by Zoe Forward
“Who’s this?” he asked.
“It’s me.”
“Oh, thank God. No one would tell me anything.” She envisioned him gripping his phone against his head. “Where are you? You disappeared off the grid.”
“I need to make sure everything’s proceeding as planned.”
He cleared his throat. She imagined his spine straightening. “Yes. Andrew is ready for the day after tomorrow. I still think you shouldn’t attend the gala.”
Two days? Crap, she’d been out a lot longer than she thought. She didn’t want to go to the party at the DiFalco residence. She’d go as Elise and leave Viktor a note from Kiera or something. She hadn’t quite formulated the part of the plan where she provided him with information and also searched his place for information on Carol’s whereabouts. “You got anything new on Carol’s location?”
“We’re working on it.” He asked, “Are you okay? You had vampires on your tail and then you disappeared.”
“I’m not dead. Got the baby out. I’ll be in touch about meeting in Italy before the gala. We can talk more then about what happened. Later.” She clicked to end the call.
“How’re you?” asked a soft voice from the doorway.
“Velvet. Oh, come here, darling. How I’ve missed you.” She shifted Grace to her left arm and held out her right in invitation.
Vee pushed her dark hair off her face and tucked it behind an ear. She shuffled over to the sofa, sat, and leaned in, giving her a hug.
Kiera pulled her close until Vee rested her head on her shoulder.
“I was so scared,” Vee whispered. “I almost lost you.”
“With you as my doctor, there was no doubt I’d survive. You’re the best there is.”
“I did the best I could, but then you started coming apart in the middle. I don’t know what Michael and Blay found to fix you, but it worked.”
She didn’t meet Isaac. Good.
Kiera shifted the baby to a more comfortable position. “You did a great job. Maybe I just needed a little extra rest.” She pulled Vee tight against her. “I get to see my favorite niece, which I haven’t been able to do in months. I’ve missed you so much.”
The questions about the scar would likely come next.
“I’m your only niece. Someday, maybe, you’ll tell me how you got that scar and why your vampire healing doesn’t work on it.”
She murmured, “Perhaps.”
“So…you and Michael Durand? What’s up with that?” Vee asked.
“We bumped into each other in Paris.”
“Okay.” Her eyebrows shot into her bangs.
As casually as she could manage, she said, “I saved him when a few Squad vamps harpooned him. He yelled at me and was generally unappreciative. So I rescued him and took him home. To save him, of course.”
“You abducted him? I never met him until today, but there are rumors about him not being right in the head.”
“He’s just grumpy. I didn’t know who he was until after I rescued him. Was he nice to you? If not, he and I will talk.”
“Everyone, including Lexan, treads lightly around him. Of course, you’d waltz right up to the tiger and demand he not bite.”
“That’s because I bite back.”
Vee grinned. “Was he nice? Eh…I don’t know that I’d say that. He wasn’t mean, but he was intense. I’d heard things about him, most of which start with his hate for everything vampire. Apparently, that excludes you. He cared a whole hell of a lot about what happened to you. He left no doubt you surviving was the only option.”
“I think he thought he hated all of us until he met me. I excel at turning a person’s beliefs upside down. He’s something. He’s got those dreamy eyes and an ass to die for.” Kiera tensed. “Shit, did I just say that out loud?”
“You sure we’re talking about the same guy? The werewolf I met scowls all the time and intimidates everyone.”
“Did you drug me with something? I’ve felt tipsy since I woke up.”
“I might’ve given you some morphine for pain.”
She threw her head back and stared at the ceiling. “I despise drugs of any form. They make me verbal vomit.”
Vee craned away from her. “Dreamy eyes and great ass?”
“He’s like hotness on a lollipop. I could lick him up and down. Crud, I said that out loud again, didn’t I?” She lowered her voice. “We’re under doctor-client confidentiality, aren’t we?”
“We’re under aunt-niece confidentiality. I don’t think hotness or lickability are things anyone on the planet would apply to that guy.”
