King of Darkness (24 page)

“I’m going out to look. I fed from her so I should be able to sense if she’s nearby.” He stood and prepared to leave. Alexia’s mounting anxiety was apparent, and he made a note to see if Ivy could bring her some food. Maybe keep the girl company. “I’m sorry for barging in on you.”

“It’s cool.” Alexia bit her lip. “Um, so how does that work? You drank her blood, so you can find her?”

Thad gave a palms-up gesture. “That’s it in a nutshell. Feeding creates a tie, of sorts. Just one time isn’t much, but if I’m close enough I should be able to sense her.”

Alexia nodded silently. “I really hope you find her. I had no idea it was dangerous for her to leave, or I would have asked her to stay.”

“Yeah, the problem is that she’s got no idea, either. It’s not the same as where you guys came from.”

“I know you’re mad and everything, but try not to read her the riot act when you find her, okay? She’s really misguided sometimes, but she has a big heart. Her parents’ death really messed her up.”

“Yeah, she told me.” He started for the door.

Clearing her throat, Alexia continued. “She, umm, killed somebody that night. Did you know that?” Thad’s eyes popped wide at
that
awful tidbit. “Yeah, she came to in the hospital when some orderly or something was picking glass from her hair in the morgue. She, uh, drank too much. Of his blood. She had to leave him and sneak out of the hospital in stolen scrubs. I don’t think she even meant to tell me. It kind of slipped out one night when she’d had too much wine.”

Thad nodded grimly. He was, he hoped, projecting calm understanding. Because inside, his heart was both breaking and overflowing. He was awed and humbled by the strength Isabel must have had to survive that on her own. Tears that he refused to shed pricked at his eyes, and he pretended to inspect something on the ceiling until his blurry vision cleared.

“It’s why she’s afraid, you know?”

He looked back at Alexia. “I’m sorry. What?”

“Hard to believe in happily ever after when you’ve had to struggle to survive all alone for so long. And when you’re afraid you’ll hurt anyone who gets too close.”

Alexia spoke in a very authoritative way that suggested her knowledge was more firsthand than whatever Isabel might have told her. Not that it was Thad’s business to ask.

“Sorry again for waking you. Hope you can rest some more. Don’t worry, I’ll find her.” He didn’t know what to say about the rest of it. There was no good response, except maybe some variation on the words “holy” and “shit.”

Alexia wrapped her arms around herself as if she was chilly. “Thad,” she said cautiously, “she’s really in danger?”

Tons. And I’m scared shitless that I’m going to lose her before we’ve even had a chance to get started. She has no idea what it’s like around here, how dangerous it is to be out by herself. She’ll be lucky if she’s not dead by morning.

They weren’t going there, either. No good would come from scaring the girl even more than she already was. So he prevaricated. “Let’s hope not.”

Tears sprung to Alexia’s eyes. As they pooled and ran down her face, Thad pretended not to notice and turned, closing the door behind him.

Now what?

Another knock at the door, and Alexia paused in the middle of splashing water on her face. Her stomach rumbled and she hoped that perhaps Ivy had arrived with more food, rather than Thad with more bad news. A damp hand through her hair did a little to tame it. She turned away from the mirror before she could get distracted by messing with something that would never look perfect. No matter what she did.

“Come in.”

The door opened to reveal what could only be described as a bigger, buffer vampire rendition of Hugh Jackman. But closer to the scruffy Wolverine version of Hugh Jackman, minus the mutton-chop sideburns. Not like the
Kate
and
Leopold
one who was less buff and more clean-cut.

“Delivery service,” he said, carrying a tray. His smile was full and broad, and displayed an intriguing mix of dark mystery and boyish charm when he flashed those lethal choppers. “I ran into Ivy in the hall and figured I’d bring you this stuff myself. Mind if I come in?” He stepped through the doorway, not really bothering to wait for a response.

Damn it all, she’d been doing that jaw-on-the-floor, deer-in-headlights routine, hadn’t she? “I’m sorry. I thought you were Thad or Ivy. Uh, who are you?”

