by Beth Alvarez
“You need the money that much?” he asked.
Biting her lower lip, Penny bowed her head.
“And you know this is gonna be long-term, right? I’ll have to meet you like this once every six weeks or so.”
Her head moved so slightly that it took him a second to realize it was confirmation.
Kade nodded. “All right, then. Wrist or neck, you decide. Wrist hurts less, but takes longer. Neck gets you out of here in five minutes, unless it takes you longer to clean up. Heals in a couple days. Doesn’t leave any scars.”
She swallowed, considering for a moment before gathering her hair over her shoulder and exposing one side of her neck.
She didn’t stand.
He considered asking her to, but decided not to fight it. Sometimes it was easier to go with the flow, and this was awkward enough already. He climbed onto the bed, settling on his knees behind her and sitting on his heels.
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” she croaked.
Kade snorted in amusement. “Hard to gossip when it’d give my secrets away.”
“I mean about Nick. And me. Don’t tell anyone. Not even Felicity, all right?” She turned to look him in the eye, her expression pleading. “A secret for a secret.”
Against his better judgment, he nodded.
She seemed to relax.
Inching forward, he threaded his fingers through her hair and gently pulled her head farther to the side, exposing a few more inches of her creamy neck. The cravings he’d been fighting bubbled to the surface, his muscles clenching in anticipation.
As always—with anyone but Felicity—he took a moment to bridle his instincts and make sure he had hold of himself. It was easy for him to become dangerous. Safer when they chose to offer their wrist, but there was something so much more enjoyable about drinking from a victim’s throat.
He gave his head a twitch. Volunteer. Not victim. He couldn’t risk thoughts like those. Already, hunger clawed at his belly like a wild beast, struggling to escape and tear her to shreds. He closed his eyes, reminding himself of who he was. Hunters did not succumb to animal instinct. Setting that thought firmly in mind, he breathed deep.
She smelled good. Fresh, sweet, like any number of Felicity’s confections. Kade licked his lips, reaching around to lay his free hand on her stomach, pulling her back against his chest. She tensed, but he ignored it, leaning down until his lips just touched her neck.
Penny gasped and jerked when he bit down.
Her skin ruptured beneath his fangs, a warm flood of sweet blood filling his mouth. He could’ve sworn his stomach growled at the taste. Rich and coppery, salty and sweet, satisfying in ways mortal food never had been. His eyes closed. He savored it, letting the taste fill his mouth and sate his need for the flavor before he swallowed. Then he sucked, gently and steadily, drawing nourishment from her body one mouthful at a time.
The stabbing ache in his stomach subsided, every inch of him rejuvenated as he fed.
The initial pain past, Penny leaned into his arms, though her body remained tense. Growing tenser, he thought, odd as it was. Then her breath caught, and a low, pleasured moan escaped her lips.
Kade tore away, staring at her back in startled discomfort.
Fiery crimson lit her cheeks and she clapped a hand over the bite wound in her neck, hurrying to the sink.
Kade’s stomach rebelled. His insides lurched, threatening to heave up a meal that suddenly didn’t sit well. The taste in his mouth, so satisfying just a moment ago, now burned so foul on his tongue it was a wonder he didn’t gag. He staggered to the sink, shoving Penny out of the way the moment she was done scrubbing her neck.
He cupped his hands under the running water, lifting it to his mouth and drinking deep gulps. The taste of over-chlorinated water chased every hint of blood out of his mouth, though his stomach still heaved.
“Are you okay?” Penny asked shakily. The bite marks had already sealed over, but she pressed a wad of tissues to them anyway.
For a moment, he wasn’t sure. If he had a reflection, he would’ve expected to see himself looking more than a little green. But he didn’t, so he gritted his teeth and turned away, struggling to compose himself long enough to pull his wallet from his back pocket.
“Go.” He thrust two bills into her hands. Four times what he typically paid.
“Kade-”
“Before I change my mind,” he snarled.
