"Sloane is fine."
"Really? Fine? 'Cause don't think I didn't catch the eye color change-a-roo."
Derek didn't budge.
"Cassandra, a little help here," Wade pleaded.
Cassandra leaned against the countertop and took a generous sip of her coffee.
"Cassandra?" Derek gestured for help, too.
She pushed away from the counter and glanced at both her brothers in turn, her eyes narrowing as she did so. She took another sip of her brew before placing her cup on the table. "Sure, I'll help." She strode over to Wade and gripped his shoulder in a 'slumber pinch'—a coined name Axel had given the technique. Wade's eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the floor in a heap, his knife clattering on the kitchen tile beside him.
"I didn't mean for you to knock him out cold." Derek rolled his eyes at her and crouched beside his brother and felt for his pulse. Strong and steady, but he would wake up with one heck of a headache. He glanced at Cassandra who stood with one hand on her hip and her brow arched in a don't-mess-with-me-brother attitude. So not going to pick a fight with her now. "Do you want to help me? We'll need to restrain him at least until sundown so both Sloane and Tremayne can make their escape." He chanced a look at Sloane. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she worried her lower lip with her teeth.
"I'm sorry," Sloane stammered. "I didn't realize he knew what I looked like." Her brows furrowed. "I've never met him," she added, which was true.
Wade hadn't attended high school with them. She knew about his family of course, but their relationship had revolved around school and sneaking away to be alone. "My brothers were at your house. Remember?" He didn't bother telling her he and Wade had snooped around her belongings before she had arrived home from work.
She ran an agitated hand through her hair and managed to look both beautiful and vulnerable at the same time. She stared at Wade and her one brow arched. "Your brother wants me dead. I read it in his eyes. I could hear his heartbeat hitch as he came after me."
Derek frowned at her last words. She heard his heartbeat? It was just another reminder that her body was changing.
"Don't worry about Wade," Cassandra spoke up. "We'll take care of our brother."
If someone had asked him a few nights ago if he would ever hesitate staking a vampire, he would have laughed, and said: Hell no. But here he was not only harboring one original vampire, but also a woman that was on the verge of sporting fangs.
Cassandra placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "It gets easier."
Chapter Thirteen
They tied Wade up tighter than a bound turkey for Thanksgiving, leaving him to stew in the living room. His curses and issued threats were prying on Derek's nerves and he contemplated marching in there and gagging him as well.
The sun had set low enough in the sky that Tremayne could risk emerging from the guest room where the window shades kept the sun from shining through. Tremayne's presence only enraged Wade further.
Derek pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to ward off the headache that throbbed between his eyes.
"Want me to give him the slumber pinch again?" Cassandra offered, clearly she had enough of their brother's temper tantrums, too. However, they couldn't be too angry with Wade. They did after all knock him out and tie him up.
"It's tempting, Cass, but we need him awake so we can sway him to our side. Or else we'll have to keep him tied up forever."
"I can make him forget," Tremayne offered and all eyes turned on him. "But if I do, he may suffer headaches, trying to recall the loss memory. Your brother is a hunter. I've found their will is stronger than the average human's. He'll fight the glamour."
Derek didn't want to contemplate how Tremayne knew this about hunters.
"Do you hear me, dammit?" Wade shouted from the other room.
Derek was ready to cause his brother physical pain if he didn't stop his yelling. He took a deep calming breath. "No, let me and Cassandra try to reason with him again."
Tremayne's brows lifted. Clearly the vampire thought their attempts of persuasion futile. He may have a valid point. After each of them had showered and dressed, they had tried for hours to convince Wade to their side, but with no luck. Their thickheaded brother wasn't going to budge.
He glanced at Sloane and tried to give her an encouraging smile, but he was sure it looked more like a grimace. He then leveled his gaze on Cassandra. "You ready to give it a go again?"
"Let's do it," she said, pushing away from the kitchen counter to join him.
They both strode into the living room to witness Wade thrashing on the floor, but luckily still secured to the chair he knocked over in his attempt to escape.
