by Lexi Blake
There was a short knock on the bathroom door.
“Kelsey, are you okay?” Liv’s voice was thin and reedy.
“Go in and see for yourself,” another feminine voice insisted. “Is Marcus decent?”
“He’s clothed,” I replied as he tightened his legs around me. He fully enveloped me, and he wasn’t letting go.
“Good.” The Queen of all Vampire pushed her way into the bathroom. Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her. “Well, I suppose that was inevitable.”
Liv’s mouth hung open for a moment. “Oh, my god.” She held up her dainty handbag. “Do you want me to…I don’t know…detach him from you?” She turned to the queen for support. “Can I do that?”
I didn’t think going after one of the most powerful vampires in the world armed only with a Coach bag and righteous indignation was a good idea.
Zoey Donovan-Quinn smiled and shook her auburn hair. “I wouldn’t advise it.”
“Is this normal?” I asked as Marcus pulled my hair gently to get better access. There seemed to be a spot behind my ear he’d missed.
“Oh, yeah,” the queen said with a negligent wave of her hand. “Daniel does it all the time. If I nick myself while shaving, he comes running.” She took a seat in the upholstered chair attached to the vanity. “So, how was Venice? Lee said you had a good time.”
Marcus licked my cheek with a sexy groan. I was sure he knew there were other people in the room, but he didn’t seem to care. He scraped his fangs along my skin.
“It was really nice. I’ve never been out of the country before,” I replied because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. “Marcus took me all over the city. I saw the San Marco piazza, but I had to make Marcus go away before the pigeons would land on me. They didn’t seem to like him. Is he going to stop any time soon?”
“When the blood’s gone,” Zoey explained as though she was talking about the weather. She got up. “And then he’ll probably do that thing where he listens to your heart. Let him. It soothes them. I’ll let Daniel know it’s going to be a while. Liv was freaking out. We were having our monthly Bunco session and, of course, someone had to rush in and tell us you had been horribly mauled by a rabid shifter. And I was winning. I never win. I think Neil cheats somehow. One day I’ll figure it out.” Zoey opened the door. “Oh, and if Danny starts like yelling or something about how long it’s taking, don’t worry about it. Take your time. His bark is way worse than his bite.” She smiled brilliantly. “His bite is actually quite nice.”
Liv stood back, her cheeks pink with obvious embarrassment. “I’m sorry I interrupted. I was worried. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m good. He got in a good swipe with those claws. Damn near took out my eye. Marcus fixed it.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Liv said awkwardly. “Oh, good, he’s done with the blood part.”
Marcus’s head came up and he caught me with his pitch-black eyes and hopped down from the counter. Without a word, he took my hand and sat down in the chair previously occupied by the queen. He pulled me into his lap and immediately shoved his ear right over my heart. His arms wrapped around me and I could feel his heart start to beat in time with mine. Soothing. I was calming as he did.
“See, that’s freaky,” Liv said.
“He’s a vampire,” I pointed out. “And honestly, compared to Gray he’s practically normal.”
Marcus growled low in the back of his throat.
“And way better at making me happy,” I said placatingly. I decided to not piss off the vampire, who had obviously had enough stimulation for one night. I decided to go with it. I stroked his hair and felt him relax against me. I turned my attention back to Liv. “How bad is it out there?”
Her mouth flattened. “They’re all there, Kels. It’s like a power player convention.”
Marcus didn’t look like he was moving any time soon. I threw my former BFF a pleading look. “You have to stall them.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?” Liv asked. “They’re vampires. I can’t whip out some pigs in a blanket and call it a party. Though it would work with the wolves. You don’t happen to have any of those mini sausages, do you?”
Marcus gave me one last squeeze and then released me suddenly. “I will handle the king, bella. You get dressed. You are feeling better?”
