Hunter by Night (5 page)

Nessa, dressed more conservatively than usual in designer flats and pants, turned in the hall. “I can’t always command my visions. What I experienced was a powerful magical explosion. I know that much.” Without warning, Nessa gripped Alexia’s hands. Pulsing energy passed between them, wrapping around Alexia’s arms and growing into a tangible
thing
like she held a large ball of static in her arms. “Here, you will need this,” Nessa whispered.

This was not the first time Nessa had done the weird energy whatsit thing to Alexia, and once the shock had passed, it didn’t seem to hurt anything. So Alexia let it slide. Times like now, the strange energy helped to calm the pterodactyls flapping around inside Lexi’s body. Hopefully it wasn’t a weird vampire spell, and while Alexia was off in a trance, Nessa was leaving her a quart low.

As fast as she’d gripped Alexia’s hands, Nessa stepped away. “We should find Lee.”

What fun. It was practically putting matter with antimatter when those two were in the same room. Alexia couldn’t even picture the two of them together
that
way.
Not that she’d tried. Gross. “I’ve been waiting for him to come back. We’re supposed to take some of Isabel’s things over to the hospital, but he’s been gone awhile now.”

“Here I am.” Lee rounded the corner. He squeezed past Nessa and pushed into Alexia’s small room, magically contorting himself so he didn’t brush against Nessa even one iota. Right, because matter and antimatter. If they touched, there might be an explosion. An implosion. Nuclear disaster. World war. Baby hedgehogs bursting out of all the air vents.

Lee filled Alexia’s untidy bedroom with his bulk. He’d changed clothes into camo pants and a dark shirt. His body dripped with weapons, guns under his arms and strapped to his thigh. Knives clipped to his pants. God knew what he had in those pockets or other places she couldn’t see. His expression, dark and serious, did funny things to the place where her legs met her body.

He’s a killer. That shouldn’t be hot. Really shouldn’t.

Siddoh followed closely behind. He, too, appeared far more subdued than usual. Siddoh was one of the few vampires Alexia had fun hanging out with, but right now he looked like he was on his way to a funeral and having trouble figuring out how to fill out the card on the flower arrangement.

Lee’s look held a larger dose of grim than usual, and that was saying something. “Sorry for the wait. In case we have to be away for awhile, I wanted to be sure all the bases were covered.”

Bases. “What’s wrong?” Alexia and Nessa asked at once, and Lee appeared to get nauseous.

He focused on Agnessa. “Nessa, do me a favor and go with Siddoh. I want to make sure everyone is in a secure location.”

Agnessa’s eyes widened. She frowned and opened her mouth like she might disagree.

Siddoh took her by the arm. “I wouldn’t argue, Agnessa. This isn’t the time.”

Lee stood stiffly with his arms at his side. He waited until the other two were down the hall and around the corner, before turning back to Alexia. “That disturbance you felt was the security system losing power.”

“Whuuut?” Alexia’s brows pulled together.

“The magical security system.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. It sounded bad.

“It’s what helps to keep us hidden from outsiders, as well as prevent our enemies from crossing the threshold onto our land.”

“Oh.” Very bad. The estate covered two hundred acres and held hundreds of homes, cars, and other buildings. They were set back from a rural access road and surrounded by forest and farmland, but it would still look suspicious if one examined closely. And it would be dangerous for a lot of vampires if the property could be breached by an enemy.

“I suspect someone caught wind of Thad and Isabel leaving the estate, and may have something planned while we’re vulnerable.” The muscles tensed and flexed in his forearm as his hand clenched and released, lifting to rake over the back of his neck. His frustration vibrated in the air of Alexia’s bedroom.

“You think this has something to do with that threat you mentioned? That guy?”

“Exactly. Which is why I’ve put the rest of the estate on lockdown. Thing is, taking down our magic security is beyond him, as far as I know. Then again, I also thought he died six hundred years ago.”

Jeez. “Yeah, on a scale from one to ten, I’d say that’s pretty spectacularly fucked-up.”

Lee closed the gap between them. An awareness of warmth and clean sweat cut through the anxious confusion his last statement had injected into her stomach. “Frankly, it’s safer here,” he said. “I’d leave you if I could. However, I’ve received word Isabel is having contractions and insists on having her birth coach.” The wave of his hand conveyed his apparent belief that such an idea was preposterous.

Alexia stepped close, craning her neck to meet his arrogant stare. “What, you think the queen’s birth coach isn’t a priority?”

Lee’s large hand rubbed his forehead like it ached. “In my youth, females gave birth. No birthing tub, no special class, no self-hypnosis CDs, no coach.”

