“What time is it? Are Tyson and Kane okay?”
“It’s seven o’clock in the evening. We kept you out most of the day. Your lions are safe for now, though we both know the Amakhosi isn’t likely to let them live when he finds out they didn’t keep you safe.”
“How did you overpower them? There were other guards, it wasn’t just them.”
“Without your bird or wolf, the lions weren’t hard for me to control. They subdued the guards I couldn’t influence. We hit you with a tranquilizer dart before you knew we were close. It was really quite simple.”
He sounded so damned smug. I wanted to slap him, but I kept my feelings to myself. First priority was escape, and I needed to know his plans.
“I can’t stay in here forever. How will you resupply me?”
“We can push gas into your room to knock you out.”
Fuck.
I had two options — call Xaephan or step outside of this realm.
The look on his face told me he was listening to my thoughts. He was in my head and I didn’t know it.
I sat on a small sofa in front of the television and studied his face.
“You gave me some of your blood when you drank mine? You got past my shields with blood?”
I did.
I felt him put a suggestion in my head, telling me I didn’t want to leave until I knew his plans. It wasn’t my thought, it was his, but I tried my hardest not to think about the fact I knew.
“What are your plans for me?”
Another smug look, and I started singing the alphabet song in my head to keep from thinking anything.
“I haven’t decided, for sure. I was hoping to get to know you a little better before choosing.”
I switched to the I’m the map song from Dora the Explorer, and went to the refrigerator. As promised I found food, and chose a boiled egg, cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, and a Coke. He’d even provided paper plates. I was starving and I might come back for more, but this was a start. I didn’t let up on my inner singing.
Half my meal was gone and I’d switched to Bohemian Rhapsody when Griffin asked, “You have nothing else to say?”
“I asked what your plans are, you claim not to know. If you aren’t in charge, please put me in touch with whoever is. If you’re in charge, it means you aren’t being honest, so the conversation’s over.”
His brows lifted, and his head tilted in the same way Abbott’s does when he forgets to look human. The brows dropped, the head straightened. “My choices are to kill you, to make you a Strigorii, or to bring you to my side as you are. I haven’t decided the most feasible option.”
“I don’t feel as if I’ve had Lugat blood, and yet I seem to be healed.”
“The wounds inflicted by the crocodiles were superficial. We rubbed Lugat blood on them to heal them — there was no need for you to ingest it.”
I started from the beginning of Bohemian Rhapsody again and chewed in time to the music in my head. The television set turned off, but I knew that didn’t mean they’d stopped watching me.
I changed to the multiplication tables and boxed off a section of my mind to think. Mordecai had worked with me in case someone got in through blood again. He’d even convinced Abbott to check me to be sure I had it right.
I couldn’t do a ton of thinking, but I could do a little.
Bottom line, Griffin had to die. He was in my head and I couldn’t let that stand.
I ate another sandwich, two more eggs, and three snack-bags of chips. They’d put me in a long white sleep t-shirt, no underwear, and no shoes. There wasn’t a mirror, but I could tell my hair had been washed and allowed to dry without product. It was a frizz fest, but other than the fact I couldn’t keep it out of my eyes, it was the least of my worries.
A blanket on the twin-sized bed worked for a skirt when wrapped, tucked, and rolled around my waist. Without thinking about it too much, I focused on Griffin and stepped out of reality. I put the thought out that I’d appear in the shadows within sight of him, and I was pleased when I popped into an office behind his back while he watched a monitor with multiple views of the room I’d just left.
I focused heat into his head, and he was to me in an instant — his mouth at my throat. His teeth sank into my flesh an instant before his head exploded. The door burst open and three men streamed in, I shot my laser and decapitated all three before they reached me. Blood soaked my shirt around my neck, but I didn’t slow to check it out. I stepped out of reality and focused on Cora.
Ryan had a knife at my neck a microsecond after I appeared, but he quickly put it away.
“Griffin bit me. I’m losing blood fast.”
