by Tina Folsom
Fascinated, Lilo gaped her. But Delilah wasn’t quite done yet.
“It’s different for a vampire bonded to a human. He’s entirely dependent on her for his survival. He needs her. Of course, during my pregnancies, Samson was restraining himself to drinking from me just once every few days. He wanted to make sure I kept my strength.”
Nina huffed. “Yeah, ‘cause Samson is a gentleman. Amaury? Not so much! He was randier than a sailor while I was pregnant with Damian and Benjamin. He said I had a glow about me. Wouldn’t give me a moment’s rest.”
Though judging by her flushed cheeks, Nina hadn’t objected much to her husband’s advances.
When Delilah started to laugh, Lilo couldn’t help herself and chuckled.
“Well, we all know Amaury,” Delilah said and winked at Lilo. “Have you met him yet?”
“I ran into him in the hallway up on the top floor. He wasn’t too pleased to see me. He said no humans were allowed up there.”
Delilah shrugged. “Yeah, well, that rule’s been broken more often than I can count on both of my hands. He’ll get over it.”
Lilo moved her head from side to side. “You both seem to be so unafraid of them. Aren’t you worried that one day they’ll turn around and lash out? They’re so much stronger than you. So much more powerful.”
“They’re just like every other man,” Nina claimed. “They want the same thing. A woman who will love them and will never look at another man again. Once they’re certain of that, they’ll grant her every wish in their power.” Nina smirked mischievously. “It’s really quite empowering.”
Lilo’s chin dropped. “Are you telling me that you manipulate Amaury?”
Nina laughed. “I wouldn’t call it that. All I do is give him what he craves, and luckily that coincides exactly with what I crave, too. And if he showers me with gifts on top of that, who am I to complain? I’ve got two smart, beautiful sons, and a husband who’d kill to protect me. Who could want more out of life?”
“Don’t forget the not aging part,” Delilah interjected.
“Oh, yes, that’s not too bad either. I was twenty-seven when I met Amaury.” She swept her hands down her body. “And look at me now, twenty-two years later. Not too shabby for a cougar.”
“Nina, I don’t think you’re a cougar. You’d have to date a younger man for that. And despite his youthful looks, Amaury has long passed the four-hundred year mark.”
Lilo gasped. “Four hundred?”
Nina winked at her. “And before you wonder. No, a vampire’s sex drive does not diminish with age.”
Lilo felt her cheeks heat.
“Now, now, no need to be shy,” Delilah said. “Scanguards is like a small town where everybody knows about everybody else’s business, and rumors are circulating fast. I spoke to Rose a while ago. She mentioned she met you at Blake’s house. So as you can imagine, everybody is curious about you. Blake isn’t the kind of guy to indulge in casual things.”
“Not anymore anyway,” Nina added. “He sowed his oats when he was in his twenties, but then he got serious.”
“For him to have a woman stay with him, well…” Delilah hesitated. “He must care about you.”
“I’m just staying with him to make it easier to work together finding Hannah. You must have heard…”
Delilah made a dismissive hand movement. “We’ve heard. And if anybody can find your friend, it’ll be Scanguards.”
Nina nodded. “But your staying with Blake has nothing to do with that. He has you stay with him, because he wants you around.”
“And you’re staying with him,” Delilah added, “because you want to be around him. Or would you have accepted his invitation if he weren’t quite as good looking and charming?”
Lilo opened her mouth to respond, but the lie wouldn’t cross her lips. Delilah was right: she’d accepted Blake’s invitation because she enjoyed his company and she was attracted to him.
Delilah smiled knowingly. “And now, dear? Do you still feel the same now that you know what he is?”
She met Delilah’s green eyes, and contemplated the question. But she wasn’t ready to answer it, for Delilah or Nina, or for herself. Too many conflicting emotions warred inside her, and she was too exhausted to analyze them.
27
They’d stayed longer at Scanguards’ headquarters than Blake had anticipated, and now, as he drove toward Presidio Heights, it was close to sunrise.
