Illusions (Night Roamers) Book Four (12 page)

Nikki

Wh
en Nathan stepped into the house and met me in the kitchen, I could tell from his expression that he was overwhelmed.

“You know, don’t you?” he said.

I nodded. “Yes. I’d just arrived when you bolted out of Faye’s office and escaped. Do you remember anything?”

“Yes.
Unfortunately, I remember everything.”

I stared at the dried blood under his mouth and on in his hands and it made me want to feed. “You should really go and take a shower.
Then we’ll talk.”

“Okay,” he replied, walking
toward the hallway. He looked back over his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re all right. Did you find Duncan?”

“No. I think
Faye is keeping him prisoner, though. I followed her to this ranch and she asked if I wanted to see him.”

“
Oh shit.”

“
Exactly.”

“I take it you didn’t go inside?”

“No,” I sighed angrily. “I was too scared. I know she would have either killed me or made me a prisoner, too.”

“
We have to rescue him.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead.
“Yes, I know.”

“I can’t believe she’s still alive.”

“Hopefully not for long.” I stared at him again and it gave me the shivers. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a horror movie. “Seriously, you’re freaking me out. Please go take a shower and get dressed, so we can come up with some kind of plan.”

“Sure
,” he replied, disappearing down the hallway.

I walked over to the window
and thought about Martin. Although he seemed reasonable enough, I knew that when he found out Nathan had been the one who attacked Celeste, he’d come looking for him. It added another person to our list of enemies to avoid and I still had no idea where our mom was.

Then there was Duncan…

I felt bad for not trying to rescue him, but the little voice inside my head kept reassuring me that it would have been a suicide mission. That I would have never left that place. Neither would Duncan, if he was even still alive. I should have forced her to bring him outside. Or at least tried harder. At least then we might have had a chance.

When Nathan was finished
with his shower, he stepped into the kitchen and went directly to the refrigerator. He had on one of Duncan’s marina T-shirts and a pair of jeans that looked brand new.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m hungry,” he said, pulling out a package of ham and Swiss cheese, a jar of pickles, and the mayonnaise. He then grabbed the loaf of bread I’d picked up the day before for him, and began making himself sandwich.

“Are you sure it’s okay to eat regular food?” I asked, watching him make a double-decker sandwich.

“I have no idea, and frankly, I don’t care. I’m freaken starving and if I get sick, so be it.”

I leaned over the counter and watched him
do something so ordinary, it was almost comforting. His hair was still damp from the shower and I could smell the toothpaste. He definitely didn’t look like someone who’d just ripped out a girl’s throat.

“What?” he asked.

“Just thinking that you look so normal, making that sandwich.”

“I feel normal,” he replied, opening up the bread.

“Do you?”

He nodded. “Yes. In fact, part of me can’t decide if what happened was a dream, or someone slipped me drugs, making me hallucinate.”

“Believe me, I’ve been there.”

“Yep.”

“So, obviously the lycan that bit you infected you.”

“
Appears that way,” he replied. He stepped back from the counter, leaned down, and rolled up the leg of his jeans. “And, check this out – the bite is completely gone.”

Sure enough, his leg was completely healed.  “At least your leg isn’t any hairier,” I joked.
“It already needs a weed-wacker.”

“Ha ha…” he replied, standing back up.

“So, what exactly happened?”

“You first,” he replied, opening up the mayonnaise.

I sat down on the stool. “Well, I followed Faye to that house I was telling you about. Shocked the hell out of me. I had no idea she owned a ranch home.”

“Maybe she’s borrowing it.”

“Maybe.”

“Then what happened?”

I ran a hand through my hair. It definitely needed a washing. “She confronted me. Knew that I was following her.”

“Was she naked?”

My eyes widened. “First of all – how did you know? And second of all – why were you thinking about it?”

He grinned sheepishly. “I don’t know. I guess I’m really a dog now, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “Great. Anyway, yes. Obviously when she or you lycans change, you need to make sure there’s a change of clothing nearby. If I ever have to see you naked again, I’m going to rip out my own throat.”

“Good thing it was cold and you couldn’t see much,” he joked.

