by T. A. White
It was a startling contrast to my fight. Neither man was holding back, both going full-out. It was a sobering display, showing just how weak I was in terms of physical strength and speed when compared to them.
“Both are in good form,” Eric said, his voice soft.
I glanced at the other enforcer.
“Though, Liam will win within the next few seconds,” he said almost as an afterthought.
Sure enough, Liam grabbed Nathan’s arm and used it to throw him. Nathan hit the ground with a grunt, Liam’s knee coming down on this throat in the next second. Nathan slapped the ground to tap out.
Liam stood and helped his friend to his feet.
“You were a little enthusiastic there at the end, don’t you think?” Nathan said, rubbing his throat.
“You’ve gotten lazy,” Liam said. “Perhaps you shouldn’t hold back quite so much when training Aileen.”
I blinked and stiffened at the mention of my name.
Nathan paused, his expression turning thoughtful.
Liam moved away, meeting my irate gaze with a hint of smugness. I rolled my eyes. Yes, yes, he was very strong and manly. Unmatched in a fight. I got the point.
“Come, you haven’t had anything to eat tonight. We can take care of that while we discuss what I need from you,” he said, his feet whispering across the grass.
I followed reluctantly, already beginning to regret our agreement. Vampires. Their sneaky machinations knew no bounds.
The kitchen was surprisingly updated, given the fact Liam had no need of one. Most vampires, I’d learned, didn’t eat food despite the ability. I was one of the few who still clung to its comfort.
He headed for the fridge, opening it and grabbing a wine bottle.
I lingered by the doorway of the kitchen, mentally bracing myself. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by throwing up the blood Liam gave me. I already knew that if I tried to avoid drinking blood, he’d force the issue.
I resigned myself to the upset stomach and cramps I knew were in my immediate future as he poured blood into a glass.
“You’re not drinking?” I asked.
“I already met my needs for the night,” he told me, his piercing blue eyes coming up to meet mine in a challenging stare.
I firmly squelched the spark of jealousy that threatened to upset my mood. There was nothing between Liam and myself aside from a few kisses resulting from an overpowering blood lust on my part. That’s it.
He could find sustenance from whoever he wanted. Both Nathan and he had assured me feeding didn’t require passion— it could be no more personal than a visit to the doctor’s office to have blood drawn. Still, I knew from my stay in the mansion that some vampires preferred a little sex with their blood.
I’d never been able to bring myself to ask whether Liam was one of those.
“How nice for you,” I said, grabbing the glass and lifting it to my mouth. The stench of rotted meat wafted up to me.
I tilted the glass up, draining it in seconds. As soon as it hit my tongue and coated my throat, I had to fight the urge to choke, forcing it down through sheer stubbornness.
The glass empty, I scrubbed my hand across my mouth, wishing I could scrub my tongue at the same time.
“Mm, mm, delicious,” I said. I breathed through my nose, hoping doing so would help keep it down.
“Is that so?” he asked, arching an eyebrow, a watchful look on his face.
I gave him a fierce smile even as my stomach turned fretfully. “Yup.”
He poured another glass and slid it toward me. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind drinking another.”
I stared at the glass, feeling something like horror slide through me. There was no way I could drink that, not without losing the battle with my stomach.
“Not necessary,” I forced myself to reply calmly. “This should be more than enough.”
Nathan and Eric entered the kitchen behind us, their voices quieting once they got a look at the standoff taking place between the two of us.
“I disagree,” Liam said, his voice equally calm even as a storm gathered in his eyes. “You need to replace your reserves from last night.”
This asshole knew, I realized. He knew how blood was beginning to affect me; knew it and was forcing me into a situation where I’d have to admit it.
My head spun toward Nathan. Had he been the one to tattle? The slight confusion in his expression told me he didn’t quite understand what was going on.
Nope, not happening.
I pushed the glass back toward him. “I’m full. Maybe later.”
His fangs glinted in his sharp smile as he pushed the glass back toward me. “I insist, and as your boss, you have to listen. Or did you forget the agreement we made earlier tonight.”
Son of a—he wouldn’t. His deadly smile said he would. He’d take pleasure in snatching this job away from me, and knowing him, he’d stick me in the mansion and have Thomas sit on me until they’d dealt with whatever this was.
“Fine,” I snapped, grabbing the glass.
I could do this. Mind over matter. One little glass of blood wasn’t going to bring me down. I’d done much harder stuff than this in my life.
I only made it half-way through the glass before I choked, setting the glass down hard on the marble countertop. My mouth filled with salty saliva and my stomach began to cramp as I held myself still, praying this would pass.
It heaved. Nope, it wasn’t going to pass.
I lunged past Liam for the sink. Everything I’d just downed came right back up, my stomach twisting and knotting as it forced the blood out.
Cool hands touched the sides of my face, lifting my hair away. Liam rubbed a soothing pattern on my back.
There were exclamations behind me over the sound of my throwing up.
“I didn’t know,” Nathan said, sounding horrified. “I’ve seen her drink before. I knew she was having trouble but not to this extent.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Liam told him. His voice held an undercurrent of steel, an indication he wasn’t happy with his enforcer.
