Born in Chains (Men in Chains) Read online

  “About half a million dollars. You got that kind of money?”

  Lily nodded.

  She did? Adrien’s hold on her relaxed.

  Hardesty smiled. “Anytime you bring me the money, I can break the bond on the chains.”

  Adrien felt relief swell through Lily so profound that it left him dizzy. “I want nothing more than that,” she said. “But for now, Adrien and I have to stick together.”

  At that, Hardesty paced in front of his chair, still smoking. He looked like the kind of vampire who never put a cigarette down.

  “So you’re after something else, then. Rumy only sends me vampires in trouble, but it will cost you, whatever it is that you need from me.”

  “We need information about the extinction weapon.”

  At that, Hardesty grew very still, including the ever-moving cigarette. Only his gaze shifted, from one to the next then back to finally land on Adrien. “You want to know the whereabouts of the rumored weapon? You? Doesn’t make sense.” He started pacing, smoking, and continuing to talk, “Unless of course you’re under duress. That can be the only reason. Daniel?”

  Adrien said nothing. As did Lily.

  “I wouldn’t give up my reasons, either. So what’s in it for me?”

  “How much do you want?” Lily asked.

  “More than you can give.”

  “I’ve got a lot.”

  “Have you got half a billion?”

  “What?”

  Adrien tensed up. Something wasn’t right here. Once more he pulled Lily up against him, but this time kept his right hand free to retrieve his Glock. “What are you talking about, Hardesty? How the hell is anyone giving you half a billion?”

  Hardesty laughed. “Wishful thinking. I’d love half a billion. I’d retire to an island somewhere. The weather here has been dreadful this fall. So much rain in Paris.”

  “So do you know anything about the extinction weapon or not? Rumy seemed to think you might know something.”

  “What I know is pitifully small, about experiments done here, in at least one of the French cavern systems, in the north I think, a few decades ago. An accident left about half a dozen scientists dead so the Council shut down the whole operation, the papers burned, the equipment destroyed.”

  “What kind of accident?” Lily asked.

  Hardesty shrugged. “I’ve never gotten any details. But there is one thing I’ve wanted to say to you, Adrien, for a long time. My animosity toward you isn’t personal, but I have resented the policing work you and your brothers do.”

  Adrien glanced around the room and made several swift calculations: no windows, one door at the back, possible shielding to prevent altered flight through the walls.

  “What’s going on?”

  “That half a billion I mentioned? Ownership in an Arizona casino, something new we’re doing in the States, but it will involve some specialists, human, if you catch my drift. My partners will be glad for this night’s work, and I’m going to have to send Rumy a thank-you card for accidentally sending you to me.”

  He couldn’t quite read Lily’s emotional state, but she turned into him and half sobbed, half cried out as she slid her hand beneath his coat.

  The door behind Adrien opened. He turned and saw the original bouncer enter with another big vampire. He watched as they reached for their weapons. Simultaneously, he slid his hand down his thigh and withdrew a dagger. If Lily hadn’t decided to get hysterical, he could have reached for his Glock.

  He took her with him as he backed up against the wall. When he saw a knife and two guns, he spun Lily around so that his body would have a chance to protect her once the gunfire started.

  Everything happened so fast.

  He heard the shots, one after the other, at least thirteen rounds in quick succession. He expected to feel the bullets slam into his back. Instead, he felt Lily pushing at his chest. At least she’d stopped screaming.

  Turning around, however, he couldn’t figure out what had happened. He saw that both the bouncers and Hardesty were down. Two of them still moaned. The newest vampire lay still with his eyes wide open, pupils dilated, blood coming out of his mouth.

  He glanced down at Lily, who now saw what he realized was her handiwork. “Wait, you did this?”

  “Yeah, I just had this feeling and went with it. But I think you’d better get us out of here. Now.”

