Make Me

I crouched in the darkness of an ancient live oak, armed with only my wits, listening for any sign of the vampire. Nothing but the rattling of branches and the soughing of the wind through the leaves here on the longest night of the year.

Creepy.I wasn’t hiding out of fear. I just wanted to get a bead on him before he found me first. Now that I’d lost my strength, speed, and healing ability, and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of any of my new powers as keeper of the Encyclopedia Magicka,I needed any advantage I could get. The live oak, with its leaves and gnarled branches as big around as my waist, shaded me from the revealing flood of moonlight.

“Val Shapiiiro,” he crooned, the eerie mocking sound seeming one with the breeze. “Come out, come out wherever you are . . .”

Too close! He’d found me.

Lust for the hunt sizzled through my blood and I whirled toward the sound. “Make me,” I growled.

He rushed me, inhumanly fast.

I leapt up to one of the low branches hugging the ground and lashed out with a savate kick, hoping to score a field goal with his head. He ducked.

Too slow, damn it. I stumbled for a nanosecond on the uneven surface, then regained my balance as he appeared on the bough beside me. His infuriating grin flashed in a sliver of moonlight. I struck out with my fist, hoping to smash the fangs off his face. Blocked.

I couldn’t let him take the offensive. And though I might have lost my speed and strength, I still had my martial arts training. I battered him with a series of blows, but he was so fast, none of them connected where I wanted. I tried a low blow—a kick to the ’nads, but he stopped that, too.

Frustrated, I leapt up to grab the branch above me, planning to swing up and over it and use the momentum to knock him off his perch. Instead, he tackled me. I lost my grip and we both hit the hard-packed earth, knocking the wind out of me.

Taking advantage of my momentary pause and gasp for air, he straddled my waist and hooked his legs over mine so I couldn’t move, then grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head.

Crap. He was too strong—I couldn’t get free, no matter how hard I struggled.

He grinned, looking way too happy with the situation. “Yield, darlin’?”

Never. I still had one weapon left. I hated to use it, but I hated to lose even more. I called on the succubus inside me and she leapt to the fore, eager for action. The purple eye flash that came with the use of my demonic powers reflected in his eyes as my succubus Lola surged forth and slammed into his chakras, instantly making him my slave.

His lust for Lola made it impossible to disobey me. I paused for a moment, trying to catch my breath enough to tell him to shove off.

His smile turned wicked as he released my wrists and his hands started to wander where only one man’s hands had gone before.

This was so wrong. “Get off me,” I yelled, shoving against his shoulders.

He took his time rolling off, his lascivious gaze and knowing smile never leaving my face as he hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans.

I scrambled to my feet, releasing him from Lola’s clutches so fast it made us both stagger. “Seriously, Austin?”

He looked different without his Stetson . . . edgier, more dangerous. Alejandro’s cowboy lieutenant ran a hand over his face and chuckled softly. “Hey, you were the one who played your ace in the hole . . . darlin’.”

My face heated. Crap. He always made me feel young and foolish. No matter that at eighteen, I’d been slaying vampires for years. No matter that I could make any man alive do whatever I wanted. No matter that brave cops, vampires, and demons feared me as the Slayer. None of it mattered when Austin gave me his knowing look, reminding me he had at least a hundred years more experience than I did. It was as if he gazed deep into the insecurities of my soul and laid them bare.

I averted my gaze and pretended I was absorbed in brushing twigs and leaves from my shirt and jeans. “I had to,” I muttered. “It was the only way I could win.” He’d already beaten me once. I couldn’t let him win two out of three.

“I know,” he said softly. “Took you long enough.”

I shrugged. “I don’t like to use my powers unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“And that’s why you lost the first time. If I’d really been out to get you . . .” He shrugged.

“I know, I know.” I’d be dead. Thank goodness this was only practice. I didn’t want the word to get out to the general vamp population that the Slayer had lost her powers, or I’d be challenged by every one of them not affiliated with the New Blood Movement. And maybe even some in the Movement.

“Best two out of three?” I asked. This time, I’d be faster on the draw with my secret weapon.

“I’ll pass,” he drawled. “Now that you’ve figured out when to play your trump card . . . well, let’s just say I don’t think either of us would be comfortable doing that again.”

Boy, make me squirm, willya?

Someone slammed into me from the side, taking me down again. Another vamp—Luis. I shoved Lola into him so fast, he didn’t get a chance to try anything.

“Stop. Don’t move.” I scrambled to my feet and, just in case Austin tried anything more, I hooked him with one of Lola’s energy tendrils as well. “You, too.”

I’d learned my lesson and wasn’t about to—

Wham. I was down on the ground again. A third vamp? You’re kidding me.

I shook my head. No problem. I could handle three without even breaking a sweat. I lunged out with Lola to take care of numero tres, and got nothing but a hard slap across the face.

Crap. It was Rosa. Lola wouldn’t work on her. “Stop her,” I gritted out, sending a surge of power along Lola’s energy strands.

