“I do not know. This is not the first time this has happened.” He scuffed his shoe on the ground. “I’ve never heard of anyone who could see through their lies. The ward lines could have been put up at any time. They had most likely already infiltrated the coven. It would be a simple manner for one of their kind to manipulate your father into performing the ceremony to bind in more of their ilk.”
“You saved me from that. You got me out of there.” The realization was hard and sharp, a cold knife to the gut. “You’ve seen this before, haven’t you? With this group? This particular coven of Empaths.”
He nodded and turned his face away. I pressed myself against him and leaned my forehead against his biceps. I wanted to hug him, but I didn’t want to get any closer to the rest of the body in the sheet.
“What about the Council? Why would they let this happen?” My lips rubbed his skin when I spoke, and the contact made them tingle.
“They do not stir for matters of regional politics. If a king or queen cannot hold their territory, they are not fit to rule.” His arm flexed and bulged.
“That’s bullshit.” Even covered in blood and bodily fluids, he still smelled of the crisp cleanliness of the sea.
“Yes.” A shuddering breath rippled though his frame, and I pressed a kiss to a clean spot on his arm.
“Thank you, T.T.B.”
“Still not going to tell me what that means, are you?” I could hear the smile in his voice when he asked. I almost gave in but instead shook my head.
“Come on, let’s get outta here. God only knows what time it is.” I started forward, dragging him behind me.
“It’s after three o’clock.”
“Oh, you have a watch on you?” I examined his wrist.
“No. I just know.”
“Hmmm. You know where this tunnel lets out?”
“In a park. At least it did the last time I was here. Let’s hope developers haven’t gotten a hold of it yet.” His biceps bumped my shoulder.
“What do we do about the bloody stuff and the body and my lack of a shirt?”
He shrugged and looked down at me. “We’ll worry about that when we get there. This tunnel let out in a wooded area when I examined it before. Lots of trails around it that humans use for recreation and exercise. Shouldn’t be too hard to stay out of sight.”
“Wait. You must mean the Metroparks.” He didn’t know what I meant, but I shrugged, dismissing his look of confusion. “Doesn’t matter. This may be the first thing that’s gone right all day.”
We walked for what felt like forever. I had to switch the pillowcase to my other hand—the unrelenting weight was heavy after awhile.
“So what exactly are a Vessel, a Guardian, and the Council?”
“The Vessel is a very special Chosen Childe. I knew for certain that you were one when I saw your birthmark. When your gift for giving and receiving sex energy is combined with the other Chosen you have the ability to work great magic. Not only do you feed, you can provide food for others. Most vampires only take. Of course, all that power means there are competing factions who want to control it.”
“What kind of magic, exactly?”
“I don’t know for sure. It has not happened in my lifetime. Stephan may already have the Fountain.” He looked at me, distaste evident on his face. “The female—Veronica.”
“The one with the dripping blood? Kinda glad that isn’t my gift. Yuck.” I chewed my lip and tripped over a rock, stumbling into him. He caught me and set me back on my feet. “Clumsy, I know. What are the other parts of this little club?”
“There will be an Empath vampire called the Catalyst. And a Flesh Eater—the Sacrifice.”
“OK, so we need to get Veronica away from him if we can, right?” I shoved stray hair out of my eyes. My fingers caught on a clump, and I frowned.
“Or kill her.” I gasped and Daniel shrugged. “He cannot retain control of her, cara. It will only help him become more powerful.”
“OK. I guess.” Would he kill me if I was captured? I’d probably want to die. “And what exactly is a Guardian?”
“We are the military arm of the ruling body of vampires—the Council.”
I wanted him to explain more about what that meant but let it drop. He walked faster, and I jogged to keep up. For some reason he didn’t want to talk about it. I could be patient. Besides, he’d given me a lot to chew on already.
Chapter Thirteen
Filtered light illuminated the end of the tunnel. It was like seeing a beam straight from heaven, and I picked up my pace until Daniel forced me to stop. He pressed a finger to my lips and then crept toward the light. I stayed put, finally understanding that he needed to check the entrance to make sure we didn’t run right into a trap.
The sunlight hit brilliant golden highlights in his hair, and even covered with mud, dirt, and nasty fluid from the sheet hanging halfway down his back, Daniel stunned me. I wondered how old he was as he stood there just beyond the reach of the light, listening and watching. He finally made a “come here” gesture with his hand and slid the sheet wrapped bundle to the ground. His hands flowed over the buttons on his shirt, and he had it halfway down his arms when I reached him.
“Really? You want to get busy now?”
He threw me a look full of consternation and pressed the shirt into my hands. The thin white undershirt he wore stuck to the hard planes of his muscles. Yowza. The greenish-black goop had seeped through the outer shirt and dried the other to his body. Gross, yet captivating at the same time.
“Put it on. It is unusual to see a woman running about with no shirt on.”
“Oh.” I shoved my hands into the sleeves and buttoned it up. It hung down to my knees, so I undid a few of the buttons and tied it at my navel. At least the size made it nice and baggy so Christophe’s nasty body sludge didn’t get on even more of me.
