Another Day (The Firsts Book 12)

by C. L. Quinn

  How could he do that to someone he cared about? He admitted, no matter their short friendship, that he was crazy about this challenging, brilliant, argumentative, sexy woman. But he wondered what was wrong with him that he not only did this twice, but had a strong desire to do it again. Was he a danger to her?

  This event had taken a beautiful evening and turned it into a series of regrets. Should he have just left the information with her assistant? Never sought her out at her home? Controlled the bloodlust and left before he tore her open again?

  It wasn’t fair, his rendition of events, he knew that, but he still couldn’t justify his behavior. She wasn’t hurt and since the blood-letting had ramped up both of their sexual drives, the sex had been indescribable.

  He was still guilty of the act.

  Sliding from the bed, Xavier reached for his pants.

  “I need to leave, Margot.”

  “Oh, this is a fuck you and fuck you visit, huh? Wham, bam, thanks ma’am?”

  “No.” Xavier surged to her and pulled her up into his arms to swing her off the bed. “Thank you ma’am, yes, but this was not about sex and it was not about goodbye. I’ve been celibate for the weeks I escaped from my enemy. And as you said, there were plenty of women who wanted me. You are the only one I wanted. Want.”

  That admission blew her away. No one had ever declared something like that, had ever told her she was desired, valued, chosen. Wanted to fuck, yes, plenty of men had wanted her for that. Margot knew she was attractive, sexy to men, and they wanted in her pants. But the way this crazy man felt about her…

  He made her believe in the fairytale!

  “Just go, Scotsman. Get home, get safe. I’ll get in touch with these women today and let you know what I find out.”

  Grazing into her neck to make sure there were no marks, and that she wasn’t tender where he’d bit, Xavier pulled back. “Ye’ll let me know? Nay, lass, I told ya, don’t come around until I let ya know it’s safe.”

  “Xavier, it’ll be fine. I’ll stop into The Blind Spot.”

  “Margot…”

  “Don’t say it. I go where I want, when I want. I don’t need a protector. I’ll be fine, so I’ll see you there. Now kiss me and go home.”

  After keeping his disapproving gaze on her for several more moments, he nodded, did as commanded, lingeringly, and finally left, the apartment locked behind him.

  Wandering back into her living room, Margot pulled her satin robe tight, the cool air making chill bumps on her arms. What a night. What an interesting turn in her life that usually was as predictable as the movement on a clock’s face. She kind of liked it, all the new twists and turns, the new people that made her breathe harder, possibilities of a future that might include the big Scot.

  Turning all the lights off in her apartment, she stood at the glass wall and looked down on Central Park. Clouds floated by a nearly full moon in a sky that made it look both beautiful and supernaturally ominous. What was it that Xavier had told her? That he’d been shot in the forehead repeatedly? Whatever it took, she’d find someone who could help him, who could treat his condition.

  “You’ll be okay, Xavier, I promise. This, I can do. I have the money to get you the best care possible and I will.”

  Slowly, she made her way back to her bed, dropped the robe, slid under the sheets, and dreamed of making love to Xavier outside on the bare earth under that mystical moon.

  Seven

  “It got crazy in here without you last night,” Lucky barked as Xavier slid an apron over his neck.

  “Sorry. I’m here all night now, so use me however ya need to.”

  “Good. Because I didn’t get anything restocked. I’m running dry on half the booze out here.”

  “I’ll check the shelves and do that for ya.”

  Xavier walked out front and memorized what needed to be brought from the back room, then left. His mind was still on blood and sex with Margot. Not only had he dreamed of her most of the day, he wondered if he was becoming obsessed with her. A nagging thought plagued him.

  Was he falling in love with her? And if he was, how did he know that he didn’t already have someone else waiting for him somewhere?

  “I have to discover who I am,” he said out loud, as he hoisted four heavy boxes in one thrust. It wasn’t a problem, he easily lifted weight no one else could have. He’d long ago given up worrying about his strength and odd proclivities.

  Trodding back to the bar, he filled the missing bottles and checked the taps. Lucky did need some clean beer mugs, so he started to the kitchen to get some when Lucky called out to him.

