Chapter Twelve

Alaan would never view bathing in the same light again. With a silly grin plastered on his face his mind flashed back to relive the view of Tameth’s glistening skin glowing under the golden candlelight as she rode him wildly. And yes, she’d definitely purred, several times in fact.

After cleaning up all the water they’d sloshed over the side of the tub, he’d walked into her bedroom to find her sprawled on the bed, her wet hair hanging over the side as she fingered her still creaming slit. Instantly hard again, he’d all but dived into her pussy, fucked her into a blistering orgasm, and shouted to the rafters as he joined her.

Now they lay snuggling contentedly in Tameth’s big bed, legs entangled, her lovely lush breasts pressed into his side as he held her close. Good thing he’d kicked in her apartment door earlier and not the bathroom or bedroom doors. A few more minutes of her strong fingers playing with his balls, sliding up and down his body, and tweaking his somewhat sore nipples, and they would definitely need their privacy. Again.

The scent of her blood was like a siren’s song. Dragged him under the tidal wave of longing, drowned him in her very essence. His tongue flicked out and touched the tip of the incisors. After all, he’d only have to unsheathe them when he bit her again. And he would, indeed, bite her again.

And tonight he hoped she’d return the favor.

God, would he ever get enough of her? Stupid question. Of course not. He’d come so hard in the tub he’d expected to at least blow smoke out of his ears. Yet here he lay, wanting her again, yet filled with a peace he’d never experienced before.

“What the hell is that noise?” Alaan drawled lazily, his body a huge heap of boneless, satisfied male. Tameth, just as sated, lay sprawled across his chest gently plucking at the sprinkling of hair there, along with an occasional male nipple.

His vid cell buzzed and hummed as it vibrated on top of the nightstand next to Tameth’s bed.

“This better be good or the person on the other end of this phone is going to wish my foot was considerably smaller when I plant a size thirteen up their ass.”

Tameth’s relaxed chuckle warmed his heart. She didn’t budge an inch, forcing him to drag her along for the ride as he scooted across the bed, reached for the phone and flipped it open.

Tucking his earpiece around the shell of his ear, he disabled the video capability on the small wireless hand unit and yawned into the mouthpiece.

“Serati here.” He missed the caller’s introduction, too busy laughing. “Hold on a minute,” he ground out, then hissed at Tameth between suppressed chuckles, “Damn it woman, will you stop it already?”

She’d climbed on top of him, scooted down his body and blew raspberries against the twitching planes of his flat belly. Damn, that tickled.

In the end he closed his fingers around the mouthpiece with one hand, while the other firmly grabbed a handful of her hair and eased her face away from his stomach. After a few seconds of deep breathing, he was able to continue the call. Minx.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but we have a bit of an emergency.”

It was Higgins. Just the knowledge of who was on the other end of the line sent a streak of alarm through Alaan’s gut. Higgins wouldn’t dare call him at this time of night, or rather morning, unless the man was sure the world was coming to an end. Then Randall’s curt tone cut through the background noise as he and Collins shouted directions to someone else.

Alaan sat up. Tameth tumbled onto her back on the bed. She recovered quickly, her brow drawn down just as hard and tight as Alaan’s.

“What’s going on?” Her voice was laced with concern.

He covered the phone and mouthed, “Don’t know yet,” before remembering no one could hear their private conversations.

“Higgins, what the hell is going on down there? It’s one o’clock in the morning.”

“I think you should come downstairs, sir. And I’ve taken the liberty of calling your sister and Seeker Bixler. They’re on their way.”

Alaan was out of bed now, the erection that had begun to stir with Tameth’s raspberries now slapped limply against his thigh.

“What? What’s going on?” Tameth asked, headed to her closet, pulling her long fall of hair over one shoulder into a quick braid as she went.

Raising his hand, Alaan pressed the earpiece closer while whispering, “Hold on a second. I’m trying to hear what’s up.” Screw it, there was no way he would be able to sort anything out with all the yelling and shouting going on.

“Higgins? Higgins?”

“I’m here, sir.”

“Tameth and I will be down in two minutes. Front or rear?”

“Rear courtyard, sir. And you may want to come alone.”

“What? Why?”

“Trust me, sir.”