What
. A phenomenal dick. “Excuse me.” She poked a finger that was supposed to jab into his chest, but anger and her refusal to break eye contact effed up her aim. She ended up poking at the firm, fine muscles of his belly. Pride kept the finger in place as if the landing had been intentional. “First of all, no uterus, no opinion. Second, Isabel got completely fried this morning, so it’s kind of a special circumstance. Third, quit being an asshole. Fourth? Quit being an asshole.”

It bore repeating.

“Fifth, Isabel’s the queen. She can request whatever the hell she wants.”

Lee dipped his chin. “Yes.” His fingers closed around the one still sunk into his abs and pulled it aside. “She can. So. In spite of the fact that we may have an insane plague-spreading nutcase bearing down on us at any given moment, it’s royal baby time. Let’s move.”

Again… What the fuck?

She opened her mouth but Lee pulled her forward before she could speak. Alexia ignored the tremor that traveled from the place where their hands touched, along her arm and down her body, landing a quiver of want deep in her core. Any time now, it would be fan-fricking-tastic if her body could stop reacting to him like he’d been double-dipped in her favorite brand of pheromones.

She reached for her blue JanSport backpack, just next to the bedroom door. He made no move to let go or get out of her way, and she was forced to squeeze past his tree-trunk thigh in the process. She failed horribly at ignoring how frigging huge those legs of his were. How the vee of her thighs brushed his leg when she passed, and how her body temperature climbed.
Stop
staring
at
his
ass.
“Right. Got everything ready to go, right here.” She cleared her throat.

“Great. I’ll drive,” he grumbled.

Did he realize, as he tugged her down the hall, that his fingers were still wrapped around her hand?

Lee’s nose picked up the electric tang of a storm brewing in the air. The static prickled his skin. Without hesitation, he clasped Alexia’s shoulder and drew her against his side as they exited the mansion’s side door at the end of the east hall.

She scowled up at him with a mix of irritation and confusion. Far from the first time. They certainly had a way of tripping each other’s wires. They could pretend otherwise all they wanted—Lee would fucking love to pretend—but from the moment Alexia had followed Isabel to the estate, she’d seemed hell-bent on raising his ire. Centuries of building a carefully controlled facade, and he couldn’t keep his grip around one tiny human.

He adjusted his hold. “I told you. The security system is down. I want you close.” He pointed toward one of the open parking areas. “I’m getting one of the smaller cars.”

They trekked in silence down a long gravel path that led to a parking area where most of the vehicles were located. At the front of the property stood a large barn and a cover of trees, to help the illusion that the property was nothing more than a very nicely kept farm. Everything was masked further by vampire illusion. Alexia’s body stiffened, and when he had the sense she might tug away, he slid his hand to her waist. The shift secured his hold but made it less awkward, more gentle. She didn’t quite relax, but she stopped fighting.

Her frame was small even by human standards—just above five feet in height. With his rangy six feet and four inches, he hadn’t really expected she’d fit against him so nicely. Yet his hand spanned the curve of her waist. Her head, if she moved just so, would go right in the crook of his arm.

Her human teeth sank into her pouty bottom lip. “So what’s the deal with this Haig guy? How can you be sure this dude is back from the dead after six hundred and whatever years?”

Lee spread his fingers against the hourglass of Alexia’s waist. How could the curves of one human be so perfect? And why were males wired to think of sex at all moments of the day, even when things such as war and illness held the greater priority? “You’ve heard that old saying about keeping friends close and enemies closer?”

“Oh. Damn skippy.” She shrugged against him. “In seventh grade, my ‘friend’”—she made air quotes—“Alethea Darrington thought she was badass because she developed early. She not only stole my boyfriend but also started a rumor that I stuffed my bra and had gone ‘all the way’ with her brother in the back of his ‘hot rod.’” More air quotes. Her head swiveled around.

“The only place I went with him was to the library to study for algebra, and his so-called hot rod was a Honda Civic with a rusted grapefruit launcher where his muffler should have been. She said I spread crabs to his entire track team, so I said, ‘Let’s bury the hatchet,’ and invited her over for a slumber party so I could do that warm-water trick to make her pee in the bed.”

Lee shook his head, half surprised she’d never attempted such a stunt with him. “All right. So I suppose you understand. I once knew Haig better than anyone.”

“Okay, but I wouldn’t know Alethea now if she passed me on the street.”

“You might surprise yourself. Anyway, let’s say your enemy Alethea had not only wronged you personally. Let’s say she killed millions of people.”

Alexia sucked in a breath.

“Trust me. I once knew this bastard as well as I knew myself.”

