Cold Blooded (8 page)

I flung my door open before anything else could register.

“Naomi! We’re here!” I yelled as I ran headlong into the forest.

6

I slowed to a jog, turning my head from side to side trying to search for Naomi’s scent trail.

“
Jesus Christ
, you can’t keep doing that,” Rourke growled, running up alongside me. “In the future, I’m going to have to shackle you to my wrist with some spelled handcuffs.”

My wolf barked at the word “handcuffs,” but I was too preoccupied. I stopped and inhaled as I spun in a slow circle. “Why isn’t she here?” Then I picked up a new scent. It was familiar, yet changed. I grabbed on to Rourke’s sleeve. “Do you smell that?” I started running again. “Naomi!” I called. “Where are you?”

Rourke moved behind me, keeping pace with me easily. “He smells pissed off.”

“I know.” Ray’s signature had changed, but he still smelled like his usual malice. But I guess that was to be expected. At least we knew he had survived the transformation. Ray was going to be angry whether he lived or died. He always smelled pissed off. Now he just smelled like a pissed-off vampire.

We both jogged farther into the forest, into thicker tree cover, our noses finally leading us in the right direction. We covered a mile in a few minutes, running parallel to the river, heading toward the sulfur. Their scents were stronger here, even though the sulfur was doing its best to interfere.

“There’s a break in the trees.” Rourke pointed. “Let me go first.”

“Let’s go together.” I slowed next to him. “I’m not breakable china.”

Rourke snorted as his hand shot around my wrist, bringing us to a stop. “Just be prepared for the worst. He smells lethal.”

I tried to steel myself.
Get ready
, I told my wolf.
This is going to be ugly.
“If Naomi was forced to bring him here early, there must have been major complications. It’s lucky we arrived when we did.”

“There’s a possibility something went wrong with the transformation process,” Rourke said.

I didn’t want to think about that.

I was ultimately responsible. I’d made a split-second decision to let Naomi try to save Ray’s life. My logic had been if Ray didn’t want to be a vampire, we could end his life again. But this way he had a choice. In the end, I felt I owed him something. For all his orneriness, he had begun to accept us, to understand there was something different in the world. He had tried to help me and had his throat torn out for his efforts.

I hoped I’d made the right choice.

Rourke and I crept through a natural parting in the trees and entered a small clearing right by the stream’s edge.

“
Ma Reine
, it’s good to see you again,” Naomi said as she moved forward. “I’m sorry I could not come out to meet you. I could not leave him alone, even for a minute.”

I was shocked by her appearance.

But I was even more shocked by the scene in front of me.

Chains rattled as an angry voice ripped through the air. “Nice of you to join the party,
Hannon
. Glad you could finally pencil us in. Do you like what you see?” His irises shot silver one beat before a blanket of cruel black cascaded over them completely, leaving no white. He looked feral. “This is your fault,” he accused. “You did this to me.”

“Ray,” I whispered.

“No, not Ray anymore.” He hissed, his fangs snapping down sharply, distorting his sneer. “Was this your plan all along? To make me into a freak? You wanted me to sign up for your cult from the very beginning. But then on the road you made me start to trust you. Hell, I even
helped
you. And this is my reward? I’m going to eat your intestines once I’m free. Do you hear me?” He raged against his chains, which were wrapped tightly around his chest. They held, but just barely. “I’ve got nothing better to do than hunt you down, Hannon. For a goddamn eternity!”

“I am sorry,” Naomi said, her head bowed, her hands crossed in front of her. “He has been … difficult to control.”

“I thought newborn vamps were fledglings? Shouldn’t he be concerned about where his next meal is coming from instead of exacting his vengeance on me?” Rourke paced over to the tree where Ray was chained. “I was under the impression new vampires were incoherent in the beginning.”

