chapter Fifteen
By sunset, Cara was sobbing again. She had taken a break from wailing to let the bellman in with her belongings earlier and had caught a few hours' sleep. But now she was awake and she was right back to balling her eyes out, clinging to Seamus's T-shirt.
It smelled like him, musky and masculine.
And she had reached a new low, cuddling up on the bed with the cotton shirt cradled in her arms. Knowing it was pathetic didn't make her stop. She was actually dragging it across her face for another whiff when there was a knock on the door.
Maybe it was Seamus. She didn't think her instructions to keep her room number from him would be an obstacle to a man like Seamus. He could probably hunt her down like a bloodhound, for all she knew. Obviously there was a lot about being a vampire he had failed to mention in the weeks she had lived with him.
She thought about opening the door. She really did want to see him. She missed him. The night before had been so intimate, so tender, so hot, those feelings of love couldn't have been her imagination. Maybe if she just gave Seamus a chance to explain. Plus she was hungry. She hadn't fed since the bagged blood that morning with Kelsey and Alexis. Seamus's blood tasted so much better
Cara flung the shirt completely over her face, wiped her tears with it, and breathed in deeply. She was losing it. And she was not going to answer the door.
The pounding came harder. Her dogs lifted their snouts in disapproval.
"Cara,it's Alexis and Kelsey. Open up."
Damn. She supposed she couldn't ignore them.
Still holding the now soggy T-shirt, she got up and answered the door. "Hey."
Alexis's jaw dropped. "Whoa. Things didn't go well with Seamus, I take it."
"No."
"What happened to your hair?" Kelsey asked. Despite her early morning adventures in self-mutilation, Kelsey looked fresh and perky, dressed in sexy skinny jeans, a silk camisole, and a sparkly shrug.
Cara touched her head. "I don't know. What does it look like?" She hadn't really brushed it since her postsex shower some fifteen hours earlier. She had pulled shirts on and off over her hair, cried into it, slept on it, and chewed the ends at one point. Chances were it wasn't looking all that great, but she wasn't sure she cared.
"It looks like you've been electrocuted," Alexis said. "But that's irrelevant." She paced back and forth in front of the bed, while Kelsey sat down.
Cara flopped on the row of hotel pillows lining the headboard and wished more than anything she could still eat chocolate.
"We're here because Ethan and Seamus are missing."
"Missing? How could they be missing?"
"I don't know. But none of the guards know where they are, which is insane. They don't go anywhere without at least two bodyguards. I haven't seen Ethan since this morning when we had a little bit of an argument. He's not answering his cell phone. And when I try to call Ethan mentally all I get is this fuzzy sort of static."
"Maybe they're avoiding us. Maybe they're somewhere together bitching about us." It had only been twelve hours. They were grown vampires. Cara couldn't work up the energy to worry.
"But Seamus called Kelsey and said they were trapped at the Venetian and that they needed help."
"He called Kelsey?" Okay, that ticked her off. "Why would he call you instead of me?" Like Kelsey could possibly know the answer to that, but she was asking rhetorically.
"I don't know. Maybe he was afraid you wouldn't answer. But he sounded really urgent, Cara. They need our help. I think the Italian has them."
" Donatelli?"A shiver went through Cara. In her mind, he had been elevated to the status of a monster. "Why do you think that?"
"Because he lives at the Venetian," Alexis said. "I think they went there to confront him about everything that has been going on."
"Why would they do that without guards?" That didn't at all logical.
"Because they're stupid."
Cara wasn't going to argue with that. "So what do you think we should do?"
"I think we should go check out the poker play at the Venetian. You are the Ava's Texas Hold ' Emchamp. Maybe you want to see what the play is like at the Venetian."
That reminded her that she'd never cashed in on her winnings, and she had left the chips in Seamus's room. They weren't going to do her any good there. "I'm not sure about this. What good is it going to do to go over there? We don't know that Ethan and Seamus are even there, and there is no way we're going to be able to search private rooms."
"But we can flush Donatelli out of his suite and have a little chat with him. If he's hurt my husband I will do unspeakably painful things to him."
The venom in Alexis's eyes was a little scary. "I thought you were mad at Ethan."
"I am. But he's still my husband. The only one who can slap him around is me. And after he apologizes for being an idiot, we're going to have really great makeup sex. The bottom line is, we all make mistakes, including me, and I love him."
That hit Cara hard. She loved Seamus. She knew she did. He was a good man, loyal and responsible and always, always willing to take care of others. He had made a mistake, because he had wanted her. Was that such a terrible thing?
She wasn't sure. It was really damn hard to trust. "Do you think I'm making a mistake leaving Seamus?"
Alexis shrugged. "I don't know, Cara. Only you can know that. It's possible to love someone and not be able to live with him." She pulled Kelsey off the bed by grabbing her hand. "But right now I have this urgent awful feeling something is wrong and I need to go after my husband and bring him home. You can come with us and or you can stay. It's totally up to you."
There were two choices. One, she could stay in the hotel room and cry over the loss of a relationship that had just barely gotten started. Or two, she could brush her hair and go after Seamus, hoping they could work their issues out.
It took her less than two seconds to decide. She loved Seamus.
"Let me grab my hairbrush. I'll use it in the car on the way over."
"Cool. Can I do your hair?" Kelsey asked.
"We could have walked faster," Alexis complained when they finally had snarled their way through traffic, parked the car, and went into the casino at the Venetian.
"But then how would we make a quick getaway if Ethan and Seamus are hurt?" Kelsey asked, giving a flirtatious smile to a man who gawked at her in naked interest.
