My eyes went to the black bag as I waited for him to show me what was inside. He unzipped it and pulled out a syringe.
“I thought we were clear on that, Greer.” I made it clear a long time ago that I didn’t like being drugged, and I wasn’t planning to change my stance on that today. “You’re not putting anything in my veins.”
“You’re right. I’m taking something out.”
Reluctantly, I sat and waited for the experiment to begin.
“This will be easy,” he assured me. “If I’m right, you won’t hate me in the morning.”
Greer cuffed me from the front. I watched as he swept an alcohol pad across the vein in the bend of my arm and then gently inserted the needle. The tube began to fill as he pulled the plunger toward him. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?” he asked to rule out the variable of fear.
I shook my head. “Just do it.”
My vision started to blur. I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of my blood or the agitation building inside of me that caused my eyes to explode with light.
“Stay with me, Alex.”
It came on so fast it was almost like he had shot me full of something. But there was nothing going into my vein. It was all coming out. The clear syringe transformed into a cylinder of dark crimson red.
“Are you okay?” he asked in the calm voice I knew so well. But it was beginning to sound different now. His voice was becoming the deep, hollow drone of a stranger.
“Alex? Stay with me. Almost done.”
My head slowly cocked away from my arm to look at the man holding the syringe. “I…I can’t!” I screamed as I shoved him sideways and yanked the syringe out with my teeth. “It’s mine!”
He tackled me to the floor, grabbing the center of the cuff to wedge my arms over my head. I could hear his voice in the distance as he spoke to someone in the room, but the voices were muffled by the hurricane spinning in my head, energizing me like a high voltage wire.
A sharp pain radiated through my neck, and the storm went away.
FOUR
I stayed in bed for the next twenty-four hours, getting up every now and then but always finding myself right back under the covers. My reaction to Greer drawing my blood not only proved his theory, but put everyone in the house at risk. Thank God he was smart enough to bring backup, and Rhom managed to inject a sedative in my neck strong enough to put down an elephant—hence my lazy state.
He was right about my trigger being blood. But he wasn’t convinced that fear had no part in it. I proved him wrong. It was just the blood, plain and simple, and I had a build-in defense mechanism against anyone or anything that tried to spill it.
Leda had been dispatched to babysit me while Greer went to the club for a few hours. She’d become an invaluable friend and one of Greer’s most trusted associates—a former lover turned right-hand “man” who was just as formidable as any of the men on his team.
“Maybe we can play cards,” she suggested with a blank look.
“Really, Leda? You want to play cards? Maybe we can start a quilting circle, too.” In her Donna Karan dresses and Manolo Blahnik pumps, Leda wasn’t the type to make small talk with her hands.
“Of course not, but we can’t just sit here all day. We’ll end up putting a bullet in our brains from boredom.”
“That’s it.” I climbed out of bed and put on a pair of shorts. “You can’t do this, Leda. You’ll go crazy and end up hating me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll stay perfectly sane while I hate you.”
I went downstairs to find Sophia. I think she was born with a chopping knife in her hand, so I went straight to the kitchen. She was stirring a large pot of sauce with one hand and checking the rise on a ball of bread dough with the other. “Oh, that smells good. Manicotti?”
“Cannelloni,” she corrected.
“Right.” I asked the next question cautiously. I’d never asked to have a guest for dinner before, and I didn’t want to blindside her with a stranger at the table. “Would it bother you if I invited a friend for dinner?”
The spoon in her hand stopped for a second and then resumed stirring. “I love to cook for your friend, but Mr. Sinclair might not be so pleased.” With a firm tap against the enameled pot, the excess sauce fell from the wooden spoon. She set it on a small plate next to the stove and turned around, running her eyes over my face. “You call Mr. Sinclair and tell him I make a nice dinner for you and your friend.”
“You’re the best, Sophia.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She wiped her hands on her yellow apron and waved me out of the kitchen.
I hoped Katie had the day shift and would accept my invitation to dinner. I was desperate to spend some time with a normal person. But after dumping all my skeletons on her the other day and then quitting my job, I wasn’t even sure we were still friends. Getting Greer on board was another hurdle. We hosted dinner parties all the time, but the faces around the table were Greer’s friends, and I had no idea how he’d react to hosting one of mine.
Greer’s cell phone range once before he answered. “What’s wrong?” he asked without a greeting.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to ask you something.” I don’t know why I was so nervous about inviting a friend for dinner. Greer had always made it clear that his house was my house. “Sophia is making this fantastic cannelloni, and I’d like to invite my friend Katie to dinner.”
There was silence on the other end. For a second I thought the connection dropped. “Is this the same friend who intercepted Lumen the other day?” he finally asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Invite her. I want to meet this girl.”
Katie had been the subject of many conversations with Greer. I’d told him about her the day I got the job, but it was all white noise to him. He filtered out what he needed to hear and ignored the rest. I couldn’t wait to see his reaction to the girl with the serpent tattoos and combat boots.
I called her cell phone. “Alex?” She sounded surprised to hear from me, and I wondered if she was about to give me the polite brushoff. I wouldn’t blame her if she did. Even in her liberal world, I was a freak. “About time you called. I’ve been dying to talk to you. Your friend stopped by the shop this morning.”
