Rogue the Redeemer

by Rhiannon Neeley

  “Rogue has told me about you. And what you do,” she said, daring them with her eyes. “I haven’t hurt him. I wouldn’t hurt him. I love him.”

  John narrowed his eyes. “Coming from someone who was just sucking his neck, I find that hard to believe.”

  “Believe what you want.” Kaitlyn sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to look calm and relaxed when she was anything but. “That was the first time I have taken blood from him. I only did it because he insisted.”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Rogue said, coming to her side. “I wanted her to practice.”

  “For what? To drain you dry?” John’s eyes flashed.

  “No. For the trip back to Ravencrest.”

  “You see, John,” Kaitlyn said. “Rogue thinks that with your help, I can beat this—this—thing inside of me.”

  John shook his head. “You are good. Very convincing.”

  Rogue stood again. “I’ve had enough. I won’t beg you. If you don’t want to help then we’ll just disappear. We’ll find another way.”

  “Rogue—knock it off. You’re too young to know what you want. You’re not in love with her…”

  “Yes. I am.” Rogue stepped up to John, barely an inch between them. “I know you think of me as some raw kid from the sticks but you couldn’t be more wrong. I found out pretty damn fast how deadly vampires can be. I lost my grandfather to one. But I’m telling you—there’s something different about Kaitlyn.” Rogue shook his head. “Like Ramsey is different. Something may be in her blood.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Her turning. Last week she could eat food. Could tolerate sun. She was bitten over two weeks ago.”

  “That still doesn’t make any…”

  “Wait, John,” Eric said, interrupting. He looked at Kaitlyn.

  She sat up straighter, chin lifted. Let him look, she thought. I already feel like I’m the prize hog at the county fair.

  “Let’s take her back with us,” Eric said finally.

  “You’re both nuts,” John said. He stepped away from Rogue and turned his back on them all.

  Kaitlyn watched him, as he stood stock-still.

  “Why?” John asked without turning.

  “I know it doesn’t sound like me but,” Eric glanced at Rogue, “I don’t think Rogue is blowing smoke here.”

  “That’s not good enough.” John still kept his back to them.

  “Another reason is,” Eric continued, “Lydia thinks she’s made a breakthrough. She thinks that she may have come up with an antidote, a vaccine. She just needs someone to try it on.”

  John turned around. “Really,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Eric nodded. “We can keep her under control. Between all of us.”

  John looked at Rogue. “If she’s any threat—any—she dies for real.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Rogue said.

  Kaitlyn still felt uneasy.

  John blew out a breath. “I hope I don’t regret this.” He looked at Kaitlyn. “Get dressed. We need to talk.”

  Kaitlyn stood, then hesitated. “What, are you going to watch?”

  The corner of John’s mouth quirked up, but it was more of a sneer than a smile. “Until that dead heart of yours starts beating again, I’m not going to take my eyes off of you.”

  Chapter Nine

  All four of them sat in the living room. Rogue and Kaitlyn on the couch, John and Eric each in a chair that faced them. Rogue was a little nervous but at least John had stopped his attack and agreed to listen. And to take Kaitlyn back to Ravencrest. It was nearly dawn. Rogue felt the fatigue in Kaitlyn’s hand as she squeezed his. Rogue, too, was feeling a bit tired, both from loss of blood and then the drain on his adrenaline.

  “If we’re going to get her back to Ravencrest, we’re going to have to do it at night,” John said.

  “That’s what I was thinking. The only problem is that she’ll need to feed before we leave. If we can get a least two more pints of blood from the hospital…”

  “Not gonna happen,” John said, interrupting Rogue. “They’re onto you. They know you stole two tonight.”

  Rogue nodded. “I guess that answers my question about why you came looking for me. But how did you know where to look?”

  “A little birdy told me.” John waved away the subject. “As far as her feeding goes—she’ll just have to tough it out.”

  Rogue gritted his teeth. “She can use me if she needs to.”

  “No!” John’s voice reverberated through the room. He pointed at Rogue. “That, I will not allow.”

