Nether: Hidden Book Five

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  I was getting ready to leave when I felt Nain somewhere nearby. I looked around, zeroing in on him as if some internal radar had picked him up. Which I guess it kind of had. There he was, striding toward me, that badass stalk that never failed to make me a little weak in the knees.

  "Hey," I said, and he smiled as he approached. "What are you doing here?"

  "Looking for you," he said. He pulled me into his arms and planted a kiss on me that just about had my head spinning. When we broke apart, I noticed someone pointing a phone at us. Nain noticed it, too, and started to head that way. I held him back.

  "It's okay," I whispered. I focused, then watched in grim amusement as the guy deleted the video from his phone and walked away, with a little bit of psychic encouragement from me.

  "This is fucking ridiculous," Nain muttered, still holding me tight.

  "I know," I said. "Can we get out of here?"

  Nain nodded, took my hand, and we walked toward the nearest street parking. He opened my door for me, and I climbed into his truck. It smelled like him inside, clean, masculine. I watched as he climbed in, loving the ripple of muscle. I knew every part of this man, every scar, every expression. The look in his eyes he only got for me. He turned to me, caught me staring. He gave me that smirk I love so much, leaned over and kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled away only to draw my body closer to his. He held me, let me cling to him. He buried his face in the side of my neck, and I could hear him breathing me in.

  "It's okay, baby," he murmured, and I held him tighter. He knew the things I never let anyone else see. He knew I slept like shit. He knew how stressed I was over Gaia, the media, the fact that everyone knew my face. And that some days I felt close to cracking. When I did, he was the one who held me together.

  It wore on him, too. I am not an easy person to live with. He isn't, either. We make it work, because we've been apart, and we know life without "us" is not something we want to go through again.

  "I'm starving," he said, and I laughed.

  "And here I thought you were picking me up so you could take me somewhere secret and seduce me," I murmured as I released him. He started the truck and rested his big hand on my thigh.

  "I did. But I think we should eat first. You're gonna need the energy later," he said, and I laughed as a little shiver went through me.

  "Fine. As long as it involves macaroni and cheese," I said, stomach growling.

  "Kinky, baby," he said, and I smacked his arm.

  "I meant the restaurant, you ass," I said, and he laughed and squeezed my thigh. I ended up laughing, too.

  "Sweet Lorraine's it is, then," he said, and he started driving toward the restaurant. I watched the scenery pass out the window, sensing for him as he drove. Ever-present demonic anger. Lots and lots of lust, which made my body temperature rise several degrees. Love.

  We found the block where my favorite comfort food restaurant was, and the street parking was packed. We ended up parking on the next block, and walked down the street, my hand in his. We passed a bakery, and he stopped dead in front of the window.

  "Do you see that?"

  "What?" I asked, looking around and expecting to see some kind of purple monster or something, based on the disbelief in his tone.

  "That," he said, gesturing at the window. "Five dollars? For a cupcake? Are they fucking kidding?"

  I pulled him away. "They're probably really good cupcakes."

  "It's flour, eggs, sugar, and shit like that. Five dollars? Back when it was French here, we had croissants, and they didn't come anywhere close to five dollars apiece. Do you have any idea how much work goes into a fucking croissant? And a cupcake is just mix, bake, and slap some frosting on it."

  "I'm sure there's more to it than that," I said in amusement. "By the way, your crusty old French snob side is showing."

  "Five dollar cupcakes," he muttered, shaking his head, and I laughed as we walked away.

  We walked into the restaurant. The smell of fried chicken hit me, made my stomach rumble. We sat down in a booth near the back. After we ordered, we sat in silence, Nain watching, always watching, for signs of danger.

  I gave his leg a gentle nudge with my foot. "How did your meetings go?" I asked him, and he shrugged.

  "Okay. Everyone's up to speed now. Zero is going to fill Rayna and Ronan in on everything tonight."

  "He's thinking about being turned," I said.

