by Jess Haines
“And how long will we be gone?” Sara asked. The tone of her voice drew my attention back to her. She was hiding her anxiety well to anyone who didn’t know her as well as I did, but she was twining a loop of her hair around her finger over and over. A sure sign she was worried about something.
Royce shook his head. “I can’t be certain. Only as long as it takes for me to be sure you will both be safe and able to return to your loved ones. A month or two at best. Perhaps as long as a year.”
That gave me a twinge. Worse, Sara paled, her already china-doll complexion going waxen. It occurred to me belatedly that I wasn’t the only one who would be leaving behind people who were important to me.
While I would not be able to see my parents or brothers, Royce, or any of my other friends, Sara would have to leave behind her sister and her boyfriend, Arnold. Not seeing our friends and family for that long wasn’t going to be easy, but the alternatives were to endanger all of Royce’s people, jail, or death by rabid werewolves or White Hats.
Staying with Clyde wasn’t appealing, but I’d take staying with the other vampire over dying any day.
Chapter 6
Royce sent me with Sara to collect what remained of our things in the room we had briefly shared before I went on my rampage. Sara had already packed away most of her stuff before she went to stay with Royce’s ex-honey, the model and closet elf, Dawn Hartley. Her dogs were still with the elf, who had kindly offered to care for them until Sara returned to claim them.
Dawn was awfully chummy with Royce, considering they were no longer an item. Though I often did my best not to think about Others who didn’t show any personal interest in me or butt their way into my life, I had to wonder what she had to gain that she would so easily accept Sara into her home.
Not that Sara had suffered for it. She looked great. Better than great. Healthier than I had ever seen her.
And she was pointedly avoiding looking at me as she helped me stuff some things into the duffel bag I had brought with me weeks ago. I hadn’t had time to unpack before I went postal, so there was little for me to collect and put in the bag but some toiletries, the Rolodex I had left on the counter, and some clothing I vaguely recalled leaving in a pile on the bathroom floor that was now neatly folded in a stack on the bed.
“I’m sorry,” I said, once the last piece of clothing was shoved into the bag. “I didn’t think things would turn out like this.”
Sara finally looked at me, her icy blue eyes having taken on the chill look she usually reserved for deadbeat clients. “That’s the problem, Shia. You never think things through. You don’t consider the consequences of your actions.”
That stung. Mostly because she was right.
“We’re supposed to be partners. You could have consulted with me before you ran off. What am I supposed to tell Arnold? Who’s going to check on Janine? You know how unstable she is. . . .”
Sara’s younger sister was a neurotic wreck. She would probably pitch a fit because Sara was leaving, but Janine was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Even though I knew Sara was just bringing up Janine to make me feel even worse than I already did, I couldn’t hold it against her. This whole mess was my fault, start to finish, and Sara was the one paying the price for my foolish decisions and behavior.
Grimacing, I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away, not wanting to face her while I spoke. “I don’t have an easy answer for you. If you want, I’ll make the calls and give them the news. We can’t take Arnold with us—if Royce wouldn’t let him visit you here, I can’t imagine Clyde would be any different—and Janine is probably safer not knowing where we’re going. Maybe we can tell her we have an important case taking us out of town or something. It’s close enough to the truth that she won’t question it and won’t make demands about visiting or following us, either.”
My offer to be the one to break the news mellowed Sara out somewhat. She considered the offer, looking down at her hands as she toyed with the buttons on the cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt. When she answered, her voice had lost its brittle edge, replaced by resignation.
“Fine. Do it. Call Arnold first; explaining to him will take less time.”
I nodded, zipping up my duffel and making my way out of the bedroom, Sara following close behind. Analie was waiting for me in the living room, her package already ready for me. Sara scooted past me to plop down on the couch, and I set the duffel bag down next to the door, accepting the small box Analie held out to me.
She shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes wide and imploring. “I wrote the address on the box. I’ll call ahead so Gavin knows you’re coming, but make sure you don’t have any vampires with you when you go, okay? He‘s—we’re—Goliaths, I mean—we’re usually very careful never to have anything to do with vamps. Ever. As long as it’s just you, and maybe Sara, too, you should be fine.”
That sounded ominous. I wasn’t the biggest fan of vampires either, but showing up alone at the home of a member of a rival Were pack wouldn’t be the brightest idea. Maybe I could just leave the package on Gavin’s doorstep and hightail it.
“Can you give him a hug for me, too? And Jo-Jo? Please?”
Oh, cripes. The puppy dog eyes the kid was giving me went straight to my heart, shredding it like a politician’s phone records.
Sara’s giving me a very significant ‘do-it-or-we’ll-be-having-words-later’ look went a long way to help me along with my decision. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll do it.”
Analie squealed in delight and hugged me tight, crushing the box against my chest and prompting a twinge in my ribs. The little preteen Were was strong.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
I gasped out something unintelligible in reply, and she let me go, dashing out the door and calling for Mouse at the top of her lungs. She was cute as a button, but man, she had no concept of her own strength.
