Demons Kiss Read online

Chapter 10

 

  Seth swung the ax hard, lopping off the head of the first oversized vampire who attacked him. Blood spurted as the body collapsed like a sack of bricks, and the head went rolling away, its face contorted in a horrible grimace.

  But there were three more of Gregor's henchmen right behind the first one. They didn't talk; they just surged, growling, and swinging beefy arms at him. One caught him upside the head, and he stumbled, then caught himself, pushing up, swinging the ax and lopping off one foot at the ankle.

  The creature howled, falling down and rolling on the floor as the blood flowed. He would bleed out, and fast, right? Seth thought. That was the way Reaper had explained it-Hell, no time to think. There were more. God, where were they all coming from? He swung the ax again, hitting something, an arm or maybe a waist, and reached behind him to open the door. Surely Vixen had fled far enough by now to be safe.

  He opened the door, but they kept coming. One grabbed him by the shirt and jerked him back inside. Another one pegged him with a meaty fist, right in the face, knocking him to the floor, and a third stomped on his arm, then yanked the ax from his hand. The thug raised Seth's ax up over his head, and Seth covered his face with his free arm, preparing to meet his doom.

  And then he remembered the Noisy Cricket he'd reclaimed from Topaz. He rolled to dodge the falling ax, jerked the little weapon from the holster under his shirt, rolled and fired.

  The guy with the ax fell, dropping the weapon to the floor. There were still two others in Seth's face, and more beyond them, but he pointed the gun at them. "Stop. Just back off. Now-or you're next. "

  The gun only held one dart at a time, but these gorillas didn't know that. They backed off, staring at the weapon, and then at their comrade on the floor.

  "Pick him up," Seth said.

  One of them did. Then Seth herded them to the cage where Vixen had been kept like an animal. He made them get inside, shut the door. He'd broken the lock, but he wedged the ax handle between the bars. It wouldn't hold long against preternatural strength, but it might buy him a minute or two.

  Finally he turned and raced from the musty cellar, reloading his handy-dandy little weapon on the way. Up the stairs, grabbing a crowbar that was hanging from a nail on the wall as he went. Then he was outside, sucking in the blessedly fresh air. He closed the door behind him and stuffed the crowbar through the handle, to keep it from being easily opened.

  Reaper said, "I told you not to go inside unless it was safe. "

  Seth turned from the door, gripped Reaper's arm and hurried up the drive. "Hey, you're way too slow for comfort, pal. Still, it's good to know you care enough to come when I call. "

  "I never heard your call, Seth. I was summoned to your aid by a strange female. Your redhead, I presume. "

  "She's all right, then? Do you know where she-" He broke off at the sound of an agonized scream somewhere in the distance. He glanced at Reaper, then broke into a dead run, pulling the tranquilizer gun even as he sped into the forest, following the sound. Seth had been hurting before, battered, bruised, even cut in places during his struggle with Gregor's apes. But now his entire body was alive with pain, and he knew it was Vixen's hurt he felt.

  Someone was hurting her horribly.

  "I'm gonna kill whatever son of a-"

  And then he saw Vixen, on the ground, hugging herself, shaking and whimpering. He knelt beside her, touched her shoulder. "Vixen, what-"

  "Get away from her!" a woman snapped.

  Seth looked up to see the other one, the one who'd held Vixen's leash before. She was gripping a small black box in one hand like a weapon. "What did you do to her?" Seth demanded.

  "Back off, or I'll do it again. "

  Reaper was behind her. Surely he would make a move at any second. Take the dark bitch out. Save Seth's redhead.

  "But-" Seth said.

  Big mistake. The dark woman thumbed a button on the box, and Vixen shrieked and went rigid. Seth aimed the weapon and fired, but the bitch saw it coming and ducked. And then Reaper grabbed her hard, taking her completely by surprise-she'd been too focused on Seth to sense the other presence. Reap wrestled the box from her hand, holding her captive at the same time.

  She clawed his face like a rabid cat, and when he recoiled in pain, she jerked free of him, then, as Seth fired a second shot at her, she whirled and ran for all she was worth. "You'll be sorry for this, Reaper!" she shouted.