He stuck out his hand. “Siddoh. I work for Thad. One of his generals, I guess you could say.” Alexia shook his hand tentatively. Lord help her, he was shorter but a little broader than Lee. She wondered if she could even lift his massive arm, but she still gave it the old college try and was surprised to find it easier than she’d anticipated. And her shoulder was barely sore. The big male gestured to a chair in the corner. “Mind if I sit?”

She nodded her acquiescence. “Go right ahead. That chair has seen more tail than a rock star lately.” She plopped onto the bed across from him, hesitant to ask why he’d come. Any more bad news and she might just hang herself.

He placed the sandwich tray on a dresser and lowered himself into the seat quickly, landing in a somewhat lazy sprawl. His grin widened, so the news couldn’t be that bad. Right?

“I’m very sorry if I’m being intrusive. I’m sure this has been a lot for you to handle.” He smiled again, more subdued this time. “I was hoping I could ask you some questions about the wizard who attacked you.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m not sure I can tell you anything I didn’t already tell Lee, though. It all happened really quickly.”

He frowned for a moment. “Of course,” he said gently. “Just try your best. That’s all I ask. Can you describe him?”

“Ugh,” she rubbed her eyes, hard. Granules of sleep crud seemed to be all over the place. “Not really. I mean, he was taller than me, but so is everyone else in the world.” The corner of Siddoh’s mouth curled up just a bit.

“I guess he was about six feet, but I’m so bad at judging that I can’t be sure. His head was shaved, but it looked like his hair was probably dark. He had a long-ass brown robe, like a monk or something.” She stared into space while a fuzzy image formed in her head. “Brown eyes. Oh, and he talked funny. Kind of like a cartoon character with a British accent.”

“That’s new.” Siddoh shifted, as if to get more comfortable in the chair. “I don’t think I’ve heard of one having a British accent, but there’s a first time for everything. I wonder if they could be recruiting,” he murmured. “The implications of that could be catastrophic if they were able to launch a successful campaign. Especially if knowledge of their existence leaked out into the human world.”

Umm. “Recruiting?”

Siddoh’s head snapped up. He swept his hand dismissively. “Oh, sorry. Sometimes I think out loud. Don’t you worry about that. It just seems odd, this thing about the accent. Most wizards are born and bred locally, so a European accent would be hard to come by. No worries, just something I need to check out.” He smiled at her again. “Anything else you can think of?”

Alexia shook her head quickly. Frankly, she’d prefer not to think about it. “I don’t think so.” She leaned forward on the bed, propping her chin up with the palm of her hand. “He didn’t seem to mind pain. I used all my best self-defense moves on him but he barely budged.”

He barked a hearty laugh. “You attacked him? That’s fantastic.”

“You mean stupid.” Lee’s pithy comments from before came back to smack her across the back of the head. “Right?”

“Eh.” He launched himself out of the chair and grabbed the tray of sandwiches. “If you’re gonna go down, go down swinging, I always say. Here.” He brought the tray to the foot of the bed and sat next to her, holding out a turkey on rye. “Eat. You need to keep your strength up.”

“Will you eat with me?” She smiled slightly. “I hate to eat alone.”

“Sure.” He grabbed the other sandwich. Pastrami on pumpernickel. “Cheers,” he said lightly, pretending to clink his sandwich against hers.

Like Ivy, this vampire put her at ease. Come to think of it, the only one who hadn’t was Lee. “Thanks.” She took a small bite. “Mmm. So good.” She took a bigger bite, this time chewing thoroughly before swallowing and speaking again. “You were right. I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”

“Stress,” he said sympathetically. He gestured to her arm. “That’s a fantastic tattoo. Does it signify anything?”

She laughed. “Not really, no. People, um…” She cleared her throat. “I get asked that a lot.” She wasn’t sure if referring to a vampire as a person was a major faux pas. They weren’t people, really. Were they? “It’s just something I drew. I doodle a lot when I get nervous, little random patterns. I thought it looked cool.”

