Phantom Warriors: Linx (11 page)

Tabby
examined Linx from head to toe and noticed that his knuckles were red and
slightly swollen. "What exactly did you say to Sergei?"

"I
asked him to leave you and your sister alone," he said.

Tabby
wasn't buying the look of innocence on his face, even if there was something
about it that made her heart melt. "What did Sergei say?"

Linx
shrugged. "Not much at first, but eventually he agreed that it would be in
his best interest to do so."

"Uh-huh,
sure." There was no way Sergei would just agree to something like that. He
was a man used to getting his way in all things. "That’s such a nice
story. What are you leaving out?"

"Nothing,"
he said.

She
knew it was a lie, but didn’t call him on it. Tabby helped Linx carry Taylor
into the house. She could see the bruises on her twin's face beneath her
carefully applied makeup. She wondered, not for the first time, how long Sergei
had been abusing her. Linx placed Taylor onto the couch and walked to the door.
Tabby's heart tripped and began to pound. He was really going to leave. And
she’d never see him again.

What did you expect? It’s
not like you asked him to stay.

Tabby
recognized panic when she felt it. "Where will you go?" she asked
before she could stop herself.

"I
told you that I'd leave you alone,” Linx said. “I always keep my word.”

Tabby
glanced back at Taylor. "Thanks for bringing my sister home." She
watched him walk to the door. Something inside of her cried out as he stepped
outside. Tabby knew his leaving was for the best, but that didn’t stop a part
of her from wanting him to stay.

Linx
opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but nodded instead and left.

A
lump formed in Tabby's throat as she tried to swallow. Her eyes burned as she
blinked back tears. What was wrong with her? She'd only met the guy a few days
ago, so why did it feel like her heart was breaking?

*
* * * *

Taylor
woke with a start. Tabby had been sitting by her side for over an hour, when
her sister shot up and frantically looked around.

"Where's
the monster?" Taylor asked.

Tabby
frowned. Maybe her sister's brain had been damaged when Linx stunned her
because she wasn't making any sense. "Honey, you're at home."

Taylor
stared at Tabby for what seemed like an eternity. "Where did that guy go
that you were with the other day?"

"Linx?"

"I
don't know what his name is. The one you had sex with on the video," she
blurted.

Tabby
flushed. She and her twin were close and talked about everything...or had in
the past, but for some reason she didn't feel comfortable discussing Linx. And
she certainly didn’t want to talk about the video. She’d been reliving that
night in her head ever since he walked out the door. “Why do you want to know?”

Taylor
did a quick scan of the house. "Is he here?"

"No."
She didn’t miss him. And Tabby would continue to tell herself that until she believed
it.

Her
sister deflated in front of her eyes. "Thank goodness."

Tabby’s
brow furrowed. Why would Taylor say that, especially after everything Linx had
done for them—for her? "I think maybe you need to lie back
down."

Taylor
stared at her, then slowly did as she’d suggested.

"Would
you like a glass of water?" Tabby asked as much for herself as for her
sister. It was obvious that Taylor was in shock. She just didn’t understand
why.

She
nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice. I don’t feel so well."

Tabby
walked into the kitchen. More than anything else, she wanted to get her
thoughts straight. She needed answers from Taylor and she wasn't precisely sure
where to begin. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then walked back
into the living room.

"What
happened?" She handed Taylor the water.

Taylor's
wild gaze continued to explore the room. "Are you sure he's gone?"

"Yes!
I don’t know why you keep asking," she said. "Did Linx hurt
you?"

Taylor
frowned, then her expression cleared. "No, not exactly hurt, but he shot
me with something."

Tabby’s
breath froze in her lungs. "He shot you?" She thought about the
weapon he’d aimed at
Viktor’s
and Alexei’s car. Had he
used the same thing? If it could do that to an engine, what would it do to a
person? Tabby scanned Taylor from her toes to the top of her head and back
again.

Taylor
rolled her eyes. "It wasn't with a gun. At least not any kind of gun I'd
ever seen before," she said.

“Was
it a Taser?” Tabby asked.

Taylor
shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. There wasn’t any electricity.”

"Start
from the beginning and tell me everything that happened." Tabby took a
deep breath and slowly let it out. It was a good thing Linx wasn’t still here
or she’d strangle him.

Taylor's
nose crinkled as she tried to recall. "I came out after the fight. Well
near the end anyway."

"What
fight?" Tabby's heart began to pound. What had Linx done? He'd said he had
made sure they were safe by speaking with Sergei. She'd known that was a lie,
but hadn't questioned him further. His knuckles had been red, but other than
that, he appeared unharmed. Perhaps Taylor was over-exaggerating the
seriousness of the situation.

"He
took out all three of Sergei's men, then he attacked Sergei himself," she
said.

Or maybe not,
Tabby thought.

Taylor
looked at her sister. "I've never seen anything like it. One minute he was
there, the next he disappeared.
Like a ghost.
He had
fangs and claws." Her voice trailed off as she put her fingers up to her
mouth to simulate teeth. "I think he might be a vampire."

Tabby
blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say vampire?" She'd never heard anything
so ridiculous in her life. It was more than obvious that Taylor was suffering
from a concussion. “I think I need to get you to the hospital.”

Her
sister's chin shot up. "I know it sounds crazy, but you didn't see him. He
moved so fast and fought so
good
. He was like a Ninja.
When he got his hands around Sergei's throat, I'm telling you, he didn’t look human.
He looked like some kind of animal with glowing red eyes, long claws, and sharp
teeth. I’ve never been so scared in my life. " She scrubbed a hand over
her face as if to erase the memory. "Boris called him a demon. I'm
beginning to think that he's right."