  Seth pocketed the gun and bent again, gathering Vixen, who had been reduced to a quivering mass, up in his arms. He held her as she trembled. "It's gonna be okay," he said. "We've got you now. We'll take care of you. "

  She managed to open her eyes and stare into his, looking for all the world like a small, wounded animal with no idea what was happening to it. Lifting a hand, she clawed at the collar around her neck.

  "Shock collar," Reaper muttered.

  Everything in Seth's body seemed to go cold at those words. He'd never felt hate the way he felt it right then. "If I see that bitch again, I'm gonna rip out her heart," he promised.

  But then he focused again on Vixen, weak, small, trembling in his arms. He thought she was in trouble. "I think she needs help, Reap. She needs Roxy. "

  "You look like you could use a little patching up yourself," Reaper said.

  But Seth couldn't take his eyes off the woman he held.

  "Seth, you're injured and tired. Let me carry her. "

  Seth only shook his head. "No. I found her. I saved her. I'll carry her. "

  "I could probably take a turn driving," Topaz said, "you know, if you're getting tired or anything. "

  Roxy glanced at her, and Topaz pasted a mask of disinterest on her face and tried not to feel the engine's overly noisy growl reverberating deep in the center of her chest, the way she'd been doing for the past couple of hours as they drove around the known vampire haunts of Savannah.

  Not that it had done them any good. Topaz had sensed only one vampire, at a nightclub at the edge of town, but whoever she was, she must have been decidedly shy of meeting others. The second Topaz tried to home in on her essence, she vanished beneath a shroud of protection, like a thick fog, blocking intrusion from any others. Topaz hadn't had the chance to discover the vampire's identity, much less whether she was one of the bad guys.

  It had been a decidedly disappointing night.

  "You know, I am getting a little tired," Roxy said. "You sure you can drive a stick?"

  "Pssh. "

  Roxy grinned. "I take it that's a yes. " She flipped on her turn signal and pulled onto the shoulder. They had just about given up and were headed back to home base. But there was still some distance yet to drive. Roxy brought the car to a stop and opened the heavy door.

  Topaz didn't bother with such formalities. Instead, she climbed over the stick shift to slide behind the wheel, then worried that she might have made herself look a tad too eager. Hell, she was eager.

  Roxy got in, closed her door and was just pulling her seat belt around her when Topaz slid the shift into first gear, eased off the clutch, pressed gently on the accelerator and felt the satisfying rumble of power underneath her as the car came to life. She tried to stifle a smile as she gave it more gas, then eased off to shift into second, then third. The power was all below and in front of her, and the sensation was like being in a chariot pulled by a thousand stallions. They'd named the car aptly, she thought. She shifted again, picking up speed with ease, and finally hit fifth gear and really cut loose.

  "Hot damn," she muttered. Then she bit her lip and shot a sideways glance at Roxy.

  The woman was grinning. "Yeah, I had the same reaction. I won't tell Seth if you won't. "

  "Deal. " Topaz took a corner without slowing down and came damn close to giggling. But she didn't. She did not giggle. But when she came to a steep hill and the Mustang ate the road without flinching, she almost broke that rule. Instead, she settled for putting he
r window down and letting the wind blow through her hair. She hadn't had this much fun since the first time she'd driven her Mercedes, and she thought this just might be better.

  And then she felt him.

  Jack.

  She hit the brake hard, and when the car started to lug and nearly stalled, she remembered the clutch, hit that, too, and pulled over.

  "What is it? What's wrong?"

  Topaz turned to Roxy, blinking. "I felt him. Just now. Close. "

  "Jack of Hearts?" Roxy asked, searching her face.

  Topaz wished Roxy wouldn't look so closely, because along with the sense of Jack had come a tightening of her throat, a heaviness in her chest and a burning behind her eyes. Damn him. She hated that the very thought of him still hurt so much. And she would be hanged before she admitted that to anyone.

  "Yes," Topaz said, swallowing to ease the hoarseness in her voice. "The bastard's here. Somewhere. "

  "Do you still sense him?"

  Topaz closed her eyes, focused, the car rumbling, impatient to be on its way. She eased the shift out of gear, so she could let off the clutch. "It's. . . very slight now. "

  "You could try calling out to him. Tell him you're in town and want to see him," Roxy suggested.

  Topaz opened her eyes wide. "Why the hell would I want to do that?"

