Chapter Sixteen

“Mateo?” Dawn called out as she cautiously made her way down the curved iron staircase. She stopped to rub her aching eyes, and clutched the railing again before continuing her descent to the lower floor. She seriously felt like one of the living dead right now. Ugh, probably not a good comparison considering the things he told her last night.

This condo had felt seductive and glamorous when they first arrived yesterday evening, but today it seemed far too bright with all the scorching sunlight flooding through the massive floor to ceiling windows that rimmed the front entry way and living room. This morning, however, everything was different than last night.

“Ma—” She halted at the bottom of the stairs when a stranger appeared from the kitchen. “What-Who are you?” she gasped. Her already queasy insides did a frantic lurch in her stomach.

The dark-skinned man smiled nervously at her. His straight shoulder length black hair was combed back behind his ears. He ran his fingertips around his ears as if to make sure the coarse strands were still in place.

“I am Billy Torres.” He walked with a hesitant gait toward her and extended his hand as he approached. “Mateo has asked me to stay with you until he returns tonight.”

Dawn shuffled back away from the short stocky man who was way too close for comfort. She clutched the bottom of the stair rail for support. “Where is Mateo?” She glanced toward the front door. There was no way she could get to the door without getting past this man, even if she was feeling strong enough to make a run for it.

His smile faded slightly and he lowered his hand back down to his side. “He said you knew everything. Well, he told me you knew everything about him, anyway.”

If Mateo wasn’t here, was he up there? She pushed the image of him lying Dracula-like in a wooden coffin in some sinister cave up on the Superstitions out of her mind. She tried to focus on what the man was saying to her.

“I am a member of the Clan Society.”

“Clan Society?”

He shrugged his rounded shoulders. His blue and red plaid shirt looked a size too small on his hefty frame.

“It is the greatest honor in the Apache tribe to be chosen to help care for the Blood Clan. We make sure their existence is never threatened and all their needs are met.”

This sounded way too real now. Their existence? “Am I being held captive here?” she asked in a meek voice.

His face contorted in surprise. “Oh no. Mateo was just worried about leaving you alone because you were so sick last night. I hope you are feeling better this morning.”

Dawn stared at him, trying desperately to remember everything that conspired between her and Mateo last night. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and leaned against the stair railing. She couldn’t control the shivering in her body, or stop the notion in her resistant mind that all the horrible crazy things Mateo told her last night might really be true.

Vampires or half-vampires called damp-something? How did a once ordinary, well-educated school teacher allow herself to accept something so incredibly ridiculous?

“Miss Malone? I think you should probably sit down. You don’t look so good right now.”

She looked into the dark eyes of Billy Torres who stood only inches in front of her. He was barely as tall as she so their gazes were also level when they met. She gave her head a weak nod and tentatively took his outstretched hand. His skin was rough and calloused on the palm of his hand. He seemed like just a normal man, but then, so had Mateo Two Moons before last night.

****

Sitting at table in the brightly decorated yellow and blue alcove at the back of the expensive kitchen, Dawn stared out at the lush treed park adjacent to the condo complex. It was an odd green oasis in this land of mostly sand and cactus. A young mother with short spiky red hair was pushing a blonde child of approximately two years old in an infant swing on the wooden set in the play area. The curly haired toddler was squealing with glee and stretching her chubby little legs straight out in front of her as the swing flew through the air.

Mateo’s words haunted her. She was destined to have his children. His immortal half-vampire children? Half-breed had an entirely new meaning now. The sip of coffee she had just taken turned to acid in her mouth.

She was reminded of the not-so-insignificant fact they had never used protection from the first time they made love. The possible repercussions of those actions made a sick feeling settle in the pit of her stomach. She choked back the urge to throw up again. Oh God.

She started doing the calculations in her mind. What if it happened the first time they made love? Her period was due in just a few days. From past conversations with friends, she knew some pregnancy tests claimed to determine if a woman has been impregnated only seventy-two hours after conception. It had been five days since the first time she and Mateo were intimate. She needed to get one of those pregnancy tests soon. She absently touched the flesh-colored band aid Billy Torres had given her to cover the bite on her neck.

She tore her gaze away from the window. The happy sight of the mother and little girl doing regular-type things was a direct contradiction to everything in her life right now. Dawn glanced around the kitchen, surprised to see her body guard was not close by.

Until now, he had not left her side all morning, except for when she used the restroom. Billy Torres was not really like some hulking guard, though.

She glanced at her cell phone. It wasn’t like she couldn’t call someone for help. She could call 911 if she wanted to and tell them what? Help…I’ve been seduced by Dracula. A wry chuckle escaped from her lips.

Billy told her he called the school before she woke up this morning to tell them she was ill again and would not be in the rest of the week. Apparently, whoever he talked to at the school believed him, and didn’t even question why some random man would call in sick for her, because she checked her phone several times and there were no new voice messages or texts from anyone. She could be lying dead in her apartment right now, or be the mindless sex slave to some blood sucking half-vampire thing, and no one would even be the wiser. Wow.

