Bait

Chapter Twenty-Two

A coffin held me captive, bent in a fetal position and shoved inside its confines. The muscle in my back knotted strong enough to wake me up. Darkness blinded and confused me. My head bumped against the lid as I flashed back to waking at Lizzy’s place. I could almost hear her shuffle her tarot cards.

My heart raced and my head felt split in two. Short of breath and a little shaky I pushed the top open and crawled out. I sat on the floor in Rurik’s bedroom beside his now partially empty trunk, not a freaking coffin. His stuff lay scattered in the middle of the room, as if thrown there, but blended in well with all the other junk he left lying around.

Worse than anything else, my jaw ached. He must have cold cocked me and stuffed me in the trunk. Why? I hoped this wasn’t a kinky game. His excuse had better be good because I might change my mind and stake him myself.

The bedroom door hung at an angle as if kicked in. Maybe this wasn’t a game after all. What happened while I lay unconscious? The room didn’t have a window so I couldn’t tell the time of day.

I scrambled into my pants and shirt that lay abandoned on the floor then peeked around the door. The house sat in silence and early afternoon sunlight streamed through a hallway window. I needed to control the urge to call out for Rurik. Nothing would have made me happier than for someone to stroll up the hall or the sound of Marie clanking pans in the kitchen.

I tiptoed down the curved staircase, my heart in my throat, and saw the front door stood open with the frame splintered. Dust filled the air with a musty smell. Stillness made it eerie. I waited for something to jump out and scare the crap out of me.

A breeze from the open door stirred little piles of dust gathered here and there. Where did it all come from? I knelt and pinched a bit between my fingers. It felt greasy.

This was an attack. Rurik must have heard something then K.O.’d me and hid me in the trunk. Damn, where could Red be? He should have been here to help.

There were no bodies. My heart dropped from my throat to the pit of my stomach. What happened to Rurik? I glanced at the greasy dust I squished in my hand and gagged. Not dust, ashes. Specifically vampire ash. I brushed the stuff off my hand and retreated from it. How many vampires made this much ash? One, five? Was Rurik mixed in?

Tears burned behind my eyes. Could he be gone? His last words to me were of love. I continued to retreat, not wanting to step on any piles, and tripped over someone’s foot.

I landed next to Marie. Face to face with her dead stare. My breath caught in my chest. Something had torn out her throat yet barely a drop of blood pooled from her wound. This kind of thing happened to evil people, not sweet motherly women. I crab walked from her body, trying to run from reality. I didn’t want to see this. A horror movie come to life. My back hit the wall. The impact startled me enough to scream. The ear rupturing noise echoed through the empty house. I couldn’t stop, not with Marie’s lifeless eyes staring at me.

I’d seen a dead person before. The image of my late husband, Laurent, in his hospital bed was still vivid in my memory but this violent death shattered me. My whole body went numb, I couldn’t feel anything below my neck. Kind Marie deserved better than this. She’d been sympathetic when Rurik frightened me from his room and genuinely happy upon my return.

That should have been me. Rurik, my lover, protected me, but were those his ashes on my feet? My screams grew hoarse until it was only a whisper. It was hard to concentrate. His last words to me, forgive me, I love you, whirled around my head. I tried to breathe and find a way out of this nightmare.

He was gone.

My happily ever after ... over before it started. He was supposed to live forever. I shouldn’t have to go through this again.

I curled up, my eyes never leaving the crime that had occurred. As I lay there, I had a feeling that more time passed than I realized. Fine ash particles drifted through the bright sunlight, floating as if they tried to reach heaven.

Was there an afterlife for vampires? Were Rurik and Laurent together watching me? I shivered though I wasn’t cold. The light faded from yellow to orange and the ash gave up its flight.

Sometime later, the roar of an engine woke me up. I didn’t think I was asleep, just lost in an unthinking stupor, holding onto the numbness to prevent me from accepting the truth.

Someone shouted my name. I recognized the voice but I was dazed and it took me a while to come to the conclusion that I should answer.

“Connie,” Red’s tired face blocked my view of Marie. “Have you been hurt?”

I knew the words meant something but I could only stare. Nothing mattered anymore.

“I’m right here, baby.” In a smooth, supple motion he scooped me in his arms and pressed my face to his chest to block my vision. The fresh cool air outside felt nice on my heated, wet face. My tears surprised me, I hadn’t known I’d been crying until then. “They came last night,” I croaked, my throat dry and raw.

Red settled me onto the front lawn. “We’re here now. We’ll take care of you.” His voice sounded gruff. And then he was talking to someone else. “Secure the area and look for other survivors.”

His men streamed into and around the house like a parade. “Connie?” He lifted my chin with a calloused finger and stared into my eyes. “You’ve a black cloud followin ’ you, kid. What the hell happened?”

The concern in his voice and the pity in his eyes made my grief real. “Rurik’s ... d-dead.” I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded. Sobs burned inside my chest trying to escape.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I just woke up.” I managed to whisper before the first sob came out as a low moan. “Rurik knocked me out,” I sobbed, “and hid me.”

