Bound to Night (7 page)

Sebastian hissed, and she glanced at him. “We have few rules,” he said. “But the most sacred is we never give information to humans. We do not sell out our own kind. It’s the only reason we’ve remained secret for so long.”

“Does he know the name of his contact at The Facility?” Jack asked.

“Yes, it’s Dr. Latham. You met him. He was in charge of my case.”

“What about the man who paid him to kill you?”

“I don’t know.” She concentrated on Oswald, and saw a picture inside his head—a man handing over money. She tried to deny what she was seeing, but it was impossible. “Why?” she whispered.

“Tasha?”

She glanced up to find Jack staring at her with understanding in his eyes.

“You knew,” she said bleakly.

“I suspected.”

“My father paid to have me attacked?”

“No, he paid to have you killed.”

“But why? And how did you know?”

“We don’t know why yet, but we found his name in certain records.”

“That’s why you made me question him, isn’t it? It wasn’t because he wouldn’t answer. You just knew I wouldn’t believe unless I saw it for myself.”

Her world was falling apart around her. She stood alone and abandoned in the ruins, searching for some sort of explanation. Her father would never have harmed her. But the truth sank in, and she dropped into a chair, her legs refusing to hold her any longer.

She couldn’t go home. Even if there was an explanation, she couldn’t go home until she knew what it was.

“What do we do with him?” Jack said to Sebastian.

Oswald looked up, fear in his eyes.

“You know what you’ve done is punishable by death.” Sebastian shook his head in disgust. “Take him away. Do what you like with him.”

Seth grinned and dragged the man from the room.

A shiver fluttered down Tasha’s spine. “What will they do to him?”

Jack looked at her thoughtfully, and then shrugged. “I like my blood given freely. Seth prefers to take his.”

She shivered again, suddenly cold, and she wrapped her arms around herself. “So what’s next?”

Jack came over and crouched down in front of her. “You could forget about all this. Forget about your family. Let others deal with it.”

“I can’t. You don’t understand—my father is all I have.”

Sebastian moved to stand besides Jack. “You have the pack now. They are your family. You’re one of us.”

She jumped up. “But I’m not! For years, everyone has told me I’m a werewolf, but I’ve never turned. Why? If I’m one of you, why don’t I turn?”

Jack went over to the side table and poured himself a drink. He swallowed it in one gulp and poured himself another.

“Can’t you just tell me?” she asked.

Jack glanced over at Sebastian, who shrugged.

“Sex,” Sebastian said.

“What?”

“You’re a virgin. When you have sex, you will turn.”

She stared at the werewolf, unsure whether to believe him.

“Normally, it happens soon after the attack,” Sebastian continued. “We don’t, as a rule, change children, and once our blood is in your veins, your own blood flows hot.”

“Mine didn’t,” she said. She could have added that at least it hadn’t until she met Jack.

“Probably your age and incarceration affected you. That will change.”

She had a sudden flashback to the image of Sebastian’s lean, taut body poised above her own. Her muscles clenched. She closed her eyes for a brief moment before striding over to where Jack stood.

She took the glass from his hand and swallowed the drink down. “Right,” she said. “So, am I correct in thinking if I never have sex, then I’ll never turn. Never become a proper werewolf. I can live a normal life?”

“In theory,” Sebastian replied. “But it won’t work out like that. You’ll give in.”

“Oh, I think I can manage to hold back.”

Sebastian shook his head. “You’ll feel the pull of the full moon. Besides Tasha, it’s a gift, not a curse.”

“Yeah, I met your doctor friend—he really sees it as a gift.”

“Connor is an exception and there are reasons. But only a small number of those attacked, survive. You were lucky.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” she said, not even attempting to keep the sarcasm from her voice. Then she had a thought. “The sex, does it have to be with another werewolf?” She avoided looking at Jack as she asked this, but saw Sebastian’s gaze turn sharply to the vampire.

“No,” he said. “Any sex will do. Now, I must go speak to the pack, explain why I gave one of our own to the vampires. They won’t be happy.”

