Magick Marked (The DarqRealm Series) (18 page)

Rho spun to face him and hissed. White fangs flashed as she dropped into a crouch, a dagger in her right hand, her stare completely lethal and inhuman. But she wouldn’t hurt him. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did.

The bird flew from his shoulder and landed beside him on the floor.

He raised his hands in mock defeat. “No need to get fangy. I was just asking you a question.”

Rho took several deep breaths before sheathing the dagger. She rose slowly, her incisors returning into their smaller, human form. “None of your business.”

“Sorry, wrong answer. Try again.” They’d already agreed not to leave without backup. Where did she think she was sneaking off to?

She tightened her hands into fists at her sides. “It’s none of your business where I’m going.”

He shook his head. “Again, wrong answer. You’re not very good at this game.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “To the contrary. You took an oath binding yourself to this team. Your business is our business.”

Rho scowled. “That’s such bullshit. We can’t be stuck together forever.”

“I’m sorry, were you not there for the binding?” He tilted his head to the ceiling and tapped his chin with a finger. “What was that spell again?”

“Get off my ass.”

He ignored her. “That’s right. Something about
each shall not let the other die
.”

“I heard what was said.”

Rho turned on a heel and marched toward the door.

Yeah, not going to happen.

Eldon rushed behind her, slamming the door shut just as she cracked it open. She turned around to glare up at him, brows pinched in anger.

He smiled. She could glare all day long if she wanted to. She wasn’t leaving without backup.

She rolled her shoulders back and tilted her chin up. “I said, get off my ass.”

“Can’t do that, since technically I’m not on it.” His eyes narrowed as he ran his gaze along the length of her body, before locking his stare on her slender face. “But none of us are leaving.”

Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists. “I have to go take care of something.”

Eldon reached out to tap the ley line beneath his feet and to the right. An angry, defiant vampire was hardly what anyone needed right now. He’d control the situation if he had to, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Although given her posture and proximity to weapons, he couldn’t exactly rule it out.

“Not by yourself, you’re not,” he said.

“That’s so stupid! I’ve already gone out by my—” She snapped her jaw shut.

His eyes narrowed. “What did you just say?”

She glanced at the floor and shook her head. Her nostrils flared in anger but she didn’t say anything.

He’d caught her red-handed. “You’ve been sneaking out, haven’t you?”

“It’s not like I—”

“I don’t care what it’s
like
,” he cut her off. “We had a deal. No one leaves alone.
No one
.”

The sound of wings flapping caught Eldon’s attention and he glanced up to find Preshea descending to the cement floor.

Pop.

Preshea took her human form on the ground to his right, fully clothed and fully pissed off. She tossed Eldon a sideways glance. “Perimeter is clear.” Her stare turned to Rho. “And I saw that. You think you’re the only one who wants to get out of here? I have shit to do, too, princess.”

Rho’s eyes darkened. “Stay out of this.”

“What’s going on in here?” Tim’s voice bellowed across the room as he appeared through the empty doorway. “I feel like a woodpecker made a nest in my skull.”

Preshea smirked. “Our beloved little vampire wants to go on a field trip. Mover busted her mid-escape.”

Tim’s brow furrowed. “Rho, where do you think you’re going?”

Rho rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I haven’t had this much supervision since my parents were still alive. And I was fourteen.”

“Tough shit, Goldilocks. If I’m not allowed out, neither are you,” Preshea said.

Rho’s brows lifted. “Oh, really? So are you volunteering to be my breakfast?”

Oh, hell. He hadn’t considered Rho’s… dietary restrictions. As far as he knew, blood was a requirement for vamps, and there weren’t any loopholes. The choices were eat or go insane. And a blood-starved vampire certainly didn’t belong anywhere near their mission. Or him.

Rho snorted. “That’s what I thought.” She turned toward the doorway.

“Wait a second,” Tim said firmly.

Rho froze at the command. Eldon turned to stare at the wolf, amazed at his own body’s response to the order. He’d originally thought the Alpha bond only worked in the wolf pack setting, but clearly that wasn’t the case. Being Alpha wasn’t a popularity contest, it was a birthright.

Tim rubbed the scruff on his unshaved chin. “This issue isn’t going to go away, and you’re not running around downtown Austin at night, alone. We’ll have to figure something out.”

“I’m perfectly capable—” Rho started.

“It’s not open for debate.” Tim winced, as if the nest in his skull was growing to accommodate more birds. “Not for any of you.”

“I’m not snacking on my teammates.” Rho settled her hands on her hips.

“Then we bring someone in.”

Rho glowered at him and shook her head. “You know we can’t bring people here, even humans. It isn’t safe. For any of you.”

“True,” Tim conceded.

She was right. The Collective had warded this place using communal magick, and the team had agreed to stay here for safety. The only place Eldon could think of that might be more secure would be his family’s safe house, and that was only because he had a complex warding system and the best security system money could buy hardwired into the infrastructure.

Until they understood who their enemy was, they couldn’t know who to trust. But if she wasn’t alone when she fed…

“Why can’t we send someone with her?” Eldon blurted.

Three heads snapped up to stare at him, varied levels of surprise flittering across their faces. Rightfully so. He’d practically just volunteered for some one-on-one time with a vampire. Sure she’d saved his life once, but that could have been a fluke. What if she was too young to control herself?

