Tainted Night, Tainted Blood

by E. S. Moore

  I stopped and leaned on the table. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Things came up.”

  Ethan started to say more but froze. “What happened to you?” he asked. “Jesus.” He walked toward me, wincing as if he could feel every bruise and cut. “And where did you get those horrible clothes?”

  I sighed. I really didn’t want to get into it until I felt better. While I wanted to let Ethan know I was still alive, I had hoped to do it after my bath. I figured a good wash and a new set of clothes would have hid most of the damage. He never would have known how bad it really was.

  But it was too late now. He was circling me, looking me up and down. He reached out every few seconds as if he wanted to touch me, but held off as if he was afraid to. I didn’t blame him. I probably looked like hell.

  “I found Thomas.”

  “Jesus,” he said again. He stared at me wide-eyed. “He did this to you?”

  “No,” I said. “Not entirely.” I suppressed a groan as I shifted my weight. “He had some friends.”

  “And all of that.” He motioned toward the stitches under my chin.

  “Doctor Lei sewed me up.”

  “Who?”

  I didn’t feel like explaining. “Thomas is alive, Ethan,” I said. “He’s alive and I think he is starting to remember who he once was.”

  Ethan sat down heavily. “But he did this to you?”

  I started to shrug. Pain lanced through my shoulder and I settled for a nod. “He isn’t there yet. I think if we can catch him, we’ll be able to restrain him. It’ll take time, but I think we can reach him.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “Jonathan and I.” No sense in hiding it. “I’m leaving later to discuss it with him.”

  “Tonight?”

  “No better time.”

  “Jesus, Kat.” Ethan shook his head. “You’ve been gone for days, you look like someone dropped you into a meat grinder and then tried to sew you back together, and you want to go running off again? Take a break. I don’t think I can handle another night wondering if you’re dead or alive.”

  “I can’t leave him out there,” I said. I sagged into a chair, unable to stand any longer. “The longer I wait, the more likely it is that Adrian or someone else will find him. I can’t take that chance.”

  “Adrian?” Ethan paled. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  I frowned at him. “I’m not the only one who’s been looking for Thomas. My brother’s been the one who’s been killing all the vamps and wolves lately. He’s in a lot of trouble, and I plan on getting to him before someone else does, someone who won’t be as understanding.”

  “And one more night will really matter?”

  “You don’t understand... .”

  “No, you don’t understand.”

  I looked up at Ethan, stunned. I couldn’t believe he had actually raised his voice at me. I don’t think in all the time I’ve known him he’d ever yelled at me.

  He reddened and looked away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I just can’t accept this. You look like you can barely stand and you plan on running off after your brother. A brother who kicked your butt once already, I might add. Do you really think it’s a good idea to go running off now before you’ve had a chance to recover?”

  “I never said I was going after him tonight.”

  “You didn’t have to,” Ethan said. “I know you. You’ll go talk about it for a few minutes, and the next thing you know, you’ll be off chasing after him.”

  I looked down at my hands. Ethan was right. While I might prefer to have everything all planned out, this was Thomas we were talking about. I couldn’t sit back and wait when I knew I could be out there looking for him. I was pretty sure I knew where to find him. Why wait?

  “Kat,” Ethan said. “I know you mean well. I know you want to do what is best for Thomas and everyone else around you, but you have to stop for a few minutes and breathe sometimes. If you don’t, you’re going to get yourself killed rushing into something you aren’t prepared for.”

  A hint of anger started to rise, but I suppressed it. Ethan wasn’t being selfish here. He was trying to look out for me. I was being stupid. I could hardly breathe without whimpering and I expected to go running off to subdue the very man who had hurt me so badly? What was I thinking?

  “All right,” I said, hating myself. I knew it was the right thing to do, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. “I’ll stay home tonight.”

  “Good.”

  “But I’m leaving tomorrow night at first dark. I’ll want all my gear ready, plus a few extras just in case.”

