Necromancing Nim (27 page)

Colin shook his head, rolled his eyes and pointed at Eric. Eric shut up. He also stopped moving, staring fixedly at the tip of Colin’s finger. I started to ask Colin what the hell he was doing, messing with a cop like that, then decided I didn’t care. Under the circumstances, a good vampire whammy was probably the most expedient option. Especially since it was Eric.

Sebastian glanced at me, his mouth twitching as he failed to fight back a grin. I regarded him with appropriate disapproval. Whether I liked Eric or not, whammying cops couldn’t be a good idea, and I didn’t want to go on record as having condoned it.

“Detective Harrison,” Colin said quietly. I could hear the underlying thrum in his voice that signified whammy-mode. It made my eyes water a little but otherwise had no discernible effect. Sebastian took a step back, putting himself out of range.

Eric’s head rolled up toward Colin, pupils wide, mouth lax. I expected him to start drooling any second. I hoped he didn’t. I really didn’t want to see that.

“Detective Harrison,” Colin said again, leaning a little closer. “You came here tonight. We had a cup of tea and a pleasant conversation, and then you left. Our encounter was entirely cordial.”

“Tea,” said Eric. “Good tea. With milk.”

I dropped my face into my hands. God. This was just not going to end well.

“You will go on about your business and stay away from this case. Oh, and you’ll be helpful to Nim in the future. And nicer to vampires in general.”

“That’s just about enough, I think.” I couldn’t help butting in. If I left Colin to his own devices, I was afraid he might have Eric wearing women’s underwear and hanging out at the fang bars on a regular basis. Not that that wouldn’t be funny. The first part, at least.

Colin gave his forehead a quick massage, as if tweaking away a migraine. “Fine.” He peered closely into Eric’s eyes, close enough to kiss him, then bent to loosen the ropes. “All right, Detective Harrison. When I’m done here, you can head on home, or back to the police station or wherever you need to go, and everything will seem completely average and normal. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Eric, eyes still glassy.

Colin finished untying him and helped him to his feet. Eric remained a little unsteady. Colin hesitated, holding on to his arm until he seemed less likely to keel over, then steering him toward the door.

“It was very pleasant speaking with you,” Colin told him at the threshold. “I hope you’ll stop by again soon. For tea.”

“For tea,” Eric repeated. His glassy eyes were clearer, focusing on Colin’s face, the pupils closer to normal size. “It was very pleasant speaking with you too.” He held out his hand, and Colin shook it, giving Eric an amiable smile. Eric nodded again, returning the smile, then walked out toward his car, which was parked in front of my house. Colin waited until Eric had gotten into the car and pulled out into the road, then closed the door.

“There.” He brushed his hands together. “That’s taken care of. Now, Nim, pack a suitcase. I’m taking you to my place.”

I blinked. “You are?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Safer.”

The single-word exchange thing wasn’t what I’d been after, but I had to concede his point anyway. “What about Rufus?”

“Bring him.” Colin’s complete lack of hesitation won him the argument. I went to collect my things.

I, undersigned human, swear that my agreement to be fed upon by undersigned vampire is entirely voluntary. I, undersigned vampire, swear that my request for feeding was unaccompanied by any coercion or vampire glamour.
—Standard vampire feeding disclaimer form, excerpt.

Chapter Seventeen

“Do you really think my house will be okay?” I watched Colin studiously clean the stone in the bathroom sink. It was smeared with blood and bits of something or other that I preferred not to think about, since it had come from inside Pieter’s chest. The blood was black and tarry, the other bits equally unpleasant. I wondered if the inside of a vampire was strictly alive or dead, then decided I didn’t want to think about it.

“Your house will be fine.” He wrapped the stone in a towel and dried it, then made his way out of the bathroom. “They know we won’t hide it there again. If they come after us anywhere, it’ll be here.”

“So that’s why we’re here?” I asked. “So we’ll be here when they send their vast vampire-zombie armies out after the stone we just ripped out of their evil leader’s chest? I thought you said it would be safer here.”

