Of Humans and Monsters

by Candace Blevins

  Marco was one of Bran’s trusted personal guards, and vampires don’t let just anyone guard them when they sleep. I trusted Marco because Bran did, but I still felt the need to ask questions.

  “Just the two of us?” I’d had multiple bodyguards because of the risk of an ambush, and having just one person escort me didn’t sound right.

  “I can fly, and I’m fast. It’s the best way to assure your safety.”

  “Why are you with me, and not with Bran?”

  “Bran had me with your escort team at Ryan’s request.” He rolled his eyes. “Questions later, okay? I need to get us out of here. Are you up to flying? You seem addled.”

  Addled. An old word, so Marco was probably one of the old ones.

  “What do I need to do?” I asked as I used a combination of muscles and levitation to get out of the wrecked Sherpa. My knee hurt, so most of my movement was through levitation, which made the ice pick in my head destroy even more brain cells. Also, my right shoulder hurt, and my right wrist. Fuck, but I was messed up.

  “Climb onto my front. I hope you aren’t a prude because this is the easiest, safest way.”

  He was tall, so I levitated up, wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, and settled as his arms went around me. I ignored the sharp shooting pains in my knee, but couldn’t ignore my right wrist. I rearranged my arms twice before I could manage the position with minimal extra pain.

  “They chose me because I can fly faster than most can see,” Marco said as I worked out how to situate my arms and legs. “Humans usually get nauseated, but I go too fast for them to actually get sick while we’re flying. There’s no shame in puking once we’re there. Most do.”

  He adjusted me a little, tucked my head under his chin, pulled me so close it was uncomfortable, and told me, “I have you, but hold on tight with your legs and arms, and lock your feet together behind my back. I’ve surrounded us with a cloaking field so they can’t see us, but the illusion will break down once we start moving so I’ll need a fast takeoff. Take a deep breath when you’re ready.”

  I didn’t bother asking what he was — there’d be time for that later, though there was no guarantee he’d tell me. My right hand didn’t work, so I clasped my right forearm with my left hand, locked my feet around each other without hurting my knee too much, and nodded I was ready.

  I hate running from battle, but I understood why they wanted to remove me from the possibility of capture — plus I was injured and wasn’t sure how much help I’d be. So, I let Marco fly me to safety without arguing.

  He didn’t bend his knees and jump — he simply took off like a rocket, and my stomach stayed on the ground while our bodies shot into the air. This wasn’t normal flying, we were hurtling through the sky above the treetops and — when I opened my eyes for a microsecond — everything was a blur. Breathing was possible with my face away from the wind, but it was hard and I was glad he’d told me to get a deep breath.

  We’d probably been around seven miles from Abbott as the crow flies, and we were there in about a minute.

  We landed in the backyard and I held my breath to keep from yelping as my body was jarred. It wasn’t an especially hard landing, but my head, wrist, and knee weren’t doing so well. We were let in the back door and hustled downstairs with me still wrapped around the tall, muscled, mystery man.

  There hadn’t been time for anyone to call ahead to let Abbott know of the ambush, which meant there was either a command center I wasn’t aware of, or there’d been a Plan A and Plan B I hadn’t been let in on. Either way, I needed to have a private talk with Nathan about keeping me updated. Ryan might want to treat me as a civilian who needed guarding, but I wasn’t happy with that designation. I’d more than proved my mettle, and while I might not be able to fight a bunch of Celrau on my own, I could certainly help. Or, I could when I wasn’t injured.

  Marco kept me in his arms even after we entered the basement great room, and the instant he stopped, my head and stomach lurched and I knew I was going to be sick.

  “There we are,” he said matter-of-factly as he shifted me sideways so I puked on the floor and not on him.

  The first words out of my mouth once my stomach emptied was, “I’m sorry. Shit, where are your cleaning supplies?” I was mortified, but Marco walked me to the closest restroom, wet the hand towel, and wiped my mouth. I took the towel from him and cleaned my own face with my left hand as I pushed away, and he finally set me on my feet — though I noted he didn’t let go of me until he was sure I could stand on my own. I washed my mouth out with water a few times, and realized I was shivering — so cold my teeth were chattering.

