Sanctuary (Blood Bound Book 9)

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1Nick parked his car a couple blocks from The Witch’s Brew. The truth was he needed a few minutes of brisk walking to wear off some of the adrenalin that had built up inside him. The word ‘overnighter’ was irritating the hell out of him and he wanted to find out if Gypsy’s definition of the word was the same as his. That… and this was as good excuse as any to get away from Devon and the mess he was in.

He knew Devon would do anything for Envy, but that temper tantrum of his was going a bit too far. Nick blew his breath out wondering if he would have handled it any better than his big brother… doubtful. It also had to suck to have your personal thoughts exposed like that… especially when your thoughts involved injuring someone. If thoughts were a sin then this world was in big trouble.

The funny thing was, between Devon and Trevor; Nick thought that Trevor was in the right mind frame. Trevor hadn't been in pain long enough to plan a whole murder… unlike Devon, who had probably already decided where to bury the body. While he had the feeling that Trevor was just being nice for show… at least the cop was making an effort to not let his personal feelings toward Devon get in the way.

Right now, the two of them needed to work together and make sure Envy was as comfortable and happy as possible. So far… that wasn’t happening. If this kept going the way it was, it could cause Envy to stress herself out and lose the baby.

“Idiots,” he muttered to himself.

Turning the last corner, Nick saw a man leaning against the front window of The Witch’s Brew and quickly stepped out of sight. The man was standing perfectly still with his palms flat against the glass… just staring in like a voyeur.

‘What do we have here, the overnighter… or a stalker?’ Nick c****d an eyebrow giving the guy the once-over. The man looked like a playboy in his Armani and gold jewelry, not counting his hundred dollar ‘I’m cooler than you’ haircut. He flipped his long bangs out of his face mentally denying the jealous streak he was feeling.

Nick bent down and picked up a rock, rolling it around in his hand before giving it a hard sling. It hit the lamppost behind the man with a loud ping, sounding almost too loud in the twilight evening.

When the man’s head jerked around to see what had made the sound, Nick caught the unnatural glow of his eyes when the light shimmered across them just right. He growled inwardly wondering if the city would ever be rid of all the damn vampires.

Silently slipping his pistol from its holster, Nick made sure to keep it hidden in the shadows while he double checked to make sure the chamber was loaded. The last thing he wanted to do was wound the dangerous creature instead of killing it. He tightened the silencer deciding he didn’t need an audience for this.

Why a vampire would be hanging out around The Witch’s Brew was beyond him… especially since the place sold things that killed them.

Peeking around the brick outcropping, Nick raised his left arm and put the vampire in the gun’s crosshairs. Pulling back on the trigger, he smirked when the vampire actually turned and looked at him just before the bullet hit him above the right eye.

Nick moved from his hiding spot fast enough to catch the blood sucker before he fell. He took note of some pedestrians looking his way and sighed in relief. To the onlookers, it just appeared to be two buddies out for a night of drinking who had to hold each other up. He swayed a little to make it look good before rounding the corner of the building and dumping the body behind the trash dumpster.

He stood there a moment before toeing the vampire to make sure he stayed dead. He felt something shift in the air and turned toward the mouth of the alley just in time to see another vampire coming at him.

These city vampires were cowards and hardly ever traveled alone. Couldn’t say he blamed them with all of the demons running around. He frowned at the discomforting change in the city’s food chain.

The vampire leapt toward him and Nick held his arms out, catching the vampire by the cloth of his shirt. He used the momentum to send him flying down the alley. He cursed when he felt the vampire grab hold of his gun and pull it from his hand. It was a good thing his finger wasn’t on the trigger or the bullet would have missed the critter entirely.

“You killed Bernard,” the vampire hissed.

Nick glanced down at the dead vamp, “Don’t worry, you’ll be joining your lover soon.”

“Shifter trash,” the vampire cursed and came at him.

Nick bent his legs at the knee and let his instincts take over. The vampire began tracing toward him and Nick was glad Michael had shown him how to counteract this trick. It wasn’t hard for a vampire to accomplish, but it was something that took a while for the newly born vampires to learn how to do flawlessly.

This blood sucker could do it, but he seemed to flicker as though he was moving through a strobe light rather than a smooth transition from one place to the other.

“Sloppy,” Nick muttered and reached for the sheath strapped to the back of his jeans. Just as the vampire was on top of him, Nick withdrew the wooden dagger and stabbed it deep into the vampire’s throat.

Thick, dark blood poured from the wound and all over Nick’s hand. He flexed his wrist and the dagger broke off, leaving the pine wood buried inside the vampire. His head c****d to the side in a feline fashion as the vamp staggered back a couple of steps before gurgling something unintelligible and falling over.

Nick decided to make sure the thing was dead and brought the bottom of his combat boot down on the vampire’s head, crushing it. Lifting his foot, he turned it up and made a face at the mess on the bottom of it before doing his own rendition of scraping his foot on the ground trying to get it off.

Finally satisfied, he went back down the alley to retrieve his pistol and glared at the broken dagger.

“Damn, now I have to make a new one,” Nick complained and took out his cell phone.