Red looked over my shoulder, not meeting my eyes. He knew I didn’t want false reassurances. My new life fell apart earlier today. I wished I never came to Budapest. Things were fine before, I was dead inside but at least I didn’t have this choking ache wrapped around my heart. It made falling into an active volcano like a swim in a pool. What had I done to deserve this? I was a plague to all the men I fell in love with.

Red hugged me and said what I needed to hear. “I’m so sorry.” He stroked my hair while I cried.

I poured my sorrow onto his shoulder. The last time I did this I swore never again, yet I let my heartstrings get tangled once more. How stupid am I?

He touched my jaw and I winced at the contact. “You’ve a nasty bruise and some swellin’.” With his fingertips he pressed along the bone. “No sharp pain?”

“It doesn’t hurt,” I lied and tried to swallow my tears. The words were honest enough for what he asked.

“I don’t think it’s broken.” He touched my cheeks and drew my gaze. “Did you see anythin’? Why do you think Rurik’s dead?

“There are ashes all over the place.” Awareness began to seep through me, it trickled like ice in my veins. “Who do you think they belong to? He was the only vampire here last night and whoever did this killed Marie.”

Dragos did this. I was sure and I wanted him dead.

One of the men returned. “No other survivors or bodies. Point of entry was through the front door. Not much damage and no notes.”

Red nodded. “Clean the place of any trace of Connie the best you can.” Then he shooed him away with a gesture.

I wiped my nose on his shirt.

He pulled back. “Hey, whatya doin’?”

“Where were you?” I asked with an openhanded smack to his shoulder. “You should have been here to help.” Yet even with my angry words I reached out to him for more comfort. I’d suffered heartbreak before. It sucked.

“Connie, please stop cryin’. Your tears are makin ’ my knees weak.” His voice sounded rough with emotion. “I’ve been out tryin ’ to find Colby. I checked everywhere and pulled in all my favors but still no word. He’s in trouble.”

“You don’t think he’s dead?”

“You kiddin’? Colby’s larger than life. When it’s time for him to go there’ll be more than a silent disappearance.”

“Like an explosion or something?” My tears began to dry. “What are the guys doing inside the house?”

“Can’t have the Budapest authorities linkin ’ you to this crime scene. They’re removin ’ any evidence of your bein ’ here. We’ll have to work an alibi just in case.”

Someone walked out to the van carrying my suitcase.

Red helped me to my feet. “We need to get out of town before they come for us. There’s a few hours of daylight left. The airport’s not far from here.” He started toward the van.

“Red.” I stepped toward him when he turned to me. What this cost him was etched across his face. It tore him up to leave Colby behind.

With his thumb, he cleared the tears from under my eyes. “We’ll just get ourselves killed searchin’. I haven’t any leads left, I don’t even know where to look anymore.” Red turned and walked to the vehicle with me in tow.

I crawled into the back with the men and lay on a pile of gear in the corner. No one met my eyes, they looked everywhere but me.

Brad, our shy computer tech, took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. I whispered my empty thanks.

“Well, in this situation we need to make a tactical retreat, boys. After we regroup, we’ll come back for Colby.” Red’s voice drifted from the driver’s area. The men around me sat with heads hung down and backs bent. Some still bore injuries from the fight at the party only a few nights ago. It felt like years.

I drifted in and out of alertness. I heard the murmurs of the team, felt the shift of the van as it turned a corner, and someone offered me a water bottle, which I drank greedily. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I pulled the jacket over my head.

We sat in silence for a moment. A corner of a box poked me in the back so I shifted my hips. Something solid pressed against my leg from my pocket. I pulled out the vial of clear blue liquid.

The drug.

It sparkled in the fading sunlight and must have been sitting in my pants on the bedroom floor since the night I stole it from Rurik. I sat bolt upright and startled the guy next to me.

“You alright?” He looked at me askance.

“Where’s my suitcase?”

He pointed toward the back door.

I shoved my way through male flesh and squeezed it open to their protests.

“What are you doin’?”

My purse sat inside. I took out my wallet and slid out a wrinkled card, careful not to tear it. “You said Colby followed a lead about Tane when he disappeared?” I shoved my way back to the front and showed Red the card with just a phone number on it. The one Tane gave me. “Give me your phone. This is our next lead.”

I couldn’t do anything about losing Rurik but I could help find Colby. Then we’d find who was responsible for this murder and destroy each person involved. It made me feel a smidge better and I needed to take what I could right now.

Red gave me his cell phone as he drove. “Who are you callin’?”

I dialed the number and ignored the question since I didn’t feel like discussing my link to Tane.

A sleepy voice answered. “Hello?”

“This is Con-Rabbit. I’d like to leave a message for Tane.” Red’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“Rabbit, nice to hear from you. This is Eric, Tane’s companion.” I remembered him from the jazz club on the A38. They were lovers. “We were wondering if you’d ever call. Guess Tane won this bet.”

“Tell him I have what he wants.”

“I’ll come get it.”

“I don’t think so. I want to speak with him in person.”

His low laughter carried over the phone. It made the hair on my arms stand. “You’re either a ballsy girl or a silly one. No one ever wants to see him.”

I sighed. “Fine, I need to see him.”

“How good are you at following directions?”

“Pretty good.”