by J. K. Coi
“Take control? Well that’s something he conveniently failed to mention,” she muttered. She shouldn’t be surprised. It was so like him to dole out only little tidbits of information but to never give anyone the whole, unvarnished truth. Damn that man.
Diana’s look was sympathetic. “I know how you must feel. They operate like a military unit—as if everything is need-to-know and we don’t have proper security clearance. But they mean well, and you find ways of getting around them if you really want to.”
Diana might find ways around it, being married to Alric and all, but Max didn’t have the patience to be so discreet. She would end up busting her way through those pig-headed inclinations of Baron’s and demand answers.
Actually, no, she wouldn’t. She was leaving. Gone for good. And Baron’s obstinate, mistrustful nature could rot in hell.
“Well, I’d say playing around with my mind is something that should have been on his Max-needs-to-know list,” she protested.
“I know, and I agree. But at the same time, I’m sure he thought he was helping.” Diana apparently saw from the look on Max’s face that she wasn’t buying it. “Really. He probably only did it because he could tell the sensation was distressing to you. He knows you’re going to need some time to build up an internal buffering system before you’ll be able to keep the psychic waves from overwhelming you. Simply walking down a busy street right now would be very difficult for you. The din from even the most innocuous thoughts—like someone running through their grocery list in their head, or humming a tune they heard while stuck in an elevator—when combined with thousands more…”
Max grimaced, feeling a headache coming on at just the thought of all those voices in her head. “Yeah, I think I get the picture.” She was starting to realize how precarious her new place in this world was—and just how much Baron had been shielding her from that reality.
“So he knew I had this…ability?”
“I would assume so. He did a lot of reading the night you were brought to us.” She hesitated but must have realized that if she didn’t say what was on her mind, Max was going to pull it from her head anyway. “You know, he was really devastated when he saw what the vampire had done to you. I’ve never seen him get like that before.”
Max could see in her mind what Diana still wasn’t saying. “I’m sure.” Max winced inwardly as she heard the sarcasm in her own voice, but at least sarcasm would mask the hurt that tightened her chest. “Don’t worry about it. It isn’t as if I didn’t already know the guy is a sleazy man-whore.” Max tried to act like she didn’t care about all the women, but she doubted she was having any success.
Diana snorted with laughter and clapped her hand over her mouth. Max looked up in surprise.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to sound insensitive. It’s just that I think I said something along those very lines to Alric only a few days ago.” Her grin softened and her voice turned gentle. “Max, don’t take my thoughts out of context, okay? I don’t know what happened between the two of you before Baron came to us, but—”
“Nothing happened between us. Nothing of any consequence, anyway.” Max’s laugh sounded harsh and self-deprecating even to her own ears, and she winced. “Just a quick pity-fuck before he disappeared from my life for good.”
Amazingly enough, she sensed that Diana honestly cared. Not just about Baron, her friend, but about Max. She looked the other woman in the eye, trying to find ulterior motives for her kindness, but there weren’t any. She was just that sweet.
Max sighed and gave up trying to hide her pain and confusion. It wasn’t working worth a damn anyway, she was an emotional wreck. “You tell me how you would feel if the boy you loved left town and deserted his family just to get away from you.”
“Oh, Max—”
She shook her head, refusing to meet Diana’s eyes. “You know, Baron has taken so much about this situation in stride, I think the only thing that’s really bothered him is the fact that he can no longer pretend invisibility. He’d rather I thought he was dead rather than be forced to see me again.”
Diana put a hand on her arm and Max could feel the waves of understanding rolling softly from her gentle spirit, almost as if she’d been through a similar experience herself.
It was nice of her to want Max to feel better, but Max didn’t need any sympathy. She didn’t want understanding. What she wanted was to not have to feel this way at all. What she wanted was Baron out of her life for good so that he couldn’t torture her anymore.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, and it isn’t really my place to get involved either way, but…” Diana paused. Max didn’t have to read her mind to see that she was considering how much she should say. “I’ve known Baron since he came to us after the transition. I know he uses women. I know he doesn’t care about much. While I may not have psychic powers, I know a man trying to escape his past when I see one—and they don’t do that unless there’s something to run from.”
Max didn’t want to hear any more. None of it mattered anyway. She knew very well she’d never had any claim on Baron, and had no right to judge his life choices. The fact that she continued to let herself be hurt by them was her own fault.
Except when it came to Jackson.
Jackson was her friend, and he was too nice and too weak to hold Baron accountable for his actions. She was neither nice nor weak, and she would judge Baron and hold him accountable for the way he’d let his brother down.
“Do you mind my asking how you and Alric got together?” Max’s attempt to divert the kind woman’s attention from her own disgusting misery was obvious, but what the hell.
Diana shrugged her shoulders. Max could tell the request had made her tense for some reason.
“That’s okay, Diana. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t want you to feel like I would purposely pry into your personal life just because I can’t handle my own.”
