Caleb (28 page)

“That
would terrify anyone,” Jared agreed.

Caleb
ran his hand through his hair. She felt bereft without both his hands around
her. Damn, it couldn’t be good the way she was coming to depend on him. “I’m
not sure an alliance with the D’Nallys is possible.”

Derek
nodded. “They are pissed.”

“Why?”
Allie asked.

No
one answered. Probably because no one knew. She sighed. “Then maybe that answer
should be where you start.”

Jace
shifted in his seat. “I’ll give talking to them a shot.”

“I
thought you were more interested in irritating them than talking to them,”
Caleb said.

Jace
shrugged, staring out the window as if what he was searching for was just past
the glass pane. “Allie’s right. If we’re going to start being family men,
things need to change.”

“We?”
Caleb asked with an arch of his brow.

Jace
cut Allie a glance. There was a pain in his eyes that made her want to reach
out and offer comfort. “If you found a mate, it stands to reason there’s hope
for the rest of us.”

“Hope.”
Derek rapped his fingers on the table once. “Welcome to the world of the
werewolf.”

“Except
we’re vampires,” Slade pointed out with that infallible logic of his.

“As
I’ve said before, not that anyone would notice.”

Allie
rubbed the mark on her finger. “Except for the people you bite.”

“You
don’t think a were knows how to mark his mate?” Derek asked, amusement in his
expression and his voice.

She
rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they know all sorts of archaic chauvinistic things,
none of which is pertinent to the situation at hand.”

“And
what would be pertinent?”

The
words rushed to her throat, clogging on the last of her control. Control that
was destroyed by the simple brush of Caleb’s lips across her hair. “Say what
you need to say, baby.”

He
wanted to hear it? She looked around to find them all watching her. They all
wanted to hear it? Fine. They could hear it.

“Okay.
How about this? My gut says I’m pregnant. As crazy as that sounds, as
impossible as it sounds, I really think I am. When I get really sick, I hear
voices calling me, demanding that I come, and I have a really strong need to
go, but my gut tells me there’s danger, but I don’t know from where, I don’t
know from whom, and because all of you keep me so damn protected and in the
dark, I’m pretty sure I’m about to do something stupid on the way to find out,
because I simply can’t live like this, afraid of every shadow because I don’t
know what’s real and what’s not.”

That
quick she was wrapped tight against Caleb, his chin brushed her head, his lips
her ear. “Shit.” She dug her nails into his arm, holding him to her because now
that her fears were put into words, they had so much more force. “You all have
that sum-it-up-in-one-word thing down pat, but right now I need explanations.
Facts. Answers.”

“We’ll
get your answers,” Caleb promised.

“Though
it’ll take time,” Derek warned.

“Because
you’re afraid who may be watching?”

“Pretty
much.”

“It’s
too easy these days for people to track inquiries.”

“What
people?”

“Any
people.”

This
was getting worse by the minute. “You don’t even have specific enemies?”

“Technology
has allowed a lot of people to explore their fascinations.”

And
vampires were fascinating to humans. “But who is speaking in my head?”

“It
has to be the Sanctuary,” Jace said, leaning back in his chair.

“What’s
the Sanctuary?”

No
one answered.

“If
it is the Sanctuary, we’ve seriously underestimated them.” Slade drummed his
fingers on the table. “They shouldn’t be able to lock on her at will.”

“No
shit.” Caleb looked at Derek. “Any input?”

“The
Sanctuary is a very large group of vamps, but no one’s ever found them to be
dangerous.”

“And?”

“Hell
if I know.” Derek shrugged. “They’re a weird bunch. They spend a lot of time
chanting and studying. They’ve left you all alone because you pretty much
haven’t been of interest, holed up as you are here in your neck of the woods
training horses and acting human. But bringing in a woman, especially a
pregnant one, would catch their interest. They make a science of studying
everything vampire.”

Allie
couldn’t believe it. There were other vampires out there close enough to visit.
Vampires who might have answers to the questions she needed. She glared at
Caleb. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

He
waved her accusation aside. “They’re fanatics.”

They
could worship the color yellow and she didn’t care as long as they could shed
some light on her current situation. “You mean a bunch of fanatics who have
made it their eternal life’s mission to understand their vampirism?”

“At
least their version of it,” Derek responded.

“At
this point, anything is better than nothing. And nothing is all you’ve got to
offer me when it comes to information about what’s going on with my
conversion.”

Derek
shook his head and blew out a skeptical breath. “As a source of information,
I’d say they’re questionable. Their beliefs are more than a little skewed.”

“But
they might have insight as to what’s going on with me.”

“Or
they might just decide you’re a sinner in need of redemption.”

“Talking
to them would be worth a shot.”

Caleb’s
“No” was emphatic. She didn’t care. “I need answers, Caleb. If a bunch of
whacked-out religious fanatics have them, I’m all up for paying them a visit.”

“I
might be able to shed a little light on your situation,” Slade interrupted.

“You
have a theory?” Caleb asked.

Slade
nodded and leaned forward over the table, elbows braced, fingers tented,
excitement lighting his deep hazel eyes. “Every one of us changed when we
converted. Whatever we had before got better. Stands to reason the same would
have happened to Allie.”

She
blew her bangs off her forehead, touching her feathers self-consciously. It was
embarrassing. “I don’t think I got anything.”

Caleb
shook his head and pushed off the counter, taking her with him, tucking her
into his side in a smooth move. “You’re doing just fine, Allie. We just haven’t
discovered your secrets yet.”

