Necromancing Nim (24 page)

“So you think if he gets live blood for dinner, it’ll counteract decades of dietary neglect?” It sounded to me like the vampire equivalent of eating a bowl of broccoli to make up for decades of Big Macs and Quarter Pounders with cheese.

“It’s worth a shot. Plus you’ve been through the wringer, blood-wise. Your blood might be even better for him.”

I mulled this. “So you think my blood is super charged because of that whole vampire-zombie, torture-me-with-holy-water thing?” The thought was disturbing. The whole evening was disturbing. Hell, my whole damn life was disturbing, at this point.

“I think you’re not entirely human anymore.” His regard remained somber. “I think if he drank you, there’d be a marked improvement.”

I opened my mouth to voice a retort, because I was most certainly human, dammit, but my teeth clacked shut again before I managed words.
“If he drank you.”
The words, the image they produced, sent an unexpected shiver through me. Not the shiver of the grossed out. More like the shiver of the insanely turned on.

That was just…wrong. When Pieter had bitten me—my first vampire bite in spite of years of harassing them—there had been nothing the least bit sexual about it. It had hurt, and it had been a violation. But thinking about Sebastian “drinking” me, as Colin had put it… The sensation that coursed through me was entirely different.

I realized I’d been silent too long. Colin had lifted an eyebrow. I suddenly remembered things I’d read in books about vampires being able to smell arousal. Me being turned on at the thought of Sebastian biting me might upset him at this juncture. On the other hand, I hadn’t thrown his penchant for getting naked with Sebastian in his face. Oh, wait. Yes, I had.

I swallowed, trying to regain control of myself. Colin’s eyebrow tilt was more amused than salacious, so maybe all was well. Those books had been the same ones that had made me think it’d be cool to work for a vampire in the first place, so they were probably full of shit anyway.

“If you think it would help,” I finally ventured, unable to believe I was actually considering volunteering for this. This had to be in the top ten dumb ideas in the list of all dumb ideas ever.

“I think it would,” Colin said soberly. “You’ll have to present it to him. If I do, he’ll just say no.”

“Right. He won’t think I’m willing?” I tried not to acknowledge how disturbing the conversation was.

“Exactly. And I want him back to rights.” His voice went clipped and brittle. “If we’re going to get the stone back from Pieter—and we have to, there’s really no option there—he has to be in top condition. Otherwise, we’re fucked before we start.”

I eyed him closely, trying to wring information out of his response that just wasn’t there. “Um… Would it…I mean…if he bites me, would that upset you?”

His dark brows scrunched together. “No. Why would it?”

“Well, because…” Wow, this was the most awkward conversation ever held awkwardly in awkward town. “Because of, like, you and me and…whatever the hell.”

“Oh.” He frowned. “Well. There’s that. But there’s you and Sebastian too, or hadn’t you noticed?”

“Kind of?”

He smiled then, and I swear it was actually affectionate. He reached out and touched my shoulder. “I don’t own you, Nim. I’d never try. You’d shoot the shit out of me with that holy water gun, and I don’t want that. But I care about you, and I care about Sebastian, and he needs your help. Okay?”

I nodded. Wow. Seriously? He’d used the “care” word? “All right. I’ll do it.”

“Good.” His hand on my shoulder tightened gently, then fell away. “Thank you.”

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. It was all so surreal. More than surreal. It was plain fucked up.

By this time, Sebastian had escorted Gwen back to her bedroom. I wondered if he’d overheard anything of what we’d said. I still wasn’t clear on the extent of some vampire powers. Most of them, actually. The only ability that had ever been much of a concern to me was their ability to buy things on credit and then not pay for them.

I started down the hallway, still feeling quivery. Fear had crept in to mingle with the arousal and the overall weirdness. Frankly, I was more comfortable with the fear than with the unexpected—and not entirely unpleasant—lust.

Sebastian emerged from the bedroom just as I came within a few steps of the door. He gently closed it behind him.

“How is she doing?” I asked in a low voice.

“All right, I think,” he answered, his own voice also pitched quietly. “He didn’t take much, relatively speaking, and there was nothing the least bit tainted in the bite, but she should rest.”

“That’s good.” I rubbed the healing scar on my own neck, not aware I was doing it until I felt the ridge of it under my fingers. “And how are you?”

He seemed taken aback by the question. He hesitated, started to speak, stopped. I waited. Watching his eyes, I saw the shift, and knew the exact moment when he decided not to lie to me.

“I’m…not as well as I could be.”

“Gwen said they ran over you with a car.”

“It was a small car.”

Snorting in frustration, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Let’s talk.”

I took him into my bedroom. It was about the only place in the house where we could talk privately, aside from the bathroom, and that seem inappropriate. I was glad to see Pieter’s goons hadn’t damaged the mattress or box springs. They must have found the stone before they’d gotten around to slicing them open. Which made me wonder what condition my furnace was in.

Picking the quilts and blankets up from the floor where they’d been tossed, Sebastian put the bed to rights and sat on it, seemingly without considering the implications of that piece of furniture. I opted for a chair and moved it around to face him.

“The sun exposure,” I said, figuring it couldn’t hurt to just jump right in. “You’ve never really recovered, have you?”

“Not quite.” The admission came in a soft voice, and for a moment I felt bad about coaxing it out of him.

“You need food.” I leaned forward a little, toward him, trying to impress my earnestness upon him.

“I’ve had food.” His mouth tightened. Great. He was going to stubborn up.

“You need live food.”

His eyes narrowed, but I saw a glint in them, like a man who’d just been offered sex after a long drought. He wanted it. Needed it.

And he wasn’t going to take it.

“Colin put you up to this, didn’t he? Tell him I don’t need him pimping for me.”

