Much Ado About Vampires: A Dark Ones Novel

  She screamed into his mind at that thought, but made an effort to breathe. He couldn’t help but smile into the darkness at the fact that she thought nothing about facing down one of Bael’s wrath demons, but was almost prostrate with terror at the thought of a few rodents.

  “Distract me,” she ordered his back.

  He started to turn, intending on taking her into his arms.

  “No, not that way! You have to stand guard. Distract me while you watch for attacking beasts. I suppose we should talk about Eleanor.”

  “I’d prefer not to.”

  “I hate to say it, but I’d rather not, as well. What a chicken I am. Tell me . . . tell me about your past. Jas told me that vampires are either born that way or made. Which were you?”

  “My father was an unredeemed Dark One; thus I was born that way, as well. What do you want to know about my past?”

  “Well . . . how old are you? You look like you’re my age, but I have a feeling you’re older than you look.”

  “I was born in 1336 in what is now Dachau, Germany.”

  “The place where the concentration camp was?”

  “Yes. It is a lovely area, despite that blot on its history. I have a summer home there that I think you’ll like.”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “None left living. My mother had several children before my father seduced her.”

  “Sounds like Daddy had some issues.”

  “Several, not the least of which was an inability to remain with any woman longer than a few weeks. He died in a fire in the eighteenth century.”

  “Really? I didn’t think you guys could die.”

  “We can be killed, yes. We don’t die of natural causes, however, and it’s not easy to end our lives, but in my father’s case, the building he was in collapsed on him, trapping him in the fire. Even a Dark One cannot stand up to that sort of thing.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, and he knew she honestly was sorry about the loss of his father.

  “Thank you. I was not close to him, but he was my only living family member. I felt his loss.” He didn’t say more, but she read it in his mind nonetheless.

  Her arms went around him, her cheek pressed against his back. After you’d already lost your Beloved. I’m sorry, Alec. Sorry that I wasn’t around for you when I should have been.

  It wasn’t your fault, querida. It was just one of those cruel accidents that fate deals us sometimes. He wanted to add that it would be worth it if he knew he had found his Beloved at last, but he kept his thoughts to himself, wanting her to make the decision for herself and not be swayed by his need.

  “What’s a lichmaster?”

  “Hmm?” Cora’s question interrupted his contemplation of how much time they had, and whether he could convince her that the room was mouse-free enough to make love to her. “It’s someone who controls liches.”

  “Like Ulfur?”

  “Yes. In fact, it’s Ulfur that Kris and Pia are trying to save.”

  “Ah, is that how you knew who he was?” she asked, snuggling up against his back.

  He might be hungry, object to being hidden like he was a criminal, and dislike the closed-in feeling of the small room, but he’d happily stand there to the end of his days to protect Cora, if she continued to rub herself against his back that way. She was so obviously his Beloved, the one woman put on the earth to be with him, he was surprised he hadn’t recognized her from the first. “Yes. He was in Pia’s charge before de Marco stole his soul and used it to have him resurrected as a lich bound to him.”

  “Poor guy. Do you think that monk can summon Diamond, too?”

  “From the Akasha? No. That would take a Guardian, and unless he has one on call, he wouldn’t be able to organize a rescue for your friend.”

  “Well, I’m going to have to do something about her soon, Alec. She’s been in there for some time now, and if nothing else, my ex-husband will be worried about her.”

  “Time passes differently in the Akasha than here,” he said, not liking the feeling of obligation she felt toward the other woman, but aware that it was now his problem, as well. “We will contact the Guardian who summoned us to have her do the same for Diamond.”

  She pressed her face against the back of his neck, her breath warm on his flesh, sending little rivulets of fire into his veins. “That’s got to be expensive.”

  “It is.”

  “You’d do that for me?” Her hands slid around his sides, her fingers spreading wide on his belly.

  “Of course. You’re my—” He stopped, but she knew what he was going to say.

