Tigress (Night Hawk Series)

by Taylor, J. E.

  “Naomi…” he started, but his gaze dropped to my throat and then bounced back to my eyes. “Even if it doesn’t, you don’t have the ability to heal and last time I checked, a severed carotid is fatal.”

  “Who says it has to be my throat?” I said and turned my wrist in his direction.

  He took a step forward, the hunger flaring in his features. “What if you’re wrong?” he asked and stopped.

  “Then we die here,” I said with a shrug.

  The hardness that captured his features, made me step backwards. “I will not sentence you to death.”

  Damian stormed out of the room and I sank onto the bed and my heart followed, sinking into the depths of my belly. I wasn’t trying to doom us to annihilation; I just wanted to figure out a way for both of us to survive.

  Together.

  Chapter Eight

  Damian stood in the doorway with his back to me, scanning the landscape. “I’ll be back in a little while,” he said.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, pulling the snow pants over my jeans and long underwear.

  He glanced back at me. “I need to rent a car,” he said and smiled back at me. “Any preferences?”

  “Something fast with a big trunk.”

  Dimples appeared and he turned, taking a few steps onto the snow and then he morphed into that beautiful hawk, cutting through the sky carrying the duffel bags with our clothing. All that was left behind was me and the computer backpack. I sighed and closed the door, deciding to do one last walk through of our home. I wandered around the cavern and stopped in front of the mural, shaking my head at my idiocy. There was no way I was leaving this behind and I slid it off the hooks. After neatly folding it, I slid it into the bag with Damian’s computer equipment. There wasn’t much left and I opened and closed drawers, wandered into the kitchen and opened the cabinet, finding only soup, which I already had for breakfast and lunch.

  My stomach growled and I debated, but closed the cabinet on the soup when I heard the shuffle in the cabin. I stepped into the living room as Damian opened the door. Flakes of snow peppered his dark hair and the bloom on his cheeks told me it was colder than usual. He smiled and dangled a key attached to a U-haul key ring.

  “It isn’t fast and it isn’t a luxury sports car, but it will provide a dark space where I can hang during the day.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “Nope and we’ll need to drop it off in New Haven when we get there. Of course we’ll have to wait until just after sunset.”

  “But a U-haul?”

  Now he was laughing at me. “Yes, baby, a U-haul.”

  I sighed and nodded. “I packed the mural.”

  “I knew I was missing something. I’m going to do one more walk through while you finish getting dressed,” he said.

  I let him do his last search of our home without me looking over his shoulder. Instead, I stepped into the cabin where a gas lamp sat on the rustic table. The soft glow filled the room and I slid into the warm coat and slipped the helmet over my head, tightening all the components until I had a snug fit. The gloves actually snapped onto the parka, creating a buffer between me and the frigid air outside and I got one on and had to wait for Damian to help me snap the other one in place.

  He stepped out with the backpack in his hand and gave me a quick scan before his lips twisted into a smile.

  “I guess that is a look,” he mumbled and slid the backpack over my arms and secured it around my waist before he snapped the gloved hand I raised to him. Damian crouched down and snapped the pants to my boots as well before standing and staring at me through the dark helmet glass.

  “Are you ready?”

  Ready. The question gave me pause and I glanced around at the barren cabin before giving him a nod. The knot in my stomach twisted the moment he reached for the door knob and I almost stopped him. Instead, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My exhale steamed up the visor and I stepped out into the night behind him.

  Before the fog cleared, the strong grasp of his talon wrapped around me and I was flying. With each beat of his mighty wings we rose higher into the sky and I forgot about my pang of sadness in leaving our home behind. I forgot just about everything except for the exquisite rush filling my blood and the panoramic view of the mountains below. I had never experienced flying with Damian from human eyes and it was even more exhilarating than I recalled, especially with little more than a chill penetrating the cocoon of fabric wrapped around me.

  Damian seemed to understand my joy and he swooped like a rollercoaster, his cry sounded much more like a laugh than the scream of a hawk. When he went into a roll, my scream bounced around the interior of my helmet, nearly drowning out his cry. If I was prone to a weak stomach, this flight would have been my undoing, but the moment we landed, I flipped my visor back and spun to face his bemused expression.

  “Can we do that again?”

  His laugh filled the dark alley and the beep of a security system answered my question.

  “Maybe, when we get settled wherever we end up,” he said and opened the passenger door for me, helping me strip off the backpack before I climbed into the cab.

  He slid into the driver’s seat and grinned at me. “I keep forgetting just how much you like to fly,” he said and started the engine.

  “I hate airplanes,” I mumbled and pulled the helmet off, putting it behind the seat in the small storage space. I shook my head, freeing the curls from the make-shift bun and running my fingers through my hair before I glanced in his direction.

  “What?” I asked at his intense stare.

  “Nothing,” he said and put the vehicle in gear, navigating the side streets until he pulled onto Interstate 76 heading east.

  I peeled off the snow pants and tucked them behind the seat, shifting the jeans to make the remaining layers of clothing fall into a more comfortable position. The radio was useless and after fifteen minutes of fiddling with it, I gave up and turned the static off. Damian glanced at me and then back at the road, that amused expression still formed on his handsome face.

