“Good. I taste all of you now.” And it was amazing. “I don’t need as much.” That was a plus, considering he’d been worried about taking too much.
“It was amazing.” They stood in the middle of his bathroom with their bodies still joined, staring into each other’s eyes. “Umm,” she finally said. “Are we going to stay here all day?”
Alexei threw back his head and laughed. He hadn’t been this happy since he was a boy. “Maybe.”
“Just checking.” Then her stomach growled. Not a bad idea. He was pretty hungry, too.
“How about I feed you?” He managed to get a towel around her, which wasn’t easy since he didn’t put her down.
“That might be a problem,” she teased.
“Why?” He walked into the bedroom.
“You’re still hard.”
Yes, yes he was hard. He couldn’t imagine a minute of any day when he didn’t want her.
“Call me crazy, but you might have to put me down if you plan on cooking.”
He stood beside the bed and fell backward, bouncing on the mattress. She gave a small shriek. “Eventually,” he promised. “I’ll release you eventually.”
…
True to his word, he finally did let her go, but not before making love to her a couple more times. Her man was very thorough, leaving no part of her untouched. Any other woman likely wouldn’t have been able to pull herself out of bed for at least a week. As it was, she was sore, but it was a good kind, and it was quickly fading.
They were dressed and in the kitchen, both of them hungry. “We should go back to Nome.” They’d have access to more food there. She didn’t mind frozen meat, but some variety would be nice.
Alexei was in the process of frying bacon. He paused and, for the first time in hours, appeared concerned. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
She was sorry to destroy his good mood. “We can’t hide out here forever.”
“Do you think your father has sent out word about you?” He removed the pans from the heat. The sight of him in a pair of jeans and a tight T-shirt had her hungering for more than the food he was cooking. The seams of the shirt were tested by the bulk of his biceps and the breadth of his shoulders. His feet were bare, and his hair was pulled back into a short tail. He looked good enough to eat.
“He doesn’t waste time when he makes a decision.”
“It might take a while for word to get around that the contract is null and void.”
She leaned into his side. “And being Death’s daughter might make me a target.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Let’s eat and talk.” She’d do better if she had something to keep her occupied.
With the two of them working, it didn’t take long to assemble the bacon burgers they’d decided on.
“I’ve been trying not to think about it,” she finally told him after devouring a burger. Using a piece of paper towel as a napkin, she wiped her mouth. “How messed up is it? Death is my father and he slew my mother when she betrayed him. And by the way, I have no idea who she was. All these years, I’ve been working alongside him, accepting that I was the first reaper. And believe me, that was weird enough.”
“Do you have any memories now that you know?” Alexei took a big bite of his fifth burger. The man could eat. He enjoyed his food more than anyone she’d ever encountered.
She rested her elbows on the counter and thought about it. Considering her age, it wasn’t easy to search her memory, which contained eons upon eons of information.
“If it’s there, I can’t find it.” It was upsetting not to know who her mother was. Maybe her father would tell her someday, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath. After all this time, it was still a sore spot, which showed her just how much he’d loved her. It made her heart ache for both her parents.
“Give it time.”
“My memories might have been suppressed for too long. I have to face the fact that I may never remember her. It shouldn’t matter. I always thought I was created, not born. In a sense, Death was my parent, just not in the traditional sense. Only now he is.” She dropped her head into her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. Trying to work it all out was making her head throb. “I don’t know what to think.”
Alexei swiveled on his stool and pulled her into his arms. As always, he was there for her. “You have time,” he repeated. “And you’re free to choose your path from here on.”
There was that. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” It seemed wrong to simply do nothing.
He shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “We’ll figure it out.” Not that she’d figure it out, but they’d figure it out.
“What about you? You came up here to investigate me. You’re done with that now.”
He looked thoughtful and shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Will you go back to being an assassin?” Not a conversation she thought she’d ever have with anyone.
“It’s a good job. I help rid the world of bad people and get paid.”
It wasn’t that simple and they both knew it. “It helps keep your bloodlust at bay, doesn’t it?” She wouldn’t allow him to ignore that part of himself any longer.
He gave a curt nod. “It does.”
“We need to find out more about your vampire side. I’ll help you.”
“I’d like that.” His blue eyes were steady. “You also need to test yourself, to see just how different you truly are.”
He was right. There was no hiding from what she was. “I’m not even sure what it means to be Death’s daughter.”
“Do you feel any different?”
“I do. It might be psychological or it might be real.” And that was an odd thing. Being a reaper had been such a part of her identity for so long.
“I want to go back to Nome.” Now that the idea was planted, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It’s safer here.”
“I need to clear up the loose ends of my life there so no one launches a manhunt. And I want to get online, see if there’s any lore, maybe question some people about my past. Do you think any of your brethren would be willing to talk to me?”
