“I’m glad to see you safe,” Kenshin spoke to her. “Are you fully recovered?”
Aislinn glanced down at her now, fully healed, wrist. “I’m fine. Actually, better than fine. Charon took me to the gym area, and he’s started training me again.”
Kenshin smiled. “So Charon is taking good care of you?”
Aislinn could feel a flush steal into her cheeks as an image of Charon laying between her legs popped into her head. Jeez, the man knew what he was doing, but doubted if Kenshin was asking about sex. At least, she hoped he was. She blinked when she realized both Kenshin and Joelle were watching her. Joelle was trying to hide a smile, and Kenshin just looked uncomfortable. Did they know what she was thinking about? Could they guess?
“Everything’s great,” Aislinn blurted out. “I’m great. Great.” She closed her mouth before more words issued forth.
After a long moment of silence, Kenshin said, “I’m sure Joelle’s mentioned that you would fit in quite well here at the PIA.”
“She said you might have a job for me. I don’t know what it entails, but Charon’s training me. He said I could fight.”
“Charon said you could go out with the Hunters?” Kenshin asked carefully.
“Yes,” Aislinn said with a nod. “He said I’d already been fighting, and if I wanted to continue, he’d make sure of it.”
“Unusual,” he muttered.
“So, are you saying I can’t fight?” she asked. She wondered what she could do if he said no. She wasn’t equipped for much else. She doubted anyone needed art, and the languages were something she learned because she’d been bored. It seemed to her that fighting was something they needed.
“I’m saying nothing of the kind,” Kenshin replied. “If Charon thinks you’re capable, then I have total faith in your ability. Joelle tells me that you aren’t susceptible to vampire suggestion.”
She shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, the vampire that attacked me in the hospital told me to come here like he expected me to follow along. I didn’t and didn’t have the urge to.”
“Tell me about what happened when you were twelve.”
He said it so conversationally, as if everyone knew about the event of her childhood. As if the event was run of the mill and happened to everyone. But, then again, he was a vampire so maybe he had heard it before. Had it happened to others?
“Aislinn you’re safe here,” he said gently.
Joelle, who’d been silent through the entire exchange, said, “Dude, that’s like the spider telling the fly to come on in. She knows you’re a vampire and, she might feel like laughing at you for even saying that.”
“I was trying to be supportive.”
“Really? It sounded like you were trying to be all Dr. Phil with her.”
“I swear that Talon’s attitude is rubbing off on you.”
Joelle smiled. “That’s not the only thing that he rubs on me.”
This time it was Kenshin’s face that went just a bit pink, and Aislinn burst out laughing. He was embarrassed. That actually made her like him more, since he could feel regular emotions and show them. Maybe vampires, as a whole, weren’t so different.
Kenshin shook his head. “Perhaps having the two of you together is a bad idea.”
“Who?” Joelle demanded. “Me and her or me and Talon. Because I can tell you that when Talon and I get together—”
“Stop,” he cut her off. “You’re so going to make my eye hurt.” He took a deep breath, obviously striving for some kind of composure. “Aislinn, if you want someone other than this uncivilized person to show you the ropes, just let me know.”
Joelle burst out laughing, and Aislinn understood that this was their relationship. These two people, who on the surface have nothing in common, were very much friends. She relaxed all the way and got more comfortable in the chair. Yeah, maybe she would fit in here, after all.
“I like Joelle,” she said to Kenshin.
“Ha!” the other woman proclaimed. “Told you she and I were besties.”
“Heaven help us all,” was the only thing he said.
“Okay,” Aislinn said with a sigh, deciding to get it over with. “When I was twelve, I was away at boarding school. I shared a room with a girl named Diane. She was nice, and I liked her. She had this pretty blonde hair and big blue eyes and talked with the hint of a lisp. Anyway, one night in the winter, I woke up because the room was cold. I remember the tip of my nose was numb.” She rubbed her nose absently, still able to feel the cold. “I could see the window was open and wondered why and how. Diane and I were both always cold so we made sure our windows stayed closed and locked. We even put blankets up to block any chance of cold coming in, but everything was on the floor and the window open.
