“Please be careful, Tobias. I’ve told you the truth. My coven is not accepting of other supernatural beings. One dragon might be overlooked. A family of dragons is harder to hide. If my coven suspected anything, you’d be in terrible danger.”
“But not from you. You wouldn’t do that to me…”
“No.”
He drew back, an invisible chasm forming between them. The smile faded from his mouth. “Against my better judgment, I’ll find you something to wear.” The words fell flat, not his usual teasing. “Feel free to clean up. The bathroom is through that door.”
Sabrina watched him leave the room and felt a crack deep within her heart. It was so real she torqued forward and caught herself on her knees. This was goodbye. It had to be. Tobias must understand now how dangerous it was for them to be together.
Rubbing her aching chest, she made her way to his bathroom. Dried blood streaked her hair and peppered her body. She scraped a blotch off her arm. Now that Tobias’s roasted-almond scent wasn’t overwhelming her, the stench of blood was. Like death. She’d never get a brush through the dried clumps in her hair without a shower.
Reluctantly, she turned on the water and let it heat up. She hadn’t intended on staying long enough to clean up, but she couldn’t go anywhere like this. Stripping out of her bra and underwear, she noticed a silvery scar under her collarbone. A quarter inch to the left and that poisoned dagger would have lodged directly in her heart. That might have been the end of her. Even Raven and Tobias couldn’t have resurrected the dead.
She climbed into the spray. By the goddess, it felt good. And there was shampoo, rosemary mint, and a roughhewn chunk of soap that smelled of the ocean. She scrubbed herself until her skin pinked, watching the blood swirl the drain until she was squeaky clean. Once she turned off the water, it occurred to her that she hadn’t been quick about it. As she wrapped a fluffy white towel around herself, she looked at the clock on the counter. Two a.m. The middle of the night. She’d better go soon. She had to work in the morning.
A knock came on the door. Tobias handed her a pile of clothes, yoga pants and a long-sleeved tunic T-shirt.
“Thanks.”
“There’s an extra toothbrush in the drawer.” He pointed toward the sink. “Feel free to use it. I buy them in bulk.”
“Thanks,” she repeated softly.
He turned on his heel and left. No flirting. His eyes did not drift down her body. Good. She’d told him the truth, and she’d scared him away. So why did it feel like her heart had dropped into her stomach?
She brushed her teeth and dried her hair before dressing in the clothes he’d given her. Comfortable and they fit. Thanks, Raven. She emerged from the bathroom and stopped short. Tobias had changed into a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a gray T-shirt that looked so soft it begged to be touched. He was watching TV. She hadn’t even noticed the device was on the dresser opposite his bed before. Her gaze dropped to the remote in his hand.
She couldn’t help herself. She laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I saw you turn into a dragon today.”
“Yeah?”
“And now you look like every human man in America.”
“Don’t vampires watch TV?”
“Sometimes. Most of the time vampires feed or obsess over who to feed on next. They’re also quite fond of sex.” He raised an eyebrow and flashed her a crooked smile. She looked away. “For most vampires, every channel is the Food Channel.”
He chuckled at that. “Do you read?”
“I love to. Just finished Diana Gabaldon’s latest.”
He clicked the remote and selected a channel. “I have Outlander.”
“First season?”
“All of them.”
“I like the first one the best.”
His eyes locked with hers, and then he tossed back the covers on the opposite side of the bed and beckoned her with his hand.
“I should go. I have to work in the morning.”
“Me too.”
“What I said before, it all still applies.”
“It’s TV, Sabrina. I’m not expecting you to sleep with me.” His lids lowered. “But I would like your company. This has been one hell of a day.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Everything felt heavy, and the bed looked so clean and soft. He’d changed the sheets. Caving to the temptation, she crawled into bed and stretched out beside him. He scooped an arm behind her head and pulled her closer. Cheek against his chest, she allowed everything to be swept away. All her worries about the coven and the wolf were drowned out by the steady beat of his heart. Damn, the shirt was as soft as it looked.
