Hunter by Night (9 page)

He threw the tea into two mugs, one with cow spots and one with a logo for some old show called
The
X-Files
that Alexia loved. The mug said “I WANT TO BELIEVE.” Believe
what
? Siddoh didn’t have a clue. He’d seen shit in his life, with his own two headlamps, that he didn’t want to fucking believe. If he could, he’d go into his brain and root that junk out with industrial bleach and a chisel. Forget about space aliens and hovercrafts.

“Here,” he said, after adding the water and honey, and settling across from her at the table. He gave her the mug with the cow spots. The side said “I udderly adore you,” and it always guaranteed a smile.

Bingo. He got a small smile, but still a smile. She sat up straighter, tapping the handle of her mug. “So what happened tonight? Will your uncle be okay?”

“It’s a good question.” In more ways than one. Siddoh’s gut said this all smelled like sabotage. Someone had dicked around with the estate’s magical barrier, and had done so deliberately on a night when Thad was away from the helm. An exceptionally rare occurrence since his queen had become pregnant. So the estate was vulnerable, less on guard.

Siddoh drank his tea too soon and ignored the burn down his throat. Maybe the motive was to make Thad look like a dipstick. Maybe the motive had been far more malicious. The options were bad, very bad, and who the fuck did he have to kill?

If they hadn’t gotten the perimeter reinforced fast? If it didn’t hold? Maybe a few hundred dead vampires.
No
biggie.
Thank God his uncle had been able to help.

Come to think of it, they’d almost fixed the fence
too
easily
. Maybe it hadn’t been completely drained of power. Maybe the motive
had
been to make Thad look like a moron. “I know Thad has his dissenters on the Council, but who wants to make it look like he can’t keep the estate protected?” he mused aloud.

Siddoh studied Ivy in the silence of the kitchen as she blew ripples across her tea. He couldn’t believe he’d slipped and said such a thing aloud in front of someone whose father had committed crimes against the royal family. Just because Thad still trusted her—

“Anyone who wants to take his place,” Ivy said. “You know, I recall shortly before Thad’s father died there were complaints filed about the human interaction bill. A lot of the elders on the Council had issues. Maybe it’s related somehow. I don’t remember who filed the grievances, but the records would be archived in my office.”

Siddoh took another swig of the hot stuff that tasted something to him like dried-out dandelions. Surely Ivy had her wires crossed. “The human interaction bill didn’t come up until after Thad’s father died,” he said.

“No.” She blew on her tea again, looking thoughtful. “I mean, yes. This time. But it’s come up before. At least once, a few years ago. Just like Thad, his father dismissed the proposal outright. As I recall, it sparked a lot of anger. I open the king’s mail. I saw the letters. There were threats.”

Cheese on rice. Siddoh jumped up from the table, hardly paying attention when he splashed scalding tea over his hand and knocked a bistro chair to the floor. “Ivy, show me what you’ve got. Please.”

Alexia and Lee found a battered, multicolored pickup truck on the edge of Route 9 that they hoped nobody would miss much. Alexia was too soggy and bone-weary to employ any kind of brain-to-mouth filter when Lee bitched about the fact that it had manual transmission. “Seven hundred years of badassery and you don’t know how to drive a stick?”

He leveled a glare at her while his hand hovered over the ignition. “Of course I know how to drive a stick. My hand got cut open by evil-powered lightning. Needs a little longer to heal over.”

Oh. Well. Wasn’t she an asshole? “I’ll drive.”

Alexia jumped on the running board and behind the wheel, sliding right alongside him. She kept her face serious but smiled inside. The power boost of Lee’s blood made her fly. Hell, without it to heal her cuts and broken places, she might not have made it through those woods without collapsing. She was grateful.

And yes, so sue her, she was enjoying how uncomfortable she made Lee right then. He’d shown his hand back there in that cave. After all the time they’d danced around each other, he
did
want her. He was stuck in the same unpleasant situation she was: whether he should be or not, he was attracted. Lord knew misery demanded company.

