“Was she abused?” Gareth asked, his eyes turning dark and angry. “I’ve heard things about other communities hurting their breeders.”
“She doesn’t want to be a breeder,” Drew interjected. “We’ve offered her a place here. She’ll be safe.”
Gareth considered what he’d said. “You love her.”
Drew snorted. “After spending a short time talking to her, I don’t even like her.”
“She’d had a rough day when you met her,” Nixie insisted, in defense of her cousin. “That’s why she was being difficult.”
“She was a bitch,” Drew stated.
Gareth’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no reason to insult her.”
“Drew’s being kind. She was extremely childish and unpleasant,” Talia told her uncle. She’d been mostly silent since they’d entered the room.
“Talia.” The way Gareth spoke her name held quiet command with obvious censure.
“You’ll feel the same if you meet her,” Mason assured Gareth, who simply nodded and returned to his discussion of Buffy and Angel’s relationship. Drew had heard of the show, but he’d never watched it. The show had been cancelled when he was thirteen, and he’d never had much interest in watching a show about a chick who killed vampires. If he wanted to watch someone try to kill a vampire back then, all he had to do was wait until his mother tried to kill his father again.
“Does he ever stop talking about Buffy?” Drew asked.
Talia gave him a slight smile. “This is the first time he’s talked about it around me. If it helps, he usually gets bored with new obsessions pretty quickly. Maybe he’ll get tired of this one in the next five minutes.”
“Either that or he’ll start acting it out,” Mason added from Talia’s other side. “Now, you know how we torture vampires.”
Drew looked at his watch, thankful his uncle always drove well over the speed limit. With any luck, he’d be there soon.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Talia was about ready to pull Gareth aside and insist he tell her what was going on when Roman Draksel finally walked into the room.
“My apologies for taking so long getting here,” Roman began by way of greeting. “There was some commute traffic.”
“You should get a helicopter,” Isaiah suggested.
Roman looked thoughtful. “That would make things easier, but I’m not sure I’d like flying one, and I don’t want to hire a pilot.”
“Lyd could pilot it,” Justin added in a dry tone.
Roman’s expression turned thoughtful. “I’ll mention the idea to her. I believe Lydia would enjoy learning to fly a helicopter.”
Talia hadn’t spent much time around the spirited blonde with the Rapunzel hair, but she suspected that was true.
“I’m Roman Draksel,” he said, extending his hand to Gareth.
“Gareth Morgan,” Gareth replied, standing and shaking Roman’s hand. “This is a strange meeting.”
“Yes,” Roman agreed. “I had no idea there were hunters in this area until we ran into Mason. I expected we’d do our best to avoid each other.”
“That would be my preference,” Gareth admitted before sitting again. Not waiting for any further small talk, Gareth began speaking. “Nicola and three other hunters were found dead in a hotel room near here. It’s a huge mess. The human police were notified after housekeeping found the bodies. All were stabbed or had their throats slit. We have informants in the various law enforcement agencies on the lookout for crimes involving hunters or vampires. News travels fast, and the deaths have been reported to various local communities. Since the other hunter communities don’t know what’s going on, this is creating a lot of problems for us.”
“I’m curious why you haven’t hunted down the people involved in this plot already,” Roman added. “Even though they abandoned their original plan, it seems only logical they would come up with some other scheme. Your person on the inside must have been able to give you names.”
“Alonzo was our source, and he only had first names and descriptions for some of the hunters and vampires involved. We simply didn’t have the resources or skills to find them in the beginning,” Gareth explained.
“Wouldn’t Nicola’s name and description have raised red flags since you thought she was dead?” Drew asked.
“It’s not such an uncommon name in Europe,” Roman pointed out.
Gareth nodded. “Since we assumed she was dead, we didn’t have any reason to connect her to this. Had we recognized her involvement earlier, we likely would have done more to hunt down those involved. This was not Nicola’s first attempt to start a war.”
“So, they’re in the area,” Talia said mostly to herself. “I guess the vampires and hunters are no longer playing nice with each other.”
“Vampires may not have been the ones who killed the hunters,” Mason argued. “It could have been other hunters who weren’t happy with the direction they were taking.”
“It was vampires,” Drew insisted.
“Why are you so sure of that?” Mason asked.
“The purpose of their order was to end the truce between vampires and hunters,” he pointed out. “I don’t think Corbin or Nicola trusted or liked each other. Neither would allow the other to search alone.”
“I agree,” Gareth said with a nod. “I met Nicola many decades ago, and she wasn’t the type to leave others in charge. She had a deep hatred of vampires and thought they should all be killed. I imagine those convictions have only grown stronger.”
“If she hated vampires as much as you say, it seems strange she’d agree to be part of anything that would mix vampire and hunter DNA,” Roman mused.
“Since the bitch planned to kill the kid, I’m not sure why her involvement is such a shock,” Drew growled.
Talia looked over at Drew, surprised by his anger.