He clicked the remote, and the opening sequence of Outlander started to play. Her eyes were closed before it ended. The last things she remembered before she drifted off were his lips in her hair and his gentle voice in her ear.
“Rest. You’re safe with me.”
Tobias opened his eyes to a scene straight from heaven before recognizing it as what it was, a vision from hell. The heaven part had everything to do with Sabrina. Beside him, she slept, her red hair fanned out around her on the pillow, young and whole again. He had her vampire constitution to thank for that. What a blessing and curse that was.
He’d held her until she’d fallen asleep last night, then turned the TV off and drifted away himself. He couldn’t remember sleeping more soundly. He breathed in her scent, honey and moonlight, and tamped down the urge his dragon was sending him to mark her as his own. He wanted her. Not for one night but for always. Wanted to mate with her. Make her his.
The scariest part—he was already hers. And she was something he knew little about. A hybrid: half vampire, half human. As far as he knew, there was no history of a dragon mating with someone like her. He’d be lying to himself to say it didn’t turn him on to think about how rare she was, what an extraordinary and precious woman lay next to him in bed, but that was not why he loved her. Yes, he did love her, didn’t he? He’d started his descent into that mad rush of insanity when he’d still thought she was human, her compassion as a nurse and quirky idiosyncrasies intriguing him to the point of distraction. And when she’d kissed him, his interest in her had gone from casual to intense.
It was her intelligence and compassion, though, that had ruined him for all other women. The way she’d healed him after he’d taken the bullet for her, the way she’d sacrificed herself for her coven, a coven of vampires that didn’t truly know her or respect her for the right reasons. She was strong and wicked smart and as kind as anyone he’d ever known. And now he understood that she was a leader who wore her power lightly. If there was anything he could pinpoint, it was that. He was in love with the way she wore her strength like armor she hoped never to use, her wit like a quivered arrow, her compassion like an offered hand and well-worn smile.
She opened her eyes. Blinked. It was early morning, still dark. Their shift started at six a.m. Both of them needed to get up, get dressed, and drive to her home so she could change before they were due at the hospital. Only, he couldn’t move. He stared at her, memorizing the slope of her green eyes, her pale, freckle-less skin, her full, rose-colored lips.
“We should get ready and go,” she said softly. “It’s almost five.”
“How do you know that?” The clock was on the nightstand behind her head. She’d just opened her eyes. She couldn’t have seen it.
“It’s a vampire thing. The sun will rise in a little over an hour. I can feel it in my bones, in my blood. Even though I don’t have to go to ground, my instincts still tell me to. They tell me how much time I have to get out of the sun. Once the sun rises, the feeling goes away.
“Interesting.”
“You’re not moving.”
“Neither are you.” He reached for her, tracing his fingertips over her lips. Full, plump lips. Down her long, graceful neck. He placed a kiss along her pulse and she arched against him. Over her T-shirt, between the mounds of her brea
sts. She had perfect breasts. Full and luscious. He paused to look her in the eye before tracing her curves. A shaky exhale escaped her lips. He completed the circle, his thumb flicking her nipple through the thin layer of cotton. A perfect round pearl strained the fabric. He brought his lips to it and warmed it with his breath before teasing it through the cotton with his teeth. She moaned and dug her fingers into his hair.
His touch trailed lower, stroked down her stomach and toward her waistband.
She caught his hand by the wrist before he could go any lower.
“You’re trembling.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I want to, but I can’t.” Her voice cracked.
He retracted his hand. Internally, he chided himself. She wasn’t a dragon. She didn’t feel the driving need to mark and mate like he did. If he pushed her too hard, he’d scare her away. Clearly, she needed time. “I’ll take you home.”
They were in the car in less than twenty, speeding toward Marina Towers. After a quiet ride, he parked in front of her building.
