Bait

Chapter Sixteen

The hot shower pounded all my well deserved aches away. Some pains could be classed as good, exercise and well, sex being among them.

I toweled myself dry then wrapped it around my body, anxious to return to Rurik. The soft fabric rubbed on the tender bite mark over my left breast. I saw it in the steamed up mirror, peeking over the towel’s edge and touched the spot, thankful for another chance at happiness. Two little puncture holes over my heart. The symbolism wasn’t lost to me, though he hadn’t said it, I suspected Rurik more than liked me. Never would I have hoped I’d be able to let Laurent’s memory fade enough to allow someone else an opportunity into the fortress of my heart.

Elated emotions that soared through me during the past few hours vanished when I walked into the bedroom. My suitcase sat opened on the bed with a set of clothes Rurik must have chosen for me folded next to it. They weren’t the only thing he removed from my luggage. The manila envelope lay empty on the floor and the pictures were in Rurik’s hands.

He examined them, holding the photos close. His temple twitched as he clenched his jaw. The concentration on his face made the fine cheekbones stand out against his lush lips, which had just finished kissing me before I escaped to the shower. They thinned out in a frown.

I felt empty. My heart dropped and I was surprised not to hear it rattle like a coin inside the hollowness.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed my entrance and nailed me with their icy coldness.

I tried to make my mouth work but my vocal cords froze. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to explain those terrible pictures, and I wanted to tell him about my job. Instead, like an ass, I grabbed the jeans and red t-shirt then dressed, pretending innocence.

He placed the photos onto my open suitcase and I watched as his angry face melted into a soft, seductive smile. “So, Rabbit, what’s this game you’re playing?” He stepped closer to me, the ice in his eyes never melted.

This was the Rurik I’d met four nights ago in the club. The one who drugged me, who gave me to Dragos. The dangerous Rurik. I recognized the empty gaze he gave me and moved away until the wall came against my back. Anger or even violence I could have handled, but this scared me more. It made me think I was wrong about him. That he was guilty.

“Please...” I didn’t know what I pleaded for. A mix of things, not to be the killer, not to hurt me, and not to break my heart. The pain stabbed me so sharply I couldn’t catch my breath. Tears burned behind my eyelids.

“Interesting pictures.” He gestured with his long fingered hand at them in the suitcase. “How did you manage to come by them?”

“I-I.” The one time I needed to spill the beans and I had lockjaw.

“Doesn’t matter.” He sauntered toward me and leaned in close to my face. The tick on his temple returned and I could hear him grind his teeth. He broke my gaze to look down and set his hands on the wall, trapping me in between his arms. “They’re such good pictures, I almost believe I was there.” His stare returned to me. “What could you possibly want with those? Blackmail?”

I felt my eyes widen with the shock of the truth. He really was clueless. The thought raised my spirit. “They’re not real?” I wanted to wrap myself around him and kiss the anger from his face. No matter the evidence, I believed his innocence, I needed to.

He hit the wall by my head with his palm. It creaked with the assault. “Of course not!”

I jumped with the bang. The suicidal urge to kiss him faded fast. “They were given to me. Someone is trying to frame you for those murders. They wanted me to believe you were guilty.”

“My guilt?” He stepped back. The look on his face made me feel as if I’d turned into a slime creature from the Black lagoon. “Even if I’d done this crime, I would be held to vampire justice not human.”

“Sometimes these matters fall into gray areas between our worlds. Some of those humans who live in that gray area are hired to fulfill that justice.” I could barely hear my own voice but his sensitive hearing would have picked it up. “We haven’t seen any evidence of vampire justice for this crime.”

“You live in this gray area?”

I nodded, afraid if I spoke, it would turn into tears.

“If you wanted to slay me, you had ample opportunity. Why attack my people?”

I took a step forward. “We’re not the ones who attacked your lair. We never found it. I don’t believe you’re responsible for this crime. I want to help prove your innocence.”

An eyebrow raised in disbelief. “Then who attacked us?”

“Dragos, maybe Tane.”

“Dragos would be crazier than I thought to attack me in my own city and Tane is my strongest supporter. He even keeps a companion in the same manner as we do.”

I nodded. “Eric.”

A look of surprise graced his face. “You know this?”

“Remember the A38, when Tane tossed me overboard? He admitted to hiring us, through Eric, to hunt you. It was after that meeting I realized the pictures could be false and started to believe in your innocence. I’ve been trying to help you.”

“Only after that? The bathhouse? The club?” He covered his mouth with his hand as if to block those questions. “The attack at the party. I knew they were slayers but not that you’d lured them there.” His eyes narrowed and pierced my heart. “Such a clever little Rabbit.”

