Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) Read online

  "Are you ready?" Wade threw him the infamous half-tilted grin that said: Let's kick some preternatural arse.

  "Yeah." He lifted his crossbow for show. "I'll take the back of the house."

  Wade nodded and hurried toward the front to make his assessment. Derek headed toward the gate, stopping to take a peek in the garage window. Two vehicles sat there side by side like his and hers four-door sedans. Sloane McBride didn't live alone. "Great. It just keeps escalating to another level of hell."

  He hated to think it, but if Tim paid a visit to the McBrides, he hoped the vamp ended it here, drained them and moved on because if one of the McBrides survived, the nightmare continued at another poor schmuck's home.

  Reaching the gate, his hand gripped the padlock. It wouldn't stop him. He pulled out his tools from his jeans' pocket to pick the lock. He could easily jump the fence, but it was better to take the time now and have an easy escape route, if there proved a need. It took less than a minute. This was kids play.

  He opened the gate and slid in, only to halt his movements when he noticed the black lab sitting on his haunches, staring at him with a curious tilt of its head. He was glad he had the heads up on the pet. "Good…boy." He slowly fished into his jacket with multiple pockets containing all sorts or weapons. This pocket just happened to be filled with dog biscuits. He kept a box in his truck. Made it easier to deal with the four-legged animals when he invaded their territory. The lab knew its treats and came bounding toward him with its tongue hanging out. He relinquished the gift from his hand and he patted the dog's head. "Good boy." The dog crunched the treat with enthusiasm then trotted behind him as he peeked inside the back windows of the house. He didn't detect any movement within the bedroom.

  The creaking of hinges had him swinging around with the crossbow aimed at the back door. When he caught sight of his brother's cowboy hat, he lowered the weapon with a curse.

  His brother spotted him and his face split into a grin. "Well, are you going to lurk around all night like a peeping Tom or are you coming inside?"

  He shook his head and strode toward him with long strides. "I could have shot you, dim wad."

  "Yeah, well you didn't, did you?" He gestured toward the door. "The house appears neat and in order. So either we have a clean-freak for a vamp or the blood sucker hasn't had time to snack on his girlfriend."

  "And the girl's family?" He glanced over his shoulder at his brother, who frowned. He gestured toward the refrigerator covered with photos. "There's a good chance the girlfriend still lives with her family." The photo he pointed to showed an older man and woman standing with a boy about fourteen, and Sloane McBride stood next to her sibling. Dark hair and a beautiful smile—just his luck, it was the gal he knew from school. He pursed his lips, silencing the stream of curses begging to be voiced. He removed the magnet and grabbed the photo, flipping it over. His mother always wrote on the back of their photos and he was pleased to see the McBrides did as well.

  The McBrides, mom, dad, Seth and Sloane (me), were scrawled on the back. "Too bad we didn't ask Trent if the rest of the family was infected before we relieved him of his head." He glanced at Wade. "Since we're in the house. Let's take a look and see if there's any evidence the family was here when Sloane's boyfriend came calling."

  He handed his brother the photo. Just in case they needed to identify the bodies, it was good to know what the victims looked like. He headed toward the stairs.

  Wade's low hummed whistle said it all. "Sloane's sure a looker," he said. "I dig those cutoff shorts she's wearing."

  Derek refrained from commenting. If she'd been turned, it wouldn't matter how shapely her legs were. They'd have to dust her like any of the other vamps.

  The fifth step creaked and he halted and listened. When no other sounds other than their breathing reached his ears, he glanced at his brother, who stood a few steps below him. He pointed to the step he should avoid. His brother acknowledged him with a nod.

  No one charged at them so they continued forth. If there were any vamps lurking in the house, they already knew he and Wade were here.

  The top floor had three bedrooms and one bathroom. Throwing open the doors of the bathroom, bedrooms and closets—proved no one was home that was human, vamp or otherwise. Both brothers stood in the hallway and stared at each other.

  "Maybe they went on a holiday," Wade suggested.

  "Let's hope not. If the blood drinker told us the truth and Tim bit Sloane, she could infect everyone she comes in contact with."