“Can we go back to how it was before? Until I know it’s safe?”
He forced himself to smile. “Of course.”
Without a word, she dematerialized from the seat beside him.
“Faster than the elevator.” He shrugged, feeling like an empty husk. Was that it? Go back to how it was. He was supposed to pretend that every cell in his body didn’t long for her. Fat chance. Possible for her maybe, but not for him. Not anymore.
He was about to pull away from the curb when his phone dinged. A text. It was Sabrina’s number.
Someone was here.
Tobias left the car double-parked and cloaked himself in invisibility. It would have been faster to fly to her balcony, but that would require removing his coat and shirt. Not how he wanted to face whatever was happening up there. He shadowed an owner into the building, hopping on an elevator behind him. It was easy enough to get to her forty-ninth-floor condominium. He waited until the hall was empty to knock. The look of confusion when she opened the door was quickly remedied when he slipped inside and dropped his invisibility.
“Thanks for coming up,” she said, her voice choked.
The apartment was ransacked, furniture toppled, everything in the kitchen drawers overturned and dumped on the floor. Without saying a word, he strode to each of her two bedrooms. No one there, but he confirmed they were in the same state of disrepair.
“Who would do this?” he asked her.
“At first I thought it might be the werewolf, but I don’t smell wolf.”
“No,” Tobias said, inhaling deeply. “I smell vampire. Not you. I know your scent. This was done by a pureblood.”
“I smell it too.” She frowned and pointed at the far wall. “I think someone doesn’t like the fact that I was chosen as the new coven master.”
Tobias followed her gaze. Unworthy was painted in blood on the taupe wall.
“Get changed. I’ll drive you to work,” Tobias said, his protective instincts kicking into high gear. He started righting the dining chairs. As soon as she was out of the room, he was going to scrub that shit off the wall.
“Really Tobias. You don’t have to do that. The sun is rising. I’ll be okay.”
“Please.” He growled, closing his eyes and shaking his head. When he opened them again, she was staring at him. She sighed.
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
Chapter Thirteen
The werewolf, Sabrina thought, was just the beginning. What Tobias didn’t realize as he cleaned up her living room—a gesture she found overtly romantic—was that messing a vampire’s bed before sunrise sent a message far beyond “unworthy.” In vampire culture, overturning furniture and drawers, tearing curtains, and otherwise ruining a vampire’s sleeping place could be a death sentence. Anyone in her coven would know that she would not be harmed by what was done to her apartment tonight. She was a daywalker, after all. But it didn’t matter. The message was the same.
Someone wanted her dead.
What’s more, whoever had been here tonight was likely now aware that she had not been. Questions would be asked. If not here, where had she been? It was paramount that no one know she’d spent the night with Tobias. Under the best of circumstances, her father would assume he was human and send a vampire to wipe his mind. Under the worst of circumstances, he’d order Tobias dead, an act that would more than likely reveal the truth he was a dragon shifter and seal his fate.
She changed into her scrubs, thankful for her nursing job. She couldn’t wait to bury herself in her work. She loved caring for the sick. It was when she felt the most human. By the time she put her hair up and brushed her teeth, Tobias had righted the main room of her apartment and even washed the bloody message from the wall. She didn’t bother saying he shouldn’t have. She appreciated it, and she told him so.
“Thank you.” A heavy weight settled on her chest. “I’ll deal with the rest of it later. We need to go.”
His jaw tightened. “I can ask Raven to put wards around this place. You need more protection. I’ll have her do it while we’re at work.” She didn’t miss the way the offer came with some reluctance. If Tobias and Raven had a strained relationship, it might make what she needed to tell him easier.
“That’s not necessary.” She shook her head. She couldn’t accept more help from the witch. “You need to ask your brother and Raven to leave Chicago. If my coven learns what Raven did for me—”
“I think it is necessary. Whoever did this is dangerous. The wolf who stabbed you is still out there.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in close. “I’ll keep you safe until we can get something in place.”
