by Misty Evans
When I finished, Damon picked up a pencil and started flipping it end over end. “Let’s start with Ranulf. The evidence is circumstantial at best, and in all the time he’s lived in America, he’s never been involved with any human killings.”
Dru sat back, kicked his long, Armani-clad legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. “That you know of.”
Damon raised an eyebrow in question. Dru shrugged. “He ran the woods between Germany and Russia for two hundred years before moving here. You really believe he gave up hunting humans simply by changing locations?”
Vampires and shifters hated each other. Did Dru know something we didn’t or was he simply pointing fingers because he had no use for Ranulf and his large, Chicagoland pack?
Damon was thinking the same thing, but he was an expert at keeping his cards close to his chest. “I’ll call him and set up a meeting. See if he has an alibi for the night of the killing or can explain why his scent was at the scene.”
“Calling him is a bad idea,” I said. “If he is guilty, he’s not coming in for a meeting. He’s running.”
Both males considered that while I continued. “Better to let me show up on his doorstep and ask the hard questions.”
Damon gave me an inquiring look. Dru just looked amused. The IV may have had something to do with it. Hard to travel with that thing on my arm.
“What about Maria?” Damon asked. “Any sign that she had a hand in this?”
“The scent of succubus was hanging around. Arman and I both picked up on it. As for a direct tie to Maria? No. I found nothing.”
“I’ll send Chigaru to talk to Ranulf.” Damon picked up his phone and dialed. “He has canine in his ancestry. The pack leader will be more likely to talk to him.”
Chigaru was a new recruit from Africa who’d been sent to the Institute for me to train. Fat chance I had time to take another demon under my wing and teach him anything about being an enforcer. I’d met Chi once, found him to be quiet and likeable, but I wasn’t a teacher. I’d set him up to train with Cole, gave him some handbooks JR had developed for me, and left him to his own devices.
The canine ancestry Demon referred to included a touch of hell hound. I doubted Ranulf would find that reassuring enough to trust Chi with the truth, but it was still a good call. Ranulf would immediately bristle at my presence, since I tended to bring the wrath of the Bridge Council with me. Chi could pretend to be on a fact finding mission as a rookie Bridge employee. If he played it right—acting like this was his first big assignment, which it was—he could probably garner a lot of help from Ranulf.
Still, it rankled, having Damon hand off this job to a newbie. If I didn’t have the Parker situation and the Red Horseman breathing down my neck, I might have objected.
While Damon called Chi to give him the details, Dru and I struck out down the hall. “I should grab Arman and make it clear to him not to warn Ranulf before Chi has a chance to question him.”
Dru took my arm and supported me, even though I didn’t need it. He was always touching me, most of the time in a lascivious manner, but this time, it was a friendly gesture, nothing more. “I saw him and Madison when I arrived. Madison didn’t want to leave you, so they were going to watch a movie in the media center.”
The media center was on the second floor and was Maddy’s favorite hangout at the Institute when she wasn’t in the training room ogling Cole. Like most teenage girls, she loved movies and music. The center contained a theater, library and a hub for listening to and recording music.
I was touched she’d stayed to make sure I was okay, but not surprised. Maddy had attached herself to me several months ago, becoming my shadow after her parents rejected her new vampire way of life. In some ways, she reminded me of Pippa, my little sister. Or maybe it was simply my longing to have a younger sister in my life again, but I enjoyed Maddy, even when she was a teenage pain in the ass.
We headed away from the elevator and toward the media center, my IV pole bumping along on one side of me and the vamp Master hovering on the other.
“Have you seen the news?” Dru asked.
“JR, Damon and Salmad have kept me up to date. They believe it’s the start of Armageddon.”
“Funny how Damon didn’t mention that during my conversation with him.”
Dru’s voice said he didn’t think it funny at all. We stopped in front of the entrance to the media center. I turned to look at him and the hallway swam before my eyes. Tightening my grip on the pole, I swayed, closing my eyes.
“Kali? Are you all right?”
