Shackled to the Night, page 18
“Got it,” he said and hung up.
“I need to go meet Aiden,” he said quietly. “Brandon had mentioned being held in different warehouses around town, so we’re going to head over to Sparks and check out some of the industrial areas over there.”
Emily nodded and Thaddeus brushed his hand over her cheek.
“If you’re sleeping when I get back, can I come and see you?”
Emily felt heat rush to her cheeks thinking of her and Thaddeus in bed together. Again. She wouldn’t miss that for the world.
“I would be very disappointed if you didn’t,” she said quietly. She figured if she couldn’t have Thaddeus past tomorrow night, which made her feel like she had cut glass spinning through the arteries of her heart, then she would take what she could get. And she planned to take a lot.
The look on his face, pain, lust, and want, told her that he was thinking the same thing.
Chapter 27
Thaddeus took his sweet time meeting Aiden outside an industrial park in Sparks. The area was quiet except for a few dogs barking in the residential neighborhood less than a quarter mile away. The night was cool and crisp, no wind, rain or snow. Aiden looked at the rows of warehouses behind the wire fencing.
“Let’s get to it,” he said to Aiden. Thaddeus vaulted over the fence, Aiden close behind him.
“I don’t think we’re going to find much,” Thaddeus said as they approached the first warehouse, “but let’s stay tight just in case.”
“I think we can safely assume that any warehouse with windows is going to be a no-go since we’re dealing with vampires,” Aiden said quietly.
Thaddeus nodded in agreement.
Aiden mentally popped the lock off the first warehouse door, and they went in. After a brief look around and finding nothing but machine parts, they went on to the next warehouse. And so it went. Pop the lock, turn on the light, go in, take a look around and find boxes of supplies, or car parts, more machinery, or file storage, and do it all again on the next warehouse. After an hour, they had one more row of warehouses to go, their hope of finding any type of lead dwindling.
The fourth warehouse in the second row presented an interesting find. Instead of the usual crap they found crowding the space, there were wooden bunk beds lined up against the wall to the right, enough to sleep twenty. The beds were bare, not even a mattress to be found anywhere. They walked around the large space, their footsteps echoing off the walls. It was apparent by the dust that had gathered on the bed frames that they hadn’t been used in a while.
“You think this is our guy?” Aiden asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Thaddeus said, reaching the far side of the warehouse. “The beds all lined up . . . definitely. The question is where do we go from here?”
Aiden looked around. It seemed there was nothing there, except for the skeletal beds. Then he noticed a side door hidden behind one of the bunk beds. He went over to it and moved the bed out of the way. The door led to a small office with an old metal desk in it. There wasn’t any other furniture or anything on the walls. Thaddeus and Aiden checked the drawers in the desk, all empty. The dust that plumed up made them both cough. Thaddeus went over to the corner of the room, picked up a matchbook and smiled.
“What is it?” Aiden asked.
“Looks like our vampire likes naked women,” Thaddeus said. “It’s from Fantasies, a strip joint in downtown Reno.”
“You two would get along like fucking Mutt and Jeff then,” Aiden said.
Thaddeus looked down at the matchbook again. “No, my man, I don’t think I would get along with this guy at all. Emily is the only one for me now,” he said softly.
“What are you going to do?” Aiden asked.
Thaddeus looked him in the eye and said with conviction, “I gotta let her go. Send her on her way.”
Aiden rolled his eyes at his brother. “What is this? If you love someone set them free yada yada yada BS?”
Thaddeus just shook his head.
“You stupid fuck!” Aiden said. “You, you of all our brothers, the man whore of man whores, finally finds someone he wants to be with, and you’re going let her go. Damn, brother, pull your head out of your ass.”
He shook his head in disgust. It was silent for a moment while Aiden let his words hopefully sink in to Thaddeus’s thick skull.
“Take it from me,” Aiden said quietly, “if you have the one for you, and she’ll have you, then stay with her and protect her. Don’t let her go, Thad. Don’t let them take away your shot at happiness.”
