“You’re a scary bitch sometimes, aren’t you?”
His face told me he was clearly messing with me, and I rolled my eyes. “Sorry. Abbott and I need to work through some stuff. I’m good, just needed to get out of there.”
He handed me a sheet of paper, and I read, “Gabby and Horse are with Aaron and Sophia. They want people to think they’re in Faerie, but they aren’t. If you need refuge, focus on Gabby, but go to your knees and say, “Friend,” as soon as you arrive. Horse is on edge.”
I nodded, and he pulled a lighter from his pocket, took the paper back from me, held a corner of it, and lit the other end on fire. When the paper had burned, he said, “Magical charms always come with a price. Be careful with the necklace.”
“What price could there be? It chose me, it seems to want to help keep me alive.”
“If it’s that smart, it has an ulterior motive. Figure it out.”
I crossed my arms. “What do you know about magical items?”
He grinned, leaned in, and gave me a slow peck on the lips. “They’re always bad news. The one ring, the diary in Harry Potter — oh, and what about those magic beans Jack got for his cow?”
All fictional, but I could counter his arguments, so I did. “And what about Sting? It saved Frodo’s ass countless times and never asked for a damned thing in return.” I thought of jewelry, specifically. “Didn’t Sir Lancelot have a magic ring? There was never anything bad about it, right?”
He sighed. “I don’t know, and you make a good point about Sting, but my grandmother always told me to stay away from magical artifacts. I’m just passing it along. Perhaps the necklace likes you, or perhaps it sees you as a means to an end. You need to figure that out before you rely on it too much.”
I nodded. “Okay. Thanks for the advice. Mordecai didn’t warn me about it, and neither did the person who gave it to me, but Mordecai isn’t always the most forthcoming with information.”
I’d learned everything I could about the necklace, but it wouldn’t hurt to go over the information again with a different question in mind.
He put his arms around me, and I leaned into his warmth. “You’re a good friend. Thanks for having my back.”
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Nathan.”
“I’m not what he needs in his life. I hope he figures that shit out eventually, but…” I shrugged off the emotions threatening to engulf me. “I’m surprised Duke was willing to offer me refuge. I mean, I know he has a deal with Aaron, but I’m still touched.”
“You aren’t mine, but you’ve been around enough, my brothers see you as someone to protect. It’s complicated, but it’s more than just our deal with Drake now.” He caressed my back — comforting, not sexual. “Doesn’t need to be, because we’ll be there for you because you’re important to Aaron, but I guess maybe you’ll be more comfortable while we protect you, now.” His eyes turned a little dark. “Not sure what’s up with Ryan, but he disturbs me. I don’t like his attention on you. It worries me.”
“He’s a slayer and you’re a werewolf. He’s supposed to disturb you, right? Cora isn’t happy with him, either.”
“We aren’t supposed to be able to recognize slayers unless they want us to. It feels like more.”
I nodded. “He’s a sociopath. He disturbs me, too, but he’s never given me a reason to send him away. I’ve treated lots of psychopaths who know right from wrong and don’t become serial killers, and I’ll assume he’s the same until he gives me a reason to see him differently. So far, he’s protected me and looked out for me — I know that can change without warning, and I’m always on alert around him.”
“Good.” He pulled me back into his embrace, and I snuggled into him. Dawg always makes me feel as if I’m the most important person in the world to him. I know that isn’t the case, but it’s still a nice feeling.
“You need to talk to Nathan. Even if he doesn’t want to talk, you need to try.”
“I don’t think he’s ready for that yet. Closer than he was, but…” I closed my eyes and breathed in Dawg’s scent. Earthy, true, and all man. “Or maybe I’m just being a coward.”
“You aren’t afraid of him, why are you being a coward?”
“I’m afraid of my own emotions. He doesn’t get to see me cry again.”
“Ah.”
I scented conflict, and he said, “I’m supposed to talk to you about the MC setting up a meet with Cora and her top people, once the new Pack forms.”
