Prologue 10 страница

Something poured down my throat and

consciousness returned. Through a red

haze, I saw Vlad’s face. Felt his strong

arms around me while his wrist pressed to

my mouth.

“Leila, can you hear me? ” he asked,

moving his wrist to allow me to answer.

I blinked, but the red didn’t leave my

vision. Then I handed him the object that

was still clutched in my hand, dimly

noting that it was an ancient-looking

crown.

“You’re wrong, ” I whispered. “I do

love the real you.”

If Vlad responded, I didn’t hear it. A

surge of dizziness followed by a blinding

pain tore across my mind, and then I felt

nothing at all.

Chapter 23

E ver been awake enough to hear snippets

of what was going on around you, but too

groggy to react to any of it? For what

seemed like the next several hours, I

remained in that strange, semiconscious

state, hearing fragments of Gretchen’s

voice, my father’s, Vlad’s, and even

Marty’s. At one point, they got into a

shouting match, but right when things

became intelligible, I fell into oblivion

again.

When I climbed back out, I was acutely

aware of two things: the scent of blood

and the sound of drums. Between the smell

and the annoying buh-boom, buh-boom s,

there was no way I could sleep, which

sucked because I was really tired. With

great reluctance, I opened my eyes, seeing

a bright, fuzzy whiteness with silver

branches above me.

“Stop... drumming, ” I rasped.

Something dark filled my vision. It took

several blinks before I realized it was

Vlad’s face. His stubble was thicker and

his hair clumpy and stiff in places. I’d

seen that same unkempt look on people

after a night drinking, but it surprised me

to see Vlad looking like he’d been on the

losing end of a bout with tequila. And

— sniff —HE was the one who smelled

like blood? What had happened?

“Dad, Leila’s awake! ”

Gretchen’s excited yell sliced through

the air. The drums got louder, too, their

beats overlapping as if more people had

joined the band. I groaned, closing my

eyes. Someone, please, make them stop!

“Both of you, leave, ” Vlad stated. “This

is too much for her.”

“She’s my daughter, you leave, ” my

father hollered.

That made me open my eyes. Hugh

Dalton rarely raised his voice, and didn’t

anyone care that the damn band sounded

like it had traded regular drums for steel

ones?

“Go. Now, ” Vlad bit out, his eyes

flashing green.

I would’ve argued about him using

mind control on my family, except three

more things became apparent. What I’d

first thought were silver branches were

tall IV poles, I was wearing new rubber

gloves, and once my dad and Gretchen

wordlessly left the room, the only

drumming I heard came from inside my

chest.

“What’s going on? ” I asked, wincing at

how my voice boomed. “And why do you

look like you rolled in the floor of a

slaughterhouse? ” I added, shocked that my

attempt at whispering also came out so

loud.

Vlad stared at me, his expression

changing from the intractable one he’d

leveled at my family to something I could

only describe as affectionate rage.

“I’m covered in blood because you

hemorrhaged to death in my arms and I

haven’t changed my clothes yet.”

My mouth fell open. “I died? ” I yelled.

The briefest smile flitted across his

face. “You’re not yelling. You’ve had so

much of my blood that your senses are

hyper-elevated. That’s why you thought

your heartbeat was a drum, and why your

family’s heartbeats sounded like more

drums.”

I glanced at the IV poles again. A bag

with clear liquid hung from one of them,

but the other had thick red liquid.

“You’re still giving me your blood? ” I

asked/yelled.

“You only now came out of a coma”

was his even reply.

I’d died and been in a coma? Could this

day get any worse?

“How long? ” I asked, lowering my

voice as much as possible.

He sat back in his chair, tapping the

armrest while his gaze went from

burnished copper to bright emerald.

“In a coma? Three days. Dead? Six

minutes, forty seconds.”

I didn’t need super senses to hear the

leashed fury in his voice, or to guess the

reason behind it.

“Vlad—”

“Don’t.”

The single word reverberated in what I

now realized looked like a very messy

hospital room. A defibrillator with char

marks was in the corner, hypodermic

needles were strewn on the counter, and a

darkened EKG machine was on its side by

the door.

“The next time you’re tempted to

overuse your powers, remember this, ” he

went on in that same steely tone. “I will

bring you back by any means necessary, so

if you value your humanity, don’t do that

again.”

Then he rose, giving me a glimpse of

the rest of his blood-smeared, wrinkled,

and decidedly smelly outfit before leaning

down and caressing my cheek.

“As for why you did it, ” he said, voice

lower and throatier, “we’ll discuss that

once you’ve recovered. Another day of

blood and bed rest should suffice. Now, I

have business to attend to and you have

another visitor.”