"Linx
is
not
a vampire and I’m pretty sure
he’s not a demon. But I’d bet my house that he is a soldier," Tabby said. That
made far more sense than him being some kind of supernatural creature. She
glanced at her twin. Her sister looked so sincere. Whatever Taylor had seen had
definitely freaked her out. Maybe the shock of witnessing all that violence had
triggered her imagination. It was compensating for the missing pieces of her
memory.

Yeah,
that had to be it. The other option was unthinkable.

"How
do you know he’s not a vampire?" Taylor asked, scanning Tabby's neck for
bite marks.

She
wouldn't find any. At least not where she was looking. Linx had nipped her
during their lovemaking, but he'd done so on her shoulder. He hadn't left fang
marks behind, but he had left a whopper of a hickey. Telling Taylor so wouldn’t
help bring her sister back to reality. It would only fuel her fantasies. “Listen,
my name isn’t
Sookie
. This isn’t Louisiana. And I
don’t have any blood drinks in my refrigerator.” Tabby stared at her. “And if
that wasn’t reason enough, then I’d like to point out that vampires aren’t
real.”

Taylor
didn’t look convinced as she took another sip of water.

“I’ve
seen Linx during the day, okay?”

Taylor
scowled. "Well, he could still be a demon. They can go wherever they want
anytime they want."

"Do
you hear yourself?" Tabby asked. "I'm mean, really hear yourself?
You're starting to worry me."

"There’s
nothing wrong with my head," Taylor said defensively. "I know what I
saw. Sergei and the others saw it, too. It’s only a matter of time before they
recover enough to come looking for him. And I suspect they’ll start here."

Fear
slithered down her spine, settling into Tabby's gut. "Linx said that
everything would be okay now. Except maybe in a church."

Taylor
glared at her. "All he did was piss off an already pissed off
Sergei."

Tabby
looked at her. "Why,
Tay
? Why did you
stay?" It was a question that she'd been asking herself for months. She
desperately needed an answer. "You know what kind of man Sergei is."

Taylor
crossed her arms over her ample chest. "He's not always an asshole, you
know? When we first met, Sergei treated me like a princess."

She
sighed. "Princesses don't have to strip for their boyfriends in order to
stay in his good graces."

Taylor’s
gaze dropped, then quickly returned. "I don't strip for Sergei. I strip
because I enjoy the attention. You're just jealous."

Tabby
snorted. "Jealous? Jealous! Is that what you think?"

"Yes."
Taylor nodded.

“Then
you’re delusional,” Tabby said. "Did it ever occur to you that I didn't
want you to end up like Sergei's last girlfriend? She's dead, Taylor. He
discarded her like week-old garbage."

"The
police found no evidence that Sergei had anything to do with her disappearance
and subsequent murder," Taylor said. "I asked Sergei and he was upset
that I'd even think such a thing."

Tabby
couldn't believe the words pouring out of her twin's mouth. "He's part of
the Odessa Mafia. What did you expect him to say? Yeah, honey, I beat the crap
out of her and tossed her in the dumpster."

Taylor
scrambled off the couch until they were standing eye to eye. "You don't
know him. You never even gave him a chance. You have always been so judgmental.
Maybe if you spent time on your own social life, you wouldn't have to worry so
much about mine. At least I don't date monsters,” she spat.

Tabby
reeled back as if she'd been slapped. All these years she'd done everything to
try to help her twin out. She had no idea that all she'd been doing was
building Taylor's resentment. "You don't mean that." She couldn’t
mean that. Didn’t she understand how worried she was?

"I
do!" Taylor said.

Her
twin was right about one thing. Tabby had spent more time trying to fix her sister's
love life than she'd spent working on her own. Well that was about to change,
starting now.

"Had
I known that was how you felt, I wouldn't have bothered." It was a lie and
they both knew it, but Taylor didn't call her on it. Tabby thought about Linx.
Maybe if she hurried, she would be able to find him at his hotel before he left
town.

Taylor
straightened her shirt and walked over to the front door. “I tried to tell you.
You just wouldn’t listen.”

"Where
are you going?" Tabby asked, though in her heart, she already knew.

"Back
to Sergei," Taylor said.
 
“He
loves me.”

And you don’t
was left hanging in the air between them.

"Is
that why he puts so many bruises on your face?"

Taylor’s
hand rose subconsciously to her cheek. When she realized what she was doing,
she lowered it and gave Tabby a sad look. "I'd worry about my own life, if
I were you. Sergei doesn’t want to hurt me. He wants Linx. And he won’t think
twice about going through you to get to him."

Tabby
took a step forward. "You're a fool if you really believe that."

"I'm
not the one dating a monster," Taylor threw back, then opened the
door...and walked straight into Sergei's open arms.

Tabby
tried to scream, but a large bandaged hand closed over her mouth before she
could get a single sound out. She glanced up over her shoulder and saw Boris’
battered face glaring at her.

"Bring
her!" Sergei turned and walked back out the door, tugging Taylor along
with him. "We need bait in order to catch the demon."

"How
do you know he'll come, boss?" Boris picked Tabby up with one arm.

"Because
for some reason, he wants her." He pointed directly at Tabby. "Personally,
I don’t see what he sees in her. But we'll make sure there's enough of her left
for him to identify."

Tabby's
eyes rounded. Her gaze sought her twin. Taylor's face had paled.

"Sergei,
honey, we don't need her. We have each other." Taylor nuzzled close.

Sergei
grabbed her arm and squeezed until she cried out. "No one. And I mean, no
one comes into my club and humiliates me the way that bastard did. Do you
understand?" He shook Taylor hard enough to rattle her teeth.