“Pimping? Give me a break. We’re trying to help you, you idiot.” As usual, my seduction technique was both straightforward and flattering.

“I’m fine,” Sebastian responded flatly.

And that was that. I knew there was no point pushing. And Sebastian was a big boy, stubborn or no. After however many hundred years, he’d probably figured out how to take care of himself.

Probably.

“I’m glad to hear that.” I made no effort to hide the angry tension in my own voice. “If you do need my help, I’m willing.” Just saying the words made me shiver a little. “Colin or no, I’ll help you.”

His face softened, as if he finally got it, and he nodded. “Okay. I’ll remember that.” He paused, sincerity weighty in his blue eyes. “Thank you.”

I let my own posture soften. Belligerence was no longer in order. “Any time. I mean that.” My hand lifted. I arrested the motion, not certain my hand was being appropriate. Then I let it have its way. It moved forward and gently touched Sebastian’s sleeve.

He smiled a little and laid his hand over mine.

That was it. Nothing more I could do there. I mean, no point forcing myself on him, even though I was sure I’d be quite the tasty snack. I left him alone and went to check on Gwen.

She sat on the bed, a big, white bandage taped to her neck. When I came in, she gave me Gwen’s Patented Bitchface number twenty.

“Why do you work for vampires again?”

I sat on the bed next to her. “Really good dental plan.”

“That’s not even funny.”

“I know. You okay?”

“I guess. Jesus, Nim, they could have killed me.” She blinked hard, the bitchface melting into genuine fear and the aftershock of what had happened to her.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “I can’t believe they’re after that stupid rock.”

“Yep. And they have it now, and we need to get it back. You’re leaving soon, I hope?”

“Thanks. I love your company too.” She pushed her hair out of her face. It was damp and a little stringy, far from her usual perfect coif.

I matched her bitchface with one of my own. “I just want you out of harm’s way. That’s all.”

“Yeah.” She sighed and leaned back against the headboard. “I have a flight tomorrow morning. And I feel like shit.”

I patted her hand. “Get some rest. You’ll feel better after a nap.” I offered this advice blithely, based on my extensive experience with being bitten by vampires. It sounded good anyway.

“Okay. Probably a good plan. And take care of those bad guys, huh? That dude who bit me was a creep.”

I smiled. “You bet.”

When I returned to the living room, Colin was sprawled across my favorite chair, brooding like his un-life depended on it. The chair appeared to have been abused, but it had been a piece of crap when I bought it second-hand. It too had escaped gutting. I flopped down across from him on the floor and began to pick up wads of couch stuffing.

“He didn’t bite, did he?” As usual, Colin in full brood was both annoying and sexy as hell.

“Nope. Neither literally nor figuratively.”

“Dumbass.” And that was all he had to say on the subject. “We need to get that stone back.”

“I know.”

“Any thoughts?”

“What am I, Plan Girl?” I hadn’t even figured out how to deal with the non-evil vampires, much less the evil ones.

He seemed not to register my smart-assedness. “Right now I’d say a full frontal assault might be our best bet.”

“If we can find them, and if we can take them with Sebastian not at a hundred percent. Plus, if Pieter is using the stone…”

His teeth clenched. “Okay, you’re not Plan Girl. You’re Poke-Holes-in-Plan Girl.”

“Somebody has to be.” I frowned. “We need the element of surprise. And some kind of secret weapon. Pieter already knows I’m not his zombie bitch, so that’s out.”

“He doesn’t know you can see through glamours.”

“I’m not sure how that can help us.”

“I’m not, either, but it’s something we have that he doesn’t. There’s got to be a way to leverage it.” His wide brow beetled, and he steepled his fingers, pressing the tips against his mouth. “I’m going to have to give this some thought.”

“Okay. I’ll check the boards; then I’m going to need to grab some sleep.”

He nodded. “Good. Let me know if you find out anything.”

“Of course.”

The vamp boards had fallen remarkably quiet, and what was being posted was even more cryptic than usual. It was enough to make me wonder what might be going down. Finally, after a half hour of fruitless surfing, I logged off. Bed seemed like a great idea at the moment. I stripped, put on a T-shirt and collapsed.

I dreamed. Which was, frankly, annoying.

There was another house. Not nearly so ratty this time, and located in a neighborhood I didn’t recognize. I knew right away it was more than an idle bout of REM. It had that feel to it. The colors were brighter, the surroundings impressed on my brain with extra clarity. It felt more real than the waking world, in its way.

Important, then. So I paid attention.

The neighborhood seemed vaguely familiar, not as if I’d been there before, but as if I’d dreamed it before, though I was fairly sure I hadn’t. I took in the details—a row of older houses, oak trees, sidewalks. One of the houses had shutters painted plum. I made extra note of that—it seemed like an important detail.

The house with the purple shutters, though, seemed not to be my destination. Instead, my course veered toward a smaller house, set back from the sidewalk, its lawn overgrown, the sidewalk in front of it in bad repair. A man sat on the front porch; he waved to me and smiled a thin, feral smile. I waved back, trying to be friendly, unsure if it was possible to offend whoever was mucking around in my dreamscape.

And who exactly was mucking around in my dreamscape, if anybody? Whatever had happened when Pieter had bitten me, and in the aftermath, it was still hitting me with side effects. I wondered if Pieter knew what was going on. It sure as hell had me confused.

This was the house, though. I sensed it. In a not-bad but older neighborhood, set off from the other houses. Small, gray, with peeling red shutters. And a vampire sitting on the front porch. That was where Pieter and his cronies were hiding out, at least for now.

But why was I able to know this? Was this another side effect of the blood exchange that Pieter didn’t know about? I couldn’t imagine he’d transmit any more dreams to me now that he knew I wasn’t under his control. If we went to the house from the dream, would our arrival hold the element of surprise, or would it just be another trap?