The First Vampire Part 18

"Toria. Did you find James?"

As Toria watched his lips move, she wished she'd been the one to make this fabulous creature into a vampire. She wondered who had. They certainly did have an eye for it. She thought briefly about Keller's pronouncement that Luc was part human, but dismissed it as so much gibberish.

"No," she answered into the speaker, "but I have a present for you."

"A present?" Luc's suspicion was evident. "What's the occasion?"

"I need a small favor," Toria answered honestly. "But it's an opportunity for the right male. I immediately thought of you."

"Don't bullshit me, Toria."

"Look," she said, patience wearing thin, "I need a favor. I figured if it was also a chance to stick a finger in Ash's eye, you wouldn't exactly mind. Was I wrong?"

Luc grinned, lighting up the little screen. "Hell no. Why didn't you say so?" A buzz sounded from behind the door. "Come on in."

Toria closed the video phone and grabbed the large handle of the warehouse door. She gave it a quick upward push and pulled it open with a grunt. The door was weighted so no human could open it, and with her precarious package still draped over one shoulder, even Toria found it a little difficult.

She opened it just enough to slip through and walked to the back of the cavernous space. The heavy door rolled shut behind her, cutting off the beam of light from outside. She didn't need it to see, of course, but she, like most vampires, preferred some light. Lack of light meant lack of color.

Not that there was much color to this place, Toria thought as she pressed the button on the far wall. A whirring sound started somewhere below as the freight elevator rose.

Toria shifted Delilah's weight on her shoulder once more before yanking open the grated metal door and stepping in. The woman moaned.

"Not much farther now," Toria murmured.

Light began pouring in around her feet as the elevator made its way to the lower level. With all the lights he kept burning, Toria half suspected Luc was afraid of the dark.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Luc said by way of greeting as he opened the grated door. "I thought you were looking for James."

He, like Toria, was clad all in black. He sported no leather, though, just jeans, a button up shirt, and cowboy boots.

Toria stepped out of the elevator and shoved the still-unconscious Delilah into his arms. "Thought the place could use a woman's touch," she mocked.

Luc laughed out loud, as his eyes roved over the unexpected delivery. Not bad. Not bad at all. "Who is she?"

"Who isn't she," Toria grumbled. "She's James' wife, for one."

Luc frowned. James had never mentioned a wife. "I thought you said this had something to do with Ash."

"She's also Delilah," Toria muttered.

"Delilah who?"

Toria shot him a dark look, and Luc's eyes got wide. "Oh, that Delilah," he said. This is very cool, he thought. And potentially very bad. Ash could probably kill with just a thought, if he ever really put his mind to it. Or if someone made him mad enough.

Luc looked again at his sleeping captive. What was it about her? She did seem familiar. Something danced at the edge of his consciousness but wouldn't stand still long enough for him to sort it out.

"And just what did you have in mind that I do with her?" he asked, turning to Toria once more.

"Relax, Lucas, you don't have to kill her," Toria said. "Yet. Just keep her out of sight for a while. I need a little time to get Ash back here and talk to him. Plus, we need to find James."

Luc walked over to the couch, knelt, and placed Delilah on it, carefully positioning the cushion under her head. Then he smoothed her hair away from her face and heard Toria give a loud grunt of disgust from somewhere behind him. He didn't care. He wanted her to open her eyes.

"Oh, for pity's sake, Luc, she won't break. Believe me."

Luc turned around. "How long?" he demanded.

"What? Oh. I don't know," Toria shrugged. "As long as it takes, I guess. What's your rush?"

"You obviously intend for me to keep her in one of the cages down below," he said, coming over to where Toria stood with one hand on a precocious hip, "but I'm not running a home for wayward girls here. I use those for business, and I think I should get reimbursed for my troubles."

Toria pursed her lips and grabbed him by the chin. "Careful, Lucas. If you were even a little less gorgeous, I might take offense." She released him and turned to go. "But I have other matters to see to tonight, so do whatever you want with her for a couple of weeks. I'll have found James by then."