“No, that’s not why we’re here.” He put the stone down on a side table with a clunk. “We’re here so we can pack.”

“Pack?”

“Pack. We’re leaving as soon as we can get the hell out of here.”

This was, of course, news to me. “Where are we going?”

“Don’t know yet.”

Sebastian sprawled across the couch, hunching so low in the cushions it seemed to me he should have just shifted and stretched out on the length of it. “I’m waiting for an e-mail. Roland is supposed to get back to me before morning.”

“Roland?” I queried. He’d mentioned the name before, in the car, but hadn’t provided any additional explanation.

“A contact of mine. Kind of a librarian.”

“A vampire librarian?”

“Something like that.” He closed his eyes. “God, I feel like shit.”

The comment alarmed me. It was the first time I’d heard Sebastian directly mention his condition.

Colin’s brows compressed. “You took some hard hits back there.”

“I’ve taken worse.”

“Not when you were in the condition you’re in now.”

Sebastian opened one eye and regarded Colin with a wry quirk of his brow. “If you say so.”

“Get in the bedroom and strip down,” Colin demanded sharply.

“I’m not in the mood.”

“You know what I mean. Move it.”

Wearily, Sebastian got to his feet and headed down the hallway, pulling his shirt off as he went. Colin gave me a look. “Be ready.”

He followed Sebastian down the hall, leaving me to wonder what he’d meant. Except I knew what he meant. I just didn’t want to think about it.

I went to the end table where the stone lay. It had had a busy life lately, from the bag of coffee grounds to the shenanigans with Rufus, then being implanted into and subsequently ripped forcefully out of Pieter’s chest. It seemed innocuous lying there, just a tannish lump of rock. It didn’t glow or sparkle or change colors in the light, or undulate like it was living, or do anything even remotely interesting other than lie there and be a rock. And yet the most powerful vampires in the world seemed prepared to put their unlives on the line to possess it and use its supposed powers. It was all very surreal.

“Nim!” Colin’s voice came from the back bedroom, where he’d gone with Sebastian. He called my name again, more urgently this time. “Nim!”

I moved quickly to the bedroom. “What—” But I broke off before I could finish the thought, because the “what” became immediately apparent.

Sebastian sat hunched over on the edge of the bed, head down, shaking. Colin knelt next to him, as close to frantic as I’d ever seen him. I moved quickly to join them, sitting on the bed next to Sebastian.

“What happened?”

“Dumbass didn’t tell us he got hurt,” Colin grated.

“How bad—” I broke off. I could see the blood now, thick, red, sticky, on his hands and shirt, spreading down onto his lap, onto the floor. “Shit.”

“It’s fine,” Sebastian protested. “It’ll heal. It’s healing already.”

“Not fast enough,” Colin said, his voice harsh. It was fear, though, not anger. I met his gaze and knew almost instantly what he was thinking.

I wanted to protest, to refuse him in no uncertain terms and leave the room, the house. To walk away from them and their strange, incomprehensible world and never come back. I wanted to be me again.

Instead, I bent close to Sebastian and cupped the back of his head with my hand. “Take what you need.” To my surprise, my voice was steady, firm and brave.

Sebastian’s normally blue eyes were gray and swimming with pain. “I can’t.”

“You will.”

“You don’t understand. It’s too much. I’ll take too much.” The strain in his voice was enough to make me wonder if it was, indeed, too much of a risk. But I couldn’t walk away from him. Not now.

Gently, I stroked his hair. His eyelids fluttered vaguely at the caress. “It’ll be okay,” I told him. The fear was fading. He was too hungry to feed from a live person. I understood that now. He was afraid if he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop, that his own need would take over, and he would drink me dry. But I knew he wouldn’t.

His eyes squeezed tight shut, then came slowly open again. He nodded. “All right.”

The mere fact that he’d agreed should have scared me. He wouldn’t have agreed unless he truly was desperate, and his own desperation was what frightened him, made him so certain he would kill me if he drank. I should have been scared. I should have run like hell out of that bedroom.

