Under My Skin (24 page)

I clung to his solid, cool length, too dazed to care where he came from, how he knew I needed him. I only knew that he was there.

“Help me,” I pleaded. And I didn’t mean with the vampire.

The glint of pain in Wade’s misty grey eyes told me he understood my internal battle. He’d fought it too.

“With pleasure.” Wade extended a hand, his fingers splayed wide. A bolt of energy radiated from his palm. His vampire-witchy hold invisible, even to my wolven eyes. Power thrummed around us on a frequency I had felt before. The same electric charge Wade had used on me outside the school. And, like I had, Travis froze in place, his mouth twisted with rage, his fangs still bared. Immobile.

Painful gasps left my throat. For a second, I panicked. Wade. So strong. What if he and Travis worked together? Toyed with me? What if Wade shoved me toward the human, prone and bleeding on the ground? Forced me to feed?

What would I become?

But Wade merely held me at arm’s length, so he could stare into my eyes. My vision blurred. His set features wavered in and out of focus.

“Think of something that calms you, something to soothe the beast,” he said, his intense grey gaze holding mine.

I did as I was bid. The image of Alec formed in my mind. His unfailing belief that we would save the town. How he’d tried to be so casual when he gave me the cross necklace. The way his lips felt on mine when we kissed. The ache in my jaw receded, as did the puffiness in my cheeks. I relived the gentle pressure of Alec’s lips.

The hands gripping my arms squeezed like a vise. “Of course you would think of Alec.” Wade bit off a curse.

A dull pain battered my head as Wade’s rage and jealousy—images dark and violent, poignant and heart wrenching—bombarded me. How could I know his thoughts, feelings? How did he know memories of Alec had been my lifeline?

He’s in my mind. And—OMG—I’m in his.

Wade thrust me away. A solid steel wall thundered into my mind from a vast distance. Wade had blocked
me.

I blinked, coming back to myself, empty. Lightheaded. Lost.

“Play fair,” Wade said huskily. “You’re getting far too good at that. Sending a message when you’re angry is one thing, but reading my thoughts? A wolven twice your age wouldn’t have that much skill, and you’re only a half-breed.” He laughed. “I’m beginning to understand my father’s interest in you.”

He shot a fierce glance over his shoulder at Travis’s still form. “I have to take care of him.” Wade turned back to me. “Close your eyes. Whatever you hear, don’t open them until I tell you it’s safe.”

And the things I heard I will never forget. Terror kept my eyes squeezed shut. Terror at what Wade was doing. Terror at what might happen if I opened my eyes to watch. At last Wade’s cool fingers touched on my cheek.

“It’s okay now.”

I opened my eyes. The alley remained dank and filthy, but Travis and the human had disappeared. I inhaled, testing the air for that all-powerful scent of blood. Nothing.

Wade stood a few feet away. His speed amazed me. One second touching my cheek, the next... He stood there, eyeing me with concern. Heavy snowflakes the size of dimes drifted to the ground between us. Some caught in my bangs. Not a single flake settled on him—not on his artfully mussed hair, nor on his black leather-clad shoulders as though he repelled their cheery, fat coldness.

He swooped down and picked up my dagger. He took a step toward me. Then stopped. His attention focused on the cross around my neck. Shakily, I fingered the silver cross weighing on my chest, Alec’s gift.

The silver burned. I gasped and let my hand drop to my side.

Wade’s lips twisted. “That’s what caught my father’s attention.”

I frowned. Did he intend to take it from me? I zipped up my jacket, hiding the cross. Protecting it.

“At school,” Wade told me. “He felt its presence and came to investigate.” An unidentifiable emotion flashed over his face. “There’s so much to explain, Eryn. I’m not what you think.” He snapped his teeth together. “That’s a lie. I am a vampire, of course. But today at the school”—his elegant features twisted—“that wasn’t me. My sire, Logan, uses me as his vessel. I am of his making. He can see through my eyes, take over my body whenever he wants.”

Wade turned away from me as if ashamed to be in my presence. Logan could take over his body. When was Wade ever himself? How did he dare to open himself to another being when Logan pulled his strings? Wade had let me see him as no other would. Vulnerable. In pain. I wanted to comfort him. But how?

“I knew what he was doing,” he bit out. “How he touched you. I saw the hatred on your face, but I couldn’t stop him.”

