by Lynsay Sands
"Huh," Donny said with a frown. "Nobody mentioned that to me when I was in training."
"They're too busy trying to teach you how to stay alive," Beth said with a wry smile.
"This is the address," Matias said as he slowed to turn into the driveway of a neat white house with a wraparound porch.
"Do you want me to--?" Donny started.
"Nay," Scotty said at once. "I've been controlling the lass since we left the club. I'll take her to the door. Ye lads keep an eye out for trouble, and you," he added, turning to Beth, "stop talking and get some blood in ye. Ye're pale as death."
Beth grimaced and lifted the bag of blood he'd given her earlier. When he then waited, she dutifully popped it to her fangs.
Nodding with satisfaction, Scotty set the other bags in her lap and then slid out of the vehicle. A moment later, he opened the door next to the mortal and she got out.
"I told you Scotty likes you," Matias teased as they watched the Scot walk the girl to the porch.
Unable to talk, Beth merely grunted and glared at her cousin over the bag at her mouth. He was talking like a twelve-year-old mortal boy, and doing so mostly to annoy her, she was sure.
"No, Matias is right," Donny said as if she'd spoken her thoughts out loud. "I know you don't think so, but Scotty worries about you way too much for anyone to believe he doesn't like you."
Beth rolled her eyes as she waited for the last of the blood to be drained. She then ripped the bag away with relief and said, "Now you're both being ridiculous. You make it sound like he has a teenage crush on me."
"Perhaps he does," Matias said with amusement as they watched the front door of the house open. "And why not? I had a teenage crush on you."
"When you were a teenager," she agreed dryly. "Scotty is over eight hundred years old, not a horny teenager."
"My mother and father are both well over a millennium old, and they often act like horny teenagers," Matias assured her with a grin.
"Because they are life mates. All immortals act like horny teenagers when they're mated," Beth said with exasperation. "Scotty and I are not life mates."
"This time, she's the one who is right," Donny said almost apologetically to Matias. "Scotty has a life mate. He told me about her on the plane. She's too young for him to claim yet."
"Hmm." Matias didn't sound pleased at this revelation.
Beth merely grimaced. She'd been surprised at learning this on the plane while listening to the men talk, but hadn't really considered it since, and didn't want to either. The man was a hunk of sexy manhood, but usually too annoying for words. At least, he had been in the past. It had allowed her to use him in her sexual fantasies without guilt. At least there, she had been able to keep him from talking. But his suddenly being nice on this trip was just confusing her, and his having found his life mate left her conflicted.
It didn't seem right to use a mated man to find sexual release. It might be only in her mind that she was doing the wild thing with Scotty, but any immortal older than her could read those fantasies from her mind, tell his life mate and make things incredibly awkward. Heck, now that she thought about it, Scotty could have read them from her mind anytime they'd met over the last hundred-plus years . . . and wouldn't that have been embarrassing? Fortunately, she was usually so annoyed with the man when he was near that those nighttime fantasies were far away from her thoughts.
"Are you sure he--" Matias began, but paused when the door next to Beth opened.
"Ye've only had one bag?" Scotty asked with disbelief as he slid back in next to her and saw the three untouched bags still in her lap.
Rather than respond, Beth simply popped another bag to her fangs and slid over to make more room between them now that the mortal was gone. It didn't help much. Scotty simply seemed to expand to fill the space.
"Is the pain worse? Has the healing at least started?" he asked as Matias backed out of the driveway.
Beth nodded silently. Healing always hurt worse than the actual wound. She had no idea why. Someone had once suggested that the nerves went numb after the initial injury, but were brought back to screaming life by the activity of the nanos making their repairs. Whatever the case, there was no doubt she was healing, because her arm was now throbbing with pain.
"Are we still going to have pizza?" Donny asked as they drove through the night.
"Si, I will order it as soon as we get home," Matias promised.
"Give me the number, and I'll order right now," Donny said, pulling his phone out again.