"Good point. How reassuring to think they won't be able to walk home on their own."
Not to mention that with traffic as brutal as it had been, an anemic vampire with cataracts would be able to catch up with them.
Cara crossed her arms over her chest and swallowed nervously. Maybe this hadn't been such a good plan.Like it was much of a plan. They were just going to hang around the Venetian and hoped Donatelli sensed them? This wasn't his hotel?he didn't have cameras and guards like Ethan did at the Ava.
"Let's go sit at one of the tables," Alexis said, hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Her eyes were scanning the room.
"Okay," Cara said because she wasn't sure what else they were going to do. They found an open seat at a craps table, and Alexis fronted her some cash.
It wasn't her game. Cara lost two hundred bucks in ten minutes and turned to Alexis. "This isn't working."
"The plan or the craps playing?"
"Both."
Alexis bit her fingernail. "Okay, I have an idea. If Donatelli is involved, and Ethan and Seamus are in trouble here at the Venetian like Seamus told Kelsey, it stands to reason they're in his suite, right?"
"I guess so." But Cara wasn't sure they could make that leap in logic, or how they could get into Donatelli's suite.
"It makes total sense." Alexis marched up to the front desk, told them she forgot her room number. "It's in my husband's name, Roberto Donatelli ," she said.
Cara thought the clerk would tell her no go, but he just looked it up and gave her a new key card with a smile.
"Whoa," Alexis said as they walked away. "I used vampire mind control and it actually worked. I feel guilty." But it didn't stop Alexis from hitting the up button on the elevator and pocketing the key card.
While they were waiting, Cara tried to ignore the tugging at the back of her brain that something was off. The Venetian had a less fluorescent decor compared to some of the other casinos. It was full of wood, creamy textured walls, andelaborate frescos on the ceiling.
"Who is that?" she asked, gesturing with a slight tilt of her head. There was a man sitting in the lobby lounge with two women, his posture relaxed and arrogant. He wasn't even looking at them, but Cara felt an awareness . There was a scent lingering over him, different from mortals. "He's a vampire, isn't he?"
"You're good," Alexis said, expression grim. "You just found Donatelli ."
He didn't look powerful. He did look smarmy and self-absorbed.
"And now we know he's not up in his room," Cara said.
"Which is why it's the perfect time to head up there and check it out."
Damn. She had thought Alexis might say that. She'd bet her stripper heels?which were damn expensive?that she was going to regret this.
Once in Donatelli's room, she was convinced of it. The suite, lush in gold and burgundy fabrics with a king-size bed on a platform behind an elaborate balustrade, looked and felt empty.
"No one here.Let's go." Cara grabbed Kelsey's arm and retreated for the door, heart pounding.
"We should at least look around."
"For clues?Give me a break, Alexis. There's nothing Nancy Drew about any of us."
"My name used to beNancy ," Kelsey announced.
"What?" Cara looked at her in confusion.
"When I was mortal, in the fifties.My name wasNancy . I hated it."
Oh, my God. Cara was breaking into a vampire's hotel suite with a sword-wielding fledgling and a name-changing assassin-loving secretary. Where had the calm life of a mild-mannered stripper gone?
"Kelsey is a nice name," Cara said, for lack of anything better to say.
"I tried outSummer for a while, in the sixties and seventies, but it was too blond for me."
Alexis gasped, having wandered over by the bed. "Oh, that is sick. I'm going to be sick."
"What?" Hearing the horror in Alexis's voice, Cara imagined used condoms, sex toys, porn,a penis pump. "What is it?"
" Donatelli'sunderwear.They're briefs."
Cara glanced at Kelsey, who gave a snicker of amusement." Geez. You scared me. I thought it was something really gross."
"This is gross!"
"There is nothing here," Cara repeated. "Let's go. I just remembered I said I'd start back at work tonight they'll want me there by ten so we should go before Donatelli decides to come back to his room."
"Too late," Kelsey said. "He's coming in the door now."
"What?" Cara grabbed Kelsey and glanced around frantically, looking for a place to hide.
"Don't bother. He can sense us."
"Shit," was Alexis's opinion.
Cara looked around for a weapon. That lamp looked heavy, but it was bolted down, and Donatelli was already walking through the door with two women.
He stopped inside the doorway, expression unreadable. Glancing from one of them to the other, he finally settled on Alexis, who was still over by his bed. "Mrs. Carrick," he said. "What a pleasant surprise to see you this evening. You don't usually venture out of your husband's place."
"I felt the need to check out the Venetian," Alexis said, with way more aplomb than Cara could have mustered.
"Excellent." He smiled at Kelsey. "Hello, Kelsey. You're looking good, as usual. I always thought you should have been a supermodel, not a secretary."
"Thanks."
Cara couldn't gauge Kelsey's true feelings from her neutral, polite expression and she was impressed that Kelsey had pulled herself together. She had real reason to be afraid of this man. He had ordered her to be drained of blood,then had her tossed in Ethan's apartment like an empty blood bag.
"And I don't believe we've met." Donatelli held out his hand. "I am Roberto Donatelli ."
Alexis and Kelsey were both playing it cool so she needed to do the same. She swallowed a gallon of spit and said carefully, "Cara Kim." She forced herself to shake his hand and concentrate on keeping her thoughts locked.
