by Deanna Chase
Tal’s eyes narrowed. “Human?”
Macinson shrugged. “Hunter needed blood. What’s one human life compared to the war?”
Acid burned on the back of my tongue. They’d fed a human to Hunter? Had he really killed someone in order to avoid suspicion? Had he really needed human blood to recover? My knees went weak, and I clutched the shelving, hanging on for all I was worth.
If that was true, was it sanctioned by the Void? My hands went numb from clutching the nearby shelves. I had to get away from them, and I’d do whatever it took to take Tal with me.
Talisen was quiet while he seemed to gather his thoughts and compose himself. Finally he said, “As long as we didn’t lose one of the team. Casualties happen.”
Vomit threatened to choke me. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t. But he was standing there acting as if nothing was wrong. I took a deep breath. Calm down, Willow. What else was he supposed to do? Blow his cover? He was only doing his job.
But it was hard to watch. I don’t know why. I’d watched Phoebe bullshit her way through all kinds of scenarios, and I’d never once doubter her. Why couldn’t I extend Talisen the same courtesy? Maybe because I’d never seen him play this role before. Or maybe I was still punishing him for leaving.
I hated that about myself. But there it was.
“What happened? Why did you end up here?” Macinson asked.
Tal jerked his head toward Link. “After her dog woke up, he took off. Looking for her, no doubt. I had to track him down before he became a nuisance. Once I finally did, it had already started to snow. I holed up waiting for the storm to pass.”
So plausible. I never knew he was that good a liar.
Macinson eyed Link. “He’s useful, then. Hand him over so we can track the girl.”
Link snarled, saliva dripping from his muzzle.
“I don’t think so,” Tal said sympathetically. “He doesn’t play nice with vampires. You’ll spend more time fighting him off than you will getting him to search for his mistress.”
Link inched forward, his eyes narrowed, growling low and deep.
Macinson glared at Link, then pulled a gun from the small of his back and aimed it at my wolf.
My heart nearly stopped right there in my chest. And just as I was pushing the pantry door open, Link lunged.
The loud echo of gunfire filled my ears and all I saw was red.
Chapter 10
“Link,” I screamed and tore across the room toward his unmoving body. Tears blinded me, and while a small voice deep in the back of my mind told me I’d only made things worse by exposing myself, I didn’t care in the least. Link, my little buddy, was hurt and the vampire on the other side of the door was the one who’d have to pay.
“Shit!” I heard Talisen bark.
“She was here the entire time?” the vampire cried and lunged for Talisen. “You fucking spy!”
A whirl of color bypassed me as I fell to my knees near Link’s unmoving body. The pool of blood was coming from his hindquarters. His big amber eyes latched onto mine and suddenly he was on his feet again, going after the vampire who had his hand wrapped around Talisen’s neck.
I didn’t stop to think. Unadulterated rage overtook me, and before I knew what I was doing, I had Tal’s discarded crossbow in my hands.
Link latched onto the vampire’s leg at the same time I leveled the weapon at his chest. Only the vamp twisted, shielding himself with Talisen before I could get a shot off.
Macinson kicked out with tremendous force, dislodging my wounded dog. Blood dripped into a small pool near Link’s back feet. But he was alive. The pressure eased slightly off my chest. That is until I saw Talisen’s reddening face. He needed air. Soon.
“Let Talisen go,” I said with deadly calm.
The vamp froze but didn’t relax his grip. “Why should I do that? He’s a fucking traitor. I always knew we couldn’t trust him.”
Talisen gasped for breath, clawing at the vampire’s hand.
“If you don’t, I’m going to drive this stake right into your unfeeling heart. Then while you’re incapacitated, I’m going to let Link rip your limbs off while you watch.” I almost couldn’t believe the words were coming from my lips. My scenario was so crude. I knew I’d never follow through with such an act. I’d end his existence swiftly, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Pain doesn’t scare me, faery,” he said, his eyes going completely black.