Luc raised a brow. "And if you haven't?"

Toria shrugged. "Well, maybe then I'll consider making an investment in your little operation." She stepped into the elevator and closed the gate. "Just don't let anyone find out who or where she is and don't turn her." She thought about this for a minute, pushed the grate back open and stuck her head out. "I mean it, Luc. If you make her a vampire, I'll kill you both."

With that she was gone as quickly as she had come, and Luc was alone with his new ward.

CHAPTER 42.

Luc moved over to the yellow polyester-covered sofa and knelt again beside his sleeping beauty. He smiled at the cliche.

She was beautiful, but this was no fairy princess. This was a flesh and blood woman, the wife of his friend, the obsession of the most powerful vampire alive, and she was asleep on his couch.

He reached out to touch her hair again. This was why light was good, he thought. Not because of color, but because of shine. Nothing shone in the dark. Not the way her hair glimmered and caught the light from the lamp on the desk. Or the way her skin warmed and radiated back the light from overhead.

"Open your eyes, darlin'," Luc whispered. "Let's see what all the fuss is about."

Not even a whimper.

Luc reached for her left arm and pushed up the loose sleeve of her shirt. He began to rub his hands vigorously back and forth over her skin.

As he did so, he caught a whiff of something, a scent he recalled from long ago, and the memory rocked him back on his heels. Holy Mother of God, he thought. A breeder.

His mother had been a breeder. The Verses said there would be others, but most vampires thought those were just legends. Even he, when he knew it was true, had never thought to find another.

He took a deep breath. Not something he was used to, it sent him into a fit of coughing.

The noise penetrated the fog of Ariana's brain, and she slowly opened her eyes. A bolt of pain rammed through her left temple, causing her to groan. Suddenly a face appeared above hers. For a moment, she thought it must be an angel.

"Hi there," he said.

It registered with Ariana that angels probably wouldn't have Southern drawls. Then again... She smiled even though it hurt. Maybe in her heaven they would. She struggled to sit up.

A hand reached for her upper arm, but never made contact. She righted herself and stared down at the man in front of her.

He returned her smile, and Ariana sucked in her breath. Whoever he was, he was easily the most beautiful person she'd ever seen, with his chiseled cheek bones and blue eyes. Men shouldn't have eyes like that, she thought dazedly. They looked back at her, clear as an afternoon sky on the Fourth of July. And just as bright. She wondered at their intensity and why she felt like she had seen them before.

And God help her, she'd always had a thing for blonds.

"Good to know," the man said, his smile growing a notch brighter.

"Oh shit," Ariana blurted. "You can do that too." She tore her gaze away from his lovely, but too-perceptive face and made a show of studying her surroundings. The couch on which she sat occupied most of one wall of what appeared to be an office. The rest of the room had the usual office trappings-two wooden desks, several cheap office chairs, a couple of metal file cabinets-but the floor was cement, partially covered with a ragged piece of Astroturf. Sitting on the yellow sofa, she felt like a guest at a lawn party.

"Where are we?" Ariana asked, puzzled. "And who are you?"

She raised her hand to her throbbing temple as memory came rushing back. Toria.

She eyed Luc warily. "I guess Toria is responsible for me being here?"

"That's right," he said.

"And 'here' would be...?"

"You're in my office, in my warehouse."

"And you are...?" This is like pulling teeth, Ariana thought wryly. Or maybe it was more like pulling fangs.

Luc chuckled. "Maybe having you around won't be a total bore. My name is Lucas." He rose from his squatting position and went to lean against the desk to her left. "But you can call me Luc."

"I'm Ariana Chambers. I-I work for Ash."

Luc laughed again. "Oh, I bet you do." Luc's eyes roved over her from head to toe and back again. "And just what 'work' do you perform?" he asked.

Ariana frowned. "I'm a money manager, to put it in the simplest terms," she said. "Are you a friend of Ash's?"

Luc snorted. "Not exactly. Other vampires are beneath him. Especially us young ones."

