Embrace the Heat (9 page)

Ignoring his question, Simon continued. “I’ve
never heard of anything like this happening with the humans or
vampires. What should we do about Layla?” he asked.

“Where is she now?” Connor asked.

“Her house,” he said. “I’ve got her
quarantined there for the time being. Well, actually, the only
rules are that she can’t leave and no male vampires can go anywhere
near the house. Humans and female vampires can visit her.”

Connor whistled. “That is not going to go
over well. She’s too much like Raven in her desire to be outside
and be free. They didn’t spend much time indoors at the island
settlement.”

Simon knew Layla wasn’t going to put up with
her confinement for long. “You got any better ideas? That’s why I
called you.”

“Not until I can get back to assess the
situation. I’m hoping to be out of here soon, but things are
complicated. Put Shelby in charge of the Layla problem. It’ll be
safer if you stay away from her while all of this is going on.”

That was good advice that Simon had no
intention of taking. “That bad down there?” Simon asked to change
the subject before he said anything stupid.

Connor let out a humorless laugh. “Worse than
you can imagine. I was going to call you in a few minutes anyway.
We need to send an extermination team out to one of the northern
settlements.”

Simon tried hard to hide his annoyance. This
was an old argument between them. Connor lived by some ‘help thy
neighbor’ philosophy while Simon preferred the ‘cover your own ass’
philosophy.

“We already have a team out at Camp Parks. Is
this settlement in the north close enough to pose a threat to us?
Otherwise, we don’t have the resources to spare.”

“This settlement has been resistant to being
involved in the main government because they disagree with vampire
policies on humans. At the last few gatherings the idea of taking
over that settlement was discussed. Now that they’ve shown up at a
gathering, the council is hoping to gain control without using
force. Needless to say, due to their inclusive behavior they don’t
have a lot of the conveniences other vampire settlements enjoy.
They’re also opposed to violence, so they don’t have many weapons
or trained fighters. According to them, they live in a commune like
society where they’re at peace with the humans.”

“And you believe that?” Simon asked.

There was a beat of silence before Connor
replied. “I think it’s probably the truth. I guess you’d have to
meet them to really understand how peace loving they are. Still, I
argued against sending one of my teams, especially while I’m away
with a contingency of guards already.”

Well, at least that was better than Simon had
suspected. He’d been sure Connor wanted to send the team out. “How
bad are they being hit?”

“According to them, there was a turned
vampire outbreak at one of the smaller human settlements close to
them. They were on friendly terms with the humans there. Normally,
I’d be willing to send some help, but in this case it leaves us too
vulnerable if there’s a problem. The council thinks the problems we
had with the new type of turned vampires are over because things
have been quiet for so long.”

“What do you think?” Simon asked.

“I think it would take them time to settle
into a new location. They took all of the lab equipment and
vehicles before we could attack the island. This isn’t over, and I
hate leaving my own people this vulnerable to attack.”

Simon let out a frustrated breath. “We can’t
get around this, can we?”

“The orders are coming from too high up to
ignore,” Connor admitted. “If we do, they may send people in to
take over our settlement.”

“I’ll put a team together,” Simon said. “What
size outbreak are we looking at?”

“There were about fifty humans at the
settlement,” Connor replied.

That meant probably only forty turned
vampires. In any outbreak, there were humans who weren’t infected.
They either fled, or they were torn to shreds when the turned
vampires rose. “I’ll send out a team of six. They can alternate,
three hunting and three guarding the settlement.”

“The council is insisting on ten,” Connor
said.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Simon said
in exasperation.

“I wish I was,” Connor said. “I can’t talk
them down on this. Trust me, I just spent the last three hours
arguing and listening to threats.”

“Fine, I’ll try to put together a team of
ten,” Simon said.

“They need to be there within two days,”
Connor added.

“Of course,” Simon muttered. “Why would they
want to give us time to prepare? Naturally we have a team of ten
ready to go whenever they need them.” Actually, if they didn’t
already have an extermination team out, they could put together a
team within an hour. Being short on people complicated matters.