"Ah.Seamus Fox's new lover. It's a pleasure." With his Italian accent,lover didn't sound rude, but Cara sensed it was meant to be. That he was good at saying one thing and meaning another. "Allow me to introduce my friends, Kathy and Laura. They are in town from Oregon and I've been showing them the best spots in Vegas. Kathy, Laura, this is Alexis Baldizzi -Carrick, the wife of a business associate of mine. Kelsey, a close intimate friend of mine, and Cara Kim, a dancer down at the club SomeLike It Hot."
Oh, he was good. Cara would give him that. He had managed to let her know he knew who she was, what she was. Intimidate Kelsey. And be the only one to call Alexis by her full given name, in an unfailingly polite gesture that clearly infuriated her. All while ignoring the fact that they were in his private hotel suite without his permission.
"Nice to meet you."Kathy stuck her hand out.
Cara shook automatically while Laura grinned. "We're here for our birthday. We both turned forty this month, so we left the soccer games and the laundry at home and came for a wild weekend."
"Oh, well, Happy Birthday." Cara tried to pull her hand back. Kathy was gripping it too hard, and something about the glassy, drunken look in both their eyes was disturbing.
These were normal suburban housewives and Cara had the sudden sick sinking feeling that Donatelli was toying with them. In what way, she didn't really want to know, but she couldn't imagine it was totally oftheir own free will. He was using his vampire influence on them and it repulsed her.
"We were just going to have a drink. Would you care to join us?" Donatelli asked, heading to the bar in the sitting room.
"Cut the shit, Donatelli ," Alexis said, obviously tired of being polite. "Where's Ethan?"
"You've lost your husband?"
"Do you know where he is?"
"No." Donatelli poured scotch into three glasses. "Is that the reason for your charmingly unexpected visit? You think I know where your husband is?"
"Yes, I do."
"What about Seamus?" Cara asked.
Donatellihanded Kathy and Laura a glass each. They both tossed the whole thing back like seasoned alcoholics.
"I don't know where they are, though I imagine they're together, as usual. If I were both of you, I'd start to worry that maybe there is more than friendship between them."
"You're scum," was Alexis's opinion.
Kathy and Laura were starting to look confused. "Well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," Kathy said inanely.
Donatellismiled at her, clearly amused. "Come here, both of you."
They walked over to him. He put an arm around each of their backs and walked them over to the bed, murmuring lowly. They stretched out on the huge king-size bed and Donatelli bent over them. Cara was about to scream and yell and do something to stop him, when he stood back up.
Both women were asleep. Cara let out the breath she'd been holding.
Sighing, he walked back to the sitting room. "They were starting to grate on my nerves. I got them for a friend of mine, and he has the audacity to be late in returning tonight." He smiled at Kelsey. "You know my friend, Kelsey. Ringo would enjoy these women, don't you think?"
Kelsey didn'tanswer, tiny spots of red appearing in her cheeks.
"Leave her alone," Alexis said. "We're leaving anyway."
"Oh, you think so? But I'm not done enjoying your company yet. I was hoping we could play parlor games, have a few drinks, talk and tell jokes." He opened the drawer of the buffet and rooted around in there. "I'd love for Cara to dance for us."
Cara started to back up, tapping Kelsey on the elbow to get her attention. Donatelli was starting tocreep her out. He had something in mind. He was taunting them.
"Maybe another night."Cara shot a frantic look at Alexis, who was frowning and studying Donatelli's back. Alexis wasn't paying attention to her.
"No, you'll dance for me tonight." He pulled something out of the drawer, and Cara realized it was a thin, sharp wooden stake. "Ever seen one of these?" He pushed it into his palm, drawing blood.
Cara grabbed Kelsey by the arm and tried to run for the door. There was a rush of movement, air, a loud slamming sound. Cara blinked, fear freezing her to the carpet. Donatelli had Kelsey up against the wall, one hand on her neck, the other holding the stake right over her chest.
Kelsey looked terrified, her breath hard and urgent. Her eyes darted around wildly and landed on Cara, pleading with her.
"Let her go," Alexis demanded. "Kelsey doesn't have anything to do with this."
"But she does. She's here, isn't she?" Donatelli wasn't a big man. He was actually shorter than Kelsey, but he leaned forward and whispered to her, twisting the stake slowly. "Do you remember the last time we were together, Kelsey? This time it will be more than blood I'll take. It will be your life."
Kelsey whimpered as he pressed a little harder, breaking the flesh beneath her silk cami . The silver stained with fresh blood, a tiny quarter-size spot, but growing.
"Stop!"Cara cried out.
Alexis suddenly attacked Donatelli's back, but he knocked her to the floor with one sharp crack of his fist.
"Alexis!" Cara scrambled to her, finding her friend unconscious. Fear made her stomach flip. He'd barely touched Alexis. He could kill Kelsey before they could even blink.
"What do you want?" she asked him.
"I want you to dance for me. That's not so hard, is it? You do it every night."
"Will you let Kelsey go if I do?"
"Absolutely.Once you are stripped down to nothing and you've given me a full five-minute routine, I swear to you, on my honor as a vampire, that I will let Kelsey go. I'll let all of you go. And I'll even tell you where your boyfriend is." He caressed Kelsey's cheek, making her shudder. "What do you think? It's a pretty good deal on your part, don't you think?A bargain, given your experience."
It was meant to humiliate her, mock her. Cara felt nauseous at the thought of taking her clothes off for Donatelli , but one look at Kelsey and she knew she had to do it. Kelsey was crying now, blood tears streaking her pale cheeks, and her whole body quivered. Even her teeth were rattling. Alexis was still out cold on the floor. And Donatelli wouldn't think twice about killing all of them. She could sense that. He let her feel that. He allowed his thoughts of malice and cruel intent, amusement and lack of conscience, drift over to her, so she would understand he was serious.