  “Scottie, could you go back to the stock room and get some of that Devil’s Cut? It just came in yesterday and I haven’t unpacked it yet.”

  “Sure, Luck.”

  Claude walked up to the door of the busy bar. The Blind Spot. Huh, seemed like an appropriate name. Everyone in there seemed drunk to the point of oblivion. People were packed in, too many in too small a space. He truly hated this type of closeness. But he knew that the big first blood liked this type of immersion in humanity’s cesspools.

  So he looked around, watched the masses, mostly men, doing the mind-numbing thing common humans did in bars, and lifted his head.

  No, he couldn’t sense a vampire in the vicinity. Damn, another dead end. This mission was becoming a monumental failure. He was beginning to believe that Xavier may have recovered his memories and gone home to France. But he knew that couldn’t be true for one reason.

  “He’d have come for you, vampire,” he whispered out loud to himself. While he was here, he might as well get lubricated for the next stupid bar he’d visit two streets over.

  This part of the city, he had held for last. God knows he himself didn’t belong with these hour-by-hour wage earners who turned to booze to tolerate their pointless existences. But once he’d checked this final area, he would have to concede, for the time-being, defeat in this endeavor. Not forever, he knew exactly where to find the people he so desperately wanted to kill, but they were incredibly well-protected, their numbers still increasing.

  This was his best chance to get Xavier.

  Finishing off a glass of cheap vodka, he started for the door when he felt a tweak. Something. Vampire?

  Claude moved to the back of the bar, used compulsion to remove three men from a small table along the wall, a hidden vantage point to watch those moving through the room. Lighting was dim, but it didn’t affect his ability to make out faces. He was only searching for one.

  “This is where my vision sent us,” Tamesine commented as their car arrived in a dark part of town.

  “Not your speed, Tam,” Koen commented.

  “I don’t choose where the visions send me. But this isn’t too different from where I lived in L.A. It’s not the best part of the city, no, but the people here are real, and they’re often hard working. They just live very different lives. I loved my life in L.A.”

  “It was good for you. Let’s find out if there’s really a reason for us to be here.”

  He led Tamesine through the doorway and stayed just in front of her. While he knew she was more powerful than he was, his masculine need to protect the smaller female still dominated. After he got a good look around, he knew he was right.

  “Damn, girl. These people all look like they either just got out of jail, or are just getting ready to go into one.”

  “Sometimes the universe gets helpful. I think that’s what this vision is about. We’ll see. If we don’t find a lead, I guess we’ll know. Koen, could you get me a moscato?”

  “Yeah, sure. Why don’t you find a table with a good view?”

  Tamesine nodded, then felt dizzy. Was that…? Yes…she felt him!

  She froze, eyes closed, a hand up, reading the air, her second hand wrapped around Koen’s forearm before he could leave. “He’s here.”

  “Who? Xavier?”

  “No.” Her eyes opened. “Claude. Blood connected to blood.”

  A
t that moment, Koen lifted his head and mirrored Tamesine’s behavior from a moment ago. “So is Xavier. I can feel him. Near, Tamesine. You were right, Claude has him.”

  “But how?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Koen, you follow the link to your brother, I’ll go for Claude.”

  “You’re sure you can handle him alone?”

  Tamesine smiled. “Oh, yes.”

  “Meet back here when we’re done?”

  “Yes. Koen, go get Xavier.”

  Lifting her head again, she reached for Claude’s lifeforce. This near to him, it was strong, so her eyes moved through the crowded room. She would know him instantly when she saw him; that nasty face had haunted her for a year since he had forced her to make him vampire against her will.

  Claude knew the second his old enemies entered the bar. When he saw the bright blonde hair and the way she moved, even if he hadn’t been able to feel her, he would have known it was Tamesine. The huge vampire with her was unmistakably his captive’s brother.

  “As beautiful as ever,” he rasped, his eyes on his sire as he kept hidden behind a group of men playing darts. The instant he was certain the two vampires had faced another direction, he moved out at the fastest speed he’d ever achieved. So fast, he doubted anyone in the bar had seen him move at all. No time to be impressed with himself, he continued out of the district at the same pace as if he was running for his life. Because he was.

