Cranberry Blood

by Elizabeth Morgan

  Freaky. So frickin’ freaky. “So, you’ve had fun?”

  The lazy grin spread across his lips again as he headed to the end apartment.

  “You have to stop doing, you know, human stuff,” I called. “It is seriously creepy coming from a wolf.”

  Chapter Nine

  Three humans remained. I found each of them hidden in their rooms and from what I could gather, they had no idea what was going on. The rest of the tenants had been killed in ways that would give me nightmares for the rest of my life—well, new nightmares, anyway. I told Brendan to wait in one of the other flats whilst I talked to the humans. None of them knew where the bitch who ran this placed actually lived. Two “bouncers” and a receptionist handled customers on the shop level.

  I advised the humans to get cleaned up and get the hell out of this shit-hole.

  I left 16D first, just to make sure Werewolf Brendan lurked somewhere other than in the corridor. I didn’t think these humans could take another monster sighting. As I opened the door, I found Brendan back in his human form, leaning casually against the opposite wall, clothed in his original outfit.

  I evaluated him from head to toe. “Do you carry spares?”

  He smirked. “I tend to undress before I shift. It saves me having to go clothes shopping every other day.”

  Well, I guess that makes sense.

  “Everything all right?”

  I studied him for a moment.

  “Fine.” I turned and let the humans leave the flat to run back to their own and grab anything they wanted. They all knew they had to meet me downstairs in twenty minutes.

  “I won’t bother asking you what the plan is.” Brendan watched the humans trailing nervously through the door and into the stairwell.

  “You said you were a Shifter.” I pushed my sword into its sheath.

  “I never said that. You presumed I was because I mentioned my Alpha. I said you’re a clever kid for making a link. I didn’t want to be rude and point out that you’d made the wrong connection. You asked me if I was a wolf, and I smiled. It is not my fault you’re putting a label on me.”

  I stared at him. “Shifter implies someone who shifts into an animal. Meaning I thought you would become a cute little blond Wolf that could pass for a dog if I strapped a collar on you. A Werewolf is something completely different and a lot more difficult to hide.”

  He gave me a toothy grin. “Who said I planned on doing any hiding?”

  Werewolves weren’t Shifters. Shifters, I knew basic information about. Shifters could transform from human form into animals. They had an allergy to silver; they could heal themselves; and they had all the abilities of their animal form while in their human shape.

  What I knew about Werewolves: part human and part wolf. The transformation didn’t shift them from one form to the other, but combined both: a Wolf that could stand, walk, and fight like a human; a human who could see, smell, hear, and sense like a wolf. Their joint DNA let them heal quickly, run faster, and gave them super-strength. They were allergic to silver, and the plant known as wolfsbane also affected them.

  So this is why my Gran made me learn about them—because I get my very own to play with.

  I leant against the wall and rubbed my hands over my face. She made me read about them because she planned to send Brendan, and she wanted me to know everything I could know about Werewolves so I wasn’t helpless.

  Sneaky.

  She hadn’t even mentioned Brendan’s alter-ego on the DVD. Alpha; the leader of a Pack. Shifters functioned in Packs, so I thought it a logical conclusion to jump to when someone mentioned the word “Alpha.”

  He stepped toward me. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m peachy.” No point in filling him in on my knowledge of all things tall and hairy. Tomorrow morning, he could go back to his normal-ish life. He had done all he needed to do for me, and for my Gran.

  “So where did you disappear to, anyway?” I asked, standing straight.

  “I went in the front way. I thought it would be best to cause a distraction, so you had less to deal with and could concentrate on Luca.”

  Concentrating on Luca had turned out to be more disturbing than I had hoped it would be. A shudder ran through as I remembered Luca’s naked body pressed against mine, his erection stabbing my thigh, his saliva sticking to my skin. Then there had been the human’s blood, so close to my mouth.... I am totally having a bleach bath tonight.