Beth leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something other than the pain as Matias rattled off a phone number, and then Donny made the call. She heard him ask what she liked on her pizza, but couldn't be bothered to answer. It was taking all of her concentration to keep from screaming. Her arm felt like it was full of fire ants or burning porcupine quills. That was the best way she could describe the pain, and even that didn't touch on the severity of it. Fortunately, Matias knew what she liked and answered for her. Not that she was feeling anything as mundane as hunger at that point. However, she would be once the worst of the healing was over, she knew.
Beth was just finishing the fourth bag of blood when they reached the house. Her arm was still only partially healed and the pain was kicking her ass. When she stumbled getting out of the SUV, Scotty was immediately there to steady her. After one look at her expression and the sweat on her brow, he scooped her into his arms and carried her quickly into the house.
"Do ye have any first aid supplies here?" Scotty asked as he set her on the couch in the living room.
"Si, in the outbuilding. But I do not know what they have. I will show you, though. I have to go fetch the dogs anyway."
Nodding, Scotty straightened and followed the man from the room, barking, "Do no' leave her side, Donny. And stay alert."
Donny nodded and, as soon as the pair were out of earshot, said to Beth, "See, he does like you."
Beth just closed her eyes and shook her head. At that moment, she didn't care what Scotty thought. As much as she lusted after the man, he could prance around naked and, in that moment, she wouldn't even have bothered to open her eyes to see it.
"But why is he after first aid supplies?" Donny asked. "The bleeding was stopped before we got in the SUV and the wound's mostly closed now. At least on the outside."
"He probably meant drugs," Beth said through clenched teeth, and then frowned at her own words. She didn't want drugs. Hunters suffered the healing of injuries without complaint or drugs. It was a point of pride. Besides, she liked to remain in control of her mind and body and had no desire to be knocked out.
Holding herself stiffly against the pain, Beth got abruptly to her feet, relieved when she managed to do so without crying out or falling over.
"What are you doing?" Donny asked, jumping up with alarm.
"I am going to the bathroom," she answered grimly.
"The bathroom?" He looked dismayed. "But I'm not supposed to leave your side."
"Well, that could be interesting, then, couldn't it?" she asked caustically, and headed out of the room.
"I'll just wait outside the door for you," Donny decided as he followed.
Beth didn't bother to respond.
They'd had a quick tour of the house before leaving. She'd even moved her bags to the room she was to occupy. Well, most of them. One of her bags was still in the bathroom from when she'd prepared to head out to the bar that night . . . which was kind of rude, really, she supposed. It was a communal bathroom, after all. The only room with an en suite bathroom in this house was the master bedroom that Matias was occupying. That meant she, Donny, and Scotty would share the bathroom she was now entering.
Too bad for them, Beth thought dryly as she closed the bathroom door in Donny's face, and then locked it. She wasn't coming out until the worst of the healing was over.
Seven
"I wondered what you wanted from the medical supplies," Matias commented. "If I had reali
zed it was drugs I could have saved you a trip. Beth will not take those."
"Aye, she will," Scotty assured him as he read the labels on the various drug vials. There were few drugs for pain that worked on immortals, and only one that was truly effective. Spotting it, he snatched it off the shelf, and turned to hurry out of the small pharmacy in the outbuilding next to the garage.
"I am telling you she will not agree to taking drugs," Matias warned, following him out of the building and pausing to lock the door.
"I'm no' going to ask her," Scotty responded coldly as he led the way back toward the house.
"Ah . . ." Matias murmured, falling into step behind him. "Well then, this ought to be interesting."
Scotty frowned at the words, but didn't slow or stop, even when Matias halted at the kennel to release the Dobermans, who had started barking excitedly at their approach. Scotty's one thought was to get back to Beth and end her pain. She'd gone through enough in her life, and would not suffer ever again if he could help it.
Apparently he couldn't help it, because Scotty entered the living room with Matias on his heels to find it empty.
