Carlotta and the Krius Scepter (Carlotta Series Book 1) Page 3

  Even the elevator was thickly carpeted. The practical part of my mind wondered how they managed to keep it clean. A quick glance through almost closed eyes answered part of the question. This was a private elevator with only a few floor buttons. Apart from where we were, it stopped at the lobby, a button labeled Restaurant, the Penthouse, and the Sun Deck. That meant it would whizz past the other floors of the hotel unseen and unnoticed.

  My glance also revealed an irritated looking Vinnie lolling against the wall of the elevator. I went back to snuggling into Mike’s shoulder. He stank of stale tobacco and alcohol.

  “She’s your girlfriend now?”

  I felt Mike shrug. It was a stupid question that didn’t merit an answer.

  “You want me to hold her?”

  Mike gave no answer, which I suspected was answer enough because Vinnie lapsed into silence. The elevator picked up an amazing amount of speed. Even Mike’s knees bent a little with the acceleration and he was built like a carthorse. I slid down to his chest and he pulled me upright again.

  We slowed down almost as rapidly and I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to play with this elevator. To see how high I could jump when it was stopping.

  As the elevator door opened, Mike spoke for the first time.

  “The Boss said don’t hurt her, you listening to me?”

  I could hear the smugness in Vinnie’s reply. “It won’t hurt if she don’t struggle. A bitch like her will probably enjoy it.”

  Mike stepped out of the elevator and I shuffled along, my arms wrapped around him as if for protection. Mike whispered as he half-carried me down yet another corridor. The carpet was deep purple. I decided I preferred the red.

  “He won’t last long, kid. Just relax and it’ll soon be over.”

  Vinnie must have smashed his fist into the corridor wall from the crash that followed. I guess Mike’s whisper had been a little too loud. I suspect that Mike had known it would be.

  After what seemed like an age we stopped at a door. It had a mortise style lock, one of those fancy brass ones you might find on a safe or a security door. Mike fumbled in his pocket for his key, difficult to do while holding onto a sagging girl. Vinnie came to his rescue and unlocked the door using his key. I saw that the door was made of steel set in a frame of similar construction and mental gears spun. Bingo! A plan that my aching body might just be able to accomplish flipped into my head.

  It required that I appear a bit more awake. I took my hands from around Mike and pushed against him to hold myself up. To my surprise I found I needed the prop, it wasn’t the faking I’d expected.

  “Get off me, I’m a’right,” I said in slurred tones. Again no faking was required. I levered myself to the wall, using Mike’s body for support.

  “She’s coming too. I can handle it from here.”

  I saw Mike hesitate, but I needed him gone.

  “Get lost, …sucker.” There was a word I put in front of sucker to indicate my contempt for him. I made shooing motions.

  Mike shook his head in disgust and set off down the corridor. He wasn’t any kind of friend. I could afford to lose him. It annoyed me to have to do it though.

  “We’re gonna get on just fine, whore,” Vinnie said, giving me a grin that would have looked more appropriate on a hyena. This plan had its downside. I had just arranged to be left with a rapist who was probably sadistic as well.

  I didn’t answer as such, but sliding across the wall, through the door and onto the wall of the room beyond was an answer of sorts. It was important I stayed upright. In that position, Vinnie wouldn’t be able to use his weight against me.

  Vinnie closed the door. He looked as though he was going to lock us in and that would make things much more difficult.

  “Baby, I need you.” I held out a hand towards him. Some men are inherently stupid. This one had punched me in the face less than ten minutes before and yet his ego allowed him to believe I’d be attracted to him, that I’d actually want to have sex with him. He put the keys in his pocket and stepped in front of me. Eager hands pressed against my breasts and squeezed so hard I nearly passed out.

  “You got what I need?” I asked in a whisper. It was hard to keep the pain out of my voice. Fortunately Vinnie didn’t notice, he took his hands off me, using one to prop himself against the wall as the other took my right hand and pressed it into his crotch. Some men are far too stupid to stay alive.