"Jesus, Wade." Derek rushed over and lifted the chair back into place. "Can you hold your tongue for a moment and let me explain."
"Explain? You've done all the explaining I need to hear. I have eyes, dear brother." Wade narrowed his gaze on Cassandra then. "And you're in on it. Are you both glamoured. Is that it? 'Cause the Hayes family doesn't fraternize with vampires."
"We have a plan," Derek said.
"Oh, do you? How utterly fang-tastic for you. Do you plan on recruiting more vamps for your fan club?"
"Now you're just being a butthead." Cassandra smacked the back of Wade's head for added insult to her name-calling. As teenagers these two fought the most and colorful metaphors were part of the verbal lashes.
"Butthead? You're the one who's—"
"Enough!" Tremayne stood in the archway. "We don't have time for childish tantrums. We have a rogue hybrid on the loose, killing for pleasure. If I'm not mistaken, you are hunters. You need to put your differences aside and come up with a plan to stop him before he kills again."
"Who is this wanker?" Wade demanded to know.
"Wanker is it?" Tremayne purposely bared his fangs.
"Just great, Tremayne." Cassandra lifted her hands in dismay. "Now you've done it."
"Tremayne?" Wade's gaze blazed a trail over the Oiche Sith. "As in Tremayne Graystone?" Wade turned his gaze on Cassandra. "This is the vamp you were sent to eliminate. The one you told me you had eliminated."
"I never said I eliminated him. I told you I took care of the situation."
Wade harrumphed. "Is that why you haven't been back home? You've been shacking up with a blood drinker?"
"You're sister and I are not shacking up," Tremayne came to her defense. "We are courting."
"Dating," Cassandra corrected.
"Aye, dating," he repeated.
Derek noticed Tremayne, though pretty much up to date with the world, he would still now and again revert to old-world phrases, and his Irish lilt flavored many of his words.
"Isn't this all so very quaint," Wade bit out, his words dripping with sarcasm.
Sloane must have been feeling left out. She decided to join in on the fun. "Wade, may I speak to you?" Her soft-spoken request silenced the room. She took a hesitant step closer. "They shouldn't be treating you like this."
"Finally, someone who makes a lick of sense." Then he growled when he realized he just sided with a vampire-in-the-making.
"I can't help what happened to me. I…" Sloane faltered and she took a deep breath. "I don't want to change. I don't want to be like…like Tim. I'm angry and scared, but I can't change my fate, but maybe I can prevent someone else from facing what I have to."
Wade stared at her, and for once he didn't look like a rabid dog, ready to lash out. They all held their breath with hope that Sloane had somehow reached him with her desperate plea to set things right. His brother's shoulder tensed and he clenched his teeth as the battle against all he'd been raised to believe in was falling apart at his feet. He most likely wanted to continue his ranting on core beliefs, but what Sloane said made sense to his right and wrong codes of ethics. She didn't beg for her life, but for a chance to make sure no one else suffered.
"Dammit to hell and back," Wade cursed and shook his head. "I can't believe I'
m going to say this, but what's the friggin' plan?"
Chapter Fourteen
"You did well in there," Cassandra stood beside Sloane in the kitchen.
She glanced at Derek's sister, who stood almost a head taller than her five-foot-four stance. She'd bet Cassandra knew her way around weapons as well as her brothers did. She shuddered at the thought. "Thanks, but I doubt Wade will become my best bud any time soon."
Cassandra chuckled. "No, I suppose not, but at least at this moment, he doesn't want to dust you."
Sloane wasn't so sure about that. As soon as they nabbed Tim, he'd probably have a nice stake sharpened with her name carved on it. She learned from Tremayne that a stake wouldn't kill a vampire, but she was still transitioning. She was still vulnerable. A stake through the heart would prove fatal for her.
Even with Tremayne's reassurances that he wouldn't allow her to become a danger to anyone, she still worried. She didn't want to end up like Tim and hurt someone, least of all Derek. And what about Lad? She'd talked to Dr. Sinclair a few moments ago. Her dog was resting comfortably and would make a full recovery. The good news was a welcome reprieve. She glanced at her cell where a screen saver of Lad stared back at her.