Daniel reached over and moved to button the garment up to my neck. I grabbed his hand. “Whatcha doin’ there partner?” My best John Wayne came out in a low drawl.
“You should not be attired in such a fashion. The tie is a necessity so you can move about, but there is no reason to expose your breasts for all and sundry.”
“Since when do you care who sees my breasts? And since when do you get to tell me how to dress?” I stepped out of range, into the open air, and took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of rich earth and the moisture that hangs in the air in the fall when you are under a canopy of leaves in the woods.
“Your power still calls to me, I can feel it.” He closed his eyes and clenched his fists at his sides. Muscles in his face flexed. “It would be prudent for you to button the shirt.”
My head cocked to one side as I contemplated taking advantage of this information and climbing up his body like one of the many trees around us. No one around to see. I could probably have my way with him and no one would be the wiser.
“Oh yeah, do that.”
I sighed. Of course the voice would chime in. All the stress of the past few days was catching up to turn me into a nymphomaniac loon. “You didn’t seem to have any issues in the cave back there.”
“Adrenaline. And both of us were focused on staying alive. Your magic flared when I took my shirt off.” The curve of his fingers over his waist fascinated me. It took a moment, but his words processed. I blushed and pretended to be fascinated with a huge rust-brown mushroom.
“Sorry.” I still wanted to seduce him, and I knew it wouldn’t take much effort. But it wasn’t the right thing to do. If, as he claimed, the Hunger called him and other vampires against their will, it wouldn’t really be consensual. And when I divested T.T.B. of his pants again, I wanted it to be because he lost control, because he needed me, and not because of a by-product of magic. “Stop being all sexy and stuff then.” I gave him a half-smile and tried to think of unsexy things like Stephan and all the dead bugs stuck to my head.
“I’ll do my best.” He turned his back to me, and I looked at his ass for five seconds. T
hen I gave myself a pat on the back for getting my lustful thoughts under control that fast.
I focused on the silver lining. He’d said Adrian was my king. We were part of a fated couple. But the voice in my head wanted Daniel. I wanted Daniel.
Adrian had called my Hunger, but Daniel possessed the power to shut it down. Didn’t that count as him being able to control my magic, the way he’d said a mate could?
What if matters of the heart…well…mattered? My heart wanted Daniel. He was good, kind, strong, and patient. He cared for me—I knew it.
I buttoned the shirt and picked the head back up. “All clear, T.T.B.”
He turned back around and hefted the torso before heading up the side of the hill without looking back. I scrambled along behind him, cursing most of the way. He made it look so easy, as though the laws of slippery leaf litter and gravity didn’t apply to him.
When I crested the top of the hill, mud streaked my already bloody jeans and shirt, several nails were broken, and leaves were embedded in my hair. Sweat trickled down my back into my waistband. Daniel looked bored, but I could tell he scanned the area for any perceived threat. That pretend calm didn’t fool me. And of course, his clothes looked pretty much the same as when we’d been in the cave.
“This way.”
He headed off to the left, and I clumped along behind, worn out and irritated, tired of carrying the stupid head and being covered in disgusting substances. At least the path was blacktop.
Somehow we managed to avoid any people. Even the birds were quiet. The path ended at a parking lot. Daniel made a beeline for the one car parked there.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” I jogged to catch up, the head thumping my lower back.
“We cannot be seen walking around in public with a dead body.” He tried the door handle—it was locked of course—before heading to the trunk. He grabbed the bottom edge of the lid and pried it until the car rose off the ground. The lock released, and the vehicle hit the pavement, rocking up and down. He tossed his bundle in with a look of satisfaction and gave me a pointed glare until I tossed the head in.
I slammed my hands on my hips. “OK, but how are we gonna get into the rest of the car, genius?”
“The backseats fold down. Just push on them hard enough and you can crawl through and unlock the door. I am too large to fit.”
I squeezed the bridge of my nose and swallowed a retort about him doing it himself, too big or not. I put my butt on the bumper and slid in feet first, pushing against the seat until it popped down. I scrabbled through the cramped interior, managing to lean forward to the front seat to unlock the doors.
Daniel opened the driver’s side and jerked a bunch of wires from under the dashboard. Thankfully the car didn’t have all kinds of electronic gadgets or we’d have set the alarm off by now.
“You need to find something to tie the lid of the trunk down with.”
“Wait—what? With what? A fucking twig?” He sounded so reasonable and nonchalant. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared.
He blinked and used a knife to cut a few of the wires. “Look in the glove box, on the floor, surely there’s something around here you can use.”
A vibration started in my pocket, and I jumped in the seat. I fished for my phone. It was only Anna. I hit ignore and searched the car.
I looked everywhere. This had to be the cleanest car I’d ever seen. Not even some dirt on the carpet. The only things I found were a book of CDs and the owner’s manual. I took the knife from the dashboard and climbed out the passenger side. Daniel looked over at me curiously, and his eyes widened to saucers when he saw what I was doing.
I unzipped my pants and slid them over my hips until my underwear showed. They weren’t anything incredibly sexy, just plain cotton bikinis, but you’d have thought I had on a million-dollar-diamond-encrusted thong from the look on his face. I took the knife to one side and then the other before pulling the fabric out from between my thighs. He kept staring and swallowed hard at the sight of my exposed flesh until I zipped my jeans. His hands flexed on the steering wheel until it creaked.
