He opened his mind to her for some reason: the time he spent in the hospital with the others after Sandbox, being poked and prodded like meat on a hook, her father taking blood samples from him with a grim expression. Then the image shifted. Becker was as he is now—out of the program, off the pills, and normal. Before she released him, she wiped the name “Dagger” from his brain. He’d feel the effects in just a second.
“How did you do it?” Alex said as she disconnected and his eyes opened again. He squinted and rubbed his temples. “Sorry. I’m still working on doing that without hurting people.”
“That’s okay,” he chuckled as he popped his neck. “You were never that good at it anyway.”
“How did you stop the side effects?” she asked again, but he just sat there with a grin as he stared at her.
“That’s not why I’m here,” he replied then stopped. He looked as if he’d forgotten her name. It worked. “Alex,” he chuckled. “Maybe I didn’t stop all the side effects,” he said with a shake of his head. “Memory screwed up for a second.”
“Then why are you here?” she said.
“Working,” he stated, “just like you. Lucas tracked me down.” His expression went cold and hard. “Any word on who did this?”
“I’m close,” Alex replied and his eyes clouded with pain. “Tristan’s out, with the book. Coop’s—”
“Coop’s what?” Becker growled low. “A backstabbing traitor? Yeah, I know.”
“So you’re working for the Pack?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Have to earn a living somehow. I’m not filthy rich.” He winked at her. “Wait, I thought Coop was dead.”
“Nope. He’s turned and here in Romania.”
“Did he kill Matt?”
She shook her head. “But whoever did, I’ll find them and hand them over to the Pack. I promised Roland. So why send you?”
Becker shrugged. “Just to be safe?”
“They don’t trust me?”
“They don’t trust the bloodsuckers.”
Alex sat forward and so did Becker. “Did you hear what I said about Tristan? He’s out.”
“I know, but he’s not my problem. We’re just here to get Matt’s killer. The rest is on you.”
“We?”
Becker nodded toward the entrance as the door swung open once more. Longish brown hair, worn away from his face and dusted with fresh snow, this man was familiar as soon as he smiled at them. Like Becker, he had an impressive beard. It was speckled with gray, trimmed, and shiny. His easy stride indicated he felt safe. As he moved toward them, he reminded Alex more of a college professor than a priest.
The only jacket he’d ever worn was brown tweed with a patch at each elbow. A heavy, gray wool scarf twisted loosely around his neck. He dropped his bulky bag next to Becker’s at the desk as he approached them. He still had that same grace of movement he had in Mexico.
That day, he seemed timid as he asked if they had to kill his mentor and friend. What Ben tried to explain to Father Tomas was his mentor was already dead. The more he fed on human blood, the further from human he became. Father Tomas didn’t seem to understand at the time, but somehow, now, Alex got the feeling it had finally hit him.
“Alexa,” his voice registered surprise when he spoke her name. He cut a glance at Becker as she shook his hand firmly. A proper pronunciation of her name sounded so much better with an accent. “My, you haven’t changed one bit.”
This was the first time she’d noticed he was Italian. He’d spoken Spanish so flawlessly back then that she’d assumed he was a native.
His slim hand held hers in a tight grip, so unlike the first time they’d met. Now, he was confident and self-assured. She could feel the coldness of his hands creep up her arm as he put her warm hand to his lips. They were cold too.
“Father,” she began but stopped when both men laughed.
“I left the priesthood years ago,” he replied with an elbow to Becker. “It’s just Tomas now.”
Alex felt a strong need to apologize for her mistake. “Sorry.”
He smiled. “Don’t be. After everything I saw in Mexico, with . . .” he paused to shake his head. “Well, I can better serve the cause without the strictures of the church. At least that’s what I tell myself.”
“What cause?” she asked.
Before either could answer, the desk clerk stepped up and announced their rooms were ready. Becker excused himself to gather the bags.
“We can talk more tomorrow if you have time,” Tomas stated. “I will be speaking at the conference in the afternoon session. Perhaps you could join us for lunch?”
Alex took his outstretched hand in a tight grip. “I’d love to.”
“Signorina,” he said in a low tone.
Inside the small elevator, they both nodded at her as the doors closed.
Chapter 21
“Did you see where Alex went?” Jason said to Morgan.
“Lobby,” he replied. As Jason began to stand, Morgan pulled him back down on the couch they were sharing while his wife and Nikki shared a partner on the dance floor. “Leave her alone, Jason. You’ve made your choice.”
Jason stared into Morgan’s deep brown eyes. He may have been a little drunk, which explained his boldness, but he wasn’t so drunk as to think he could tell Jason what to do. He released Jason’s arm with a tilt of his head.
“Are you worried about me, Morgan?” Jason grinned.
Morgan sat forward then emptied the drink in his hand. Once the glass was on the low table in front of them, he turned to Jason. “I’m not going to let you hurt her.”
“I’m not trying to hurt her.”
“Good. Then back off before someone does get hurt.”
Jason emptied his glass too and parked it next to Morgan’s.
