Chapter Fourteen

Max sat brooding in the dark apartment. The same scent that permeated Elena Talbot’s apartment surrounded him, along with memories of the things that had happened here.

It made him feel ill. He didn’t like the feeling. It had been years since something truly turned his stomach. Between disgust at himself and anger at whatever game Elena Talbot was playing with her sister, the feeling overwhelmed him.

When his cell phone rang, he growled into the receiver. “What?”

“Problem, Max.” Lucas sounded edgy. That wasn’t like him.

Max sat forward in the chair. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Erica’s building. She’s not here.”

Max sighed. She’d lied to him. Why didn’t it surprise him? “Are you sure?”

“Not to be cliché, but the lights are on and nobody’s home. Her car isn’t here.”

Max rose and headed for the door. His confrontation would have to wait.

* * * *

Erica blinked slowly until the scene before her came into focus. Her fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel of her car, which still sat in the parking lot of The Underside. She had no recollection of leaving the club and it took her a moment to recall if she’d even gone inside. She gasped when she saw the time. Her watch read 4:30 a.m. She’d been out all night--and didn’t remember a thing after Vera kissed her.

She began to shake. A cold inner tremor became a violent shiver. What had they done to her? Where was Elena? She flung the car door open and stumbled out onto the black top. The world tilted dizzily and she clutched the roof of the car for support.

The rest of the parking lot was empty.

Without considering the consequences, she ran to the back door of The Underside and started banging. The cold metal hurt her hand, but she kept at it. “Let me in! Is anyone there? I have to get in!”

Nothing. She stumbled down the stairs and ran to the front of the building. Windowless. The front door was solid wood with a fierce gargoyle faced carved on it. Erica yanked on the latch, pounded on the gargoyle’s face and screamed until her throat hurt. No one answered.

No Elena. Nothing.

Still shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed as she walked back to the car. Max was right. This was not her world. She couldn’t function here. Whatever Elena was involved in, Erica couldn’t help her. Now she’d have to go back and confess to Max and beg for him to help her.

He’d hate her for breaking her promise.

He’d never trust her again.

* * * *

Max found Lucas in the parking lot of Erica’s building. Dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket, his blond hair hidden under his black motorcycle helmet, he was little more than a shadow.

“You look like a second story man,” Max said.

Lucas grinned, showing fangs. “I used to be one. I was damn good at it, too.” He nodded toward Erica’s bedroom window. “Nothing.”

Max cursed. He should have known she’d go looking for her sister without him. “I’m going inside to look around, maybe I can figure out where she went. Can you spend some more time tracking Benton Carlisle? See if he shows up at his office today. And if you hear from Kyra, let me know.”

Lucas shrugged. “Sure. Look, if you want backup tonight...”

Max shook his head. “I don’t need it, yet. I’ll call if I get into trouble.”

“Suit yourself.” Lucas turned to leave but glanced over his shoulder. “You look worried Max. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look worried.”

“I am, Luke. And you know what? It’s one of the few things I don’t miss about being human.

Lucas laughed as he climbed onto his bike. “That’s the biggest difference between you and me, Max. I don’t miss anything at all.”

Max watched the taillight of Lucas’s bike recede, then let himself into Erica’s apartment.

Her bedroom light was on and black clothes covered the bed. Max picked through them then checked the papers on the corner computer desk hoping to find something that would lead him in the right direction.

As an afterthought he nudged the computer mouse and watched the screen light up. He opened up her Internet browser and checked her address menu for recent activity. The last Web site she’d visited was a Goth message board frequented by feeders.

He should have known. He should have expected she would lie to him. He was only a vampire to her after all. Promises made to him didn’t matter.

But promises from him, did. Whether she ever believed it or not, he cared and he was going to do what he told her he’d do whether she trusted him or not.

* * * *

Erica’s fingers shook so hard she had to hold the key in both hands in order to unlock the door. Once inside her apartment, she tossed the keys aside. She had to clean off the butterfly stamp on her chest, and the wash the smoky scent of The Underside out of her hair before Max came back.