"Do you have some music?"
He might be lying about letting them go, but it felt like he was telling the truth, and she wasn't sure they had any other options. In fact, she knew they didn't. Giving a desperate call in her head to Seamus, who very possibly needed help of his own, she watched Donatelli let go of Kelsey's neck and point.
"There is a satellite radio system over there on the desk. I'll let you choose the music."
How generous.
Cara found an RandB station with some thumping bass driving a soulful song. She started moving, her back to Donatelli , not ready to face him and his leering, triumphant face. It was harder than she'd thought. She felt cold and stiff, terrified and disgusted.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked, scoffing. "It's a wonder you keep your job. Dancers are a dime a dozen in this town."
Coming to a complete stop, Cara clenched her fists. She couldn't do this.
A sharp cry of pain and a gurgling jerked from Kelsey. Cara spun around. Donatelli must have pushed the tip in,then pulled it back out, because Kelsey's shirt was crimson on every inch of the left side. Before she could even ask if she was alright, Donatelli reached out with his expensive leather shoe and stepped on Alexis's wrist.
Cara realized Alexis had been discreetly reaching for him, probably to pull his leg out from under him. But he came down on her wrist with enough pressure to rip a scream from her, the sick crunching of her bones reverberating in the room, jarring over the bass music.
"You're starting to irritate me," Donatelli told Alexis.
Alexis held her wrist limping against her chest and rocked back and forth in pain, her lips clamped shut.
"Leave her alone."
"This is getting redundant and tiresome," Donatelli said, voice hardening. "Strip for me, bitch, or I'll kill all three of you in the next thirty seconds."
Menace rolled from him in waves.
Cara pulled off her T-shirt and went into her Tuesday night routine.
Seamus grabbed his head in the elevator and cursed. "Damn, what was that?"
"What?" Ethan was using the wall to prop himself up.
"I felt fear, or something.Pain." He glanced at the numbers lit up above the doors, suddenly anxious. "I could have sworn I heard Cara calling for me. She was scared."
They were flying downward past the fourteenth floor. "What floor was Donatelli on when we went to his room before?"
"Before he tied us up?" Ethan shrugged. "Twentieth. Why?"
Seamus hit the button for the twelfth floor to get the elevator to stop. "Shit. I think Cara is in Donatelli's room." He didn't know why, but something was just telling him that he needed to get to her. That something was very wrong.
"Why would Cara be here at the Venetian?" Ethan asked, rubbing his jaw.
The elevator doors opened and Seamus hit the button for the twentieth floor. The doors slide shut again and they started back up. "You tell me. Can you call Alexis or are you still too drunk?"
"No, I'm sober now." Ethan shook his head. "But when I call Alexis there is a wall there. I thought it was because she was mad at me but what if what if something is wrong? "
Seamus watched his friend's face leech of all color. Ethan ran his hand through his blond hair. "Shit, Seamus. What if Donatelli went after Alexis and Cara while we were tied up on the roof?"
That's exactly what Seamus was afraid of. "I have the worst feeling about all of this. Ethan, you go in the front door. I'm going back up on the roof and fly down to Donatelli's balcony. That way we can watch each other's back."
"There are no balconies at the Venetian," Ethan said, his voice rising in frustration.
"Fine.We'll just have to rush him and hope we catch him off guard."
"If he's hurt my wife, I'm going to be very, very angry," Ethan said.
Seamus was thinking the same thing. "I know exactly what you mean. And when I have Cara safe again, I'm going to sit her down and propose."
The elevator opened on twenty. "Now, let's go."
Cara had her eyes closed so she could block out Donatelli as she moved, her jeans off now. But she couldn't ignore his voice, his insidious, hypnotic, amused voice. It was like a knife picking at her wounds, flicking at her over and over again.
"You remind me of Marie," he was saying." Seamus'slover from the eighteenth century. She was more petite, that's true, but lush like you, with dark hair and fair skin. She was an actress, did you know that?"
Truthfully Cara hadn't even known the woman's name. Just that she had betrayed Seamus. She didn't want to hear it now, when she was already on display, vulnerable, being mocked and humiliated.
"I can tell from your expression you didn't know. That's a shame, because really you have a lot in common, and I imagine you would have liked her. Quite intelligent and cunning for a mortal, our little Marie, and while her career was based on her looks and her breasts, she was actually an astonishing actress. The whole time she had Seamus convinced she was in love with him, she was working for me. Fanciedherself something of a vampire slayer, you know. Saw me as a means to an end. There aren't that many vampires who have the blood of an ancient one, and with Marie's zealous help, I was able to eliminate a number of them on the guillotine. Fox escaped, but many didn't."
Cara couldn't escape either. That was obvious. He wanted her trappedthere, he wanted her to hear his vile braggings . He knew she wasn't going to take off her bra and panties, and he was going to let this go on and on until she lost it and crumpled in front of him and begged, cried. She had to work up the courage to finish this. She shook her hair back, rolled her shoulders and her thighs.
"Yes, I like that move."
He was heading toward her. Cara's eyes flew open when his hand touched her shoulder. God, he was going to kiss her. He was close enough to her that she could see the smoothness of his olive skin, smell his aftershave, register the lust in his eyes. She couldn't let him kiss her. There was no way. She would throw up, all over his expensive suit.
His hair brushed against her cheek as he glanced over her shoulder. His fingers played along the clasp of her bra. "Let me help you."
