Chapter 7
“Well, I’ll admit that that was not how I expected things to work out,” Knox announced the moment that the bedroom door closed behind me, shutting out the rest of the nightwalker world.
I stood in the middle of Mira’s room, staring down at my bloodstained hands. I trained all my attention on my hands because if I let myself think about anything else I was going to crack right down the center and nothing was going to pull me back together again.
I’d trusted Stefan. I don’t know why. He’d been amusing, tender, and annoying. Not once had I thought him to be harmless. Yet, I hadn’t thought he would intentionally hurt me. When he turned his back on me, refusing to give me any kind of aid, that was exactly what he did.
“Would you mind if I get a shower to get this blood off me?” I asked in a low voice, struggling to keep it from breaking.
“Erin, I’m—”
“Don’t!” I said more sharply than I had wanted to but it was too late to suck the word back now. There was something in his gentle tone, something too close to the sound of pity. I couldn’t take it.
“Just wait. Mira is on her way.”
Luckily, we had to wait only another couple minutes before the redheaded nightwalker swept into the room with the large man trailing her. The nightwalker stopped directly in front of me while the man dropped into a large black leather chair in the far corner and propping his feet up on the coffee table. He watched me, not quite glaring but his expression certainly wasn’t welcoming.
“Thank you for the loan of the clothes,” I said, dragging my gaze back to her.
Standing close, Mira was taller than I would have expected. But then I was barely over five feet; middle school children were taller than me. Her skin was flawless and nearly marble white, while her eyes were this brilliant shade of lavender. I would have said that they were contacts, but I couldn’t imagine her putting in contacts. The color had to be real. She was amazingly slender and seemed even more lethal up close, but for some reason I couldn’t summon the fear I knew I should be feeling. I was numb.
“For the clothes?” she said with a little laugh.
“Yes, thank you for the clothes. I’m sorry about getting blood on them.”
A little smirk lifted one corner of her mouth. “It’s okay. Happens all the time.”
“Mira,” the man growled, causing the nightwalker to laugh.
“I know I should be thanking you for more, but I don’t know you. I don’t understand what has happened the past two nights and I don’t know what a pet is. I don’t know if I’m better off with you or Carla.”
Behind Mira on the other side of the room, I saw Knox wince. Yeah, it was far from a compliment since Mira had saved my life, but slavery didn’t seem better than death. It was with a little reluctance that I looked back up at Mira.
There was a wealth of sympathy in her eyes and it shook me to my core. “I understand,” she simply said and I believed her. Possibly more than if anyone else in my life had said those words.
“Would you mind if I washed this blood off?” I asked, holding my hands up to her.
“That’s fine. We’ll talk when you get out,” Mira said with a reassuring smile.
A heavy sigh slipped from me as I closed the bathroom door. Tears were starting to build, but I held them back. Mira seemed patient. I didn’t know why she helped me, but I wasn’t willing to think that it had anything to with compassion for me or a wish to save an innocent person. After turning on the water, I stripped out of her clothes and carefully folded them before placing them on the sink.
Stepping under the hot spray, I felt my carefully built walls crumbling. My life had been ripped from me and I didn’t yet understand why or by whom. In the past twenty-four hours, I’d discovered a dead body in my apartment, been incarcerated for murder, sprung from jail by a nightwalker, flown across the city, and then nearly killed by another nightwalker. And now I was someone’s pet.
I gave myself a hard shake and put my face into the hot spray to wash away the tears. I was still alive. I’d battled back from the edge before and I could do it again. Mira said that I was going to look for the killer. When I found Sabrina’s killer, I could finally get away from these insane nightwalkers and return to my life.
And the lesson learned: Don’t fucking talk to nightwalkers. Let them do their business and walk the other way. Their life was a nightmare and I didn’t want to be a part of it.
