Authors: Tina Christopher
He rained kisses all over her face. With a gentle finger
under her chin he asked her to look him in the eyes. “Please, tell me what happened.
What did I do wrong?”
“Nothing.” She stroked shaking fingers across his cheek.
“It’s silly. Put it down to too much good sex and an overly emotional woman.”
Duncan carefully curled his arms around her and slid a leg
between hers. “You better tell me or be prepared to lie here until you do.
You’re by no means overly emotional. Let’s just say that my preferred response
to mind-blowing sex does not involve tears.”
Her eyes blurred again and she hid her face against his
chest.
This time he allowed her the escape. Fear colored her eyes,
but bigger, deeper emotions swirled at the back. He tightened his grip and
offered her his strength.
For minutes they just lay there. She shivered and Duncan dug
around until he untangled the sheet from under their bodies and covered them.
“You want me.”
He would have been unable to hear her whispered words
without his Vampire hearing. Duncan stroked up and down her back. “I thought I
had made that obvious.” He kept his voice low. Intimate. Safe.
She curled more tightly against him and he felt more tears.
“You don’t understand. You actually want
me
.”
He frowned, trying to figure out what she meant while
pulling her even closer. He followed their link. It still wasn’t fully
established, but it was stronger. Agony and hope overwhelmed him. “Baby, please
explain. I want
you
. I want a relationship, a chance to see what we can
become.”
“Nobody has ever wanted just me,” she whispered against his
chest. “At first they wanted to study me. Some of the doctors thought they
could win favors with my father if they found a way to make my Gift emerge. No
matter the cost of their methods.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest like
a kitten.
“Then, when it was obvious I had no Gift, they wanted to
study me, to figure out what was wrong with me. Nobody saw
me
any
longer. I was just a question that had to be answered. A puzzle that had to be
solved. And then came the glory hounds and money seekers. Just because I had no
Gift they thought I was stupid, an easy target.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze. “Not one of them saw
me or even wanted me. Not like you do.”
His heart clenched and he kissed her.
His little Naema had to put a shield over her very
vulnerable heart after being kicked in said organ more than once. In his anger
he had blown that shield to smithereens. Once again he made her meet his gaze.
“Tanasha, hear me when I say this. I want you. Not for what you can bring me or
because of your money. I have money enough. I want you because you are the
sexiest woman I have ever met. Pleasuring you is exalted bliss and pure torture
at the same time. You are strong and brave and loyal. And you have the best
rack in the galaxy.”
She chuckled, but still tears coursed down her cheeks.
He kissed them away.
“I’m sorry.” She nuzzled his face, curling arms and legs
around him. “I’m sorry I hurt you. It’s no excuse, but I didn’t know I could.”
She stroked her shaking fingers across his cheeks, his lips, his chin.
“Why did you?”
She snorted. “You exploded in my life. Since I’ve met you
I’ve faced Marius, been attacked by Ferals and had more sex in a few hours than
I usually have in a year.” Tanasha met his gaze, her black eyes whirling with
emotions. “This link between us scares me. I thought I was alone in it and that
terrified me. I don’t do well with unemotional sex and between all the
lovema—all the sex, we haven’t spoken more than three words.”
Duncan covered her lips with a finger. “Lovemaking, not sex.
Understood.”
She swallowed and nodded. “So much has happened in the last
day, I was overwhelmed. When you continued to push I imagined you were just
after a good fuck partner and I couldn’t stand the thought.”
He pulled her leg over his hip and held her close. His
half-hard dick rested against the curve of her stomach. He wanted to tell her
everything, but she was right. She’d been through a lot in the last few hours.
And they still had to find her friend.
He curled his hand around the back of her head and kissed
her with all the emotion he held inside him. “Just give us a chance, Nasha.
Don’t let fear stand between us.”
“I won’t. Knowing you want
me
, no ifs and buts, is
amazing. I will do my very best not to run like a coward again.”
They shared a kiss that made Duncan wish the rest of the
planet was in another dimension. Heat and fire, but also tenderness and care
coursed through them.
