by Raven Stone
Jesus.
“Broken toys don’t work,” she continued in that soft voice. “Happy toys,” she trailed her fingers up my arm, “do work, and with a hell of a lot less effort, don’t you think?”
“Holy fuck,” Jamie said.
He’d only seen her as herself. He hadn’t seen her as that young, naïve woman I met in the bar, and he hadn’t seen her shift into her real self later on, like I had.
I traced my fingers along her jaw, absolutely enamored with her. This was one of the many reasons I liked her. Watching her work was like holding a prism up to sunlight; utterly beautiful and fascinating.
“Meaning what?” Gordon asked.
“Meaning if they try to kill me or take me hostage, she’ll make it clear that she’ll be useless to them – a broken toy unable to find their target. But leaving me in place will keep her happy, and they’ll still get what they want. Am I right, love?”
She nodded.
I smiled. “Okay, you can come.”
A smile spread across her face, and she transformed back into my Nadia.
“Good,” she replied. “And depending on the location, have Jamie come in too. Separately, of course. He can listen in on the conversation, and stay afterwards. Maybe he’ll pick up something we miss.”
“You okay with that, Jamie?” I asked.
“Of course,” he replied.
His shoulders broadened, just a bit, and a light sparked in his eyes.
It spoke volumes.
He’d demanded to come on this trip. I knew that was because of what had happened on my last trip. This time I wasn’t going after a serial killer, so I’d agreed, even though I was concerned that he would be bored.
But he wasn’t. He wanted to help.
My chest filled with pride and warmth.
I gripped his shoulder. “You can’t acknowledge that you know me, Jamie, even if something goes wrong. You know that, right?”
“I’m not stupid, Garr. If something happens, I won’t interfere. I’ll call Dakota the first chance I get,” Jamie replied.
“Good.”
Gordon frowned. “Call me too, okay? The Ki –,” he stopped himself, “Captain was very clear on that.”
My lips twitched.
“Okay,” Jamie agreed.
“Good,” I said. “For now, our next stop is Dr. Miller’s. Gordon?”
The man nodded, and slipped out of the vehicle.
Chapter 44
Nadia – Chicago
The Sword of Gabriel. The phrase I’d heard the first night I’d met Degarr.
King Gabriel. The name from last night.
Gabriel. The name Degarr had said tonight, his voice rough and soft by turns, full of love.
“What?” Degarr asked. “You’re staring.”
“Does that thing keep out sound?” I asked, indicating the screen separating us from Gordon. Degarr had pressed a button and raised it, moments after the other vampire had settled into the driver’s seat.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Your boyfriend’s a fucking king?” The words almost exploded out of me, since I’d been holding them in for so long.
His lips twitched. “Yes.”
“I thought you told her everything,” Jamie said.
“I told her the most important things,” Degarr replied.
The ginger’s brow knotted.
“How is the fact that Gabriel’s a king somehow unimportant?” he asked.
He had a point, but frankly I had a question of my own.
“What’s he king of?” I asked.
The two men stared at me.
“He’s the king of all vampires in the eastern half of the United States,” Degarr answered.
Jamie made a noise.
“What?”
“You’re burying the lead again,” Jamie said. “He’s one of the most powerful vampire kings in the world.”
Degarr looked a bit smug about that, for some reason.
“Okay,” I said. “What’s this about, then?” I gestured to the SUV we were sitting in. “Is this his way of giving you flowers or something?”
Jamie laughed.
“He’s not courting me,” Degarr said. “He’s worried. This is his way of feeling better.”
“What’s he worried about?”
“That I’ll disappear.”
“Again,” Jamie said flatly. “He’s worried you’ll disappear again.”
My mind flashed back to the first night I’d met the ginger.
“Just like you,” I said. “You’re worried too. Why? What happened?”
A guilty look came over Degarr’s face.
“He disappeared for a couple of nights.” Jamie crossed his arms. “Recently.”
Recently?
Houston wasn’t that long ago, and I knew he’d been chained up in that warehouse. Is that what they were talking about?
“Houston?” I asked.
Both men shot me startled looks.
“How do you know about Houston?” Degarr asked.
It was my turn to look smug.
“I do this for a living, baby. I got to the warehouse just as you were leaving Houston,” I said.
“How do you know when I left?” Degarr’s eyes narrowed.
Shit.
“That’s proprietary,” I said.
Degarr shook his head slowly. “If I share my secrets with you, then you share your secrets with me.”
Fuck.
He was right, though. If I wanted more, that meant giving more. I knew that.
I swallowed.
“You can’t tell anyone,” I said, my voice sounding strange in my ears.
It could mean my life.
But I held that part back. He didn’t need to know that.
Degarr shot a glance at Jamie, and the ginger nodded.
“We won’t.”