  “And you thought this was a bad idea?” I asked, quickly changing the subject.

  “Walking into a building with roughly ten or more Vampires is a suicide mission for one, Slayer—”

  “Please don’t start that helpless Slayer shite. It might be hard to believe, but I know what I am doing. This isn’t the first time I have—”

  “You’re grieving, and you’re still recovering from your last two hunts. You’re pushing yourself too hard, burning up all your energy, making yourself vulnerable.”

  “Well, I guess I’m lucky you’re here, then,” I grunted through clenched teeth and turned to the stairway.

  “Yup.”

  “Of course. Super Wolf to the fucking rescue.”

  Brendan chuckled deeply. “Super Wolf?”

  “Oh, go to hell.”

  “We’re already there, Slayer.” He followed me down the stairs.

  Can’t fault him on that call.

  “I didn’t mean you’re the weak little Slayer and I’m—”

  “An arsehole?”

  He grunted. “It’s a building full of Vampires. Yes, they are shit easy to kill, but it’s not like we’re going to a fun fair.”

  “Didn’t you have fun?” The sarcasm dripped.

  “I always try to have fun,” he said. “I heal very quickly, Heather. I have a bigger advantage; that’s all I meant when I said you’re vulnerable.”

  He had forgotten the small fact that he was like a super-frickin’-monster, and that Werewolves matched Vampires in strength, speed, and the sense department.

  “Whatever. Why are you even explaining? It’s not like I care what you think.”

  “Hey?” He grabbed hold of my right shoulder and I hissed, flinching away; quickly remembering why I had on a guy’s shirt. Brendan grabbed my wrist, stopping me just as we reached the second floor. “Let me see.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, right.” He moved me so that I faced him and started unbuttoning my top.

  I batted his hand away and attempted to get past him.

  “I’ve seen you half-naked before, remember, so now’s not the time to be shy.” He undid two more buttons, pulled the collar down my right shoulder, and gently peeled the bandage away. “For fuck’s sake, Heather, how do you always manage to get claw marks?”

  I shrugged. “What can I say; I always want a souvenir of my night.”

  Disgust rolled through me as he spat on his fingers. “What the hell are you doing?” I moved away from him.

  “Were saliva speeds up healing.”

  “You’re not putting your saliva on me. That’s just disgusting.”

  “You’ve had Vampire saliva and blood on you.” He rubbed his hand on his jeans. “Hell, you’ve had a whole Vampire on you; I can smell the bastard on your flesh.” Gold specks danced across his irises as his nostrils flared. He evaluated me. “Yet, you’re disgusted at me wanting to put a tiny bit of my saliva onto your wounds so they heal?”

  “That’s right.”

  His head snapped up, his stare locking on mine.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” He reached for my shirt, but I pulled away and continued down the next flight of stairs.

  “Hey!” I growled as Brendan’s left arm wound around my waist and he pulled me back against the wall of his chest. Heat enveloped me, along with the smell of pine and tangy sweat.

  “Just hold still.” He peeled back my shirt, then gently pulled the bandage off. Hot liquid landed on my wound. I gagged as Brendan started gently massaging his
saliva into the cuts.

  “This is so nasty.”

  He chuckled, warm breath skating over my neck. “I could always lick them for you.”

  The air caught in my throat and my stomach flipped at the suggestion. The heat of his body seeped into my back, spreading through me, killing the chill that settled over me for the last six weeks.

  “Are you actually considering it, Slayer?” he growled softly into my ear.

  I shivered. My head began to throb as I tried to think of some witty brush-off.

  “No,” was all that left my mouth.

  His grip tightened on my waist. “Too bad. You didn’t complain last time.”

  His comment snapped my momentary lapse of sense and I tried to pull away from him.

  “You’ve licked me before?”

  He held me still. “No. But when I brought you home that night, I cleaned the wounds, and then added a little saliva so they would heal quicker, otherwise they would have taken two weeks, with your healing rate.”

