by L. D. Rose
Valerie searched his face and found no deception. No emotion, either. “C’mon, Bianca,” she said gently as she picked up the damp T-shirt. Bianca whimpered, her dark eyes wide with fear. The knot in Valerie’s stomach tightened.
“It’s all right, he’s with us. He’s with me. He’s going to help you.”
I hope I’m telling the truth.
ELEVEN
Blaze sank into the microfiber loveseat, feeling entirely numb and void.
Kasen had taken Bianca into an adjacent room while Blaze and Valerie remained in the living room. Although Bianca had resisted at first, everything was now calm and quiet. Kasen’s soothing murmurs occasionally drifted through the air, along with the comforting background noise of an occupied home.
But all Blaze could hear were the thoughts roaring in his head.
The female vampire in the back of the van, Ling Zhang, had been one of many who’d tortured Blaze all those years ago. While Tristan had preferred his sjambok, Ling favored her katana. She’d cut into every part of Blaze’s body—like she had with Bianca—with the exception of his face because she wanted to preserve its ‘magnificence.’
She’d also raped him. Repeatedly.
Ugly memories hovered over Blaze’s eyes but he refused to acknowledge them. He couldn’t do this—not here, not now. Ling was dead. It was over. He’d bury that grave in the cemetery of his past and put it to rest. Then stay on an even keel, especially with Valerie around. The last thing he needed was for her to witness how truly fucked up he was.
Not that she hadn’t witnessed it already.
He focused on her to find her staring intently at the hardwood floor, as if trying to burn holes through it with her eyes. Her blond hair had been pulled back in a ponytail, reckless strands falling around her face. Slender, lean, wearing a tank top and shorts, just out for another summer day in the city. Bet the last thing she’d expected to see was a Bella Vista girl at the mercy of a vampire in broad daylight. Shit, it was the last thing he’d expected to see.
And when he’d realized it was Bianca, Elena’s friend, his heart had dropped onto the asphalt. Anyone—anyone—who’d interacted with him in the past week was no longer safe. He was now a liability to everyone around him.
Including the detective in front of him.
Valerie, who’d done more for Bianca than he ever could. Bianca probably thought he was behind it, that he was a killer, that he was responsible. In a way, he was. But without Valerie’s support, without her mere presence, shit would’ve hit the fan fast.
Not to mention she’d kept him afloat when he nearly sank into the black, raging ocean of his past.
Ling, frying on the hood of a Honda. Ling, screaming like a banshee right out of the hell she’d come from. Ling, finally dropping that fucking katana. Ling, riddled with bullets, loaded with silver, but it wasn’t enough, it would never be enough—
Blaze snapped out of it, flinching, and found Valerie staring at him.
Olive green eyes.
Remember something worth remembering.
“. . . a doctor?” Valerie asked, and Blaze realized she’d been talking to him.
“Huh?”
“Your brother,” she said. “Is he a doctor?”
“You could say that.”
She studied him for a beat. “Who was she? The vampire?”
Ah, shit. Of course she’d ask. Did he expect any less of her?
He took a deep breath. Exhaled. “Just another leech.”
She gave him a you're-full-of-shit look. “How’d you know she was there?”
He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees, dragging his hands over his buzz cut. “I knew the driver.”
“But he was human—”
“And I know humans.” He didn’t have the will to be defensive. “They’re no less capable of evil.”
Her expression softened. “How’d you know him?”
The silhouette of a short, stocky man loomed over him, holding open the back doors of a van. He shoved Blaze’s limp leg into the infinite black space, spat on him, and let out a cackle.
“Time to go for a ride, you fucking cholo.”
Blaze gritted his teeth, stuffing the memory back into the trashcan of history. “I just did, all right? He worked for Cyrus and so did the leech. All three of them did.”
Actually, he wasn’t sure about the passenger. Hell, he barely had time to register the guy’s face before he blew it off.
Christ, Blaze, you’re a fucking grenade. What’s going to happen when you finally drop?
Valerie continued to study him, as if unsatisfied with his response. She wasn’t stupid; she knew there was a whole fairy tale behind this. And yeah, it was unfair to keep it from her, especially now that she was neck-deep in it, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it.
Shit, he never talked about it, not with his brothers, not with anyone.
His skin pricked beneath the weight of her gaze. Tension tightened his muscles, making him desperate to go out, escape.
Run.
He stood. “I’m going to have a smoke—”
“No, you’re not.” Kasen’s voice cut in like a scalpel as he entered the room, wiping his hands off on a towel. “You can sit right back down, Diablo.”
The nickname made Blaze aware of his lack of shirt as he glanced down at his bare chest. Valerie shot to her feet, revealing her anxiety and discomfort. Blaze had been too preoccupied with himself to notice. She didn’t have the conviction that Bianca was going to be all right, that Kasen would take good care of her.
Like she’d said before, she didn’t know any of them from a hole in the wall. Except for the vic.
“How is she?” Valerie asked worriedly.