“But… the fence.” She looked around. “I thought we had double security. There’s a human-installed system, too, right? The fence has motion sensors and video monitors and all that jazz, and then there’s the magical protection. So without one, you’ve still got the other, and the estate should still be relatively safe.” As she chattered, her warmth pressed closer to his.

Sure, when she was this nervous, she didn’t think he was such a motherfucker.

Lee’s jaw muscle twitched. “I don’t like ‘relative.’ I don’t believe in coincidences. That this happened on a rare occasion when the king and queen are away from the estate for an extended time says nothing good.” Lightning flashed a bright spiderweb across the sky. “And I don’t like the fucking weather.” The fact that this risk of plague would be of far greater harm to her than to him died on Lee’s tongue.

Alexia stopped. He pressed his fingertips into her waist to make her continue. “You can’t control the weather, Lee.”

That
was why he hated the weather.

Thunder rolled overhead, too fast after the lightning. They needed to haul ass. “Sky’s going to open up soon. Let’s move.” Nothing frightened him anymore. He’d grown too old for life to throw him true surprises. Still, bad weather added an extra layer of complication. He experienced a healthy sense of urgency in light of the coming rain.

They made their way to his favorite car, a black Honda Accord sedan. Screw the big SUVs that screamed, “Sorry about my small penis.” This thing had a V-6 and handled like a dream. He opened the door for Alexia and ignored her angry glare when he all but shoved her inside, scanning the surrounding area for activity.
Sorry, Lexi. Priorities.

He’d given the order for all residents to remain inside. An eerie quiet hung over the estate as far as the eye could see. B Team patrolled the primary vampire-housing areas in Ash Falls. C Team was staying close to the estate tonight. Siddoh had been given the task of wrangling the elders into putting the mojo back in place for the perimeter. Dammit, they needed a better plan for the estate security. They couldn’t count on a bunch of aging assholes who were all against the king as their primary line of defense. Lee pushed Alexia’s door closed, went around to the driver’s seat, and took off.

They’d made it less than a quarter mile down the road when the sight of a person stumbling into the road from just off the woods made Lee hit the brakes. “Shit.”

“Oh God. What happened?”

“Hard to say.”

He had a suspicion. The car hadn’t hit the man, Lee was certain. Yet the human who’d stumbled into the road had fallen. With his superior vision, Lee had spotted lesions on the guy’s face. The Big Bad that Lee had been expecting might well have begun. He could only hope that Haig and his crew were nearby so he could kick their asses.

He pushed open the door. “Stay here, Lexi. I don’t like leaving you by yourself, but I have to see what’s going on out there. Lock the doors and call Tyra immediately. She can come and give you an airlift.” Times like these, Tyra’s ability to teleport proved useful.

Alexia bit her lip again. Scared. Angry, maybe. He couldn’t make this better for her. And as much of a bastard as he could be, he would smooth her fears over if he could. They had no time for arguments. “There are nearby patrols. Soon as I see anything strange, I’m calling for backup. I’ll be fine, okay?”

She nodded but said nothing.

He took that as his cue to leave.

***

Alexia’s call to Tyra did not go through. Neither did the next three rapid redials. She lasted maybe a minute, two tops, before she developed an extreme case of the panicked squirmies. Sure, easy for Lee to tell her everything would be fine. He was the one running off through the woods with guns and knives strapped to his brawny vampire bod.

Why was he running off through the woods, anyway? What about that kid who had taken a nosedive right in front of the car?

Blackness surrounded her, save for the eerie glow of the moon blocked by trees and clouds. Lee had pulled off the main road onto a tree-lined shoulder, so she couldn’t see much beyond the cockpit of the Honda Accord and the surrounding forest. Unnatural thumps through the woods in the near distance did nothing to help her level of discomfort.

Her wild imagination conjured up all sorts of scenarios, most of them involving Lee being beaten to a bloody pulp, even though she knew damn well he could take care of himself. It didn’t escape her that this was probably somewhere in the vicinity of what he imagined when she went outside alone during the day. She could see now that she’d been a bit one-sided in her thinking.

A flash of lightning and a sonic boom made her jump. “Fuck.” She clutched her shirt in the center of her chest, grateful for a lack of witnesses. Where the hell did Lee go? Hopefully, he’d met up with the other patrol guys, and they were all kicking names and taking ass. Maybe Lee was even kicking ass all on his own.

She pulled her phone out again and thought of calling someone else, but all the someones she could think to call would either be guarding the estate—very important—or guarding the king and queen—ridiculously important. She couldn’t ask someone to drop everything just to come and get her.

Morbid curiosity made Alexia wonder about the guy on the ground in front of the car, and she wanted to know if she could hear the sound of Lee’s voice anywhere. Slowly, she pushed her way out of the car. Sticky August air permeated her clothes the second she got out.