  His fingers sank lower, rubbing over the top of my breast where the wound ended. My stomach tightened. His breath ghosted along my neck, causing a shiver to swim slowly down my spine. His fingertips felt calloused and rough against my skin. Deep in my mind, I knew I should be angry and kick him. Instead, I tensed as the strange urge to pull him closer pulsed through my limbs.

  It had to be this place. The smell of blood and sex had clearly messed up my head. Mix it with Brendan’s scent, which for some reason, was quickly becoming my own relaxation pill and.... You’re sick. Just as sick as Luca. Snap out of it.

  My brief insanity slipped at the feel of his nose brushing my nape; at the sound of him inhaling.

  I grabbed his wrist with both of my hands. “That is enough.” I forced weight into my tone.

  “Are you sure?” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear.

  Pretty sure. Plus, we’re in a Vampire whorehouse, and I think I still kinda hate him.

  I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. “If you don’t move, then I will show you what I did to Luca and his dick.”

  He replaced the bandage on my shoulder, slid the shirt into place, then let go of my waist.

  I opened my eyes and proceeded down the stairs, buttoning up the shirt as I walked, ignoring the fact that my legs felt like jelly. Ignoring the strange tingles which ran through my shoulder, or the heat of Brendan’s body fading with each step.

  The man is insane and yet, for some reason, I feel comfortable around him. What the hell is wrong with me?

  The last flight of stairs took me to a dark, narrow corridor. The humming of a dying strip light sounded above me. The boarded-up door before me had obviously been the main door for the residents to use at one point.

  “At the end of the corridor,” Brendan said, “they knocked a hole through to open up the shop level to the apartments above.”

  Of course they did. I stepped into the hallway and headed toward the jagged hole partially covered with a black velvet curtain.

  “Watch where you step,” Brendan said, standing behind me. “I made a bit of a mess.”

  I pushed the curtain aside and stepped through the hole, to be met by a couple of metres of space and a wall.

  “Turn to your left.”

  I did as Brendan said, and headed into the large messy space which used to be a shop. The walls had been dressed in the same black velvet material, and broken chairs and tables covered the dull stone floor.

  “You did have fun.” To my right, I found a large cage running the length of the wall. Three females huddled inside.

  Brendan tugged the lock off the door, then opened it.

  “Hey.” He spoke softly, keeping his distance from them. “It’s okay. They have all gone.”

  I weaved between the broken heaps and headed toward the counter, next to the shop’s door, and pushed the stool against the wall as I walked behind the desk.

  I picked a small silver key off the floor, then opened up a large black safe situated just under the desk, dragging out the neatly labelled wads of money and began counting.

  “I told them to go upstairs and get dressed, then come down with the others,” Brendan said, stopping in front of the counter. He grunted at the sight of the money.

  “My sentiments exactly. I wouldn’t mind finding this bitch and having a few final words with her.”

  He walked around to join me and rooted through the black book that lay open. “You wouldn’t happen to know her name?”

  “I think it is Constance, but I doubt her number will be written conveniently somewhere.”

  “No harm in checking.”

  At the sound of Brendan flicking through pages, I finally let out a breath in the dim silence. What a weird and fucked-up night this had turned out to be. At least I got Luca. God, I hoped he had told me the truth. What if I killed him, and he did know where Marko is?

  I couldn’t think about that. He didn’t know, so he gave up his Mistress. Hopefully, he hadn’t lied about that, so I would be meeting Marie or one of her other pets as soon as she recovered from her severed life line. All I needed to do was burn the feel of Luca off my skin, then get some rest. Overall, it had been a good night’s work.

  “No. Nothing.” Brendan huffed, shutting the book. “Every number has a name.”

  “Bring it, anyway.” I slapped down the last five grand. “Eighty grand in total.”

  I didn’t know what value had been placed upon these poor humans, for services, or by the hour, but this Constance had made enough money on them all.