Feeling a little better after my pep talk, I started scrubbing off the blood and the griminess that had accumulated over the past two days. A small, tentative smile rose on my lips to see the three sets of shampoo and conditioner in the shower; all were those expensive, designer salon brands that I’d touched longingly but never tried because my paycheck was never big enough. Apparently my new companions liked the finer things in life even if they were dead. The thought gave me pause — Was the man dead? He didn’t look or move quite like one of the nightwalkers and he wasn’t pale like them.
The last of the suds were disappearing down the drain when I heard the door open. “I’m almost done. Be out in a second,” I called.
“Erin...”
My entire body froze at the sound of Stefan’s ragged voice. I didn’t want to see him. I had just gotten control of my emotions and convinced myself that I could tackle this new problem. I didn’t need to be reminded of how I’d been betrayed. “Get out of here!” I snarled as I violently shut off the water.
“I just want to talk.”
“Talk?” The metal rings holding up the shower curtain screeched along the metal rod when I jerked the curtain open. I grabbed the towel and quickly whipped it around me as I stepped out of the shower. “You want to talk? You had your opportunity to talk and you blew it.”
I continued to approach Stefan. He backed up with each of my steps closer until we were standing in the bedroom. A quick glance around revealed that Danaus and Knox were where I’d left them, while Mira was now stretched out across the rumpled sheets on the bed. I ignored them. There was something I needed to get off my chest if I was going to ever find a little peace in my new life as Mira’s pet.
“You had your chance to talk up there,” I said, pointing toward the ceiling and the dark throne room. “You could have told them that I didn’t kill anyone or that you weren’t going to let anyone kill me. I might not know who the hell you are, but I’m willing to bet that you had the power to keep my head from being ripped off. You could have said a lot of things up there, but you didn’t. You decided to keep your mouth shut. Well, you know what, buster? You don’t get to talk now.”
“Erin, you don’t understand about our people—”
“You’re fucking right I don’t understand. You had a week to make me understand about your people, but you didn’t. What I do understand is that I don’t mean anything to you so I don’t have to listen to you.”
I started to turn back to the bathroom where I could dry off and actually put some clothes on, but Stefan didn’t let me. He grabbed my arm and roughly pulled me against his chest. My first mistake was looking up at him with the intent of telling him to get off me. I should have just put my knee in his balls. My second mistake was letting myself think that I no longer cared about the nightwalker, because he too quickly proved me wrong.
Stefan captured my lips in a rough, possessive kiss that effectively wiped all thought from my brain. I remained still in his arms, letting him dominate my mouth while emotions that I didn’t want to feel rolled through me. After a couple seconds, Stefan gentled the kiss and his tenderness finally broke me so that I was now kissing him back.
“You mean so much to me, ma petite. So damn much. I want only to keep you safe, not only tonight but for the nights to come. I… I need to explain. To fix this.”
Someone cleared their throat and I pulled away from him. A slow, tender smile grew on Stefan’s lips and I groaned, dropping my forehead against his chest. Was I really this weak? The man abandons me to my fate and I crumble wh
en he kisses me.
“You’re a fucking bastard and I’m still really pissed at you,” I grumbled, shoving out of his arms.
My other companions in the room laughed and Stefan’s expression immediately soured as he glared at Mira. His shirt and slacks were damp from where I’d leaned against him so that the material now clung to him in spots. But somehow he managed to stand there like a king looking down on an insolent servant.
“I’m getting dressed,” I muttered, starting to scurry back into the bathroom. I was just grateful that I hadn’t lost my towel while in Stefan’s embrace. It was bad enough they’d seen me shouting at Stefan. Would Mira be angry about that? I got the impression that I was considered beneath her and Stefan. At the moment, she seemed amused by me but I didn’t know how long that was going to last.
“Wait a minute,” Mira said, catching me. She walked over, carrying a fresh stack of clothes. “Just to hold you over until we can get your clothes.”