When my heaves had abated, but my stomach was still a twisting mass of pain, Liam handed me a wet napkin.
“You have got to be one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met,” he said. It did not sound like a compliment.
I wiped my mouth, then gratefully took the glass of water he gave me, swishing it around in my mouth before spitting it out.
A toothbrush with toothpaste already on it appeared in front of me. Seemed like he had thought of everything.
By the time I finished brushing my teeth, I was shaking, my muscles acting like they’d run a ten-mile race rather than just three feet to the sink.
I slid down, not even bothering to pretend I had strength.
“How did you know?” I asked, resting my hot cheek on the cool floor.
He crouched beside me, before sitting and gently drawing my head into his lap. I wasn’t in any shape to resist, his strokes along my hairline and neck lulling me into complacency.
“There are only a few reasons to lose as much weight as you have,” he said.
I shut my eyes. Of course.
“I’ve also been expecting it.”
I turned to look up at him. He gazed down at me, his face cruelly beautiful. In another time and place, I would have been happy to stare at him forever.
“There is a vital nutrient that is nearly impossible to get, except from a live donor,” he told me. “You made it longer than most, but this is inevitable. You’re fighting against biology. The odds aren’t in your favor.”
“The catalyst was your blood,” I told him.
He inclined his chin. “I suspect it was. You were able to exist on the bagged stuff as long as you did because you had no access to a master’s blood. It meant there was nothing keeping your transformation going. Tasting my blood and then Thomas’s jump-started the process again.”
“So, this is your fault,” I said, closing my eyes.<
br />
His touch hesitated. “In a way. You would have arrived at this point sooner or later, regardless.”
A particularly nasty cramp had me curling onto my side. Liam’s hands steadied me.
When it had passed, I panted and said, “I take it this means you’re going to make me drink from a human.”
“We’re past that point,” Liam responded. “You need a master’s blood now.”
Alarm distracted me momentarily from my pain. Not his. “I’ll try Nathan or Eric.”
Not Liam.
Together, we were too combustible.
He gave me a look that was seductive and arrogant even when viewed from upside down. “You can try, but neither of them possesses the nutrients you need.”
I snorted. Arrogant man.
His smile widened. “You’re welcome to test it out, sweetheart. Of course, when it doesn’t workI’ll have to send you to Thomas so he can keep you out of harm’s way while the rest of us work this case.”
My eyes widened as my mouth fell open.
“I need people who are in top shape,” he told me. “My blood is the most potent here. Maybe if you hadn’t just downed two glasses of blood, you might have been able to get by on theirs. As it stands, mine is the only one that will help.” He gave me a wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll be a perfect gentleman. I promise not to ravish you while you’re drinking.”
“Son of a bitch, you planned this,” I breathed.
He dropped a kiss on my lips and moved me off his lap. “Don’t dawdle now, I have a lot to accomplish tonight.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
He sauntered out of the room, leaving me sitting on the floor fuming at my situation and his ultimatum.
I clambered to my feet, still slightly unsteady and followed him. There weren’t a lot of options. His threat wasn’t an idle one. I knew if I refused, he’d do exactly as he’d warned and deliver me to Thomas. My reasons for taking the job hadn’t changed, even if I hated how circumstances had evolved.
I tracked Liam down to a bedroom on the upper floor.
“Why couldn’t we have done this in the kitchen?” I asked. Or anywhere other than a bedroom.
I didn’t trust myself. That was the sad truth. Liam’s blood was like catnip to me. It stripped away any inhibitions and reduced me to my base desires. In my head, I might know all the reasons it was bad to get involved with Liam, but throw blood into the mix and I forgot myself.
“Because, I’d like to be comfortable for this and sitting on a hard floor is counterintuitive to that,” he said in a dry voice.
I frowned at him, even as I knew his words made sense.
He reclined on the bed and held one autocratic hand out to me. “Come, let’s get this over with. I promise not to bite.”
Because I’d be the one doing the biting.
With reluctance I advanced to the bed and stood beside it, staring down, not really sure what to do with myself.
Liam lifted his chin, baring his throat.
“Nice try, but if we’re going to do this, I’ll be taking blood from the wrist,” I told him.
“Have it your way,” he told me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was enjoying this. A lot.
He held out his wrist to me. I took it and then hesitated. Biting from this angle would be awkward. It would be better to sit beside him on the bed with my back towards him.
He watched me with half-lidded eyes as I moved around. “You’re stalling.”
“I’m getting comfortable,” I muttered.
“You’re—”
I bit down before he could finish that thought. A muffled groan was my reward. Stalling, my ass, I thought.
The blood hit my tongue and all my sense of gloating fell away. Decadence with a hint of chocolate swept me up. Energy filled me almost to bursting.
There was no comparison between this and what I’d drunk in the kitchen. This was life, pure and sparkling, snapping and crackling on my tongue as I gulped it down.
It was fire and lightning. Wicked heat that ignited every nerve in my body.