"What--?" Turning sharply, he hurried back past Matias and the dogs and into the hall leading to the bedrooms. It was the only place he could think she might be. Perhaps she had wanted to lie down.
Spotting Donny outside the bathroom door, Scotty hurried to his side.
"Is she in there?" he asked as he reached the younger immortal.
Donny nodded. "She said she had to go to the bathroom."
Scotty listened to the sound of rushing water coming muffled through the door, and frowned. "That does no' sound like the toilet flushin', or the sink tap runnin'."
"I think it's the shower," Donny admitted reluctantly.
"She should no' be in the shower. She could faint and hit her head and just do herself more damage," Scotty said with concern, and knocked at the door.
"She is fine," Matias assured him mildly. "She has had four bags of blood. She will not faint."
"She's in pain," Scotty said grimly.
"She would tell you that life is pain," the Spaniard said with a shrug. "Let her be. She will come out when she is ready."
Scotty shook his head and knocked at the door again. "Beth, open up."
"No! Go away!"
"If ye do no' open the door, I'll break it down," he threatened.
"Try that and I'll shoot you with my dart gun . . . again!" she threatened right back.
That gave him pause. The damned woman had already shot him once. He wouldn't put it past her to do it again. Turning to Donny, he asked, "Does she have her dart gun with her?"
Donny shrugged helplessly. "I saw one of her bags in there before she closed the door, but I don't know if her weapons are in it."
Scotty peered at the door, debating the issue, and then glanced around with surprise when the doorbell rang.
"That will be the pizza," Matias said, turning to head back up the hall. "If you are going to break down the door, please do not do it until I return. I should like to see it when she shoots you."
Scotty stared after him with disbelief and then shook his head and peered at the door once more. He had no doubt that Beth would shoot him if she had her dart gun. Knowing her, she probably did, Scotty decided with displeasure and thought that rather than hunting down painkillers for her, he should have just pulled out his own dart gun and shot her.
"Really?"
Scotty glanced around to see Matias returning up the hall, carrying four medium-size pizza boxes and shaking his head with something between disbelief and amusement. He didn't understand why until the man said, "Your earlier concern has now turned into wishing you had shot her? Really?"
Scotty scowled. The younger man was obviously reading his thoughts. That was the most annoying part of being an immortal who had found their life mate. He was now easy to read, and had been since meeting Beth over a century ago, which was why he had offered to help Donny control his thoughts. He knew how hard it was.
Rather than tell Matias to shut up, Scotty simply asked, "Is one o' those fer me?"
The Spaniard raised an eyebrow. "Do you wish to have it here or at the table in the kitchen, or in the living room?"
"Here."
Shrugging, Matias examined the labels on each box, shifted them to lie on one flat hand and pulled out the second one from the top.
"Thanks." Scotty took the box and slid down the wall to sit on the hardwood floor.
"You?" Matias asked Donny.
"The living room," the young man said firmly, and the pair left Scotty alone to wait.
Beth turned off the shower, but didn't immediately step out of the tub. Instead, she reached back to unzip her sodden dress and then peeled it off her shoulders. She hadn't been able to manage the feat earlier, so had simply kicked off her shoes and stepped under the water spray. Now the dress dropped to the tub floor with a heavy splat.
Grimacing, she stepped out of the circle of wet cloth and toed it aside, then stripped off her panties and bra as well before tugging the shower curtain aside and grabbing a towel off the rack. Beth quickly dried her hair first, and then wrapped the towel around herself sarong-style before stepping out onto the floor mat. She didn't know how much time had passed, but the worst of the healing was over, the throbbing reduced to a mild ache, so she'd guess a couple of hours.
Usually Beth would have lain down and tried to rest while she healed, but there were no locks on the bedroom doors and she hadn't trusted Scotty not to come in and try to force a shot of painkiller on her. So she'd stayed in the shower, and actually, the water had helped somewhat, distracting her from the pain enough to make it more bearable. Especially when the hot water had run out and she'd been left with cold water pouring down over her. That had been extremely distracting.