“Send some of Raven’s humans with them,”
Connor suggested. “They can all deal with this kind of clean
up.”

“Good idea,” Simon said.

“Don’t send Danny or Mark,” Connor said.
“Layla is closest to them, and she’ll need them if she’s cooped up
too long.”

Simon hated the fact that he was bothered by
the idea of Danny or Mark hanging around Layla’s house. Something
very strange was going on with him too.

“Take my advice and have Shelby keep an eye
on Layla,” Connor said. “Hopefully this will clear up on its own.
Since this has never happened before, I find it hard to believe
it’s a permanent change. Again, we can consult with Raven when we
get back and she’s a little more rested. Until then, keep Layla
away from any male vampires, and make sure people are visiting her
so she doesn’t have too much time to think of ways to get into
trouble.”

“You think she’s going to cause trouble?”
Simon asked.

“What do you think?” Connor asked in a tone
that suggested Simon was an idiot for even asking that
question.

Simon laughed. “Yeah, she’s going to be a
problem if she has too much time alone. I’ll check on her daily.
Maybe the smell will go away.”

“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea for you
to check on her. Like I said before, it would be best if Shelby was
in charge of her. Maybe you should have Rand or Jack check on her
smell,” Connor suggested.

Simon’s brow furrowed. “Why shouldn’t I check
on her?”

Ian’s muffled laughter annoyed Simon
further.

“Your relationship with Layla is strange,”
Connor said hesitantly.

“Strange how?” Simon asked. “I saved her
life, and I respect her. She’s tough. I think of her like a
sister.”

Now Ian was laughing out loud.

When Connor spoke, he was barely suppressing
his own laughter. “I hope that’s not true because no one should
have those thoughts about their sister.”

“Screw you,” Simon said irritably. Since when
did his friends start thinking he was interested in Layla?

“Miss you too,” Connor said before hanging up
on him.

Simon looked down at Ian’s amused green eyes
and scowled. “Not one word about Layla.”

Ian flashed an innocent smile. “What makes
you think I was going to say anything?”

“I need a bag,” Simon said and walked into
the kitchen. Ian followed him, and Simon offered him one.

Ian shook his head. “I fed before I came over
here. You know what I find strange?”

Simon poured the blood into a glass. “I’m not
sure I want to know. I liked you better when you were moody all the
time.”

Ian ignored him. “You used to feed from
humans daily. I know you used bagged blood part of the time, but
you still made time to visit the donors for a more personal
feeding.”

Simon drank down half of his glass before
responding. “It really doesn’t taste as good from the bag. I’ve
even tried heating it up, but it’s not the same.”

“When was the last time you fed from a
human?” Ian asked.

Simon scowled because Ian probably already
knew the answer and planned to use it to make some point. He
shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s been a while, but only because I’m
busy. It’s not like I can just drop by any time. I need to make an
appointment, and sometimes there are delays.”

“I might buy that you’ve been too busy to go
every day, but you don’t even use the donors when you stop in to
pick up bags. You used to schedule an appointment with a donor each
time you went in for bagged blood.”

“It would take more time,” Simon pointed out.
“Like I said before, there are some delays.”

“Delays are pretty rare,” Ian pointed
out.

“How would you know?” Simon asked. “You
haven’t fed from a human in years.”

Ian put both hands up in surrender. “Not
trying to start a fight here. Just commenting on the fact that you
haven’t fed directly from a human since about a week after Raven’s
humans got here.”

Simon started to argue and paused. That
couldn’t be true. He’d fed from humans more recently than that.

Ian continued. “Simon, you need to stop
mooning over a human. You know you can’t have her. We both know you
wouldn’t risk turning her, so there’s no future for the two of
you.”

Simon set his half full glass down on
the counter. Ian was right. He’d been avoiding feeding from humans.
The question was, had Layla been the reason?

Ian patted him on the back. “I just came by
to distract myself while Dr. Moon examined Mitchell. I get in the
way, so they won’t let me stay at the house.”

