There’s a difference. Keegan and Brynn are madly in love. He’d only known Amara a few days. So much of her life still remained a mystery to him. This wasn’t love. It couldn’t be love.
Could it?
The plane touched down in the early evening, London time. Cresso’s hired driver collected them and, after a short drive that seemed more like hours to Ronin, he arrived at the apartment. Cresso had recently purchased a new flat with some of the money he was rewarded for his part in Mammon’s capture. Located in the prestigious Mayfair section of London, it took up half of the fifth floor in a classy, eight-story building.
Ronin slid out of the car, hoisting Amara’s weight into his arms, and entered the lobby. A uniformed porter greeted him. He cast his gaze at Amara and his mouth tightened in clear disdain. “I presume you are Dr. Taylor’s guest?”
Ronin frowned. “Who?”
One of the porter’s brows lifted. “Dr. Taylor?”
If that was the last name Cresso had taken since moving to this dimension, then, “Sure.”
“Very good, sir.” The porter directed him to Cresso’s fifth-floor apartment. “I’ll let him know you arrived. Good day.”
The porter clearly had no love for Cresso and what Ronin assumed must appear like his lowlife friends, but he didn’t give a shit if the man’s delicate sensibilities were offended. He took the elevator up, cursing its slow speed. Finally he arrived on the fifth floor. Cresso stood in one of the opened doorways, waiting for him. He wore black slacks and a gray dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and based on his disheveled appearance, he’d been hard at work on something.
“Come in.” Cresso stepped aside so Ronin could maneuver Amara through the door. He motioned to an open set of double doors to Ronin’s left. “Living room is that way. My bedroom is beyond it, on the other side of the flat. But we’re going this way for now.”
Cresso turned right and led them down a hallway. Ronin caught no more than a glimpse of the off-white walls and elegant wood flooring. They passed a small room that Cresso had turned into some sort of makeshift laboratory, then kept going until they reached the end of the hall. A second, larger room with textured gray wallpaper held a large bed decorated in black-and-white bedding.
“Put her down on the bed.” Cresso moved in, checking her vitals before lifting her eyelids back to peer into her eyes. He muttered to himself the whole while. “About eight hours since initial collapse. Still unconscious.”
He glanced over at Ronin. “You’ve kept her sedated the entire time, correct?”
“Yes. Every two hours, like you said.”
“Okay.” He bent over the nightstand beside the bed, which he’d littered with various small jars of colored fluids, along with syringes, a pen, and paper. After scribbling on the paper, he picked up a few of the fluids and started mixing them.
“What are you doing?” Ronin asked, feeling like a total idiot.
“Going to try a few different concoctions on her before I resort to...”
When he trailed off, clearing his throat, Ronin got the hint. “Thanks.”
Not that he expected any of this to work, but it was nice to know Cresso was going to try every other option before moving on to the one they knew would work. The one Ronin dreaded.
“You’ve got time, right?” Ronin asked.
“Yes. Keeping her sedated reduces her body’s absorption of her life force. It gives us some breathing room to try a few things.”
Cresso drew his mixture into a syringe and injected it into Amara, who moaned and moved her head.
“I’m going to need some of your blood, too,” Cresso said, flicking the syringe with his middle finger.
“Okay.” Ronin didn’t know how that would help, but he was more than willing to give whatever he had. “Is any of this going to hurt her?”
“No.” Cresso stood and observed Amara with his brows tightly knitted together. Then, as if for the first time truly noting Ronin’s presence, his face smoothed. “She’ll be okay. Promise. I’ll do what I can for her. If I can’t figure something out, then we’ll do what we have to.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Cresso didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. He was clearly trying these other things because he was a friend and he understood what Ronin was going through. But he couldn’t hold out any hope of it working. Cresso had been searching for a cure for years. It wasn’t going to be coming anytime in the next couple of hours.
§
Several hours later, after Ronin had showered and changed, he sat at a small table nestled into the far end of Cresso’s long, narrow kitchen. He rolled his fifth bottle of beer between his palms. This was hell. The worst sort of hell. He wanted Amara to be okay. To be safe.
To be in his arms.
Hell, he’d tried so hard to stay aloof. But he’d gone and let Amara, with her blend of enchantment and vulnerability, into his heart. There was no way back from that, not for him. He would never forget her, no matter what the future held.
Please let her be safe.
Cresso staggered into the kitchen, appearing dejected and weary. He’d untucked his shirt, and the two top buttons were undone. Ronin put the bottle on the table and tensed.
“None of the things I’ve tried are working.” Pursing his lips, Cresso opened his refrigerator and grabbed a beer, then slouched into the chair opposite Ronin.
Ronin tried to quell the disappointment in the pit of his stomach. He took a swig of his beer. “We knew it was more than a long shot.”
“I feel like I’m so close. Almost there. Like I’m missing something.” Cresso popped the cap and took a big gulp of his beer. Then another, until it was gone. He rose and fetched himself another one. When he spoke, his voice was ripe with disappointment. “I don’t know if there’s anything else I can do for her.”
