Hunter's Blood Special Edition (Cursed by Blood Saga) (18 page)

Lily nodded as Rissa closed the door
behind her. This whole situation sucked. Two months ago, she’d had a normal
life. Then everything had changed. She’d gained, and she had lost. She may have
found the love of her life in Sean, but she had lost her best friend. And while
she knew she wasn’t responsible for what happened, she wasn’t about to lose
Rissa simply because she couldn’t remember to keep her thoughts to herself.
What was it Terry used to say?
Constipation of the brain, diarrhea of the
mouth?
Yup. That just about covered it.

The living room was quiet, except for
the sound of the logs crackling on the fire and the hum of her thoughts racing
around in her head. Glancing back at the closed door, she frowned, angry with
herself again. She was lucky Rissa was the forgiving type.
Just like Terry
.

With a sigh, she walked back toward
the window. Terry had always been there for her. Now she was dead. Lily’s
throat tightened, and she swallowed hard again. No matter how much time passed,
she would never quite get over it. Terry was the only one Lily could count on
to help her keep her eyes on what mattered most. She had been Lily’s
touchstone, the one to force her to see the truth about herself, whether she
wanted to or not.

Lily smiled this time, as she glanced
over her shoulder at the door again. Terry would have liked Rissa. They were
different personalities, but somehow they both managed to bring out the best in
her.
Maybe I should try the ‘love is patient, love is kind’ thing too,
she
thought, half- expecting Terry’s snort of laughter at the idea. Yeah right,
that from the person who was the poster girl for shoot first and ask questions
later.

Even as a Shade for a short time after
her passing, Terry had been there, conquering death just long enough to force
Lily to face her fears, and ultimately her love for Sean. To put aside her guns
and her vigilante need for revenge and learn to forgive, starting with herself.

Lily blinked at the wetness prickling
at the corner of her eyes. She hadn’t cried in a long time, and she wasn’t
about to now.
Only happy tears
. That was the last thing Terry had said
to her, before moving on and into the light.

There were those words again…
move
on.
Lily lit a cigarette and took a drag. Blowing smoke through her nose,
she flicked the ashes into the fireplace. “We’ll see soon enough, won’t we?”
she murmured.

***

Lily rolled onto her side. She cracked
one eye open, staring blankly at the window across from her bed. It was well
past three a.m., and still no sign that the Council had come to any kind of
accord.

With a sigh, she
shoved a pillow beneath her down comforter and
wiggled it toward her feet, wedging it between her knees, not that it would
help. Sleep just wasn’t going to happen tonight.

Why had she ever agreed to let Sean
handle this alone? She kicked at the duvet, sending the down puffing out around
her. Lily had promised she wouldn’t interfere, and as much as she hated to
admit it, he honestly hadn’t given her much choice.

Indomitable was certainly one way to
describe Sean Leighton, Alpha Council of the Brethren. As was Mitch Paris, his
second in command, and the rest of their team, especially when it came to the
women in their lives.

This situation
was unadulterated bullshit, nothing more than pack politics running
amok. She stretched out her legs, her feet brushing against the cold edge of
the sheets
.
There was no soft snoring, or
wide, warm back to cuddle up against, not with the large wolf that should have
occupied the other side of the bed still out playing with the politicians. She
shivered, burrowing further down and taking the covers with her. The Alpha’s
bed was large and comfortable, but without Sean to fill the emptiness, it was
nothing more than vast sea of lonely blankets.

According to tradition, the Alpha’s
word was law, but this situation required more than just an edict. It required
finesse, as the notion of the Compound itself, with its elected Alpha, was an
anomaly in the supernatural world. Sean held the right of Alpha in his own wolf
pack, but the Compound wasn’t just comprised of wolves. Many different species
of Were had joined in this unprecedented endeavor, electing Sean to represent
all, and gifting him with the abilities of each group.