  "Because he might respond, might tell you where he is. "

  "Please. "

  "Well, why wouldn't he? Look at you. He'd be insane not to be tempted. "

  Topaz warmed to the compliment. "Thanks for saying that. "

  "It's only the truth. And I know you're furious with him for what he did to you, but if you could fake it, maybe we could get a clue to where this rogue gang calls home. "

  "It wouldn't work. He wouldn't be tempted, because he never wanted me to begin with. Just my money. "

  "I seriously doubt that. "

  "Well, it's the truth. And besides, even if he wanted to see me, he wouldn't dare. He got to know me pretty well while he was playing the part of my devoted lover. He knows I'd rip his heart out if I saw him again. "

  Roxy blinked. "But you are going to see him again. I mean, that's why you're here, right?"

  Topaz nodded.

  "So why wait?"

  "I'm just. . . not ready. "

  "Hmm. " Roxy was quiet for a second. Then, "When you do see him, are you really going to do it?"

  "Do what?"

  "Rip out his heart?" Roxy asked.

  Topaz sighed. "I don't know what I'll do. I just know I'm not ready. Not yet. And I don't want to tip him off that I'm here. I mean, suppose word is out that I'm with you guys, that we're after Gregor? It would give the entire gang an unnecessary warning, give them a chance to get away or, worse yet, get ready for us. Maybe even attack us first. "

  "Mmm, a preemptive strike. We're not prepared to handle that. "

  "No, we're not. So you can see why my calling out to Jack right now would be a mistake. "

  "Not really. But I can see why we need to get ready. Let's head back to the mansion. We have work to do. "

  Topaz frowned at her, but put the car back into gear and drove. She tried to lose herself in the power of the motor, the feeling of might that came with controlling such an incredible vehicle. But her heart wasn't in it anymore. She couldn't stop seeing Jack's face, hearing his voice, feeling his touch, shivering all over with the memories.

  She ought to kill him. She really should.

  Gregor paced the great room, while Jack and Briar, the two closest to him, the two he most trusted, Jack thought, stood before the fireplace. There were other vampires in the gang, mostly young and easily influenced. Easily controlled. Not as easily controlled as those damn drones, of course, and Jack would have given his right arm to know how the hell Gregor had created them. But Gregor would never tell.

  As to the other vampires in the mansion, Gregor only used them for bringing wealth back to his coffers. He barely spoke to them, rarely interacted with them, and clearly didn't trust them.

  Not that he trusted Jack or Briar either, at least not entirely. Gregor didn't trust anyone entirely. He couldn't afford to trust easily, or often. But he considered them both lieutenants in his rogue army.

  Briar, devoted little idiot that she was, seemed truly remorseful and devastated by Gregor's anger at her. He himself, on the other hand, was laughing at the entire mess, keeping his head bowed to hide his expression rather than to show regret. He suspected Gregor was well aware of it, too.

  There was more going on here than met the eye, Jack thought, and he wasn't naive enough not to have noticed that. Gregor wasn't just a rogue vamp bent on mindless destruction, self-gratification and amassing untold wealth. No way. He was too smart, too cunning, for that. He had a goal. Jack just wasn't sure what it was.

  Gregor had been animated, almost excited, since word had come that a vampire hit man by the name of Reaper had been sent to kill him, more excited than Jack had ever seen him. He suspected Reaper's appearance was somehow related to Gregor's ultimate goal, and he was curious, but not for any other reason than that it would give him an edge. Jack was always on the winning team. Or at least, he pretended to be. In truth, he was never on anyone's side other than his own. He would always do what was best for him. Loyalty was bullshit, except when it came to being loyal to yourself. Look out for number one, because no one else is going to do it for you. Those were his mottoes, his rules.

  He didn't trust anyone, didn't need anyone, didn't go out of his way for anyone. Never had, never would.

  "I'm sorry, Gregor," Briar muttered for what had to be the twentieth time. "I tried. I did. I told you, they had some kind of weapon. A dart, with some sort of. . . drug. "

  "Yes. I'm familiar with it. " As he spoke, Gregor lifted the tiny dart Jack had plucked out of Briar's belly when he'd found her lying unconscious in the woods. Gregor hadn't even been worried when she'd failed to return from the evening hunt.