“That’s how much she hated vampires,” Gareth told him. “The idea of even allowing the child to take a breath would have been abhorrent to her. I can only assume someone forced her involvement. We’ll likely never know her true reasons for agreeing to allow her eggs to be used for the experiment.”
“I still don’t see what this experiment has to do with anything,” Talia grumbled. “Why the hell did they need to bring a child into all this? They could have started a war without her.”
“Based on what I was told by Alonzo before he died, she was an experiment meant to prove vampires and hunters weren’t even the same species,” Gareth replied, not looking at Talia. “Why they used a hunter’s eggs instead of just artificially inseminating a breeder is unclear. Once the breeder was pregnant, there were those on both sides curious to see what would happen. I imagine they argued about whether the child would be born a hunter or vampire. Those in charge seemed less curious with the outcome.”
“I imagine the scientists were surprised by the gender,” Roman remarked.
“Since they thought it impossible for vampires to produce female offspring, they were shocked,” Gareth replied. “The lack of a hunter’s mark was likely equally surprising since she was the first born.”
“Do you think the vampires and hunters involved will kill each other off?” Phoenix asked.
Gareth sighed. “That may happen at this rate, but it still creates a problem for us. The hunters who were notified of the killings are trying to figure out why so many hunters were together and who would want them dead.”
“Vampires are the logical suspects,” Drew muttered. “That asshole Corbin is still trying to start a war. If he weren’t, he would have hidden the bodies. He wanted the hunters to know what happened and become suspicious of vampires.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Roman agreed. “It seems you need to let other hunters know about this situation.”
“No,” Drew ground out. “If they know, the girl is as good as dead.”
“It won’t be hard to prove Shayla’s not the person they’re looking for,” Phoenix pointed out.
“Keeping Shayla safe
shouldn’t be a problem.” Roman agreed.
Drew shook his head. “This isn’t about Shayla. There’s another person at risk in all this, and you can’t hang her out to dry. She got fucked over enough already.”
Talia wasn’t sure why this was bothering Drew so much, but it was comforting to know he didn’t want her hurt—even if he didn’t know she was the one in danger. Thoughts of the danger she was in gave her an idea that might help them end things sooner.
“Maybe we can draw the hunters and vampires out if I pretend to be the girl they’re looking for,” Talia suggested.
“No fucking way!” Mason snapped.
Drew simply glared, his lips pressed together and his pale blue eyes narrowed.
The others were silent as they considered her suggestion. In the end, Gareth would agree because it was the practical thing to do. He wouldn’t let emotions get in the way of doing what had to be done.
“I’ll consider it,” Gareth finally said, surprising Talia. She’d expected him to agree right away. Gareth had to see this was the most expedient way to end things.
Roman shook his head. “I’m sure we can come up with a better idea.”
Drew let out a sigh of relief, but he still looked thoroughly pissed.
Gareth’s eyes narrowed. “This is a hunter matter.”
“You chose to involve us,” Roman reminded him. “We all suffer if there’s a war. The girl is also half-vampire. I get some say in how this is handled.”
Gareth looked taken aback by Roman’s argument. People didn’t generally stand up to her uncle, but Talia suspected people rarely argued with Roman. Both were men used to getting their way. “I need to consider this matter, but I will be the one to decide if Talia puts herself out there as bait. We’ll finish discussing Buffy and Angel’s romance later, Phoenix.”
Not waiting for a reply, Gareth stormed out.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Drew had been seriously pissed when Talia suggested she act as bait, but it was nothing compared to what he felt when she left the room in an obvious attempt to get away from him.
When Mason put a hand on his shoulder, he expected the hunter to warn him off Talia again. Instead, Mason nodded and gestured toward Talia with his chin. “Talk some sense into her.”
Drew nodded before stalking down the hall behind Talia. When she walked faster, he simply picked up his pace. She had nowhere to go. No one had given her a code for the front gate, and he didn’t believe she wanted to get away from him badly enough to scale the fence and walk miles through the canyon.
When they reached her room, she smacked her palms against the door before spinning to face him. “What the hell do you want?”
“That’s an interesting question,” he drawled, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he regarded her. “You might not want to ask me a question like that when I’m this wound up, babe.”
“Don’t,” she warned.
“Don’t what?” he asked.
“Don’t call me babe,” she ground out. “I am not one of the women you flirt with to pretend you don’t care about the world.”
“No, you definitely aren’t one of those women,” he murmured as he prowled closer, only stopping when his lips were nearly touching hers. “If you let me in—let me truly be with you—you would be my everything.”
Talia’s lips parted ever so slightly, and her tongue darted out to wet her lower lip. Drew’s eyes were locked on her mouth. Leaning in, he reached for her, his hand stopping just short of her cheek. His mind drifted to images of her naked body writhing beneath his as she whimpered with need.
When he met her eyes, he saw the heat fade to sadness before she looked away. “I want to tell you crazy and obsessive isn’t attractive, but it somehow works for you.”
“What can I say?” he drawled, his hand dropping to his side. “I make crazy look good.”
Talia laughed and smacked his belly. She leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I can’t do this.”
“I know you believe that, and I even understand why you believe that,” he began.