  “Let’s hope Abbott’s blanket-warming cabinet is stocked and turned on,” said Marco. “Otherwise I’ll need to get you into a hot shower to warm you up.”

  “It is,” Mordecai said from the doorway, “and Abbott’s making her some ginger tea.”

  Marco walked me back to the great room, and I levitated my weight as I pretended to walk. I wasn’t prepared to let anyone know how badly I was hurt until I knew more of what was going on. I noted the puke had magically disappeared, and I decided to pretend it’d never happened. The cold had cleared my head so I could think better, and I worried for everyone I’d left behind to fight my battle for me.

  Mordecai opened a cabinet, and then another smaller door inside, and pulled a blanket out.

  I groaned in bliss as he wrapped the warm fluffy goodness around me, and Marco smiled. “You’ve handled the travel better than most humans. I apologize for your discomfort but it was the best way to secure your safety.”

  “No need to apologize,” I said as my teeth stopped chattering and Mordecai walked me to a sofa. “Thanks for keeping me safe. I assume you were our Plan B all along, and this is why Ryan had me wear hiking boots and jeans?” My shirt was frayed and ripped over my body armor, but my jeans were okay. Regular shoes would’ve come off, but my boots were fine.

  When he nodded, I asked, “Do we know how the rest of our people are?”

  “Everyone’s fine,” Marco told me. “Abbott and I will fly to meet them after sundown, so he can pull what he can out of the prisoners’ heads. You’ll have Mordecai here with you, and Nathan will head this way once Abbott and I arrive.”

  “I only went with you because if our attackers were after me, then it made sense for me to leave. I’d have much preferred to stay and fight the bastards.” I sighed. “Who knew we were coming here? Do we have a leak?”

  Abbott handed me a steaming mug as he said, “It’s a question we certainly need to investigate, but we need to consider Aquila’s people could be tapping into Josh’s brain at intervals. They’ve done a number on him, and he’s so scrambled it’s hard for me to be certain I didn’t miss their backdoor into his mind. Are you up for drinking the tea? I smell damage, what hurts? Do you need ice?”

  “I’ll do an inventory of what hurts when I lose the nausea,” I told him as I accepted the tea and took a few sips. He had it the perfect temperature and my stomach immediately felt better. “Thank you.” In so many ways Abbott had been perfect, but he wasn’t trustworthy and any relationship was doomed to failure. I sometimes mourned what we’d had, but I couldn’t go back.

  “Marco tells me you’d already dropped Lauren and Smokey off?” Abbott asked, and my heart went out to him again for making sure my kid and dog were okay.

  “Yeah, have we been in contact with the guards at my parents’ house?”

  “Yes,” said Mordecai. “No activity there.”

  Abbott stooped beside the sofa so he was eye level with me, and I closed my eyes because it hurt to change focus from distant to close.

  “Marco and I are going upstairs to check in with Josef, and when we finish the sun should be down and we’ll leave. Gavin and Bran are upstairs playing with their food, but I’ve let Gavin know he may need to stop playing if Josef needs him. You’ll be safe here, but don’t leave until Ryan or Nathan comes to get you.”

&nbs
p; When we were alone, Mordecai sat on another sofa but didn’t say anything as I sipped my ginger tea and let it warm my insides and settle my stomach while I considered the ramifications of the attack.

  “How likely is it they’ll be honest with me about what they get from the prisoners?” I asked Mordecai.

  “It likely depends upon how much you insist they do so.” He looked me over before saying, “You’re getting your color back. Tell me how your energy feels?”

  Right, my energy. I’d only been thinking of my physical body, but now I considered everything and realized more was wrong than I’d self- diagnosed.

  “Is it possible the flight with Marco stripped away pieces of my aura? I thought I had a concussion from the wreck at first, and I may, but I don’t think it’s as bad as feared.”

  “And how would you go about getting the pieces of your aura back?”

  “A long walk in the woods, and hugging some trees?”