  Not that Jack had. He'd simply felt like taking a walk around the grounds, mainly to get away from Gregor's ranting over the missing prisoner and dead drones in the cellar he liked to refer to as the dungeon. The guy had a flair for drama.

  "What do you mean, you're familiar with it?" Briar asked. Her voice was soft now. It sickened Jack a little, not that he gave a damn, to see such a feisty, spirited woman subjugate herself to Gregor, who was far from worthy. And granted, Briar was the most heartless, cruel bitch he'd ever had the misfortune to come across. But she was also hot and strong and damn capable. In her approach to Gregor, however, she was as submissive and obedient as a mistreated lap dog.

  Sickening. Not that it was any skin off Jack's nose either way.

  "It's a tranquilizer, the only one known to be effective on our kind," Gregor explained. "It was developed years ago by scientists in the employ of the now-defunct DPI. "

  "DPI?" she asked.

  "It's not important," Gregor said, brushing off her curiosity. "What matters is that our enemies have it. It's good that we know in advance. "

  "I don't know why you didn't just let me have this Reaper killed before he found us, Gregor," Briar said.

  "Because I need him alive. If anyone does kill him, even by accident, I'll have their head on a pike before dawn. Is that understood?"

  She flinched at the volume of his edict, because he had all but shouted it. If anyone else shouted at Briar like that, Jack thought, she would probably drop-kick them into next week.

  "Yes, Gregor," she said meekly.

  "Oh, for the love of-" Jack bit his lip, but it was too late. He'd let it out. He was slipping. His role as Gregor's lackey wasn't going to survive if he didn't get a handle on himself. "Sorry," he said. "I just, uh-why is it you need him alive, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

  "That's my concern. "

  Jack frowned.

  "Getting the prisoner back is yours. It's too late now. Dawn is only a few hours away. B
ut come sundown, I want that to be your top priority. The two of you. "

  "It won't be a problem," Jack said. Though he was secretly glad the little fox had gotten away. Even a hardhearted prick like him had hated seeing her caged-especially with a zookeeper like Briar, who so enjoyed seeing her suffer. So really, he didn't intend to try overly hard to recapture her. But he would make a show of it, just to stay in Gregor's good graces. And maybe he would manage to get a look at the other side, while he was at it. Whoever they were, they were already proving to be good. Maybe a little too good.

  Seth was hurting pretty badly as he and Reaper walked up the long curving driveway to the plantation house he was already beginning to think of as home. He was carrying Vixen, and she was in far worse shape than he was. For a vampire, pain was magnified, and apparently so was the effect of electrocution. She was semiconscious, quivering in his arms, and he wondered if she would ever be all right again.

  And he wondered, too, why it felt so good to hold her, to touch her. It was different than touching any other woman had ever been. She was different.

  He couldn't get his own pain totally out of his mind, either, and even though The Reap-man had wrapped a few strips of cloth around his more serious wounds, they kept oozing blood at regular intervals.

  The gash on his thigh was bleeding now. He could feel it trickling and dampening his jeans. It worried him.

  "Hey, Reap, I'm not gonna bleed out, am I?"

  Reaper glanced at him, then at the wound in Seth's thigh. His jeans were torn there, thanks to whatever weapon those fucked up vamp-guards had used on him. He'd been too busy trying to stay alive to notice what it was. Reaper had tied the rag right over his jeans, so it wasn't like he could see much of the wound.

  "I don't think it's bleeding that heavily," Reaper said. "And Roxy will see to you as soon as we get inside. "

  "No way. Vixen first. "

  Reaper just crooked an eyebrow and kept walking.

  The front door swung open as soon as they got close, Roxy and Topaz both standing there, looking alarmed and speaking at once.

  "What the hell happened?"

  "Who's the comatose chick?"

  Seth climbed the steps, and they parted to let him pass. "Let's just get her inside. She's hurt bad. I'll explain as we go along," he said.

  "Right in here. " Roxy led the way up the stairs, flinging open a bedroom door for him.

  Seth carried Vixen inside and lowered her to the bed, but her arms remained locked around his neck, and when he tried to stand up, she clung tighter.

  As bad as the situation was, her holding on so tight made him smile just a little. "It's okay, it's okay," he said, trying for a soothing tone. "I'm not going anywhere. "

  "What happened to her?" Roxy asked, hurrying to the other side of the bed and bending over the beautiful redhead.