  Shock held him immobile for about two more seconds. He tested his ability to pass through the door, or any other wall, but he couldn’t. He reached down and pulled the dead vampire away from the door.

  He shoved Lily through then followed after.

  The club was small and he had to get outside and into the air quickly, before reinforcements arrived.

  He turned toward the back hall and, pulling Lily against him, flew toward the back door. Once there, he kicked it wide and without looking back flew into the night sky, making a hard right, then spiraling high.

  Lily hugged him hard. She shook, and his speed caused her pain, he could feel it.

  Once they had passed above the Eiffel Tower and were nearly back to his apartment, he slowed down. He heard Lily moaning. Damn altered flight. Damn weak human.

  He passed through his building, back into the hallway outside the bathroom.

  As soon as he touched down, she dropped the Glock, ran to the toilet, and threw up.

  He took off his coat and saw the bullet holes. She’d made Swiss cheese of some really fine, expensive leather. He had to admit, she’d been smart about the business because she’d caught all three vampires by complete surprise. He’d dropped his dagger the moment he’d turned to protect her with his body.

  Without thinking, he started to head to his office to reload the Glock, but the chain snagged him and Lily cried out, “Hey. I can’t move yet.”

  “Sorry,” he called back.

  He returned to sit down on the carpet outside the hall, setting the gun beside him. He pulled his knees up and rested his elbows on top but ended up with his head in his hands.

  His world, his goddamn disorganized world. Lily had saved them both tonight with her smart shooting and quick thinking. With that much firepower aimed at him, he’d probably be dead, she’d be dead, and that would have been the end of the story.

  Lily appeared next to him, wiping her face.

  He looked up at her. “How’s the head?”

  She nodded. “More like a cantaloupe split into two parts instead of merely exploded. I guess that’s better.”

  He stared at her wondering who the hell she was. “You saved our asses back there. I owe you one.”

  She met his gaze. “I wish we’d gotten more information than what Hardesty delivered.”

  “You still intend to go forward with this, even after almost getting killed?”

  She met his gaze, her lips clamped together for a long moment, before responding. “Sure, why not?”

  “You said something back there that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Hardesty asked how much you had and you said a lot.”

  She didn’t look at him as she responded, “Kiernan has a lot, but he wouldn’t pay half a billion.”

  Adrien took hold of her wrist. “You have money, don’t you?”

  “I have some.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Then, why?”

  “None of your goddamn business, vampire.”

  Adrien frowned at her. He could tell she was lying about something, but what? Then again when it came to humans and greed, lying was part of the bargain.

  “I need my clothes,” she said. “My soap, shampoo. I can tell this little journey of ours is going to get messier by the second. Any chance I can get some of my stuff brought here from India?”

  He stood up and pulled his cell out of his pocket. He made a phone call then glanced at Lily. “From the campsite?”

  She nodded. “Everything.” Then, “Please.”

  After he gave his instructions, he said, “You’ll have your things in about half an hour
. In the meantime—”

  “Food,” she said. “I can see how this is going to unfold for us and I’m starved. How about you? Oh, wait, you already had your meal.” Her sarcasm dripped.

  He returned her glare but he didn’t rise to the bait. He searched her gaze because he couldn’t believe she’d just been in a shoot-out but seemed so calm.

  He touched the chain at his neck and frowned at her. What he sensed was something like a profound determination to see her mission through, no matter what. For this split second, despite his general dislike of humans, he almost respected her.

  Maybe he didn’t understand her motivations, maybe she had some serious debts to pay, he didn’t know, but she’d shown cool under pressure, she’d gotten them both out of an impossible situation alive, and instead of falling apart, she pressed on, asking only for food.

  He led the way to the kitchen. Some of his staff had been by while they’d taken their jaunt to La Nuit. He had cheese, fruit, and bread in the fridge, so he pulled them out and set them on the counter.

  Lily took up a bar stool and started to eat.

  She didn’t say anything, she didn’t look at him, she just scowled at something unseen and chomped on slices of apple.