  Wade rubbed a hand over his face. "Maybe he didn't change her. There's the possibility he only drank from her and she managed to ward off the poison."

  "You do like your fairytales," he grumbled. The newly made had no self-control. Blood was all that mattered. "How'd Trent seem to you? In control? Doubt his twin would be in any better shape."

  Wade cursed, giving Derek his answer.

  "This has to be Sloane's room." He gestured toward the room to the right of him. "I'd loathe to think it was her brother's. Let's see if she left any clues to where she's gone." He strode in and flipped on the light switch. The room illuminated in a warm glow, revealing the girly decorated bedroom with a flowered blanket draped over a rocking chair and lace curtains on the windows. Her desk had a laptop and he strode over to it, while Wade busied himself looking through the drawers.

  "Damn the gal has some nice undies." Wade held up a black lace thong.

  For a second, Derek imagined Sloane wearing the lacey item and had to shake his head of the image. "Put it away, Wade."

  "When did you turn into an old fuddy duddy?"

  "This is business, not let's imagine the vamp in lingerie."

  "So, you were imagining what Miss Sloane McBride would look like in this baby," Wade teased.

  "So help me, Waddell."

  "Now, you're just being nasty. Fine." He stuffed the black panties in the drawer and went on to rummage through another.

  Derek opened the laptop and was pleased to see Sloane didn't have it password protected. The first thing that popped up was the calendar with a note: Don't forget to pick up Mom, Dad and Seth at the airport. The date was set for next Monday. The other date that caught his eye was: Dinner with Tim on Valentine's Day.

  "The family is out of town. We only have to worry about Sloane." He turned in his seat to look at Wade. "She marked her calendar for the fourteenth: romantic dinner with Tim. That's tomorrow." He only took note of the date because newly turned vamps tended to hang onto their previous life for sometime after the change. Events that were important tended to be amplified into an obsession.

  "I wonder if dinner includes a blood cocktail for two," Wade grumbled. "Did she say where they were going for this fabulous dinner?"

  Derek shook his head. "No. We'll just have to hope Sloane will return to the house before then." He glanced around the room. Her bed was made and sported a comforter with a Celtic design of knots and spirals. A dark angel was the focal point and centered in the middle, large and elaborate. The artist was talented and it showed in the angles and detail of the face of the fallen angel. The wings flowed behind the mystical being as if the wind breathed life into it.

  To the left of the bed stood a small bookcase filled with books, and not just for show. The bindings were creased. An E-reader of some sort sat on her end table next to her bed, along with a glass of water and a camera. Not a digital, but an older model before digital became the norm. This camera would require talent to use properly.

  He focused on the pictures adorning the walls. They were black and white photos. A couple sharing a glass of wine, an old man in the park feeding the ducks, a small child holding an adult's hand and looking up at the woman with adoring eyes, and there were other photos capturing different human emotions. They were professionally framed, but he couldn't help but wonder if Sloane took these candid photos.

  He turned away. Blood drinker or not, Sloane would eventually return. They always did.

  "Look at this." Wade
held up a picture frame, showcasing two photos. One was of three children at a park with a carousel in the background. Derek rose from his seat for a closer look and realized it was Sloane, Tim and Trent. They were younger, maybe seven or eight. The other was a similar photo with the same backdrop, only this was a more recent photo.

  "They have been friends for a long time," Derek said with a frown. He didn't remember Tim and Trent from school, but then the McBrides hadn't lived here when he'd known Sloane. Tim and Trent could be family friends not friends from school. "We should expect Tim won't be pleased we off-ed his brother. These three had a connection long before they became vamp-hybrids. We have to assume Sloane will want to retaliate, too."

  Wade placed the photo on the top shelf of the bookcase. "Yeah, joy. The fangers are bad enough without them teaming up."

  "I'll stake out the McBride's place," he told Wade. "You go back to the Wilkins' home and see if Tim shows up there. I'm thinking it will be the first place Tim heads once he realizes his brother is missing. Axel will need the backup especially if Tim flips out."