I exhaled shakily, and held my arms. “I call it the Pulse. Once I know enough about a mark – whether it’s an object or a person – then something inside of me pulses when I get close to it. It’s how I make my living, and it’s how I found you.”
God, the look Degarr was giving me.
Like I was something amazing, and something special too. It warmed me, even as fear spilled into me. I knew exactly how dangerous this knowledge was. I knew what it could drive people to do.
Degarr and Jamie now knew my second biggest secret.
And it could lead to my first.
Chapter 45
Nadia – Chicago
“You look scared, love.” Degarr’s hand cupped my face, and his thumb caressed me.
“You could hurt me with this knowledge,” I said.
“Nadia, I stayed at your place during the day. You could have hurt me while I slept,” he replied.
True, although it hadn’t occurred to me.
“Jamie was there,” I replied.
“Yes, but you still could have thrown back the drapes and fried me to a crisp,” he said.
Fuck.
Suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
The thought of Degarr dying, bursting into flames on my bed, was painful. Him dying by my hand? That thought was so painful that a keening noise slipped out of me before I managed to clamp a hand over my mouth.
His arms wrapped around me.
“Degarr, I would never kill you.” I buried my head in his chest, the pain spreading through me, hot and thick, at the very idea.
“I know, love,” he said softly, stroking my hair.
And for some fucked up reason, I found myself reaching out, searching for Jamie’s hand and grabbing it.
“You either, ginger,” I told him. He needed to know that. He needed to know that I wouldn’t hurt him.
“I know.” Jamie’s voice was rough, his hand hot in mine compared to Degarr’s.
I snuggled deeper into Degarr, already feeling better, hanging on to both of them.
God, I was so fucked.
The doctor was just as cheery and sweet as last time, and
her first patient was just as unpleasant. He lay in bed, the lower half of him a normal color, while the upper half of his skin was still that unnatural color. His eyes looked better too, but his fangs were still clearly there.
The doctor sighed, resting her hands on her hips. “I should have the antidote worked out in another week or two.”
“Excellent work, doc. King Gabriel will be pleased,” Degarr said.
She beamed at him. “Thank you. It’s hard work, but very enjoyable.”
“How are the two from last night?”
“Better. They were both scared out of their wits, so I started them off with just a regular blood routine until they calm down again,” she said.
“Good. Thank you,” he replied.
“Since you’re here –”
“No.” Degarr cut the doctor off.
But I watched, astonished, as this small woman took the tough man by the elbow and steered into another room.
“It will just take a few minutes. Won’t hurt at all,” she said, guiding him into a chair.
Jamie leaned against a nearby counter, a smile touching his lips, while I took a nearby chair.
“I’m not sick, doc,” Degarr protested.
“I never said you were,” she replied, rifling through things on a nearby counter, “but it’s been a while since Houston, and I want to examine you.”
He shot her a wary look. “I drank all of the blood you sent.”
“Then you should have nothing to worry about, should you?” She said cheerily. “Now take off your shirt.”
She turned away, clearly expecting him to follow her orders. He did, without further protest, and by the time she’d pushed a stool over, he’d taken off his shirt and draped it over his leg.
My mouth went dry. My eyes feasted on a broad chest full of muscle. The man was so damn sexy.
Honeygirl was right. He was nothing like the men close to my age. Why had I never pursued an older man? I’d had plenty of opportunity. Although I knew why; none of them had been like Degarr.
His lips curved upwards, and the smile lit his grey eyes.
Obviously, he knew what I was thinking about.
He was still smiling when he returned his attention to Dr. Miller. She sat down on the stool then put two fingers on his chest, very close to his heart.
“Hmm,” she said. “No outward scarring. Any pain? Any pulling? Anything when I do this?”
I watched as she poked and prodded him.
“Are you saying he was hurt there?” I asked.
“Yes, dear,” she replied. “Knife to the chest. Barely missed his heart.”
My mouth gaped open for a moment, before I forced it shut.
“But I saw the remains of the mark,” I protested. “You killed him.”
Degarr’s head raised a notch.
“I did,” he confirmed, “but not before he stabbed me.”
He turned his attention back to the doctor, and the two of them talked back and forth while Jamie leaned over to me.
“See why Gabriel and I were worried?” he asked.
“Yes, but how did anyone get the drop on him? I saw him kill three vampires in under a minute, for fuck’s sake.”
“When the hell did that happen?” Jamie demanded, so loudly that it captured the attention of the doctor and her patient.
Shit.
“When did what happen?” Degarr asked.
“When did you kill three vampires in front of her, Garr?”
“In Brazil.”
“Where the fuck was I?” the ginger demanded.
“The twins,” Degarr said simply.
“Oh,” Jamie said, his tone changing instantly. A very pleased expression crossed his face at the memory. “But that was before King Gabriel called you.”
“I’m a target, Jamie,” Degarr said gently, “whether the King’s in my life or not. Actually, working for the King reduces the number of attacks.”