  Ethan frowned. “Where’s your stuff?” he asked, eyeing me critically.

  “Gone.” I left it at that.

  He nodded as if it made perfect sense and started for the basement stairs. “I’m going to make sure you have everything you need. Don’t you dare leave or I’ll have to come after you.”

  I smiled at that. He could hardly leave the house without panicking, yet I believed him. “I won’t.”

  Ethan hurried down the stairs. As soon as he was gone, I forced myself to my feet and dragged my way up to my room. I instantly shed Doctor Lei’s baggy clothes and went to the bathroom.

  I peeled off my bandages and dropped them into the trash. I started for the tub but stopped at the mirror to really look at myself. My eyes were sunken in, my face bruised, though the bruises would fade by morning. The stitches in my shoulder and under my chin were dark against my pale skin. I wondered what she had used to sew me up. They definitely didn’t look like normal stitches.

  I turned so I could see my back and nearly sagged to my knees when I saw the extent of the damage. The skin was so dark it was nearly black. It looked as though someone had run me through with a forklift. It was a wonder I could even move.

  Feeling worse than I had before, I went to the tub to start the water. I applied a liberal amount of bubble bath, and as soon as the tub was full, I sank down into the hot water.

  It was like slipping into acid. My back screamed as the hot water washed over me. I gritted my teeth and forced myself all the way in so that only my nose and eyes were above the water. I trembled there, in so much pain it made me sick.

  But it eventually passed. The pain ebbed away and I was left floating in a state of utter numbness. It almost felt good.

  I stayed in the bath for so long my entire body had started to wrinkle, which did little to help my wounds. All the bubbles had popped and the water had turned cold. It was now a faint pink.

  I dragged myself out of the bloody water and dried off, careful not to press too hard against my wounds. Just the thought of touching them hurt. How I was ever going to fight and subdue Thomas, I would never know.

  Leaving the bathroom, I picked up Doctor Lei’s clothes. There was bloody pus all down the back of the shirt where I had seeped. It made my stomach churn. I tossed the bundle into the hamper. I would return them to her and thank her later, even though she had said I could keep them. It was the least I could do.

  Still naked, I went to the closet and pulled out my old leather coat, the one that was too long. I tossed it on the bed, along with a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. As much as I would want to go out in full leather, I was pretty sure it would be impossible to get anything too tight on my body for weeks.

  I sat down cross-legged on my bed and grabbed a pair of scissors from the bedside table. I rubbed the tough leather of my coat between the pads of my fingers, relishing the feel.

  And then I started cutting.

  I planned on taking off only the last few inches, then sewing the bottom so it wouldn’t look ragged. After the first pass, I found myself cutting another long strip, then another. Before I knew it, I had cut half-a-dozen strips from the coat, my hands working without conscious effort. I held the coat up. It only went down to about midthigh now. It was too short to conceal my sword.

  And for some reason, that’s what did it.

  I burst into tears, rocking back
and forth amidst the ruins of my leather coat. Everything caught up with me: Thomas, Adrian, the Luna Cult, the cop I had attacked, everything. I couldn’t take it. It was just too damn much.

  I cried, letting out all my frustrations, hoping that when I was done, I would be able to face the night like I always had. I wasn’t sure where that girl had gone, the one so willing to kill without a thought. If I was going to survive this, I needed to find her again. And I needed to do it fast.

  22

  I felt much better by the next night. The day was hard to get through, but I managed. The cry did me good. Without it, I wasn’t so sure I would have made it through the day without going crazy. I itched for action.

  As soon as night fell again, I was ready to go. I felt naked without my leather, and the shortened coat didn’t help matters any. The T-shirt was loose enough; it didn’t bother my wounds, though I wish I would have had Ethan come in to rebandage my back. While I managed to cover the gash, I hadn’t done a very good job.

