Chapter 6
Alicia walked down the sidewalk heading for a specific area of the city. She’d snuck past her guards and out of the club without getting caught. A grin broke out on her face as she remembered walking right past Quinn at the door and he hadn’t even blinked. He’d even wished her a safe ride home.
Cat calls and wolf whistles followed her down the street and a few men actually got the courage to make lewd advances toward her but she blew them off. She didn’t have time to play with morons who had nothing better to do with their time than make a woman feel like a side dish. She was on a mission to find Micah and she wasn’t going to be distracted.
Entering a shadier area of LA, Alicia slowed her pace and approached a set of alleyways that she knew was a big hang out for hookers and criminals. She silently laughed to herself imagining some pimp coming up to her and demanding to know why she was on his turf. Boy she’d make sure he changed his line of work real quick. On second thought, by the time she was done with him he’d probably be on disability.
Alicia slowly inhaled trying to follow any smell of blood or wolf on the air. She wrinkled her nose realizing for the first time she could actually smell evil. Was it the demon they were calling Misery? Was it hanging around this area waiting to find someone else?
A shiver traveled down her back as she pictured a few more grotesque scenarios and almost turned around. She swallowed when she saw a gang of human men dragging another woman down a dark alley kicking and screaming. Alicia could tell she wasn’t a prostitute by the way she was dressed. The poor woman’s picture would probably be seen on the news tomorrow night as a missing person.
Two men were just up the sidewalk openly doing a drug deal. Alicia saw the white powder and wrinkled her nose at the scent of cocaine. She knew that’s what it was because some of the local mobsters always had some on them when they came to the club.
A homeless man dressed in rags stumbled toward her pushing an old shopping cart. He looked at her as they passed by each other and she shivered again when she heard him cackle at her before walking on.
Alicia continued on trying to keep her courage and passed by a parked car that had a few men standing around it. One of them was wearing a white wifebeater and a pair of black denim shorts that hung low on his hips and went past the knees. There was a thick gold rope chain around his neck and when he smiled at her, Alicia saw his entire top row of teeth were gold as well.
When she walked by the car the men started shouting at her, basically making booty calls. The one in the white wife beater was silent but Alicia could smell gunpowder on him. They all wore bandanas of the same color stating their affiliation with a gang of some sort which made Alicia all the more nervous.
Finding herself on the main strip she spotted a large crowd of girls gathering on a few of the street corners. At this point, she stopped and leaned back against the wall wanting to watch and observe for a moment.
One thing she noticed was the girls looked very tired and weary, they didn’t smile and they were all chain smoking. She blinked in surprise as the weariness suddenly washed away when a man approached them. Their lips stretched into fake smiles and they used their bodies to entice the men that came close.
Alicia sighed feeling sorry for the girls out here. She’d always wanted to wait on the right guy… Mr. Perfect, but the older she got the more she realized that the only person she’d ever love was Micah. She’d tried to break herself of her big brother complex a while back but finally gave up worrying about it and just decided to love him.
Thoughts of Micah snapped her back to attention and forced her to remember why she was out here. At the same moment, she turned her head when she smelled blood in the air.
She spotted a man now talking to a couple of the prostitutes while watching her over their shoulder. He smiled and tilted his head invitingly, urging her to join them. A car drove past and the glow of the headlights washed across his face. His eyes glowed momentarily, giving off the eerie light that only non-humans possess.
The man turned around and started to walk away, taking about three quarters of the women with him. Alicia rushed across the street to follow them at a distance. She wasn’t sure if he was a vampire or a werewolf, but she knew he wasn’t human. She tailed them to an alley a couple of streets over and stopped at the entrance to peek around the corner.
There were several men waiting in the alley and Alicia scanned over them wanting to see the one with the immortal eyes. She figured that if she could entice him to follow her away from the others, she could question him about Micah. After that, she would kill him and if her luck held out she could probably come back for a second one. It would be her version of community service, keeping the city clean.
The stench of evil was so strong now it was making her nose burn. Not wanting to go too deep into the alley, Alicia stayed at a distance and looked over the men one more time. He suddenly appeared amidst everyone gathered in the alley and she tried to catch his eye again.
Damon silently landed on the lower fire escape in the same alley, keeping the shadows wrapped around him like a cloak. He made a face at the smell, recognizing it from the scene at the cemetery. He thought he would be tracking soulless vampires tonight but quickly realized the scent in the air was like a neon sign.
Glancing down at the group of vampires, he determined it wasn’t them he was sensing so strongly. Again, he wondered who in the hell had started this domino affect. It wasn’t Michael because he knew for a fact Michael was busy trying to kill them, not make them… and Kane had almost died fighting the good fight. Somehow that didn’t make sense unless they were just cleaning up the mess they’d made.
