Chapter Four
Ella watched in frustration as the voices in her head took action. “Stop it!” she cried causing Zane to look at her oddly.
“Run while he’s distracted.”
“We’ll save you from his debauchery.”
But I want this, she thought with a growl at her constant companions.
“The voices are doing this?” asked Zane blocking the lamp that flew at him and crashed to the floor.
She nodded her head and sighed. Great, now he’s probably going to tell me to leave.
I finally find someone who interests me and doesn’t treat me like a freak and my little friends had to ruin it. Happy now? she snarled at them.
Laughter sounded and, startled, she looked up to see Zane chuckling even as he dodged more missiles.
“What’s so funny?” she asked crinkling her face in confusion.
“This,” he said whirling to bat down the books that sailed at him with flapping pages.
“I mean, in my youth we had iron chastity belts, but this is new. And entertaining.” He smiled at her with sharp teeth, not at all bothered by her voices’ poltergeist act.
The voices didn’t like his attitude either and alternated between sulking and wailing.
Getting up off the bed, she walked over to him and he opened his arms, letting the last few missiles hit him so he could offer her a haven to bury herself into.
With an exasperated sigh, the voices shut up and the remaining missiles dropped to the floor. Ella rubbed her cheek against the soft linen of his shirt, his male scent, part cologne, part him, making her want to purr—among other things.
“I think we’d better wait to indulge in our passions else the maids might quit at the mess they have to clean up.”
Ella made a moue that he couldn’t see but apparently sensed. “Never fear. I have a theory about your little friends, and if I’m right, you will be mine very soon.”
Ella’s body flushed with pleasure at his words and he groaned, tightening his arms around her.
“Aaah, Ella, you make me want to tempt a concussion.” His lips brushed the top of her head, and she snuggled tighter against him. “Come, I will show you to a bedroom so you might rest, for the night is coming to a close.”
“Can’t I stay with you?” she begged. “Please. I don’t want to listen to the voices.”
He hesitated. “Very well. But I warn you, once the dawn lightens the sky, I will become as a corpse, my heart almost stopping and my skin becoming chill. You may find this frightening.”
“I don’t care. Please, Zane, let me sleep with you.”
This time he didn’t answer, just swept her up and carried her to the bed. Pulling back the covers, she slid into satin sheets and waited for him to join her, ignoring the voices that gibbered in her head. With a smile, Zane stripped, his linen shirt getting tossed on to a chair and showing off a muscular torso with almost no hair. Blushing when his hands tugged at the button of his pants, she turned her head, but she still heard his chuckle and the rustle of fabric as he removed his slacks.
The light in the room went out and he slid into bed beside her. His hands, cooler than earlier, reached out to touch her, and he didn’t have to tug her much for her to snuggle herself against him, the voices silenced at his touch. She rested a hand over his heart that beat slowly and she relaxed.
For the first time in a long time, she understood what it felt like to belong somewhere, and how enjoyable having a mind of her own was.
Vampire or not, I want him. I will find a way to have him and stop the voices from interfering. I won’t let them ruin this for me.
* * * *
Zane listened as her breathing evened out and she slipped into a deep slumber. Her hand lay over his heart while her head nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. A multitude of emotions battled in him, from exhilaration at her closeness, to trepidation at the trust he put in this woman he barely knew, to simple awe. For the first time since he’d turned, he’d found someone who looked upon him as a man and protector, who trusted him and wanted him. Holding her close as he felt the life leave his body, he dared to dream.
Dream for a life where the loneliness he’d suffered since his turning no longer existed.
He just hoped he hadn’t misjudged her. It would suck to wake up with a stake in his heart.
* * * *
The beeping of his pager woke Dr. Peters up. Rubbing his face and groping for it on his nightstand, he read the text message and cursed.
Within the hour, he had the night orderly in his office.
“Tell me again what happened,” ordered the doctor coldly.
The man named Jimmy fidgeted in the chair. “I was just doing my rounds, you know. Then, someone jumped me and choked me ‘til I passed out.” Jimmy rubbed at the purple bruises on his throat, marks too big to have been caused by one slip of a girl. A girl that was now missing.
“You were found lying by her bed.”
Jimmy’s eyes slid away from Dr. Peters. “I, um, heard something and was checking it out. That’s when the guy jumped me.”
Dr. Peters slammed his hand down on the desk, the loud crack making Jimmy jump.
“Liar! Did you really think I didn’t know about your night time activities? I’ve turned a blind eye to them, but you were specifically warned to stay away from the girl and you disobeyed me.”
“I wasn’t. I swe—.” Jimmy’s eyes bulged as he clutched at his throat, gasping for air.
Dr. Peters smiled coldly. “Because you couldn’t keep it in your pants the girl is missing. I don’t like liars and people who fail me. Enjoy yourself in hell.” Jimmy’s eyes rolled up in his head and he fell with a loud thump off the chair and onto the floor.
Dr. Peters got up and stepping around the warm corpse, left his office and signaled the man who waited outside.
“Sir?”
“Take care of the body. Then gather some men. I want the girl found.”
Dr. Peters left. No one would dare disobey him or they’d face the consequences. He strode through the halls to the ward Ella had disappeared from. The patients with whom she’d shared the room moved for the night so he could do some investigative work of his own.
Standing with his legs slightly spread, he lifted his arms up and closed his eyes. He drew on the power he’d stolen from another. The gibbering of voices screamed as he pulled on the force that animated them. A cool wind blew through the room and when he opened his eyes, he watched the bleary movie of Ella’s departure. His eyes widened slightly in surprise at the cloaked being that had choked his man. His lips tightened in anger when he saw how eagerly Ella departed with the indistinct stranger.
The image faded and Dr. Peters, more commonly known as Marcus in the magic circles he frequented, cast another spell.
A smoky form coalesced in front of him, writhing as if in agony, but Marcus held the spirit he’d called tightly, even as the sweat beaded on his brow.
“I want the name of the man who took her.”
The ghost grimaced. “Man, there was no man.”
Marcus frowned. His stolen magic was siphoning out of him quickly, he needed an answer now. Twisting the binding, the spirit he’d summoned screamed. “Answer me the truth,” Marcus ordered.
“I speak truly,” whimpered the soul that had once been a man, but now found itself caught in limbo and at the mercy of those like Marcus who could harness their energy for their own use. “The creature you see is not a man, but a soul stealer.”
Marcus frowned. “Explain.”
“You would know them as vampires.”
Marcus in his surprise lost his hold over the ghost which immediately dissipated into the ether he’d pulled it from.
A vampire. A prize as great as Ella. But now, how to find him? Perhaps one of his magical grimoires at home, many dating back thousands of years would have more information for him. A tracking spell would be nice.
Excitement made him smile, not a pretty sight, but one which Ella thankfully didn’t see else she might not have slept so soundly.