Penny clutched the money to her chest, lingering a moment longer before she turned and fled.
Kade held tight to the edge of the sink, desperate for the support.
The door slammed.
Then he threw up.
SIX
* * *
WHEN THE BAKERY’S back door opened, Felicity turned with a question on the tip of her tongue. When she saw it was Kade, instead of her father, she froze and blinked at him in surprise.
He stared back, his brow furrowing as he shut the door and adjusted his hat. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“Um, it’s my bakery.” She dumped more sifted sugar into the mixer in front of her, arching one eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“I mean in the back. Emmett ain’t here.”
“I spent all morning training the new help. I think she’ll be okay while I make some more cookies.” Pausing, she gave him a quick look-over. “More importantly, what are you doing here? It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. I hardly ever see you out of bed before three, never mind out of the house.”
“Didn’t sleep well. Decided to get up early. I need to talk to you, but I need to use the phone, first.” Kade glanced toward the narrow doorway that led into the front of the shop. Voices beyond it filtered into the kitchen, though nothing loud enough to make out.
Felicity frowned, following his gaze. “It’d probably be best if we were alone before you do any of that. I thought you were going to get a cell phone?”
“I was. I am. I haven’t made it to a store yet, all right? I’ll go get somethin’ later, after I have a chance to talk to Thaddeus.” His shoulders hunched, making him look something like an agitated cat.
“All right, all right.” She made soothing motions with both hands. “I’ll get the customers seen to and empty the place out in a minute, okay?” She swiped a rag from one of the counters, cleaning her hands on her way to the front.
Kade followed and, uncharacteristic as it was in her presence, he cursed under his breath.
Penny turned at the sound, her face going blank when she saw him in the doorway.
He looked away, licking his lips and stifling whatever response he’d had.
A deep uneasiness lodged itself in the pit of Felicity’s stomach. She swallowed against it, braving a smile for the customers, hoping they hadn’t heard Kade’s slip. “Do you need any help out here?”
“Oh, no.” Penny regained her senses, smiling back and looking at her as if Kade weren’t there. “Everything’s fine. Don’t let us distract you from the cookies, I’m sure everyone will be happy to see those!”
“All right. Let me know when you’re free, I could use a hand with something.” Felicity waved to the people on the other side of the counter, then dragged Kade back into the kitchen.
“What is the matter with you?” she asked in a whisper, pulling him down by the collar.
Kade grimaced. “You hired her?” he whispered back, his hazel eyes darting to the doorway. “Everyone in Holly Hill you could have asked, and-”
“Why not her? I thought you liked Penny!” If he had anything against Nick and Penny, he’d hidden it well. They’d spent dozens of evenings with the couple. Not even a week prior, they’d played cards in the Hilltop House’s kitchen, laughing into the small hours of the night.
“I do!” Kade tugged her hand off his shirt, wrapping it with both of his.
“Then what is your problem?”
He didn’t have a chance to respond before Penny appeared in the doorway.
“Is everything okay?” she aske
d, timid and halting, doing everything in her power to keep from looking at Kade.
Felicity stifled the urge to scream at the interruption. “Yeah, I just needed to ask a favor, that’s all. I’ve got that stack of deliveries under the counter. I was about to take them, but since Kade’s got a minute free for once, I need to talk to him about some wedding things. Could you run them for me, instead?”
“Oh.” Penny relaxed. “Sure, no problem. It seems to have slowed down a bit, so I guess it’s perfect timing.”
“Sure is,” Felicity agreed, holding her fake smile until the rustling in the front gave way to the jingle of the bell on the front door. After a silence long enough to be sure she was gone, Felicity spun to glare at Kade.
He withered under her stare, words spilling out in a rush. “I asked Thaddeus to arrange a new client for feeding and when I got there, it was her.”
Felicity blinked several times. “Penny?”
“I had to tell her. We met at a motel and I didn’t want her havin’ the wrong idea about why I was there, and-”
She put up a hand to stop him. “Wait a minute. You’re upset because she knows?”
