Priceless

by Shannon Mayer

  The crystal vase sparkled in the light, sending rainbows of colour skittering across the table. Pretty.

  Rolling up my left sleeve, I ignored the razor he’d laid out for me and pulled a knife out of my boot. It was clean, sharper than the razor and, better than both those things, I knew it had no added substances on it. Like a drug that would knock me out and leave me vulnerable to Doran’s fangs.

  With a swift slice, I cut across my arm, deep enough that I didn’t feel it at first. The blood welled in the groove I’d cut; I placed it over the vase, and then I felt the first sting. With every ounce of my self-control, I kept my arm dripping into the crystal vase while keeping an eye on Doran. At the halfway mark, I nodded at him. Holding the knife cut shut, I moved my arm away from the vase.

  “Okay, spill,” I said. My arm dripped blood on the floor; somehow I knew that would drive Doran nuts, the wasting of “good blood.” I was right.

  He started to splutter and stood up. “Put your arm back over the vase.”

  “Tell me my entry point.” I felt the distinct shift of power move from him to me.

  His eyes dilated and his mouth hung slightly open, fangs extending, like a junkie staring at his next fix. No response.

  I let go of the cut and let the blood drip to the floor, then scuffed it with my boot. “I can let the next half pint fall to the floor and technically, I’ve fulfilled the bargain.”

  Licking his lips, he gestured with his hand, waving me back to the vase. “A mineshaft. You’ll find the closest entry point to her in a mineshaft.”

  Well, that only narrowed my search down a bit. Coal was plentiful in North Dakota, and along with that came a lot of mineshafts. Some known, some not so known.

  “No other details?” I squeezed out another few drops onto the floor. It hurt, but his response was worth it.

  “Stop! Okay, put your arm over the damn vase, Tracker,” he snapped, his eyes glittering with anger.

  “You’re going to actually help me? Rather than just give vague answers?”

  Nodding emphatically, he again gestured. “Just stop wasting that blood.”

  Placing my arm back over the vase, I let the blood run. With every pump of my heart, a gentle flow slid out. I’d cut deep, but not into an artery or it’d be spurting blood—though I was going to have to make a side trip to the hospital for stitches after this.

  Doran came to stand behind me, his body close enough that I could feel the heat off his body. Unlike their counterparts whose skin was cool and tended to be clammy, daywalkers ran hot. Not that I knew that from a personal introduction; I’d never had to deal with a true vampire. They were rare, deadly, and didn’t tend to leave their territories. Not to mention daywalkers were weaker, more human and less badass blood suckers.

  “The mineshaft, it runs deep, over 200 feet straight down, and its back in your home territory.” He took a deep breath and my hair actually fluttered toward him. With his chin just above my shoulder, he whispered into my ear. “They stole her, in the light of day, underneath her mother’s watchful eye. One moment she was in the playground, then poof” —he blew across my ear, sending a course of shivers through me— “she was gone.”

  Just like Berget.

  He stepped back, leaving me to listen to my heart hammering in my chest, the beat of it loud enough that I knew he could see my pulse jumping in my throat. Fear. I told myself it was fear and adrenaline; that was all.

  Doran smiled at me, just lifting one corner of his mouth. He grabbed the lip rings with his fang and pulled at them, capturing my gaze with ease. There, at the corner of his mouth, it looked soft, as if it were the perfect place to press my lips to his.

  “You’re half pint is finished, Rylee.”

  “Huh.” I cleared my throat. “Right.”

  “Here,” he said, that wicked smile still lingering on his lips, “Let me help you. I am rather good at stitching up wounds.”

  I stumbled away from him, more out of fear for what I was feeling than for my safety. “No. You have your blood and I have my information.” He was trying to pull me under his thrall, and I was falling for it, my mind weak from the blood loss.

  Keeping my eyes on him, I again backed toward the door, gripping my arm, keeping it closed as best I could. I had bandages in the Jeep. I just had to get there.