He pulled himself back with a groan and asked the comp to
give him the time. “We need to get up. There are a few things I need to tell
you.”
Tanasha nodded.
For a moment neither of them moved.
She giggled. “Not sure how much we’ll get done if we stay
like this.”
He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Quite a lot, I’d say, but
none of it helpful to the case.”
One last kiss and they scrambled out of bed.
She picked up the shirt he’d torn off her. “I need clothes.”
Duncan shrugged and threw her another one. “Give the comp
your details and have it make some.” He pointed at the rags she’d worn
yesterday. “Make it something less voluminous. You need to be able to move
without impediment.” And he wanted to see her in something other than a tent.
She threw him a look out of narrowed eyes, but agreed. While
she was busy ordering more clothes he jumped into the shower and shaved.
Tanasha stepped into the bathroom just as he finished. As much as he’d have
preferred to join her, he controlled himself, dressed and walked downstairs.
He had little use for food, but his human friends
necessitated a food synthesizer. With no idea what she’d like he made a little
of everything.
Tanasha came into the kitchen and gaped at his efforts.
“Whose army are you feeding?”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for.
One of the bots will pack up any leftovers and take them to the homeless
shelter ten blocks over.”
She cleared her throat, by his guess swallowing her
laughter. “Thank you, everything looks delicious.” She kissed him. “And this is
very thoughtful of you.”
Duncan poured them each a cup of coffee and added a glass of
blood for himself. Unlike in his office this time it didn’t seem to bother her.
Instead she studied him with curiosity.
“How often do you have to drink?”
“I’m close to five centuries. I don’t have to drink for
weeks, sometimes months, but why abstain if I don’t have to? I tend to follow
human standards and have about three meals if I can.”
She nodded and started to eat. “What have you found?”
“Finish your food first.” He smirked. “You need to keep up
your strength.”
Tanasha studied him with raised brows.
“Eat. I won’t say anything until you’ve had sustenance.”
She rolled her eyes but continued to eat. Ten minutes later
she’d finished her plate and he his glass of blood. Duncan took her hand.
“Let’s sit in the living room, it’s more comfortable.”
She followed without hesitation and sat on the large sofa.
Duncan dropped down beside her and rested his arm along the
back. His fingers tangled in her luscious hair. “I went to find a source,
another Vampire who I’ve suspected of having an in with a faction of the
Ferals. I’ve known Hugo for decades. We’ve never been very close, but we have
worked together. He always seemed to be able to lay hands on data just when we
needed it. He’s dead.”
“What? What happened?” She put her hand on his free one.
“I’m sorry.”
Duncan cleared his throat and told her what had happened at
Hugo’s place.
When he fell silent, Tanasha gripped his hand more tightly.
“What did you find?” she asked in a whisper.
Duncan rubbed his eyes. “It looks like I was right. The
Ferals are branching out. They’ve begun trade in Naema blood.”
Tanasha turned ghost white.
She jumped up and began to pace. “They are insane. Naemas
kept out of the last war because they didn’t think it concerned them. Vampires
were killing humans, not us. If it comes out that Ferals, that Vampires, are
not only trading in human slaves, but in Naema blood, the Senate will demand
that they are swept off the worlds.”
She came to a standstill in front of Duncan, her hands
clamped together.
Duncan loosened her clenched fingers and kissed them. “I
know, love. It will be a bloodbath. Vampires will have to make a choice of
which side to fight on. There are enough Vampires who don’t like the new rules
and only follow them because they don’t want to be shot on sight. If war breaks
out and humans once again hunt all Vampires, many will join the Ferals. Why not
enjoy yourself if you’re getting shot at anyway?”
Tanasha gripped his fingers tightly. “Naemas will go to war.
We’re pretty hard to kill so new weapons will be developed on both sides.” She
shivered. “This could last decades and exterminate whole worlds.”
Duncan couldn’t restrain himself anymore and pulled her onto
his lap. She cuddled against him with no hesitation. “Take a deep breath,
Nasha, we’re not there yet. If we can stop this in its tracks none of this will
happen.”
