“Yes, but that’s in the future,” Damien said. “I want to know who else might be at risk now.”
“Why?”
“Because someone besides Caro may be being stalked. And while I can keep Caro reasonably safe if she’ll just stop haring off on her own, there may be others in trouble right now who don’t even know it.”
“True. Not that I’m especially fond of people who would tear down the homes of others, but I definitely don’t approve of using powers to kill people. Any people. If you’re right, that would certainly mean we need to act as fast as possible.”
Damien looked down at the unconscious Caro and touched her cheek, testing its warmth. “As fast as possible,” he agreed. “But after this, we might have a slight delay. I don’t know if Caro will be up to enhancing her powers tonight.”
“What about you?” Jude asked.
“I can’t do it without her.”
Chapter 11
Caro awoke in a state of near panic. She couldn’t move her arms, she still felt chilled deep inside and her head felt as if it had been pounded by a mallet. But as her eyes snapped open, she found herself looking into familiar midnight eyes.
“You’re okay,” Damien said. “You’re safe.”
She let her eyes close for a few seconds, struggling to make the mental shift from the last thing she remembered to her current state. Cold. Safe.
She let go of fright and looked at Damien again. “I need to sit up.”
Instantly he pulled away the binding comforter and helped ease her into a sitting position. “How do you feel?”
“Weird. My head is killing me. I feel like I’m cold deep inside. But I’m here, obviously.”
“You must never do that again, not until we beat this elemental. My God, Caro, it was that close to killing you!”
“I know,” she whispered. She was used to taking risks, but she had to admit this had been a stupid one. “I thought I could push it away. I did before.”
“But it got your measure then. The bokor must have strengthened it.”
“Maybe.” She rubbed her temples.
“Coffee?” Chloe asked cheerily. “Or tea?”
“Coffee, please. Maybe it’ll help warm me up.” Then she fixed her gaze on Damien. “He strengthened it? How could he make it stronger? Why wouldn’t he have made it stronger to begin with?”
He settled back on the couch but took one of her hands in his. His skin felt slightly cool to her, which she supposed was a good sign despite the cold that seemed to fill her very center.
“Summoning these forces is a delicate balancing act, Schatz. The mage must ever take care that it doesn’t become so powerful he can’t control it. Naturally he wouldn’t want it to be any stronger than it must be to achieve his purpose.”
“But it’s stronger now?”
“So it would seem. The question is whether he did it to get at you, or whether it’s starting to escape his control. I suspect, though, that the bokor was behind this.”
“I still don’t get why it’s coming after me. Why should the bokor have been afraid that I saw what happened? Why in the world did he attach that thing to me? Surely he should have thought that no one would ever be able to prove anything.”
Damien shook his head a little. “I don’t read minds. But my suspicion is you may have originally been mistaken for one of its targets. Then you started pursuing the matter and became aware of its existence. The bokor might have become worried that you would find him. Certainly I’d think that he now has heard we’re looking for him. People talk. I think at some point the game changed, probably because of something you or we did.”
“So he may have strengthened it for that reason. But he can’t get at you, Damien.”
His expression turned slightly rueful. “I can’t guarantee that. I’m fairly sure that I’m not as easy for it to get at as you, but no guarantees.”
“The elemental, or the bokor, may not be aware you’re a vampire.”
“I hope not, although you figured it out readily enough.”
“I could see your aura,” she reminded him. “And then you moved faster than humanly possible. I’m reasonably good at putting things together.”
“Better than most, I think.”
She accepted a hot mug of coffee from Chloe gratefully. The first sip took some of the edge off the chill deep in her innards.
“So,” Damien said sternly, “will you promise not to go out alone again until we settle this?”
“It goes against my nature to be cooped up all the time. But yes, I promise I won’t do it again. I may need to get out and about, but I’m not stupid. I learned my lesson.”
“Thank you. You were so close to death, Schatz. Too close. I could feel that elemental draining you of life.”
“I felt it, too. I won’t get cocky again.”
“Good.” Then he astonished her by reaching out and hugging her to his side. He seldom did that, and after the way he had warned her there was just so much that he could pretend to be ordinary, she hadn’t looked for comforting touches from him.
She definitely liked it, however. Definitely liked his arm around her, liked being pressed to his side while she sipped her coffee. If she wasn’t careful, she might start to think there was something normal going on there.
But none of it was “normal” start to finish. Although as the department’s shrink had mentioned during her interview after that shoot-out recently, “What’s normal? There is no normal.”
Right now those sounded like wise words.
Then she remembered. Her breath caught. Anxiety filled her along with an inescapable heat. Frightened and longing both, she asked, “Aren’t we supposed to do something tonight?”
He hesitated. “After what just happened, I’m not sure you have the strength. Let’s wait and see.”
Wait and see? How long could she stand having this looming over her? Another day of anticipation and nervousness that put her on edge so badly that she’d hardly sleep. That had probably played a large part in her decision to risk that walk.
“I don’t know if I can wait another day.”
His smile turned wry. “I wish you meant that the way it sounds.”
“What are you two talking about?” Chloe demanded.
Damien lifted a brow, eying Caro. “Do you feel well enough to go to your place?”
She felt an unexpected urge to laugh. “Yes, of course.”
Chloe grumbled, “Nobody tells me a damn thing. Get out of here, you two, and keep your secrets. I’m just the assistant anyway.”
Damien borrowed Jude’s car for the trip. First he loaded it with the bags full of his purchases, and then he escorted Caro out.
“So being a vamp has its limitations? Too many bags to carry?”
“I could carry them and you, but I don’t want to expose you to the cold just now.”
That was thoughtful of him. But as the buildings zipped by on the way to her apartment, her stomach turned to lead with apprehension. She had agreed to this ritual of his, but that didn’t mean she was entirely comfortable. Even more, she was on tenterhooks wondering if he would postpone it yet another day. How would she endure that?
But what if he was right that she wasn’t up to it now, after what had happened? She didn’t exactly feel as if she had regained all her strength yet, and her head still pounded, though not quite as much.
Not tonight, dear, I have a headache. The old joke popped into her head and made her smile. When they arrived at her place, he carried all the bags while she led the way. Her legs felt a bit stronger now, but the butterflies in her stomach hadn’t eased one bit.