“Sort of.” He shook his head at the approaching cocktail waitress, and the woman walked away. “You had a much stronger reaction than they did.”
“You mean I tried to kiss trans you? Bet you’re glad that didn’t happen with those two.”
She heard him laugh as she played. She looked around, too. But other than Luis, who she spotted near the door Rory had gone in earlier, she didn’t recognize anyone. She couldn’t even spot any vampires. If they were enjoying the games, they blended in well. But then again, even with their slightly paler skin, they definitely could in this lighting.
Baojia sat next to her, ignoring the slot machine in front of him but running an absent hand up and down the small of her back. She tried not to melt into a puddle. He probably didn’t realize the ef
fect he had on her. Slow, steady, she wanted to take that hand and put it someplace far less appropriate, but she also didn’t want to get kicked out and arrested for public indecency, so her back was probably safer. She did, however, feel him tense when he recognized someone. She bit her lip and forced herself to remain looking at the slot machine.
“Who is it?” she asked under her breath. “Who did you see?”
“Well, isn’t that interesting?”
“Dammit, Baojia, what are you—”
“Told you I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Natalie looked up to see Rory shaking hands with a man she recognized from Bar El Ruso, and the smiling manager was ushering them over to a dark-paneled door.
“That’s not Ivan. Is that—?”
“Carlos. Now why on earth would my dear brother-in-law be having a meeting with Ivan’s right-hand monster?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rory, Rory. What are you doing?
Baojia reached for Natalie’s hand and slid around the slot machines, trailing his brother-in-law and Ivan’s most trusted employee. Carlos was the one Ivan sent when he couldn’t meet personally but needed someone smart and loyal. Baojia had no idea why Carlos was so devoted to his boss, but they may have been related some way he wasn’t aware of. The two vampires headed for one of the private rooms in the back of the casino, closing the door just as Baojia turned the last corner.
Shit.
“There’s no way I’m getting in there.”
Natalie looked around. “Want me to find a waitress’s uniform?”
He felt his fangs fall at the idea. The insane way this woman was willing to run toward danger unnerved him. “Natalie, the only humans in that room aren’t going to be serving drinks. They’ll be the drinks. No. You’re staying with me.”
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” She pulled her hand away and leaned against the wall. “It was just a suggestion.”
“You have no sense of self-preservation.” He took her hand again and started toward the exit.
“That’s what I have you for. Preservation. Where are we going?”
“Back to the parking lot. I want to see what Carlos is driving and if anyone is with him.”
The casino was like a maze. A buzzing, flashing, clanging maze. How humans could stay in one for hours on end, he had never understood. They were walking down one long aisle of slot machines when Baojia saw Luis heading straight for them. In one smooth movement, he turned, pushed Natalie against the side of a machine, and kissed her.
Baojia let himself get lost for a moment. The taste of her, that faint taste of vanilla and mint from the gum she chewed,idt i he couldn hit him. His fangs lengthened, throbbing with the need to bite, take, possess. She didn’t push him away but pulled him closer, tugging on the lapels of his jacket as she met his desire with her own. One of his hands reached for the tangle of hair that drove him crazy. He grasped the red waves in his fingers and tugged, pleased to hear her breath catch as he felt her body react.
She met him, kiss for kiss. Touch for touch. She was perfect under his hands. A flash of her body rising to meet his was all he allowed before he pulled away, glancing over his right shoulder to make sure Luis had passed by the anonymous couple kissing in the casino.
“Did he see us?” Her voice was just a little breathy. Baojia turned back to her and smiled.
“How do you know I wasn’t just overcome with desire and had to kiss you right this minute?”
Natalie snorted and pushed on his chest, smiling as she started walking toward the exit again. “You? I don’t think you’re overcome by anything, Mr. Cool and Confident.”
“You might be surprised.” He reached over and took her hand again, acknowledging the indulgence to himself. He liked holding it, plus he knew she wasn’t wandering away from him when he did, so he could allow himself to enjoy it.