  * * *

  Lily ate in silence. She felt no particular need to make small talk with a vampire. Anyway, she doubted Adrien would want to talk and she sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

  She’d almost died tonight but felt strangely disconnected from that fact except for one thing, of course: her son.

  The moment those two vampires had come into the room, guns in hand, she knew exactly what she meant to do and had positioned her hand on Adrien’s Glock, all the while feigning a full-blown freak-out.

  She’d been right that her squeals and sobs would distract the men, including Adrien, long enough to fire a few shots. Adrien turning her into the wall had been the perfect maneuver since she could fire through his coat without alerting either of the assailants.

  She glanced at him now. He cut a slab of cheese, laid it on a slice of French bread, and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. She was still surprised to see a vampire eating regular food. His gaze skated past her, into the living room. He appeared to be thinking hard, maybe about their next move.

  “Wait a minute, why did you turn your back to the room?”

  He glanced at her, brows lifted. “To shield you. It was an instinctive response, but useless. Given the nature of the blood-chains, if I’d died, you would have as well.”

  “So you didn’t turn because I had your gun?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t know you’d taken it.”

  “Huh.” She bit off another piece of apple and popped it in her mouth.

  Josh liked apples and hated pears, couldn’t stand the grainy feel of them in his mouth. Two years had passed. What had he eaten in that time? What had he been doing? Had he been cared for well enough? Kiernan had said that Josh had a caregiver, a human woman, so apparently he’d wanted Josh in one piece, but why? Of all the children in their neighborhood who had been killed that night, why had her son been spared, and provided with a caregiver?

  This was the big question she’d been unable to answer. She was almost positive that taking Josh hadn’t been random. She felt the purposefulness of it in every cell of her body.

  Adrien reached forward and grabbed her wrist. “What are you thinking about? Right now? You feel sad to me.”

  She released a heavy sigh and pulled her arm away from him. “That my son liked apples.”

  “I’m sorry that your family died.”

  She glanced up at him, chewing slowly. “It doesn’t change that vampires killed them.”

  “No. It doesn’t.”

  “Why are you staring at me?”

  “I’m trying to understand you, that’s all.”

  She shrugged and cut a chunk of cheese, sliding it onto her tongue from the back of her knife. “What’s the plan from here? I’m not sure I’d trust Rumy again, if I were you.”

  “He wouldn’t have known what Hardesty was up to, but a casino in Arizona?”

  “Your world seems hell-bent on exposing itself to my world. And it sure doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

  “No, not much, at least not the parts intent on illegal and reprehensible transactions.”

  She snorted.

  “Oh, that’s right. We’re vampires, so there can’t be anything decent about my world.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “What do you base that on?”

  “Oh, let’s see. Your pal Daniel, who’s been selling off property that belongs to your kind, Hardesty is a real peach, and you’ve already said that Rumy knows every slimy element to be found between Italy and Shanghai and all the way to New York. I have yet to meet a vampire I could admire. Then there’s you, happily demanding my blood like it belongs to you, but that’s a quality I’ve come to expect from your kind: Take, then maybe ask questions later.”

  He cut another slab of cheese, planted it on more sourdough, and shoved it in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing he said, “You screamed a few times, if I remember, and you weren’t exactly in pain.”

  She offered a half smile as she said, “Just like a man to make a big deal about his cock when he hasn’t got much else to offer.”

  He rounded the bar and before she knew what he meant to do, he’d hauled her off her seat and pulled her against him. She tried to push out of his arms, but he was too damn strong. He started sucking on her neck and grinding his hips into her.

  Damn the vampire!

  The chain vibrated heavily against her throat. She could feel his desire like flames against her skin, and his lust ignited her own. But she struggled against all the sensations—of her incomprehensible desire for him, her lust, her need, which seemed to be multiplying as each hour met the next.

  When he kissed her, she bit his lower lip, drawing blood.

