Deathtrap (Crossbreed Series Book 3)(34)

She sauntered off, and Claude admired her, but not in a lecherous way. Claude looked at women differently than most men, as if he admired their power and spirit more than their assets.

If what Claude said about auctions was right, we might wind up sitting around for a long time. Club owners didn’t care how long patrons stayed. Hours, days… just so long as they kept ordering off the menu. Vampires don’t require sleep, and not everyone needs a job. Old money offers the luxury of a sedentary lifestyle.

Regardless, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of staying in a place like this for longer than needed. The thought lingered in the back of my mind that one of those Vamps I’d staked years earlier might show up and recognize me.

I put my hands on the seat, and my pinky brushed against Christian’s. When he hooked his finger over mine, I snapped my arm away.

Was he just trying to rile me up to see if I was attracted to him?

If so, he was right.

I’d grown up fascinated by clean-cut men because I perceived that as signifying a better life. Those were men of money or ambition—people who didn’t aspire to live in a trailer home. To be attracted to a Vampire who didn’t shave, wore shirts with holes, and owned a shack in the woods made no sense. But something about Christian’s brooding personality and dry humor appealed to me.

I squirmed in my seat when he gave me a roguish grin.

He also had smoldering eyes, and sometimes he licked his lips and did this thing where he gently scraped his teeth over his bottom lip as if he were in the midst of a sexual fantasy. The more feelings I developed for him, the more skeptical I became. Did his blood have residual influence over me? If so, then did mine have any power over him? Was part of him still inside me? It sometimes felt like none of the men I’d drunk from had left my body, so maybe having a little of Christian wasn’t such a bad thing.

And then there was the revelation of him being the hero of my past. I hadn’t been able to shake that out of my head all day. Neither of us had brought it up since, but the scene kept replaying in my mind like an old movie stuck on a loop. When he folded his arms on the table, I stared at them, imagining what his burned body had looked like after the fire and the pain he must have endured while healing.

All for me.

I might have won a silly bet for a favor, but in reality, I was the one who owed Christian.

“Something vexes you,” he said quietly. “Your heart rate is accelerating.”

“Stop doing that. You can’t read into everything.”

He propped his elbows on the table, his fingers laced together in a prayerlike gesture. He had his thumbs straight out and chin resting on them. When I caught the direction of his gaze, I realized he was staring at my necklace.

I reached inside my leather jacket and zipped my hoodie all the way to my neck.

The waitress finally appeared with a pitcher of ice water and three glasses. While she poured, Claude put his phone away. After she left, we each took a long sip and stared aimlessly around the bar. When I peered over at Christian again, his fangs were visible.

The expression on his face was so comical that I pushed my finger against a fang to snap him out of his trance. “If you’re hungry, we can stop by the blood bank,” I teased.

“Shhh.”

Then I noticed the angle of his head and realized he was listening in on a conversation. Claude and I exchanged a glance but remained silent.

Christian turned slowly, like a predator, and glared over his shoulder. “She’s going to meet up with him. I just overheard their phone call. He said he needs her to watch the baby for two hours while he finishes up a business deal.”

The adrenaline in my blood spiked.

Claude stood up and swiped the keys to the van. “I’ll drive.”

We discreetly followed Amber out the door, staying a good ten paces behind her. She wouldn’t recognize us, so it wasn’t likely she was going to speed off. We took our time getting into the van and watched her cross the parking lot and unlock the door to a silver car.

Since Christian had claimed the passenger seat, I was forced to sit in the back. Claude’s red car would stand out like a sore thumb trailing behind her. Aside from that, it was always better to stick together on a job.

“We have a lead,” Claude said into his phone. “Right into the lion’s den. Let me talk to Viktor.”

I gripped the bench when Claude backed over something and then hit the gas.

“Viktor, I wanted to let you know we’ve got a strong lead. She’s taking us to the Mage.”

“Cristo. That’s his name,” Christian added.