If he came back.

She put one trembling hand to her neck on the spot where he’d last bitten her. Her fingers came back with a smudge of dark blood. She stared at the stain for a moment, teetering on the brink of passing out cold. Someone had fed from her…and she had no memory of it.

That knowledge only increased her trembling. She sank against the nearest wall, gulping air and trying to regain her composure. When a hand closed over her shoulder, she screamed.

Max dragged Erica into his arms and quieted her, hushing her as she sobbed against him. He lowered her to the floor and pulled her across his lap, smoothing her hair.

“I’ve been waiting for hours,” he murmured as her trembling finally stopped. “Why, Erica? Why couldn’t you trust me?”

She looked up at him through the haze of tears that clouded her vision. “She called me, Max. She called again and asked for help. I had to go.”

“And you didn’t find her, did you?” His voice went hard. She swallowed and shook her head. “There’s a reason for that, Erica. She’s playing a game with you.”

Erica sat up and stared at Max. His mouth was set in a thin line and his eyes shadowed.

“What do you mean?”

“When did she call you?”

“This morning.” She hated to confess it, but with him staring at her, looking betrayed, she couldn’t lie to him. “While you were asleep.”

He nodded and his hands dropped from her shoulders. He sat back against the wall and stared at her.

“You smell like blood.”

She looked away. A moment later he pulled the collar of her shirt roughly aside and traced a rough line from the opalescent butterfly stamp to the bloody bite marks. His expression turned to steel.

“Who did this? Carlisle?”

She didn’t answer, didn’t look at him. She cried out when he shook her. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know. I met Vera .…”

Max dropped his arms again and rolled to his feet. He paced behind her while Erica curled into a ball and leaned against the wall.

“You let her drug you again? What were you thinking? Did you think that would get you taken to Elena?”

“I didn’t drink anything. Vera kissed me.…” Erica swiped at the tears that spilled down her cheeks. After the memory of Vera’s warm lips on hers, there was nothing but a terrifying void.

Max was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, his words made her shiver.

“Take off your clothes.”

She stared at him but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. When she hesitated, he dragged her to her feet and tore at the thin lace that held her shirt together.

Frightened and aroused by his actions, she didn’t resist when he pulled the waistband of her skirt open and slid the garment roughly down her legs. He tore her underwear away, threw aside the tight black bra she wore then ran his hands down her body.

She warmed to him, despite his anger. She wanted him, if only to ease the ache in her heart. She needed him to comfort her, but instead he was searching her, exploring her body inch by inch.

“What are you doing?” His touch made her breathless, but the look in his eyes froze her.

“Looking for bite marks. You’re lucky to be alive. For all you know a group of vampires could have fed on you. They could have killed you, Erica! Or turned you.” She didn’t need him to tell her that. The thought had been running through her mind all during the torturous drive home.

She held herself rigid while he ran his hand up each of her legs, between her thighs, across her lower back, up under her breasts and her hair. His intense scrutiny made her skin tingle and her body ache for him.

“It looks like that’s the only mark,” he said finally. He stepped back from her, leaving her cold. “If they only drugged you, the memories of what happened might come back.”

“If they only drugged me?” She turned, seeking his embrace, but instead he wrapped her in a blanket from the couch, the one he’d used the night before.

“We can use hypnotic suggestions to control humans and sometimes even other vampires. If someone put hypnotic suggestions in your mind, you won’t remember anything unless they tell you to.”

“I might have seen Elena and not even know it.”

Max put one finger under her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. “There are worse things you might have done, Erica. I’m not going to protect you from this. You should have listened to me. You should have trusted me!”

She pulled the blanket around her against the awful cold. “I’m sorry, Max. I wanted to. But she’s my sister. She told me they’d hurt her if you came with me. What could I do?”

“She’s using you, Erica. Whatever sick purpose she has, she’s not in trouble. She’s not waiting for you to rescue her. She’s waiting for you to fall into her trap.”