by Dee Carney
Going through and researching every single one was going to take time. And of course, that was the biggest problem she faced. How much time would Sebastian allow her with him? Surely there would come a turning point when he got tired of her presence, or when he found someone more desirable or more suited to his lifestyle. God, she didn’t even want to think about if she grew sicker. When she could no longer care for herself. The affluent vampire seemed unlikely to be at an invalid’s bedside. And that’s what she would be, no doubt about it.
The doctors offered her only uncertainty, unable to pinpoint the reason for her seizures in the first place. Her illness almost as mysterious as Bast’s. They leaned toward believing it was a brain tumor too small to be detected, but it could have been some metabolic disorder lab tests hadn’t yet detected or possibly just a malformed brain. She had a feeling she could meet with a dozen different doctors and walk away with a dozen different reasons. None of them felt confident in suggesting she’d live a long life without a definite diagnosis.
She neither had the money nor the patience for their poking and prodding. Preventing the seizures with anticonvulsants seemed the best course for now. Too bad the cost ate every bit of her meager income provided by the government. Every bit.
But thinking about that was for another day. Right now, she had a sick vampire who needed her help. While still able, he would be her focus. Just because Richard felt he no longer needed her didn’t mean no one did. Sebastian appeared to want her around. Maybe even needed her a tiny amount. She would be there for him.
Fingers poised over the keyboard, she began her search. Maybe by the time he finished his swim, she could at least have crossed a few creatures off the list. First stop? Phooka.
Alice sighed. Over half a million hits for that word alone. There had to be a better way to narrow down the search.
Frustrated, she pushed a hand through her hair and forced her mind to use some sort of logic to help her out. Eyes closed, she tried to come up with some distinguishing marks or maybe distinct personality trait she’d seen displayed in him.
She snapped her fingers as she happened on one. Sebastian’s eyes had a habit of changing. At least twice they’d become almost pearlescent. The next time, she’d have to see if she could get a closer look or maybe borrow a cell phone to capture the image. What did a Phooka’s eyes look like? She leaned closer to the monitor, selecting the image link, which would supply the information she needed.
As an agonized scream rent the air, the hair on the back of Alice’s neck stood ramrod straight.
“Sebastian,” she whispered.
Fueled with concern, she rushed from the room and headed for the pool. He’d made it through a good six hours without getting sick. She’d thought, assumed, he was getting better. How naïve.
A second scream. Her heart pounded. Chills rippled over her spine.
She didn’t know enough about him. How to get in contact with help if he needed it. Did she take him to a hospital, where they might discover he was a vampire?
No. He’d avoided the hospital before for a reason. Whatever help he needed would have to come from her. No choice for it.
Alice flew through the back door. “Sebastian! Bast!” She scanned the pool’s interior, searching desperately to see if he might still be in the water. Heaven forbid he lay unmoving at the bottom of the pool. “Talk to me!” she screamed.
The pool was illuminated, the bottom clearly visible. No matter how hard she looked, however, she couldn’t find him within. She didn’t know whether to be more thankful or fearful of that.
“Sebastian,” she called again, ears straining for the tiniest sound. He’d passed out previously and maybe was unconscious now. She had to find him. If the fever raged as before, unchecked and at precarious levels, the chances of him surviving it slimmed to almost none.
At once Alice realized that the air was thick, making it difficult to breathe. A forest fire at a distance, perhaps, sending smoke into the backyard. Not just smoke though. The scent of hard-boiled eggs clogged her nose too.
Her head swiveled toward a sound. Crinkling, like cellophane. It wasn’t the light crackle of something paper-thin though. This was heavy. A sluggish weight.
“Bast?” she whispered, moving gingerly toward the noise. What if it wasn’t him? What if one of those werewolves or something like it had come for him, and he was unable to help himself?
She’d gotten rid of the little letter opener too soon but didn’t dare return to the kitchen to brandish a knife. No weapon in hand, but she would scream like a raving lunatic if it came down to that. Then again, it hadn’t done him much good, had it? Shit.
She crept forward, heart thumping.
A moan. A new sound, like a kite. No—a sail. The loud, indignant snap of material being shoved by the wind.
She moved forward even slower. “Bast.” Desperate.
In a dark corner, a place the moon seemed to have shunned, something—someone—flopped. Graceless, inelegant movement of limbs and torso, uncoordinated and nothing like what she expected from Bast. Damn it, he was hurt, and badly.
Dropping into a crouch, she searched for broken bones, fever, trembling. Any signal of what had claimed him.
His skin was hot. So feverish. Worse than she’d ever encountered. A viscous fluid covered her hand as she lifted it away, and Alice’s stomach turned. Blood?
Holding out her arm, angling it toward what little light shone, she squinted at her palm. Instead of red, this was clear. Thick, almost mucus-like. Her hands dropped to her pants, to quickly wipe away the gunk making her gorge rise.