“You’re sick, Nathan. Anyway, moving away from this disturbing subject and back to Faye… she basically said that she had Duncan in her home and asked if I wanted to go in and see him.”

“A trap.”

“I’m sure.”

He licked the mayo from his finger and covered his sandwich with the other slice of bread. “Either way, Duncan is missing and she obviously had something to do with it. So, what shoul
d we do? Go back there and raid the ranch?”

“
No. I think we should watch for her to leave it, and then go in.”

“
Why would she leave if she has a hostage?”

“I don’t know. She did before, obviously.”

“Then she has someone posted there. To keep guard.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather face whoever is inside of that place, instead of her.
She’s pretty hard to take down.”

He took a bite of his sandwich. “What if it’s Ethan?” he asked, his mouth full of food.

“God, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

He swallowed. “Sorry. But, like I said – what if it’s Ethan
who’s helping her? Are you going to be able to fight him?”

“Of course,” I replied. “I had to do it before. Besides, we still have your gun.”
I walked over to the wastebasket I’d taken from Faye’s office, which was sitting in the corner, by the door. I pulled out the gun.

“It’s not going to stop vampires,” he replied, taking another bite.

“How do you know? I thought you were all gung-ho on trying this before.” 

He finished chewing.
“Because Celeste told me. Before I turned into a werewolf and killed her,” he replied.

“You mean a
lycan?”

He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and began filling it with water. “Whatever the hell I am now. I mean, I’m sure it would slow them down, but I think I’d be much better
to you if was one of them. Look at what I was able to do to Celeste.”

I rubbed my forehead. “
Yeah, maybe. But… doesn’t being a lycan scare you?”

“Scare me?” His face turned serious. “It freaks the
hell
out of me, but right now, mom and Duncan are in danger, and I’m trying not to think too hard about what just happened at the club. There’s no more time for feeling sorry for ourselves. We save them and then worry about this shit later.”

I nodded. “I agree.”

I just hoped that there would be a time when we could move past all of this, and concentrate on getting our lives sorted out.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you – I met Celeste’s brother tonight. At Club Nightshade. Right before you raced out of the building.”

His eyes widened. “She has a brother?”

“Yes. I guess he’s been gone for a while. He found out about Caleb and returned to avenge his death.”

“Shit.”

I smiled grimly. “Looks like he might be trying to avenge more than one death now.”

He waved his thumb at his chest. “She attacked me. I was only trying to protect myself.”

“It’s her brother. I don’t think he’ll care too much.”

“She’ll survive. Just like she did before.”

“Unfortunately, I’m sure you’re right.”

He let out a ragged sigh. “Did he know who I was?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“She’ll tell him and it won’t be good. Not for either of us. I thought that maybe he could have helped us with Victor. But now…”

“He’s going to go after Victor for killing his dad. Even if we’re not on the same side, it’s still going to benefit us.”

“Yeah. True.”

“So, what was he like?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Our conversation was short and I couldn’t really tell.
He seemed like he was reasonable, though.”

“Let’s hope he’s reasonable enough to hear my side of the st
ory when he comes looking for blood.”

“I’ll talk to him first, before you do. But
only if she pulls through. No need to offer him the information if it’s only going to put you in more danger.”

He smiled grimly.
“I won’t argue that.”

“Are you finished
eating?”

He
took another drink of water and then wiped his mouth with a paper towel. “For now. I’m still hungry, but nothing in the refrigerator sounds good. I need meat. A steak would be really sweet right now.”

“
One that’s extra rare?” I replied.

He frowned
. “Probably. Let’s drop it, though, okay?”

I agreed.
He was still having a hard time dealing with what had happened to him, and I couldn’t blame him.

He put his plate and glass in the sink and turned to me.
“So, back to the ranch? You’ll give me a ride, right?”

“Yes, but before we fly
there, do you think you can transform into a lycan at will? Or are you going to need some practice? It’s taken me awhile just to get the flying thing down, you know?” 

He scratched the side of his head.
“Hmm… Good question.”

“Maybe you should practice
before we head on out? Instead of going in there blindly.”