The very thing Ronin had feared...and expected. Devil, this hurt so bad. Tearing his heart out of his chest barehanded and stomping on it would have been less painful. But there was nothing to be done.
“You should get it over with.” When Cresso plunked his beer down on the table and gave him a questioning glance, Ronin added, “It’s only sex, right? Basic sustenance for your kind. She’ll be fine. Then we can be on our way.”
Logically he knew this was true. There was nothing personal about it. She needed sex to live. Yet it still hurt to imagine her with anyone else.
“It’s not just sex. If it had been, you wouldn’t have flown all the way out here to make sure I did it instead of some stranger.” When Ronin winced at those words, Cresso’s expression softened. “Love is a mystery. We don’t choose who we fall in love with, and a lot of times it’s damned inconvenient or even downright idiotic, but it is what it is. You can’t fight it.”
“This is not love. I barely know her. Besides, when did you become such an expert on love?”
His mouth tightened, and Cresso took a long sip of his beer.
“You?” He couldn’t be serious. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love?”
Cresso finished off his beer without responding.
“Who is she?”
“Someone who can’t stand me. Like I said, love is a mystery.”
Cresso, the fun-loving incubus, the man who must have a thousand black books to his name, had fallen in love? Ronin forced his mouth closed. He’d have to process that later.
“I don’t love her,” Ronin said, “but there is something there. Beyond pure chemistry. I feel for her. I don’t want her to get hurt. So let’s give up this fantasy and get on with it. Once she’s conscious, she can decide all by herself how she’ll handle feeding in the future.”
Cresso cocked a brow. “So that’s it?”
“That’s it,” Ronin forced himself to respond, even though his stomach churned so badly he feared he might p
uke up his beer.
“Okay. If you say so.” Cresso braced his hands on the table and rose to his feet. “See you...soon.”
“Yeah.” As Cresso left, Ronin swallowed the rest of his beer down in one desperate gulp. Yeah.
He was going to need a hell of a lot more of these.
§
Cresso sat on the side of the bed and stared at the unconscious woman. Ronin’s woman, no matter how much his friend denied it. Though she was beautiful and her heavy succubus allure blanketed the entire room, making his body respond on a basic level, he couldn’t think of a time he’d been less excited about being with a woman. For one, an insensible bed partner was not his idea of a good time. He preferred his women alert, and on fire for him and no one else. More than that, he could only imagine how he would feel if he was in Ronin’s place. If he had to helplessly sit back and wait while some other man fed his woman in the only way sex demons could feed.
He didn’t want to do this, yet he couldn’t let her waste away.
Amara moaned and her head thrashed about, hair covering her face. He smoothed it back.
If only he’d been able to create some sort of antivenom. It would have helped if he’d had a few drops of blood from someone immune to the toxins that sex demons emitted. That would at least have given him a fighting chance. He’d tried using Maya’s blood, since she could see through glamours, but it turned out her magical immunity didn’t extend to sex demon toxin. Not that he’d really expected it to. This wasn’t magic at work here, rather pure biochemistry.
Those who were immune to the toxin were few and far between, and it wasn’t as if most of them even knew what they were. Tracking one down was next to impossible.
Wait a minute...wait.
Damn it, why hadn’t he thought of it before? Brynn’s ancestor, the one who’d mated with the succubus, had been an immune. Sure, the bloodline had been highly diluted in the thousands of years since he’d first lived. Still, perhaps by some stroke of luck, there might be the slightest bit of immunity left in her blood. The odds were low, but he’d worked with less than that before.
When Amara let out a moan, he checked her heart rate again. Sluggish, though steady. Was there enough time? He did some rough calculations. If need be, he could put her in a medically induced coma and keep her in a barely living state for up to two more days. Yes, he should have long enough.
If his experiment failed, he would give her what she needed. But maybe, if luck was on his side, he wouldn’t have to.
He stood and raced to the door, throwing it open, then ran down the hall. He found Ronin where he’d left him, sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands.
Ronin looked up when he heard him, and by the tortured grimace on his face it was clear he thought Cresso had already done the deed. Then he saw his eyes, and the horror gave way to cautious hope. “What is it?”
“Get Brynn on the phone. Tell her to get three vials of her blood here. ASAP.”
Ronin’s mouth dropped open and he rose to his feet, clearly in shock. “What do you mean?”
“Do it,” Cresso snapped, and left the room. He headed to the lab in his third bedroom to do some calculations. Perhaps one portion of Brynn’s blood added to the chemicals he’d created. A smidgeon of Keegan’s healing blood, of which he already had several vials to experiment with, could possibly give a temporary boost of energy. That would come in handy.
Devil’s balls, this might work. Grinning, he continued with his equations.
Chapter Sixteen
Waiting for a miracle was pure hell, especially since it had never been Ronin’s style. Growing up with his father had taught him that miracles came far too seldom, and never without a price. But Cresso believed he might be onto something with his idea for a vaccine. Brynn’s blood had arrived almost twelve hours ago, and Cresso had been holed away in his lab ever since, emerging every half hour or so to draw more blood. He’d given her something to put her in such a deep sleep that she barely seemed alive. If not for the slightest rise and fall of her chest, Ronin would have sworn she was dead.