“Not a bad idea,” Tim answered.

“Not it!” Preshea said quickly.

Tim grimaced. “That leaves you and me, mover.”

Eldon glanced over at Rho. Her shoulders were hunched forward, waist-length blond locks hiding most of her face. She traced her shoe along the concrete, brushing designs into the dust at her feet, as if she were hiding from something. Someone. Maybe everyone.

“It’s fine,” Rho mumbled.

This vampire was a strong warrior, not a delicate little girl. Why was she acting so timid? He couldn’t fault her for trying to be responsible. Even if he didn’t agree with her approach, he did agree that she needed to take care of herself. Yet here she stood, knowing full well her teammates were repulsed by the very thought of spending time with her. Never mind actually feeding her.

A thought struck him.

She wasn’t acting afraid or upset because no one wanted to escort her. She was ashamed. There wasn’t a thing she could do about what she’d become, and she was living with the cards she was dealt. All things considered, she was adapting to their world well.

He’d been told vampires were evil for as long as he could remember and he’d believed it. Not because he knew it to be true, but because he’d never asked why. The first time Rho had come to his home, he’d been an ass. Why? Because she wasn’t a mover? Because she was transformed into something she didn’t want to be? Judging by the shame on her face now, he couldn’t imagine this would be something she chose for herself.

Eldon cleared his throat. “I’ll do it.”

Preshea shook her head. Rho’s wide, shocked eyes met his.

“Are you sure?” Tim asked. “You’ll be alone. With a vampire.”

Eldon shrugged a shoulder. “If she wanted to kill me, she would’ve done it by now.” He hoped.

Rho blinked. “Um, thanks.” She focused on her shoe tracing a line in the dust. “Can we go now? I need to eat soon. Like, really soon.”

He nodded. “Let me take a shower and then we’ll go. I’ll pick up some real food—the human kind, not the blood kind—while we’re out.”

Preshea’s eyes brightened. “Mmm, get me a burger. And fries. And a soda.” Her lips curved into a smile. “And a blended ice cream thing with Oreos.”

“How do you stay so small when all you eat is junk?” Tim asked.

She gave him a smug smile. “Good genes.”

“Yeah, right,” Tim muttered as he headed out of the room, smiling.

Preshea followed behind him, rattling off her favorite ice creams based on her own personal rating system. “First there’s mint chocolate chip, then cookies and cream, rocky road, buttered pecan—”

Eldon glanced down, realizing he was only in boxers and a shirt.

“Good rule of thumb, mover man?” Rho chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t blush in front of a vampire.”

Don’t tease a hungry vamp. Good call
. “Sorry about that.”

“Just hurry up and get ready. I’ve already waited longer than I should.”

He nodded, heading straight out of the room and toward his office sleeping quarters. Time to hit the shower and get ready for the day. He had a vampire to feed.

“So,” Eldon spoke up. “How are we going to do this?”

The gold-toned streetlights reflected off the wet pavement, bathing the streets in deceptive beauty. They were close to a strip of bars, but she had plans to scour the alleyway behind them. Night Storm was miles away and she couldn’t risk such a public feeding without a little cover. Her human mind control only worked on those she touched.

She stepped over a puddle without slowing her pace. “
We
aren’t going to do anything. I’m going to find dinner, and you’re going to stay out of my way.”

He snorted. “No need to be rude about it. I’m doing you a favor.”

Like hell he was. “The only thing you’re doing is being a pain in my ass.” She took a right around a street corner, narrowly avoiding the smokers standing outside of a hole-in-the-wall dance hall. Clanking beer bottles and country music streamed into the night, and she caught herself singing along to Garth Brooks.

He picked up his space and spoke quietly behind her. “You think I
want
to be here?”

“I think you have some twisted, morbid curiosity about vampires and you’re trying to get your rocks off on watching me eat.”

He grimaced. “You think I want to watch you suck the life out of someone?”

Rho stopped in her tracks and turned slowly to face him. “You think that’s what I do? Kill humans?”

Eldon took a step back. “When you want to.”

“Shows how much you know.” No wonder he didn’t care for her race.

“That’s what vampires do.”

She tilted her head. “You think I’m a murderer?”

He didn’t respond.

Did he think she killed innocents? Sure, she took out an occasional rogue vamp, but that was a job. The innocents were usually the fallout from misdeeds done by others, and those she only eliminated out of mercy. A vampire version of euthanasia, in a way, and she made it as painless as she could. They were already slated for death; she just helped speed up the process. Hit for hire, not hit for pleasure. And every damn one of them grated against her soul.

She shook her head. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“So tell me.”

Yeah. Right. She wondered what he’d want to chat about first. Maybe they could start with the night her parents died and nightcap with a lovely discussion about how she executed people for a living. With a profile like hers, who needed eHarmony?

Eldon shrugged a shoulder. “You’re not a mover. It’s not my place to judge what you do according to your own laws. Even if I don’t agree with it.”

She stared down at her black and electric pink Soucony sneakers. They were her favorite pair of kicks, the ones Frederick had bought her shortly after she transitioned and left her human world—and closet—behind. Man, she’d love to be back at the cave right now, with the rest of her shoe collection.

“Rho?”