I nearly cried when I saw them, but I bit down on the inside of my mouth and held it together. I was tired. That’s all it was. I was exhausted and had been through too much. Tomorrow, I’d be as tough as nails and ready to beat the pulp out of the asshole who framed me.
Accepting the clothes from Mira, I disappeared into the bathroom and quickly dressed. After running a brush through my hair and taking a deep, steadying breath, I stepped back into the bedroom to find everyone exactly how I left them. Stefan extended his hand toward me, expecting me to return to his side, but I carefully sidestepped him and took up position in the center of the room. I needed answers, not distractions.
Stefan didn’t look pleased as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest in a sulk. Let him pout. I had a right to be pissed at him.
“He didn’t want to abandon you,” Mira said softly, jerking my gaze to the nightwalker standing directly in front of me. “I’m Mira.” She smiled without revealing her fangs and extended her hand to me. I glanced down at it and then over at Knox, who had thought it was odd that I would try to shake hands with a nightwalker.
Knox gave a little shrug of his shoulders, looking amused. “Mira knows humans.”
I didn’t question it further, but shook her hand. Her skin was cool to the touch as if she had been walking outside without gloves on a cool fall night. There was also an underlying feeling of strength without her overwhelming me or breaking my hand.
“I’m Erin Prescott.”
“Yes, Stefan’s pet.”
“No!” Stefan said sharply before I could.
A wicked grin spread across Mira’s lips and she winked at me before turning to face Stefan. “No? Then what is she?” Stefan mutely glared at the redhead as she turned and put her arm across my shoulders. “She’s certainly not just a warm meal. A friend? But that couldn’t be right? Not after a kiss like that! A lover?”
Stefan said nothing and I blushed. I was beginning to think that maybe I didn’t want him to answer that question. Why put a label on this when we had been going along so well without one?
“Mira, let it go,” the man said.
She dropped her arm from around my shoulders and looked at the man still lounging in the large chair. “This is Danaus. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Consort,” he grumbled, shooting her a dirty look before he pushed to his feet and extended his hand to me.
“Lover,” Mira said with a smile that managed to be both teasing and affectionate. “My everything,” she finished with a whisper, her eyes locked on Danaus’s back.
It was a struggle to suppress my own smile as I took his hand, but I immediately jerked it away when I touched his warm skin. I blushed, thoroughly embarrassed by my reaction. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to be warm. I mean, not a vamp-I mean nightwalker.”
“Definitely not a nightwalker,” Danaus said returning to his chair while Mira and Knox laughed.
“And you’ve already met Knox.”
I sent a smile over to the nightwalker that initially helped me to keep from getting killed and he gave me a little salute.
“Why did you say that Stefan didn’t want to abandon me?” I asked, now that we had all the introductions out of the way. Sure, it wasn’t the most important thing that we had to deal with, but I had been dying to know what she meant by that statement since she’d made it.
“Because I didn’t,” Stefan said gruffly, looking immensely uncomfortable at having to admit that while facing everyone else. “Someone is trying to either kill or manipulate me. I was concerned that if I showed any kind of favoritism toward you, it would make you an even bigger target and put you in danger.”
“You mean more danger than being killed up in that room?” I demanded, my temper starting to return.
“Yes.”
“He asked me to take you in as my pet,” Mira said, drawing my angry gaze away from Stefan to her. She arched one thin brow at Stefan and gave him a speculative look. “He made it sound as if he would be willing to do things for me, as if he now owed me a favor.”
“I think we are quite even after I offered my assistance in Budapest,” Stefan snapped.
“Budapest? You had your own agenda in Budapest,” Mira scoffed. “Besides, I think you still owe me a little gratitude for clearing a chair for you upon our return from Budapest so that you could easily become member of the Coven.”
Stefan snorted. “We both know you weren’t doing me any favors. You killed him for yourself.”