“I heard this sound, a slurping or sucking.” She shivered with the memory. “I looked over, and this man was on Diane’s bed. The bedding was tossed onto the floor, and he had her up in his arms. Her arms were just dangling, like a doll’s, and her head was flopped back. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t moving. I must have made a sound because he looked over at me. His face was covered in black, and he had fangs. I saw them when he smiled at me. Later, I realized, the black was actually red because it was blood, but it was dark. Not all the way dark, because the moonlight was coming in, but dark enough.
“Anyway, he told me to close my eyes and go to sleep. I didn’t see him and wouldn’t remember anything when I woke up. I was so scared. I closed my eyes and pretended to go to sleep, but I could hear him. The slurping. And I smelled this rotten smell. It wasn’t real bad, because I guess with the window open, and it took care of the worst of it. But once he left and closed the window, the smell made me gag.
“I leaned over the side of the bed and threw up on the floor, but I didn’t get up. I was too afraid. I lay the rest of the night, so afraid he’d come back. But he didn’t. When light began to come in the window, I finally rolled over, and there was Diane. She had her throat torn out, and blood was everywhere. I screamed and screamed. Someone came in, and then the room was filled with people. They took me out. I didn’t see Diane again. My parents wouldn’t let me go to her funeral. They said it would be too upsetting, but they wanted to hide me. I’d told the police what I saw, and no one believed me. They said I made it all up, that I was too scared and had just made stuff up. I didn’t, though. I know what I saw was real. I know that thing, that vampire, killed the little girl, and I saw him.”
Aislinn stopped talking. The pain and fear of that night swamped her. She put her hands over her face and cried.
* * * *
Talon and Charon trailed the scent of vampire that filled the cold night air. They’d both spotted him skulking in the shadows carrying some kind of bag. Neither knew what he was doing, but he looked suspicious. He didn’t carry the rotten scent of the other vamps, but he felt wrong. Wrong was the only way Charon could put it. There wasn’t something he could base his feelings on, but his gut was screaming.
“Do you hear that?” Talon asked.
“What?”
“Sounds like some kind of crying.”
Charon listened and picked up on what his partner was talking about. The cry was high-pitched as if coming from a baby. If he wasn’t mistaken, the cry was coming from the bag the man carried.
“Fuck, do you think he kidnapped a child?” Charon asked as the two men picked up speed.
“If he did, he’s a dead man.”
They rushed forward, and as the vampire sensed them, he turned. A look of sheer panic washed over his face and he tried to run. Charon would have laughed if the situation wasn’t what it was. Nothing could outrun an Ancient, but the little vampire gave it a good try. Talon bared his fangs and plucked the man off the ground. The vampire let loose a shrill scream and instantly went lax. The bag dropped from his hand and hit the ground as the scent of urine filled the air. The man had passed out and pissed himself.
“Damn,” Charon muttered, picking the bag up. “I hate when they pee
themselves.”
“At least it wasn’t worse,” his companion muttered.
Charon opened the bag and uttered a curse. There was no human baby inside; there wasn’t even a vampire baby. Instead, he pulled a tiny kitten out. The thing was a small, pitiful ball of gray fur. “What the fuck? Why carry this thing around in a bag?”
Talon dropped the vampire to the ground, and the man moaned. “I can’t imagine it’s for anything good.”
“Hey,” Charon said, and nudged the vampire on the ground, “wake up. And don’t pretend you’re still out, because I can smell that you’re awake. What are you doing with the cat? Where are you going?”
“Nothing,” the man said as he started to cry.
Talon squatted next to him. “Don’t lie. I hate liars.”
“I was getting rid of it. My neighbor brought it home, and I hate cats. I just figured I’d toss it in a trashcan.”
