Burning Days (The Firsts Book 17)

by C. L. Quinn

  With the briefest nod, he headed into the main entrance and toward the stairway that led to the basement level. Once inside, he saw his father some distance across the first floor in the room they called intel. Elias looked up and Jack could tell instantly something was wrong.

  “Wait. I need to speak with my father.”

  “I guess I should have told him no detours.” Ife followed him across the room where he burst through a doorway.

  “Dad, what’s wrong.” He didn’t pose it as a question.

  As he turned toward his son, Elias noticed the women behind him, but he didn’t care, his eyes moved back to Jack and still took several moments before he answered.

  “He’s gone.” Elias’s voice broke when he stood and looked at Jack.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Ben’s gone, Jack. I did what we both know we had to do. I had to save you from the soul-sucking choice of having to put your own brother down.”

  Jack grabbed his father, his grip brutal. “Did you kill him? Have you smoked him?”

  “I didn’t do it, Barnaby did, but with my agreement. By now, yes, he’s probably been smoked. I’m so, so sorry, Jack. We did not have a choice.”

  No one saw her move, but Ife had pushed Jack back and turned Elias toward her. She caught his eyes. “Where have they gone?”

  Jack turned to her. “I know.”

  “Tell me.”

  “The crematorium on the county access road out past the old school. I can show you.”

  “We’ll go now.” She turned to Elias. “Tell no one what you’ve done or that you’ve seen us.”

  With no idea what was happening, a theme for the night, Jack felt himself moving through the building and out to the lift-car instantaneously. He had no idea how he’d gotten there.

  “Sit back and relax,” Ife commanded as the car lifted off faster than he’d ever seen one rise before.

  “I hope we’re not too late,” Cairine whispered.

  “So do I. What a horrible tragedy if they kill Jack’s brother for no reason.”

  Jack wanted to punch something, someone. He wanted to scream. All he could do was sit back on his seat and relax. Physically, he had, but mentally, he was furious and hurting inside. He couldn’t believe his father had set up Ben’s death. It didn’t fucking matter that he might be a vampire, they’d find a way to fix it, to change him back, to deal with it. But you don’t fucking kill family!

  “There, there, that large white building.”

  The car lowered in front of the main entrance and they were out and inside using the same split-second movement. Jack had already worked it out. It was vampire movement and he had to accept a fact he’d already been forming. Ife and this beautiful redhead were vampires.

  “Which way?”

  “Left, to the back.”

  Head spinning for the third time, Jack headed straight to the oven that he himself had used so many times, terrified about what he would see.

  As they’d flown over the top of the building, the smoking chimney showed the oven was fired up. Ben…

  The pain that tore through him overrode Ife’s compulsion to remain relaxed.

  “Here!”

  Jack shoved the heavy door open, stumbling when the two vampire women burst past him, then stopped in front of three men laying Ben on the conveyer belt that led into the oven.

  He watched the redhead wave a hand in the air. His eyes moved to Barnaby and the two hunters with him. They hadn’t moved since he first came into the room. Almost at a run, he joined Ife, now leaning over Ben, her fingers moving over his body. She sighed, smiled, and lifted her head.

  “He’s fine, he’s just dead for now. If we had been only a few more moments, though…”

  Her expression changed suddenly and she raced to face Barnaby, the oldest man in the group and obviously the one in charge.

  Jack watched, shocked, that not one of the three men moved except their eyes.

  “What is wrong with you people? I can’t…if you had…Gods!” Ife spat at him.

  Cairine, a hand on Jack, who was at his limit tonight, caught his eyes. “Jack, look at me. Sleep.”

  He fell into her arms and she lifted him onto the conveyer belt beside Ben. “Ife, let’s finish this and get both of these men to safety.”

  Nodding, Ife turned back to Barnaby and his team.

  “Look at me.” They did at once. “You will all go home and stay there. You will remember nothing that you have done today, and you will not kill one more vampire. Go.”

  Ife looked up at Cari. “I’m sorry, my friend. I lost it for a moment. The brutality of what they do.”