“Who cares!” I shouted, throwing up my hands at their bickering, which I didn’t understand in the least. Mira and Stefan had some kind of history. It certainly didn’t sound sexual since neither one of them seemed to like the other much. “While I am grateful that Mira did step in to save my neck, I’m now concerned that whoever killed Sabrina will now see Mira as a target.”
“Not likely,” Stefan grumbled.
“How do you know? Why wouldn’t the person now set their sights on her with the expectation of using me as leverage?”
“Because they’re all afraid of me,” Mira said. As she spoke, she lifted her left hand and it was instantly covered in dancing blue flames. She didn’t flinch or act as if it was hurting her in anyway. I stared at the flickering fire in wonder, feeling the heat radiating off it.
“You caused the ring of fire,” I whispered.
“I’m called the Fire Starter among my people and they know better than to upset me.”
“I would imagine so.”
With a little flick of her wrist, the flames disappeared. “By claiming you as my pet, I have bought both you and Stefan some time. That is all.” She looked over at Stefan, all joking gone from her expression. “If they went to the trouble of tracking her down and staging this scene, then I doubt they are fooled by your supposed indifference. The culprit is likely to make another pass at her.”
A horrible chill slipped through me at her words and I suddenly wished that I hadn’t put so much distance between myself and Stefan. Despite being a vampire, I’d always felt safe in his arms and right at that moment, I needed that feeling.
“But why?” I demanded, my arms tightening where they crossed over my stomach. “I’m nobody. I don’t know or understand anything about your people. And no offense, but I really don’t feel like I want to know.” Stepping around Mira, I walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. My legs had begun to shake I was so exhausted. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms and tried to push through the fog that was slowing my thoughts. Nothing was making sense anymore, and I wasn’t sure if it was the fatigue that was slowing me down or if their world really was the complicated.
A hand settled on my back a moment before I felt a heavy weight settle on the bed. With a sigh, I dropped my hands and looked up to find Stefan sitting close, an openly worried expression on his face. “You are not nobody.”
“In your world, I am.”
“No. When I marked you, I claimed you. I was trying to protect you.” Anger and frustration vibrated in his voice.
“Yes, in gratitude and I do appreciate your effort.” I reached out and covered his hand with mine. “Besides, it’s been almost a week. Shouldn’t have worn off by now?”
Stefan looked away from me, a distinctly guilty expression on his face. “No.”
“Did you do it again? But you couldn’t have. You haven’t bitten me in days.” My hand unconsciously drifted up to my neck and rubbed the spot that he’d bitten days ago. The wound was nearly gone, but the skin was sensitive there, tingling under my touch from the memory of his mouth on my skin.
“Biting isn’t the only way to mark someone,” Mira said with a smirk that caused me to blush. Yeah, sex was probably an easy way for them to mark someone and Stefan and I had done plenty of that.
“But why?”
“Because… because you’re mine,” Stefan replied, looking more than a little troubled.
“I really don’t think we need to waste our time figuring out Stefan’s tangled love life,” Danaus said from across the room.
While I didn’t quite care for his choice of words, I had to agree with his sentiment. This was not the time or the place to be hashing out exactly what I meant to the nightwalker, let alone if it was a good idea that I meant anything to a nightwalker. Stefan or I didn’t need an audience for that.
“Yes,” Stefan said with a soft hiss. “The point is that this is the first time that I’ve shown any kind of preference for another in a very long time.”
“How long?” Danaus pressed.
“For a human?” Stefan paused and I stopped breathing, waiting to hear his answer. “Centuries.”
My eyebrows jumped to my hairline and I slid off the bed to stand in front of him. “Do you mind if I ask exactly how old you are?”
“I am more than one thousand years old.”
My brain completely locked up at his words. A thousand. One moment I was standing and in the next, Stefan was holding me up because my legs had given out beneath me. He gently sat me on the edge of the bed again, tightly grasping my shoulders so I didn’t fall over.
Stefan (Lost Nights Series Book 1) Page 9