He left the room and Tasha forced herself to turn and face Jack. “Is that why you wouldn’t have sex with me in The Facility?”

He nodded. “I knew you had no wish to perform for your captors.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told you why. Do you think you would have liked the consequences if your jailors had discovered that little piece of information?”

An image of Johnson’s clammy hands flashed through her mind and Tasha shuddered in revulsion.

“Besides,” Jack continued. “It wasn’t my place. Pack law needs to be taught by the pack. We do not interfere with others’ laws. That’s why Oswald had to die. He sold pack secrets to outsiders.”

“You’re not an outsider.”

“I’m not pack. Sebastian and I work together, often for a common cause, but we are different. Tasha, if you accept pack law, you have a place here, a family. They will protect you.”

“Better than my first one did?” she asked, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice. “I can’t believe my father wanted me dead. Why, Jack? What’s wrong with me?”

Jack reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her close to the long length of his body.

Every inch of him imprinted onto her skin, and for brief moment, she allowed herself to relax.

“Nothing,” he said. His hands slid down her arms and glided up over her body, tangling in her long red hair. He tilted her head back and looked down into her eyes. “Absolutely nothing,” he whispered the words into her mouth, kissing her cheek, slanting her head back further to lick at the soft flesh of her neck. The scrape of his fangs sent a shiver of pleasure through her.

“Do you know how much I wanted to take you?” he asked. “How hard I was each time I fed?”

He backed her up until the edge of the table was pressing at the small of her back. His large hands came up to cup her face and he kissed her again, this time on the mouth. He nipped at her lower lip until she opened to him, and his tongue pushed into her, hot and wet, as his hips thrust his rock hard erection against her.

A scalding heat flooded her body, and she gasped into his mouth. She’d wanted this for so long. The kiss hardened, a sharp nick, and the copper taste of fresh blood filled her mouth. Jack groaned and ground his hips harder into her. He slid one hand down over the sweep of her hipbone and between their bodies. His palm cupped her through the denim, and liquid heat flowed from her. He pressed upwards. She moaned and rubbed herself against his hand.

Jack lifted her onto the edge of the table, still kissing her mouth. He spread her legs, pressing his hardness where his hand had been, rocking against the very core of her. The zipper of her jeans slid down, and his hand pushed inside. One finger slid into her slick, slippery wetness. Tasha’s head fell back as pleasure flooded her body. A whimper escaped her lips, and she was drowning in exquisite pleasure. She never wanted it to stop—she needed more.

“Not on the table, Jack,” a voice said from behind them.

Jack went still above her.

“You know,” Sebastian continued, “I really would have expected a little more finesse from somebody with your experience.”

Jack withdrew his mouth from hers, licking a last drop of blood from her lips. He looked down at her, his eyes a little rueful as he removed his hand from between her legs. She bit back a whimper of loss and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, Sebastian was leaning in the open doorway, a watchful expression on his face. “Perhaps,” he said, with a sharpness in his voice that she didn’t quite understand. “You should tell her we don’t feed vamps, at least not voluntarily. Ditto for fucking them.”

Jack took a step away, and Tasha had to fight the urge to reach out and hold on to him. “That’s pack lore,” he said to Sebastian. “Not vampire lore.”

“Great, just great,” Tasha said, pulling up the zip on her jeans. “So this is my new family, huh? What is he, my father?”

Jack smiled. “I doubt that’s the position he has in mind.” He sighed. “It’s probably for the best. You need to think about what you want. In the meantime, I’ll find out what I can about your father.”

As the door closed behind him, Tasha had a desperate urge to call him back, but he was right. She needed to come to terms with all she’d learned before making any decisions. Sex was off-limits until she decided whether she wanted to join the pack for real, or try for a normal life. She couldn’t believe she’d let Jack go so far when minutes earlier she’d stated she was quite capable of saying no, if that’s what it took to remain human. Still, she couldn’t help gazing longingly at the closed door.

“It really isn’t done, you know,” Sebastian said almost gently.

She glanced at him. “What isn’t?” she asked her thoughts still on Jack.