Marty appeared in the doorway, his

expression both relieved and sheepish.

“Hey, kid.”

Vlad dropped his hand, leaving without

another word. I wanted him to stay, but he

probably wanted to shower and change

clothes, not that I could blame him.

Besides, I had someone to hug... and

demand an explanation from.

“Come here, Marty, ” I said, and hoped

it was my supersonic hearing that made it

sound like I hollered it at him.

A lump rose in my throat as he

approached. I’d never thought to see his

stocky, four-foot frame or bushy black hair

again, and when he used Vlad’s chair so

he could lean over and hug me, I couldn’t

stop a flow of tears.

“Missed you, kid, ” he murmured,

swiping at my wet cheek. “And could you

quit with the near-death experiences? ”

“You should talk, ” I retorted, sniffing.

“What happened? I saw the trailer. No one

could have survived that.”

He gave my shoulder a last pat before

disentangling himself from my IV tubes

and sitting back.

“You’re right, but I wasn’t in it when

the gas line blew. After our last act, I was

walking back to the trailer with Dawn.

Then I saw this woman across the parking

lot, all by herself, just wolfing down a tub

of ice cream—”

I started to laugh even amidst a pang of

sorrow over Dawn. Marty’s love of

sugar-flavored blood was well-known to

me.“

So your sweet tooth—or fang—saved

your life.” My laughter faded and I

couldn’t keep the hurt from my voice when

I asked, “Why didn’t you look for me after

the blast? I kept yelling for you but you

didn’t come. Only Maximus did.”

He let out a sigh. “I knew you were in

The Hammer’s trailer because I saw you

enter it. Then the explosion...”

His features tightened. “Everything

within a fifty-yard radius was obliterated.

Even at twice that distance, the woman I

drank from was hurt. I knew it would’ve

killed you but I tried to get to you anyway.

The heat melted my skin before I could

reach The Hammer’s trailer, so I had to

turn back. Then all the screams... people

were trapped in their RVs or running

while on fire. I couldn’t save you, but I

tried to save as many of them as I could.

After ambulances took away the worst of

the injured, I left. I couldn’t stand to stay

and watch them dig out your body.”

His voice cracked at the last word. I

took his hand, glad my new gloves

allowed me to do that without shocking

him. “And then you called Vlad, ” I

finished, piecing it together.

Marty let out a grunt. “He didn’t take

the news well. Made me find out where

they were transporting the bodies and then

jumped on his jet. I told him there

wouldn’t be enough left of you to raise,

but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Raise? ” I repeated before

comprehension dawned. Ghouls were

made by having a person drink vampire

blood, then killing that person and

switching their heart with a ghoul’s heart.

Since I was on a regular diet of vampire

blood and Vlad knew I was fireproof at

the time, he’d know such a transformation

was possible, if the explosion hadn’t

ripped me limb from limb—

That’s what he was doing at the morgue

when I dream-linked to him! He hadn’t

wanted to see my body to grieve or gloat,

as I’d thought. He’d gone there to bring me

back.

“Raise you into a ghoul, ” Marty said,

not knowing I’d figured it out. He

shrugged. “You’d look the same, but every

so often, you’d need to eat the other, other

white meat.”

I was still reeling from this discovery.

Had Vlad known as soon as he saw those

bones that I was still alive? Or had he not

realized it until he “heard” me spying on

him? And the most important question:

Why, if he cared enough to fly overseas

and rush to a morgue to raise me from the

dead, had he acted so indifferent when I

left him?

“—look pale, Leila. I’m gonna go, let

you get some rest.”

That I heard, but whatever he said

before had been lost.

“I slept for three days, you wouldn’t

think I’d be tired.”

I was, though. Still, I had a few things

to do first. “Can you find my dad and

Gretchen? Vlad ordered them out, but I

can handle their heartbeats now.”

And their voices. I’d just remember that

everything sounded like a shout at the

moment.

“Sure.” Then Marty cleared his throat.

“You should know something. When you

hemorrhaged so much your heart stopped,

Vlad stuck IV lines in your arteries and

flooded you with his blood. Then he broke

the defibrillator shocking your heart back

to life. If that didn’t work, you were

waking up undead, and there wasn’t a

thing your father could’ve done to stop

him.”

I closed my eyes. Was that the shouting

match I’d heard in my semiconscious

state? I will bring you back by any means

necessary, Vlad had said, and apparently

he meant it.

Which meant he cared far more than

he’d admitted.

