The Quest (7 page)

“Shelley, look out!”

At the same time, the garguman reached inside the car. The upper part of his body filled the window space. It claimed hold of my leg. Before I realized what was going on, he lifted my knee and bit into my inner thigh. Intense pain shot up my leg, and I screamed loudly.

“Shit,” Jonas yelled. “God damn it!”

A wave of heat rushed to my head and my leg. The razor teeth sank deeper into my flesh as he gnawed on me like a damn shark. I screamed again, louder, as warm fluid ran down my thigh.

Jonas shook me. “Where’s your dagger?”

Through the fog of pain, I glanced down and found myself gripping it tightly. I knew in an instant what I had to do. I gathered all my strength and lunged at the beast. I shoved the poisonous blade into its neck.

The garguman opened its mouth and cried out. Blood dripped from its piranha teeth. Its large, black eyes stared at me. The creature looked vicious, full of rage and downright evil. Had I not destroyed it, it could’ve killed us.

Boss tugged the garguman’s body, pulling the arms and head from the broken window. Once it disappeared from sight, I heard a thud near the door.

I sat up, gripping my thigh. Blood gushed out. The damn beast had actually taken some of my flesh.

“Oh God, it fucking hurts.” I whined behind clenched teeth. The smell of the coppery fluid flooded my nose. Besides the pain in my leg, my stomach cramped ten times worse than it had before. Losing blood and breathing in the scent magnified my hunger.

Boss opened the door. He stared at my leg, his eyes dark and hungry, and whether he knew it or not, his fangs were on full display.
Oh no.

“Uh, Jonas,” I said.

Boss’s gaze remained fixed on my bleeding leg. His tongue slipped from between his lips and curled around one of his sharp canines.

“Don’t, Boss,” I said. “Look at me.”

Jonas pointed his gun at Boss. “Don’t fucking do it. I will shoot.”

Boss’s gaze met mine. “You’ve lost too much. You won’t heal fast enough. You need to feed.” He looked at Jonas, and then back to me.

Oh fuck! No!

“You have to. I am in control now, but I can’t…”

The pain in my gut tightened. Wincing, I looked at Jonas. “We have a slight problem.”

“We have a fucking big problem,” he said.

“Jonas, I need…”

He eyed Boss and then me. “What? Here? Now?”

“I can’t heal unless I replenish my supply!” I snapped. The hunger in me grew by the second.

Boss bent unexpectedly and Jonas fired a shot, hitting the side of the door.

“Hey,” I yelled.

Boss straightened, gripping my dagger and glaring at Jonas.

“Don’t move,” Jonas yelled. “No, move in front of the car, in the headlights.”

Boss moved slowly until he stood in the center of the lights. “
You should hurry. The owners of the house up the hill heard the gunshots,”
he said telepathically.

I nodded.

“I heard him. Let’s get this over with,” Jonas said, still aiming his gun at Boss. “Arm or neck?”

“What?”

“Arm or neck? You gotta bite me.”

Oh shit! I’d never bit someone before, at least not that I remembered. Since Jonas and Boss found me, I took blood through an injection.

“Jonas, I–”

“Shut up and bite me already. We don’t have time to romanticize about it.”

“What if I can’t stop?” Pain in my stomach clipped my last word.

Jonas gripped a handful of my hair and shoved my face into his neck. “Do it now!”

My nose brushed over his skin. He smelled of mint, musk and a touch of sweat. My lips touched his warm flesh. Instinct took over, and I gently pressed my canines into his skin, sinking them into his vein.

A soft moan slipped from him. Warm blood trickled into my mouth and flowed over my tongue. I swallowed the tangy flavor while I sucked tenderly on his neck. His energy flowed into me, charged my brain and heart, stimulated my nerves and rejuvenated every cell and muscle in my body. The tightness in my abdomen and throbbing in my knee lessened as I ingested more of his wonderful elixir.

Jonas’s heart skipped a beat. The loud thumps drummed in my ears, reminding me of life–his life. While I enjoyed every drop in his strong, healthy body, I couldn’t take it all. I wouldn’t. I retracted my fangs, and I rolled my tongue over the two holes I’d created. When I knew with all certainty the punctures were sealed, I inched back away from him.

Boss emerged near the open door. “We need to get out of here. I hear cars approaching.”

