by L. J. Red
Jacob’s muscles tensed, standing thick in his neck, and his eyes colored with rage. Sparrow jerked away, this time tearing free of his arms. “I see how you look at me. That anger. I don’t get it. You clearly don’t like me, and then you treat me so gently. Which is it?” It didn’t make sense that he could hold her like she was something precious and then his face could transform into such deep, black hatred.
“It’s not you,” he said, the words heavy, like they were carved out from within him. “It’s what was done to you. It’s what HUNT did to you.” He bit out the word like it was a curse.
“HUNT?”
“They hurt you. I hate them. I hate all hunters. I have always—” He broke off. Always what, she wondered. Always hated hunters?
“I never meant to scare you,” he said. “I know when you saw me, the first time, I must have been…”
Oh, she remembered the first time. How he had rescued her.
“I hate the hunters; I don’t hate you. Don’t ever think that.” He took a small step toward her and reached out. “Sparrow, promise me you won’t leave. Promise me.” His voice was low and rough and full of emotion.
“I—” God, could she promise? What if she really was a threat? What if she attacked a vassal just like Alex had, just like she’d been about to attack that man?
“I’ll be there, no matter what,” Jacob said, as if he sensed her fears.
“All right,” she said in a quiet voice. “I won’t leave. But you have to… you have to stop me. If you see me going for anyone. I couldn’t bear it if I hurt someone.”
“I will,” he promised. The air between them charged with his words, with the intensity of his look, with… more than that, something else was electrifying the space between them. He hadn’t told her why he cared, hadn’t finished explaining, but Sparrow didn’t care. She needed him just as much as she had needed the blood. This hunger was fluid, thick and warm, but no less insistent. Sparrow’s breath caught, she swayed toward Jacob, her knees weak, Fuck, his lips like a dark line in the night. His eyes almost seemed to be glowing. She could fall right into them, into him. Those lips on hers, she wanted it, needed to taste him, needed…
“There they are!” The voice came from the bridge mouth. She jerked back, pulling free from the daze of lust. They both turned to stare. The homeless man was back, this time with a cop. Jacob pulled her to him so quickly she was barely able to grip him back before the shadows were suddenly around them and they were moving, spinning up into the air and skidding across the brickwork. Up over the bridge they went and across the road, zooming through the city toward the Sanctuary.
The journey was fast and wild, shadows clustered around them, thick beneath their feet so they felt like they were sprinting across the ground, but the speed was unimaginably fast. The world around them blurred, dark night and streetlights smearing into a crazy blur until, much sooner than she expected, Sparrow recognized the shape of the Sanctuary looming up out of the darkness. Jacob leaped and carried them over the walls in one clear jump, landing fleet-footed and soft on the ground.
She stumbled away from him, trying to get her bearings back.
They’d been interrupted, she’d been about to… fuck. The desire between them was still there, still thick. It was all too much. Too quick, too fast. “Don’t,” she said, raising her hand when he took a step toward. “I need to go to Dr. Patil. I need to tell her what happened. She needs to know; it could be something HUNT’s chemicals did to me.”
Again, that flicker of rage in his eyes. Sparrow bit her lip against the flash of disappointment in her chest and turned to face the Sanctuary. That was why he was helping her. Because he hated HUNT. She needed to remember that. It didn’t have anything to do with her.
Chapter 15
Sparrow was avoiding him. Had been avoiding him for the past three days, ever since he brought her back from the city.
Jacob crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall as he stood guard over the rescued vampires who were waiting to give their statements. The depositions had already stretched out through the night, the HUNT lawyers making their objection to working late very loudly and at great length. Jacob was willing to bet the fancy lawyers were getting paid more than double the usual overtime; they were just arguing to make trouble. Luckily the judge had told them to suck it up. Not in so many words. He’d been sympathetic to the rescued vampires needs. Lucky. Anti-vampire sentiment hadn’t entirely faded away in Chicago.
Dana thought the judge’s sympathy was a good sign. Jacob wasn’t so sure. The lawyers they were dealing with were slippery, and they clearly had no moral issue with defending the fucking hunters who had kidnapped people off the streets and tortured them. Jacob was always surprised at how awful humans could be. And they called vampires monsters.
