Throughout the bar, people started to call out in worry. Gabriel quickly rolled the two of them to their sides, just as they started to vomit. Both of them were green by this time.
“Dammit, you kids!” Gabriel let out a stream of curses. “Don’t you recognize the smell of vampires anymore?”
He patted down their pockets and found a small bag of white powder. All it took was one taste to know that it was tainted. With a growl, he glanced up. The gang stared at him, frozen. He straightened, moving to one side for Les to take care of Eric and Basil.
“You, call an ambulance to get these idiots to the hospital,” Gabriel ordered. “The rest of you, do a call out and get people to bring in the drugs that this other gang is selling. Bring the dealers to the alphas.”
There were a couple of nods and some of them started for the door before they froze again. The rest of them glanced at each other, caught somewhere between nervous and confused. Gabriel opened his mouth to repeat himself when Les coughed. He glanced down in annoyance to find the bartender looking at him with a wry look on his face.
“You’re not a member anymore, Blizzard.”
Right. It had just been so easy, falling back into that role. For the people who had moved to obey him, too. But he wasn’t part of the gang. They had no reason to obey him.
The door opened again, bringing with it a feline scent. Gabriel whirled toward the door to see Val and Thunder stalk into the bar. They froze as they took in the scene. Val’s eyes widened while Thunder’s narrowed. For a moment, they all stood there, tension enough to strangle the words from his throat.
Even so, relief rose in him. Val looked a little tired, but overall, fine. She was okay.
His relief was short-lived, however, when she grunted at him and sneered. “What are you doing here, cop?”
He opened his mouth furiously, about to ask was she really going to treat him like that after they’d had sex, but stopped again. This was certainly not the place. He’d end up a laughing stock and she’d be hard-pressed to justify her actions. Still, he didn’t like the way she sneered at him. Behind her, Thunder smirked.
“I have reason to believe that Cromwell’s the one pushing drugs into Coalfell,” he replied, keeping his expression stony. “These two idiots took some of that stuff and are suffering from vampire poisoning.”
Val frowned. She hurried over and checked over Eric and Basil herself. They had both stilled and were panting, sweat dripping from their faces. She let out a stream of curses as he had done and got back to her feet.
“Call 911 and get these bozos to the hospital,” she ordered. “Mark, Alan, I want you to track down the people that are selling the tainted drugs. The rest of you, get out there and find me everybody who’s bought any. Bring any dealers you find back here to be questioned by the alpha. Get going!”
A flurry of activity answered her orders. Val turned back to Eric and Basil, worry pinching her face.
“So, they found a way to turn people without biting them,” she mumbled. “Or at least… to weaken us. Les, call Jackson. Get him down here.”
Thunder glared at Gabriel for a moment before he headed into the back. Val took a step after him, then stopped and looked at Gabriel. A wry grin crossed her face and she waved her hand for him to join them.
“Better come along, Blizzard. We’ve got grim news that will affect you, too.”
Chapter Nine
Shadow
Thunder glared his protests at her, but she ignored him. This wasn’t his turf. This was Coalfell and next to Jackson, she held the top rank. If she wanted Gabriel to sit in on this discussion, he would. He needed to know what was going on in the town. Jackson kept him in the dark when it was just gang business, but this was about vampires.
Her stomach twisted as she led the way to the backroom, trying to ignore the unease that Gabriel’s presence brought. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just hatred or anger, as it usually was. No. This time her cheeks had to flush and her heart beat faster. Traitorous body! She preferred it when she was throwing up all over the place.
It would be much better to feel sick than to keep thinking about the way his breath felt against her skin. The sparks that ran up her thigh as his fingers caressed it. The way her core flared to life when his naked body pressed against hers. The soft grunts he made as she ground against him, the look in his eyes as his hands caressed her.
A shiver ran down her spine as he brushed past her and shot her a furious look. She had said something… what was it?
Well, it hardly mattered.
Val cleared her throat as she sat down, avoiding looking at Gabriel. They had done what they had done and, clearly, she hadn’t been in her full faculties, otherwise she’d remember what she had said to make him angry. So, it was best if she just forgot it ever happened and returned to how she felt toward him before. Angry, betrayed, wanting to tear his throat out every time she saw him. It would be so much better than trying to sort out the mess of emotion she found herself in.
Although, if it had just been vampire venom which caused her to sleep with him, why did she want him so bad now?
His presence was like a lightning rod and her body pure energy. Even as she tried to ignore him, she could feel herself being pulled back to him, again and again. Her leopard beat its paws against her chest, wanting to go to him, to curl around his body and playfully nip at his neck. It wanted her to lay down here and now, presenting herself to him and receive the fullness of what he could give her.
Thunder was glaring at her now and she glared back.
“Have something you want to say?” she demanded.
He snorted and looked away.
Val glanced at Gabriel. There was a reason she wasn’t talking, wasn’t there? It was because she wanted to wait for Jackson to arrive, so she wouldn't have to explain multiple times what was going on. It wasn’t because she was suddenly tongue-tied, sitting this close to a man she wanted, but shouldn’t. Thunder would be a much better choice. At least they weren’t on opposite sides…
Thunder wouldn’t make a good dad for her girls, though.
