Chapter 5

 

The trip to the Bite Club was silent. Liberty bailed from Eli's Corvette and strode to the door, not waiting to see if Eli followed. When she went inside, she wished she had waited.

The bar was so dark, she could barely see in front of her, but splotches of red—splotches that looked like blood spatters on the walls—showed up in stark contrast.

Fear clutched her chest, and she tore her eyes away from all the red. She told herself it wasn't blood... it was only paint. She almost believed it.

Loud rock music by a band she didn't recognize blasted, and bodies were packed in tight. Dizziness assailed her, and nausea rose to her stomach. The only thing she could focus on was all the red...

"You okay?" Eli's low voice spoke into her ear.

She took a deep breath and nodded jerkily.

He slipped an arm around her waist. "This way. Don't worry. I've got you."

The tension inside her immediately eased. How could she find comfort with someone so dangerous, so untrustworthy? Maybe because he was the lesser of the current evils.

He led her to the bar and indicated the only available stool. She took it, and he stood next to her, his hip touching her knee. She moved away to break the contact. The knowing look he gave her told her it hadn't escaped his attention.

The bartender was a young, red-haired, pierced woman with a tattoo of a bat across her exposed stomach. Hmmm... vampire or human? It wasn't always easy to tell.

"What do you want to drink?" Eli shouted to Liberty above the noise.

"Whatever sweet white wine they have." She elevated her voice to respond.

He grinned, "You don't have to shout. Remember, I can hear you."

She flushed in embarrassment and nodded. Eli turned to the girl and gave their orders.

"So," Liberty pursed her lips. "Do you think the guy we're looking for is one of the Evil Ones?"

Eli shrugged. "Possibly, but could be from either side."

The drinks came and Liberty took a sip of the wine—sweet and delicious just the way she liked it. "Why would one of the vampires on our side do something so horrible? Aren't they the good guys?"

"Not necessarily. When a vampire turns a human, ninety-nine percent of the time, that human takes on that vampire's tendencies. For the most part, we have the same inclinations as our sire, but there are some anomalies. The vampire urges are pretty much the same—a hunger and desire to feed, but if a vampire is turned by one of the good guys, they don't inherit the desire to kill. If turned by an EO, however, they most definitely inherit that desire."

Liberty knew that, but hadn't really considered the big picture. She frowned. "And you were turned by an EO. So, you have those tendencies? Still?"

He grimaced. "I do. I have to fight the urges constantly. For all of us, it's in our nature to feed, but while your average vampire can control it most of the time, and only take enough to satisfy, an EO has the urge to kill, relishes in it. Desires it."

Chills raced over flesh. "The urge to... kill? You have that urge?"

"Yes, Liberty. The urge to feed and feed until I feel the life drain from my victim." He smiled with a hint of malice, as if he enjoyed shocking her. "I not only crave sustenance, but I crave the power that taking a life gives." He raised his glass to his lips and stared at her over the rim as he swallowed a drink of the scotch. "Does that make you fear me?"

Something in his expression told her the idea of her fear excited him. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "No, I don't fear you. I know you can control those urges." She gave him a saucy grin. "Besides, why would it scare me? You'd have to be completely insane to feed on me." She lifted her wine in a mock toast. "And you're only partially insane."

He chuckled. "Touché."

She considered what he'd told her for a moment. "So if vampires take on the traits of their sire, then we're dealing with an EO for sure, right?"

Eli shook his head. "When humans are turned—no matter which kind of vampire turns them—they retain many of their former traits. For example, if we turn a serial killer, then we have a serial killer vampire."

Icy fingers crawled up her spine. "You—you think we might be dealing with a serial killer turned vampire?" She shuddered.

"Not necessarily. I'm just making the point that we don't know what kind of human this vampire was to begin with. So, he could be from either side."

Liberty took another sip of her wine. "Maybe we should investigate the new vamps that were turned."

"We could try, but there's not exactly a roster of recent recruits."

"Oh." Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. Some investigator she was.

She was taking another sip of her wine, when someone on her left latched onto her arm. She whirled to find a hulking, tattooed vampire, fangs exposed, glaring down at her. His skin was a puckered gray, his eyes red and ferocious.

"Hey there, missy," he growled. "You are one fine ass, tasty-looking—"

Eli reached across her and latched onto the vampire's neck. "Back off, buddy."

Liberty scrunched against the bar to keep from being squashed by the pressure of Eli's body.

"Screw you," the vampire growled, his voice strangled from Eli's grip. "You bring a morsel like this in here, you gotta expect to share."

"Let her go, or I'll rip out your heart and feed it to you." Eli's voice was more deadly than the words he spoke. Liberty shivered.

The vampire's grip on her arm tightened. He lifted his free hand and latched onto Eli's wrist, but he couldn't budge his hold. His eyes went back to Liberty, then narrowed. "Wait," he croaked. "You're that Van Helsing chick."

