I began to tremble as he spoke, the memories of that horrible time all too real. The closeness of the cellar, the terror that made my heart beat so frantically in my breast. My heart began to thunder again now as the fear flooded my veins.
“How long did your father listen to your screams, Beatrice?” Dracula whispered. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my face away. “How long did you claw at the walls of your dark prison, desperate to escape the madness?”
Sweat trickled down my back, making me shudder. “Piss off,” I spat, sick of playing games with this bloodsucking sociopath. I ducked out of his hold and backed away. “You think throwing my past in my face is going to make me come to you? You’ve been tormenting one of the only people who ever gave a damn about you—and putting her unborn child in jeopardy! And you dare to ask for my help? Fuck you! You want me, you’re going to have to come and get me, you candy-ass leech.”
He charged then, his long white fangs glistening with saliva and poised to strike. With a gasp of horror, I broke the connection, stumbling back and tripping over a chair, overturning it in my haste to get away.
Red’s eyes were wide as she peered down at me on the floor. “What the hell just happened?”
Good question.
I was trembling so violently, I had a difficult time pushing myself to my feet. “I think I might’ve talked Vlad into leaving you alone.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, no doubt wondering what I was leaving out. “Yeah?”
I forced a smile and nodded. “I think he’s probably going to be moving on.”
She gave me a knowing look. “Just like that.”
I nodded again, my smile feeling a little grotesque. “Here,” I said, slipping the bracelet of Lavender’s hair from my wrist and sliding it onto Red’s. “Take this, just in case I’m wrong. Lavender gave it to me for protection, but I think you need it more than I do.” When Red looked like she was about to protest, I bent and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Just take it. Don’t make me kick your ass.”
She grunted. “As if.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lavender wasn’t thrilled about my handing over the enchanted bracelet to Red until I told her what had transpired while I was communing with Dracula somewhere in the miasma of Red and her baby’s thoughts.
“Let Seth and me take you home,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll just take a cab to Nicky’s.”
She and Seth exchanged a glance at the mention of Nicky’s name. “Trish—”
“I’ll be fine,” I told her, exhaustion suddenly making my limbs as heavy as concrete. “I’m sure Nicky will be back soon.”
“Well, at least let me make you another bracelet before you go,” Lavender huffed, clearly not pleased with my stubbornness.
“Thanks, Lav,” I said, surprised by how tired I sounded, “but I need to find out where Dracula is. And if getting into his head—and letting him into mine—is the way to go about it, I’m just going to have to take that risk.”
Lavender cast a pleading look at Seth, but instead of trying to talk me out of going, he just took me by the shoulders and bent down a little so he could look directly into my face. “Call us if you need anything,” he ordered. “No matter what, no matter when. We’re going to hang out here a little longer so Lav can keep an eye on Red.”
I nodded. “Keep an eye on Nate, too,” I said. “He’s in a pretty volatile state right now after what I’ve told him.”
Yeah, it had been loads of fun for all of us to have to play one big round of truth or dare with Red. The rules of the little game were crystal clear: We could either tell her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, or dare to lie to her again and risk a serious ass-kicking by one righteously pissed off, hormonal, pregnant Tale.
We went with truth.
None of us had much of a warm and fuzzy feeling after that, but at least I felt like I’d done what I could to deflect Vlad’s wrath away from Red and focus it wholly on me.
Fuck. Me.
The cabbie who drove me back to Nicky’s refused to drop me at the doorstep, apparently having heard that the house belonged to a man of Business. So the asshole dumped me at the gates and left me to trudge up the long driveway to the front door. Thank God I hadn’t bothered locking the door when I’d left. I figured Lavender’s spell would keep out anyone who had a dark purpose for being there.
Sasha greeted me at the door as if she owned the place, purring loudly as she wound around my ankles. But before I could scoop her up for a little comfort cuddle, she took off like a shot and disappeared down the hall.
With a sigh, I went upstairs, desperate for a little sleep, and found myself hoping that my dreams would be the same old nightmares—at least I knew when I woke up from those I wasn’t going to be attacked by something waiting in the shadows.
To my surprise, I wound up in Nicky’s bedroom instead of the guest room down the hall. I was so tired and so lost in my foggy thoughts, I wasn’t even sure how I got there. But once I stepped across the threshold, my desire to have Nicky there with me hit me so hard, I could hardly breathe. I’d always prided myself on my strength and independence, but—damn it!—I wanted him with me, holding me and pressing his sultry kisses to my skin. I wanted to hear his voice telling me that everything would be all right. And I wanted to hear that he loved me, that we had a future together.
I swiped angrily at the tears stinging my eyes. Shit!
Exhaustion completely taking over now, I lay down on his bed and kicked off my shoes, then pulled the down comforter over me, inhaling deeply and letting Nicky’s masculine scent envelope my senses.
A knot in the center of my chest tightened as I pictured the look on his face just before he’d stormed out. I wished I could take him in my arms, soothe away the pain he was experiencing at finding out the truth about his beloved wife, but I knew it was something he’d have to work out on his own. There was nothing I could do but wait and hope that he didn’t let his fury and heartbreak over Juliet’s actions affect how he felt about me.
Of course, who the hell knew how he felt about me? He hadn’t put it into words. There was no question that he was attracted to me, that he cared about me, but did it go beyond that? He was leaving soon and had tried to deny the attraction between us because he didn’t want me to be hurt when he left. But that only told me he wasn’t a total asshole—not that he was in love with me.
I tossed and turned for a few minutes, trying to get comfortable on Nicky’s bed and not having much luck. After an hour of sleeplessness, I finally realized that no matter how I shifted positions, I wasn’t going to be able to sleep without Nicky there. With a huff, I threw off the comforter and sat on the edge of the bed, letting my legs dangle over the side. I put my hand to the back of my neck and rubbed at the knot of tension there, then rolled my head a few times.
“To hell with it,” I muttered. “Might as well go watch some—”
A sudden pressure around my ankle cut off my words with a gasp.
Oh, Jesus.
My gaze snapped down and I cried out in terror when I saw the hand encircling my leg. I tried to pull my leg loose, but the grasp was relentless, the bony fingers digging into my skin through my jeans. I drove my other foot down the inside of my calf over and over again, trying to pry the fingers off, but they dug in, holding fast.
“Oh, God!” I whimpered, frantically searching the darkness for something I could use as a weapon and continuing to pull against the hold on my leg. I glanced at the bedside table and leaned forward, jerking open the little drawer and rummaging through it in desperate haste. My hand had just closed around the familiar heft of the grip of a gun, when I pitched forward and face-planted on the carpet.
To my horror, I started sliding backward, the unseen assailant dragging me under the bed. I screamed and