Kade stopped short, faltering before he found his voice again. “You ain’t?”
“Kade, you’re a vampire in a town of five thousand. I knew from the minute you decided to stay that we wouldn’t be able to hide it forever. Frankly, I’m surprised we made it almost six months.” She cradled his cheek, trying not to laugh. It wasn’t like him to get worked up about anything, but she’d also never seen him react to being found out. Her discovery had been different. It had ended in his bed.
His shoulders sank with relief and he exhaled slowly. “And you ain’t mad that I bit her?”
“Why would I be mad? You bite people every week.”
“Yeah, but-”
“But nothing. I know what you are, I know what comes with the territory, and there’s no sense in being upset over things you can’t help.” Felicity had come to terms with that a long time ago. It was just a bite; it wasn’t as if he’d slept with her.
For some reason, a shadowed look crossed his face.
Felicity frowned. “What?”
“There’s somethin’ else I need to tell you. Well, a couple things, really.” He scratched his unshaven chin, his brows drawn with worry. “One’s ’bout Penny. She asked me not to tell, but... well, I think it might be somethin’ we should look into, especially now that she knows about me.”
That piqued her curiosity. One of the reasons she liked Penny was because she was forthcoming. Honest but eloquent. Not the type to beg secrets be kept by vampires.
“I gave her the chance to leave,” Kade went on. “Told her she didn’t have to go along with it if she wasn’t sure. But I tell you, she was ready to do anythin’ I asked.” He shook his head, clearly bothered.
There was an undertone in his voice she didn’t like. She tried to ignore it. “Why would she do that?” It didn’t sound like the self-assured Penny Felicity knew.
“She said she needed the money. Desperate for it. She...” Kade paused, just long enough for her to know she wasn’t getting the whole story. “Well, anyway, I think there’s somethin’ funny goin’ on. And I don’t just mean Penny. I saw somethin’ at the ranch the other day, and I think we may have trouble brewin’.”
Flashbacks to the monster they’d fought in du Coudray’s mansion flickered in her head.
Kade nodded as if seeing her thoughts. “It could be nothin’, I could be mistaken. But I don’t make mistakes often, mind. There’ve been dead animals out at the ranch. Timin’ on it’s too funny to be coincidence. When the full moon rises, I want you safe in the Hilltop House well before sundown, you hear me?”
“Is it... something like you?” She didn’t know how to ask. She didn’t necessarily mean vampires; there was a whole slew of supernatural creatures in the world, and she didn’t know a better way to describe them. Like it or not, he was as much part of their world as he was of hers.
“I don’t know. Not for sure. Like I said, it could be nothin’, but I’ve never seen tooth marks like that when it was nothin’.”
“Should I warn people?”
“Not until I know for sure. I don’t think Sam would appreciate me causin’ a stir in his little town.” The corners of his mouth twitched. Felicity couldn’t blame him. His previous experiences with the sheriff had been frustrating, to say the least. And he hadn’t been sheriff then.
Still, she couldn’t help shaking her head. “Penny’s going to have to walk home from the bakery, Kade. She doesn’t have a car.”
“And until I hear something more from Birch, I don’t know who we need to rule out as suspects,” Kade said. “I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it, either. But you’re what’s most important to me right now, and if Birch won’t let me hunt the damn thing myself, the least I can do is try to protect you.”
Her stomach twisted on itself. “Were you thinking about hunting it?”
He didn’t reply.
Felicity’s heart sank. He’d given up the hunt for a quiet life in Holly Hill. Though he kept busy with the ranch and helping her around the bakery and the Hilltop House in his off hours, she could see him growing restless.
Now there was potentially a monster on his turf. Something threatening his home, his place, his people. It only made sense that he’d want to kill it himself. Not just for the thrill of the hunt, but because of his fierce need to protect the people he cared about. Though he wasn’t vocal about it, Felicity knew he enjoyed his time around the other cowboys, and around people like Nick and Penny, too. The friends he’d made in Holly Hill were as much a part of his family as she was.