I studied that gorgeous face for a moment, my hands cupping his cheeks. I wanted to soothe him, but he seemed to be back to his calm self. If he’d done anything abnormal, he wasn’t embarrassed by it. “I’m peachy now, babe.”
“I’m feeling better myself.” He set me on my feet. “Don’t take too long. I have questions as well.”
He nodded politely to Liv, slipped on his jacket, and left the bathroom.
Liv and I stared at each other for one long moment before we both dissolved into giggles. She walked over and threw her arms around me. After a second of hesitation, I hugged her back. The truth was I didn’t have enough friends that I could give up on them so easily.
I had missed her.
“I love you, Kelsey,” Liv whispered. “I’m so sorry about what happened. If I could take it back I would. I just…I miss you.”
I nodded, surprised that I felt tears pricking the back of my eyes. I shrugged them off. “I missed you, too. I promise, I’ll figure out what’s going on with Scott.”
“I know you will. I trust you.”
I trust you—the three most burdensome words in the English language. They were certainly the three most likely to get me into trouble.
Chapter Six
“You know you could have avoided that scrape if I’d been where I should have been. I should have been sitting right beside you.” Trent finally got his say in two hours later. I’d felt his eyes on me from the moment I walked out of the bathroom and into interrogation hell. Trent wanted to yell at me then, but he’d had to wait in line.
“And what would you have done?”
“Gotten in between the two of you and taken that freaking claw for you. He almost took out your damn eye.” Trent’s jaw was a tight line, and he studied my face as though checking for damage. “I supposed you used vamp blood to fix it.”
“Well, I didn’t want to let it heal on its own.”
“If you’d let me take the attack, you wouldn’t have had anything to heal,” he insisted.
All of this served as a vicious reminder to never let my guard down. The last thing I needed was another lecture. The king was concerned I’d almost gotten my ass handed to me by a second-rate shifter who usually turned into a large Labrador retriever. It wasn’t pretty because when Alan was drunk and he shifted, well, he’s wasn’t exactly housebroken. But that was neither here nor there. He shouldn’t have been able to fight me at all. It should have been an easy one, two, and he’s out. I’d received lectures on the subject from Donovan and Marcus.
For the first time I could remember, they were working in complete harmony. It was fucking up my life.
And every minute they lectured on, the clock ticked away. After a while, they settled into Marcus’s office with Quinn, Henri Jacobs, Alexander Sharp, and Hugo Wells to discuss revising my training schedule. It was great that I hadn’t even started but I’d managed to fail. Now I had exactly thirty minutes to get the hell out of here if I was going to make my meeting with the demon. I tried yawning.
“I’m not saying you’re not good. You got him talking. I was impressed with that, but I should have been there. If I’d been where I was supposed to be, I would have handled him for you, Owens,” Trent was saying.
My eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck do you think you’re dealing with, Wilcox? Do you think you need to come in and save the little girl from the big bad shifter?”
“Obviously,” he shot back, leaning forward. He didn’t have issues with getting into my personal space. “I don’t buy that crap about you being a real Nex Apparatus. That’s all political. You shouldn’t be put in those situations. You could ge
t hurt.”
“Welcome to the twenty-first century, meathead. I can take you down any time I want.” Trent was an alpha, but he didn’t want the responsibility of his own pack. I could still handle him. I had no doubt about that. I just didn’t have time to tonight.
He laughed at the thought. He sat back and crossed one leg over the other. “Keep believing that, sister. You couldn’t handle a weak-ass shifter tonight much less me. I suppose you could always call your boyfriend in. When you’re two thousand freaking years old, I guess you learn a few tricks.”
“Asshole,” I said, getting more pissed off than I probably should. He was irritating. “Do you think I didn’t see the way the king came to your aid? You didn’t even have the strength to hold the shifter’s hands still.”
Trent frowned, his face going stubborn. “That was Vorenus. He might be an academic, but he’s a badass when he wants to be.”