  13

  I was shaking by the time I got to my Jeep, and I knew I’d lost more blood than the pint I’d had to give up. “Ah, damn it!” I couldn’t get the wrap tight enough on my forearm. Giving up, I tied off the wrap and turned on the Jeep. The engine turned over nicely and I pulled away from the curb.

  If I’d been home, I would’ve gone to the hospital and checked on Giselle, and got stitched up there. As it was, Dox could stitch me up.

  I barely made it back to the Landing Pad when a wave of dizziness crashed over me. Leaning on the horn, I didn’t lift off until Dox came running out, Alex on his heels with a grin stretched across his face.

  “What the hell happened?” Dox’s voice rebounded as if he had a mega phone. Just another quirk of being an ogre. A perk when you had to yell over a noisy crowd; a serious pain when it was right in your ear.

  “A bargain. I got what I needed, but now I’m thinking I could use some stitches.”

  Dox helped me out and, when my legs buckled, swept me up into his arms and strode into his bar. “Seriously, I didn’t think he’d go this far. I’ll kill him.”

  “Can’t. He’s a daywalker.”

  He stopped mid-stride and looked down at me. “Did he bite you?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I had to give him some blood.” I took a deep breath. “Just a little.” I tried to make a pinching motion with my thumb and forefinger on the hand of the arm I’d cut. Nothing moved. “Oops.”

  “Oops, my ass, Rylee. You cut too damn deep!” He laid me out on the bar. The polished wood was cool and felt nice against my bare skin. Bare skin?

  Lifting my head, I glanced down at my body. Apparently I’d passed out somewhere in the process as my shirt had been cut off me. Hell, I’d liked that shirt.

  Dox was on the inside of the bar, my arm in his hands as he cleaned and probed the knife wound. “Why did you use your own blade? You know they are spelled to cut deep.”

  Shrugging while lying down didn’t really give the effect I wanted. “I didn’t want to use the razor he left out. Was afraid he might have put something on it.”

  He grunted, but stopped chastising me. We both knew daywalkers, just like their counterparts, were more than apt when it came to knocking out their victims and draining them dry over a long period of time.

  At first the tug and pull on my skin as Dox stitched me up didn’t hurt. It just felt weird. And then all my adrenaline started to wear off.

  “Ow! Damn it.” I tried to keep myself from jerking away from him. Alex bounded over to me, bunting his head into my good hand, which hung off the bar. “Hey, buddy.” His tongue lolled and his eyes were wide with worry. “Rylee hurt.”

  “Only for a minute. Were the brownies good?” I made a real attempt to not give into the pain starting to burn up my arm.

  Alex bobbed his head. “More brownies?”

  “Maybe later.”

  Dox stuck me again and I hissed in a breath past my teeth. “Unnecessary roughness.”

  “Where’s Milly?” The ogre asked.

  “The Coven finally accepted her. It meant she had to cut ties with me and Giselle.” A new pain flared up, right around my heart.

  He paused in his of torturing me. “And she did it? Are you kidding me?”

  Again, I attempted a shrug. “It’s what she’s wanted as long as I’ve known her. I’m not going to take it away from her. Though I still want to kick her ass.”

  The stitching resumed and I kept my other hand busy petting Alex’s head, scratching his ears, reminding myself this was the price to pay for India. That helped.

  “I have to drive home as soon as possible,” I said as Dox put in the last st
itch. I looked over at his needlework. “Those are good, better than any doctor I’ve seen do stitches.”

  He snorted out a laugh. “You don’t get to the top of the food chain without being able to stitch yourself up from time to time.”

  It took me a minute to realize what he meant. “You’ve had to stitch yourself up?”

  “More than once.” He held his hand out to me and helped me to sit up on the bar, just as the door binged and the first real patron of the day came in.

  Just my luck, it was someone I knew, far too well.

  O’Shea.

  “Adamson, what the hell are you . . . are you bleeding?” His voice shifted, as he covered the distance between us. I’ll be buggered; he was worried about me.

  “Yes, thank you very much. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’m half naked and would like to get some clothes on without you staring at all that God gave me.” I glanced sideways at him and batted my eyelashes for good measure.