The interrogation of the human in their custody had yielded no results. As Wesley had reported, a human drugged with the Höllenkraut concoction—of which Wes had yet to find the formula—had no memory of his actions. Not even Gabriel’s ability to delve into a person’s memory, and see what they had seen, had been of help. Apparently the human brain couldn’t form clear memories while drugged, and thus could not replay them for Gabriel.
When the meeting had reconvened, several good ideas had been shared as to how to find Hannah and the vampires behind the dangerous drug. Teams were formed, and when the night had drawn to a close, all the vampires had made their way home, leaving the hybrids in charge of executing those parts of the plans that could not be delayed.
Blake turned into his street. Next to him, on the passenger seat, Lilo sat with her eyes closed. He couldn’t blame her. It had been a long and stressful night, and she wasn’t used to the hours vampires kept. He couldn’t deny that he too needed some rest.
When he slowed down as he reached his house, he noticed the trashcans that stood in front of the driveway, blocking access to his garage.
Blake ground out a curse. His neighbor’s housekeeper was getting sloppy and had clearly not considered that she was blocking his garage. One trashcan had overturned, maybe from a gust of wind, and the contents had spilled on his driveway.
Lilo jerked up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing to worry about. I just can’t park in the garage right now.” He pulled in front of his house, parking the car at the curb. “It’ll be fine here.”
He could always have Ryder or the boys remove the trash and the cans later and then park the car for him. But with only fifteen to twenty minutes left until sunrise, he wasn’t in the mood to spend any time outside.
Blake switched off the engine and got out. He walked around the car and reached the passenger side, before Lilo had a chance to slide out of her seat. Reaching for her, he helped her out and closed the car door behind her.
“Thank you.”
She smiled gratefully and didn’t seem to mind when he put his hand on the small of her back and guided her up the stairs. When they reached the landing, a motion-sensor switched on the light outside the front door. Blake took a step toward the scanner, the same type that was installed at the garage, but before he could reach it, a sound from across the street made him snap his head to the side.
There was a flash, followed by a loud bang.
His reflexes kicked in instantly. Blake whirled around and lunged for Lilo, covering her with his body as he went down. Simultaneously, a searing pain shot through his shoulder.
He cried out in agony. This kind of pain could be caused by only one thing: a silver bullet.
Another bullet whizzed past his head and hit the door.
Beneath him, Lilo was trembling.
“Are you hurt?”
He heard her mumbled “no” and breathed a sigh of relief. But the danger wasn’t over. The shooter was still across the street. If he couldn’t get Lilo and himself into the house, they’d be as good as dead. He didn’t carry a gun on a regular basis, but inside the house, in the hallway, behind one of the wooden panels, he kept various kinds of weapons for emergencies.
“Stay down,” he cautioned Lilo, and turned his head slowly in the direction of the shooter.
And there, across the street, hidden behind a tree, he stood. A vampire, no doubt.
“Coward!” Blake cursed.
The insult did what it was supposed to: for just a split second, the shooter peeked past the tree t
runk.
“Ronny,” Blake ground out.
Lilo gasped, and he sensed her fear rising.
“Stay down, no matter what,” he whispered to her and jumped up, twisting his body so he could lunge for the scanner. His hand hit the smooth surface and he pressed his thumb onto it. But before the scanner could even recognize him, the front door was ripped open, and somebody shot into the dark.
Blake sank to the ground and rolled toward where he’d left Lilo, but she was gone. His heart stopped.
“I’ve got her,” Ryder yelled, reaching for him with one hand while Damian raced past him, a small caliber handgun in his hand. Amaury’s son knew where Blake hid his weapons, and reacted quickly. But Blake wasn’t going to let the hybrid hurtle headfirst into danger.
“No, Damian, get inside! It’s too dangerous,” Blake yelled.
