Chapter 193

Without thinking about all of the humans watching him, Christian flew into the tavern at a pace not a single one of them would easily be able to track with their eyes. He slowed down once he was inside, thinking Granger would be pissed if he had to answer questions about why his men didn’t move like regular people, but the urgency to find Brandy, to make sure she was all right, made him throw caution to the wind.
He scanned the crowded bar, his eyes flickering over the row of miners at the counter, tables of more miners, along with some professional gamblers, store workers, and saloon girls fluttering between them. A man in a velvet jacket was playing a song on the piano, a woman standing next to him, crooning about her broken heart with her breasts so exposed, one could’ve nearly seen the organ beating. His eyes fell on Morris standing near the stairs talking to a man so muscular, he made Morris look frail.
Christian wound his way through the room, careful not to go too fast, even though the sense of urgency compelled him to. He came up on the conversation in time to hear the man blocking the stairs so, “Them’s the rules. You don't pay for a girl, you don’t go upstairs.”
“What’s happening?” Christian asked, putting his hand on Morris’s shoulder.
“Those two guys just went upstairs with Brandy. She told me she could handle it, but I don’t think that’s possible, and now this jackass won’t let me pass.” Morris sighed and shook his head before turning back to the jackass in question.
Christian didn’t have the time or patience for reasoning. “Listen, you moron. We’re Granger’s men, and one of our partners is up those stairs. Now, unless you want your boss and my boss reaching down your throat and pulling your liver out so you can eat it for breakfast tomorrow, move the hell out of the way.”
He could see the wheels in the man’s head turning, calculating how it probably wasn’t a good idea for him to continue to stand there, but Christian wasn’t going to give him any extra time to make up for missing brain cells. He shoved the big guy out of the way and hurried up the stairs, ignoring his shouts to get back there. The sound of familiar footsteps behind him let Christian know Morris had given up reasoning, too.
“Brandy!” Christian shouted, looking at a wall of doors that lined the hallway. If she didn’t answer soon, he’d start knocking them all in.
“Down here!” she shouted. Her voice sounded labored, as if she were already in the process of taking on both of the Vampires, but he didn’t hear the telltale signs of skirmish, moving furniture, gunfire, none of it.
He located the door from which her shout had come and found it locked. Ramming his shoulder into it, he broke the mechanism and forced his way in.
Brandy was on top of one of the men, who was lying flat on his back on the bed. The other one had his back to her, and she had her arms around his neck. It looked as if she were in the process of pleasuring both of them at first, with some odd hug and a face dance, but Christian realized quickly enough that the Vampire who was facing him was struggling. She was attempting to unscrew his head. His claws dug into her arm, causing blood to spray across the tattered blue bedspread and the faded beige walls.
With no time to be cautious, Christian pulled his revolver and fired into the body of the Vampire, careful to aim the trajectory of the bullet away from Brandy. It entered his trunk at an angle, and he let go of her arm to grab at the wound. Two more shots and he burst into ash.
With her hands free, Brandy pulled her knife and jammed it into the Vampire on the bed, striking him in the chest.
“What are you doing?” Morris asked her.
“Choking him. With my thighs,” she replied. Tonight, she actually had on some sort of a skirt above her pants. She looked like maybe she could work there. Did they think she did? Or had she tricked them into renting a room? Either way, it was a dangerous proposition for one Hunter to take on two Vampires by herself.
She may have managed it, though. It looked like she was about finished with the first one when Christian had shot him, and this fellow on the bed would likely die a second death a happy man with her leg wrapped around his neck. The knife made shorter work of it, and in a moment, he also burst into ash as well.
Once they were both gone, the teammates hurried to hide the evidence. Christian tossed open the window, and Brandy gathered up the bedspread and dumped the ashes out into the alley while Morris used his boot to scatter the ashes on the floor.
“What’s going on in here?” two men about the same size as the stairwell protector demanded, bursting through the door.
“We’re Granger’s men… and woman…” Christian explained. “We were just taking care of a little problem. But it’s over now.”
The two looked around. “Did they go out the window?”
“Yes. Yes, they did,” Morris answered. “Come on! Let’s get them!”
