Embrace the Heat (30 page)

“No, I’ll find her. I’m going to start
following her blood trail,” Simon said. “Keep fighting your way out
and bring help.”

“We don’t take orders from you, vampire,”
Jase said in what sounded a lot like a growl. The shifter was
obviously just as juiced from the fighting as Simon was.

Raven had warned Simon that the shifters were
aggressive, but the brothers had been easygoing up to this point.
Then again, they’d never been challenged, and he hadn’t been
dealing with them after being surrounded by so much blood. The
fighting and the blood made the born vampires more aggressive and
obviously the same was true with the shifters. That meant he had to
fight his own instincts for Layla. What he wanted to do was attack
Jase for questioning him. What he was going to do was focus on
Layla and back down. Jase was right about one thing; they didn’t
have to take orders from him.

“Do what you want,” he said and started to
follow the trail of blood. “I still think we have a better chance
of getting her out alive with outside help.”

“You’re injured, vampire,” Jase pointed out.
“You need back up. My only goal is to get the little kit out alive.
Getting her mate out is a bonus because it’ll make her happy.”

Cam trotted over to them, and Simon noticed
he had a limp to his gait.

“He’s injured too,” Simon pointed out. “Maybe
you should send him out.”

Jase nodded. “Cam, go to the vampires with
the wood nymph. Let them know someone grabbed the little kit and
we’re on our way to find her. Also, let them know she’s injured.”
Then he added, “I guess you should tell them that the pretty
vampire is injured too.”

Cam looked annoyed, but Jase stared until Cam
looked away.

“Go!” Jase ordered, and Cam took off at a
slow run. Obviously Jase could pull rank on Cam.

“We don’t take orders well,” Jase explained.
“He’ll only listen to me because I’m older and the same type of
shifter. Let’s go get the little kit back.”

“Did you want to grab some clothes off of one
of the guards and catch up with me?” Simon asked.

“No,” Jase said and scented the air. “I want
to be able to change at a moment’s notice.”

Layla’s blood trail ended outside of one of
the bedroom doors. Simon was about to break in when Jase caught his
arm. “This direction,” he said and pointed down the hall. “Her
scent heading down the hall is fresher. There’s also no blood, so
she’s probably already healing.”

“Is she alone?” Simon asked.

Jase shook his head. “I’m pretty sure she’s
with a vampire. Not like you, but like the ones we were fighting.
Well, not exactly like them. There’s no dead smell to this one.
This one smells more like the one who’s in charge.”

“They have her,” Simon said.

“We already knew that,” Jase said in
exasperation. “Pull it together, vampire. We’re going to get her
back.”

Simon wished he felt the same confidence the
shifter did.

Layla struggled to free herself from Miles’
hold. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist to pull her
forward. When she started to struggle more, he lifted her off of
the ground and held her against his chest.

“I have to go back for Simon, Jase, and Cam,”
she insisted as she tried to get an arm free to fight. The struggle
had reopened her wound, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was
making sure Simon was safe.

“Stop fighting,” Miles said in a ragged
voice.

Miles’ fangs pressing against her neck, made
Layla freeze. Then she felt his erection and fought the urge to
panic and struggle more. That was never a good way to react with a
vampire. Vampires were predators and enjoyed fear too much.

The sound of fighting could be heard in the
distance. Mostly, Layla heard Miles’ ragged breaths as he panted
against her neck. “I want you so much,” he said.

Footsteps approached, and for a moment Layla
imagined Simon’s scent. It was hard to smell anything other than
Miles’ breath which reeked of blood. The tips of his fangs barely
pierced her skin. “Please don’t do this,” she begged.

That seemed to snap him out of his haze. His
head jerked back.

“Put her down,” Simon said.

Miles spun around with Layla still pressed
against his chest.

“Please put me down, Miles,” Layla said
softly.

“I’m trying,” he said and inhaled deeply.
“You have no idea how hard I’m trying. I don’t want to hurt you,
Layla.”

“I know,” Layla assured him. Her eyes locked
on Simon’s, and she silently begged him to back off.

