chapter 30

when daisy awoke the next morning, she wasn't surprised to find alex in the kitchen fixing breakfast. as usual, he didn't know the meaning of the word small, and she didn't think he'd eaten cereal since they were kids. they weren't having cereal this morning, either. bacon sizzled in one frying pan, there were scrambled eggs in another.

with a shake of her head, daisy sat at the kitchen table.

"hey, sis, you hungry?"

"i'd better be," she muttered, "or a lot of this is going to waste."

alex shrugged as he expertly flipped one pancake after another. "breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know that, and if we're going after costain, well..."

he didn't finish the sentence, but then, he didn't have to. if they were hunting costain, they'd need their strength.

the star wars theme cut across the silence. with a shake of her head, daisy reached for alex's cell phone, which was sitting on the table.

"don't answer it!" alex warned. "it's either mom or dad. they've been calling since daybreak."

daisy stared at the phone until it stopped ringing. "we probably should have left a note. i wonder why they haven't called me."

"have you checked your phone? maybe it's dead."

"maybe. i'll check it later."

alex handed daisy a plate, then sat down across from her. "i'm sure they've figured out what we're up to."

"i guess so. still..." daisy picked up her fork. "you don't think dad will come here, do you?"

alex shrugged. "i doubt it. you know how he is. he's always let us make our own choices."

daisy nodded. her parents had never tried to control the lives of their children. noah and irene had taught them right from wrong, then let them discover for themselves that there were rewards or consequences for every act and every decision.

they ate in silence for several minutes before alex said, "so, how do you want to play this?"

"i'm not sure. i just know we need to find erik before it's too late. he's hurting, alex. he might be dying."

"come on, daisy, he can't be dying. he's already dead. the only way to take a vampire out now is by lopping off their head. or impaling them with a well-placed stake."

"all right, maybe what's happening to him won't kill him, but he's in pain unlike anything you can imagine. i dreamed about him again last night, and it was awful. i could see him. he's in a dungeon, chained to a wall. he hasn't fed in days..."

alex blew out a sigh. "you know they don't have to feed every day."

"stop it! i know what i'm feeling, what i've seen. we came here to help him, remember?"

alex rolled his eyes. "all right, all right." taking up his cell phone, he turned it off and shoved it into his pocket. "let's get this show on the road."

finding erik's whereabouts proved to be much easier than daisy had expected. she didn't need her compass, although it was open in her lap as she drove. all she had to do was concentrate on erik. as if guided by an internal gps, she knew which streets to take, where to turn, and where to stop.

"you're sure he's in there?" alex asked as she parked the lexus.

"yes," she said, but she couldn't help frowning as she read the small hand-lettered sign above the door. la morte rouge.

"looks like a nightclub or a fancy whorehouse," alex remarked. "are you sure he's in trouble and not just...ah, scratching an itch?"

"i'm sure," daisy replied succinctly.

"uh-huh. so, where do we go from here? this is your party. you call the shots."

daisy closed her eyes. she could sense erik's presence, but only faintly. at this time of the day, she figured he was resting. so, what now? did they try to go in the front door, or find a back entrance? she glanced at the compass in her hand. the needle glowed red. if only it could tell her how many vampires were inside.

"daisy?"

she glanced up and down the street. there was no one in sight. "let's see if we can find another entrance."

"you're the boss."

daisy grimaced. that was a scary thought. taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and walked around the corner of the building. the property in the rear of la morte rouge sloped downward. a narrow stone staircase led to a lower level.

she breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the bottom of the stairs. the hill leveled out; the ground was mostly flat, dotted with weeds. there were no windows on the back side of the building. there was, however, a corroded iron door. it had a lock, but no handle.

"alex?"

"i'm on it." pulling out his trusty lock pick, he set to work.

"what's taking so long?"

"don't get your panties in a twist. it's an old lock."

daisy tapped her foot impatiently. if they couldn't get in this way, they'd have to go through the front door. she frowned inwardly. maybe the front door would have been the way to go. maybe the lower floor was some kind of lair. for all they knew, rhys could be inside.

she was about to ask alex if they were doing the right thing when he murmured, "bingo!" he gave a little push on the door and it swung open with a rusty creak.

daisy took a few steps forward. she peered into the darkness beyond the doorway, wrinkled her nose against the musty smell emanating from the inside.