Rubbing my aching ribs with one hand, I put the box on top of my duffel and continued on to the kitchen, using the phone on the counter next to a microwave. Sara called out Arnold and Janine’s numbers for me from her spot on the couch, and I dialed the mage first. He answered after a couple rings.
“Arnold, it’s Shia.”
He didn’t sound terribly surprised to hear from me. “Jeez, where the hell have you been? Sara and I have been worried sick about you.”
“I know, I know. I was extraordinarily stupid, more so than usual, and I’m really sorry about that. ”
“I take it you’ve been saying that a lot lately,” Arnold said. I could practically hear him grinning through the phone. “If that’s the case, I assume you don’t need me to rub it in, too.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Anyway, listen—”
“Hold up a sec. Did you end up turning Were? Did you shift with the moon?”
Train of thought derailed at the station. It took me a sec to get my mouth back in gear to answer him. “Um. No, I didn’t.”
“You didn’t?” He made a thoughtful sound. I heard some rummaging and clattering through the phone, as well as a few low curses. Then a thump, and the sound of pages being turned. “Hold on . . . just a—here. Anything happen when the moon rose? Anything at all?”
“I didn’t grow fur, if that’s what you’re asking. I coughed up some black stuff, and some of it came out my eyes and ears.” It might have been absurd to have listened to it, but the belt had talked me out of putting my faith in the mage for finding a solution to prevent my potential lycanthropic infection. It hadn’t occurred to me until he started asking questions that he might have information about what was happening to me. “Do you know why?”
“Black stuff. Huh. Consistency?”
I made a face he couldn’t see. “Arnold . . .”
“Sorry, it’s for science. This is important, Shia. Anything you can tell me about the symptoms—even the slightest detail—could make a difference.”
“Ugh, I don’t know. It was gross. It was mixed with blood, kind of thick and oozy. T
he first time, I had a nosebleed and a headache, then the stuff kept coming for what felt like hours. Earlier tonight it plugged up my sinuses and made it hard to breathe for a minute or two, then it all came out in a rush. What does it mean?”
“It means you’ve got some strain of lycanthropy that I need to do more research on. Sounds like something in your body is fighting it. Might be the vampire blood. Any chance I can get a sample?”
Well. Couldn’t have asked for a better opening for letting him know about what else was going epically wrong in our lives. “I’m afraid not. That’s kind of why I called you to begin with. I’m really sorry—again—that I’m not calling with good news, but Sara and I aren’t safe yet. There are still people after us, and we’re going out of town to lay low for a while.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised considering all of the people who are after you. I suppose it’s better you two are somewhere safe until all this blows over. Where are you guys going, and for how long? Someplace I can visit?”
“We’re going to Los Angeles until Royce settles things here. We’re staying with some vampire Royce knows, so it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for you to swing by unless we can meet somewhere other than the vamp’s house.”
Arnold didn’t reply right away, waiting just long enough for the silence to grow ominous before he spoke. “Whatever you do, stay away from the werewolves out there. There are two primary packs that will pose a great deal of danger to you if they even get a whiff of your scent. The Amberguard pack might just kill you, but the Goliaths will kill and eat you. Not necessarily in that order.”
That was . . . good to know.
Particularly considering that Analie had mentioned her pack name at one point. Gavin, the werewolf I was supposed to deliver the package to, was a Goliath.
Great. Just peachy keen.
“Hey, you’ve got my number. Just call me if you run into any trouble. I won’t be there to help you two, but I might be able to talk you through any tough spots. And check in with me in a few days; I might have an answer for you about what the black stuff is and what it means.”
For the first time, I truly regretted blowing off Arnold’s offer to help me over the last month. He might have saved me a lot of grief if I hadn’t listened to the belt and had contacted him before the sickness set in. Even though he’d as good as confirmed I was still infected, I wasn’t afraid anymore. He had resources in his mage coven and access to potential solutions I couldn’t have dreamed of coming up with on my own. The belt had well and truly warped my perceptions of what my options and who my friends really were.
“Thank you,” I said, voice a bit thick. “Arnold, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Hey, what are friends for? Now put my girlfriend on. I want to hear her voice before she leaves.”
I leaned over the breakfast bar and tossed the phone to Sara. She was quick to scoop it up and rise from the couch, heading with purposeful strides and a quiet murmur into the phone into the bedroom, shutting the door behind herself.
It seemed as good a time as any to find Royce and let him know we were almost ready to leave. The two of us needed to have a chat, too. This entire situation was driving me bonkers. After I had finally broken down and given in to my desire for him, we had to separate. The breadth of a continent would be between us, taking away any chance I had to get to know him as more than the embodiment of a fairytale nightmare and understand what I had committed myself to practically before it began.
No one was in the hall when I left the apartment, though I could see someone’s booted foot and jean-clad leg sticking out, barely visible in the doorway leading to the foyer and outside. Whoever was on night watch was sprawled at the front desk.
