He turned to face their very interested audience. “Alphas.” His broad back still partially shielded her from them.
She remained with her gaze fixed on her fingers that were joined up in her lap.
“Couldn’t this have waited?” There was a lethal edge to his tone. The force of his personality pressed down on her chest. He was using his dominance to confront the three leaders.
She winced. One did not speak with such forcefulness, not when faced with the alphas of the most dangerous clans in this part of the world.
“I trust the doctor took good care of you and made sure you were all recovered and up to this meeting?” a female voice purred back. Her tone was lazy. It did nothing to disguise the dominance of the dragon shifter whose owner it was.
“Vance is a damn good surgeon, and you know it, Eve.” He growled.
The scent of dragon smoke grew heavy in the air.
The man was going to get himself torn to shreds. He really had not one iota of self-preservation. He was also probably just trying to keep the alphas distracted to buy her enough time. It warmed her inside. She didn’t want to feel grateful for him, but he made it difficult to be angry at him for long. She blew out a breath.
She had to pretend a confidence she didn’t feel, it was the only way out. She raised her gaze, leaned forward, and looked around him, at the dragon alpha. Purple and gold eyes stared at her in frank scrutiny. Her features were so familiar, and that cocky confidence she wore was something Trinity recognized at once. “You are also Neo’s sister?”
“For my sins.” The alpha smirked.
“Apparently being very sure of oneself runs in the family.” Oops! She clapped her palm over her mouth.
Silence.
Then Neo chuckled. It broke the tension in the room.
The woman next to the alpha snorted. She looked at her with amber eyes gleaming.
Trinity drew in a breath. The oxygen rushed to her starved lungs. Perhaps she’d make it out of here alive, after all.
The man on the other side of Eve cracked a smile. His emotionless features softened a little.
And Eve? She giggled. It was such a feminine sound. It was definitely not something Trinity expected to hear from a woman who seemed as tough as dragon scales. It also changed her entire face, transformed her features and made her look so alluring.
Trinity stared.
“Vance and Logan already filled us in on what happened on stage, at the beach, and at the infirmary.” Eve jerked her chin in Vance’s direction. Her shoulders tensed.
Was there a hint of animosity there?
Trinity couldn’t resist flicking a glance at Vance. He leaned against the wall next to the window. It was almost as if he wished he was anywhere but here. His color was also paler than before.
He met her gaze. The skin around his eyes bunched.
She sensed a turmoil in the man. If anything, his emotions were even more finely stretched than when she had seen him just a little while ago.
He changed his stance from foot to foot but didn’t look away.
The healer in her wanted to reach out to him. She stretched out her hand on the table and leaned forward ready to go to him.
He shook his head. This city was apparently filled with stubborn men who didn’t know when to give in and let someone else help them.
Next to her she sensed Neo stiffen. He’d noticed her silent dialogue with Vance, then.
Vance turned his gaze on Eve. For the moment she decided to follow his lead. She swiveled in her seat to face the dragon alpha.
“We have some questions for you,” the other woman spoke. She was softer, curvier, her features stunning. She canted her head, returning Trinity’s gaze just as frankly.
Trinity folded her arms in her lap. “Anything I can help you with, Alpha.”
“Call me Leana.” The woman’s amber eyes sparkled. “I’ve met your mother.”
The breath rushed out of Trinity as if she’d been punched in the gut.
“I didn’t mean to take you unawares.” Leana leaned forward. “It was only to reassure you that you can speak up freely, without fear of any repercussions.” Leana surveyed her features. “You do look so much like her.”
Trinity blinked back tears. “I am nothing like her. She was the kindest soul I knew, and I am—”
“The epitome of everything that’s good and pure and what this world needs right now.”
Trinity jerked her head in Neo’s direction. Not what she’d expected. He’d surprised her again by coming to her rescue.
He didn’t look at her. His jaw firmed, and his features gave away nothing else of what he was feeling right then.
A surge of fierce delight bloomed inside her.
He’d always make sure to take care of her feelings. It gave her hope they would be equal in a relationship, but she pushed the thought aside. There was no future for them together. Hadn’t she already made that clear?
The silence stretched. The tension in the room ratcheted up. The alphas were clearly not used to being interrupted that way.
Eve cleared her throat. “That’s very kind of you, Neo, to enlighten us about Trinity’s strengths. I’m sure she’d love to speak for herself.”
Trinity tore her gaze from Neo’ features. Blood thudded at her temples. She wiped her damp hands on her denim-clad thigh. “I am sorry I brought the Dark Fae to your city. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Why did you come here, Trinity?” the man next to Eve spoke. His features were set in hard lines.
There was a kindness to his tone she hadn’t bargained on hearing. It was almost her undoing.
She hadn’t expected complete strangers to show her empathy when even her own blood had only thought of her as someone to barter, who could save their lives.
She shouldn’t be thinking of her grandmother with such bitterness. If it was not for her, she may not have run from Igor, wouldn’t have come to this city. She’d found the place she belonged, had found the one man she wanted to be with, except he’d never be hers.