  “Who asked you what you would ‘allow’?” Anger flared in Rogue.

  “Don’t push me,” John warned. “Either we do this my way or we end it now. I will not jeopardize any one of us, or the family for one of them. Do I make myself clear?”

  Rogue narrowed his eyes. “Like a fresh brewed batch of moonshine.”

  John stared at him for a moment.

  Rogue didn’t look away.

  “It’s getting late,” Kaitlyn said. “I need to retire.”

  John glanced at the window. “We’ll do this at sundown.” He looked at Kaitlyn. “Be ready.”

  * * * *

  Rogue tucked the sheets around Kaitlyn and kissed her on the forehead.

  “I don’t know about this, Rogue,” Kaitlyn said.

  “There you go again, worrying too much.” He stroked back her hair, marveling at the thick, silky mass. He wished he could stay with her. Cuddle up and wish the world away. But there was a lot to do today and he knew that John and Eric were waiting to question him further. “You rest,” he said. “Tonight’s trip is going to wear on you.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She laughed. Her laugh sounded on the edge of hysterical. Then she sobered. “Whatever happens, Rogue … I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Now sleep.”

  Kaitlyn smiled softly and took his hand. “Hold my hand until dawn.”

  Rogue nodded.

  Five minutes later, Kaitlyn was sleeping. Or something like it.

  Rogue watched her for a moment. Seeing her like this made his heart want to stutter. Her breathing stopped completely, her body very still. Even in her daily death, she looked like a goddess.

  He sighed. She was safe. For now. Rogue knew that John and Eric could be trusted not to harm her now that they had agreed to take her to Ravencrest.

  Rogue leaned down and gave her a kiss, then left her to sleep.

  As he walked slowly downstairs, his body began to complain. He felt sore all over, his muscles tight. A slight headache nagged at him. It also didn’t help that he knew as soon as he entered the living room that the inquisition would begin.

  Rogue steeled himself. There was no way around it. He had to face them.

  He walked into the living room, trying his best not to show any sign of how tired he was. “She’s asleep,” he said, sitting down on the couch.

  “She’s dead,” John replied dryly.

  “I wish you wouldn’t say shit like that, John. It sticks in my craw.” Rogue spoke levelly. He couldn’t give in to any sort of anger he felt at John’s words.

  “Let’s not argue about the little things,” Eric said, sighing. “You two are acting like you’re squaring off in the boxing ring.”

  “I wouldn’t call the fact that Kaitlyn—instead of resting in a queen-size bed, should be resting in a grave—a little thing,” John shot back.

  “Didn’t you agree to bring Kaitlyn back to Ravencrest?” Rogue asked, glaring at John.

  “I did. Only because Eric stepped in.”

  “Then leave the dead vampire comments here. I don’t want Kaitlyn to feel like she’s not wanted. Like she’s in some sort of danger by going with us.”

  John pursed his lips. “All right. But my warning still stands—she gets out of line once,” he held up a finger, “and she’s ashes.”

  “Let’s talk about how we’re going to get her there without hurting her,” Rogue said,
ignoring John’s threat but filing it away in the front of his mind. Kaitlyn had better be able to control herself. John would not hesitate if he thought the family was in danger.

  “Actually,” Eric said, “what if we took her now, instead of waiting for darkness again?”

  “She’d fry,” Rogue said, rolling his eyes. “She can’t tolerate daylight.”

  “What if there was a way? To keep her from the sun?” Eric shrugged. “It would be safer to haul her down there while she’s in a state of suspended animation than having her fully awake and hungry.”

  “You’ve got a point,” John said. He stroked his chin. “It would be safer. What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, I’ve done some work on Lydia’s truck. There’s a cover on the bed. A hard top that’s flush with the sides. It seals the bed. What if we put her in the bed of the truck and haul ass back home?”

  “You want to throw her in the back of a pickup?” Rogue asked, his voice rising with every word. “I wouldn’t even do that to my worst hunting dog.”

  “I’m not going to just ‘throw’ her in there,” Eric said. “We could put a mattress in, padding around her.”