The phone rang three times before it was answered by a very familiar voice.

“Hey Nick,” the voice greeted.

Nick frowned, “My number’s unlisted.”

“I know, you’re number is the only one that shows up as a private number.”

Nick sighed, “I need a favor Harley. I’ve got a pick up for the cleaners. There’s a vampire down behind the dumpster of The Witches Brew and another one with a crushed in skull a few feet away in the same alley.”

“Be there in five,” Harley said wide eyed then sighed when Nick simply hung up.

They’d all been instructed not to take the vampires on because of how dangerous even one of them could be. Here Nick was clocking in two of them in the same night… and it wasn’t the first time.

“Damn vampires,” Nick muttered and quickly reloaded the retrieved pistol. Not wanting to press his luck, he came out of the dark alley keeping his attention focused on every movement around him. He discretely pocketed the dagger handle and stuffed his blood covered hand in his pocket… he’d wash the jeans later.

Nick frowned when he made his way back to the door and found the closed sign staring back at him at eye level. He glared at it. How the hell had he missed that thing? In his defense, he’d been a little busy with a couple of fangers. His gaze lowered to the notice… reading that the shop would be closed tomorrow.

“Damn it,” Nick cursed, suppressing the urge to kick the defenseless door.

The overnighter must have been rescheduled. The old saying ‘you snooze you lose’ came back to haunt him. He completely forgot his paranoia about vampires and marched right back into the alley where the side door of the shop was located. Holstering the gun, he tried the door and found it locked.

“Goody,” Nick whispered and kneeled down in front of the door. “This night is just full of freakin’ surprises,” He ranted to himself. “What did you expect? Her to call you and tell you she was leaving for her… overnighter? Dummy, it’s not like you’re her boyfriend or anything. Just because you haven’t asked her out on a date doesn’t mean others won't.”

Nick glared at the lock as if it was its fault. He’d already noticed that the store’s alarm system was simply for show and had been since the old man died. Either Gypsy hadn't paid the bill or she’d had it turned off not thinking she needed it.

He smirked, the deadbolts might be enough to keep the newbie’s out, but this was the city… even he was a pro. The girl undeniably needed someone watching out for her.

Taking out a small wallet-like item, he flipped it open and withdrew two tools that looked like tiny awls. Placing them both into the lock on the door, he proceeded to pick it open. When the lock turned, he grinned and quickly put the tools away.

Glancing around to make sure he was still alone, Nick smiled as he slipped inside and bolted the door behind him. He’d have to talk to Gypsy when she got home about her ‘security’ system. Maybe even offer his services… free of charge of course.

Nick stood still for a moment letting his night vision kick in before walking through the storage area and into the main room.

The store was beautiful at night, the streams of streetlight shining in the front reflected off all of the crystals that were scattered throughout the room. The bottles of potions and scents reflected different colors and the glint of polished silver weapons lined the walls. It was serene and hypnotic to his feline senses.

Making sure not to disturb anything, he moved through the shop on a mission… to find anything he could about where Gypsy had gone and just who she was meeting. If he had a rival, then he wanted a face and name to go with it.

“Jealous? Who me? Nooo,” Nick rolled his eyes at his little attempt of humor. He’d never really felt jealousy before and the fact that he was feeling it now had him curious as hell.

After combing through all of the paperwork near the front counter, he decided he was looking in the wrong place. Heading back the way he’d come, Nick passed up the storage area until he came to a set of steps leading down into the basement. He’d wanted to know what was hidden down there for a while now and it looked like he was finally going to get his chance to find out.

His grin faded and his eyes narrowed. The bottom of the stairs was barred by what looked like an old fashioned vault door that had been built into the brick and mortar. He c****d an eyebrow realizing the store must have been built over top of a bomb shelter. Now if that wasn’t just as neat as hell. The large wheel on the front of the metal door told Nick that it was a combination lock.

“Great,” Nick complained “This place is locked up tighter than Envy with Devon as her warden.”

Rubbing his hands together, he stepped up to the door and gave the wheel a spin. Then, pressing his ear against the door he concentrated, letting his feline senses pick up the tiniest click of vibration. He began to slowly and methodically move the wheel around until finally, he got the last click and heard the lever echo as it released its hold.

“Gotcha,” Nick whispered and pulled the thick steel door the rest of the way open. He felt excitement bubble up inside of him as he realized he was getting ready to possibly see Gypsy’s inner sanctum.

The first thing he noticed was that she’d left the lights on… just not your normal lights. Several crystal vases were scattered around, housing huge candles that would probably stay lit for a week if they were left alone. They added a mystical atmosphere to the room, showing off a lot of the same crystals The Witch’s Brew sold upstairs. From the looks of things, she probably picked her favorites from each shipment and kept them for herself.

Sliding the tips of his fingers over a crystal wizard and then a black crystal dragon, Nick's lips hinted at a smile knowing what to get her for Christmas. His Gypsy girl had a fetish for crystals… not that it wasn’t an awesome thing to collect. She had a renaissance type theme going on that fit her perfectly.