“Sex with a vampire.” Sebastian poured them both a drink. “It’s not drugged,” he said when she hesitated. “We have accepted you as one of us now. But Tasha, it would be much easier for you if you truly became one of us. Sleep with me tonight and run with the pack afterward.” He ran his hand down her arm, and her skin tingled under the touch.

“I promise you you’ll enjoy both experiences.”

Gazing up at him, she realized he was as beautiful as Jack, in his own way. She could do what he asked and let him deal with everything. But she knew she wouldn’t. Her body still throbbed from Jack’s touch.

It was Jack she wanted.

But first, she had to confront her father and find out what had happened. There must be some explanation for what he’d done, some way she could still go home.

“I can’t,” she said. “At least, not yet.”

He sighed and let go of her arm. “Then sit with me for a while. You must have questions.”

She sank into the chair behind her and took the drink from his outstretched hand. She waited until he was sitting comfortably.

“So,” she asked. “Do vampires really sleep in coffins?”

Sebastian shook his head in disgust. “You’re obsessed,” he said. “Obsessed with a bloodsucking leech.”

Tasha smiled. She hadn’t expected an answer, but hadn’t been able to resist the temptation to wind him up. Obviously, the habit hadn’t died with Johnson. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed on her smile.

“So,” she said quickly. “Tell me all about werewolves.”

Chapter Seven

Acres of thick woodland surrounded the house, enclosed by a six foot wall circling the entire perimeter. Tasha had spent the day meandering through pathways not made by human feet, breathing in the scent of growing things. It felt so good to be outside, to be free.

She knew there were wolves around her; she could sense their presence, smell their feral odor. But the thought didn’t frighten her. Even without the full moon, Tasha felt the pull of the night and a part of her longed to break free. She knew she had to make a decision—had to decide whether she wanted to be a real werewolf. She’d been thinking over the things Sebastian had told her the night before. He’d made the whole werewolf thing sound breathtaking, wild and exhilarating, and deep down, Tasha knew what her decision would be. Still, she needed to face her father first, find out what had happened all those years ago.

She stayed in the forest long after night had fallen only returning to the house as the sickle moon rose above the trees. Jack lounged on the veranda, one shoulder against the wall, arms folded across his chest. He studied her closely as she climbed the steps toward him. “Have you decided?”

She nodded. “I have to see my father.”

“I thought you would. We’re meeting him tonight.”

She bit her lip. “Does he know I’m alive?”

“He knows nothing. We approached him through official channels. He believes he’s coming to a budget meeting.”

The door behind them slammed, and she looked across to see Sebastian. “I’m coming with you,” he said.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“We protect our own,” Sebastian said.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not yours yet,” he growled.

Sebastian smiled. “Did you come out without any supper tonight?” He turned to Tasha. “Vampires tend to get a little bad tempered on an empty stomach.”

“I’ve fed,” Jack snarled.

Tasha glared at him. Who had he fed on? She bit back the question.

“Good,” Sebastian replied. “I wouldn’t want you distracted.”

Sebastian drove them into the city. Jack sat beside him in the front with Tasha in the back. No one spoke, and she was glad of the silence to try and make sense of her thoughts. She was going to see her father after so many years. She should have been happy, excited. Instead, she couldn’t dislodge the cold hard dread that had settled in her stomach.

The streets of London flashed past almost unnoticed and eventually they arrived in the underground parking garage of a huge office block. She followed Jack and Sebastian through the silent building. Once out of the elevator, Jack turned to her. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

She peered up into his face, but his expression was blank. “I don’t think I have an option,” she replied.

“Of course you have an option,” Sebastian said. “You can let us deal with it for you.”

“What exactly does ‘deal with it’ involve?”

“We kill the bastard,” Sebastian growled. “Hell, do you want him to live after what he did to you?”

“We don’t actually know what he did or why,” Tasha said.

“Tasha,” Sebastian said. “The evidence is overwhelming. This can’t turn out well for you. Let us sort it all out.”

But she blocked the words out. There had to be a reason—she wouldn’t allow herself to consider the alternative.

After a minute, Jack sighed. “Okay, come on.” He led her through the dark corridors.