  Her eyes were sharp, her attention focused on every detail, but after scanning all faces visible in the room and trying to hone in on his vampire lifeforce, she came up with nothing. He had to be here, or very close! There should be no difficulty in locating him.

  She should just freeze everyone and search for him.

  Koen read her intention. “Yeah, do it.”

  After she’d done exactly that, frozen the room, total cognitive shut-down where they would have no idea anything had happened when she released them, she and Koen made the rounds to check every person. Coming back together, she shook her head. No Claude.

  “He had to have left a split second before we froze them.”

  “Yep. He’s either that good, or the luckiest motherfucker on the planet. I don’t feel like pondering the answer right now. I just want to find my brother.”

  Everyone in the room was still frozen. An unexpected bang from behind the bar brought Tamesine and Koen around to face a swinging door as it swiveled outward. Their eyes landed on the bartender, a grizzled older man with an untidy beard, locked in the motion of pouring a drink for a man seated in front of him. Then their gazes moved to the big man behind him who had just entered the room.

  Xavier stood as still as everyone in the room. What the fuck? Had he done this?

  Then an odd sensation overcame him and his head swiveled toward an extremely beautiful woman and a man as large as himself. They were the only other people moving in the room as they slowly walked toward him.

  Everything about them seemed familiar, yet he did not know who they were.

  The large man grinned suddenly. “You better have a really good explanation, brother. She better have been fuckin’ worth it!”

  Xavier looked from him to the woman, and knew that they were different. How, he didn’t know, but that they were different…definitely. An excitement built in the pit of his belly.

  “Who are ya? What do ya mean?” And the more important question, “Do ya know me?”

  Koen’s grin dropped, his head turning to Tamesine, who shook hers. Continuing, he started toward Xavier again, who stood as unmoving as the rest of the room next to the bartender.

  Green eyes searched amber. Without breaking his gaze with Xavier, Koen spoke. “No. I see no recognition. Tamesine, he doesn’t know me.”

  “I guess we know now why he hasn’t come home.”

  Xavier pushed between them. “Answer me. Do ya know me?”

  After only a slight delay, Koen nodded. “You are my brother. And, much to your frequent frustration, I’m yours. My name is Koen. This lovely lady is Tamesine.”

  Xavier’s eyes moved to Tamesine. “Is she yer wife?”

  Chuckling, Koen dropped his head. “Huh, no.”

  Xavier’s heartbeats stilled, his breath shallow. “Is she mine?”

  Tamesine smiled now. “Hardly. You and I have a complicated relationship, but no, it isn’t marriage.”

  Shaking his head at all the possibilities, Xavier looked around the room. “I don’t have any memory of who I was before I came to this place. If ya know who I am, please, ya need to tell me. First, though, what have ye done to everyone?”

  Koen and Tamesine exchanged glances.

  “We froze them.” Tamesine stepped up to put a hand on Xavier’s chest. “Do you not know what you are?”

  “Nay, though I’ve had clues that I’m different. It’s apparent that ye both are too. Ya have to tell me, I’m losin’ my mind about it.”

  Koen nodded. “You would be. Brother, we must talk. Let us go from here.”

  “I don’t get off until three. But I need to find out about my life. Can I come to ya then?”

  “Xavier, you don’t work here. Come with us now, this aberration is over.”

  “Ye’re not listenin’, brother. Lucky needs me. I won’t leave him.”

  As peacemaker, Tamesine stepped between them, a hand on each man’s arm. “Yes, I see that. Continue your work, Xavier. Koen and I will be back at three. Is that good?”

  Slowly, Xavier nodded. “Aye. Please.” Now he looked directly at Tamesine. “But ye’ll be back? Ya promise?”

  It broke Tamesine’s heart to see desperation in Xavier’s eyes.

  “Aye.” Her voice was soft and sincere as she sent her assurance to him. When her eyes went to Koen’s face, she nearly cried. This big man, essentially the leader of their clan, had tears in his.

  “We’ll never leave ya, Xavier. Ye’re my brother and I’ll take ya home if it’s the last thing I do.” Koen’s own slight brogue matched Xavier’s now.