  “That’s still nice of you. Alec, do you think we could go to a mouse-free room? You’re driving me wild with all those thoughts of licking me, and tasting me, and biting me, and oh my god, yes, I really like that one! Can we do that? Right now?”

  He laughed, turning to face her, about to say that he would be happy to indulge her every fantasy, but at that moment, the door behind her started to move with a low grating sound.

  “It’s just me,” Kristoff said, heaving the door aside before waving them out. “Julian’s gone. You can come out.”

  “Oh, thank god. There’s a mouse in there!” Cora said, giving a visible shudder before hurrying out of the room.

  Kristoff looked past Alec to the shadows, where the rat stopped cleaning itself to consider them. “Indeed,” was all he said before Alec helped him push the door back into place.

  “I assume, since you’re not escorting me out in handcuffs, that the messenger didn’t convince you to turn me over to them?” Alec asked as they trooped back upstairs.

  “Did you think I would?” Kris asked, a smile on his lips.

  “It would have been sweet revenge.”

  “We don’t want revenge,” Pia said as they entered the same sitting room they had been in earlier. She held out a cup to Cora, plying her with food as the two women sat opposite each other. “We never have. That’s why we had Eleanor’s remains found and brought back to life. Even before that, we didn’t want it. Kristoff spoke on your behalf after the council had you banished, but those new vampires who took Rowan’s and Andreas’s places on the council are bastards. Well, and that Sebastian guy, who I have never liked.”

  “He’s had a hard time of it. He’s still recovering from being tortured by a demon lord,” Alec said with a little smile at Cora as he sat next to her on the couch. She ate three ginger cookies rapidly. I’m sorry, love, I didn’t know you were hungry, or I would have asked Pia to feed you.

  It just kind of hit me when I saw all the goodies. Is that lemon pound cake? It is! I love lemon pound cake!

  Alec pushed the plate of cake closer to Cora, who murmured something to Pia before taking two slices.

  “Oh, Kristoff told me why Sebastian’s such a big pain in the butt, but that doesn’t make him any easier to take. Cora, if you like the pound cake, you have to try the cream cheese pinwheels. I get them from a little bakery in town, and they are to die for. I’ve always said that if you’re going to eat for two, you might as well eat what you like. And by ‘eat for two’ I don’t mean I’m having a baby, so you can just put your eyeballs back in, Alec. I meant being responsible for feeding a vamp gives you a bit more license to indulge.”

  “My eyeballs were in no danger of popping out, thank you,” he said drily, leaning back, one arm draped over Cora’s shoulders as she and Pia consumed just about every last bit of food. “Where is Eleanor?”

  “Still pouting in her bedroom. She had some not very nice things to say about you, which I’m afraid I encouraged.”

  Cora looked surprised. “Why did you encourage that? ”

  Pia smiled at them both. “Because she didn’t know that Alec wasn’t down here, so she was more than happy to stay upstairs and nurse her grudge in private. Which meant she didn’t see the messenger.”

  “What did Julian say?” Alec asked, needing to know the worst. He had to protect Cora from whatever penalty the cou
ncil would mete out on him.

  “The council knows you’re out, of course,” Kristoff answered, sitting next to Pia on the love seat. “They assume you’ll come here. I told them I would tell them if I saw you.”

  Alec’s eyebrows rose. “You lied?”

  “Of course. But that’s not going to fool them for long, Alec. Julian didn’t outright accuse me of having you hidden away, but he did notice your car, and he’s not stupid. He’ll be back. And when he does . . .” Kristoff’s gaze shifted to Cora.

  “Why do I have a feeling that what you’re not saying is something I’m really going to dislike? ” she asked him.

  Alec tangled his fingers in her hair, idly stroking her neck as he mulled over the possibilities. “I will have to leave.”

  “Yes, but that’s not the answer,” Kristoff said, meeting his gaze with one that spoke volumes. “They’ll simply follow you.”

  “Do they have some sort of special vampire tracking ability?” Cora asked, worry uppermost in her mind. “Will they be able to find you quickly, I mean?”