“You changed so fast.” I stuttered over my words, sympathy and regret caught in my throat. “Evil poured out of you.” I swallowed hard. “But on some level, I knew it wasn’t
you
.”

The sudden brilliant silver gleam in Wade’s gaze took my breath away. He approached, hesitant, cautious, as if scared I’d run away. “I can block him out for short periods of time. Like now. He’s overconfident. He thinks I’m his willing slave.” Wade’s chin lifted. “He thinks wrong. I have my mother’s talent as well as his. I can act independently of him. I can protect areas of my mind that he can never gain access to.”

Closer to me now, Wade held out my athame, hilt first. He didn’t flinch as he held the blade. The silver blade would sting his flesh, not as much as a werewolf or wolven, but it wouldn’t be comfortable. Nice that he could handle the touch of the rosewood hilt. So could I. That had to mean we had some good in us. I met his gaze, then took the dagger, and lifted my jacket to slide it back in the holster, flushing as I did so, aware of the sexual implications. Wade had followed my every move with an avid gaze.

Time for a mood killer.

“What about all this?” I waved a hand to the cleanup job he’d done in the alley. “Logan won’t zap himself into your head and find out you kept me from going dark side?” How could Wade bear it when Logan took the helm? I’d come close to crying like a baby when the master vamp had confronted me using Wade’s body. But at least Logan hadn’t been in my mind.

“Did I help?” Wade nudged a chunk of crumbled concrete with his foot. His eyes fixed to the ground. “Or did Alec?” He held up a hand. “Please don’t answer that.” He scooped up the manmade rock and threw it into the dark alley.
Clang.
It struck the side of a dumpster. “My father caught me off guard today. Don’t worry. He won’t get that chance again. My protection wards are strong. There are parts of myself, thoughts, feelings, I won’t let him…”

Wade fell silent.

I hoped he knew what he was talking about. I didn’t want to see him get hurt. He’d risked everything, telling me this stuff, knowing I could use it against him.

But I wouldn’t. Wade and I were too much alike. Fighting the same battles with our inner demons. Speaking of which…

“The human, was he…” I let my words trail off, seeing the answer in Wade’s grim face. “What did you do with the body?”

“What I had to.” He ran a hand through his hair, his fingers clear of bloodstains, his clothing too.

Sterile. As if nothing had happened.

Oh, I really didn’t want to know how he’d disposed of the body.

“I have his wallet.” Wade told me. “I’ll make sure his people are taken care of. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to clean up another paranorm’s leavings.”

While I cringed at the comparison between a mess to be cleaned up and the loss of an innocent human life, I admired his efficiency. Every last drop of blood had disappeared from the concrete. The sudden image of Wade on all fours, lapping up the human’s blood, flashed into my mind. Was I speculating, or did I still have a thread of my mental connection with Wade? Either way, my stomach heaved.

“What about Travis?” I had to focus on the other vampire before I gave into the urge to puke up Sammi’s dinner after all. “Did you stake him or something?”

“I let him go. Eventually he’ll lead me to his sire. Then I’ll take care of them both, and any others.”

I frowned. “Wouldn’t that be
your
sire? Logan?”

“No, Travis is not of Logan’s making,” Wade responded as if struggling to get the words out or scared to admit the truth. “My father has only ever sired one vampire. Me.”

“Why do you—” I stopped. So weird that Wade kept calling the master vamp
his father
when he was really his unholy lord and master, but then Logan had fathered Wade into his vampire existence. Plus, Wade had been lying to humans about him for so long, he must have gotten used to doing it. Like he’d gotten used to feeding off humans and disposing of their bodies. I pushed the thought aside.

Wade ran a hand through his hair. “Logan Gervais is my father, my sire. He’s old, wise, and evil.” Wade glanced over his shoulder as if saying these things aloud would bring his father to us. “He knows the more underlings a vampire creates, the weaker their strength. He chose well when he selected me, a witch’s son, to be his only progeny.”

Grief flitted over his features. Did he remember the night he’d become a vampire and inherited his mother’s power? He nodded to where Travis had dragged his prey.

“Travis had little strength. Enough to kill, to feed, but no mind-control skills, no glamour. Which tells me his sire has produced many. Too many. Even a human could take Travis down.”

“I guess you need to find his sire pretty fast then?”

Wade lifted a brow.