“It should.” And then instead of firing the crossbow, I struck out and clasped my hand on his shoulder. The instant burn brought tears to my eyes as it rushed into my veins and seized my insides like fire ants at a picnic. He was definitely a vampire. Every instinct begged me to let go of the vamp, but I couldn’t. Not while he had a hold on Talisen. Instead, I gritted my teeth and yanked on his toxic vampire energy, pulling until it flowed freely from him to me.
My energy fled fast. Faster than it had every other time I’d used that particular gift. And after only a few seconds, my hand slipped. I fell to my knees, gasping.
He jerked, rounding on me.
The crossbow had fallen to the side, just out of reach. But I didn’t have the energy to pick it up, much less aim and fire.
He grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. Bending down, he scraped his teeth along my neck. My skin crawled as the fire scalded my flesh. I did my best to jerk away, but his hold was too strong.
“If Asher hadn’t decreed you were to not be killed, I’d drain you right here and now.” His tone was low, seductive, as if he were talking to a lover.
“Then it’s good being Asher’s favorite, isn’t it?” I seethed, wishing more than anything that I’d had the nerve to just shoot his ass. But Tal had been right there and the chances of hitting him had been too great.
I heard Link clamber to his feet and let out another snarl.
“Call him off,” the vamp whispered into my neck, pressing one of his sharp fangs against my vein.
I sucked in a breath. “My blood is toxic.”
He laughed, his low chuckle reverberating off my neck. “The sunshine potion? That shit’s nothing to me. Can drink it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as long as the fae is ripe enough. And you, my dear, are a fucking treasure. One I’d like to— Ouff!”
His body slumped to the side, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his back. Talisen stood over us, his neck already turning purple and his eyes wild. “Tend to Link,” he said quietly and then kicked Macinson until he was several feet away from me.
I didn’t hesitate. I scrambled over to Link, who was already standing. The blood had stopped seeping from his hindquarter, but he wasn’t putting any weight on his back right leg. Carefully I ran my hand over his thigh, applying slight pressure until he whimpered.
“I know, buddy. Just trying to find the wound.” I glanced over at Tal, who already had the vampire trussed up with metal cable. The vamp was immobile, indicating the bolt was stuck in his heart. Score one for Talisen. My chest swelled with pride and gratitude for my best friend. I turned to Link. “Hold on, buddy. I’ll be right back.”
Staggering to my feet, I hauled myself over to the kitchen and opened the cabinet stocked with an overabundance of first aid supplies. I pulled out gauze, iodine, and medical tape. I eyed the suture kit but prayed we wouldn’t need it. First I needed to see the wound. After filling a bowl with water, I grabbed a clean towel and the medical supplies and then hurried back to Link. He was still standing where I’d left him, waiting.
“It’s okay now, Link. I’m gonna fix you up.”
Talisen would’ve been the better choice for healing Link, but he was too busy interrogating the vampire. He couldn’t move, but he could talk… if he wanted to. So far, Talisen was the only one saying anything.
I wetted the towel and carefully went to work on Link’s wound. He stood stoically, letting me administer my care. It took a while to clean all the blood away, but after I did, I found the wound was a quarter-inch graze that ran about five inches along his hi
ndquarter. No wonder there had been so much blood.
At least he wouldn’t need stitches. “I’m so sorry, boy, but this is going to hurt a bit. Just relax now. That’s it.” I soothed him as I opened the iodine bottle. This was going to suck, but in order to avoid infection, it had to be done. I ran a soft hand down his back and leaned in to kiss his neck. “I’m sorry.”
Then I poured the iodine over his angry wound. He stood perfectly still and howled his anguish. Right then and there I regretted not killing the vampire when I had the chance. If I’d pulled enough of his energy, he’d be snail food already. “So sorry,” I whispered to Link again as I smeared a topical painkiller on the wound. When I was finished, Link nuzzled me with his nose and licked my cheek once.
