“Yeah, I had quite a few cousins, and they had cubs of their own. Had to do my fair share.”
Blood, how he missed his family. Especially his sisters, Gina and Ruby. Gina had been pregnant the last time he’d seen her; her cub would be an adult now. But he wasn’t ready to go home, to see them, or to answer their questions. They probably just thought he was dead. He’d been missing for over a hundred years after all.
But he didn’t want to think about that.
Laying the cub on the blanket he’d set out earlier, he grabbed the fallen diaper and flattened it out. It wasn’t the best material, so he folded it in half, into a rectangle and then half again, into a square. It’d have to do for now. No wonder Hannah had a pee patch on her shirt, though.
He waved a hand at her. The cub was looking a little cold in the crisp mountain air. “Now, come here. I’ll show you how to get a good fold.”
Hannah hustled closer, but not close enough that he might accidentally touch her. “You were getting too fancy. This is a newborn, they just need it simple. So fold the diaper into a triangle. The material is now eight thicknesses, which should be enough to capture the worst of her efforts. Then,” he raised the cub’s hips by her lifting her feet, “slide the diaper in, and fold the bottom corner up, then the side corners in.”
The cub now had a diaper that would stay put. Unlike Hannah’s poor efforts.
“Now wait here while I get a pin. Hold it in place.”
Hannah gingerly held the diaper down with two fingers, while he grabbed a safety pin from the trusty first aid kit. Fin groaned while he was rustling about.
“Drugs?” the human slurred.
Byrne checked the position of the sun. “In another half an hour.”
Another moan.
Byrne returned to the cub, and clipped the pin in place. “This will hold it better than a knot.”
Hannah gave a slight smile. “Thank you.” She quickly swaddled the infant, but she did that well enough so he offered no more advice. Her technique could use a bit of improvement, but he’d work on it.
“Do you mind watching the baby while I change my shirt?” Hannah asked.
“It will be my pleasure.”
Hannah paused, looking at the covered mound in the back of the cart. “Is he a drug addict as well as a drunk?”
While Byrne considered explaining, he decided not to. Fin only stank of alcohol courtesy of Byrne’s wound cleaning, but perhaps it would be good for the human to start on the back foot with this pretty woman.
“Just wants something for his headache.”
“Right. Okay, I’ll get changed now.”
Unlike Fin — who admittedly, couldn't move — Byrne turned his back to give the woman some privacy. He heard her scold the goat for some misdeed, and the rustle of clothing. Byrne picked up the cub and tucked the little scrap of nothing under his chin. A sense of peace like he hadn’t felt in years descended on him.
And the tickling sensation against his brain? He didn’t mind it at all.
“There now, little girl.” He rubbed the cub’s back and she let out a contented sigh. “We’ll find a name for you yet.”
Chapter 18
Pinton City
How dare he?
No one — and he meant no one — threatened him. That piece of a fucking weed, Pierce Butterworth, wanted to speak of their affair? To tell the one person who could take away everything he’d worked for?
No.
He couldn’t let that happen.
And he hadn’t.
Gerard — his first vampire kill — had just been fun. Something to practice his skills on. He’d needed to know that he could overpower a leech, that he was able to do the job that needed doing. And he’d succeeded. It had been better than he’d even imagined. Knowing he’d managed to overpower a being stronger than him?
Pure exhilaration.
By the blood, his pulse raced just thinking about it. He’d been in the process of choosing his next victim when Pierce had cornered him in his rooms. Talked about spilling the beans. He’d had to respond. Not with immediate violence, no: with seduction. And since they were at his place, he had all his toys available to him.
He’d made Pierce scream before he’d killed the bastard. And then he’d dumped the body clothed, because he hadn’t wanted any of Pierce’s belongings left at his house. But given the choice, he would have left the asshole naked as the day he was born, to show the world how truly pathetic he was.
No one threatened him.
No one.
