Hunter by Night (10 page)

This was no safety issue, unlike telling her to stay indoors during the daylight hours. Lee disliked that she appreciated the attention from somebody other than him. Plain and simple. He was big enough to admit he was being a dick. Gun to his head, this was jealousy. Lee wanted to be the one to please Alexia. Nobody but him.

Life
is
discomfort, Lee. You’re on borrowed time. Suck it up and let her be happy.

Even so, when Alexia slowed down in front of him, reaching to nudge the small of her back with the flat of his hand came so automatically that Lee hardly gave it a second thought. Fuck, but his palm fit perfectly in that sexy slope above her ass
.
He wanted to touch her there forever. Touch her everywhere. To claim her. Possess her. Had they lived in another time and place, if they had the means to get around their biological barriers, Lee might have given thought to those luxuries.

They approached the entryway for St. Anne’s, which appeared to be running on generator power. The lights still blazed inside but dimmer than before.

No, Lee could not afford any such luxury. Even if he could, it would never be fair to Alexia. He would find Thad and Isabel, deposit Alexia, and question this asshole. Find Haig and his followers and separate every last one of their heads from their shoulders.

“You used your power to take them out?”

The male nodded with apparent pride. “Sure did.”

“Need to learn not to rely on power.”

Alexia scowled up at Lee like he’d just kicked a puppy. Fuck that shit. Newbie wanted to fight, newbie needed to learn.

The young trainee’s face fell. “I didn’t have a weapon. My power was all I had.”

“Yeah, well, this was your problem in assessment. Your energy flagged so you brought out the big guns. Need to work on your hand-to-hand skills. Your strength. You won’t have the stamina to last out in the field if that’s your go-to tactic. And when you’re not in training, at minimum always carry a knife.”

The male nodded, eyes unfocused. He was thinking. Good. “Roger, sir.”

Alexia’s eyes narrowed at Lee again. He could practically see the wheels spin in that pretty, disheveled head. No doubt she remembered the fact that Lee had hauled out the biggest gun he had when they’d been up against that circle of wizards in the woods. Those guys had been many more and stronger, and Lee was trying to teach this kid something. Which he’d never before taken the time to do with someone he’d already cut from consideration.

But the kid had trotted out a sob story that was just a little too close to Lee’s. On a night when Lee was too wet, cold, tired, and in too much pain to not be touched.

“Jeez.” Even dimmed, the hospital lights seared Lee’s eyes as they walked through the halls and up to the maternity ward. The sooner he handed this young vampire off to Tyra, the better. He could use the break of guarding Thad and Isabel for awhile. Anything would be preferred over Alexia’s curious stares.

“Lee.” Tyra jogged up when they hit the floor. The door to Isabel’s room stood open. “What happened to you guys? You look awful.”

He only shook his head. “Where’s Thad?”

She gestured to a nearby set of double doors. “They’re prepping Isabel for surgery, and he’s not allowed in the room. I’ve had one angry king on my hands.”

Lee nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out. Do me a favor. Take this guy to get checked out and help Alexia get cleaned up.” His chest burned again. The searing pain spread through his neck and arms, making him sweat. He would stab somebody with a spoon for a moment alone.

Alexia grabbed his arm. “Are you going to be okay? Don’t you want to get cleaned up, too?”

Unexpected guilt cropped up over her concern. When had he last felt guilty over anything? A night of surprises all around. He made a show of giving her a genuine smile. “No worries. I’m sturdy. I’ll get cleaned up once you’re done.”

The night Lee had first met Alexia, first seen her face, she’d been wearing party clothes and angel wings, looking like any other of a hundred young women in a warehouse rave. But a guardedly
aware
pair of brown eyes had marched up and challenged him from underneath her glittery, gunked-up lids. He’d never have admitted so to a soul, but that challenging glare had nearly leveled him.

Nobody
challenged Lee.

Alexia had challenged him repeatedly since. She did so now, the very same set to her stance telling Lee that his assurance of “I’m sturdy” had not hidden the fact that he struggled for breath like a vise was pressing his chest.

“Stop fucking around, Lee.” Throwing his words back at him? Fantastic.

Lee’s scalp tingled. That Alexia always had her proverbial human finger on his pulse lately struck him as strange. The blood bond typically started off weak and tenuous unless feeding remained consistent. Lee hadn’t been physically bonded to anyone in decades, not since he’d parted ways with Agnessa. He hadn’t fed from the same host twice since.