“You aren’t prying. It’s just that…those memories are really close to the surface lately for some reason. I was just thinking about it last night.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine, and I like the idea of having a woman around to talk to. Alric and I don’t usually stay here. We have our own place across town and I find myself alone quite a bit. Especially at times like these when he’s off fighting, um… Well, in any case, there aren’t too many women who could understand what I feel.”
“Now?” Max asked. “Are they out there now?”
“Ah, yeah. I mean I think so. They’re looking for the vampire.”
“Do you think they could get hurt?” Did she sound too concerned? Max had been going for a casual, indifferent sort of curiosity, but judging by the canny look on Diana’s face she seemed to have failed miserably.
The other woman settled back with a grin. “They’re both very good at what they do, Max, don’t you worry.”
Diana’s grin turned to a private little smile, and Max felt the love Diana had for her husband, the pride she felt and the confidence she had in him.
“It’s nice to know some people have good, healthy relationships.”
“I wouldn’t say that. It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure.” She shook her head, a shadow passing over her face. Max struggled to keep Diana’s painful memories from flickering through her head.
“But obviously, Alric couldn’t help falling madly in love with you. You guys obviously worked it out.”
Diana paused.
They haven’t worked anything out.
“Is it the Immortal human thing?”
Diana shrugged. “The fact that I know the gray hairs will start sneaking up on me in another few years and that I won’t be able to have Alric’s children still bothers me. For a while, it bothered Alric enough that he thought the pain would be less for us both if he left.”
Max was reminded of Baron’s similar decision, and she had to wonder whether it had as much to do with Jackson as he pretended. Maybe Baron had felt something for her af
ter the night they’d spent together but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble because he had just found out he was an Immortal—and Max was still only human.
“So what happened? Did he come crawling back and beg your forgiveness? I really hope he crawled.”
“No, I tracked him down and talked him out of himself. I convinced him of the rightness of our being together and told him he would always regret it if he wasted the time that we do have being an ass. I fought for my life that day. Because the alternative was not having him with me at all, and that was not an option I was willing to consider.”
Max couldn’t help but be impressed by the woman’s determination and strength of character. She could see why Alric had given in to her, why he was willing to have his heart torn from his chest every day as he watched her age right in front of his eyes—because while she lived, Diana would shower him with enough love for twenty lifetimes.
Chapter Sixteen
That afternoon, Baron and Alric met with Kane and Roland at the twins’ offices downtown. It was a large corporate building in the heart of the city. A monstrosity of steel and glass that fit their corporate image well enough. Kane and Roland’s company was a multimillion-dollar operation that had its fingers in everything from government contracts and medical research to computer technology. Its ultimate purpose was to supply funds to the Immortal cause, but also to make it possible for the twins to continue their scientific research into Immortal genetics.
Baron hadn’t liked the idea of leaving Max alone, but it was midafternoon. The vampire couldn’t get to her, and she couldn’t leave, either. It was probably for the best that he put some distance between them in any case. The more time passed, the more desperate she was to leave, and he couldn’t let her go until the danger had been taken care of.
But Devon wasn’t their only problem. Whether or not Max was still a danger to herself—or others—was an issue he had to address before letting her out there where she could lose control and hurt someone who wasn’t supernaturally harder to kill..
Baron turned to the three Immortals. The day before, Kane and Roland had driven out to where Max said her car broke down, but they hadn’t found any sign of the vehicle.
“Devon wouldn’t want a lot of attention focused on his neck of the woods. An abandoned car showing signs of violence would surely have drawn notice, even if the area doesn’t get much traffic,” Roland said. “I bet he pulled it into the woods or something.”
“You’re probably right,” Baron agreed. “And I don’t want to waste time trying to find the car, but that area is rife with abandoned mines and caves, and I bet the vampire is holed up in one of them. I think he’s having fun playing with us now. He thinks he’s going to get away with it, and that means he’s going to try something else. Soon.”
“Kane and I did a walk-through, and the most likely place for Devon to be hiding is here,” Roland pointed to a point on the map they’d spread out across his desk. They were looking at a section of rocky, cavernous terrain.
Baron let out a low whistle. “That’s right where Duncan was killed.”
Duncan had been one of them—an Immortal—but he was killed by a powerful demon almost two years ago, right at that very spot. His death had been the triggering event for Baron’s own transition, and Baron wasn’t likely to forget it, since he’d lived every moment of the demon’s brutal attack and Duncan’s bloody death in the visions that went hand-in-hand with the passing of his Immortal powers to Baron. “That spot sure is popular with the evil scum of this town.”
“Maybe Devon’s drawn to it.” Kane nodded. “He would be able to sense the taint in the ground there and it gives him a feeling of security.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. I’ve been in places like that before and the foulness is palpable. It would drive away any sane person.” Baron eyed Alric carefully, noting the far-away sound of his voice. Part of him was in another time and another place entirely.
“Devon would count on that for added protection because humans aren’t likely to wander there during the day when he’s vulnerable.”