The night sky lit up daytime-bright with another flash of lightning, giving her a clear view of the dude on the ground. “Oh. Fuckballs. This guy’s totally messed up.” She barely whispered the declaration, wishing Lee hadn’t disappeared into the woods.

In terms of options, sticking by the side of a vampire who made her want to break out the bitch-slap hand stood head and shoulders above hanging out with a dead guy. Well… now she had set her bar.

Alexia stooped down. She didn’t want to touch the body, but damn, she’d seen shit like this in old science-class textbooks. Waaay back, like in middle school. The ugly patches of skin, the blackened fingers. The Black Plague. This was what Lee had talked about. It must have been what spurred him to head for the trees. Clearly, whatever caused this guy’s lesions had caused his death. Far grosser in person, this plague thing.

“Oh hell,” she murmured. “That can’t be right. Didn’t they eradicate the plague? Is this some kind of zombie apocalypse?”

When Lee had said something far more dangerous was on the horizon, she’d thought he was being ominous and threatening to keep her in line. Looking at the disease-riddled corpse at her feet, she rethought her position. God, he’d said something about millions dying. She tried hard to remember those plague symptoms, but all she could remember about eighth-grade science was trying to get Eric Garmeneski to bump elbows with her during lectures.

She’d still been innocent then.

Crackles came through the trees like fireworks. She had to find Lee. She couldn’t stay here with the car and the dead guy. But running into the dark woods…

The sky lit up daytime-bright with lightning. Movement through the trees caught her attention. She strained to see. She recognized a few vampires from around the estate, but she didn’t see Lee. The guys they were fighting… “What the—”

They wore robes. Nothing she’d seen before; these reminded her of something old and clerical. Something a monk or a priest might parade around in, only Alexia didn’t attend church enough to know for sure.

And their hands glowed. As in seriously, if she didn’t know better, she’d think they were all walking around out there with
E.T. phone home
going on in their palms. Had these guys just shown up, or she been too distracted looking at the dead dude to notice?

The really freaky-deaky part, though, was the low, melodic chanting that echoed through the trees. About a half dozen of them fought as they murmured their creepy incantations, but nearest to where she crouched, a young vampire had been separated from the group by one of the monkish-looking freaks. Somehow the spell or whatever held the young vampire ensnared and unable to move. One of the robed weirdos held up a huge fucking knife, and the vampire just stood there. Like he was waiting to get sliced apart.

Alexia couldn’t just stand there and watch him get killed. She grabbed a big-ass tree branch from the ground and ran as fast as she could. She managed to swing and connect squarely with the back of the big asshole’s head. The man in robes turned on her, still holding the psycho-killer knife. The vampire crumpled to the ground.

She blocked the knife with the branch, but the robed dude got her good in the face with his fist, bringing blood and tears with the stunning wallop. He drew up high, and through her watery vision, the dagger gave a threatening gleam in the moonlight.

She stepped back, landing a kick right to his jewels with her Doc Martens. The knife disappeared onto the ground, and Alexia kicked again. The guy went down, but she kept whaling away with the tree branch, even though her arms shook and burned from adrenaline and effort. She didn’t know who or what this guy was. She only knew she needed him to stay down.

Something exploded in the direction of the car, and voices came closer. She ought to go check on that vampire. The asshole on the ground had stopped moving. She crouched to check him out, and pain bit her in the knee as her stitches popped open.

“Lexi.” Someone grabbed her from behind. “Stop.”

Lee stepped up beside her with his arm raised. A couple of shots, and the creep was done. Definitely dead.

He sliced the dead guy at the wrists and throat to make the body bleed out, and Alexia watched in fascination while the body turned to ash as it drained right before their eyes.

Wait. What?

A large hand grabbed her chin and brought her face around. Right. Lee. “Jesus, are you okay? You’re bleeding everywhere. What the hell happened? Why would you try to beat an unknown enemy with a fucking stick?”

A
big
branch, not a stick. A stick would have been stupid.
She almost laughed.

She shook her head but that made her dizzy. Everything shook. Good God, she’d just beaten the shit out of some guy. Months ago, she’d hit an enemy wizard with a car. She wasn’t sure she’d killed that one. It had been self-defense then, but still… What was she turning into? She dropped the tree branch.

Lee grabbed her hand. “Lexi, I need an answer. Are you okay? Can you move on your own?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. Her voice came out scratchy. “I can.” She hoped. Her legs shook like a mofo.

“Good.” He glanced around and grabbed her arm, heading deeper into the woods. “Then I’m sorry, but we need to run.”