Some of the rescued vampires weren’t looking so great. Pale and drawn with deep dark bags under their eyes, and every so often they would twitch like they had almost fallen asleep, like their minds had slipped away for a moment and they had to pull their focus back onto what was happening around them.
Jacob frowned. Someone needed to speak to Dr. Patil. He was concerned they weren’t telling the doctor exactly what they were going through. It wasn’t unheard of, no one liked to show weakness, and Dr. Patil knew her medicine, but she wasn’t a trauma specialist. She didn’t know where to look.
His mind, as usual, strayed to Sparrow, his eyes following suit. She hadn’t stopped moving, going first to one of the vampires, then the next, talking with them softly, a hand on a shoulder here, a smile there, keeping them going, keeping their focus on the here and now instead of the memories of the past. Jacob didn’t know how she did it. He wouldn’t even have known where to start.
But who was looking out for her? She spent her time and energy on the others, but none of them had come out of their shells enough to return her care. They were too broken by what HUNT had done. Sparrow needed someone in her corner, she needed someone to watch out for her. Jacob’s chest tightened. She needed to stop fucking avoiding him and let him look after her.
He knew he needed to explain exactly what she was to him. He felt strangely like time was running out. As if there was a threat hanging over them. It didn’t make sense. There wasn’t any threat. HUNT was decimated. Even if the human legal process didn’t work, they wouldn’t be setting up shop in Chicago ever again, not with the Shadows watching ever so carefully. The human and vampire team that Dana, Rune and Brigit were part of was making changes on the human side of things. And Roman had gone to ground. No. The threat was gone; everyone was safe. And yet, when Jacob looked over the rescued vampires, all of them looking haunted and afraid, he felt a flicker of unease twist through his gut.
“I feel so much better knowing that you’re looking out for us,” the blonde vampire said from beside him. He couldn’t remember her name. Amy? Emily? He didn’t like the way she was looking at him, predatory. He’d encountered this kind of thing when staying with other vampire bloodlines on a mission, but he had never expected to experience it right here in his territory. It set him on edge. He caught a flicker through the bond with Sparrow, a strange twist of anger, and he jerked his eyes away from Amelia toward Sparrow. She wasn’t even looking at him. She’d spent the whole fucking night ignoring him. He growled under his breath.,
“So, what do you guys do in your free time? You don’t have to stay here for the entire thing, do you?” the female said, stepping closer.
An uncontrollable feeling of revulsion passed through Jacob and he took a smart step back before she could come close. Her expression darkened, and an ugly, petulant expression appeared for a second before fading. His discomfort bloomed into outright dislike.
Did she think she had a right to him? To his attention? Did she think she was the reason he was here? How dare she. There was only one vampire here whose attention he sought, and she was standing on the other side of the room. His gaze went straight to hers. Sparrow was looking back. Finally. But with a sin
king feeling, Jacob recognized the expression on her face, echoing the slick despair coming from the bond. Shit. Did she think he wanted this vapid female?
The door opened and the vampire who had been giving his statement walked out. “Sparrow, you’re up next,” Dana said from behind him, holding the door open. “Looks like Sparrow’s the last one we’ll have time for today, so if you guys want to head off, we’ll be doing the next round soon.” She rested her gaze on Jacob and her eyes widened when she read whatever he was letting show on his face. Her eyes dropped to the female next to him, then back. “Jacob,” Dana said, “Why don’t you come inside? There’s no point guarding an empty room.” Jacob slipped past the female, sidestepping so he wouldn’t come into contact with even a single strand of her hair, and followed Dana and Sparrow into the room, pulling the door shut behind him.
The room was taken up by a large conference table. Dana slipped into an empty seat and Sparrow settled beside her. She wasn’t looking at him again. Unease churned at his insides. He needed to make things right.