“Seriously? You have to admit he’s gorgeous.” She fanned her face. “He’s got some issues with his past, but who of us doesn’t have quirks? And he’s cranky, probably because he hasn’t been laid since the Middle Ages. Can you imagine such a bleak existence?”
“You’re crushing on him.” Vee drew back with a double eyebrow raise. “He’s the scariest vampire killer alive. You are what he likes to kill. Some say he takes pleasure in drawing out the pain. That means he’s dangerous to you, and we haven’t even talked about your urge to bite. You don’t have my mother’s self-control. Snap out of this before you find yourself”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“dead.”
“I don’t have a thing for him. I have an appreciation for sexiness regardless of species. Did he hurt you?” She might feel woozy and weak as an anemic kitten, but she’d hunt Michael down if he laid one finger on her niece.
“No, of course not. I’ve got one of Lexan’s Elite Guard with me. He’s probably right outside the door. You know Lexan won’t let me go anywhere alone.” She lowered her voice once more. “That guard out there would die if he overheard you saying those things about Michael. I’ve never seen him scared of anything until I watched him tiptoe around the wolf. Acts like Michael is a grenade about to go off.”
Just what Kiera needed—to cause a bunch of drama in the ranks by crossing the wolf-vampire boundary. “You think he overheard me?” she whispered. “I can smell him out there.”
“Even if he did, doubtful he’d believe it as anything real,” Vee murmured back then pivoted toward the door. “I haven’t seen the baby this relaxed or sleeping since they brought both of you in,” she practically shouted. “You always do have the magic touch when it comes to babies.”
Kiera winked and said loudly, “They just need a little loving and a lot of understanding. She’s a precious little squish, isn’t she?”
“Sure.” Vee fluttered her fingers in front of Grace’s nose, causing the baby to burrow her face in Kiera’s shoulder and squeal happily. The two of them repeated the routine a few times, until both Grace and Vee dissolved into laughter.
“I hope to live to see you have one of these someday. When you do, I might move in to help take care of the baby and never leave. I always wanted one.” Immediately, Kiera wished to take the words back. The topic of kids was a contentious subject in Vee’s household. Her husband, Lexan, was reluctant to have more children, since there was a higher risk of maternal death for a vampire-werewolf mix, like Vee.
“Might be nice someday,” Vee said wistfully. “Not sure how these boys would handle a full-blood vampire around all the time helping me take care of the baby, though.”
“True. I’m feeling a bit light-headed, and I keep saying things I shouldn’t. I’ll lie down for a bit.” She put the baby in the crib, but the second Grace’s back hit the mattress, the child sat up and screamed. She pulled herself up the wooden rails and held out her hands, crying hysterically.
“All right, sweet pea, you can come with me, but I need a rest. So you with me is about sleep. Got it?”
“As if the baby’s going to give you a thumbs up. Really, Kiera? Let me help you.” Vee surged forward, catching Kiera’s elbow when she wobbled. “We’re getting more blood for you, but all we could
find here was three bags of Type O at a local clinic. They’re flying some in.”
“A bit of sleep and I’ll be fine.”
Vee helped her back to the room she’d been in before.
Kiera pointed at the Impressionist-style painting of flowers on the wall that was almost lost amongst the ferns. Not a huge painting but familiar. She squinted to make out the signature. “Oh my. That’s a Klimt. Who the hell can afford one of his? Where are we?”
“This is my father’s place. I mean, it’s Blay’s house in Poland.”
She’d never been here. Supposedly, it was a fortress masquerading as a farm.
“That makes sense. He was probably buddy-buddy with Klimt back in the day. Blay always did have a knack for recognizing genius. Do you know if there’s a robe or something I can borrow? I feel underdressed.”
Vee opened the room’s bathroom and removed a generic white robe.
“That’ll do.” She pulled Vee in for one more hug, holding the baby to the side. “Thank you. You call me if that wolf you married steps out of line.”
