She stopped next to Nik, frowned, then leaned over and sniffed at his neck. He pushed her away. “Stop sniffing, beast.”
Robin ignored him. Best friends, as she often reminded him, always have the option of ignoring you for your own good. “Damn it. I can’t believe this is happening now—it’s been three months since your third bite. Have you tried to shift yet?”
No point in dancing around it. “Once, last night after the bombing. Just the back of my hand. Couple of other times.”
“Burning sensations? Headaches?”
He nodded. “They’re getting more frequent and lasting longer. Robin, I told you before, when we thought it might happen sooner. I can’t live like this. I won’t. Just go away and let me do what I need to do.” He looked around her at Hannah and Mirren and Cage. “All of you.”
Robin didn’t take her eyes off him. “Hannah, what did you mean that there was still time?”
“Mirren can turn him,” the girl said. “Make him one of us.”
“The hell I can.” Mirren began pacing.
Fuck that. “Hell, no.” Nik’s voice overlapped with Mirren’s.
So far, Cage Reynolds—the newest of Penton’s vampire lieutenants and a London psychiatrist in his human life—hadn’t weighed in. Nik appealed to his level head and sense of logic. “Cage, tell them what a stupid idea that is. We all saw what happened this summer when Frank Greisser and his Tribunal buddies tried turning vampires into shifters, and vice-versa. It was a colossal fuckup. And there aren’t enough feeders to go around for the vampires we already have.”
To Nik’s irritation, Cage looked more thoughtful than supportive. “It’s quite different, though, isn’t it? You’re not a vampire being turned shifter, after all. You’re only a hybrid and not even that yet, not completely. The vampire traits might erase the shifter effects.”
“Or it could kill him,” Mirren pointed out casually, as if they discussed an interesting theory and not Nik’s fucking life. “Transition’s only about a fifty-fifty proposition, so half of those we try to turn don’t survive. Add in the hybrid factor, and the odds of survival might go lower.”
“Or they might be higher.” Robin turned to look at Nik again. “Niko, it’s your decision. You could feed from me if you’re turned. Cage wouldn’t mind.”
Nik aimed a weak smile at the barely disguised outrage on Cage’s face. He’d never shared Robin with anyone willingly, yet Robin would insist on being a feeder for Nik. For that reason alone, it was worth considering.
“If I’m turned and I survive, will I still be able to read people? Know the history of things?” Nik directed the question at Mirren. “I know that’s my real value to Penton.”
Mirren stared at him a moment, then almost smiled. Almost. “I don’t know, but you’d make a helluva fighter for us, either way. Don’t sell yourself short, Zorba.”
Nik looked down at his hands, his tanned skin smooth and free of coyote fur—for now. A flicker of hope ignited inside him. He could become a vampire or die trying, or he could turn into a pain-wracked hybrid, or he could kill himself. An hour ago, he’d thought freakdom and suicide his only options.
Things were improving.
Chapter 4 * Mirren
There were too many people crammed in this room.
Mirren surveyed the faces, and paused when he got to Robin. She’d pulled a chair next to Nik and was whispering to him. Nik’s eyes were glazed, maybe from whiskey, maybe from shock, maybe from Robin’s incessant chatter.
That damned eagle shifter might be auburn-haired, petite, and dainty, but she also was the pushiest, most foul-mouthed woman on God’s green earth, and she had a soft spot for Zorba. She couldn’t be part of this. “Ashton, get your ass out of here.”
Robin looked up at the sound of her name, but didn’t budge. “Fuck you. Nik’s my best friend other than Cage. I’m not leaving him.”
“Yes, you are leaving him, little bird.” Cage finally emerged from his spot in the corner. The British shrink liked to sit back and listen, but when he finally spoke, Mirren usually found him worth listening to. Not that he’d admit it. “You’re too close to the situation and there’s nothing you can contribute. The fewer here, the better for Nikolas.”
Robin gave her mate a narrow-eyed glare. Mirren didn’t even want to think of those two in a real pissing match. Cage was quiet and logical, but he was Robin’s equal in the stubborn department. “I can feed him after he’s turned,” she said. “If you don’t like it, you go.”
