Natalie wanted to speak up, but she was afraid her voice would come out as a squeak. Barely restrained violence was pouring off him. She looked around Baojia’s body to see something shift in Beatrice’s face. The other vampire’s stance shifted and she stepped back, glancing at Natalie with a softer expression. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She held up her hands. “Brigid’s sorry, too.”
“Hey!” The tiny brunette piped up. “I’ll speak for—”
“We both got excited about a fight and we were thinking about taking these guys down,” Beatrice said, glaring at Brigid, “and we didn’t think about her.”
“Apologize to your friend,” he said.
“Baojia.” Natalie shoved at his back, finally speaking up. “That’s enough. She apologized. I’m fine. The bad guys are dead—” She looked to Brigid. “The bad guys are dead, right?”
Brigid nodded. “Ashes. And I hope you didn’t get any of that vampire’s blood on you, Baojia. We’re not sure if Elixir can spread vampire to vampire, but no use taking chances.”
“I didn’t.” She could see his shoulders start to relax. “They were all elixired? How many of them?”
“Five.” Brigid started walking toward the car, all business. Natalie was relieved that someone still seemed immune to all the vampire posturing that was flying around. “Which makes them harder to kill. The humans they’d been feeding on were already dead. Three humans. Tio was just joining the crowd with the other. She didn’t smell drugged, so she must have just been a snack.”
Natalie’s stomach churned. They were talking about human beings like they were food. She could feel Baojia tighten a firm arm around her to steady her as she crossed the parking lot.
“The truck?” she asked. “Any sign of the truck?”
Brigid shook her head. “Must have gone wherever it went during the day today.”
“We’ll head back tonight,” he said, “but I want to come down here and speak to Tulio again.”
Beatrice said, “Big silent earth vampire who came for the girls’ bodies? He said he was a friend of yours, but we kept our distance.”
“That’s smart. He’s very strong and he knows this desert better than anyone. I want to know where these girls are coming from, and I have a feeling he might have discovered more.”
They got to the car and Baojia slipped into the driver’s seat. He started the car and reached for Natalie’s hand. “Sleep if you can. We’ll be back in LA within a few hours.”
She wanted to talk more. About the girls. About the vampires who had been killed. But the fight and the restless day were finally catching up to her, and Natalie felt her eyes slip closed.
When she woke, she was in yet another room she didn’t recognize. But at least this one smelled familiar.
Baojia.
She was carefully tucked into a large king-sized bed in a room with no windows. A door to the side was open to a lit room she assumed was the bathroom. Her duffel bag was on the dresser, and a plate of food was on a small table in the corner, along with a note. She stood up, rubbing her eyes so she could read it.
Sleep as long as you wish. I’ll be in the library until dawn. The code for the room is your birthday.
She blinked. Apparently, someone had moved her in. Or he didn’t trust her out of his sight. It might have been a little of both. She took a long drink of water and began to pick at the fruit and cheese on the plate before her. After a few minutes, she realized she wanted company more than food, so she left the room and walked down the hall. It led to a staircase going up, and Natalie realized the hallway full of vampire rooms was just below where she’d been staying. Well, that was convenient; she knew where everything was. Heading toward the library, the house was almost eerily silent until she got near the second floor.
“—suspicious of your own family.”
“You are not my family any longer.”
“Do you think because you and Father fight I no longer consider you a brother?”
Hi="1 nos sister. Baojia had a vampire sister, and they were arguing. Natalie didn’t go any closer, but she couldn’t manage to tear herself away.
“I don’t want to put you in an awkward position. But I cannot deny I am worried about Ernesto. He tied my hands. I couldn’t protect him. I couldn’t protect you or Rory. I was stuck in San Diego doing nothing while my sire and his territory were being threatened. I had no choice.”
“You made the choice. You chose that woman and the humans over us. If you had stayed—”
His voice was clipped and impatient. “If I had stayed, he would have kept ignoring it and then I would have lived with the guilt of knowing something was going wrong and not being able to do anything about it, Paula! How can you not see that? And how can Rory ignore this? He must know what’s going on.”
“It is a human problem, Baojia. A serial killer like the one in Juarez. It is for the human police to investigate. Not our problem. Not your problem.”
“We found a girl who had come directly from Ivan’s bar. Do you think that is coincidence? Natalie was attacked by one of Ivan’s thugs last night. Is that a coincidence?”
“Natalie? Is that the reporter’s name?”
She shrank against the wall.
“This is not about her.”
“This is completely about her. Take your amusement, hermanito, but why do you abandon your family for this human? She is here today and a memory in fifty years. We are your family. Go to Father. Ask forgiveness.”
“It will not happen.” His voice broke. “And it does not matter if she is human. I have sworn my protection over her. She is under my personal aegis. Do not think to attack her or send someone who might. Attacking her is the same as attacking me.” The soft voice grew hard. “And will be dealt with in the same manner. Do you understand?”
