“I’ll handle it.”
“I will see you soon.”
The line went dead and Evie tucked her phone back into her pocket. She hesitated and reached for Craig’s phone, finding it easily. She went through his list of contacts and found what she was looking for. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, not yet, so she sent a quick text message. Satisfied, she laid his phone on the edge of the tub. Craig was as still as death, the beat of his heart all but nonexistent. She settled her head on his chest and pulled his arm around her again.
Knowing he was in a deep sleep and couldn’t hear her made it easier for her to say what was in her heart. “I love you.” She’d never said those words to another person in her life. Saying them seemed to shake some of the heaviness pressing down on her.
Maybe their relationship wouldn’t last. But maybe it would. For the first time in her life, Evie believed love could happen for her. Craig obviously cared for her. That was a start. And for now it was enough.
The sky was lightening outside, bringing a yellow glow in through the front windows of Haven. The club wouldn’t open at all for business today, but two tables in the back near the kitchen were filled with people. Quinn looked around and wondered for the millionth time how his life had brought him to this point.
Bethany leaned against him and kissed his cheek. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her lips, slowly and leisurely. She opened to him, as she always did, welcoming his touch. When he finally pulled back, he smiled. “Now everything is perfect.” She gave a small laugh, her cheeks turning pink.
Around them, the rest of the Haven pack and his family laughed and talked. They’d defeated another foe last night. It was time to celebrate.
The only person missing was Craig. Quinn wondered where his younger brother was and what he and Damek had done when they’d left. Damek had been on a mission for sure. There was a lot Quinn didn’t know about vampires, but he knew some of them had minions. Then there were the vampire hunters.
He wouldn’t relax until he heard from Craig. But that wouldn’t be until tonight at the earliest. He’d have to keep busy today. Otherwise, he’d go crazy waiting. He wasn’t even sure where Craig was. He only hoped he was with Damek. He might not always trust the ancient vampire, but he knew Damek would protect Craig with his life.
His phone pinged, letting him know he had a message. He fished it out of his pocket and his heart skipped a beat. It was from Craig. He was safe and would call later. Quinn checked the time. The message had just been sent.
How was that possible? It was after sunrise.
Quinn’s gaze narrowed as he studied the message. It wasn’t signed. Furthermore, if his brother could text, he could call. Either Damek had sent it or someone else had.
An image of Evie popped into his head. Was it possible? Quinn didn’t know and didn’t care. All that mattered was Craig was safe. The rest would work itself out.
“What is it?” Chrissten asked. “Is it from Craig?”
Quinn nodded. “A text message. He’s fine and will call later.” A sense of relief went around the table. Meredith smiled and everyone resumed their conversations.
Suddenly hungry, Quinn dug into the mound of pancakes and bacon on his plate.
Chapter Seventeen
It was fifteen minutes past sunset when Craig woke slowly to the feel of a hand on his chest. The hand was small, feminine and very familiar. He smiled in the darkness and tried to stretch, only to discover there wasn’t enough room for him to move, let alone stretch.
Beneath him was smooth porcelain instead of a mattress. Towels under his head instead of a pillow. Why were they lying in a bathtub instead of on a bed?
As though a switch had been flipped, he remembered everything, including his frantic run through the city streets to be with Evie when the dawn arrived. He had a vague memory of falling on top of her. Not exactly a graceful entrance.
“Here.” Evie sat up and reached over the side of the tub. He heard ice scrunching together as though she was pulling a container out of an ice chest. He smiled when she handed him a bottle. It wasn’t filled with wine, as the label suggested, but blood. The smell of the rich liquid made his fangs explode from his gums. He was ravenous.
He tipped the bottle back and drank deeply. Last night had depleted him in more ways than one.
The image of a dead man flashed in his mind, but he shoved it aside. He would not dwell on the murderer he’d been forced to destroy. He consumed half the blood and licked his lips. The life-giving liquid flooded through his body, refreshing his cells and replenishing his strength.
“Tell me what happened.” Evie was curled up on the opposite end of the tub, watching him. Her hair was half out of her braid and her eyes looked slightly bloodshot.
He frowned, worried about her health. Hadn’t she slept?
“Craig?”
Craig shook his head, not wanting to share his nightmares with her and add to her own. Evie glanced away, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes. Relationships were complicated things and he hadn’t had much practice with them.
“It’s not pretty,” he warned her.
“Not much of this situation has been.” Her quiet, calm reply settled him.
“Not here.” He stood and climbed out of the tub. He held his hand out to her and she took it, allowing him to help her.
Holding the half-full bottle in one hand, he opened the bathroom door and peered out at the mess. The daybed was still intact, although the covers and pillows were strewn on the floor. Her bookshelves had been toppled and her chair and coffee table were in pieces. He led Evie over to the one unbroken piece of furniture and urged her to sit.
“Where did this come from?” He hefted the bottle and drank some more.
“Damek had his people deliver it. He called after you fell asleep.” Evie pushed back on the daybed and leaned against the wall.
“And you were awake?”
