“Your father is a very dangerous creature,” Max said cautiously. “Cord may be trying to claim you because of what your father is.”
“You’ve mentioned that,” she snapped. “Could you stop throwing out all this cryptic garbage about my father and tell me what he was, or is. I guess he’s still alive. Aside from helping me understand what’s going on, it might be nice to know that I’m more than an inconvenient mutt.”
“You may not believe this, Quinn, but you have been much safer with everyone believing you are no danger to them,” Max said with a sad smile.
“I’m not a danger to anyone,” she insisted. “How can I be a danger to anyone if I can’t even outrun Cord? If Danny hadn’t come along, Cord would have taken me.”
“The vampire might be a good choice,” Max mused.
“A good choice for what?” she asked.
“Your mate,” he said, as if it were obvious.
“I am not looking for a mate!” she practically shouted, not caring that the entire clan likely heard her.
“I suggest you start looking,” Max said in the tone he used when he wasn’t in the mood for any arguments. “If you don’t, Cord will find a way to claim you. Once that happens, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Why me?” she demanded. “Could we just stick to that topic for now? Why does Cord want me? What is my father?”
“Your father is a mage,” he explained, as if that told her all she needed to know. Unfortunately, she still had no clue what he meant.
“What the hell is a mage?” she asked in exasperation.
“There is no simple answer to your question because the mage are not all alike. Some mage are so powerful they can take on the abilities of any creature they come in contact with. That might explain why you possess some shifter abilities.”
“Or, it could just be that I’m part shapeshifter,” she said, trying not to sound like she was calling her uncle crazy.
Max shook his head and sighed. “That could be the cause. It’s possible you’ll eventually shift, but your shifter heritage likely won’t be the reason. It’s hard to say where your talents will lie at this point because I have no idea what kind of mage your father is.”
“If I’m such a powerful being, then why am I the weakest female here?”
“A mage can take up to a century to come into their abilities. You’re an infant by their standards,” Max explained with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Wait!” she exclaimed. “That’s what Cord called me. I’d forgotten about him calling me a mage.”
“Then he knows what you are,” Max mused. “I wonder how he found out. I’ve been very careful to keep your heritage hidden.”
“This is insane,” Quinn argued. “I’m not a mage. I’m the weakest in our clan, and everyone knows that.”
“For now,” Max agreed. “If Cord knows what you are, then you need to find a mate who can defend what’s his. Your vampire held his own against four shifters. Cord is a strong fighter, and your vampire probably would have won the fight had I not intervened.”
“Danny is not my vampire,” Quinn said in a firm tone.
“But he’d like to be,” Max insisted.
“Ugh!” Quinn threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Why are you being so difficult about this?”
“Because I’ll do anything to keep you safe, even if keeping you safe means letting you tie yourself to a vampire.”
Shaking her head, as if it would make this all go away, Quinn stalked toward the door. “I can’t deal with this right now.” As Quinn stormed out of her uncle’s home, she had no idea where she was going. Normally, she’d disappear into the woods for a few hours to clear her head. Contact with nature always soothed her. Of course, that would be foolish while she had a crazed shifter trying to claim her as his mate. It would also likely set off her uncle’s temper, and something told her that would be a bad idea in his current frame of mind.
Once outside, she leaned her head against the doorframe and tried to get her thoughts in order. There was no way her uncle could be right about her being some powerful creature.
“I’m not a mage,” she said to no one in particular, but even as she said the words, she knew that was a lie. “I am a mage,” she breathed, and the truth of her own words seemed to wash over her. “It can’t be true,” she said with a shake of her head.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rage and panic combined, nearly sending Roger over the edge. After decades of keeping his sanity, he felt like he was on the verge of losing it now. “What did you say?” he asked.
“He’s gone,” said the idiot vampire standing before him.
Roger considered him an idiot for agreeing to notify him of Danny’s escape. Only a fool delivered this kind of news. There was a ridiculous saying about not killing the messenger, but Roger had killed more than one messenger since becoming a vampire. It was simply too easy now, and the kill took the edge off his anger, allowing him to think more clearly.
Danny’s escape should have been impossible. Four days with only minimal blood should have left him near death with scarcely enough energy to swallow the blood they gave him. He’d barely reacted when Roger had taunted him earlier that day. Despite that, Danny had somehow incapacitated a guard and made his way out of the settlement undetected.
“Craig!” Roger shouted.
When the idiot scientist didn’t respond, Roger turned to another guard. “Bring him to me now,” he ground out. His instincts told him Craig knew why Danny had been so much stronger than he should have been. Danny had been stronger than any vampire should have been at that point. If Craig had betrayed him, he’d make the bastard beg for death—something Roger wouldn’t grant him.
The guard scrambled out of the room, and Roger tapped his foot angrily. “Who was guarding him?”
“Those things that change into wild cats were spotted just outside the walls,” one of the guards stammered out.
“I’m aware of that,” Roger snapped.
