Born in Chains
He set up a disguising cloak as he dropped to earth in a darkened side street and set Lily to walking as soon as he touched down. He said in a low voice, “Movement helps give the impression we’ve been here as the disguise dissipates.”
“I figured.”
Well, she didn’t lack for intelligence. He’d give her that.
“You feel queasy or anything?” he asked, because he didn’t sense anything from her.
“My head hurts a little, but otherwise I’m fine.”
“Good. And remember, if this gets ugly—”
“I’ve got it, Adrien. I’m to find a place to hide, preferably beneath a table or something. But do you really think we’ll face fanatics at this place?”
The club he took Lily to catered to the darker elements of the city. Rumors of drugs and rival gangs made it the last place he’d usually take a woman, even a human.
His size helped. As he led Lily into the club, the crowd parted for him. He went straight to the bar and spoke to the bartender in French, asking to speak with Rumy’s friend Hardesty.
The bartender jerked his head to Adrien’s left. Across the room, Adrien saw a bouncer, similar in size to Adrien. Taking Lily’s hand, he wended his way through the smoky room and among about a dozen tall round tables until he stood chest-to-chest with a vampire he’d never met before.
“I need to see Hardesty. Rumy sent me.”
The bouncer glared, but extended his fist to the door he protected. He rapped three times with his knuckles, never once taking his eye off Adrien.
“Entrez.”
The bouncer opened the door and let them into another smoky room. Lily coughed and waved her hand through the air.
When the door closed, a tall thin man sat down in a chair near the fireplace but said nothing.
“Rumy said I should see you, that you might have information. Are you Hardesty?”
A slight inclination of the head. The vampire took a drag on a cigarette then released a thin stream of smoke. “What is the famous Adrien doing in my club? This is the kind of establishment you’re usually famous for shutting down.” His accent was British.
“I have no complaint with you, or any club that keeps our world safe. You’ve never crossed that line.”
“You and your brothers continue to perform this tireless service, but aren’t you weary of battling forces bigger than yourselves? Daniel owns the Council now, and I’ve always had the feeling he’s been intent on opening up our world to human interaction for a long time.”
“Daniel will only do what he believes will benefit him. Right now, I don’t think he’s prepared to go that far.”
Hardesty glanced past Adrien. “You have a woman with you. A human. That’s singular. Let me see her.”
“She is of no concern to you.”
But Hardesty’s gaze fell to the chain at Adrien’s neck. Though he had it tucked inside his shirt so that only a small portion showed, Hardesty laughed. “What has happened to you that you got bound to a human? Never mind. I see the whole thing unfolding in front of me because last I heard you and your brothers were hanging from Himalayan chains. Lucian and Marius still there?”
Adrien ground his back teeth together. He didn’t like or trust Hardesty, and he sure as hell didn’t want to get into a chat about his recent imprisonment. “I need information.”
Hardesty rose, pulling in a long drag as he did so. He moved to the side of the chair as well, farther into the room, his gaze fixed on Lily.
Adrien felt a growl form at the back of his throat. His breathing grew ragged. For a skinny bastard, Hardesty was being damn aggressive.
Hardesty lifted both hands. “Ease down, vampire. I only want to have a look. I guess the chains really do work, because I know how much you despise humans.”
Adrien stepped back beside Lily and slid his arm around her waist. The emotions that pummeled him right now, both his own and Lily’s, made it tough to concentrate. Maybe because her blood was inside him or maybe because he’d taken her to bed—but whatever the case, he hated the way Hardesty looked her over.
He felt her hand on his arm, gliding up and down. She turned into him; that much he registered. “Adrien, what’s going on with you?” He heard her voice, but he couldn’t make sense of what she’d said. He felt his fangs on his lower lips. What the hell was happening to him?
She got in front of him and placed her hands on his chest. “Hey! Can you hear me?”
He met her gaze, staring into her large hazel eyes. He might have blinked a few times; he wasn’t sure. “Lily?”
“You kinda got lost there for a minute. What’s with the fangs? Pull ’em in, would you? You’re kinda freaking me out here.”
Adrien kept looking at her, partly because she calmed him, partly because he didn’t want to look anywhere else. He focused on breathing. He had to do better than this or these primal, uncontrollable feelings would put them both in danger.
“I can get rid of those chains, if you want.”
Lily turned in Hardesty’s direction, but Adrien slipped his arms around her, drawing her closer still. She seemed to understand because she didn’t protest. “What’s involved?” she asked.
“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.