“She can’t stay,” Thaddeus said sternly. “If she does, I might as well put a bullet in her head myself. You know that.” Thaddeus walked across the room, small plumes of dust rising around his combat boots with every step. Once he reached the far wall, he spun around. “We don’t know how you kept our mommy-dearest away, Aiden. The only difference in our genetic make-up is our fathers. You got that sixth sense. I don’t. That has to have something to do with it. She can’t track you, man, but she can get a bead on me at anytime. Hell, she could be at my fucking house right now!” Thaddeus ran a hand through his hair.
Aiden was silent, watching Thaddeus deal with his frustration. Thaddeus had always been the one quick to the trigger. The male lacked patience, his inner being always in a swirl of activity. It was easy to jack him up into a lather.
Aiden flashed back to the time they had been in Paris when they were kids.
Their mother had been gone for a few days, looking for a new mate, of course. Aiden must have been around seven, Thaddeus was so young —probably around two years of age. Aiden remembered that hunger that had plagued Thaddeus that night. God forbid that Mom ever really took care of her offspring—they had to figure that shit out for themselves. Aiden had led Thaddeus to an alley and hid the boy behind a dumpster. Even though Thaddeus had only been walking for a year, he was quick on his feet, hungry, and ready to pounce. Aiden had tried to tell Thaddeus to be patient and an opportunity would present itself. There would be no need to go find it.
As they hid behind the dumpster, a young boy walked by on his way home. Thaddeus was on the boy in an instant, but he didn’t have the strength to pin the boy. Aiden helped hold the young boy down as Thaddeus drank. Aiden had been so concerned that the boy’s parents would come, or another adult, and then they would be in big trouble. After Thaddeus had his fill, Aiden had scrubbed the boy’s memories and sent him on his way. It was a new trick he had just developed, and it had come in handy. He then dragged Thaddeus behind the dumpster again and lectured him on waiting, on being patient, not letting the frustration that lack of patience caused get the best of him.
Even then Aiden knew he might as well be talking to a brick wall. The lessons had never stuck.
After a few moments, Thaddeus calmed and spoke again.
“Was it worth it for you?” Thaddeus asked quietly.
Aiden looked at the wall as if the magic answer would appear at any moment. The wall, the floor, the answers were never there. Was it worth it? Was his time with Natalie worth what he felt now? Yeah, it was. He thought of his time with Natalie, the laughter they shared, the long talks about everything from why strawberries were better than blueberries to world politics. He remembered touching her body, the way her body had melded into his, as if they were made for each other. He recalled all that was Natalie as if it were yesterday.
But inside, he felt nothing. Her death had made his heart cold. All he felt was the pain of her loss, a large void. There was nothing, just as there had been before Natalie. He had been a stone-cold killer before her, and she had opened his soul to a happiness he could never imagine existed. When she died, that happiness had died with her. He was dead inside once again, except for the pain and rage.
So was that emptiness, the remoteness, he felt worth his time with Natalie? Yes, it was. But he was damn sure it would never, ever happen again. Even if somehow a woman came into his life, he would never allow her into his heart. It just wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it. He could never go through a loss again, and he wouldn’t set himself up for it.
“Yeah, it was,” he said quietly. He took a deep breath, and on the exhale he said in a stronger voice, “I’m going to do a quick patrol downtown, and then hit the strip club.”
He looked at Thaddeus. “When are you sending her on her way?”
“Tomorrow night.”
Aiden nodded. “Go home, Thaddeus. Go home and be with your woman.”
Chapter 28
Thaddeus went home and found Mark and the two boys practicing Tae Kwon Do moves in the Great Room. Brandon had now fully adopted vampire life and was only sleeping during the days. His mother, on the other hand, hadn’t adapted so well, and Thaddeus found her in her bed. She had obviously tried to wait up for him. Her light was on, and a book rested on her lap. The soft light, combined with her hair fanned out around her made her look like an angel. Her beauty, inside and out, made him like someone had just wrung out his intestines. He reached over and gently twisted one of the soft curls of hair in his fingers. He watched it fall back on the pillow, and then he softly brushed her cheek.
She stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled at him lazily and stretched. “What time is it?” she asked.
“Just after 1:00,” he said, smiling back at her.
She took his hand in hers. “Did you find anything tonight?”
He nodded and told her about the warehouse. They talked about taking Brandon there to see if he recognized the place. He then told her about the lead to the strip joint, and how Aiden was following up on the lead as they spoke.
“Shouldn’t you be with him?” she asked, obviously worried.
“Nah, he’ll be fine. Aiden is a mean bastard who can take care of himself. Besides, I am where I want to be.”
Emily lifted her eyebrows. “You aren’t where I want you to be,” she said coyly, a small smile playing on her lips.
“And where do you want me to be, Emily?” Thaddeus felt his cock go rigid behind his zipper and he began to kick off his boots.
She threw back the covers and moved over for him to get in. “Come here and let me show you exactly where I want you.”
Chapter 29
Aiden walked the main street of downtown Reno, his thoughts going back to when Reno had been a happening place, long before Las Vegas. The streets had teemed with people, the lights of the casinos flashed both inside and out, and the hoots and hollers of people mixed in with the bells and jangles of the slot machines. All of the top entertainers flocked to Reno. He remembered when Thaddeus had introduced him to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, and they had shared dinner and many, many drinks with them at Harrah’s. It had been good times.
Reno’s demise had been a one, two, three knockout punch. The first punch happened when Las Vegas had risen out of the desert of southern Nevada, taking Reno’s title as “the place to be.” The second punch, or the body shot, was when the nightlife in Reno moved down south on the strip where new casinos were built. The third punch, or the debilitating upper cut, was when the Indian casinos began to sprout up in California and people didn’t have to travel to Reno to get their gambling fix. Consequently, the casinos starting shutting down and the brilliance of the city council had decided to turn some of these old, abandoned buildings into low-income housing. And then downtown Reno was on the mat for the 10 count, and the vultures were hovering to get the scraps. Now, pawnshops lined the strip, as did homeless people, and drug dealers and prostitutes stayed in the shadows, coming out when a potential customer made themselves known. Long gone were the days of prosperity. He hoped someone would come along and bring it back to something similar to its original glory. It would never be the gambling mecca it had once been, but something could be done. What that was, he didn’t know. He wasn’t a city planner.
Apparently, Aiden looked like he would totally get off on some drugs and sex because he received numerous offers to buy both. Being in a piss-ass mood, he flashed his fangs at a few offers, and didn’t really give a shit about the Behavior Doctrine. Most of the people he fanged were so high they most likely wouldn’t remember it in the morning anyway, and if they did, they would attribute it to a bad drug trip. That was his reasoning anyway.
One prostitute caught his eye, simply because of her short hair and her long neck. She told him it would be $50 to go all the way, $25 for a blowjob. He took her into the alley, drank from her, erased her memories of him, closed up her neck and gave her $300. The taste of heroine and cheap wine in her blood made his stomach turn, but he needed to feed.
As he reached a quiet slice of sidewalk about a block from the human hospital and the strip joint, the blood he had ingested made him lethargic. He should have waited until he was heading home to feed—it always slowed him down and made him tired. His thoughts began to drift back to Natalie’s killing, as they often did. That little bomb that Mark fucker, or angel, had dropped made his brain neurons short circuit. Going on the theory that Natalie was killed by this Victor Marano, he scoured his brain cells for some type of hint on who Victor Marano was and came up with a big fat zero. No bells were ringing, no recognition to be found. Why would that vampire target Natalie?
