Becca hadn’t thought the tension in the room could get any higher, but that was before every Were suddenly came to alert and fixed on the hall doors. The low rumbles and growls escalated, and she didn’t need a translator to tell her something had made the Weres very unhappy. Someone or something was coming, and they weren’t going to get a welcome reception.
“Jace, Jonathan,” Sylvan said quietly, and the two gorgeous blonds jumped up from the sofa and flanked Becca. Drake sidled almost imperceptibly in front of Sylvan, her body between Sylvan and the door. Dasha loped from her post against the wall and took a position on Sylvan’s far side.
Becca was impressed and a little intimidated. In a matter of seconds, both she and Sylvan had been subtly surrounded by Weres. “What?” Becca said quietly.
“Andrew,” Sylvan said, “open the door for our guest.”
The red-haired Were with the whipcord body stalked to the doors, and Becca’s breath stilled in her chest. She wasn’t afraid, not exactly. Hard to feel afraid in Sylvan’s stronghold, surrounded by the elite of Sylvan’s forces. She had all the protection she could possibly need, but that very protection made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to being guarded, and she certainly wasn’t used to needing it. She was very rarely afraid—wary and cautious, of course—but she was always too focused on her goal, even in perilous situations, to register fear. What really bothered her at the moment was that she didn’t know enough to interpret what she was witnessing. She was the outsider. She was the one who didn’t know the rules. She was the one who didn’t belong, and being helpless out of ignorance just plain pissed her off.
She’d spent a lifetime proving there was nowhere she couldn’t go, nothing she couldn’t do, and no situation where she didn’t belong. She belonged because she was too good at what she did to be shut out, because she didn’t give up. And because she didn’t run from anything.
“What?” Becca said.
Andrew pulled open the doors, and Becca’s lungs started working again. She sighed, and the little bit of dread that had been niggling at her insides was instantly replaced by a combination of exasperation and reluctant pleasure. Jody sauntered into the room with her arm loosely around Lara’s waist. Max strode on Lara’s other side, not quite touching her. They were all dressed in dark T-shirts and pants, standard Were dress around the Compound, which from the few glimpses Becca had caught appeared to be a clothes-optional environment. While the Weres filled out their clothes with tight muscles and strong bone, Jody somehow managed to look sleek and elegant in hers.
Becca was relieved to see Lara appearing a little more like herself. At least she seemed oriented, and some of the wild, haunted unrest had left her face. Her amber eyes were clear for the first time in two days, even though her cheeks were sunken with dark smudges of fatigue and sadness. Max seemed no worse for having hosted two Vampires at once. But Jody was the one Becca studied. Jody looked strong and healthy again, her pallor having been transformed into her usual pale luminescence. The anxious tension that had plagued Becca since she’d left the infirmary drained away, leaving her nearly light-headed.
Jody’s gaze traveled over Becca’s face, lingering for just a moment before lasering in on Sylvan. For that heartbeat of connection, heat flared in Jody’s eyes, and Becca almost smiled. She knew the difference now between the red inferno of bloodlust and plain old desire. Jody hadn’t looked at her as if she were a meal. She’d looked at her like she was a woman. Becca allowed herself one second of satisfaction before trying to decipher what was happening.
“We had an agreement,” Jody said to Sylvan. “We would work together to identify the assassin and whoever had ordered the attempt on your life.”
“Nothing has changed,” Sylvan said.
“The agreement did not include civilians. Particularly vulnerable ones.”
“Now wait a minute,” Becca said. “If you’re talking about me—”
Jody spared her another glance, her old familiar arrogance and dismissive expression firmly back in place. Maybe blood made her feel invincible. Having fed certainly made her insufferable.
Becca took a step away from the flanking Weres. She didn’t need guards, and she could damn well stand up to one self-important Vampire. “You have no idea what I’m capable—”
“You aren’t equipped to deal with Praeterns. I doubt you could protect yourself from a violent human, let alone from an aggressive Praetern.”
“Maybe you’d like to test your theory?” Becca stilled her hand in midair, just short of poking Jody in the chest, but boy, she wanted to. And she never got physically violent, so Jody was really pushing all her buttons. She thrust her face into Jody’s and tried, more for her own sake than Jody’s, to keep her voice low. “You don’t own me, and you never will. So stop acting like a…a…horse’s ass.”
The lingering growls morphed into laughter. Jody’s beautiful mouth tightened, and her dark eyes flashed. “Then agree to blood rights.”
“Can they be rescinded?” Becca recognized the opening of a negotiation, something she doubted Jody entertained very often. She, on the other hand, was used to it. Finally, something on her own turf.
“Up until the moment I bite you. Once I’ve executed the blood claim, no.”
Why did that sound just a little bit thrilling? Becca ruthlessly ignored the frisson of excitement that skittered down her spine. “And you’ll promise to cooperate. Not get in the way of my involvement in the investigation?”
A muscle bunched along Jody’s jaw. “You have my word. Under the following provision—you do your investigating with me. From now on, we are partners.” Jody flicked a glance at the Weres who had regrouped around Becca. “Then you’ll have adequate protection.”
Jace snarled. “Perhaps you’d like to challenge me, Vampire. We’ll see who’s capable of guarding her.”
“You’re young and foolish, Wolf.” Jody smiled, and her incisors slid down. She tilted her head toward Lara. “And I already have one wolf in my Dominion.”
With a snarl, Jace leapt forward, and just as suddenly, stuttered to a stop inches from Jody. Her expression momentarily blanked, as if she had struck an invisible wall.
