ShiftingHeat (14 page)

“I’m interested too.” Serena stepped forward, smiling. If he
hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Andros wouldn’t have believed that the
Sorcerer could inject so much warmth, so much feeling into her eyes, and move
so seductively. She must have studied a long time to get that effect.

Deep in his mind, he heard her rebuttal.
Just a certain
cartoon rabbit. She taught me everything I needed to know.

He detected an echo of laughter.

The vampire turned his attention to her, having hooked
Andros, or so he probably believed. He grinned. “Sure. You’d make a tasty
addition to the clan.” He gave her a slow, sexy sweep with his gaze and
grinned. “Except you’d have to wait your turn. You’re one in a long line of
girls, sweetness. And I only have a certain capacity. Come to one of our
private parties. I’ll send you an invite.”

“Maybe later.” Serena maintained the sultry, seductive pose,
gazing at the vampire, seemingly in worship. Anything to get deeper into his
mind. But her chest moved in a small sigh. And Andros felt the snap of her
irritation in his mind. She couldn’t get in as deep as she wanted to. Either
that, or the vampire was as he seemed—cheesy and sleazy.

She turned and slinked out the door, the people remaining
clearing a path for her. Andros shot a glance at Faye, then at Sergiu. “Wow.”

The vampire watched Serena leave, then gave an exaggerated
shrug before turning back to them. “She’ll be back. She just wants to make her
point and get me running after her. I can wait. But she looked tasty. I’ll look
forward to marking that pretty white throat.”

Any minute now and he’ll run his tongue over his teeth
,
Faye said laconically.

When Sergiu did so, Andros nearly broke into laughter.
“Looks as if you have enough prey. Do you really think of them as prey?”

“No of course not.” The vampire could hardly want to put off
the others present. “But we appreciate the donations. We will, of course, try
to repay them, but it’s not always in our hands. Conversion, for instance, is difficult
and very hard to achieve. But there are other ways.”

“Is it true that when you choose a mate, if she drinks your
blood she can live long?” a woman asked him now.

Andros could hardly blame the woman for believing a
particularly pervasive rumor. He’d heard it himself, and it sounded plausible.
Except that blood was indigestible, even for vampires. Nobody actually drank
the stuff. Vampires had an extra organ, and when they bit someone, that blood
was drawn up the teeth and into the organ, there to be processed for the body’s
use. It made them more vulnerable, not less, except that blood gave them extra
strength and power. Vampires needed one extra item more than others did. Food,
water, air
and
blood. Humans wouldn’t benefit from blood, vampire or
otherwise. Ingestion of large amounts would just make them sick. A shame,
because it was a lovely story, the one that made a vampire’s mate dependent on
him, or more rarely, her, for sustenance. The ultimate in dependency.

No, the only way a vampire could convert another was by
losing his own life in the process. Legends abounded of vampires who had done
just that, made the ultimate sacrifice for love. Andros wondered if he could do
such a thing.

Looking at Faye, he believed he could.

Chapter
Six

The following day, at the end of a particularly difficult
session trying to persuade students that
Measure for Measure
had far
more significance for the modern reader than they recognized, Faye went back to
her office and leaned back with a sigh of exhaustion. She found her cell and
switched it back on. The thing tinkled, indicating an unread text message.

It was from Andros. “Serena wants to see us. Meet you
there.”

A few students stopped by to ask her how she could see
Isabella, the heroine of the play, as anything but a sanctimonious twit. By the
time she’d persuaded them of several different ways to view the lady’s actions
in the play, fifteen minutes had flown past and she still had to get to another
building to reach Serena’s office.

She left the building at a fair clip and strode across the
path leading through the green lawn outside the arts building toward the
faculty, where Nordheim’s office, now Serena’s, was situated. She was lucky
they weren’t on another campus, but Speke was a compact university.

The buildings holding the various faculties were in very
different styles. The arts building, being the first one built, was a gracious
Victorian edifice, four stories in a gray stone that blended with the Old-World-style
gardens. The tall buildings framing it behind seemed an aberration. But the
science building, as befitted its lofty ambitions and forward outlook, was a
glass and steel edifice reaching for the sky, its entrance recently remodeled
to form a large glass portico, the clean, classical design enhanced by its
modern materials.