Chapter 19
Pinton City
Alice blinked, not sure she’d heard Elle Brown right. “The Viscountess Kipling is coming here?”
Elle nodded, straightening the baton strapped to her side. “It took a bit of convincing, but then the viscountess decided she liked a man in uniform and said she’d come check out the body if she got to try and persuade a guard to have a little ‘fun time.’”
Alice looked around the morgue, from the spotlessly clean benches to the bodies covered in thick canvas bags. An aristo in her morgue? Well, the city’s morgue. But still...no live noble had graced these doors in the entire time she’d worked here. Dead ones didn’t count. And, she thought, regarding the line of red-shrouded cadavers in the second half of the room, there weren’t many of those either. Only one body here was non-human — her unknown murder victim for whom she’d used a purple body bag.
Vampires had a different mourning color to humans. The morgue always had spare shrouds on hand, but she’d rarely had to dip into the purple or yellow piles. Weres and vampires had picked hues that matched their eyes. Looking at the single purple covered body, Alice sighed. The other vampire victim had already been sent to the funeral home for cremation.
“And a guard would agree to that?” Alice raised an eyebrow, before putting her clipboard down on the bench. She figured ‘fun time’ was a euphemism for ‘blood donation time.’ Although, she wouldn’t be surprised if Kyle was keen for the adventure.
“Not likely. But she did say she would try.”
“Why is she coming here?” Alice asked. “Can’t she just use the sketch that was drawn up?”
“Apparently she needs to see the victim in person. Sketches are so ‘yesterday.’”
Alice wasn’t even sure she understood the last statement. She pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time. “When is she arriving?”
Elle‘s cheeks took on a faint pink hue. “Ah, now.”
Footsteps sounded in the antechamber to the morgue. “Stepniece, where is this dead body you want me to view?”
Alice looked over at the woman in the doorway. She was alone, which was strange for an aristo. Her silvery blonde hair hung over her shoulders in artificial curls, and her white dress hugged a stunning figure. Tall, slender but with curves in all the right places. Vampires really got the best part of the looks department.
Sometimes, being human sucked.
Elle waved a hand at Alice. “Aunt Misty, this is Doctor Alice Reive, City Coroner.”
The viscountess barely glanced at her.
“Alice, this is Viscountess Kipling.”
The vampire fluffed her hair.
Alice dropped in a crummy imitation of a curtsy. Turning to Elle, she mouthed, “Stepniece? Aunt?” The guard shook her head. Not now.
“Through here,” Alice said. She turned to the shrouded corpses. Two could play at the ignoring game.
Reaching the purple-wrapped body, Alice undid the first six buttons on the bag, and lowered the covering, exposing the dead victim’s face. Elle and the vampire aristo took up a position on the other side of the body. Elle appeared torn somewhere between amusement, anxiety and annoyance.
The viscountess sniffed. Pale lavender eyes flicked in Alice’s direction. “Your morgue stinks.”
Alice shrugged, aiming for nonchalant. “They tend to.”
It wasn’t as if she had a lot of experien
ce talking to aristos. She’d only ever spoken with one, really, and only then because he’d saved her friend Billie’s life. Plus, Vere Radcliffe wasn’t the typical aristo. He didn’t even look like a vampire.
She wished Tal were here; as a university professor, she at least had some experience with the nobility.
Something almost like a smile crept across the noblewoman’s face at Alice’s tart response. “This,” the viscountess pointed one disdainful finger at the dead vampire, “is Pierce Butterworth.”
Alice kept her face blank. She’d never heard of him. But then, she wouldn’t have. Grabbing the clipboard she’d left hanging from the foot of the corpse’s gurney, she quickly wrote the man’s name on the top of her documentation.
“What else can you tell us?” Elle had her notebook out and was scribbling notes.
The blonde vampire fluffed her hair. “I thought you just wanted him identified.”
“Any other information you could provide would also be useful, sister.”