Besides Katie and Greer’s posse, I didn’t exactly have friends in New York. “Who?”
“Constantine. You know, that hot guy you’ve been hiding.”
Constantine wasn’t just some guy; he was a satyr with a perpetual hard-on, always looking for a new conquest. I hadn’t seen him since he took me to Paris—or should I say abducted me. That was the day I discovered his neat little mode of transportation. One minute we were standing in New York, and the next we were in an apartment in Paris—via a stopover on top of the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Really? What did he want?”
“You, silly. He didn’t seem very surprised when I told him you quit.”
“He’s got a really good poker face,” I replied. “Did you tell him anything else?”
“Nope.”
Constantine practically ravaged Katie with his eyes the first time he came to the shop, and I made sure he didn’t come back. The vibe between the two of them was just too dangerous. The last thing Katie needed was a satyr in her bed. Getting her to come to dinner was even more important now, so I could find out what Constantine was up to.
“Are you working tonight?” I asked.
“I got off an hour ago. Why? Interested in a girl’s night out?”
“I know it’s short notice, but would you be interested in coming over for dinner? I need company, and Greer would like to meet you.”
“Greer? The famous roommate who isn’t a roommate?”
“Yep. That’s the one.”
“What time?” It was already a few minutes after six, so I gave her the address and told her to head over.
Leda was standing behind me when I ended the call. “A party?”
“I invited a friend for dinner. You should stay. I think you�
�d like her.”
“I’d love to, but I don’t want to be a third wheel.” She dusted the imaginary lint from her skirt and smoothed her auburn hair away for her temples. “Is this appropriate?”
Leda always looked perfect. She could wear a paper sack and look perfect. Smart as a whip, too. She had that movie star quality that got men instantly hard and made women take notes. “You’ll be the fourth wheel. Greer will be joining us, too.”
“Well, all right, then. I’ll stay.” She headed for the kitchen to offer Sophia help with dinner, a polite gesture that would be politely rejected.
Katie didn’t ask about the dress code. There wasn’t one, but I didn’t want her to feel underdressed next to Leda, so I went upstairs to put on a pair of jeans and a blouse. That way she’d be somewhere in the middle of feeling under or overdressed. Thomas was sitting in the living room when I came back downstairs.
“Hey there, handsome.” I was used to seeing Thomas in uniform: black slacks, black shoes, black crew neck. The bartenders at Crusades could wear whatever they liked as long as it was black. Tonight he was dressed in fancy jeans and a pricey jacket. “You here for dinner?”
“Looks like it. Greer and I have some business tonight, so he offered to feed me first.”
“Where is he?” It was getting late, and I wanted Greer to be here when Katie arrived. First impressions mattered, and for some reason I wanted her to like him.
“He was right behind me. Should be walking in any minute now.”
“Honey, I’m home.” Greer stepped off the elevator with a bunch of white tulips in his hand. He gave them to Sophia when she peeked into the foyer, and then kissed me on the cheek.
“What was that for?” I asked, my fingers feeling the spot where he’d pressed his lips.
“Just trying to play my part. Your significant other tonight, right?”
“Won’t be necessary. She knows.”
“Knows what?” His tone darkened, and I knew we were about to have one of our world class arguments…or should I say lectures.
“Just about everything. Well, almost everything.”
“Really? And you don’t see the problem with that?”
“Not at all.” Katie was the kind of girl that took strange things to heart. She was an outsider herself, so the strange and unusual were appreciated. I think it made people like us feel normal. “At least wait until you meet her before you judge her. She was perfectly fine with everything. You know, she’s the one who found my birthmark.”
He threw his keys in the bowl on the table and headed up the stairs. “We’ll continue this discussion after I change.”
The doorbell rang as Greer was coming back down the steps. He’d exchanged his suit for a pair of casual slacks, but kept the shirt. Thomas made it to the door first. When he opened it, Katie was standing on the other side with a bottle of red wine in her hand. I’d never seen her in anything conservative, so the black sheath dress she was wearing made me question the identity of the woman standing on the threshold.
She glanced past Thomas and smiled at me. When she looked back at the man holding the door open, he was staring at her with intent. “I’m Katie.” She extended her hand.
He took it and held it longer than was customary. “Thomas,” he introduced himself. “You have extraordinary eyes.”
Katie had that effect on both men and women because her eyes were extraordinary. The blue was striking in contrast with her jet black hair, creating an enhanced version of Elizabeth Taylor with photoshopped irises.
She didn’t respond to Thomas’ comment, but I could see a visual conversation taking place between them.
I moved in to break the spell, taking the bottle from her hand before grabbing her arm and leading her into the living room. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“Me too. It sucks not having you at the shop. Apollo put a sign in the window right after you left and—”
My excitement faded as I realized how quickly I was being replaced. “Wow. It’s final, isn’t it? Just like that, I’m out.”
“Alex, he’s just doing his job. We’re both pulling double shifts until we find someone. I’d be there right now if I hadn’t worked twelve hours yesterday.”