Her stomach rolled again, but she returned her focus to Sebastian. Somehow he’d found a blanket of some sort to wrap around his body. The zig-zagging patterns on it twisted as he struggled to rise from beneath its depths.
“Let me help,” she murmured, already reaching for the coverlet. She lifted the material, a thick leather, and a scream clawed its way through her throat.
This wasn’t a blanket. It was flexible. Moving. Alive. And dear God...attached to Sebastian.
He turned his face toward her, his eyes different and captivating. Dark with agony and confusion.
Sebastian shifted, and every vein in her body chilled. Her heart pounded, kicking its way out of her chest.
Not a blanket.
Wings.
Chapter Fourteen
Another scream bubbled, ready to burst, yet terror held Alice immobile. Jesus God, what was this? “Sebastian?” It came out in a harsh, grating whisper barely capable of carrying sound. Every hair stood against the back of her neck, goose bumps rioting on her forearms.
“What’s happening to me?” he croaked.
“Let me help you,” she repeated, voice trembling. Alice crouched over him, ignoring every howling instinct to run. To leave him and his world behind and go back to her own. “Can you stand?”
She’d thought his eyes had gone from beautiful to incomparable, but words failed her at trying to categorize them right now. They were a crystalline blue, while silver and pearl swirled through its sea. His pupils had elongated, the darkness a slice that seemed out of place.
“I’m wrong.” Sebastian’s voice contained raw emotion. “This...” His wings repositioned.
Jesus. He had wings.
“I know. We’ll figure out what’s going on.” She spoke with a false confidence that she clung to. “How are you feeling otherwise? Any pain? Faintness?”
He rose to his feet without her assistance, and the stomach that contracted painfully before released just a fraction. She wanted to inspect his back, to study his new appendages, but if he was on the brink of destruction, that had to be their priority.
As she stood next to him, all of her senses became hyperaware. While her stomach might have been put at ease, the rest of her body went taut at the looming presence of Sebastian in this new form. He had always been gorgeous, no doubt. The transformation, however, had given him a new strength. More definition. A devastating beauty.
The sharp angles of his face became slashes of bone and shadow. When he’d spoken, the teeth he kept well hidden were longer. More lethal looking.
And those dangerous eyes. They gave her delightful shivers.
“I hurt everywhere.” His gaze was disconcerting. “And nowhere. I’m hungry too.”
Alice took a slow step closer, keeping her hands outstretched and nonthreatening. Not like she could ever do him any harm, but the underlying skittishness in Bast needed reassuring. “Let me take a look at you,” she said. “Maybe I can help a little.”
“You think it’s wise?”
She smiled. Not only was he still nude, he was sporting an impressive erection. “I’ll take my chances.”
He remained rooted, indecision spread across his expression. “I don’t know who I am anymore. What I am.”
“You are still the man who protected me from a blood-thirsty vampire and a dangerous werewolf. I believe you are the man who vowed to protect me from any and all dangers. You’re also the man who kisses me until I can’t think straight anymore.” She paused, licking her lips. “Finally, you’re the man who promised me sexual oblivion. Remember that?”
It probably wasn’t appropriate to bring up his promise, but it was hard to think straight with the sign of his arousal so blatant.
“Like this? You would have me still?”
Alice took another step forward. She wrapped her arms around him, astonished by his new definition. Cautiously turned on. “You’ve got wings now, honey. It’s kind of hot.”
That seemed to startle a chuckle out of him.
“Let’s check you out and make sure you’re okay. We’ll take it one step at a time after that.”
“Fine.” A curt nod. “How’s my temp?”
“Just under combustible. Pain?”
“Tolerable. Notice any blood?”
“No, just this stuff on your wings. Mucus of some kind.”
Sebastian sighed. “This just gets better and better. Not only do I have wings, I’ve got snotty wings.”
She ignored the dry humor. “What about your hunger?” She looked up in time to catch the clenching of his jaw.
“I can’t keep drinking from you, Alice. I’m taking more than you can regenerate. Your fatigue isn’t just from going nocturnal. You need time to recover from blood loss. I’ll need to find someone else to supply me.”
That thought sent a rush of liquid anger erupting through Alice. The idea of Sebastian putting his mouth on someone else, bringing the woman immeasurable pleasure, filled her with a bold jealousy.
She shook her head, clearing the senseless emotion. “One thing at a time, as we agreed. The fever has to go.”
“Ideas?”
“Just as before. Kiss me.”
He peered down at her, his gaze narrowing. His focus intense. This close to him, she could see those pretty blue eyes slowly begin to shift. Ocean blue becoming a brilliant jade.
“Your eyes,” she whispered.
Sebastian set his jaw, his body tightly drawn. He placed a warm hand beneath her chin, tilting her face toward his. “You’re always saying that to me. You need a new line,” he teased.
What Alice might have said next melted when he lowered his mouth to hers.