His gaze flickered over Sparrow’s downturned head to the woman on the far side of her. He recognized her, Ms. Castillo, the lawyer on their side of this legal battle. She had a sheet of shiny black hair down to her shoulders, her mouth a red lipstick line beneath dark eyes. She wore a sharp pantsuit and gave off an aura of contained watchfulness.
In the center of the table was a recording device, and on the other side the opposing lawyer, a broad muscled man in an expensive and well-fitted suit with a wide smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, it barely reached his lips, so fake it could have been a mask. His blond hair was set in a perfect wave and his eyes just as watchful as their lawyer’s, but with a tight, cruel quality to them, like he wasn’t just looking for weakness, he was looking for where to twist the knife.
Jacob felt a stab of dislike, but not a shred of it appeared on his face. He hated the hunters and all of those who would defend those sick fucks. Sparrow’s head jerked up and Jacob realized his emotions were bleeding out, not on his face, but down the bond between them. Shit, he needed to get a hold of himself. He needed to stop distracting her, but he couldn’t bottle up the feelings now they had opened the door to his memories. The reason he hated hunters. The scent of blood. The bodies on the ground…
“Who is this?” the HUNT lawyer asked, sending a scathing look in Jacob’s direction, taking in the size of Jacob’s frame and the way he stood, watchful and silent like a specter. Jacob saw fear spark in the depth of the man’s little eyes. Good, he thought. You should be afraid.
“This is our security,” Dana said shortly.
“Is that really necessary?” the lawyer asked, his fake smile widening as he looked at Dana.
“Yes,” Dana snapped back. “Now, shall we get on with this? I’m sure we all want this night to end.” She reached forward and flicked on the recording device.
“Picking up from where we left off previously,” Castillo said, “I believe you were halfway through your questions?” Her voice resonated with a tired steadiness. It had been a long night.
“Of course,” the HUNT lawyer said, leaning forward and smiling emptily at Sparrow. “So, my dear… Sparrow was it?” Sparrow nodded and Jacob felt a pulse run through him at seeing her so hunched up and small.
“Tell me again in your own words, what happened when you arrived at the factory?”
There was a short pause, then Sparrow cleared her throat and began, “They took me out of the van and—”
“They being the arrested individuals, not the masked man who you say orchestrated this alleged kidnapping.”
Dana growled. “The kidnapping isn’t alleged,” she said, “The kidnapping happened.”
Castillo reached out a hand to Dana under the cover of the table, gesturing for her to lean back.
“He was there, the masked man. He was in the factory too. I never saw his face,” Sparrow said, “but I heard his voice, and I’ve heard recordings of that Mr. Cleaver on the TV. I know it was the same man.”
“Hm, yes, you’ve heard recordings. And would that have been while you were staying here?” He glanced at Dana, then Jacob. “With all these vampires?”
“So?” Sparrow said. “What difference does that make?”
“Well, it’s possible that you have been influenced…”
“Save the cross-examination for the case,” Castillo snapped. “Stick to the questions we agreed.”
“Of course,” he said after a heavy pause. “My apologies Ms… Sparrow.”
“He was there in the room when I was turned,” Sparrow said. “He watched it. He enjoyed it when Roman… When he drained my blood and turned me into a vampire.”
“And you were aware of this?”
“Yes,”
“Let me clarify. While you were being turned, you were aware of his presence?”
“Yes,” she said. “I mean, at first I was and then, the pain was too much. I wasn’t—”
“So, you weren’t aware of him,” he cut across her.
“I was,” Sparrow said, hunching in on herself. “At first, and then the pain got so bad I couldn’t focus on anything.”
“You couldn’t focus on anything.” He repeated her words back to her slowly.
Castillo’s face was calm, but Jacob could tell Dana was getting angry from the hard line of her lips.
Jacob wanted to leap across the table and smash the lawyer’s smug face into the wood until that smile was knocked right off. He had to grip his hands tightly behind his back, his fingernails cutting into his skin. He had to let the human legal process take its course. He couldn’t just break the fucking lawyer into pieces like he wanted to. He wished he could reach out to Sparrow, hold her tight and give her the support she needed. The emotions rushed through him, left him and flowed down the bond quicker than thought.