“I know. I’m sorry. No more downer talk.” I mimicked zipping my mouth and gave her a hug.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Greer asked as he watched our reunion from the foyer.
“Oh, sorry. Katie Bishop, this is Greer Sinclair.”
He came into the room and fixed his eyes on hers for a moment before extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet the girl with the guns.”
Katie looked at me and then back at Greer. “Guns?”
“I hear you came to Alex’s rescue the other day.”
“Oh, you mean that creepy little witch that showed up at the shop the other morning. Just needed to establish some boundaries, that’s all.”
Greer released her hand but kept his eyes on her longer than I was comfortable with. Katie broke the connection first and then looked at me. “So, this is where you live, and this is your roommate?” she asked, looking back at Greer.
“Yes, and not exactly.”
Leda entered the room. “Hello. Katie, right?”
“That’s me.”
She walked up and wrapped her arms around Katie, planting a cordial kiss on her cheek. “I hear you’ve been a good friend to our Alex.” She stepped back to take Katie in. “My, you are lovely.” Her eyes roamed along the tail that went down Katie’s arm. It circled back up to her shoulder and then disappeared under the backside of her dress. “May I?”
“Be my guest,” Katie responded, completely comfortable with the odd request.
I thought Leda was just going to take a closer look at Katie’s exposed skin, but then Katie lifted her hair off of her neck as Leda circled around to her backside, slowly pulling her zipper down to reveal the ink creature embedded in Katie skin.
“It’s magnificent. A real work of art.” Leda ran a finger along the intricate lines. She zipped the dress and came back around to Katie’s front. “How rude of me. I’m Leda.”
“Okay, that’s enough butt sniffing,” I said to break up the examination.
I was about to check on dinner when Sophia announced it was ready. Thomas wasted no time offering his arm to Katie as we went into the dining room. He had his eye on her, and from what I could see, she was receptive to the attention. I loved Thomas, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea for Katie to be loving him, too.
We sat around a mountain of the best Italian food this side of Campania placed in the center of the table. Sophia never went small when she cooked, creating a never-ending supply of leftovers in the fridge. It was a miracle I hadn’t gained twenty pounds since moving in.
“Tell me, Katie,” Leda began. “Why would a woman like you want to work in a used bookstore?”
I glared at Leda, because until a few days ago I worked in that same bookstore, and I would still be there if it was up to me.
“Well, I’m a student at Columbia.” She placed her fork on the plate as she swallowed a bite of food. “Tuition isn’t free, you know.”
“I suppose not,” Leda replied, spearing the tomato in her salad.
“I worked at Starbucks for a while. Then I spent a few weeks at this fancy boutique where rich women would drop thousands on dresses with price tags exceeding my weekly paycheck. But I found this hole-in-the-wall shop called Shakespeare’s Library, and for the first time, that shitty little paycheck didn’t seem so bad.”
“Columbia?” Thomas seemed impressed. “Beautiful and smart.”
“What are you studying up there?” Greer asked.
“Environmental engineering.”
“So you want to clean up the world,” he replied. “Make the water safer to drink.”
“Something like that.”
Despite Leda’s off comment, the evening was perfect. For the first time in months, I was able to relax
and not think about who might try to kill me next. Katie knew I was different and she didn’t care. Greer seemed to like her, too. That was important because I planned to keep her around.
We finished off the pasta and drank several bottles of wine. After clearing the empty platters from the table, Sophia returned with one of her homemade Italian cheesecakes. Knowing it was Thomas’ favorite, she placed it on the table directly in front of him. His eyes widened as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his lap.
“Mr. Thomas!” she squealed. “You crazy man.”
“You know I love you, woman. Keep bringing me these and I’ll have to marry you.”
She straightened her apron as he released her, a smile breaking over her face as she hurried out of the room.
Thomas offered a slice of cake to everyone at the table before cutting his own. Next came the coffee, marking the end of a perfect meal.
As the conversation bounced around the table, I noticed Leda watching Katie. I would have dismissed it as curiosity, but the look on her face wasn’t curious—it was calculating.
Katie glanced at Leda now and then, but other than that she ignored the attention. The men picked up on it, too. Thomas looked at Greer, and then back at the two women who were having some sort of silent tête-à-tête.
“Where are your people from?” Leda eventually asked.
“You mean my parents?” replied Katie.
“Yes. The Bishop clan. Where are they from? What was their trade?”
Leda wasted no time dissecting Katie’s history. Where she was born, her family’s religious beliefs, her religious beliefs: I cringed at the thought of all the questions that were about to be hurled at my friend.
Without a word, Katie held Leda’s stare. A polite standoff commenced, and everyone at the table felt the heat as the pot began to boil.
A nervous laugh peeped from my mouth as the absurdity reached a climax. What the hell is Leda doing?
“Have you heard of Crusades?” I asked Katie, trying to defuse the ticking bomb. “Greer owns the place. We should go some night.”
Katie kept her eyes on Leda. “That’s all right, Alex. I don’t mind the questions.” She took another bite of cake and slowly chewed as the rest of the table waited for her to continue.
The Blood Thief (The Fitheach Trilogy Book 2) Page 4
