“You’re playing a dangerous game with that one. And I certainly would like to know why we have so many visitors in town.” Alexander’s voice was the first thing I heard as I slowly came back to consciousness.
I couldn’t have been out for too long. I was on the couch and someone had covered me with a blanket. I tried to stay as still as I could because I wanted to know what dangerous game was being played and by whom. What can I say? I’d had a rough night and I like good gossip.
“It isn’t a game.” Michael’s words sounded careful, almost wary. “They aren’t here for any reason other than to get to know Daniel.”
Now I was really listening. In all the chaos of the evening, I’d never gotten around to asking Daniel about the new vampires in town. Michael seemed to think they had come as some sort of group hoping to socialize with the vampire of the moment.
“Well, he is an interesting chap. I will admit that. Wish he dressed better, though. He’s having a bad influence on you, as well. I don’t see the point in blue jeans,” Alexander admitted.
The table beside me rattled as the doctor placed something on it. He was more than likely getting ready for my inevitable introduction to nineteenth century blood transfusion practices. I doubted it would be as nice as it was when I took blood from Daniel.
Alexander huffed a little, his British accent crisp and neat. “I just find it difficult to believe there are five vampires I’ve never met before. It’s a rather small world.”
“William says he met you a couple of years back,” Michael offered.
“Funny, I don’t remember him.”
“He says you were in Seattle and there was a rash of unexplained killings,” Michael said, disgust plain in his voice. “Prostitutes, I believe. William was working with the police. Night shift, of course.”
“Now that does sound like me.” Through slitted eyes, I could see the smug smile on Alexander’s face. I really didn’t like him. There was a small part of me that wished he would do something, just anything that would justify Daniel killing him. Unfortunately, he’d had centuries to perfect his techniques, and the Council didn’t care what he did as long as he didn’t get caught. “Well, that explains it. I was distracted at the time. Ah, you’re awake, Mrs. Donovan.”
I gave up the game and opened my eyes. “Is Dev here?”
“Do you hear accusations and righteous indignation? No, he hasn’t made it yet. Apparently you have his vehicle. He had to get his driver up,” Alexander stated blandly. “That club of his shouldn’t pay so well. Makes you wonder what he does on the sideline.”
He held a piece of weird medical equipment. At least I thought it was medical equipment. I winced at the sight. It was a metal and glass tube. On the top was a plunger with a circular handle. Tubing came from both sides and each was tipped with the largest, nastiest needle I’d ever seen. I got a little nauseous at the sight. Give me fangs any day.
“Can’t we go to a hospital? Or maybe I could just rest and everything will be all right in the morning?” I could last a day or two, right? Blood builds back up. Maybe a few days of bed rest and I’d be fine. My DVR was backed up anyway.
“Not at all, dear,” Alexander said, smiling his creepy grin. “You’ll be dead by the morning if we don’t get some blood in you. I believe it’s the residual effects of sharing blood with your husband that’s managed to keep you alive and talking this long. I’m surprised. I didn’t think you shared blood with him. The gossip is you donate but choose not to receive.”
“I haven’t taken Daniel’s blood in months.” Seven months to be precise.
Alexander stared at me, for once his mouth closed in shock. He looked back at Michael. “He really is a bloody king, isn’t he?”
“I told you,” Michael said.
The door opened, and Dev’s voice rang through the house. “Where the hell is she, Harry?”
“Ahh, let the recriminations begin.” Alexander smiled, obviously enjoying the drama. “Your lover is here, dear.”
My father stalked into the room, a fierce frown on his face. He didn’t like Dev, and he certainly didn’t approve of my relationship with him. Daddy was firmly on Team Daniel. I’d been asked several times in the last few months when I was going to stop “fucking around with that faery.” Dad was just one more person who didn’t understand how I felt. In his view, Danny and I had been planning to get married and Danny had finally come around, so I should fall in line with the life plan that had been laid out when I was seventeen. It didn’t matter that I’d been lied to. It didn’t matter that I had questions no one seemed willing to answer.
I pushed Felicity Day’s promises firmly out of my mind.
Dev followed my father. He’d gotten dressed in a hurry, it seemed. His clothes were usually immaculate, but now his slacks were slightly wrinkled, and I recognized the dress shirt he’d worn earlier in the evening.
“Well, I don’t need to ask how the meeting went, do I?” Dev asked, looking down at me.
