“He’s fine.”
“Karissa?”
“She’s fine too. They’re all fine.” Well, except perhaps Logan, but that was half the point of why he’d put so much effort into finding her now rather than waiting for another chance encounter. Logan’s tragedy had been a real wake-up call for Valin. Not that he should’ve needed it. Not when he’d experienced for himself firsthand how fleeting life, love, and happiness could be.
“Then why are you here?” she asked, suspicion lacing her voice.
“To see you, of course.” And to claim her. But that came later. Much later. First he was going to find out what the heck she’d been doing to make herself look so ill and then fix it. And he’d start with her most current need: blood.
“Did you ever think that maybe that desire wasn’t reciprocated?” she asked snidely.
“I admit I’ve had my doubts. Especially when you keep treating me to the view of your lovely backside.” He angled his head, leaning a bit to see around the desk and check out her luscious ass. When he looked back at her face he swore she was blushing. Hard to tell for sure with how pale she was. “Why is that, by the way? It’s certainly not any way to treat a guy who went through so much trouble to see you safe.”
“You…see me safe. How is that? Seems to me that you’re putting me in danger by coming here. Putting us all in danger, if Logan’s daddy finds out about this place.”
“You don’t remember the mines?” he asked, eating up another couple feet of distance between them.
“Of course I remember the mines.”
“You left awfully quick after we rescued Karissa.” And another step.
“Hello? Logan? Getting ready to let loose his little heavenly light bomb? Remember that too?”
“Exactly.” He leaned forward over the desk and tipped his head close enough so that his breath caressed the side of her face as he spoke into her ear. “I searched for you. Practically tore those caves apart trying to find some sign of you. Four months I’ve wondered, hoped that you were out there. Prayed that you were safe.”
She swallowed, shifting back from the desk closer to the cot. “You’ve come. You’ve seen that I’m all right. I want you to leave now.”
“Leave? Like hell.” There was no way he’d be leaving now that he’d found her. Nor was he going to let her escape again either. He made to step around the desk, determined to close up the distance once more. She leapt on the bed, hands splayed against the wall behind her. Her eyes had gone full crimson now, the green iris thinning to less than a sliver of a line. Her fangs had also elongated, the sharp tips slicing into her bottom lip as she strained to keep her mouth closed.
He took another step toward her, determined to ease her pain, when her voice in his mind brought him up short.
<<Don’t! Just please…please leave.>>
The plea, powerful and filled with so much pain and desperation it made his knees threaten to buckle, had him fisting his hands so hard his knuckles ached. He couldn’t leave her like this. It hurt his stomach just to look at her and see what she’d allowed to happen to herself. What must her own stomach feel like?
He pulled out his blade. She immediately recoiled, hissing as she dove for the set of knives neatly stashed on a shelf above her cot.
“What the fuck, Gabby. Do you really think I would use this on you?”
The look she gave him killed him. Yes, she did. It was a toss-up between what he felt more keenly—the anger that made his blood run hot or the hurt that put a vise around his heart.
He lifted the knife, balancing it at the point between hilt and blade so she could get a good look at it. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was, not just any knife but one of His knives. For a brief moment the fires banked enough that her pupils looked more like hot coals than fire, her mouth opening slightly in awe.
“This blade will never be used to harm you, only to defend you. Even if I have to defend you from yourself.” With a sharp movement he snapped his hand back around the hilt and drew the knife across the inside of his forearm, laying a shallow slice in the skin above his wrist.
She followed the movement, her tongue dipping out to lick her lips as his blood welled up to bead along his cut flesh. He held his breath, waiting for her hunger to outweigh her reservations. It took less time than he thought it might, but more than he hoped. Nearly a full minute of his blood slowly welling, seeping down his arm, and then dripping to the floor. He was afraid that with his accelerated healing, he might have to slice his arm again to reopen the cut, when she finally stepped off the cot, her gaze locked on his slight wound.
He knew he took a chance. She was a vampire. And he knew nothing of what might have formed the dark taint on her soul after their meeting in the mine. It was more than possible that she’d killed. That she’d starved herself to the point of desperation and then lost control. He could see it happening. The girl vamp who had felt such shame over being force-fed blood through an IV might be lost to darkness if she ever took and killed a human.
But he wasn’t human. And he could stop her if she tried to take too much. He would stop her, and then he’d do whatever it took to purify the darkness that had sunk its slick teeth into her.
She took his arm, her hands gentle, tentative even as she started to lift it to her mouth. Her touch was like a punch to the gut. His dick, which still hadn’t gotten the message that it wasn’t part of this reunion, kicked against the front of his pants, liquid weeping from the tip.
Her head jerked up, nostrils flaring as she scented his arousal, and damn if he couldn’t taste the air thickening with her own.
“Yes, Gabby. Take my blood.” And then take me. Let me be what you need. I need you to need me as I do you.
He didn’t project the thought, but somehow she must have heard. Either that or his spoken words had simply snapped her out of her bloodlust. She immediately dropped his hand, her fangs biting through her own lip as she took a step back, shaking her head.
“Shit. I’m screwing this up, aren’t I?”
Her gaze darted to the door, and his own followed. No way, no way in hell was she running again.
“Fuck, Gabby, don’t you dare…” But it was too late; fast as he was she was faster as she dodged around him to beat him to the door.
Chapter 4
Well, this mission’s botched up, Bennett thought, warily eyeing the guards surrounding him. The orders from the council regarding the band of part-blood humans who’d broken into Haven last week had been crystal clear. Use any means necessary to track down the gifted humans to their base: check. Determine if there is enough untapped power in their group beyond the null that could make them a potential liability to the secrecy and safety of the Paladin mission: uh…potentially, yes. If so, determine the likelihood of the peaceful relocation of the group into Haven’s protective walls: un-bloody-likely.
Contact may’ve been made, but the pathways of communication had been shut tight before they could even get started. Jacob hadn’t wanted to discuss anything to do with the null named Annie or her training. And the discussion hadn’t even made it as far as relocating her or the dozens of other gifted here in need of training. The cafeteria was practically brimming with power. He could tell because he was getting a bleeding headache trying to keep his shields strong and steady, and even then emotions were slipping in right and left. Unease, distrust, curiosity, anger, and fear—it was all there. The one person who wasn’t there was their leader, Jacob. Six minutes ago, and maybe, what, three after Valin’s own disappearance, another soldier had shown up, whispered something in the scarred man’s ear that had his face turning purple, and sent him bolting out of the room. Bennett just hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Valin.