“Doesn’t matter what I wanna do, anyway,” Kade said at last, almost begrudgingly. “Birch won’t have it. I ain’t a hunter. He said the Keepers are gonna send someone to take care of it.”
“And how do you feel about that?” she asked, offering subtle permission for him to share his thoughts. Regardless of how she might feel about the dangers of hunting, she couldn’t deny that part of him.
He heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “It ain’t fair and it don’t make much sense. I’m better cut out for a job like this than most anyone they can send, retired or not. Not only that, but I’m the one findin’ the evidence, and I’m the one’s gonna be affected. And... I may be the reason it’s here.” His voice softened with the last.
Felicity worried her lower lip with her teeth, turning back to her bowl of half-finished icing. She needed something to work on, something to keep her hands busy and put a stop to her racing thoughts. She throttled her concern, picking up a rubber spatula and scraping the bowl’s sides. “How do you figure that?”
“Like attracts like.” Kade followed her to the counter, leaning his hip against it while he explained. “I don’t know why. Maybe there’s some kinda callin’ and I just don’t get it ’cause I’ve always been a lone wolf. But it’s why you always find pockets of supernatural critters. Clans of vampires, all in one place, even though concentrated numbers make it easier to be found out. Packs of werewolves. Things like that.”
“Maybe it’s just because they’re more comfortable around their own kind.” At least, that was what she thought. There was comfort in being surrounded by kin. Though she wasn’t a vampire yet, she suspected it extended to their kind, as well.
Though he’d asked her before, they’d never discussed her changing again. After they established the kind of marriage they wanted—the cozy evenings at home in front of the fireplace, alongside the kids and their dog—the topic never came up. They’d already planned to start the process as soon as they were married; though they were both glad she could bear Kade’s children, neither one of them knew what to expect from in-vitro fertilization. She supposed they’d broach the topic of changing after their children were born.
In some ways, Felicity hoped it came together soon. She was thirty; the age Kade had been when he turned. The age he would be forever, no m
atter what his Keeper-issued driver’s license said. Even if she changed right after the birth of their children, she’d be physically older than him for the rest of their lives, and she wasn’t sure she liked how that felt.
“All the more reason to be concerned,” Kade said. “That’s the thing, Filly. It ain’t a vampire. We don’t hunt animals. I told Birch I think it’s a lycanthrope. Werewolf. And if there’s one, chances are, there’s a whole pack somewhere close.”
“Why would werewolves want to be where a vampire is?”
“Because they’ve got grudges against hunters.” His hazel eyes darkened, glinting like cold steel. “And if they’re not here for me, they might be here to try to rein in one of their own who’s on the verge of goin’ feral. That happens to them, sometimes. So long as they keep their senses, lycans ain’t a threat to anyone. But if they don’t...” He trailed off, shaking his head.
Felicity braved a smile, trying to ignore the way her stomach churned. “Well, sounds like we’ll be okay, either way.”
He cocked his head. “How d’you figure that?”
“Because if they’re here to settle one of their own, it’s already under control. Besides, even if they aren’t...” She leaned up, kissing his cheek. “You’re not a hunter anymore. Remember?”
Again, Kade sighed. “Don’t remind me.”
“And as for Penny and your secret,” she continued, giving the brim of his hat a flick. “Just remember, it could be worse.”
“How so?”
Felicity leaned back, her eyes sparkling. “It could have been Miss Gertie.”
* * *
Peeling the protective film off the screen of his new phone, Kade suppressed the urge to grumble.
He hadn’t carried a smart phone since his first hunt. He’d never figured out what happened to the thing, either. There were a few cheap phones that came after that, but holding something sleek and modern in his hand reminded him too much of his life before becoming a hunter. Those weren’t happy memories, and he tried not to dwell on them as he keyed the numbers for the bakery and the Hilltop House into Felicity’s contact entry. It was easier without the film. He’d get a screen protector later.