  Ethan had at least set everything out for me down in the basement. I gently put on the shoulder holster. It rubbed up against the bandage, but the pain was minor compared with the pain I would feel if I got to Thomas too late.

  I checked the Glock to make sure it was loaded, slammed it into the shoulder holster, and then threw on my belt, complete with sword and knives. I pocketed a half-dozen silver packets and prayed I wouldn’t have to use them. A pair of spare magazines came next.

  I headed upstairs to find Ethan waiting in the kitchen. “Be careful,” was all he said as I headed out. He knew what was at stake. If this went south, there was a good chance I wasn’t coming back.

  The drive to the Luna Cult garage felt like it took forever. I could feel the seconds tick by. I just wanted to get started and get this over with. Once we had Thomas, I could worry about what to do next.

  I waved toward the gloomy darkness, hoping someone was watching the cameras and would tell Jonathan I was coming. He was expecting me, sure, but I still liked being careful. I didn’t want one of his guards to get a little overzealous, especially one of the new wolves. I’d hate to have to kill someone.

  I reached the Den a few minutes later and pushed through the glass doors. I hardly blinked at the sudden light.

  There was a disgusted grunt and my vision cleared in time for me to see Pablo turn and stalk away in a huff. Thinking back to the night I had come crawling in here, I was pretty sure he had been the one to discover me. I doubted anyone else would curse in Spanish. I was surprised he hadn’t killed me when he’d had the chance.

  Nathan appeared at the top of the stairs and motioned me up. I followed without question and he led me to the sitting room on the second floor. Two guards were standing on either side of the door, Jeremy Lincoln one of them. He did his best to give me a pleasant smile, but the tremble of his hands gave away his nervousness.

  I brushed past the guards and entered the room behind Nathan. Jonathan was seated on the couch, staring into a glass of something ruby red. The faint scent of wine filled the room.

  “I expected you last night,” he said, rising. He carried the glass over to the bar. There was no one behind the counter.

  “I had some things I needed to do,” I said. “We weren’t planning on doing anything last night anyway.”

  Nathan closed the door behind us, leaving just the three of us alone. He crossed the room and took up position behind the couch, arms behind his back. He glowered at the room in general.

  “I almost went ahead without you,” Jonathan said. “I was afraid you had gone off on your own.” He crossed the room and stood between Nathan and I. “Of course, I don’t know where you would have gone, so I was left with no choice but to wait.”

  “Did you tell Adrian?”

  Nathan’s shoulders bunched and his glower deepened. A low rumble came from his chest, but he kept his mouth shut.

  “No,” Jonathan said. “But it might be a good idea if we did.”

  “Why?”

  “We don’t have very many weres at our disposal here. I only trust the three of us to do this, honestly. The others are far too young, far too wild. They might not be able to control themselves, and a lack of control will get them killed.”

  “Then we do it without them.”

  Jonathan sat down on the couch. He faced me, brow furrowed with worry. “And how will we manage it with just three of us? You nearly died.”

  “If it wasn’t for one of them getting lucky, I probably would have had them.”

  “And yet you still lost. We don’t know how many of the Tainted your brother has at his command. Are you sure just the three of us can take them?”

  I shrugged. “We have to try.”

  Jonathan sighed. He wiped his face with his hands, once again giving me the chills. It just didn’t look natural with the glamour. I could almost see his hands passing through it.

  “Please,” he said, motioning to the chair across from him. “Sit. You’re making me nervous.”

  My nerves were so frazzled, I was nearly bouncing from the walls, but I moved to take a seat. It felt good to get off my legs, though. I was definitely not fully recovered from my last encounter with Thomas.

  “What’s our plan?” Jonathan asked as soon as I was seated. “I’ve tried to come up with a way to do this and everything I come up with ends up with us dead. I don’t see how we can pull this off.”

  “We go in, take down his Tainted, and pacify Thomas. Seems easy enough to me.”