“Yep, just shifted my head too fast.” I blinked, swallowed and opened my eyes. Dru had three heads instead of one.
They blurred and floated in front of me. A weird tingling zipped down my legs, my ankles and knees going wobbly. “I think I need to sit down.”
The words had barely left my mouth when my legs gave out. Dru caught me, easing me down to the floor. “Look at me. Let me see your eyes.”
I did as he said, and he gave a curt nod when he saw them. “Your pupils are red. You need to feed.”
Red pupils? That was a vampire’s calling card, not a demon’s. “Are you sure? They’ve never been red before.”
He placed his wrist to his mouth and bit, drawing blood. “My blood is at war with the poison in your system. The vampire in you is fighting for control.”
I swallowed hard at the sight of his blood, the scent of it like a fine wine to my nose. His face blurred again and I blinked to try and right it. “I’m not a vampire. I’m a demon. And it’ll take more than a Noctifector’s blade to bring me down.”
He smiled, once again amused at my bravado. “Drink, demon.”
I wanted to resist. I hate vampires, I reminded myself. I will not drink directly from Dru’s wrist. Ever. In a million years. Not even if he’s the last male on earth who can satisfy this awful…
As if I had no power over my body, I reached up, latched onto his wrist and sucked on his open vein.
My brain screamed denials. My body ignored them. At first taste, the blood was tart, but by the second swallow, it was intoxicating. I only ever drank his blood from a glass bottle. This experience—the warm blood pumping across my tongue in time with his pulse—was carnal, primitive. A low groan escaped my lips.
Freak.
I drank long and deep, and afterwards a warm glow suffused my body. My brain continued to berate me and I tried to tell Dru I hated him, but when I opened my eyes, there was only one of him and there were no odd shadows around his body or the objects I saw. Without thought, I closed my eyes again in complete and utter satisfaction. I was satiated, quenched…
Content in his arms when he lifted me from the floor and carried me to the infirmary, my IV pole tagging along.
Sinking into sleep, I barely noticed when he crawled into the bed beside me and wrapped me in his arms. My brain yelled obscenities at him, but my body was too gone to do anything about it. I snuggled down into the covers and drifted off.
Chapter Ten
I woke to shouts outside the infirmary door. An argument between males that loaded the air with so much testosterone and crackling electricity, the hair on my arms rose.
I sat up in bed, my chest tight. A mix of ancient magics swirled through the crack under the door as the shouting grew louder and more intense.
Fight.
Icy snow crystals beat against the outside windows. Either it was still night or the storm made it seem so. How long had I slept?
Another burst of furious words and tangled magic hit me. The glass in the windows rattled. Bending forward, I sucked oxygen into my lungs and noticed it stung like I’d gulped in salt water.
Rad.
My brain clicked into gear, but the argument I was overhearing didn’t make sense…and then it did when I realized the males outside my door were arguing in French.
My name was said, along with a string of curses directed at Rad.
Dru.
Threats were exchanged.
The vamp blood in me responded with a sharp spike of adrenaline. My Master was being threatened.
It annoyed me that Dru’s blood exacted that response, but I couldn’t deny nature. I threw back the covers, climbed out of bed, my body ready for a fight. Except for the vise around my lungs, I felt good. Healthy. Ready to take the males arguing over me down a notch, shred Parker into a million little pieces, and stop the Red Horseman and his buddies from decimating the world. All at the same time.
Flexing my hands, I forced my lungs to relax. Forced Dru’s blood demanding my protection to settle down. Although I didn’t doubt Rad would love to kill the Master vampire, no one was going to get hurt. Amidst the shouting was Damon’s steady, commanding voice, trying to appease both males.
Good luck with that, I mentally told him through the walls.
He started at the mental intrusion, then regained his calm, controlled persona. Perhaps you’d lend a hand? You are the cause of this row.
I needed a shower, some food and a toothbrush. All that would have to wait.
Dragging the damned IV pole behind me, I threw open the door. “Non più!”