“Why?”
“Everyone knows he’ll come after them if they tangle with me,” he replied.
“Albion didn’t care about that.” Jamie crossed his arms.
“It doesn’t deter everyone, and Albion did care, just in a different way. He wanted the King’s attention very much.”
A small shiver swept the ginger’s body, and he rubbed his arms.
“Albion is the name of the Houston mark?” I asked, just to be sure.
“Yes,” Degarr replied.
The doctor shifted on her stool. She’d been quiet this whole time.
“So, you’re working for the King now?” she asked casually.
“You know I am,” Degarr said. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Hmm. And does that require fighting?”
“Yes.” He was eyeing her warily again.
“Fighting requires food.” She poked him with a finger. “You going to eat more?”
He shot me a look that went straight to my core.
“I might.”
Yes, baby, yes.
“I need better than that,” the doctor replied. “You’re fighting for our King, and you’re not feeding enough for that kind of work. Your body could fail at a critical moment.”
His grey eyes burned.
“I won’t fail,” he growled.
“Hmm.” She lifted one eyebrow. “You will if you’re too hungry.”
“I’m not a baby vampire, doc. I can control my hunger. And I feed often enough.”
“Really? How often is that?” she asked.
“Once a month.”
She snorted, and poked him with a finger again. “That’s why you’re so close to starvation.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You should be feeding at least once a week,” she replied.
“The King only feeds twice a month,” he countered.
“He’s older than you and he doesn’t spend his time fighting. Once a week,” she poked him repeatedly, “or I call the King and tell him.”
“You’d rat me out?”
“In a hot minute,” she replied.
Degarr gave a long-suffering sigh.
Frankly, I was confused by this whole argument.
“Do you get nothing out of feeding?” I asked. If so, that was a damn shame, because I always got orgasms from it.
Heat flashed in his eyes, before he turned his head away. “That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?” I asked.
“Garr, you said you were going to stop suppressing your vampire,” Jamie added.
“I have. I’m just busy,” Degarr replied.
Jamie made a noise.
“So, you’re too busy to give your body and your vampire what they need?” the doctor asked. “I disagree, but if that’s really how you feel, then I might have a solution.”
“What?” he asked.
“You feed three weeks every month, and I’ll give you a specially formulated blood bag, full of nutrition, for the fourth week,” she said.
“Reverse that, and you have a deal,” Degarr said.
She smiled and shook her head.
“Two blood bags, and two feedings each month,” she countered.
His attention shifted from her to me. The look he gave me sent warmth rushing through my body.
“I think,” he said softly, “that one can be arranged.”
Yes, baby.
Yes, it can.
Chapter 46
Nadia – Chicago
The promise in Degarr’s eyes, in his words, stayed with me the rest of the night. By the time we reached my condo, two hours before sunrise, my body felt like it was buzzing.
Unfortunately, I knew Degarr wasn’t staying. Jamie and Gordon were waiting downstairs. And even if they weren’t, I knew he wouldn’t be able to stay the day with me after the talk he’d had with his boyfriend.
His boyfriend, the King.
That was still an odd concept for me, but I guess being around Degarr simply meant surprise after surprise; vampires, Fae, werewolves, and
Kings. Nothing was normal with him, including my reaction to him.
“I could always spend the day with you at your hotel,” I said, my hand hovering over the doorknob. I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth.
Stupid, clingy girl.
“Nadia.” Degarr leaned in, his arms on either side of me, caging me. He ran a finger down my neck, and I shivered.
“You have no idea how much I’d like to invite you back to the hotel with me,” he said in a low, dark voice. “Or how much I’ve thought about taking you home with me, when all of this is over.”
Take me home with him?
I guess that made sense after what he’d said to the doctor, but frankly my brain had stopped working at the thought of feeding him twice a month, and all of the orgasms that would involve.
I’d never gone home with anyone before. It wasn’t really possible for me.
Was it?
“But?” I asked, because there had definitely been a big old but in there, even if he’d left it unsaid.
He pulled my hair aside and nibbled at my neck.
A low moan escaped me as heat blossomed in me, spreading from my neck to my core.
“Baby?” I prompted.
“I need something from you before I do that, and you’re not going to like it,” he said.
Frankly it was getting hard to keep track of the conversation, the more he kissed and nibbled on me. Want and need were clawing at me, and I was beginning to wonder how many of the neighbors would complain if he fucked me against this door.
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“I need your real name, and I need to run a background check on you,” he whispered into my ear.
What the fuck?
I felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on me. The arousal, the heat, that had been building under my skin froze and fell away.
“What?!” I screeched.
Degarr pulled back, those intense grey eyes meeting mine. “You heard me.”
My heart raced, while everything in my body told me to do the same. To run, to flee this situation. No one in my life knew my real name, and that was for a damn good reason.
This man was dangerous to me, but I wanted him so fucking much.