  “They think they are in the right.”

  “I do know that, but we almost lost Jack’s brother tonight and that would not have been okay.”

  “Your passion has always served you well. Let’s get these men back to the house. Your Jack needs some clarification before he is certain he’s lost his mind. There’s only so much he can take, even under compulsion.”

  “It’s true. You get Ben, I’ll take Jack.”

  “Of course.”

  At the beach house, Cairine laid Ben in the spare bedroom downstairs, one with full vampire shielding. She watched his stilled breath and sighed in relief that they had arrived in time to save him. This entire situation was going to be much worse before it was ever better.

  Joining Ife in the living room, she watched as Ife made sure Jack was comfortable on the sofa where she’d placed him. She positioned him thoughtfully so that his neck and head were supported by a pillow and no legs or arms were dangling.

  “Just wake him up, Ife. You’re going to tell him anyway.”

  “I thought I’d wait until tomorrow when we rise. After a good night’s rest.”

  “You’re stalling. In this case, however, I agree. You need some rest too, this has been far too emotional for someone with your empathic skill. I assume you’re going to put him into your bed.”

  “I think I will. It’s wise.”

  “Yes,” Cairine said, her smile impish. “Wise, is why you’re doing it.”

  “All right. I want him with me. After tomorrow, when I return his full free will, when I tell him the truth, when I trash my chances with him, I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”

  “But his brother is coming with us, right? We can’t leave him without guidance.”

  “He is.Tomorrow, we also find out exactly what we face as a race with this hunter situation. Tomorrow, we begin to deconstruct Jack and Ben’s world. I won’t blame him for hating me.”

  “He couldn’t hate you. No one could.”

  “Well, we’ll find out soon. Cari, thank you for being here for me. This is going to get hard and ugly when we bring in Xavier.”

  “There’s no doubt. So, get some rest, hold your man, and I’ll see you when the sun dies, my sister.”

  Close hugs later, the two vampires went into their rooms, locked them down, and spelled the entrances.

  For long minutes, Ife sat on her bed watching Jack in induced sleep, stared at the face she’d come to love. Amazed that this simple thing of watching him made her heart pound, she had to admit that he’d become important to her.

  Could you fall in love this quickly? The answer seemed to be yes.

  “Jack, wake.”

  While his eyes opened quickly, it took a few moments for him to come completely aware. His ready smile let her know he was pleased to see her too. She’d removed all compulsions, so she wasn’t certain what to expect.

  “Hey,” he whispered. Pushing up, Jack slid closer to kiss Ife lightly. Looking around, he frowned, then glanced down to see he was still fully dressed. “How did I…”

  Memory slammed back. “Ife, was I dreaming, or did you and a beautiful redhead rescue Ben?”

  “No, you weren’t dreaming.”

  She watched him access and try to process memories of the events that led him to this bed, a night so bizarre, he couldn’t make any sense of it.
>
  “First, since I feel like everything I think I know is a dream, is Ben safe?”

  “Ben is safe.”

  “All right.” More insane memories came to him. His eyes shot to Ife’s unnaturally pale blues. “Tell me why I remember things that couldn’t have happened. Ife what are you? What is your friend? Tell me the truth.”

  “I will. Jack, we haven’t known each other long, but what we do know, we both like. It’s nearly dawn now, and I ask you, can you trust me, today, while we rest, and then when we wake this coming night, Cari and I will tell you everything. You need to know and I need to tell you. So all I ask is that you give me this one day. I know a lot seems unexplained and I promise, you’ll understand it all when we talk next. Ben will be there too because he needs to know the truth as well.”

  Trust. Something that came hard to those raised in the life of a hunter. Those raised by Elias Remington without doubt. He and Ben had been taught lies and manipulation, and the crazy snippets of memory he had of the past night, a memory that Ben had nearly been smoked, people he knew frozen, unable to move. A night when little made sense; this was a time to deny Ife that request.

  Instead, he nodded.