Kasen regarded her with his sharp, ash gray eyes, wearing a T-shirt and cargo shorts. He’d recently trimmed his short blond hair, and he was clean-shaven, as always. He stood a few inches shorter than Blaze and had a swimmer’s physique, broad shoulders with a lean frame. They looked nothing like one another. Kasen resembled a Swedish CEO while Blaze could have easily infiltrated a Mexican drug cartel.
Kasen extended his hand, lips quirking. “Allow me to introduce myself. Name’s Kasen, Kasen Knight.”
Valerie seemed thrown off by the gesture but she took his hand anyway. “Valerie Medeiros. Detective Valerie Medeiros.”
Kasen’s eyebrows lifted as he spared Blaze a glance. “Detective. Good to know Blaze is playing on the right side of the street.”
Blaze repressed the urge to flip him off. “She asked you a question.”
“Bianca’s fine,” Kasen said with that ever-present reassurance in his voice. “She’s asleep now and we should let her rest. I’d like you to stay, Detective, if you don’t mind, so she has a familiar face to wake up to. She’ll need to be cleaned up as well and I think she’d be more comfortable with you than with me or my fiancée. You can peek in at her if you’d like.”
The tension seemed to leave Valerie’s body as relief glimmered in her eyes. “No, it’s okay, she needs sleep. And I’d be more than happy to stay. Was she . . .” Valerie trailed off, searching for the right words to say, as if they were hanging in the air in front of her and she couldn’t quite reach them.
“It could’ve been worse,” Kasen assured her before she had to finish. “You found her just in time.”
She gave Blaze a meaningful look. “Blaze did. He found her in time. I would’ve never known.”
A knot coiled in Blaze’s chest, braiding all the way down to his stomach. Now he really needed a cigarette.
Kasen glanced at him and smiled, but his eyes were filled with concern. He knew something nasty had gone down but he kept all queries to himself.
And Blaze was more than grateful for that.
A melo
dic female voice sweetened the air, followed by the front door slamming. “Honey, I’m home!”
Blaze’s lips twitched at the look on Kasen’s face. If that wasn’t love, he didn’t know what was.
Veronica strolled into the room, carrying a briefcase and a plastic bag, beaming like a ray of sunshine. She wore a short-sleeved button-down shirt, a pencil skirt, and modest heels—business casual and looking the part of the physician she was. She wore no jewelry except for the rock Kasen had given her over a month ago.
Her smile faltered when she saw Blaze and Valerie standing there, then it transformed into shock.
A soft gasp escaped Valerie and Blaze looked at her to find the same stunned expression on her face. “Dr. Kerr?” she said.
“Valerie? Oh my goodness, is that you?”
Blaze and Kasen exchanged bewildered looks. They know each other?
Both women threw their arms around each other with the unmistakable warmth of friends. Both men waited as they said their how-are-yous and how’ve-you-beens until Kasen cleared his throat.
They stopped talking and looked up. Veronica let out a laugh. “Sorry, guys.”
Blaze jutted his chin. “How do you know each other?”
“Ah, well,” Veronica began, but paused as if she weren’t sure where to start. Then Valerie answered for her.
“Dr. Kerr took care of my father a few years ago,” she said, her eyes settling on Blaze. “She treated him for lung cancer.”
Blaze was glad he wore sunglasses because his eyes damn near popped out of his head. He felt as if he’d been sucker punched in the gut. “Lung cancer?”
She nodded, her expression knowing and a little guilty. “He ended up passing away so it’s been a while since I’ve seen VK.” She offered a smile that Veronica returned, her dark eyes glittering with an unspoken memory.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kasen murmured.
Blaze was still too dumbfounded to speak.
Lung cancer. And all of this time he’d been chain smoking around her. Why didn’t she say anything? He would’ve stopped, would’ve gone elsewhere to feed his addiction. How many times had he lit up around her? Why didn’t she tell him?
Then again, why would she tell him? It wasn’t like he was pouring his heart out to her. Maybe she didn’t want him to know.
“Thank you.” She tipped her head, her eyes shining with an old sadness, the kind that was chronic, concealable, but pervasive, the sine qua non of a lost loved one.
And she finally gave Blaze a glimpse into the tragedy inside her that had first lured him in.
“I’d like to think he’s in a better place now.” She shrugged, the supposed nonchalant motion obviously forced. “But, you know.”
Yeah, I know. Jesus, it hadn’t even occurred to him that she had a family, people who cared about her. And here he was, taking her to the streets with him, dragging her into the nasty mess of his life and putting her in the crosshairs of a bloodsucking demon.
Veronica rubbed a comforting hand over Valerie’s shoulder. “C’mon, I’ll make a pot of coffee and you can tell me how you’ve been.”
“Sure,” Valerie began, when Kasen spoke up.
“Ah, we have another visitor.” He regarded Veronica with a solemn expression. “She came in with Blaze and Valerie and she’s resting in the guest room.”
Veronica’s smile faded. “Is everything all right?”
“Now it is. We’ll talk in the kitchen. I’ll make the coffee.”