  “Not if I don’t wish to be found, no. But Kristoff is correct that they won’t give up—they’ll continue to track me until they find me and return me to the Akasha.”

  “Well, don’t let them,” she said, sounding indignant at the thought. “I went to a lot of trouble to have that Guardian pull you out of there. Maybe if you talked to them—”

  Pia and Kristoff were shaking their heads right along with him. “We tried that,” Pia said, wiping her fingers on a linen napkin before sitting back. “We talked ourselves blue in the face, but they absolutely would not listen. They maintain that Alec’s actions have indirectly caused the deaths of Dark Ones, and that he should pay for that. That’s why we resurrected Eleanor.”

  Cora’s shoulders dropped as she leaned into him, delighting his senses with her warm, feminine feel and scent. “Maybe you could hide, then, somewhere that they won’t find you.”

  “It’s possible,” he said, wondering if she’d consent to shut herself away with him.

  “Possible, but not reasonable,” Kristoff said, frowning. “They’ll find you, Alec.”

  “There is one solution,” Pia said, her hand on Kristoff’s leg. She glanced at him before continuing.

  “What’s that?” Cora asked, and in a flash she knew what Pia would say.

  Pia took a deep breath and pinned Cora back with an intense look. “Someone has to Join with Alec. I know you said you didn’t want to, but there’s really no other way to save him from the Akasha. I’m afraid you’re going to have to make a decision, Cora; it’s either you or Eleanor. One of you is Alec’s only salvation.”

  Chapter Eleven

  What, I ask you, do you say to a statement that you are someone’s only means of salvation?

  Oh, yes, I completely disregarded the part about Eleanor also filling that role, because Alec obviously didn’t want her. That thought kept me smugly content for about thirty seconds, until I realized that if I didn’t do the job, Alec wouldn’t have the choice—he’d have to Join with Eleanor just to save himself.

  An image rose in my mind of him feeding from her, bound to her for the rest of his life. It was not a good image.

  On the other hand, that whole “for the rest of his life” part had me a bit skittish. “You’re kidding, right? Because I did the saving thing, already. Twice, if you count having Alec yanked out of the Akasha.”

  “Third time’s the charm,” Pia said with a smile, but judging by the look she slid the vampire next to her, she didn’t really believe what she was saying.

  “Yes, you did already save me, twice, as you point out,” Alec said smoothly, his fingers withdrawing from where they’d slipped down between my back and the couch. “And for that, I will be eternally grateful. It is enough. This problem with the council is not yours, Cora. I will find a solution.”

  Alec’s words disturbed me almost as much as the fact that his friends clearly agreed with him. It rankled that no one there believed that I would exert myself to save Alec. Oh, I was no fool—I knew I’d brought this on myself with my reticence to become involved with anything vampirish, but dammit, I was involved now, and I wasn’t so closed-minded that I couldn’t adapt to a situation.

  My inner devil rejoiced, and made plans for what dress she’d wear to the Joining party. I told her to go jump in a lake.

  You are distressed, Alec said, the words as soft as his touch on my mind. Do not let yourself be, cielito. I will find a way out of this situation.

  I didn’t answer him, too busy fuming over my growing sense of injustice to bother pointing out the obvious.

  It took a half hour, but we explained the happenings of the last two days to a rapt Pia and Kristoff. By the end of it, Eleanor had evidently worked out the worst of her temper tantrum, and rejoined us, sullen and prone to shooting me nasty looks, but she appeared to have accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to end up with Alec as her boy toy.

  Unless, of course, I didn’t want him . . .

  “So your friend is still there?” Pia asked when Alec finished by detailing our arrival at their house. “In the Akasha, I mean?”

  “Yes. And even though Alec says time operates differently there, I can’t help but think that at some point Diamond is going to get tired of all those managerial meetings and want to leave. Not to mention what my ex is going to think about her disappearance. I left a voice message for the office when I picked up my passport, saying that I was going to take a little time off, and Diamond was going to fly out to Hawaii to join Dermott at his real estate conference, but it’s been two days now. If anyone from the office calls Dermott, he’ll be bound to notice that his wife isn’t there with him.”