“Okay then.” Baron wanted everyone back on track. “Alric and I will go out there now and search the caves and tunnels. That way if we find something, we can deal with it before the sun sets.” He turned to the twins. “Will the two of you stay close to the compound and keep an eye on Max and Diana?”
“That’s no problem,” Roland answered. “And we’ll get on the horn to a few guys who can get into Inferno and Hell’s Harem to see if Devon’s been spotted there.”
Baron shook his head and frowned. “Alric and I have already been to both the blood clubs. We couldn’t get anywhere. The vamps are closed-mouthed and don’t want us poking around.”
Roland smiled. “One of their kind owes me a favor. I’ll contact him.”
“Okay, good.”
“But that doesn’t mean we’ll get anything useful. Devon’s not going to be broadcasting his location even to his own kind, for fear of attracting the attention of their Enforcer.”
“I understand. Just do what you can. I want this guy dusted.” Baron’s gaze settled on each of the older Immortals and he suddenly realized that he—the junior man of their group—had just given them direct orders and had every expectation that those orders would be carried out.
He didn’t want to step on anyone’s steel-toed shit-kickers, but at the same time he wasn’t backing down. This was too important to him to let someone else call the shots.
Alric must have seen it in his eyes because he clapped Baron on the back and chuckled in that low, growly bear’s voice of his. “Don’t worry, boy, we’re all in this together,” he reassured Baron. “We’re not here to argue rank or authority like a couple of strait-laced military boys hopped up on their own egos—we just want to help you get this bastard.”
Baron released a breath and nodded, drawing a hand raggedly through his hair. “Thanks, guys,” he said, acknowledging Kane and Roland’s matching nods of assent. “Let’s get this vampire once and for all.”
* * * * *
Baron and Alric were on their way back to the warehouse. Their hunt through the deserted uranium mines had been successful, but only to a point. Following the deepest tunnels a long way beneath the surface, they’d come across the desiccated corpses of several small animals and a human male littering the dirt floor of one cavern. The human was an older man—a Mr. Thomas Sheffield from the identification that was still in his pockets—and it was likely that, like Max, he’d been dragged from his car sometime late last night.
Devon himself was long gone. Baron and Alric had taken care of the body. No one would find the late Mr. Sheffield. Although he felt sorry for the family that was right now worrying and wondering what had happened to their husband, father, brother or friend, given the unspeakable violence that had been committed against the poor man, it was better that his body stayed lost.
By the time he and Alric were done with the chore, the sun was getting low in the sky and they both agreed it was pointless to waste any more time there.
Baron could tell just how impatient Alric was to be home from the way he navigated the Lincoln recklessly through the busy rush hour traffic. But Baron didn’t say a word. He was just as eager to get back to Max. Alric had called ahead and Diana had said everything was fine, but Baron’s nerves were dancing a Scottish jig all the way down his spinal cord, making him edgy and nervous.
Time had grown very short, he could feel it. The vampire still eluded them, and that meant Baron was going to have to find some way to convince Max to stay another night. The trouble with that plan was that Baron had called the hospital back in Rockford and they didn’t hold out a lot of hope that Jackson was going to last much longer. Keeping Max with him meant that he was once again putting his wants and desires above everyone else’s—above his brother’s.
Baron made note of the time and saw the dirty look Alric threw his way.
“What?”
Obviously fed up with Ba
ron’s brooding, Alric barked at him to snap out of it. “What the hell’s eating you?”
Baron clenched his jaw and turned to look back out the window. “Nothing.”
“Fuck nothing,” Alric sighed. “Am I going to have to beat it out of you, or what?”
“You wish.” Baron rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I don’t know what to do about Maxine,” he admitted.
“Ah.”
Baron threw Alric a dirty look of his own. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Fuck nothing.” Baron repeated Alric’s smart ass remark. “You think you’ve got it all figured out? Well why don’t you enlighten me then? ‘Cause I sure don’t have a clue.”
“No kidding.” Alric barked out a laugh, but annoyance with their sluggish progress showed on his face, trapped as they were behind a slow-moving silver Beamer. Alric glanced in the rearview mirror and quickly slid the SUV into the left-hand lane behind a speed-demon soccer mom type driving a green minivan. “It’s pretty simple, my friend. You love her, right?”
Baron hesitated, then nodded. There was no point lying to anyone, even himself. “I’ve loved her forever.” The words surprised him, coming from somewhere inside that hadn’t seen the light of day since he’d left his home town and any future that might have had Max as a part of it.
“But it isn’t that simple.” He thought of his brother, dying in the hospital, and winced.
“Sure it is. Take it from someone who knows, man. If you love her, then all the reasons why you can’t be together don’t mean shit. Take the chance. Isn’t love worth at least a chance?” He looked at Baron, his expression thoughtful. “You know, I once told Rhys the same thing after he’d made a stupid decision like the one you’re contemplating.”