Talon opened his mouth and bared his huge fangs. The man shrieked and fainted away. The Hunter stood up and scowled down at the asshole on the ground. “Let’s leave him here. It’ll be good for him to wake up in this filthy alley.”
“What do we do with this thing?” Charon asked, as he held the kitten out.
Talon gently took it from him and cradled the baby to his chest. Instantly, the kitten stopped crying. “I’ll take it to Joelle. She likes cats.”
Charon started to say something snarky when the overwhelming urge to go to Aislinn washed over him. Something was wrong. She was in danger or in pain. Without saying anything, he was gone.
Talon stood in the dark alley alone, but for the tiny kitten and the vampire on the ground. If he’d had any doubts before about Aislinn and Charon, they were wiped away. The woman was Charon’s Liaison. He just hoped Charon realized it and accepted it, or he and Aislinn both would be in for a world of hurt.
Chapter Seven
Charon appeared in Kenshin’s office beside a weeping Aislinn. The fact that she wept made him furious. He’d never seen her cry before, not even when the vampire had bitten through her wrist. But someone had upset her. He wouldn’t stand for it. He turned on Kenshin and Joelle and bared his fangs with a growl. Dropping down, he put his body between them and the woman. His woman.
“Charon?” Aislinn said, her voice hoarse from the tears. “What are you doing here?”
He turned to face her and gathered her into his arms. “I felt your pain. I came as soon as I could. What happened?”
“Nothing really,” she said, through tears.
“Then why are you crying?” he whispered in her ear.
“I was telling them about what happened to me when I was twelve, that’s all. It’s been so long since I talked about it, and finally, someone believes me.”
He relaxed a bit when he knew she was safe. The tears were a good thing, he thought. She apparently needed the release the telling of her tale could give her, but he still didn’t want her hurting. The need for her to be safe and happy filled him. He eyed Kenshin and Joelle. The two sat passively watching him and Aislinn. He waited for them to say something, anything, but they chose to be quiet. He thought perhaps it was the smartest thing they could do. The urge to do damage to someone for Aislinn’s hurt still lurked deep inside.
He held her and breathed her in. As her scent surrounded him, he relaxed further. He still didn’t understand what was going on between he and Aislinn, but chose not to chew on it or pick it apart. All the emotion of the last few days wore on him. All he wanted to do was go back to his room and sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually slept. He’d dozed off and on, but true sleep had eluded him. Maybe with Aislinn by his side, he could rest. He was willing to try.
“Let’s go,” he murmured to her. “We’ll go back to the room and just relax.”
“I can’t go now, I’m being interviewed for a job…I think.”
“Aislinn, you have a place with the PIA if you want one,” Kenshin said. “Why don’t you go with Charon? We can talk more later.”
“Okay.”
Charon helped her up and put his arm around her to lead her out of the room.
Joelle held her hand out to Kenshin. “Told you she was his Liaison. Now, pay up. You owe me twenty bucks.”
Kenshin huffed out a breath. “None of that was absolute proof and I certainly don’t remember betting you twenty.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re welshing on a bet?” Joelle demanded.
“I’m not welshing. Nothing we’ve seen says she’d his Lia—”
“Whatever,” Joelle cut him off. “I don’t know where you were when he came in. But I distinctly heard him say that he felt her pain and came to her. That’s exactly what happened with me and Talon. Aislinn is Charon’s Liaison, for sure. So, pay up.”
Kenshin dug in his pocket for his wallet. “Fine, but if it turns out she’s not, you’ll owe me forty.”
She laughed. “Fine, but she is, so don’t plan on how you’ll spend it.”
Charon ushered Aislinn into the bedroom. She was still teary, but the major weeping had subsided. It hurt him to see her upset, but what made it worse was he had no idea why she cried. He knew something tragic had happened to her as a child. He also knew it was the reason she lived at the hospital. But he’d never pried, never tried to find out anything about her. Now, he realized, he should have. Because not knowing put him at a distinct disadvantage when it came to helping her now.
