by Raven Steele
"Emma –"
She waved her hand to silence me. "You don't have to explain. I don't know where you were all those months or what you were doing, but I can tell you've changed. A lot. Even your appearance."
She stopped and looked up at me, examining my face. "Something's so different about you, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Or maybe I can and just don’t want to admit it.” She reached up and lightly touched my cheek. I nearly melted at its warmth. She jerked her hand back. "You're cold."
She turned away from me and continued to walk along the path leading to the underside of the bridge.
I followed her, unable to stop myself. Everything about her drew me to her, and not just the sweet smell of her blood. It was her intelligence, her feistiness, her courage—my gaze lowered to her body—the sway of her hips, the way she ran her fingers through her silky hair or the way she looked at me sometimes with such desire it stole my breath. I had tried to ignore all these things since coming back, but with hunger burning a hole in my gut, I was helpless against her.
Once she reached the underside of the bridge, she turned and faced me. "Where do you go during the day?"
I stepped into the shadows away from the moonlight. Sometimes even it bothered me, especially on full moons. It couldn't be shining brighter. "I can't tell you that."
She narrowed her eyes. "Do you even leave? I know your door is locked all the time. Maybe you’re not in there."
"Emma, please don't ask me questions about what I do. I don't want to have to lie to you."
She was silent for a minute, looking everywhere but at me, and chewing on her lovely, lower lip that was growing redder by the second.
Finally, her gaze met mine. "Do you remember what we did under this bridge?"
"How could I forget?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
She stepped closer to me, and I backed up afraid of what I might do to her. She continued advancing until my back hit against a stone wall behind me.
Staring directly into my eyes with as much intensity as Bastian had, but with a very different kind of power, she asked, "Tell me honestly. Have your feelings toward me changed?"
When I couldn’t find the right words, she searched my eyes for the answer. They would be unable to lie to her.
"Please say something," she begged. "I'm feeling really stupid here."
And at that moment, weakened by hunger, I didn't want to use words. They would never be adequate to express my feelings for her. My mouth crashed into hers. I kissed her long and deep, my tongue parting her mouth. I wanted to taste everything about her. Desire, far stronger than anything I had felt for her blood, burned deep inside my core, and I pulled her pelvis into mine. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around my waist. I swung her around, pressing her back into the wall, my hands eagerly grabbing at her, wanting desperately to feel her flesh against mine. My lips moved away from her mouth and down the side of her neck. She gasped and tugged at me as if to get me closer than we already were. My tongue snaked from my mouth and touched the throbbing vein on her neck. My fangs elongated.
"Aris," she moaned.
The sound of her voice brought me back to the moment. I hissed and turned away from her, dropping her to the ground. What was I thinking?
"Aris?" she said, her voice shaky and hurt.
Without thinking it through, I whirled around and stared deep into her eyes. With as much strength as I could muster, I commanded, "You will forget the last five minutes. They never happened. Do you understand?"
Her eyes glazed over, and she nodded slowly. I hated doing that to her, but it was the only way to protect both her heart and her body. I had the potential to hurt both.
"Also, you like me as a friend only. We are friends, you and I. Good friends."
"You are my friend," she said without feeling.
I groaned and looked at her longingly. "And one more thing. You will forget my next words as soon as I say them, but they must be said."
She nodded slowly.
"I love you with all of my heart, and I always will until the day I die. If there was a way I could be with you without putting you at risk, I would. I'm sorry it has to be this way. For both of us.”
I watched her for a moment longer until the glossy look in her eyes disappeared and her body relaxed.
"Ready to go home?" I asked, trying to sound upbeat, but inside I was breaking.
Her expression changed, and she smiled. "Please. I'm exhausted."
It was difficult to walk alongside her when I barely had the strength for the motion. Pretending everything was normal was even harder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
"I am. Sorry again for sneaking away. I should've called you or just gone home with Rebecca."
"I get it, but next time you feel like taking on vampires, we’ll bring one to you.” I smiled, and she laughed. A sudden thought came to me. "You know, if you’re looking for something different to do, Roman knows elemental magic. Maybe he can teach you some things."
"Elemental magic?"
"Ask him about it. He loves to teach others as he used to be a teacher before he worked with my mother."
She shrugged. "That sounds cool, but you know what would be cooler? You finally telling me where you go all the time."
"I'll tell you soon."
She elbowed me playfully. "You better. Best friends don't keep secrets."
Her words created a deep pit in my chest, and it was painful to look at her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked me.
I forced a smile. “Nothing.”
When we returned to Ironwood, everyone was awake except for Amy. They were all sitting in command.
"Hey Rebecca," Emma said. "I'm sorry I disappeared on you. I shouldn't have. It won't happen again."
"So where did you go?" she asked.
Emma looked at me as if to answer for her, but I didn’t feel like talking. "Short story? I killed a couple of vampires, but then Bastian's men captured me."
Roman sat up from his chair, his body tense. "Are you alright?”
"I’m fine. They only captured me so that they could speak to Aris. No one was hurt.” She yawned. “Is there any way you all can save your lectures for tomorrow? I’m crazy tired.”