A slithering darkness caught his attention and Damon looked up seeing the same thing that had blown its way out of the church. His eyes narrowed on it, this time confirming it was a powerful demon. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well for the prostitutes but that wasn’t his concern.
“Stupid girls,” Damon whispered inwardly even as his eyes narrowed on a girl who was walking into the death trap.
Her skin was pale even with her attempt at wearing too much makeup. His gaze paused on her full cherry red lips as she raised her chin in determination and continued marching toward her death. He’d almost swear he’d seen those lips before but couldn’t remember where. She had straight black hair that did not suit her at all but it did expose her neck to the soulless vampire that had already decided she was a good mark.
Damon let his gaze trail down her body in appreciation. Her shoulders were set proudly and back just a bit accentuating her breasts to their fullest capacity. From there her belly dipped inward giving her the perfect hourglass shape and her hips swayed as she walked giving him a good idea of how they would rock if her creamy thighs and long legs were wrapped around him. Her body had more curves than a mountainside road and his eyes couldn’t help but linger on her derrière.
If she were selling her body, then man or beast would have to be blind not to buy it. His instincts suddenly told him that he needed to save this girl. He wasn’t ready to take on the demon but he could take the girl away from here. After that… who knew.
His mind made up, Damon leapt off the fire escape and landed between her and the darkness waiting at the end of the alley. He locked his gaze with hers and felt something inside of him heat up when those wide emerald eyes stared up at him in fear and surprise.
Alicia had taken another step forward just as a man dropped down directly in front of her. She fought the urge to shriek in surprise and held a hand to her chest in an attempt to stop her heart from hammering so hard.
She took a step back, her high heeled shoe clicking abnormally loud in the alley. She was suddenly uncertain because this vampire didn’t look like the others… somehow his good looks reminded her of Michael but in a more dark and dangerous sort of way. He had startling eyes that held the oddest color of amethyst and dark windblown hair not quite reaching his shoulders.
His face and body were dangerously seductive and she resisted the urge to reach up and run a hand through his hair just to see if it was a soft as it looked. The feline part of her personality was fighting itself and wanted nothing more than to shift just so she could rub up against his legs and purr in contentment.
She paused in her line of thinking and reached up to touch the necklace hoping it was still working. She didn’t feel any different but she wasn’t really sure what a vampire thrall truly felt like.
Damon saw the darkness above them getting closer, at the same time he felt the other vampire moving in from the loud orgy taking place at the end of the alley. The sounds coming from the people were very distracting… making Damon want to do other things. He knew he would have to have a power boost if he wanted to get her out of the demons path.
Acting fast, he grabbed the dark haired girl around the waist and pulled her flush against his chest. Before she could react properly, he bared his fangs and sank them deep into her neck.
Alicia flinched then completely relaxed as a wave of ecstasy washed over her. She wondered if this is what it felt like when someone had sex. A vision of Micah popped into her head and she realized what was happening. She opened her mouth and screamed.
Damon was surprised at the delayed reaction from the woman and lifted his mouth from her neck. She was pushing against him and fighting to be set loose. Damon sighed mentally and took her chin in his hand. Their eyes met again and she felt something warm against her chest. The spell within the necklace was protecting her… lending the proof she needed that this vampire was trying to put her under his thrall.
She glared back at him and jerked her head forward in an effort to head butt him. No way in hell was some bloodsucker going to have her for dinner.
Damon leaned his head back just out of her reach and growled. He was starting to get aggravated because now they were attracting unwanted attention from the curious vampires. If she’d stop screaming things would be a lot easier. Turning his head to glare at the interloper, Damon dragged the woman away from the hungry horde.
Alicia felt like spitting nails when the vampire dragged her away from her target. She opened her mouth to tell him she’d rather make money off someone that didn’t bite so hard but stopped when she looked over his shoulder at what was going on behind them.
Bodies were writhing and moaning against one another on the floor of the alley. She watched as the vampire she’d been tracking grabbed one of the available girls and ripped her top away before dragging her to the ground. Thanks to the powerful stranger still pressed against her, she’d lost her mark and that only made her madder.
Her struggles increased and Damon wondered if she had a death wish. That was when he realized her blood tasted different from that of a regular woman. The power rush he’d gotten from it was addicting and he found himself wanting more of it… more of her. She was shouting at him now, telling him to let her go and that she had a job to do.
Damon grabbed her by the chin again and turned her face toward his. His lips closed heatedly over hers and his tongue slipped between them just to shut her up. The kiss quickly became heated and Damon grabbed her left thigh, hiking it up so he could press himself tighter against her.
