Bound Through Blood (6 page)

A shadow played across the building. Shannon walked faster to her car, ankles wobbling, wishing she hadn't worn those damned spiked heels. It had been a big waste anyway. She was tired of going to bars in the hopes of finding "Mr. Right." But now, feeling terrified about the idea of being followed to her car in the pitch-blackness, she especially wished she'd stayed home alone, again. As she fumbled in her clutch for her keys, her car only a few feet away, she was sure she could hear footsteps closing in behind her. Her hands trembled while she tried to get the key in the lock.
God, don't let me be found dead here in this parking lot
, runs through her mind right as a large hand covers her mouth, and a sharp pain pierces her neck. As she feels her warm blood—and life—spilling out, she knows her worst fear is coming true.

The woman in the parking lot was not to his taste, but it would be enough to hold him over for the moment. She had smelled of cigarettes and booze, instead of the French perfumes he preferred. But it was time to come back to the United States and have a family reunion. Gabriel knew it was time to find his brother, Devin.

Devin followed Salena back into town. Standing outside a seafood restaurant, he watched her talk animatedly to her friends: a blonde and a redhead. He could tell by their posture and gestures that they were close friends. While the other two women were also lovely, they paled in comparison to Salena. Still, if he had not found his mate, he would've slaked his lust with both of them, before feasting on their blood.

The women proceeded to the maître d' to claim their reservation. He, too, looked them all over in admiration before passing them off to an attractive waiter, whose eyes were instantly fixed on Salena. Devin felt all of his muscles tense when the waiter made a brash move by putting his palm on the small of Salena's back, as he led the women inside the establishment. Devin had no patience to wait in the long line, nor did he intend to let the waiter step any further into his territory; his animal instincts were running strong, and he wanted to tear the man limb from limb—in fact, he would. Devin approached the maître d', pushing past angry customers and meeting their questioning stares and comments with a glare that would make a giant back down. The maître d' and a waitress, who was standing near the door, both shuffled aside to let him pass. Devin caught the waitress's scent and added her to the menu for later.

Inside the dimly lit restaurant, he found Salena and her two companions seated at a table, browsing their menus. He also found, almost to his twisted pleasure, the horny waiter hovering nearby Salena. A low, menacing growl escaped from his lips, causing a nearby patron to jump from surprise and quickly dart away. A different waiter approached him with a menu, but Devin's fierce glare made him think twice, and he moved on as well. Keeping his stare on Salena and the annoying waiter at her elbow, Devin moved to an out of the way spot in a darkened corner to keep watch. It set his fangs on edge when the waiter leaned in to whisper something in her ear and caused her to erupt into a peel of laughter. Having eyesight sharper than an eagle's, Devin zeroed in on the waiter's nametag, which read
Chad.
Devin spoke in a whisper, "Well, Chad, soak up the sight of her while you still can; I promise it won't be much longer." No one heard him, of course, but the waiter did turn around to look behind himself.

Devin's attention went back to Salena and her blonde friend, who was talking rapidly and passing around a photograph for Salena and the other woman to look at. He used his vampire eyesight and hearing to catch their conversation, which unnerved him as much as the waiter, Chad.

The blonde was excited when she turned to Salena and said, "You have to meet Rob. I've told him all about you, and he really, really wants to take you out. Look how cute he is."

Salena looked at the photo and shrugged, "Maybe."

The redhead, who had been checking out the flirtatious waiter, wolf whistled. "Chad, the waiter, seems awfully eager to be in line to date you as well." Salena blushed at the obvious statement, while her blonde friend broke out in laughter.

The blonde, whom he heard Salena refer to as Jane, got up from her seat, grabbed her purse, and told the other women she had to go out to her car to retrieve Rob's phone number from her briefcase. Salena blushed again and mumbled an "Alright."

Devin trailed the unsuspecting Jane out to her car; she didn't even bother to check over her shoulder, which labeled her an easy victim for all predators. She was at her car before she noticed his presence behind her. Her faced turned ghostly pale as he got closer.

She looked around for help, any kind of help. "What do you want?"

He got close up to her and brushed his hand against her pretty cheek and into her hair, not saying anything in response. She had been staring up at him all along, but now, the look in her eyes had changed from total terror to something else—desire. He knew what she was expecting and wanting him to do to her, and under other circumstances, he may have obliged; but not when his heart already belonged to Salena. Instead, he leaned in close, as if to kiss her, and whispered against her cheek, "I want you to stop trying to come in between Salena and me."