“I…I don’t think I can drive,” Jonas said, his eyelids drooping.

I looked into his dilated eyes. “Are you all right?”

“Uh, a bit light-headed.” He pressed the palm of his hand to his eye.

“Lay him down in the back,” Boss said. “I’ll load the garguman into the trunk.”

While Boss dragged the body of the garguman to the rear, I looked at my knee. Blood covered it, but the flesh had fused back together.

I lifted my gaze to Jonas. He had pale skin and looked ill.

“You need to lie down.” I scooted out of the seat and planted my feet on the ground, crunching glass under my boots.

His lethargic movements troubled me. Was he going to pass out?

“Hey, Jonas.” I snapped my fingers, grabbing his attention. “Stay with me.”

He held one hand over his neck, or rather, the area I’d bit him, and his gun was in the other. As he crawled toward me on his knees, I wrapped my arms around his torso and lifted him from the car.

“Jesus, how much do you weigh?” I asked.

His feet touched the ground. “Two ten, all muscle.”

I leaned him against the car. “I’m taking your gun.” I slowly slid my hand down his arm and removed the weapon from his grasp. I tossed it onto my seat. “How are you doing?”

“Still light-headed, and I feel sick.”

I braced my hand on his chest while I opened the back door.

“Thanks for not killing me,” he said.

A loud thud sounded from the back and shook the car.

Meeting Jonas’s dreamy gaze, I said, “I would never do that to you. I love you, like a brother.”

He swung his arm over my shoulder. “For a brief moment, I wasn’t sure.”

And I wasn’t certain I knew what to do, but like so many other times, my internal programming took over.

Holding him up by the waistband of his jeans, I helped him into the back. He crawled over the seat and fell sideways.

“Oh man, I feel sick,” he repeated.

“We’ll be home soon.” I tapped his leg. “Just hang on a bit longer.”

Boss opened the driver’s side door and sunk into the seat. After closing the back door, I returned to my spot in the front.

“Here.” Boss handed my dagger to me.

Before retrieving my weapon, I opened the glove compartment and found the cloth balled up inside. I snatched the linen and carefully picked up my dagger. The soiled blade needed a good bath and as soon as I had one myself, I’d clean it. “Thanks.” I laid my number one piece of protection in the glove box.

As Boss shifted gears and sped away, I put Jonas’s gun and the small handgun under the seat.

“How close are they?”

He switched the lights off. “Very.” The engine hummed louder as the car accelerated.

I reached over and strapped the seatbelt across me. Wind flowing in from the busted window blew my hair in front of my face. “So much for interrogating the garguman.”

Boss clenched his jaw. “We’ll talk about it later.”

From the deepness of his tone, I quickly gathered he was not in a good mood. Pressing my lips together, I kept my gaze on the dark road ahead and silently prayed we’d make it back to the house without any more trouble.

* * * *

Steam covered the mirror of the bathroom as I stood in front of the vanity brushing my wet hair. The soft scent of pomegranate lingered from the gel I had used in the shower. I had a pink bathrobe, one of Tabby’s, wrapped around me. My aches and pains had disappeared, thanks to Jonas, but worry gnawed at my heart. The blood I’d taken from him left him weak and sick. I’d never taken so much from him before. My brotherly protector was now bound to the bed.

A light tap sounded from the door.

“It’s just me. Can I come in?” Tabby, my shape-shifting friend, asked.

After I returned the brush to the counter, I opened the door. Her green eyes met mine.

“Boss is still upstairs with Jonas. He’s giving Jonas an injection to help him heal quicker.” She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

“Good. He could use a little boost.” Jonas typically took a shot of Boss’s blood once a year to keep him healthy and young. I doubted an extra dose would do anything, especially since I took quite a bit from him.

“Boss told me what happened,” she said as she straightened and lowered her arms. “How are you feeling?”

The feline shape-shifter stood taller than I did and had a lean frame. Long, black hair complimented her beautiful eyes. The first time I’d met her, she hissed at me–in her cat form.

“Better, thanks to Jonas,” I replied, tightening the cloth belt around my waist.

“Don’t worry too much about him. He’ll be up and running around soon enough. Trust me. He’s had worse days.” She offered a warm smile.

“Really?”