“Cassie, baby, they probably don’t know any more than I do.” Concern radiated from his big body. As much as she wanted to soothe him, she had to do this.
“I need to know.” It was as simple as that.
“You could ask your father,” he pointed out.
“I’m not ready to see him.” Maybe that wasn’t fair, but emotions weren’t always logical. “He lied to me. Yes, he thought he was doing the right thing, but he kept a huge secret from me. Then there was him allowing me to think I’d escaped. And me being gullible enough to believe it.”
“You wanted to believe.” He stroked one of her hands before linking their fingers together.
“But that set off this whole chain of events. Yes, Egan is responsible for the assassins hunting me, but Death could have stopped it all by telling the truth about me sooner.”
“Then I wouldn’t have met you.”
A frisson of surprise jolted her. “You’re right. I know better than most just how fickle destiny is. Change one tiny thing and send a ripple out into the universe that will change a million things.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you think he did it on purpose? Allowed us to meet?”
“Maybe. I don’t know the extent of his strengths and abilities.”
“Neither do I.” Even though she’d worked and lived alongside him for longer than anyone could fathom.
“You really want to leave here?” Alexei brought her hand to his lips.
“I need to.”
“Okay then. We’ll go as soon as we’re ready. I’m not sure any of the Brotherhood will talk with you, but I’ll ask.”
“Thank you.” She slipped off her stool and
hugged him. “Fate or accident, I’m so glad I found you.”
He kissed her then and she tasted love. Bacon, too. A winning combination.
Chapter Twenty-One
In the short time they’d been back in Nome, she’d quit her job—her boss hadn’t been happy to lose a bartender, nor about the damage done to his property, but he’d been understanding when she’d spun a story of a violent ex tracking her and offered to pay for repairs—cleaned out the few remaining things from her apartment that she wanted to keep, and moved in with Alexei.
He’d emailed Maccus on her behalf. She had no idea if anything would come of it but loved him for trying. Their plan was to stay for a week or so before heading to his home in Russia for a visit before coming back to the States. They hadn’t decided exactly where yet, but there was time enough for that later.
Fortunately for her, money wasn’t an issue. Her guy was loaded and more than willing to share. Was rather insistent about it, actually. She’d suggested getting a job. Yeah, that hadn’t gone over well.
He hadn’t argued with her about it. No, he was more diabolical than that. He’d taken her to bed and made love to her. When she was sated and feeling fine, he’d gotten her to agree to take some time off.
Her bear was clever.
And he was right. She needed time to process everything and come to grips with the changes in her life.
The front door opened and Alexei walked in, bringing a gust of arctic air with him. She inhaled deeply, glad to no longer find the cold debilitating. There was something to be said for her reaper powers. Or were they because she was Death’s daughter? Either way it didn’t suck not to be cold.
“Anything?” she asked. He’d been outside scouting the area for signs of anything out of the ordinary, on full alert against all threats.
“Nothing.” He wiped his boots on the mat before strolling into the kitchen and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “Missed you.”
“You were only gone an hour.” When he frowned, she laughed, something she was doing with greater frequency since she met him. “Fine, I missed you, too.”
He grunted and released her. “What did you do while I was gone?” He poured himself a coffee. When he held up the pot, she nodded. She’d already had too much of the stuff today, but it didn’t really matter. It was night, but she wasn’t sleepy, and she no longer needed to rest. When he had the second mug filled, he joined her at the table.
“I’ve been checking out online sites.” She turned the laptop so they could both see it. “There’s a lot of lore about Death out there. Most of it is crap. I’ve been searching rare bookstores, hoping to find something there.”
“I may know some people.” When she simply stared at him, he frowned. “What? I know people.”
“More than I do, which is weird when you think about it considering how much older than you I am.”
His lips twitched. “My cougar.”
“Don’t call me that.” She swatted at his arm. God, she really was ancient in comparison.
“You’re the rarest gem in existence and you’re all mine.” Her heart sighed whenever he said things like that. For an assassin, he could be quite poetic.
“If your work is so secretive, how do you know so many people?”
“I have contacts, Cassie, not friends.”
That she understood. She could list every single one of her coworkers, but she’d never been friends with any of them.
“There’s a priest in Moscow who sometimes trades in artifacts and he knows a lot of people. I’ll reach out to him and let him know we want anything that pertains to Death.”
“Thank you.” The luckiest day of her life had been when he’d decided to track her.
His head suddenly jerked upward. “Someone is on the roof.”
She purposely allowed all her senses to open. Without intending to, she was still closing herself off. It was a force of habit after months of being on the run.
Information immediately bombarded her. “Vampire. Three more surrounding the place.” She held out her hand and her sickle came flying through the air, the handle slapping against her palm. With all her powers back, she now had full control of the weapon.
Alexei blinked several times. “That was cool. Like Thor’s hammer.”