  “You don’t need to stay up with me if you don’t want to,” he said and pat his thigh. “And if you need a pillow, you can use my leg.”

  “Why are you being so accommodating all of a sudden?”

  He exhaled and glanced at me. “I’m not. I’m just thinking you’d like to get some rest if you were planning on driving all day.”

  It made sense, but I wasn’t the least bit tired. “It’s way too early for me to go to sleep,” I said. “Besides, I’m getting hungry, so you’ll have to stop at the next rest area.”

  I caught the dimple in his cheek and the slight shake of his head like he forgot I was human and needed food. He nodded, meeting my gaze for an instant before focusing back on the road.

  “I’ll stay in the car while you grab something.”

  “You don’t want to come in with me?”

  His eyebrows rose. “No,” he said and kept his gaze on the road.

  I wish I could still get a glimpse of what was on his mind because, outside of the silent challenge in his raised eyebrow, I couldn’t read him. It frustrated the hell out of me and I just wanted to know what was going on behind that stormy expression.

  His gaze slid to mine. “I’m hungry too,” he said.

  “Ah. And you don’t trust yourself around that many people?”

  “I do, but I would rather not tempt fate.”

  “Did you pack the blood?”

  He shook his head. “It would have frozen in the back of the truck.”

  “Are you going to be okay back there?” I hadn’t considered the temperature. With all our romps in the woods in Colorado, I never thought about what ten hours in the back of a van would do to Damian.

  “We’ll find out,” he mumbled.

  “We can find a hotel, instead, if you’d prefer.”

  “I’ll be fine, besides, once we get there, I’ll have a ton of things to do, like b
uilding a house and finding somewhere for you to stay while I’m doing that.”

  “I can stay in the garage with you.”

  “Not until I make the property demon and angel-proof again,” he said.

  “Can you make it vamp-proof while you’re at it?” I asked and got a dimpled grin in return.

  “Did you want me exiled from the property?”

  I exhaled and rolled my eyes. “I guess not,” I said and pointed toward the sign for the rest area. “How exactly does one demon-proof a property?” I asked. I knew about the order of ancient symbols needed to angel-proof a property but we never demon-proofed the camp in Colorado.

  “I need enough rock salt to surround the property.”

  I envisioned a circle of salt lining the property and laughed. “But won’t it wash away?”

  He must have gotten some of my thoughts because he chuckled. “It won’t for quite a few years, especially when it’s sealed and buried in a ditch surrounding the property,” he said. “Unfortunately, I had waited too long to refresh the original defenses last time and once the circle is broken, it becomes useless.”

  The van pulled to a stop in front of a gas pump and Damian shut it down. “I’ll park over there after I fill up,” he said and pointed toward the parking spaces in front of the building before peeling a twenty from his wallet. “Will this be enough?”

  “Yes, thanks,” I replied and took the cash, stuffing it into my pocket and jumped out of the cab. I glanced at him over my shoulder and he had already gotten out of the cab and started pumping gas. The moment I walked in the building, the scent of burgers and fries assaulted my senses and my stomach growled; pushing me toward the McDonald’s counter. It had been five years since I ate anything other than blood and broth and I was ravenous.

  But I also had to take care of business, so I diverted into the bathroom first. As I washed my hands, I studied my reflection. I couldn’t detect any change from before Lilith shot me with the antidote and I wondered if I did age five years or not.

  My stomach growled again and I grabbed a paper towel, wiped my hands and headed to the McDonald’s counter to satisfy the food cravings that took control. My hunger pangs were nowhere near as painful as the blood pangs of a vampire; however, they were just as compelling.

  I ended up with two Big Macs, large fries and a large chocolate milkshake. The minute I sat down in the cab, I dug in. Fast food never tasted so delicious and I didn’t look up at Damian until I finished both burgers. He sat with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the stick shift just staring at me.

  “What?” I asked with a mouthful of French fries.

  “I’ve seen wild dogs eat with more manners,” he said.

  “Fuck you.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “I haven’t eaten in five years, what’d you expect?”

  He started laughing and put the vehicle in gear, pulling back on the road before addressing me again.

  “I have no idea what I expected, but that certainly wasn’t it.”

  “Normally I do have manners,” I said and licked my lips. “It’s just this was delicious.”

  “I guess so.” He licked his lips and inhaled. “I’m going to have to eat something before sunrise.”

  The way he gazed at me set my body on fire and I had to look out the window. While he was talking about hunting, my mind went to the last time he made love to me with his mouth, to the heat he created that went to a cellular level and I sighed, taking a sip of the chocolate shake like it could quell the fire he set with his innocent statement.

  Silence filled the cab and after I finished my meal, I tucked the garbage into the bag and took Damian up on his offer of using his leg as a pillow.

  “Sing something for me,” I said and our eyes met for a moment and he offered a slight nod before looking back at the road. He pressed his lips together in contemplation and then took a breath and his incredible voice filled the cab. I swear his voice would put the heavenly host to shame. He could easily walk into a recording studio and put out a number one album and the women would swoon, just like I always do. He crooned through a collection of my favorite songs, lulling me to sleep.