Kane was to me in a second and I found myself on the floor, looking at the ceiling. Ryan made a call to someone and demanded they bring O positive blood, and I let my eyes drift closed.
“Christ,” said Kane. “The bastard’s fangs are still in her neck. Ryan, grab some gauze and press hard when I get them out. Kirsten, don’t go to sleep. Fuck. Cora, keep her talking.”
“Is all this blood yours?” Cora sat beside me on the floor and held my hand.
No. I imagine a good bit of it’s Griffin’s. The brains on me are certainly his.
You killed him?
It was him or me. He was in my head. They knocked me out and he drank from me and must’ve given me his blood while I was out. I killed Griffin and all the witnesses. No one has to know it was me.
“She says she killed Griffin and the witnesses.”
“We can’t risk lying to the Concilio,” said Tyson.
“I assume the brain matter on her means she blew his head up?” asked Ryan.
“Yes.”
“He’s an old one. If she left his heart and didn’t destroy his brainstem, they might be able to bring him back.”
He has to die. He was in my fucking head.
I didn’t have enough energy to talk out loud, but it wasn’t too hard to think thoughts towards Cora.
We’ll deal with it later if they revive him. She told me. Odds are we’ll be back home before he’s whole again.
Kane inserted an IV in my left forearm, someone delivered the blood, and before long it was easier to think and talk.
“Who do I need to call?” I asked. Apollonius usually appeared after I killed someone, but since he hadn’t, should I call and report in?
“If you could call His Majesty, please?” said Tyson.
I nodded. “Get him on the phone. The encrypted app, please.”
Nathan answered the video call expecting Tyson, and he looked more pissed than I’ve ever seen him. “Status update.”
“It’s me, Nathan. I’m okay.”
His face relaxed a brief moment, and then he was pissed again. “Tell me everything.”
I shook my head. “Everything can wait, but you can’t hold Tyson and Kane responsible.”
“We’ve had this discussion before. You don’t tell me what to do with my lions.”
He bit each word out, but I wasn’t going to back down. “Right, and just because you say it, doesn’t make it so. You can’t hold them responsible.”
He glared at me, and I changed the subject. We’d deal with it later. “They hit me with a tranquilizer dart and kept me knocked out. Griffin was miles away from me when I woke, locked in a basement somewhere. He had a video chat set up so we could talk. Thankfully, he didn’t know I could step out of reality.”
“So, you once again rescued yourself?”
“I killed him while he was biting me. I had an arterial bleed. I zapped myself to Cora, and thankfully Kane was with her. He got the bleeding stopped and set an IV. Ryan had blood delivered.” I held my arm up so Nathan could see the IV in my forearm.
“Tyson let me know when you appeared, but it’s good to talk to you. Thanks for the call.”
“Ya’ll didn’t tell Lauren there was a problem, did you?”
Nathan shook his head. “Cora told her you’d taken a group on a tour off the facility and wouldn’t be able to talk
to her. You should do something with your hair and makeup before you call her or she’ll know something’s up.”
I shook my head and looked at Cora. “If ya’ll have my phone, I’ll just call her so she can’t see me.”
“We have a few hours until she gets out of work,” said Cora. “We’ll figure it out then.”
“I need to talk to the slayer,” said Nathan.
“I’m here,” Ryan said. He stepped beside me and I angled the phone so Nathan could see us both. “She’ll be with either me or Hami tonight. Kirsten’s right — I shouldn’t have sent her with the lions. She needed me or Hami, someone a vampire couldn’t manipulate. We’d just fought the crocs and I was thinking of the conference security more than her personal safety. She’s good at taking care of herself, and I didn’t think anyone would strike on the tail of the croc attack. I miscalculated.”
“We all did.” I appreciated Ryan accepting responsibility, but I hadn’t considered the vampires either. “Who’s watching the gazelles now?” I asked.
“The rest of my staff,” said Ryan. “Everyone’s in the same room right now, so it’s a little easier than having them spread all over the damned place. I’ll get back to them soon, and if we can get Cora and Tyson back out on the outer perimeter, you’ll have Kane and Hami in the room.”