Alaan didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he certainly wasn’t going to leave Tameth behind. Yes, he trusted Higgins’ judgment, but he had to show faith in Tameth regardless of the obsession to protect and shield her.

By the time he flipped the vid phone closed, she was two steps ahead of him, fully dressed, gun holstered low on her hip, and her sword unsheathed and at the ready.

He smiled.

“That’s my girl.”

“Damned straight.”

 

 

Alaan walked out the backdoor and stopped so quickly Tameth ran into the wall of his back. She tried to look around him but he was simply too tall. She couldn’t see a damned thing. Nudging him in the middle of his back and poking him in the ribs had no effect. Finally she stepped close, planted her foot in the back of his knee and pushed.

Alaan stumbled a few inches, just enough for Tameth to push her way around him and get through the doorway. Her katana cleared its sheath and whistled to a stop in midair. Her thoughts pushed against his and echoed his disbelief.

In unison, they silently gasped. “Oh God, this is not happening.”

Pale as a sheet, as if someone had drained every ounce of blood out of his body, her man stood and looked out towards what appeared to be contained chaos.

Two SUVs were parked on the gravel, engines still running. A score of people ran around the courtyard, all with some weapon or another drawn and at the ready. Randall was yelling into a hand-held radio.

Collins stepped up to Alaan, anxiety rolling off of him in waves.

“Where should we put her, sir?” Collins asked, cradling a small limp form in his beefy arms. Whoever it was looked to have been knifed. A mop of black curls hung as limply as the rest of the body and partially obscured the face. But the fine bruised cheekbones, full lips and small round breasts were enough to give a clue of the victim’s sex. Blood covered the simple T-shirt plastered to her body and ran thick down Collins’ forearms. Red droplets splashed onto the white and gray graveled walkway.

Alex was right behind Collins now. Slade and Kenoe flew around the corner of the house. Kenoe’s katana stood ready to do damage. Slade had a black titanium pistol in one hand and a nasty looking dagger in the other.

Higgins ran forward and eased the mass of blood-soaked hair away from a battered face.

Alaan went still as stone. His mouth hung open but nothing came out. The man didn’t even blink. Just stood and stared at what turned out to be a familiar vampire female. Shit.

Tameth swallowed the bile rising in her throat, stepped up and took charge. Pushing away the horror before her, she schooled her features, sheathed her sword and took charge. She could be a shaken, admittedly shell-shocked woman later. Right now, she needed to be a Seeker, and Alaan’s Second.

Clear as the night sky over their heads, she yelled over every voice present.

“Everyone shut up!”

The chaos continued. With her index fingers in her mouth, she whistled like a New York taxi driver. Silence immediately reigned.

“Collins, take her to one of the extra rooms on the first floor. Put her as close to the kitchen as possible. Higgins, call one of the staff and have them meet up with Collins. I want you both in a briefing.”

Higgins moved to enter the house.

“No,” she said, handing him her video phone. “Call the staff on my phone on your way to the library. I want to know what the hell is going on.”

Pointing to Slade and Alex, she continued.

“Lock down the mansion, then join the team in the library. Kenoe, circle the property and collect reports from the reinforcements. Then contact the captains of the Mayfair and Kensington Station teams and find out if they saw anything strange since that’s where Collins and Randall were scouting tonight.”

And perhaps where they’d come across…her.

The second the words left her mouth, Kenoe’s vid phone flipped open, fingers dialing, obviously ready to get on with the task.

“Do you have any orders to relay to them?” he asked urgently,

“Use your judgment. Handle it. Randall, call Bix. He’s on his way, but if you can catch him before he leaves the house, it may be faster to take the small chopper and go get him rather than have him drive all the way here.”

Not a single person moved. What, were they deaf? No, probably just as shell-shocked as she was. “I said move it. Right. Damn. Now. You all have five minutes. Period.”

Alaan and Kenoe both turned to face her. Before she moved away Tameth caught fleeting, but odd, expressions as they crossed both handsome faces—surprise, admiration, concern. Unfortunately she didn’t have time to explore their feelings right now.

