She gasped and averted her eyes, then clamped her lips closed. Several drops of blood fell from Niyol’s spears where they impaled her arms and legs. Small splatters landed on the table and my bravado slipped as bile rose in my throat.
“I had no idea,” Otto said, breaking the silence. “I’m sorry for my disrespect earlier, princess.”
I pulled my gaze from the pooling drops and gave him my attention. He immediately looked away. Damn. I hadn’t wanted him to fear me; or any of them, for that matter. Niyol was a different story, though. The vampire should be scared shitless by my elemental.
“I’m sure Elaine was trying to keep my identity secret. If this… thing… hadn’t attacked me, you would still not know.” I thought back to something Kellen told me the first time we sat down in his training room. He said I should be grateful for my small size. People would always underestimate me. And as much as I hated to admit it, he might’ve been right. “I’d like to keep it that way.” I looked directly at Fiona. “Don’t force me to make that command as well.”
She nodded but didn’t look at me.
“I suggest moving away from the table.” I took a few steps back before calling Niyol.
Niyol, can you release her?
Well done, princess.
I couldn’t have done it without you.
Without warning, Fiona’s body fell from the ceiling, crushing the table with her weight. She cried out in pain and crawled away from the shattered wood, putting her back against the wall and still not looking at me. I wondered how long the command would last. Probably not as long as I wanted, but at least it would give us time to leave.
“Well, that’s one question I don’t have to ask,” Elaine said, still smiling. She dragged her chair away from the wreckage and sat down.
Yun pulled several paper towels from the dispenser and doused them with water from a small sink. “Soak your dress in cold water as soon as you can,” she said, handing me the dripping towels.
I dabbed at my neck and closed my eyes. Since everything else was out in the open, there was no reason to hide my healing.
Göksu?
Of course, child.
Thank you.
I opened my eyes as his healing warmth spread across my neck and shoulder. I had the best elementals. How did I ever live without them? Pretty fricking pathetic, that’s how. Four sets of eyes stared back at me. Well, not really me, but the skin closing on my neck and shoulder.
“I assume we can go now?” Logan asked, breaking the silence that had settled once again.
“My previous order to keep her away from the vampires is no longer needed,” Elaine replied. “Do what you must to get the job done.”
Logan’s fingers interlaced with mine and I let him pull me from the room. It felt good to be respected by people I’d been afraid of a few moments earlier. It wouldn’t last, though. My command would wear off and Fiona would be pissed as hell. I’d just given her all the reason in the world to go back to the vampire council. I should’ve let Logan handle it. But he hadn’t moved when she attacked me.
I stopped walking, halting my vampire’s forward progress as well. The middle of the parking lot wasn’t a good place for this confrontation, but I needed to know. He turned and looked down at me, the unasked question in his eyes.
“Why didn’t you stop her?” I demanded.
“I was in shock,” he whispered, closing the space between us and placing his fingers on my neck. “Her attack surprised me, but your response...” He shook his head. “I’m quick, but you reacted before I did.”
“Oh.” I knew he was telling the truth, even if it was hard to believe I could be faster than a vampire. But our bond showed no hint of deception. “Niyol reacted.”
“Really?” His eyebrows rose and he looked over my head at the building behind me. “Let’s finish this conversation on the road.”
Before Logan could put the car in drive, Yun was racing across the parking lot. She no longer wore her black martial arts outfit. I knew there was a name for it, but I didn’t know what it was. A long orange t-shirt hung over a pair of patterned yoga pants and her bright white sneakers nearly blinded me. Her short legs moved much faster than mine ever thought about going.
“What now?” Logan mumbled, rolling down the window.
“I’m coming with you,” Yun said, rushing past his door and jumping in the backseat. She wasn’t giving him the option to argue.
“Why the change in plans?” he asked, shoving the vehicle into drive and accelerating a little too fast.
“We all have resources outside our group,” she replied. “I can get a message to Kellen without every shifter at Victor’s knowing about it.”
