In front of her, Hans started removing his shirt and placed it around his waist. The action made his muscles bunch, and in turn made her stare. His bare back was broad, tanned and full of scars, and it made something inside her throb incessantly. She stumbled.
When Hans stopped and looked back, green eyes probing, her cheeks flushed.
“Are you okay?”
Yes. I was just ogling your back.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice coming out primmer than she wanted. She cleared her throat and attempted to soften it. “Keep going.”
“The blisters?”
“Absolutely fine,” she assured.
An hour later, she wanted to curse her own mouth for saying that. Sweat was pouring down her back and soaking her top—the same top that had just dried up from all the melted snow. Her blisters were on fire, and every step felt like she was walking on hot coals.
Suddenly something green entered her vision. She saw palm trees and a flowing fountain of blood, and her mouth watered.
“Do you see it, Hans?”
Hans stopped again. Nell kept staring at the spot that was sparkling in front of her, a grin forming on her face. “It’s beautiful.”
The shifter beside her looked at her in alarm. “Nell?”
But Nell wasn’t imagining it, was she? Red spots began dancing in her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. She wanted to see the blood and the trees again. All that comfort...
But the red persisted, eventually taking over. She swayed and felt arms catching her. Then all consciousness vanished.
*****
When Nell woke up, she found the sun was no longer beating down on her. A few blinks determined that her cloak was hanging in her field of vision, staying up through some makeshift branches. She sat up.
“You really need to eat.”
Hans’ gruff voice penetrated her thoughts. She looked to the side and found green eyes gazing at her even more probingly than before, though his expression was still unreadable.
“I’m quite fine…” she began.
Without a word, he held out a container of blood to her and made her speechless.
“Where did you…?”
Hans shrugged. “Found some rattle snakes nearby. You okay with animal blood?”
Nell hesitated. “It’s the only blood I take.”
She’d never had any human blood—she’d tried it once or twice, but the guilt of doing that to a human, when she’d been one just a few years ago, overwhelmed her too much that she felt miserable right after. Lucinda said that some vampires retained a vulnerability in them that never quite went away—their humanity shining more than their predator side. It was why Nell didn’t have it in her to be a leader, because other than killing those who harmed Lucinda, she didn’t ever want to kill anyone else or make the tough decisions.
Hans was still staring at her, as if trying to figure her out. Gingerly, Nell took the container and took a sip, feeling the first taste burst on her tongue like honey. Energy rushed through her, making her dizzy with relief. Then she was gulping down the rest, her stomach growling as it staved off the first pangs of hunger that came.
When she was finished, she watched Hans tear the rest of a snake open and remove the poison. Then he skinned it and ate the meat, using the sharp teeth of his bear side. When they were done, they drank sips of the water they still had from the river, careful to preserve it for the journey ahead.
Nell made a move to stand up, but Hans was quick as lightning as he nudged her back down. Then he was taking both of her feet and placing them on top of his knees, sending alarm bells ringing in her head as he removed her shoes without warning.
She spoke out in protest, but it was lost over his stubborn head. Hans ignored her and kept peeling off everything, including the bandages she’d placed on her injuries. They were partly dry now, just shallow gashes that looked ugly, but the soles of her feet were a different story. The blisters had now turned an angry violet.
Hans uttered a curse and glared at her. “Fine, huh?”
“They will be,” she insisted.
She heard him mutter something about idiocy and stubbornness, making her temper flare up.
The temper was doused in cold water when he began applying a salve that was minty and gave her instant relief. Then the coldness was replaced by something else entirely as he began using his hands to massage. He had a touch that was every woman’s dream—light enough so as not to hurt, but with enough hardness to apply the correct amount of pressure.
Her heart beat too fast for her own good, and lust shot up in her stomach as he applied the first pressure. She bit back the moan that almost came out to embarrass them both and steadied her hands on his shoulder.
Mistake.
His eyes flashed, then darkened thoroughly. Then the expression was gone, remaining completely professional.
“Tell me if it hurts,” he murmured.
No, it didn’t hurt anymore. His every touch was sending fire to her skin, and it took all of her self-control to pretend she wasn’t feeling anything at all. Inappropriate, her mind screamed. Inappropriate and delicious and all kinds of temptation.
Forbidden.
She needed a blast of cold water, fast. But there was no cold water anywhere in this desert, and so she was stuck with the sensual thoughts that danced in her brain and threatened to drive her crazy.
Finally, just when another moan was about to come out of her throat, his hands were gone, leaving her suddenly hollow. Desperate to keep her distance, she made a move to stand up—and this time couldn’t stifle the cry of pain as the blisters erupted.
Hans cursed again. Then he was lifting her up like she weighed nothing, positioning her until she was straddling his back. Her hands automatically went to his shoulders, wrapping around his neck as she tried to balance herself.