Evie nodded and grinned. “Seems the daylight sleep doesn’t really affect me the way it does you.”
Now that was interesting. What other differences existed? The fact that she could be awake during the day was a tremendous advantage.
She licked her lips, her gaze on the bottle in his hands.
“Did you drink?” He held out the bottle to her as shame filled him. He should have offered it to her first.
“Yes, I had some when I brought the chest inside.” She pushed the bottle back toward him. “You need to finish that.”
Craig settled beside her, close but not quite touching. If he touched her, there would be no talking. He wanted to feel her naked body under him, her hands touching him, her lips and tongue on his skin.
He shuddered and finished the last of the blood before setting the bottle down on the floor. “The day sleep doesn’t affect you?” This was a power he didn’t have at all and he was fascinated by it.
“Not so much. I get a bit sleepy, but it’s no different than the mid-afternoon slump I’d get when I was fully human. Back then I could drink coffee. Now I can just push through it. Drinking blood helps too.”
“Amazing.” Craig reached out his hand to touch her face, but she moved just out of reach. He tried not to let her reaction hurt him, but it did. He sighed and let his hand fall to his lap.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted.
His eyes widened. “Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong.”
“I ran. From you. From your friends.” She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her hands around her knees. He noticed her tendency to do so when she was stressed, as though she were trying to make herself so small no one would notice her. That habit, long ingrained, came from her childhood.
Fury raced through him like a runaway train, which he barely managed to contain. The thought of some adult hurting Evie as a child angered him deeply. How could anyone hurt her?
“It’s understandable.” He leaned forward but didn’t touch her. “You were frightened. No one blames you fo
r that.”
“I do.” She buried her face against her knees for a moment before raising it again. Her green eyes glowed like emeralds. “Thank you for everything you did. Thank you for fighting and for defeating Vladimir.”
“It was a group effort.” Damek probably could have done it alone, but he hadn’t been there at the beginning. It had taken all of them to hold the other vampire off until reinforcements arrived.
Evie tipped her head back against the wall. “Your friends put themselves in danger. I don’t understand them at all.”
Unable to resist any longer, Craig scooted closer until he was sitting next to her. His much longer legs hung off the mattress, his feet touching the floor. “I know you don’t, but you will.”
“What happened after I left last night?”
Craig pondered his options, but knew he could be nothing less than truthful. If Evie was going to turn away from him because of what he’d done it was better to know now than later.
“I stayed at Haven and helped them clean up the worst of the damage. Isaiah and Michael were off disposing of Vladimir’s body and head when we left. Damek and I went to Vladimir’s home first. We have to go back tonight and destroy anything that might lead anyone to suspect he was a vampire. No one can know.”
Evie nodded. “I understand.”
“There was a minion there. A man who’d been enslaved by Vladimir. Not an overly smart man, but a good one.”
Evie reached out and took his hand. He folded his fingers around it and held it tight. “What happened to him?”
“Damek took most of his memories of the time he’d spent with the vampire. He’ll always have blanks in his memory, will have nightmares for the rest of his life, but he’s alive and free.” Craig paused and plowed forward, wanting this done. There could be no secrets between them, not if they hoped to have a future together. “The vampire hunters killed most of the minions and Damek took care of those they missed. They weren’t good men.” He left it at that.
Evie squeezed his hand. “What happened then?”
Craig peered across the apartment. It was past dusk, casting the apartment in shadows. They had a lot of work to clean up this place. Most of her belongings were broken or damaged beyond repair. Garbage.
She’d definitely have to move. It wasn’t safe here, and he didn’t like the idea of Evie on her own.
“Damek discovered there were vampire hunters in the city.” He raked the fingers of his free hand through his hair. “They’re a deadly bunch. They kill vampires, sometimes those humans who like to dress up and pretend, humans they think might have aided vampires, minions and sometimes innocent bystanders. They don’t usually take the time to differentiate between vampires who are good and those who aren’t. They kill them all.”
Evie swallowed hard. “That’s…that’s horrible.”
Craig glanced her way and then back to the window. The drapes that used to cover them were on the floor. The glow of the streetlamps shone into the apartment, spotlighting several different areas of destruction. “We went to the hotel where they were staying. Damek had sent them there under compulsion.”
“Compulsion?” Evie asked.
“Basically, he plants a suggestion in their minds, one they can’t disobey.” Craig was still coming to grips with the idea that he could do that too.
He felt the shudder that went through Evie. “Is there anything Damek can’t do?”
“Hell if I know. Damek keeps to himself, even with his friends.” Craig had always thought he understood why, but now he truly understood. Damek was protecting his friends as much as he was protecting himself. In all the centuries the vampire had lived, how many evil creatures—vampire, paranormal and human—had he been forced to kill in order to survive and spare innocent people? It boggled the mind.
“Anyway, one of the hunters wasn’t all bad. He was conflicted, had only joined the hunters after his sister was killed by a vampire.”
“How awful.”
Craig nodded. “I scrambled his memories and sent him on his way. He should be home by now.”