  Even in the dim light, I watched in fascination as the colour crept up his neck and into his face. “Are you blushing, O’Shea?” Milly, Milly, why didn’t I believe you about this power women have over men long ago?

  “Don’t tease him, Rylee. Any man would stare at what you’ve got.” Dox gave me a long wink; I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. I stretched my arms over my head, feeling O’Shea’s gaze linger on my skin, like a touch. If this was all it took to keep him quiet, then I needed to modify my regular wardrobe to be more like Milly, with skin-tight, revealing clothes. Anything to keep O’Shea off balance.

  “I’m not staring at you. I’m looking to see where all the blood came from. Or is it not yours?” His voice prickled with malice.

  I froze with my hands above my head. “You want me to leave them up here while you read me my rights?” Shimmying off the bar, I hopped to the floor, not lowering my hands. The world swayed and all thoughts of bravado left me as I concentrated on not falling flat on my face.

  Hands steadied me. “I guess that answers my question.” O’Shea’s voice rumbled too close for comfort. With a jerk, I slid out of his hands and backed up to the closest bar stool.

  “What do you want?” I snapped, no longer interested in playing games.

  “You mean to tell me that you don’t know? Adamson, I’d have thought after all these years you’d know I frequent the dives of New Mexico on my off days.” He pulled out a bar stool next to me and sat down.

  “Beer,” was all he said when Dox lifted his eyebrows. Of course, O’Shea couldn’t see what Dox really was, anymore than he could see a werewolf and not a large dog slinking toward him with his teeth bared.

  “Alex, here,” I said, my tone brooking no argument. Alex grumbled under his breath, something that could easily be written off by human ears as a growl.

  Pressing up against my leg, he glared at O’Shea, who turned to look at the “dog” at my side. “What is he?”

  “A mutt,” was my only answer. Dox put a coaster down in front of O’Shea, followed by an ice-cold beer that soaked through the paper coaster within seconds.

  O’Shea nodded his thanks and took a long drag off the bottle. “Best beer I’ve tasted in a long while, almost a hint of something in it. Can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  What the hell was this small chat shit? What was his game? As he and Dox discussed the different local brews, I slipped from my stool and headed to the back room where I knew Dox kept some spare clothes.

  A black t-shirt that was a little on the tight side and said “Suck it!” on the front was not my first choice, but the other option was an extra large that stated it was a tool shed. Nope, “Suck it!” didn’t look too bad, especially not with O’Shea waiting out front.

  Alex stayed at my side, his presence a steady comfort. If I wasn’t careful, I’d come to rely on him to be there, like a large teddy bear. I washed the blood off my arm and body then tugged the too-tight shirt on over my head.

  Stepping into the bar again, I was shocked to see O’Shea passed out on the bar.

  “What happened? I was only gone like five minutes.” I plucked open one of O’Shea’s eyelids.

  Dox laughed. “Well, after he dissed my place—again—I offered him some of the local juice.”

  I let out a groan. “Ogre beer?”

  He just smiled, didn’t even bother to nod. “Well, how long will he be out?” The stuff was potent. What moonshine was to water, Ogre Beer was to human alcohol. I’d never tried it myself, though apparently it was sweet and tangy. It was the after kick that worried me.

  “Oh, he’ll be out for about an hour, then have a hangover for at least another four,” Dox said, wiping down the bar around the FBI agent. And just where was his partner exactly? Nope, didn’t matter, wasn’t my issue.

  “I’ve gotta go then. If I can get a head start, maybe I can keep him out of the way this time.”

  Dox walked me to the door. “He’s the one who went after you, isn’t he?”

  Blinking away sudden tears, I cleared my throat and hid the moisture in my eyes with a hand through the hair. “Yeah, but he never could prove anything; not a motive, nothing. He just wanted to be right, to break the big case.”

  “Well, I’ll stall him much as I can.” He pulled me into a big hug, being careful of my arm, letting me go just as carefully.

  A cold nose bumped into my hand. “Alex too.”