The chance of escape opened up wide and Blaze dived for it. “I’m going to head out for a bit,” he stated as everyone started for the kitchen. They all looked back at him with varied expressions of surprise, confusion, and suspicion.
“Where are you going?” Kasen asked, the suspicious one.
Blaze spoke to Valerie, answering for her rather than his brother. “I have to go by the station. I need to check it out before nightfall.”
Valerie nodded. “I know.”
“Ah, you mind filling me in on what’s going on here?” Annoyance spilled into Kasen’s voice. Veronica, confused, eyed them all uncertainly.
“I will,” Valerie replied, still watching Blaze. “You’ll be back soon, right?”
The inflection in her voice made it clear he had no choice. And he didn’t mind at all. “Yeah.”
“Promise?” Her need for his vow tied another knot in his chest.
“Promise.”
“I’ll go with you—” Kasen started.
“No, man, I’m fine. It’s nothing. I won’t be long.”
His brother glared at him but he didn’t insist. Good man. “Then don’t hesitate to call me if you need help, all right? And here,” he pulled his keys out of his cargo pocket and tossed them at Blaze, “take my car. The cops will be gunning for a Mustang, so it wouldn’t be smart to take it back out.”
Wise man, too. “Good thinking.”
“Don’t wreck it either. I just bought the damn thing.”
Blaze’s lips quirked. “I won’t. Thanks.”
Kasen nodded as the ladies disappeared into the kitchen, murmuring amongst themselves. “Take care of yourself.”
“Don’t I always?” Blaze headed for the door, but just before he opened it, he realized something.
“Hey, Kase,” he called and his brother spun back around.
“Yeah?”
Blaze glanced down at himself, patting the El Diablo tattoo arcing over his belly. “Mind if I borrow a shirt?”
Kasen chuckled and shook his head. “Only you, man. Only you.”
Valerie couldn’t grasp the fact that Dr. Veronica Kerr was getting hitched with a hybrid.
Apparently their relationship had been kept on the down low, but Kasen and Veronica openly showed their affection for one another in front of Valerie. No qualms, no hesitation. Maybe it was because Valerie was officially ‘in’ on the Senary’s secret, so they were comfortable around her. There were so many potential implications and consequences to their relationship, but they seemed to take it all in stride. They loved each other and that was what mattered.
Veronica had somehow met Kasen through her brother, Jon, but she hadn’t delved too far into it. The last time Valerie had spoken to Veronica was when Special Agent Jonathan Kerr passed away over a year ago. Valerie had worked with Jon on many occasions since he’d been her federal go-to guy, and an excellent one at that. He hadn’t cared about all the bureaucratic bullshit between the police and the feds, probably because his dad had been one of the best cops in the force.
When Jon died, Valerie had called his sister to give her condolences since she couldn’t attend the funeral. She had to work and hoped Veronica would understand. Remembering how Veronica had been so devastated over her brother’s death only brought back painful memories from Valerie’s past.
After all, she’d lost a sibling, too.
Now Veronica seemed incredibly happy, and Valerie was glad for her. Kasen was obviously the source of that happiness and they seemed perfect for each other. Although Kasen hadn’t dropped any real hints, Valerie had a feeling she knew what his ‘superpower’ was.
“Hello?” A small, fragile voice called from within the guest bedroom. “Anybody there?”
And she was going to confirm that suspicion right now.
Valerie rapped her knuckles on the door before peeking in. Bianca sat up on a queen-sized bed loaded with colorful pillows, a maroon fleece blanket thrown over her body. Blaze’s gray T-shirt hung loosely on her, and her long hair was tangled from sleeping. She looked so young, delicate, vulnerable, but that wasn’t what caught Valerie’s breath in her throat.
Bianca didn’t have a single scratch on her body. Not a mark on her tawny skin.
Kasen was a healer. I knew it.
“Valerie!” Bianca smiled with such relief it tugged at her heartstrings. “You’re here. Where are we?”
For a full five seconds Valerie stood there, unable to speak. A healer made sense. Hybrids needed to be treated somehow without going to public hospitals.
But holy Mary Mother of God, this was unbelievable.
“You might want to say something, or else you’ll scare her.”
Valerie let out a half-stifled gasp and nearly leapt away from the door. Kasen leaned his shoulder against the jamb, lips curving as he folded his arms over his chest. She hadn’t sensed him there at all, as if he’d just materialized out of thin air.
“She has a little amnesia.” He spoke softly but Valerie heard every word. “You know how it goes. Pretend everything’s normal. It’ll be better for both of you.”
In other words, pretend he hadn’t healed a girl sporting countless knife wounds. Valerie gaped at him until Bianca called to her again.
“Valerie? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” Valerie blurted at the growing anxiety in Bianca’s voice, still staring at Kasen, who only smiled wider. “Everything is just fine.”
Good God almighty. She turned away from him and entered the room, shutting the door behind her. Good God al-freaking-mighty. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“Where am I?” Bianca repeated, her dark eyes large in her sallow face. She still looked scared, understandably, since she was in a stranger’s house. But by her dazed expression, Valerie could tell Bianca was really having a lapse of memory, a temporary blackout.
