She hurried up the hall toward the stairs, adding, "And where the hell is she when you need her? I could use a little Buffy right now."
Alex knew it probably wasn't smart to be talking to herself when she was trying to sneak up on vampires, but it made her feel better and gave her courage. Besides, it wasn't like they would hear her over Sam's ear-piercing cries, she thought and frowned to herself over what might be happening to her sister.
It was probably some weird blood orgy, twelve of the bastards crowded around and biting into her poor na**d sister's flesh. She should have run straight upstairs when she first heard them, Alex berated herself, as she reached the top of the stairs, but knew that wouldn't have helped anything. It was risky enough armed as she was.
Her gaze slid over the doors along the hall, pausing on one she knew from previous visits was a bathroom. Alex still needed to pee. In fact, the more scared she was, the more she had to go, but there was no way she would make a pit stop with Sam shrieking as she was. Stopping for weapons was one thing, but pee breaks were out of the question.
However, she was definitely going to kick some vampire ass if she wet herself, Alex decided as she followed the sound of Sam's screaming to the door of the bedroom she knew her sister shared with Mortimer. Other voices were still shouting inside, but it was harder to distinguish what they were saying now that she was so close. Her ears were so full of the sounds of Sam's agony, she couldn't seem to concentrate on the other voices.
Taking a deep breath, Alex shifted her knives to one hand and slowly turned the doorknob, easing the door open with all the eagerness of a child entering a dentist's office.
The moment Alex could see inside, she scanned the room. There were four people inside with Sam, not twelve: Mortimer, Bricker, and another man as well as a woman. None of them appeared to be biting Sam, however, though they were all holding her down on the bed.
Sick bastards, Alex thought with disgust before turning her gaze to Sam. The moment she spotted her, Alex's concern ratcheted up another notch. Aside from being physically held down, Sam had ropes at her wrists and ankles, tethering her to the bed, though it appeared one of them was broken. She was also fully dressed, which was good, they hadn't gotten to the orgy part yet. And they hadn't gotten to biting her either, at least there were no bite marks on the skin of her throat or what little was visible at her wrists and ankles.
However, Sam was incredibly pale, sheet white as if all the blood had been sucked out of her already. But she wasn't acting like someone weak from blood loss. Four people were holding her down, vampires, who, the movies suggested, were stronger than mere mortals, and yet they were having trouble keeping Sam on the bed as she thrashed and shrieked as if on fire.
Pushing the door farther open, Alex eased into the room, grateful that the four vampires were distracted by her sister. She might actually be able to creep up and stake one or two before the others realized what was happening.
Bricker was the nearest one. He and another man were at each corner of the foot of the bed, holding on to Sam's lower legs, while Mortimer and the woman held her arms. Alex didn't recognize the dark-haired man on the left, and was almost sorry that he wasn't holding Sam's other ankle, which would have made him the closer target. She was sure it would have been easier to stake a stranger. As she approached, she was suffering some regret at having to stake Bricker. She'd always liked the guy.
But he was a vampire and she had to save Sam and he'd probably kill her if he got the chance now that she knew his friendly mask hid a bloodsucking fiend, Alex reminded herself and slipped the knife from her right hand into her back pocket so that she could remove her makeshift stake instead. Eyes locked on Bricker's back, she raised her stake high, and then plunged it down, aiming in the general vicinity of his heart.
It didn't quite get the reaction she'd expected. Bricker merely glanced around with an annoyed frown, and then blinked in surprise when he spotted her.
"Alex. What are you doing here?" he said, or at least she thought he'd said that. She was mostly having to read his lips since she couldn't hear anything over Sam at the moment.
Confused, Alex glanced to her stake and saw with dismay that the damned thing was backward. She'd plunged it spoon end first. Alex began berating herself for not checking to be sure she'd had it the right away around before stabbing him, and then realized that Bricker had turned back to Sam as she continued tothrash. Alex quickly twirled the spoon in her fingers, cursing when she nearly dropped the damned thing.
Geez. I am such a bad Buffy, Alex thought as she frantically plunged the spoon toward Bricker again, this time with the right end of it. Unfortunately, he glanced over his shoulder at that moment and instinctively reached out and caught her descending arm with one hand.
"Bricker, stop playing with Alex and hold Sam," Mortimer roared so loudly she actually heard him, and then he added, "And Alex, go stand in the corner and behave yourself."
Alex turned on her heel and walked to the corner, then turned back and simply stood there. It wasn't by choice. Her body just did what Mortimer had ordered her to as if ... well, as if the bastard was controlling her, she realized with dismay, and there didn't appear to be a damned thing she could do about it. Her muscles and limbs simply wouldn't take the orders she was sending to try to make them move.
"The second dose is working," the woman at the top of the bed said now, hardly having to raise her voice as Sam's screams dropped to moans.
Giving up on trying to move, Alex peered to Sam to see that she was thrashing less as well. Wondering what was working, she shifted her gaze to the woman who had spoken, taking in her long dark hair and perfect skin. She'd never seen anyone with hair as shiny and healthy-looking or skin as pure as that woman's. Porcelain dolls would have wept at their own deficiency on seeing it. The woman glowed with good health and contentment.
Definitely the Queen of the Damned, Alex decided.
"Thank God," Mortimer said, and Alex shifted her gaze to him, a little surprised to see the distress and love on his face as he peered down at her sister. A little surprised too that he would dare to use the Lord's name. Shouldn't his tongue burst into flames or fall out for that?
A soft chuckle from the woman drew Alex's gaze back to see her peering her way with gentle amusement.
"What is funny, darling?" the man down at Sam's feet with Bricker asked.
"She was just thinking that-" She paused and shook her head. "Nothing. I don't want to embarrass the poor girl."
Alex was frowning over the words when she became aware that everyone had now turned to peer at her. Mortimer was frowning with annoyance, obviously displeased at her presence. Bricker was casting her his usual grin, but the man she didn't know had turned a curious gaze on her and now glanced to Mortimer, and said, "Are you not going to introduce us?"
Mortimer merely turned his gaze back to Sam, it was Bricker who spoke.
"This is Sam's sister, Alex," he announced, straightening and moving toward her. Pausing in front of her he added, "Alex, this is Marguerite Argeneau Notte and her husband Julius Notte."
Recognition slid through Alex, and her eyes shifted to the woman again. She'd noticed that Sam always spoke of her with a bit of awe. Now she knew why ... Queen of the Damned.
"What's with the ... er ... hat?" Bricker asked, drawing her attention back to him.