“You’re welcome,” I said, relieved he’d only suffered a surface wound. He’d be okay after a few days’ rest. Except we were out in the middle of the woods and the only way to get out of there was a five-mile trek. Shit. “Tal?” I called.
He was standing over Macinson, his face contemplative as if he was trying to figure out what to do next. “Yeah,” he said without looking up.
“Can you take a look at Link? He can walk on three legs, but I’d rather he be fully functional if we’re going to run into any more of these assholes today.”
He finally turned and met my gaze. “Of course.”
Nodding, I went to work on cleaning up the medical supplies and then stood over Macinson, seething. “How many of you are there?”
His cold eyes glared at me.
“Daywalkers are rare. Who turned you?”
His lips turned up in a sinister smile, but he didn’t answer.
Anger flared to life, but I shoved it down. Now was not the time to lose my cool. Whoever the fae was that turned him, Macinson was damned happy I didn’t have the information. And he’d use that to his advantage for as long as possible. The one thing I knew that he didn’t, however, was that I didn’t need the information that badly. There were other ways to get answers. “Gonna use that as a bargaining chip, huh? Well, good luck with that.” I stepped back and folded my arms over my chest.
“It’s eating you up inside. I can see it in those pathetic blue eyes of yours, cupcake.”
I almost laughed at his choice of nickname. No doubt he already knew I owned The Fated Cupcake back in New Orleans. “You’re deluded.”
“Maybe.” He gave me a tiny bob of his head. “But I have the answers you both need.” His words came out short as if he was low on air. But vamps didn’t need to breathe. It was the bolt lodged in his heart.
My fingers twitched, and I had to grip my forearms to keep from lashing out at him. He’d play this game all day. Maybe just to keep us busy until reinforcements arrived. “You think you can last all day, vampire?”
He gave me a flat stare.
“Ahh, so I’m right. There are no other daywalkers coming to rescue you, are there?”
“Why would I tell you that? I’m not a fucking idiot.”
“Yes, you are,” Tal said from behind me, his voice full of rage. “Not only five minutes ago, you talked about Hunter coming for you. Well, I’ve got news for you, you sick fuck. Hunter is a fae and he’s never coming to help you. No one is.”
Then Talisen leaped forward, grabbed the bolt, and twisted. The vamp’s lips formed an O as his expression turned to one of pure shock. There weren’t any traces of pain or agony. Just shock. And as I stood there, unable to comprehend what was happening, his face started to disintegrate right before my eyes. His skin decomposed into tiny granules of sand just before his body combusted into complete dust.
“Oh my God,” I breathed into my shaking hand.
“You okay?” Talisen pulled my hand away from my mouth gently and kissed my palm before tucking it into his.
“I don’t… know.” Staring up at him in awe, the tears gathered and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay now,” he said, wrapping me once again in his arms.
“I know,” I said into his shirt. “It’s just… just that you and Link almost died.” The last word came out in a whisper as the full weight of what had almost happened bore down on me.
“We’re okay.” He kissed my forehead and then glanced down at Link, who was now sitting at our feet.
I nodded, blinking back my tears of relief. My fingers were rough on my skin as I wiped the remaining tears away. The only thing left of our ordeal was the metal bolt and a pile of sand. I stared at it, finally registering the barb on the end of the bolt. Metal bolts normally couldn’t kill vamps, just incapacitate them. Holes in the heart healed quickly, but hearts shredded beyond repair couldn’t. Tal had literally ripped the vamp’s heart to shreds when he’d twisted the large bolt.
I shuddered, remembering the look of shock on his face. He hadn’t seen it coming. It made me wonder what exactly he’d thought we were going to do with him. “Tal, what did you say to him while I was tending Link?”
“That his only hope of survival was if he gave up Asher’s location. He steadfastly refused, as I knew he would.”
“And that’s why you dusted him before we had a chance to question him on other important things.” Like who the other fae was who’d changed Asher’s small army into daywalkers.
“No.” Tal narrowed his eyes at me. “I dusted him because he was fucking with you. And he’d have kept it up until the next round of searchers found us. He was never going to give you any information. You know that. The best soldiers never do.”