  Jonathan gave me a doubtful look. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

  I flipped my coat open a little, exposing the Glock in its holster. “Silver will stop them just as fast as it would any other vamp or wolf. As long as you and Nathan can watch my back, this should be easy enough.”

  “And what do you plan on doing with Thomas once we have him?”

  I bit my lip. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Well, you better figure it out,” Jonathan said. “Silver will only last so long.”

  “I know.”

  “A cell.” Nathan spoke without looking at me.

  The thought of sticking Thomas in a cell made me want to hit something. It seemed almost cruel. Of course, we were going to kill those loyal to him and paralyze him with silver. Was throwing him in a cell while we figured out how to help him really any worse?

  “Okay,” I said. “We put him in a cell here.”

  Jonathan didn’t seem to like the idea but nodded. “We can keep him until we figure out what to do with him. I don’t like it, but it’s all we have.”

  “Then it’s settled,” I said, starting to rise.

  Jonathan raised a hand and motioned for me to stay seated. “I still think we need to tell Adrian.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we have no idea how many Tainted we are dealing with here. It could be half a dozen, or it could be five times that. We just don’t know.”

  “Could be,” I admitted.

  “Which is why we need to tell Adrian.”

  “No.”

  “I don’t think we can do this without him.”

  “No.”

  “Kat ...”

  “I said no.” My anger boiled over. “Adrian will kill him without a second thought. You know that as well as I do. I will not allow that to happen. We do this without him or I do it alone.”

  “We don’t have the people for this.”

  “Then find some.”

  A knock at the door brought all our heads around.

  “Come,” Jonathan said, his voice tight.

  Jeremy stepped inside, his face flushed. He closed the door behind him.

  “What is it?”

  “I want to go.”

  We all stared at him. He might have been a werewolf, but he was still just a kid. Taking him out on something like this was about as smart as taking a bunch of unarmed Purebloods. We all saw how that turned out the last time.

  “No,” I said.

  “I
agree,” Jonathan said. “You are too young, too raw.”

  Jeremy’s back stiffened. “I want to help. I overheard your argument and I agree with the Denmaster. You need more men. I might not fight as well as the rest of you, but I can be of some use.”

  “How?” I asked. “How in the hell do you think you can help us? You can hardly help yourself.”

  Jeremy breathed in and out slowly, as if controlling his inner beast. There was no flare of fire in his eye, no sudden sprouting of fur. I had to admit, he’d gained some control since the night he tried to stalk me.

  “I can help,” he said, glaring at us defiantly. “Even if I’m not involved in the fighting, I want to do something. I could watch for others, make sure no one tries to sneak up on us.” He looked squarely at Jonathan. “You said it yourself, you need more people. Here I am.”

  “Jeremy—” Jonathan began, but Nathan cut him off.

  “It might not be a bad idea.”

  Jonathan and I both turned incredulous looks on him. Nathan stared straight ahead, not meeting anyone’s eye.

  “It’s a terrible idea,” I said.

  “Without Adrian and his weres, we will not survive.” It sounded as if admitting it pained him. “Even though he is young, Mr. Lincoln could be useful. If we are going to do this, we should do it right. Turning away a willing participant will only make things harder than they have to be.”

  I stared at him, surprised. I had always thought of Nathan as more of a grunt. He did the heavy lifting, killed who needed to be killed, but didn’t think too much.

  Yet here he was, making perfect sense. There was a brain in there, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, he was right. Jeremy might not be a trained fighter, but he was a werewolf. He had his uses.

  “Fine,” I said. “Can we just move on and get this thing started? I’m tired of standing around talking about it.”

  Jonathan looked at me like I had betrayed him. He was the Denmaster, protector of the Cult. This had to go against nearly everything he has fought for. He was putting his own men in danger when he knew there was an easier way.

  I shrugged and gave him a crooked smile. “He wants to come. I’m not going to tell him no again. He’s got to get his feet wet eventually.”