"Why the frown?" Cassandra asked.
"Do vampires eat pets?"
Cassandra's lips twitched, but to her credit she didn't full out laugh at her. "Tremayne has never had the urge to snack on Shakespeare—his hound dog," she clarified.
She sighed in relief. Her gaze swept over Cassandra with curiosity. She was dating a vampire, had been for months and she didn't look like she suffered from anemia. "Tremayne never wants to…" Her question trailed off and she glanced away. Heat burned her cheeks.
"Drink from me?" Cassandra finished, sensing what she wanted to know.
She nodded, glad that Cassandra was so intuitive.
"Yes, of course he does. He's a vampire, but he respects my wishes to remain human. He feeds before he is with me. He's able to keep the blood lust at bay then."
"He's centuries old, isn't he?" It was a rhetorical question and Cassandra treated it as such, but her next question she hoped for an answer. "He has more control over things like that, doesn't he?"
"I suppose he does, but you can learn, too," Cassandra stated with the utmost confidence.
Tremayne had entered the kitchen and his next words told her he heard the last of their conversation. "You will not be alone with your trials, Sloane. My sept has many who will work with you and help you through the transition."
"And how long does the transition take? Will I have to stay away from my family?" Her eyes shifted to where Derek stood with his brother hunched over the table and looking at a map of the city. They were marking off places where they knew Tim had left his mark.
Tremayne followed her gaze. "You will not be able to have a relationship at first, but in time, you may. Humans are not off limits unless you wish them to be, but perhaps you will find an Oiche Sith who you'll favor for a mate. It is not uncommon for my kind to find a soul mate and pledge their life to one another. You would then never have to worry about feeding. You'll find nourishment from each other."
Her gaze fell away from Derek. He was human. Tremayne hadn't flat out stated the fact, but she was a big girl. There was no future for her and Derek. Not that Derek ever mentioned he wanted a relationship with her, but after last night, she had hoped.
"Derek is a Hayes," Tremayne reminded her as if she needed reminding. "It would not be easy for him to be with you."
"But you're with Cassandra," she pointed out.
"Aye, but it would make life easier if we had not fallen in love with each other." He glanced at Cassandra and reached for her hand. "She is a hunter and as much as her family dislikes vampires, my sept, the Oiche Sith also loathe the hunters in return. My immediate family, the Graystones are accepting and respect my decision to be with Cassandra, but not all in the sept share their opinion. And Cassandra's family, other than Derek and now Wade, are unaware of our relationship. You witnessed Wade's reaction."
She nodded. "But Derek isn't against Cassandra and you being together. He called you for help. He told me he did."
Cassandra chuckled. "Don't let his tolerance be fooled with acceptance."
Tremayne nodded in agreement. "He tolerates us because he loves his sister and he has perhaps fallen in love with you."
She inhaled sharply. "What makes you say that?"
"Even if I was not a vampire with heightened senses, I would have known. He gazes upon you with longing. He does not hide his feelings very well."
She highly doubted Derek was in love with her. They barely knew each other. They had only a brief high school romance, and now a dalliance under pressure.
Even as she denied the possibility, she knew it to be a lie. She was halfway in love with him herself, and if time would allow them the luxury, she could easily fall in love with the rugged hunter.
Chapter Fifteen
Derek felt the animosity rolling off of Wade, but at least he hadn't pulled out his blades and tried to kill anyone in the last hour. He did however shoot daggers with his eyes and most of them were in Cassandra and his direction.
"Tim has killed homeless men—easy targets, but it doesn't mean he won't venture out into the main populace," Wade said. "He's desperate and untrained in the art of covering up his transgressions."
"More reason to hurry and bring him in," Tremayne agreed. "Tim may crave blood, but through his blood haze, he returned to Sloane's house to claim her. Because he failed, he'll plan another attempt."