He guided her over to the large sofa where he spent most of his nights. He often had difficulty sleeping, so he usually turned on the large screen television and pretended to watch until he could force himself to sleep. He sat and pulled her down next to him. She curled up into him, and he wrapped an arm around her. The two of them didn’t speak, but instead just sat in the silence. Charon tilted his head back against the cushions and closed his eyes. Damn, but he was exhausted.
They sat together in the comfortable silence. Charon knew she was awake, but apparently, like him, she preferred to just sit. That was good by him. He never understood the people who had to fill up silence with inane chatter. It was as if they couldn’t stand to be with their own thoughts. Charon found the silence welcome. It allowed his brain a chance to unplug and get away from all the stimulation. Ancients had more finely tuned senses, and the constant barrage from society in general was often too much for someone to take. He knew some Ancients went crazy because they couldn’t develop the mental defenses to block everything out.
“Thank you,” Aislinn said softly.
“For what?”
“Coming for me. Knowing I needed to get away. It’s been so long since I talked about it. I guess it caught me off guard.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened? I’d like to know who hurt you.”
Silence greeted his request. He didn’t blame her for not wanting to talk about it again, but a small part of him was hurt. She trusted others over him. He called the thought foolish. It had nothing to do with trust. Talking about it made her sad, and he didn’t like her feeling that either.
“When I was twelve, I was living at a boarding school,” she said and retold the story of the vampire who killed her roommate. As the story progressed, anger bubbled up in Charon’s gut. Whether or not anyone had believed her, someone still should have taken care of her. Instead, her family had made it their personal mission to get rid of her as quickly as they could. Well, he thought, your loss. Aislinn is with me now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
When she finished speaking, the room once again fell in silence. She wasn’t crying this time, which seemed like a good thing. Charon opened his eyes and looked down to where she rested her head on his chest. After a moment, she lifted her head, and the two of them watched one another.
“Do you think someone caught him?” she finally asked.
“I’ll check,” Charon said. “The PIA is bound to have records. I’ll check and see what happened to him.”
“What if he’s still out there?”
“The
n I’ll hunt him down and kill him.”
She nodded and laid her head on his chest, apparently satisfied with his answer.
Joelle clutched her twenty bucks as she headed back to her rooms. Man, Kenshin was such an easy mark. She couldn’t believe he still wasn’t convinced Aislinn was Charon’s liaison. What? Did he need a text message? Did someone need to write a report? She laughed as she opened the door to find Talon waiting for her. Damn, he was so beautiful to look at with his long curling black hair and aqua eyes.
“You’re early,” she said as she closed the door. “Are you okay?”
“I brought you something.”
She smiled as she shook her head. “You didn’t have to get me anything. I have you.”
She went up on tiptoes so she could kiss him. They’d only been apart for maybe two hours, and she still missed him. The bond they shared allowed her to sense him at any time, but she preferred to touch him and be with him. She knew he felt the same way because she knew his feelings as well as her own.
A small sound caused her to pause and look around. On their large bed sat a gray kitten. She gasped and hurried over to sweep it up. The baby was tiny in her hands and immediately began purring as she cuddled it.
“Do you like it?”
“Oh, Talon, she’s beautiful and so sweet. Where did you find her?”
He put his arms around Joelle and the kitten. “Someone had her who meant her harm. I knew you would love her.”
“I’ve never had a pet before.” She kissed the kitten on the head. “The apartments I lived in never allowed pets, and I worked so much, even if they had, it wouldn’t have been fair.”
“Now, we have time and space.”
“Thank you,” she said and kissed him. “She’s beautiful. I love you.”
“Always.”
* * * *
Reaper hesitated before entering the library. He hadn’t been alone with Quenton since he’d kissed him. He didn’t even understand what had driven him to do it. Something about the man got under Reaper’s skin. He supposed it was because Quenton always seemed so calm and cool. Reaper found himself doing something or saying something to the other man to get a rise out of him.
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