by Nina Bangs
“Bells.” Seir sounded as if she’d just given him the last piece in one of those five-thousand-piece puzzles.
Nope, he wasn’t buying it.
Al must’ve had enough. He glanced at his watch. “It’s late and we’re heading inside. Say what you came here to say.”
“You don’t believe I just wanted some company?” For once the mockery was absent from his voice.
“Not a chance.”
Jenna wasn’t as sure of that as Al seemed.
Seir leaned back against the bench and stared up at the swirling flakes. A sudden frigid breeze whipped around them. Jenna shivered.
“Zero’s in town.” Seir’s slow smile was filled with wicked anticipation.
And at that moment, she could really believe Seir was the demon he claimed. Al stood and pulled Jenna with him. She didn’t fight him.
Al met Seir’s gaze. “Guess he’ll be pissed that you told us.”
Seir lifted his brows in mock puzzlement. “Why? He knows I’m telling you.” His gaze was still fixed on the falling snow. “Fin can probably feel him. He’s that close.” Finally he dropped his glance to look at them. “He’s mad, but he’ll get over it.” He smiled. “The question is, will you?”
Without warning, there was an explosion as every light in the square blew out. Jenna figured it must have even knocked out the electricity in the buildings surrounding Ritten house Square because she couldn’t see even a glimmer of light through the snow.
She felt Al tense beside her. He was ready. As Jenna held her breath, all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart.
“Let’s get out of here.” Al grabbed her hand and started to run.
Jenna was counting on his sense of direction because she couldn’t see a thing. Behind her she heard Seir’s laughter.
“You guys are lucky. Zero’s feeling playful to night!” Seir’s amusement followed them out of the park.
For whatever reason, Fin’s condo was the only one with any lights. And as they took the elevator up, Jenna leaned against the wall. Al didn’t offer any comments.
Fin met them at the door. He didn’t look upset. “Zero has an immature streak in him. Always has.”
Al looked around at the brightly lit room. “How did this building keep all its lights?”
Fin started to walk away from them. “I’ve protected this building. He can’t touch it.”
Jenna caught up with him. “Wait. If he wants to destroy you guys, why didn’t he kill Al and me?”
Fin paused to look at her. “Zero’s like a cat. He likes to play with his prey. Killing can come later. That’s his weakness. He’s overconfident. He always assumes he’ll get a second shot. Besides, Seir was with you.” Without giving her a chance to throw another question at him, he left the room.
Jenna stared after him and then turned to look at Al. “Do you understand anything that just happened?”
He shook his head. “I guess our exalted leader didn’t think we deserved to know the truth.”
She could see his rage building. This was something he’d have to work through himself. He wouldn’t appreciate her hanging around watching him try to get back his control.
“Look, I’m beat. I’ll see you around noon. I have to find that bell I’m supposed to ring.” Without giving him a chance to argue with her, she left the room.
And as she walked away, she heard his muffled curse and the sound of breaking glass. She winced. All of Fin’s vases had looked expensive.
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna woke with the same sexual buzz she’d felt going to sleep. It was always there now, but each hour it seemed to get louder and louder. She’d tried to swat it away, because there was something totally selfish about imagining sensual scenarios with Al when the fate of humanity hung in the balance.
She thought about those scenarios as she headed toward the dining room. Even though eight hours of restless dreams separated her from Al, she felt as if they’d never parted last night. Because her dreams had all been about him. But every time she’d reached for him in her sleep, he’d morphed into his beast. And that was still a buzz kill for her. Would she ever be able to accept both sides of his nature?
She almost snorted. Not that she’d ever get to a place in their relationship where it mattered. He was too wrapped up in his rage and devotion to duty to feel anything beyond a healthy lust for her.
And if she concentrated hard enough, she could almost be glad about that.
As she entered the dining room, she realized it wasn’t going to be a comfortable meal. Fin sat alone at the table. None of the Eleven were there to act as buffers.
Sighing, she sat down, not too close but not too far away either. Didn’t want to give Fin the impression she was afraid of him. But her subconscious whispered that if ever a man deserved to be feared, it was this one.
“Sleep well, Jenna?” Those strange silver eyes said he knew damn well she hadn’t.
She shrugged. “Not really. I had a lot on my mind.” I had Al on my mind.
He looked away from her to concentrate on his meal: bacon, eggs, and toast. She tried not to be too obvious with her sigh of relief.
“You’ll clog your arteries with that stuff.” God, she loved the smell of bacon. It brought back memories of younger years when Mom would make breakfast for everyone on a Sunday morning. Simpler times. She missed them.
Fin glanced up and grinned. “Then maybe I’m lucky not to have arteries.”
She knew her mouth was hanging open. Not an attractive pose. Jenna didn’t know which shocked her more, his artery comment or the absolute beauty of that smile. Luckily for all human women, he didn’t smile a lot. She thought about that. Actually, he did smile off and on, but his smiles were never real. This one was real.
And he was probably just teasing about his arteries. Pushing away thoughts of smiles and arteries, she allowed Greer to place a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, too. Hey, after the last few nights, living dangerously wasn’t a problem.