Dawn rose from the chair where she had been sitting at the kitchen table and took a couple steps toward the large island in the center of the room. A bowl of shiny apples, pears and bananas sat on the counter, along with a huge glass vase of beautiful fresh-cut flowers in assorted sizes and autumn colors of orange, red and golden hues.

When she snooped in the fancy stainless steel refrigerator earlier this morning, she was surprised to see it stocked full with food. She even noticed a case of her favorite beer sitting on one of the shelves. A poignant memory of the romantic night she watched the moon come up with Mateo at the lake floated through her mind. She felt that swooning sensation again. How could she still yearn so desperately for his touch—for his love—and be so frightened of what he claimed to be at the same time?

When she had been upstairs earlier, she noticed an assortment of personal hygiene items for women filled the master bathroom cabinets and in the master closet were hangers with several articles of women’s clothes. They were all brand new and still had tags on them, and all appeared to be her size and style. Obviously, this elaborate effort to make this condo feel like a real home was all for her benefit, because Mateo didn’t even live here. If she were to believe him, he lived in some hidden village at the top of the Superstitions and slept in a cave like a bat during the daytime.

One thing for certain, she wasn’t going to just sit here all day and do nothing now she was feeling decent again. She stepped cautiously toward the edge of the kitchen counter to peek into the living room. The layout of the condo was an open design concept, so there were no walls separating the two areas. Billy Torres was sitting in one of the suede recliners reading the local daily newspaper. Could it have some news about Chloe?

He glanced up as Dawn walked toward the couch. “You’re looking much better, Miss Malone.”

She forced a smile. In spite of the reason this man was here, he was not unpleasant to be around. She actually found herself liking him. “Dawn. Please call me Dawn.” As with the previous times she’d felt sick, they were short-lived illnesses, and she was fairly certain now the nausea had something to do with the blood sucking thing. But she was too overwhelmed with everything else right now to dwell on that issue.

“Mind if I read that when you’re done with it?” She motioned toward the paper in Billy’s grasp.

He grinned and held the paper out to her. “I’m done.”

She took the paper, noting the relieved expression on his face. Earlier she drilled him relentlessly about the things Mateo told her last night. But he was obviously a loyal and staunch member of the so-called Clan Society, and while remaining polite and respectful, he had not divulged one single secret about the vampire clan he was so honored to serve.

She sunk into the plush leather couch and scanned the front page. Nothing was written here about Chloe. Maybe that was good news. She flipped the paper open to the second page and the heavy sense of dread settled back down in the pit of her stomach.

Missing Woman feared dead

Chloe Webster, 27, of Apache Junction, AZ, has been missing since Sunday night in the Superstition Mountains. Local search parties, including the Maricopa County and Pinal County Search and Rescue Agencies and members from the White Mountain Indian Reservation have conducted extensive searches on well-known hiking trails and camping sites in the recreational areas, as well as in the mountain ranges of the Superstitions. Webster’s vehicle was found Monday morning at a trailhead in the Superstition Wilderness Area.

That’s it? Dawn raged inwardly. Nothing about how Chloe had been an experienced hiker in that area? Nothing about how she had been searching for the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine for her entire life? Nothing about how many people had gone missing in those mountains throughout the course of history? Nothing about the vampire half-breeds who live in the secret caves somewhere up there on those daunting mountains, and who might have sucked Chloe’s body dry of all her blood or turned her into a baby-making sex slave?

Her heart thudded frantically against her ribcage. Is that what happened to Chloe and to all those other hikers and gold seekers who just disappeared into thin air on the Superstition Mountains? The legends she read about the evil spirits rumored to guard the hidden treasure came gushing back into her thoughts. She was beginning to understand how the legends had come to be, but perhaps the rumored ghosts or demons were actually vampires or dhampyres...like Mateo Two Moons and his brothers?

“Are you okay, Miss Mal—Dawn?” Billy asked.

His voice forced her back to reality. She was unaware she was crushing the newspaper into a tight wad in her fisted hand. She turned to look at him, but her vision was filled with images of her friend’s blood-drained body lying somewhere among the secret caves at the Blood Clan’s hidden lair.

“Maybe you should rest for a while,” he added. “You are as white as a sheet again.”

She nodded and raised her shaking hand up to wipe the sweat away from her brow. “What time will Mateo be back? I really need to talk to him.”

He glanced up at the clock on the wall shaped like a huge Native American drum. It was just a few minutes past noon. “He should be here shortly after sunset.”

“Of course,” she mumbled. Vampires can’t be out in the sunlight. How stupid of her. “I’m not feeling so hot again. I think I’m going to lie down for a while, maybe try to take a nap.” She tossed the wadded up newspaper down on the coffee table and headed up the curved staircase without looking at Billy Torres again. She had at least seven hours before Mateo got here.

Once in the bedroom, she raced around the room, weighing her limited options. French doors opened onto small balcony outside of the loft bedroom. There were no stairs leading from the balcony to the ground, and the drop down had to be at least twenty feet. She drew in a deep breath and surveyed the ground below. Could she land that jump without breaking both her legs? Doubtful.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs caused her nerves to shatter. She ran to the bed and plopped down on the mattress. Rolling onto her side she curled her body into a ball, closed her eyes, and tried to take deep even breaths as if she were asleep. The razor edges of her anxiety were making it difficult to breathe at all. Why was she freaking out like this? Billy said she wasn’t a prisoner here.