  He drew back, but his eyes had darkened and instead of releasing her, he settled in on her neck again, suckling and plucking, licking along her vein.

  At some point her hands stopped pushing at him and instead her fingers kneaded the flesh of his arms, tugging at his biceps that flexed at her touch. He plastered himself against her, his hips undulating slowly. Her breathing grew shallow and her eyes closed; maybe they rolled back in her head.

  When he kissed her this time, she let him, despite the blood on his lips.

  His tongue dove deep as he rocked his pelvis against hers, the hard length of his cock rolling over her flesh, working her into a frenzy. Her moans filled the air.

  She hated him, but she wanted him desperately.

  She was about to suggest they return to the bedroom when he let her go. She fell back, almost making it onto the stool, but because her limbs had loosened she slid off and fell to the floor, landing on her butt.

  She sat there, looking up at him.

  He lifted a harsh eyebrow. “And sometimes, human, a cock is the only thing a woman wants.”

  He rounded the bar. As she rose to her feet, she watched him slap another slab of cheese on yet another slice of bread and stuff the whole thing in his big fat mouth.

  Damn vampire.

  * * *

  Adrien washed up the plates, packed up the fruit, cheese, and bread, all while Lily sat on her stool and glared at him.

  He ignored her. He hoped he’d made his point that for all her complaints about his kind, she wanted him.

  The trouble was, he ran hot for her as well, hotter than made any logical sense despite the blood-chains they shared. If she glared, he responded in kind, because the last thing he wanted was to desire his captor.

  The chains, essentially, had become a nightmare of sensation. He felt worn out, and the hour was just a few minutes past midnight. And they still had work to do.

  His brothers came to mind, his driving need to bust them out of that Himalayan hellhole. But how? If he failed to produce the extinction weapon, Daniel would have them k
illed, he was sure of it.

  Even if he could find the damn thing, though, how could he ever turn a machine like that over to Daniel, the vampire without a conscience, the one who would sell his soul for just one more brick of gold?

  His phone rang.

  He reached into his pocket, pulled it out, and checked the screen. Rumy.

  He thought for a moment, then answered, saying nothing.

  “Adrien, you there?”

  “Rumy.” He didn’t say anything more than that. He needed to hear the man’s voice, hear his inflection to determine the level of the man’s guilt. Had Rumy helped out at La Nuit?

  He met Lily’s gaze. The glare had turned into a suspicious scowl, a perfect reflection of how he felt.

  Rumy cleared his throat. “Hardesty just called. He’s still alive. I’ve sent a few visitors to his bar for what he just pulled on you, I want you to know that. He’ll be shut down for weeks.”

  “Okay.”

  “His bouncer’s dead. That might be payment enough for the incident.”

  “I’m weeping in my beer, Rumy, big salty tears.”

  Rumy laughed. “Just wanted you to know I had no hand in this.”

  “I didn’t think so. You value your skin too much to make an enemy of me.”

  “Don’t I know it. So, did Hardesty give up anything usable?”

  “He mentioned a connection to one of the northern cavern systems, here in France. Know anything about it?”

  “No, not really. You thinking about going up there?”

  “Maybe. Not sure.” One of his favorite tribes lived in the northernmost system, called Trevayne, but he didn’t like the idea of introducing a human into their world. The more private cave tribes, usually located at a distance from human cities, lived quiet tribal existences with deep, layered shields to keep humans at bay, and essentially never allowed humans inside. They held more traditional values and often had a number of children in their midst, babes they protected with a vengeance.

  If it weren’t for the chains, he’d head north right now, without taking Lily along, to see what he could dig up about the extinction weapon. The vampires who lived at Trevayne had inhabited that system a long time and probably knew every inch of the tunnels. If experiments had been done, any attempts made, secretly or otherwise, to concoct a killing machine, someone would know about it. There might even be evidence, or a lead to another location.