“You knew him well.” I rested my hands on my hips and waited for the ensuing explanation.
“You could say that. I knew him before he turned vamp, back in high school. He went to a rival school. He was a cocky son of a bitch then too. Believe me, Wil. He wasn’t going to give us anything. Besides, he didn’t really believe we’d dust him.”
“You don’t think so?”
Tal shook his head. “I know so. Now let’s get going before any more of Asher’s goons show up.”
I glanced down at Link. “How is he? Will he be okay?”
“Better than okay.” Tal filled a backpack full of snack bars. “Good as new.”
Link trotted across the room to stand next to Tal, staring up at him adoringly.
“You fixed him.”
Tal nodded and handed me a small tranq gun he’d found in the supply cabinet.
I stuffed the gun into the back of my jeans and then closed the distance between us and hugged him with the remaining strength I had. After the plane ride and the attack on Hunter the day before, my energy was already depleted. The vamp drain had left me swaying on my feet.
“Wil, you’re exhausted,” Tal said after touching me. His magic meant he could sense the well-being of any living creature. And with me, he’d always been extra sensitive. To say he’d been watching over me for more than a decade wasn’t an exaggeration.
I shrugged. “It was the vampire attack. I’ll recover.”
“I could help.”
I pulled back and gazed up at him, noticing the indecision. He’d helped Link without consent, but for the first time ever, he wouldn’t take it upon himself to infuse me with some of his fae magic. I could see how much he wanted me to ask him to do it. And I wanted to, but I shook my head and stepped back anyway. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him. I did. It had to do with me and how much I was already depending on Tal just to survive. If I was going to battle vampires, I needed to learn how to survive after I unleashed my magic on them.
“Thank you, but no. I need to deal with this.”
He stiffened and then his gaze hardened as he pulled the door open. “Then let’s go. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Chapter 11
Link trotted by my side through the thick blanket of snow. With the appearance of Macinson, Tal had said it was too dangerous to wait for Hunter to send someone. Asher’s crew would be looking for him soon and we couldn’t be anywhere near the cabin.
Talisen was well ahead o
f us under the guise of scouting the area. It wasn’t a blatant lie. We did need to keep a diligent eye out, but normally he’d have demanded I stay as close to him as possible.
This was him purposely distancing himself from me. Frankly it just pissed me off. All because I hadn’t let him help me. Couldn’t he see I was just trying to learn to be strong? Being surrounded by the forest was helping a little, but not enough. The worst part was that after the first twenty minutes, my legs had become heavy and my lungs ached from lack of oxygen. I was sorely regretting using today as my day to stand on my own two feet.
My steps slowed and after a few minutes the distance between Tal and me widened until I couldn’t see him anymore. I shook my head in exasperation. Was it really going to be this way? All the men in my life demanding I lean on them for everything. I sighed in exasperation and fluttered my wings until I was floating above the snow.
Link stopped dead in his tracks and growled at the exact same time Talisen came into view. He had that crossbow positioned on his shoulder and was aiming directly at a woman wearing black thermal pants and a pale blue fleece jacket. Her dark hair was piled into a messy bun on her head and she wore thick plastic glasses. I frowned. I knew her from somewhere. But where?
I glanced at Link and jerked my head, signaling for him to back up Tal. He leaped, bounding to Talisen in no time. I trailed behind, taking care to not wear myself out too much. By the time I landed softly just behind Tal, she was glaring at me. That look triggered my memory. The fae from his lab at the university.
“I told them you’d be with her,” she said. “You’re ruining your life, you know.”
“Shut up.” Talisen glared at her.
“Why?” she said, taunting him. “Afraid she’s going to find out we’re lovers?”
I gasped involuntarily as shock had me staring openmouthed at Tal. Lovers? What the hell?
“Don’t listen to her, Willow.” His voice was low and steady, full of danger. “She’ll say anything to drive a wedge between us.”