“We assumed Danny was weak enough that the guards could leave him for a short time to help capture one of the creatures,” another added nervously.
Roger glared at him, waiting for the fool to remind him that he’d been the one to order all guard details out to help capture the shapeshifters. Sadly, the guard was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“Where is Craig?” Roger shouted because he was tired of waiting. Craig should be in the lab just down the hall.
“Gone,” Claire said from the door.
Claire’s arrival meant Roger had to do more to get his temper under control. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her. Without Claire, the vampire council might turn on him. It was always possible he could blame anything that happened to Claire on the blood whores, but that plan could just as easily backfire.
“What do you mean, he’s gone?” Roger asked with as much patience as he could manage under the circumstances.
“I mean, I just went to his lab to ask a question, and I found Craig dead,” Claire explained. “It looks like he killed himself.” There was a hint of emotion in Claire’s voice, but she was good at hiding her feelings. Even after the death of her own parents, she’d masked her grief with rage. That was one of the things Roger liked about the woman, but it also made her harder to read.
Craig was dead? Roger wasn’t sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, the man had become increasingly difficult to control. On the other hand, Craig was the only scientist they had. This left Roger with a dilemma—no, this left Roger with a fucking mess to deal with.
“Why would Craig kill himself?” asked one of the guards, a young man who had recently agreed to be infected with the Moon virus for the cause. He still believed they were out to save the world.
“I’m guessing he had something to do with Danny’s escape,” Roger murmured.
No one spoke, likely because they were all in shock or afraid of his reaction. Roger had seen the change in Craig over the last several
months. Since leaving the island settlement, Craig had become increasingly weak. Then again, he’d probably always been weak. Craig had only taken over as lead scientist after the original lead had been killed by their former leader. Once again, Roger cursed Graham for being a fool.
“We need to get Danny back,” Roger said, struggling to keep his voice calm. “I’ll go out with you to look for him.”
Something flashed in Claire’s eyes, and Roger wasn’t certain if it was surprise or fear. That was definitely something worth looking into.
“I’ll lead one of the search teams,” Claire offered.
“No,” Roger said. “I need you to stay here. It’s too risky to have you out there now that Danny’s escaped. We have no idea what he’ll do if he sees you.”
Claire started to argue, but Roger held up a hand to silence her. “Your role is to appease the vampire council and keep them on our side. There will be no more outings for you.”
“So, I’m basically a prisoner here?” Claire asked indignantly.
Roger shrugged. “Call it what you like, but I won’t have you risking your life.”
Anger flashed in Claire’s eyes, arousing Roger’s suspicions that she had an agenda she hadn’t shared with him.
“Make sure she doesn’t leave,” Roger said to one of his older guards before stalking out of the room to gather forces to search for Danny. This time, he’d make sure the bastard died, even if he had to sit in the room with him until it happened.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Claire had been locked in her room for several hours before someone finally came to bring her blood. Clearly, Roger was punishing her for her fit of temper earlier that day. Of course, she might be reading too much into it. Roger liked withholding blood.
Thankfully, it was Patrick, a member of her team, who came in with the bag of blood.
“One of our people is at the door,” he said by way of greeting.
“How’d you manage that?” she asked. “I figured one of Roger’s pet guards would be there, making sure I don’t leave.”
“Roger’s starting to question his decision to lock you up. If I had to guess, I’d say you’ll still be confined to the building, but not your room, soon enough. The door’s no longer locked.”
Claire nodded. “What’s going on? I can tell by your expression that there’s a problem.”
“Nate overheard some of Roger’s older guards talking about a group of humans trying to repopulate the Oakland Army base settlement. They think there are at least two dozen unguarded humans living there,” Patrick explained.
“It would be so much easier to keep these idiots safe if they’d just cooperate with the born vampires for a little while,” Claire grumbled.
Patrick shrugged. Claire knew he still wasn’t sure how he felt about the born vampires. He just knew how he felt about Roger. Actually, she was the only one of her team who really trusted the born vampires. “Anyway, we’re heading out there tonight to move them before Roger’s people go out there to round them up tomorrow.”
“That’s a pretty big risk, considering everything going on right now,” Claire warned.
“We’ll use the tunnels and be back before anyone notices,” Patrick assured her.
“I’ll go with you,” she said.
Patrick just shook his head. “That might really put us in danger. Roger is more likely to hear about you disappearing than us.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Patrick was right. He was invisible in Roger’s eyes, while she was not.
“Fine, but Nate needs to stay behind,” Claire insisted because she was pretty sure he was no longer invisible to Roger.
Patrick looked concerned. Nate was a good leader, and Claire knew Patrick was worried about handling things without him.
“Roger may have noticed Nate’s connection to me. That might be why Roger’s spoken to him so much recently. Bringing him puts you at greater risk of discovery because Roger’s guards might be suspicious if they spot Nate moving around the settlement at night.”
“You’re right,” Patrick said. “Any idea where we should stash the humans?”