“Come on, Amara,” he soothed, grasping her hand. “Be strong. Fight.”
Damn, he was so tired. It seemed like months since he’d last slept, and his worry over Amara had taken a lot out of him. Even though her seductive allure thickened the air, making every nerve ending on his body feel electrified, he could barely keep his eyes open. The empty side of the bed where she slept called to him, inviting him to rest his head. Only for a moment. Giving in to it, he lay down. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Some time later, Ronin was woken with a rough jerk to his shoulder. He blinked until Cresso’s tired face came into view. “How long was I out?”
“Over ten hours.” Though Cresso had deep, dark circles under his eyes and his hair stood on end, something in his voice gave Ronin pause.
“What is it?” he asked, sitting up in the bed.
“I think I did it.”
Something in Ronin’s chest twisted and jerked hard, leaving him breathless. “What?”
Cresso held up a syringe with a cloudy pink substance inside. “Not a formal cure, but close enough. A vaccine.”
“A vaccine...” When his throat closed up on him, Ronin waited a moment before continuing. “How does it work?”
Cresso laid the syringe on the bedside table and checked Amara’s pulse. “Okay, think of the toxins her body emits as a disease. This vaccine, which I inject into you, prompts your cells to create antibodies that protect you against her toxins. That way her body can produce as much life essence as she needs without fear of killing you. Now, as part of the feeding process, she’ll still take some of your life force along with her, but it won’t be permanent. Think of it more as borrowing your energy. With this vaccine, you shouldn’t feel weaker, but you may sense some loss of vigor when it’s close to time for another injection.”
Ronin blinked at him. “How often would I have to inject it?”
“I’m still trying to work that part out.” Two bright spots of color darkened Cresso’s cheeks. “You have several hours in between at least.”
Good enough for Ronin. He asked the truly important question. “It works?”
“I mixed this concoction eight hours ago and I tested it against some of her blood and yours. I’ve checked every half hour since and the toxins still haven’t bound to your cells. Theoretically, the vaccine should work. It hasn’t been tested on a person, so I won’t say there’s no risk, but I wouldn’t be giving it to you if I didn’t believe it would work.”
Holy fuck. This was crazy, and part of Ronin supposed he should be more wary of the consequences. Yet right now he found he couldn’t be. Cresso seemed certain it would work, and the man was nothing but cautious when it came to science. He would trust in that.
Ronin rose off the bed and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”
“Me either.” When Cresso’s voice cracked on those words, the importance of this moment struck Ronin. Amara wasn’t the only one Cresso had helped by creating this vaccine. He’d also helped himself and every other sex demon. To know that he could feed without having to worry about anyone getting hurt? Must be amazing.
“I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now,” Ronin said.
“Pretty fucking good.” Cresso’s eyes were suspiciously moist. He blinked hard and grabbed the syringe off the table.
Ronin’s heart stuttered as he stepped forward, holding his arm out. If Cresso had somehow miscalculated, this might kill him. But if he didn’t do it...if he didn’t...
Cresso must have noticed his internal struggle, because he said, “It should work.”
Amara. Ronin would do it for her. He had no choice. Not as far as his heart was concerned. Much as he’d tried to deny it, she’d stolen a pi
ece of it the very first night they’d met. These past few days with her had only solidified their bond. Who knew what the future held? There was no guarantee this would last, or even that one of them wouldn’t die tomorrow. But he couldn’t walk away from her any more than he could stop breathing. He needed Amara in his life.
When Ronin nodded, Cresso grabbed his arm and pushed the syringe into the side of it, then dispensed the contents into his body.
“How long for it to take effect?”
“Given your bloodstream...pretty close to instantaneously.”
Cresso stepped back and pulled another syringe out his pocket, this one clear. “This is for Amara. If I calculated correctly, it should give her just the amount of energy she needs to regain consciousness and have use of her motor functions. It won’t last long though, not with her genetic makeup. She needs...well, you know what she needs.”
“Yeah.”
He was suddenly nervous. What would Amara think of all this? How would she react to him taking a vaccination that hadn’t undergone the customary amount of rigorous medical testing? Maybe she would think he was nuts.
“Ready?” Cresso asked, cocking a brow.
“Yeah.” With his heart hammering against his ribs and his stomach flip-flopping, Ronin watched while Cresso lifted Amara’s arm and injected the fluid. Cresso stepped back.
“How long do we have to wait?” Ronin asked.
Amara sucked in a deep, labored breath, and her eyelids fluttered open.
§
For the longest time, Amara lived in a land of nothingness. A vast cavern of dark that extended on for all of eternity. Every once in a while a sharp, searing pain would strike, and she would remember. Oh, I’m in hell. But then the darkness would take over once again, dredging away the pain, and floating all awareness away.
Until a ribbon of consciousness curled around her and dragged her forward so quickly she could not fight it. Gasping, she opened her eyes.
Touch of the Angel (Demons of Infernum, #3) Page 17