Christian leaned out the window. “There they go! Around the corner!” The three ran off to find the men though Morris knew it was pointless. Granger would assure the saloon owner the next day that he had done his job, and the owner would see for himself once the three never showed up to bother the patrons again. Then, there’d be another Vampire, someone else for them to hunt down. It never ended.
Brandy sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing her skirt. “Thank you,” she said. “You were quite helpful.”
Christian stared at her for a moment not sure what to say. “I was… worried about you.” He had to be cautious. This beautiful woman that he spent so much of his time thinking about in ways that were not appropriate for their work relationship was sitting on a bed in a brothel looking more lovely than any creature he’d ever eyed. And now her hand was stretched out, reaching for him.
Ignoring the alarm bells going off in his mind, Christian took her hand and let her pull him over to the bed. He sat next to her, leaving as much space as he could, but it wasn’t enough. She turned, bending her knee so that her leg was between them. “I like you, Christian. You’re smart. You're funny. You’re incredibly handsome.” She ran her hand through his hair, her fingertips brushing his skin. “I wish… I wish my circumstances were different.”
“Me, too,” he said quietly. “But you’re Granger’s. Nothing can ever happen between us. It would be too dangerous for both of us.”
“I know,” she said quickly. She removed her hand, looking down at her lap. “I owe Granger my life. He took me in when no one else would. He… saved me in ways I can’t explain. You’re right. I can never do anything to anger him. Even though….” She shook her head as if trying to clear it and then scooted back away from him about a foot. “Did you get the woman?”
“We did. Not before she scratched her victim, though. Jess took him to Granger.”
“Damn,” Brandy muttered under her breath. Christian used to find it unbecoming when women swore, but it was just a part of who she was--unapologetic and vibrantly alive in every way.
“Do you know what he does with them?” Christian asked.
Slowly, Brandy nodded her head. “He keeps them. In the basement. Sometimes he does experiments on them, but mostly, it’s in case a Hunter turns their back on him. He can pay Hunters to kill Guardians who betray him, but he needs Vampires to take care of Hunters.”
Christian’s eyes widened with horror. “Are you serious? How?”
She was definitely serious. Her head rocked back and forth. “He drugs the Hunter and then takes him downstairs and chains him to the wall. Then, he releases the Vampires. It’s never pretty.” She grimaced at the thought.
Images of what that would be like filled Christian’s mind. “Bastard,” he muttered. Here he was, doing the bidding of a man who would treat his own associates like that. “We should get away from here, Brandy.”
She was shaking her head before he even finished the statement. “I told you, I can’t. He’d find me. Besides… I owe him… everything.”
Clearly, she wouldn’t leave, not presently anyway. Maybe, if he continued to try to work on her a little at a time, eventually, he could convince her that he was right, that he could keep her safe. “We should get back,” he said quietly.
Brandy nodded again, but she didn’t move. Instead, she reached up and ran her fingertips along his cheek, smiling. Then, as her full lips moved toward him, Christian felt his breath hitch in his throat. She was going to kiss him, and he was going to let her. Even if it damned him to eternal hell fire, he wouldn’t deny this beautiful creature, not now, not ever.
Brandy’s mouth was warm, her full lips luscious, and her tongue darted into his mouth, pulling him in. She tasted like strawberries and fresh rainwater, and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and shelter her from Granger and anyone else who would ever hurt her.
Realizing she had made a mistake, Brandy pulled back, her bottom lip quivering. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn't have….”
“I’m glad you did, Brandy,” he reassured her.
“It can’t happen again.” She looked at him sternly, her lavender eyes narrowed.
Christian thought of Catharine Greene and how she’d done her best to stay away from him as well, but she’d come back time and again. He didn’t think Brandy would be that way. Her life depended upon her being able to keep her distance. “I know,” he said, but in his heart, he prayed she wouldn’t be able to stay away, that they could figure out a plan so that they could be together. He had been with many women over the decades, but he’d never been in love. This feeling he had for Brandy was so different from anything he’d ever experienced before, he thought for certain it must be love he was feeling for her.
Brandy stood and headed to the door, and Christian followed, adding finding a way to free Brandy from Granger to his list of items to fix.