“Robin, they’re right. Get outta here.” Nik’s quiet voice, with that smoked molasses New Orleans accent, silenced the room. “I’ll need you more later. I don’t think I need to feed from a shifter. Not until we see what I turn into.”
“Oh. Right.” Robin took a deep breath and nodded. Shifter blood was powerful; Mirren had fed from her once, just to bond her to him, and the strength from it had almost killed him. “Okay, I’ll leave. I love you, Niko.”
She kissed Nik on the cheek and stood, skewering Mirren with a sharp glare as she headed toward the door. “I’m leaving for him, asshole, not for you.” She pointed at Cage. “Or you, either.”
Mirren gave her a single nod. He just wanted her feathered ass out of here until Nik had been turned. Robin Ashton was a disruption. It was her gift.
She wasn’t the only person who needed to give them some space. “Hannah, you need to go too. You’re too close to Nik. And Cage, keep Robin in check.” He didn’t want any of them there if Zorba didn’t make it. “Just me and Will Ludlam and a new feeder that came in last night. I’ve contacted Will mentally, and they’re waiting for us next door.”
Unlike Robin, the little girl didn’t argue. Mirren wondered if her visions had told her the outcome of this new shitfest, but he didn’t want to ask in front of Nik. She hugged Nik hard and answered the question without Mirren asking. “I don’t know what will happen, but you have to try it.”
“I know, baby girl. However it goes, you’ll be okay. I love you.”
Aw hell. Hannah was crying and Nik’s dark brown eyes—almost as dark as Hannah’s—looked watery. They needed to get this thing done before the man sobered up and chickened out. “Go on, Hannah.”
Nik gave Hannah a final hug and waited until she was gone before turning to Mirren. “Why do we have to do this at Will’s house? And who came in last night?”
“Can’t make this house light-tight since you forced me to break down half your front wall. C’mon.” Mirren stepped through the mangled doorway and waited on the porch. He shook his head when Nik staggered a little on his way out. The guy was plastered, which might make things easier. “You know both the new guys: a jaguar shifter named Archer Logan and one of your Army Ranger buddies named Garrett Foley—he’s gonna be your feeder.”
There had been grand plans to team Rangers with vampires and shifters as specialists to combat terrorism—before the vampire civil war had interfered with the Omega Force, as they called it. Nik and Robin had come from the first and only team, along with the newest Penton citizens.
Nik nodded. “They’re both good guys. Archer’s a smart fighter. Gadget—Garrett Foley—is great with computers; team him with Will and you’ll have a scary tech duo. I haven’t seen either one of them in at least a year. Being a vampire and feeding from Gadget?” Nik shook his head. “Shit.”
Mirren wasn’t sure he’d survive the turn anyway, although he’d keep his doubts to himself. Psychic plus hybrid shifter plus vampire equaled…what? Who the hell knew. “For someone thinking about shooting his fucking brains out an hour ago, you sound pretty sure you want to live.”
“Yeah, well, you notice I was doing more drinking than shooting.”
They crossed narrow Cotton Street, which ran through the community houses built on both sides. At the end of the cul de sac, more of the four-bedroom houses were being constructed. Mirren and the other vampires all had their own, secret light-tight spots where they spent their daysleeps even though the houses were light
-safe and had basements. If Nik made it, he’d have to choose a spot or they’d find a room in the underground facility built for the lieutenants. That decision would be Aidan’s.
Or it should be Aidan’s decision. Mirren chuffed out a frustrated breath, sending a puff of condensation into the chilling night air. Aidan couldn’t make good choices right now, and as soon as this shitstorm was over, Mirren needed to figure out how to deal with it.
At the end of the block still loomed the ruins of the old cotton mill around whose industry this small town had been created and populated in the early 1900s. Cotton Street had held the original village of mill workers, at least until the early conflicts of the vampire war had seen it burned to the ground.
That had been a year before Army Rangers and shifters arrived in town.
“Do you know how this works?” Mirren asked, forcing himself back to the immediate problem.
Nik’s half smile and raised shoulders said no. “I assume there’s a lot of pain and blood involved.” He gave a hollow laugh. “Guess I should’ve asked more questions. Not that I have much choice. I trust Hannah’s visions, even when they’re incomplete.”