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “Give it to them. They earned it, at the end of the day. They have been through shite and this money is tainted, but at least it will be enough to get them back on their feet. This will only be tonight’s take, though.”

  “Better than nothing, after what they have been through.” He continued to search the desk.

  I glanced down at the small alarm clock situated next to the phone: 1:50 a.m., roughly four hours until sunrise. I needed to get these humans somewhere safe.

  “I don’t even know what I’m looking for.” Brendan glanced up at me.

  “That makes two of us.”

  He stood and rolled his head. I could hear the small crunches of tension. Tension I could feel running down my own back. “So, thanks for your help,” I said awkwardly.

  “That’s why I’m here.” He stretched his arms above his head and his shirt tightened over his golden skin, over the small shape at the end of the long, braided, leather chain.

  What is that? Not that it was important or even my business.

  “I meant it, by the way.” I looked out over the counter at the mess before us. “What we agreed on the roof. You can go back home. You’ve held up your end of the bargain.”

  He remained silent for a moment. I risked a glance at him and found his emerald gaze glued on me.

  He nodded. “I know.”

  Not knowing where else to look, I dropped my focus to the money.… Where the hell are these humans?

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  I laughed, adding more force than necessary. “Yeah.”

  I just wanted to get out of there. I had to get these humans into a hotel, then go home and sleep. Tomorrow, I would make preparations for Venice. I had to find Marie. I had to find Marko.

  My stomach knotted as the realization finally sank in. I might actually find him.

  “Yeah. I will be fine.” I threw a forced smile in his direction. “Slayer, remember? This is what I do.”

  “Getting yourself nearly killed is what you do.”

  “All part of the job, Wolf man. I’m going to die one day, just hopefully not until I’ve found Marko.”

  “Yeah, but what if Marko ends up killing you?”

  “Then I’m dead.” Obviously.

  “Heather, look, I’ve been thinking—”

  “Brendan, I am not your responsibility. I don’t want to be anyone’s responsibility. My Gran
would be thankful that you held up your end of the bargain, but there is nothing left for you to do—”

  “There might be.”

  “You have a life, Brendan. And as crap as mine is, so do I.” I scooped up the money in my arms. “Now let’s go give these humans some cash. I’m going to walk them to a hotel. You can come back to my house and grab some rest before you leave. It’s been a long night.”

  A faint smiled curled on his lips. “Eager to get rid of me so soon?”

  “Are you kidding? I can’t wait to hear myself think without having your running commentary as background noise.”

  “Oh, you just—”

  A sharp scream sounded from upstairs, followed by a crash. I dropped the money and ran after Brendan, who had already made it across the room and through the hole in the wall.

  I took the stairs two at a time; Brendan had disappeared from my sight. Did we miss a Vamp? God, I hope not.

  I ran down the first corridor. No sign of Brendan or anyone else. I turned and ran up to the second floor, to find the corridor and apartments empty. As I got halfway up the stairs to the third floor, I heard Brendan grunt. I slipped my sword from its sheath and continued up the stairs. The stairway door stood wide open. I pressed my back against the wall and continued moving up until I stood next to the doorframe. The flight of stairs leading to the top floor seemed all clear. I peered around the wall and looked into the corridor. Brendan lay crumpled on the floor, four thick daggers embedded in his back. A tall, exotic woman stood at his head, flanked by four transformed Vampires. The smell of fresh blood tickled my senses, one of the human females dead on the floor behind them.

  I had promised I would take them to a safe place, and they were dead.

  My heart tightened.

  “Come out; come out mi pequeña asesina, wherever you are,” her Spanish accent lightly teased.

  The awareness under my skin cracked sharply. Why am I hesitating? Five Vampires, that’s nothing. I needed to get to Brendan. I needed to get the daggers out of him.

  “I know you’re there, little Infected. I can smell you.”

  I hate it when they say shite like that.

  “Heather?” Brendan grunted. “Run.”