Was there hope for us after all?

Chapter 24

D r. Natalia Romanov was Vlad’s inhouse

physician, and unlike the other

members of his staff, she couldn’t have

been nicer. When I jokingly asked if I was

her first patient this year, thinking a doctor

couldn’t be called upon much in a mostly

vampire house, Natalia replied that she

monitored all of Vlad’s humans to ensure

they were healthy enough to feed from and

assisted in tortures since she was an

expert in neuromuscular manipulation.

Well, I’d asked.

After she left, my dad and Gretchen

came back to see me. I apologized for

Vlad putting the mind whammy on them,

which mollified my father not at all.

Gretchen, oddly enough, seemed more

fascinated than angry.

“I didn’t want to leave, but my legs took

me right out of the room anyway. He

could’ve made me do anything, couldn’t

he? ”

“Yes, ” I said, hating the way my

father’s features tightened up as though

he’d swallowed ground glass. Then he

muttered something under his breath that,

without my new super senses, I never

would’ve heard.

“No, he doesn’t use mind control on

me. For one, all the vampire blood I drink

makes me immune to it. For another, if he

did, we wouldn’t have broken up because

he would’ve made me believe I was

delighted with the way things were

between us.”

My father stared at me, suspicion

replacing the disbelief in his expression.

“That you heard me proves how

dangerous this man is to you. He’s

changing you into something inhuman.

Leaving him was the smartest decision

you ever made.”

Gretchen shrugged. “After seeing how

he acted when she almost died, I’m

starting to get why she’s with him.” Then

her voice hardened. “And really, Leila.

That’s twice now.”

I closed my eyes, guilt assailing me.

Yes, this was the second time Gretchen

had seen me teetering on the edge of death,

but unlike my suicide attempt at sixteen,

this had been an accident. Not that it made

it less emotionally scarring. In many ways,

that power line accident had put Gretchen

through as much hell as it had me, only she

didn’t get the occasional perks.

“I’m sorry, ” I said, opening my eyes.

Another shrug as she acted like it didn’t

matter. “Have your boyfriend add therapy

bills to my expense tab.”

“You’ll take nothing else from him, and

he’s not her boyfriend anymore.”

My dad used his lieutenant colonel

voice. It usually garnered instant

obedience from Gretchen, but this time, it

rolled right off her.

“I’m taking it, and if he’s not her

boyfriend, someone should tell him that.

You saw how he freaked when she almost

died. Then he wouldn’t budge from her

side until she woke up.”

“Vlad stayed here the whole three

days? ” I was shocked.

She nodded. “Like one of his stone

gargoyles.”

My father gave Gretchen a look that, if

she’d been anyone else, I’d swear was a

prelude to him throwing a punch.

“That’s enough, ” he ground out.

“No, it’s not, ” I said sharply. “You

have no right to shush her because you

don’t like the truth. Whatever problems

Vlad and I have had, at worst he’s been a

loyal friend who’s saved my life, yours,

and Gretchen’s more than once, so as

Mom used to say, if you can’t say anything

nice...”

Then shut the hell up, my flinty

expression finished.

My father rose, his lips compressed

into a thin, tight line as he limped to the

door.

“I’m glad you’re better, but I don’t want

your sister ensnared in this walking dead

underworld, and no matter how you dress

it up, that’s what it is.”

I didn’t reply because anger would’ve

made me say something I’d regret. I hadn’t

asked for the abilities that made me a

kidnap magnet for the undead and drew

my family into danger because they made

great bait for the bad guys. My dad knew

that, yet he was still blaming me anyway.

Gretchen waited until he’d left before

she spoke, too.

“Wow. That was bitchy of him.”

For once, my little sister and I were in

complete agreement.

Chapter 25

W ith some help from Gretchen, I took a

shower, glad to wash away the results of

three days of being comatose and briefly

dying. Then I had a bowl of soup and

napped, awakening to another checkup

from Dr. Romanov and more visitors as

Sandra, Joe, and the other humans I’d

befriended stopped by. In the evening,

Marty and Gretchen came by again. Even

my father dropped off books so I had

something to do aside from watch my IVs

drip, but the person I most wanted to see

never showed up.

The next morning, Dr. Romanov

pronounced me well enough to leave the

infirmary. I was thrilled. Being stuck in a

small, windowless room while on salineand-

vampire-blood IVs might’ve healed

my body to top condition, but it was hell

on my overly stimulated mind. Why hadn’t

Vlad come back? He’d spent three days at

my side when I was in a coma, but now

that I was better, I didn’t even warrant a

drive-by wave?