“It does.” He nodded. “Goes all the way down your back?”

“Yep.” She turned away, lifting her shirt to reveal the remainder of the design on her back. Swirls of black ink streamed from her shoulder down to her lower back, ending just above the waistband of her shorts. Splashes of color accented the design here and there. The piece had taken hours, and it was the one she was most proud of. She loved to show it off.

“That’s lovely,” he murmured. He stooped to look closely but was respectful enough not to touch. She turned back around, leaving the back of her shirt untucked while she returned to her sandwich. “I have a couple myself.” He unbuttoned his shirt to the navel, pulling the top half to the sides to reveal his ink: a roaring lion head on the left pec, a cuddly little cub on the right.

“That’s awesome. May I touch it?” She leaned forward as he gave a slight nod, running her fingers along the shadows of the lion’s head. The details were gorgeous. Done with a single needle, maybe. “The shading is really fantastic. Who did the work?”

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “An old friend. He died not too long ago, rather tragically. Wizard attack.”

“I’m so sorry.” Her hand dropped awkwardly. Such a lame and pointless condolence, but what else could she say to something like that? “So why lions?”

“Hmm.” He chuckled. “I like to be fierce… and I also like to be playful.” His smile turned coy.

“I’ll bet you do.” He was flirting with her, and while she couldn’t exactly say she was interested, it was a nice break from all the heavy freaky-scary that had been going on since Thad and Lee had showed up at Insomniac looking for Isabel.

“Yeah, well…” He stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and chewed steadily until he was able to swallow. “What can I say? I’m a male who likes to do everything big.” Alexia had no doubt about that. Siddoh stood, and she had to stifle a sudden yawn. “Tired?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know, I actually am. It doesn’t make any sense. I feel like I’ve done nothing but sleep since I got here.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. You’ve been through a lot.” He strode slowly toward the door. “I noticed that wound back there on your shoulder. It’s healing well, but you need more time before you’ll be a hundred percent again. You’re just lucky it didn’t damage your tattoo,” he said with a wink. “I’m gonna get out of your hair so you can rest.”

She nodded, following him to the door. “Thanks, Siddoh, for stopping by. It was very nice to meet you.”

He smiled again. It was a brilliant, charming smile. She had no doubt it opened a lot of doors for him. And legs. “No sweat.” He pointed to a shopping bag by the door. “By the way, Ivy sent those. Clean clothes, in case you want to change into something warmer.”

She blushed, looking down at the shorts and tank top she had on. “Yeah, good idea. Thanks. Again.”

Siddoh’s hand reached behind to twist the doorknob. Footsteps caught her attention, and she saw the back of what must have been an absolutely gorgeous vampire retreating down the hallway. Alexia would have killed for a silky mane of platinum blonde hair like this female had. Not to mention the couture clothes and designer shoes. Alexia sighed wistfully. She would have easily blown her last dime on a pair of Manolos if she had any place to wear them.

Siddoh’s eyes narrowed in the female’s direction, but his jovial smile returned in a second. “Well, thank Ivy. She handles everything around here. Without her, we’d all be clueless,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “And listen,” he said, getting serious. “I want you to rest assured that we’ll find your friend. Our guys on patrol are all over it, and Lee, Thad, and I are going to go out too. Thad used to fight for me before his father passed. He’s top notch, and he’s dead set on bringing her back safe. And Lee and I have been doing this since practically before God.” He puffed his chest out proudly.

Alexia leaned against the door frame, studying him. “You don’t have a self-esteem problem, do you, Siddoh?”

“That I do not. Seriously, though. Get some rest. We’ll find her.”

She nodded slowly. “K. Umm…” She pointed uncomfortably. “Not sure if you care, but your shirt’s still undone and it looks like you’ve got some Thousand Island on the corner of your mouth there.”

He laughed heartily as he started to button his shirt. “See what I mean,” he said with a wink. “Clueless.” He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and then resumed buttoning his shirt. He reached out, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Now, you get some sleep. Don’t worry about a thing.”