“And you aren’t comfortable being the go-between for that, but it’s okay. If I forget, send me a text or something to remind me. We’ll work it out. Ya’ll aren’t all wolves anymore, which simplifies things.”
“Cora will have to officially okay whatever the two of us have going on, if you end up having the status of the Alpha’s mate.”
“We don’t know what my status will be, but it won’t be her mate. She’s gonna date, and so am I. Her wolf doesn’t claim me.”
“No. You claim her wolf, which isn’t supposed to happen.”
“She’s my friend, and when she finishes the job she’s on now, Aaron isn’t scheduling her for anything until she lets him know she’s ready to work again. My work schedule isn’t terribly demanding right now, so we’ll have time to do this right.”
He kissed the top of my head. “You need to lay down and rest some more. You’re beyond exhausted just from the meeting, and then standing out here.”
“I know. Bran’s blood might be miraculous, but it needs a little more time to work.”
Ryan stepped around a corner. “I’ll take care of her.”
Dawg’s entire body stiffened. He hadn’t known Ryan was close. For that matter, neither had I.
I could smell the Slayer now, but I hadn’t before.
“No,” said Dawg. “I’ll walk her back inside. She’s used to me handling her, and she needs support right now.”
I wanted to push Dawg away and insist I was fine, but I wasn’t sure my legs would keep me up, and I didn’t have the energy to levitate.
The last sentence went through my head again, and I froze.
I didn’t have the energy to levitate.
“Something’s wrong.”
Both men went on alert, and I shook my head. “Not imminent attack wrong, but…”
I wasn’t sure how to explain it, or even if I should explain it to Ryan. I needed Mordecai, but I didn’t have the energy to step into the nothingness. Aaron was guarding his family and Gabby. That left Abbott to help with energy shit. Perhaps Nathan. Fuck.
My knees bent and my body went down. Dawg caught me, lifted me in his arms, and walked towards the house. I didn’t quite shout, but used a loud voice to say, “Nathan. Abbott.”
Both were to us in seconds, though we were still outside and they’d likely still been in the living room.
“Something’s wrong. I have no energy — physical or metaphysical. Either Bran’s blood gave me enough of a boost I didn’t know it, or something’s started draining me since we’ve been outside.”
“The latter,” said Dawg, and he kept moving towards the house.
“Nothing can attack her on this property,” said Bran, from a deck two stories up, looking down at us.
Ryan looked up, and my gaze followed his. A huge bird was circling overhead.
“Get her downstairs,” said Ryan.
13
Later, I would learn Marco intervened, and that he helped the others save my life. I don’t know what happened, because I was passed out, and I awakened naked in a bed between Abbott and Nathan. No, not naked, I was still wearing the sexy panties and bra Bran had supplied.
“Fuck.”
I didn’t know what else to say. I felt as if I’d been hit by a semi.
“Is Cora okay?”
“Better than you,” said Nathan. “I’m bringing her in. She should be here before morning.”
“Ya’ll are giving me energy. What’s draining me?”
“We don’t know.�
�� I looked to the other side of the room, where Marco — Bran’s personal guard — sat on a sofa, facing us. I looked around and saw no windows, which likely meant we were underground.
“How long was I out?”
“A little over an hour,” said Nathan. “Abbott and I got into bed with you about ten minutes ago. You were close to dying. Again.”
“Ya’ll can give me energy because you’re pulling from your people.”
No one responded, and I did an inventory. “I need food, and probably something to drink. Maybe some caffeine.”
“Fluffy has some fried potatoes for you,” said Marco. “He only needs to know if you want them with ketchup, or with sour cream and cheese.”
“Ketchup would be great. Nathan needs food, too.”
“I’m fine,” said Nathan.