  “What if you get in an accident?” Rogue couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Eric could get in an accident if we go at night. That’s not a point to argue about.” John looked from Rogue to Eric. “We’ll do it but there are some loose ends to tie up here. And we need a few hours sleep before we hit the road.” He looked back at Rogue. “So, we clear on this?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No.” John rose from the chair. “Let’s get to work.”

  * * * *

  Eight hours later, they were almost ready to leave. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. Without speeding, they would be at Ravencrest by eight o’clock. If nothing happened.

  Rogue had managed to get two hours sleep but only because exhaustion had taken over. John and Eric had talked him into going back to the motel instead of staying at Kaitlyn’s, telling him that he needed to pack up his things and check out. John already had enough explanations to take care of. He didn’t want the motel clerk to ask why his friend didn’t check out himself.

  John had told the hospital administrators that yes, Rogue had taken the blood, but he did it only to try to flush out the culprit. John explained that if blood came up missing, the true thief may very well reveal himself by asking too many questions or slipping up somehow. It hadn’t worked and they had disposed of the blood. John told them in his professional opinion that he thought the thief figured things were getting too hot and had moved on. John told them that they had other assignments to tend to and they would leave the case in the hands of the Garville Police, who were very capable of following up on any new developments, even though John felt there wouldn’t be any.

  Kaitlyn’s absence was covered for another day or so since she had called in and told them she had the flu. John had told the hospital that Rogue had informed him that Kaitlyn was feeling better but didn’t want anyone to visit her. She didn’t want any of the hospital staff to carry any germs back in to the patients.

  Rogue had been helping Eric prepare the truck for Kaitlyn’s long ride to Ravencrest. He was worried sick that something would happen before the sun went down and expose Kaitlyn to the burning rays. Rogue wouldn’t be able to handle that. Instead of stealing a mattress from the motel or dragging Kaitlyn’s out of her house in front of her neighbors’ prying eyes, they had gone to a local store and purchased one. They had also purchased six large pillows and lined them up, three on each side of the mattress.

  John had said that he would drive the ‘Vette back and Rogue could ride in the truck with Eric.

  What they didn’t know was that Rogue was going to ride in the bed with Kaitlyn.

  They were at Kaitlyn’s now, the truck pulled into the backyard. Thankfully, the backyard was blocked to anyone’s view by a six-foot high vinyl privacy fence. No nosey neighbors could see them as they worked.

  “I think we’re good,” Eric said, peering into the pitch-black darkness of the truck bed.

  “I want to try it out first. Make sure no light gets in.” Rogue crawled onto the tailgate, then onto the mattress. He looked down toward the sunlight at his feet. “Close me in.”

  Eric nodded and slammed the tailgate shut.

  Rogue lay still on his back, letting his eyes adjust to the sudden absence of light. The bed of the truck was warm but tolerable. After a few moments, he began a thorough check around the bed, looking for any holes that may let in even the smallest pinpoint of light. There was only one, at the edge of the tailgate. It was a small sliver of light where the tailgate must not fit completely flush. Rogue figured that they could shove a rag or something into it when they closed it. Satisfied, he banged on the tailgate, signaling Eric to open up.

  When the tailgate dropped, Rogue shaded his eyes. “Why the hell couldn’t it be a rainy day?” he asked, scrambling out of the bed.

  “You don’t have that kind of luck.” Eric closed the tailgate and leaned against the back of the truck. “Look okay in there?”

  “There’s one spot, just here,” Rogue said, running his fingers along the edge of the tailgate. “Doesn’t fit just right. We can shove something in it and it will be all right, I think.”

  Eric nodded. “Rogue, listen—what John is doing here, well, it says a lot about how far he’s willing to go for you.”

  Rogue looked Eric directly in the eye. “I know. I’m asking a lot by wanting to bring Kaitlyn home, knowing what she is. But I also know what she isn’t. She’s not a monster, Eric. She hadn’t fed off of anyone until that one time last night when I told her she had better practice on me. In case we ran into a snag getting her to Ravencrest.”