Entering, she flashed her ID card to the less than observant
guard at the door. There wasn’t usually one here, but after the events of
yesterday, the dean probably wanted to at least show his willingness to improve
security, if only to reassure the students. This man gave useless a good name.
She could have flashed her library card and he’d have glanced at it and
grunted.

She tucked her wallet back in her pocket and thought of the
more sophisticated ankle bracelets. How stupid she’d been to believe she could
just steal one and get inside the STORM building. They’d probably made her the
minute she landed on the roof. But Serena had cleared the fog from her mind,
the fog put there by a man she’d considered her ally. Although the initial
shock had abated, she was still angry about it. But she no longer doubted her
own judgment. Andros had given her her mind back.

This place was so different from the marble entrance at
STORM, which, she recognized in retrospect, could be locked down from the rest
of the building if necessary. STORM had an impressive entrance hall but a
discreet one, with two elevators and an inner door. She’d bet the reception
desk had a hidden security screen too.
Clever.

She ignored the students jostling and chatting, most of them
heading out since lectures were done for the day and the library and catering
facilities were situated elsewhere. She took the elevator up to the third
floor. Tension filled her, but this time a pleasurable kind. She would see her
lover again, and tonight—tonight they could indulge in whatever they wanted.
She’d take him home, surprise him a little. Just because she lived incognito
didn’t mean she had to live in a tiny apartment in an unsafe neighborhood. She
smiled when she imagined his reaction to her place and what they could do
there. What they
would
do there. Her blood heated and her pussy dampened
at the thought. But they weren’t there yet.

The elevator doors slid open with a creak and a shake. Like
everything here, it needed servicing. Flashy buildings, shoddy workmanship. But
she was so used to it she hardly noticed, although a couple of people riding up
with her glanced at each other in alarm. She was the only person to get off on
this floor. Smiling at the prospect of meeting Andros again, she strode up the
hallway. Serena’s door was closed. Faye knocked and went in.

And froze.

Blood. Blood seeping under the desk, flooding the surface
from the body of the woman slumped over it. She gagged at the stink of the
blood and the sight before her. Serena had been sitting in her chair and had fallen
forward to sprawl across the glossy wood veneered surface. Her blonde hair
gleamed obscenely, the ends floating in the gore. Her head was turned to one side,
toward the door. Faye stared at the open, unseeing eyes, their blue depths
unfocused, staring at nothing. The lower part of Serena’s face was gone, blown
away. Blood and pieces of matter spattered Serena’s diamond and gold watch. She
must have taken it off and laid it on the desk at some point. The remains of
her once immaculate appearance mocked Faye now, reminding her of the ice-cold,
controlled Sorcerer.

And over the body leaned Andros. He lost his balance when he
saw her and put out his hand to save himself. He landed on the watch and
grabbed it as he steadied himself, then looked down and grimaced.

Faye heard a sound from the door and turned to face the new
arrival.

Nordheim grinned. “Hello, Faye,” he said, as if this were a
social occasion. “Could you move a little to the left, please?” His mind probed
hers, urging her to obey, reinforcing his command. She ignored it. She heard a
sound. The click of an old-fashioned sidearm being cocked. She’d never forget
that sound. If she moved the way he wanted, he’d hit Andros.

She moved to the right, blocking the professor’s aim. He
smiled at her, his face at ease, his handsome features displaying real warmth.

Faye didn’t smile back. “Why should I, Harken? Why do you
want to kill him?”

Harken’s eyes filled with cloudy sorrow. “Because he wants
to kill you. I don’t know if you’re aware, sweet Faye, but he’s STORM. I won’t
have you corrupted by his kind. Please move, or I’ll have to hurt you. I can
put all the blame on him, discover him in the act of murdering this woman. You
can save me. It’s in your power. I can get off the other charge as
self-defense. You can take me in, if you like. Get a gold star for your
record.”