Simon turned toward his friend. “Is
everything okay with Mitchell?”

Ian nodded and smiled. “It’s just a routine
checkup. Mitchell is doing well, but Dr. Moon is always worried
about possible changes.”

“Are you worried about them too?” Simon
asked.

“Okay, maybe I’m the one who really worries,”
Ian admitted.

Mitchell had brought Ian back from the edge.
After losing his wife and daughter, Ian had changed. He’d become
cruel and withdrawn. Then they’d captured Mitchell. Mitchell had
been part of the new breed of turned vampires that were supposed to
destroy the born vampires, but he’d been different. Ian had taken
him in, and Simon knew Ian considered Mitchell his son.

“Go find a human donor,” Ian said. “It’s time
to end this insanity with the little blonde human.”

“I get it.” Simon said. “You don’t want me to
spend so much time with Layla.”

Ian stood up and shook his head. “I’m not
saying that at all. How long have we been friends?”

Simon thought about the question before
answering. “About fifty years.”

“In that time, you’ve been mostly distant
from everyone. You only joke around in a sarcastic way. With the
little blonde human, you have fun. You act younger and happier
around her. If she were a vampire or a nymph I’d be telling you to
go over to her house and do everything in your power to convince
her to keep your sorry ass.”

“But she’s human,” Simon finished for his
friend. “I get it. You don’t like or trust humans.”

Ian gave him a sad smile. “I do like some
humans now. She happens to be one of them, and what I’m saying is
just as much for her benefit as yours. Do you think she’d agree to
being given the Moon virus?”

Simon let out a sigh. “No, and I’d talk her
out of it if she ever even considered attempting something that
stupid. The risks are too great.”

“And that’s why you have no future. If she’s
lucky, she’ll grow old and die. More likely she’ll be killed when
she’s out on patrol because she’s not as strong or fast as a
vampire. There’s this part of me that wants to tell you to stay the
hell away from her so you can avoid going through the pain her
death will bring you, but it’s too late for that now. Just don’t
make matters worse by letting things progress.”

Simon slapped his friend on the back and gave
him the most reassuring smile he could manage. “I have no intention
of letting Layla become more than a friend.”

“And you’ll go feed from a human?” Ian
asked.

Simon nodded. He walked his friend to the
door, and came to the same conclusion. Ian was right. He needed to
feed from a human and stop whatever was going on in his head. He
would do it tomorrow. That would be soon enough.

Two hours of baking had done very little to
improve Layla’s mood. It made all of her human friends happy. Most
of her friends had stopped by under the pretense of checking on
her. Funny how they all brought containers for baked goods with
them. Everyone knew she baked when things were bothering her, and
she had a lot bothering her today.

She’d never felt this caged before, and the
fear that she was losing her mind made it worse. Part of the
problem was that she wasn’t used to spending time at home. Even her
days off were spent out of the house.

Growing up in the human settlement there’d
always been work to do. Even when she’d had time to herself, the
houses hadn’t been in good repair, so it had been better to be
outside. There was more down time at the vampire settlement, and
she still wasn’t used to it. Layla just couldn’t get into watching
the movies Raven loved so much, and she didn’t enjoy the games
Danny played on the computer. Now she was trapped at home for an
indefinite period of time with only enough baking supplies to last
her another two days, which might not be a bad thing. She’d been
eating a lot of her own baked goods and if she didn’t stop, she
wouldn’t be able to fit into her pants much longer.

Actually, it was more than the normal feeling
of being cooped up. She felt like there was energy rushing along
the underside of her skin trying to burst free. Layla needed to get
out and run or fight, or find a man to take care of the ache
between her legs. The arousal had become annoying really fast.

She stripped and slid between the sheets on
her bed. Then she let out a sigh as the soft fabric caressed her
skin. This was one of her favorite things about the vampire
settlement. It’s not that her bed at the human settlement had been
made of stone or anything, but it hadn’t been this comfortable, and
they’d never had sheets like this.