“Lauren and Edith, I want you to come to the seethe with us. We need to talk. Emma and Lauren, will you get Ashley’s boxes,” Nik added before swooping me up into his arms.
From this vantage point I could see Nik had received a nasty cut across his back. It was already healed, but I could see the torn fabric and the blood staining fabric and skin alike.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed myself to relax in the safety of his arms.
Boy, am I messed up or what? I thought to myself.
“What about the bodies?” asked Josh as he set Tereus down to collect a box from Lauren who was struggling to carry two; they were a little large for tucking under one’s arm.
“We’ll toss them in the fire. They’ll burn up before the fire department arrives. Fae don’t cook well.”
I giggled under my breath before clamping my mouth shut. Why was I laughing? Maybe exhaustion and nerves had finally sent me over the edge?
Nah, I’d been over the edge for a long time now.
With the hand supporting my back, Nik managed to open the back door. He gently placed me in the seat before turning back to help the others. Tereus hopped up into the footwell of the SUV before jumping into my lap. He purred comfortingly as he knocked his head into my stationary fingers. I scratched obligingly as we watched the others toss the harpy bodies up my stairwell and into the blaze. True to her word, Edith’s fire didn’t travel into the adjoining apartments.
A few minutes later the others joined us in the SUV. They tossed my three pathetic boxes into the back before climbing in. Emma slid into the front, center seat, leaving the passenger seat for Edith. Josh and Lauren joined me in the back seat. I rested my head against the window as Nik drove us back to the seethe.
I swear I just closed my eyes for a second, but sometime later a gentle hand shook me until I woke up. We were parked outside the side entrance that led directly into the seethe. Josh looked at me, concern darkening his, green eyes. Tereus jumped off my lap, narrowly avoiding Josh’s legs.
Like Nik, Josh scooped me up and carried me in his arms, and like Nik, I felt safe with him. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I nestled into his shoulder and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
It was a pretty dismal apology, but I couldn’t figure out what I needed to say. To be honest, sometimes a simple “I’m sorry” is all that’s needed, I just didn’t think now was one of those times.
I felt him nod before he started down the stairs into the seethe.
“Now what happened?” asked Mikhail as we reached the main level of the seethe. He had a strange knack for being present when we returned to the seethe, or had Nik texted him?
“Harpies.”
Josh sounded as tired as I felt. This made me stop and consider the fact Josh had been wounded too. I tilted my head to look at the others. Obviously the wizards wouldn’t be harmed. They hadn’t been participating in melee fighting. But all the others should be pretty damaged. My eyes narrowed on Emma. She didn’t even look rumpled.
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. It was like she was the perfect woman, while I was more like a prepubescent, accident-prone, fashionably-challenged midget.
“Give her to me,” said Mikhail.
I felt my eyes widen as I was transferred from one pair of arms to the next. I didn’t feel safe here. Aside from the little issue of Mikhail always wanting to kill me, I had never seen him carry an injured member of the seethe. That was work for the lesser beings—like me.
Someone opened his office door and a second later he placed me gently on his couch. I looked up at him as he carefully brushed my matted hair out of my face. His delicate eyebrows were pulled together in a frown as he glanced over my battered body.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a new vamp take as much damage as you have,” he said as he ran his hand over my crooked ankle. “We’re going to have to re-break it.”
I nodded, knowing this was coming, and that I wasn’t going to enjoy it.
“Lucky for you, I found you another donor,” he said as he folded up my damp pants leg. “He’s a businessman who went through a bad bankruptcy…”
I let out a powerful shriek as he jerked my leg straight, tears instantly sprouting from my eyes and making tracks down my dirt-covered face. He had distracted me with his talk of human blood bags and done the dirty deed without giving me any warning. Though I’m sure it was better this way, I didn’t feel like it at the time. I glared up at him, desperately wanting to slap his face free of its detached, professional look as he ran his fingers down my shin and ankle.
At least I shaved recently, I thought as I lounged back and tried to catch my breath again.
Long before the fiery pain in my ankle subsided, the door creaked open. Jim ushered a thin, balding man into our midst. The man, who evidently was my new human blood bag, was the saddest-looking person I had ever seen. He had clearly once been considerably heavier. His cheeks hung from his face in folds of excess skin. His blue pin-striped, double-breasted suit was straight out of the 1990’s. His hair, what was left of it, was longish and curled around his neckline. He forced a smile to his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
And I thought I was pathetic.
“Chuck,” said Mikhail as he motioned for the man to approach me. “This is Ashley, your new host, and happens to be in need of a little sustenance. Please come here.”
Unlike Danielle, the man looked very nervous as he approached me. Mikhail took Chuck by the arm and guided him into a sitting position on the coffee table before pulling up the sleeve of the man’s suit.
“Give her your wrist,” Mikhail ordered.
Chuck did so, and I did my best to move slowly as I brought his wrist to my mouth. It was difficult considering how thirsty I was, not to mention the fact I knew his blood would ease the persistent pain in my ankle.
