’s okay! She’s the one who called me and told me you were on your way to Mexico, Natalie. She’s the one who sent me after you.”
“How did she—”
“You tweeted some picture at the border crossing.” He paused. “And someday, someone is going to explain to me what the hell Twitter is.”
She frowned. “Oh, it’s this microblogging site where you’re limited to one hundred forty characters and—why? Why the hell did Dez call you?”
“Because she asked me to protect you,” he said under his breath. “She felt responsible because she gave you my name in the first place and got you caught up in all… this. And she knows the case you’re investigating has something to do with our world—”
“The vampire world.”
“The world world.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “It’s the same world. You haven’t fallen into another dimension. There are just things you didn’t know about before that you know now.”
She swallowed audibly and didn’t miss the fact that he glanced at her neck. “You’re a liar,” she said. “And a monster. And I want to go home.”
The line of his jaw tightened. He was silent for a long moment, arms crossed, a black enigmatic outline as the night sped past. “I never lied to you,” he finally said. “And you’re not going home.”
“You can’t kidnap me.”
“Yes, I can. And I will if you don’t cooperate. You can call Dez when we arrive at my house.”
“I’m going to call Dez as soon as we get to my house.” She only got angrier at his amusement. “What?”
He started laughing, the kind of rueful laughter people resort to when things were just that bad. “You’re quite…”
“What?”
“Interesting. For a human. And stubborn.”
She curled her lip. “You’re pretty stubborn too. But since I don’t know many vampires, I can’t compare.”
“You’ve probably known more than you realize.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“And you’ll know even more if you return to your house.” His smile faded. “Ivan knows who you are now; he won’t be shy Snspanabout sending spies. He’s going to be curious. I don’t take up with human women, as a rule.”
“Am I supposed to feel special?” They were approaching the border crossing. Natalie knew if she yelled for help, the border patrol agents would stop them. They’d help her. There was
no way—
“If you’re thinking about making a break for it, I wouldn’t suggest it, Natalie. I’m quite serious. It’s not safe for you to go home. You’re going to my house for the time being until we can figure out some other, more suitable, location for you. I’ll have a better idea tomorrow evening after I wake and can make some calls.”
“I’m not going to your house. And what? You really sleep all day?” She put a hand to her neck as mental pictures from the club assaulted her. “You’re going to bite me and drink my blood, aren’t you?”
“Already have. And you should take off your heels. Get comfortable.”
“What do you mean you already—wait, why should I get comfortable?”
Her heart caught in her throat when he appeared at her side. It was as if he teleported; it was that fast.
“You should get comfortable because…” He threw an arm around her shoulders before she could protest, drawing her to his side as he stroked soft fingers along her arm and the drowsy haze started falling again. “Time for a nap, darling.”
“Don’t call me darling. You’re a liar. I…” She fought to stay conscious, but her eyelids fell. “Ha…ate you.”
“I think you might actually mean that.” Was it her imagination, or did he sound sad? The heaviness fell over her like a warm blanket. It was almost as if the fingers on her arm feathered over her whole body, bringing with them a gentle pressure. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. She imagined a kiss on her forehead as the car slowed at the border crossing, and she thought she heard him whisper.
“I never lied.”
When she woke, she was in a warm, windowless room, still in her dress and lying on luxurious silk sheets. She blinked and sat up, shaking her head to clear the weird and sadly familiar hazy feeling from her head. She pinched her eyes shut, shook her head, then opened them again to see a crisp white note sitting on the edge of the night table. Near it, a duffel bag from her closet was sitting next to her shoes, which were lined up perfectly with her old white sneakers. She looked back at the note, which in clear, precise letters read:
It was not a dream.
“Well, shit.” She unfolded it to read the inside.
Natalie,
You are not a prisoner here, but you’re not free to go, either.
“That’s pretty much the definition of a prisoner, asshole.”
I will wake at dusk. Please make yourself at home in my house. I packed a few items from your closet…
“Are you kidding me?” She stood, tempted to rip the note to tiny shreds. “You went through my stuff?”
…And some extra shoes. Anything missing, I will be happy to procure for you.
…Anth="18">Baojia
P. S. Your butler is waiting.
Natalie stormed out of the room, surprised the handle turned on her first attempt, only to be met with the most stunning view of the Pacific Ocean she’d ever seen from inside a house. It stretched wide, a solid wall of glass framed by sleek modern pillars in white marble. Turning in place, she saw that her room opened up to a huge living room with a small kitchen in one corner. It looked like the guest suite of a very fancy hotel. And on one soft leather couch sat Luis, paging through a copy of the Tribune.
“This report on the hotel robbery is good. I don’t really read the paper, but I noticed a stack of them downstairs, so I picked one up. You’re a good writer.”
“Thanks. Are you supposed to be my butler?”
“Haha. Such a sense of humor the vampire has,” Luis said. “But yes. I’m stuck in here as long as you are. ‘See to her wishes, but don’t let her leave.’ I believe that was the job description.”