“No,” she said. “Tobias, you haven’t been listening to me. You can’t protect me. You need to protect yourself from me and my kind. You need to protect your family. At least until I take power. This is only going to get worse until that crown is on my head. Please. You have to go. I’ll drive myself to work.”
“Sabrina…”
Her eyes prickled with unshed tears. She held up her hands. “I’m sorry.”
Before she lost her nerve, she donned her coat, grabbed her purse off the hook, and held the door open for him. Pain radiated through her chest as he gave her one more lingering look before heading for the elevator. She let him go and willed herself not to cry.
It had to be this way. Relying on Tobias put him at risk. She couldn’t do it anymore, no matter how much it hurt.
Tobias slipped out of Sabrina’s apartment, turning himself invisible before reaching the elevators. Silently, he waited. She’d pushed him away to keep him safe, but Tobias had no intention of going anywhere. Whether or not she realized it, she needed him. In the past few days she’d been stabbed in the chest and had her apartment ransacked. No way was he abandoning her to save his own hide.
When she emerged from her apartment, he followed her to the parking garage, hoping his scent wouldn’t be a dead giveaway. Then again, he’d just left her place. It would make sense that his smell would still be in the air. Admittedly, he bordered on full-blown stalker at the moment. He didn’t make a habit of following women. But he had to make sure she made it to her car safely. Whoever had wrecked her apartment was likely still out there. Anyone who would do such a thing would want to see the results of their effort.
He stopped behind a concrete pillar. Thanks to his invisibility, she couldn’t see him anyway, but the spot gave him protection from the other cars pulling through the garage. Plus it gave him something to hold on to when he saw a stocky, greasy-haired vampire appear beside her vehicle.
“You stayed out last night,” the vampire said. “All night. I was afraid something had happened to you.” The low male voice was definitely too quiet to be human, but Tobias had no trouble detecting the venom in his words. He trained his ears in the direction of the conversation.
“That is none of your business. Why did you wreck my apartment?” Sabrina’s accusation made Tobias clench his fists. So
she had suspected someone. Who was this prick?
“Who said anything about wrecking your apartment? Are you in danger, Princess? We should notify your father.”
“Stay out of it.”
“I think you owe me an explanation. Out all night. Condo is ransacked.”
“I don’t owe you anything, Tristan. Stay away from me,” Sabrina said.
Tristan? Who was Tristan to her? Wait, she’d mentioned him before. He was the vampire who would be master if Sabrina stepped down. She’d said he was nothing short of evil. Tobias’s skin prickled. The male had the flat, soulless eyes of a snake, and his scent matched what he’d smelled in her apartment.
Without thinking, Tobias lurched toward the two, wanting desperately to place himself between her and Tristan. His toe caught on an empty Coke can, and it rattled across the parking garage. He squeezed his eyes shut and cursed. A vision of Gabriel sweeping his legs with a bo staff and sending him crashing to the practice mat filled his head. Of all the times for his lack of stealth to rear its ugly head, did it have to be now?
He froze as the two vampires looked directly at him. It would not go over well if Sabrina knew he’d been watching her. She’d told him in no uncertain terms to back off. Thankfully, when the vampires’ search came up empty, their eyes refocused on each other.
“I want you to stop following me, Tristan.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll tell Calvin.”
“Okay, let’s tell Calvin. I think he’d be interested to know his daughter is spending the night with a human male.”
A growl pierced the early morning quiet, menacing enough that Tobias could hardly believe it came from Sabrina, but she’d moved on the other vampire and had her hand wrapped around his throat. “How many times do I have to tell you? It is none of your concern what I do with my free time, whom I feed on, or how.”
“It is if you are becoming romantically entangled. There are rules, Sabrina. The master of the largest vampire coven in North America can’t be shacking up with her lunch.”
Windy City Dragon Page 11