Embracing Midnight (22 page)

W
hen Callie woke, she found Doctor Yuan’s anxious face hovering above her. Drawing a sharp breath, she immediately glanced around. As her vision adjusted, she realized she’d been moved. No longer in Iollan’s cell, she seemed to be in some sort of an examination room, stark white walls and floors, a padded surface under her back.

How long have I been unconscious?
She didn’t remember passing out.

She tried to sit up. To her relief they were alone. Good. She didn’t exactly feel like seeing any men after…Cheeks heating from the memory, she glanced down. Her clothing had, thankfully, been shifted back into place.

Doctor Yuan pressed her back. “Lie still. It’s normal to feel a little dizzy after giving blood.”

A weak smile creased Callie’s lips. She tried to swallow. It hurt. Her chest seized as she sucked in a lungful of air almost too antiseptic to breathe. No germ would escape unscathed.

Her neck felt swollen, a bit numb. A low ache throbbed behind her eyes, but otherwise she felt intact. “Is that what I’m doing?”

Doctor Yuan nodded. “That’s what it looked like to me.” Producing a thermometer, she popped it into Callie’s mouth. “Your demonstration was the first time we’ve ever witnessed an actual feeding. Very illuminating as to the behavior of the species.”

Considering that she’d been on display in the most intimate of circumstances, Callie didn’t feel any compunction to accept her praise. Marshalling all her strength, she pushed herself up on her elbows. “How is Iollan?” she mumbled around the glass sticking out of her mouth.

“Unhappy, but stable.”

Hard not to bite the thermometer in half. “You’d be pissed if you were chained up.”

Yuan spared her a glance. “We’ll move him to more suitable quarters tomorrow. He’ll have the basic amenities.”

Well, that answered that, without telling her anything at all. Callie hoped her words were more than lip service. Bad enough Iollan had to endure captivity with handling most people wouldn’t inflict on a mongrel dog. She’d damn sure follow up to make sure he got better treatment. No wonder his kind didn’t trust hers. Hand it to ham-fisted humans to rush in with the deadliest of force. She wondered if it had occurred to anyone to just
talk
to the Niviane Idesha in a diplomatic and reasonable manner.

Yuan retrieved the thermometer. “Low-grade fever, but nothing to get excited about.” She probed the area around Callie’s neck. “The bite doesn’t seem to be infected. These creatures seem to have an antiseptic in their saliva to arrest bleeding and begin healing after they’ve fed. The punctures are a little ragged, but clean. You’ll heal.”

Resisting the urge to toss back something irreverent, Callie swallowed and kept her humor to herself. “Glad you think so.”

Putting the thermometer away, Yuan reached for a syringe and uncapped its sterile needle. “I’ve taken a few smears to look at, but I’d also like to get some blood and urine from you. We’re interested to know if continual feedings are affecting you in any biological way. We’re still not clear about the Niviane Idesha’s reproductive capabilities. Obviously, the sire somehow
seeds
the victim with the symbiont, but the process is unknown. We’re sure they are a ‘recruit, not reproduce’ species. Anything we can learn will help us better understand them.”

Callie stayed still and tried to keep her calm. Her blood and urine might reveal more than she wanted Doctor Yuan to know. She stiffened. “Is that a request or an order?”

Yuan immediately frowned. “Given the circumstances and the nature of our research and your, ah, closer than normal involvement with our subject, I suppose I could pull rank and make it an order.”

Callie felt her patience thin. “Figures,” she mumbled irritably, not exactly pleased that the whole of the government had somehow become involved in her sex life. If she was—or wasn’t—pregnant, well, that would be obvious soon enough. She held out her arm. “Take what the hell you think you’ve got to have. I’ve been a fucking pincushion—or fang cushion—since this whole thing began.” Unbuttoning her cuff, she rolled up her sleeve. “If I’d known he was an alien, I’d have definitely thought twice about the sex thing.”

Yuan slid the needle into a vein at the crook of Callie’s elbow, deftly drawing a rush of crimson liquid into the syringe. Her touch was amazingly light, given that most of her patients weren’t normally among the living. “I see you have some scarring.”