She pushed her chair back and stood. “This has all been a terrible mistake. I shouldn’t have come here. I shouldn’t have stayed for this meeting. I am only postponing the inevitable. I need to get back to my own clan. I—”
A thump had her jerking her head in Vance’s direction.
She pushed back her chair farther and rushed to where Vance lay prone on the floor.
11
Neo
Neo’s chair overturned with a crash as he jumped to his feet.
Logan pushed his chair aside and followed him. The three alphas were also on their feet.
He sprang across the floor to Vance.
Trinity was just ahead of him. She bent over Vance, her fingers at his wrist. “His pulse is very weak.” Her eyebrows furrowed, and her gaze narrowed on his face.
Vance’s face was pale. He noticed for the first time the usually immaculate doctor’s shirt was crumpled.
“He’s exhausted. I’ve been trying to tell him to take time off, but he won’t listen to anyone.”
“It’s more than exhaustion.” Something in her voice drew his attention away from the doc. Her features were pinched.
“He’s dying?”
She glanced at him. The skin around her eyes stretched. The look in them told him he’d guessed right.
Neo swore, the anger more directed at himself. He’d known something was wrong with Vance over the past few months, since he’d first arrived in Bombay to lend his support to Eve and the alliance of the Elysians, dragons, and the Council.
He’d simply put down the doc’s losing weight and appearing unwell to pining for Serena.
“It’s the antidote he’s injected himself with that’s killing him from inside.” Logan prowled across the room to stand near them.
“Antidote?” Trinity raised her head.
“It hides his presence on the psychic plane so the Elysian rebels couldn’t find him. He was also able to extend its masking influence to
the rest of the core team of the Council.” Logan’s voice was matter-of-fact, but Neo wondered if there was an accusing tone to it. Clearly Logan thought the Council should have not allowed the doc to experiment on himself and endanger his life.
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Eve tossed her head. “Since he took the antidote, the Elysian rebels have not been able to trace us on the psychic plane.”
“But at what cost?” Leana folded her arms over her chest, her warm brown eyes troubled.
“He’s a traitor.” Eve growled and propped her hand on her hip.
“And look how many lives he’s saved.” Zach’s gaze narrowed. “Almost all of us have been seriously injured, and he’s healed all of us. Including you, Eve.”
Neo knew Zach was referring to the time when Eve had been in a coma after a clash with the Elysian rebel leader.
“He never let on that he was half Elysian. Not in all the years he was part of Leana’s team. She gave him a place here in Bombay, when no one trusted vampires.” Eve growled again.
“Remember, too, he only went undercover with the Council because I asked him to.” Zach’s tone had a dangerous edge. It was a reminder that while the emotions infusing the Sian Web were making him more human, he was still a lethal warrior.
Eve huffed out a breath.
Neo sensed Trinity’s gaze. Her features were set. She shook her head, just a small movement, but he understood she was trying to convey Vance’s condition was very serious.
Neo frowned down at the doc’s pale face. The scent of loss clung so heavy to the man it was an almost palpable presence. Neo was a shifter, and a trained covert officer of the Bureau. He should have spotted the change in Vance’s health right off. How had he missed that?
Trinity placed her palm over Vance’s chest.
Neo’s jaw stiffened. He didn’t like Trinity touching another man.
His dragon twitched and brushed against his skin, its claws raking. Neo winced, but the pain helped him focus. He admitted the absurdity of his thoughts.
Vance was unwell, and Trinity was only trying to soothe him. Not like his dragon gave a damn.
His beast was focused on the fact that she was his mate. He needed to claim her before he let her near any other male.
The force of his emotions slammed into him, the last vestiges of rational thought fleeing. The breath rushed out of him so fast his head spun.
He’d spent much of his adult life trying to subsume the shifter part of himself. It was the reason he’d joined the Bureau, why he’d taken on the rockstar person. He’d told himself it was his way of getting revenge, but really it was only to distract him from the real issue—that his dragon had never recovered from Igor’s abuse.
Meeting Trinity had forced his beast to the fore.
She brought out his protective instincts in a way no one else had. She made him acknowledge he was a dragon first and foremost, that he couldn’t hide his true self anymore. He was ready to face his fears.
He placed his palm over hers. “No.”
She looked up, her eyes widening with surprise. “I can help him.”
“You’ll get hurt.” The scent of dragon smoke seeped into the air, and the presence of his dragon strengthened and again pushed up under his skin. He needed to get her away from Vance.
“This is what I was born for, it’s my calling.” She bit her lower lip.
He didn’t dare allow himself to gaze at her mouth. “I can’t let you put yourself in danger.” The words came out harsher than he intended.
She stiffened, and her eyes narrowed.
He had no claim to her, but he couldn’t stop himself from speaking. “Don’t,” he gasped. “Please.” His throat closed. He couldn’t allow her to hurt herself. Even though the rational part of him insisted that she was only trying to help Vance. But, dios, the thought of anything happening to her churned his guts. His heart rammed into his rib cage.
His dragon strengthened, its spirit growing stronger, merging, forming into the outline of the beast whose echoes of pain he remembered from the time the animal had been tortured.