Her hands clenched, and she turned her face away. How had Typhoon known she was pregnant? Was it Roxy who had told him? She hadn’t told anybody—well, except for Gabriel. He didn’t really count. She was just telling him so that things didn’t get weird when she started to show. She didn’t want him claiming her kid as his… and he wasn’t the sort of guy who would take on the responsibility of being a dad to four children who weren’t his.
Was that what her leopard wanted? To have a mate who could help her protect her babies?
“Val, are you gonna tell me what’s going on or not?”
She shoved all thoughts of romance and mates from her mind as she turned to Gabriel. He was tense, jaw tight and eyes blazing. She couldn’t help but notice that he was very carefully not looking at Thunder. The tension between the two of them was thick enough to pluck from the air and weave a basket. Gabriel rose a brow at her and she leaned back in her seat.
“I’m waiting for Jackson. Better say everything only once. It’s more efficient that way, isn’t it?”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at her.
“For God’s sake.” Thunder’s voice was almost sulky as he rumbled. “If you two are going to start trying to Romeo and Juliet this shit—”
“They died, genius,” Gabriel interrupted. “Only an idiot would want to follow in their footsteps.”
Thunder rolled his eyes. “What were you doing here anyway? Isn’t this place firmly the Brotherhood’s territory? Were you planning on getting shot… or maybe you were looking for your lady love?”
“Call me that again and I’ll rip out your throat,” Val hissed.
Thunder opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it.
“I found out that the drugs that Val’s been combating are laced with vamp venom. There are all kinds of people in the hospital showing signs of it. It seems to just wipe out the shifters, give them a small dos
e, but not enough to cause full rabidity. The humans, though… I can’t really tell, but they might be on their way to becoming full vampires. And we still don’t have an answer for how Cromwell can stroll around in daylight.”
Val drummed her fingers against the armrest. Eric and Basil had gone and gotten drugs from a slimy secondary source. Once they pulled through this, they’d have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Of more immediate concern was the humans who’d taken the drugs. The last thing they needed was a hospital to suddenly become a breeding ground for new vamps.
“We’ll have to kill them.” Thunder seemed to read her mind. He shook his head, face grim as Gabriel tensed.
Val nodded. “I’ll get together a team. We’ll figure something out… This isn’t going to be pretty. I’ll have to get volunteers who are willing to get life sentences in jail if it comes to that. Gabriel, you can—”
“No.”
She turned to him, eyes questioning.
“If we can survive the venom without going rabid, then there has to be a way to stop the humans from turning into vampires.”
Had he gone soft? Val sucked on her teeth, fighting an irrational surge of anger. “How do you plan to do that? Are you going to fuck them all into being human again?”
Gabriel's eyes blazed. “If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it! I’ve killed too many good people because they were bitten and now that I know there’s another way, I can’t just go back to wholesale murder!”
Her heart nearly seized at the raw emotion in his words. Because she knew exactly what he meant.
Before her parents were murdered, Gabriel was their enforcer. He was to them what she was to Jackson. Their greatest support, the one who did things nobody else would. When she had become Jackson’s enforcer, she’d had to kill people, too. Friends who had gotten bitten and lost their minds, who would have killed her and others if they had gotten the chance.
If she had figured out a little earlier that it didn’t have to end that way…
She leaned back in her chair, suddenly exhausted. It was so hard, living like this. Sure, there was excitement and fun, but there was also so much violence and death. How much more of it could she take? She wanted to be part of the gang so she could save lives from vampires. How many had she managed to save? And how many more had she killed?
Even as regrets started to rise up in her, she battled them down with pure fury. What made Gabriel think that he was so much more special than the rest of them, that he got to say what happened?
“Guess fucking is all you’re good for,” she spat at him, then smiled. “That, or betraying people who trust you.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to attack her. She wanted him to attack her. Then she could put aside all these feelings that had started to develop. If he laid so much as a finger on her, she could go back to hating him and leave it there.
He didn’t attack, though. His muscles bunched, and his lips curled back to reveal a snarl, but he didn’t so much as move. “Say whatever you want, Valarie. But when the guilt of all your dead starts to snap you in half, don’t expect any sympathy from me—or any fucking.”
Val pressed her lips together. If Thunder wasn’t here… but it was a good thing he was. It stopped her from pouring out her heart like a broken schoolgirl.
“Your parents never wanted you to be part of the gang. Did you know that?” He leaned forward, eyes blazing. “I knew I needed to get out before this life chewed me up and turned me into a hard, bitter killer… Can you say that it’s not too late for you? Would your daughters be proud of the person their mother is?”
Val leaped to her feet, a hiss on her lips.
Thunder lunged. He grabbed Gabriel by the collar and all but threw him toward the door. “You’re finished here. Whatever Tornado wants you to know, he’ll let you know.”
Gabriel snorted. He glared at her for a moment longer, as though expecting her to say something. When she didn’t, he turned on his heel and left the backroom. He slammed the door on the way out. Val’s knees suddenly became shaky and she sat, hard, while clutching her head in her hands.
