Bound by Blood (Cauld Ane Series) (16 page)

Kade didn’t wait for Cole to answer her. He turned and followed Alasdair to the car waiting at the entrance of the path.

“You know, I feel fine now,” she said.

Kade set her feet on the ground and helped her slide into the backseat. He slid in next to her and pulled the door closed.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as Alasdair drove away from the chaos.

Kade watched her closely. “Alasdair called me.”

Sam rubbed her forehead. “Do you communicate telepathically?”

“Excuse me?”

She dropped her head on the back of the seat. “Y’all just got there so quickly.” Her head was spinning and her nausea was returning rapidly.

“Don’t try to think. We’ll talk it out when you’re feeling better.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Tell me about the man.”

“I told the police I’d never seen him before.”

He shook his head. “Not the one who attacked you. The other one.”

“Cole? He’s the guy I told you about. The one on the plane.”

Kade ran his thumb over her hand. “Right.”

“Why?”

“How well do you know him?”

“Well enough. I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” he accused.

She frowned. “Why does this feel like an interrogation?”

“I’m sorry, Samantha, I just want to make sure you’re not in danger. There are a lot of people who’d like to get their hands on information our company has access to, and I want to make sure you’re protected.”

She let out a quiet hiss. “If you’re suggesting I’d reveal company secrets to anyone, let alone someone I just met, then I don’t know why you bothered to hire me.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Kade grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’ll explain more when you’re feeling better.”

Alasdair pulled the car to the back of their building and set the brake.

Sam felt less dizzy than before, but as soon as Kade released her hand and slid from the car, her dizziness returned.

He helped her out and then reached inside for her jacket. She had to lean against the car in order not to fall over, but as soon as he wrapped an arm around her waist, her vertigo calmed. Kade walked her to the elevator and they rode to the thirty-second floor. They made their way to his apartment and he pushed open the door.

Fiona rushed to them, her face whiter than usual. “What happened? Are you all right? Come sit down.”

“Fi. Slow down, love,” Kade said.

“Sorry. Bring her to the sofa. I’m making tea.”

“I’m fine, really,” Sam insisted. “Bump on the head. So not a big deal.”

Fiona waved toward the coffee table. A black leather satchel sat in the middle of it. “I got your bag.”

Kade smiled. “Thank you.”

He settled Sam on the couch and then sat facing her on the coffee table. Opening his medical bag, he pulled out a pen light. “I’m going to check you now, all right?”

Sam nodded.

He leaned in and examined her eyes, then wrapped his large hands around her head, gently pulling her scrunchy out and pressing on her scalp to check for tenderness. She whimpered when his fingers grazed a particularly sore spot. He separated her hair and looked closer before sitting back on the table. “You have quite the goose egg, but no bleeding. We’ll get some ice on it and I think you’ll live.”

“I think I said something similar, didn’t I?” Samantha yawned. “Sorry, I just want to sleep.”

“
That
you can’t do.”

Sam nodded. “I know.”

“In a couple of hours, we’ll see how you’re feeling, and then,
maybe,
you can sleep.”

“Okay. I’ll just go home and take a shower.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Kade said.

“Please. I’ll be fine. I’ll get dressed and meet you at the office.”

“You’re not going to the office, Samantha. You need to rest.”

“I have a job to do. One that you’re convinced I’m going to screw up.”

Fiona gasped and glared at Kade. “What?”

Kade squeezed Sam’s knee and frowned. “I said nothing of the sort.”

“You implied it,” Sam countered.

“Pain makes you grumpy I see.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

“I look forward to whatever you have to throw my way.” Kade leaned over and kissed her cheek. “In the meantime, I’ll get you some tea.”

He put his instruments back in his bag and Sam took her chance to escape. “It’s okay, Kade. I need to get to work.” She felt nausea overwhelm her, and sat down again. “In a minute.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow in her brother’s general direction, but Sam had no idea what they were silently communicating.

“Anna has canceled my appointments for today, and you can work on the samples as soon as you’re better,” he said.

Sam laid her hand on his arm and the nausea stopped. “Kade, really, I’m a big girl. I’m fine. I’ll shower, and if you insist on me staying home, I won’t argue, but I can’t ask you to throw your entire day away.”

“What if you pass out while you’re in the shower and no one’s there to help?” he countered.

He had a point, but she still didn’t want to impose. “I won’t pass out in the shower.”

“I can take her home and make sure she’s safe,” Fiona offered and turned to Sam. “If you don’t mind.”

“No I don’t mind.” Samantha pulled her hand away from Kade. Nausea hit her like a wall and she grasped his arm again. “Okay, I don’t know what the heck is going on at the moment, but something’s not right.”

Kade laid his hand over hers. “Tell me.”

“I feel great as long as I’m touching you, but if I take my hand away, I feel like I’ve been hit in the head.” She wrinkled her nose. “Just ignore me. I’m a little rattled.”

“Let’s put the shower idea on hold,” Kade said. “We’re not going anywhere for the moment, so you should rest and have a cup of tea.”

“I’m fine. Seriously, I feel much better.”

Kade dropped her hand and Sam was hit with dizziness. “What the—?”

He wrapped his hand around her wrist and her dizziness dissipated almost as quickly as it came.

“I’ll make that tea, eh?” Fiona said and escaped to the kitchen.

“What are you doing to me, Kade?” Sam asked as she sat back on the couch. “This goes way beyond the ability to calm me down when I’m upset.”

Before he could respond, Sam’s cell phone rang and she pulled it from her pocket. Cole’s name popped up on the screen. “Hi, Cole.”

“Hey. How are you?”

“I’m doing much better.” Sam shifted in her seat. “Did they find out anything about the man who attacked me?”