If the Compound failed, Were relations
would splinter into traditional factions, and any steps taken toward the dream
of one cohesive Were State would be lost forever. Even before this viral
pandemic, Sean had been on the verge of uniting the normally volatile community
of Weres, much to the dismay of some. But in the face of near extinction, even
the most discordant factions rallied into the ‘all for one and one for all’
mindset.

At least that had been the case until
Edward Parr had had his fifteen minutes of fame.

She frowned.
Bastard!
Parr’s
unexpected political maneuvering had not only derailed her acceptance by the
pack, but had also succeeded in fracturing the hot-blooded Were community. Not
to mention driving a wedge between her and Sean, as if their relationship
wasn’t hard enough on its own.

So what if she was human? She had Were
blood in her veins, courtesy of Jerard’s rabid attack. Lucky for her, she was
asymptomatic, regardless of cross reactivity to the virus. Even luckier, it
seemed her antibodies were the key to curing this mystery illness. That fact
alone made the current situation all the more ludicrous.

A disgusted sigh left Lily’s mouth. If
it were up to her, she would have given Parr two shots behind the ear without
batting an eye or ruining her mascara. Unfortunately, as tempting as it was,
she had to keep her cool. For whatever reason, Sean was trying his hardest to
remain politically correct. There was something hidden behind this, or why else
would Parr risk such an upheaval? On this point, she couldn’t argue with Sean.
The status of her humanity wasn’t a strong enough case to merit all this
debate.

She sighed.

Enough was enough. Sean had closed the
door on their shared mind link, but as the Alpha, he had no other choice. He
needed a clear head, especially since Parr would use any pretext to discredit
Sean.

Chewing on her lower lip, she sent her
senses out. It would be so easy, and really, with her skills who would know?

Weres were a tricky breed to read, but
all she needed was one person with their guard down. She had even joked that it
was like being the proverbial fly on the wall without all the mess of having to
phase.

Within moments, she found her opening
and slid right in. Her vision was hazy, as she hadn’t a clue as to whose eyes
she looked through, but an underlying fear radiated from her host like they’d
rather be anywhere else but there. Smiling ruefully, the words
been there,
done that,
ran through her mind.

Sean’s voice rang out above the din,
bringing all eyes to him. One leg crossed over the other, his hands rested
casually on either arm of the Alpha’s chair. His relaxed pose was in complete
contradiction to the tension echoing throughout the room, and Lily guessed it
took significant effort on his part to appear that nonchalant.

“Let’s be reasonable. Every test,
every report our lab has generated over the past month states unequivocally
that Lily’s blood needs to remain pure. Would you risk everyone’s life for an
archaic law? You would risk your own?” His eyes traveled across the room fixing
Parr and his allies with an icy stare. “This pathogen affects everyone, or did you
think status would be a mitigating factor?”

Parr stepped forward, his robes
swirling in an exaggerated gesture of polite distain. Lily snorted from her
vantage.
Poser!
Couldn’t they see how smarmy he was, despite his
polished veneer and practiced words? Were they all genuinely that obtuse they
couldn’t see through his theatrics?

“Once again our illustrious Alpha
demonstrates his contempt. What more proof does the council need? Leighton
won’t even entertain the idea of turning his human lover, simply because
she
would rather not. The audacity! Well, I ask you, when did we as a species start
putting the wants of humans above ourselves?” Parr raised one hand against the
murmurings that stirred.

“It is one thing for this human girl
to be kept in her natural state while her blood is of use to us. On that point,
I do not argue. But what I find abhorrent is our Alpha’s unwillingness to agree
to an acceptable timeframe for her to be turned. She has seen too much, knows
too much. I tell you this, gentlemen, if we allow the threads of our covenant
as a species to unravel, so then follows the entire fabric of our society!”

Oh, he was good…the son of a bitch.

Sean shook his head. His exhaustion
was clear, regardless of his calm exterior, and Lily’s heart broke for him.
He’d been fighting windmills and getting nowhere.