Cora spoke in my head, and her presence comforted me. The gazelles have been asking about you. The rumor is that the crocodiles killed or injured you. People saw you leaving in different clothes, with a hat on and no makeup.
“I should make an appearance,” I told Ryan. “The last anyone saw me, I was fighting the crocodiles, right?”
He nodded, and I looked to Nathan in the phone. “Damage control. I should help them work the crowds. I ate and rehydrated in whatever basement I was kept in, and the blood’s given me strength. I’ll be okay for a few hours, enough to make an appearance and quiet the rumors.”
It felt like the Amakhosi saw the logic and Nathan had to agree, though he didn’t like it. “You’ll stick to Hami like glue.”
I didn’t argue, and we said a few more comforting things back and forth before I disconnected and handed the phone back to Tyson.
“Who has my phone?”
“I do,” said Cora. “It’s in our room.”
I looked around, realized they were set up in a small conference room with notes on a whiteboard. They’d been focused on finding me. I was a distraction, not a help. Time to change that, but I wasn’t walking through the hotel like this. I grabbed Hami’s arm and told him, “Get a breath and hold it.”
He did, and I zapped us out of reality and into our hotel suite.
“You okay?”
He leaned over and puked, and I went to the kitchen for some water. “Sorry. I know it’s disconcerting.” I pulled an ice pack from the freezer and settled it on the back of his neck.
“Thanks. The cold helps. Where did you take me?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you, and you should forget what you remember of it, if possible.”
He went to the bathroom, closed the door all but the last inch, and came out looking refreshed. I handed him the bottled water and he accepted it this time. “Thanks. Please don’t do that again unless it’s an emergency.”
I sighed. “Okay, but it was important we make it to the room without being seen. Cora handles it okay. I assumed you would.” I wanted to hug him but wasn’t sure he’d appreciate it. “I’m sorry it made you sick.”
“I should let Ryan know where we are.”
“Cora will know. I’m going to get my phone and check to see who’s called.”
Dawg texts me when he has information, but he’d tried to call. I texted him to let him know I didn’t have my phone with me earlier, and if he still needed me he could call again. Within a few minutes, the encrypted app buzzed, and popped up with an RTMC ID. I answered in video mode and smiled at Dawg. “I didn’t know you had the encrypted app.”
“I don’t. The club has one phone with it. It stays off, without a battery, unless we need to use it.”
I had a feeling there was a history there, but didn’t have time to ask about it — assuming he’d tell me. “What’s up?”
“Word has it you’ve been abducted. You okay? I see a bandage on your neck.”
“Word from who?”
“There’s an RTMC chapter of golden wolves on the outskirts of Nairobi. I asked one of them to let me know if he heard gossip about a red-headed American human hanging with supernaturals.”
I grinned. “Fuckbuddies aren’t supposed to check up on each other.”
“I think we’ve moved from fuckbuddies to friends-who-fuck. I put the word out I’d like to hear anything they picked up. I was worried.”
The door to the suite opened and closed, and I heard Cora and Kane. “I need to go. I’m okay, and we’ll handle things better so the bad guys can’t abscond with me again.” I met Cora’s gaze and looked back to the phone. “If you hear gossip you think I should know about, please feel free to call me on the app again. It’s possible my means of escape has put me in political hot water.”
“Understood. If you need the local chapter, I can invoke our agreement with Aaron to get them involved.”
“I think I’m okay, but I appreciate the offer.”
I disconnected, and Cora asked, “Dawg?”
“Gossip traveled around the world. Also, he tells me we’ve moved from fuckbuddies to friends-who-fuck”
“You know there’s all kinds of speculation about who you are and aren’t doing the nasty with, right?” Kane asked from behind Cora. “Dawg’s usually on the list of suspects, but most don’t think he ranks high on probabilities.”
I shrugged. “It isn’t like I’m screwing him for protection, which is what everyone’s assuming. We’re just friends-with-benefits. It isn’t serious.”