“I’m keeping the shoes until they’re healed,” he growled. Then he gave her the bags and waited for her to shoulder them. “Now we go.”
She didn’t have a choice, because her feet were now buzzing in pain.
So she held on and tried not to think about it.
*****
It was amazing how much stamina Hans had. He walked for hours, carrying her as they sweated the heat out and tried to endure it. She used the cloak on both of them to block out the worst of it, but it didn’t stop the thirst from accumulating.
But that wasn’t the worst thing for her. What she couldn’t stand was how much she could smell him in this heat—all his sweat, all his masculine scent and just everything about him that threatened to unhinge her. She wanted to bury her head on his neck and just keep smelling him, a shocking urge that had never happened before. She wanted to slide her hands all over his skin, all that slickness, and feel his hard length.
Behave, Nell.
She behaved. For the most part.
“Why didn’t you join the battle against the witches?” she blurted out.
Silence reverberated. Then, just when she thought he wasn’t going to answer, his voice carried in the air, soft and gruff.
“I didn’t trust the informer enough. I regret that decision.”
She considered this, then nodded her head. It had been selfish of him, but she couldn’t deny that she’d made decisions as well that she eventually regretted.
“Why do you hate vampires so much?” she asked.
The silence was longer this time before he finally answered.
“A group killed my family when I was six. I was the youngest, and they all died trying to protect me.”
The image of a little boy burned in her mind, and her heart ached. Nell squeezed his shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“I’m…not all of us are like that, Hans.”
His hand squeezed hers back. “I know.”
Something had changed between them—something exhilarating and dangerously close to the surface. She wanted to explore it more than she wanted anythi
ng else, and it burned in her heart like a bright star.
Nell knew there was no turning back.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They found the cave just as the sun had set and the moon had risen, and they both knew it was the one they were looking for. Behind the cave was a cliff, which meant they had finished their journey. This was the North of the North that the witch was referring to.
Rogues entered and exited with ease, and they had no choice but to hide under a growth of rocks and stake out the area in the meantime. They then prepared some weapons in case any rogues came their way, and lay on their stomachs and patiently waited for a way in.
After a few minutes, it was obvious there wouldn’t be any rogues headed their way, as they seemed to follow a path at the right of the cave. The coming and going became more frequent as the moon rose up higher, and Hans tried to count them off in his head. His blood chilled when he realized he had counted a hundred and the flow hadn’t stopped. Too many.
Beside him, Nell seemed to have reached the same conclusion. She sighed, then went quiet for a long time.
Her hair was covered by the cloak, and his hands itched to slide it down so he could watch the reddish strands in the moonlight. Stupid, he knew. Here they were, almost at the end of their goals—and almost every minute of their journey in this deserted area, he simply couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Nell was a revelation, and he wanted to know more about her than he wanted to about anyone else. She made him feel too many things—him, who was usually fine behind his arrogant, stoic mask and never showed his hand until it suited him. But here he was, taking care of her and wanting her to be safe and wishing they had met under different circumstances so he could get to know her better.
But then again, he realized if he did meet her under normal circumstances in New York, he would probably despise her by association.
And that was a tragedy in itself.
“They were probably asleep and just trickling out,” Nell said after a while. “We saw some in the fields, and others in the snow area where there wasn’t any sun. But this—this is where all the others sleep during daytime, Hans. This has got to be the nest.”
A stray hair slid down her face as her head kept moving left and right. Without thinking, Hans’ hand reached out to tuck it back in, his thumb settling between her ear and cheek.
Nell froze.
Hans cleared his throat. “Yeah, I think you’re right. What’s the plan?” He removed his thumb casually.
Nell started breathing again, and his hands itched again.
She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “We just need to wait it out until the coast is clear and most of them are gone. Then we look for your cure, I plant the bomb, and we get out of there fast.”
“You have a bomb?” he asked in disbelief.
Nell grinned, rummaging in her bag. She held out a small, silver disc triumphantly. “It will make the whole nest crumble.”
“Right. Then we go back down.”
She shook her head. “No. I call for reinforcement. A small portal will appear to take us out of here.”
Huh. He wished he thought of that idea. But then again, he’d stayed away from portals and any witch magic in the past.
“Then my mission will be done and yours will be done and…” she trailed off. “Yeah.”
Unspoken words hung in the air, as they both knew what was coming next. It shouldn’t have bothered Hans as much as it did.
“I’m really sorry for all the mean things I said back then to you,” Nell said softly. “I…I guess I didn’t know you that well.”
“You were right on the money,” he said gruffly.
But she was shaking her head, then giving him the glare. “No, I wasn’t. You’ve made some mistakes. You’re paying for them now, because you’re alone here and no one came to help you. But you’ve chosen to save your clan all the same. You’re brave, Hans.”
She was the brave one.
“And you hate vampires but look at you,” she continued. “You never hurt me. You had all the opportunity to do so.”
