Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2) (10 page)

Easing his phone from his pocket, he stood at the edge of the bed to gaze down at his Becca.

“Michael.”

The admiral’s cool voice rankled him instantly. “Sir, we have some problems.”

No hesitation, not even a break in his serenity. What all had the man seen in his centuries, maybe millennia? “Such as?”

He started with the least worrisome first. “Gabrielle, Sir, she’s disappeared. Ryan’s out looking for her.”

“Disappeared how, Michael?”

“She’s wandered off, Sir. Ryan said they were out trying to follow the scent of the windego to find its den when she came across something that distracted her. She wouldn’t talk about it and now she’s gone off. He’s out looking for her now.”

“Is that all? I can’t help but notice you sound rather upset. Given there is no lost love between Gabrielle and yourself, I must assume it involves our human?”

If they’d been in the same room Michael’s expression would have drawn the admiral’s wrath for sure.
He
wasn’t allowed to call her
ours
. “Sir, Becca had what I believe was a vision on the ride back from a tour of the crime scenes today. She hasn’t woken up.” His struggle to keep his distress from his voice wasn’t enough.

“Would this have anything to do with her recent weakness?” Black floored Michael with his insight.

To admit Becca was weak and possibly unable to do her job might devalue her in the admiral’s eyes and that didn’t bode well for her longevity. “Sir?”

The admiral chuckled. “Did you think you could hide her deterioration from me? She is not the first human who has received a heavy infusion of vampire blood in history. Although she is the first I have seen harbor the side effects for this long. Most likely that is because of her unusual genetic twist.”

“You mean the fact that she’s a witch?” Michael referred to Black’s archaic title for her prescient abilities. He avoided commenting on Black’s damning testament of her decline.

But the admiral was in the mood to discuss it. “Honestly Michael, did you think you could keep such an enormous donation a secret? I can nearly feel her body vibrating when she enters the room.”

“If you know she’s having trouble, why are you intent upon making her stretch her ability so soon? You know it’s draining when she jumps.” He was dangerously close to questioning Admiral Black. Binding aside, that usually drew a painful punishment for his insubordination.

Black’s tone lost some of its airiness. “I had hoped that if things were dire you might see fit to turn her.
I
would have done it by now if I were able.”

Michael was speechless. Black’s one attempt at binding Becca to him by giving her his blood had nearly killed her. They were incompatible, a rarity Michael had only heard of before, never seen. It made him question the type of vampire the admiral was, or if it was his ancient blood and its potency her body found objectionable. Regardless, for whatever reason, Black wanted Becca a vampire and Michael didn’t. Nor did Becca.

“You knew this day would come, Michael.” Serenity once again flowed through his words.

“No,” he choked out, “I didn’t. I thought after Kenneth you realized prescient humans couldn’t be vampires. They go mad with the change.”

Kenneth had been the last member they’d tried to bring into the unit before Becca. Kenneth was turned shortly before the admiral found him. Turning had sharpened his senses and honed his sight until all he could see was death and bloodshed, mostly at his own hands. He’d been unable to function and the admiral “put him out to pasture” to adjust to the severity of his new nature, intending to try to indoctrinate him after he’d settled in a few decades.

The admiral dropped his voice. “And you don’t think what you did to her is any different?”

Horrified, Michael sank down on the bed behind him, his eyes never leaving the pale face that hadn’t so much as moved in over an hour. “I didn’t think…” he whispered.

“Of course not.” Admiral Black almost sounded sympathetic. “Your concern was to save her life and you did. What you couldn’t know was that the amount of blood she ingested allowed her to see as we do, smell and hear like us. More than merely enhancing as a typical infusion does, every emotion is tenfold what she’s used to. The growing strength of her ability is adding to the strain on her already taxed system. It is not a level of functioning that is feasible for a human body to endure long term.”

Michael knew he should have gone to the admiral when he’d noticed the side effects weren’t fading. Only he’d been so fearful that Black would capitalize on the power Michael’s blood would have over her until it wore off, he’d kept them separate except for necessary meetings. Mostly he’d run interference and limited their contact, hoping she would be back to normal before Black caught on. It had been foolish and he realized that in retrospect. Black could outmaneuver him any day and he of all people should know better. It didn’t matter what he did, Black would always know. Again, he felt the mantle of his failure to protect Becca settle around his shoulders.

“Why isn’t it wearing off, Sir?” His forehead rested in his palm, defeat staining every word. “Why is she still like me? Have I saved her life only to doom her to madness?”

“She is more like us than even I realized, Michael.” Black’s tone was thoughtful. For the moment he wasn’t jockeying for control or pitting one against another. He was a mentor advising his protégé, nothing more.

These moments were rare and Michael used this one to learn what he could to help his lover. “Did the blood enhance her abilities or are they getting stronger naturally? Is
that
what’s hurting her? Was this inevitable?”

“She is preternatural, a being that walks between what we are and pure humans. There are many levels of preternatural, and from what I have seen she is a strong one. I have not seen her equal in a millennium.” No small amount of satisfaction oozed through the admiral’s words. Obviously he was proud to have added Becca to his ranks. “Her value to us is incomparable.”

“Then we need to figure out how to fix her, not drive her over the edge by turning her into one of us.” Michael became more resolute.