"smells like something died in there," alex muttered as he pulled a flashlight from his pocket. "come on."

if she hadn't been one hundred percent sure that erik was in there somewhere and that he needed her, she never would have followed alex into that foul-smelling cavern.

the corridor seemed to go on and on, with the smell of decomposing flesh growing increasingly odious until, abruptly, the corridor opened into a cavernous room that looked like something out of an old horror flick.

alex swept his flashlight back and forth, revealing a dozen small animal cages along one wall, and six larger cells on the other.

they found the source of the horrible smell lying on its stomach a foot or so from the last cage.

erik was in the last cell. he was sprawled on his back, his eyes closed, his arms shackled to the wall behind him.

daisy gasped when the flashlight's beam settled on his face. his cheeks were sunken, his skin looked like old parchment.

"i think we're too late," alex whispered. "let's get the hell out of here."

"erik? erik, wake up!" she moved closer to the cell, her hands curling around the bars. was he breathing? he couldn't be dead! there was no stake in his heart; his head--she shuddered--was still attached to the rest of him. "erik, it's daisy. please wake up." she glanced over her shoulder, her unease at being in this horrible place growing by the minute. the sooner they got out of there, the better. "erik!"

he jackknifed into a sitting position, his movement so fast, so unexpected, she jumped backward, colliding with alex, who had been standing behind her.

pressing a hand to her heart, daisy murmured, "thank the lord!"

"daisy?"

"i'm here." she reached through the bars, wanting, needing, to touch him.

erik shook his head. "get out of here," he said hoarsely. "now." he looked at alex. "get her out of here."

"we're not leaving without you," daisy said.

"dammit! rhys owns this club. he's probably upstairs right now. get out of here!"

"alex, the door, hurry." daisy glanced over her shoulder, her memory of the last time they had encountered rhys all too vivid in her mind.

unlike the lock on the door to the dungeon, the lock on the cell door clicked open on the first try.

erik hissed as alex stepped inside. "get out of here! dammit, do you want to die? i haven't fed in weeks."

alex took a quick step backward, putting himself out of reach. "all right, daisy mae, now what?"

"give me the pick," daisy said.

"no way! going in there is suicide. look at his eyes."

daisy took a deep breath as she plucked the lock pick from her brother's hand. "he won't hurt me."

"are you willing to bet your life on that?"

"yes, because we don't have time to stand here arguing about it."

"daisy, no!" erik scrambled to his feet. "get out!" he closed his eyes as the hunger rose up within him, hot and heavy. "go. please, daisy."

"no."

he didn't have to open his eyes to know she was standing beside him. her scent teased his nostrils, the rapid beat of her heart was like thunder in his ears as she picked the lock on the silver shackles that bound him.

as soon as the chains fell away, his arms closed around her.

daisy stared up into his eyes, eyes burning with the need for blood. she took a deep breath. it wasn't wise to show fear in the face of a predator. "erik, just wait a few more minutes, until we're out of here, and then i'll give you what you need, i promise."

it was hard to concentrate on her words when her blood was singing so sweetly, promising an end to the pain knifing through him. she was here, warm in his arms. her blood...he needed it as she needed air to breathe. the urge to bury his fangs in her throat grew stronger. he could take her, and her brother, too. it would be so easy.

"erik." she stroked his cheek with her fingertips. "we need to go."

he stared at the love shining brightly in the depths of her eyes and then, with a murmured curse, he released her and staggered out of the cell. "we need to hurry," he said, his voice tight with pain. "rhys is coming."

muttering, "i've got a bad feeling about this," alex grabbed erik, slung him over his shoulder, and headed for the door with daisy hot on his heels.

she blinked against the sunlight when they emerged. "wait! the sun!" tugging off her sweater, she threw it over erik's head. "the door! shouldn't we lock the door?"