My two marionettes obeyed instantly, grabbing Rosa and pulling her off me. They looked murderous, so I added, “Hold her—don’t hurt her.” Alejandro wouldn’t be pleased if he found out I’d let two of his lieutenants tear the third limb from limb.

Rosa—smart girl—didn’t fight them. She just smirked at me.

“Lucky hit,” I said, rising up on one elbow to feel my jaw. She packed quite a wallop.

“Not lucky,” she spat. “You, you call yourself the Slayer? If I used my knife, you’d be dead right now. Muerta.”

I could have pointed out that she’d be one dead undead bloodsucker with a single word from me, but kept my trap shut. After all, they were helping me regain some skill and confidence by sparring with me in private. It was my own damned fault that I’d assumed they’d come at me one at a time. The least I could do was act grateful.

And I was, I really was. I hadn’t known until tonight that the Movement used the clearing in the center of the woods around the mansion as their private training grounds. But I’d ignored their suggestion to stick to the open space. Instead, I’d taken to the trees, hoping it would give me some advantage. Not so much.

I cast around with my senses but didn’t detect any more bloodsuckers. “Any others waiting in the wings to take a swing at the Slayer?” I asked before I got up again. I didn’t want to meet the ground up close and personal for a fourth time.

“No,” Austin and Luis answered in unison.

Good. I got slowly to my feet. The adrenaline was gone, so I was starting to experience the pain of tonight’s punishment. Dang, it sucked to feel human. It was times like these that I regretted giving up my powers. “Why do you care anyway?” I asked Rosa. She’d sounded so pissed.

Still held captive by the other two vamps, she rolled her eyes. “Because you need to protect Alejandro.”

“Why? I’m not his bodyguard. Doesn’t he have, like, a whole vein of bloodsuckers to do that for him?” I knew he thought of me as his personal talisman, but sheesh, that was taking it too far.

“For when he goes to Austin,” she clarified.

I glanced at the cowboy vamp, confused. “Goes to Austin for what?” And, realizing the two guys were both still in Lola’s thrall, I let them go, despite Lola’s protest.

Rosa rubbed her arms and sulked. “Stupid chica. Not him, the city. Maybe you’ve heard of it? The capital of Texas?”

Oh. But . . . “Since when are we going to Austin, where I’ll apparently have to watch his back?” I asked.

Luis folded his arms. “Alejandro hasn’t told her yet.”

He and the cowboy vamp exchanged an unreadable glance. “Better take her to him,” Austin said.

I heaved a sigh. Secrets. I hated secrets.

Luis nodded briefly, and the three of them headed back to the house. They didn’t even look back, just assumed I’d follow them like a good little girl. Hell with that. They could keep their secrets.

Fang finally trotted up from his place on the sidelines. Part scruffy terrier, part telepathic hellhound, part smart-aleck-bane-of-my-existence, he sat on his haunches and grinned up at me. Pout much?

We’d decided to have him sit this one out to see what I could do without him. I thought he’d be upset that he couldn’t mix it up with me, but with that snarky comment, I wondered . . . “Did you enjoy watching them beat the crap out of me?” I asked.

He snorted. Not so much. But it was necessary.

“Maybe,” I muttered. “But is this meeting necessary? Not so much.”

You did agree to work for him until the books were found and he comes out of the closet.

I know. I’d found the books, but he hadn’t done the second part yet.

So, this is part of your job. What’s the matter? You’ve always wanted to travel more.

Yeah, but not as a bodyguard. Okay, yes, I was pouting. So sue me.

Fang didn’t say a word, just looked at me with reproachful brown eyes framed in his adorably fuzzy face. Dang. He’d pulled out the big guns. I gave up. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

I hobbled toward the house, feeling every ache and pain the vamps had hammered into me. More like eighty than eighteen.

Next time, wear silver, my unfeeling hellhound advised me.

I’d thought of that, but it seemed like cheating when the vamps were supposed to be helping me. Then again, being a vampire was kind of cheating, too, wasn’t it?

Fang just snorted, which I took to mean he agreed with me.

Alejandro’s people had been careful not to create any paths into the woods that would reveal the location of their training ground, but it was easy to follow the lights to the house. I trudged up to their back door where Austin waited for me, holding open the door. He’d put his hat back on, too, so he looked more like himself.

“I’m coming,” I muttered.

“I know.” He grinned again, but didn’t move when I passed him.

Our energy fields intersected in the close confines of the doorway and Lola licked into him. I didn’t pull back—he deserved a good licking.

The tall, lean cowboy didn’t react, though. He just raised an eyebrow as if to say, “You really want to go there?”

Point to Austin, Fang said with a laugh.

Shut up. I shoved past Austin into the kitchen, disappointing Lola once more. “In his study?” I asked without looking back.

“Yes, ma’am.” Austin didn’t bother to hide the amusement in his voice.

I tried not to stomp out my frustration as we headed to find Alejandro. Luis gestured me into the room I’d visited far too often. Very masculine, very Mediterranean, very dark . . . except for the sun-drenched mural of a beach scene covering the wall across from Alejandro’s desk. Then again, if I’d been unable to see the sun as long as he had, I’d probably want a view like that, too.