Gosh, he was tall. He towered over me, six foot five inches of pure disapproval. His green eyes didn’t look sexy now. Anger had replaced his natural sensuality. I was glad the blanket was up around my neck. I’d pulled it up because I was so damn cold, but now it offered a certain amount of protection from his disapproving eyes.
“There might have been a few minor problems.” I tried to look as cute and vulnerable as possible, hoping to tap into his softer side. I didn’t want another lecture, especially not in front of company.
“Let’s see it, Zoey.” He braced himself for the sight, his feet planted on the floor, his shoulders squared. “There’s no point in putting it off. I’m not an idiot. I get called in the middle of the night because you need a freaking blood transfusion. I can put two and two together, sweetheart. Let’s see how stupid you got tonight.”
“Hey, you treat her with respect,” Michael demanded, to my surprise. “Watch your mouth around her.”
Dev turned, his eyes flashing and ready for a fight. “Asshole, I’m not the one who caused her to need a blood transfusion. You want to get pissed off at someone, talk to her husband. Trust me, buddy, when I fuck her she doesn’t end up needing a doctor.”
“Dev!” Even in my weakness, I wasn’t going to stand for that.
Ugly claws popped out of Michael’s hands, a particular talent of his. He pointed one at Dev, who proved he had a death wish. He moved aggressively toward the angry vampire. It was one of those testosterone fueled gestures that no female can understand.
“If my mas…my friend hadn’t forbidden it, I would kill you here and now,” Michael proclaimed. “I would kill you and it would be a righteous kill, you understand. You live on his sufferance.”
Dev smiled that sarcastic grin I was sure would be on his face just before he died. “Don’t let Daniel keep you on a leash, Mikey. Since when did you become his bitch?”
“As much as I enjoy a good bloodbath, and make no mistake Mr. Quinn, it is your blood I refer to since Michael could gut you before you thought to scream, I have to ask the question,” Alexander said, his voice a little island of creepy calm. “Are the two of you going to allow my patient to expire while you work out your differences?”
Michael took a deep breath, and his hands shifted back to normal. The tension in the air went down a notch.
Dev turned back to me. “Not until I see it, Zoey.”
It was nice to know his cooperation in saving my life came with ultimatums. I was just pissed enough to pull the blanket back and twist my neck so he got a really good view. It hurt, but I turned into the pain because I didn’t want him to miss an inch of what he’d come to see.
If I expected a sudden onslaught of sympathy, I was disappointed.
“Nice.” He bit off the word before settling into the seat beside me. He unbuttoned his sleeve and started to roll it up. “Any other places he decided to chew on?”
Alexander was busy tying off Dev’s arm with a rubber band. I wore a thin T-shirt, Neil’s blazer long ago discarded. I pulled up the blanket until just my arm was outside its warmth. I looked forward, trying not to watch as Alexander prepped Dev.
“Make a fist, please,” the doctor ordered.
“You don’t want to answer the question, Zoey?” Dev asked. “I’ll find out later. If I have to strip you down and examine you, I’ll find out every bit of damage he did.” There was a pause as I stared sullenly straight forward. Dev huffed a little before continuing. “Seriously? You want to shove that in my arm? That’s not a needle, dude, that’s a drainage pipe.”
Christine pressed a glass of something cold in my hand. “Drink it up, fast as you can.”
“Witchcraft?” I asked, hoping it would knock me out.
“Vodka.” It was Christine’s go-to medicine of choice. I swallowed it before Alexander could stop me.
Alexander’s head shook. “That’s going to go straight to her head. It’s not a good idea.”
“It’ll go straight to her head and maybe she’ll forget you’re shoving a…whatever that is you’re about to shove up her arm.” Christine took the glass from me and refilled it.
“Good point,” Alexander replied as he placed the needle in Dev’s arm. There were several curses in languages I didn’t speak. “Perhaps a dose for this one, too.”
“Just give me the bottle,” Dev demanded.
Christine passed it over and sat down beside me. She took the hand that wasn’t attached to the arm Alexander was working on. “It’s going to be all right, Zoey. Just watch me and listen to my voice.”
She rubbed my cold hand between her warm ones. I felt a great debt of gratitude for the sometimes annoying witch. She started intoning something in Latin in a pleasant sing-song, and I found my world narrowing to the sound of her voice.
