Broome Street was bustling, which was just what I needed. People flowing past me like a sea of salmon swimming upstream, oblivious to what I was. It was a moment when I could clear my head and briefly forget about the urgency of my life and all the things that were suddenly raining down on me like a hailstorm.
Jules was already there when I walked into the restaurant. The place was packed.
“Jesus,” she said when I walked up to the table. “Who picked this cattle yard?”
“I believe you did.” I took a seat across from her and grabbed a menu. “Oh shit! I think I did!”
She leaned back and stared at me until I looked up. “Where the hell have you been for the past”—she pulled up the calendar on her phone—“five days?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’ve texted you several times.” I’d mentioned Samuel’s return and a little bit about the Order, but the rest was too much to fit into the small screen of a phone. “I’ve been a little busy.”
She scoffed and tore off a piece of bread from the basket on the table, stuffing it into her mouth and mumbling, “With what?”
“Oh, I don’t know… dealing with the fact that I’m a vampire.” I literally felt my knees begin to shake as my nerves skyrocketed. I decided to talk about something else to distract me. “And then there’s Avery’s new boyfriend who just might be planning world domination. Other than that, I’ve been sitting on my ass avoiding you.” I gave her a weak smile, but her face was a blank slate as she chewed and finally swallowed her bread.
“You could have called me.”
“I know. I’m sorry for being such a shitty friend lately.” And by the way, I need your blood.
She snickered and seemed to forgive me for going dark for nearly a week. “World domination, huh?”
“Let’s order before we talk. I’m starving.”
I spent the next twenty minutes telling her about Decker’s involvement with Benjamin Fuller’s campaign. “The guy’s a real piece of shit. My aunt Charlotte has a theory that the Caspians are planning to take Fuller all the way to the White House.”
“Damn.” She shook her head and leaned her arms on the table. “You think that’s possible?”
I held my tongue as our waiter set our plates down.
“Why not?” I said as he walked away. “If they get Fuller elected to the Senate, it puts him in a good position to run for president in a few years. Decker invited me to a party at the Whitney Friday night, so I get to meet the man myself.”
“You need a date?”
“Samuel’s going with me. If Fuller is a Caspian, Samuel will smell him out. If not, then it looks like he’s just a pawn.”
The conversation stalled, which was pretty rare for us.
She looked down at her plate and picked at her half-eaten burger. “What’s on your mind, Morgan?”
“My mind? Nothing.”
“Just tell me.”
I don’t know how I got the nerve to ask, but I just closed my eyes and blurted it out. “I need your blood!” When I opened them a few seconds later, she was still sitting across from me, which was encouraging. Her expression was indecipherable, but the faces of the women sitting at the next table were filled with repulsion.
Jules craned her neck to look at them. “Mind your own fucking business.” She popped a french fry into her mouth and spoke around it. “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I was mortified.
She cocked her head and scratched the back of her ear with her index finger. “What exactly are we talking about here?”
I gave her the condensed version of what had been happening to me since the night I left her mother’s apartment—my reinstatement as queen, the cravings, the blood den, Brooklyn. I even told her about Edward.
She sat back in her chair and slowly shook her head. “Jesus, Morgan, that’s some fucked-up shit.” After a few seconds of staring right through me, she refocused and said, “So you want to bite me, huh?”
As I opened my mouth to give her an awkward yes, a thought occurred to me. “Not necessarily.” I’d always assumed I had to drink from the source, but then I remembered Ryker cutting Henry’s wrist and letting it flow into a cup before he forced me to drink it. Maybe my understanding of how it all worked had just been clouded by my desire to feel warm living skin against my lips. “I think it just needs to be fresh blood.”
Jules stopped me and turned to the neighboring table again to give the women the crazy eye. It prompted them to throw some money down and leave. “Nosy assholes. What were you saying?”
The light bulb in my head kept growing brighter. “How do you feel about needles?”
Chapter 13
I felt so relieved when I walked into the lobby that Jakob could see it on my face.
“She agreed?”
I pulled him aside to the hallway and spoke barely above a whisper, just in case the walls had ears. “Not to me sinking my teeth into her, but she did agree to give me blood when I need it.”
He gave me a curious look. “You mean…”
“Why didn’t either of us think about using a needle or a syringe? It’s no different than a normal blood donation, right?”
“I don’t know, Mora. I’m not a vampire.”
“I’ll have to talk to Hawk to make sure, but I think the key is to drink it when it’s very fresh.”
We heard the elevator door open, so we stepped back into the lobby to see who it was.
It was Cabot. “Why did you block access to the penthouse?”
“Because it’s time I had some privacy. If you want to see me, call first.”
His face twisted with annoyance. “Call you? I have a right to access the penthouse whenever I want.”
“Really,” Jakob said, stepping into the line of fire. “How’s that?”
Cabot’s lips curled into a snarl. “Stay out of this.”
