The Hunt is On (The Patroness) Page 10

  On a silent command they all stepped back into the shadows and my focus snapped back. This was just an amusing power game that probably was supposed to impress me.

  Raymond continued circling me, and I looked back at him. “Anyway, I know Lilith hates your guts, and she would have killed you yesterday if you hadn’t managed to escape.”

  He stopped and stepped closer, I didn’t back away. His gaze traveled the length of my body and fixed on my face, he seemed to like what he saw. I barely kept myself from flinching. “If I were king, things would be different. I could make you my queen.”

  Eew. I left my face blank, and raised an eyebrow. “Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I’m not really into necrophilia.”

  He drew back and hissed as if I were a holy cross. Heh. Didn’t see that one coming, did he? I shook my head at him. “Do you really believe yourself to be so irresistible?”

  Rage wild in his eyes, he growled through his fangs, “See for yourself.”

  Before I could react his stare grabbed mine in an iron hold as he tried to force me into trance. Oh no. He wasn’t like other vampires I had fought with, nothing like the rogues. He was an old vampire, and damn strong.

  “It’s almost funny, the way you and Lilith can’t stand each other. Maybe because you aren’t as different as you believe. What, do you think, gives you the right to feel so superior to the rest of us?”

  I couldn’t answer. My head burned, suddenly too hot, and my whole body hurt, sharp knives of pain stabbing me. I gasped as I tried to fight him, as I could actually feel him battering at a door inside my mind. I knew that somehow I had to keep him from getting in. Four months ago I had managed to send a divine serial killer flying out of our realm and back into his exile with nothing but my mind. Unfortunately I had no idea how I’d done it.

  He laughed. “Not so cheeky now, are we?”

  I fell on my knees as I resisted, sweat breaking out over my skin but my head felt as if it was going to explode. The pressure…it was so unbearable that I wanted to hit my head on the ground just to stop the pain. He grabbed my chin and doubled his forces. I tried to get free, scrambled, but my vision was already shrinking as if a gray veil was settling over my eyes. And suddenly I was numb – and yet I felt everything. I couldn’t move. With panic rising I realized that I had lost. My eyes, wide in horror, were the only part of my body that could move. God. Now I knew how their victims felt, and in that instant I swore that never again would I feel pity for a rogue.

  A mad and wide grin splitting his face in half Raymond laid my body gently on the ground, pulled out the pins that held my hair up in a bun and ran his fingers through it. His gaze traveled over the length of my body, lingering at my hips and breasts. He tsked me as my eyes shot daggers at him before leaning down to rip away my sweater. My heart beat erratically in my chest, a wild gallop and bizarre evidence of life in a body that felt like dead. Panic evaporated and was replaced by savage anger, and I felt as if I would burst.

  With a triumphant smile despite the hiss of his burning flesh Raymond ripped my silver necklace, my last protection, away. Then he revealed his fangs. He leaned in, his body pressing into mine. It was sickening, revolting. He didn’t seem to care, slowly licking my skin. The feel of his wet tongue and cold breath on me...my stomach clenched and vomit rose. I had never thought I could hate so much. And then he bit into my neck with a disgusting grunt. I wanted to scream. Not from the sharp pain, but this helplessness. I couldn’t bear it. He seemed to like, pulling hard at my flesh, tearing it. Then he pulled sharply away and looked at me, his eyes filled with lust.

  “So sweet, who would have thought.”

  Then he bit into the soft flesh above my breast, and I felt as if I would drown in heat. My veins were filled with acid. On fire. God, it hurt. A tear as hot as my rage ran down my cheek as I listened to him gorging on my blood.

  “AARRGH!” Suddenly the splitting scream that had been trapped inside of me erupted from my throat.

  I was free. I threw him off me and was back on trembling legs, my daggers in hand though I couldn’t even remember grabbing for them. Fear flickered in his eyes and his mouth was still red with my blood that was dripping onto his suit. My body was in flames, my mind was a detached, tangled haze and I had to shake my head to see clearer. Not quite myself, not quite controlling my own body, I grinned as I moved towards him and struck out.

