He heard her enter behind him, and he took a breath before he turned around. “I’m okay. Sorry.”
She leaned against the doorway wearing his shirt. No one had ever looked so right in his clothing before. Certainly not him. She smiled, rubbing at her eyes. “I’d rather you ran and fed here than took a gulp at me. I know you’re still working this out.”
“It might always be this way. Ultimately, it’s why Kaden changed. He couldn’t be with his wife and have one of them Vampire and the other not. Too many risk factors. But don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”
Why had he said that? He had no expectation of her volunteering for some kind of dying, becoming-Undead ceremony. She must be uncomfortable as hell.
Trudy yawned. “A few hundred years and you’ll have it under control.”
He walked toward her. “I’m cold. Did it make you uncomfortable? The last time we were together, my body still had some warmth. ? I’m officially dead.”
She touched the side of his face. “You feel pretty alive to me, and there was enough warmth in there to start a fire. I didn’t mind the Undead George. Trust me. If you couldn’t tell, I found the whole experience rather satisfying. Oh, and I’m ignoring the whole bit about the changing. That’s just weird, okay?”
“Fair enough.” He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to her. “Hungry?”
“No.” She shook her head. ‘Sleepy, I guess.”
It would be hours until sleep claimed him. Dawn brought a heaviness he found hard to resist. Evidently, as he got to be an older Vampire, the overwhelming exhaustion would ease up a bit. Just like eventually he would be able to tolerate some sunlight without feeling as if he might blow up in flames. Kaden could manage up to an hour, and he’d only been changed a few years.
“Let’s go lie down.”
This time they made it to his bedroom, where the blackout curtains his friends had installed when he’d been locked up literally kept him alive. She snuggled up against him after they lay down, and he had to grin. She actually liked him—coldness and all.
“You must want to hear about the Werewolves.” She spoke out in the darkness, and he ran a hand down her arm.
“Eventually, yes. But you wanted to sleep, and, as long as you’re not planning to run away again, I think I can wait to hear the story until tomorrow night if you want.”
She shook her head. “Let me get it out, and then maybe I can actually sleep more than an hour at a time.”
“Sounds fine.” He’d watch over her until dawn, and, Vampire or no Vampire, no one would harm her while she slept next to him. He’d become a predator; it had to count for something.
“I was raised a Werewolf hunter. The Werewolves, they aren’t the Vampires, they don’t answer to one ruling Council, but they have factions. Oh sure, they pretend to be governed by Werewolf laws and a group running them, but it’s all a bunch of crap. Humans have had to police the Werewolves for years. Or they eat the unsuspecting.”
“Right.” When had this become so normal? The idea of paranormal creatures running about causing havoc everywhere they went? He wrote mystery stories based in deduction and forensic science. No one would believe him if he wrote this crap on the page. And yet, here he was, living it. “Go on.”
“My father discovered there were some factions getting away with murder—literally. And it quickly became apparent they were paying off the Hunters’ Quorum.”
Another group of monster leadership. Who knew monsters were so good at organizing? “And he decided to try to do something about it?”
His mind itched. The same feeling he got when a story started to open up to him, when the characters made clear their true intentions and the "who did it" became clear. Trudy’s father had intervened. How badly had things gone?
“They killed him. Right in front of my brother, Devin, and me. The Wolves just stormed right out of Quorum chambers and tore him to bits. Devin and I—we ran, like cowards, and we’ve both been on the move ever since.”
“You weren’t a coward. I’m sure it’s what your father would have had you do if he could have told you to. Why did you and Devin split up?”
“Seemed safer. Harder for them to find both of us. We thought they might give it up eventually when it became clear neither he nor I were going to say anything. I mean, whom would we say something to? Our own people were the ones who had done it. Devin can track them, and he tells me when I’m in danger. Then I run again.”
“Huh.” He hated her answer. Every word. What kind of brother left his sister to run on her own? How did Devin track them? Were the Werewolves always texting or emailing each other? Did he have NSA technology? Something felt askew and he rubbed at his forehead.
“So that’s why I ran. Devin texted me and told me I had to go.”
He nodded, tugging her closer. George would keep her safe while he worked this out. And there was something to add up. Every nerve ending in his body stood at alert with a mystery to work out.
“What brought you back? Did you get enough of running?” Did you miss me? He couldn’t ask the last question. Somewhere inside, he still had an ego.
“Well that, and also because I saw another Vampire try to kill a girl. I saved her, or maybe she died. Maybe she’s changing into a Vampire. I have no idea. But the dude kept talking on and on about changes and not following the Council. And then it was too much. I needed to tell you, to tell the Council. Or maybe I needed an excuse to get back to you. Sound pathetic?”
He kissed her temple. “Not even a little. I’m enormously grateful you came back.”
“So when Devin texted and told me to run again, I ran back here.”
“Does Devin know you returned?” His head buzzed.
“He does. I told him. I’m done running.” She yawned. “And that’s everything.”