Sweat broke out over his forehead and ran down his back, blood draining from his face.
“Neo?” She brought her other palm down and rubbed his ice-cold skin between her smaller, warmer hands. “I am here, I am not going anywhere.” She swallowed, and her eyes swiveled away for a second.
He held on to her hand like it was the last solid surface in a world that whirled around him. “I know you can help him, but I can’t stand by and watch as it hurts you.”
“I can’t watch him suffer.” She raised her chin. “Not when I am the only person who can help him.”
She held his gaze, and he sensed the determination in hers. He’d seen how she’d healed him. If there was even a chance she could help Vance, then she needed to do it.
“Fine.” He squeezed her palm. “But the first sign of trouble, and I’m…” What? What could he do? “I’ll kiss you and bring you right back to me. Got it?”
12
Trinity
“Fine,” she forced out.
The things he said. That familiar curl of desire tugged her belly. She’d made it clear there wasn’t a future for them together. So why did his concern feel so right?
She pushed the thought away. She needed to help Vance.
The doc’s breathing had become shallower, and his color had faded even more. His limbs twitched as if he was caught up in something playing out in his thoughts.
She had to act—right away.
Trinity dropped into herself. She pulled on the strands of energy that were so much a part of her. She drew the shimmering, healing heat up to her fingertips, farther up to her third eye.
The energy poured out of her and flowed over Vance. For a second she felt nothing, just a coldness that was his being. Then loneliness rushed over her and a sense of abandonment so strong she felt like she’d been hit in the chest.
Her shoulders hunched, her throat closed, and her muscles tensed. Tears pricked her eyes.
She saw the muddy brown stain of the antidote he’d swallowed. It coursed out into his cells, streaking his blood, mottling it a dark, angry green in places. And his body? It did nothing to fight back. It was as if it had given in to the poison that was corroding him.
She built a psychic barrier between the places where the antidote was eating away at him and his organs.
The energy soared from her into parts of him that needed it most.
She poured reassurances on the psychic plane, drawing on the concern and love she sensed among all those in the room. She drew on all that and surrounded Vance’s astral body with it. You’re wanted, your friends miss you, they want you back. She felt the antidote retreat a bit. A temporary reprieve. She’d only bought a little more time.
The energy swirled over Vance, then back through the psychic pathways, toward her, up her fingers, into her blood. It flooded back into her heart and shut off.
Sweat beaded on her upper lip.
The adrenaline, that joyous feeling of the light bloomed over her. Once more, just for a second, she stood poised between the two worlds. The unicorn in her wanted to fly toward the light, merge with it, and break out of the restraints of her physical body. Heat surrounded her, crashed over her, a sensuous need of wanting and so much desire it yanked her right back into her body.
Her eyes flew open.
She was in Neo’s lap.
He was cradling her to his chest.
Her head was tucked under his chin. His scent wrapped around her, the furnace heat of his body cocooning her, the feel of his skin against hers grounding her.
Waves of concern from him washed over her.
Warmth radiated through her body.
She knew it was wrong, that this was only temporary, yet she couldn’t stop herself from raising her palm to his cheek.
“He’s lost the will to live. His body is not fighting the antidote,” she whispered to him.
The room fell s
ilent.
“We need to send for Serena.” Neo raised his chin. He directed his words at the three alphas. “Wherever she is, we must find her. She is the only one who can make him want to live again.”
Silence.
Trinity stayed where she was, savoring this feeling, committing it to memory, tracing the shape of his strong jaw, the shadow of a beard streaked across his chin.
“I should go.” Eve shifted her stance. “I could fly to Namibia, where her pride is from. Chances are that’s where she went.”
“Cain will not let you go alone, and you know that.” Leana placed her arm on Eve’s shoulder.
“Cain’s her mate,” Neo whispered, nuzzling Trinity’s hair.
She should tell him to stop, but a weariness gripped her limbs. She didn’t have the strength to protest, not right then. Instead, she burrowed into his chest, not caring he was seated on the floor, that they had an audience. Everything was inconsequential, except for this time she had with him.
“I’ll go instead,” Logan offered. “Besides, the Bureau wants me to head to Namibia to check out a psychic disturbance in that area anyway.”
Eve walked over to Vance and dropped to her knees next to him. “Cain and I will keep watch over him, make sure he is safe until all of you get back.” She ran her fingers over Vance’s forehead.
Trinity couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw a hint of tears in the alpha’s eyes. She did care for Vance after all.
All of them in the room formed a circle of trust. She so wanted to be a part of it, too, but this was all an illusion. Soon she would be gone from here, to a kind of life she couldn’t even imagine for herself.
Tiredness drew her under, and her limbs twitched.
“It’s Akasha’s first birthday party, and we do expect both of you to attend.”
Trinity recognized Leana’s voice. But who was Akasha?
“Her daughter,” Neo whispered again, almost as if he’d read her mind.
Right.
“It’s a good choice to go ahead with the party, else the kids would be disappointed. Besides, it’s smart to maintain a semblance of regularity to the outside world.” Logan turned to the exit. “I’ll start making preparations for my trip.”
Seduction Page 6