A check of the bag she'd left in the room earlier proved what Beth had already known--there were a pair of clean jeans, a couple of T-shirts, but no bras or panties. One of the T-shirts was an overlarge one she wore to sleep in, so she tugged it on over her head. The hem fell to midthigh, covering the important bits.
"Good enough," Beth muttered and turned to scoop up her wet clothes. She quickly squeezed as much water out of them as she could and then hung them over the shower rod. Leaving her bag there for now, she told herself she'd collect it on the way to bed and finally unlocked the bathroom door. She pulled it open to find Scotty outside, sitting on the hall floor. He was leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom door with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. His arms were folded over his chest, his head down, eyes closed and an open, empty pizza box rested on the floor next to him.
After a hesitation, Beth started to ease past him in the direction of the kitchen. The sight of the pizza box was enough to make her search out food. She didn't think she made any noise, but with the first step Scotty lifted his head and his eyes opened, making her freeze like a guilty burglar caught in the act. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Scotty got quickly to his feet.
"How're ye feeling?" he asked, his voice rough with sleep as his eyes slid to her arm.
"Better," Beth murmured, and then, shifting self-consciously, added, "You didn't have to wait out here."
"I wanted to be sure I talked to ye ere ye went to bed," he muttered, bending to pick up the pizza box.
Beth peered at it as he straightened and asked, "Donny?"
"He went to bed nearly three hours ago. Matias let him use his bathroom to brush his teeth and such."
"Three hours?" Beth asked, her eyes widening. If Donny had gone to bed that long ago, after eating and whatnot, she'd obviously been in the shower longer than the couple of hours she'd thought.
"Aye," Scotty said. "I'm to wake him up in an hour so that he can keep an eye out for trouble while I rest."
Beth frowned and turned to walk up the hall toward the kitchen. "Surely that's not necessary?"
"There have been two attacks on ye in twenty-fou
r hours, lass," he pointed out, trailing behind her.
Beth didn't comment. She had thought about what had happened while she was in the shower. It had helped to distract her from the pain as her body healed. And she would admit that it did seem like someone was out to get her, but it wasn't the first time and probably wouldn't be the last. Still, now that she was aware of it, she would be more careful and keep her eyes open. She didn't think they really needed to have someone missing sleep to act as a guard.
"Isn't there an alarm system here?" she asked. "There is at the Enforcer house in Toronto. Not that they use it much, what with someone at the gates and the dogs walking the property. Speaking of which, Matias has the dogs here. They'd start barking if they heard or saw anything."
"Aye, Matias brought them in. They're in his room with him," Scotty murmured. "And there is an alarm. Matias put it on ere going to bed, so do no' open any doors or windows or ye'll set it off."
"Good, then there's no need for either you or Donny to be standing guard," she pointed out. "Besides, so far they've only attacked me when I was on my own. I doubt they'll attack me here when they probably know there are other immortal hunters around." Glancing over her shoulder, she added, "And I'm not even sure the accident and the attack are connected."
"Beth," Scotty began with exasperation.
"Just listen," she said, pausing in the kitchen and turning to face him. "If the two were connected, that would mean whoever was behind the accident had to have followed us here to Vancouver."
"Aye," he agreed with a nod.
"But they couldn't have," she assured him and pointed out, "It's not like we drove here in a car they could have followed. We didn't even fly out of an airport where they could have checked the flight we were on. We flew straight from the Enforcer house on a private plane to that landing strip twenty minutes from here. So how did they know we were coming to the Enforcer house here in Vancouver?"
Scotty frowned as he considered that and then suggested, "Mayhap they read that ye were going to Vancouver from yer mind."
Beth shook her head. "I didn't even know I was coming here until I got back to the house after the accident," she reminded him. "Mortimer told me what the assignment was and where just before we got on the plane. The only people around were you, Donny, Mortimer, and me. And we took off from the house. We didn't go anywhere someone could read me after I learned."