Skin crawling, heart racing, she tried not to show her fear, tried not to panic, tried to think. She was not going to let him do this to her. When he popped the clasp on her bra open, Cara stroked along his pant leg, searching for his testicles. She was going to give them a squeeze with every ounce of her vampire strength and drop the bastard to the floor the way he had Alexis.
His breath hitched a little. "Now you're being very agreeable. Isn't this much nicer? To the left," he murmured along her earlobe, sliding her bra strap down her right arm.
Good. He was giving directions so she could find his package, and she could end this now before it went a second further. If his fingers had time to brush against her breast, she was going to give him the satisfaction he was looking for and beg him to stop.
Without warning, there was a loud crashing noise and she jerked, startled. Donatelli wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him, in what for a stupid second she thought what a protective gesture.
Then she heard Ethan's voice. "What the fuck is going on here?"
And she knew Donatelli had no such thing as protection on his mind?he was clever enough and fast enough to make this look worse than it already did.
Seamus came up behind Ethan, terrified by the horror and anger in Ethan's voice. But what he saw appalled him in ways he never could have imagined. His face went completely hot,then cold, and the room actually did a spin, like he was going to pass out.
Donatelli'sarms were around Cara, and she was only in her panties.Red thong panties. Her bra was still hanging on, but only because her chest was smashed against Donatelli's . Otherwise it would have fallen to the floor, because it was unhooked and pulled down both her arms.
Her flesh was showing,everywhere, the flesh he had touched, made love to, and now Donatelli was touching it. Cara's arm was crushed between their bodies, her hand pinned against his groin, like she'd been groping him.Like they were lovers. Donatelli looked satisfied, triumphant, and he placed his lips on the top of her head, gave her a kiss.Whispered in her ear, like he was reassuring her.
It was like roadkill . Seamus should look away, needed to look away, but he couldn't. Not until he'd seen every gruesome detail, every inch of the damage.
"Are you okay?" Ethan was asking Alexis, who was on the floor clutching her wrist.
Alexis nodded and Seamus couldn't register what he was seeing. Why was Alexis there while Cara betrayed him with Donatelli ? He spotted Kelsey on her knees as well, arms wrapped tightly aroundherself , tears staining her cheeks.
"Let her go," Ethan said. "And then I want to know what all this is about.Once and for all."
"Drunk wore off, Carrick? Damn. It was just too easy to overpower you before. I can't tell you the satisfaction I received from having you chained up, though I am disappointed you managed to escape."
"Let her go," Ethan said again, his voice like steel. He stood up and moved toward Donatelli .
"Alright, fine." Donatelli let go of Cara, who stumbled back away from him, her hand holding her bra in place.
Seamus realized she looked terrified, and everything in him thawed, shifted horror from her to himself. What the hell was he thinking? Cara wasn't half-naked willingly. Donatelli was at fault. When she came toward him, sobs started to wrack her shoulders, and Seamus reached for her, appalled athimself . Why had he just stood there and let Donatelli continue to paw her, scare her?
She curled up against him, hiding her face in his shirt.
"You're outnumbered, Donatelli . So tell me what it is you want," Ethan said.
"I want to win the election, of course. Are you so stupid you haven't figured that out yet? I want the power you have."
"And you'd kill me to get it?"
"I didn't think that was going to be necessary, but if I had to, yes." He shrugged, hands in his pockets.
"Why hurt the women?"
"They came here on their own." Donatelli looked offended. "I was just being hospitable."
"By breaking my wife's wrist?"
Alexis was on her feet now, some color restoring to her face.
"She attacked me. I was defending myself."
"And what did you do to Kelsey?"
Kelsey finally spoke. "He had a stake on me. He said if Cara didn't dance for him and take off her clothes, he'd kill me with it."
Cara clung to Seamus and she shuddered at Kelsey's words. Seamus felt all his shock, horror,guilt , collapse in on him, and form a very hot, tight ball of anger. Heaven and hell, how could he ever make this right for Cara? She must have been sick, humiliated. And he was livid. He was six new words for pissed off. He was so fucking angry that if he moved one muscle, he was going to rip Donatelli's head right off his shoulders.
Ethan moved around Donatelli in a slow circle, expression feral. "Concede the election now or I'll kill you."
"I call your bluff," Donatelli said. "You've gotten tame in the last century. You won't kill me."
Seamus set Cara away from him and moved forward. "He doesn't need to. I will."
He wasn't bluffing.Not at all. It wouldn't be difficult for him to take off Donatelli's head, despite the law of the Nation.
The Italian must have seen his conviction. He took a long moment, where they studied each other,then he shrugged. "You are overreacting. I didn't hurt her."
Seamus flew at him, vampire speed, and pinned him against the wall, arm at his neck. "Keep your filthy fingers off my girlfriend, you bloody liar. You've shown no respect for Ethan or me, the law of the Nation, or these women. We're ending this here and now."
"It doesn't look to me like we're doing anything," Donatelli said, his voice tight but mocking.
Seamus jerked him back and snapped his neck, breaking it with a nice, sharp crack.
"Fuck, that hurt," Donatelli said, eyes glazed with pain, collapsing to the ground when Seamus let go of him.
"I'm calling our security," Ethan said. "We'll take Donatelli's statement of concession and broadcast it on the network immediately, and then security can escort him to New York , where he can await trial for treason."
"Treason for what?" Donatellicomplained from the floor, looking in too much pain to move.