  “Feel the size of those?” he asked. It seemed a shame to disappoint him and I squeezed them hard enough to crush an apple.

  Vinnie gasped in shock. The hand against the wall reached for my throat, but I was expecting that and my arm blocked it. I didn’t need to stop him for long. Just long enough for the pain to overwhelm him.

  He fell against me, but we stayed on our feet. He held himself up because dropping even a little would increase his pain from severe to unendurable. I’d rip them from his body if necessary. This wasn’t a time to be squeamish and my strength was running out faster than I’d expected. I had to keep things moving.

  “Door key,” I ordered, giving a playful squeeze that caused tears to run down his cheeks. He took the key from his pocket and waved it at me.

  “Put it in the lock,” I said. I tried twisting my grip and he screamed. It seemed twisting hurt more than squeezing, something to note for future use.

  It took Vinnie three goes to get the key in. He started to turn it, but another twist put him off the idea.

  “No improvisation, Vinnie. Not if you ever want to use these again.”

  I was having trouble staying upright. If I didn’t finish this soon, he’d win and I didn’t like to think what he’d do to me after what I had done to him.

  “Open the door, Vinnie. Not too wide.”

  He opened the door.

  “Now, out into the corridor. Very slowly or I’m going to twist your nuts off.”

  The two of us inched into the doorway. As soon as he was completely out of the room I twisted as hard as I could and pushed him away. He fell to the floor. I slammed the door shut and turned the key. Leaning against the door as the world spun around me, I slid to the floor

  I woke to the sound of kicking from the other side.

  “I’ll kill you bitch!” Vinnie informed me in an unusually high pitched voice. “I’ll cut your breasts off with a knife and then I’ll push the knife into…”

  I zoned out. Whatever he thought he was going to do, he wasn’t going to be able to do it tonight.

  “Not now though,” I said sarcastically, but far too quietly for him to hear. It was probably fair to say I’d hurt him enough for one night, and I had more important things on my mind. I needed to find a way to keep the key in the lock to stop anybody pushing it out from the other side. That was the only easy way they could get to me, but they’d have to get my key out of the way first.

  Vinnie must have left because the banging stopped. Any girl with determination had enough strength to seriously damage a man using that technique. That he could walk away from my best efforts showed how weak I was.

  I looked around me. The room was similar to any hotel room anywhere, bed, dressing table, television, built in wardrobe, chair. Chair?

  I wedged the chair against the door, pushing it in so it put pressure on the side of the key. The chair would add no significant strength to the door, but the way I wedged it would prevent them from turning the key from the other side. They needed to turn the key to push it out.

  Exhausted, I slumped onto the bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was asleep.

  5. Vampire

  I woke up feeling great. I bounced out of the bed as if on springs and checked the chair. It was still propped against the door exactly where I’d left it. I moved the chair, removed the key and put an ear to the keyhole. The place was a quiet as a church at midnight. Putting key and chair back in place I went to the full length mirror on the wall and took a good look at myself.

  My clothes looked as though I had sle
pt in them, which wasn’t too surprising. The less than pleasant odor that wafted from them suggested that they and I needed a good wash. There were a few blood stains down my tee-shirt, which I found gross because I knew they were mine. If they’d been the other guy’s they wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest.

  I examined my face for marks or bruises. Not a single blemish, I could have been a model prepared for a photo-shoot. I knew my lower lip had been cut the night before; but even when I pulled it down and stared closely, there was no sign of a cut, recent or otherwise. I must heal fast.

  Which brought up the question of what time it was. The curtains were drawn and there was neither light nor sound coming from their direction. I opened them, which proved of no help at all. The windows had been painted black from the outside. Whoever had done it had done a bang up job because nothing showed through. Putting my hand to the glass didn’t help as the windows were double glazed. Otherwise, I might have been able to tell if the sun shone on the other side by how hot they were

  I searched the place quickly. There was an en-suite bathroom with all mod cons including a heated towel rail. No windows or clock in there though.