“I don’t think so. It wasn’t all Marcus. Alan was stronger than he should have been. He was on something and it was strong. Maybe it was like PCP for supes.”
“He smelled funny,” Trent allowed.
He had my attention now. “Funny how?”
The wolf shrugged. “He was sweating a lot, even though it was cool in the club. His sweat smelled, I don’t know, sweet. It was his scent, but also something else.”
I processed that information. I was sure it was a drug. I needed to ask Gray’s brother if he knew anything when I talked to him tonight. If I talked to him tonight…
The door to Marcus’s office opened and the men filed out one by one. The king walked straight up to Trent and motioned that it was time to leave. “Let’s go, Trent.”
The big wolf turned from his boss and back to me again. “I think I’ll stay, Your Highness. I’m going to back her up tonight.”
“I thought he was the one who sent you in the first place,” I pointed out, confused at why he had to tell his boss what he was doing.
Donovan shook his head. His eyebrows shot up. “She’s the Nex Apparatus. Why does she need backup?”
Quinn moved in and whispered something directly in his partner’s ear. Donovan didn’t look like he believed whatever the faery had said. “Are you serious?”
Quinn smiled and shrugged. “To each his own.”
“Okay, now I remember.” Donovan seemed willing to go along with whatever Quinn had proposed. “I gave the order, but she’ll be fine tonight. You can…back her up…some other night. Tonight, we’re leaving her in the capable hands of the academics. They have full control of her training now.”
Trent stood up. I noted he managed to respect the king’s personal space. His big hand pointed toward me. “Your Highness, she’s up to something.”
The king stared at me for a moment. “You up to something?”
“Probably,” I admitted with a shrug. He would never believe an innocently worded protestation. Not coming from me.
The king sighed. “If you have to kill someone, please do it quietly. Otherwise, sign in and out with the doorman. If you’re going out tonight, I really would feel better if Trent went with you.”
I gave yawning and stretching the old college try. “Your Highness, it’s my first night back. I want to get some sleep.”
No one actually looked like they were buying that line of bull. Marcus had excellent timing, though.
“I will make sure my charge behaves, Daniel,” Marcus promised. “She’s in excellent hands. We’ll keep you updated on her progress.”
Trent started to protest. He was cut off by the king. “Come on, Trent. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll buy you a beer. We should talk.”
Donovan said good night and left with his contingent. I was left alone with the academics and one Alexander Sharpe. I didn’t like Alexander Sharpe. You could say I took exception to his former career. In his human life, he’d been Jack the Ripper.
“Miss Owens, such a pleasure to see you again,” the vampire said with a creepy smile on his face. At least, I think that was supposed to be a smile. He reminded me of a hyena getting ready to pounce.
Marcus’s hand reached for mine. Previously, Marcus had attempted to trick Alexander into believing I was his mistress in order to provide me with protection. Alex had seen right through it. Marcus wanted there to be no question of our relationship status now. “Alexander, you have your orders. Don’t you have something to do?”
The vampire, who happened to also be a doctor, politely bowed. “Of course, Marcus. I shall check in on our insanely high patient at my earliest opportunity. It was my pleasure to strap him down in the containment facility earlier. Hospitals these days are like luxury hotels. We did it right in the old days, you know. One little lobotomy and the problem was solved.”
“You will follow Henri’s directions as to care for the patient,” Marcus said, his voice going hard.
Hugo Wells and Henri Jacobs took seats across from us. There was talk of a nice long meeting, and I panicked a bit. Marcus had promised I would behave. I needed to misbehave.
“Let me know if you need me,” Henri said, dismissing the younger vampire.
Sharpe didn’t look like he wanted to be dismissed, but took it with a nod. His eyes were on me as he left.
I put him out of my mind and focused on the problem at hand. “So, the king is giving my training to the academics?”
I scooted over to be closer to Marcus. It was an unconscious action on my part. At this stage of my training, I wanted to be physically connected to my trainer at all times.
