Innes’s dark brown hair was cut short, not usual among the hounds, and always looked as if he used his fingers as a comb. Elin had seen him ignore admiring female glances. She didn’t know what made him so aloof, but she understood the glances.
“So you don’t have to follow me around anymore, do you?” Elin said. “I’m grateful, of course, but from the way—I don’t think my nasty visitor from last night is likely to be back soon.”
He studied her. Lean, muscular, with an angular, hard-boned face, she knew what he was capable of as a man or a hound but she did allow herself to wonder, just a little, what he might be like if he was with a woman who interested him.
“Colin will be back, in his own time.” Innes shifted his weight. “Would you like to see me beaten to a pulp—then tortured?” he said.
Elin frowned.
“If I left you, that’s what Sean would do to me and the others would hold me while he did it. Once you’re in the office, I’ll wait out here, but I’ll let Niles and Campion know where you are.”
She puffed up her cheeks and shook her head before raising a hand to knock on Leigh’s door. Campion, another of the hounds, must have been the other hound assigned to today’s Elin Watch.
Leigh opened the door wide. “I knew you were here,” she said, throwing her arms around Elin. “I heard what happened yesterday. You and I have to talk, really talk.”
She did know I was here before I knocked on the door. Elin went in and closed it behind them. She wanted to try communicating with Leigh telepathically, but wouldn’t without permission.
“Niles told me about that horrible Colin. One day I’ll share my own brush with him. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, even if I am in Sean’s black book for setting myself up.”
Leigh’s blond, tufted dog, Jazzy, his fur popping up and drooping over his black eyes, came to Elin at once and waited to be picked up. The dog was not of the otherworld, but he sensed that she liked him.
“We’d better get on with it,” Leigh said, all business now. “I never know when that overbearing mate of mine will come in and demand that I look at this or that.”
“I think he makes excuses to come.” Elin laughed. “He just wants to look at you. Sometimes I think he’s always worried something has happened to you. These men are possessive, not that I mind—most of the time.”
Leigh’s expression became faraway and she frowned.
“Did I say something wrong?” Elin said.
“No,” Leigh told her emphatically. “I wish he wouldn’t worry, that’s all. Elin, I’ve never mentioned this to anyone since, but we swam together in Saratoga Passage and I should have asked you something then but I thought you might think I’m pushy—or nosy.”
“I sensed there was something on your mind,” Elin said. They might have to feel their way toward understanding the paranormal talents each of them had, but they should get started. “Come on. Just say it?” They could help each other.
“You do know how few people could go into that water, particularly at this time of year, don’t you?”
“I’m sure,” Elin said. She didn’t feel the cold, but Sally had said most Deseran didn’t—most of the time. It could change under some circumstances but Sally didn’t know what they were.
“Did you see anything you thought was unusual when I showed you the crater in Chimney Rock—under the water?”
Nuzzling Jazzy’s head with her nose, Elin smiled to herself. They were fencing. “Not that I thought was unusual, no.”
Leigh looked disappointed. She pressed her lips together and looked around the crowded little office with the football posters left over from when Gabriel had used the room.
“I didn’t say I didn’t see anything,” Elin said softly. “Only that it wasn’t unusual to me.”
That got her Leigh’s full attention. She tucked pieces of her shiny strawberry blond hair behind her ears and watched Elin intently. “What wasn’t?” she asked when Elin didn’t continue.
Why play a game of “you first”? If she told Leigh something she didn’t relate to—without being too detailed—there would be nothing lost.
“Colors,” she said, watching the other’s piercing eyes. “The most beautiful colors streaming from Chimney Rock.”
Dark flecks in Leigh’s eyes stood out among the gold. “In ribbons?” Elin said. “Scarves of sparkling colors drifting from Chimney Rock. And I see them elsewhere, usually when I need strength.”