“If it comes out none of us will be safe,” she whispered
against his chest.
He kissed her cheek. “If what comes out?”
Tanasha shook her head and curled up tighter. Her heartbeat
raced against his chest.
Duncan gave her his warmth, hoping she would trust him.
“Naema blood is a power source to Vampires.”
He tried to suppress all response, but was only partly
successful. “Really? I thought that was one of those big myths.”
“No, both the Naema Senate and the Vampire Council agreed
centuries ago that it was something that had to be kept secret to protect the
Naemas and to stop Vampires from going on power trips.”
“Looks like somebody found out.”
“And he found a Naema to work with him.”
Duncan remained silent. She would have to work through that
betrayal by herself. He could only offer his support.
“How did you find out?”
“Hugo and I had one passion in common, we both love an Old
Earth story called
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
. It is the story of a
young girl, who is transported into an alternative dimension where she meets a
group of haphazard characters, all in search of something. They travel to a
great city to meet the wizard and find their dreams. Hugo has figurines of all
the characters but the Tin Man wore a brain around his chest.”
Tanasha frowned at him.
He cleared his throat. “The Tin Man was in search of a
heart, it was the Scarecrow who looked for a brain.”
“What kind of story is this?” she asked with a small smile.
“I believe it was aimed at children, but when you have a
deeper look you find a lot of valuable themes and qualities. We discussed those
for hours.”
Her brows rose and her smile grew. “Philosophical
discussions? I have to admit I didn’t see it coming.”
Duncan wasn’t too sure how he felt about her laughing at
him, but her kissing him made up for it. “Hugo had evidence of the Feral leader
working with the Naema, a ledger that identifies the credits that changed
hands.”
She swallowed. “Between whom?”
He cupped her cheek and kissed her lightly. “There are no
names, only combinations of letters and numbers. NZ1 seems to be in charge and
so far the only recipient for Naema blood. The trade started about three weeks
ago. It also describes dates and times when other products, my guess is human
blood slaves, changed hands. This ledger could give us potential starting
points to trace the financial transactions.”
Tanasha leaned into his hand. “Chances are NZ1 channeled the
money through so many relays we’ll end up on one of the outer planets.”
Duncan’s brows shot up. “And what would a good little Naema
know about relays and hiding money trails?”
She only smiled. When he would have dug deeper and asked
again, she kissed him, wiping his brain clean of any thought other than holding
her as close to him as possible. Their tongues tangled and she sucked his deep
into her mouth. Duncan grew hard at the thought of feeling her suck his cock
the same way she was sucking his tongue.
His hand slipped under his shirt and caressed the smooth
skin of her back.
She moaned but pulled back. “We don’t have time.”
He cleared his throat. “Indeed—”
Before he could say anything else the doorbell rang.
They both froze.
“Do you have a house bot?” she asked, her breath uneven.
“No,” he groaned, “it’s down at maintenance.”
Tanasha swallowed and scrambled off his lap. “You better
answer then. The comp should have finished my clothes. I’ll get dressed.”
Duncan sighed and attempted to be grateful for the
interruption. They needed to plan on how to deal with Marius.
The bell rang again.
He frowned and picked up a dagger he had on display.
Something was wrong. His churning gut told him so.
Chapter Seven
Duncan checked the screen and switched the dagger into his
left hand, the one invisible when the door was open.
His next-door neighbor Mary waited outside. She held a small
cup in her hands. She was pale and her lips trembled. Duncan had exchanged
maybe three sentences with his neighbor since she moved in.
He frowned. “Tanasha?”
She leaned over the upstairs banister and narrowed her gaze
as she saw his stance. “What?”
“Hide in the wardrobe in my room.”
“Why?”
“My neighbor stands outside my door, looking as if she’s
about to ask for sugar or something like that. I don’t eat, so I’m a bad
choice. Also she’s shaking like a leaf.”
Tanasha nodded. “They’re using her to trick you.”
The bell rang a third time, even more insistently.
Duncan nodded. “Hurry.”
He could have saved his breath. Tanasha had already walked
into the main bedroom. “Don’t come down until I call you.”