“If she tells me to back off, I will,” Jason replied as they both stood up. “Until then, mind your own business. This is between me and her.”
Morgan stepped into Jason’s personal space much to his surprise. He’d never thought of Morgan as an aggressive person. He always seemed more of the romantic type—able to talk his way through an unfavorable encounter rather than fight. He was wrong.
“In case no one told you,” Morgan grinned as he pretended to brush off Jason’s shoulders. “You can’t have her.”
Jason smiled and returned the gesture. “Someone already said that and you’re both wrong.”
“You’re used to getting whatever you want,” Morgan sighed with a step back. “I get that. But why do you want Alex so badly?”
“Why do you?” Jason replied. “Don’t deny it. I see it in your eyes, even now.”
Morgan turned toward the dance floor, waved at his wife as she smiled at them. Nikki did the same. “I love my wife more than life itself. No one will ever come between us. Alex is ours to protect until there is someone who can do that better. That someone is not you.”
He turned back to Jason with a frown on his face. Jason was confused by the statement and Morgan’s painful expression. Why would Alex need protection?
“She’s not your child, is she?” Jason joked but Morgan’s attention was on the empty doorway. Jason stepped up to him again to get his attention, but he felt a strange sensation move between them.
Morgan was a powerful warlock; Jason never doubted that. What he felt now, in the space between them, was more than just Morgan’s display of power. This was something much more raw and unchecked. He turned to the doorway too. A hot wave of emotion hit him in his chest.
“What the hell?” Jason whispered as he took a step forward.
“You felt that, didn’t you?” Morgan whispered back as he gripped Jason’s forearm.
He pulled him around again to face him. Instead of the hate he expected to see in Morgan’s eyes, Jason saw fear—real fear.
“Wh
at’s wrong, Morgan? Tell me.”
“Have you tasted her blood? Tell the truth, please Jason.”
For some reason Jason’s first thought wasn’t to lie to Morgan. He wanted to tell him.
“Yes. A while back.”
“What do you remember?” Morgan continued to whisper.
“I don’t understand,” Jason replied.
“About the taste.”
“Nothing really,” he answered. “I mean I can’t describe it. And I can tell you every flavor of blood I’ve ever tasted. But not hers.”
“She let you bite her?” Morgan asked with a look of terror.
“No. She cut her finger and fed me from it. Not very much though.”
Morgan looked relieved. He looked almost happy at the answer.
“And now?”
“I don’t really remember what it tasted like. I’ve had others since her, and I remember them all. Can you explain it?”
Morgan led him to the bar and ordered two shots of vodka. When they arrived, he picked up one, handed the other to Jason.
“No, I can’t,” he answered then raised his glass.
Their glasses tapped together with a heavy sound. Jason tossed his back and it burned all the way down his throat. For some reason his brain did a back flip, then he felt like his knees would give out. When he opened his eyes, Morgan had helped him to a stool at the bar.
“Are you alright?” Morgan’s smile filled his line of sight. “I didn’t think you were a lightweight, Jas.”
Jason shook his head a couple of times. “What happened?”
“We were talking about the heavyweight bout coming up at your casino, took a shot, and boom, you almost did a face-plant on the bar.”
Morgan waved at the bartender and there was a glass of blood on the bar like magic. Jason could smell it as the scent crawled up his nose and wrapped around his brain. He drained the glass before he knew it was empty.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” Morgan replied with slap to his shoulder. “Maybe it’s time for you to call it a night. I’ll get one of my guys to bring your car around and have someone get Alex.”
“Yeah,” Jason nodded. “Thanks again.”
As her team climbed into one SUV, Jason and Nikki, drunk and giddy, were loaded into the other. Esmeralda stood in her husband’s arms as he shielded her from the cold wind and watched.
The least inebriated of her team, Erin took the wheel of the SUV. Kai stretched out in the cargo space in the very back. They were only a couple miles from their own hotel anyway.
“I’m right behind you,” Alex said to her. She watched the truck pull away behind Jason’s. Snow crunched under the weight of the tires as they rolled away. A small Jeep 4x4 pulled up as Morgan met her on the walkway.
“What happened?” she said to him, but she knew the answer. He’d done something to Jason—a spell of some sort.
“You gave him blood,” he replied. “I had to do something.”
“He couldn’t have remembered the taste,” she answered. “I made sure.”
Morgan looked down at her, folded his arms over his chest. “Did you?”
“I know what I’m doing, Morgan!”
He turned to Esmeralda, nodded at her and the others. Esmerelda led the others back inside the hotel. When Morgan turned back to Alex, he was angry.
“Obviously not, Alex! What were you thinking? Why would you risk it?”
“You had no right!”
“Neither did you,” Morgan barked. She watched him pull his temper back then sigh. “How much did you give him?”
“Not much,” she replied. “He’s had others since then. He can’t possibly remember what it tasted like after all this time.”
Morgan’s cheeks were a rosy red color from the cold around them. Alex barely felt it.
Morgan stepped into her personal space, took her chin in his fingers. “But, he did remember you giving it to him. That’s the problem! If I hadn’t erased that memory, who knows what might’ve happened?”