As they passed through the dark glass doors, he reached out with his senses to detect any stray trails of energy. Just like humans left a scent trail as they shed minute particles of skin and hair, vampires left a trail of their own. Each vampire had his or her own unique fingerprint that their amnis left. He didn’t know why or how, but he often thought if those trails were visible, they would each glow or reflect light at slightly different wavelengths. For now, he could focus on one signature. Carlos.
Knowing his target made it easier. Baojia had met so many immortals in his 129 years that it would be impossible to remember them all, even with the faster cognitive function vampires enjoyed. But knowing it was Carlos, whose trail he’d just caught in the casino, made following him much easier. Now to determine which vehicle in the sea of cars was his.
“Follow me, but don’t talk. I need to concentrate.”
Natalie trailed after him, quiet as a mouse. As silly as she pretended to be, at times, when her professional instincts were triggered, she was all business. He found the juxtaposition of Serious Natalie and Fun Natalie intriguing. She was highly intelligent but down-to-earth. He admired her determination even though it exasperated him. She believed in justice and right and wrong; that the good guys should win and the bad guys… serve a long and fair prison sentence in a humane facility of the state’s choosing. He couldn’t help but smile. She was so much of what he once was before a hundred years of politics and pragmatism had worn him down.
He stopped and let her catch up to him.
“Did you find it?” she asked as he turned toward her.
“I understand.”
She frowned, obviously confused. “What? You understand what?”
“Why you are hesitant about us. I’m not human. I haven’t been in a long time. And you love humanity.” He reached up and trailed his finger along her warm cheek. “You are its champion. I admire that.”
She looked away. “That’s not it. Not really. And you believe in justice, too. And loyalty. But you’re so…”
“Immortal.” Her impermanence had eaten him up for nights. “And you are not.”
“I’m not.”
“We should talk more.” He nodded, still stroking along her cheek. “But right n“hy ow, I should keep looking.”
“What are you looking for?” The deep voice rang from the shadowed edge of the parking lot, causing Natalie to jump. Baojia smiled and took her hand again, turning toward Tulio. He’d detected the old vampire on the edges of the desert but didn’t know how old the trail was. Apparently, not that old.
“I’m looking for the car Ivan’s man was driving.”
The big vampire stepped forward. “Who cares? I have something more interesting to show you.” He waved them over and Baojia followed.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Underground,” Tulio said.
She hesitated, but he pulled her along. “Again?”
Tulio chuckled. “Now you’ll really see the way to travel, human.”
Baojia saw it ahead of them, the black mouth where the sandstone and rock had opened for the earth vampire. Baojia suspected that Tulio had tunnels all through the desert that he used to move around undetected. It was even possible that, like the oldest of their kind, he could stay awake through much of the day, which meant the
underground was a safe place to be.
Natalie hesitated. “Wait, we’re going down there?”
“Baojia, it’s a long, fairly straight passage. It goes deeper and shallower, but doesn’t twist and turn too much.”
“Got it.” He let go of Natalie’s hand and turned his back toward her. “Hop on.”
“You want to give me a piggyback ride?”
Baojia turned to Tulio. “How long to where we’re going?”
The other vampire shrugged. “Forty, fifty miles, maybe?”
Baojia asked her, “You want to run to keep up with us for forty miles?”
She was on his back with a leap. “Hope I can hang on.”
He reached back and hitched his hands under her knees as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Just close your eyes; I’ve got you. Try not to worry.”
Natalie placed a kiss on the back of his neck, just behind his ear. “I’ll try.”
The passage was dark as a moonless night. Baojia followed Tulio’s trail more like a bat than a vampire, listening for the slight echoes and sounds of the immortal running ahead of him, following the trail of amnis left in his wake. And for forty miles, he didn’t breathe as Natalie gripped his neck so tightly she might have been trying to kill him if that was possible. Every now and then, he heard her squeak when a tangle of roots brushed against them or some debris fell from overhead. But she held on. Finally, he felt Tulio begin to slow down and a light glowed farther up the passageway.
