Love Me to Death (Underveil) (24 page)

Elena, sword still in hand, lowered it to her side. He held out his hands, and she relinquished it to him right as a drop-dead beautiful woman wearing tattered clothes and way too much eyeliner appeared in the bedroom doorway. Nik knew immediately who it was. It was the Time Folder’s mate.

Darvaak cleared his throat. “Aliana, I’d like you to meet Elena Arcos and Nikolai Itzov, friends of mine. Elena has just come across this antique sword and wanted me to appraise it for her.”

Still barely inside the room, she nodded. She seemed skittish, which struck Nik as odd, especially since she was dressed all badass, like a heavy metal rocker. Something about wasn’t quite right, and the Time Folder was way too edgy. Nik’s adrenaline kicked up a notch in response.

“I have no need for this kind of relic. I suggest you try museums. Thank you for sharing it with me. We are late to meet someone. I hate to toss you out, but we really need to leave. Thanks for letting me see the sword, Elena.” He pressed his palm against the panel next to the door, and it swung open. “I’ll just see them out, and I’ll be right back, Aliana.”

After the door closed, Darvaak took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Your timing is awful. I had to extricate her from her hiding place among the humans earlier than I had planned. She is only just now aware of what she is, and that’s bad enough without revealing there is a whole dimension she didn’t know about as well. She’s a bit angry and a lot frightened.”

Nik got that. Elena had been terrified when the Underveil was revealed to her. “Well, finding out you’re a space alien would throw anyone off her game.”

“Wow, that’s your life-mate?” Elena said.

He smiled. “She is. I need you to go away, now.”

Hanging out with his chick was not nearly as important as what was happening under the veil. “They have begun to murder humans,” Nik said.

Darvaak ran his hands down the front of his dress shirt to smooth the wrinkles. “My sources have been hearing buzz about this hit for a while. Elderly human male in New York, yes?”

“Yeah, but why would elves kill a human?” Nik asked.

“I believe it’s the result of the grudge match between the elf factions this human’s family got in the middle of generations ago. The kill order did not come from Fydor and is not part of the war initiative.” He glanced at his watch. “You should seek out Zana again for guidance, rather than delay me further. Please leave now.” He met Nik’s eyes directly. “Losing this girl would be losing my life. I’m sure you understand.”

Well, Darvaak was undoubtedly a dead end for now. Hopefully, he would get whatever shit was going on settled so he didn’t really end up dead. Poor bastard made it sound like his woman was in jeopardy. These alien freaks evidently would self-destruct if they lost their mates. Nik nodded. “Good luck.”

“Thank you. And I might call on you, Slayer, to return the favor of my housing Elena earlier. Aliana’s life is in danger. The threat is not immediate, but present, nonetheless. I believe I can solve it solo, but please keep my phone on you in case I need backup.”

“Done.” Nik held out his hand, and Darvaak took it, delivering a jolt of current that made his head buzz. He winced and withdrew, then rubbed his hand.

Darvaak grinned at Elena. “I’ve still got it.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, Slayer. Being near my mate kind of charges me up.” Then his expression grew serious. “The intel rumblings are that something big is about to occur. No one is clear on exactly what is in the works. I sincerely suggest you seek Zana’s counsel.”

“We will,” Nik replied.

The Time Folder placed his hand on the black pad outside the door, and it swung open again. “You both look well. Accepting fate suits you. I wish you good choices, Elena Arcos.” Something in the way he looked at her led Nikolai to believe he knew more than he was revealing. “And you, too, Slayer. Think before you act. Appearances can be deceiving.”

Yep. He definitely knew more than he was letting on, but before Nik could say a word, the metal security door swung shut. Conversation over.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“S
he’s not answering,” Elena grumbled, pacing the worn-out vinyl flooring of her kitchen for the zillionth time. She’d called Aunt Uza repeatedly for twenty minutes using the phone Stefan had given Nik. “She always answers my calls. Maybe it’s because it’s a strange number.”

“Maybe she’s herding kittens,” he suggested from where he leaned casually against the refrigerator. “I still think we should simply go over there.”

Uza’s number rolled straight to voice mail this time.
Dammit!
Why wasn’t she answering? A sickening dread coiled through Elena’s stomach. What if something had happened to her? What if she
couldn’t
answer? “Okay. You’re right. Let’s go.”

She led Nik through her back door and stopped short at the gate leading to Uza’s yard. Cats stared at her from everywhere: from the bushes, the lawn, the roof, under the porch, and even from inside the house. Gold, blue, and green eyes glowed and followed her from the windows. So many. Too many. The back of her neck tingled. There was a threat or some kind of danger here.

One of the closer cats growled low in its throat. Elena slipped the latch from the gate, and the beast crouched lower and twitched its tail. The growl got louder. It was going to pounce.

Nik stilled her hand on the latch. “They fight like their shifter animal even in human form. They will bite and scratch. They can leap great distances in either physical manifestation. Don’t let their looks deceive you. Even unshifted, you’re not dealing with house cats here. They’re dangerous. You must be careful.”