“I didn’t ask you to,” she exhaled and pulled his hand away. “I don’t need your help.”
Morgan pulled her into his arms. His embrace was caring and warm. “You will always need us, Alexa. You are special. You keep forgetting that.”
She tried to pull free, but he wouldn’t let her go. After a few seconds, she slipped out of his arms and stepped back.
“I should’ve known better,” she said. “I do know better. I just wanted . . . to be close to . . . never mind.”
He brushed snow from her hair as they walked toward the Jeep. A young man opened the passenger side door and waited silently. Alex was wrapped up in Morgan’s arms again before she could say goodnight.
“I know you want to be like everyone else,” he said as she shut her eyes tight. “But accept who you are, Alex. It’s so much better.”
Alex nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and slid into the warm car. She looked back and he was still standing there in the snow as they drove away.
Their floor was silent except for the hum of the poor lighting that lined each side of the hall. Alex could hear breathing, deep but steady, at each door. Even Sebastian was out cold. She tapped on Erin and Amy’s door. Amy answered with a bottle of water in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other.
“Hey, you okay? We thought we lost you,” Amy grinned as she popped the aspirin then chased it with a gulp of water.
“Yeah, just checking on you guys,” she answered. “Everyone else tucked away, I guess?” A lump on one of the beds indicated Erin was already asleep. Alex turned her attention back to Amy.
“I just did a drive-by before you knocked. We’re good, Boss,” she replied and tossed the little blue and white aspirin bottle into a small bag that sat on the floor by the empty bed.
Alex said goodnight. A few doors down, she slid her key card through the electronic lock and pushed her room door open. A lone lamp blazed on the desk by the foggy window. Jason sat on the edge of the bed, eyes locked on a silent television.
“Welcome back,” he mumbled as he watched a soccer match.
“What are you doing in here?” Alex asked. The door closed with a muffled sound. She kicked off her shoes and tossed the key card on the nightstand as she did. When she shrugged out of her jacket, it landed on top of the shoes.
There were two queen-sized beds in the room. One she slept in, the other she placed her overnight bag on. All of her clothes hung neatly in the small closet, and all her toiletries were in the bathroom. Jason sat on the bed she wanted so badly to climb into and sleep.
“Waiting for you,” he answered then turned off the television to give her his full attention. “What took so long?”
As she pulled her sweater over her head, she tossed it over the chair at the desk, then she crossed over to the other bed, straightened her undershirt, and sat down.
Jason was dressed in a t-shirt and Adidas soccer shorts. His white tube socks were pushed down just above his ankles. The smell of soap filled the room.
“Shouldn’t you be with your fiancée right now?”
“She’s passed out in her own room.”
“Okay. That still doesn’t explain you being here instead of there.”
Jason leaned back on one elbow and propped his knee up to lay his arm on top of it. Alex leaned back against the bag behind her.
“I think we should talk.”
What could he possibly say that would make any difference to her now? He was sorry? So what? She was too, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he was engaged and she had made a mistake. She never should have let him in. Never should have given him a taste. All her mistakes . . .
“Talk about what?”
Jason smirked at her as he picked absently at the thin blanket underneath him.
“Us.”
<
br /> “There is no ‘us,’ so good talk, and see you in the morning,” she grinned and stood. Before she could turn to open the door, he was in her path. The movement was swift, impressive considering the amount of alcohol he’d had tonight and the spell Morgan had used to wipe his mind.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my arrangement with Nikki before we . . .” he paused with a nervousness she didn’t understand. “Before we got involved.”
“I think you mean engagement,” Alex smirked. “It comes before the actual marriage. And, yeah, you should have told me. But what’s done is done.”
Alex tried to step around him, but he moved as quickly as she did.
“Move, now.”
“No. Not until I’ve said what I came here to say. So shut up and sit down,” he frowned.
Alex plopped down on the bed again, and he sat next to her. When he took her hand in his, she didn’t try to pull away. “Fine.”
“The word I meant was arrangement,” he continued, “because that’s what it is, an arrangement. Nikki and I have been friends for almost eighty years, Alex. I couldn’t imagine myself without her or Adam in my life.”
She just nodded because there was nothing really to say, was there? He’d made his choice and it wasn’t her. He certainly didn’t have to drive that point home now.
He sighed. “Adam and Nikki worked tirelessly to help me get that seat in the Lower Chamber.”
Alex looked him in the eyes. “Wow,” she couldn’t stop the surprise in her voice. “Congratulations! That’s a big deal for a second-gen, Jason.”
Jason smiled, gave her small laugh. “Yeah, it is. Thank you.”
There were very few second-generation vampires in the Lower Chamber of the Council of Pure Blood Vampires. For Jason to be among their ranks was a huge coup for him and Adam. For a turned human to get a coveted seat was a feather in Adam’s cap as well.
“I’m sure Adam and Nikki are very proud of you,” she said as he kissed her hand with warm, soft lips. “I’m sure no one will be expecting that announcement.” When she pulled her hand free, he sighed.
By Blood Sworn Page 21