  "She was being held captive-kept locked in a cage like a freaking animal-by Gregor's gang. "

  "You found them?" Topaz asked.

  Seth nodded. "They had a shock collar on her, a fucking shock collar. There was this dark bitch of a vampires-heartless whore. She had the control, zapped her-I don't even know how many times. She was down by the time we got to her. She's been like this ever since. "

  Topaz looked from Seth to Reaper. "Did you see any sign of Jack there?"

  "No. But I'm sure he's with them. "

  Roxy was leaning over Vixen, tucking a heavy blanket around her to warm her. Seth had pried Vixen's arms from around his neck, but he had to sit on the edge of the bed and hold her hands, instead, to keep the look of panic from coming back into her nut-brown eyes every time they opened to seek him out.

  "She needs to feed," Roxy said. "Living blood. The electricity hit her hard. She's way beyond weak-her entire system is out of whack. She's shocky. I think she'll probably rejuvenate with the day sleep, but the way she is right now, she's not very damn likely to live that long. "

  "I've got it," Seth said. He rolled back his sleeve to reveal a cut on his forearm, tore away the rag that Reaper had tied around it, and pressed it to Vixen's lips. Her eyes had been closed, but they fluttered open as her lips trembled against his skin. She met his eyes, her own full of questions and fear.

  "It's all right," he said softly. "It's okay. Drink. It'll make you better. "

  Her gaze never straying from his, she closed her lips around the small cut and suckled him. The blood began to flow, and Seth was totally unprepared for the feeling that rose like a wave from the pit of his soul, bigger and more powerful with every movement of her lips, every touch of her hungry little tongue, until it engulfed him utterly. He was reeling, mouth agape, eyes wide, his entire body alive with unbearable sensation, incredible pleasure and intense desire. Vixen seemed to feel it, too, because her small hands closed around his arm, holding it hard to her as she fed more eagerly, almost desperately.

  "Roxy, Seth's been wounded, too," Reaper warned. Seth heard him as if from a distance. "Don't let her take too much. "

  Even as Reaper spoke, Seth grew dizzy, and a peculiar weakness came over him. He swayed a little. And then Roxy's hand encircled his wrist. "Enough, Seth," she whispered, and tugged his arm away.

  "I'll get bandages. God, Seth, look at you. " Topaz hurried from the room, then returned only seconds later with supplies Seth didn't even know they'd had.

  He sat there, stunned by the power of what he felt, unable to move or speak or take his eyes away from Vixen's as she lowered her head onto the pillows, still holding his gaze. Her eyes were wide, searching, glassy-maybe, he thought, glassy with the effects of the same powerful things he was feeling.

  Roxy taped the wound in his forearm, then bandaged it. She did the same with the gash on his thigh.

  "You should lie down," she said.

  He didn't. He sat there, staring at Vixen, drowning in her.

  "So are you going to tell us what happened, or what?" Topaz asked.

  He nodded. Vixen's big brown eyes fell closed, and he was finally able to tear his gaze away from her. "I felt her. . . before," he said. "She's the one I sensed, calling out for help, the night you brought me over, Reaper. And several times since. And again tonight. "

  "It's true," Reaper said to the others. "That's how we found Gregor's band. Seth followed his sense of her, and I followed Seth. When we got there, we saw two women. "

  "One woman and one tyrant, you mean," Seth corrected. "Vixen was running, jumping, dancing in the tall grass, all while wearing a collar. The other one-dark as a demon and twice as mean-was watching her, holding that damn remote in one hand and a freaking leash in the other. When she took Vixen back inside and caged her up, she and some of the others left to go feed. Reaper decided to follow them, and I stuck with her. "

  "Yes, promising not to go inside unless you were sure it was safe," Reaper said.

  Seth shrugged. "That's another thing. I tried to scan that place, and I couldn't get anything. Nothing. It was like a dead zone. "

  Reaper frowned. "That would explain why I never knew you were in trouble until she told me. "

  Seth nodded and continued his tale. "I couldn't just leave her there. "

  "We could have gone back later, Seth. We could have returned with more backup, with a plan of action, with a rudimentary map of the place and an idea of how many guards there were, of their strengths and weaknesses and habits. You were reckless. Walking into a den of rogue vampires like that could have been suicide. "

  Topaz widened her eyes in what Seth took to be sheer disbelief. "A den of them? How many were there?"