“It had to be a line-of-sight thing. I didn’t realize I was getting weaker while I sat and talked to ya’ll, but in hindsight, I think it was happening so gradually, I didn’t notice.” I sighed. “I remember thinking it took a lot to take Dawg through the nothingness, but it was as if…” My insides turned to ice because that wasn’t possible. Was it?
Abbott sighed. “He was in your head enough to keep you from noticing.”
“Her shields are still strong,” said Nathan.
“I would posit that it’s someone who’s had Bran’s blood. She has enough inside her, they could use it as a pathway.”
“As much as I hate to even consider this,” said Nathan, “we may need to ask someone in another realm for help.”
Xaephan owed me a favor, could I use it for protection?
“I can help her,” said Abbott, “but it’ll require opening her shields and letting me in.”
And that was something else that had occurred to me — Abbott couldn’t be considered a friend right now. He was pretending to be, but could he be trusted?
“Before we do anything, I need the room to myself, or perhaps with just me and Nathan, if ya’ll don’t think I can last five minutes by myself.” I wiggled my shoulders, flexed my leg muscles, rotated my feet.
“Not a bad idea,” said Marco, “and if you’ll trust me to give you energy, I can take you into another room. I believe I can give you enough to maintain where you are.”
I wanted Nathan, but going with Marco was better politically. I didn’t want to have to explain why I wanted Abbott out of the room for me to get a feel for what was happening.
I nodded. “A robe might be nice.”
Marco walked to the bathroom, returned with a short, silky black robe, and handed it to me over Nathan.
“I’m not leaving her side while she’s being drained,” said Nathan.
“Instead of being insulted, I’ll take my leave,” said Abbott. “I’ll stick around for thirty minutes in case I’m needed.”
He was up and gone vampire fast, before I could argue.
“Well, that simplifies things.” I looked to Marco. “I’d like to be farther from Abbott, and preferably somewhere he doesn’t know about.”
He nodded to me and asked Nathan, “Can you supply her while we walk? Or shall I carry her?”
I sat up to put the robe on, and Nathan brushed it out of my hands. “Need skin to skin. I can keep you functioning while I carry you, but not if you have clothes on.”
He lifted me and stood beside the bed in one motion. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I couldn’t see below me. I assumed he was wearing underwear, but you never know with shifters.
I also didn’t know if Abbott had been completely naked or not, and considering the speed with which he left, I didn’t want to know.
We went down an elevator, through several hallways, and into a jail cell. “It’s a faraday cage,” Marco told us. “I’ll turn it on once we’re inside. The downside is that Nathan will be out of contact with his people, but the upside is that we’ll know if they’re pulling on your energy directly, or if they’re getting it through a blood bond.”
We went inside, and the instant Marco turned it on, I felt better.
I walked away from them and sat on the floor. “I don’t know how long this will take. When I begin making noise, please turn it off. I don’t know if it’ll be high pitched or low, or possibly a mantra, but when it starts, I’ll be in a position to see what’s happening.”
Marco nodded, and I turned my back to them, closed my eyes, and went into myself.
Without input from the mountain or trees, I focused on my breathing until nothing else existed. The air was my nourishment. I moved my own energy in a pattern with my breathing, and when I was aware of every atom of my being, I emitted a high-pitched sound I hadn’t even known I could make.
Power and energy surged out of my shoulder, where the honey badger had bitten me.
“On. Back on.”
I went back into myself and studied my shoulder. I’d focused on my main energy centers, but there are small chakras in your shoulders, and they have to do with responsibility. I’d been stressing over the responsibility Cora and I will have to her new Pack. No one could hurt me if I hadn’t already let myself get weakened.
I needed Mordecai. Or Aaron.
I sighed when I realized the third person on that list was upstairs.
“Can one of you take me to Abbott, please?”
“He’s gone. You meditated two hours.”
I looked around, and Nathan was on his back while Marco leaned against a pole.
“I have an energy leak on my shoulder, where the honey badger bit me.”