Rad was restrained by Cole. Dru by Damon. Brianna was halfway between them, ready to defend her Master. Maddy, Arman, and my best friend Di stood to the side watching. Neve, also a good friend of mine, and totally human, sat in her wheelchair rubbing her Celtic knot necklace.
Stretched down both ends of the hall behind the combatants was just about everyone else I knew. The vitiums, the other Bridge Council members, even a set of vamp soldiers Cole was training. All eyes bounced from the males to me and back to Rad and Dru.
Rad’s gaze locked with mine, his magic rippling through the air. The lights up and down the hallway exploded, making everyone jump and dousing us in darkness. My IV bag exploded at the same time, yellow goo landing on me and splashing onto the floor at my bare feet.
With the exception of Neve, all of us were supernaturals of one persuasion or another, so we had no trouble seeing in the dark. Shaking goo off my hands, I yanked the needle from my arm and tossed it to the ground. Then I walked between the two males, shoved Bri out of the way and grabbed each by his lapel, bringing their faces close to mine. Since I was shorter than both without my heeled boots, they loomed over me.
First, I looked at Rad. His emotions were a chaotic ball of anger and pain, and I could easily put two and two together about the reason for this fight with Dru. He’d discovered us together or Dru had told him about my drinking directly from his wrist. It was an intimate act. One that usually led to sex and a deeper bond between the two participants.
Rad and I shared that bond. I didn’t blame him for jumping to conclusions. I hated that I’d succumbed to drinking directly from Dru. If the situation were reversed and I’d found Rad in bed with someone like Brianna, say, it wouldn’t matter the reason. I’d be madder than hell, too.
But I wasn’t about to discuss what had happened or air my dirty laundry in front of Satan and all. “Calm down. Nothing happened between us.”
He knew the us meant me and Dru. I didn’t need to spell it out.
A snarl curled his lip.
Ignoring it, I switched to the vamp. “And you. Stop with the theatrics. I’m not your slave any more than I’m your Master. We share a blood bond, yes, but that’s for our mutual benefit to stay alive and kicking. I won’t let you twist our friendship into something ugly.”
Dru’s Master vamp magic rolled over me, pushing back on Rad’s demonic energy. A white-hot tingle burned in my veins. “We are more than friends, mon petit chaton. You are my queen.”
Oh for hell’s sake. I shot a glance at Damon. The corner of his mouth quirked. He found humor in the strangest things. “Well, your queen is going to stake you if you don’t stop being an ass.”
Now Dru’s mouth quirked. Bastard. To him this was a game. To me—and to Rad—it wasn’t. We’d spent nearly three hundred years apart. Nothing as insignificant as a vampire was going to come between us.
I conveyed that in my eyes to both males, released them and stepped back.
“Save the fighting for the Horsemen. We have work to do. Everyone to the conference room.” I pointed at Neve and Di. “You two as well. We have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time.”
Supes started filing past us, giving me questioning looks. Maddy gave me a brush your hair command in hand signals. My fingers automatically went to my mane and tried to smooth it down. Great. Nothing like being badass with bedhead.
Damon did that quirky eyebrow thing at me and I returned it, not quite managing the height of the arch he achieved, but getting my point across nonetheless. “I’m going to put on some decent clothes and then I’ll join you. We have a battle plan to discuss.”
Cole rubbed his hands in anticipation, giving me a wink as he joined the crowd heading downstairs. Didn’t matter what we were fighting…a fight was a fight. Good times in his book.
Kirill stepped forward, snapping his fingers at Lainie. “Bring snacks to the conference room.”
“Please,” I added.
The archdemon was forever worried about food. He turned his attention to me. “We need to get you back on that IV.”
“I feel great. Dru’s blood healed me.”
Dru smiled. Rad harrumphed. Kirill looked doubtful. “I need to perform another blood draw to ascertain if that’s true or not.”
I didn’t have time for blood draws. The itch under my skin to get out of the Institute and back on the streets made me jittery. Ideas on how to handle Pestilence and knock Parker out of the ballpark formed and solidified in my brain faster than I could catalogue them.