I took a careful, deep breath before sinking my fangs into his wrist and drinking deeply. I heard a voice telling me to do something, but the voice sounded as though it was coming from a distant room, so I figured I could ignore it. A second later, a pair of hands gripped my arm and squeezed until I let out a cry of pain.
That did the trick! I pushed Chuck’s arm away. The man was pale and visibly shaken. Jim led him from the room while I tried to ignore the feeling of guilt slamming down on me. Based on the smell coming from the coffee table, I had just frightened that man to the point of wetting his pants.
Now that’s skill!
“Sorry,” I mumbled before wiping the trail of blood from my chin.
“Why don’t we go into the main room,” suggested Mikhail. To my disgust and shame, the primus lifted me back into his arms.
“I can walk,” I insisted.
“Not yet. You need to give that ankle a few more hours to heal properly. Oh yes, I had nearly forgotten about your cat,” he added as Tereus forced him to stop by crossing Mikhail’s path.
I looked down and spotted Tereus looking up at me, worry written across his cat features.
“Mikhail, you remember Tereus, my walking, talking cat. Remember,” I said to my cat, “he’s the top dog around here.” In response, Tereus rubbed against Mikhail’s legs and purred loud enough for the whole room to hear.
“I think he knows his place,” chuckled Mikhail before he nudged the cat away and began walking again.
I wanted to hide in shame as Mikhail carried me into the main room, which was rather full compared to most nights.
For a vampire, nights are our days. Usually the vampires of the seethe spend the nights away from the seethe, only returning when the sky begins to glow. Some, I knew, worked night shifts at local gas stations or retail stores. Others found charities to volunteer at, where they found willing donors. I’m sure some just partied. Still, the result was that the main room was often empty.
Why did today have to be the one exception?
Everyone turned to watch their primus carry me into the room. I hid my face against his neck, letting his shaggy, curly ha
ir cover my blushing cheeks. I felt so uncomfortable in this powerful man’s arms that I felt fresh tears well in my eyes, even though Chuck’s blood had successfully dampened my pain.
Mikhail carefully set me on a couch and even went so far as to prop my damaged ankle up on the coffee table with a pillow under it. I’m sure I must have looked like a deer in the headlights as I watched him administer my care. Then, to my complete chagrin, he sat down next to me and draped an arm over my shoulders.
With one nod of his head towards the doors, the onlookers quickly found some reason to go elsewhere.
“We really need a smaller gathering place, other than your office,” I said, trying to talk my way out of my discomfort. I bit down on my tongue until I tasted blood in an effort to keep the one little statement from becoming a ramble.
Mikhail smiled at me. “You’re right. I’ll have to see what room can be remodeled for just such a purpose.” He thought about it for a moment before turning to the others. Their faces looked just as surprised by his sudden display of affection as mine did. “Please, sit. Tell me what happened?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nik spent the next half hour explaining about the attack of the harpies, Lauren and Edith’s assistance, and my apartment burning down. Mikhail continued to surprise me when he squeezed my shoulder at the description of my apartment being destroyed. I was ready to scream and go running from the room, if only to escape his unusual behavior.
“You just can’t catch a break, Ashley,” Mikhail said before climbing to his feet, where he retrieved a drink from the nearest table with a variety of decanters placed on and in it. With the primus across the room, Tereus jumped up on my lap and stretched himself out along the length of my leg.
“Nope. No such luck.”
We were all silent for a moment, no doubt each of us feeling as though there was no hope of this ever ending.
“Can’t we just kill Sedgrave and be done with it?” I asked as I stroked Tereus. He purred loudly.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, considering my suggestion.
“Not the wisest idea ever, but very tempting,” admitted Mikhail. “It would be nice to just have him out of our lives. What say you, Nik?”
“I’d like him gone. Ashley won’t survive if these attacks get any worse. And they will. The fae will escalate. Besides, if the Summer court achieve their goals and completely destroy the Winter court, we will be in a world of hurt. Just like actual summer and winter, the two provide a balance in the powers. The only thing keeping the courts from regaining much of their former power is their rivalry with each other. We need that rivalry to continue to some extent.”
Everyone nodded. It made sense to me so, I nodded too.
“But we can’t do it tonight,” Josh cut in. “Ashley needs more time before her ankle is completely healed.”
“And you’ll want more allies, too,” said Edith.
Mikhail nodded. “Agreed. We attack tomorrow night. Edith, are you and yours offering to join the fight?”
“Like you, I do not wish to see the Summer court become the dominant power in these parts. And if Sedgrave is their secret weapon, then he needs to die. We will fight.”
“Good. Rest, everyone. Tomorrow night we have a big fight. Ashley, I’ll help you down to your room.”
Before I could protest, Mikhail lifted me off the couch and carried me to the doors. I looked over his shoulder to see Tereus padding after him. Mikhail walked slowly, no doubt worrying about jarring my fragile foot. It’s not like we put it in a cast. This meant the trek down to my low-level room was rather long. It gave me time to wonder when was the last time Mikhail had ventured so far into the labyrinth that was his home.
I decided to ask him. “So, come down this way often?”
He chuckled, as I had intended. “I admit it has been a while,” he said as we turned down the last case of stairs. “But you do know your level is not the lowest.”