  Wade picked up the photo again. "Seems a shame we have to end the girl's life. Young, pretty and I like her choice of panties."

  Derek yanked the picture frame out of his brother's hands. "That's why I'm staying here and you're taking care of the boyfriend. Now get."

  "Tim and Sloane may show up together here."

  "Maybe, but I see no struggle or blood, and the family dog didn't appear agitated. There's a good chance Sloane is only infected and hasn't fully changed yet." When a woman looked like Sloane McBride, a boyfriend wasn't going to just look at her. He would bet his best dagger, Tim Wilkins had nibbled on her neck sometime in the last few days.

  Wade gave a long sigh, but he headed for the door. "I'll call you if Tim shows."

  "Same here." Derek stared at the photo of Sloane, who stared back at him with such life. She was happy, but so were Tim and Trent and he knew that didn't help them in the least. His gaze shifted to the laptop with the calendar marked with Valentine's dinner with Tim. She probably hadn't planned on flowers and fangs. He placed the photo where it belonged and headed out of the house, turning off lights and locking up.

  He strode over to his old beat up car that kept on running no matter what punishment he put it through. He slid inside to wait. "There's no place like home, Sloane McBride," he murmured. "Unless you invite a vampire in."

  Chapter Three

  Sloane McBride pulled into her driveway. God, she felt like crap—hot and sweaty and her stomach turned and churned like someone had tied it in knots. She must be coming down with that weird flu Tim's family had caught.

  Thinking of Tim brought back the memory of his last visit. He'd been aggressive, not that she hadn't like his assertiveness at first, but it was so unlike him to be…rough.

  She'd known Tim since the fourth grade—their parents had been longtime friends—but she only recently started dating him. They hadn't even slept together yet, but the way Tim's hands slid over her body the other night, and the way he kissed her with teeth, tongue and lips, she'd been considering the tumble into bed. That is until he bit her neck, drawing blood. His impromptu hickey put a damper on the mood. He was apologetic, but remained on edge. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was strung out on drugs, but Tim was straight laced as they come. He didn't even take over the counter meds if he could help it.

  He told her he thought he was coming down with something. Said his brother and sister were ill and had stayed home tucked in bed for a better part of a week.

  Tim ended up going home early, which despite his weird behavior, she was disappointed. Her parents and her brother were away, enjoying Disney World. Since, she hadn't accumulated enough vacation time from her job at The Arts Are Us, she was stuck house sitting.

  Tim was supposed to spend the night while her family was away. She wanted a more romantic relationship, which proved difficult since she still lived at home with her parents and a teenage brother who would most likely let it slip a boyfriend spent the night.

  She had two serious relationships in high school. One was with a bad boy type, who knew how to make her toes curl with just a kiss, and they had done plenty of kissing. He wasn't big on conversation and she hadn't minded in the least, but he moved away—suddenly—as she recalled. He didn't say goodbye and she never heard from him again. The other boy was smart and cute, but once he went off to college in Chico, California, things cooled between them before a semester had passed.

  She dated since, but nothing serious until Tim finally worked up the courage to ask her out. Until he had, she'd never considered dating him. Tim was one of her best friends, more so than Trent who was the more outgoing of the twins with a carefree attitude and not really interested in ever settling down with one woman in the near future. She had more in common with Tim—books, movies, photography—to name a few. Besides, wasn't finding the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with supposed to be your best friend, too?

  Tim was working his way through college with plans of becoming a high school English teacher. He was patient and kind and his love for literature shone bright when he talked about a book he had read or when he quoted a passage from Shakespeare's sonnets, or one of Oscar Wilde's witty quotes. She knew Tim would make a perfect teacher.

  She reached for her purse and bags sitting on the passenger seat. She'd picked up some cold and flu meds at the drugstore, along with her fast food dinner. She was glad she didn't work for the next few days. Hopefully by then she'd feel better.