Maybe he was only worried that he

would lose his psychic weapon, my inner

voice taunted. Now that you’re better, he

has no reason to be near you until he

needs something.

Shut up, I snapped in reply.

Vlad hadn’t asked me to pull an

impression from a single object since my

return. True, I’d spent most of that time

unconscious, but that didn’t mean he was

concerned only because of my abilities.

My nasty little inner voice could whisper

all the poison it wanted. It didn’t take

away from the fact that something still

burned between Vlad and me. As for why

he’d avoided me the past twenty-four

hours, I intended to find out.

When I left the infirmary, I went to my

bedroom, taking a shower after releasing

my pent-up electricity in the lightning rod

Vlad had set up outside my window. Then

I went to the antique wardrobe, opened the

doors—and stared.

Empty. Not even a single hanger

remained. I went to the dressers next,

opening each one with increasing

disbelief.

Every last stitch of clothing was gone.

If not for the towels and robe in the

bathroom, I’d be naked.

I tightened that robe around me and

pulled the long tassel by the door. After a

couple minutes, the albino-looking

vampire named Oscar appeared.

“How may I help you? ” he asked with a

bow.

“Do you know what happened to the

clothes in this room? ”

“Yes.”

I waited, but when he said nothing else,

I gritted my teeth and tried again.

“And they’re not here anymore

because? ”

A slow blink. “Because you’re not

staying here any longer.”

What?

“I’m not? ” I repeated in case I’d briefly

coma-d out and misheard him.

“That’s correct, ” he said with another

bow.

Vlad was kicking me out? Sure, he was

angry I’d overused my powers, but I

couldn’t believe he’d do something so

drastic.

Told you he didn’t really care! my

inner voice crowed.

Eat me! I roared back at it.

“Where is Vlad now? ” I asked, hoping

it was my overly sensitive hearing that

made the question sound like a screech.

“In his room.”

I brushed by Oscar with a muttered

“Thanks” before marching to the staircase.

Then I went up, holding the bottom of my

robe together so I didn’t flash anyone.

No one passed me on the staircase. The

long slate hallway on the fourth floor was

also empty. I took the fork on the left,

mentally gearing up for the fight ahead. I

was not letting Vlad do this. We had too

much unfinished business between us.

I went into his room without knocking.

He never locked his door, probably

because anyone who entered without

permission was tempting death. I’d

already died once this week, so that

wasn’t about to stop me.

“We need to talk, ” I said.

Thankfully, the lights were on so he

must be awake. Though I was determined

to have this out, Vlad was not Mr.

Sunshine when he first woke up. I shut the

door, my gaze skipping around. His room

was broken into four sections: the minilibrary,

as I called the part with couches

and wall-to-wall bookshelves; the

bedchamber; the bathroom; and his walkin

closet.

Vlad came out of that closet in pants

and a jacket the color of storm clouds. His

raw silk shirt was a few shades lighter, as

was the thicker, long silk scarf that hung

with casual elegance around his neck. I

must’ve caught him before he was done

dressing because his feet were bare,

which made his approach even more

soundless than usual.

I held up a hand. “Before you say

anything, hear me out.”

Not waiting to see if he agreed, I

plowed ahead.

“I know you, the real you, and while I

don’t like everything because you’ve got a

master’s degree in medieval torture, not to

mention a reluctance to admit to feelings

beyond affection or lust, which any shrink

would tell you were commitment

issues”—deep breath for the next part—“I

still love you, Vlad. You, the dragon, not

the imaginary knight, and I’m not letting

you kick me out because I—I think you

love me, too.”

I was out of breath from too many

words with too little oxygen in between

them. Throughout my emphatic if

ineloquent speech, Vlad kept coming

toward me. The scent of cinnamon, spice,

and smoke filled my nose. This must be

his natural scent, something I hadn’t

noticed before my nose received its

upgrade.

I stared at him, wishing I had his mindreading

abilities because his expression

gave nothing away. All I gleaned from

searching his face was that his stubble

was back to its eight o’clock shadow

length and his molten copper eyes were

sprinkled with emerald.

“You’re right, ” he said at last, his tone

thick with things I couldn’t name.

“About what? The excessive torturing,

commitment issues, or the other thing? ”

His smile was tantalizing and

frightening, like being whipped and

finding out you enjoyed the pain. I

couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through

me as I looked at the man who still had

such a dangerous hold over my heart.

“All of it.”

He seized me as he spoke, one hand

tangling in my hair while the other splayed

across my back. Their heat was nothing

compared to his lips when he pressed

them to my throat.