“What’re you going to do? Sic Michael on him?”
“That’s an interesting idea, but I’m not sure I wield that much power over Michael. However, he does owe me a favor. Remind Lexan of that next time he’s being bullheaded.”
…
Kiera slipped back to the baby’s room twenty minutes later to put a fast-asleep Grace in her crib. She nodded to the wolf who identified herself as the nanny. Her mind wasn’t a hazy mess anymore, probably because the morphine had worn off. Now that she could think straight, she set off in search of Blay.
At the top of the stairs, she overheard a congregation of many wolves, none of whom sounded familiar. She slid down the hall away from them and rounded into a spacious kitchen. A lone male werewolf with a wiry, almost feline physicality and graying blond hair stood at the gas stove.
She bit back a smile. “Karlos, you know a watched pot never boils.”
Karlos whirled with a teabag in hand whose label read “Aquamarine Mint.” “Kiera? You shouldn’t be up. You most definitely shouldn’t be traipsing around with all the other company in the household. They wouldn’t be kind if they found you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever traipsed in my life. Give me a hug or a smile or something.” When the austere wolf scowled, deepening the crinkles of his face, she chewed on her upper lip to suppress a smile. “Someday I’ll get you to loosen up. Maybe you’ll even wear the top button undone or tell Blay to piss off and make his own tea.”
“I’d never.” Dismissively, he returned to his watch on the kettle.
The fussy wolf had worked for Blay’s family for centuries—as somewhat of a cross between a butler, an aide, and a chief advisor. When her sister had married Blay, Karlos had been one of the few wolves to extend immediate kindness instead of suspicion to Arie—and his warmth had included Kiera and Carol, as well. These days, he occasionally helped Kiera with the logistics of relocating rescued wolves. “You’re one of a kind. You’ll always have a place in my heart for being who you are. Where’s your keeper?”
Karlos arranged biscuits on a tray along with accoutrements for tea. He poured boiling water into the silver pot. With flair, he dunked the teabag and hung it over the edge outside the pot as he closed it. “I was about to bring him a tray. He’s in his reading space.”
She couldn’t tell if that was an invitation but didn’t get a diplomatic go away when she paced behind him down the hallway past a rectangular room featuring three frescoes of boats and bridges. A turn led them past several Greek marble statues along the wall. At each window, although curtained, she avoided the daylight. It wouldn’t turn her to ash, but she was always more vulnerable to a sunburn for twenty-four hours after Isaac used magic to heal her. A peek between the curtains showed the manor’s orange roof and stucco walls casting an almost perfect reflection in a calm lake.
Their jaunt ended in a spacious, red-hued library lit by standing lamps rather than overhead lighting, with a fire roaring in the brick fireplace. Blay rose from a leather sofa, towering over her at six-foot-three. He discarded an e-reader and pushed his long hair back behind his shoulders.
It felt good to see him. She’d been suspicious of him when Arie had first confessed her love for a werewolf, but he’d soon won her over with his fathoms-deep love for her sister. Even though Arie had been gone for years now, he still wore his grief like a shroud. The fact tugged at her heart.
“I like the suit. What prompted you to get all fancied up?” Kiera asked. “For me?”
He loosened his blue tie. “Vee’s here, which I must thank you for, even if drawing her here required that you almost die. Haven’t seen my daughter in a while. Didn’t want her to think her father unable to keep up with the latest style.”
Blay wasn’t yet entirely comfortable around Vee since they’d only met each other a little over a year ago. Prior to that, Vee had believed herself full vampire and had no clue as to her ancestry until she started partially shifting to wolf, requiring her father and Vee’s now-husband, Lexan, to rescue her from her vampire family before they executed her. Elite vampires despised werewolf-vampire mixes, and standing orders from Viktor were to execute them on the spot.
