This wasn’t my room.
I wasn’t even on a bed.
My cheek was pressed against a cold, hard floor. I sniffed. The scent of Mercer enveloped me, and I sighed, curling my fingers to get ready to push up, when I became aware of the silk stretched over them.
“What the hell?”
I sat up and looked at my hands. My jaw dropped.
What the fuck kind of kinky games had gone on here? Why did I have my black silk thongs tied to my hands? Had Mercer done something to me while I’d been asleep?
But that didn’t make sense. He wasn’t into necrophilia that I knew of. I pursed my lips. No... no, he wouldn’t have done that. So what the hell was going on here?
Then I looked at the rest of me, and thoughts suddenly ceased as I took in the bizarre mix of clothes.
I could have sworn, when I’d crawled into bed with Merc, I’d been wearing one of his smaller button-down shirts and not much else. So why the hell was I wearing skintight jeans, a sweater so ill-fitting that it covered me like a tent, and socks over my jeans with my boots on?
“Merc!” I called out, waiting for the familiar glide of his steps, but I knew, from the very moment I called out his name, he wasn’t here.
I jumped to my feet, unbinding the stupid undies from my hands and dropping them to the floor.
I wrinkled my nose, tasting the scent of my man’s musk, instantly confused. It was hours old. More than that, Steven’s far sweeter odor was also mixed with it. A quick glance around the empty room told me I was in his trapper’s cabin. But why?
I fumbled in my jacket for my phone, hoping that maybe he’d brought it with him and had left it for me. But my pockets were empty.
Starting to feel panicked and instinctually understanding that something had to be very, very wrong for Mercer just abandon me this way I reached inside my shirt and grasped hold of the gold cross.
“Boo, I need you,” I hissed.
The second I felt the static of his presence behind me, I twirled. “Where are they? What’s happened?”
Boo glided over to me. “I think they’ve taken him, peanut.”
“Taken who? Who the fuck has taken my mate?” The mixture of rage and fear ran like electrical currents beneath my skin, and I could feel my face changing, morphing into that thing of both demon and woman.
My fangs tingled.
“James called. Said the Pack had been sent to retrieve him. I’m pretty sure they also stole Steven.”
“Where!” I screamed. “Tell me where?”
“Georgia. The Alpha Council’s castle.”
I shuddered, wrapping my arms around myself. “Why didn’t he take me with them? Why did he abandon me? Boo, I’m freaking out here.” My words came out with a heavy growl laced through them as I began furiously pacing the small length of the floor back and forth.
He shook his head, gaze following my manic pacing. “I believe he was protecting you, Scarlett. I don’t know all the particulars, but he was in a frenzy to make sure they wouldn’t find you for some reason.”
“He knows I’ll follow him.”
He nodded. “I’m sure he does. He didn’t tell me not to let you follow him.”
I scoffed. “You know I love you, Boo, but there’s nothing that can stop me from going to him. Not even you.”
Inside me, I felt Tenebris start to quake. She knew something. Something she was determined to keep from me.
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have dared try.”
I started walking toward the door then stopped and turned. “We gotta go to the cabin, I need sup—”
But Boo shook his head. “The Pack is waiting for you, and I feel they do not have good intentions.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then what the frack am I supposed to do? Sit here and play patty cake? I need to go. I need stuff. I need—”
I snapped my fingers and grinned.
Boo frowned. “I know that look, and it never bodes well.”
I chuckled and batted his words away. “I need to find Carter. The Wolf Pack has no jurisdiction over law enforcement.”
Gesturing toward the door with a sweeping arm motion, Boo said, “After you, vampire.”
I shook my head, so damn grateful to have Boo here with me. “Yeah, let’s go, I guess. Armageddon is finally here.”
MERCER HAD TAKEN BETSY too. Which meant I had to run, and I hated running. Muttering all kinds of oaths as I rounded yet another corner, I came to a screeching halt. The wind was full of twin scents I instantly recognized—the slightly moldy, almond-sweet, sickly scent of walking death and the powerful punch of fire-whiskey and pulsating lust.