“Oh?”
“Beneath this is the humans’ living space.”
“Huh.” I guess I had never thought about where the humans went when we weren’t feeding on them—what a weird statement.
“We vampires are not allowed down there unless under extreme circumstances. It is their sanctuary. And then there is a level below that.”
“What’s in that lowest level?”
He glanced down at me. I could tell from his frown that he had hoped I’d asked something more about the human’s level. His shoulders tensed, and he looked like he was gnawing on the inside of his cheek.
“The lowest level is a dungeon. There are some vampires who should not die, but need some time to… think about what they’ve done.”
“Huh. Surprised you haven’t put me there yet.”
He laughed again. “Don’t think I haven’t been tempted.”
Mikhail stopped in front of my door. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew which one it was. Like everyone else, he paused to stare at the tiny space.
“I had forgotten how small these rooms are.”
I looked around from my place in his arms, not too worried about him getting tired, and noticed that my three measly boxes had made it to my room. The cat litter and food was even set up in the only available corner.
After being in my own apartment, even I had to admit the place did look rather drab.
“Well, considering I have no other home now, maybe I’ll actually take the time to decorate. You’re not gonna give me a deadline on getting out of the seethe, are you?” I asked suddenly.
Mikhail hadn’t been that patient with my blood bag use. I wasn’t sure what he would be like in this situation. Granted, suddenly he was be unusually nice.
He laughed again. I had heard him laugh more during this short walk than I had since I first met him.
“No, silly girl. You have a room here for as long as you are a member of the seethe. Many members do not have private residences.”
“Oh.”
We stood in silence for a second. I wasn’t sure how to suggest he set me down. Thankfully, Tereus came to my rescue.
“Those ain’t feather your tot’n,” he said as he passed Mikhail’s legs and hopped up on the bed, as if he’d been in my room a thousand times. Leave it my cat to quote Firefly.
“Dork,” I mumbled under my breath.
Tereus looked up at me with a cat’s rendition of a smile. For being older than I could fathom, Tereus understood me and my favorites, maybe even better than Jordan.
Mikhail was chuckling as he moved to the narrow bed and gently set me down. Tereus came up to my legs and laid his upper half across the thigh of my uninjured leg. I thought Mikhail would leave now, but to my complete consternation, he sat down on the edge of my bed and began twirling his thumbs.
“I think I need to apologize to you.”
I’m sure my round eyes had taken over my entire face. Was he serious?
“I’ve been very hard on you, and you don’t deserve that.”
“May I ask where this is coming from?” I asked quietly.
“I had a good talk with Josh, actually. He reminded me of all you’ve been through since becoming a vampire. Normally, someone is turned into a vampire and they spend the next six months partying. You, though, have spent your entire vampire-existence just trying to stay alive. I couldn’t understand why you were still living off the seethe. Josh had to explain it to me.” Mikhail chuckled. “Sometimes I forget that even I can make mistakes. After three hundred and fifty years, I struggle to remember I’m only human… sort of. I ask for your forgiveness.”
He sounded very formal, so I did my best to match his tone. “I forgive you.”
“Thank you. You have a very good friend in Josh.”
“I know,” I murmured softly, looking down at my folded hands resting in my lap.
“Then you also know that he is hurt.”
I nodded, feeling a lot like a child getting in trouble for pushing on the playground.
“Well
, if you know, then I’m sure you’ll fix it.”
“Actually, I’m not exactly sure what to do.”
“Are you asking for my advice?” he asked.
“Uh… I think so?”
Mikhail chuckled. “Such conviction. Well, why precisely is he hurt?”
“He walked in on Nik and me kissing.”
“Ahh! That does explain it. I was wondering when Nik would make his move.”
I frowned. “You knew he was into me?”
“Ashley, I’ve known Nik for centuries. I knew he was interested in you before he knew it, himself.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“And you reciprocated?”
“I didn’t mean to, but yeah, sorta.”
“Oops.”
“Understatement,” I mumbled. “The thing is, I don’t know why Josh is so hurt by this.”
“You really don’t know why Josh is hurt?”
I shook my head.
“He likes you, too.”
“Shit! Just what I needed! A bloody love triangle.”
Mikhail leaned toward me, a secretive smirk playing in his eyes. “At least he’s not a werewolf. Then you’d really be in trouble.”
I just glared at him. If one of the werewolves fell for me, I think I might go on a killing rampage. Two vampires was bad enough.
“What do I do?” I asked.
Mikhail chuckled again. “Life and love is not so simple, little one. I have loved many women during my long life; many of these women belonged to another man. Just remember, whatever you decide to do, one, or both, will be hurt. And they have done nothing to deserve pain.”
“So what, you’re saying I should become polyamorous?”
The primus burst out laughing. When he could catch his breath he spoke. “No. I’m just saying remember to be gentle with them. Men have hearts too.”
I nodded again. It was hard to take fatherly advice from a man who looked all of seventeen. I had to remind myself he had centuries of experience.
The Series that Just Plain Sucks: The Complete Trilogy Page 43