“Is Al still sleeping?” Did she sound casual enough?
“No. Utah and Tor picked him up about an hour ago. They’re following a few leads on our mole. He’s probably the one who gave Rap that card about the restaurant. I thought the raptors deserved a chance to hunt down their brother’s betrayer.”
“And they still think of Al as part of their pack?”
He pushed his plate away and concentrated on his coffee. “Yes. And I agree with them.” His gaze drifted to the window. Even though last night’s snow had stopped, the sky still looked gray and threatening. “They’ve always been three, and it’s important that they stay that way.”
“You really believe in the number stuff.” It boggled her mind how someone like Fin could be so into numerology. Numbers were just numbers. Yeah, and vampires were just myths a few days ago. Okay, so she’d keep an open mind. Sort of.
“You’d be surprised what I believe in.” He turned his gaze back to her. “Enough about me, though. We need to talk about you.”
Rats. She felt a lot more comfortable when Fin’s attention was elsewhere. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Sure there is.” He seemed thoughtful. “I’ve noticed how you and Al look at each other.”
“He doesn’t look at me in any particular way.” She wouldn’t insult either of them by claiming she didn’t look at Al.
“He stares at you all the time, Jenna, and it bothers me. Of course, right now the look is mostly lust, but that’s beginning to change.”
Jenna hated her automatic shiver of excitement and pleasure. She didn’t want Al interested. But her emotions didn’t play mind games. Every one of them knew the truth. She was screwed.
Fin didn’t wait for her to voice a denial. “I saw the same pattern with Ty and Kelly. So it’s time I explained the rules of the game you’re playing.”
Game? Now that made her mad. Good. Anger pushed aside her defensive feelings. “Maybe you should hold your lecture until you have s
omething solid to talk about. Yes, I’m attracted to Al, but that’s normal. He’s the kind of guy every woman would notice. That doesn’t mean I want to head down the path my sister took.”
“You’ll get over your fear of his soul.” He sounded matter of fact.
She didn’t try to deny that fear. “I don’t care how good you are, you can’t predict what I’ll feel.” Did she believe that? She wasn’t sure.
He raked his fingers through that mass of silver hair in a classic gesture of male impatience. She smiled. She was getting to him. Jenna took her moments of power wherever she could find them.
“Okay, so humor me. Here’s what you need to know about Al, about any of the Eleven.”
No. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want any knowledge that would add to the confusion building in her mind, her heart.
Fin held his hand up to stop anything she was planning to say. A wasted effort, because she couldn’t force any words past the wall of denial she was frantically building brick by tortured brick.
“A wise woman would never fall in love with Al.” His expression said he wasn’t even close to bestowing the title of “wise” on her stupid head. “To take Al as your mate for life, you’d have to endure a ceremony that would test the limits of your love.”
Her imagination went wild. Images of primitive rituals involving piercings and pain came immediately to mind. “I think Al is safe. I don’t suffer silently.”
“This isn’t about physical pain.”
He stared at her, and she controlled the urge to glance away. The purple was bleeding into those strange silver eyes—beautiful and terrifying.
“Let’s hear it.” As long as it didn’t involve pain, she thought she could stand just about anything. Not that she’d ever want to do the mating-for-life thing.
“To claim Al, you’d have to walk into the heart of his beast and claim a part of his soul. And he’d have to welcome you.”
She frowned. “Exactly what does that mean?”
He exhaled deeply before continuing. She understood the insult. Fin was trying to be patient with her puny human understanding. There were times when she felt like planting her puny human fist in his godlike face.
“You would have to walk into Al’s Allosaurus form.”
“This would all be symbolic, right?”
“No.”
“Eww.”
He smiled. Good, she was amusing him. She lived to entertain.
“If Al accepted you as his mate, his dinosaur form would become incorporeal, allowing you to pass into it.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” At the same time, the thought was more than a little terrifying. “I guess if he didn’t accept me, I’d just go splat against his mighty chest right before he ate me.”
“I think you need to take this a little more seriously.”
She shook her head. “If I do that, then I’ll run screaming from the room.”
“I don’t believe you.” He studied her with hooded eyes. “I think you’re storing all this away so you can write the mother of all features. Someday.”
“Someday,” she agreed. “So what happens after I breach the dino gates?”
“Before you reach the man who stands at the heart of his beast, you’ll see all that he was, all that he experienced.” His gaze pierced her. “All.”
That “all” hinted at more than just a few scenes of an ancient predator running down dinner. She opted not to joke about it. “And why would this be such a scary trip? Not that I’m thinking about taking it.”
“The human mind has its limits.”
Ominous. “You’re not going to explain, are you?”
“No.” He shrugged. “If you take my warning, then you don’t need to know more. And if you ignore it”—Fin let the dire implications fill his pause—“then you’ll experience everything yourself.”
“Let’s assume I’m totally stupid and decide to take my chances with Al, why does he have to give me a piece of his soul?” She might be keeping the tone light, but coldness was creeping up her spine.
“By sharing his soul with you, Al becomes a little less than he is and you become a little more.” He shifted his gaze to the window. “You’ll be mated for all time.”