“She has a name, Edward. It’s Lily!
And your disrespect sets my teeth on edge every time you refer to her as
the
human
. Everyone is quite aware of her humanity however, let’s not forget
what she has done for us. We have given you irrefutable proof that our very
survival depends on Lily’s blood. There is no alternative. You speak of
timeframes, but the doctor’s at Leighton Research have already given us one,
and they were exceedingly specific. One year. That is the time required for the
vaccine results to be conclusive.”

“Rubbish.”

Sean’s jaw tightened. “Rubbish? You’re
a superb orator, Edward, but it’s obvious your listening skills need work. Not
more than eight hours ago, Ernst Volkmann himself said we need the year to be
sure. Or is the word of our head geneticist not enough for you?”

With a smug look, Parr spread his
hands. He was in his element, with all eyes, including Lily’s, focused on him.
His self-righteous expression said it all. “What our intrepid leader doesn’t
yet know, is that I’ve since spoken with the good doctor. While it’s true, he
would
prefer
to have the girl’s blood intact for a year, Dr. Volkmann
admitted by the next full moon, enough time will have elapsed from her initial
contamination, that a forced transformation would most likely be without
incident. Therefore, I’ve more than proven my argument. You, however, have
proven nothing except your desire to keep your human pet.”

Pet?
Throwing back her covers Lily
stood up, ignoring the shiver that jolted through her exposed flesh from the
chilled air.
Well, fuck you very much!
And what was all that other crap…
most
likely be without incident?
Didn’t they realize they were playing with
fire? Doctors warned in no uncertain terms what would happen if they let Parr
have his way, forcing the Alpha to change Lily prematurely. Not to mention, it
wasn’t what she wanted. It was obvious no one gave a goddamn about that minor
detail—except Sean.

After everything that happened—the
horrible deaths, the living in fear—these fickle Weres were willing to put
clannish pride before their own safety. Fists clenched, she needed to calm her
anger in order to maintain focus.

Sean stood slowly, his face grim. Even
through his block, Lily sensed every muscle in his body pulse, down to the
little muscle in his jaw as he bit back on his anger. Lily could almost hear
the blood pounding in his head. Even without the benefit of her psychic sense,
she knew exactly how Parr had coerced, if not out and out threatened, Volkmann.
The little doctor may have been a heavy weight in the medical world, but
against Parr and his henchmen, he didn’t stand a chance.

Sean’s eyes were as black as his mood.
“Edward, everyone here knows what you’re capable of, even if they won’t admit
it. I don’t have to venture much of a guess as to what you said, or more likely
did
, to get Dr. Volkmann to give you what you wanted.”

Parr opened his mouth to argue, but
Sean held up his hand. “Enough! This discussion is over.” In the tone of the
Alpha, he gave his edict, his voice never faltering as he stared down Edward’s
glare.

Lily was not to be touched.

Parr’s entire diatribe on tradition
and law had just backfired. The alpha had ruled, and according to their laws
and the precedent Parr had just spent days expounding, the matter was now
closed. Or was it? Lily could see the backpedaling scheme hatching behind
Parr’s narrowed eyes.

“This human has our Alpha wrapped
around her finger, even as her legs are wrapped around his back! Our laws vary
for no one. I have declared it unequivocally, she must be changed or cast out…
but
…under
these extenuating circumstances, and considering the Alpha’s unwillingness to
rescind his verdict, there is only one choice left. The human must be
imprisoned until she is no longer of use to us.”

Chaos exploded, with the majority
demanding that Lily stay, in essence, under house arrest, but also demanding
that Sean distance himself from her in exchange for a quorum and a temporary
peace. The Alpha’s ruling may have been absolute, but the decision had come at
a price. In their eyes, shunning her was the only way Sean could prove he had
the Compound’s best interests at heart, and not his own.

Grabbing the first thing she could
find, Lily hurled a delicate, porcelain egg against the wall like her own
personal grenade. Severing her hijacked mind link, she picked up a pair of
sweat pants from the end of the bed but threw them down in disgust. Did they
honestly think she was the type of woman who sat around waiting for her fate to
be decided? Yeah right, when pigs fly.