She was having a hard enough time pinning down her own. The churning in her stomach threatened to back up into reverse. She bit the inside of her jaw and commanded the vomit bubbling at the base of her throat to stay down. A fathomless pit of loss opened up in the middle of her soul. God, there was no way she and Alaan could overcome something this monumental.

Collins carried the wounded, bleeding female into the house.

Seekers and staff scattered in all directions.

Tameth squared her shoulders, planted her focus on placing one foot in front of the other, and strode purposefully back inside.

Her head swam with the enormity of the situation.

Sher had risen from the dead.

 

 

 

Tameth’s thoughts tumbled end over end. Sher was alive and in London. This just couldn’t be happening, not when she and Alaan had finally reconciled. Or she thought they had. Perhaps sex in the bathtub hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her.

Wrapping herself in a cloak of calm that almost slipped off and away more than once, Tameth stepped into the role she’d been trained for. Leadership.

Once the team was seated, she stood at the head of the large table in the center of the library. Her gut churned with acid. Honestly, she really didn’t want to know what was going on. It would make this all too real.

Damn it. Sometimes she hated doing her job.

With a discreet but deep breath, she made eye contact with each Seeker in the room. They all looked like a bunch of carved statues, still as stone with perfectly schooled faces. They had to be as shaken as she was. Many of them knew Sher, and those who didn’t had been told the story of her death at one time or another.

But something was off about this whole situation. More than the woman being alive after six years of absence, her appearance while they happened to be hunting in London seemed suspicious at best. But right now, there were more important things to tackle—like finding out how the hell Sher had fallen into V.C.O.E. hands after such a long time being “dead”.

“Was that Sher Sewell that Collins carried to the spare room, or am I out of my damned mind?” Tameth asked.

“It was Sher, all right,” Alaan mumbled. His state of shock was as palpable as everyone else’s. It was the first time he’d spoken since they’d stumbled into the courtyard to witness the woman’s return from the grave.

“But how?” Slade asked. “I thought she was killed years ago.”

“So did we all,” Alaan said. “Obviously we were wrong.”

Thankfully some of the color had leached back into his appalled features. He stood and walked across the room. Eyes closed, he let his head fall back on his shoulders and roll slowly around. Tameth felt him forcing the tension from his body.

Kenoe rocked the room. “She smells like a Hatsept.”

Alaan swung around with a snarl. “No way! You’re wrong. How would you know, anyway?”

Tameth gaped. He took one look at her and dropped into his chair with a sheepish snort. After all, it was a stupid question. Kenoe’s clan shared the same blood and had a connection of sorts, just like every other clan.

“Alaan, you’ve been out of Vampire 101 for a long time now,” Tameth countered sarcastically. Her anger rose with each word. “Snap out of dense mode. Of course clan members can sense and scent each other at close distances. Kenoe caught a whiff of one of his own clan members just the other day, remember?”

“She’s not a fucking Hatsept.” Alaan was back on his feet, fangs bared on a snarl. Fear and pain snaked down the bond and bit into her like a viper that had just been prodded with a stick.

“Look, Alaan,” Kenoe said, “I don’t know how she got here, or where she’s been all this time, but I know what I scented on her. The real question is, if Sher smells like a Hatsept, how the hell did she get that way?”

“Stop pushing, asshole.”

Tameth’s heart sank another notch. Sigh. Apparently she’d been right all along. Alaan was still all wrapped up in that woman.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Tameth interrupted. “Collins, tell us what the hell happened. Where did you find her?”

“Randall and I were scouting Mayfair, near Hyde Park. We sighted a couple of suspicious-looking vamps. The second they saw us, they took off running. We followed them into an alley. That’s where we found her.”

“The vamps you two were chasing, did they do this?” Kenoe asked quietly.

“No way. We ducked into the alley just seconds behind them. Someone else had to have injured Sher. They simply didn’t have time.”

“Interesting,” Kenoe mumbled to himself. An intent expression remained etched across his forehead as he worked something out in his head.

At the end of Collins’ recounting, they were no closer to figuring out this mystery than they had been when the briefing began. But one thing was sure. Nobody was getting into this house and nobody was getting out.

Tameth gave everyone their orders and ended the meeting.

Just then, Carin and Bix bustled into the library.

Carin was all business. “I’ve brought a ton of medical equipment. Where’s the patient?”