“Careful,” Jody whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Jace, stand down,” Sylvan snapped. Her power lashed through the air, and Jace dropped into a crouch, a whine reverberating in the back of her throat. “Don’t challenge my wolves, Vampire. And don’t enthrall them.”
“Not intended. My apologies, Alpha,” Jody said, turning from Jace as if she were of no consequence, “but you will not put Becca in danger.”
“I will protect her.”
“No,” Jody said quietly, so deadly quietly Becca shivered. “I will.”
Becca crossed her arms over her chest. She was so damned tired of these power struggles. “I’ve had it. I am done with all of this posturing and blustering and everything else. Jody, I’ll work with you as long as you don’t get in the way of me doing my job. Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” Jody snarled. “And blood rights?”
“Yes, fine. All right. Put your incisors away.” Becca cheered inwardly when Jody almost smiled. “How did you know that Sylvan had agreed I could work with her, anyhow?”
Jody leaned close, her nose almost touching Becca’s. “I heard your discussion.”
Becca tried to concentrate on the words but found herself falling into the depths of Jody’s eyes. She loved her eyes. Oh hell, was Jody enthralling her right now? She looked away, but couldn’t banish the whispers of desire that called to her every damn time she so much as looked at Jody. “What? What do you mean you heard?”
Smiling wryly, Jody ran her fingertips along the edge of Becca’s jaw. “Don’t you know?”
Oh, that did it. Becca melted inside. Warm heat like thick chocolate rolled through her, a sensation so exciting it had to be addictive. “Tell me that what you’re doing right now isn’t thrall.”
Jody shook her head. “You kissed me. I can still taste you. You created the connection. If it’s thrall, you created it.”
Becca shuddered and stepped back. She wanted to kiss her again. She loved the idea of having some power over her, and now was so not the time or the place. “Everyone in this room can hear you.”
“Yes. They can.” Jody shrugged.
Becca folded her arms over her middle as if she could create a physical barrier between them. She turned away, hoping if she couldn’t see Jody she could get her wits together and not completely humiliate herself in front of a room full of Weres. Not that any of them seemed to mind public displays of affection. “The Alpha has already agreed I could accompany her tonight. I’ll call you in the morning and fill you in on anything important.”
Jody laughed. “I don’t think so.” She nodded toward Lara, who stood midway between her and Sylvan, looking slightly dazed. “I’m taking Lara to Nocturne tonight. I believe that’s where you were headed to begin with. You can come with me.”
“I’ll ride with Dasha.”
“No,” Jody said, “you won’t. The club will be full in the middle of the night. Any Were or human inside is assumed to be a voluntary host. Even Sylvan’s soldiers. They’ll be busy guarding her and protecting themselves. You’ll be safer with me.”
“She’s probably right,” Sylvan said, joining them. She cupped Lara’s cheek and kissed her forehead. “How are you?”
Lara shuddered and leaned into Sylvan, wrapping her arms around her waist and rubbing her cheek against Sylvan’s shoulder. She ducked her head and her body seemed to fold in on itself.
Sylvan lifted her chin. “Centuri? How are you?”
“I don’t know, Alpha,” Lara said, her voice rough and thick with uncertainty. “I can’t remember much. Only fragments of…hunger and pain and sometimes”—her voice trailed off, and she glanced at Max, then Jody—“sometimes pleasure. I don’t know who I am anymore.”
“You are mine, as you have always been.” Sylvan ran her fingers through Lara’s hair. “You survived. You have done well. I’m proud of you.” She drew Lara’s hand to her chest, placed it over her heart. “Feel the Pack. Feel me. This is who you are, who you will always be.”
Becca half expected Jody to argue or make some kind of claim on Lara, but Jody just stood quietly, her hands tucked into the pockets of her black pants, as if she were waiting for an outcome she already knew.
Lara looked panicked, her gaze flickering between Sylvan and Jody. “Alpha, please, I don’t know what to do.”
“I do,” Sylvan said. “You will stay with Jody until you have learned what you need to learn to be strong and safe. Niki will go with you.”
“That’s not necessary,” Jody said. “Lara will have plenty of hosts. The Were is not needed now.”
“Niki isn’t going as a host,” Sylvan said. “We don’t leave Pack to fight alone. Niki will be my liaison with you and Ms. Land, as well as Lara’s backup.” She glanced at Dasha. “I’m drafting you to the centuri temporarily. You’ll see that the human doctor arrives home safely when Elena says she can travel. Max, we’ll want Misha tonight also.”
Max nodded briskly. “Yes, Alpha. Should I get Niki too?”
“Let her sleep for now. She’ll find us when she wakes.” Sylvan glanced at Jody. “She’s fed you both, hasn’t she?”
Jody nodded.
Becca watched the silent interplay between them, guessing that Niki had a connection to the two Vampires because she’d hosted for them. The wolf Alpha knew a lot about what happened when a Vampire fed. Interesting.
Sylvan slung her arm around Drake’s shoulders. “Let us discover what the Viceregal knows, then.”
Becca hung back as Sylvan and her guards loped from the room, the other Weres following behind. She said to Jody, “My car is somewhere, I’ll follow you back.”
“We should all ride together. Your car or mine?” Jody said.
Becca wasn’t sure how she felt about being locked in a vehicle with two Vampires, one of whom had little or no control over her hunger. Jody waited, as if knowing Becca was making the most important decision of her life. She let the lessons she had learned the hard way guide her.
Control what you could, and when in doubt, trust your instincts. She dug into her purse and came out with her keys. She tossed them in the air and caught them. “I’ll drive.”