Still, he’d had no experience feeding from humans. Alexia’s shrewd gaze showed that he kept no secrets. He may as well have stood in front of her naked. That thought flushed his body with a pleasured heat. As did the sight of the boldly beating pulse in her neck.

At the sight of that throbbing artery, his mouth watered. His fangs lengthened, poking into his tongue. The memory of that honey aftertaste in his mouth turned him on.

Moreover, his body knew a deep truth now that Lee’s mind could not erase. In spite of all he knew of human blood, the one time his pain had eased had been when her blood had been sliding down his throat.

Siddoh swiveled in a chair in Ivy’s office, trying hard to show patience. What started as a promising idea had turned up jack shit. He’d passed the time while Ivy searched the records on her laptop by mussing her pristine desk, making baskets in the tiny trash can with crumpled pink sticky notes, and doodling a cartoon bunny on her clean, white desk blotter.

The amusement faded fast when he returned the pen to Ivy’s desk drawer and laid eyes on something he’d bet every single pair of his boots shouldn’t belong. A lighter, a rather nice one with brass and engravings, and the biggest damn sewing needle Siddoh had ever seen. Smoky darkness scorched the ends of the needle, clearly showing it had been seared by fire.

“That’s so funny,” Ivy murmured as she scrolled through a computer spreadsheet. “I thought for sure I had something in my files. We’ve kept electronic archives of all complaints and motions for the last five years. I should have some reference to it somewhere.”

Siddoh shoved the drawer shut. Could Ivy be fucking with him? Paying Siddoh back for his part in her father having been put on house arrest? He’d heard the elder currently tapped at death’s door.

“Well.” Siddoh stood. “Maybe you misremembered.” Something about that needle made him ill. He couldn’t discern its purpose, but its presence in Ivy’s drawer spurred him to want to leave.

“No.” She pushed her chair back. “I remember it was a big deal.” Her brow furrowed, the crevices lit horror-movie-style by an older-style halogen lamp. She pushed her chair out, staring into the middle distance. “Give me a second to think.” Her fingers tapped maddeningly on the desk. “I just… I know there was something about humans. Specifically humans.” Her voice cracked. “I know my father did very bad things, but however misguided, his intentions were good. He wasn’t after Alexia for being human. He was after Anton because he’s a wizard. Right?”

Siddoh brushed off a chill from the air vent blasting over his head. “As far as we know.”

“So this other complaint I’m thinking of had to have been filed by someone else. I try to stay out of it all, you know? Politics, honestly, I wish everybody could agree to disagree. And because of my position, I’m supposed to be neutral. I file the paperwork, though. It’s hard not to notice. I mean, I have to know what it says to enter it into the system. I remember thinking back then that this was going to be trouble. I was kind of surprised it died in the water so fast.”

A sliver of agitation slipped through Ivy’s graceful exterior. She’d long ago removed her shoes for comfort. Her bare, red-polished toes pushed slowly around on the cabbage-rose area rug until she faced a bank of large file cabinets on the rear wall of the office. The painted toenails added an unexpected touch of shine.

Ivy certainly looked pretty, no argument, but… a plain, unadorned pretty. Natural pretty. Golden skin and soft features. He’d never noticed heavy makeup or designer accessories. Her family clearly had “traditional” stamped all over it, like Siddoh’s. She didn’t go around trying to get noticed. More like she went around trying to blend in with the paintings and the drywall.

Her full bottom lip pulled underneath one fang and got worked over something crazy while she mulled over whatever she needed to mull. “Gah.” All at once she shook her hands and smacked herself on either side of the face, leaving a rosy blush of handprints on her golden skin that made Siddoh sit up straighter. “This is going to drive me crazy. I
know
what I saw.”

Siddoh had about reached his limit. He’d gone from deciding this female was maddening as hell to maybe just completely nucking futs. Maybe
this
was a clue about why she still had no mate.

“Okay, Ivy,” he said slowly. “Just tell me exactly what you think you saw. Let’s go from there.” He needed to go see how his uncle had pulled through after fixing the perimeter security. The elder had really done them an immeasurable favor.

“I already explained.” She laid the phrase down carefully, as if Siddoh couldn’t follow along with his primitive mind. “The proposal to limit interaction between humans and vampires. You know, to officially ban us from bumping our pure vampire parts against their impure human parts.” She flashed a mischievous smile. “It’s been brought before the Council more than once.”