I jumped in to take the brunt of his anger before the situation escalated. “The only person with the right to enter the penthouse is me. I’m tired of having people barge into my bedroom. I’m not the same person I was a week ago, and certain things are going to change around here.”
Literally I wasn’t.
“We need to talk.” He could have frozen a lake with the look he gave me.
“Fine.” I headed for the elevator and entered the code quickly before he stepped inside. No one was getting that code unless I gave it to them, and so far, that list included Jakob and Jules. Possibly Michael if he learned to stop by at a decent hour. And Hawk didn’t need it because I’d given him a key to the terrace door.
“Would you like a drink?” I offered when we walked into the living room.
“I’m not here to socialize.”
“Then why are you here?”
He had that smug smile on his face he always got when he was about to deliver a punch. “You need to be dressed and ready for tonight.”
“Dressed for what?”
“We’re going to the park.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Why would I go to the park with you?”
“To babysit the Flyers. Isn’t that what you and Samuel asked us to do? Keep eyes on the park. Make ourselves known.”
He was out of his mind if he thought I was going anywhere with him tonight. “I think you misunderstood.”
“I don’t think so, Morgan. We’re one big happy team now, remember?” He lost his cocky smile. “Unless you’d like to keep an eye on the Flyers yourself. Either you put on your hunting clothes and join the Circle tonight or none of us go.”
He was up to something, but we needed them to cooperate. Technically I had ultimate domain over the Circle, but to maintain some semblance of peace within the clan, I let him keep thinking he did.
“Midnight?” I decided to appease him for nothing more than to make sure no more Flyers found themselves at the mercy of a Caspian. They were important allies to the Winterborne clan, so protecting them was more than just a courtes
y.
With a triumphant smirk, he headed for the elevator. “Make it ten.” He stepped inside without looking back.
I called Samuel as soon as he was gone. “Any luck in Brooklyn?”
“The pawnshop owner didn’t want to cooperate, but I managed to convince him. I have the tapes, and those cameras provide an excellent view of the front door to Foster’s shop.”
“Well that’s good news.” I needed some today.
“Yeah, we got lucky. They keep them for thirty days before overwriting them, so we should be able to see who’s been in and out of there.”
The needle in the haystack was getting a little bit bigger. At least now we had a chance in hell of finding one of the other two boxes. “When can we look at them?”
“I have a few more things to take care of this afternoon, but we can watch them tonight when I get back to the city.”
“It’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Cabot just stopped by and insisted I join the Circle tonight while they watch the park.”
He went quiet on the other end for a few seconds. “What the hell for?”
“You’re asking me? He probably wants everyone to thinks he still controls me. Either that or his wife wants to slit my throat and blame it on a vampire.” I snickered. “Let her try.”
“I don’t trust him. His ego has been shattered, and you need to give an injured predator a wide berth.”
“Come on, Samuel. You don’t think your brother would actual try to harm me, do you? Humiliate and dominate me, yes. But harm me?”
“I’d like to tell you he wouldn’t, but desperate men do desperate things when they’re at a crossroads. I’d feel better if you took Jakob with you.”
“Don’t worry about me. Besides, Olivia and James will be there. I’ll call you in the morning.”
After hanging up, I dialed Hawk’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Morgan? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, but I wanted to ask you something.” I tried to phrase the question without alarming him. “When I drink human blood, is there any difference between drinking straight from the vein versus a cup?” I cringed a little when he went silent on the other end, because now I’d have to tell him why I was asking. I’d have to tell him I’d asked Jules to be my donor because I couldn’t control my craving when I came within sight of blood.
“Why are you asking me this?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Because I’m an animal. The sight of blood makes my loins quiver.” My comment didn’t seem to amuse him. “Look, I’m around a lot of blood in my line of work. Jakob suggested I should feed before going on a hunt, and I think he might be right. And let’s face it, I won’t have time to run out to the local blood den every time I get a call saying I have an hour to get ready for battle.”
He breathed deeply on the other end. “I agree. Take an aspirin before the headache hits.”
“I asked Jules, and she agreed to it. But there’s no way I can dig my teeth into her wrist. I can’t do that, Hawk. It’s too…”
“Intimate? I get it.”
I wondered if the act of consuming prey gave him a similar sensation. “Is it like that for you when you hunt?”
“Not really. But I do know what it feels like to drink from a human. It’s different. And the answer to your other question is no. There’s no difference in how you consume blood. But the longer it’s out of the body, the weaker it gets. You’re very powerful, Morgan, so you’ll need potent blood to satisfy your hunger. Jules will have to bleed for you immediately before you drink it. The question is, can you resist attacking her while you wait for it to spill into the cup?”
His words struck me hard. It was bad enough that I’d even asked her, but now he was telling me I might go all vampire on my best friend before the blood even reached my lips? “I was thinking we could use a syringe. You can lock me in another room until it’s ready.”
“Yeah, that might work. We’ll have to see how it goes.”
“Tonight,” I said, dreading calling Jules to let her know I was taking her up on her offer only hours after our talk.
“Why tonight?”