Well, crap.
That’s not what she needed to hear. She used to cuddle and pet these guys.

He leaned closer. “They won’t be expecting you to channel. Zap a few and they’ll back off. Cats don’t like water or electric shock. Go get ’em.”

The cat closest to them hissed, and Elena flinched. “Wait. Where are you going to be?”

“I’ll be watching from here. You wanted training. Well, here it is. Hands- and claws-on training.” He slid the latch all the way open and swung wide the gate. “You’re on!”

Holy. Freaking. Shit.

The cat closest didn’t even wait for her to move. It launched into the air the moment the gate stopped swinging.

Perhaps it was her new immortality affecting her reflexes, or maybe it was just being in a fight-or-flight situation where dozens of creatures with sharp, pointy edges were determined to shred her flesh, but for some reason, the entire scene seemed to clarify and divide itself out into a threat-based hierarchal schematic in her brain. She could anticipate who would come at her and from where… And it was awesome.

As the first creature flew at her in its feline form, she held up her tingling palms and sent it launching back halfway through the yard with an invisible pulse. It rolled with the impact and righted itself, no worse for wear.

Two more came from the left and three from the right, all meeting the same fate as the first. That thing about cats always landing on their feet? Total myth.

She progressed into the center of the yard, fending off attacks from all sides as if she had Uza’s ability to see the future.
Wait. That might be it.
Maybe she had some kind of wacky premonition ability or something, like when she’d seen herself teleporting before it happened. As a test, she closed her eyes, and to her amazement, she could see them coming before they launched.

And then it dawned on her; this felt right. Fighting and zapping combatants was, in some freakish way, fun.
Oh shit.
What a difference a little bit of immortal blood made.

“Enough,” a male voice shouted from Uza’s porch.

The cats fell back, and Elena opened her eyes and straightened from her fighting crouch. It was the thick guy with the beard who doubled as a gold Persian.

“That’s enough.” He sauntered toward her, completely nude, and stopped a few feet away. “My mistress cannot see you right now. And, had her guardians not been forbidden to shift, you would not be standing unharmed to receive that news.”

Nik laughed from where he leaned against the fence. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. She was just getting started.”

“Why can’t I talk to Uza?” Elena asked. “Why were they told not to transform?”

The bearded cat guy glanced over his shoulder at the house, then jerked his chin in the direction of the porch. The dozens of cats filed toward the front door. When the yard had cleared, he looked around again as if not wanting to be overheard. “She’s in a trance state. She cannot be bothered until she comes back to us. She is at her most vulnerable when like this. Our transformation to human form leaves a significant signal that can be detected by our enemies.” He gestured to her house. “It is why we rarely shift at this location. You need to leave now. Your little electric show surely caused enough disruption to alert those hunting Zana. We will need to relocate her now. For your own safety, you should leave, too, before they attack.”

“Who would attack?” Nik asked. “Who are your enemies?”

The man took a deep breath and shook his head. “Everyone is an enemy. All but the Uniter.”

Nik’s stance changed, and his hands formed fists. He spoke slowly and distinctly. “You must tell me this. Who hunts Zana?” When the man didn’t answer, Nik took a step closer and pulled the front of his shirt open so that the shifter could see his markings. “It is my charge to protect the Uniter. Tell me now.”

The man’s eyes widened as he studied Nik’s chest. “The Slayers.” The man seemed transfixed by the markings. “And the Time Folders.”

“You lie,” Nik said, wrapping both hands around the man’s throat. “The Time Folders have no stake in our affairs.”

“I must go to my mistress. I must protect her,” the man croaked. Then, he twisted and blurred in Nik’s hands until he dropped free of his grip in the form of a golden cat with long hair. After a hiss and a flip of his tail, he sprinted to the porch and disappeared around the front of the house.

“Fuck this,” Nik grumbled, stomping after the cat.

“No, stop,” Elena said, suddenly dizzy. She needed to sit down. “Not now. Let’s go back to my house.”

“He’s lying. The Time Folders are not a part of this war. They don’t give a shit about anything other than themselves. We need to talk to the Seer.”

She took his hand and led him to her side of the fence, finding it difficult to balance. “Uza will call when she’s done…doing whatever it is she’s doing.” He was still offering a bit of resistance, so she tugged hard. “If memory serves, we had a plan before we left for lunch. I don’t want to spend our time with a bunch of naked men and my crazy aunt.”

“No naked men, huh?”

She was relieved when he fell into step behind her. “Just one.” When she looked over her shoulder, he was smiling.

Hardly able to make the steps to the house, she sighed when she finally closed and locked the door behind them.

Nik’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

She leaned back against the door. “I’m not sure. I feel totally drained, like my battery has run out of charge or something.”