“All time? Not until death do us part?” No, he couldn’t mean what his words implied.
“You’ll be immortal, Jenna. Just like all of us.” Fin was big on dramatic pauses. “Just like your sister.”
Her breath left her with an explosive “Huh?”
“Al can survive everything except beheading in his human form.” He thought about that. “Probably fire could destroy him too. I’m not sure. Barring those unhappy incidents, Al is immortal. And if he shared his soul with you, the same rules would apply.”
Kelly was immortal? Kelly had kept this from her family? Once Jenna’s initial surge of anger receded, she admitted that no one would have believed her sister anyway.
Jenna was trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound inane after Fin’s bombshell, but it was tough when her brain was a quivering mess. She needn’t have bothered, though, because Shen interrupted.
“Lia is here to talk to Jenna.”
Shen smiled at her, but Jenna wasn’t buying it. What was he beneath that warm and friendly grin? No one connected to the Eleven was what they appeared to be. “Lia? The new vampire queen?”
“Thanks, Shen.” Fin didn’t speak again until Shen had left the room.
Jenna wondered if he suspected his assistant of being the mole. Probably not. Shen wouldn’t still be here if he did.
“I have things to do. Talk to Lia. We need her support. When Al gets back, the two of you can look for bells. Since my vision showed you ringing a bell, I have to believe you’ll find the right one. I just hope it’s soon. Once Eight gets enough recruits, he’ll move on to another city. We have to stop him before that happens.” Taking a last sip of coffee, he stood.
“Wait. If you’re so all-powerful, why can’t you help me find the bell?”
“There’re things I can see, and things I can’t see. I can’t see this.” He left the room.
Well, that was helpful. Now she had to talk to Lia. What did she have to say to her newly crowned highness? Uh, nothing.
Lia strode into the room radiating badass-bitch vibes. She’d traded in her jeans for leather pants and knee-high boots. She wore a black T-shirt under a short leather jacket. But her big blue eyes were the same—hard and determined. She dropped into the chair across from Jenna. “So teach me to be human.”
Jenna blinked. “What?”
Lia rolled her eyes and indulged in an exaggerated sigh. “Dad said I had to enjoy being a human before he’d give permission for me to become vampire. Let the good times commence. I’m twenty-four, but you’d think I was ten.”
“Okay, all this is whizzing right past me. Slow down and elaborate.”
Lia helped herself to a slice of toast. She carefully slathered it with butter. “Dad says I’ve spent my whole life around vampires. He wants me to experience what it’s like being human before I make the final decision to change. Without his okay, I’m screwed. It’s some archaic vampire rule.”
“Great. Just freaking great.”
Lia grinned, and it transformed her into a beautiful woman. “Yeah, tell me about it. But it won’t take long. You can just fill me in on how humans think and give me a quick rundown on their emotions. Then we can do some girl things together—shop, get our hair and nails done, hit a few clubs, and call it quits. It’ll make Dad happy, and I can get on with my real life.”
“Wow, you must think humans are pretty shallow.” Jenna was insulted on behalf of all humanity. “Tell me a little about your real life.”
Lia looked puzzled for a moment before offering a rueful laugh. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to belittle humans. It’s just that I have to get back to leading my people as soon as possible. Since I’m not vampire yet, I have to be better than my mother for everyone to respect me. I can’t m
ake any mistakes. And the longer I’m away from them, the more opportunity for someone to start criticizing.”
Something about Lia reminded Jenna of someone. Someone close. Now who did she know who felt she had to do things better than other members of her family? Standing outside and looking in gave Jenna a whole new perspective. “Why is it important to be better than your mother?” No way would the term “mom” ever fit Katherine. “I bet if you check it out, you’ll find your mother wasn’t universally loved.” Jenna shuddered just thinking about Katherine’s interrogation methods.
The other woman bit her lip in concentration. “My mother never accepted me, never thought of me as an equal. I was human, someone to be hidden and ignored. I want to prove I can lead our people and do it better than she did. It’s a matter of pride.”
Pride. Had Jenna’s eternal search for perfection been all about her own pride? Not a particularly attractive character trait.
“She’ll never know.” Jenna made the statement as gentle as she could.
“But I will.” Lia’s words were bands of steely resolve.
Jenna thought of her own loving family and felt sad for the other woman. “I have a few hours to kill, so why don’t we do a little shopping and talk about being human?” Al wouldn’t want her to leave the condo without him, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. They’d stay close to Ritten house Square and be back in a few hours. It was daylight, and a quick glance out the window showed that the snow had already melted from the streets. There was still a white blanket on trees and grass, but that wouldn’t keep people inside. The sidewalks would be crowded. Not much chance for an attack.
Jenna grabbed her coat and purse before catching the elevator down. As the door opened, Lia and she almost ran into a big, lethal-looking guy wearing all brown. He looked like a grizzly. He blinked and Jenna got the feeling that was equivalent to a shout of surprise from an ordinary person. As she started to go around him, he stepped in front of her.
“I’m Luke, Fin’s driver. I don’t think he’d want you going out by yourself.” He didn’t even attempt to smile.