“I’ll take you to her.” Alaan jumped from his seat and practically dragged Carin out of the room.

Tameth watched him go. All of her accusations about Alaan still being hooked on Sher came back to haunt her. Her mother always told her to think positive, because whatever she expected would be exactly what she’d get. Boy, had her mom’s words turned out to be true.

Miserable, she followed Kenoe to the staircase and paused, her eyes plastered on her mate’s back as he bustled Carin down the hallway towards the room where Sher lay unconscious.

With a sigh, she allowed Kenoe to lead her up the stairs while Higgins offered to take Bix, with a sleeping Alaina bundled in his arms, up to one of the empty rooms.

Choking back a wash of tears, Tameth’s heart broke into tiny, sharp pieces, like glass broken out of a once-shiny mirror. Kenoe led her into his suite and promptly locked the door. And she didn’t even care why.

 

 

 

While listening to Randall and Collins’ recount of how they’d come upon Sher’s body, the pieces of the puzzle had clicked together in Kenoe’s head. Suddenly he knew exactly what was going on. And if he was right, they were all in grave danger.

In classic English style, his en suite room was done in lacquered browns and rich beiges. The large living room sported a hardwood floor centered by a stiff, uncomfortable couch that sat on top of a thick room-sized rug. He’d scooted the only body-friendly piece of furniture, an overstuffed chair, into a corner to make room to exercise with his blades.

His heart constricted with love and concern when Tameth sank into that chair and her big brown doe eyes pinned him with a miserable stare.

“Hey, woman, you doing all right?”

“Do I look all right, Kenoe? The very thing I kept telling Alaan was most important to him has come back from the grave to haunt me.”

Leaning next to the front door, one booted foot propped up against the wall, he crossed his arms over his chest and spoke calmly.

“Don’t be so sure, Tam.”

Her head tilted to the side as her expression cleared. Kenoe knew the exact moment her common sense wrestled free of her bruised emotions.

“Kenoe, you think it’s a setup, don’t you?”

“Hell, yes, it’s a setup. Think about it. A few days ago, without a doubt, I scented a Hatsept rogue in the British Museum, but the only person I saw was a dark-haired pixie chick…”

“…who happens to resemble the one lying unconscious downstairs?”

“Exactly. Looks like. Smells like.”

Kenoe’s gaze followed Tameth as she popped up off the chair, stalked to the center of the room and paced the length of it. Hands on hips, her long braid whipped around her head and almost hit him in the face as she rounded on him.

“Does Alaan know any of this?”

“I told him what I’d sensed and described the woman I saw. But who in their right mind would think I’d seen a six-year-dead woman?”

Three strides had him over at the wet bar yanking a thick plastic bag out of the mini-fridge.

“Want some?” he asked quietly, pulling a couple of glasses out of the cupboard above the bar. Hmm, what was wrong with Tameth? He hadn’t seen her take her usual dose of blood, or supplement her diet by feeding from a donor since they’d been in London.

“You look a bit peaked. You need some blood, Tameth,” he insisted.

She scrunched up her face and waved him away, looking like she’d rather throw up. After her throat worked through a few fierce swallows, she glanced towards him.

“It’s Carin’s blood suppressant. I think I took too many doses. Just the sight of blood makes me sick. Unexpected side-effect, I guess. Should wear off in another twenty-four hours, I hope.”

Sounded plausible. Tameth didn’t seem to be worried about it, so he relaxed. “Maybe she can give you something for the nausea since she’s here.”

Tameth nodded, dropped her head between her knees and panted like a dog on a late summer day in the humid south. She seemed so miserable, he didn’t have the heart to feed in front of her. After setting the extra glass back in the cupboard, Kenoe returned the bag of O-positive to the fridge and joined Tameth across the room. The last thing he wanted was to make his best friend more ill than she already was. And the greenish tint to her dark olive skin said she was pretty close to blowing chunks.

Easing his arms around her body, he started. She was clammy and shaking, working her throat convulsively. Taking her hand, he turned it palm up and pressed down on the muscle an inch and a half up from the crease where wrist and hand met. Massaging steadily, he worked the P6 acupoint to help control the nausea.