"Plot to kill the president," Seamus told him. "It's either that? which will mean banishment?or death.Your choice." A sick part of Seamus hoped Donatelli would taunt him by choosing death. It would be all too easy to justify killing him then.
"I don't see that I have much choice, do you?" He still managed to sound like a prick, even down on the ground curled up in agony. "I will concede. Does that make you both happy?"
"Immeasurably," Seamus said sarcastically. He hauled Dona- tellito his feet for the sole purpose of punching him in the gut, when Cara called him.
"Seamus, the women on the bed."
"What?" He glanced over at her. She was pointing to Dona- telli'sbed. There were two mortal women sleeping there undera glamour .
"What should we do with them?" Cara asked. Seamus noticed she had pulled her shirt and jeans back on. "I don't think they'd be here if they really knew what they were doing."
"I'll take care of them," Ethan said, immediately going over to the bed. He picked up both of them, one on each shoulder, and headed for the door.
"You are no fun whatsoever. Did anyone ever tell you that?" Donatelli asked.
Seamus felt his temperature rise. If he had to spend one more minute with this guy, he was not going to be able to contain his rage. "Cara, Kelsey, Alexis, why don't you go back to the Ava? We'll be back soon."
"Okay," Alexis said, with zero argument. Seamus knew then that she must still be hurting if she wasn't arguing.
Ethan returned."All taken care of. They won't remember a thing."
"We're leaving," Alexis told him.
"Can you drive?" Ethan asked, touching her broken wrist.
"Cara can drive. We'll be fine."
Kelsey was out the door first. Alexis gave Ethan a smile. "Kick his ass," she whispered loudly.
Cara just went for the door and didn't even glance Seamus's way. He watched her go, worried. She was too quiet. That wasn't like her. And he would have liked to have given her a smile, to reassure her. But she just left, head down, shoulders rolled forward.
Ilove you , he told her mentally.
But like he had ignored her before, now she ignored him.
Ethan wanted to kill Donatelli . He knew one word of permission from him and Seamus would take his head off no questions asked. Ethan didn't blame him. He couldn't imagine how it must have felt for Seamus to see Donatelli touching Cara like that. But there were laws they had to follow, and while this method didn't satisfy blood-lust, it was the right thing to do.
Though oddly enough, Seamus had broken a number of their laws lately, which was completely unlike him.
"Should I kick your ass?" Ethan asked Donatelli .
The Italian shrugged, adjusting his jacket, moving up onto his knees. "How is my wife, by the way? I heard she was in Vegas for your wedding. I was devastated she didn't stop by to say hello."
The asshole.Ethan clenched his fists. "My sister is not your wife any longer. Gwenna was smart enough to divorce you over four hundred years ago." Thanks to Henry the Eighth and his lust for new wives, Gwenna had been able to legally sever her relationship with Donatelli . Emotionally, though, Ethan wasn't sure she had recovered yet.
"That doesn't change the fact that we were married for over a hundred years."
"Of which Gwenna regrets every one."
"That truly breaks my heart. And it's not true. We were happy before you turned her against me."
Ethan snorted. He hadn't turned Gwenna against Donatelli , but he'd been thrilled to help her escape him.
Seamus grabbed Donatelli and hauled him to his feet. "Quit your yapping. No one believes your sob stories."
"Let's just get this over, shall we?" Donatelli rolled his neck cautiously.
"Here, let me help you out the door." Ethan reached out and yanked Donatelli's wrist, breaking it more cleanly than Donatelli had done to Alexis, but snapping it in three pieces nonetheless. "Oops. Sorry."
Seamus grinned at him with sick satisfaction.
Ethan had to admit it felt better than it should.
By the time Seamus finally found Cara two hours later, he was sick with worry. He'd looked for her everywhere in the Venetian, the Ava, and all points in between. Alexis had assured him Cara had returned with her, and the dogs didn't look like they'd been left alone for long?no accidents on the carpet in her new hotel room. He'd gone to the club and to her old apartment with no luck. No one had seen her. After wondering how rude it would be to call
Dawn at midnight when she'd just gotten out of the hospital, Sea- mushad a thought.
Ten minutes later he was hovering outside the Resthaven nursing home, debating a walk around the perimeter of the building or a bold stroll straight into the lobby. He was on a gravel walkway that was separated from the long, low building by a row of indigenous drought-tolerant plants. The night was quiet, peaceful, and when he stood still and let his vampire hearing pick through the stucco building, he heard the low hum of ventilators, an occasional squeaking shoe on linoleum, and a TV droning softly. Then he heard Cara whispering, her voice gentle and full of love.
Seamus followed the sound, moving south down the building, until he reached the window of the room he was certain she was in. It was actually open, and not only could he hear her voice, he could feel her presence, smell her floral shampoo. Pushing the window open wider, he climbed in.
"Seamus?" Cara asked as she turned. She clearly knew it was him, because she didn't look the least bit startled.
"It's me." He put his feet on the floor and looked around the room. It was small and sparse, with a typical nursing home setup. Cara was curled up in an easy chair, and in the hospital bed a tiny Asian woman was lying, looking up at him quizzically.
The room was dim, just the lights under the cabinet lit, and the eerie green lights from a heart monitor.
"Are you okay?" he asked Cara.
"I'm fine."
She pulled her legs up in front of her, chin resting on her knees. Her hair was still done up in twists and knots, reminding him of how Donatelli had forced her to dance, perform. It made him sick all over again.