She had no idea what he was talking about. "Salena? I don't understand." The passionate look on her face was once again a look of horror as his once soft touch now grew firmer. Then she felt the life being squeezed out of her as his right hand closed around her neck. Her pleading eyes bulged, and her mouth gaped open while useless hands clawed at him, and then her fragile neck snapped. It was over. Devin put the lifeless body into the driver seat and reached over it to grab the briefcase in the passenger seat. He rifled through it until he found a scrap of paper with
Rob 282—555—5155
written on it. He tossed the briefcase back into the seat and slipped the number into his pocket. He didn't drink from her because that's not what this was about. He felt regret, which was unheard of for a vampire, but he didn't like hurting Salena this way. He felt he had no choice, though. He wouldn't tolerate interference in his plans for his mate.

As Devin was walking back to the restaurant, he noticed the waiter, Chad, standing off to the side of the building smoking a cigarette. Devin smiled; this was the perfect time to take care of that matter.

Chad saw Devin approaching him with clenched fists and a look of pure malice on his face. Trying to appear tougher than he felt at the moment, he dropped the cigarette, snuffing it out with the toe of his sneaker, and said with a sneer, "What the hell do you want?"

Devin could have made it quick, but he didn't want to, he wanted to watch the man suffer—suffer as his heart did when Salena had smiled back at the waiter with a look of interest in her eyes. Chad would definitely suffer for having lustful thoughts about another's mate—
a vampire's mate.

Not wanting to cause a disturbance right outside the restaurant—in case Salena came looking for her friend—Devin punched Chad in his smug looking face hard enough to knock him out. In fact, he even heard the unmistakable sound of bone breaking.
Good
. Devin grinned with wicked pride. He easily threw the man over his shoulder and carried him off into the night.

Devin found a vacant campsite that would work well for his plans. The full moon was shining down brightly, which was perfect—he wanted to see the expression of terror on the punk's face when he realized what was happening. He also wanted his own image to be burned into Chad's brain in case there is an afterlife. Now he just had to wait for Sleeping Beauty to wake up, which was fine, he has all the time in the world.

Jane had gone out to her car for Rob's phone number about fifteen minutes ago, and Karen, the redhead, had already checked the ladies room for her. Salena asked Karen to hold their table while she went to the parking lot. She didn't think anything had been said or done to upset Jane, causing her to abandon them. They tried calling her cell phone, but it was left in her jacket on the back of her chair.

Closing in on Jane's car, parked near a parking lot lamp, Salena strained to see inside. She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought she could make out a figure slumped over the steering wheel. Breaking into a run, she dug in her pocket for her cell phone, prepared to dial 911. It was exactly what she thought she was seeing, and she yanked open the door, thankful it was unlocked. She felt herself gag as she reached in to feel for a pulse, but Jane's head rolled to the side. Salena fell backward, stumbling and telling herself, "No, no, no," over and over again. In tears, she dialed 911 to report her friend's murder.

It was a good thirty minutes before Chad woke up, moaning in pain and blinking in confusion. His hand immediately went to his nose, which only inflicted more pain, causing shrill moans and groans. This made Devin chuckle, causing Chad to jump in surprise and realize he had no idea where he was or who that was with him—all he did know was that his nose was broken, and something very bad was happening or was going to happen.

He stumbled to his feet and instantly put his hands up in defense, causing another rupture of laughter from Devin. Chad's voice was shaking like a pubescent boy's, "Who the hell are you, and where the fuck am I?" he demanded while peering into the darkness trying to find help or at least a direction to run in.

Devin took his time answering; he wanted the arrogant punk to take this all in first. The nerve of him shamelessly flirting with a woman like Salena. As if he was even in her league.

Then he growled in a menacing voice, "I'm the one who hurt your pretty little nose that was poking where it didn't belong." He approached the frightened man, taking his time with slow strides.

Chad continued to hold his hands up, ready to throw a punch. He started backing up while yelling, "What the fuck is going on?"

Devin smiled the most malevolent smile he could for Chad, and he knew it made chills run down the frightened man's spine.

Chad strained his eyes to see if he was really seeing what he thought he was. Were those fangs? Who wears fangs? Then he looked around himself again; he couldn't believe this stranger—this enormous, menacing stranger—wanted to hurt him without even knowing why. So he decided to ask. "What is this about? What do you have against me? I don't even know you, man." But, before getting his answers, he turned and bolted.