“Don’t let me leave, huh?” Natalie cast her eyes around the room. “We’ll see about that.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Baojia was practicing his forms to the melodious background noise of Natalie banging on the door of the guest suite, calling him every vile name she could think of. As suspected, she had a rather vivid imagination.
Cross. Thrust. Center. Draw back. Center. Sweep.
Center.
Center.
Center.
He took a deep, meditative breath, trying to still his mind from the flurries of information all begging for attention.
Rory had called at dusk.
Then Paula.
Then Ivan’s people.
Luis had called from the house phone to tell him Natalie had spent all day inspecting windows and air-conditioning vents for means of escape before she had taken to simply banging on the door incessantly until she was let out so she could go home. His assistant had also been subjected to a rather thorough interrogation about the vampire world.
I thought she was going to waterboard me!
He was insane. There was no way any of this was going to end well.
Cross. Draw. Center. Sweep.
Humans were dying in the desert and he had no idea who was behind it. His sire was still angry with him and wanted him cooped up in San Diego. A human reporter had discovered not only that vampires existed, but also that San Diego’s premier nightclub was owned by them. The same reporter was locked in his guest suite, and the electronic lock system keeping her there was due to release in—he glanced at the clock—five, four, three, two…
He heard the click followed by the tumble, followed by the rush of feet that ran down the stairs to—
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
Center.
Baojia turned, swiveling in his stance until he faced her, still practicing his forms in nothing but a pair of loose pants. She noticed.
“Good evening, Natalie.” He’d picked excellent clothing for her. The dark jeans hugged her hips and the blue-green shirt matched her eyes.
Focus. There Vmemer. Twas an angry human in his practice room.
“I said, who—”
“I am Baojia, oldest son and chief of security for Don Ernesto Alvarez, immortal leader of Los Angeles and its territories.” The corner of his mouth lifted as he stood in a rigid stance. “And sometimes known as George. Welcome to my home.” He finished the combination, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. Seeing her awake in his home put him in an oddly good mood. He tried not to wonder why. His introduction had taken a bit of the wind out, but he could tell she was still angry. “I apologize for not giving you a tour last night. You were rather exhausted.”
“Probably because you did that creepy shit with your vampire power to knock me out.”
“I didn’t actually use very much.” He opened his eyes and strolled over to her. “You shouldn’t have been unconscious. Have you had any extra stress in your life lately? Suffered from exhaustion?”
“Are you asking about my health?”
“Yes. I promised to keep you safe. If you have any health issues, I should be made aware of them so I can tend to you properly.”
“Tend to me?” Now she was just blinking. “I… I’m healthy as a horse. Can we please—?”
“That’s such an odd expression. You look far healthier than any horse I’ve ever seen.” He couldn’t stop his eyes skimming over her figure.
“Oh… wow.” She shook her head. “You actually just did that. You kind of made a pass at me after you kept me prisoner for a whole night, you ass!”
He shrugged and lifted a hand, flicking a finger so that the water bottle on the bench flew to his hand. Natalie’s mouth dropped open.
“It was an observation, not a proposition. And I kept Luis prisoner, too. I didn’t want you to feel singled out.”
“How…” She sounded out of breath. “How did you…”
“Didn’t Luis explain that part?” He let the smug smile peek out. “He said you interrogated him very thoroughly. Something about bright lights and metal chairs.”
“Nothing…” She took a step back. He followed. She took another. “Nothing about… floating stuff. That was—”
“It’s the water.” He opened the bottle and freed it, feeling his element’s excitement at his
presence. The water in the bottle flowed out and swirled around his neck, circling him like a snake. Natalie watched, not with horror, but with awe. She reached a hand out before drawing back. “Don’t be afraid to touch it if you want. There’s nothing special about this water. It’s the same stuff you drink.” He glanced at the blue bottle. “Direct from the spring, in fact.”
“But how—”
“Immortals, vampires—whatever you choose to call us—all have a connection with one of the elements. For me, that connection is water. I control it, and it gives me strength.” He called more water from the fountain that ran toward him in a floating river. He sent the water to circle her legs before he created a shimmering waterfall before her. It danced and shone between them, a living wall that reflected the lights of the harbor. Her anger fled and he saw the wonder take over. Natalie reached her hand through the waterfall and he saw her face break into a smile.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “Magic.”
Her hand hung in the air, covered with the water he had called. Baojia reached out and touched her spread hand, fitting her fingers with his. Her smile dropped, but she did not pull away.
“It o [
She stepped to the right and so did he, the water still rippling between them and her hand still linked with his. “But you’re a vampire. You drink blood?”
“Yes. I eat some food, but I have to drink blood to survive. Human or animal. Either one will suffice, but I don’t kill unless someone threatens me.”
“What does blood have to do with the elements?”
They continued to circle each other, the water still hanging between them, and he didn’t let go of her hand. “What is the body but the sum of the elements? Water, Earth, Air. The fire of human energy and heat. We were all once human. We are the same as you. Only more… durable.”