Alexia nudged Lee’s side gently when he seemed reluctant to give up the driver’s seat. “C’mon, scoot. I can tell you’re still wiped out from that big magic trick you pulled back in the woods. I won’t tell anybody you had to rest for five minutes, I swear.” She’d meant it as a joke, but he didn’t laugh. He was probably still concerned she might open her big yap.

She really wouldn’t tell a soul. In her opinion, the toughest men alive were the ones who knew how to bend before they broke. It actually reassured her to see him a little vulnerable. He’d asked her to keep his confidence, and she could keep her mouth shut. Alexia could definitely do silence.

“So,” she said as he grudgingly slid over. “You don’t like humans, wizards, those guardian guys, or cars with manual transmission. I’ve also noticed you don’t like alcoholic beverages or any music that came after the Romantic period.” She punctuated the last part by turning the station to the local hard rock channel.

“All justified.”

She bit her lips together and turned the radio back off. Now would be a good time to be silent.
Keep
that
big
yap
shut.
“Wizards and guardians I get. Humans because we’re what? Stupid, weak, and inferior?”

Oops. So much for shutting the big yap.

He grunted a macho, jerk-head grunt. “For starters.” Ouch. She waited. They rolled down an unusually dark Route 9 and into downtown.

Holy hurricanes, all the lights were out. Everything looked dead and deserted. Thank goodness for the full moon, and that the rain had changed from an angry pound to an irritating but light drizzle.

She glanced at Lee. “And for finishers?”

“That we manage to stay hidden in this millennium guarantees our safety. In the older ages we were not so lucky. Your kind thought we were murderous monsters and treated us accordingly. Or used and abused us for fun. Killed us and siphoned our blood for its healing properties. Think about what you’ve read in your folktales. Old horror movies. What do you think those myths and legends were based upon?”

Monsters. She had no flip response. Lee could scare the rainbows from a unicorn. If she didn’t know him the way that she knew him, she’d wet her pants running into him in a dark alley.

“Let’s not forget about how your kind treats each other, Lexi.”

She’d clearly pressed a button. His words came fast and hard like a verbal battering ram.

“Terrorist attacks, murders, parents beating their own children and putting them on the street, theft, rape, abuse, kidnapping, drugs… I can’t turn on the news without—”

Alexia couldn’t sit still. Her heart raced, trying to escape his vocal assault, but there was nowhere to go. Her arms propelled out from her sides. “Okay, you’ve made your point!” She was forced to grab the wheel again in a hurry. Lee didn’t need to give her the laundry list of awful things humans did. She’d been on the receiving end of enough. “Not like you vampires are all poster children for sainthood.”

“We abide by a strong moral code,” he said.

“Right.” She slowed at a stoplight that had no power. She needed to go left, and there was mass confusion. “Except that you’ve got someone conveniently monkeying with the magical security system on the night Isabel goes into labor.” She leaned her head in his direction, accidentally bumping his hard shoulder.

“We’re not certain that was an inside job,” he said.

Hellooo, denial.
She didn’t answer, focusing instead on getting across traffic and down Seventh Street toward Saint Anne’s. She’d only been to the vampire hospital once with Isabel for an ultrasound. Most checkups had been done at the estate by a midwife, thank the great goddess. They’d been so rude to Alexia at the vampire hospital. She’d left the place very grateful
she’d
never be the one putting her feet in those stirrups. She craned her neck to see the street signs in the dark, unwilling to admit to Lee that she didn’t remember exactly where to turn.

Alexia had finally spotted the right street when a horrific burn shot through her chest and arm. The pain weakened her grip on the steering wheel, and this time she couldn’t get it back. The truck had shitty alignment. She was forced to pull off near their turn by a strip of historic shops.

“God, Lee, what is wrong with you?”