When Tulio slowed to a walk, Baojia paused and patted her knee. “You okay?”
“Are we there?”
“I don’t know.” He brushed the sand from her face and looked for their guide. “Tulio?”
“Here.” Just ahead, there was a glowing break in the tunnel. He crept up to it, making sure Natalie was near him.
“What are we looking at?”
Tulio nodded toward the opening. “Look for yourself.”
They scooted closer, crawling on their bellies to be able to see out of the crease. When he finally reached the gap, Baojia looked around. It was a moonlit valley, sparse and dry, with similar vegetation to the desert farther north. “Where are we?”
“Northern edge of the cartel’s territory. Ivan’s territory. Just south of the border.”
His thoughts immediately turned to the woman at his side. “It’s not safe here.”
The vampire shrugged. “We’re fine. They’d be foolish to try to best me. This is my desert.” Tulio lifted a hand and the earth sighed as it moved for him, widening the opening so they could see more.
“These vampires, they are stronger,” Baojia said. “There is a drug we haven’t told you about, and it makes them more powerful.”
“I was wondering about that. Something seemed different.” Tulio lifted one eyebrow. “It makes them stronger. Does it make them crazy?”
“Yes,” Natalie said. “It’s called Elixir, and it affects your amnis. Also, it smells like pomegranates, so don’t drink anyone who smells that way.”
He huffed and nodded toward the valley. “That explains a few things.”
Baojia squinted. “Is that… are those…?”
“People. Humans.” There were nine or ten huddled shapes darting around the floor of the small valley. Ducking behind rocks and tumbleweeds. A few seemed to be trying to climb out.
“What are they doing?”
Tulio’s eyes narrowed. “Hiding. Before they come. They get an hour. Or the last group did.”
“An hour?” Natalie’s voice rose. Alarmed. “An hour for what?”
Baojia let out a long breath. “An hour to hide, Natalie. Before they are hunted.”
It was barbaric. An old game most civilized leaders had outlawed before he’d been sired. He’d heard the stories, of course, but he’d never seen an organized hunt. Ernesto, even as indifferent to most humans as he was, would never have allowed it.
It was simple, really. His kind were hunters by nature. Long ago, they’d hidden from the sun and humanity had been scarce. They’d used their wiles and hunted discreetly, careful not to take too much from a community lest their presence be suspected. Vampires were, after all, still vulnerable during the day. Others lived apart in large communities like Penglai Island, where the eight immortal leaders of China made their home, keeping a stable of healthy blood donors at their convenience. But for many, the hunting urge was too strong, especially when young or absent the fear of a powerful leader.
And so they hunted. Humans didn’t prove much of a challenge unless there were other enticements. Wagering was popular. Setting down rules about speed. Giving the humans weapons to fend the vampires off. All these things prolonged the hunt and added extra amusement. But the practice had almost become taboo with the explosion of the human population. It was considered too risky. Too blatant. And no respectable leader would allow it.
But then, Ivan had always been fond of breaking the rules.
A whiff of enticing blood reached Baojia’s nose. There was a human close. A woman. And she had Elixir in her system.
“Ah,” Tulio said. “I smell the pomegranate now. This drug, it makes the humans stronger?”
“No, it kills them,” Natalie said. “Eventually.”
“It makes the vampires stronger at first,” Baojia said through gritted teeth. The human was coming closer. “Then it weakens the amnis and causes confusion. It attacks the mind. Eventually, it will drive you mad.”
“That would explain their behavior,” Tulio muttered. “They seem to hunt the girls in packs. They even fight with each other like dogs. The humans can he Ttry to run away, but out here?” Tulio shrugged. “We’re miles from anything. Even if they lasted till the morning, they’d die of heatstroke and thirst before anyone found them.”