  “Hmm,” Pia said, looking thoughtful. “As I see it, we have two problems to tackle: saving Alec and rescuing Diamond. Well, the latter, at least, should be easy enough. You simply contact that Guardian who got you out.”

  “Alec has offered to finance that, yes,” I said with a grateful glance at him. He was looking particularly gorgeous, his hair slightly mussed from our sojourn in the mouse-infested room, a rich brown manly stubble on his chin and cheeks that left me feeling shivery inside, as if he were rubbing his cheeks along my skin. His leg was warm next to mine, making me want to just curl up against him and forget everything else.

  Eleanor glared at me as I leaned into him just a little. “How very generous of him.”

  “So that just leaves Alec to save,” Pia said, ignoring the sarcasm in Eleanor’s voice.

  “I can save myself,” he answered, his hand sliding down my back again, his fingers gently stroking the curve of my hip.

  Eleanor snorted.

  “And if you get sent back to the Akasha, what’s going to happen to Cora?” Kristoff asked.

  Alec’s fingers stilled.

  I frowned. “What do you mean, what will happen to me?”

  “Alec is acting as your protector. Who will assume that role if he’s banished to the Akasha? ” Kristoff’s eyes were a pale blue as he watched me.

  “That’s right,” Eleanor said, considering me with something other than hostility, a speculative glint to her eyes. “She is a . . . what did you call it? Earwax of Lucifer? ”

  “Eyeball!” I corrected her. “I’m the eyeball of Lucifer, not the earwax!”

  “Eye of Lucifer, actually,” Alec corrected.

  “Hmm,” Eleanor said softly, looking pleased with herself.

  She’s totally going to try to use me to blast you to smithereens, I warned Alec.

  He laughed. Perhaps, but we will not allow that.

  Hrmph. He might not be concerned, but I made a mental note to keep a close watch on Eleanor for signs she would try to use me against him.

  “That’s a good question. Is there anyone else who can protect Cora if Alec is banished?”

  “Like Alec,” I said, straightening up from where I was slumped against him, “I can take care of myself.”

  “Can you?” K
ristoff asked. “Can you protect yourself against a wrath demon?”

  “Well . . .”

  “Leave it, Kris,” Alec said, his fingers once again stroking gently down my side.

  “Can you protect yourself against the Ilargi who captured Ulfur?”

  “If I had to, I might,” I said hesitantly, thinking about the gun de Marco had wielded. My leg had healed, but even so . . .

  “Kristoff,” Alec said with a distinct note of warning in his voice.

  “What about Bael himself? He makes frequent appearances in the mortal world,” Kristoff said, pounding home the point. “How will you protect yourself against him?”

  “Bael . . . he’s . . .” I stopped, knowing it would do no good to lie to myself and the others. “He’s pretty bad.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Kristoff said drily.

  “Stop trying to pressure her,” Alec told his friend, a frown between his brows.

  “Yes, god forbid someone should actually want to save you. It’s far better to force that on a person, instead,” Eleanor said acidly.

  Kristoff ignored the comment. “I’m simply trying to point out the obvious. Her life is tied to yours now. You need each other.”

  I was about to protest, but Kristoff’s words resonated in my head in a way that made a warm glow kindle. Alec did need me. I’d never before been vital to anyone’s life, and yet here was the answer to everything I’d ever wanted—someone who truly did need me.

  He’s a vampire, my devil pointed out, just to see what I would say to that.

  But he’s not a bad vampire! I answered her. I knew now that the pain that had driven him almost past sanity would have been enough to excuse all his actions, but despite that, he still carried guilt about it. He had committed sins, but had paid his penance a thousandfold.

  He needed me.

  Do not let Kristoff make you feel you must do something that is personally repugnant.

  You need me.

  I want you, yes. I desire you above all women. But I could not live with making you feel as if you had no choice. I will find the means to hide you away, with a protector other than me to guard you.