  "He mentioned that."

  "How is he about that whole thing?" I asked.

  "The crazy fucker is excited."

  I laughed and thanked the waitress as she began setting our food down.

  "I think Shanti is worried he'll regret it," I said, digging into the macaroni and cheese.

  "He'd regret it if he didn't do it," Nain said after swallowing a bite of his fried chicken. "Giving up the daylight is nothing to him. He wants to fight, and he feels like he's found his place with the vampires. His family isn't exactly close, so this is really the first good family experience he's had."

  "That's messed up."

  He snorted, nodded.

  "He'd do anything for Shanti," I said quietly.

  "It better stay that way or I'm going to kick his ass," Nain muttered, and I had to smile.

  Just then, a trio of twenty-somethings approached our table, asking for my autograph. Nain and I exchanged a glance.

  "I'm not a celebrity," I told them gently. "You don't want my autograph," I added, pushing power into my voice. They looked confused, walked away.

  "These aren't the droids you're looking for," Nain said under his breath, and I shook my head.

  "Can we take the rest of this home?" I asked. "We should probably get the packing and moving done." He nodded.

  We got to-go containers and walked out, and I was more than aware of at least three people taking photos of us as we left. I gritted my teeth in irritation, held Nain's hand, and let myself be soothed by his hand on my thigh as we drove back to the loft.

  When we got back, I was immediately called away to deal with some sprites that were causing trouble at an elementary school. Sprites were mischievous little assholes. Not harmful, really, just annoying. I dealt with them as quickly as I could and rematerialized back at the loft.

  I was greeted by the sound of Marvin Gaye blasting through the stereo, along with Heph's booming laugh. A glance around showed that they'd gotten most of our remaining belongings packed in the few hours I'd spent in my press conference and lunch with Nain. Brennan was back, and he was currently trying to get Sean to eat something green, and Sean was having none of it, sitting in his high chair with his mouth clamped shut as Artemis looked on. Nain and Heph were disconnecting the television equipment in the living room, and they were both clearly on a trip down memory lane, talking about the first time they had watched a television. I caught Brennan's eye and shook my head.

  "It must have been a big day the first time you talked on one of those new-fangled telephone machines," I said, and Heph flipped me the bird in a good-natured kind of way.

  "I liked the phone," Nain said. "Email was something I could have done without."

  Brennan grunted in agreement and managed to sneak a spoonful of peas into Sean's mouth. When Sean immediately opened his mouth and let the peas fall out onto his bib, all the while glaring at his father, I had to laugh.

  "He wants a steak, I think," I said. Sean grinned at me in that cheeky way toddlers do and held his arms out.

  "And now he knows you're going to rescue him," Brennan said, shaking his head and setting the spoon down in resignation.

  "Of course I am." I picked Sean up out of the highchair and he wrapped his chubby little arms around my neck. Within moments, he was lazily messing with the feathers at the top of my wings. As long as he didn't start pulling, we would be just fine.

  I carried Sean over to the huge pile of laundry Ada and Artemis had finished up before the wedding. It really was embarrassing how much clothing we went through in the course of a
day, between Sean and his penchant for either knocking over or spitting up his food and the rest of us with our tendency to make people bleed. I started folding and packing the clothes into the duffel bag Artemis had left, and Sean went to work pulling things out just as quickly as I packed them.

  "You have a unique way of helping," I informed him, and he gave me another grin and started shoving unfolded laundry into the bag. I watched him for a few seconds. "Also, you're totally brilliant." I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then I helped him shove the rest of the pile of unfolded laundry into the bag. We finished, and I zipped it up.

  I saw that, Nain thought at me.

  I'm not very domestic.

  I'm not complaining.

  I caught his eye as he and Heph carried the couch to the elevator. It amazed me how, even now, after spending every spare moment together since we'd found our way back to one another, after countless hours spent making love to him, holding him, just the meeting of his eyes and mine still made my heart pound. Sometimes I looked at him and it was nearly impossible to breathe.