I swiveled in my seat and looked at the young woman. She smiled, but it didn’t last. Was she also afraid of me now? I hoped not, because she was the only person in that room who hadn’t immediately written me off or wanted to drink my blood. And I could definitely use another ally.
“You did nothing wrong in there, AJ,” Yun said, practically reading my mind. “They need to be afraid of you. The rumors running around vary from an all-powerful mage who can wield the four elements to a powerless human Kellen recruited to look like a mage.”
I couldn’t hide my surprised expression. “Neither of those are even remotely true,” I argued. “People don’t really believe that, do they?”
“We don’t, not after today,” she replied. “At least not the fake mage part. I’ve never seen a mage react so quickly.”
I looked over at Logan, who kept his eyes on the road. I knew better than reveal my true relationship with my elementals. Most mages tried to control theirs. I let Niyol do whatever he wanted and in turn, he gave me his complete loyalty. Like today. But honestly, there was no way I could truly control him. It had to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Didn’t it? I needed to talk to more mages. Göksu was completely different. He helped when I asked, but only when I did it without hate. Again, I couldn’t imagine controlling him.
“Can you get a message to Kellen today?” Logan asked.
“Nope, we need to go to Salt Lake,” Yun replied. “Do you mind if I hitch a ride with you?”
“I didn’t plan to go to Salt Lake City,” Logan said.
“Did you really want to meet him at his estate?” Yun countered. “Salt Lake is neutral ground, and we can stay at the red house.”
I frowned. The red house, blue house? Did they even match the colors of their code names? Probably not. The blue house hadn’t been blue.
“Fine,” Logan consented, sighing heavily. “We need to go home and pack first.”
“Thanks. I really didn’t want to stick around with the moody vampires.”
“How’s Fiona?” I asked. “I assume her wounds will heal.”
“Why are you worried?” Yun asked. “She had it coming.”
“Because, I don’t want to drive a wedge through your team,” I replied, watching Logan’s profile. “But it looks like it might be too late.”
“Nah, Fiona needed to be put in her place.” The young woman waved a hand at me. “The command thing will piss her off, but again she had it coming. She would’ve killed you without thinking twice about it.”
“And next time, she’ll bring friends,” I muttered.
“Her friends are nothing compared to yours,” Logan said, glancing at me.
I knew he was talking about Niyol, but he was only one element. If she decided to bring a bunch of friends, I was in trouble. “What about Elaine and Otto? Are they mad?”
“I haven’t seen Elaine smile in ages. No way was she mad,” Yun replied. “I don’t know about Otto. He’s hard to read sometimes.”
“Otto’s good,” Logan said. “He had a wakeup call, which is never a bad thing.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but Logan seemed convinced. During the meeting, it seemed to me like my vampire despised Otto for just looking at me. But men were weird and vampires even more so. If Logan trusted Otto, I could at least keep an open mind.
>
“What are the chances that Fiona will go to the council?” I asked.
“Pretty slim,” Yun replied. “She burned a bunch of bridges when she left.”
“No, I burned them for her,” Logan said. “I’m the one who killed her sire. Their fight is with me, more than her. If she dangled AJ in front of them, they might take her back.”
“I didn’t know it was you,” Yun leaned forward and tried to look at him. She was too short. “I thought Otto did it.”
“No, Otto was there in the middle of the fight, but I was the one who took her sire’s head.”
“Wow.”
“So, how did you get the job of collecting mages?” I asked. Now seemed as good a time as any to start tackling my very long list of questions. Logan was the first vampire I met when all this started a month ago.
“I claimed to be seeking redemption,” he replied, glancing at me. “The best way to test my loyalty was to force me to bring in the very people I was trying to save.”
“Oh, I guess that didn’t work out so well for the council,” I said.
“No, but it worked out perfectly for me.” A brief smile crossed his lips, but it faded quickly.