She shouldn’t have said that. And she shouldn’t be looking at him like that—like he was someone she was seeing in a new light, like she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Hans’ chest constricted as longing hit him like a hard rock, and suddenly he found it hard to breathe. No, he realized—he would never hurt her physically.
But he wanted to kiss her, and he wanted to take her, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to keep her.
And that was going to hurt her eventually.
Despite the sheer force of the want raging inside him, Hans forced himself to back off. He forced his body to stop tensing, and his voice to be casual.
“I don’t hurt unless it’s to my benefit, Nell. And I never bother when it’s not important. I really just want to go home and take care of what’s important to me.”
The silence that followed could have cut through the air. He felt her retreat, felt her gather her emotions, and it felt like his own heart was being crushed. But he ignored her and kept facing the cave.
Finally, she spoke, her voice devoid of any of its previous emotion. “Right.”
His inner bear screamed at him to hold her. But it was too late.
Hans made his bed, and now he had to lie down on it.
It was for the best.
*****
All movement stopped after midnight, and it wasn’t long before they were on the move. Nell’s blisters had healed due to the blood consumption, and she was light on her feet as she led the way and he protected the rear. They’d left their bags and brought only what was important, and the clouds covered the moon as they entered the cave.
A nagging feeling had started on Hans’ shoulder as his eyesight finally adjusted to the darkness. It had been a large cave from the outside, but inside it was even more so. The staggering size opened up to a spacious dome in the middle, with layered holes on all sides that had him realizing where exactly the rogues were staying during daytime.
A nest, indeed.
There must have been thousands of rogues in here, judging from the cave’s size alone. It would be a disaster if they left it just as it was.
Hans was about to check where to best plant the bomb when something caught his attention—a growth of plants just on the other end. It was sparkling, almost like diamonds, and it was as black as its surroundings.
The cure.
Like clockwork, they both moved towards it. Hans knelt beside it and gingerly placed what he could in a box, which would keep it safe until they reached the city. Then he placed it in his pants pocket.
It was then that the nagging feeling on his shoulder turned to a full blown icy sensation. Nell tensed beside him, and he slowly turned around.
Rogues started coming out of the holes—at least a hundred, then more. They had sensed the movement and were coming down, crawling on all fours on the walls. They hadn’t focused on him and Nell yet, but they were going to.
They were trapped.
Slowly, quietly, Nell removed a tiny vial from her pocket. Then she opened it and dropped the contents on the ground. Hans made a move to tug her hand and signal for them to stay still—
A portal opened beside Nell, blindingly white. A second later, a shadow stepped out.
“Took so bloody long! Finally! I thought you were…um. Shit.”
The rogues leapt without warning, and a desperate thought hit Hans as they were in the air—he couldn’t fight them in his human form. Nell could handle a few, but not all of them.
Nell was going to die.
And he realized he didn’t want that to happen. Not ever.
Without thought, he moved, extending his own claws in the air. But instead of swiping at the first incoming rogue, he let Nell handle it.
Then he used his claws to cut a part of his hand off.
The cuff slipped from his now-smaller hand, full of his own blood. Pain blasted in his senses. A scream sounded f
rom Nell. But he was free to shift, and Hans did so. His bear roared to life and killed the rogues that jumped their way, then led them to the middle of the cave and away from Nell.
A battle cry formed behind him, and rogues jumped all over Nell and the other person, too. But something was happening, and it wasn’t long before he saw another set of claws glinting in the dark. Nell flashed by in a blur, but the other person stopped beside him—his body made of scales, and his clear blue eyes full of dark menace.
“Good to see you, Grayson.”
Red hair. Blue eyes. Finn Jackles: exiled dragon shifter and Lucinda’s mate—exiled, because he’d mated with a vampire.
Hans nodded his bear head in acknowledgement. Then they were fighting side by side. Then Nell was joining them.
Soon he was too consumed trying to kill as many as he could, protecting Nell as she planted the bomb in the center of the cave. Rogues trickled inside the entrance—most likely all had come. The pain in his hand, now his bear paw, made fighting difficult, but Hans gave it his all. Finn shouted at Nell to enter the portal. Hans shifted to human form for a second to shout one more thing.
“Protect her! Go! I’ll hold the fort!”
Then he was shifting back to his bear form and fighting for his life as Finn pulled Nell out of there.
His sunshine vampire.
He would die for her.
Hans was holding his own, even while pain now spread to his left paw. He would have lasted a few more seconds, too, just enough to get Finn out of there safely—until a mob surrounded him.
Until they all tried to bite his injury.
Until they tried to rip him apart.
Pain hit him in the head. His consciousness shattered, and he heard echoes. Then he felt himself being dragged, and wondered if he was being saved or mauled.
A flash of Nell floated in his mind, and he offered a wish that she was safe. Then he felt an explosion singe his skin, just as darkness overtook him.
Hans (The Clan Legacy) Page 8