So did Mirren. Otherwise, he’d never have tried creating another set of fangs that had to be fed, however much he liked Nik Dimitrou. “I will drain you until your heart stops. Then Will will immediately begin feeding you vampire blood until your heart starts again.” If it started back.
“Then what?”
“Then we wait. If you survive multiple vampire feedings, your human friend will feed you. Lucky he wasn’t vaccinated for the pandemic.”
Nik stuffed his hands in the pockets of the fatigues he always wore. Under the street lights, he looked pale and more than a little freaked out. “By ‘drain’ I guess you mean you’re gonna bleed me dry. How’d you draw that short straw—because Hannah said it should be you?”
Mirren gave him a grim smile. “I’m the only vampire in Penton big enough to drink a human male dry, Zorba. Then I’ll be so fucking blood drunk, especially with all that whiskey you’ve been guzzling, that I will probably pass out on the floor like a bloated whale. Since Will is also a master vampire, he can feed and bond you while I sleep it off.”
“I’m blood-bonded to Aidan.” Nik was sobering up fast. “Won’t he be able to tell?”
Good question. “Normally, yeah. Now, I doubt it.”
They climbed the steps of the house occupied by Will Ludlam, Aidan’s other senior lieutenant, along with his vampire mate, Randa, and the two newest Pentonites. Will met them at the door, his tousled blond hair making him look every bit the age of nineteen he’d been when he was turned vampire. His eyes were a deep amber and a bloom of color flushed on his cheeks. Good, the kid had fed already.
“I hear you’re going to join the Penton elite.” Will grinned at Nik. “And old Mirren there’s gonna get good and drunk. I’ll just roll him out in the hallway till he wakes up.”
“Shut it, Junior.” Mirren gave Will a good whack on the arm before beginning his examination of the interior perimeter of the house. He wanted to make sure all the light-fast shutters were down and locked. None of them would be leaving this house for at least twenty-four hours, if not longer. “Where’s Randa?”
Will had been watching Nik and Gadget renew their acquaintance. “My mate is staying with your mate tonight, and keeping Hannah company. A girls’ night sleepover, Glory called it.”
Even the mention of his mate made Mirren hungry, and he’d much rather be feeding from his feisty little Gloriana than Zorba the Ranger. But the male would do. Mirren figured his eyes were probably the color of new dimes at the idea of so much blood.
“I guess I’m the feeder tonight, not the feedee,” Will said. “Is feedee a word?”
Mirren ignored him. It didn’t pay to encourage Will or the man would never shut the hell up. Fortunately, his brain worked even better than his mouth, which made him indispensable to rebuilding Penton. Mirren was a warrior. Aidan was a leader. Will, however, was a thinker and strategist. Cage had a little of all three abilities, not that Mirren would ever share that opinion with the British headshrinker. His ego was big enough already.
“We ready to start?” Mirren looked at Gadget, with his blond stubble, round wire-rimmed glasses, and worn camo fatigues. Like Nik, he wore a black long-sleeved tee—probably. He’d ask Glory later; not many people knew Mirren was partially color-blind. “Did Nik tell you what to expect?”
Gadget nodded. “Whatever Nik needs, I’ve got his back.”
“Good. It won’t be pretty.” The guy didn’t have the physique of the other Rangers who’d come to Penton, but he had gone through their rigorous training so he was mentally and physically tougher than he looked. “Your instincts will tell you to help him, but don’t. Keep your mouth shut and stay away from him until we tell you otherwise. Got it?”
“Got it.” Gadget looked less certain, his gaze darting between Mirren and Nik and Will. Good. He should be nervous. He was going to see his friend die. He might see them bring him back to life as a vampire, or he might not. It would be messy either way.
“I thought we could go to the back room where Archer will be staying,” Will said, leading them down the hallway. “The shifter is sleeping at Nik’s place tonight since Robin said some big oaf broke in the whole door facing and the house isn’t light-safe.”
Will was such a smartass. Mirren didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. He rolled his head from side to side, cracking tight tendons and ligaments. This was not a fun process, even for the person who got to drink his fill.