Maybe she should just tell him she had errands to run. That would be a natural thing to do, right? She could just say she needed to pick up something for dinner; check her mail; drop off some dry cleaning; find out if she was pregnant with a half-breed vampire, you know, typical stuff like that.

She realized she was holding her breath and if she exhaled now he would know she was faking sleep. Whether or not she was being held here against her will, she couldn’t ignore the panic making her insides quake.

She had her back to the doorway, so she had no way of knowing how long Billy stood there. But he was obviously making sure she really was taking a nap. Maybe it wasn’t something so threatening. He might just be checking to make sure she was okay. Regardless of why he had come up here, Dawn just wanted him to leave.

She forced herself to lie still as she slowly let the pent up breath escape from her parted lips. Finally, after what seemed an incredibly long time, she mustered up enough courage to slowly roll back over and check to see if he was still there. She was alone in the quiet bedroom, but she hadn’t heard him going back down the stairs. Was he lurking somewhere close by?

Cowboy up, Cupcake. That goofy phrase had always meant so much to her, mostly because Jeremy said it to her so many times throughout the years, even though he was usually making fun of her when he said those three silly words.

How she wished she could call her brother right now and ask for his help or advice or just to hear his voice. The yearning to talk to him and let his calm logic reassure her everything would be okay was so desperate it made her heart hurt, yet she knew it couldn’t happen regardless of how much she wanted it.

Jeremy had a way of getting her to talk about everything and anything, and she sure couldn’t tell him about the bizarre things going on with her the past week and a half. Nope…no way. She could not call Jeremy until all this lunacy was behind her. His other favorite quote, ‘If you’re not livin’ on the edge, your takin’ up space’, didn’t even begin to compare with what was going on in her life right now.

However, she was not going to accomplish anything until she could calm down and at least try to act like a rational person, in a totally irrational situation, and that was not going to be easy. She sat up precariously and waited for a few minutes before she scooted to the edge of the bed. Billy was nowhere to be seen. She tip-toed to the closet and peeked inside again. There were even shoes in her size. There wasn’t time to analyze how Mateo knew all this stuff about her. She grabbed the white running shoes and yanked the size tag off the side. Although, she was certain there would be some socks in of one the bureau drawers, there was no time to look. Her bare feet slipped easily into the shoes. She quickly laced them up.

Fortunately, she now had her cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans, but her purse was still downstairs on the table in the foyer by the front door. She really couldn’t leave here without that purse, because it contained her wallet and the keys to her truck. She took a huge deep breath. Her neck began to ache where Mateo had bitten her. It reminded her of why she needed to leave here now. She forced her feet to step forward.

The landing at the top of the stairs was visible from most of the lower floor. She had never felt more defenseless and exposed in her entire life. She wasn’t even sure why she was so afraid right now. Billy sure didn’t seem like a dangerous man. But she couldn’t forget he had taken a vow to protect the Blood Clan, which probably meant he would stop at nothing to fulfill that promise. Wow. She was really starting to sound like she believed this outrageous stuff.

There were no sounds coming from anywhere upstairs or downstairs. Dawn stepped down one stair. Still nothing. She inched down a couple more steps. Her heart was wreaking havoc in her chest. Billy might hear it pounding because it sounded like roaring thunder to her ears. One more step then another and another.

Now, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and thankfully, still no sign of her bodyguard. Her arms were stiff and her hands were clutched into fists so tight her nails were digging into her palms. She was only several feet from the front door. Her black leather purse was lying there on the long narrow table with the tiled top in southwestern colors of blue and coral. It was just a few more steps away.

She froze as her hand reached out to grab her purse. A phone was ringing. No. Her nerves splintered into a million pieces as her body erupted in a cold sweat.

“Hey. I was just going to call you.”

It took a moment before she realized it hadn’t been her phone ringing. Because, of course, she hadn’t thought to turn her cell off before she began her daring escape. Billy must be sitting at the little alcove in the kitchen. It was one of the few places not visible from the front entry. He was talking to whoever called him and he didn’t seem to be aware of her presence.

She grabbed her purse and reached out to the door knob on the front door. Her hand was sweating and shaking so profusely she was surprised she was able to turn the knob. The brown wood door opened with ease, and thankfully, with very little noise. She took a shaky step though the threshold.

She was outside, and Billy was still talking on his phone, but her ears were too filled with the deafening sound of her thrashing heartbeat to hear what he was saying. Carefully, she pulled the door shut.

There wasn’t time to think; she just started running blindly down the walkway, past the little playground where she had seen the young spiky haired mom swinging her baby girl, past people who were walking on the sidewalk, some of them walking dogs, or others driving down the streets in cars; all blissfully unaware of the unspeakable horrors that slept in the caves up on the nearby mountains.

She ran until she saw her little truck parked in front of her apartment, and until she was sure her lungs were going to burst. She didn’t stop running until she was sitting in the cab. Then she just started driving as blindly as she had been running. Sunset would be here all too soon.