Shielding myself behind a screen of massively twisted tree trunks, I weaved a back-and-forth path toward the direction of my house, making sure to keep out of sight.
There, parked in front of my cabin, was a stretch black limo. Milling around it were dozens of armed and grizzled-looking shifters. These weren’t the sleek, predatory killers known as the Wolf Pack of the Alpha Council, but judging by the bits of similar plaid they all wore, I knew in an instant these were men loyal to the European contingency.
A tall, slender shadow, both feminine and masculine, turned, tipping his beautiful face up to the wind.
Blue was dressed in black leather pants and a soft, pale-green leather shirt that molded to his sexy, slender frame. His dark hair was teased up high, and there were silver swirls of glitter framing the corners of his neon-blue eyes. He turned his head just slightly, causing the breeze to riffle through his hair and over his shirt.
He’d never actually looked more fae than he did now, reminding me even a little bit of David Bowie’s Goblin King persona, right down the black riding boots he wore up to his knees.
My heart fluttered as it always did in the presence of the mysterious and infuriating dark fae.
Beside Blue, dressed in his ever-present pair of cream-colored slacks and a button-up shirt, was Carter, looking cool, collected, and like a stereotypical cop, with his Glock holstered on his hip and his badge dangling off his leather belt.
Carter had his arms crossed, looking big and just as intimidating as the shifters around them. He eyed them studiously as he watched them drag box after box out of my home.
My nostrils flared. What was going on here? And why the hell were Blue and Carter playing nice together? They barely tolerated each other at the best of times.
Come to us, pretty vampire. I promise we won’t bite... hard.
I jerked, taking quick inventory of the woods behind me before turning back to look at the pair of them. I wasn’t sure what kind of parlor tricks Blue had just played, but the words rolled on the breeze like a lover’s caress. His mouth had never moved, and in fact, no one else seemed the wiser.
The fae—whether dark or light—had an affinity for nature, so this had to be him. I narrowed my eyes and waited to see whether he’d say something to me again.
Do you know how desperately worried I’ve been, thinking about you, you wicked girl?
I glanced around, seeing and smelling no one. It was definitely Blue speaking to me. His lips curved into a sickle-shaped smirk as he gave the very slightest of nods.
Why was he speaking to me in secret this way? I gripped the base of the tree trunk, splintering bits of wood off into my palms.
LISTEN TO ME, SCARLETT Smith. I am the one who’s been sent to guard you.
My brows shot up toward my hairline. Blue? Blue was Death’s spy? Blue!
I felt the ripple of dark laughter roll across the breeze.
I’m sure you have a thousand questions for me, and I will answer them all, but not here. And not right now. The Campbell pack has sent this contingency here as a show of good faith. They pack up clothes and whatever else for both Mercer and Steven. They say they will escort you directly to Georgia, but I will not allow you to go alone. I’ve brought along Carter to make the flea-ridden beasts act with honor. Now, put on your most charming smile, my pretty little petal, and come to Papa.
&
nbsp; I stayed where I was, hesitating and wondering whether I should go at all. Mercer had gone to great lengths to keep me hidden. Had he just wanted me safe, or had there been other motives for it? Was I supposed to sneak into the Alpha’s stronghold and—
Don’t even think it, you lovely sack of bones.
Blue’s words battered me, making me wince and forcing me to clamp down on my tongue so as not to snarl and give away my position.
What if I couldn’t trust Blue? What was to say this wasn’t some scheme, some trick meant to lure me out? I knew I was starting to sound paranoid, but waking up in the trapper’s cabin alone, with my extremities bound and not even a damn note from Merc, had made me so.
There was the sound of a long-suffering sigh and then...
Daddy dearest paid me a visit tonight, Scar. Gave me all the dirt. I know, okay? About Tenebris. About you. I mean, I always liked you. Maybe even fancied you a time or two million, but even I had no idea you were quite so scintillating. I just want to eat you all up. And then I want to kill that thing you call a mate and make you mine, all mine. What do you say, girl? Care to die with me in a supernova flame of orgasm? What a grand way to go, no? I’ve lived long enough. I’m ready fade into the mist if you are.