“It’s all okay, Trudy. I promise you.” One way or another. “We’ll let the Council know about what you saw. We’ll figure it all out. The Werewolves aren’t coming here for you. Or if they do, they’ll be in for a huge surprise.”
“Oh yeah?” She sounded half-asleep. Her voice slurred a little bit. “What?”
“Me.”
The irony in the room—the big giant elephant—had to be that he’d never have been able to protect her if he’d not been changed into a Vampire. The old George would have been completely useless against a group of Werewolves. Hell, the old version of himself wouldn’t have believed it if she had told him about herself.
He would have thought she lost her mind.
She breathed deeply and he listened to the sound as if it were the most beautiful music. Devin was involved in this up to his ears, and not in the same way as Trudy. He’d bet his house on it. The trick would be to figure out whether he worked for or against Trudy’s best interests and how.
George got out of bed, careful not to disturb his sleeping lady next to him. He sneaked downstairs on silent feet. Another benefit to being a walking, talking lethal weapon. If he ever wanted a victim, they’d never see him coming.
His downstairs needed to be cleaned, and he got to it. He scooped up their clothes and brought the bits not shredded into the living room. In a few seconds, he had the laundry started.
Fixing the front door was a priority, especially since he knew about the Werewolves; it took a few minutes. He’d never been handy or cared about becoming the kind of guy who could fix up a house. With Trudy needing sanctuary, his house needed to become safer. The first order of business would be to get Ryan to put in an alarm system. He couldn’t manage that himself. Not in nighttime hours.
He eventually got the front door back on its hinges and locked up. Lastly, he shot Ryan an email asking him to set up an alarm for him. Ryan had been enormously helpful since he’d gotten back from his honeymoon. Everyone who knew what had happened had tried to help.
And he’d had about enough of it to last him a lifetime. George had always been the one to take care of everyone else. It felt good to be abl
e to feel his sense of self-return. Not only could he manage things, he could do it as a physically stronger version of himself.
He grabbed his cell phone to text the Council number that they’d given him before he left. It took four hours to Dallas, so, if they wanted to see Trudy the next night, they’d have to leave right at sunset, which worked for him but he’d have to check with her.
As soon as he rose, he would investigate what the deal with her brother was. Devin’s agenda would no longer be hers. Trudy had gotten herself a Vampire bodyguard. The Werewolves could be damned.
“George?” Trudy called from upstairs. “Are you down there?”
He smiled. Having her in his house made the whole place brighter. “I’ll be up in a second, sweetheart. Finishing up some things down here.”
“Oh.” She paused a long time making him think she hadn’t woken up totally, maybe she was even talking in her sleep. “I thought maybe the Werewolves got you.”
“Nope.” He shut down his computer and walked up the stairs. She stood at the top, her eyes glazed. “Come on.” He took her hand. “Back in bed.”
“Am I awake?” She rubbed at her nose.
“No.” He brought her back to the bed. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
For once in his Undead existence, he did.
Chapter Six
She’d been relegated to standing in the hall while George testified for her. Sitting in a hard, wooden chair, she fiddled with a strand of her hair and tried to remember the last time she’d been in Dallas. Had it been five years earlier? She couldn’t remember. Days, years, minutes, they’d all blended together since she’d gone on the run. All she knew was her father’s death seemed further and further away from her. How could it have been so long since she’d heard his voice?
“The thing about George.” Her head shot up, and she looked at her guard. His name was James, and, for some reason, he seemed familiar to her. Although she couldn’t place where she'd seen him. He’d apparently watched over George the majority of the time he’d been adjusting in the holding cell, and George had requested him specifically to watch over her when he spoke with the Council.
As a mere human, she hadn’t been allowed in the room. Not even to tell what she had seen herself. Not even the fact that she knew some of them by name from having dealt with them with her father had changed anything.
She was human. She waited in the hall. Guarded.
“What’s the thing about George?” She tried to smile at James. He didn’t return the gesture. Instead, he shook his head, which perplexed her a bit. She’d always been pretty good at reading body language. But not so much with James.
“He doesn’t give a fuck about any of this.”
Trudy scratched her head. “I don’t think that’s exactly true.” George had been very preoccupied with the whole process during their four hours in the car together. So much so that he’d been almost entirely silent during the very long drive.
“No, he doesn’t. The set up. The protocol. The calling who by what name of respect and the authority they hold over all of us. He doesn’t care about any of it. He fakes it.” James knelt down. “And, I’ll admit, he pretends to care pretty damn well. But it’s all an act. Take it from someone who knows these things.”
“Um….” She had no idea what response to give. He kept talking, and whatever she would have said ceased to matter.
“That’s fine. He doesn’t care since he can fake it pretty well. As long as he always does. As long as he never, not for one second, forgets to pretend. Because if he lets down his veneer of respect—for even one second—they’ll kill him. They love him, right. He’s their golden boy. The new Vampire they allowed to live who will write great books during his first lifetime. They think he’s outstanding. Don’t be fooled, Trudy. They’ll kill him if they ever see him, ever know him, as I do.”