  My daggers swirled and sliced him at the left arm and thigh. I didn’t want to kill him yet, I wanted to make him suffer first. I grew weaker with every second but continued. Stabbing him again and again, deliberately missing his heart by a whisker. In some distant part of my brain I wondered why his puppets hadn’t stepped in yet. I stumbled. In that moment the air cracked and he was gone.

  Yelling in frustration, I ran to the spot where he had been only moments before. I searched around me, frantically, though in the recesses of my mind where I was hiding I knew that it was hopeless. The ground moved. Or was I? My body hurt, barely obeying as I ordered it to walk. Another step, and I collapsed onto the cobbled ground.

  Time was slippery.

  Out of an abyss of nothing I came around and slowly opened my eyes, to see pebbles and stones. I was cold and couldn’t remember what had happened. The pain was unbearable even before I moved, but I knew I was badly off and that I needed help. With fingers barely able to follow my command I tucked my cell phone out of my pocket. My breathing came hard and I had to force myself back from the beckoning darkness before I pushed it over up in front of my eyes, so it scraped over the stone. In a last effort I pressed speed dial, and I plunged again, swept away by pain’s black waves.

  The sound of running footsteps and swearing woke me, and a familiar deep voice snarled, “Dammit! Couldn’t you just stay put for one goddamn night?”

  Silence, and then a sharp intake of breath that was followed by a fierce, nearly inhuman growl. But the next moment his scent enveloped me, earthy and male and so much better than the cold smell of my blood and cemetery. And I knew I would be alright.

  I tried a smile but didn’t know whether I managed or only imagined it. “No.”

  “Ssh. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Strong arms and warm hands picked me up. “I’ll take care of you. Fabienne will fix this.”

  “Home,” I croaked.

  Later I heard Viviane’s whispered magic and felt an incredible and soothing quiet settle inside of me, covering my mind like blanket, and with a sigh of relief I fell asleep.

  The next time I woke up it was with the scents of warm, fluffy croissants and coffee flavoring the air. God, I felt starved. The sun peaked in through the curtains. I stretched my body to test for possible injuries and work out some of the kinks, the last night only a blurred mess. Finally I decided that the aches were bearable and nothing I hadn’t felt before, but my chest throbbed with pain. There was something at my neck and above my breast. I fumbled around with my fingers, touching the soft dressing at my neck before looking down to see the same covering the rise of my left breast under my shirt. I frowned, waiting for my brain to offer up an explanation.

  The door to my room opened and I was startled to see Ben come in. His face lit up with a smile as he saw me.

  “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  He didn’t wear the white coat this time around, just faded jeans and a sweater that worshiped the Montana Grizzlies and had a fat bear paw printed on it, and his hair seemed even more disheveled than the last time.

  Still frowning I replied, “Okay, I guess. But this hurts,” I pointed at the wound on my neck, and a wave of rage rolled over me as in a flash I remembered how it had gotten there. The cemetery. Raymond. His rebellion. He attacking me, biting me. The utter helplessness.

  Ben cocked his head, probably trying to figure out whether the rage was directed at the wound, him or something else, but nevertheless stepped up to my bed and took my wrist between his fingers. “The same old song. Pulse, blood pressure, temperature.”

  I re
ined the rage in and let him do his job. When he was ready I sat up, I had enough of being in bed all the time. I pushed the covers away without hesitation, since I wore comfortable long pajama pants and a top.

  “Do you want something to eat? I can get you something. Pauline made breakfast. You were right, she’s an amazing wom…cook.”

  My head snapped up. I hadn’t misheard that, had I? A smile broke out across my face despite everything. “Yup, she’s an amazing woman.”

  He blushed a little, blew up his cheeks, and then exhaled with a shrug. “I want her to marry me.”

  Thud! That was my behind dropping back onto the bed, my mouth gaping. After recovering from the initial shock I asked, “Seriously? You met her just, like…yesterday.”