“Well, someone might stake him before you get the information you want,” I said. “But Travis got marked with the wolf-and-skull emblem. Alec and his hunters—” I paused. I was one of those hunters. “
We
know how Logan is turning kids into werewolves. He compels them to get the tattoo, doesn’t he?”

Wade’s face twisted again. “It’s his roundabout way of following the paranorm rule that all who are turned require the mark. They turn at the full moon.”

“But Olivia told me that Travis had one of those tattoos. So why is he a vampire?”

“His sire must have gotten to him before the full moon,” Wade said, scanning the dark, cloud-covered sky. “Travis was marked, sure, but my father’s not the only vampire in Redgrave. He’s the strongest.” Wade’s stormy gaze traveled over my face. “All kinds of paranorms lurk in these dark alleys, in the woods, even in our school. And more are coming. Redgrave is popular with the paranorms. It’s the last human outpost before miles of wilderness.” Wade’s smile was bitter. “Think about it, Eryn. With my father running the town, Redgrave is the ideal paranorm…vacation destination. If you want to be above the law, then you must be the law.”

The law. I snorted. Logan wielded his power for personal gain. Sebastian and the Hunter Council were as guilty. Wade had it right. The town crawled with paranorms. Which meant the Council had sent me here to fail. They’d known Logan’s power. Known that his witch child, Wade, increased his strength. They never meant for me to find out what had happened to my parents.

I’d been set up to die.

I never should have trusted Sebastian. Or let myself get close to the humans. My only choice was to help Redgrave get back to its bland, cookie-cutter-housing self and then get the hell out of town. The longer I stayed, the more people I put at risk. Especially clueless ones like Marcus, Sammi…Paige.

If she didn’t turn into a werewolf first. In my wolven meltdown I’d forgotten the reason I’d rushed out here in the first place.

“As much as I love to hate her, Paige is in danger,” I told Wade. “We think Logan is after her too.”

He groaned. “She haunts me, your persistent cousin. All I took was one little sip”—he held out his hands at my shocked expression—“forever ago.
Last
year
. If I’d known she’d be so susceptible to my glamour I wouldn’t have touched her.” His eyes widened comically. “We can’t let her be turned. She’d be a monster.”

“That’d be a new look for her.” My head thrummed as Wade found a hairline crack in my mental shield. I held up my hand. “Would you stop already?” How much more did he want to know? “I thought I told you to stay out of my head.” I squinted at him as I sent out a mental feeler of my own to test our two-way connection.

“I will if you will.” Wade let out a dry laugh. Then his expression hardened at the hum of a familiar engine.

A battered truck barreled down Main Street and passed the entrance to our alley at high speed.

“Alec’s looking for you.” Wade spun me gently in the direction of the street. A shiver went up my back as he pressed his hands on my shoulders and gave me a slight push. “Go now, before my father sees what I’m up to. Keep your mental wards high and strong. If my father ever discovered we’ve shared a link…” His voice lowered. “Go home now, Eryn. I’ll find Paige and bring her to you. My father and his company have some kind of heavy-hitting meeting tonight. I can’t watch over you both.”

“I can take care of my—” I jerked around. The empty alley held the subtle scent of mint.

Miffed, I shuffled from the alley and almost slid flat on my butt more than once on the icy sidewalk in my rush to locate Alec’s truck. Getting busted by some curfew-happy cop because the cheap shop owners on Main Street refused to put out a little road salt was the last thing I needed.

As I reached the corner, the streetlights died on a sad sigh and left me standing there in the dark. My eyes, adjusting to the darkness, did a weird blurry/focus/blurry thing. A growl sounded behind me.

I froze. The hair on my neck did the something’s-gonna-getcha-cha-cha, so I slapped a hand over them.
Down guys. You’re weirded out because of the alley with the blood and Wade, and me nearly losing my mind, that’s all.
But another growl rumbled, and this one sounded like my name. I whirled to face the threat. Dark forms in the distance moved closer.

I shifted on my feet, ready for action. I groped for my athame, prepared to fight for my life. The streetlights flickered back on with a series of snaps to reveal my pursuers—a parka-clad elderly couple, arm in arm, walking a small dog. They paused, frowned at my immobile form, and cautiously crossed the street, moving protectively between me and their dog. I must have been gaping like a fool. They probably thought I meant to pounce on the little mutt. As far as the town of Redgrave was concerned, kids had become the prime suspects. And here I was, out on the street past curfew, staring down their dog.