“All magic and power have a price. It’s why Slayers rarely invoke the teleportation spell. It drains our energy. You’ve teleported today, and used a huge amount of energy fighting off Zana’s guardians. It’s good to know what kind of toll it takes before you actually do battle. I had hoped that whatever you are, you’d be more immune to the energy drain than other species.”

She slumped against the door and slid the floor. “Evidently not.”

He sat next to her and rested his palm on her thigh. “Vamps recharge though feeding. Do you feel a need for blood? Would it help?”

A tiny spike of desire shot through her at the thought of when she’d drunk his blood in the wagon. Her heart rate picked up and her breath caught.

He kissed her neck. “It would be very convenient for that to be a rejuvenating source. Slayers have to rest to restore energy, and it takes time.” He took her earlobe between his teeth and gave a gentle tug. Her body tightened with desire. “If you can get energy back from my blood, that would be nice to know and exceedingly useful—not to mention fun. Let’s find out.”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” she whispered, feeling oddly shy. She’d done so much with this man. Biting him again shouldn’t give her butterflies.

He put his big hands around her waist and pulled her across him so she sat astride his lap, facing him. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was a gentle meeting, but it filled her with a surge of emotion. This big, powerful man was so tender and giving. “Nik, I…”
Love you
, she finished in her head. The timing was wrong. She was practically delirious with exhaustion. She would wait for a better time to say the words out loud. He tipped his head, exposing the pulsing vein on the side of his neck, and she felt her teeth elongate.

Mmmmm.
It came from her throat involuntarily as she ran her lips over the side of his neck. She felt him growing hard beneath her.

“Yes, Elena. Do it.”

And she did. Sweet, rich blood filled her mouth as he groaned and thrust up beneath her. Elena almost came then and there.

“That’s it,” he said, running his hands under her shirt. “Anything you want. Just tell me.” He placed his warm palms over her breasts. “I need you, Elena,” he whispered so quietly she barely heard it above the blood pounding in her head “I need you and want you with me always. Forever. I’ve fallen in love with you.” With a jerk, she pulled away.

Breathing hard, she stared into his eyes. His pupils almost filled his iris, leaving only a tiny bit of gold visible. Had he really just said that? Before she could catch her breath, he kissed her so hard she almost fainted.

The phone at her knee rang. She wound her hands tighter in his hair.

He pulled away and turned the phone over. “It’s Zana.” His voice was ragged and deep.

“Ignore it.” She leaned in and kissed him again.

He chuckled. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but you must take this call. We need to meet with her to find out what’s going on.”

She glared at the offending phone as it continued to pulse with what was possibly the most irritating ring tone in history.

“Your timing sucks, Aunt Uza,” She growled into the phone. Nik ran his tongue down her neck, and she shuddered.

“It does suck,” Uza answered. “I might actually be too late. Now listen to me, Ellie, honey. You’ve gotta get out of that house lickity split. Don’t dawdle. Some baddies are gonna swoop in and open a can of whupass.”

Images flickered behind Elena’s eyelids. She rose to her knees and then stood, too horrified to even speak as flashes of images filled her head. Nik was in a jail cell of some kind, chained to the wall. “No,” she whispered “No.”

“Now keep it together, Ellie darlin’,” Uza’s voice called through the phone. “You’ve gotta zap yourself to the place where your daddy took you on the weekends. I’ll come join you as soon as the coast is clear.”

Nik stood and took her by the shoulders. “What is it?”

Uza continued speaking. “Don’t tell the hottie where you’re going. They will torture him to find you. They might have a mind reader. It will be easier on him if he doesn’t know.”

Images of blood running down Nik’s face flickered through Elena’s mind. His whole body was broken. She shook her head to clear it. “No,” she said again.

“Ellie, I’m not shittin’ ya. Poof now or else this will all go wonky,” Uza said. “You can’t save him from this. You need to save yourself. You’re too weak to take him with you. Honey bear, you may not have enough juice to make it there yourself. If you die, so do millions. They are more valuable than the one. Do it now.”

Millions could die because of me.

“Elena…” Nik cupped her face in his hands. “What’s going on?”

A helicopter thrummed close enough to make the dishes in the cabinet rattle.

“Shit,” he said. “I can’t get us out in time. The spell takes too long. You’ve gotta get us out of here.”

“I’m so sorry, Nik.” She took several steps back from him, breaking their contact. She could barely see through her tears. “So very sorry. Please forgive me.”

Hoping she had enough energy to make it to the designated meeting place, she envisioned it. Before her body totally broke apart to teleport, two huge Slayers in combat gear broke through the door of her kitchen. Nik was so distracted that one was able to kick the sword from his hand. The other grabbed Nik by the hair and held a knife to his throat while the first reached for what remained of Elena, only to get a handful of empty air.

“Where did she go?” she heard the man demand as if in an echo chamber. “Tell us or you will die here and now.”

“I have no idea where she went,” Nik’s voice answered from far, far away. “Hopefully, she’s gone straight to hell.”