I flopped into a chair across from Alejandro and his massive wooden desk and said, “So, boss, what’s this I hear about you going to Austin?”

Luis scowled. He hated it when I treated Alejandro so informally. That’s why I did it, of course, and Alejandro didn’t mind. Luis and Austin took up positions behind their boss and I wondered where Rosa was.

Maybe she was put in a corner for spilling the beans, Fang suggested.

“I am afraid our trip to Austin is necessary,” Alejandro said.

“Why?”

The vamp leader absently rubbed the bust of Cortes he kept on his desk. “The situation in the state capital has changed. The legislation we were counting on to protect us when we come out and keep the unaffiliated ones in their place is stalled.”

I grimaced. I hated politics as much as I hated secrets.

Maybe because they go hand in hand.

Probably. “What does that mean, stalled?”

Alejandro shook his head, a puzzled expression on his face. “I wish I knew. My calls are not being returned, and there has been no communication from my supporters. We shall have to go there to see what is happening.”

I was all for getting those laws in place so the Movement could come out and I could satisfy my contract with Alejandro, but . . . “Why do you need me?”

“Because you can go where I cannot,” Alejandro said with a smile.

Who was going to keep a vampire out of anywhere he wanted to go? “Like where?”

Austin’s mouth quirked up. “Like daylight.”

Oh.

“Indeed,” Alejandro agreed. “You are the only one I can trust to protect my interests while I’m there, to live in my world and not reveal what you discover, to act for me during the daytime.”

Fang huffed with amusement. He wants you to be his Renfield.

I didn’t find that at all funny. It was a pretty tall order. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t argue with the vamp leader’s logic. “Rosa seemed to think you wanted me to be some kind of bodyguard.”

Alejandro waved away my objection. “Rosa is overly protective. We cannot invade another vampire’s territory without permission. Without it, we risk much. I have gained that permission, but have agreed to bring only four with me. I shall take Austin and Vincent, and leave Luis and Rosa in charge here.”

No wonder Rosa was peeved, with only two vamps to guard her boss’s back. “If I’m the third, who’s the fourth? Fang? Does Fang count?”

Fang always counts.

“No, Fang does not count as the fourth,” Alejandro said with a smile, “though I see no reason why he cannot come. The fourth will be Jack Grady.”

Grady? The former keeper of the Encyclopedia Magicka was an odd choice. “Why him?”

“The encyclopedia can be a powerful weapon in our favor. He knows how to wield it, and you do not. We need him to get you up to speed as fast as possible.”

Good luck with that. I’d tried with no luck. He was supposed to be training me on how to tap the magick potential in the books, but the only thing he’d done the past few days was pig out on Gwen’s food and hog Shade’s bed.

“I have already spoken with Mr. Blackburn and the Demon Underground has agreed to let me take both of you,” Alejandro said. “I have made arrangements for a place to stay so we can leave tomorrow night when the sun goes down.”

Why not? I’d only been to Austin a few times, and it would be something different than the same old, same old. “Do you have any idea how long we’ll be gone? Mom will kill me if I miss Christmas.” And since Mom and I had kind of a truce going on, I didn’t want to screw that up.

“It’s little more than an hour away,” Austin drawled. “I think you’ll be able to come home to Mommy when you need to.”

I clamped my lips on an unwise comeback and resolved not to let him get to me. “Okay. Should I pack?”

“Yes,” Alejandro said. “Pack for a couple of weeks. It’ll make it easier than returning here for a change of clothing or necessities. You may go now if you wish.”

I definitely wished, though I didn’t care for his master to servant phrasing. Glancing down at Fang, I asked, You ready?

In answer, he got up and trotted away, pausing in front of the study door to glance expectantly over his shoulder at Austin.

The cowboy rolled his eyes, but followed Fang’s unspoken bidding and opened the door for him.

How do you do that?

Charisma, babe, sheer charisma.

Shaking my head, I followed him down the hallway and out the front door. I straddled my Valkyrie motorcycle and waited for him to jump up into his own leather and sheepskin seat, then helped him on with his goggles.

I sped home on the dark, silent streets of San Antonio. There weren’t many people out in the early hours of the morning, so I was able to drive on autopilot and make plans for the unexpected free time. I could take a hot bath to soak out my aches and pains, maybe even get some extra sleep before I had to show up at Alejandro’s tomorrow. After all, who knew what awaited us in the state’s capital?

When we arrived home, I took off Fang’s goggles and he jumped down.

“Hungry?” I asked. Usually, he’d be pestering me for food right about now.

Sorry, babe.

“For what?”

A dark cloth fell over my head and someone grabbed me, trying to pin my arms. What the . . . ? I struck out with my foot, connecting with someone who let out an oof.

You’ll have to sedate her, Fang said, and I felt the sudden prick of a needle in my arm.

My mind grew fuzzy. Fang? What’s happening?

No response.

“Thanks, Fang,” a man said. “We owe you one.”

I had only one thought as I lost consciousness. Traitor.