  He smiled. “Which means you know the other way?”

  Yes. Mordecai could give me energy. I wasn’t sure if he was offering or insisting, so I asked, “Can you give me just enough, without hurting me? I’m not sure I’m up for a lot of pain right now.”

  “I can do better than that. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in your backyard, meditating.”

  I did as he said, and he continued. “Pull from your favorite trees.”

  I gasped as I felt the energy coming from my favorite trees as if I were sitting on the ground near them. Once I got beyond the surprise, I breathed in energy until my aura felt like mine again, and finally opened my eyes with a smile.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re most welcome, and your timing was perfect. We’ll have company in moments.”

  I was on a sofa when everyone trooped in, and I started to get up and move to a chair, but I was afraid it would look too obvious that I didn’t want anyone sitting with me, so I stayed put.

  “Everyone’s okay?” I asked. My head was a lot clearer but still hurt.

  “We’re all good,” Nathan said as he leaned against a wall and watched everyone else find a seat — everyone except Ryan, who leaned against another wall. I later learned he’d agreed to be blindfolded and carried in.

  I caught Randall’s gaze and asked, “Josh?” Some of his wolves were guarding my cousin, which meant he could communicate telepathically with them.

  “Josh is fine.” He told me out loud, and then telepathed, Nathan’s having him moved to a Drake Security underground safehouse.

  I looked around, noted who’d arrived, and asked, “Marco didn’t come back with you?”

  “He’s overseeing body disposal. I expect Bran will call him back when he finishes,” Abbott told me as he sat beside me.

  “What did you find out? Who were they? How’d they know where I’d be?”

  “They were assorted shapeshifters for hire. They didn’t know the names of the Celrau who paid them. Their instructions were to wait near the road, and they were shown images of who they were waiting for. I pulled you, Nathan, Aaron, Bran, and Randall out of their head.” He gave a graceful shrug. “The odds were good that if any of those people came here, you’d be with them.”

  “Unfortunately,” said Ryan, “they didn’t know anything helpful.”

  “How did the Celrau know we were coming here? Who told them?”

  “It’s possible,” said Nathan, “they put people on every road they could conceive you might travel — near here, on Lookout Mountain, going to Bran’s house, and perhaps even the route to Randall’s house. I’ve dispatched people to check, but it’s likely they’ve been recalled. We also need to consider the possibility Josh told them, or if they somehow retrieved the information from his head without him knowing. Either way, we likely won’t have the two of you together again for a while. I smell damage on you and you’re in pain? What’s hurt? Is it serious?”

  I was almost certain something was broken or seriously sprained in my right wrist, and I didn’t know what was up with my knee but I couldn’t put weight on it. There was too much I needed to know, though, and I worried if they became focused on me, I wouldn’t get answers.

  “What do I need to know about Adonis?” It seemed simplest to ignore his question and ask one of my own.

  The room was quiet, and Abbott finally said, “It’s yet to be seen whether drawing Adonis’s attention is fortunate or unfortunate.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Abbott glanced at Mordecai a second before looking back to me and saying, “Do you remember the rumors about Mordecai?”

  The tea and meditation had helped, and it was easier to think, thank goodness. I looked at Mordecai and answered, “I know you won’t confirm it, but you were supposedly once worshiped as a god.” The implications hit me and I said, “Everyone still knows who Adonis is. He’s still remembered. He may not be worshiped anymore, but he’s still talked about.”

  “A few modern-day cults still worship him,” Nathan said. “It isn’t widespread, but it’s enough to give him some of the oomph of the old gods. And, as you said, even those who don’t worship him at least know he was beautiful.”

  “What does he want with me?” I asked Nathan.

  “A human with powers some of the old gods had? Do you really have to wonder?”

  “Have any of you met him?”

  “Mordecai knows him,” said Abbott. “He’ll go with you, Bran, Nathan, Randall, and myself to meet him. I don’t believe Ryan will be given permission to meet him, so we’ll leave him outside to help guard our perimeter.”