Alicia felt her thighs go up in flames as desire ripped through her from the kiss… from his firm gripping hands… and from the hard arousal that was pressed right between her thighs. She couldn’t help the rocking motion that only made it feel even better. They’d almost forgotten the danger lurking behind them until one of the women cried out in a mixture of ecstasy and pain.
Alicia had never wanted anyone or anything so badly in her life but she needed to stop before it was too late to turn back. She withdrew her tongue and bit him on the lip to snap him out of whatever it was that possessed them to nearly copulate in a dirty alley.
Damon pulled back from her sharp teeth and tried to catch his breath. It was the first time in many years he’d felt this much true, raw passion and he didn’t want to be denied just because this little slip of a woman decided she was going to be too strong willed for his thrall.
Placing his hand over her mouth he leaned close to her face. “It’s either all of them… or it’s me. Take your pick.” He growled deep in his chest as a vision of her beneath him on his large bed raged through his mind.
Gripping her hair, he attempted to tilt her head so he could return to the kiss. Alicia suddenly pushed him away and he was startled by the strength she possessed. What surprised him even more was the wig he now held in his hand. Looking back up at her, he saw beautiful, long blonde hair falling in waves around her face.
“It’s you,” he whispered in confusion and took a step forward, recognizing the girl he’d saved at the cemetery.
Alicia felt true panic set in and she started whispering a spell from the book Kane had taken from her. For some reason she didn’t want to hurt this guy but he wasn’t giving her much of a choice.
Damon froze recognizing the spell she was whispering… a chant from Syn’s book of spells that, last he knew, was in Kane's possession. She was going to escape him and it pissed him off. He didn’t want her to escape unless she was in his arms begging for a different kind of release. His anger caused his eyes to bleed red and he glared at her with enough heat to rival the sun at high noon.
“That’s better,” Alicia said cockily when the vampire tried to move and couldn’t. “Now, asshole, where is Micah? What have you monsters done with him?”
When she finally looked up at his eyes, she saw they were blood red and understood the danger she’d truly been in. Reaching for the hem of her skirt, she removed a wooden knife from a special pouch Micah had shown her how to make without being obvious. This man would have killed her if she’d allowed him to continue.
Damon wanted to growl but the spell she’d placed him under also prevented speech so, if she wanted answers she’d have to wait until he could move again. His eyes widened when she removed the dagger from the hem of her skirt. She was going to kill him without waiting for an answer? Either this girl needed some mental stability or a kick in the ass to unscramble her brain.
He mentally screamed when the wooden dagger sank into his flesh. It was a pain he hadn’t felt for a very long time and he still remembered the ache from a wound very much like this one in the not so distant past.
Damon heard sounds behind him and wanted to tell the girl to get out of the alley. He could smell the lust and greed on the vampires, along with the blood of those women they’d killed without a sound. Seeing her fighting him like this, they would think he had lost his hold on the girl and that made her fair game for any that wanted her.
She moved and he saw the blood running down the side of her neck and inwardly cursed. They were advancing because of the blood… they could smell it like a fine wine.
Alicia heard a noise further down the alley and looked over the handsome vampire’s shoulder. Her eyes widened when she saw the other vampires closing in and nearly screamed at the carnage left at the far end. The women she’d followed in here were slaughtered yet she hadn’t heard a sound.
Panic set in and Alicia did the only thing she could think of… she turned and ran.
Running back out onto the street, she started backtracking the way she had come. Hearing a noise behind her, she chanced a quick glance over her shoulder and saw two of the vampires chasing after her. However, it wasn’t the vampires that made her scream and forced the adrenaline rush into her legs… it was the smoky darkness that suddenly covered the entrance to the alley… the same living darkness she’d seen at the church.
Damon narrowed his eyes when the smoke appeared over the entrance of the alley creating an impenetrable wall. A beautiful woman with long dark hair stepped into sight and began circling him, inspecting him like a purchase at the local market.
“You’re not the silver-haired one,” Misery said and walked around in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her leg until it was wrapped around his thigh like she’d seen him make the little blond girl do. “You’ll do nicely until I find him.”
Silver haired, was she talking about Kane?
“You smell like him,” Misery said with a smile on her face. “Are you related? Brothers perhaps?” she smiled mischievously knowing this vampire was still under the enchantment she'd watched that slip of a girl put on him.
“My poor vampire, you do not have to answer that. I can smell his scent on you though it is very faint.” She ghosted the tips of her fingers over his lips. “Once I have his soul, I will take the powerful one for my own.”
Now Damon was really concerned. If this monster was after Kane, he’d have to find a way to protect him.
Misery leaned forward and pressed her plump lips against his and Damon mentally steeled himself. Still unable to move, he could not push the bitch away or do anything to harm her. His eyes widened when he saw her hair thin and start falling out of her head. Her skin shriveled revealing raw muscle and a bit of bone peeking out.