  Seth grinned, more pleased with himself than was probably either wise or called for. Still, he lifted his chin a little as he spoke. "I think I took out seven or eight. "

  "Five," Reaper corrected. "I felt five deaths inside as you were closing the door. "

  "You barely had a second to sense anything, Reap. I know there were at least six," Seth went on. "Probably more. I took the
m out with nothing but an ax and one dart from the Noisy Cricket. You should have seen it. I was awesome. "

  "You're insane!"

  Seth frowned, puzzled, because Topaz sounded angry with him, rather than impressed. "What, no praise for my skills? I know you didn't think I had it in me, Tope, but I do, and I just proved it. Would it kill you to give me a little credit here?"

  "You don't need credit, you need your head examined. You could have been killed, you idiot. "

  The lightbulb flicked on over his head all at once. He found himself surprised, but also kind of smugly pleased, at what he saw when it did. "You really do care. Who'd have figured?"

  "In your dreams, Seth. "

  Seth shrugged. "Hey, I don't need you to admit it. I know. Thanks, Tope. "

  "I should bite you. "

  He grinned at her, then glanced at Reaper. Fun as it was playing with the princess, there were important things he mustn't forget about. "There was something off about those vamps who were left behind to guard the place," he said. "Something. . . not quite on the bubble, you know?"

  "How so?"

  "I don't know. They just seemed. . . kind of zombified. "

  Reaper blinked. "Is that a word?"

  "You know, like they weren't all there. Kind of dull-minded. "

  "Like drones," Reaper interpreted.

  "Yeah, like that. Any idea what that could mean?"

  "Perhaps Gregor has found a way to create them that way. Maybe he's keeping them weak and complacent by feeding them very little, or by some other means. It would explain how you managed to take out five of them single-handedly. "

  That stung. "Six. And they weren't physically weak, pal. Just mentally a little slow. Can't I get props from anybody for this?" He glimpsed, just barely, a little spark in Reaper's eye that might have been humor, and almost gaped. The miserable bastard was teasing him! Seth didn't know he had it in him.

  "The only prop you'll get from me is my sincere relief that you didn't get yourself killed. I suppose you do deserve credit for staying alive. "

  "And rescuing the prisoner," Seth said.

  "Yes, because we so needed one more stray," Reaper muttered.

  Seth pretended not to hear him. "What happened on your end, anyway? You never told me. "

  "The group I followed split up," Reaper said. "I stuck with Briar. "

  "Who?"

  "That's her name. The, uh. . . the dark one. "

  "The evil bitch from hell? I figured her name was Lucifer. "

  Reaper averted his eyes. "She took a victim. A drunk man, as he left a local bar. Got him into his car and took him right there, on a public street where anyone could have seen. "

  "Brass ovaries on that one," Roxy said. "She kill him?"

  "I pulled her off before it went that far. "

  "But I'll bet she intended to," Seth said, and he didn't make it a question.

  "Yes," Reaper admitted. He drew a breath and went on. "She knows I've come for Gregor. I got the impression he knows, too, and that he's waiting. And now she knows I'm not alone, that I have Seth working with me, and that the two of us stole their captive. "

  "Well, we already knew they were on to you, Raphael, when they sent that semi to try to crush your ass in your car. But at least they didn't know you weren't alone," Roxy said, glancing at Topaz.

  Topaz shrugged. "They still don't know that you and I are also on the team, Roxy. "

  "No, they don't. Which means you could still contact Jack without alerting him. "

  Topaz lowered her eyes. Reaper asked, "What's this about?"

  "She sensed him nearby tonight, while we were running errands and searching for signs of the rogues," Roxy said. "I suggested she call out to him, tell him she's in town and wants to see him. Then see if she can get any information from him. "

  "Yeah, like where they're holed up. " Topaz flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "But we know that now, thanks to Seth's bond with the damsel in distress, so it's totally unnecessary. "

  "You might learn other things, though," Reaper said. "How many of them there are, what their schedule is like, when they feed, what they were doing with this captive. "

  "You want to know that stuff, ask them yourself. " Topaz looked at the girl in the bed, deliberately changing the subject, Seth thought. "So what's her story?"