This could never get old. The way his lips whispered over hers. The warmth that spread over her, as if allowing every bone in her body to dissolve so that she could mold herself to him. Incredibly strong Sebastian was there to hold her, to make sure their bodies fit so very, very well together.
Unlike his other kisses, not only heat greeted her. There was also the subtle undertone of smokiness. She slid her tongue into his mouth, tentatively touched it to his. Sebastian made a low noise and pulled her closer, deepening their connection. His mouth opened wider against hers, and she breathed in his scent. His taste.
The press of his erection against her belly was a sensual distraction. Her hands rested against the firm walls of his chest, but as his arm squeezed her closer, the urge to slide them down past the muscled planes of his abdomen teased her mind.
Sebastian nipped at her bottom lip, the sting bringing her back to this kiss. He fed her his heat, the warmth spreading through her.
She sipped at his lips, growing bolder. “I think you’re feeling better,” she muttered against his lips.
The sound of flapping wings filled the night air, a gentle reminder of the current situation. She reached around his back, gently sliding her hand over the small of his back. Up until she met the base of his wing. Sebastian gave a small shudder, and Alice smiled.
He pulled away almost immediately, anguish in his next words. “How can you touch me like this? Why aren’t you scared?”
She was scared. Not of him, not when he could kiss and touch her like this. She was scared of what this meant for him and his future.
A response teetered on the tip of her tongue, but then she paused. This wasn’t about her fear. It was about his. She turned her face away from Sebastian, exposing her jugular. “You said you were hungry. Drink if you think it’ll help.”
His grip tightened. “You’re not ready.”
“That’s not important. I’m food, remember? Take what you want.”
Strong hands dropped to her shoulders, holding her at a distance. His eyes blazed red. “Is that what you think? That I see you as nothing more than fucking food?”
“Isn’t that what you told me, Sebastian? Humans are food. I’m just a human. You’re a vampire who’s hungry. And you know what? You’re not even that. You’re something more. Something bigger and stronger than what I met yesterday. Hell, your eyes haven’t stayed the same color for more than five minutes at a time.”
Those wings twitched irritably. “You are more than that to me and you know it. Human or not. My eyes, what I am, can’t be helped.”
“Then what of the things you’ve promised me? Did you mean them?”
“Of course.”
“That you would protect me...did you mean that as well?”
“Yes.”
She poked him in the shoulder. “Then why should I be scared of you?”
The world spun as Sebastian turned her around so quickly she almost didn’t recognize what had happened. His breath was hot against her ear when he whispered harsh words. “Just because I will protect you with my life doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t hurt you. Even accidentally.” His mouth traveled the back of her ear, brushing over the skin of her neck. Hot kisses touching down in unpredictable patterns. “Hurt can sometimes be so wonderful, you don’t realize it’s slowly killing you.”
His teeth scraped over her flesh, the sensation finding a nerve that went straight to her sex. And it hurt so good. The pulse of her body. The craving.
He stood flush against her, his erection nestled in the curve of her ass. Hands strong enough to inflict damage worked with delicate precision to rip a gap in her shirt, the ragged li
ne going between her breasts.
“Bast,” she gasped. It was both admonition and encouragement.
“Did you feel the slice of my nail against your skin?”
He’d begun to peel away the shirt from her body, letting it fall until nothing blocked his skin from hers but the brisk night air. Her nipples beaded to hard tips. Alice swallowed, then nodded. “Yes.”
His nails, sharper than she remembered them, slid down her back. A tug of movement at her waist made her draw in a sharp breath. “I am dangerous,” he murmured.
The loose-fitting pants fell to the ground after a quick tug. She felt movement behind her, heard the sound of his bulk drop closer to the ground. “A fire burns in my veins from here—” he ran the edge of his nails up the length of her calves then thighs, stopping beneath the curve of her buttocks, “—and the burning is excruciating here.” He stood behind her again, the hot length of him like a brand. His hands spanned her back, holding her in the same location his wings now resided on his anatomy.
Despite the low, growled words, Alice didn’t remember to be scared. She was too excited, exhilaration moving beneath her skin. Her heart pounded wildly, but it wasn’t from fear. It was too hard to stay afraid when it came to Sebastian, the vampire.
“I can smell you, Alice, your readiness. I no longer know who I am, what I might become. But you still want me.” The last words were hushed. Almost reverent.
She turned on her heel. Cautious and slowly. When she met him eye to eye again, she saw they’d returned to the pearlescent blue and silver. “You won’t hurt me.” Her hand went to his jaw. Stroked the tightness. “And if you do, it’ll be because I asked you to.”
Sebastian’s lips crashed down on hers, and this time he didn’t restrain himself. His tongue stroked into her mouth, teasing her. The hand that cupped her naked breast did it with the same possession his mouth claimed. She might not be able to scent his arousal, but every action spoke of his readiness too.