Devin counted to ten before going after the young man. Of course, it was no challenge for him to catch up to Chad; vampires possess incredible speed, in addition to strength. The movies at least got that part right. He grabbed him by his right shoulder and yanked him backward hard, causing him to fall back on his ass. Then Devin grabbed his arm and pulled him back up with enough force to dislocate the man's shoulder.

Chad yelped in pain and tried to swing at Devin, but his punch landed against what felt like a brick wall. He was pretty sure he had broken fingers now, too. He stumbled to get away but was pulled back against his attacker's massive form, which knocked the wind out of him. Then he felt a massive arm tighten across his chest and begin to squeeze the air right out of him. As he struggled with every ounce of strength and willpower he had left, it still didn't take long to realize the arm was also squeezing the life right out of him and there was no escaping. Yes, that realization came when he heard his ribs breaking and felt his lungs burning for air. He heard his back break and, soon, all feeling below the neck was gone and his arms and legs hung on him like strands of spaghetti. He was glad the pain was gone.

Just as the torture was fading into the relief of darkness, he heard his killer say, "She is mine." Then to emphasize his point, Devin bit into Chad's neck and ripped his throat out in one swift movement. He spit the blood out and left the corpse lying there for the scavengers. It was time to return to his truelove.

Salena woke exhausted. Between being at the police station for two hours providing her statement and then spending the rest of the night crying, she got maybe one to two hours of sleep. The police, trying to figure out if the crime was random or not, asked her if she knew of anyone who would want to hurt Jane and requested that she write down a grudge list for them. She was coming up blank so far.

She rubbed her temples, contemplating that today, Thursday, is always the busiest day at work. While grateful to still be on her vacation, she was thinking it sure wasn't a good one. In fact, the historical home might have to manage without her for an additional week; she certainly had the time stored up. She called in and talked to Diane Burgess, her supervisor, and informed her she would not be returning to work on Monday after all. Diane was very understanding and agreed with her.

Now, back to the task at hand, she poured herself the strongest cup of coffee of her life and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and, once again, tried to come up with the grudge list. But she couldn't think of any enemies her friend may have had—no ex-lovers or friends came to mind that would hold a grudge against Jane. Certainly not anyone who would want to kill her. Salena understood the idea of this not being a random mugging, since none of Jane's belongings were missing. Her purse, briefcase, and CDs appeared untouched. Nonetheless, the police were going to dust for prints.

Then she thought about the recent rash of murders and her own drama and tried to remember all of the details in order to find a connection to Jane's death. The one common trait that stuck out was that the female victims had bite marks—she looked down at her wrist but there was nothing there. Her fingers went to her neck, and she recalled that the mark there was already gone too. Part of her wanted to call the detective, who'd given her his business card, to ask if any had been found on Jane, but the other part of her wasn't so sure she wanted to know the answer—it might just be too horrible to comprehend. She was also curious if Jane had tested positive for signs of recent sexual activity since that was also a common factor among the female victims, including herself—well, sort of.

The detective had told her an autopsy would be performed, so she might as well wait to hear from him; he did say he'd keep her informed. She looked at the business card again.
Okay, Detective Wagner, let's see you figure all this out
.

There was one phone call that she did make; it was to Eric. She told him about Jane and asked him if he could make time to come down and escort her to the funeral service. Unfortunately, he was booked on a flight to London this afternoon and would be gone for a week or two. He'd come see her when he got back.

Mr. Dependable as always.
She shouldn't have bothered. The other night didn't mean a thing to him; hell, two years didn't mean a thing to him, apparently. She didn't want to seem selfish, but in his line of work as a corporate attorney, he could've sent some lackey to London and came to New Orleans to be with her. Maybe she'd get a dog; they are probably more reliable.

A hot candlelight bath was beckoning her now, so she gathered her towel, washcloth, and candles and headed into the bathroom for a relaxing soak—or so she thought. On the ledge of her garden tub was a vase full of flowers—funeral flowers—white lilies. She dropped her items and tugged her robe tightly closed as she ran back through her small house, checking doors and windows—all locked tightly. She knelt down, weeping softly—more from confusion than fear, which was confusing in and of itself. No one had a key to her home, and she didn't leave a spare outside anywhere either, just one in her purse, which was on her dresser. Even the police had said there was no sign of forced entry the last time, and none of her belongings had been missing. Feeling like her sanity was slowly slipping away, she cried hard now. Was Heloise right? Was she really being stalked by a "vampire"? Vampire or not, the killer hadn't harmed her, why was that? What did he want with her and was the connection her grandmother? She needed answers.
She'd been home all morning too
...