“Most can’t see them,” Leigh said. “They are part of the substance that makes The Veil between the human and the paranormal worlds. The Veil hides the otherworld from humans, but the otherworld sees everything. Do you know what we can take from The Veil and use for protection?”
Elin looked confused.
“Strength that becomes solid in our hands. You will have to use it one day, I think. Just scoop a handful from the color green. Hold it in your hand to give you strength. Or wield it as a weapon and it will be very hard and sharp.”
“I had no idea,” Elin whispered, glancing around as if she feared being overheard.
“It remains invisible except to a few,” Leigh said. “But be very careful not to rely on it always being available just as you want it. I believe someone has interfered with The Veil and twisted some of its powers.”
Elin’s eyes had grown very wide.
“Niles knows about The Veil but he doesn’t see the colors,” Leigh said. “Only the Deseran, like you and me, do, and fae with no evil intent toward humans,” Leigh explained. “Very few in all.”
“You really are Deseran, too,” Elin whispered.
“I have the blood,” Leigh said. “Sally knows, and now you, but that’s all, although…”
Her stomach twisted. “I do wonder if Dr. Saul VanDoren knows about me.”
“You know Saul is a vampire?” Elin said.
“Yes, but he puzzles me,” Leigh said.
Pondering that, Elin put Jazzy on the floor. “Is he different from other vampires?”
“Niles says Saul is a man caught between two worlds and trying to work for good. That means he must constantly overcome his own nature. Niles told me Saul is separate from other vampires and that they fear him. But he could be hurt if there were several of them together and they wanted to harm him.”
“Sean doesn’t seem to like him much.”
Leigh didn’t quite manage to hide a smile. “Sean is cautious, that’s all.”
“You can’t blame him for that,” Elin said, feeling defensive for her Sean. “I thought Saul was a bit high-handed with Sean, and with me last night when we were here.”
“So it’s ‘we’ now. Is that a sign you and Sean are getting very close?”
“Not as close as I’d like,” Elin said and grew hot all over.
“You’re blushing,” Leigh told her. “Have patience. There are many ways to pleasure a man and for him to pleasure you without—being sealed. After that it’ll be time for—the other.” The expression on Leigh’s face could only be described as filled with knowing and desire.
Elin had a little smile of her own. “I know the ways of pleasuring,” she said quietly. “I have hardly begun to use them on him but already my man grows angry with controlling his need to make love with me.”
Leigh cleared her throat and Elin thought she looked at her with great interest. Leigh coughed this time and seemed to set her jaw, then she said, “How do you know these things about bringing men pleasure?”
Elin hid a smile. Sally had warned her that it would be an unusual woman who wouldn’t be intrigued at the thought of special sexual powers.
“That is one of my talents,” Elin told her. “According to Sally, I was abandoned in New Orleans as an infant because my parents thought I could not exist in their paranormal world. They didn’t know I had this gift, or the others I can use. Then I was stolen by a demon and Tarhazian stole me from him, but she never knew what I could do. She trained me to develop silly faery tricks to please her and
flatter her. I was never supposed to be anything else but her plaything.”
“How did you…how did you find out about this particular power, the pleasure power?”
Elin did smile this time, and Leigh smiled with her. They giggled together and Leigh turned pink.
“I knew I had it, that’s all, and being with Sean proved me right. I can drive him mad. You should see what happens to him.” Elin sighed. “Such a waste.”
chapter EIGHT
If you needed information on the habits of vampires, why not go to your friendly local vampire?
As prickly as their last parting had been, when Sean called Elin, she had agreed the two of them should try to arrange a talk with Saul today.
Prying her loose from her closeted visit with Leigh hadn’t been easy, but Sean had pulled an advantage and asked Niles to communicate with his mate telepathically. Niles had wheedled Leigh into breaking up the tête-à-tête.
Not asking Elin what the two women had talked about took a lot of restraint, but Sean figured he would get it out of Niles later.
With Elin on the back of his bike, Sean had left Gabriel’s.