“Because I’ll be making good on my promise to the Flyer queen.”
While Edward drove down to the Village to get Jules, Hawk tried to steady my nerves.
“Am I being selfish?”
He rubbed my shoulders as we stood on the terrace and looked out over the park. “Who else were you going to ask?”
“I could have just taken my chances.”
“Yeah, right. I can see it now. Cabot having you burned at the stake for being a vampire witch. Blood only goes so deep, Morgan.”
A few minutes later, the terrace door opened and Jules stepped outside. She smiled to try to put me at ease, but it didn’t work. “Let the bloodbath begin,” she said, her smile turning into a mischievous grin.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Jules?”
She shrugged it off. “Yeah. Piece of cake.”
“You’re a bad liar.” There was a rare awkwardness between us. But anyone would be nervous under the circumstances. “Just promise you’ll tell me if you start to feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m already uncomfortable, so shut up and give me the syringe before I change my mind.”
Hawk was watching us intently. “I need to talk to Jules before we start.”
The two of them walked into the penthouse to have a conversation, about my unpredictability no doubt. When they walked back outside a few minutes later, they were both sporting wide, toothy smiles.
“Shit,” I muttered. “All right, let’s all just admit that this is weird for everyone.”
Jakob had gotten me some vials and syringes that afternoon.
“Hawk can draw your blood in the bedroom behind a locked door. The syringes are on the dresser.”
“No offense, Hawk,” Jules said, “but I know how to use a needle.”
My forehead puckered as I gawked at her.
“I’m not a drug addict, so you can stop looking at me like that. But how hard can it be?” She turned her arm over to expose the deep blue vein in the bend of her elbow, causing my retracted fangs to throb. “You just stick it in there and suck it out.”
“We’re not using a syringe,” Hawk said.
We both looked at him.
“What are you talking about?” I said.
Jules looked a little nervous. “Nobody is biting me.”
Hawk’s eyes turned sympathetic, but there was something grave in them too. “I’ve changed my mind about the needle.”
“You’ve changed your mind?” I said, suddenly filled with dread.
He validated my fear. “What’s going to happen when you find yourself in a situation where there’s no time to prepare? I’ve thought about this, Morgan. The solution isn’t to satisfy your cravings prior to a hunt, because we can’t. As long as you feel that urge, you’ll never get enough. A starving dog will eat well past the point of satiation because it’s psychologically still starving. You have to train your mind to know it’s not starving, or the cravings will never go away.”
He couldn’t possibly be thinking what I thought he was. “What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting you carefully open Jules’s wrist with your fangs, get a taste, and then move away from her while your cravings start to surge. They’ll eventually pass. You just have to learn how to control them. It isn’t physical, and it’s not as difficult as it seems.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m doing that.”
Jules took a step back. “Yeah.”
“Well, someone has to do it,” he continued. “And it has to be a human, for obvious reasons.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Right, because you can’t volunteer.”
“I wish I could, but we both know it won’t trigger you like human blood will.”
“Why not? Edward’s blood did.” I recalled how Wesley Foster’s blood had made me feel when it dripped i
n my mouth, but it was also fleeting at best.
“Not enough.” He glanced at Jules and then back at me. “If you’re ever going to learn to control your bloodlust, you need a human to trigger you. Then we’ll have to see what happens.”
“She isn’t a guinea pig, Hawk!”
Jules took a tentative step closer and raised her index finger. “Uh… do I have any say in this?”
“She’s the perfect guinea pig,” Hawk said, ignoring her comment. “You love her, so you’re less likely to hurt her.”
“Less likely?”
Jakob walked out to the terrace as if on cue, and Hawk seemed to have a silent conversation with him.
I shook my head slowly. “Did the two of you plan this?”
“Don’t get mad at Jakob. It was my idea, and I hadn’t decided to even mention it until a few minutes ago. But I know now it’s the only way.”
Jakob seemed a little unsure of what was going on. “So is it the needle or the fangs?”
It was about to be neither. “I can’t believe you would agree to this.”
“Hawk knows what he’s doing, Mora. We’ll keep Jules safe. That’s why I’m here.”
“Hey!” Jules said. “Quit ignoring me. Morgan is my best friend, and I trust her more than anyone on the planet, including my own mother. But if you think I’m letting her rip my wrist open, you’re out of your minds.”
Jakob nodded a few times, thoughtfully mulling over her decision. “All right. No one’s forcing you to do this.” He motioned toward the terrace door. “We’ll have Edward take you home.”
She got a skeptical look on her face. “So what does this mean?”
“It means we’ll have to find another human volunteer.”
She suddenly seemed conflicted, and I wanted to scream at her to go so she didn’t have to make a decision she’d regret.
“I’ll do it.”
Jakob looked relieved. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “It’s more than any friend should have to bear.”
She gave me a pointed stare. “Bullshit. You’d do it for me in a heartbeat. I’m ashamed I even considered walking out of here.”
Savage Sons (House of Winterborne Book 2) Page 11