"Seamus, this is my grandmother, Kin Zan Kim. Grandmother, this is my boyfriend, Seamus Fox."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Seamus said, reaching over and touching the older woman's thin, featherlight hand. She was tiny, the size of an American ten-year-old child, and her eyes were opaque, confused. But her skin was smooth, her hair still thick and black with gray shot through it.
She spoke in Korean, a quick torrent of words that sounded clear and cognizant to Seamus. He smiled at her and turned to Cara. "What did she say?"
"I don't know. My Korean sucks." Cara gave a small smile. "But I guess she approves of you. When I brought Marcus to visit her, she threw her tissue box at him."
So the prick had a name."Smart lady."
"Yeah."Cara didn't move.
Seamus leaned against the windowsill. "I was worried about you." Terrified, actually, but he was trying to play it cool. She obviously had needed some space.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to see her."
"I understand." Seamus reached out, touching the twists in her hair, undoing them. He couldn't see them up like that anymore. It wasn't Cara. "Why did he put your hair up this?" he asked in frustration, horror, guilt. It was a stupid, inane thing to say, but it was brutalizing him to think he hadn't been there for her.
Cara frowned at her kneeds . "Why did you put my hair up like this?"
" Donatelli."He fingered the strands, undoing all the twists.
After a second, she gave a small laugh. " Donatellididn't do my hair. He's evil, not a hairdresser. It was Kelsey who did my hair. She was just playing around with it."
"Oh." Somehowthat made him feel better.Though Kelsey shouldn't quit her day job. Cara's hair had looked rather ridiculous. "Cara I'm sorry about Donatelli . It's my fault. If Ethan and I hadn't run off and gotten drunk because I was mad at you, none of this would have happened. Cara, babe, I'm so damn sorry he hurt you." He didn't know how to make that right.
She looked over her shoulder, up at him for the first time. "It's okay. And I don't want to put blame on anyone?we're both responsible^ for everything that has happened between us. We'renot responsible for Donatelli or Ringo's actions.
Her fingers reached out, laced through his. "You told me that you don't know how to take care of anyone, don't know how to nurture because you haven't had a lot of relationships, but Seamus, I disagree. The way you care for others, assume responsibility you don't have to, that's one of your best qualities. You're a good guy, and you take good care of me."
He hadn't realized how much he needed to hear that. "But I wasn't there "
She put her fingers to his lips, shushing him, and he felt pain, down inside him, swelling and burning. He couldn't live without Cara, without her love.
"That's okay. I can take care of myself. I don't care about what happened in there you know. Donatelli meant to humiliate me, and he did, but I'd do it all over again to save Alexis and Kelsey."
"You're an amazing woman." He couldn't prevent himself from kissing the top of her head.
"I think my mom was an amazing woman." She glanced over at her grandmother. "She was a blackjackdealer, did I ever tell you that? And I don't think I ever gave her enough credit for her loyalty. My dad ran off, but my mom kept things going. She took care of me and my grandmother, who is really my great-grandmother, and totally unrelated to my mother. I don't think I've ever appreciated how amazing that was for her to do that."
Seamus looked at her great-grandmother, who appeared to be sleeping. "I think together they did a damn fine job raising you."
"You're a wonderful man, did you know that?" she asked, tears suddenly in her eyes.
"I resigned," he told her, because she needed to know. It hurt to say the words out loud, but it was important to him that hedo the right thing.
"I'm sorry," she said, voice anguished, hand squeezing his. "That must have been hard for you."
"It was. But I've done two hundred years of public vampire service. Maybe I need a break, some time to focus on my personal life."
Her expression was unreadable."Yeah? What will you do with all your free time if you're not Ethan's campaign manager?"
"Well, I was thinking of doing some political consulting and analyzing. Or taking Ethan up on his offer, and running the day-to-day operations of the Ava to give him time to focus exclusively on the presidency now that Donatelli has resigned and Ethan's a shoo-in for reelection."
"Sounds good."
"What about you?" He had no idea what she was thinking.
"I'm going to finish veterinarian school and see if I can work in an all-night emergency animal hospital. I'm going to give my two weeks' notice at the club and live off my gambling win."
That didn't tell him what he wanted to know. Did she want to be with him or not?
Then Seamus realized he couldn't wait for her to tell him what she wanted. He had to be man enough to lay it all out there, take the risk,let her know she was important enough to him to risk humiliation, rejection.
Seamus brushed her hair off her face and looked down at her, ready. "Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?"
"Seamus " Her eyes dropped down to her knees. Even with the dim light, he could clearly see her long, delicate hands clasping her jeans tightly, desperately.
"I love you, Cara."
"I love you, too," she said to her knees.
He didn't think her knee caps were going to answer, so he was going to just keep going.
"Never in my very long life have I felt this way about another person. Being a vampire can be lonely, and I've shunned personal relationships. But there is nothing I want more than to spend eternity with you." Seamus bent down in a crouch, got in front of Cara, lifted her chin up so she would look at him,stared into her eyes. "Will you marry me?"
"Oh!" She started crying, hiding her face back in her jeans. "I didn't know you were going to say that."
Okay. Seamus felt his stomach flip over, his heart stop. What the hell kind of a response was that?
"Well, I did. And I was kind of hoping for an answer." Sometime in this century would be nice. He turned to her grandmother, who was watching them carefully. "What do you think? Is she going to put me out of my misery and say yes or should I just go home and drown myself in ale?"
Cara's grandmother said something, lifting her hand up off the bed. She repeated it, frowning, waving her fingers back and forth.
"I don't think she approves," Seamus said, feeling a little crushed. He hoped she wouldn't fling a water glass at him, furtherlumping him into a category with Marcus.