“You’re so sweet,” Miles said in awe. “Before
I saw you, I didn’t like blondes. After seeing you, I pretended
other blondes were you. I would even call them Layla. Sometimes I
hurt them. I hurt them the way you hurt me by not noticing me.”

“I’m sorry,” Layla said and fought to keep
her voice steady. “You were leadership, and I wasn’t part of your
world. I didn’t even realize you knew who I was.”

“Maybe you would have loved me if I’d brought
you to the compound to live after your mother left. Even then, I
wanted you, but it was wrong. I hated myself for wanting you. Some
days, I hated you for making me want you. Would you have loved me
if I’d taken you in?”

Layla couldn’t stop the shudder that ran
through her body. She’d been a little girl and hadn’t even known
any of the leadership back then. Yet Miles had been watching her?
That was beyond disturbing, but she needed to keep those thoughts
to herself.

Layla was saved from responding when Miles
let out a tired sigh. “None of that matters. Now, it’s not safe for
you to be with me. I get excited when I think about hurting you.
Even though I don’t want to hurt you, the thought arouses me.
Eventually, I would give in to those urges, and you’d hate me. You
don’t hate me, do you?”

“I don’t hate you,” Layla said quietly.

Her feet were set on the ground, and Miles
released her. Layla stood frozen, not sure what he would do if she
rushed toward Simon. Running from any vampire was a bad idea.
Running from this vampire could push him over the edge he was so
precariously teetering on.

“Follow me,” he said. “Very few people know
about the underground tunnels. This one leads to outside the
compound. The tunnel’s not in great repair, but it won’t collapse.
You’ll be safe. Just in case you’re thinking about attacking
through that entrance later, it’s rigged with explosives that go
off if the door is opened from the outside.”

“What about Cam?” Layla asked Jase and
Simon.

“He’ll be fine,” Jase said. “I told him to
meet up with your nymph.”

“We need to get to Connor before Cam does,”
Simon said. “Cam will tell the others to come in after us.”

Miles gave Layla one last sad smile before he
started to lead them to the tunnel in silence.

“You’re hurt,” Layla said as she walked
beside Simon.

“So are you,” he said quietly. “When you
disappeared, you took centuries off of my life. Don’t ever do that
to me again.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” she said and gestured
toward Miles. Layla was trying to be quiet and keep her hands off
of Simon until they were safely away from Miles.

Simon must have sensed the danger too because
he kept his hands to himself. Sure, they could have killed Miles if
it came down to it, but he was helping them and none of them wanted
to be forced to take that step.

Miles was right about the tunnels being in
poor repair. The walls had been reinforced with concrete which was
still holding up. The problem was the dust, bugs and rats. Layla
wasn’t overly squeamish, but this was a bit much.

Luckily, they didn’t have to stay in the
tunnel long. The rats seemed more than a little interested. The
interest probably had to do with the blood. Layla had soaked
through her bandage, and Simon had enough gashes on him that he’d
need a lot of blood to recover. The only one without a scratch was
Jase.

“You must be one hell of a fighter,” Layla
said quietly.

“I’m among the best of our kind,” Jase said
proudly.

“Who’s the best?” Simon asked.

“My father,” Jase said and flinched. “Best
you don’t meet him. He’d definitely take the little kit from you so
her bloodline wouldn’t be diluted any more than it has been. My
father isn’t tolerant of intermingling with other species.”

When they reached the end of the tunnel,
Miles opened the door. “Will you be able to find your way to your
friends from here?”

“Yes,” Simon said and surprised Layla by
saying, “You could go with us.”

Miles shook his head. “It’s too late. My mind
is slipping. Even before this, I wasn’t quite sane. There were
always thoughts in my head that were wrong. Now, I’m becoming
something even worse, and I don’t always remember the thoughts are
wrong before I act on them. If I wasn’t a coward, I’d end it all.
I’m sure I’ll wish I had eventually. No, I’ll probably be too
mindless to care what kind of monster I’ve become. Maybe I’ll get
lucky and be killed in the fighting.”