“I
can’t change even into the simplest thing, can’t even feed like a normal vamp.
How is that fine?”

This
time when Caleb touched her chin, she tipped her face up, leaning into his
side. She really needed to hear something good about herself right now.

“You,
baby, can do something better.”

“What’s
that?”

His
mouth softened. He cupped the curve of her belly. Right on the extra five
pounds she blamed completely on her pre-vampire addiction to chocolate. The
only thing that kept her from flinching self-consciously away was that
expression in his eyes.

“You
can make miracles happen.”

“HER
ability to make miracles might be the reason for her
failures at other things,” Slade continued. “For example, I can’t think it
would be healthy for the baby for a pregnant woman to shift.”

“Oh
God, did I hurt the baby?”

Slade
shook his head. “That’s my point. Your body’s not letting you do anything that
will hurt the baby.”

Allie’s
fingertips rubbed nervously over the back of Caleb’s hand. “Explain.”

“Everything
about vamps ties to blood. What if you can’t feed from anyone but Caleb because
it’s meant to be that way?”

“I
fed from Jared.”

“Just
that once and it might have been too early in the pregnancy for there to be a
problem.”

Jace
frowned. “Hell, that was only the day after she got here.”

“Exactly.”
Slade just sat there, eyebrows raised, waiting.

“How
would that make a differ—” Jace looked at Caleb, understanding replacing
confusion as he dropped his gaze to their linked hands and then back up. “And
here I thought turning vampire had slowed you down.”

One
by one the men looked at her, then Caleb, and then back to her again. A blush
seared from the inside out heating Allie’s cheeks until they felt like they
were on fire. “What?”

“Allie
. . .”

She
ignored Caleb’s warning. There were times when a woman just had to brazen
things out. “Are you going to stand there and say you don’t have a sex life?”

Jace
laughed. “Hardly.”

Slade
looked offended. “No.”

Jared
was to the point. “Sure as shit not.”

He
looked her over from head to toe. The last of the bear claw crumbled onto the
table before him. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Though I can’t say I ever
indulged in the middle of a conversion.”

She
held her ground and tilted up her chin. “What makes you think I did?”

“Allie?”

She
turned on Caleb. “There’s no way he can know when . . .”

“Jared’s
gift is an ability to read minds.”

She
slapped his arm, mortification rising with nausea at the reminder. “Do
not
tell me he knows what we did.”

Caleb
looked at Jared, who shrugged. That didn’t bode well. “It’s likely.”

She
dug her nails into her stomach as the hunger dug deep, then twisted around in
exasperation. “What part of ‘do not tell me’ slipped your notice?”

“The
middle part.” The back of his fingers brushed down her cheek in a featherlight
caress, pausing when they reached her neck, rubbing twice before reversing
course. “You need to feed, Allie.”

“Not
yet.”

“Yet.”

She
shook her head. The feathers bounced, tickling her skin. No wonder no one was
listening to her. She still looked like a reject from the cuckoo nest. “I would
like to get rid of these feathers first.”

It
was a little thing, but she needed to be in control of something.

“I
thought you liked them?”

“Don’t
be an ass. You know damn well I just can’t figure out how to get rid of them
without risking another catastrophe.”

Jared
shook his head and pushed his chair back. “You, woman, are a menace.”

“That
is
so
rude.”

Caleb
caught her as the hunger bent her double. His hand slipped beneath hers to
massage the tight muscles, his body served as a brace for hers. She panted
through the pain, wincing as the feathers stabbed into her head as she pressed
it against him. “How do birds wear these things?”

The
world tilted and another pain stabbed deep as Caleb adjusted her in his lap.
Immediately, his hands were there, soothing and warm. Caring for her. He was
always caring for her and she did nothing in return.

“Allie?”

Caleb’s
deep drawl threaded through her concentration. The pain ebbed, flooding Caleb’s
determination. He wasn’t happy with her right now. “What?”

“How
long do you think I’m going to let your suffering continue?”

“Long
enough for me to get rid of the feathers?”

A
boot toe invaded her vision. It was scuffed, worn, and tough. Like its owner.

“I
can help you with that,” Jared offered.

He
could if she was willing to let him into her mind. In light of everything that
had been revealed this evening, she was a little leery of that. She rested her
cheek against Caleb’s shoulder and worked through the fear with logic. As tough
as Jared was, he wasn’t a match for Caleb. Jared burned with a restless edge,
but Caleb wore his strength like others wore hats, with an easy confidence.
That being the case, she really didn’t have to be nervous of Jared’s intent.
But she was, though she knew Caleb would never let anyone hurt her. She’d never
get used to having someone else poking around in her mind, but if she wanted
the feathers gone, she’d have to allow it.

“Is
there another way?”

Caleb’s
hand slid up beneath her hair to rub subtly at the tension in her neck. “You
want them gone?”

She
titled her head back. The smile lurking in his gaze snatched the sharpness out
of her retort. “Don’t you?”

The
smile fanned out from the corner of his eyes in sexy creases, adding an
intriguing maturity to his innate handsomeness. This was a man who’d lived
before and after he’d been converted. This was a man who knew what he wanted
and wasn’t afraid to go after it. “I think they’re kind of cute in a different
sort of way.”

This
was the man who wanted her. The caressing fingers spread until the breadth of
his palm settled behind her skull, not demanding, just resting there in an
invitation, leaving it up to her whether to accept it or not. She didn’t
hesitate. She let him support her, understanding that, for him, the need to do
so went much deeper than this moment.