“Come on, Tam, take shallow breaths. That’s it, baby, just breathe. Nice and slow.” Her shoulders stiffened with his little slip of the tongue, but she didn’t pull away. What the hell was he thinking, calling her baby, all sweet and tender like that? Shit, he’d have to really watch it. Better yet, when this Lowan mess was resolved, he’d put his plans into motion immediately rather than six months from now like he’d planned.

As much as he wanted her, Tameth simply wasn’t his to love.

“So, anyway,” he rushed on to cover the awkward silence. “While I’d already told Alaan about the museum, tonight, I obviously didn’t have a chance to get him alone long enough to confirm that it was definitely Sher I’d scented that day. I just think it’s more than a coincidence, especially with us being targeted for an attack tonight.”

“What?” she screeched, yanking away from the shelter of his body.

“Didn’t Alaan tell you?” Kenoe could have kicked himself in the head the moment the words left his mouth. Tameth obviously hadn’t known about any planned attack. Must be Seekers-and-stupid-questions night. Damn. He was supposed to be playing matchmaker between her and Alaan, not getting her pissed off at the vamp.

“I’m sorry, Tam. I was sure Alaan was going to talk to you about it when he followed you upstairs after we got in.”

“Well, we’d just finished making…uh, well, no. He didn’t really have a chance to talk to me about it.”

“You’re so cute when you blush, Tam.”

“Oh shut up, already. I’m embarrassed as hell.”

“Why? You’ve wanted that vamp in your bed forever. Now you’ve got him. What’s there to be embarrassed about?”

“What I had earlier and what I have now may differ. The appearance of Sher might put a bit of a wrinkle in things.”

“I don’t think so, Tam. Just trust him, trust yourself. You deserve to be happy, so enjoy it.”

“Back to the subject, please.”

“I rather like talking about your sex life. You look so cute when you get all flustered and…”

“Keep it up, asshole, and we’ll spend some time talking about your sex life.” She groaned pitifully. He reached out and pressed her wrist again.

Snapping his mouth shut, he bit his tongue to keep from laughing. He’d love to talk about sex. Hell, he’d love to have sex…but that wasn’t an option with Tameth. A few more rubs and he released her.

“Better?”

With a quick nod she was back to pacing. Kenoe watched her wear a hole in the carpet, back and forth. God, she had such a nice ass.

“Kenoe?”

He looked up and was, as always, shaken by the beauty and intensity of the woman. Kenoe grabbed hold of his wishful thinking and pulled it into the present. Lack of participation in the current conversation because he was thinking about Tameth’s ass simply was not acceptable. They had a case to solve.

“Why would Sher let you see her if she planned to come here and cause trouble?”

“I know I sensed more than one Hatsept rogue in the museum that day. Perhaps she was with them and I saw her by accident?” Sounded good, but it didn’t seem plausible. Suddenly, another idea popped into Kenoe’s head. “Then again, maybe it’s a diversion? Sher’s appearance wreaked havoc on our security layout, and on the same night of a planned strike against us. The whole team is talking about it, as well as the reinforcements who came in to help us. With our attention divided and the house in an uproar, it would have been easy for someone to slip in.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tameth snarled, already moving towards the door. Kenoe was right on her heels.

“Tameth, where are you going? The house is already in order and security is tight. If someone did get in while we were wigging out over Sher, they sure as hell won’t get out easily. Why don’t you try and get some sleep? I’ll walk you back to your suite.”

When it looked like she would resist, he reminded her they’d already spoken to and accounted for every Seeker within five miles of the mansion. Thankfully the forest fire buzz created by Sher’s sudden appearance had died down to a smoldering heap.

Since they were already in the hallway, Kenoe stayed in step until they reached her room just a few doors down from his.

“What the hell happened to your door?” The thing hung partially opened and looked well beyond sad. The metal fittings around the hinges seemed fine, but the wood frame surrounding the deadbolt had been shattered to pieces.

“I was in the tub when Alaan came by earlier. I didn’t hear him knocking. Give you three guesses about what happened next.”

No guesses required. The big boot print on the outside of the door spelled it out clear enough for the dimmest dimwit. Alaan had obviously kicked the thing in. Again.