“I’ve got him covered,” Benjamin, who now came running, a gun in his hand, assured him. He followed his brother in pursuit of the shooter.
“Let ‘em go,” Ryder advised, dragging him into the hallway and slamming the door shut behind him.
Inside, Blake didn’t even look at his wound, despite the pain it was causing him. Instead, his eyes searched for Lilo.
“Lilo!”
She was just getting up from the floor, most likely having been pulled in by Ryder or one of the twins to get her out of harm’s way. Blake tried to move toward her, but he couldn’t pull himself up. The silver was already taking its toll on his body, doing severe damage.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
Instead of an answer, she ran to him, crouching down next to him, her gaze homing in on his shoulder wound, her expression horrified. “Oh my God, he got you!”
“Better me than you.”
Lilo met his eyes, and for a moment time stood still. Lilo was safe.
“Let’s get this off you.” She helped his good arm out of the sleeve of his jacket, then eased it off his injured side. “Oh my God!” She pulled his shirt aside, ripping one button clear off the fabric, before dipping her head past him. “No exit wound.”
When she looked at him, he nodded. “I know. The silver bullet is still inside me.” That’s why vampires preferred small-caliber handguns to anything more powerful: the likelihood of a bullet remaining stuck in the victim’s body was higher with a less powerful weapon.
“We’ve gotta stop the bleeding.” She pressed her hand against the wound.
Footsteps on the stairs suddenly alerted him and he lifted his head. Nicholas and Adam came running, their eyes wide.
“Blake?” Nicholas cried out in horror. “You’re hurt!”
Blake snapped his head to Ryder. “Get the boys into the safe room. Now!” Then he looked up toward the second floor, a cold hand clamping around his heart. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“Ursula picked him up,” Ryder said quickly.
Relieved, Blake nodded, when another wave of searing pain wrecked his body. He gritted his teeth. “Ryder, now! Get them to safety.”
“Boys, move it!” Ryder ordered and ushered them to a door at the end of the hall.
Knowing his charges would be safe, Blake looked at his shoulder for the first time, trying to assess the damage. “Let me see,” he told Lilo, and she removed her hand from the wound.
The entry wound wasn’t large, but when he saw little bubbles rising with the blood that gushed from it, he knew it was bad.
“You’re bleeding too much.” She pressed her hand back on the wound, unafraid. His brave Lilo.
He tried a smile and failed, the pain increasing with every second. “The bullet has to come out.” As soon as possible.
“We’ve gotta get you to the hospital. Right now,” she urged.
He shook his head, meeting her concerned look. “By the time we reach a hospital, I’ll be dead.”
He had maybe ten or fifteen minutes until the silver had eaten away enough of his flesh and bone to poison his blood and send dissolved silver particles straight to his heart.
A choked breath that almost sounded like a sob came from Lilo, and she pressed her lips together.
“Get a butcher knife and a towel from the kitchen.”
Lilo stared at him, her mouth gaping open. “Oh my God, you can’t be serious. You can’t just cut it out like that.”
“No, I can’t.” He swallowed. “But you can.” He panted through another wave of pain, trying without success to hold back the scream that was building in his chest. “Uuuughhhh! Get the knife, Lilo, please.” He removed her hand from his wound and pressed his own over it. “Please!”
Finally, Lilo jumped up and rushed in the direction of the kitchen, and he let go of his control. Everything before his eyes turned red, and he felt his mouth fill with his fangs as they extended to their full length. His fingers turned into claws, razor-sharp and deadly.
The pain paralyzed him, rendering him unable to move. He could only hope now that Ryder and Lilo knew what to do. Or the silver would eat him alive.
28
Lilo was running on pure adrenaline. Panic gave her wings. If she’d thought that she’d been through the wringer in the last two days, then she’d been wrong. The danger was only just beginning. And now it had reached Blake’s doorstep.
She was grateful that he’d told her what silver did to a vampire. His words had sent a chill through her veins: By the time we reach a hospital, I’ll be dead.