Wade glanced at Sloane. "Why are you so sure he'll take the risk?"
"He bit her and he fed her his blood," Tremayne argued the point. "He began a bonding ritual whether he knew that or not. He will want to either finish the job he started or end her life. He will not be able to resist. He's newly made and has not had time to fight the urges that rule his existence."
"How do we know she won't turn on us?" Wade sneered at Tremayne. "How do we know you won't?"
"I have tolerated your rudeness because you are Cassandra's brother, but I will not have you question my honor."
Wade harrumphed, folding his arms across his chest. All eyes turned on him and he came to realize being outnumbered wouldn't bode well—for him that is. "Fine count me in on the asinine plan. But one false move, Tremayne Graystone and you're dust. I don't care if my sister has the hots for you or not."
The vampire didn't even flinch.
Derek sat next to Sloane who fidgeted in her seat. She was anxious, the tension radiating off her in nervous energy. "Are you all right?" He leaned near to ask her.
She rubbed her temple. "I…don't know. My head…buzzing in my head."
His brows drew together and he glanced at Tremayne. With the vampire's excellent hearing, he picked up on Sloane's distress.
"It is the transition," he said with a frown, making Derek believe he thought something else was wrong.
Sloane squeezed her eyes shut and Derek wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.
"So touching," Wade grumbled. "Can we get on with the plans? I'd like to finish this before Axel becomes suspicious and makes a house call. He's not as forgiving as I can be."
Cassandra snorted, but she didn't say a word to the contrary.
"We'll need you to call Tim," Derek said to Sloane and she opened her eyes and stared at him. "Set up a meeting with him. You'll have to be convincing. As much as he wants you, he'll be suspicious of your intensions."
"I can do this." She fished out her phone from her pocket. None of them were sure Tim had kept his cell phone, but there was only one way to find out. Sloane put the phone on speaker as she waited for Tim to pick up, and he did.
"So what do I owe the pleasure, dear, dear Sloane?" Tim's voice had an edge to it, making his question sound more like a snarl.
"We need to talk," Sloane said with confidence though Derek could feel her tremble in his arms.
Tim chuckled. "Do you rea
lly expect me to believe that?"
She ignored his snide remark. "I don't understand what's happening to me. I'm… I'm scared." Her voice wavered.
Tim didn't respond at first. Most likely debating if Sloane spoke the truth and if he could trust her. His need to have her must have won out. "I can make it all better."
"How?" she asked. "Tell me what I need to do."
"You have to have faith that I know what's best for you."
"I do."
"Really?" His tone indicated he didn't believe her.
"I want to," she corrected. "But everything has been so…freaky. That guy breaking into my house and attacking you..."
"I thought you knew him?" he said with suspicion. "Are you saying you didn't?"
"No…of course not. He told me he was looking for you. What was that all about? Why did he want to hurt you?"
"You attacked me too, Sloane," he bit out.
"You hurt Lad. I reacted," she said with a pout.
Again Tim fell silent for a breath of time. "And where is the hunter now?"
"Hunter? Do you mean the guy who attacked you? I don't know. He took off after you. I wasn't going to wait around for him. I haven't been back to my place since."
"Oh? Where are you?"
Sloane squeezed her eyes shut and cursed beneath her breath. "I'm at a…hotel," she said quickly enough not to seem suspicious.
"Hmm… Tell me where and I'll come for you."
"No… I mean what if that guy follows you. He found you once. Who's to say he won't again. I don't want him to know where I'm staying. I better meet you somewhere."
Silence greeted her.
"Tim?"
"I'll get back to you on a location." He didn't wait for her to agree. He disconnected the call.
Sloane breathed a sigh of relief and Derek rubbed her back. "You did fine."
Derek met Wade's gaze. His brother rolled his eyes, obviously not liking his open affection toward Sloane. He stalked out of the kitchen. His brother may not agree with keeping Sloane alive, but he wasn't going to mess up their chance to stop Tim, and Sloane was their best bet to flush the vampire out.
Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) Page 9