  Instinct was powerful, too, and he instinctively trusted this woman who he had to admit had his heart. Every element of his life right now seemed off the chain and beyond reality.

  “I can do that. Tonight, then, no secrets, right?”

  “No secrets. If we are to build a relationship, whatever it may end up being, there can be none. I will disclose myself fully.”

  “It’s all I ask. Okay. Sleep then. Or maybe, something to eat first?”

  “You’re hungry? Of course. I’ll be right back.”

  “First. Where is Ben?”

  “Here. He’s in a nearby room. It’s daylight and he’s injured. He’ll sleep until tonight.”

  “Can I see him?”

  She understood the need. Even if Jack was trying to trust her, he needed to see Ben with his own eyes. Taking his hand, she nodded.

  Ben occupied a third bedroom on this second floor, fully shielded with impenetrable panels so UV could never get inside, still unconscious from fatal wounds. Jack would understand that the death wasn’t permanent, but it might be hard to see his brother “dead.”

  “He’s going to be okay, but he’s been killed by gunshots to his chest and forehead. He looks bad, Jack, but he’ll be okay, I promise.”

  “How do you know all this? Obviously you’re familiar with vampires, but how do you know?”

  “Jack, that’s part of trusting me. There’s a lot to tell.”

  He wanted to shove her against the wall and force her to tell him everything right now, but somewhere inside him, a reasonable voice told him that he wasn’t that kind of asshole. He’d give her a chance to explain and then decide if she was being straightforward or fucking with him. The more he tried to remember what he’d been through tonight, the fuzzier the details got. His head hurt and he was starving, so for now, he’d do what he had to and move forward.

  “Just let me see Ben.”

  “Here, safe and sound.”

  Jack watched this mystery of a woman lift a hand in what seemed like a small gesture, then push the door open.

  In a bed, uncovered, his clothing filthy, his hair worse, Ben lay unmoving, fatal holes torn through his body, an egregious one near the center of his forehead. Nearly point blank. He was lifeless as one would expect him to be in this condition. Tears sprung in Jack’s eyes, he couldn’t stop them, as he dropped onto the bed and ran his fingertips over Ben’s cold cheek.

  “He’s dead.”

  “Yes, but not forever. A vampire won’t die from these wounds. What I mean is, he won’t stay dead, but you know this.”

  “I do, but it’s different seeing your brother with bullet holes in him.”

  “Of course it is. Trust me, I understand. Jack, let me feed you and we’ll settle in for the day to get desperately needed sleep.”

  “Sure.” With one last look at Ben, Jack followed Ife from the room, and after she repeated the strange movement with her hand, he grabbed it. Something had been playing through his mind since he woke up.

  “You’re sleeping all day. I’ve never seen you except at night. I have odd memories that I can’t reconcile with anything that makes sense, and I think I saw you move faster than I could follow. I may be tired, fucked up, pissed, but I can figure things out. I don’t understand this, and I hope you’ll explain, but…”

  Jack stopped, his eyes searching Ife, her face, so beyond beautiful, a body that could trap a man forever between her legs, something about her that intrigued him and wouldn’t let him go. Fingertips sliding up her arm, he touched her chin, and whispered, because he couldn’t believe he was saying it, “You’re a vampire.”

  Ife didn’t answer immediately. He hoped like hell he was wrong and that she’d laugh and tell him no, that he was crazy. As the moments passed, his eyes met hers again and he watched a minute movement of her head, a barely noticeable nod.

  “I am,” she finally said, quiet, but clearly. “But I’m not what you think I am. Please, we should wait until we’re all together and fully alert.”

  Donovan had converted the entire house for safe vampire passage, so she continued toward the galley.

  Following, Jack didn’t know what else to do, he sat at the bar height bench, and watched silently as Ife prepared and made him something to eat.

  “Grilled cheese, my specialty,” she said, as she set a fat sandwich in front of him.

  Carefully, Jack picked up the thick bread and bit into it.

  After a second bite, he looked up at Ife. “Dear God. I’m either horribly hungry or this is the best grilled cheese on the planet.”