“We need to discuss this. I’ve been—”

“Only now you want to discuss this? Not last night, before you seduced me or when we were at the Bastion? But after I find these pictures.” A small growl escaped him. “You weave your way into my life, collaborate to kill me, try to turn me against my friend, and worst of all, you steal my heart.” His voice choked on the last confession.

I couldn’t defend myself. He was right, on all counts. “You stole my heart too.” It’s all I had to offer.

He shook his head, not listening. “Get out.” When I didn’t move he grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the door. “Get out,” he yelled as his eyes dilated, absorbing the irises.

I didn’t need to be told again. I ran.

In my rush, I slipped on the stairs and slid down the last five steps on my behind. A gray haired woman hurried from the living room to my aid. “What’s going on?” She looked over my head at the top of the staircase. “Rurik!”

I turned to see him, his eyes blackened and fangs exposed. He hissed then retreated back to his room. The sound of the heavy wooden bedroom door slamming vibrated through the house.

The woman touched my shoulder. “Are you injured?”

I felt stunned. He hated me. My barbed wire soul should have protected me, it’s why I kept to myself and never opened my heart, but I lowered those defenses. I swallowed the pain. It burned as I locked it up with all the rest. The ache almost unbearable in comparison to rest since it was shiny and new. I deserved it.

“I’m all right.” The banister felt solid in my hand as I used it to stand. “You have a phone I can use to call a cab?”

Everything I owned sat in Rurik’s room including my wallet. Someone else would need to get them for me. No way would I go back in his room.

She glanced at the landing above and I resisted the urge to do the same. “I will call one for you but first come sit with me. I have a fresh pot of tea and we can talk.” She gave me a reassuring smile before leading me to the living room.

“It will be dawn soon.” She sat on the sofa and indicated for me to join her.

“I think I should go. He’s pretty angry.”

She raised an eyebrow and pointed for me sit. “They don’t kill and they’re not petty enough to injure others. I wouldn’t tolerate them in my house otherwise. Though I have to admit, I’ve never seen Rurik so upset.” A twinkle of curiosity lit her eyes.

It annoyed me. I sat next to her, not answering the unspoken question. Rurik’s distraught face kept popping in my mind. Each time I squashed it down it returned. He hated me. How could I ever be able to make this up to him?

She sighed and passed me a cup of black tea.

The next thing I knew, my cup was empty. I drank the tea without tasting it. She sat next to me, quiet and still, to offer a refill. My opinion of her changed. She hadn’t tried to pry but to offer an opportunity to talk. My cup rattled as she filled it. She reached out to steady my hand. “Thank you.” I tried to smile but my face felt dead.

“Marie.”

I nodded. “Rabb—Connie.”

“It’s dawn.” She stated. The birds sang outside the dark windows but the eastern sky lightened to hide the stars. “Let him sleep the day. Tonight it will be better. You can work out your differences.”

“I don’t think so, Marie. He’s got good reason to be angry.” I was so stupid. I should have confessed to him earlier, before I crawled into bed with him. Now he thinks I did it for a job. That I came here with the intention to help would be of no consequence.

“You are the first woman he’s brought to the clan in my lifetime.” She smiled and patted my knee. “Trust me, he’ll forgive you.”

Her words sank in. “The first?”

She nodded. “It’s a strict rule. Lovers are not to be brought home unless they’re to be accepted as part of the family. You’re the first he’s brought home.”

This made me feel worse, not better. The pain I tried to lock away was too strong, it broke out and attacked. I thought it would rip me apart. A tear spilled from my eye, it traced its way down my cheek to drip into my tea. He hated me.

What should I do now? I tore my plane ticket home to pieces. The last thing I wanted to do was phone Colby. I still needed help. I had Tane, and probably Dragos, looking for me. My silent tears flowed freely now.

Marie made a sound of dismay. She set her cup down and hurried from the room while she called back. “I will get tissues.”

I didn’t want any freaking tissues. I wanted a cab. I wanted out of this nest of heartbreak.

The teacup bounced as I banged it onto the table and decided I’d walk until I found a pay phone. I marched back to the foyer, opened the front door only to surprise a young man about to knock.

I wiped my tears and nose with my sleeve. “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for Rabbit.”

My eyebrows shot up. “That’s me.” He stood only a few inches taller than me, short for a man. Mouse brown hair neatly combed framed a freckled handsome face. A set of hazel eyes scanned me head to toe then glanced behind me.

I twisted around expecting to see Marie but the foyer remained empty. A white cotton cloth covered my mouth as this stranger pulled me against him. It smelled of heavy medicine. He half carried me, half dragged me out of the doorway.

I kicked and struggled, trying to hold my breath to no avail. The chemical soaked cloth won the fight. Its fumes finally made their way to my lungs when I gasped in desperate need for air. I heard Marie cry out but my vision tunneled, all I could see was the stranger’s face as he laid me on what felt like a car seat.