  My nerves were more on edge than normal, and I jumped as Nathan’s phone let us know he had a text.

  He checked it without comment, and instead of asking him what it was, I told them I needed to use the restroom.

  I fake-walked by levitating enough to keep weight off my knee, and closed the door behind me with a sigh of relief. I’d felt every eye on me as I walked across the room. I blew my nose, splashed water on my face, and took better inventory of myself. I’d known I had some nasty bruises forming, but I hadn’t realized I had some cuts too. An ugly bruise was blooming on my cheek all the way to my forehead — it hadn’t hurt too much until I saw it, but now it started to ache.

  I pulled my tattered sleeve away from my right arm and noted a large, bloodless cut. I wondered if the fast trip had stopped the bleeding. My wrist was bruised and swollen, and I gingerly opened and closed my hand. I couldn’t make a fist. The adrenaline had been flowing just after the accident or I’d have never managed to hang onto Marco.

  I made use of the toilet, finger combed my hair with my left hand and wished I had a ponytail holder, and went back into the great room.

  Bran had arrived and was greeting Mordecai, and he turned to look at me when I came out.

  “It looks like you and I need to go to another room for a moment.”

  I thought he was probably offering his blood to heal me, but I wasn’t sure I was comfortable accepting it, so I said, “Thanks for what I think you’re offering, but I’m okay.”

  “We need you in top form, and your arm needs attention. Your choices are my blood or a surgical stapler. I’m sure Abbott has one the premises.”

  I looked down and winced as I realized I’d forgotten to cover the largest cut back up with my sleeve.

  “We have a surgical stapler in the first aid room and another in the dungeon. Both are sterile,” Abbott said with a straight face, like he was being helpful.

  I sighed and levitated-walked to an empty chair, motioning Bran to it as I walked. “Everyone here’s seen someone drink blood before, I’m sure. It’d be creepy to go off into a room for privacy.”

  If they stapled it closed, they’d look me over to make sure there weren’t more injuries I hadn’t told them about, would quickly realize just how badly I was hurt, and we’d be back to me drinking from him again. May as well just do it and get it over with.

  Chapter 12

  Bran sat in the chair, pulled
me into his lap, and slowly drew his arm to his mouth, as if he were making sure this was what I wanted. He must’ve seen something in my eyes, because he bit his arm and moved it to my mouth without another word.

  I opened my mouth as his arm approached, held my breath, sealed my lips around the two puncture marks, sucked his blood into my mouth, and drank.

  Something was different, but I couldn’t place it. Bran’s blood felt like life — salty and earthy and.... savory. I sucked harder, and relished every mouthful as it filled my mouth and slid down my throat.

  It’d always tasted disgusting before, putrid and bitter and awful, but today it was bliss. Pure bliss. Bran’s blood was like a drug and I couldn’t get enough. I felt it moving into my bloodstream from my stomach, and it seemed as if my mind and body were streaming out into the Universe in splinters of light as I sucked and drank as fast as I could.

  I don’t know how much time went by before Bran said, “Enough Kirsten. That’s enough.”

  I heard it, but it was as if someone were talking on television — ambient noise I didn’t need to pay attention to. Eventually, I felt hands on my face and my jaws were wrenched apart, and the next thing I knew I was in Abbott’s arms again, desperately wanting to keep drinking.

  I was a microsecond away from burning Abbott — and blowing his head up if a simple burn didn’t earn me my freedom — when he spoke with power, and his words finally got through to me.

  “Breathe through it, Kirsten. Take deep breaths and remember who you are. You are human. You’re a powerful human who has a mind and a will that’s so much stronger than her physical body.”

  His words and voice jarred me into thinking with my soul instead of my brain, which let me analyze what my body was feeling.

  Shit, I’d been consumed by the vampire’s bloodlust. Early on, I’d been warned it was possible to feel it once you’d had enough blood, but I’d forgotten.

  Abbott’s hold loosened a little as I stopped fighting, but the bloodlust was still strong and I was glad he didn’t let go. I had a thin edge of control and needed to get away from everyone while I had it.