There wasn’t a reason. If the vampire had just wanted to drink, he would have done so and Natalie wouldn’t have been the wiser. But the attack on her was so brutal, it wasn’t just one of his kind feeling a little thirsty. No, it was much more than that. The fact that the baby hadn’t been hurt was astounding.
He wondered if Natalie had met Victor at some point when he wasn’t with her, which was hardly ever. The meeting would have had to take place at night, and usually they were together during that time, especially after they had found out she was pregnant.
Had she had an affair with Victor, and then he became jealous, tracked them and killed her? It seemed far-fetched, but he had seen weirder stuff in his time on Earth.
And again, there was the whole time problem. Natalie hadn’t the time for an affair, and he knew in his heart that Natalie wasn’t that type. Their love had been pure and enough for both of them. There wasn’t any need to go outside the relationship for sex or anything else. They had met each other’s needs and expectations, and beyond.
So who would want to kill her?
The answer made him stop in his boots. He looked at the sidewalk, a blank slate for all the puzzle pieces that were coming together in his mind. None of them had fallen in place before now, but of course, he had believed that Natalie’s killing had been random.
As he stood and stared at the grey slate in front of him feeling sluggish, the puzzle pieces swirling in his brain, slowly coming down and making a full picture, he didn’t hear the footsteps behind him. Once his sixth sense finally came online and he recognized a dangerous presence, he didn’t have time to react to the tire iron that slammed into his kidneys, making him drop to his knees. Another blow came to his rib cage, and a third to his head, sending him down to kiss the pavement. At that point he barely had the energy to roll over and catch a glimpse of his attackers, yet his fangs elongated and he felt a weak surge of adrenaline. The tire iron came up again and connected with his temporal bone, and he realized his attackers were small. They weren’t grown men—they were children. Boys, around sixteen or so.
“Oh shit!” said one of them. “He’s one of us!”
“We gotta get out of here!”
He then heard footsteps retreating.
As he stared up at the stars in the night sky, his head buzzing like a swarm of bees, he felt himself slipping away. He thought about where he was. A dark part of the strip, where people would most likely not venture to, or if they did, they wouldn’t have anything to do with a body on the street. And if they did, they would frisk him and take whatever they deemed valuable. As if on cue, two guys walked up and looked at his face.
“Still breathing,” one said.
“Who cares. Check his coat.”
Aiden could only watch as they reached into his coat and talked a whole lot of what the fucks as they lifted the guns and knives.
“This shit will get us a score down at the pawn shop,” one guy said. Aiden could barely track them, his vision blurry, his mind barely holding on to who Victor Marano was and why he killed Natalie. As the thieves ran with his weapons, the stars began to fade to black, and he thought for sure he was going to check out.
Finally.
He thought of his son Robert, and felt awful that he would not be around to watch him grow up. But Robert was in good hands. Thaddeus would take him in as his own. His last thought as his eyes closed was how nice it would be to see Natalie again.
Chapter 30
Thaddeus was buried deep inside Emily, his body encasing her, kissing her deeply. Her arms moved around his big body, touching lightly, scratching with her fingernails. Then she began to play with his fangs.
At first, she lightly dragged her tongue over one, making him surge into her. She then began to suck on the damn thing, and he just about came.
She laughed throatily. “It seems there is quite a connection between these,” she said as she licked his fang again, “and this.” Her hand traced down his ribcage to his pelvic area.
He nodded, and kissed her again, their tongues meeting and dancing lazily.
“I want you to drink from me,” she said, breaking their kiss.
Thaddeus stopped all movement. He stared down at her, struck speechless. He was certain he had heard her wrong. Had to be it.
“Excuse me?” he said.
Emily put her hands on the side of his face. “I want you to drink from me, Thaddeus.”
Holy. Shit.
He hadn’t heard wrong, and the thought of sinking his fangs into that beautiful skin and tasting her blood… man, he couldn’t even fathom the pleasure.
And it wouldn’t just be him who was taken to new heights; her pleasure would be accentuated as well.