“So I gathered, and yet he’s worried about you.”
“Unless one of you has a better idea, Cora’s going to sit in the bathroom with me while I shower.”
Hami motioned for us to go, and I followed Cora to the bathroom.
Chapter 16
“Worst case scenario, how long might it take an ancient vampire to recover from his head being blown up?”
“If you destroyed the brainstem, I don’t think he can. If you didn’t…” She sighed. “I don’t know. Someone will need to get blood down his throat, though I understand they can soak him in it to speed things up. We’ll probably be gone before he rises again. Maybe.” She waited until I was under the water to say, “I can’t believe Dawg called to check on you.”
“I know. We’re comfortable with each other, but I’m surprised he asked the chapter over here to let him know if something happened. Is it a wolf thing?”
“Could be. He considers you a friend, and he had to know you were walking into danger. Going to them could cause problems with your welcome from the local Alpha, though. Tread carefully.”
“I wasn’t planning to go to them.” I ran through what I’d missed today and closed my eyes. “Damn. I missed getting to see the big gazelle run. I was looking forward to it. Tonight’s the last night, and tomorrow we go to the Maasai to see real lions — if someone abducts me again and I miss the trip I’ll be pissed.” I realized what I’d said and amended, “Not that Kane and Tyson aren’t real, but…” I sighed. “Non-shapeshifter-lions, I guess.”
“How do you expect them to be different than Nathan?”
“I don’t know, but it seems important I see them.”
“You and Hami will be in one of the two gazelle buses, and Ryan will be in the other with the junior slayer. Kane and Tyson will sit on the top of the vehicles with high powered rifles, because there’s a worry the lions will be attracted to the gazelles, even though they’ll be in enclosed buses. I’ll follow close behind you in a safari four-wheel-drive contraption.”
Ryan had wanted to wait until we’d all worked together to figure out how to divide everyone up. I knew Cora had bonded wit
h the men and women she’d worked with, and was happy she’d get to ride with them in an open vehicle.
She looked me over when I got out of the shower, declared there weren’t even scars showing from my encounter with the crocodiles, and we went back to girl-talk while I dressed and did my makeup. I put my hair in a French twist so I wouldn’t have to worry with it, and was happy I’d brought a mock-turtle top to cover the flesh-colored waterproof bandage on my neck. We were out the door within twenty minutes.
I’d been assigned to the gazelle leadership, and they seemed genuinely happy to see me when I appeared in the ballroom. The speaker even stopped the proceedings to check on me.
“I’m fine,” I assured them. “Ryan needed me to follow up on something, so we could assure your safety. You were secure here with Hami while I handled other matters. I appreciate your concern, but please, return to your program.”
Ryan organized buses and vans to the airports while the rest of us slept, but we still awoke early for our trip to the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
I sat with the gazelle leadership who chose to go, and avoided lots of questions about how a human managed to be hired by a top-notch security firm owned by a slayer.
“We saw you face a crocodile in warrior form. You had no fear though I was terrified for you,” one of the spouses told me.
“Oh, there was plenty of fear, but I had lots of firepower, and I used to be a professional juggler, which gave me fast reflexes. I’ve been trained to use my reflexes and weapons, despite my humanity.”
Those who didn’t speak English as a first language needed to know what a juggler was, and somehow I ended up juggling oranges for them on the freeway. Talk about surreal.
I enjoyed watching the scenery once we were off the freeway, but I was surprised to see fields of cattle as we approached the reserve.
“How do they convince the lions to stay in their assigned space?” I asked.
“The cattle are taken into the Mara to graze,” our guide told us. “The Maasai use drums and bells to keep the predators away inside the park, but they can hunt wildlife outside the reserve. There are no fences here, as there are at the national park many of you visited. Unfortunately, wildlife numbers in the Mara are rapidly declining, and will continue to do so until conservation efforts outside the park are turned into law.”
Defining Human (Only Human Book 4) Page 11