  Once inside the house, she flipped on the lights and headed to the back door where she could hear Lad whining to be let in. "I'm coming." Lad let out a bark for greeting as she sprung the door open. He nearly toppled her over as he jumped up, resting his paws on her chest. "Down, boy," she half-heartily scolded him as she rubbed behind his ears.

  Once the greeting was out of the way, Lad trotted to the center of the kitchen and sat down on his haunches, wagging his tail and staring at the breadbox on the counter.

  "Smart doggie, aren't you?" The family never used the old breadbox that had once been her great-grandmother's. Instead, they kept doggie treats in there and it looked like Lad wasn't going to let her do anything else until she gave him one. She opened the breadbox and reached her hand into the box marked lean beef treats and tossed it to Lad. He promptly caught it and padded over to his doggie bed in the corner next to the table to enjoy the treat.

  She strode to the oven and reached for the teapot and shook it. There was plenty of water, so she turned on the burner. A good cup of tea with honey and lemon would do wonders to ease the flu symptoms she was fighting off.

  She opened her fast food bag and grabbed the hamburger. The scent of the cook meat hit her nostrils, making them flare in protest. She opened the wrapper and sniffed cautiously. Her stomach rebelled at the thought of taking a bite. She better play it safe and just go with the tea tonight despite how her stomach rumbled with hunger.

  While the water boiled, she would change into a pair of sweats. She was all about comfort when she arrived home from work. She was halfway up the stairs when someone knocked at her front door.

  Lad's ears perked up and a low growl vibrated from the back of his throat. Her gaze landed on her lab with a frown. Lad usually loved everyone. Who could be at her front door that had him agitated? She strode over to it and peeked out the peephole. She half expected Freddy Kruger to be standing there by the way Lad's fur stood up on end, and the snarl he produced to go along with his bad fur day. She sighed in relief when she recognized her visitor. She threw opened the door with a smile.

  Lad came bounding to the door, snarling in rapid barks. She'd never seen him act like that—ever. "Lad, sit. It's only Tim." She didn't understand her dog's weird behavior.

  Lad backed up, but his stance clearly indicated he would take out Tim's throat if she only gave the word. She turned toward Tim who gave her a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe it's my new aftershave."

/>   She pursed her lips. "Give me a sec. I'll put him out back."

  "Sure."

  It took her a few minutes. Lad didn't want to obey her. She had to drag him outside and sprint for the door, slamming it shut, just to keep him outside. He continued to bark and snarl, but she would have to ignore him for now.

  She hurried to the front door. Tim still stood there, leaning casually against the doorframe. He stood up straight when he caught sight of her. For a brief second, she could have sworn his eyes had an eerie glow to them, like a pair of eyes looking back from a thicket, warning her of danger, but she blinked and his eyes were the same soft brown color she'd remembered.

  "Are you going to ask me in?" His brows lifted in question. He must be feeling better. He looked a little pale, not feverish. It was good to know the flu would only last twenty-four hours.

  "Sure, but I must warn you I think I caught what you had a few days ago."

  "I've already been exposed and I doubt I'll catch it twice," he said.

  She opened the screen and stepped aside. She frowned when he didn't move. "Well, come in already."

  His lips slid into a grin, but the smile made her uneasy. Something was off with him, had been for a few days.

  Before she could shut the door, he pulled her flush against him. She gasped in surprise and he chuckled. "Don't be scared."

  Funny, how those words sent a chill down her spine. "I'm not scared."

  "Your heart is beating fast."

  Her brows drew together. "How do—" She didn't have a chance to finish her question. He captured her lips and her words were swallowed into a passionate caress. His tongue swept inside her mouth and she met his passion, but something pricked her lip and she drew back in alarm. Her hand flew to her mouth. When she looked at her fingers, she spotted drops of blood coloring the tips. "You bit me." Again, she thought the last to herself.

  "You say it as if it is a bad, thing." He stalked toward her. This time there was no mistake; his eyes gleamed with a weird sheen before turning red. Red? What the heck was going on? When he grinned she caught sight of two pointed incisors. Vampire came to mine, but that was insane. Self-consciously, she touched the side of her neck where he had bitten her the other night and stumbled back a few steps.