  Laughing, Dox lifted Alex into a hug, which the werewolf did his best to reciprocate—not an easy task when your limbs are stuck between human and wolf.

  “Can’t say I’ve ever hugged a werewolf before,” Dox said, patting Alex on the head. The werewolf’s tongue lolled out as he stared up at Dox. A sudden thought hit me—hard.

  “If something ever happens to me, Dox, will you take Alex? His pack’ll kill him.”

  The ogre frowned, his piercings clinking together. “I don’t know, Rylee. Just don’t get yourself into trouble, how about that?”

  I nodded and pushed through the door into the brilliant white sunlight that was New Mexico. If only it were as easy as Dox made it out to be. The thing was, when it came to me and trouble, we went together like ice cream and pie.

  14

  The drive back to North Dakota took about the same amount of time as heading south, only now I was counting down in my head the time we had until O’Shea would be up and at ‘em. Or more accurate, up and at me.

  First thing, we went to the hospital. I didn’t go in to see Giselle, just had the nurse give me the update. They didn’t think she had swine flu—which I already knew—and she was being evaluated for a respite home.

  “How soon will they know?”

  The nurse flipped through the paperwork. “Looks like we should have everything back by the end of the week.”

  Tapping the counter I bit the edge of my lip. “You’ll keep her in until then?”

  “Yes, we don’t get the final results back from her blood work until then either.” The nurse said as a beeper went off. “Excuse me.”

  At the mention of blood, I fingered the stitches on my arm wrapped with a soft bandage.

  Climbing back into my Jeep, I turned around and headed home to stock up on supplies. I would need flashlights, my climbing harness and rope, and riot gear, to name a few things. Almost three hours later, the place I called home came into sight.

  As we pulled into the driveway, I reached for India and felt a distant pang of loneliness and fear, then a wash of curiosity. That was odd, and not in a good way. If whoever had her was piquing her curiosity, it might be harder to extricate her from them.

  The big, two-story farmhouse needed a paint job, and there were parts of the white picket fence that were down, but it was still a sturdy house that more than did the job. Upstairs was all bedrooms, and I left that to Alex for the most part. My room was on the main floor with the kitchen off one side and the only bathroom in the house on the other.

  The house was cool inside, a breeze blowing through the open windows, keeping the air from go
ing stagnant while I was gone.

  Alex whimpered and clung to my leg. Not a good sign. Waving for him to stay behind, then pressing one finger to my lips for him to stay quiet, I eased two blades out of my boots. The thing was, weapons, guns in particular, didn’t always work around the supernatural. They would misfire, explode and even fall apart for no apparent reason. Knives and blades on the other hand, they always worked just fine.

  Creeping through the house, my ears strained to catch the slightest sound, a breath of air, the shuffle of clothing. The wooden floors didn’t creak under my steps, but still the tension around me rose. Someone— or something—was in the house. I just didn’t know what.

  Looking over my shoulder at Alex, I lifted my eyebrows and pointed up. He nodded.

  Whoever or whatever it was, they were upstairs. Damn. Moving as fast as I could while still staying quiet, I started up the curling staircase. I avoided the fourth step up; I knew it creaked. Just before the bend in the stairs that would expose me to the top floor, I paused.

  Skin tingling, I knew I was in trouble a split second before the wash of magic hit me. Electricity danced over my body, blue and sparking as the spell slammed me into the far wall, and then it dissipated. Round one to Rylee and her magic dissolving abilities. At least I didn’t get the full brunt of the spell.

  “Alex, run!” was all I managed to gasp out before being slammed again, this time with a chair launched at me by another spell. It rarely took the bad guys long to realize they could use other things to smash me rather than using the magic itself. My head snapped against the plaster wall with a solid thud. Black circles spun across my vision; I tried to sit up and failed on the first attempt. Leaning against the wall, I used my legs to push me up. Alex leapt over me, growling and snarling, his hackles standing on end from the base of his neck all the way down his bushy tail.

  Steps scampered down the stairs, the intruders no longer making any attempt to hide themselves.

  “Alex.” I moaned, grabbing at his collar. “Outside. Now.”