Rebecca folded her arms. “Mine can wait.”
“Mine too,” Roman said, his brows drawn together.
“Get some rest,” I added. "It's been a long night for you."
She stared directly into my eyes, and for a brief moment, I swore she looked at me the way she used to, full of passion and love, but a second later it was gone. She jabbed me. "Try and stay out of trouble the rest of the night and whatever else you do during the day." She glanced at the others and smiled. "Night bitches."
As soon as she was out of earshot, Rebecca asked, "Why does she seem so different? Almost carefree?"
I faced the TV screens and pretended to search them. "It doesn't matter."
"What did Bastian want?" Roman asked, a sharp edge to his voice.
"Not just Bastian. Victor wants something from me too.” For the next ten minutes, I told them everything that had happened, starting with Bastian's request to find and kill whoever was creating new vampires. I ended by explaining how Victor wants me to go to the abandoned hospital where he thinks the mutated humans are being modified with V proteins.
Roman interrupted me. “Could Richard be there too?”
“I was just getting to that part. Victor thinks so.”
"You need to go there first,” he said. This is the best lead we’ve received in months about his whereabouts. I am worried for my friend."
I glanced at the clock on the wall. There wasn't much time before dawn.
"Tomorrow," Roman said as if he could read my thoughts. "Go to Bastian at midnight as agreed upon, then to the hospital."
"If Bastian weren't using Emma against me, I would never go."
Oz stretched his arms into the air and yawned. "I think checking out the bad guy’s lair is a good thing. It w
ill give you a chance to see where the Principes Noctis are hanging out and what they're like. Play along with them."
"I'm not good at pretending," I said.
"I can't believe I agree with Oz," Rebecca added, "but he's right. We need to exploit this opportunity as much as possible."
Roman nodded. "I agree.”
I groaned. “I'm already sort of working with Victor. Must I work with another enemy?"
Roman rubbed the scruff on his face, deep in thought. This was the first time I'd seen him with facial hair.
"I have an idea,” he said. “I think it's important for the Principes Noctis to believe you are on their side, but if you go to the hospital and free Richard and destroy his creations, then Bastian may assume it's you. We can't have that if you are to gain their trust."
"But what other way is there?" I asked.
"I'll do it," Roman said. "With Rebecca's help, of course. Together we should be able to get in and get Richard out if he's there."
I was shaking my head before he finished. "It's too dangerous. You’re blind and walking into a facility you've never been to."
"There's a lot you don't know about me. My abilities have grown."
Rebecca’s pinched expression said she didn't agree with him either. I took advantage of her hesitation. "What do you think, Rebecca? Dumb idea, right?"
Oz turned to his laptop and typed furiously onto the keys.
"I wouldn't say that exactly,” she said. “But what if you went to the Principes Noctis for a couple of hours, then came to us at the tail end of our operation? That way Bastian won't suspect you, but we will also have your help should we run into trouble."
"That might work," Roman said.
Oz swiveled away from his laptop. "So I just found out the hospital you're going to has a killer security system. A good one too, but I think I can hack it. If not, you're going to have to manually break each camera, and that could take a long time."
"It would be nice to know how many people we might be dealing with inside." I looked toward Oz, hoping he might have some ideas.
"I can go in the morning and scout it out. I've got a special, 3-D radar device to help me detect people and their locations within a building. I’ve played with it before. It’s fairly accurate.”
“I bet that was expensive.”
“You paid a pretty penny for it.” He grinned and winked at me.
"And what should we do about the growing number of new vampires?" Roman asked.
"Bastian wants me to find out who’s creating them. He claims it's not one of his guys, but who else could it be?"
"Go to the dinner tomorrow and find out as much as you can." Roman stepped close to me and gripped my arm. "But be careful. They will try to impress you with their world. It can be quite seductive."
"You don't have to worry about me. I know exactly what side I'm on. I want these guys out of the city more than anyone."
"Remember that." He patted my arm and left the room.
I stared after him, furrowing my brow. He was an excellent fighter, one of the best I knew, but I'd never seen him fight in an environment he wasn’t used to. Maybe this was a bad plan.
Rebecca slapped her knee and stood up. "Sounds like we have a long night tomorrow. I'm going to try and catch a couple of hours of sleep." She looked at me. "Not planning on going out again tonight, are you? Dawn is in a few hours."
"Probably not. I'll stick around here."
She nodded and headed for the door.
“Do you need someone to cuddle with?” Oz called after her. "I’ve been told I should be a professional cuddler.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “By your mother?”
“A good referral is still a referral.”
She flipped him the bird and continued walking away.
He chuckled. "I think I'm wearing her down. She didn't even swear at me."
“It is an improvement.”
He looked from the monitors to me. "Since you aren’t going to be doing anything, you want to watch the screens for me? I think I'll crash too."
I faced all twelve monitors. Only a couple of them showed people walking in and out of the camera’s view. "I can do that."
"Thanks, man." He patted me on the back and left the room.