  Seth studied Vixen for a moment. She seemed oblivious to their conversation, and he thought she might be sleeping. "I don't know. I mean, I think she and I are connected. You know that bond they say is stronger between one of us and one of the Chosen than it is with any other? I think she was that one for me before she was transformed. Or maybe I was for her, before I was changed. Either way, it's still there. " He sighed. "Dammit. "

  "Seth?" Topaz stared at him and then at Vixen, then back again.

  He tried to paste a look of practical, no-nonsense seriousness on his face.

  She rolled her eyes, then shot a look at Reaper. "You knew this? And you let him feed her from his own body? Are you insane?"

  Reaper sighed and waved a hand.

  Seth frowned at them both. "Wait. Am I missing something here?"

  "Sharing blood makes any bond stronger, Seth. Incredibly stronger. Good grief, no wonder you look like you've been smacked upside the head with a freakin' love-club. Rookies. " Topaz shook her head, sent Reaper one more scowl for good measure, then said, "Go on, Seth, what else do you know about her?"

  "I don't know anything about her, except her name. Vixen. "

  "No idea why they held her?"

  "No. "

  "You didn't ask her?" Topaz asked.

  "Of course I did. She didn't know, either. "

  Topaz studied Seth's prize where she lay in the bed. "I think she seems. . . strange. Different. " She looked at Reaper. "Are you getting that, too? The sense of her, her scent, her energy? It's vampire, but. . . something else, too. "

  "Yeah, I'm getting it, too. Did from the beginning. " Reaper sighed. "We should turn in, it'll be daylight soon. " Then he looked at the windows, and Seth followed his gaze.

  The windows were completely covered in black felt, taped firmly in place.

  Roxy nodded when they both looked at her. "Yeah, Topaz and I did that tonight, while you guys were out picking up strays and battling drones. Shopped for supplies, and then did some decorating. All the bedrooms are safe for you to use now. And they all lock from the inside. "

  "I like sleeping in a real bedroom," Topaz said. "And there's no reason for us to be cramped up in some dank basement or all sharing that theater room, when there are a dozen perfectly good bedrooms in this house. "

  "For once, princess, I agree with you," Seth said.

  She smiled. "Don't even think about the corner room at the end of the hall. I've claimed that one already. It's got a Jacuzzi. "

  "Actually, I thought I'd bunk in here tonight. "

  Everyone gaped at him, brows rising, eyes widening, speculation careening through the air like a bat on crack.

  "If she wakes alone, she might not know where she is. She might freak out. But she'll remember me. You saw the way she was clinging to me. I just want to make sure she's okay. That's all. "

  "Makes sense to me," Roxy said. "I've gotta go get a bite to eat, folks. My belly button's touching my backbone. And by the way, I've called dibs on the suite at the opposite end of the hall from Topaz's. It's got a sauna. "

  She left the room, Topaz right behind her. Reaper remained a moment longer. "I'll take one of the rooms next to this one, in case you need me," he said.

  "Yeah. " Seth sighed. "Just one question before you head out. "

  "Yes?"

  Seth met his eyes and smiled a little. "Can I keep her?"

  "We have too many people underfoot as it is. "

  "Yeah, but if she leaves us, they'll get her again. You saw her before, Reap. You and Tope are right, there is something different about her. Something innocent and naive
and vulnerable. She's. . . she's like a child. They'll get her back if we turn her away, leave her on her own. "

  "Seth, we're here on a mission. Not to take care of homeless vampires. "

  "If they get her, they'll cage her again. Torture her some more. Maybe shock her, or even kill her, to punish her for running away. "

  Reaper's gaze moved from Seth to the woman in the bed. His expression softened. Seth saw it, surprised there was a soft bone in the man's entire body, and knew he'd won.

  "If she wants to stay with us, she may. As long as she doesn't get in the way. But, Seth, you cannot afford to be distracted while this situation lasts, no matter how much you feel for her. You drop your guard, you could end up dead. Understand?"

  "Absolutely," Seth said. But he was so busy studying the way the colors in her hair were lighter in some places and darker in others that Reaper could tell he wasn't really paying attention.