“You look good, Blay. You always do. I’m glad you chose to remain with the living when we lost…” Her vision became teary as she surveyed the werewolf her full-blooded vampire sister had loved more than life itself. Arie’s love for Blay had put her in the crossfire between species and led to her death. “I miss her so much.”
“Me, too,” he rasped out. “Arie was a beautiful soul.”
“That she was. She loved you with every bit of it.” Kiera stepped toward him, took his hand, and squeezed. “You will always be family, even though you become more reclusive and quirkier as time passes.”
“What were you thinking, to go after that child?” He removed his hand from hers and waved for her to take a seat.
She remained silent, hoping that was a rhetorical question.
“A baby. They’re psychos,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“That’s what this war has come to. It scares me. You need to find a way to bring the violence to an end. I know you have your people working on alternative weapons.” She selected one of the overstuffed chairs across from him, which prompted him to sit as well.
“I heard Viktor visited you and issued a threat. He’s got Carol…” He poured each of them a cup of tea. “Sugar?”
She shook her head to deny sugar. Figures Michael would fill him in. “I wasn’t aware you were chummy with Michael or, really, almost any wolf other than Karlos. I thought you valued being antisocial. Why’d you invite him to bring me to your secret house?”
“We used to be close, but we hadn’t spoken in years until you saved him in Paris.” He glanced up from his tea. “We had a falling out over my relationship with your sister. Michael retained unyielding species loyalty after the first war. My falling for Arie was a taboo line in the sand for him. Meeting you sent him scurrying to me for perspective.” He lifted his cup to his lips, his face remaining devoid of emotion even though her empath ability picked up all kinds of feelings from him.
“Perspective?” She reached for her own cup and lifted it to sip. “Hot.”
“What’s hot? Him running to me or the tea?” Blay’s eyes sparkled.
“Both, I suppose.” Normally, she’d change the subject away from her personal life, but seeing even a spark of happiness or amusement or whatever it was from him had her wanting to emote all over the place.
“Michael hasn’t led an easy life, but to my knowledge, no one ever frazzled him like you.”
“Never?” Oh my. That was her heart picking up its pace. Blay would detect it. She blew on the hot tea. “He’s old enough to have had at least one or two liaisons that flayed his heart.”
“Perhaps
, but you are unique.”
She set down the teacup, deciding it needed a few minutes to cool. “I’m not sure if you meant that as a compliment or you’re about to list everything that’s wrong with me.”
“You’re independent, impulsive with a hero complex, and more than a bit disconcerting. That combo in someone beautiful who showed kindness to Michael threw him off balance.”
Okay, it was time to end this topic. Nothing good could come of it anyway. “You forgot to mention vampire. I roughed him up a bit and stuffed him in a coffin on wheels to save his life. He was pissed.” She shrugged.
“Something more than arguing went down. I don’t have the details, unless you’d like to share.” He paused as if waiting for her to speak. “My life was boring as hell until the past week. The best of it has been Michael and his thing for you.”
A thing that could get her killed and be the ruin of everything she’d worked for. “You must be misinterpreting. We’re on opposite sides of a conflict he thrives on perpetuating.”
“Growing older makes all of us more cautious and less curious about the world, but when the world clobbers us over the head and makes us feel unbalanced, we pay attention and take risks.”
“Unhinging someone stuck in their ways isn’t hard. That doesn’t mean much.”
“Ah, Kiera. You don’t get it. You helped him feel things again, whether it was real or unintentional. With feeling, life becomes precious again.” He relaxed back in his chair. “This might be an interesting ride for you.”
“I didn’t realize you’re now an expert on my life and how I should live it. Should I take notes?”
He set down his teacup and folded his arms across his chest. “Do you like him?”
“Are you asking me if you think he and I could be mated? Or are you asking if I’m considering him as a potential lover?”
“Mating him? Neither of you are ready for the complications of that. Lovers? You’d bite him and die. We both know you aren’t Arie.” He put on a show of apathy, but she picked up acute curiosity verging on fascination from him. “Truly tragic,” he said with a sigh.