Kindling Flames: Stolen Fire (The Ancient Fire Series Book 4) Read online

  Darien gave her a surprised look.

  “He is a vampire.”

  “I think Elliot’s old enough to control his bloodlust,” Darien said, slightly offended. “He’s not going to attack her.”

  Vicky snickered at the misunderstanding. “That’s not what I meant. Vanessa is sharp. Won’t she notice something’s off about Elliot?”

  Darien came over and raised his hand to Vicky’s face. “You didn’t notice anything off about me.” He caressed her cheek.

  Vicky smiled and leaned into his soft touch. “Point.” She conceded to his logic.

  “Besides, Elliot’s better at memory manipulation than I am. If something happens, he can handle it.” Darien leaned over and kissed her softly. “Stop worrying about it, and finish your breakfast so we can go.”

  Vicky chuckled and turned back to her food as Darien left to finish getting ready for work.

  ***

  Vicky looked up from her desk as the door to the office swung open. A large bouquet of flowers struggled its way into the room.

  “Delivery for Miss Victoria Westernly,” the voice of the deliveryman called from behind the foliage.

  Vicky stood up from her desk to give the man a hand.

  Handing her a clipboard to sign, he set two dozen red roses on the middle of her desk.

  There was only one person Vicky could think of that would send such a present. “They’re beautiful.” Vicky smiled as she went into Darien’s office. “Thank you.”

  Darien looked up from his computer, confused. “What’s beautiful?”

  Vicky’s smiled slipped slightly. “The flowers.”

  “What flowers?”

  Vicky pointed towards her office. “The ones you sent me.”

  Darien stood up to go see what Vicky had gotten. “I didn’t send you flowers.”

  Confused, Vicky followed him from the room. “If you didn’t send them, who did?”

  Darien shook his head at the question. He looked over the gift and found a small card among the blooms. ‘Congratulations’ was written across it in block letters. The card was otherwise unsigned. “I’m not sure.” He showed the card to Vicky. “Maybe someone’s heard about our engagement.”

  Vicky smiled as she turned the vase around to get a better view of the roses. “Well, whoever they are, I like their style.”

  Darien chuckled at her and patted her back gently. “Since you’re already interrupted, could you go get me some coffee?” He turned to go back into his office.

  Vicky looked up at the clock, it was almost five, and they would be leaving soon. “This late in the day?”

  “Please. We’ve had such a long day that I’m having trouble concentrating on these files,” Darien explained.

  Vicky grinned as she picked up her bag. They’d spent the morning running around and had missed their normal coffee break. “All right,” she agreed and moved the flowers from her desk to a little end table between the chairs in her office. Darien thanked her and disappeared back into his office. Vicky couldn’t help but laugh at Darien and his passion for his coffees. Any other vampire would be sick on the stuff, but he had to have at least one cup in the afternoon to get through the rest of the day.

  Pondering over who could have sent the flowers, Vicky rode the elevator down to the fifth floor café. Her mind was still turning the question over when she stepped up to the counter and was met by a face she didn’t know.

  “How can I help you?” the young man asked.

  “Where’s Sue?” Vicky asked, shocked that the spunky werewolf wasn’t there.

  “She took the day off, My Lady,” Sue’s replacement answered.

  With the addition of the ‘My Lady’, Vicky knew that this had to be one of Rupert’s wolves. She considered what looked to be a teenage boy with floppy, brown hair. “Do you know what Mr. Ritter’s usual is?” Vicky asked.

  “Carmel macchiato,” the boy answered, and turned to get the coffee. “By the way, I’m Derrick.”

  Vicky smiled at him. “Is Sue okay?” She had never known the woman to take time off.

  “As far as I know.” Derrick set the finished drink on the counter. “Will there be anything else?”

  “No, thank you.” Vicky took the drink and stepped away from the counter. It felt weird not having Sue there.

  “Have a nice day, My Lady.” Derrick waved and went to clean the machines.

  Vicky’s mind spun on this new development. She didn’t like having someone else in the café. It just felt wrong. She thought about it all the way back to her office.