Was it vindictive and mean? Hell yes. The buzz from feeding on Daniel had worn off long ago, leaving me starved and tired. I was cranky and sick of stumbling around in a rat maze while a bunch of assholes pressed buttons that shocked and humiliated me at every turn. Every time I thought I’d found the way out, the floor dropped out or a wall slammed down.
I crawled into the back of the car, put the knife on the dash, and smiled at the stricken expression on his face before climbing on my belly back into the trunk. I had just managed to tie it down when the engine caught. My phone started to vibrate again, and this time the surprise of it made me smack my head on the trunk lid.
I yanked the phone out of my pocket and flipped it open. Anna again. “Yeah?”
“What are you doing?”
“Hi, Mom! How are you?” I put all the false sunshine and bullshit into my voice I could muster.
“Quit. Just spill.” Annoyance laced her reply.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I scooted back toward the front seat, rubbing the back of my head. A forming knot swelled under my palm. Great. “Can’t you turn it off for once? Ignore me or something? You really won’t believe me.”
Angry silence. Daniel looked over at me, and I shrugged. He held his seat belt out from his chest, so I buckled mine. He tossed the CD book out the window and backed out of the parking spot.
“Fine. I’m stealing a car from the Metroparks with my new friend. I was tying the trunk lid closed with my panties when you called.”
She sighed. “Why were you doing that?”
“The car was locked, and we needed an easy way in and a place to put the body. Getting in broke the lock, and I didn’t have anything else to tie it down with. A group of evil vampires have killed my parents and taken over my father’s coven. They tried to imprison me this morning, but my friend T.T.B. busted me out through an underground cave that opened up in the Metroparks. We had to steal a car to transport the dead vampire who was sent to watch him bang me. Now I’m covered in nasty vampire goo, spider bodies, blood, and mud.”
“Uh-huh.” There was a rustling noise. “Right. Vampires. Vampire covens. Sure.”
“I’m not lying.” My nails needed to be cut down to the quick. Everyone had black debris embedded under it. I rested my arm on the windowsill and scrubbed my hair back from my face.
“So, is T.T.B. his real name?”
“No, it’s Daniel. Last night I found something nasty outside my door and then I did some laundry. When I left the Laundromat, a jerk I met a few days ago followed me home.”
“And?”
“You know, sometimes this is really annoying.” The blood crusted on my shoulder and down my chest itched. I scratched at it, got grossed out by it caking under my nails, and stopped.
“Yeah, well so are gay boyfriends and getting bombarded with sex feelings when I’m at work. Do you know how many batteries I’ve been through since meeting you?”
I laughed in spite of myself.
Anna interrupted me. “I always wondered what was going on with you. And I know you’re not lying. I knew you were different, but…”
My heart hammered. I kept waiting for her to hang up. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your parents. Your father had a coven because he was a vampire?”
“Me too. And yes, he was.” We’d stopped at a cross street, and when the traffic cleared T.T.B. merged onto the main road running past the park.
“So you’re—what exactly? You don’t have fangs and you’re not dead. No wonder you were always laughing at Underworld.”
She was taking it remarkably well. I wondered what would happen when I hung up. “I’m kinda like a teenage vampire I guess. I’ve been in denial for awhile.”
Daniel snorted and rolled his eyes. I smacked him with my free hand. “Listen can we talk about this later? When I’m not running aroun
d in a stolen car with body parts in the trunk?”
“Yeah. You just had me worried. There’s been a lot bombarding me the past few days from you.” The crinkle of plastic came through. “Normally I can ignore most of it.”
“So, can I call you later?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not freaked out?” We passed a police car, and I hunched down in the seat an inch or two. What would someone think if they saw me?
“Ah, if I said no all the way, it would be a lie. But, come on, even when I wondered if you were an indiscriminate ho I was still your friend.”
A smile curled Daniel’s lips, and I couldn’t help but laugh myself. “You really thought I was a ho?”
“Nah. I could tell you didn’t really enjoy it. Actually, I though you needed therapy. A lot of therapy. You haven’t explained the sex thing to me though. Why are you doing it all the time?”
“Uh, well it sorta has something to do with me being part Incubus.”
“No! Seriously? A sex demon?” She began laughing hysterically.
“I don’t think it’s all that funny.” Annoyance burned in my chest.
“My best friend is a sex demon! Ya know, the last few days there’s been a few times when it seemed like you might actually like the sex. Who—”
“I have to go. Right now. Bye!”
I snapped the phone shut and put it on silent when it started ringing again. I could see Daniel from the corner of my eye with a self-satisfied smirk hanging around his lips.
A text popped up.
OMG! He could hear me couldn’t he!
Yes.
Did he hear me talking to you? Is he a fanger? Oh, it’s T.T.B. right, and he helped bust you out.
Fanger. Hah. That was funny. I giggled. I wished I had a better phone so I could text her faster.
Yes x2.
T.T.B. Totally, terrifically big?
I laughed and held the phone so Daniel couldn’t see.
Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series) Page 16