When he turned onto Gulliver Lane, he slowed his Ducati to ride past Read It Again, and Wear It Again, two favorite local destination shops. Elin’s grip on him tightened as they reached a cul-de-sac at the far end of the lane and came to a halt in the driveway of Dr. Saul VanDoren’s house.
From the front of the house only two floors showed but Sean had been in Saul’s basement living quarters, virtually below ground level at the back.
Elin tapped his shoulder and Sean took off his helmet when he looked at her. “I am sorry about being so foolish last night. I didn’t think anything like that could happen.”
How could he not hug her? “We came through okay—this time.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she said, indicating the house. “I don’t want you and Saul to fight.”
There was an innocence, a trust in her eyes. “We won’t,” Sean said, hoping he wasn’t fooling himself into such confidence. “We asked to come because we want information and advice, remember.”
“You’re annoyed with him. You could say something you don’t mean. Let’s get home. Maybe one of the others will stand guard for me so you can go get some sleep tonight.”
That discussion would come later. When they were alone—together. Their situation wouldn’t do the way it was. He felt ridiculous. Their positions were almost reversed. He had to be the one to tell this woman he wanted so badly, that they must take more time before they came together totally. He struggled with awkwardness, and a simmering anger. Whatever he did, he would not hurt Elin. If the Team would not bend, he would give up his promises to them, take her away, and make a life, just the two of them, if that’s what it took. He would remain the strong-minded man he was, had always been, and keep her at his side.
“Sean?” Elin had taken off her own helmet and she brought her face close to his. “Please kiss me and tell me you aren’t angry with me. You look so…so…” She bowed her head.
“How can I be angry with you?” Gently, he took her face in his hands. “You know what I feel about you. You know what I want. But you don’t accept that there are things I must be sure about before we are sealed.”
Her mouth, soft and full, trembled. Sean touched his lips to hers, first lightly, then with more intensity. He drew back for an instant. “You are everything to me. Do you understand why I have to be strong—for both of us?”
Resentment flared in her eyes. “Don’t assume that I’m not strong, Sean.”
“I wouldn’t want you other than what you are,” he said. His possessiveness toward her could be unnerving, but he welcomed it nevertheless. “You’re determined. Look at me and listen. I have to be certain that I won’t be the death of you, do you understand?”
For moments she didn’t move. Her incredible violet eyes deepened to purple and she shook her head slowly. “No,” she whispered. “I understand that if we don’t hold on to each other today, there may not be a tomorrow. I’m not talking about death. We don’t know what will come, Sean, but we do know what we feel—what we have now.”
She touched him as he had never expected to be touched by another human being. But he did have to think about tomorrow and he didn’t want to explain all of it to her here. “Then you have to trust me to do what’s best for both of us.”
Elin stood, a shoe on either footrest, and planted her hands on his shoulders. She kissed him until his head spun. With her lips, her tongue, her teeth, the winding of her body about his, she demolished his resolve. If she demanded, he would do whatever she asked.
“I am yours,” she said at last. “If you insist we must wait, you have a reason and I’ll wait for you to explain what that is.” She gave a sudden, impish smile. “As long as you don’t get too bossy. But you’ll have to forgive me if I tease you a little. It’s one of my weaknesses.”
Relief started to flood him, until he studied the curve of her lips, the mischief in her eyes. “Tease away,” he said, while conviction grew that this creature could be his nemesis, in ways he had never imagined.
“Hah,” she said. “You’d like me to tease you, but you insist we’ve got more important things to do…first. Do we have to see Saul tonight? Are you sure we do?” Elin was wheedling and she wasn’t even trying to be subtle.
“You thought it was a good idea to call him and he’s expecting us.” He glanced at the darkening sky. From what he’d seen, light meant little to the vampires in the area but Saul seemed to avoid broad daylight. Something else he needed to understand. “I think Saul would prefer us to visit now.” Sean watched for some reaction, but Elin only nodded and looked unhappy.