“Done,” Alexander said. I was startled by the pronouncement, and when I looked, sure enough, there was a large-bore needle taped securely in my arm. The doctor pulled up on the plunger and bright blood began to flow from Dev’s arm. “All right, get comfortable. This could take a while.”
Dev cursed again and took another long swallow from the bottle of Grey Goose. I laid back and let Christine’s voice soothe me, and before long I was feeling warmth flow inside me again. I don’t know how long the process took, but I was grateful when the needle was sliding out of my arm and the wound was being wrapped. I was ready to fall asleep on the couch when Dev slid his arms under my knees and shoulders and lifted me against his chest. I was completely limp in his arms.
He looked at the assembled room, which now also included Neil. I guessed he’d gotten Daniel settled in the room my father had built for just such an occasion. It was a solid, interior room, with no possibility of that pesky sun finding its way in. Dev turned his gaze to my dad.
“All right, do I go upstairs or bundle her up and take her back to Ether? It’s your choice, Harry, but understand I’m not leaving her here alone with three vampires, even if one of them is incapacitated.” Dev looked to the vampires. “By your own laws, I have the right to care for her. My blood sustains her. At least for tonight, she is mine by right of law. If Daniel has a problem with that, he can get his ass up here and we can handle it here and now. Stay or go, Harry?”
“Upstairs, second door on the left.” My father gestured toward the hall, a grimace of anger on his face, but he allowed Dev to carry me.
Dev turned his back on the room and whisked me upstairs. My old bedroom had been redone as a guest room and now boasted a king-sized bed. Dev laid me down on the bed and stared at me. It looked like he was going to make good on his threat to inspect every inch of me. Normally, I would have gotten a little excited at the prospect, but right now it just pissed me off.
“I didn’t sleep with him, Dev.” I tried to put some fire into my words, but I failed. Though my blood volume was up, I was so tired. Still, it was all he really wanted to know so I decided to put the truth out there. It was good to know my lover wanted to make damn sure my husband wasn’t getting some.
“Right, Zoey.” Dev’s hand found the waist of my jeans. He was an expert when it came to undressing a woman. “I’m supposed to believe he gets his fangs in you for the first time in seven months, but that’s all he impales you on?”
“He was a little concerned about the fact that he was on fire, Dev.” I pushed my hips up because fighting him wouldn’t help. “I doubt he was thinking about how to get in my pants.”
“You would be surprised, sweetheart. I would be thinking about it.” Dev ran his hands up and down my legs before he pulled the T-shirt over my head and dispensed with my bra. His hands smoothed over my skin. Even though I was angry with him, the touch was sweet. He seemed satisfied there was no further damage or evidence of vampiric possession. “On fire, huh? Did the client have a flamethrower?”
I shook my head as he placed me under the covers. Dev stepped out of his slacks and tossed his shirt aside.
“We got surprised. Didn’t know what we were dealing with.” I’d been stupid. I should have never taken that meeting without knowing what I was getting into. I was obsessed with this job, and it almost cost Daniel his life.
Dev was down to his boxers and slipped into the bed beside me. He pulled me into his arms, and I let my head rest on his chest. I was still mad at him, but he felt safe and warm and the events of the day just slammed into me. Tears started to run down my face. I wish I was one of those tough chicks who never cried, but I always do. Dev pulled me closer, his hand tangling in my hair.
“What was it, Zoey?” He laid a sweet kiss on my forehead, his voice gentler than it had been all night.
“Angels. They were angels, and they nearly killed him.”
“Real angels? From the Heaven plane?” Dev asked, his voice hushed with awe. Dev might have contact with all manner of supernatural creatures, but angels didn’t frequent Ether. “Jesus.”
“Yes, those angels,” I agreed. “It was horrible. The light was everywhere, and he was burning.”
“Well, he’s fine now, Zoey,” Dev said with more sympathy than I expected since we were talking about Daniel. “These angels, were they gunning for Daniel or you?”
It was a question he had to ask because I’d had fairly nasty things come after me before. He also knew that if anything wanted to come for me, it would have to get through Danny. I shook my head against the firm muscles of his chest. “Neither. I think Danny just managed to piss one of them off. It doesn’t matter. I won’t have anything to do with either of them again. I think I made myself very clear. I’m only taking straight jobs from now on. Get in, grab some stuff, and get paid.”
Dev sighed. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”