She couldn’t let that happen. She owed him too much. He’d pushed her out of the path of the bullet. It was her fault that he was injured.
Lilo pulled a sharp knife from the wooden block on the kitchen counter, then snatched a couple of clean-looking kitchen towels from their hooks and rushed back out into the hallway, just as Ryder was dragging Blake into the living room, Blake’s good arm draped over Ryder’s shoulder, and Ryder’s arm around Blake’s waist, supporting his weight. She followed them and watched Ryder deposit Blake on the sofa, where his head slumped back against the cushions.
A gasp escaped her when she saw Blake’s face. He was all vampire now: glaring red eyes, extended fangs, and fingers that had turned into claws. To her own surprise, the sight didn’t scare her, because she saw something else in his face: pure agony. Her heart bled for him. Nobody should be feeling such pain, not even a vampire.
“I’ve got the knife,” she said.
Ryder turned to her. “Give it to me.”
Glad that he was taking charge, she handed it to him and slid next to Blake on the couch. She ripped the already damaged shirt wider, so there was clear access to the wound. It looked larger now than before, evidence that the silver was consuming his flesh.
“Make a deep incision,” Blake gritted out.
Ryder nodded in silence and set the knife to the wound. Lilo turned her face away. She couldn’t watch this. She gripped Blake’s hand, not caring that his fingers were sharp barbs that could slice her into pieces. She squeezed his hand, when Blake whirled his face to look at her, staring at her in grateful surprise.
A scream dislodged from his throat.
“I’m sorry, Blake!” Ryder let out. “But I’m not done.”
Lilo held onto Blake’s hand while cupping his cheek with the other. He met her eyes then.
“I don’t regret it,” she confessed, answering the question he’d posed many hours earlier. “I could never regret it.”
For a brief moment, the red in his eyes subsided, making space for the golden shimmer she’d seen before.
“Lilo,” Blake murmured.
“I can’t see the bullet. It’s too deep,” Ryder interrupted.
Lilo released Blake’s hand and leaned over the wound. “There’s too much blood.” She snatched the towel she’d brought and pressed it against the wound, trying to soak up as much blood as possible, before removing it again. From the corner of her eye she noticed Blake clenching his teeth.
“I’m so sorry.”
“I think I can see it,” Ryder said. “I’m gonna have to use my fingers.” He
was already sticking two fingers into the wound.
“No!” Blake protested, jerking away. “Not you! The silver… it’ll hurt you.”
Lilo understood immediately. Silver wasn’t only toxic to a vampire, but also a hybrid. “I’ll do it. Move aside.”
Ryder didn’t protest.
“Hold him immobile,” she instructed.
Ryder followed her command and held onto Blake’s shoulder and arm with both hands. With an apologetic look at Blake she brought her hand to the open wound. It was all torn skin and damaged muscle, covered in copious amounts of blood, and more spilling from the wound every second. She saw the bone, too, and right there, in Blake’s rotator cuff something shone through. The silver bullet.
Choking back the rising nausea at the sight of so much blood, she willed herself to remain calm. She had to do this. One hand she placed at the edge of the wound, pulling it open a little more, while she stuck the index and middle finger of her right hand into Blake’s flesh.
He cried out simultaneously, but she forced herself to ignore it. She mustn’t be distracted.
She felt for the various different textures: sinew, muscle, blood, now that she had no clear line of sight anymore. It was warm, and the stickiness of the blood as it coated her fingers made her stomach lurch. But she foraged on. There, her fingers had struck something hard. Bone? It had to be. She explored with her fingertips, rubbing along the hardness until she found a bump.
“That’s it!” she called out in triumph. “I found the bullet.”
“Grab it!” Ryder encouraged her.
Lilo caught Ryder’s concerned look, then gazed past him to Blake. His face was distorted from the pain, his mouth open, fangs bared as if ready to attack.
“He can’t hold on any longer,” the hybrid murmured to her. “Do it!”