“Nothing that they’d tell me. I have some contacts, so I’m looking into it.”

Samantha bit her lip. “He was probably just some crazy guy.”

“Maybe,” Cole said. “Are you home?”

“No. I’m at Kade’s.”

“Are you comfortable with that? If you’re not, I’ll come get you.”

“Bless your heart.” Sam smiled. “I’m fine. I’m going home in a bit. He’s just making sure I won’t pass out without anyone around.”

Cole hummed in agreement. “Probably a good idea. What about dinner tonight? I could swing by with a pizza.”

Kade shifted beside her and Sam glanced at him. His eyes were strange—the outside rims of his irises were red. She couldn’t stop a quiet intake of breath.

“Sam? Are you okay?” Cole asked.

She focused on the phone again. “Hmm? Yes. Fine. Sorry. Um, tonight—”

Kade stood, breaking contact with her, and Sam groaned. “Cole, I’m going to be sick. I’ll call you back.”

She hung up just as Fiona returned with the tea. “Kade!” she hissed. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?” Samantha asked, her head pounding again.

Kade sat next to Sam again and laid his hand on her knee. The pain and nausea slipped away. Sam glared at him. “You
are
doing something! What are you doing to me?” She pushed his hand away, regretting it immediately. “Ow! My head.” He took her hand, but she slipped from his hold and tried to stand up. “Don’t touch me.”

“Samantha.” Fiona reached for her. “Don’t try to move.” She took her arm and pushed her back onto the sofa. “Kade!
Calm sjálfur
.”

Samantha started to panic. “I need to go home.”

“No, Sam.” Fiona took her hand. “You need to stay until you’re steady.”

Tears streamed down Sam’s face. “I’m going to be sick.”

Kade said something Sam didn’t understand, but by the look on Fiona’s face, it wasn’t something she approved of. He sat down next to Sam again and took her hand. “I am so sorry, Samantha. I shouldn’t have done that. Let me help you.”

The pain and nausea were once again gone, and as much as Sam wanted to flee, she also wanted to be free of the pain, so she let him hold her hand. “What are you doing to me? Please don’t tell me it’s some kind of witchcraft or some weird cult thingy.”

He shook his head as he ran his thumb over her palm. “No. I promise. My personal beliefs would be in direct opposition to anything like that.”

“Then what are you doing? How are you doing it?”

“Angus can do the same for me,” Fiona piped in.

Kade shook his head. “Fiona.”

“Sorry.”

None of the fascinating conversation going on around her actually answered any of Samantha’s questions. Her head just filled with more. Kade sat with her for almost an hour, testing her pain level every fifteen minutes or so until she didn’t feel any more pain or nausea.

After forcing her to eat more food that she ever had at one sitting, he gave her the green light to go home and shower, but he insisted that she return once she was finished. She left his apartment, torn between confusion and feeling adored when he stood in the hallway and waited for her to let herself into her apartment.

Samantha closed the door and leaned against it, taking several deep breaths. Something strange was going on. She waffled between wanting to find out what it was and the desire to ignore it and hope it would go away. She was almost at the point of packing it in and going home. But she wasn’t a quitter, even if sometimes she wished she were.

She dropped her keys on the console and sat down at her computer. She needed to talk to Pepper, but she must have left her cell at Kade’s, and Pepper’s Skype status was offline.

It would have to wait. For now, she’d focus on getting comfortable and then she’d deal with the strangeness surrounding Kade.

* * *

Kade closed his door and turned to find his sister scowling at him, her hands on her hips and her face rising in color. “Leave it, Fi.”

“I will
not
leave it! You scared that poor girl half to death, after you purposely allowed her to feel pain because of what? Jealousy? You’re a bloody spiteful bastard sometimes, Kade.”

He slammed his hand against the wall. “I know it, damn it! I’m not proud of what I did, Fiona. But please, dear sister, continue to shove my pettiness down my throat.”

Fiona’s cell phone rang and she made her way to her purse. “This is not over.” She answered the call. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just giving my brother a verbal hiding. No, Kade.” She glared at him. “I’m aware of that. But right now he’s my brother, not my chieftain….and he deserves it.”

Kade paced the floor while he waited for his sister to finish her conversation. He berated himself for his treatment of Samantha. He was the worst mate in the history of the world.

“You are not,” Fiona said.

He hadn’t realized she was even off the phone.

Fiona pulled him to the sofa, tugging him down beside her. “You reacted to an emotion you’ve never felt before. Granted, you didn’t react well, but you’re not the worst mate in the world. You’re just not used to this.”

“She deserves better.”

“Then apologize. You’ll work it out, but I do think you need to tell her everything. She’s confused, and if she truly believes you’re some kind of a witch, you’ll lose her. Her beliefs are as strong as yours, and that goes against everything we hold true.”

“How am I supposed to tell the woman I met less than a month ago that we are to be mated for life because I’m a near-immortal Viking and it’s written in our DNA? And that once I bind her, she’ll be joined forever to the chieftain of a clan almost two thousand years old?”

Fiona chuckled. “Perhaps reword it a bit.”

“She’ll run, Fi.”

“I don’t think she will. I think you run a higher risk of losing her if you keep her in the dark. She’s going to need to know who we are eventually; otherwise, she’ll never find a cure. I trust her, Kade. She’s the one.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“Then trust her too. If you don’t start now, you’ll never have the bond you seek.”

He smiled. “When did you get so wise?”

“Years ago. Where have you been?”

The doorbell pealed and Kade made his way to the door. Samantha stood in the hallway, her damp hair loose and falling across her shoulders. She wore form-fitting yoga pants and a long-sleeved tee. Kade’s heart beat a little faster in response to her being so close.