She rose from her chair and approached one of the cabinets, bending low to dig in the back of a bottom drawer. Her jeans had that low-rise hip-hugger thing happening, and the thin Y of a skimpy thong and a tramp stamp of a coiled snake did not mesh with the good-girl image that Ivy presented to the world. Until tonight, she’d seemed like a quiet female, someone Siddoh had always assumed to be somewhat conservative. She did not possess sexy, skimpy underwear and snake tattoos.

Well? It would appear that she did.

“Of course the bill has been proposed more than once,” Siddoh said. Some flashy little charm where the three strings of her underwear met caught the light from overhead when she moved. Distracted the direction of his thoughts. “Thad smacked the proposal down, and then the elders raised it again.”

“No. This was before Thad’s father was killed,” she muttered absently. She’d practically climbed headfirst into the file cabinet at this point. Her shirt rode up. Mary and Joseph, all that toasted skin. He wasn’t blind.

Not blind at all. It was then that he spotted the angry red lines on her side. Short, puffy hash marks. Fresh wounds. His mind returned to the burnt needle in the drawer. Jesus, could she be—? No… Ivy always seemed so mellow. Cheerful.

Siddoh forced himself to focus on her words, despite his growing unease. “Okay, so there have been a lot of vampires here and there who were against the mixing of the species. It remains one of our biggest no-nos.” He shifted in his chair.

“Playing devil’s advocate…” He cleared his throat. “What would that have to do with trying to take Thad down or setting up the estate for an attack? It stands to reason that if you’re against mixing humans and vampires, you’re out to keep the species safe. Why sabotage?”

“To make a point, right?” Ivy waved a hand impatiently at the pile of hair on her head and pulled at whatever held it up. A tumble of inky black waves spilled over her back, covering the focus of Siddoh’s gaze. She worked a hand over her scalp, massaging like it was itchy or sore. “Maybe it’s sabotage, or maybe someone’s out to prove Thad’s a shitty king. Didn’t you say so yourself?”

Swearing, now? Siddoh coughed and pretended her World Wildlife Fund wall calendar was real interesting when she shot a narrowed glance shot over her shoulder.
Oh, look. It’s the month of the blue-footed booby.
His previous image of Ivy disintegrated before his eyes.

“Oh my God, here.” She scooted back from the open drawer with a faded stack of forms in her hand. “Dated September 2000. The issue stated has to do with human and vampire interaction and quote ‘the regulation of interspecies relations on the basis of protecting and maintaining the purity and safety of the vampire population.’ It cites a specific case in which a female vampire mated with a male human in secret without revealing her heritage. When the human found out, he became violent, killing her and her unborn child—along with his visiting mother-in-law—in their home before finally turning the gun on himself.” Ivy looked up at Siddoh with wide, wet eyes. “Oh, that’s terrible.”

Fucking horrifying. Without comment, Siddoh held his hand out for the form. His blood made a full stop in his veins. The form listed a single named complainant: one Elder Sion Esmerian, Siddoh’s uncle.

***

“Okay. You’re coming with me.” Alexia would bet her favorite collection of coffee mugs that something was big time wrong with Lee.
Big
time.

With his huge arm clasped in both of hers, Alexia hauled ass to grab the first vampire she could find wearing a stethoscope. They’d passed the check-in desk downstairs and no way in hell was this following any kind of protocol, but she wasn’t convinced they had time for procedure. She marched a short distance to the station at the end of the hall, a square area with raised counters that looked like a holding pen for the nurses.

“Hi. Yeah. ’Scuse me. I need to get this guy looked at. I think he might be having a heart attack or something.”

Behind her, Lee hissed. A surge of pressure in her chest told her he was riding out another wave of pain. As if the fact that he wasn’t fighting her on being led down the hall like a disobedient child wasn’t enough proof. “Lexi, vampires don’t have heart attacks.”

“Oh? Then what—”

“Oh my God.” The tall, blonde vampire wearing ice cream–decorated scrubs and a severe bun in her hair, gasped and withdrew from Alexia’s shoulder tap like she’d been burned. “There’s a human in here?”

Alexia snapped her fingers. “For fuck’s sake, lady. So not the time.” She pointed to Lee. “Vampire. Chest pain. This is the king’s top banana, by the way. You know the king who’s up in surgery right now because your queen is having a baby?”

Oh hell, now multiple fanged staff members were staring at Lexi like she’d marched in parading the freak flag. “Uhm, hellooo?
Do
something
.”

With the sound of slapping cardboard, the woman closed the manila folder she’d been making notes in and scurried away.