Despite myself, I had to fight not to chuckle at his ridiculous teasing. Blue was such a wicked flirt. It was no wonder Mercer always wanted to drive his fist through Blue’s face. And though I knew I shouldn’t ever trust a fae, Blue had always been a weakness of mine, which made me wonder just how the dark fae had gotten mixed up with Harlen in the first place.
Blue’s flirting revealed the truth to me more than anything else he could have said or done. This had to be the man Harlen had told me about.
Do not come through the woods, Scar. Take a winding path to lead them away from the trail of Mercer’s cabin. I’m not sure why it matters, but they mustn’t find it. Go. I will stall them a while longer.
His tone had gone serious, and I swallowed hard, more confused than ever. Nothing was what I’d expected right now. Not Merc abandoning me. Not Blue being the unexpected guardian Harlen had sent for me, and especially not why an old, mostly abandoned trapper’s cabin was so damn important to any of this.
But I trusted without question. Taking a deep breath, I turned in the opposite direction of the way I’d come and ran circles all the way through the woods, making sure to leave my scent everywhere so as to confuse any trackers who tried to follow my circuitous trail back to Mercer’s cabin.
I had Mercer to thank for teaching me not only how to track, but also how to throw off any shifter trackers who tried to follow me. As I was learning how to become a decent little Veiler, I’d never thought his countless lessons—and growing constantly frustrated by the fact that I was a damn vampire and not a wolf and didn’t freaking need to act like one—would save my hide more times than I could count.
Mercer had never led my astray. Not once.
Twenty minutes later, secure in the knowledge that there was no way in hell they’d be able to make heads or tails of my winding, looping scent trails, I finally headed back toward my house.
“Gods,” I heard Blue cry out to a passing burly man of a shifter, “but you’re a strong one, aren’tcha? Never have tried shifter flesh, though I hear it’s delicious.” He wet his lips, winking at the now-blushing, dark-skinned shifter who was so obviously flexing his biceps that it made me groan with embarrassment for him. Could he really not tell that Blue was just toying with him?
All at once, I felt the gaze of all eyes turn on me. The cat was out of the bag, come hell or high water. I was in it up to my eyeballs.
My knees suddenly shook.
In an instant, both Blue and Carter were by my side.
“Scar. There you are. Goddamn, woman, where’d you vanish off to? You had half the precinct running the streets tonight looking for you.” Carter sounded gruff, but beneath it was an obvious sound of relief and affection.
I inhaled when Blue’s cold hands grabbed hold of my elbow, as though to hold me up, but I felt the tremors running through him and knew he was just as affected as I was.
I wished I knew why or that I could ask him one of the dozens of questions hammering away at me. But considering he’d spoken to me on the winds, I doubted it was wise to say any of it.
“Goddess almighty,” Blue cried out, nose wrinkling in obvious disgust. “What the hell are you wearing? No. No, this will never do. You must change now. I will not be seen with you looking like a flea-riddled fae leech.”
I pursed my lips, glaring at him. But even Carter was in on the action now. He’d grabbed hold of my other elbow, and together, they were leading me up the stairs.
“Wait.” The same male with whom Blue had been flirting with just seconds ago tried to get between us. “This is the female vampire. You have been called to Castle Le—”
Blue smacked him playfully on the chest, but hard enough to cause the shifter to stumble.
“La! Do you not see her? She looks like a wastrel. Surely, we have time to change her clothes. Make way, you bunch of hairy heathens,” he snapped as another one tried to block our way.
I wasn’t sure how, but soon, we were in my bedroom, and Blue had slammed the door behind us. Then he did something with his fingers that caused a blue glow of faery light to waver like a silk screen through the room.
“Fucking bastards,” he hissed, morphing from the silly, vain little peacock that he always played to one brimming over with barely leashed rage and power.
“Goddamn, that was close, and we don’t have much time,” Carter snapped, glaring at the door.
Blue rushed over to my closet, yanking open the doors and riffling through my clothes.
“Trash. Trash. Rubbish. What the hell, Scarlett? Seriously?” He yanked out a bright-blue fuzzy sweater and glowered.