  And he knew it. And I knew he felt the same way about me, and that knowledge never ceased to amaze me. Out of all of the crazy things that had happened to me over the past few years, Nain and me making our way back to one another, and crazy as it is, making it work together, was one of the most surprising.

  As Nain and Heph walked out, Shanti walked in.

  "There's still stuff to do, right?" she asked as she came in.

  "Always. Want to help me pack up the rest of the office?" Shanti nodded, and I picked Sean up and carried him with us so he'd be out from under everyone's feet as they carried furniture and boxes out.

  I opened the door to the office. It was definitely a mix of the two of us now; papers strewn here and there by me, evidence of Nain's attempts at organization in the neatly stacked piles of folders and mail. "If you want, you can finish putting those files in the box there," I said, gesturing toward a cardboard box sitting on the edge of the desk. Shanti nodded and started doing that while I gathered the bills and other mail from the desktop and put them in another folder for us to deal with when we had a chance. There was a mix of work-related stuff, thank you notes from people we'd helped, the current tax bill (addressed to me, since I was officially the owner of this place, thanks to Nain). Seeing that huge "amount due" balance had nearly given me a heart attack. The idea of Nain's money being my money still didn't seem real. And then there were personal things. Congratulations cards from several supernaturals wishing us well on our marriage as word had spread that we were back together.

  I packed, and when I focused, I could feel Shanti. She was tense. A bundle of nerves. Afraid. I looked up at her. Despite being eternally frozen in time to look like a sixteen-year-old thanks to the vampire who'd turned her against her will, Shanti was definitely pulling off the whole "self-assured, I have my shit together because I'm a grown-ass woman" look. Her dark hair was cut short, with long layers falling over her forehead. She was dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, black boots, and a tailored gray button-down that managed to be both feminine and badass at the same time. Very Shanti. Her outward appearance at that moment didn't match the emotions coming from her, though.

  "What's wrong, kiddo?" I asked her.

  She took a breath I knew she didn't actually need. "So, that stuff last night in Delray was one of the Titans, right?" she asked, dropping a folder into the box and flopping into one of the leather chairs near the desk.

  "Yeah. Gaia."

  "And there are two of them around?"

  I nodded.

  "Great." She paused, clasping her hands between her knees as she leaned forward in her chair. "I don't know how much you heard about the attacks Rayna keeps sustaining from other vampire factions. Even after relocating, we're getting sniped and attacked nearly every night by some asshole or another."

  "I heard."

  Ronan had filled me in at Ada and Stone's reception the night before. The vampire had been pure anger, talking about the attacks against his sister, the newly self-made vampire queen of Detroit. I'd promised him whatever assistance we could give, and he'd still turned it around and promised to help me when I needed it. I'm pretty sure my city's vampires are better than everyone else's. Rayna and Ronan took the safety of the Normals in our city seriously. They took the safety of their own family and the other supernaturals in the city seriously. As things had gotten more insane in my life, dealing with threats from the realm of the gods, Rayna's people had slowly but surely begun filling many of the roles Nain and I used to fill, policing the streets and even finding the occasional lost girl (at Shanti's insistence) along the way.

  "It's a mess, from what Ronan says," I added.

  "It is." Shanti was quiet for a moment. "Zero decided he wants to be turned now, so he's not the weak link in Rayna's family anymore. Ronan agreed." She looked down at her hands. Her entire posture was tense. I sensed for her. More than anything, she was worried. Zero was her boyfriend, whom she'd met during the time I'd been trapped in the Nether. He'd moved in with the vampires to learn about their way of life so he'd understand Shanti better, as well as to prepare for eventually being turned himself.

  I sat in the chair near hers. "Ronan's turning him?"

  She nodded.

  "Why not Rayna?" I asked, knowing that she was the more powerful of the two, which was why she was queen. Ronan was up there, but Rayna was a little stronger.