  Eric sighed heavily. “That still doesn’t mean we can trust her.”

  Rogue shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at his boots for a moment, forming the words he wanted to say. Finally he looked up. “I’m not the wild southern boy anymore, Eric. Seeing how much damage a vampire can do—killing people without a second thought, thinking of us as food—has put a bit of the fear of God in me. I know Kaitlyn is capable of killing but she still has her morals. I don’t think she would allow herself to go that far. I think she’d destroy herself first.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right.” Eric shoved off the back of the truck. “John will be here soon. We’d better figure out how we’re going to get her from the house into the truck.” He started to walk toward the back door of the house.

  “Hey, Eric,” Rogue said, turning to follow him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  Their eyes locked for a moment. Then Eric smiled. “I know how it is to be in love with a powerful woman. You just can’t deny them.”

  Rogue grinned. “You got that right.”

  Then they both went inside.

  * * * *

  Rogue went up to Kaitlyn’s bedroom.

  He slipped through the door, shutting it behind him. Even though he had only opened the door a crack, a shaft of daylight had shone into the room before Rogue could get the door closed. In that brief glimpse, Rogue had seen Kaitlyn’s body jerk. He leaned his back against the door and felt for the light switch. He flicked it on. A small lamp on her dresser lit up. Rogue held his breath, watching to see if she jerked again.

  Kaitlyn didn’t move.

  He approached the bed, wondering if Kaitlyn would be angry when she found out she made the trip to Ravencrest in the bed of a pickup truck. He sure hoped not. But if Lydia could cure her, it wouldn’t matter so very much how she got there.

  Rogue looked down at her as she lay sleeping. Her fiery red hair glowed like flame in the soft light, a sharp contrast to her pale cream skin.

  She was beautiful. He couldn’t wait to get her back home.

  With a sigh, he began to search the bedroom. He needed something to wrap her in. Something heavy and thick. The sheet and blanket on her bed w
ere not good enough. They were flimsy summer bedclothes. What he needed was a heavy quilt.

  Rogue opened her closet. A chain dangled down from a light inside. He pulled it. Grinning to himself, he made note of the fact that though Kaitlyn didn’t wear shoes here in the house, she most certainly had a fetish for them. There were easily forty pairs lined up on low racks at the bottom of the walk-in closet. Her clothes hung neatly on hangers below high shelves.

  “Yes,” Rogue said, noting three carefully folded quilts on the top shelf. He reached up, pulling on the bottom one, and brought all three down.

  Rogue carried them to the bed, laying them at the foot.

  He drew the sheet and thin blanket back, uncovering her.

  Rogue felt a jolt through his body, settling in his loins, as his eyes traveled over her nakedness. Kaitlyn was absolutely perfect. She seemed to glow from within, her skin almost ivory with a smattering of freckles that looked like cinnamon sprinkled on whipped cream. His hands itched to reach out and run his hands along the curve of her hip, the long length of her leg. Rogue drew in a slow breath. “Damn,” he said quietly.

  She was a goddess.

  A thought struck him. He couldn’t take her back to Ravencrest like this. She had to have some clothes on.

  By the time Rogue found something that would be easy to dress her in—a pale pink pair of sweat pants and a white t-shirt that had the word “sassy” printed on the front in hot pink, Eric was pounding on the bedroom door.

  “Get a move on, Rogue. John’s here. Let’s go,” he called through the door.

  “Almost ready,” Rogue said, pulling the t-shirt down to cover the firm mounds of her breasts. He spread one quilt over her, covering her completely, then gently rolled her, wrapping her in it. “Lord, this feels so wrong,” he said as he readied the second quilt. “I’m sorry, baby, but it has to be done.”

  Five minutes later, Rogue made a final check to make sure there was nothing exposed. Satisfied that the three quilts would protect her, Rogue opened the door.

  * * * *

  The three of them carefully carried her down the stairs and out the backdoor to the waiting truck, which Eric had backed up to the step. They gently laid her inside, Rogue scrambling backward with her until she was positioned to his liking on the mattress.