Callie stiffened, cursing silently under her breath. It didn’t take the blind to see the scars. There were plenty. She shouldn’t be surprised Yuan had noticed. Her job was to explore every inch of a body, inside and out. Explaining her history as a cutter would be awkward. She’d managed to dodge it in psych testing when she’d joined the bureau by telling her old tried-and-true lie. Those side lectures in college had paid off nicely. Most days, she could out-normal the truly normal.

“Childhood accident,” she said, keeping her tone casual. “I fell through a plate-glass window.”

“Ah.” A bit of blissful silence followed, then an unexpected question. “Do you find him attractive?” Yuan asked conversationally.

Whoa, whoa! What was this? The question came totally out of left field. She didn’t dare try to dodge the subject. She was, she realized, intimately involved with the subject. Of course they’d want to know all about the sex.

Quickly debating a way to answer, Callie decided truth would be best. Then she wouldn’t have to remember what she lied about. “Sure. What woman wouldn’t?”

“Is he…?” Yuan’s gaze darted away.

Delicious tension grew. Callie had an idea what the next question would be. Inappropriate as it might be, she should mind the intrusion. She didn’t. “Is he what?”

A minute passed. Embarrassed tension grew. Obviously curious, the good doctor who should be well versed in the ways of human anatomy and its workings fumbled like a schoolgirl. “You know, his male equipment. Is he…built?”

Callie used the most scientific description that came to mind. “Like a brick shithouse,” she said without embarrassment.

That seemed to please Yuan. “Good?” Loaded question.

Callie had to answer honestly. “He fucks like a stallion,” she replied with a grin. “I’ve never had such intense orgasms. You want the absolute best sex of your life, honey, get a man who sucks.”

The stoic Yuan blushed. She didn’t look much older than Callie; Yuan was maybe her senior by a few years. Yuan was certainly young and pretty enough to have a very active love life if she so desired.

Trying to build a rapport with the woman, make her understand Iollan wasn’t exactly much different from the human he’d once been, Callie looked her straight in the eye. “You ever meet a man and that spark’s right there? An instant attraction that just makes your body tingle and all you want is to get the guy naked and horizontal? That’s how it was when I saw him. Instant lightning. Everything about him attracted me.”

Yuan briefly worried her lower lip. “I’ve met one or two in my time,” she admitted behind a shy grin.

“And?”

Yuan laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. She quickly backtracked from inquisitive woman into scientist. Confidences over, the conversation went back to business. “Unfortunately romance took a dive when I started working here. Seems like this place devours my life, in more ways than one. Most times I sleep in my office because it’s too late to go home.”

Understandable. “Lonely life.”

Yuan filled three vials with Callie’s blood, labeling each as she spoke. “Lonely, yes. But my work has its rewards. The cutting edge of science, discovering new life-forms.”

Callie conceded. Her own studies had once consumed her in such a way. “I can see where it’d be hard to go home.”

Yuan set the syringe aside, pressing a cotton pad laced with alcohol to the prick left in Callie’s skin. “If you correlate the history of vampire legends among primitive peoples with the now proven existence of the Niviane Idesha, you see how closely legend and fact compare, even giving us their possible date of arrival on our planet.”

Callie held the pad in place until the blood ceased to seep from her arm. “But do you really consider them hostiles? They seem to be fairly benign. I mean, humans aren’t cowering in fear they’ll be attacked by vampires. A few people I know would even volunteer for the honor.”

“They might be perfectly peaceful,” Yuan countered. “But when might that change, and for what reason might it change? Examine our own human history, if you will. Think of the wars mankind has fought against his own species. No matter the conflict, whether for religious, moral, or political reasons, every war has come at great cost to human life. It’s always for the advancement of civilization. Eventually, they will want to advance.”

Yuan’s words brought to mind Iollan’s comment. The Niviane Idesha, he’d said, were tired of hiding in the shadows.