“He did not go through any of the normal stages.” Naomi shook her head, her soft French lilt barely above a whisper. “I do not understand it. He awoke in a rage. I was able to find these chains, but he breaks them often. He is weak, because he has refused to feed, and he cannot fly, so I am able to catch him when he … flees. But it has taken its toll. I had no choice but to come here. I had hoped you would come early, because I could not risk bringing him into a populated city to find you.”

I wrenched my gaze from a furious Ray to take in Naomi’s appearance again. Her clothes were tattered and full of blood. Fresh claw marks stood out along her neck and arms, healing as I watched. Her normal chestnut locks hung in dirty strands. “Naomi, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve known this could’ve been a possibility. Ray was a volatile human, and he died a horrendous death at the hands of your brother. I should’ve stayed with you to make sure there were no issues. This is all my fault.”

“
Non
,” she said. “We could not have known. I have changed two others before him and this is … unnatural. He is too strong. His thoughts should not be so well … formed. He should be eager to gain my approval, to learn the new ways. I am his Master, but he does not seem to feel any connection to me at all.”

Ray started raging again, and surprisingly I felt a tiny flare of his emotions in my blood. My brows furrowed as I peered at him more closely. I’d given Naomi my blood to heal from an attack she would’ve died from when we’d been on the road, and she, in turn, had given her blood to Ray. It made some sense that he would have a bit of my signature inside him now, except I’d never felt a spark of anything from Naomi before. I’d attributed that to her being a vamp, and the emotions and feeling that were tied to my blood with the wolves didn’t apply to her—that it was a species thing. That wouldn’t be the case if I were connected to Ray.

“It’s a conundrum,” I finished.

“What did you expect, huh?” Ray snarled. “Why would you think I would ever want this? You should’ve let me die in peace, Hannon.” Ray still referred to me by my alter ego, Molly Hannon. It was a habit I’d given up trying to break. I’ll always be Hannon to him.

Rourke met my gaze. “How do you want to work this?” he asked.

I turned to Naomi. “We’ll knock him out, and you fly him up to Rourke’s cabin. We’ll deal with him up there. I’ll give him twenty-four hours to see reason. If that doesn’t work—”

“What?” Ray sneered. “If I don’t cooperate, you’re finally going to kill me? Put me out of my misery? But guess what? I refuse to die without payback. Do you hear me? I will kill—”

Rourke’s fist shot out, straight into his face, crushing the left side and knocking him out completely. Ray’s head crashed down, leaning at an odd angle. If his neck had stayed intact, he should live, but healing was going to hurt like a bitch. “Nobody threatens us,” Rourke growled, leaning into his unconscious body. “Especially
you
.”

I had no idea how quickly Ray could regenerate from that kind of an injury, but if he was as strong as Naomi said, it would be a few hours; if not, it might take a full day. “Naomi, once you get him up the mountain, you’ll have to secure him again. There’s a clearing behind the cabin—a natural ring of pine trees. Put him there and chain him to the biggest tree you can find.” I glanced at Rourke. “Do you have extra rope or anything that will work to bind him before we get there? Those are about to go.” It looked as though Naomi had repaired the chains with her bare hands each time he’d broken through, but Ray had stressed the links to their maximum.

Rourke nodded. “There’s a cave three miles east of the cabin. Look for a tall white pine growing out of the base of the mountain and you’ll find it. Supplies are in there.”

“Rourke and I will shift,” I told her. “We can make it in less time in our true forms, and once we get up there, we’ll decide what to do.”

Naomi bowed her head. “I will see it done.”

I grabbed on to her arm before she could leave. As I touched her, a light current of power ran through my fingertips. I’d inadvertently broken her bond with her Queen by giving her my blood, and she’d sworn her fealty to me in return. It was my duty to protect her, and I was doing an extremely shitty job.

