Annie Nicholas - Bait

I glanced at the band and feigned interest in the show but checked out my exit options instead. The main entrance was across from us, but a crowd of people in the lounge blocked my way. There were two exits by the stage, one on each side.

Tane slid a little closer and spoke in a quiet voice. “The attack at Dragos ’ private party surprised us. I know Colby hunts Rurik, I saw him in the fight, but I couldn’t figure out how he found us. Until now.”

I turned to glance at his pale, sculpted face. His eyes were the color of a dark, bottomless ocean. He must have been beautiful as a man.

As if committing the way I looked to memory he stared at me. “Is it a coincidence you arrived at the party shortly before the attack? Then arrive here, to a concert bearing a ticket I gave Colby? I must admit, I am a little disappointed in not meeting the legendary vampire killer.”

I couldn’t trust myself to speak, fear paralyzed my thoughts. Tane figured out everything. I didn’t think I could charm my way out of this considering he chose a male companion.

He leered at me. “The bath house attempt was brilliant, by the way, but I don’t understand why you didn’t complete the assassination. Why did you leave so suddenly? Rurik wouldn’t tell me.”

“He wouldn’t?” It touched me that Rurik didn’t speak about our misunderstanding on the tub room floor.

“I enjoy the Rudas when I visit here. You truly frustrated Rurik. Maybe that was your purpose? So he’d be more determined to pursue you.”

My mouth became drier than a popcorn fart.

“I hoped to ... ensnare Colby but this may turn out to be a better situation.” He leaned back against the bench with his arms over the top. “I can’t allow him to run about Budapest unmonitored. He may break into the wrong gathering and kill innocent, law abiding vampires. I expected an attack on Rurik but not that soon, foolish of me to have under estimated Colby.” Tane eyed me.

My charade ended, I couldn’t figure out how to deny it. Colby did the team’s thinking, including mine. Tane knew too much. I didn’t like his game but I had no choice but to play it. “Colby wouldn’t help you.”

Tane’s grin grew into a smile. “Maybe not of his own free will but I too can be ingenious. Who do you think hired him?”

His revelation felt like a punch to my gut. My breath caught in my throat and I pounded my fist on the table once. “Bull crap. He wouldn’t work for a vamp.”

Tane’s eyebrows shot up at my explosive response but his body remained relaxed. “He doesn’t know since Eric did the actual hiring and he’s not a vamp.” He sneered the last word.

I stared at the table top as this information seeped in. Colby worked for a Nosferatu vampire and didn’t even know it. The irony almost killed me, literally.

“Your mental shields are stronger than most humans. Better than when I first met you.”

I blinked. “You broke through them easily enough a few moments ago.”

He laughed softly and shook his head in disbelief. “At my age, Rabbit, there are few who keep me out. I think Dragos is the only one left stronger than I.”

I jumped when what I could only describe as a caress brushed against my mental shields. A shiver ran down my spine. “Rurik drugged me before he brought me to the party. He said he needed it to bring down my shields.”

Tane gave me a sly smiled and rubbed at his chin. He glanced around the room before returning his attention to me. “How well did it work?”

“Totally demolished them.”

He sat so still, he looked made of stone. “Rurik is more resourceful than I’d estimated. I begin to understand how he obtained this territory at such a young age.”

The band began to play a more up-beat song and someone in the crowd whistled their approval. This drew Tane’s attention to the stage. His long fingers tapped the table to the beat of the music.

I began to inch my way around the horse shoe shaped bench away from him.

He continued to watch the show. “Rurik won’t be here tonight.”

Thanks, Sherlock. I guessed that by now. “You’re Colby’s informant. The one who tells him Rurik’s whereabouts.” That would tie Colby’s underpants in a knot. I crept to the edge.

“Do you have a point?”

The pictures Colby sent me came to mind. Something didn’t fit. You’d think vampires would be more hands-on with their version of justice. Rurik himself told me of the vampire law against killing, so they had some kind of system. “I know about the evidence you gave Colby and your people’s laws to not kill. Why hire someone else to punish Rurik?”

He smirked. “Why, indeed? You don’t really expect me to answer, do you? It’s not your business. You just need to follow orders, Colby’s and mine.”

I ground my teeth and turned to look at the band. Orders my ass, I cooperated if things made sense and until recently they had been. My legs swung free from the bench when I twisted to watch the show, they now rested free of the table. The tension to get up and run made them ache. Tane didn’t protest my movement, he watched the stage as well. I understood the concert being sold out. The band was good. On any other night I’d be up there dancing with the others.

A waiter approached with a tray full of drinks. An idea popped into my head and I allowed my instincts to direct me. I sprang up to collide into him. With a tug at his jacket, I maneuvered him to spill the tray onto Tane.

I glimpsed his wide-eyed, open mouth expression before running for my life. If I survived the night I’d be able to cherish that moment later, there would be no mercy if he caught me. I shoved my way through the crowd toward the stage. The exit sign over the door shone like a beacon, the glow cried out to me as if telling me to hurry. As I reached for the push bar on the door I slammed into a solid, wet mass. It felt like I just ran into a wall. My brain rattled in my skull and little lights flashed in front of my eyes.

A voice spoke to me over the ringing in my ears. “I don’t remember giving you permission to leave.”

My vision cleared enough to see Tane reach out to steady me by my elbows. A slice of lemon clung to his vest. “Stop being such a bitch, Rabbit. That was unnecessary.” He smelled like alcohol and fruit juice. The lemon slice slid off his vest to flop on his polished black shoe. He looked down and shook it off then gazed back up at me with a small growl. With a yank, he pulled me through the exit door, grasped my upper arm and climbed the flight of stairs. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Why should I believe you?” I tried to keep up, his long legs took the steps two at a time.

He stopped and looked down at me. “I have a use for you.” We climbed to the terrace where only a few lovers strolled along the deck. Tane dragged me to the rail and wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me closer. “Now, my little bait, I have an assignment for you.”

“I won’t work for you.”

“Battle lines are being drawn across Budapest and you, my dear, are caught in the center. You’ll have to choose a side soon, and you have a better chance to survive if it’s mine.”

Trapped in the arms of this demon I had an epiphany. If Tane hired Colby then it must have been him who sent the pictures. I didn’t like that. It made me suspicious of them and of Tane’s motives.

I couldn’t do anything to warn Colby or help Rurik if I coerced him to kill me. He stated he needed me so that meant I’d get off this boat alive if I agreed to do as he asked. I sighed and hung my head.

“What do you want?”

He placed a finger under my chin to tilt my face up to his. “First, I need you to keep me informed on Colby’s plans. I won’t tolerate being surprised by him again. Second, I want the vial of the drug Rurik used on you.”