She was used to vampires who walked by day as well as by night. But did she know there was another way elsewhere?
Elin went toward the front door, reaching her hand toward him as she went, and Sean held on, entwining their fingers. “Does he have fangs?” she whispered, hesitating on the front step. “I’ve never seen them. That Colin creature is horrible. I hope you threw him so far he never comes back.”
He wanted her to remember what happened because it would make her more careful, but he didn’t intend to dwell on the details of the previous night. “There is a lot about Saul that I don’t understand. He’s not like other vampires. He seems…evolved?” That wasn’t what he had intended to say but it was true.
She turned her face up to his, a frown wrinkling her brows. “Leigh said that’s what Niles thinks, too.”
“But you find him ugly and unappealing?” he asked, knowing he was pushing his luck.
She took hold of his collar and pulled his face down closer to hers. “Saul is very, very handsome. He doesn’t appeal to me…not so far.” Her grin was wicked.
He rang the bell and listened to its echo deep inside the house.
No footsteps warned that Saul was coming before he threw open the door and stood there, arms crossed, unsmiling. “Welcome. I hope I can be of help,” he said. His dark eyes stared into Sean’s. Neither of them had forgotten what had passed between them.
“I don’t like inconveniencing you,” Elin said, keeping her eyes averted from Sean. “But Sean and I both want to know more about…” Her voice trailed off.
“About vampires?” Saul finished for her with a vague smile. “You came to the right place.”
“Perhaps we’ve offended you,” Elin said. She drew in a big breath. “We should probably leave.”
Saul smiled and opened his door wider. “Why don’t you come in? The Team and I have an understanding. We may not always like each other, but we have respect, we have supported one another.”
Sean supposed Elin was right, the man was very handsome, dammit. And mysterious and…well, who knew what a woman saw in a particular man?
“Thanks,” Sean said but Elin’s grip on his hand tightened. She wasn’t comfortable here—Saul made her nervous.
He led them past the clinic po
rtion of the building and downstairs to an art deco basement that favored lime green velvet, odd, fringed lampshades, and cabinets that looked more like pieces of art than furniture.
The light was subdued, but dusk was hitting outside and Saul showed no sign of having just climbed out of his coffin or whatever he slept in.
“What frightens you?” Elin said suddenly. “There’s got to be something that isn’t obvious. I was always told you vampires don’t like silver, but what else? Is the garlic thing true?”
Hiding a smile, Sean looked around. “Is it okay if we sit?” he asked. This woman who fascinated him so, and who held his heart in her hands, never failed to come up with another surprise.
“Take that couch,” Saul said, indicating a lime green piece with fat, roll arms. “It’s more comfortable than it looks—or so I’m told.”
Sean decided not to question what that meant and led Elin to the couch.
“Silver can be a nuisance,” Saul said. “It burns. Are you planning an attack on me, Elin?”
“Of course not.” She sounded amused. “I’m curious. I am curious about everything. I’m also not violent. Can you be violent?”
This is one way to get to the heart of things. Sean decided to leave the two of them to spar their way through whatever this meeting ritual was.
“I can be,” Saul said frankly. “If I must.” He wasn’t smiling.
“Do you know a vampire called Colin?” Elin said, looking the man directly in the face. “He’s disgusting and he tried to kidnap me last night. Hateful. He got into the cottage, and if Sean hadn’t come, that thing might have succeeded.”
“Indeed?” Saul inclined his head. “You don’t know about our local scourge, our vampire group intent on making their reputation true? Colin, his sister, and the rest of their blood-hungry crew? Do you know where they live, where they…do what such creatures do?”
Elin shook her head, no.
“They are not far from here,” Saul said with a vague gesture. He raised his face. “I can smell them by the essence of their acts.” His disgust was obvious.
Darkness Bred (Chimney Rock) Page 6