"No ring," she said clearly in English.
Seamus blinked. Cara gave a watery laugh.
"Damn, she's right. I should have bought a ring. First time I ever propose to a woman, and I screw it up." He sat back, let- tingdefeatovertake him for a second. Then he thought better of it. "But we can pick out a ring together and go get married tonight."
"Tonight?"She looked at him in shock.
"Yes, tonight. Why should we wait?" Okay, so she hadn't even said yes yet, but he was tired of analyzing everything to death.Tired of worrying and waiting and wanting to be perfectly discreet and politically correct at all times. Seamus wanted to grab what he wanted and shout to the world.Within reason, of course.
"I love you. You love me. Marry me and fill my life with hot pink." He leaned forward and kissed her.
She dropped her feet to the floor and threw her arms around him."Yes, you crazy vampire. I will marry you.Tonight."
Seamus let out a shout. "Yes!" He turned to her grandmother. "She said yes."
Cara's grandmother smiled.
Cara laughed and stood up. "We have to get out of here. I hear people coming down the hall."
Seamus heard it, too. "Did you hear that yelling? What was that?" someone was saying in the hallway.
He clasped her grandmother's hand and thanked her. Cara gave her a long, loving hug. Then even as the door was opening, Seamus was lifting Cara up and jumping out the window. They landed in a tumble on the gravel walk, just missing a cactus by an inch.
"Impressive move," Cara said, lying on his chest, hair falling forward.
"Thanks, I'm full of them."
"Let's go get married and then you can show me them one at a time."
"You have the best ideas." Seamus wrapped his arms around her and shot up into the night, his exhilaration sending them fifty feet straight up before he evened out.
He was in love and he didn't care who knew it.
"I can't believe he's doing this," Ethan said for the fourth time as they stood in a wedding chapel at two in the morning. "This is the tackiest wedding I've ever been to. I can't believe this cost seven hundred dollars."
Alexis elbowed Ethan in the chest. "Okay. I heard you, you don't appreciate their choice. Now be quiet beforehe hears you. I think it's awesome that Seamus is marrying Cara. She's good for him, loosens him up."
"There is loose,then there is insane." Ethan shook his head. "They got engaged an hour ago. And this theme they've picked out is ridiculous."
Alexis fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Since when do you have such a stick up your ass? I think it's romantic that they didn't want to wait to get married. And okay, so choosing the vampire wedding package was a little odd, but I think it's meant to be symbolic. Like Cara has brought out Seamus's sense of humor or something."
Ethan made a snorting sound. "It's ridiculous. And I'm not wearing this cape." He shook the black velvet cape he was holding for emphasis.
"You're his best man." Alexis decided it was time to get tough. "Look, Seamus didn't like it when you married me. He thought I was all wrong for you. But he kept his mouth shut and supported you. You owe him the same respect. Put the freaking cape on and wipe the disgust off your face."
Ethan looked down at her, a sly smile turning up the corner of his mouth. "Damn, do you know how hot you are when you're bossy?"
"Put on the cape!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Cara walked up the short wedding aisle on the arm of her bodyguard Daniel, wearing a black velvet clinging dress with a red satin bodice underlay. She had a hood up covering her head, black fingernails, and blood red lipstick on. Fog swirled around her feet as she walked through the chapel, done up Goth style and resembling a cemetery.
Kelsey and Alexis had preceded her up the aisle in short black cocktail dresses. Seamus and Ethan, wearing black velvet capes were waiting next to the mock vampire priestess. It was crazy, wild, silly, over the top, and she was ludicrously happy.
She giggled when Seamus shot his eyebrows up and down and flashedher his fangs. Daniei deposited her in front of the priestess and Cara pulled her hood down.
Seamus took her hand, squeezed it hard, turned to the woman, and said, "I do."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"Doesn't matter.I do."
Apparently Seamus had caught the spontaneity bug. Cara squeezed him back and added, "I do, too."
"Alright then.I pronounce you husband and wife. You may bite the bride."
Seamus looked down at her, a very wicked gleam in his blue eyes.
"Seamus, don't even think about it," she said, trying to sound firm, but ending in a laugh.
He held his hand up to the priestess and her head lolled back as she fell undera glamour . "Any other mortals in the room?" he asked casually, glancing around.
"No," Ethan said."Just her and the six of us."
"Good."
Cara wasn't sure what Seamus was planning to do, but his eyes were dark, dark blue. Like denim. And his grip on her was firm, solid. She closed her own eyes right before his lips made contact with hers.
He was so delicious, so firm,so good with that tongue. And when his teeth broke through her flesh, bursting blood from her bottom lip into both of their mouths, she swallowed a gasp. The pleasure exploded in her, around her, and she bit him back, blending their blood, their thoughts, their love,their everything , from two to one.
I love you, he said into her mind, before he broke away, licking his lips.
Cara panted hard, weak in the knees. "I love you, too."
"Congratulations," Ethan said with a grin. "Now get a room before you shock me."
"Brilliant idea," Seamus said, with a very hot look that told Cara she was about to learn firsthand about vampire endurance.
"Wow. If looks could tear off clothes," Alexis said. "I think Ethan's right. You two need to get out of here and go somewhere private."
"That was a beautiful wedding," Kelsey said, blowing her nose into a tissue and swiping at her eyes.
"Yes, it was." Cara wrapped her arms around Seamus. "Now let's start our honeymoon."
"You don't have to ask me twice, gorgeous." He looked over at their friends. "Now who wants to pet-sit for us?"