The other vampire’s voice was acid. “I understand you have lost your reason. I only hope you come to your senses before this has gone too far.”
She heard footsteps approaching and darted into a coat closet she’d just passed. She heard the steps slow, then speed up, a low female voice muttering in Spanish about what, she couldn’t understand. A second set of feet approached and the door creaked open.
“She could smell you in here, you know.” He parted the coats she’d hidden behind. “She could sense you on the stairs.”
“Did you leave your family because of me?”
Baojia held out a hand. “How did you sleep?”
“Answer me, please.”
He sighed and leaned against the doorjamb. “It was for a number of reasons. You were part of it, but not the whole. Can we leave the coat closet now?”
Natalie brushed past him, unsure of how she was feeling. Worried. Elated. Nervous. Grateful.
“You show everything and nothing on your face,” he called to her back.
Natalie spun around. “I could say the same thing about you.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
He stepped closer. “Thirsty?”
“I drank some water in your room. Which looks an awful lot like our room now.”
Baojia sped to her side, making her eyes swim as he rubbed her shoulders. “I don’t particularly want you out of my sight.”
“How very caveman of you.”
He grinned. “Still thinking abol twanut that cave, aren’t you?”
She blushed and saw his fangs lengthen in his mouth. His eyes watched her with predatory awareness.
“Baojia?”
“Are your human needs met?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then we can talk later.” He picked her up and ran so fast she thought she was going to throw up.
“Okay, motion sickness is not sexy, George.”
He laughed and slowed down a little as they reached the bottom staircase. Within seconds, they were at the door and he was kissing her again, making her head spin for a whole new reason.
“Baojia—”
He wouldn’t let her talk.
He just kept at her mouth. Then her neck. She felt his fangs scrape against her skin as he laid her down on the bed and went to secure the door with a combination of way more numbers than just her birthday.
“Did you… did you just change the code?”
“Yes. We’ll have to think of a new password every dawn.” He moved back toward her, intent clear as he pulled off his shirt. “I will not take any chances with your security, but I do not want to keep you prisoner during the day.” He lay down next to her, shirt gone, playing with the edge of her T-shirt. “You’ve had quite enough of that, am I right?”
She pulled off her T-shirt. “But not enough of you. I should take a shower.”
The smile dropped from his face and he dove toward the newly revealed skin. Her green bra turned into a scrap of lace when his teeth encountered it. The now-familiar sensation of his amnis flowing over her skin caused her to moan.
“Later,” he whispered, his mouth already busy on her breast. “Much later.”
Much much later, after Natalie had discovered just how entertaining showers could be with someone who controlled water, they lay in bed. It was still an hour or so before dawn. His cool fingers ran over her still-flushed skin, and his other hand played with the red hair splayed over his chest.
“I am very…” He spoke softly.
“What?”
“Content. I am very content, Natalie.”
She smiled against his chest. “I’m glad. I’m sorry you fought with your sister.”
“She is not my sister anymore.”
Pulling back a little, she looked into his eyes. “Yes, she is. Feelings don’t just disappear because you fight.”
“She brought me to him. When I was human, it was Paula who found me and took me to Ernesto.”
“But you said you weren’t forced to become a vampire.”
“No.” He took a deep breath. “I was willing.”
“Why?”
Frowning, he rolled to the side and then turned her over so she could meet his eyes. “You have to understand what was expected of me. My family was in China. I was sent here to work. For them. So they could eventually pay passage and move, too. There was no future in China, my father said. He was, in his own way, very American.” Baojia smiled. “He thought our family could have a better life here. There were so many rumors of gold, but also regular jobs. On the railroads. On farms. Shops. Just jobs, which were scarce in my village. I was sent over and worked on the railroad at first. Then for a mining company. Every place I could. I sent a little bit home, but mostly I saved it. I slept in the cheapest lodging I could. I bought nothing for myself. I would have been able to do it. I e tst
“What happened?”
“In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. No Chinese immigrants were allowed. They said it would be for ten years. I had been here working, had saved up so much… But it didn’t matter. No matter what I did, they would not have been able to come. There were smugglers, but I could not afford to pay them. And there were no guarantees they wouldn’t take my money and leave my parents in their village anyway.”
“That’s horrible.”
Baojia shrugged. “It was reality. But I became very depressed. I considered going back to China, but my parents wrote me and told me that I should stay. They needed me to continue sending money for them, and there were no jobs in the village that paid what I was making. I was… angry. I felt very alone. And there were very few women here—no Chinese women, anyway—who would want to marry a laborer like me. So I had no hope of a family or children. I was an income to them. That was all.”
Her heart ached for him. He had wanted a normal life. Wanted a family and a future. But instead…
“They didn’t deserve you.”
“I’m sure they didn’t see it that way. They were doing what they needed to survive. I can’t blame them for that.”