Sparrow suddenly straightened, her expression firming and her chin going up. “He was there,” she said calmly. “I saw him when I came in, he threatened me, and then Roman drained my blood and killed me. I didn’t see anyone while I was dead,” she spat, “because I was fucking dead.”
“Okay,” Castillo said, slamming closed the file in front of her. “I think that brings us up to date.” She directed a grim look at the lawyer. “If you go off script again I’m reporting you to the judge.” She nodded at Dana and gestured for them to leave. Sparrow walked past Jacob with her head held high.
Chapter 16
Sparrow knew Jacob wanted to speak to her. She’d seen him start to approach her at dinner and more than once in the couple of days since the depositions, but she didn’t want to speak to him. She wasn’t ready. Not until she had better control over her reactions. Seeing him standing next to Amelia had hurt more than she had expected it to. She knew she had no right to his time, let alone his heart, so why had she felt so betrayed?
Avoiding him had been simple. Hide in her room until she had to leave. Like today. They’d all been called out to welcome the vampires from Bloodline Clarity that were arriving today. Sparrow hadn’t known anything about it until Dana had told them at dinner yesterday. Apparently, Clarity had come to show support for the Shadows in the fight they were waging against Bloodline Radiance… against her Bloodline. She shifted her feet uneasily. None of the Shadows held them responsible for what Roman had done, she knew that, but it still made her feel even more like an outsider.
Bloodline Clarity hadn’t come to throw themselves into battle just like that. They had answered the call for recruits and brought vampires who wanted to become part of Bloodline Shadow, just like the guards Neal had picked out from the Sanctuary.
Not that any of that involved Sparrow. She was just here because Dana had said it would be polite. She’d escape back to her room as soon as it was over.
There was a commotion at the front of the hall, then a hush as the doors were thrown open and framed in the entrance were the Clarity vampires. Sparrow’s breath caught as they slowly walked in. Sparrow
had assumed that most vampires looked like the guards and the ones in her self-defense class. Some big, some small, some muscled, some skinny. She’d assumed only the Shadows carried with them a lethal, deadly grace that set them apart, but as the Clarity vampires entered, she realized it wasn’t limited to only the Shadows. These vampires had it too. Maybe not quite as intense, not quite as dark, but definitely there. A grace, a tension that set them apart. The one at the front introduced himself as Finlay and clasped Lucian’s arm in a warrior’s hold before turning to greet Neal.
Dana had given her a potted history of what had happened with Bloodline Clarity here in Chicago. How Aaron had been invited, in Roman’s absence, to visit the city, how he had been poisoned by Kai, the Monster of Chicago, and ended up in a coma. His condition was still touch and go and they weren’t sure if he would ever awake. Dana had implied that Finlay had come to see his leader as much as offer up new recruits. As if thinking about them had brought them out, Finlay turned as Sparrow watched and gestured two vampires forward. They were as different from each other as chalk and cheese. One was tall, with thick, long black hair, so smooth it looked liquid. His eyes were sharp and icy cold; they looked almost black. His mouth was a jagged line, twisted into a smirk. Even from across the room, Sparrow felt the bitter weight of his presence. She shrank back, hugging the wall, glad she didn’t have to stand up there with the Shadows and greet him. The man next to him, by contrast, seemed so much warmer, and yet there was nothing particularly soft or inviting to him. He was just as tall, but broad, a wall of muscle topped off with a shock of unexpected, fiery red hair.
There was a sudden commotion. “May!” A young woman broke free from Clarity’s ranks and rushed toward May, gripping her in a tight hug. Sparrow couldn’t see much of her except her red hair, she wondered if she was related to the vampire. As if their sudden embrace was a signal, the party then broke up and shifted, the group of new vampires mingling and meeting the others. Neal led the two recruits over to the vampire guards, the spiky black-haired one, Ben, and the blonde one who had been fighting Talon. They weren’t too far from her. As the crowd shifted, she ended up moving a little closer toward them. She tried to sidestep as the scary one with the dark eyes came closer, but there was no way to leave unless she wanted to step on some toes.