Claire smiled. “Drop them at the bridge to Treasure Island. From what I hear, they don’t have space for any more people, but they’ll help them find a place.”
“What if they won’t go with us?” Patrick asked.
“Then leave them there,” Claire said. As much as she hated it, they couldn’t save everyone.
Patrick nodded and hurried out of the room.
Claire was even more pissed with the fact that she had to put her people at risk while she sat in her room doing nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mage.
The word kept running through Quinn’s mind as she walked aimlessly. Okay, not really aimlessly. She was looking for Danny. Why she wanted him with her was another story. He’d said he wanted to touch her, and she felt the same. Actually, she’d felt that way from the moment she’d met him. Even though he’d been intoxicated, he’d been sweet and funny. That morning at his home, she’d had a hard time walking out the front door, knowing she’d probably never see him again.
For the last few days, Danny’s face made her feel better about her future. Knowing she was destined to be sent away in two years, she now imagined going back to Danny. Even though she barely knew him, that silly daydream gave her hope.
“Looking for something?” Zane asked as he came up beside her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “Or, should I say, looking for someone?”
Quinn’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Of all the people she did not want to run into, Zane was at the top of that list because he was most likely to tease her.
“I see,” Zane murmured. “So, you are looking for someone, and I bet I can figure out who that someone is. Has my cousin taken a liking to a certain vampire?”
“I just want to make sure he’s okay,” she insisted just before she caught Danny’s scent. It was different now that he was a vampire, but no less arousing than it had been when he was human.
Zane laughed. “Yeah, I can tell by your reaction to his scent. Everyone around here has probably caught on to your concern.”
Glaring at Zane, Quinn was tempted to smack him, which clearly amused Zane because he started laughing. “Don’t worry, Quinn,” Zane said after he got his laughter under control. “I’ll help you find him.”
“Were you looking for me?” Danny asked as he approached them.
Quinn already knew Danny had likely heard their entire conversation. Zane had told her before that a vampire’s sense of hearing was much better than a human’s. According to Zane, it wasn’t nearly as good as a shifter’s, but she’d lived with shifters her entire life, and they’d never admit anyone could do anything as well as they could.
Zane leaned into Danny and made an exaggerated show of scenting the air around him. “It would seem your feelings for our vampire aren’t unrequited,” he said with a laughing grin.
“Knock it off or I’ll neuter you,” she threatened when she saw how Danny flinched. She was pretty sure it was the vampire reference more than mention of his reaction to her.
“Come on,” Zane whined. “If I can’t pick on my little cousin, who can I pick on?”
Danny gave him a you’ve got to be kidding me look, which made Zane’s grin broaden.
“Fine,” Zane said with his hands in the air. “I’ll leave you two alone, but don’t think you’re going to get too much privacy around here. Everyone is more than a little curious about the vampire my father has allowed into our midst.”
After Zane walked away, Quinn looked at Danny and sighed. “He’s right. Every shifter here will be wondering about you, especially now that Max has told them you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
Danny simply shrugged. “Seems like the least of my worries right now. So, why were you looking for me?” he asked, pinning her with a heated stare. “I know you said you’d find me after you met with Max, but I was pretty
sure you were just saying that so I’d let you leave.”
“I can’t seem to stay away from you,” she admitted. “I had an unsettling conversation with my uncle, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to be near you. Maybe it’s because you’re the only one here who might understand what’s going on. Not that I think you’re in any position to be my shoulder to cry on.”
Danny looped an arm around her waist and gave her a warm smile. “Wanna know what I think?”
Quinn’s stomach did a funny little flip flop, and she suddenly found it hard to speak, so she just shook her head.
“I vented to you about plenty the night we met, and then I complained to you again earlier today. How about you let me return the favor? Tell me what’s going on,” he coaxed.
She let out a frustrated breath and gave in to the temptation to lean into his hard, warm body. “I’m not sure where to start.”
“Why were you at my settlement?” Danny asked. “That seems like a good place to start, since it led us to where we are now. Somehow, I suspect this is all tied to what your uncle talked to you about today.”
“Let’s walk further from the curious ears of the shifters,” she suggested, reluctantly pulling away from Danny.
Danny looked around, and he must have noticed the shifters pretending they weren’t hanging on every word. Threading his fingers through hers, he nodded. “Lead the way, beautiful.”
They walked in silence until they were about half a mile away from the shifter homes, but still safely within the limits of the lynx territory.
“I thought Max wanted you to stay close to home,” Danny said as he studied their surroundings.
“This is still in the lynx territory, so I’m safe,” she explained. “He’d have a fit if I stepped outside those boundaries at the moment. Thankfully, there’s enough wooded area in the safe zone or I might go crazy.”
Danny waited for her to start explaining.
“I heard there was a half-breed like me at your settlement,” Quinn explained. “You have to understand that it’s hard being the only one living here. I don’t fit in, and I thought, if I met her, I’d understand more about who I am. I guess, I figured meeting her would give me hope that I might change into a lynx at twenty-seven.”
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