Could it be true, Callie thought, that they’d someday want out of their cloak of anonymity? As much as she hated to admit it, Yuan’s words made sense. Even Rome, mighty Rome, had fallen. Battle lines were being drawn. Which side to choose? Her own species or the man who’d gotten under her skin in more ways than one?

Logic told her head not to let her heart rule.

Short fight.

Callie’s heart quickly sliced logic to the quick before she’d even realized which side she’d chosen. She was completely smitten, and there wasn’t a damn thing to do but try and keep her cool.

Unpleasant tension grew. She shifted to put some space between them, not easy to do when lying flat on an examination table. “I can’t deny that might happen someday.”

Yuan’s expression grew unyielding and stubborn. “If we’ll inflict such damages on ourselves, how might we react toward another species? Hate and prejudice are powerful motivators. Imagine a war between us and them. Pure chaos. What’s more, despite their weaknesses, Niviane Idesha are stronger and faster than humans, certainly more evolved biologically. As much as I hate to say it, I’d rather see them exterminated than the other way around.”

Callie forced her chin up. “And I’d rather they’d never have been found if all you’re going to do is wipe them out.” Her words came out sharply.

Yuan’s lips pressed into a thin line. A nerve had been struck and she wasn’t pleased with her patient. “I think you’re too close to the subjects to keep an objective perspective, Agent Whitten. Once you’ve worked with them longer, you may change your mind.”

Callie wasn’t in the mood to be placated. “Is that the purpose of this study, to find out a way to exterminate the Niviane Idesha completely?”

Yuan offered a narrow smile and a plastic cup for urine. “That, Agent Whitten, is classified information. As it is, you’re strictly on
need-to-know
. Could you fill this, please?”

Callie didn’t argue the point. Yuan was right. Grimacing at the telltale cup, she gave herself a good swift mental kick. Having an alien’s baby hadn’t been part of her plans. Not by a damned long shot.

Taking the cup, she considered tossing it back in Yuan’s face and getting the hell out. That would probably be the wrong thing to do.

Sliding her legs over the edge of the examination table, she looked around. “Which way to the bathroom?”

Yuan pointed to a nearby door. “As much as you can spare, please.”

Feeling the pressure in her bladder, Callie imagined she’d be able to spare quite a bit. She hopped off the table, and her head swam a bit with wooziness. Clenching her teeth, she refused to waver. Marching toward the bathroom, she shut the door behind her.

She locked the door, grateful to have a moment’s privacy. Since this whole assignment had begun, it seemed like she’d had eyes on her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No mirror, but the reflection in the silver-plated face of the paper towel dispenser looked terrible, like death warmed over. Eyes lined with fatigue, cheeks paler than twin moons in the sky, and hair a nasty tangle, she certainly wouldn’t call herself beautiful at the moment. She looked and felt like a thousand-year-old hag.

Setting the cup down on the edge of the sink, she lowered the lid of the toilet and sat down. She collapsed, leaning forward until her forehead rested on her knees. Her hands locked around her head, a parody of a woman expecting a head-on collision.

Close to tears, she sucked in a ragged breath. “I…oh, God, I wasn’t prepared for this. Pregnant…What the hell am I going to do if I am?”

She nibbled her lower lip, torn between fear of the tragedy in her past and the uncertainty of her future. A quick bio ran through her mind. Thirty, unmarried, unstable, fucking an alien—a real alien, no less!—and enemy of the state. Shit. That couldn’t be written in a fucking book.

She slipped her hands between legs and abdomen, pressing them to her stomach. What would it be like to feel her belly large and round? She didn’t know. She’d never been pregnant, but the idea wasn’t an unpleasant one.

Letting her gut lead, Callie made a spur-of-the-moment decision. Pregnancy was too big a risk. She wasn’t in any shape, emotionally, to carry and raise a child. Hell, she didn’t even have enough stamina to commit to owning a goldfish. Nightmares of her rootless childhood kept her from sleep most of the time, and even her own people were keeping a close watch on her. Sane, respectable federal agents didn’t get knocked up with alien babies. “I don’t want his baby.”