She stared in James’ ice blue eyes. “You care about him. You became friends.”
James nodded, staring at her like he wanted some silent confirmation from her that she understood what he’d meant when he’d made his little speech. Only she wasn’t one hundred percent certain she actually did.
“You want me to make sure he stays behind the mask with them.”
He nodded silently and stood up. “I knew you’d get it, doll.”
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
Only she felt fairly certain she did.
The doors banged open, and George stalked out the room. He raised his dark eyebrows and nodded to her. That had to be a good sign.
“Did it all go well?”
“It did. Can you give me a minute with James? I just need to ask him a favor.”
“Ah…sure.” George needed to start talking, and he needed to do it fast. She’d been very patient, very willing to let him take the lead. Damn it, she had been raised to be a Werewolf Hunter. She wouldn’t let herself get delegated to the side like some kind of secondary character in a comic book.
James nodded and then walked away without a goodbye or an acknowledgment of any kind that he’d ever spoken to her at all.
“Okay.” George pulled her against him. “Hopefully it’s over.”
“You need to explain more.”
He nodded. “In the car.”
Did the walls have ears? James had just had his little cryptic conversation. Had they been overheard or was George just being over cautious? She hated politics and subterfuge. Give her something to chase, something to kill. Enough of this crap.
They walked out to the car, and he opened the door for her. He always did things like that, and she grinned despite her annoyance about his non-communication. George, her gentleman Vampire.
He finally got in and started the engine. “I acted like a very polite monster.”
“Good.” James’ words echoed in her brain. He had to remember to pretend to be deferential to the Council, whereas others believed whole-heartedly in them. “Keep being that way.”
“Whatever.” He waved his hand in the air as if to dismiss her words. She should have argued about his flippant response, but she knew that wouldn’t get him to tell his story any faster.
“Go on.”
“I told them everything you told me. They took notes. They’re very concerned about the growing trend, and they’re planning to do something about it. A lot of them knew you right off the bat. They sent their regards.”
She waited a beat, but he seemed to be finished talking. “Sounds pretty run of the mill.”
He nodded. “Yes, it went perfectly fine. I believe they’ll get the situation under hand.”
“And your private conversation with James?”
George drummed his fingers on the wheel as he pulled out into traffic. “Another matter altogether.”
A sinking sensation settled in her stomach. “One you don’t want to discuss with me.” When he didn’t answer right away, a slow burn started in her stomach. “Silly me, George, I thought we were partners in this. I forgot that, after I had sex with you, you would suddenly expect me to play docile girlfriend while you keep secrets from me. Stop the car. I’m getting out.”
Trudy had five hundred dollars on her, hidden in various parts of her clothing. She didn’t need him. She’d move on. Screw him for making him think she could finally take a deep breath.
“Trudy, I think your brother isn’t who you think he is. Or at least he’s not doing things for your benefit, and I’m having him looked into. I wanted to wait to tell you I asked James to do that because, well, I didn’t want you looking at me the way you are.”
She had no idea how she was looking at him, but if the ringing in her ears gave any indication to her facial expression, it couldn’t be a good one. “What. The. Hell. George?”
“I think you’d better let me explain.”
“Oh, yes.” She tried, and failed, to take a deep breath. “I think you’d better.” Before she wrung his gorgeous neck with her bare hands.
“It makes my head hurt, too, trust me, but it doesn’t lead me to believe my brother—who I have trusted my whole life—needs to be investigated. I mean, one conversation with me, and you’re suddenly assigning guilt like judge and jury? Oh, and maybe executioner, too? What if Devin gets killed because you stir up interest in this? I’ll never forgive you if something happens to him.”
“Trudy.” His voice had dropped an octave, and she suddenly remembered that, while she sat in the car with her lover—George, the pain-in-the-ass boyfriend whom she wanted to kick—she was also in the company of a Vampire. A relatively new Vampire. Whom maybe she shouldn’t poke at verbally. At least not as strongly as she had been doing.
George pulled the car to the side of the road. Next to them, cars whizzed by with a large whoosh. She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Her heart rate kicked up a notch.
“You’re afraid. I can hear it in your pulse.” He took her hand in his. “Why did you suddenly go from mad to scared?”
“The tone of your voice.” Denying her anxiety would be fruitless. He could hear how she felt.
“At no point were you at risk, sweetheart. I’ve got my hunger well under control. It’s going to take a lot more than yelling at me to bring it out.” He ran his thumb over her knuckles, and she calmed a bit.
“Are you using some kind of trance on me?” She had to know.
“I haven’t learned how to yet. The skill comes later. I think you’re relaxing because, deep in your soul, you believe I’d never hurt you, and whatever nerves you just had are a fleeting thing.”
“Maybe.” She tried to smile. “I’m still pissed as hell at you.”
“Let me explain. But, either way, I’m not letting you out of the car. I can’t. It’ll make me crazed. I’ll have to stalk you wherever you go to make sure you get there safe. Let me get you back to Hedy. Then you can slam the door and have a scene if you want to.”
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