We wouldn’t get to finish our conversation about Niyol’s reaction time or how much more I should reveal to his team, not until we were alone again.
We fell into silence and the sleep button on my ass engaged a short while later.
Chapter 7
Just as the sun gave up its daily fight, Logan, Yun, and I rolled down Interstate 15 in the boring old SUV headed towards Salt Lake City, Utah. We were actually stopping about forty minutes south of Salt Lake, shortening our drive time down to just under five hours.
Logan had stretched a curtain rod across the back of his SUV to hang our new clothes. Some of his slacks were supposed to be wrinkle free, but nothing of mine was. While my new wardrobe had its perks, it was inconvenient. Sure, I liked new clothes, but I’d already ruined my sunflower dress thirty minutes after putting it on. It wouldn’t feel as bad if it were a ten-dollar t-shirt. My only consolation, I was pretty sure Logan felt the same.
“You going to be okay to drive?” I asked, knowing he had less sleep than me. At least I’d caught a couple hours on the road.
“Yep, I don’t need sleep like you do, princess,” he replied.
I smiled at the comment, hearing the playfulness in his voice. I missed it. He’d been so moody the last couple days.
“If you’re sure,” I said, shrugging. “I’m going to let this sleep button do its thing.”
“Sleep button?” Yun asked from the back seat.
“Yep. The one on my ass that activates as soon as the car starts rolling down the road.”
She laughed, and Logan chuckled with her.
“Why don’t you swap places with me, Yun?” I asked, turning in my seat. “You can poke Logan if he starts to fall asleep.”
“Sure.” She laughed again and we traded places.
I drifted in and out of dreamland several times, catching snippets of conversations between Logan and Yun. I remembered none of it by the time the Explorer rolled to a stop.
“Time to get up, sleepy head,” my vampire said, opening the back door.
I sat up and stretched, yawning deeply before sliding off the seat. Logan had three bags draped over his shoulder before I pushed the car door closed. The smell of fresh pine greeted me along with flowers and a heavy dew that was surely covering all of it. It was wonderful. Still tired from the drive, I stumbled up the steps of a moderately sized log home. A single porch light illuminated a red door that Logan pushed open.
“There’s a bed in the loft,” he said, leading me through the living room to a spiral staircase. “You can sleep the rest of the night. Yun’s taking her message to Kellen now. We should have our plans by morning.”
“Ok,” I mumbled, nearly tripping up the narrow steps. “Are you coming with me?” I couldn’t believe how tired I was. But it was the middle of the night and we’d been up since the middle of last night.
“Soon,” he replied, dropping the bags at the end of a queen size bed.
It looked so inviting with its fluffy pillows and down comforter. Logan caught me around the waist just before I nosedived into the beckoning softness.
“You can’t sleep in this dress, princess,” he whispered, tugging on the zipper at my back.
“Fine,” I huffed, raising my arms over my head and letting him pull it off me. He’d already seen me naked several times, and I was too tired to really care.
“I’m going to be gone for about an hour,” he said, guiding me beneath the blankets.
My brain slowly registered what he was saying. He wanted to feed again.
“Logan, why don’t we try mine, just to see if it works?” I mumbled.
“No.” He kissed my forehead. “You mean too much to me to use you like that.”
“So, some hooker off the street is good enough to satisfy your needs, but I’m not?” I huffed, knowing I sounded ridiculous. My foggy brain just needed to go to sleep.
“I’m not looking for sex and you know it,” he said.
“No, you’re looking for life.” I rolled over as tears pooled in my eyes. Why was I being so stupid? I didn’t want to be his blood donor. I was his friend, maybe even lover, but not a slave to his vampire. Still, the fact that he didn’t even want to try my blood hurt.
Regardless of my exhaustion, I didn’t fall asleep until I felt him crawl into the bed next to me. Neither of us said a word as he threaded his arm under my head and I curled up against him. His other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. I drew in a deep breath, loving everything about him except his vampire. Was it even possible to love someone despite hating one big part of who they were?