Talia snorted. “You can’t even begin to imagine my reasoning.”
“Maybe not all of it, but I have a good idea of what’s going on,” he told her. “There has to be a way to resolve this other than setting yourself up as bait. Let me help you.”
“Now, I see where this is all coming from,” she said dryly. “You want to be the hero and save me.”
Drew laughed, not a soft chuckle but a full-belly laugh that helped relieve his tension.
“You really are crazy,” she grumbled.
“That may be true,” he admitted as he got his laughter under control. “In fact, it’s definitely true. It doesn’t change the fact that what you said is funny as hell. I don’t think you need me to save you. What I want is to help you. There’s a big difference, Talia. One means I think you can’t save yourself. The other means I care enough about you that I want to fight by your side.”
When Talia opened her mouth to argue, Drew decided the best way to end their quarrel was to kiss her. His lips claimed hers. She moaned and clutched his hair, pulling him closer as their tongues fought for control. Never big on kissing, Drew was shocked by the intensity of the sensations racing through his body. He was turned on, but there was more. Emotions flooded him, making him dizzy with need—a need that went far beyond a physical yearning.
Reaching behind Talia’s back, Drew opened the door and guided her into the room. The last thing he needed was for Mason or one of his cousins to walk by and see him kissing Talia. Kicking the door shut, he continued to walk Talia further into the room toward her bed.
He wanted to slide into her hot body and fuck her until she screamed his name. He wanted to fuck her every way he could imagine—and he had a very good imagination. That wasn’t going to happen just yet, but with the way she was responding, he knew it was only a matter of time before he got to fully enjoy Talia’s body.
When Talia bumped into the bed, her body tensed, and the hands that had been clutching his hair moved to push at his chest. Drew reluctantly released her mouth but kept his arms around her.
“I’m not sorry we did that.” He realized how ridiculous he sounded as soon as the words left his mouth, but it was the truth.
“I’m not sorry, either,” she admitted. “That doesn’t mean we should do it again.”
Drew grinned at her. “We are definitely doing that again. I was never into kissing, but that was incredible. I can’t wait to taste you again—all of you.”
Talia’s breath caught in her throat. “This is bad,” she uttered, still not making any real effort to move out of his arms.
Taking it to be a good sign she wasn’t running from him, he decided to lay his cards on the table—most of them, at least. It was a tough call. By not admitting he knew her secret, he was lying. He’d never felt guilty lying before, but it seemed wrong with Talia.
Meeting her eyes, Drew heard himself utter words he’d never expected to hear coming from his own mouth. “You already know I like you, and I really think we could have something special. I know this is complicated, but it seems like most relationships are. All I’m asking for is a chance to see where this goes.”
“Okay,” Talia agreed.
Drew’s mouth dropped open, and he just stared at her as he waited for her to say something more. It couldn’t possibly be that easy.
“Are you going to say something?” Talia finally asked.
With his arms still loosely wrapped around her lower back, Drew leaned into her, resting his forehead against hers. “You aren’t messing with me, are you?”
Talia laughed and pushed his chest again. This time, he reluctantly released her. She moved around him so she was no longer pressed against the bed before she spoke. “I surprised myself with that answer. This is a bad idea, but I obviously want to try. How else do you explain me showing up at your room dressed for a slumber party last night?”
“I’m
glad you did,” he admitted. “That first night we slept together, I thought I’d end up moving to the couch. I’ve never liked the idea of sleeping with someone.” He decided not to continue with that explanation. Talia didn’t need to know about all his craziness up front. She’d just agreed to give him a chance. If he started revealing too much, it would be the shortest lived relationship in history. That thought made him grin.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked cautiously.
“This is a relationship, right?” he asked.
“I just agreed to give you a chance,” Talia reminded him. “Maybe we can wait to define everything for a little while. I’m pretty sure that happens later in these situations.”
He nodded. “You’re probably right. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
“Neither do I,” Talia admitted. “I’m also not sure this is a good idea, but I really like you.”
“My mind is racing with things I want to say, but I’m not sure where to start,” he told her.
“There’s no reason to make this weird,” she pointed out. “Just say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
“Did your panties get wet when I was kissing you?”
Chapter Thirty
Talia wasn’t shocked or offended by Drew’s question. After only a short time around Drew, she’d come to realize he didn’t care much about social rules and had very few inhibitions. She’d also been the one to suggest he say the first thing that came to mind.
“Sorry,” Drew quickly added. “That was crude.”
“It’s fine,” she assured him.
“Does this mean you’re going to answer my question?” he asked.
“It would be a very bad idea to answer that question,” she told him.
He looked like he was about to argue, but then he nodded. “You’re probably right. If you tell me no, then I’ll feel insecure and wonder if I’m a bad kisser. I’ll probably end up asking Phoenix for advice, and then I’ll have to explain why I’m asking. If you tell me I made you panties wet, then my dick is going to be aching even more, and I’ll end up trying to talk you out of your panties.” He flashed a roguish smile.
Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Psy-Vamp Book 7) Page 13