Liam wasn’t the only one moaning now. It was hard to remember anything with this stuff coursing through my body. I wanted it all. I wanted to climb inside him and never come out.
He curled his arm, pulling me back against his chest, crooning in a different language as I fed from his wrist.
Distantly, I felt the unmistakable sign of his desire against my ass. I wiggled against him, gratified when he hissed out an oath.
Need rose up, potent and almost all-consuming. I resisted the urge to turn in his arms and lose myself to this desire.
My mouth popped free and I sucked down breaths as I shivered, the feel of his blood and the raw desire for his body almost too much to bear.
Liam’s arms were wrapped around me, his body pressed tight against my back, one leg pressed between mine. We were on our sides in the bed.
I started to move and his arms tightened.
“Not yet. Give me a moment,” he rasped.
I settled back, secretly enjoying the weight of him against me, his cool heat against my back.
“You’re going to be the death of me, acushla,” he said.
His arms slackened. Even then it was an effort to force myself up and out of the bed. My legs didn’t want to support my weight and the rest of me wanted to crawl back in bed and find a better use for my night.
Liam sighed behind me. “One day, acushla.”
“Not in this lifetime, Liam,” I said with a bravado I didn’t necessarily feel.
He chuckled, not sounding the least bit disturbed by my rejection. “Then it is good we have many lifetimes.”
“How many of these feedings do I have to go through?” I asked, turning my attention to other matters.
He snuggled back into the bed, his arms clasped behind his head, showing off their well-defined muscles. “Many.”
I paused and narrowed my eyes on him. He wouldn’t draw this out just to make me feel uncomfortable, would he?
“I assume any master vampire would do,” I said slowly, prodding him.
His eyes flashed and he gave me a wicked grin. “I’m sure.”
My shoulders relaxed.
“You could always go to Thomas for blood.”
I stiffened. “There are other masters in the city.”
His nod was slow. “There are, and you would have to join their clan before they’d open a vein for you.”
His expression said checkmate. He had me and he knew it. Thomas wasn’t an option for so many reasons. Similarly, I was unlikely to agree to joining a clan, which left me with Liam. Damn it.
He jackknifed out of the bed, brushing past me, his hand coming to my waist briefly.
“So, how many feedings will I need to endure?” I asked, following him out of the bedroom.
“As many as I deem necessary.”
I stopped before chasing after him. That could mean a lot of things and I didn’t trust him not to take advantage of the situation by stretching these feedings out.
“What if I refuse?” I asked.
Liam stopped, his broad back stiff before he spun, aggressively stepping into my space. I held firm, though it was difficult considering the furious expression on his face.
“Your body will continue to cannibalize itself until you lose who you once were and become a danger to everyone and everything around you. At which point they will call me to put you down like a rabid dog.” Curling his lip, he snarled as he backed me into the wall. “I will not allow you to put me in such a position.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
He remained still, examining me, searching for any hint of subterfuge. For once, there wasn’t any. Not just because of the grim picture he’d painted, but because he’d given me a glimpse of his emotions. There were feelings there.
Strong ones, if his reaction to my question was any indicator.
He straightened and continued down the hall as if the moment had never happened.
&n
bsp; I let him have that, willing to pretend none of this was happening. That my life hadn’t careened wildly out of control. Again.
“There were at least two, probably three or four people responsible for last night,” I said.
“Why do you say that?”
I thought about it. Telling him it was just a feeling probably wouldn’t instill a lot of confidence in my skills.
“The colors were all tangled,” I finally said, struggling to put into words something I just knew on an instinctual level. “From what I know of animating and controlling several constructs, it would be extremely difficult to direct that many golems unless the person was packing some serious juice.”
And we would have known if there was anyone like that in town.
Three golems, maybe five, but nearly thirty? I doubted there was anyone local capable of such a feat.
“Also, Hector wasn’t just sleeping. He was kept in a state of stasis while some type of white butterfly fed from him. It was totally different from whatever created the golems.” Whoever had done that to Hector was seriously powerful. As Fae, Hector would have had his own innate defenses against such magic. The fact they had overpowered him, signified we were dealing with a major power.
“I agree,” Liam said simply.
I stopped, frowning at his back. If he agreed, why did I have to explain all that?
“You have good instincts, but you also need to know why something feels the way it does,” he said in explanation. “Magic is tricky. It’s half-instinct, half-experience. You need to be able to distinguish between the two in order to use your ability to its full potential.”
He didn’t wait for my response, striding into the living room where Nathan sat on the couch flicking through TV channels and Eric stood with his back to us, staring out into the dark.
“Any news?” Liam asked.
Nathan straightened. “Thomas called, the High Fae arrived last night.”
“I’d hoped to have more time to prepare, but this isn’t entirely unexpected,” Liam said.
“Why is it important that they’ve arrived?” I asked, looking between the three.
Dahlia had implied last night that the vampires weren’t happy about the High Fae’s visit, but I couldn’t see why. Thomas had never shown any particular desire to ban any of the spooks from the city, much less an entire species.
