Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 15

Hi!

Things are getting out of hand here! I have literally no time to write, at all. So here's the deal: Instead of not updating at all, you're getting two short chapters this and next week. Sorry guys, but it's really all I can do at the moment. Still, even though it's short, I hope you like this one! Have a great week! :-)

Lara

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Chapter 15

My head whipped to Andy. No! Giving Fabrice blood, again?

"Andy?" It came out more as a plea than anything else.

He was motionless. He didn't even look at me, holding the vampire's stare without flinching. The lines and angles of his face hardened until I saw that version of him that made me look at him twice when I first met him. It was the rock-hard determination of someone gearing up for battle. The knowledge of what might come, maybe even death, was chiseled into his eyes. And he wasn't looking away.

Please don't do this.

But it was too late. I knew it. Andy had made his decision. He was going to invite death on his doorstep, no matter the consequences.

Fabrice, meanwhile, leaned forward slightly, smiling. "Now I'm intrigued."

"We believe that the Raven has placed someone within the Circle, and we think it's likely a shape shifter," Andy said. "My question: Have you seen anything that would point to Marrok aligning himself with the Raven?"

Fabrice stared at us for a moment before he threw his head back, laughing.

"Marrok and Raphael Medici? Are you insane? The two of them wouldn't remain in one and the same boat if the world was drowning around them."

I frowned. This was the second time someone told me a liaison between the two of them was impossible – both times I'd been told by a vampire. It was starting to worry me. Then again, none of the two vamps knew what we knew.

"What have you heard about the new alliance between the Fade pack and the half-witches?" I said.

For the first time the vampire put his full attention to me. I couldn't say I liked it. The weight of power was crushing and had a familiar ring to it. Yeah, hadn't I felt enough of that kind of attention before?

"Ah. Now I understand." Fabrice looked at me, face slack with the kind of blandness only the older vampires possessed. "I was wondering about the nature of the alliance, myself. The half-witches may be big in numbers, but in truth pose no serious threat compared to the other players in the city. Marrok has secured his power within and around the keep. If he wanted more power or align himself with someone because he believed a shift in New York's power structure was going to happen, he would have made another choice."

I leaned forward. "What are you trying to say?"

"The witches have something that he wanted," Andy murmured from beside me.

Fabrice made a motion with his head, insignificant and almost imperceptible. "There were rumors that Chris Hayes' properties were booby trapped to the nines," he said. "There were repeated attempts to break into her business ventures. At first I only ascribed it to her recent brush with Raphael Medici, but I'm beginning to doubt that."

"What did she have that they could have possibly wanted?" Andy said.

Could it be? The half-witches. The flash drive...

My breath was stuck in my throat, caught up in a growing lump of dirt that tasted of blood and metal. Fabrice sensed it, eyes going to me. I stared into black irises that might have been liquid obsidian or just a trick of the mind. I willed air into my lungs until my pulse slowed down.

"That I haven't figured out myself yet." Fabrice leaned back. A slow smile slithered on his face, a shadow of a human expression. His fangs were protruding from his mouth as his gaze settled on Andy.

"Now to the payment. First I will drink from you." His gaze shifted back to me. "Then you will let me taste her."

My eyes narrowed. Fabrice was smiling in a suave way, but the expression lacked warmth. It was designed to fool the observer and distract. I was staring at someone that was not human, and I was starting to see a pattern I recognized. I'd seen it often enough on Alexander's face. It was a deliberate move.

Asking for my blood as well? I knew Fabrice did it for some reason – only why? A few weeks ago I would have said it was just about the blood. But I didn't know then what I knew at this point in time. Fabrice saw me react to what he said about Chris' properties. He knew I knew something. Did Fabrice realize drinking from me might gain him access to my mind?

The vampire's eyes moved back to Andy, the motion slow and precise. There was a sardonic smile on his face that had a bitter taste to it.

Andy got up before I could even process what it might mean. His arms were shaking at his sides, knuckles white and sharp where he burrowed his fingers into his palms.

"No. My blood and information – one free share. That's all you're going to get. You're not even going to touch her," he said in a low voice.

"So this is where your heart truly lies, then. I was wondering if you still had one." Fabrice stilled, watching Andy with the eyes of a predator preparing for the killing blow. "I have no need for information. There is none you could give to me that would be worth it anyway. No Varner, this time it will cost you more than blood if you complete her part of the payment as well."

I stared at the vampire who was looking intently at Andy. Fabrice licked his lips. Something about the look in his eyes as he said those words chilled me to the bone. It was too intimate and too hungry for someone who just wanted –

I gasped. He couldn't mean...

I shot up from my seat. "That won't be necessary. You can have my blood."

Andy grabbed my arm. "That's not your call to make!"

I glared at him, shaking his hand off. "The hell it is!"

Fabrice smiled. "Now that is an interesting revelation."