The comparison made her laugh. “It is pretty cool. But I’m more badass than Thor. Trust me. I’ve met him.”
That startled Alexei for a second. Then he smiled. “I have no doubt.” He pushed back from the table. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
“I’ve got your back.” She’d waited forever to find love. Hadn’t even thought it possible. No way was anyone taking it from her.
He went to the front door and opened it. “Come in out of the cold,” he said. No need to yell when all the parties involved had preternatural hearing.
“Vampires don’t need to be invited in to enter a home. That’s a myth.” The man who walked in was tall with black hair and very pale skin. He was slender, but she didn’t for one second think that made him weak.
“Umm, you might want to tell your buddy he’s making a lot of noise for someone trying to sneak in through a window,” she pointed out. Pivoting slightly, she kept her back to Alexei as she waved at the newcomer. “You might as well tell the other two to join you.” Her almost friendly expression and light tone seemed to confuse them. Exactly what she wanted.
“You aren’t frightened?” the newcomer asked. He tilted his head to one side to stare at her. He and the original vamp looked so much alike they had to be brothers or cousins.
She waved her hands in the air, “Oh my, vampires. I’m so afraid.” She batted her eyelashes. “Does that help?”
Alexei gave a snort of laughter. She couldn’t help but grin.
“You find this amusing?” the original intruder asked, obviously not sharing her mirth.
“Why are you here?” Alexei demanded.
“There’s a contract on her.” He pointed at Cassie. “A very lucrative one.”
“It’s been cancelled. The one who issued it is no longer living.”
“Ah, but the money is in trust. As long as the job is done, it doesn’t matter.”
Crap, she hadn’t known that was even possible. Egan really had hated her. That made her incredibly sad. “You don’t want to die,” she told him.
“I heard you murdered another of our kind.” He pointed at Alexei. “Damian was a friend.”
Shit, if they wanted revenge for that, things just got a lot stickier. Money was one thing, but if it became personal there was little chance they’d let it go.
“I’m sorry about your friend, but I gave him the opportunity to walk away,” Alexei told him.
“You’re fighting for her?” The undead bastard appraised her and sneered. “A human.”
“Ah, William,” the vampire nearest to her spoke.
“What?”
“She doesn’t smell like one.”
“I’m not,” she told them. And she was glad of it. Otherwise they’d be in serious trouble.
William walked around to stand beside the other vamp. He sniffed the air and frowned. She wanted to roll her eyes but managed not to. These guys were still dangerous. Best not to provoke them any more than they already were.
“What are you?” he finally asked.
She pointed the curved blade at him. “That’s not a polite thing to ask a lady.” It was nice not to have to worry about the other two sneaking up on her, not with her man at her back.
The roof unexpectedly exploded and the other two unwanted guests dropped down. She ducked from the flying debris, raising her arms instinctively to shield herself. One of the newcomers grabbed her from behind. Instinct kicked in, and she drove her blade back, sinking it into his chest. He exploded in a cloud of ash. The other three fell silent.
“Oh shit.”
That had been a total accident.
Alexei growled. “You’re all dead.”
She slapped her hand against his chest, finding herself in the unique position of trying to keep her lover from following through on his threat. “Let’s just hold off on that for a bit. Okay?”
He was vibrating with anger and broadcasting it loud and clear to everyone in the room.
“You guys are as close to death as you’re ever going to be without actually dying,” she began but broke off when the wailing began. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” None of the others noticed. Of course they didn’t. Only she was lucky enough to hear the call of the dead.
“What is it?” Alexei demanded.
If they didn’t have company, she’d probably have slapped her hands over her ears. After months of silence, it wasn’t fun to hear the mournful cry of the newly departed.
“He’s still hanging around. He wasn’t scheduled to die. I need to deal with this.” As much as she didn’t want to, it would be cruel to leave him lost.
“No, you don’t. You’re done with reaping.” He looked extra concerned. It touched her heart, but she didn’t have a choice. There was no one else in the immediate area, and the clock was ticking.
“If I don’t, he might be lost in the in-between.” And if such a thing happened and she could have stopped it, she might never be able to forgive herself. Souls were extremely precious. “Be right back.”
She went up on her toes and kissed him on the chin, then stepped into the in-between, a place where only the dead and reapers could exist.
The newly departed vamp wailed when he saw her coming toward him. He was hunched over and made himself smaller, but he didn’t run. It was as though he was frozen in place, afraid to move. Leaving your body was always a jolting experience, especially when it wasn’t your scheduled time.
Pity rose up inside her. She kept her voice low and soothing. “I can take you where you need to go.”
The spirit hesitated, seeming unsure. His eyes darted all around, searching for other options. Only there weren’t any. She held out her hand and waited. “Let me take you. Let me help you.”
“I’m sorry.” He tentatively reached out, pulling back several times before finally accepting her touch.
Arctic Bite Page 23