Evie shifted, coming up on her knees beside him. “You scrambled his memories?”
“Yeah.” Craig stood and began to pace the small space. Broken items, clothing and books crunched beneath his boots. “Damek thought I should test my abilities.” He whirled around. “It was amazing what I could do. I dampened some of his memories until they were all but gone. Then I implanted a few new ones, using his existing memories to fashion them. Kinda like rewriting computer code using an existing one as the base.” What bothered him the most was that he’d actually enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to change Evan’s memories. “It fascinated and sickened me at the same time.”
Evie scooted off the daybed and came toward him. “That’s only normal. You’d be abnormal if you didn’t get some joy out of your new powers.” She placed her hand over his heart. “It’s the fact that you were sickened by it that means you haven’t lost your empathy.”
He hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Damek said something similar.”
Evie gave a low chuckle. “Who’d have thought the ancient guy and I would ever agree on anything.”
Craig’s mood lightened, but only for a brief moment. He hadn’t told her the worst of it yet.
“What is it?” Evie moved closer until their bodies were almost touching. He could smell the spicy fragrance of her skin. Every muscle in his body tightened and his cock jumped to attention.
He wanted to grab her and kiss her until he couldn’t think, didn’t have to think. For that reason, he walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room with her hand still in the air. He stood by the window and gazed out over the city.
It hadn’t changed, but he had. Irrevocably.
“I killed a man,” he blurted out. “Not with my hands, but with my mind.”
He heard—no, felt—her moving up behind him. She slid her arms around his waist and pillowed her breasts against his back.
“Why?”
Craig dropped his forehead against the glass, enjoying the bite of cold against his skin. Not that he really felt cold, it was more the sensation of it. “The other hunter was older. He’d killed so many people. Many of them were innocent, and he knew that in his heart. He just didn’t care. He enjoyed killing.”
“And if he’d lived he’d be a danger to you and me, to Damek and Sonia, and maybe even to Isaiah’s pack. Am I right?”
Evie’s hands on his stomach were distracting him and making it harder to think straight. “Yeah.” Unable to not touch Evie any longer, he turned and pulled her against him. “I stopped his heart. Made it look as though it was natural causes. The authorities will find him and that will be the end of that.”
“Wow.” Evie’s hold tightened on him. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”
Not what he’d been expecting her to say. Craig leaned back and stared down at her. “You’re not disgusted by what I had to do? Afraid of my powers?”
The soft smile she gifted him with almost brought him to his knees. “Afraid? Never. I know who you really are.” She cupped his face. “The real man. And I know that having to kill him hurt you, but you did it anyway because that’s who you are. You protect the innocent and your family and friends. I understand that.”
He caught her chin and made her look at him. “Do you also understand that you’re mine? We belong together.” He took a breath and said the same words he’d said last night. “I told you I won’t let you go.”
“I know. I’m counting on it.” She went up on her toes and pulled his face down. Their lips met and passion exploded.
Craig yanked her into his arms and lifted her feet right of the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
He had to have her. Right here. Right now.
Evie’s very soul ached for what Craig had been forced to do. She almost hated Damek for making Craig do it, but she understood his reasoning. He wasn’t
trying to be mean. He wanted Craig to know he could defend himself and those he loved in case Damek wasn’t there to do it for him.
Last night, the older vampire had almost been too late. Craig had to learn just how much power he wielded and how to do so to the best of his abilities. Damek was a hard taskmaster, but Evie couldn’t wish for a better teacher for Craig.
“Evie,” he gasped her name as he turned and held her against the wall. He kissed her, his lips and tongue devouring her, stealing the very air from her lungs. The tip of one fang nicked her lip and Craig groaned, sucking on the small wound, licking away the blood and healing it. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop. I need you so much.”
She’d never had anyone need her the way Craig did, needed anyone the way she did him. “I want you.” She peppered his face with kisses, wanting to show him how much she cared.
Craig’s lower body pinned hers against the wall. He tugged at her shirt and she helped him pull it off, leaving her naked from the waist up. He gave a low groan and cupped her breasts. They weren’t overly large, but they were firm and well-rounded.
“So beautiful.” He kissed and licked the mounds, getting closer and closer to her taut nipples. She tugged on his hair, dragging his mouth to where she wanted it. His low, pleased laugh made her pussy clench.
Then he was sucking the tip of one breast, gently pulling at the nipple with his lips, teasing it with the tip of his tongue. Evie gasped and clutched at his shoulders. Frustration filled her when she met fabric and she tore at the offending garment until it shredded under her elongated nails. She tossed the pieces aside and feasted on his bare shoulders and back, wherever she could reach. His skin was almost hot to the touch, not cold as most might expect of a vampire.
He lifted his head, his eyes glowing, not red, but that brilliant blue she loved so much. “Naked. I have to get you naked.”
He pushed at her legs until she released the grip she had on his waist. The second her feet hit the floor, he attacked. He pulled at her jeans and panties. He had her naked in seconds. She tried to get at his jeans, but he made that impossible by kneeling at her feet.
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