  "Because I don't want any other woman sucking on any part of my man's body," Shanti said, and I bit back a laugh. "I know that's stupid. I love Rayna. I trust her. I still don't want her mouth on him."

  I did laugh then, and she shook her head and smiled. "Okay. Ronan's nearly as powerful as she is anyway. I don't think it'll matter."

  "That's what I said," she said.

  "What has you so terrified, then?" I asked.

  "I am terrified. He's doing this for me. I mean… he says he's doing it for himself, too, that he wants to fight, that helping Rayna's family, battling and protecting people is what he does. And it is and he's really good at it. He's a warrior and we need those. But it still comes back to the fact that he's mostly being turned so he can be with me."

  "Do you not want him anymore?" I asked.

  She looked at me in shock. "Are you kidding? I want him more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I love him. He's mine, and when I'm with him, wherever we are is home. You know what I mean?"

  I nodded.

  "But this life," she continued, shaking her head. "I keep trying to tell him how hard it is, how much he'll miss sunlight, how much everything just hurts in the beginning. And he's gonna go through all that. He's going to give up the sun and a normal life and he's going to totally change the way his business is run, because he met me and I happen to be a vampire and he wants to be with me." She shook her head again. "I just keep wondering if I'm the best thing for him. He might have been better off finding some pretty Normal to settle down with."

  I smiled. "I don't think he'd agree with that. I'm pretty sure everything you said about loving and needing him is exactly what he'd say about you. And when it comes down to it, he's a big boy, Shanti. You've done everything you can to prepare him for what he's giving up, and I'd bet Rayna and Ronan have as well." She nodded, and I continued. "Zero doesn't strike me as impulsive, in the least."

  She laughed a little, then. "No, he definitely is not. He's always about five steps ahead of everyone else."

  "Okay. So he knows what he's getting into, as much as he can, anyway. And he still wants it. And you can't control the future."

  "I know." She looked down again. "Um. I know it's stupid, and I know there are about a million things going on right now, but do you think you could come and sit with me on Saturday night when he's turned?" Then she shook her head. "Never mind. That sounded stupid even saying it."

  I took her hand in mine. "It's not stupid, and yes, I'll be there."

  "I just don't want to be alone whi
le it's happening. I'm already a nervous wreck."

  "I know. I'll be there, Shanti."

  "If something else comes up—"

  "Nain can handle it," I finished, and she laughed. At that moment, Sean abandoned the basket of toys we kept in the office for him when he was keeping us company and scrambled over to me. I picked him up, and he snuggled in to me. "Finally tired, eh? Your dad will be grateful."

  Something deep inside of me ached, the same way it did every time I held Sean. Longing that came out of nowhere, blindsided me, for something I'd never have. Now that I'd made my way back to Nain, my mind had turned more and more often to the possibility of making a family with him, of having the kind of happy home I'd never had. Even with our insane life, even with the constant upheaval, I wanted it, stupid as it was. Nain and I had been going at it almost constantly since we'd been back together. And there was nothing. Creatures of the Nether. We don't create life, as a rule. For the first time in my life, I kind of hated that fact.

  Seeming to catch my mood, Shanti put her hand on my arm.

  "It's okay," I said. "Let me give him back to Brennan and then we'll finish packing."

  She nodded, and I took Sean to Brennan, then Shanti and I finished packing up the office, talking and laughing as we worked. Within a few hours, we had most of the trucks unloaded at the new place, thanks to several Grosse Pointe shifters who helped get us moved in. We put beds together in each apartment, and then we all fell into them.

  Really, I was just glad we'd gotten through moving without some kind of disaster happening.

  Chapter Four

  I wasn't asleep for long. Nain got a call that the vampires were being attacked again, and I got up to go help, glancing at the alarm clock to see that it was just before five in the morning. And then my phone went off. One of my Detroit Police Department contacts.