But he had risked sunlight for me, to save my life, so I wasn’t afraid, and I didn’t run. I took his hand, wet and sticky with his own shed blood, and squeezed it tight. Then, slowly, so as not to startle either of us, I leaned forward and kissed him.

His mouth was soft and cool and dry, and I kissed him gently, not wanting to push too hard. I didn’t even know if it was the right thing to do, but at least it seemed like a signal that I would accept him, allow him to do what he needed to do. I drew back and traced the pad of my thumb over his lips.

“It’s okay,” I said again.

“No,” he replied, “it’s not.”

He bit me.

He came at me so fast I didn’t realize he’d moved until I felt his teeth in my neck. I jumped but only briefly—if I’d pulled back with any more force, the results might have been lethal. As it was, his hands tightened on my arms, keeping me from jerking away, and I realized what I was doing a split second before I managed to do severe damage to myself.

We were both still then for a moment, as I waited for him to begin to drink and he waited for me to relax into what was happening. Feeling the dull ache of his fangs in my neck, I lifted a hand to cup the back of his head.

He took this as I’d meant it—as a signal to go on. His lips moved against my skin, tightening, creating the suction he needed to drink. My head tipped back a little and to one side, almost involuntarily, giving him easier access to my throat.

The sensation was completely different from what it had been when Pieter bit me. That had been forced upon me; this was not. I wanted this. Even as I wanted it, I didn’t understand how I could. But there was no denying the feelings that accompanied his feeding. Desire shimmered all up and down my body as his hands tightened on my arms, pulled me closer, as his mouth sucked at my pulsing throat. I could feel my heartbeat there against the growing heat of his mouth. I groped at him, finding a space between the buttons of his shirt. My fingers stroked his belly, poked into his navel. His body was toned and good to touch. I started to unbutton his jeans.

“Sebastian.” This was Colin’s voice, quiet but imperative, from behind me. I’d almost forgotten he was there. He signaled for Sebastian to stop.

I didn’t want him to stop. I still felt fine. Surely I would be dizzy or sick or something if he’d taken too much. But all I could feel was the wonderful sensation of surrender, a tremble of heady sensation that could tighten and head toward orgasm if I let it. I wanted it to. I wanted to come with Sebastian’s mouth locked to my heartbeat—

He pulled away. I let out a high, keening sound of protest that embarrassed me as soon as I heard it. But as he drew back, I wavered, feeling the dizziness I’d expected to serve as a warning sign. Sebastian leaned away from me, his face lax, as if he’d just climaxed. I wondered if he had. I wondered if vampires left wet spots. There was just so much to learn.

“Are you all right?” he managed, his voice hollow and breathy.

“I think so.” I felt Colin’s hands take hold of my arms from behind, steadying me. I thought I didn’t need it, but as soon as he touched me, it became apparent that I did.

“Breathe,” he said, and I did, leaning back against Colin’s chest. He kissed the unwounded side of my neck gently. He seemed shaky. I had a feeling he was as aroused as I was. My head reeled.

“What about you?” I asked Sebastian. “Are you better? Did it help?”

Sebastian just nodded mutely. His face was still slack and empty. His tongue slipped from between his lips and cleaned them of a few drops of blood lingering along his lower lip.

“I feel—” he ventured but didn’t finish. Instead he lay back, staring fixedly at the ceiling.

His behavior alarmed me. “Is he all right?” I asked Colin. “Did I kill him?”

“I don’t think so.” Colin did sound concerned, though, which I didn’t find particularly reassuring. “Give him a few minutes. He’ll need time for all that blood to settle.”

All that blood
. How much had he taken, anyway? “What about me?”

“If you’re feeling okay for the moment, I’ll go get you a glass of orange juice.”

Ah. Orange juice. The old standby for folks who’d just given blood. It made sense, I supposed. I nodded and made myself a bit more comfortable. Next to me on the bed, Sebastian had closed his eyes. He wasn’t breathing, but that wasn’t necessarily a problem for him. The pain and tension on his face had eased.