Marco spoke slowly. “You didn’t when you arrived. Someone is trying to make it seem like one incident, but I personally checked your energy signature over shortly before you awakened, and there were no leaks.”
“I don’t know how to fix it. When you turned the faraday cage off, energy streamed out of me. I can’t believe Nathan could give me that much without causing problems for himself or his people.”
“Will you allow me to touch you?”
Marco phrased it almost legally, so I answered the same. “You may touch me to facilitate my healing. Bran trusts you, so I will as well.”
He smiled. “Good answer.”
He stepped to me, and Nathan said, “I didn’t say you could touch her.”
I sighed. “You lost that right, Nathan.”
“No one knows what he is.”
“I’m pretty sure Bran does. Regardless, I need help.”
“This will hurt,” Marco said, a half second before he placed his hands around my shoulder.
I didn’t have time to ask questions or brace for the pain. It hit at all once, like icy electricity.
It took my breath so I couldn’t scream, and I was certain I’d pass out, but I didn’t. He removed his hands perhaps ten seconds later, but it felt like hours.
And why does electricity always seem to land in your clit and nipples? I sucked air in and smelled my own arousal — despite the fact I didn’t want to fuck anyone at that moment.
“Okay,” Marco said, his back to me while he walked to the wall. “I’m going to turn it off, and we’ll see if you pass out.”
I felt the mountain again, and sensed Nathan getting back in touch with his people. I breathed energy in and felt myself expanding and filling. I hadn’t been able to do that earlier.
“What did you do? Is it a permanent fix, or a band-aid?”
“Time will tell. I can heal humans without a problem, but sometimes it’s a band-aid for supernaturals. I assume the difference has to do with the volume of energy, which means it might not hold if you fill all the way up.”
“Noted. I don’t trust Abbott, but I don’t think this was him.”
“Agreed,” said Nathan. “You should text him before sunup to thank him for helping me bring you back to consciousness.”
“I need sleep. Also, fruit. Grapes or watermelon.” I breathed in some more energy. “I need to talk to Cora.”
Nathan stood. “Let’s go aboveground and we’ll make an encrypted call from my phone.�
�
“I need to check in with Bran, too.”
14
I awakened in Cora’s arms, and it felt like all was right with the world. Nothing sexual, just comfortable.
She was awake, so I snuggled in a little more without worry of disturbing her sleep. “I’m sorry I pulled you away from the rock star.”
“I could tell you were in trouble, but I couldn’t do anything. I’m glad you called so I could hear your voice.”
“I crashed hard after I ate again. I’m still not filling all the way up on energy, just to be safe.” I didn’t remember her taking Nathan’s place in bed with me.
“What’s up with His Highness?” she asked.
She must’ve had a run-in with Nathan. “Excellent question. If I come up with an answer, I’ll let you know.”
“I thought you’d been turned, when I first smelled you. We need to work on getting Bran’s blood out of your system once we’re sure you’re healed.”
“I’m worried about Mordecai.”
“He can take care of himself.”
True, but I was still worried. “I’m stronger with you here, but I’m not in fighting form. At all.” I looked around. We were still in the Faraday cell, but it was turned off. Someone could quickly turn it on if I sprang a leak, though.
“You think Abbott did it?”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so. At any rate, I won’t accuse him of it. I sent him a thank-you text. He hadn’t responded yet when I went to sleep.” I thought about reaching for the burner phone Nathan had given me, but I was too comfortable.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to get up.”
“Well, I’m starving, and I can feel your hunger, but I don’t know how much of that is physical and how much is energy.”
“Some of both.” I rolled over, grabbed my phone, and unlocked it. Abbott had responded.
I’m angry with you, but I’d be quite sad if you died.
I sighed. “Would Abbott harm me just so he could help save me?”
“Who the hell knows how the old vampire thinks. I’m supposed to tag security before we’re ready to leave our suite, but I have a feeling that’s just a formality and they’ll know.”
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