“Naomi,” I said, her eyes flicked to mine, “once Ray is secured, I want you to go. Leave here and take some time for yourself. Get cleaned up. Feed. Whatever you need. I will take care of this. It was my decision to turn him, not yours. This is my problem now. Go back to my city, north of here, and find Tyler and Danny. We had a problem with the sorcerers, but so far they haven’t tracked me here. Stay there, make contact with the boys; they will help you find a place to stay and you can all come here together in a few weeks.”

“I can’t leave you like this. You will need my help. A new vampire is—”

“
No.
” I said the word with as much power as I could. “You’ve done enough. And I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. Ray will either be dead or ready to go with us when you return. I’m hoping it’s the latter, but I’m not going to hold my breath. We’re heading to New Orleans once you return, and I need you focused and refreshed. I’ve been trying to come up with the best way to tackle your bonding—or lack of bonding—with your former Queen and I have some ideas, but I need you
ready
. If you’re not, there’s no chance of us finding an edge. And we need an edge when we face her. That’s an order.”

“
Oui, Ma Reine.
I will go, then.”

“And, please, for the love of everything good in the world, you have to stop calling me that. We’ve already covered this. I’m not your queen. This is a partnership, not a monarchy. You came into this of your own free will. You’re not my subject.”

The first glint of a smile spread across her lips, revealing some of the old, strong Naomi I knew was still in there. It was nice to see her again. Losing her brother Eamon and having to deal with Ray had taken its toll. It was time for me to make it right.

“It is a term of endearment only, as I have told you,” she mused. “But it fits you. It truly does.”

“There is nothing remotely queenly about me,” I scoffed. “It’s the worst title you could possibly give me.”

Naomi shook her head. “That’s where you are wrong. You are very queenly.” Before I could argue, she walked over to Ray with purpose. Rourke had unchained him. She lifted Ray under one arm and draped the heavy metal links across her other shoulder like she’d slung on a purse. “Until then,
Ma Reine
.”

She shot into the air.

Watching vamps take flight was amazing. I’d have to ask her how it worked. My guess was their bones must be light and hollow, because they didn’t need any marrow, like a bird’s, and they could somehow siphon air through them or something cool like that. I shook my head and turned to Rourke. “We have to break her of calling me her queen and come up with something with less of a sovereign ring to it.”

“I think it’s fitting.” Rourke grinned. “You’re my
Reine
too.” He strode over and grabbed my hips, bringing us together.

I glanced around, realizing we were suddenly alone and out of the godforsaken car. And there was no imminent threat bearing down on us. He lowered his head slowly and I let his scent wash over me for the gazillionth time. I would never grow tired of it.

When he was this close, I couldn’t focus on anything else.

All my neurons fired at once and my brain became hazy. It didn’t help that my wolf started running in circles yipping, contributing to the chaos.

His tongue entered my mouth, hot against mine.

I opened myself up to him easily, taking him in, my lips parting with a long sigh.
Finally.
He was soft and hard and perfect. All his strength pushed tightly up against mine, the way it should be.

He growled and pressed us together, deepening the kiss.

Our heads tilted farther and my hands shot to his chest, landing on the ridiculously tight T-shirt he’d borrowed from Tyler, now dirty and torn from the explosion. “We need to get this off of you,” I murmured as I started to pull, immediately hearing a satisfying rip.

At the sound, he broke our embrace, appearing as dazed as I felt. “Jessica.” His irises radiated a beautiful deep green. “Not yet. We can’t do this yet.” He took a small step back and ran the back of his hand over his mouth. “Your taste is like an addiction. It’s so damn hard to quit once I start, but we have to go up to the cabin. Staying here is a mistake.”

He was right.

I pounded my fist against his chest in frustration and then rested my forehead against it. I was one millimeter away from kicking someone’s puppy. I leaned back so I could glance up at him, knowing my irises flashed the same emotion as his. “I hear you. My brain just doesn’t work properly when you’re around, as we learned from our happy fun time in the car. All my wolf wants to do is rip your clothes off in a mindless frenzy. It’s hard not to be resentful of our obligations when all I want is to be with you.”