“So Ivan’s arranging these hunts?”
Tulio said, “I think so. I haven’t seen him, but I recognize some of his men. They don’t take part in the hunts, just watch. The vampires hunting are strangers. Lots of languages. Lots of accents.”
Baojia sensed it before he saw it. A vibration in the wind or the earth. Something tipped him off that others of his kind were approaching.
“Time’s up,” Tulio whispered. “We should go now.”
“What are you doing?” Natalie said. “We can’t just let them kill these girls.”
Tulio glared at her. “There will be ten or more vampires, woman. If what you say is true and they are stronger than average, we don’t want to confront them. Besides, officially, we are on their territory. They would be within their rights to attack us.”
“Baojia!” Her indignant voice tore at him. “You can’t let them.”
He turned over to look at her. “What would you have me do? Take humans from another’s territory? It would start a war. It’s likely Ivan or one of his people has fed from all these women before. They are under his aegis to do with as he pleases.” He saw her face drain of color. “Natalie, we are not prepared to fight them tonight.”
“But… you can’t.” Her hollow eyes turned toward the women scrambling in the valley. “You’re going to just let them die?” He caught her a moment before she made for the opening of the tunnel.
“No.” He held her without amnis, restraining her arms and legs as she struggled.
“You… you monster! They’re going to kill them!”
Tulio said, “If they don’t kill those girls out there, they’ll kill someone else tonight. They come in bloodlust. We cannot prevent this.”
She was sobbing by then. “You’re a bastard. They’re going to die and you’re not going to help them.”
“If we tried to, it would cause more deaths than theirs. Now is not the time.”
Tulio said, “Someone is going to hear her. Knock her out.”
“No,” he whispered, bending down to her ear. “Natalie, you have to calm down. You’re putting us all in danger.”
“I hate you.”
“I don’t hate you. And I understand why you’re angry.” He
was angry with himself. The humans did not deserve death. But neither was he prepared to tackle ten elixired vampires that night. He doubted Tulio would help, and Natalie’s safety was his first priority. Not to mention, he had no idea if he could control himself around ten women who all smelled as tantalizing as the woman who was scrambling toward their tunnel.
“Ayúdame,” she cried out in Spanish. “¡Cristo, ayúdame!”
Baojia closed his eyes when he heard her.
“She’s going to die,” Natalie whispered, limp in his arms. “You could help her, but you’re letting her die.”
What would he do with the human if he did save her? Her sobs grew louder, and Baojia heard the car doors open and close. Then the snarling began as the vampires began to hunt.
“We need to leave,” Tulio said. “You don’t want her here.”
“¡Ayuda!” the pitiful human called again. Her blood was redolent with the smell of ripe fruit and sunlight. His fangs lengthenfanampires beed in his mouth and he clutched Natalie closer. She was crying just like the woman outside the tunnel.
“Baojia, please.” Her quiet plea did him in. He rolled over and shoved Natalie toward Tulio.
“You carry her. I’ll get the woman.”
Tulio gaped at him. “What are you doing?”
“Maybe we can’t save all of them, but we can take her.” He scrambled for some reason to justify his actions. “We’ll question her. Find out where they’re bringing the humans from. See if she knows the schedule of the hunts. She could be useful.”
Tulio lifted an eyebrow, clearly not convinced by his reasoning. Finally, the vampire shrugged and pushed Natalie back toward Baojia. “You carry your woman. I’ll bring the girl. I’m older, and her scent won’t be as tempting to me.”
Natalie clutched at the front of his jacket. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, Baojia.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re still not safe.”
Baojia saw Tulio widen the tunnel opening, and he could finally see the girl. She was no more than sixteen or seventeen. Her wardrobe didn’t say cocktail waitress, it said farming village. He was disgusted with them. Disgusted with himself that he couldn’t save more. That he wanted her blood even as Tulio snuck up behind her and put the girl to sleep with amnis, lifting her in his arms and turning back to the tunnel.