“Fine,” he said. “Sometimes vampires are dishonorable, too. Is that what you want me to say?”

“No.” She looked him over before sliding across the bench seat and straddling his lap like before in the cave. She paid no attention to his grunt of protest or the concept of personal space as she held his right arm against hers. “This arm hurts, but it’s an echo or something. It’s you; I can tell. And my chest burns. What’s wrong? You’re not having a heart attack or something, are you?”

The corner of his mouth quirked. “I don’t think so.” He shoved against her shoulders. “Please get off me. The detour back in the woods distracted us both, but we’re supposed to be getting you to Isabel. Remember? I need to talk with Thad and get back to the estate to make sure things are being handled. Whatever happened between you and me back there in the cave shouldn’t happen again. It was the blood exchange and adrenaline, nothing more.”

She gave him “the face.” “Don’t give me that bullshit.”

He bit down so hard that his fang clipped his own lip, drawing a bead of blood. Was it weird to find that sexy? Especially when he was kind of being a dick? “Sure, Lexi. You’re attractive. I care about your well-being. That does not a long-term mating make. Sure as hell not when you’re a human and I’m—”

He winced, and the pain surged again in Alexia’s chest. “Okay, first? If you think every woman wants a long-term commitment from one feeding and a little bump and grind, you’ve read too many romance novels.”

He snorted.

She smiled, hoping the fact that she’d amused him had distracted him from his discomfort. “And second, you know damn well that’s not what I meant. When we get to the hospital, I think you need to be the one to see a doctor.”

He stared out the window, head back against the seat rest. “I’m not seeing a doctor. I’m fine.”

“Are you kidding?” Her palms smacked his damp, T-shirt-clad pecs. “Why not?”

He licked his lip, giving her a serious, dead-on stare. “Because whatever this is, it’s been going on a long damn time. I can’t afford to dick around with getting checked into the hospital and sitting in an assless gown while someone makes me eat flavorless food. I need to get shit nailed down. Kill Haig. Train a replacement. Make sure my king and my kind are safe.”

Her stomach heaved. “Get your ducks in a row.”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I’ve never entirely understood the meaning of that statement, but yes.” He exhaled long and hard, bringing a hand to her back and then dropping it. The hand, large with long, calloused fingers, came to rest in the curve of her waist.

Her heart had slowed some, but it maintained a firm, steady pound. “So, how long has this gone on?”

He hesitated. “Months. Close to a year.”

Close to a year? She’d barely passed her biology classes, but if this was actually his heart… “Lee, you have to get this examined.”

The moon and rain through the window of the truck made his aqua eyes glimmer so beautifully. Even when he said, “No. I don’t.”

She closed her eyes and pushed back an absurd press of tears. Why did this mean so damn much? It shouldn’t. He pissed her off, and so what if there was some dysfunctional, awkward attraction between them?

So… so she’d miss him if he was gone. Whether she should or not.

But
is
this
really
your
concern? You’re the one who’s been wanting to leave Ash Falls. Leave him. He’s old and wise enough to handle his own affairs.

When she opened her eyes, beneath the lingering pain and fatigue of their night, a primal hunger rose in his veins. Her veins? Both, she supposed. The heat of it raced through her as the cool air from the car vent blew on the back of her neck. She couldn’t help but shiver.

The dark part of his eyes widened, mesmerizing her. Pulling her closer. She licked her lips, and he responded in kind.

A loud bang and screeching brakes from across the way made them both stop. Before she could blink, Alexia had been shoved aside and dumped on her ass. “Let me drive,” Lee said, starting the truck and pulling back onto the road with a gut-grabbing lurch. “Whatever that was can’t have been anything good.”

***

“Commander.” Xander sped toward Lee and Alexia from across the road, hauling someone behind him by the arm. “Accidentally bounced this guy off the hood of Theresa’s car. Said he had a run-in with a cluster of guardians.”