Will opened the door to a bedroom on the back left side. Other than a suitcase and a stuffed black jaguar piled in a corner chair, the room looked unlived-in. The shifter hadn’t had time to get settled.
“Lie down on your back.” Mirren motioned Nik to the bed. “We’re going to tie you down.”
“Now, wait a minute.” Nik balked for the first time since they’d begun this whole sorry process. “I’m doing this willingly. Why do I have to be tied down?”
“It’s safer for all of us,” Will said. “Especially Gadget.”
Nik and his friend exchanged glances, then he took a deep breath and settled onto his back. Mirren grabbed one of the ropes already tied in a bowline knot to one bed rail and looped it around Nik’s right wrist. Then he slid the end of the rope under the bed and across to where Will picked it up and secured Nik’s left wrist.
“Ankles too, and waist.” Mirren could tell the rope was laced with silver thread, and silver reduced a vampire’s strength to human levels, but Nik was a strong man, tall and muscular. If he survived, he would be a strong vampire.
The only signs of stress Nik showed were his clenched jaw and hands fisted so tightly that his knuckles were white. He’d gone into soldier mode.
“Wait, I just realized something.” Will came to stand next to Mirren. “Did you talk to Aidan about this? I didn’t, but he needs to know. We’ve never turned anyone without his go-ahead.”
How aware was Will of Aidan’s condition? A pang of guilt stabbed through Mirren’s gut; Aidan was his best friend. They’d known each other for well over a century. Had saved each other. Had never betrayed each other, and talking about him behind his back felt like a betrayal.
But Aidan’s judgment was compromised, and as reluctant as Mirren had always been to lead Penton, that was exactly what he had to do.
“We’ll talk about Aidan once this is done, but not now. I’ll take the heat.” Not that he thought Aidan would object, given the circumstances.
Mirren sat on the edge of the king-size bed. “Nik, I’m going to feed from your neck, not your arm. It’ll be faster. So don’t get excited and think we’re gonna fuck or anything.”
No joking now for Nik. His nod was minimal and his eyes remained fixed on the ceiling. Soldier mode.
Feeding from the neck was intimate; most vampires avoided it unless feeding from a longtime familiar, preferably one who was a mate or lover.
But this had to be done in a way that gave Nik the best chance of survival, which meant as quickly as possible.
Mirren stretched out along Nik’s left side, reached out and gently turned Nik’s head to face him, exposing the carotid artery on the right side of his neck. He could feel its bloodsong as Nik’s pulse quickened, could scent the rush of adrenaline as it flooded Nik’s system, could even detect the dulling effects of all that whiskey.
He took a deep breath, leaned across Nik’s body, licked the area over the carotid artery to anesthetize it, and bit without hesitating.
Nik moaned, and Mirren knew the pleasure centers had been activated. At first, the feeding would feel almost as good as sex…until it didn’t anymore. Mirren closed his eyes and fed deeply. He could tell the moment when the pheromones were replaced by another rush of adrenaline. Nik’s body stiffened and he tried to struggle. Between the ropes and the weight of Mirren across his chest, he couldn’t move more than a fraction.
“Stop, Mirren. Forget it.” Nik’s voice rasped and thinned. “I can’t do this. God, please stop.”
Mirren shut him out and kept feeding. Nik’s heart began its last fight, pounding out more and more adrenaline-infused blood to try and feed his limbs. Fight or flight.
“Tell my mom and Ana I’m sorry.” His voice was a whisper now. “Promise me.”
Beneath him, Mirren forced himself to continue. He was beyond sated. The man had a strong heart; Mirren had begun to think he was going to have to ask Will for help when he felt the flow through the artery slow. Beneath his own chest, he could feel Nik’s heartbeat grow rapid and shallow. It stopped, started again, stopped. The flow from the artery dried to a trickle.
Mirren rolled off Nik, hit the floor on his hands and knees, and threw up a bucketful of bright red blood. “Go,” he rasped to Will, but it wasn’t necessary.
On Nik’s other side, Will drew a knife across his own arm, wrenched Nik’s mouth open, and began to let his own blood flow. Whenever his wound began to heal itself, he’d cut it open again.
Illumination (The Penton Vampire Legacy Book 5) Page 4