So supercilious. Why hadn’t she seen that before? She knew
why, and she recognized the intrinsic evil of compulsion. It had altered the
way she viewed him. He’d have seduced her eventually, and that would have been
nothing less than rape.

Like fuck he’d let her take him in. He’d spare her, but only
until she’d served his needs. She tried to filter her mind into his, but she
met only his outer thoughts. Nothing significant, since he’d carefully
manufactured them to reflect his stated intent. As he’d always done. Arguing
with him would be a waste of time.

Time to use the basic skills she’d learned long ago. She
spun, shape-shifting at the same time, controlling her size so she didn’t swell
to fill the room, and struck out with one arm, an arm that changed to a wing partway
through its trajectory. It struck flesh, but Nordheim had time to fire.

Pain seared her arm but Faye felt only triumph. She’d deflected
the shot.

She concentrated on disarming Harken. She had to act fast or
he’d take another shot.

One blow from her wing knocked him down and another broke
his arm. She kicked the weapon away and, before she could censor her automatic
response, Faye roared her triumph. Fire seared her mouth, flooded out in a
stream of death, frying the bastard who had dared attack her man.

She’d acted like the dragon she was, and she wasn’t ashamed
of it.

She shape-shifted back as she felt Andros touch her
shoulder. “Fuck, oh fuck! I’ve sent out a broadcast to any STORM agent
available. Get in there, Faye.”

Dazed, half naked, her clothes shredded rags from the
shape-shift, bleeding from the shallow wound in her arm, Faye stepped back inside
the office.

The phone rang. Before she could stop herself, she picked it
up, but by the time she had the receiver against her ear, she’d remembered not
to say anything. Someone at the other end barked a command. “Stay there. Help
is on its way. Contain the situation.” Ann Reynolds. Faye was beginning to
think the woman was omniscient.

“Bring clothes,” she croaked, her throat sore from her
recent firestream. “I had to shape-shift.”

“Understood.”

She hung up. Faye got to her feet from her perch on the side
of the desk, the side without the blood. She ignored the way her limbs shook as
shock took hold of her. “We need to get him inside.”

“Your arm.”

She glanced at it. “It’s okay, not deep. I’ll do a quick
shape-shift to take care of it.” It didn’t even hurt. But it would, once the shock
had abated.

Together she and Andros dragged the professor’s body inside
the office. Not a moment too soon, as doors were opening farther down the hall.
They had to keep inside if they wanted to maintain their cover. Which now
appeared more important than ever. They dumped him on the floor. She
shape-shifted, felt the graze heal and shape-shifted back. She’d been right. It
healed cleanly, only blood left to clean up, the wound sealed.

When she reached for Andros’ hand, she found him waiting. As
heedless of the blood that marked her as she was heedless of Serena’s blood on
his hand, he hauled her into his arms and held her tight. “Oh baby, I’m sorry.
Sorry you walked into this.”

“What happened?”

“I arrived a few minutes before you. I heard the elevator
coming up as I came into the office. And then I heard the shot. So loud. Fuck,
oh fuck.”

He wasn’t shaking. Perhaps reaction would set in later.
She’d be there for him. They stared at each other, avoiding the sight of the
body on the floor.

Nick opened the door with measured gravity. The edge of the
door bumped Nordheim’s body, sending it into an obscene judder. Harken wouldn’t
move anymore of his own volition. Faye stared down at him.

She felt distanced, apart. She couldn’t reach her emotions,
but this didn’t worry her. It had happened before and she knew from experience
that in about half an hour that would flood back. She had that time to come to
terms with what she’d done.

Nick nudged the Talent with his foot. “Nordheim. Shit.”

“Yeah,” Andros said.

Nick’s emerald-green gaze took in Faye’s near-naked form. He
shrugged off his jacket but Andros got there first. He took off his own leather
jacket and laid it around her shoulders, taking her hands and gently urging
them through the sleeves. Because he was taller than her, once he’d done up the
zipper, she was fairly decent, the jacket skimming her thighs a couple of
inches below her pussy. The covering eased her mind, although being a
shape-shifter, being naked after a shape-shift wasn’t a new experience to her.
But none of this was usual.