“Do you know what happened the last

time I loved someone? ”

Growled against my skin with such

tempered violence that my shiver turned

into a shudder. I nodded.

“No you don’t.” Another lethal growl.

“You only know how she died. Let me tell

you how she lived—in fear. My actions

horrified her, as they horrify you. My

enemies exploited her, as they exploit you,

so it was more than an advancing army

that made her throw herself from our roof.

It was me.”

He’d made sure to say this while his

fangs were at my throat, as if I needed a

literal example of how precarious life

would be with him. In response, my arms

came up, crisscrossing around his neck.

One at a time, I pulled my gloves off. Then

I plunged my hands into his hair, letting

the electricity surge through him as I held

him closer to my neck.

“I am not her.”

I was glad the words vibrated from my

vehemence. I wanted him to be able to

feel them as well as hear them.

“You’re the scariest man I’ve ever met,

but I am not afraid of you. As for your

enemies, let them come. I’ve survived

them before and I will again.”

His laughter teased my neck—hot,

harsh, and silkier than the rich material

covering him. Then he lifted his head, and

his stare held mine captive as if he’d

mesmerized me.

“You should be afraid. Very afraid.

Before, I told you if you wanted to end

things between us, I would let you go, but,

Leila”—his voice deepened—“I lied.”

Chapter 26

T he words sounded like a threat, yet I

was unable to stop a grin from tugging at

my mouth.

“Does that mean you’re no longer trying

to kick me out? ”

He turned, glancing at the entrance to

his closet. “Look.”

With a questioning glance, I went over

to the closet. Yes, it was still the size of

the RV I’d lived in with Marty, and yes, I

still thought the automated system that

moved his outfits along with the flick of a

switch was cool. So what was—

My indrawn breath coincided with him

drawing me against him, his arms

encircling me from behind.

“Does that answer your question? ”

It did, and I’d completely

misunderstood Oscar’s statement, “You’re

not staying here any longer.” I thought he

meant Vlad’s house. What he meant was

that room. All the clothes that had been in

my armoire and dressers were here, down

to the bras that took up the section once

occupied by Vlad’s ties.

Even when I’d been his live-in

girlfriend, none of my stuff had been kept

here. It had been in the adjoining bedroom

where I sometimes slept, too. Vlad

couldn’t have been clearer about wanting

me back, but in his usual way, he’d

assumed because he wanted something, it

was his.

If we were going to work things out,

that had to stop.

I turned around, trying to rein in my

roiling emotions. “You can’t move my

stuff into your room without talking to me

first. What if I don’t want to take things

that fast? ”

A snort escaped him. “You nearly died

to prove I am the man you love, yet this is

excessive to you? ”

I lifted my chin. “It only takes one

person to love, but it takes two to make a

relationship work. If we’re going to try

again, it needs to be more than your way

or the highway, Vlad.”

His hands slid down my arms while he

looked at me in a way that made me think

of rapturous cries and blood dripping off

steel. Possessiveness was so trivial by

comparison.

“I don’t want to try anything. I want you

to marry me.”

I thought I had been surprised before.

Now I truly knew what the word meant.

For several moments, I was convinced I

hadn’t heard him correctly.

Vlad’s smile held a hint of savageness.

“Love is a terrible weakness. It gives your

enemies a perfect target, clouds your

judgment, makes you reckless... and

that’s on a good day.”

His hands continued their caressing

path to my waist, their heat barely

diminished by the thin material of my

robe.

“On a bad day, ” he went on, his voice

turning harsh, “it can destroy you. I never

wanted to subject myself to that again, so

yes, I kept you at arm’s length. I even let

you leave to prove to myself that you

meant no more to me than my previous

lovers. And then Martin called, telling me

you’d been killed.”

His grip tightened painfully before he

released me, his hands clenching into fists

at his sides.

“I didn’t care about anything then. Not

crushing my enemies, protecting my

people, or how maddening you were by

expecting me to behave like a modern

man, as if I could shrug off half a

millennium of living, based on your

whim.”

That last comment was unfair, but I’d

address it later.

“Then I went to the morgue and saw that

those bones weren’t yours, heard your

voice again in my head”—his eyes closed

—“and once more, nothing else mattered.”

His mouth twisted as he opened his

eyes. “Then, of course, I discovered you’d

run off with Maximus because you thought

I was the one who tried to kill you. It

enraged me, but I was determined to find

you. Once I did, you maddened me no less

than before, yet over the past few days, I

realized it was too late.”

Vlad cupped my face as he stared down

at me with an intensity that made my heart