Lee recognized the second male as the other two drew closer: that bratty SOB from assessment who’d refused to share blood with his training partner. Damn, the kid looked shittier than shit. Banged up, dirt caked on his face and hair. Bloody lip. Last fucking thing Lee needed.

Xander stepped forward. “Call it a really bad plan to try to get you to reconsider his training application. I already gave him a lecture and made him apologize to Theresa for bodysurfing across her hood without paying attention. He’s injured, and he needs to be seen by a doctor. Then I suspect you’ll need to interview him.”

How would Alexia say it?
Fuckballs. Fucksicles? Fuck a fucking hand grenade.
That one sounded especially appropriate at the moment.

Lee gripped the washed-out trainee’s shoulder with one hand and yanked the truck door open with the other. “Come on,” he barked inside to Lexi. “I gotta get this guy inside, and we’re both already soaked. We’ll just run across the parking lot.”

No way in hell was he letting this idiot inside a truck cab with a wet human who could still have traces of blood on her skin.

“Sir…” the kid began.

“Save your breath,” Lee growled. His chest seized. One glance down to his side at Alexia let him know she felt his pain and worried. Jesus, he was going to rue the day that he had let her drink his blood. That he had trusted her with his secrets. There was nobody to trust. He should never have forgotten. He should never have done many of the things he’d done tonight.

The surge of anger in his system brought a cloud across her features, already dark and wet. The raindrops on her parted lips made him want to wipe them clean with his tongue.

Her cheeks flushed crimson in the moonlight, even as her forehead tightened into a frown. No question, she sensed the direction of his thoughts. His desire.

“You have a terrible poker face, Lexi.”

“I know.” She huffed and puffed a little, but kept up respectably. “Isabel used to tell me I should never gamble.”

“Just do me a favor and keep your observations quiet.”

Her pink lips pursed into the beginnings of a frown but she stayed silent.

Thank fuck. He didn’t need her blabbing his shit, especially not in front of this guy. “Okay, tell me what went down,” he said to the kid.

“I didn’t want my parents to know you’d sent me home. I stayed a few days at my girlfriend’s after I left the estate. She’s over in the old Landhorn place.” The kid jerked his thumb.

Ah. Not far from Thad’s estate, the property had stood empty until only a year before. Lee had not seen the new owners. “Continue.”

“So yeah. I took my time getting home because I knew my father would be pissed. I’m kind of a screwup. He’d been really excited for me to join the cause, you know?”

“The cause.” That was what the kids were calling it lately? “We’re not having a party over there, kid.”

The young vampire’s arms flinched under Lee’s fingers as if he’d been smacked. It was a fair difference from the cocky little shit Lee had seen during evaluation. “Still, it was important for him that I get accepted. My mother and sister were killed by wizards walking home from the grocery store one night. He’s got blood disease and can’t serve. He was counting on me, and I fucked it up by being stupid—”

Lee didn’t realize until the kid’s body pulled against his hands that he’d stopped moving. He started again, swearing internally as the pressure intensified in his chest.
Fuck
it
all
. Hardly anything plucked at his heartstrings. Most days he didn’t believe he had heartstrings.

“Okay,” Lee said. “So you were coming home from your girl’s place and you ran into guardians. Then what?”

“There were four of them,” the guy said with excitement. “They came out of the fuckin—” The kid glanced down at Alexia, as if chagrined about his language choice. Little did the kid know. “Freaking alley, behind the 7-Eleven and the car wash and stuff.”

Alexia sneezed.

The young vampire made a point of blessing her, and Lee fought back an unnecessary snarl when she smiled up at him gratefully. No, it wasn’t the smile so much as the stir in Lee’s blood that told him the young trainee’s attention made Alexia feel pleasure. Lee loathed that he had such a base reaction. Their kind—their community—was the world in which she lived. She’d been brought to live in their territory and had been handed a stack of rules. He couldn’t expect her not to even speak with other vampires.