As did Black. “That is why she needs to be immortal. Once she is gone, we will not be able to replace her.”

His words gave Michael pause. Becca was mortal. She was a human living and working alongside dangerous creatures, charged with the task of hunting down other dangerous creatures that were a danger to humans. That she would come to harm seemed inevitable. Then he remembered Kenneth’s descriptions of the torment of his madness and shook his head. “No Sir. If she were turned,
then
we would lose her. What makes her what she is, is the fact that she’s
not
one of us.”

Black’s words were icy. “Do you think you can stop what is already happening by hiding your head in the sand?”

Just then, Becca took a deep, shaking breath like a diver emerging from the depths of a pool. Her eyelids fluttered.

“Sir, she’s waking,” Michael murmured into the phone.

“Call me as soon as she interprets the vision.”

“Yes, Sir.”

No need for instructions after so many years together, Black and Michael both hit a button and screens went black. Michael’s phone went in his pocket and he slid down to his knees to kneel at her bedside and take her hand in his.

“Michael? How long was I out?” Her voice was scratchy and hoarse from disuse.

Kissing her hand, he set it down to retrieve a glass of water for her. In less than a minute, he had returned. “Can you sit up?” He positioned himself to assist if she needed him.

She nodded and together they had her upright and drinking in short order. Michael sat on the edge of her bed. After a few sips, she groaned. “That vision, it was in the car with Detective Salvo, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t worry about him,” Michael assured her. “He thought it was a nightmare, nothing more.”

“Are you sure?” Becca wouldn’t want anyone to be witness to her sight. Surely she’d talked during it, she would assume she had. “I mean, what if he figures it out?”

Michael lifted one shoulder casually. “Then I’m fully prepared to kill him.”

Becca looked like she believed him. The warning was there; his eyes were dark, he could feel it, and he wrestled to hide his upset. His conversation with Black continued to run through his head while he tried to work through it and find a different solution for her.

“That’s not funny.” She reached for his hand again and squeezed it when he gave it to her. She was weak. “He’s probably telling everyone what a case of nerves I am.” She rolled her eyes, revealing several broken blood vessels. “He’s kind of got a point there.”

“It’s my fault.” Michael’s eyes closed, he was unable to look at her when he told her what he’d done. He’d come close to doing the thing she’d asked him not to. “After the fire demon, when I gave you my blood, I had to give you a lot.” He could feel her eyes on him; he wished he could find some release from the pain he felt tearing his mind apart and release her from the curse he’d laid upon her with his blood. Her destruction had been his doing. Deep down he’d known it would be that way from the beginning.
Humans are fragile.
God, it had been his mantra that kept him loyal to them while maintaining a safe distance since he’d returned from the War where he’d been turned. And now, because he’d been weak and had fallen in love with one, he had destroyed her. He would have wept if he were able. Bowing his head, he rested his forehead on her hand. Her warmth seeped into his cold flesh and he welcomed its familiarity. It had been too long since he’d eaten, though the thought of having to consume blood while he was here with her awakened an entirely new wave of disgust with himself.

“Your blood saved me, Michael.” She put her small hand on his cheek and he turned away. “Why are you so upset?”

He couldn’t look at her. “I gave you too much. The heightened senses and your ability’s increasing strength, it’s taking too much from you.” Rolling his head on her flesh, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Her voice shook. “All we have to do is wait for the effects to fade. They should be fading soon, right?”

“Not with you, Becca.” Opening his eyes, he raised his head and her hand fell away, taking its warmth with it. It would help to see the hatred sure to be there. Then he could force himself to keep away and avoid hurting her anymore. Only there wasn’t hate, just fear. It was his undoing.

“Why? What’s wrong with me?” Tears had started to mark her white cheeks with wet trails. Her other hand lifted from his and he no longer touched her.

He shook his head, frowning. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” He’d hoped to tell her in a less damaging way that she was even more different than she knew. They had not yet informed her of the level to which her prescience altered her. “It’s just that…” He stopped. He watched the pulse in her neck picking up until it was flying. “Becca please, your heart shouldn’t be racing like this. Can you try to calm down?”

Fear quickly turned to anger. “Can you ask me a dumber question? You’re telling me I’m falling apart because of the blood that saved my life is too strong for me and from the way you’re acting, it’s about to get worse. And you want me to do some deep breathing?”

Her cheeks were coloring and he smelled the beginnings of sweat starting to break out on her body as the stress and adrenaline combined to bring her precariously close to passing out. From the way her eyes were glazing, he could guess she was having trouble seeing. Whether that was from her eyesight growing spotty with warning or a lack of oxygen pushing her to faint, he couldn’t tell.

That made his decision. At least if he told her everything at once she could pass out and reset herself.  He might be able to bring her pulse down if he stroked her. His touch soothed her for some odd reason. Not that the mysterious phenomena would continue much after what he would tell her this night. “Becca, you aren’t purely human and the blood of a supernatural creature lasts longer in you. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” He watched her mouth form a small “o” and her chest heaved. “It wasn’t until Admiral Black told me what was happening that I understood what I’d done.” He shook his head again. “I’m sorry, I should have talked to him sooner. I thought I was doing you a favor by keeping it from him.”