Damon fought the nausea building up inside of him and wracked his brain trying to figure a way out of this. Something silver streaked past him out of the corner of his eye and Misery suddenly lurched away from him, shrieking and holding her arm. Damon saw the silver feather sticking out of what was left of her flesh and it was eating away at her.
She reached up and pulled the feather out of her arm, dropping it when it started to eat through her hand. Damon refused to let fear overwhelm him as, for the first time since he was a child, he was truly terrified. The rotting corpse that was Misery hissed at something behind and above him before melding back into the smoky wall.
The smoke released, slithering up the wall of the abandoned building and slipping into one of the broken windows of an upper floor. The heavy breathing of the demon suddenly vanished and Damon mentally sighed in relief.
Now that he wasn’t staring into the blonde girl’s beautiful eyes or thinking about a rotting demon coming on to him, Damon’s mind cleared enough to remember the reversal chant to Syn’s spell. Anger lent power to the spell and he mentally started chanting. Very slowly, starting with his lips, Damon felt the spell releasing him. Less than a moment later he was free of its hold and wanting to rip something apart.
Hissing at the pain in his chest, he didn’t have time to pull the wooden knife out as he whipped his head around to glare at the remaining vampires still in the alley. Seems the demon had left him a present behind to take his rage out on… fine with him. Baring his teeth, Damon tore into them and literally ripped them apart one by one as they attacked.
Alicia ran at top speed trying to outdistance the vampires hot on her heels. She stumbled and nearly twisted her ankle in the stiletto heels and quickly kicked them off. Nearing the car where the neighborhood gang had been, the only one there now was the man in the white wife beater.
He opened the door of his car and waved at her. “Get in!”
Alicia didn’t ask and wasn’t about to. She dove headfirst into the front seat and the man got in the driver’s side. He started the engine and floored the gas, driving right by the vampires and fired off two rounds from the pistol hidden in the front of his pants. Spinning the car around in the middle of the street, he burned rubber out of the bad section of town.
“Looks like one of them tried to waste you,” The man said handing the bandana on his head to her.
Alicia nodded, “Yeah.” She took the bandana and pressed it to her shoulder.
“Where ya headed?”
Alicia shook her head, “Just drop me off a few blocks from Moon Dance.”
The guy nodded and broke every speed limit there was until they reached a better part of town.
“Here’s fine,” Alicia said quietly.
The car rolled to a stop and Alicia opened the door. “Thank you…” she paused not knowing what to call him.
The man smiled, the gold in his teeth shining in the dim overhead light. “I’m Markus.”
Alicia smiled and held out her hand. “Alicia,”
Markus grinned and shook her hand. “I’ll see you around Alicia, and stay out of that part of town… someone like you don’t belong there.”
Alicia shut the car door and stood on the sidewalk watching him until he was out of sight. With a sigh, Alicia started walking toward Moon Dance. She winced when the bite in her shoulder became an ache and pressed the bandana tighter to the wound. She couldn’t believe she’d let that freaking vampire bite her like that.
She had walked almost a block when she heard something behind her and whirled around in surprise.
“Damn it,” Alicia whimpered and started running again.
The vampires had somehow followed her and were chasing after her again. She thought for sure the car could outdistance them but she’d been wrong. Soon, the foreboding sensation was gone and came in behind Moon Dance. Leaning back against the brick wall, she fought to catch her breath. Taking the bandana away from the wound, she grimaced at the puncture marks visible on her skin.
With blood on her neck and dress, she just knew if the jaguars spotted her and saw it they would tell Quinn and she’d be grounded until she was one hundred years old. She started wondering if she shouldn’t tell someone anyway… at least then they’d know that Misery was still in the city.
Alicia stood upright and took a deep breath. She would go to Nick first and prayed he didn’t decide to pull his usual stunt and tell Quinn everything later. Opening her eyes, she froze when she saw the two vampires grinning hungrily at her.
“Found you,” one of them said in a grating voice.
Alicia’s fight or flight instinct suddenly took over and her body shifted into a cougar just as they attacked. She reared up on her hind legs and extended her claws, digging them into the shoulders of the vampire in front of her. She pulled them out, leaving gouging marks behind before pouncing on the other one.
She lowered her head to sink her teeth into the second vampire’s face when the first one suddenly jumped on her back and dug its long nails into her shoulder and breast, clawing her through her fur. She screamed in pain and bucked, trying to get the vampire off her back. It felt like she was fighting a losing battle… a shifter usually couldn’t beat two vampires, sometimes even one vampire on its own was too much to handle.
Alicia staggered with the weight of the vampire still on her wondering how in the hell she was going to get out of this. She looked up just as the second vampire bared his fangs ready to sink them into her.