“You okay?” Thunder’s voice was oddly soothing.
She looked up at him and he cast a pointed glance at her stomach. Her leopard growled. Seriously? He was getting all protective of her because she was pregnant? That almost made her want to put him down right then and there.
“I’m fine,” she snapped. “And next time, let me handle my own business.” She strode to the door and shouted out. “Les! Get some beers back here.”
She turned back round to see Thunder frowning at her, but he wisely didn’t say anything. Val threw herself back in her chair, trying to lounge in a way that would appear like she hadn’t a care in the world, Inside, though, she was trembling. Not seething, that would have been far easier to deal with. Gabriel’s words kept turning over in her mind.
There was a reason she tried her best to keep the girls away from all gang business. The same reason that her parents tried to keep her away from it as she was growing up. She knew that, like her, they would one day have to learn what it was that their mother did. She’d have to make the same choice her parents had. If they were still alive, what would her life be like now? Would she have joined the gang, or would she have been able to have an actual life?
“Just ignore that jerk,” Thunder suggested to her. He sat back next to her and put a hand on her knee. “He’s just a bitter old man.”
His hand started to move up. Val stared at it. When her gaze traveled to Thunder’s face, he gave her a pearly-white smile and cocked an eyebrow. The invitation was clear. She considered it—after all, he was far more her speed than Gabriel was. Not to mention, he was a member of the gang and he’d never hid his interest in her.
He was also handsome, in that smooth-shaven, magazine glossy sort of way. She didn’t know if he oiled his skin or what, but it always seemed to glow. His eyes, dark and endless, were just the sort to let a girl get sucked in and lose all control. Maybe she should indulge. Erase Gabriel from her mind and body. It wasn’t like she had any qualms about hopping from one guy to the next. Thunder might even be willing to make it a ménage a trois.
She didn’t want him touching her, though.
As Les brought in the beers, Thunder moved back. He nodded at her, respecting her decision, and cracked open a beer for himself. Les handed one to Val and she set it down.
“Just a soda for me, thanks.”
Les’s brow furrowed, but he nodded without a word.
Thunder took a couple swallows of beer and leaned back. “So, they don’t know?”
“Nope.” She folded her arms and glared at nothing in particular. “Don’t know how Typhoon found out. I haven’t told anybody yet.”
“Well, your secret is safe with me.”
Val laughed as Les came back in with her soda. As he passed it to her, she saw in his eyes that he had figured it out. He gave her a small smile as he patted her shoulder and left again. Some of the unease that she had been carrying around ever since she found out eased. Maybe she did have an unorthodox life, but she also had an unorthodox family. She wasn’t alone in this.
Her mind trailed back to Gabriel. Why was he the first person she had told? And why did she have to spit out so many cruel words at him?
Self-denial?
Thunder opened his mouth, but before he could say whatever was on his mind, Jackson came in. His face was pinched with worry and Val quickly got to her feet so he could see that she was okay. He embraced her, holding her tightly, before he stepped back. He grunted as he nodded at Thunder, then grabbed a beer and sat.
“What’s this about?”
“The new vampire king, Cromwell.” Thunder gulped down some beer. “He had a visit with Typhoon last night. Started trying to make him hand Shadow over, but then changed his mind. Burned the contract of peace right in front of us.”
Jackson snarled under his breath.
Val chugged soda, enjoying the b
urn of it as it moved down her throat. “He’s planning on going after my girls.” Just saying the words made her gut burn. “That’s why I had so many of the gang assigned to go watch over your place. You remember what Astrophel said when he went after Ava? That he wanted to sacrifice her to resurrect “the master”. Said he needed a kite, a panther, and a lioness. We already know that Artemis is a kite. Vampires can sense these things about shifters.”
Her stomach twisted in knots and she clenched her hands. Right now, she wanted more than anything to go track down Gabriel and beg him for help. Forget about her pride and just let herself be utterly vulnerable to him. Was it because he was so sexy, or because she wanted someone to come home to at night? Someone who she could trust with her girls as much as she trusted herself and Jackson?
“You think Cromwell is going to try to hurt the girls?” Fury raged on Jackson’s face.
“Yeah. And he’s going to come after me, still. Because I’m pregnant and apparently being pregnant means that he can kill me and resurrect his dead brethren.” The way Astrophel had tried to kill Ava, pregnant with Lily, to bring back his son. She stood as Jackson’s eyes widened. She didn’t want to talk to him about this, not right now. “I need some air.”
She stormed from the bar into the alley, slamming the door shut behind her. Once alone, she leaned back against the cool bricks and closed her eyes. What was wrong with her? She never lost her cool like this. She couldn’t blame it on being pregnant, either, because she knew that she could handle the hormones.
Her leopard urged her to go to Gabriel.
This was all his fault. Because he was always there when she didn’t want him to be. Always there when she was feeling most vulnerable. Always there. And she wanted him. Wanted him so badly. If she asked him to, would he be her baby’s father? She didn’t know who it was, biologically. There were at least three possibilities and none of them men that she wanted in her children’s lives.
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