  “Here’s your coffee,” Vicky said, setting the coffee on Darien’s desk.

  He nodded his head in acknowledgement.

  She started to go out but stopped. Having Derrick in the coffee shop bugged her. “Did you know that Sue wasn’t in the café today?”

  Darien looked up from his work. He could hear the concerned note in Vicky’s voice.

  “There was a guy named Derrick there.”

  “Derrick fills in when Rupert needs Sue for something,” Darien explained. “That’s not a problem.”

  Nodding, Vicky went back out to her desk. It still didn’t feel right, but she let it go. Now, if she could just find her place again, she could get these numbers entered before the end of the day, and Darien wouldn’t have to worry about his small business status reports again until next month.

  ***

  Vicky looked up from her files when she heard Darien come out of his office. She had been trying to get back into the groove to finish the project, but it just wasn’t working. Stretching in her chair, she slipped the folders into her desk drawer for tomorrow.

  “You okay?” Darien asked as he waited for Vicky to get moving. Usually she was fairly quick about getting out of work.

  “Yeah.” Vicky pulled her bag up and slipped it over her shoulder. “I don’t think I got enough sleep last night,” she admitted sheepishly. A sluggish feeling had plagued her all day. A case of the flu was going around in the office, and she hoped she hadn’t caught it.

  Darien chuckled at her. “Come on.” He pulled her into his side. “We still have to plan our wedding tonight.”

  Vicky smiled and started to let him pull her towards the door, but she stopped when the roses caught her eye. “Can I take the flowers home?”

  Darien considered the enormous bouquet. It was much too large to fit into the XKR-5 Jaguar he had been driving since someone helped to total his Aston Martin DB9. “Sure.” He kissed the side of Vicky’s head and turned her loose to pick up the flowers. “It’s starting to get a little too cold to drive a convertible, anyway.”

  Vicky grinned and went to hold the door for him. She had complained about the temperature every morning since the start of December. Hopefully, Charlie could find something with a nice heater for the rest of winter.

  “Do you think Elliot will know who sent the flowers?” Vicky asked as Darien maneuvered the arrangement into the elevator. Slipping in behind him, she hit the button for the basement garage, where Darien kept his car collection.

  “Perhaps,” Darien answered from behind the flowers.

  Vicky grinned, trying not to laugh at the sight. She helped Darien off the elevator and led the way to the small shack where the keeper of Darien’s cars could always be found.

  “Good evening, Mr. Ritter. Lovely flowers,” the sweet old man said as he opened the door to greet his boss. “Good evening, My Lady.”

  “Good evening, Charlie,” Vicky greeted him. She hadn’t figured out exactly what Charlie was, but she was sure he wasn’t human.

  “I need transportation.” Darien set the heavy vase down. “Something I can haul this in.”

  Charlie looked over the vase and smiled. “I have just the thing.” Slipping into his shack, he came out with a little, black box and handed it over to Darien. “It’s in forty-five.”

  Darien pushed a button on the box, and a key popped out.

  “It’s new, so be careful with her.”

&
nbsp; Darien smiled at the warning. “Thank you.” He picked up the flowers and turned towards the parking places containing his cars. Darien loved old cars and kept a vast collection of them squirreled away in numbered bays lining the walls of the expansive, underground garage. Vicky had seen quite a few of them in her time as his personal assistant. He liked to take them out and show them off from time to time.

  Vicky couldn’t help but wonder what Charlie had chosen for them this time. Her eyes scanned up and down the rows of cars as they walked. Most of the ones sitting out were new. There was everything from small, sporty cars to large vans. There was even one unmarked box truck. She paused as her eyes caught a flash of gold between two cars. “Darien,” Vicky called to get his attention.

  He paused and looked back to where Vicky had stopped a few steps behind him. “Yes?”

  “There’s something there,” Vicky whispered to him. Her mind flashed to the headlines of the morning paper. A woman and been killed not far from here two nights ago. Her throat had been ripped out, and her blood drained.