“Well, you can’t stay in here tonight. Not with a door that doesn’t close or lock.”

After getting her things quickly moved into the room next door, Kenoe went back to his place and took a shower. All the while his mind flashed between the Hatsept-scented Sher, Tameth and Alaan’s interrupted mating, and his need to find a love of his own. But it wasn’t going to happen tonight. Wanting to be nowhere other than with Tameth tonight, he threw on some pajama bottoms and a robe, wrapped a towel around his head and headed back to Tameth’s rooms.

She answered the door with a thick towel twisted around her waist-length hair and the cutest pair of royal blue flannel PJ’s. Settled down on another hard monstrosity of a living room couch, he didn’t hesitate when she motioned for him to sit on the floor between her knees.

Patting dry his freshly washed hair, Tameth set to work carefully separating each and every one of his shoulder-length, snow white locs. She’d gotten a quarter of the way through, making sure none of the perfect squares of hair intertwined with its neighbor. A smile spread across his lips when she grumbled and fussed about proper hair care.

Reaching up to still her busy fingers, it was time for a little more truth between him and his best friend.

“Tameth, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Sure, sweetie, anything.”

She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, the way she always did when trying to comfort him, then went back to work on his hair. The woman was amazing. She’d conducted the earlier briefing, organized all the personnel, and flawlessly executed her duties as a Second. But it didn’t change the fact that her man was downstairs with his unconscious ex instead of up here with her. Yet she tried to reassure him. Yes, she was a one-in-a-million find. And he’d let Alaan know that if he ever hurt her, he’d have a Hatsept ass kicking coming.

“Listen closely because I have no intention of repeating any of this. I’ve never shared this with a single soul other than my Clan Elder.” Tipping his head up, he watched four parallel lines trek across her forehead on a furrowed brow. Still he waited. Waited for her to acknowledge the importance of what he needed to say. With a nod of her head, Kenoe jumped in with both feet.

“Lowan took over our harem when I was just a young pup. I was abused. For years.”

“Is that why you’re gay?”

His first inclination was to blow off her question. But what if something happened to him and he never had another chance to lay himself bare? He loved her and it was time to come clean before he took off.

“Tameth, I’m not gay.” Holding her gaze with his blue-white eyes, the wait for her to lose her temper at such a revelation seemed endless. She tightened her grip in his hair.

“Ouch.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “You’re not gay? Well, what…er, how?”

“I’ll tell you about it, but not right now, okay?” There was no way he had the bandwidth to deal with both Lowan and his gay lie tonight.

“I ran away from the harem and sought refuge with the Clan Hatsept Elder. He had Lowan brought up on charges because of what was done to me. The charges piled up higher when I told the Elder what I’d seen done to others, though he never seemed to abuse anyone the way he did me. He kidnapped humans, which is against our laws. After being subjected to the most bizarre psychological and sexual tactics, they may as well have been brainwashed. His harem came to him by force, but very few humans actually left while I was there.”

“But I thought Clan Hatsept rules require all harems be filled voluntarily?”

“They are voluntarily filled, and only with vampires, if the prime male is typical. But Lowan is not normal. He’s crazy, Tameth, so consumed with his need for sex and control, it drives him. As for me, he seemed more intent on punishing me for just being alive. His Second, a man named Myles, carried out most of the brutality, but Lowan called the shots. And sure, he gave his people opportunities to leave if they wanted to. But those who took him up on the offer didn’t survive long.”

Tameth’s top lip curled into a snarl. “Bastard.”

“You have no idea,” Kenoe agreed flatly. Then he revealed everything. All the hurt, pain and treachery he’d experienced simply because he’d been born into the wrong family. It spilled out like the bursting of a dam after an overflow of rain. Cleansing was the only way to describe the result of simply sharing the burden he’d carried for so much of his life. Hell, and it had only taken his three years of friendship with Tameth to finally tell her. It amazed him, considering he’d expected to take every ounce of the shame and anger to the grave.

He felt wonderful. Purified. Free.

On the other hand, Tameth sat stone-still, her golden olive skin paled to a ghastly jaundiced yellow. Her whole body shivered.

“I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him,” she swore with cold menace.

“Get in line, darlin’, get in line.”