  There were no convenient clocks by the bed. I switched on the TV and was greeted with a blue screen. Finding the remote control I flipped through all the channels and all the options but there was nothing to see. The Don must have had the feed switched off.

  Hunger told me nothing except that it had been far too long since I’d eaten. My guess was that it was early in the morning. This being based on the lack of people banging on the door, but it was still only a guess.

  Well, that left only one thing to do. Wash my smalls and take a shower.

  Jeans take forever to dry and a quick shake got rid of most of the dust sliding on the floor had put on them. They’d do as they were. Stripping off the rest of my clothes I put them in the sink and used the soap dispenser in the shower to stir up a froth and hopefully dislodge the dirt. After five minutes of rubbing I gave up on the blood stains on the tee-shirt. Hopefully they’d fade a bit as the shirt dried.

  I whipped the towels off the heated rail and after wringing the clothes as best I could, shook them out and hung them on the rail. The thought occurred to me that I was a surprisingly domestic person. Who’d have thought?

  I luxuriated in the hot water of the shower. My body tingled appreciatively as the water beat down on me. Unfortunately the shower head was fixed to the wall so I couldn’t use it the way I’d like. I turned the thing off and shook myself dry like a dog before using a towel to finish the process.

  My knickers were dry on the places the rail had touched. I turned them over carefully to finish the job and went to admire myself in the full length mirror. I still looked hot, but then I expected nothing less.

  The carpet sensually pushing between my toes told me this was a real place and not some insane dream. Since the moment I’d got up I’d pretty much known it, but this was the moment I admitted it to myself. The fog that had clouded my brain since I woke in The Metrow was gone. This place was real, the danger was real and I was in serious trouble. I smiled. I couldn’t have told you why I smiled, but the joy inside me was every bit as real as the look on my face.

  I sat on the bed, trying to ignore the feelings that the silk sheets evoked as they touched my bottom and thighs and toted up the facts as best I could.

  I’d been sent to The Don as a swap for some kidnapped boy. That hadn’t worked and the people who sent me probably expected me to fight my way out if the swap failed.

  My mind thought I should be stronger and faster than I was. Even The Don had been surprised that I wasn’t. That mist net on the ceiling must have been electrified. It looked as though it might have been made of silver wire. They thought they’d need to use it on me. That was why The Don had waited by the table, probably with his hand resting on the switch to drop it on me.

  The room where they’d put me had its windows blacked out. The door would keep a rhino locked up. I figured that it had been designed for use against people like me. So what the hell was going on?

  Damn it, I hadn’t even seen daylight since this whole thing began.

  That thought ran round in my head as if it was obvious what the answer was and I should have known it without thinking. Unless…

  I grinned at the silly thought that occurred to me and I stood up to face the mirror again.

  “I’m a vampire.”

  As soon as I said the words a transformation began. My hair darkened from ash blonde to midnight black, my jaw lengthened and my canines extended so I could no longer keep them in my mouth. I became slimmer, paler and taller. My fingers stretched and their nails grew long as they darkened. My eyes became as black as tar. Not only the pupils, but both eyes looked like eight balls without the lettering.

  My eyes drifted down my body. “Grosth,” I said with a lisp caused by my . Whatever else a vampire female needed, a good trim below was high on the list. You could have hidden a small dog down there.

  I was surprised that I wasn’t frightened by the change. Changing seemed the most natural thing in the world. My already excellent night vision improved to the point that the overhead lights were painful. My head throbbed and I growled. The desire to kill someone, anyone, crept over me and my eyes searched the room for victims. Damn it, I was alone. When my eyes passed over my tee-shirt, the blood stains stood out as if lit by ultraviolet light. I licked my lips in anticipation and realized I could smell the blood.

  I went to the door and the urge to hunt almost overwhelmed me. I sniffed at the keyhole. Three people were somewhere on this floor, two humans and one other who filled me with instinctive fear. The humans called to me, but that third one shouted flee, stay away. I ripped the chair away from the door and it flew across the room.