  Darien stepped back to where Vicky was looking into the darkness between the vehicles. “Come out,” he demanded of the dark shape hiding there. A tawny wolf slunk out into the light. Darien relaxed as he recognized the werewolf cowering before him. “What are you doing here, Sue?”

  Sue whined a little and limped over to huddle against Vicky’s leg.

  Shock filled Vicky as her eyes found dark patches of blood in Sue’s orangish fur. “Darien!” Vicky gasped, bending to look for the source of the blood. There was a nasty bite mark on Sue’s hindquarter. “What have you been up to?” Vicky asked the wolf.

  Sue whined and shivered in the cool air of the garage.

  Darien looked down at the wounded wolf. “Come on. Let’s get her home, and I’ll call Rupert.”

  Sue whined again and leaned on Vicky as Darien led the way to a metallic-red Range Rover.

  Pushing the button to pop the back hatch, he stuck the flowers inside. “Come on, girl.” Darien reached down to pick Sue up into the car. He staggered under her weight, and Vicky grabbed him to keep them both from going over. Sue whimpered as Darien manhandled her into the back, where she curled up and looked out at them.

  “Can you do something for her?” Vicky asked, worried about her friend.

  Darien reached his hand out to touch the wound, and Sue snarled at him, hunching up away from him. He quickly pulled his hand back from her.

  “It’s all right, Sue. He won’t hurt you,” Vicky said, trying to calm her.

  Sue growled a little and laid her head down.

  Darien sighed deeply. “I don’t think she wants me to help. Let’s just get her home. It’s won’t take much time for her to heal that, anyway.” He shut the hatch down and ushered Vicky around to the passenger’s side.

  She nodded and got into the SUV. She couldn’t help but wonder how her friend had come to be here in that condition.

  Darien shut her door and made his way back to the driver’s side. He looked down at his hands, thinking. What was going on? Sue couldn’t have weighed more than two hundred pounds. That should have been easy. He’d never had a problem lifting anything in the past, why did he now? His mind left that problem and slipped to another. What had happened to Sue? If she was hurt, shouldn’t she have gone home to Rupert? Darien took a deep breath and let it out before sliding into the driver’s seat of the unfamiliar SUV. He was going to need most of his concentration to get the much-larger vehicle safely through the streets of the city.

  Letting out a long sigh, Darien slipped the key out of the ignition of his new Range Rover. The drive through city traffic had been grueling this evening. An ambulance and several police cars near the city center had slowed the normally heavy traffic to a crawl, making the already-long day longer. Darien just wanted to go inside and lie down for a while. Glancing at the wolf curled up next to the roses in the back of the SUV, he drew another deep breath before getting out. He still had to call Rupert before he could rest.

  By the time Darien reached the back of the car, Vicky had the hatch open. Sue slipped from the vehicle with ease. Her fur may have been coated in drying blood, but the oozing wound had nearly healed. Retrieving the flowers, Darien led the way into the building.

  Ethan greeted them with his normal, warm welcome but raised an eyebrow at Sue. He had gotten used to some of Darien’s eccentric ways, but the large wolf leaning against Vicky’s leg was definitely noteworthy. “Excuse me, Mr. Ritter.” Ethan pinned an awkward smile to his face. “You really need to have that animal on a leash.”

  Darien shot Ethan a piqued glance. “It’s okay.” He pushed the suggestion out to the concierge and turned his attention back to where he was going.

  “Pardon me, sir, but it’s not okay,” Ethan reprimanded. “I know I haven’t enforced the rules for your Shih Tzu, I mean, how much damage can such a cute thing do?” A stifled laugh from Vicky drew Ethan’s attention for a moment. He looked at her curiously before turning his attention back to Darien. “But, you are required to have pets on a leash in the common areas.”

  Darien just stared at Ethan, confused. Why hadn’t Ethan bent under the suggestion? The man had had his will bent so many times that it shouldn’t have taken anything to bend it again.