“Yes, bella,” Marcus said with pleasure. “The king has conceded that your training should come under our purview and no other. It is as it should be. I am your trainer, and Henri and Hugo are at your service. I believe you will find that Henri has forgotten more about medicine than most doctors ever learn.”
“Though I am more acquainted with supernatural creatures, I’m also quite capable of treating a human,” Henri said. He always spoke softly and with a hint of a Dutch accent. “I believe you’re right about the shifter. He was definitely given something that enhanced his strength. We’ll know more in the morning.”
“And Hugo is a lawyer,” Marcus pointed out.
Academics tend to get obsessed with subjects. Marcus’s subject was history. It made watching any film set in a past era with him a nightmare of nitpicking. I preferred watching futuristic Sci-Fi as he couldn’t point out the historical inaccuracies of the future. I tried watching The Tudors with him. He nearly had an apoplectic fit.
“That’s good,” I said, smiling at the English vampire. “I can use a lawyer in house. I’ll probably need a good defense for some of the crap I’ll pull.”
Hugo smiled broadly, obviously enjoying the drama of the evening. I was glad someone did. “As your counsel, I would say the first, best line of defense is to not get caught. I suppose tonight will be a field test in our charge not getting caught.” Hugo sat forward and explained my situation succinctly. “She needs to go to a club called Brimstone. I had not heard of it. According to her client, it is brand new.”
“And apparently very exclusive,” I added, thinking about the demon earlier in the day. He’d said I would need him to get in. At least I wasn’t going to have to lie to Marcus to do it. It looked like academics stuck together.
Marcus contemplated the situation. “Do you know where the club is?”
I gave him the address and knew what was coming next. “I’ve been told I won’t be allowed to bring you.”
“Ms. Carey did not mention you wouldn’t be allowed to bring a friend,” Hugo said, puzzled.
Moment of truth. Either he trusted me or he didn’t. I’d gone back and forth and finally decided I wasn’t going to lie to Marcus. “Liv isn’t the only reason I need to go.”
I briefly related the story of my caffeine-loving demon and his claims that I needed to go help out a friend in trouble.
“Who is this friend?” Marcus’s dark eyes narrowed. His voice was one big heaping dose of suspicion.
“Should I be worried?”
“No, I want you,” I assured him. “But he was important to me once. Can you understand why I would want to make sure he’s safe?”
“We’re talking about the demon Kelsey was involved with before she began her training?” Hugo asked.
“Yes, though he is only a halfling,” Henri replied, watching me with no small amount of sympathy. “He managed to get past her defenses. A spell was used by another demon. I’ve been told Mr. Sloane had no knowledge of the spell at the time, but I’m certain Kelsey was hurt all the same. He’s under a contract, a legacy.”
“Ah,” Hugo breathed, understanding the predicament.
I’d been told that Gray had been bred in the hopes his father could pass on his psychic powers to a son. Gray had the power, but he refused to use it the way his father wanted him to. I doubted he would have that luxury when he lived in his father’s world. Gray’s dad wasn’t satisfied with him, though. He’d offered Gray a deal. Gray could have forty more years on the Earth plane if he produced a child with a Hunter. As I was the only Hunter in the world as far as anyone knew, and Gray had started seeing me before the deal was struck, Gray accepted, thinking he could use the time to find a way out for all of us.
I had not taken the news well.
“Kelsey, tell me you do not wish to start an affair with this man,” Marcus said, his voice quiet, and I could feel his vulnerability.
I hugged him. “I don’t. I told you. I want you. If you say the word, I’ll pack up now and go straight back to Italy with you. I’ll forget everything about this place and I’ll be happy just being your mistress.”
Marcus’s lips quirked up briefly. “I doubt that seriously, cara. Somehow, I think you would be bored. Now, if you are going to go, do you intend to inform the king?”
I was surprised he hadn’t put up a fight. “You’re going to let me go?”