I dropped into the chair, eyeing all the electronics. I wasn't sure at first, but I had to admit it—Oz had done a solid job setting everything up. Having a private view of the city streets had helped immensely. Maybe one day, when the city returned to normal, we could shut the cameras off.
I leaned back in my seat wondering what normal meant for me. If I wasn't fighting bad guys and monsters, what would I do?
Emma's beautiful face came to my mind, but I shoved it away. She could not be in my future. That would be cruel to her. She deserved a long life with a man she could grow old with, free from danger. My muscles tightened at the thought of her with someone else. If that ever did happen, I would have to leave the city.
My mind continued to wander, thinking of the future and what might be, but just then I spotted someone familiar on the screen to my left. He was walking down Maple Street in front of the courthouse. He was deliberately keeping to the darker part of the shadows, but I happened to catch a glimpse of his face when he briefly stepped into the moonlight. Dax Banter, better known as the Physician to those who feared him. He was Victor’s right-hand man and a ruthless killer, using poison from a ring he wore to pierce his victims. I hadn’t seen him since returning to Coast City, but there he was walking alone.
He moved out of the camera’s view. I gripped the counter, feeling it crack beneath my grip. It was too close to dawn to go after him. I searched the other camera views, the ones closest to Emma’s house. He appeared again a few blocks away. It looked like he was heading to the south side of the city.
I watched the camera to the left of me. It was a view of a road leading out to a private airport. Victor had mentioned something funny was going on out there. If the Physician showed up again, then he was sure to be a part of it. But he was Victor’s guy. Did Victor deliberately feed me that information to set up some sort of trap for me?
I waited, watching closely. A small part of me hoped I wouldn’t see the Physician. If I could trust Victor, it would give me a better chance at defeating the Principes Noctis.
But then he appeared, leaving me with no one I could trust. I was on my own.
Chapter 23
"You’re up earlier than usual," Oz said to me when I entered command. He shoved a bite of a pizza pocket into his mouth.
I held my breath to the smell of his blood. I had already had several bags, but there was something about the scent of it wrapped in human flesh that made it so much more appetizing. I blotted a towel to my wet hair, drying it from a recent shower. "I couldn't sleep anymore.”
I had tossed and turned all night in my cramped coffin, dreams, more like nightmares, plaguing me. Victor was not on my side. I don’t know why I felt so let down. It shouldn’t have surprised me.
Emma walked in just then, surprising me. Her skin was glistening with sweat, a smell just as pleasant as her blood. “Are you off tonight?”
She nodded, her gaze dropping to the towel in my hand. "Can I borrow that? I just got done working out with Rebecca. That chick doesn’t quit!"
Oz moaned. “Don’t tell me that!”
I handed it to her, but just as she grabbed it, our hands touched, and an electric feeling passed between us. She sucked in air through her teeth and looked at me, her eyes wide. For a second, I thought my compulsion had worn off, but then she smiled. “That was weird. So when are you leaving tonight?”
"Soon. I want to be early to Bastian’s."
Oz set down his plate of food. "Then we should have a meeting. I need to go over everything Rebecca and I discovered at the hospital. We came up with a plan I think you will like."
“Do you guys want any help?” Emma asked, her voice hopeful.
Oz looked from me to her. “Um
, you can sit in and offer ideas?”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to go shower.”
“Oh, I know what you can do!” he blurted. “Grab Roman and Rebecca and tell them we’re having a meeting.”
She groaned and walked out of the room. “I’m a real member of the team now.”
For the next twenty minutes, Oz explained to us the layout of the hospital and gave his best guess on how many people he thought were inside. Some of them, by the way they moved in the radar, had some kind of disability. A few even walked on all fours like an animal.
Roman had gone with them to the hospital and with his super hearing had listened inside. From what he gathered, there were at least a dozen staff members, vampire or not, he couldn’t be sure.
Rebecca propped her feet up on the desk. "I'm sure they are all vampires. I can't imagine them hiring humans to watch a bunch of super strong science experiments."
I shook my head. "I don't like this. You two shouldn't be fighting vampires without knowing more about them. It’s too dangerous.”
“We don’t plan to,” she said. “Oz is going to cause a distraction so we can slip inside to get Richard. If we get him out successfully, then you can either deal with the mutants later that night or another time. Really our only goal tonight is to get Richard. You can kill the monsters any time."
I glanced at my cell phone. “I need to go soon.”
"I picked you up something to wear,” Roman said. “It’s in my office.”
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I looked down at my leather trench coat with jeans and a black T-shirt.
Roman cleared his throat. "I can’t see what you’re wearing, but I’m positive it’s not appropriate attire for a dinner party at Bastian’s. You should be wearing a tuxedo."
I grimaced, and Oz snickered.
"You're going to look so stupid," Oz said, and Rebecca laughed with him.
"Shut up," I snapped and left the room.
It took me several minutes to get dressed, as I had never worn a tux before. It felt tight around my chest, and the material would never survive if I had to kick or punch someone. I returned to command, expecting them to laugh at me again, but Oz lifted his eyebrows and nodded in approval.