  Relief showed on Xavier’s face. “All right, then. Um, can ya undo what ya did to the people?”

  “Aye.” Koen lifted a hand. Instantly, everyone resumed their normal behavior, unaware that anything unusual had happened.

  “Tonight, my friend.” Tamesine took Koen’s wrist and led him to the exit.

  The noise nearly its typical loud level again, the bar patrons drew Xavier’s eyes, but not his attention.

  He would finally find out who he was. What he was. The two who just left here who claimed to know him had the same inhuman abilities. When Lucky touched his arm and pointed to where Xavier needed to carry the heavy box of bottles still on the counter in front of him, Xavier moved to do it, but his stomach twisted, his mind barely on the task.

  Outside The Blind Spot, Koen paused.

  “How?” he asked Tamesine.

  “We’ll find out. For now, at least we know where he is and that he’s okay.”

  “But we didn’t find Claude.”

  “No, but I felt him. He was there. When Xavier came out and shocked us, I forgot about Claude for the few seconds it took for him to escape. But now we know. Claude can block his lifeforce from me, he is in New York, and he is the reason Xavier’s been missing.”

  “I’m gonna shred the fuckin’ asshole!”

  “Stand in line, my friend. Let’s get some dinner and we’ll come back at three.”

  At 3 a.m., the bar clean and ready for the next night, Xavier watched Tamesine and Koen come through the front door, further confirming how different they were. The door had been triple locked.

  “Hi, again,” Tamesine said casually. “May I?” she asked, reaching for a bottle.

  “Brother.” Koen moved to the bar. “So this is where you’ve been all this time? Kind of a rat hole, eh?”

  It surprised Koen to see that Xavier was offended. A few months ago his brother would have agreed wholeheartedly with gusto.

  “It’s a nice bar. Lucky’s a good man. He gave a stra
nger a job and home when he needed it, without questions.”

  “I had a similar experience in L.A. not long ago,” Tamesine commented. “I’m glad he was there for you. Would you like to talk here? Are we alone?”

  “Lucky’s gone home. I generally finish the clean-up at closin’ each night.”

  “All right. Pull up a stool and let’s all catch up.”

  Koen didn’t sit down. He paced, his arms folded, restless, upset. He’d had a hard time tonight at dinner as he waited for the chance to talk with his newly-found brother. “Tell us what happened to you. At least, tell us what you know.”

  Taking a stool on the other side of the bar, Xavier downed half a glass of whisky, wiped his mouth and leaned toward the two people he hoped would help him fix this and get back to his real life. “I have been here in this city for about six weeks. I think. It’s all a bit fuzzy. What I know is that I woke in a basement with a strange man. I was chained to a wall, he was drunk and pissin’ angry. He walked around me, screamin,’ wavin’ a handgun, sayin’ I was his mortal enemy, how he was so much better than I was, how I was gonna die at his hands. When I tried to talk to him, to pull on the chains, he shot me. In the fuckin’ forehead, man. Several times.”

  Xavier stopped, the air in the room filled with expectation and tension. “Now, can ya tell me how a man survives that?”

  Koen started forward, his face red, his hands clenched.

  “Xavier, have you no idea at all of your nature?”

  Tamesine intercepted him and used her impressing ability to calm him. “Koen, let me.” She turned to Xavier.

  “Tell us how you’ve lived since you came here, what you’ve experienced, anything that’s happened that is unusual, anything exceptional, just anything that will let us know what’s happened with you.”

  “Aye. That’s my point, lass, I don’t understand a lot of it.” He leaned toward her, eyes wide. “I knew I was in danger. Knew that the man who’d done this to me would come after me. He tried to tell me that I was his big enemy and that he’d end my life forever before he finished with me. I believe him, lass, every word. He’ll come. So I’ve stayed out of sight, here, where I hoped he couldn’t find me. Lucky gave me a job and an apartment because he found me rootin’ through the trash bin in the alley behind the bar. It’s been okay, I’ve liked it. But, as ya say, I know I’m not normal. I can move inhumanly fast. I can make people do what I want them to do by just askin’, even when I know they don’t want to. Don’t think that one hasn’t given me pause. I’m also ridiculously strong.” He stopped abruptly.