“Lexi,” Lee said under his breath. He leaned against the information desk. “This is ridiculous.”

She turned, hitting her palm on the counter with a painful but satisfying
smack.
“Yes, it is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous that you have been hanging out with this condition for God knows how long, so you’re going to leave us all in a lurch because you were too stupid to get help.” His brow furrowed, and she wanted so, so badly to thump him right in the center of that smug-looking crevice.

Alexia never thought she’d find herself wishing so freaking badly that Lee’s ex was around, but day-um. She’d give her proverbial left nut for Agnessa to show her freaky-deaky face right about now. She had to admit that part of Lee’s past made Alexia uncomfortable, but Nessa could certainly spur Lee into action.

Then Nessa could help get Alexia out of Ash Falls. She’d promised.

Her nose throbbed. First time it had hurt since he’d given her his blood. Blood in lieu of having a bone set.
There
was a wacky notion she hadn’t learned about in high-school health class. Not that it could even rate on her top ten list of “things I never thought I’d do” that she’d managed to check off in the months since coming to live in “Vampire Falls.” Because just when she thought she’d experienced every possible level of crazy, she found out her crazy had a basement. And a subbasement. And an adjacent crawl space with some old junk from the sixties.

The throbbing pain in her nose spread to her cheek and jaw, and she rubbed a hand over her face. She probably couldn’t even ask for Tylenol in this place without getting looked at like they wanted to put her in a crate and give her a rabies vaccine. How did Lee have the nerve to call
her
stubborn?

Tonight had reminded her of all the reasons why she couldn’t be a part of this life… this vampire world, no matter how much she might want otherwise. Being near humans but not with humans confused things for her and everybody else involved. For her sanity she had to
go
.

She had thought that by running away from home as a teenager she’d left behind all the isolation, the violence, the mistrust, and the fear. Somehow when Thad found Isabel, Alexia had landed back at square one. Now she lived smack in the middle of a war between two species… no, three? She still didn’t entirely understand this guardian threat that Lee worried about so much. Could they honestly be so dangerous that he’d make a deal with the wizard leader?

That was like no fucking way territory.

What she
did
know for sure? On top of it all, she was worrying—not just worrying, literally physically hurting—over a guy who was intent on killing himself slowly. The whole thing would drive her to madness.

“I’m sure she’ll be right back,” Alexia said to Lee. She craned her neck to see down the hall in the direction the startled nurse had gone and reassured herself that soon this could all be over. Isabel had been taken to surgery. God willing, the baby and Isabel would come out of everything safe and sound. Then Alexia could leave. Then she
would
leave.

“I’m sure she will. I’m going to go.” Lee’s large chest rose and fell slowly as he put his hand down on the counter to push away. “I don’t know why I let you drag me down here. I will handle this when I’m ready.”

Alexia paused with her hand in midair, but this time she didn’t try to stop him. From here on out, Lee and his death wish needed to be his own problem. If her parents had taught her anything, it was that people intent on destroying themselves could not be saved. If you tried too hard or too long, you might just go down with the ship.

“Fuck.”
Jeez.
In her next breath Alexia nearly doubled over, slammed by an invisible fist that had punched her in the throat and ripped out her lungs. Lee’s fingertips pressed against the countertop, heavy and tipped with white.

No passerby would notice. He stood tall, handsome as ever, looking deadly. Nobody but Alexia knew that his firm jaw clenched tighter and the crinkly lines around his eyes carved deeper because of the pain.

She took in a slow, deep lungful of air, surprised to find that she still could. “It’s getting worse.” A statement, not a question. That phantom pressure in her chest, the dizziness… the intensity overwhelmed her.

“Yes.” He pushed away from the counter with a breath. “Now, please. Go and find Tyra. I will not create a scene here fighting with you in this hospital. There is too much to be done for me to just stand here waiting all night. I’ll survive.”

Points for effort. The words rolled off his tongue so smooth and calm, but his face couldn’t quite mask the undercurrent of strain. And besides, whatever tied her to his pain, he couldn’t hide from her. She
knew.

“For how much longer?” She peered through the space between his body and his arm, willing the nurse to return with a damn doctor. She shifted restlessly, and the back of her neck prickled hot and sweaty. “This is insane. You’re a walking time bomb. You can’t help your kind or your cause, Mr. High and Mighty, if you land toes up on the asphalt.” Alexia’s body chilled, even though her heart went speeding for the door. She had no doubt that rant would hit him right in the ego. From his red-faced expression of rage, it landed.