  Instincts were pulling at me, but escaping from the room in daylight seemed a little suicidal to the small intellectual ‘me’ that remained locked up in a feral skull. I concentrated on becoming my previous self.

  It was a struggle. Having released the beast in me, it wanted to go out to play. I looked at my hands and willed them back to their old shape. The fingers shortened and suddenly the rest of the transformation was easy. I shuddered in near ecstasy as the change completed. It felt so good even though it left me craving more.

  Whatever else, the sexual urges the change had induced couldn’t be stopped or delayed. I slid onto the bed and my fingers gave my body the release it was craving for.

  Some time later I smiled with satisfaction, even as I realized I needed to take another shower. I was a vampire and vampires are cool.

  By the time I’d finished the shower my clothes were dry and I dressed. My hair seemed to have a natural ability to stay neat even after two showers and a couple of changes of form. I grinned; despite the situation I felt totally at peace with the world.

  There was a knock at the door and Mike’s voice called out.

  “If you unlock the door, I’ve got your breakfast ready.”

  6. Silver

  Well, that was a dilemma and a half. I was starving and here was a man offering me breakfast. Trouble was, that meant letting him in and who knew what they’d do to me in retaliation for Vinnie.

  I could smell coffee, bacon, pancakes with syrup and fried eggs. That decided it. It was worth risking death for a breakfast like that. As the chair was lying in pieces against the far wall I couldn’t keep them out for long anyway. I turned the key, took it out of the lock and pocketed it. If they wanted it back they’d have to fight for it.

  “It’s open.”

  I stepped back as the door swung open and Mike entered the room carrying a large tray. The breakfast looked as good as it smelled. I salivated rather a lot and swallowed hastily before I dribbled.

  Mike put the tray down on the dressing table and looked around. I saw an eyebrow rise as he saw the broken chair. A man I didn’t recognize appeared at the doorway with a gun pointed unerringly at me. He even used his other arm
as a prop, FBI style.

  “If he’s going to shoot me, can he wait until I finish breakfast?”

  Mike grinned. “Pat ain’t gonna shoot you. Not unless you try anything, capiche?”

  “Yeah, sure. I only want to eat.”

  “Then eat.” Mike gestured at the tray and I moved it onto the bed as I could hardly sit at the table without a chair. It tasted every bit as good as it looked and I was ravenous. I forgot Mike was in the room and that a man held a gun on me. All that mattered was the food.

  As I got down to the last pancake I noticed Mike had joined me in sitting on the bed. He was making no attempt to touch so I ignored him. As I reached for the coffee he spoke in a whisper, too low for the guy at the door to hear.

  “Some of us want to thank you for what you did to Vinnie last night. He never goes for the whores, and some of us got young daughters.”

  I nodded. The Don’s son got off on fear and whores would have encouraged him. That left him the hoods’ daughters and the staff. Likely The Don would have warned him off the staff once hiring them got difficult.

  “I took him over to ER. They say he’s got to give the jewels a lot of rest and not walk about too much. He wanted to come and shoot you, but it seems he lost his key.”

  “Haven’t seen it,” I said. I’d unlocked the door with it only minutes ago, but Mike nodded as if agreeing with me.

  “I guess it’s missin’ then. Provided no one tries to use it to escape, that ain’t a big deal.” He fixed his eyes on me and I stared back. “This here’s the forty-first floor and the doors to the stairs don’t open. The elevator’s got a camera in it and it don’t come down if you ain’t got the special key.”

  He was leaving me the key to my door while explaining that it wouldn’t do me any good. Shame, because that wouldn’t stop me trying to escape as soon as he left the room.

  Mike seemed to read my mind. He got out a particularly shiny pair of handcuffs.

  “The boss say’s I got to show you what’ll happen if you try anythin’.” He waved the handcuffs at me as though they should scare me and I suppressed a giggle.