  Chapter Nine

  A chill tickled the back of my neck and I burrowed further into my coat and shifted, opening my eyes to the empty cab and the night beyond. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and stared at the almost deserted rest stop. The lights were on in the rest rooms and I bit my lip, looking at the key ring hanging from the ignition. It held half the keys that it had earlier and I knew Damian was hunting.

  I stretched and pulled the remaining keys from the ignition, pocketing them and sliding out of the cab. I made sure I had the right one to unlock the truck before I closed and locked it, and headed inside to pee and rinse my mouth out.

  When I stepped out of the stall, movement caught my attention and my head snapped toward the door. I stepped back at the hovering shadow. Sharp teeth gleamed and the form stepped toward me. It wasn’t Damian and my heart thundered in my chest announcing my fear to this fiend.

  Instead of retreating into the stall and limiting my options, I stepped into the center of the space, facing the vampire. She chuckled when I took a defensive posture, tucking my chin to my chest and Michael’s name popped into my head.

  “Michael,” I whispered, calling on my ancient grandfather who could toast her on sight.

  The air shifted as the vampire attacked, but the moment her fangs dug into my arm, her feral growl turned into a scream of agony. She pulled away, her hands clawing at her throat as my blood spread like poison through her.

  Michael’s hand descended on my shoulder and he stood watching exactly what my cured blood did to descendants of Lilith and Eve. The angry blisters on Damian’s skin were nothing compared to the complete breakdown of this vampire’s cells. It was as if she swallowed a gallon of battery acid. A bloody froth bubbled from her mouth and her skin looked as if it were boiling. Her dying screams echoed off the tiled walls, the entire ordeal horrified me and I turned my face into Michael’s chest.

  All I could think of was what if I had let Damian drink my blood.

  The screams subsided, but the stench of death hung on the air like a thick bank of fog. When the door banged open, I turned my head, meeting Damian’s frantic gaze. A drop of fresh blood still graced his lips and when he glanced at the pile of bloody froth on the floor and back to Michael and me, his brow scrunched in confusion.

  “She bit Naomi,” Michael said.

  “So you did that to her?” his breathless question settled over the room.

  “No, my blood did that,” I said and wiped the wetness from my cheeks. I hadn’t realized I was crying, but the shake in my voice confirmed it along with the traces of tears on my fingers.

  His gaze dropped to the floor and he closed his mouth, pressing his lips together before his eyes rose to mine. They moved past me to Michael.

  “And you just let her suffer?”

  “I was curious,” Michael said and I pushed away from him. “And I wanted her to know what would happen if you ever bit her,” he added and met my gaze.

  I shivered at the thought but there was something underneath Michael’s gaze, something akin to a plea for me not to allow Damian to self-destruct. I sent a reassuring smile his way before turning back to Damian.

  “Where are you going?” Michael directed toward Damian.

  “Home,” Damian said, squaring his shoulders and putting on that rebellious expression that I associate with Michael’s presence.

  “Home, as in Greece?” Michael asked, his hands finding his hips and a warning flared in his eyes.

  “No, home as in Connecticut.”

  “You would be better suited to go to Greece.”

  “She wants to go to New York,” Damian said, focusing Michael’s displeasure in my direction instead of his.

  “No.”

  “That’s what I said.” Damian sent a smug smile in my direction and then glanced back at Michael. “Alth
ough right now I’d like to tear your brother to pieces for what he’s done to us.”

  Now that the adrenaline had died, the stench of death made me gag and I shuffled around the steaming puddle and out into the cold night. Damian and Michael followed and for the first time, I noted that Michael was wearing regular clothing instead of bare-chested with his majestic wings and I sent him a sideways look.

  “I’m tagging along for the ride,” he said and both Damian and I stopped in our tracks. “Someone needs to keep her safe during the day now that my brother is back in action,” he added to Damian.

  “But won’t you give us away?” Damian asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “No, not while I take a completely human form.” He spread his arms out to prove his point. “No wings, no angelic powers, no beacon, but I still can kick ass.”

  Damian circled him and the spark in his eyes made me want to warn Michael, but I kept my mouth shut, watching the dynamics. I was sure there was more at play here than just my safety and as soon as Damian was tucked safely away in the truck, I’d get to the bottom of Michael’s intentions.

  The hellacious grin that spread on Damian’s lips, just before his shadow form morphed, was enough to make me step between the two supernatural beings.

  “No,” I said, pointing at Damian, knowing his first instinct was to break free of Michael’s bond. His mad gaze landed on me and he smiled with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

  “Move, baby,” he said, but the feral growl that accompanied it made me stand my ground. I knew more about Michael than he did.

  Michael put his hand on my shoulder to clear the path, but I shook it off, meeting Damian’s glare.

  “He cares a great deal about you, you stupid moron,” I growled back at Damian. “So I’m sure part of it is keeping you safe too.”

  The transition out of shadow form happened in a blink and the confusion clouding Damian’s face made me smile, even with Michael’s less than silent curses behind me. I glanced back at him. “Don’t you think it’s time he knows what he means to you? I know you said this angry shit between you two worked, but it doesn’t work for me.”