“What?” I shrugged. “It’s comfy.”
His lip curled. “It’s dead, is what it is.” He tossed it to the floor and stomped on it for good measure. “Carter, my wards won’t keep them out for long. Tell her what you learned while I try to find something suitable for my sexy little tramp to wear.”
“Hey!”
Blue only chuckled.
“Scar, look at me. Tonight, when we were out looking for you, I had Bianca do her thing, and she heard something on the crosswinds.” He clenched his jaw, hands flexing open and shut, looking reluctant as hell to tell me.
And that wasn’t Carter. He was brash, brave, and stupidly honorable, even when he shouldn’t be. He’d never had any problems telling me the truth, apart from the fact that he’d been a Sharp Elbows in hiding, a fact I’d long since forgiven him for.
I cocked my head, feeling a swarming nest of razor-tipped butterfly wings slicing my gut. Tension making me want to growl, I leaned forward on the balls of my feet. “Carter, just spit it out. What did she see?”
“She saw betrayal.”
Goosebumps broke out over my skin, and cold hammered like an unforgiving, hoary fist inside me. A curl of mist rolled past my tongue as Tenebris trembled.
“What? That can literally mean anyth—”
He shook his head. “No. No, from someone close. From someone you least—”
Blue hip-bumped Carter out of the way, holding up a blue dress in his hand with a plunging neckline and daring cutouts on the side and thighs. Another dress was casually gripped between his strong teeth.
“Fuck man,” Carter groused. “All you had to do was ask me to step aside.”
Blue tossed him the dirtiest look I think I’d ever seen my friend wear before turning his back on Carter and resuming his fluttering over me. He curled his lip and muttered unintelligibly beneath his breath before shaking his head.
“You least expect,” Carter finished, peering over Blue’s shoulder as the dark fae flounced around me like a drunken butterfly.
There was a loud banging on the door. “Open up now! You’ve had more than enough time to—”
Blue spat the dre
ss out of his mouth and said, “Shut your ugly fuck faces. You cannot rush art, you degenerate bastards.”
I stared wide-eyed at Carter, looking to him for some clue as to why Blue was behaving as he was. But my friend just shook his head, looking as confused as I felt. Blue was Blue, and we all knew that, but even this was weird for my eccentric friend.
Tossing the blue dress aside, he held up a little black dress that wasn’t nearly as daring as the blue one but sexy in its simplicity.
He gasped. “I thought I might weep, but hallelujah and praise be, I think we’ve found it, my gorgeous vampiress. What do you think? Sexy. Nerdy. A vixen librarian.” He waggled his brows.
I had no freaking idea why he cared so much, but he was taking my mind off the whole betrayal thing, which I was refusing to accept. Bianca couldn’t possibly know all this. She couldn’t.
She just couldn’t.
I stared at the mirror on my closet door and looked at the dress I’d forgotten I even had. It was a simple thing with a tiny choker collar, made of silky satin, and with an elegant bow that sat at my waistline.
From the front, it wasn’t all that special, but the back was the definite wow factor. It was completely open to just above the spot where my waist met my ass, meaning I had to go braless to wear it.
“I... I...” I tried to yank the dress out of his hand, frowning. “This isn’t necessary.”
“Yes, it is, Scar,” he said softly, voice lowering to that of a lover’s caress as he gently knuckled my cheek, gazing at me with the kind of look I thought I’d always recognized before, but I knew I had to be wrong.
Blue didn’t. He just didn’t.
I shook my head silently.
Carter coughed to regain my attention. He peered at the two of us with a slight frown, confusion evident.
Well, welcome to the club, I wasn’t the only one.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Blue he needed to back up, stop touching me, stop making me feel things that I had no business feeling anymore. They were dirty tricks, and he needed to stop.
His lips were tipped into a soft frown, and there was something so damn vulnerable shading his pretty eyes that the words died on my tongue. Blue knew I loved Mercer, knew my soul and heart belonged to him and him alone. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with my friend, but I didn’t want to hurt him.
The Vampire Went Down to Georgia Page 8