Layla looked at Simon, and he nodded. She
reached a hand behind her and gripped the knife Simon slipped into
it. While maintaining eye contact with Miles, she walked toward
him. “Thank you for saving me,” she said. “For what it’s worth, I
think you’re a good man. You didn’t have to save me today, but you
did. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? The vampires have
a doctor who’s been able to do a lot to help one of your turned
vampires we captured. He might be able to help you keep your
sanity.”

Miles shook his head. “Better that my life
ends here with the other monsters.”

Layla stepped forward, and Miles leaned down
to hug her. “Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” Layla asked.

He pulled away and looked at the knife.
“Ending it all.”

She nodded and plunged the knife into Miles’
heart. The look on his face was filled with such peace and love
that Layla’s eyes clouded with tears as she gently helped him to
the ground. One thing about vampires, that wound to the heart
tended to end things fast if it was done right. Within a minute,
Miles stopped breathing. It was probably the most peaceful death
she’d ever caused, and it would haunt her the most. Layla reached
down and closed Miles’ eyes before standing.

Simon slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“We need to hurry,” he said softly.

She nodded but didn’t look away. “He’s not
the first person I’ve killed, and he’s far from innocent. Why do I
feel bad about it?”

It was Jase who answered. “Killing in battle
is different, much less personal. To take a knife to an unarmed
man, feels wrong, even knowing you did what he wanted. Try not to
think of it as killing. Think of it as setting him free.”

“You gave him peace,” Simon said.

Layla nodded. “You’re right.” Then she forced
thoughts of Miles to the back of her mind. There would be time to
dwell on Miles’ death later. For now they needed to get to their
friends quickly.

Jase led the way. He claimed it would be easy
for him to find everyone because Zane was with them. As it turned
out, he was right.

Cam was already out with Zane when they got
there. The fighting wasn’t going well for their side. They were
just too outnumbered, and that was probably the only reason no one
had made it inside of the compound yet.

As soon as Connor saw them, he shouted, “Pull
back!”

The retreat was difficult. The turned
vampires were so far under the control of the humans that they
would have willingly walked into a stake. Connor’s people were
outnumbered and had sustained too many injuries.

Simon worked hard to get Layla away from the
fighting. The shifters stayed around her to keep her guarded. Not
one of them was willing to leave her side.

“Go help the others,” Layla said.

“We’re only here for you, little kit,” Cam
said as he tossed a turned vampire onto a tree branch.

“We don’t get involved in vampire business,”
Zane added.

Jase turned and caught her look of annoyance.
“I’ll go help them,” he said.

Layla was relieved that at least one of the
shifters was fighting with her friends. Of course it seemed to
distract some of the vampires that he was fighting completely
naked. The humans were the most distracted.

“I’d better go help him,” Cam said and then
turned to Zane. “You stay with the little kit.”

Zane nodded and slammed a large branch into
the heart of a turned vampire who was trying to get to them.

Cam distracted the humans and turned vampires
further when he shifted into lynx form before joining the fight.
Several of the humans took off running toward the settlement and
brought some of the turned vampires with them. That evened out the
numbers more, but the born vampires were still weak from
fighting.

Raven, Norah, and Mark rushed back toward
Layla.

“We need to get you to the jeeps,” Raven
said. “Do you need help walking?”

Layla looked at Simon who was looking weaker
by the second but refusing to let go of her. She was healing
rapidly, but still weak from blood loss. They probably did need
help, but she suspected Simon wouldn’t allow it. After what had
happened, he wasn’t ready to be touched by anyone else.

“We’ll be fine,” Layla assured her.

“Did you bring blood?” Simon asked, his voice
was beginning to sound slurred. If they didn’t get him blood soon,
he was going to lose consciousness.

“No,” Norah said, “but the humans agreed to
donate if they aren’t injured. Mark is going to donate blood for
you.”

“I’ll do it,” Zane said without taking his
eyes off of his surroundings. Zane remained vigilant, watching for
potential danger as they made their way to the jeeps.

“Why?” Raven asked. “Shifters aren’t known
for their giving nature.”