  “Thank you. I learned how to make it from a friend who runs a first rate diner in Las Vegas. The bread is homemade focaccia, toasted with three different cheeses, thick honeyed bacon, and thin slices of jalapenos.”

  “I doubt anything could compare.” Jack took another bite before he looked up. “Thank you for Ben.”

  “Jack, I’d give you anything. When you are finished, join me in my chambers. You can’t leave this house now, it’s spelled to keep us in and others out. I hope you don’t want to.”

  He didn’t answer, so she turned to head back into her room, took a moment to slip into a pale green lightweight tee shirt to sleep and crawled into her bed. Twenty minutes later, Jack entered and closed the door behind him before he walked over to the bed.

  She leaned against plush pillows, her long white hair spread out, the tee shirt so thin it outlined her nipples, her long legs drawn up underneath her. He wanted her, now, before things changed tonight.

  “I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do know one thing. I want to get into this bed and hold you tonight. I want to feel you as close as I can because tomorrow, everything will be different, and I don’t know if we will be together. So I want one more night with you, in case.”

  “That’s exactly how I felt when I brought you into my room tonight. Come to me.”

  Jack didn’t bother with clothes at all, he took off everything, and standing in front of Ife, naked in every possible way, emotionally, intellectually, physically, he walked to the massive bed that he appreciated from the last time he was here.

  Thick muscled thighs carried him to her for what might be their last time. Ife watched every nuance of his body, so incredible for a human male, as he moved onto the bed and straddled her. Bending toward her, he lifted the tee shirt, smiled when he saw that she wore nothing beneath, and slid down to push his tongue between her legs as he pushed them apart.

  Sliding along the slit, his fingers pushing her legs wider, he suddenly lifted his head. “Do I remember…did you bite me?”

  Defending herself, she lifted up onto her arms. “I fed, Jack, yes, but you must understand. Feeding is also sexual and I needed to taste you. It wasn’t just a blood meal, but a chance to develop a deeper connection wit
h you.”

  “I’m not accusing. I kind of remember something about that as well. Weird how some of it is coming back.”

  “Memory bleeds through sometimes, even with compulsion.”

  “So you have compelled me.”

  “To protect you, yes, I have.”

  “Don’t do it again.”

  “I promise I won’t.”

  “Then, I want you to show me how you do a, what did you call it, a blood meal? Do it, Ife, show me how a vampire feeds.”

  “I’ve wanted to, with you fully cognizant, and Jack, I guarantee you’ll love it. You did before, you just have fuzzy memories of it.”

  “Tear me open, vampire,” he commanded.

  This conversation had heightened her libido, sexual need and blood need rapidly rising. Ife grabbed Jack and plopped him onto his back, his arms out to the side as he sought balance. Moving down his body, she nipped and licked, her fingers wrapped around his cock, so tight, it was almost painful, but for Jack, it felt erotic.

  “Many vampires go for the neck, I usually do, it’s easy access and a quick blood draw from the carotid, but with you, the neck simply won’t do.”

  “Do what you need to do, I can handle anything you want.”

  “Blank card, just as I like it. Well, then, we’ll start where I left off in my daydream.”

  Ife moved down Jack’s leg, from his thigh, to the knee, to his ankle, biting, hard, not breaking the skin. She moved back to the upper thigh, her fingers on his cock again. “This is what I did the other night, and it was spectacular, but I couldn’t let you remember it. Now…it’ll be better, you’ll know what we do together.”

  As she bit, pain surged, eroticism like he’d never felt, his cock harder than ever, already weeping, close to orgasm, his own hand sliding along the length, twisting, until Ife pushed him away and her fingers tightened to work him, her tongue gliding around the tip almost too much to bear until she stopped, her eyes on him. Were they glowing?

  He felt her mouth against his leg, her fangs sinking back into him, the sucking motion as she drew his blood into her body, and nearly exploded at the thought.

  Blood drinking erotic? Oh, fuck yeah!