I headed up the stairs, quietly padding my way to the third floor. The door leading into Royce’s quarters was ajar, light spilling out through the crack. I nudged the door open a bit and poked my head in, glancing around for the vampire.
He wasn’t in the main room with all its intimidating open space and eclectic collection of statuary. For some reason, I felt the need to tiptoe across the hardwood floors, my bare feet not making a sound as I made my way to Royce’s bedroom.
The vampire was there, as I had suspected, though I was not expecting to see him seated on the edge of the futon with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His voice, when it came, startled me.
“I don’t think I have had so many of my plans go awry in centuries. Why is it that whatever you involve yourself in always takes so many unexpected turns?”
I bit my lip, hesitating in the doorway before settling down next to him. He lifted his head and folded his arms against his knees, glancing at me.
“One of the others has arranged to give you a cell phone to use to stay in touch with me while you are with Clyde. He would not have been my first choice, but there’s little help for it now. If anything goes wrong, call me immediately.”
I swallowed around the growing lump in my throat. “You expect things to go wrong? Why are you sending us to stay with him if you don’t trust him?”
“He is one of the most powerful allies I have who was amenable to the idea of harboring you two while I make other arrangements,” he replied. “It isn’t ideal, but his debts to me are significant enough that he should make an effort to keep you safe.”
That wasn’t terribly reassuring. It wasn’t until Royce ran his thumb under one of my eyes that I realized I was crying again. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do any more of that, but so many things were going to hell just when I’d thought I was getting a handle on life again that I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to leave New York. I didn’t want to leave my friends and family behind.
More than that, I didn’t want to leave Royce. Not after all I had been through. Not after last night. Not after finally owning up to just how much I desired him.
“Try not to worry. You’ll be able to stay in touch with the phone—though you should take some care not to call too often. Authorities are looking for you, which means we’ll need to keep contact to a minimum until I can arrange for your return.”
That was a hell of a blow. Logical as the statement was, my heart still ached at the thought of our impending separation. Only the knowledge that I wouldn’t just be putting myself in a bad position, but that I might endanger Sara or his household, kept me from arguing to stay.
“You had a point, earlier. It’s unfair of me to keep so many things from you.”
And the hits just kept on coming. I frowned at him, having to clear my throat a couple of times before the raspy quality faded enough for my voice to be understandable. “Is that a roundabout way of telling me there’s more bad news you were going to hold off on sharing?”
His wry smile didn’t match the look in his eyes. “To a degree, yes. There are two things that may be of some interest to you. Firstly, I am sure you must have given some thought to what your family must have been doing in your absence.”
Actually, I hadn’t, and I was more than a little ashamed to realize this was the first time I’d given them more than a passing thought in quite awhile. Royce must have mistaken my stricken look, because he was quick to reassure me. “Your father had a mild heart attack, but he is out of the hospital and at home with your mother again. Your brothers have been paying them regular visits, and all four of them have been staying away from the press. Some of my people have been assigned to guard them at all hours, so you don’t have any reason to be concerned about their well-being.”
That was good to know. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, though my relief was short-lived.
“As for the other . . . I thought about keeping it to myself as I felt no need to alarm you or make you worry about yet another thing you have no control over. However, considering your current condition, it may be best for you to know that whatever this infection is, it may be a sign that you will find yourself drawn to run with the other Sunstrikers or perhaps force you into shifting should you be in their pro
ximity during the full moon. It is part of the reason I think it a very good idea to send you away for the time being.”
Tension drew all the muscles in my neck and back into sudden, painful knots. To think, if I had chosen to hunt with Chaz and the White Hats instead of come after Royce, I might not have been able to walk away from the pack after the fight.
Though I wished someone had said something to me sooner, I couldn’t exactly blame Royce for keeping his silence. If he had said something about it while I was still under the influence of the belt, I might have rushed out to destroy what remained of the pack to ensure they would have no hold over me.
“I know that look,” Royce said, drawing my attention off my clenched fists in my lap to meet his gaze. “No more running off. Things are under control now. We have a plan. Even if it isn’t ideal, it is better than the other options available to us at the moment.”
That he said available to us—not to me or to him—went a long way toward making me feel better about the way things were going. As Royce had said, it wasn’t ideal, but it was enough for the moment. He accepted the hand I slid into his, twining his cool fingers with mine.
“I wish,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to my temple and breathe his next words in a husky whisper against my skin, “that I had more time to romance you properly now that you’re open to the prospect.”
“When I get back,” I replied, tilting my head to reciprocate his kiss.
He leaned in to me, his free hand rising to cup my cheek. The other tightened around my fingers, pulling me close. While he held me tight, this wasn’t exactly like it had been last night. There was a touch of desperation in the hungry way his lips slanted over mine. It was in the way he pressed against me, in the small sound he made in the back of his throat as my lips parted so I could slide my tongue along his and taste the mint he had used to cover the underlying trace of salt and copper from the blood he must have drunk, and in the way his fingers moved over my skin. Though he was possessive, we both knew this was our good-bye, and that it might be the last time we held each other for a year or more.