But Kirill wouldn’t be mollified until he had my blood. Which meant Damon wouldn’t either. “Give me fifteen minutes to talk to the troops. Then I’ll give you some blood.”
Damon started to argue, Rad and Dru both taking his side.
I interrupted before any of them—now an unexpected team working with each other and against me—could get on a roll. “Kirill can be standing by with a fresh IV in case I go belly up. It’s all hands on deck right now, and I won’t stand in front of my friends and fellow soldiers and issue orders while looking like an invalid who’s going back to bed while they risk their lives.”
Rad sighed. He stepped to my side and laid a hand on my shoulder. He gave it a squeeze and stood next to me in solidarity. About damn time.
Kirill looked at Damon. Damon stared at me, scanning me from head to toes. We butted heads as much as two old married people, and maybe because of that, he knew from the gleam in my eye, this was one battle he should concede. “Fifteen minutes. Not a second more.”
“Thank you.” As Kirill headed for his medical supplies, I faced Dru. “Put your vampire soldiers on alert. All that training they’ve been doing? Time to put it in action. And call Juliana and Rafael. We’re going to need their troops as well.”
Juliana and Rafael were Master vampires in the South and East regions. Their troops had helped us before and I knew the score sheet was unbalanced, but this was the ultimate favor to ask. Dru knew this too. “And what will you have my vampires fighting?”
My vampires. Interesting. Was Dru trying to put me in my place after I refused the idea we were more than friends? Good luck with that. “All vampires, despite their regional allegiance, will be fighting alongside the rest of us to stop the coming apocalypse. Those who don’t fight will die anyway, so if they want any chance of surviving, they better grab their swords and start swinging.”
Dru cut his eyes to Rad, back to me. Gave me a slight, but professional, nod. “As you wish, my queen.”
The title was said in a mocking tone. Vampires, what a pain in the ass.
He sauntered down the hall, pulling out his cell phone and placing a call. Brianna fell into step behind him.
Rad, Damon and I were left standing there. Damon snapped his fingers and the lights in the hall repaired themselves. He stepped forward and glared at Rad. “Fighting is allowed in the traini
ng center and only in the training center. In the future, if you threaten anyone with physical violence inside the Bridge Institute, it will be the last thing you ever do. Tu me comprends?”
Rad nodded, aggravated at the French, even though he and Dru had just been going at it in his native language. I understood. Damon could turn anything into a beat down.
“I understand.” Rad stepped forward, so he and Damon were nose to nose. “And if you ever allow someone inside the Bridge Institute to manipulate Kali again, I’ll level the place before you can snap your fingers, archdemon.”
Wonderful. Another pissing match.
Grabbing Rad by the arm, I dug my nails into his skin and marched him away from the confrontation. “Help me get dressed,” I said, leading him to the stairs. My temporary living space was on the top floor across from Damon’s permanent one.
Before we turned the corner, the familiar rush of Damon’s voice filled my head. Be careful of your alliances, Kali.
Chapter Eleven
My alliances were also about to be challenged by a certain Chaos demon.
Inside my apartment suite at the Institute, Rad leaned against my chest of drawers, his face a storm cloud. “So you’re drinking from the bastard directly now?”
How many times were we going to have this conversation? His tone rubbed like sandpaper and I didn’t want to fight. Fight we would though. Being a blood slave to a Master vamp was my worst nightmare, even if Dru and I were friends, but it was also the least of my worries at the moment.
“Direct from the source is the most satisfying. You know that.” I stalked over to him, flipped him around so his hands were on the wall and withdrew the silver dagger he kept hidden at the small of his back. Scoring my wrist, I tossed the dagger aside and slipped between him and the wall, lifting my bleeding wrist to his mouth. “Drink, slave.”
His aura flashed with need, a hot, pulsing sensation that engulfed me and started a throb between my legs. Pressing me against the wall, he kissed my lips thoroughly, parting them and teasing me with his tongue. I returned the ardent kiss and encircled one of his legs with mine.