She could. No one should be taken for granted the way he had been. But she dropped it and asked, “Why did you become a vampire?”
“Ernesto had ships. He did trade in China. And he wanted me to be his guard.” Baojia shrugged. “So, he offered to make sure my parents and brother and sister had safe passage to San Francisco and the start of a new life if I would become his child. It was a trade. I didn’t have to say yes.”
Natalie had her own doubts about that, but she let Baojia speak.
“I agreed. He paid for my family’s passage and gave them the money I had saved, and I became his vampire. He was certain I would be very powerful because of my speed and skill as a human. He was correct.”
“And your human family?” She reached out and stroked his face. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes in pleasure.
“They still live in San Francisco. There are many of them now.” He opened proud eyes. “They have been very successful.”
“Do they know about you?”
He shook his head. “No. I have monitored them through the years, but not closely. It would not be wise.”
“You sacrificed a lot for them.”
“Yes.” He narrowed his eyes. “But don’t make me a martyr. It was difficult at first, but I like being a vampire. I like the power, Natalie. Even if there are costs. And I like being feared by my enemies. Being feared means those I protect are safer. I would not want to be anything else.
She shivered at his words but didn’t look away. “I know.”
“Do you?” He moved over her, locking his eyes with hers as his fangs grew long. His knee spread her legs and he settled against her, letting his amnis tease over her skin until she thought she could burst from a single touch. Baojia had barely moved, and she was already panting. “I am not a good man. I have not been one for a very long time.”
“I don’t agree.”
“You’re still getting to know me.”
Her chin lifted and she reached up to bite his chin as he growled low in his throat. “I know enough.”
“Are you sure?”
There was desire in his eyes, but even more, there was challenge, and for the second time in as many nights, Natalie said yes.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Baojia woke with the instinctual knowledge that she was not near him. Her scent lingered, but it was faint. She had been gone for hours. He sat up and quickly and pulled on his weapons. Knives strapped to worn holsters at his thighs. A thin knife went into the waistband of the pants he pulled on, along with another at his ankle. His dress shirt was black, loose enough for movement, and tailored specifically for his body. He grimaced when he buttoned it. He’d have to find a new tailor in… wherever he ended up going. Giovanni’s offer of an introduction to Katya in San Francisco teased the back of his brain.
The thought of returning to Northern California appealed to him. He preferred the cooler, misty weather along the northern coast, as well as the quieter feel of the population. Southern California had been his home for over 120 years, but it had never quite fit.
She had a father in Northern California; they didn’t speak. He needed to find out why.
He picked up a pencil and punched in the code he’d programmed the night before, then took the note he’d left for Natalie with the numbers. He’d have to burn it before dawn and program another. Part of him wished he could take her to his own place downtown, with its familiar surroundings and ironclad security, but he knew it wasn’t possible. He’d have to arrange for his things to be brought from San Diego and stored somewhere until he knew where to go. He’d already called his personal banker to confirm that his domestic and offshore accounts were secure and had not been tampered with. He didn’t think Ernesto would try anything, but then his sire hadn’t been behaving normally, had he?
So many details…
As if on cue, Caspar appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Ah, Baojia. How are you this evening?”
He nodded at the older gentleman. “I am well. Thank you, Caspar. And how are you and Isadora? I’ve been meaning to ask, has she had any further problems with
her heart? I know it was an issue last year.”
Caspar smiled graciously. “The new medication seems to have solved the blood pressure problem. Thank you for asking. And if I may…”
He frowned. “Yes?”
“May I be of any assistance to you? I don’t know all the details, but I am aware that you’ll be making some changes. I have a full roster of trusted human contacts who might be able to facilitate some of the more… practical details.”
It was as if an angel had appeared in front of him with graying hair and a Savile Row suit. “Caspar, I cannot tell you how helpful that would be. I have a home in Coronado I need to empty and another downtown. The downtown house will be more problematic. And I’ll need to arrange for storage.”
The old man nodded. “We have some available here on the property, or I would be happy to arrange something more private.”
“Private, please.” A weight had been lifted off his shoulders just by the offer. “Caspar, thank you. Very much.”
“Please.” He held up his hand. “You have always been generous to Isadora and myself, far beyond what was required of you. It is the least I can do.”
“I won’t forget this.”
Suddenly Caspar smiled. “And I should inform you that Desiree and Matt Kirby are here for thee tsteas evening. I believe the ladies have all gone to the pool room. Giovanni and Matt are hiding in the library.”
“Oh?”
“The ladies took several bottles of wine.”
“Ah.” The library it was, then. He’d check on Natalie, but he didn’t want to intrude on whatever female bonding rituals the wine stimulated. Then again… Caspar had said pool room. Natalie in a bathing suit would not be something to miss. He bid the man goodbye and walked toward the smell of salt water.