  Vicky stepped in when she sensed Darien’s confusion. “We’re sorry.” She sunk her fingers into the thick hair at the back of Sue’s neck. “We hadn’t expected to bring her home with us.” Vicky gave Ethan her warmest smile as she went on to explain. “See, she belongs to a friend of ours, and when we found her injured, we couldn’t just leave her.”

  The mention of an injury drew Ethan’s eyes to the dark bloodstains on Sue’s coat.

  “Could you find it in your heart to forgive us just this once?” Vicky pleaded with him.

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed a little as he considered his options.

  “Please?” Vicky added for good measure.

  Ethan let out a deep breath and nodded his head. “Sure, but just this once.” He held up his hand with one finger up as he spoke. “But, please make sure your dog is on a leash from now on.”

  “Thank you.” Vicky nodded her head and reached up to push Darien back into motion.

  Still in shock, Darien let Vicky push him to the elevator doors, where she punched the button and hurried them out of the lobby. “What just happened?” he asked, trying to process the events. He was sure that he had pushed enough power into his words to command the young man.

  Vicky chuckled. “We got yelled at.” She patted Darien’s arm and smiled to herself. “I didn’t know there was a leash law in the building.”

  Darien looked at her, confused. He shook his head, trying to clear the fatigue from it. “Yeah,” he answered as the rules of the building ran through his mind. “Pets are supposed to be on a leash at all times in the common areas.”

  Vicky laughed at the idea of trying to put the wiggly ball of tentacles on a lead. “Oh, I’m sure Zak will love that.”

  Darien couldn’t help but smile at that image as the door to his penthouse opened up. Sue leaned into Vicky as they led the way out of the elevator.

  He pushed the failed suggestion to the back of his mind for the moment. Right now, he had an injured werewolf to look after. “Come on.” Leading the way into the kitchen, Darien set the large vase of flowers on the breakfast nook table. “We need to find Sue something to eat.” He stripped off his overcoat and folded it over the back of one of the iron chairs.

  Vicky looked down at the blood drying on Sue’s fur and back up to Darien pulling off his suit coat. “But, shouldn’t we get her cleaned up first?”

  Darien looked at the werewolf sitting by Vicky’s feet. “Healing such a wound takes a lot of energy,” he explained as he took the cutting board from its home. “It’s best that we feed her first.” Adding a large knife to the board, he turned to the cabinets on the wall opposite the sink.

  Vicky considered this as she scrubbed her fingers into the f
ur at the back of Sue’s neck. “Is there anything I can do to help?” She stepped away from the patiently waiting werewolf. Dropping her bag onto the iron chair, she laid her coat over Darien’s.

  Retrieving two metal mixing bowls from the cabinet, Darien added them to the growing pile of supplies. “Can you fill one of these with water?” He turned to the refrigerator, leaving the bowls for Vicky.

  “Sure.” Vicky pulled the smaller of the two bowls to the sink and ran cool water in it.

  Darien retrieved several paper-wrapped packages from the meat drawer. He placed these on the table with the cutting board and broke the tape. Rolling a roast out on the cutting board, he started reducing the meat to bite-sized chunks with the large knife.

  Sue shifted when the smell of the meat hit her, but she stayed seated where Vicky had left her.

  Taking the bowl of water over to where Sue waited, Vicky set it down in front of her friend. “Here.”

  Sue sniffed at the water but turned her attention back to Darien dumping his work into the second bowl. He opened the second package of stew meat and added this to the first pile of chunks. Sue fidgeted more as Darien picked up the bowl and turned to her.

  “Aren’t you going to cook that?” Vicky asked, horrified that Darien intended to feed her friend raw meat.

  Darien paused and looked at Vicky, then Sue, and then the bowl.

  Sue had stood up and was staring at the bowl intently.

  He held it down for the wolf to see. “Do you want me to cook it?”

  Sue gripped the bowl in her teeth and pulled it down.

  Darien set it on the floor, and the hungry werewolf dug in with relish.

  Vicky’s stomach flipped a little at the thought of eating raw meat, and she turned away.