~~~~~~~~~
Morning came way too soon along with my bladder’s demand to be noticed. To my surprise, Logan was still asleep with an arm draped across my stomach. He always woke up before me. I contemplated waiting for him, knowing if I moved, he would wake. But my bladder made the decision for me and I gently rolled away from him. He moaned but appeared to stay asleep. Whew.
I looked around the space and frowned. There wasn’t a bathroom in the loft. I glanced down at my bra and panties, trying to decide if I should at least put on a t-shirt. Yeah, I better, I thought. Just in case Yun’s up. I didn’t want to see another woman waltzing around in her panties and had to assume she felt the same. I searched the floor around the bed until I found the shirt Logan wore yesterday, pulling it over my head. The narrow staircase proved a little challenging this early in the morning, and I wondered how I made it up the stairs half asleep last night.
The steps ended in an open-concept floor space that I hadn’t noticed earlier. The living room consumed the entire right side while a joined kitchen and dining room took up the left side. A small hallway ran behind the stairs with two doors, one on each side. One had to be the bathroom, right? I shrugged and picked the one on the left, the same side as the kitchen and therefore all the plumbing.
“Good guess,” I whispered, pushing open the door to a small but functional bathroom.
I took my time doing my business and washing the layers of makeup off my face. It felt good to see my skin again. Marissa’s work of art was beautiful, but I couldn’t replicate it and wouldn’t even try.
As soon as I opened the bathroom door, I knew something was wrong. A strange smell drifted towards me, like mud or the slimy stuff on drain pipes. I stopped in the open door and peeked my head around the corner. My jaw dropped, and I covered my mouth to stop the scream from erupting.
A towering creature filled the living room. Even with its back stooped, I didn’t know how it came through the door. It looked human… ish. Okay, not really. It had long legs and even longer arms connected to a torso with a squat neck and bulbous head. Clumps of mud covered its green skin, and its enormous feet tracked slime across the hardwood floors.
Try as I might, I failed to tamp down my
fear. Who let this thing in the house? I ducked back into the bathroom, taking deep breaths and trying to stay as quiet as possible.
Niyol? I need your help. Probably Göksu as well.
I see it, princess, Niyol’s voice echoed in my mind. It isn’t alone.
I assumed that, I snapped. Someone had to let it in.
There are six vampires with it.
Well shit. I bit my lip, trying to make a decision. Is Logan awake? What about Yun?
Your vampire is awake and panicked because you’re not there, Niyol replied. The shifter is gone.
Can you tell him I’m down here?
A gust of wind blew my hair and I smiled. I loved that elemental more than anyone else in my life. The thought made me pause, not only because of its truth, but because Niyol wasn’t even human. It didn’t matter though. My smile faded with the absence of Yun. Had she not come back last night? Did the vampires kill her already? I kind of liked her, even though we’d only known each other for a few hours.
Göksu, I really need you. I don’t think we can fight this many on our own.
I’m here, child.
I tamped down my frustration. He was always there, just not always helpful. I peered around the corner again just in time to see the ugly thing pick up the sofa and throw it into the kitchen. It shattered on impact, taking the island counter with it. The creature roared, forcing me to cover my ears and cower. Holy shit! The whole neighborhood would hear that thing.
A low rumble shook the floor and a tree limb shot through one of the living room windows. A fierce gale followed it, using the branch as a spear and impaling the monster’s leg. It roared again, and Logan leapt from the loft, landing on the green slimy back.
I’d never seen Logan fight. He was always my gentle and sometimes moody companion, but he was never vicious. This version of him terrified me. Long claws replaced his fingers and his smooth muscles bulged on his bare back. My vampire dug his claws into the monster’s neck and dropped from its back, leaving deep gouges in his wake.
Logan turned to me and I took a step back. Enormous fangs hung from his mouth and blood red consumed even the whites of his eyes. Fear paralyzed me.
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