Alice jumped, clutching the clipboard to her chest as she spun toward the new voice. She hadn’t heard anyone enter. She blinked to see the newcomer was standing right next to her.
The owner of the voice was the prettiest man she’d ever seen. Shiny black hair, sharp jawline, bright violet eyes. Maybe ‘pretty’ wasn’t a good enough description. Alice realized her jaw was hanging open. She shut it with a snap.
Someone snorted.
But really.
“Dante, did you really have to sneak in here?” Elle’s voice sounded more amused than chastising.
“I walked in here,” the male vampire said, clearly affronted. “I don’t sneak.”
The viscountess looked at him, her expression exasperated. “And you’re late.”
“Traffic was bad.”
“Of course it was.”
Elle interrupted what Alice could only assume was a burgeoning squabble. “So, any other information about the dead guy?”
The viscountess looked down her nose at Elle. “You really need to learn how to talk about aristos with more...respect. The ‘dead guy’ is the third cousin to Baron Whitfield. The man himself didn’t have a lot of clout, but he did travel in influential circles. He was something of a poet, and so was often involved in court entertainment.”
Elle frowned as she quickly wrote the information down. “Was the other vic,” she flicked through her notebook, “Gerard Thornewood, also involved in court?”
The blonde vampire tugged on a curl. “The better question to ask is who isn’t involved in court. The list would be very short.” Her look turned into a glower. “And it would include you two. And your other guard friend’s boyfriend.”
Other guard friend—
Billie’s boyfriend? Vere?
Dante sighed. “Not now, Misty.”
Elle flicked a glance at Alice. “Thanks for your help. I’ll just grab a bit more information from the viscountess—”
The aristo narrowed her pale eyes. “You mean your ‘aunt.’”
“—while you tidy up.” Elle turned back to the other female vampire. “I will send a notice to his family. Who would be the best contact?”
Alice buttoned up the shroud. “I can get the death certificate ready now I have the name.”
“Great, thanks.”
Alice left the three of them to talk over the dead vampire. As she washed her hands, someone tapped on the glass window to her left. The window looked out on the morgue’s antechamber and she could see someone standing on the other side. Grabbing a towel, she grinned. “Tal!”
Drying her hands, she strode into the other room. “Hey! What are you doing here?”
Tal smiled and held out a cloth bag. “Brought you some lunch. I was in the area. Have time for a break?”
“Sure, once my guests leave.”
“Guests?”
Alice flicked her head back in the direction of the room she just left. “Viscountess Kipling and, I presume, her brother.”
Both of Tal’s eyebrows shot upward. “You have aristos in your morgue?”
“She did have.” Elle had moved into the doorway behind Alice. “We’ll head out now.” The redhead’s eyes locked on Tal. Tal stared straight back, her face slowly forming a friendly smile.
Alice tensed. Something felt off. Like there was some undercurrent she was missing. She didn’t think that Tal and Elle even knew each other.
“Elle, this is Professor Talan Silver. Tal, this is the Honorable Elle Brown.” Alice hoped she got the rank right. She didn’t think that Elle would care about the title, but she had a feeling the viscountess, who insisted upon Elle calling her ‘aunt’, would.
Elle nodded, her eyes shuttered. “Nice to meet you.”
Tal gave her a toothy grin, gray eyes glinting. “Likewise.”
“Professor in what?” Dante asked, as he and his sister moved into the room beside Elle.
“Applied mathematics.”
The viscountess gave a polite smile. “How fascinating.”
Dante gave the viscountess what Alice interpreted as an incredulous stare. Then he turned back to Tal. “It actually is. I’d like to talk to you one day about it, Professor...”
Elle glanced at the both of them. “Let’s go. You can pick the professor’s brain another time.” Then Elle winced, like she’d said something bad.
Alice noticed Dante was looking at Tal with a little too much intensity.