  “Actually, that’s not true. You’ve been out for three days.” He let me digest the news, carefully watching me before adding, “Reason to stick around and time enough for me to lay a good groundwork.”

  I snorted at that. “Damn, you’re fast.”

  He shrugged again. “She’s my mate.”

  Once a shapeshifter has found his or her mate they stayed together forever, before that shifters enjoyed every beguiling delight life had to offer though. I frowned and wondered whether Ben would tell me what Kylian had refused to let me know, playing the shapeshifter non-disclosure card. “And how do you know that?”

  A knock at the door saved him from answering and made me want to grind my teeth. He went to open it and Kylian stood in the doorway. Ben, just like the last time, slipped out and left me alone with him.

  Kylian just stood there and stared at me, a muscle working in his jaw and his arms crossed over his chest.

  In my mind I was begging him to annoy me, to make me think of something else and to not see too deeply into me. I didn’t want to think about what had happened, didn’t want to talk about it.

  “I really can’t leave you out of my sight, can I?”

  “I know these last two …incidents might make it look that way, but usually I’m fine on my own and quite good at my job. Let’s just call it a streak of bad luck.”

  “You’ve got bitten by a vampire, twice, within two nights. Let’s call it approaching death. Did someone curse you lately?”

  “Well, if someone did, they forgot to send me a card to tell me about it.”

  “Maiwenn, I’m serious, only some blood and you will turn, but given your body’s reaction you probably won’t survive it.”

  I sighed, anger joining rage inside of me and fighting to be let loose. “Don’t you think I know that, Kylian? I didn’t ask for this and I never anticipated it. It just happened and I can’t do anything about it anymore, but I assure you I will do everything I can to keep him from doing this again.”

  “Him?”

  “What?”

  “You said ‘him’. You will keep ‘him’ from doing this again.”

  Shit.

  Kylian stepped closer and sat beside me on the bed. His voice was low and soft, and a sudden need to cry flooded me, but I quickly controlled it. “Why don’t you start by explaining what the hell happened?”

  I didn’t want to talk about last night, didn’t want to go there again with my mind. I felt violated in my deepest self. My body had been trapped and my mind, that last one bastion were one could always hide into to curl up or escape, had felt as if taken from me as well. I didn’t want anyone else there ever again. And so I cleared my throat, prepared to give the short story and nothing more. My eyes returned to Kylian hoping that they would betray nothing of the rage and pain inside of me.

  “Yesterday…well, the other night, or whatever…after dinner, I felt much better and decided to go out on my patrol. It has nothing to do with acting the hero but with me just doing my job. I can’t go to sleep at night without knowing that I at least tried to help others, who have no idea what these monsters are that they’re facing. So I headed out. I was patrolling the Père Lachaise cemetery, when I felt I was being watched. Soon Raymond made himself known.” I stood and moved to look out the window, without seeing anything. “He’s planning to overthrow Lilith, has a good, combat-ready group of demons and vampires covering his back. There were at least three dozen with him, but he might have more up his sleeve. Romaric was one of them. Do you remember him?” I turned around.

  He nodded. “So Lilith killed Josianne.”

  “I came to the same conclusion. Anyway, Raymond was the damn bat who bit me when we were in the Den. He was so proud of it.” I shrugged and tried a smile. “You know me, it pissed me off, so I pissed him off and he bit me again. I collapsed and you picked me up. Same old story.”

  “Maiwenn…” He broke of, running a hand across his mouth.

  “What?” I folded my arms over my chest, pressing them tightly to me.

  Kylian stood, too, and stepped closer, his eyes soft and warm and – hurting? “You dreamed. And cried in your sleep.”

  I took a step back, and hit the window with my back. “The bite wasn’t exactly pleasant. It’s nothing like what some people, the humans, might think. What they see in the movies or read in their books. It’s nothing like it.”

  “You talked, Maiwenn.”

  I swallowed, and then dread turned into fury as understanding dawned. He knew. I saw red.