Eli released him with a shove, and the vampire let go of Liberty simultaneously.

"That's right," Eli said. "Feast at your own risk."

The vampire retracted his fangs and chuckled, rubbing his neck. He looked down at Liberty. "You're not very smart. After what happened to your old man, I would think you'd wise up and get your ass as far from this island as possible. Are you that brave or just stupid?"

"What do you mean?" She turned to Eli. "What's he talking about? What happened to my father?"

Eli's jaw tightened. He took a drink of his scotch and glared at the vampire. "Get the hell out of here, before I make good on my promise."

The vampire drew back his shoulders, stared at Eli for a few moments, then backed away, disappearing into the crowd.

"Well?" Liberty demanded. "What happened to Victor?" When she'd arrived at the island her father was ill—near death. No one had explained exactly what was wrong with him. Dread pooled in her chest. Apparently, the reason was more sinister than she realized.

"Let's get out of here. I'll tell you all about it." Eli threw cash on the bar and took her elbow, guiding her through the crush of bodies.

Once outside, he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the side of the building, looking down at his feet.

Liberty crossed her arms and waited.

After a while, he lifted his gaze to her. "There's something I didn't tell you."

"Ha, no kidding."

He didn't respond to her sarcasm. "If a Van Helsing is bitten by a vampire on a full moon, the bite is fatal. But they don't die right away. They suffer, sometimes for months, and die a slow, painful death."

Her first thought was abject fear. She'd hunted on a full moon... that could have happened to her. And Eli just let her go out there, exposed to that kind of fate. As had Antoine and Ryan.

She shook her head. "You, Antoine, Ryan, knowing what could happen, you sent me out on a hunt without telling me about the risk?"

"First of all, Ryan didn't send you; he tried to keep you from going. Secondly, he didn't know what happened to Victor. Antoine and I did, but we discussed it and decided that if you knew the potential consequences, you'd likely go anyway. But with that on your mind, you might not be focused as you should. You might make a mistake that could get you killed."

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. She would have gone, even if she'd known the risk. As had her father. The thought made her heart clench with grief. "That's what happened to my father?"

Eli nodded. "Two full moons before you arrived, he was on a hunt. Victor was a phenomenal, highly skilled hunter. In his time on the island, the EO population had been cut by seventy-five percent. The residents and tourists were safer than they'd been in decades." He gave a wry chuckle. "Up until a year or so before his death, I was one of the EOs he was determined to annihilate." He shook his head. "But that's another story. On the night he was injured, Victor was tricked, ambushed by someone he thought he could trust. She trapped him in a cave, on the pretense of leading him to a group of EO's. Once inside, he was attacked, fatally bitten."

She pictured her father entering a dark, creepy cave where betrayal and death awaited. Sadness tightened her throat. "But why would a vampire bite him, knowing what would happen to them?"

"Apparently, this friend of your father's had charmed him, convinced him to sacrifice himself for the greater good. She was a beautiful woman; men would do anything to please her."

"Was my father in love with her? Is that why he trusted her?"

Eli smiled and shook his head. "Your father never loved a woman other than your mother."

The thought made her happy, and at the same time depressed. How awful it must have been for him to send his child and the love of his life away in order to protect them. She wished he hadn't. In spite of the danger, she believed they would have all been much happier if they'd remained a family, here on the island. But what was done was done.

Liberty lifted a hand and rubbed her forehead. "Then who was she, why did he trust her and care about her so much? And what happened to her? Where is she now?"

"She was a friend of your mother's. She'd been in love with Victor for years, and thought once your mother was gone, they'd hook up. It never happened. After so many years of rejection, she went a little nuts."

"Wow." Liberty took in a deep lungful of the ocean air. How much more was there to learn about this island and its inhabitants? About her family? "So where is she now? If she was in love with my father, surely she regretted what she did to him, especially when he died."

A cold smile touched his mouth. "She didn't have time for regrets. As soon as I learned what she'd done, I hunted her down and snapped her neck."

The words fell like a punch to her gut. "You killed her?"

He snapped his fingers. "Like that. But first, I fed on her. No sense in letting a good meal go to waste."

Nausea rose to her throat. In spite of what the woman had done, Liberty couldn't imagine just snuffing out a life like that, with no regrets, no second thoughts. But then, Eli didn't exactly operate on the same code of morals as others. Even though he was avenging her father, the thought of his murdering a woman made her sick to her stomach.

"I think I'd like to go home now."

Eli pushed off the wall and shrugged. "No problem. It's not like we've accomplished anything tonight. I'm sure you're anxious to crawl into bed and brood about what a twisted son of a bitch I am."

"You must admit, you're not exactly... normal."

He stepped closer, captured her gaze with his. "No, I'm not. And I won't hesitate to do what needs to be done, in any situation. That's something you need to understand, Liberty. This island is not the place for squeamishness and delicate sensibilities. If you don't grow a pair and quit whining, you'll end up like your father, only a whole lot sooner."