“Stepniece, didn’t you promise me something about people in uniforms?” The viscountess ran a hand over her white dress. She paused. “On that note, why are the dead humans in there still full of blood?”
Alice, Tal and Elle stared at the vampire woman.
The viscountess rolled her eyes. “There’s perfectly good blood going to waste in those dead bodies. If they were drained the day they died, then the blood could be sold to vampires who couldn’t afford slaves. It would also provide funds for the victims’ families.”
“Aunt...” Elle’s voice was a warning.
“What? They’re dead. It’s not like they need their blood anymore. And there’s no nasty little addiction risk if vampires are using newly dead humans for sustenance.”
The scary thing was, Alice thought the viscountess’ idea was a good one.
Chapter 20
Oberona Mountains
Hannah paused at the sight of the huge bear cradling the baby Graced girl. One of his hands dwarfed the infant; only the top of her head and her feet were visible. But the baby seemed content, snuffling into his shirt. And Byrne looked...happy, holding the babe, like she was a missing puzzle piece.
Hannah wished she had the same feeling; the poor baby induced panic in her. She was constantly worried she was doing the wrong thing.
“Where were you heading?” Byrne asked.
She figured there was no harm in telling the truth; the were had helped her so far. “Skarva. My mother lives there.”
The bear nodded. “Where’s the baby’s father?”
Hannah’s heart hardened. “What does it matter?”
“Where is he?”
She narrowed her eyes. If the bear thought he was going to hand the little girl back to the Trsetti... “Why?”
“He knock you up and abandon you?”
“What?” Hannah’s jaw dropped.
Byrne tilted his head to the side. “He knock you up and you abandon him?”
“No! I mean, she’s not mine.” Hannah quickly clarified, “Not mine biologically.”
Both of the bear’s eyebrows rose. He sniffed the baby, then the air. “Then how did you come by her? Did you kill her parents?”
Hannah’s gut clenched. The baby was hers. At least for now. Ezra and her husband had just provided the raw biological material. “No, but I should have.”
The way the were kept looking at her, slow and steady, put Hannah on the defensive. But why? This wasn’t her fault. She’d only tried to do the right thi
ng. “Give her back.”
Byrne made no move to let the baby go.
“I said, give her back.”
“Look, something isn’t right here. You’re a Graced vampire, you have a Graced human baby, and you’re traveling all alone. What is going on?”
Hannah’s heart stuttered before starting to pound again, painfully. Each beat thudded in her ears. He knew. He knew there were Graceds and that she was...different. Weres, vampires and humans weren’t meant to know that anymore, at least according to her mother.
“I—”
“Don’t panic,” Byrne said. “I’m not going to dob you in to anyone. Not that anyone would believe me, anyway. Your people did a fantastic job mind-wiping everyone; making them forget there was ever anything different about folks with colored eyes. Now you just have people like the Trsetti who are afraid of anyone different.”
“O-okay.”
Blood, but she felt like an idiot.
Byrne’s gaze hardened. “Just, what is happening here?”
She really should have prepared herself better. Thought of a cover story, had a lie easily in place. Her first encounter with people — admittedly, the bear was the first person she’d spoken to other than her mother or the Trsetti traders in years — and she had completely blown it. Nothing for it but the truth, she figured.
Looking him in the eyes, she started telling him almost everything. “I found the baby on the slopes of the Old Mother. She was naked, on her blanket. No humans in sight. I couldn’t hear or see them either. They’d just left her there.”
A low growl emerged from the bear. The infant whimpered. The sound cut off as Byrne looked down and gently ran a hand up and down the baby’s back.
“What were you doing on the Old Mother? How did you find her?”
Hannah swallowed. “I live there. I heard her crying.”
She expected a barrage of questions, but instead, the bear continued to rub the baby’s back. “Lucky.”
“I just...I don’t know how they could do it. Just leave their baby to die. I had always liked the Trsetti.”
Bitten (The Graced Series Book 2) Page 8