Claude looked at him, phone still to his ear. “His name is Cristo. We might be able to take him by surprise. He’s handing over the baby to the woman, so we’re going to sit tight. I’m not putting the child in danger. … I agree. … Okay, I’ll let them know.” When he hung up the phone, he relayed the message. “Viktor doesn’t want us going after Cristo. We follow the woman, sit tight, and wait until she has the baby. When Cristo or his man is gone, we move in. Viktor thinks Cristo will keep the auction going even if we steal the child. At least then we won’t have to worry about the baby getting hurt and we can focus on hunting him down.”

“I’m on board with that plan,” Christian agreed. “Fall back another car length. She won’t recognize me, but I don’t want her getting spooked because of a black van on her bumper.”

The streets weren’t busy, so Claude slowed down. Snow between Amber’s car and ours obscured visibility. The treacherous roads made it easy to keep up with her since she was driving carefully.

Christian turned in his seat and gave me a pensive stare. “It looks like we’re heading back to the Bricks.”

I concealed my light so Cristo couldn’t detect me. As much as I wanted to drain the bastard, this was a better plan. Save the baby first, and then set a trap. Otherwise, we could put the baby’s life in danger by gunning after Cristo.

Christian turned on the radio and said something to Claude. While there weren’t windows I could see out of, I had a feeling we’d reached the Bricks since Christian was trying to cloak his conversation with obnoxious music.

“Slow down,” he said to Claude. “Park right here.”

I made sure the laces on my black boots were tight in case we had to get out and run. What the heck are we going to do with a baby? Our van wasn’t exactly equipped with child seats.

“Here he comes,” Claude said.

The suspense was killing me. I wanted to peer between them, but Christian turned off the radio and began texting someone. He was probably trying to listen to their conversation, but I wasn’t certain he could hear anything at this distance unless they were talking loudly.

The engine rumbled, and the van began moving again.

“She’s turning,” Christian said. “She’ll probably make a left up ahead. That road leads out.”

I peered around Christian’s seat and watched the car in front of us make a right turn.

“Where the feck is she going?” Christian asked, not expecting an answer.

A cold feeling of dread washed over me when we turned down another empty street. “Something’s not right,” I said. “Claude, turn around.”

“She’s got the baby,” he growled. “I’m not letting her go.”

My heart raced at a wicked beat.

Christian suddenly grabbed the wheel. “She’s right. Stop the van!”

Claude hit the brakes, and we watched Amber’s taillights flash as her car came to a stop. I looked ahead of her and realized we’d reached a dead end.

“Turn around!” I shouted. “Quick!”

Instead, Claude put the van in park and got out.

I rushed between the seats to look. “What the hell’s he doing?”

Claude ran Chitah speed toward the car and pried open the door. He reached in, and when he stood up, he was holding a doll in his hand.

His gaze drifted upward to the buildings above the van, and in a flash, he disappeared.

Gunfire erupted.

Christian dove into the back and threw himself on top of me. Each bullet pierced through the metal wall and roof with a sharp explosion. He cradled my head with both arms while gunfire rained upon us like a hailstorm. A bullet ripped through my calf, and another grazed my arm. I quickly pulled my limbs in tight so that Christian became my shield, but his body provided no relief from the unmitigated pain where the bullets had struck.

Just as suddenly as it began, the attack ceased. My ears were ringing, making it impossible to focus. When Christian raised his head, the strained look on his face told the story. I’d seen that same look before when he’d taken too many bullets.

I threw my bleeding arm in front of his mouth. “Hurry up and drink!”

Without argument, he punched his fangs out and bit into my arm. Christian drew blood until I heard bullets popping out of his body and hitting the floor. Once he’d taken enough to heal, he licked my wound and sat up with a look of murder in his eyes.

“Ready yourself,” he said, shaking out of his coat. “They’re coming to kill us.”

“They? How many are there?”

Christian’s eyes scanned my body, and it didn’t take long for him to notice the gunshot wound on my leg. He crouched over me and shoved his wrist into my mouth. “Bite!”