She nodded. “He’s been stabbed and shot on plenty of investigations. Every time he knocks on death’s door, death keeps shoving him away.”

I started to smile, but quickly stopped. A brush with death was not something to appreciate. Jonas was mostly human. At any time, someone could end his mortal life. I dreaded the thought of losing my dear friend.

“I didn’t want to feed from him, but–”

She reached forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine. He’s a tough guy.” She smiled.

I nodded and passed by her, heading for the bedroom. “I need to go shopping later for some slacks to wear to work. Will you go with me?”

“Are you kidding?” The excitement in her voice clued me in to her answer. “Of course, I’ll go with you.”

Chuckling silently, I strolled into the room Boss and I shared. The large bed with ruffled sheets looked just the way I’d left it twenty-four hours ago, which meant Boss hadn’t slept a wink during the day. He rarely did anyway, didn’t need to. But me, I needed a little beauty sleep.

I stopped in front of the dresser and faced her. “I may have to meet Jackson for lunch too.”

“The werewolf?” Hands on her hips, she frowned at me. “Why?”

“I ran into him at work. He knows my real name now.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t too happy. I need to tell him the truth. And actually, I think this is the right time. He might be able to help me dig for evidence against the Senator.”

“Do you trust him? Especially after you two almost–”

“He can be trusted.”

“Tabby,” Boss said from down the hall.

She backed out of the room. “Do you need something?”

Boss stopped at the doorway. “I need you to watch over Jonas. He’s sleeping, but if he gets up, I want you to monitor him. He’ll need water and food soon, but in small amounts. Don’t let him overeat like he did last time.”

Tabby nodded. “All right, I’ll help him.” Her gaze shifted to me. “Are you sleeping down here?”

Boss passed Tabby and entered the room. “We have a few things we need to discuss.” He slid his blazer off his shoulders as he passed by me.

“I’ll be up later,” I said.

Tabby pressed her lips together, gave a quick nod, then left. I shifted my vision to the mirror and watched as Boss removed his shirt. A touch of heat rose within me, and I tried to ignore it, lowering my gaze from the mirror.

“You want to talk?” I asked.

He slipped his feet out of his shoes. “Sit down.”

Why did I get the feeling he was about to lecture me? I sincerely hoped he wouldn’t ask me to stop working for the Senator again. That song and dance routine was getting old. I sat down at the end of the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Boss asked, shirtless and moving closer to me. The vampire liked to give me a difficult time, but he always worked through the difficult situations and helped me. He also had a taste for my blood. Vampires loved angel blood, so much so that half-breed angels were rare. Although I had a small part of angel in me, it was enough to entice any vampire.

I glanced at his chest and tried not to stare. “Fine.”

He stopped in front of me and kneeled. His tangled bangs covered one of his eyes. “What’s the bracelet around your ankle for?”

I’d almost forgotten about the damn thing. Now that Boss brought it up, I felt an itching sensation near my foot. I scratched the area with the big toe of my other foot.

“The Senator makes all non-human employees wear charmed bracelets so she can track our movements. She doesn’t want us misting in and out of places.”

Boss shook his head. “And you agreed to that?”

“It allows me to keep working there, so yes, I did.”

“Your choice,” he said softly as he slid his hands over my kneecap. “And where did the garguman bite you?”

“It’s healed completely.”

He nudged the robe away, revealing more of my flesh. Very tenderly, he glided his fingers over my knee and while he examined it. His gentle touch aroused several nerve endings in my body, as well as the area between my legs.

“It’s amazing. You don’t have a single mark on you.” His hand slowly crept up my thigh, moving steadily closer to my sex. The robe slipped further away, exposing me.

“Boss, I…” I swallowed hard. His soft touch tempted me in so many ways, and he knew it. The closer he moved toward my sex, the wetter I became.

His eyes traveled up my body. “You had a rough night. You need to relax.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t–”

“Relax?” He arched a brow. “I think we should.” He kissed my kneecap, then the inside of my thigh, again and again.

I combed my fingers through his hair while the kisses continued. He had beautiful eyes, lashes and high cheekbones–perfect for a model. Though he wasn’t a large man by most standards, he definitely had muscle and a nice chest any woman would appreciate–which I did. “This could be dangerous.”

He lifted his head and started to untie my robe. “I promise, I won’t bite.”