"But you are a friend of Toria's?"

He twirled a yellow pencil between his fingers. "Friend is a strong word among vampires," he said.

Ariana raised one eyebrow.

Luc put the pencil down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Let's just say that keeping you away from Ash serves both our purposes for the moment."

"I can guess what her purpose is," Ariana replied dryly, "but what's yours?"

"Let's just say I owe Ash one."

"Great," Ariana said with a long sigh. "So I'm stuck here while you play games with Ash?"

Luc grew still. "Don't mistake common courtesy for me owing you an explanation," he warned. "In case you haven't put it together yet, you're a prisoner here until I decide otherwise." He made a fleeting motion with his tongue and allowed sharp white fangs to intrude onto his smile. "I can do whatever I like with you," he continued, pushing off the desk and coming to join her on the sofa, "except kill you or turn you." He ran a smooth hand along her cheek. "And even those aren't hard and fast rules."

Ariana drew in a deep breath. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. Her disappointment when he rose and went back to leaning on his desk shamed her. What was the matter with her? For years there had been only one man in her life. Now they were coming out of the woodwork.

She looked at the wedding ring on her left hand. She'd taken off her engagement ring some time ago, but the wedding band she'd not yet parted with. The platinum circlet was still there.

"James never mentioned having a wife," Luc said.

Ariana's eyes widened. "You know James?"

"I do." Luc's face was enigmatic.

Ariana wanted to scream. "This is really not funny," she said, her voice going thick with emotion. "Look, you can do whatever you want with me. Kill me, I don't care. But please, I need to know if James is okay."

For a long moment, Luc stood, brow furrowed, saying nothing. "I don't know," he admitted finally.

Ariana gave him a confused look. "But you do know him?"

Luc stared at her intently. "That's right. He's been working with me. He was supposed to meet up with Toria just after sundown a few days ago, but he never made it, and no one's seen him since."

Ariana's eyebrow shot up at the mention of Toria's name.

"It's possible he'll be back later," Luc explained. "Toria's looking for him. It's just odd because there have been a lot of disappearances lately, and James was helping Toria investigate them."

"Why was James helping her?" Ariana asked, unable to hide her distaste.

Luc shrugged. "Toria's not so bad, really. Once you accept what you are, it's hard not to accept what she is."

Ariana thought about that, but the ramifications were too painful, so she resorted to pretending once more to study her surroundings. Finally, her eyes came to rest on Luc. He was casually dressed, but the boots he was wearing were new and probably expensive. "What exactly do you do here?" she asked. "What was James helping you with?"

Luc opened his mouth and closed it again. He turned and flicked the yellow pencil he'd abandoned earlier and watched it spin on his desk. "Beauty products," he answered.

Ariana wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. "I'm sorry, did you say beauty products?"

"That's right," he said. "So what? Turns out vampire blood, when mixed with a little lotion and rubbed onto your face beats the hell out of anything else on the market for minimizing lines and wrinkles. I'm actually starting to make kind of a killing with the stuff."

He must have seen the disbelief on her face. "Vampires have to make ends meet too, you know," he continued, "especially since his majesty got me kicked out of the Council. It costs a small fortune to live in this city, in case you hadn't noticed."

"What?" Ariana couldn't hide her confusion. Was a vampire really lecturing her about the high cost of housing?

Luc smiled. "Sorry. The Council is basically a social club. Mostly a bunch of self-important wannabes, but it controls a lot of money and administers a sort of vampire welfare system. Every vampire who's anybody is 'registered' and on the dole. That way the Elders can keep track of everyone and keep us all nice and grateful."

"And you want back in?" she queried, not sure she was getting the picture. "What did you do to get kicked out?"

Luc rolled his eyes and threw his arms in the air. "Nothing!" He clapped his arms back down to his sides. "Well, Ash and I got into it a little," he muttered. "Thinks he's better than everybody else." He looked back at Ariana. "Two days later the Council cancelled my registration."

Chapter end