  “Did you guys keep me under surveillance, or what? I see. I can’t even have the right to privacy in my own home any more. No, you just have to invade that, too, don’t you?” I was on a roll now and couldn’t be stopped. I stepped forward, pointing at him, sneering. “The all-dominant alpha who has to control everything. You’re sick, you know that. First you’re playing around and all I get to hear is ‘Maiwenn, you smell so delicious’ and you kiss me senseless, then you go off to the states only to come back and confuse me even more and to disappear again. Did you get a kick out of that?” I shoved at his chest but he didn’t budge, farther fueling my fury. “I’m no fucking yo-yo.”

  I wanted to punch him, but he grabbed my wrist and in one quick move hauled me onto his shoulder. My butt was in the air, but my fists were very busy pounding his back.

  Suddenly cool air hit me and then I found myself back on my feet. We were on the rooftop in my training shed. Good.

  I attacked.

  My hands, my legs, everything was in movement, and the feel of my warming body and muscles becoming pliant was like a soothing medication. I still was angry as hell and my body hurt but at least it did what I told it to do.

  I struck out and landed a blow, the next was blocked and I kicked out, going for the knee. We were a whirl of limbs. He took a swing at me, but I blocked him, ducked his hammering arm and whipped back kicking him in the gut. Strike, block, duck. I landed a damn good roundhouse kick, which only made the bastard stumble. Sweat beaded on my skin. My fist sneaked out again, but with his lightning fast reflexes he grabbed my wrist and turning around he threw me over his shoulder in an arc. I landed hard on the floor, the air leaving my lungs in a rush.

  Kylian pinned me to the floor with his body. “Feeling better?”

  I wanted to cry again.

  I looked at him, feeling his heat. Our hearts beat in a healthy gallop, as we tried to catch our breath.

  “Just about to.”

  I grabbed his neck with my hand and almost brutally pulled his mouth down to mine. I wanted to keep on feeling alive. I wanted to burn and to feel good. Desperation and pain singed my veins.

  Our tongues met and he growled, his hands tightening on my waist. I hadn’t forgotten his taste and moaned as it flooded me once again. But he broke away, his ice blue eyes filled with heat and painful longing.

  “No. Not like this.”

  His words were like a fist to the gut, shaking me up, and his eyes an aching stab to the heart. Upset and appalled at myself I pushed him off me and scrambled to my feet, running away as fast as I could.

  NINE

  Water. It was running down my body, cleansing, just as the tears gathering in my eyes that were washed away at once. There wer
e so many bubbles inside of me, filled with a myriad of emotions and bursting all at once. Shame when I thought how I treated Kylian, anger at myself for not being stronger, rage against the bastard that dared to put his fangs on me. The water pulled it out of me, it hurt but I knew it was necessary. I closed my eyes, my fingertips gripping the cool tiles like a lifeline, and cried. I couldn’t continue to bottle it all up or I would end up hurting those around me or myself. As I’d nearly done on the rooftop.

  Professionally I knew we were a good team, on a personal level I didn’t know where Kylian and I stood, but he certainly didn’t deserve to be used just so I would feel better - or could keep on believing that I did. Damn. That guy really had a way of making me wake up, making me face myself.

  At last my sobs died away. I leaned my forehead against the wall, and with a deep breath I felt the hot but soothing water stream down my head and back. A gentle caress now, and relief awakened in my stomach, a tiny bud. I opened my eyes. Light.

  The strong rays of the morning sun flooded the bathroom and my soul. Reaching for a towel I stepped out of the shower and looked at myself in the mirror. The reflection hadn’t changed, long dark blond hair, green eyes, the same old scars. And now the new ones. However, I knew that inside of me I would feel shaky for a while, but walls could be built and the door in my head reinforced and so that was what I would concentrate on. With a small reassuring smile at myself, I hugged my newly recovered confidence and hope, and continued to get dressed. I felt naked without my necklace and accepted it for now but promised myself to get the locket back. Eventually I had to exorcise my fears and return to the cemetery, and sooner was probably better than later.