She didn’t turn around, just waved the back of her hand at
him.
Not particularly comforted, he couldn’t do anything else.
He was out of time.
Duncan opened the door. “Mary, what a surprise. How may I
help you?”
As soon as she stepped over the threshold four Ferals pushed
after her.
Duncan jumped forward and thrust one of them against the
hallway door outside the entrance with his mind. He kicked a second one in the
nuts and sliced his dagger across his throat. Blood gushed and the Feral
dropped to the ground.
A third attacked from behind, punched Duncan’s kidneys and
pushed him against the wall. Pain shot across his middle, but he used the
momentum to bounce back with a jumping kick that hit Feral Three across the
face.
“Stop or she dies!” A roar echoed through his apartment.
Duncan stopped moving.
The last Feral held a laser to the back of Mary’s neck.
A live laser.
Duncan raised his hands and stepped back, cursing in his
mind. He could try to disarm the attacker with his power but the slightest
hitch or bump could set off the laser. If he didn’t get it right Duncan could
kill Mary.
And the other two Ferals recovered some. The one he’d just
kicked stumbled to his feet, glaring at him and wiping the blood from his
broken nose.
The one he’d thrown against the wall, whom Duncan mentally
christened Wally, strode up to him and punched him.
Agony burst across his face.
Duncan shook his head to get them all back into focus. Wally
dragged the body of his dead buddy into the apartment, leaving behind a trail
of blood.
That won’t draw attention. But we’re probably leaving before
anybody notices.
The Feral holding Mary smirked, showing long, filthy fangs.
Hygiene in general didn’t seem to be a priority. He reeked of sweat and
garbage.
The human woman sobbed. “They grabbed me when I came in from
work.”
The Feral with the broken nose leaned closer and drew a
couple of bloody lines across her cheek. “And we’ll set you to work once we’re done
here.”
She moaned. Her knees gave out and the Feral holding the
laser had to grab her by the back of her shirt. Mary hung in his grasp as if
all strength had left her body.
The fucking laser never wavered.
“I’m guessing you’re after me. How about you let Mary go and
I will follow you willingly and without making a fuss?”
The Feral tilted his head. “Maybe. Let me think about it.”
Duncan nodded, scrambling to find a way to get the laser
away from the other Feral without endangering the woman. She hadn’t stopped
sobbing. The Feral was too focused. Any attempt to disarm him was too great a
risk.
Hopefully Tanasha heard what happened and stayed hidden.
Duncan’s fists balled. He needed to keep their attention on
him. Wally joined the group around Mary and pulled her out of his cohort’s
grasp by her hair. Duncan jumped forward and punched him. The Feral hissed and
dropped Mary, but before Duncan could punch him again, the other two grabbed
his arms.
Duncan threw one against the closed door with his power. The
second picked up one of his metal sculptures and slammed it into Duncan’s face.
Pain exploded across his head. His knees weakened. His
vision blurred. Duncan shook the blood out of his eyes, struggling to focus
through the agony. He hung in the grasp of the second Feral, struggling to
focus his talent and defend himself. Wally stood before him. Punches rained
down on Duncan, to his face, his chest.
Duncan nearly blacked out. The one who’d held Mary took his
free arm and the two of them came close to yanking his shoulders out of their
sockets as they wrenched his arms back. Cold shackles slid across his wrists.
Immediately his arms dropped down. He lost all feeling in
his upper body. They dropped him to the floor and he fell sideways.
T-Guards. Fuck, I’m so screwed.
The nanites in the
cuffs made movement impossible and substantially slowed down his healing
ability. As long as he had the nanites in his system he would heal human slow.
But even worse, they hacked into his nervous system and stopped his telekinesis.
He had no way of defending Tanasha or himself.
Wally kicked him in the ribs. Duncan pulled his legs up, the
only part of his body he could still feel other than his head, and protected
his balls from another vicious kick.
Then Wally strode to the shivering and huddling Mary. The
two at Duncan’s side pulled his head back, making sure he didn’t miss the
cruelty and triumph in Wally’s eyes as he yanked Mary up. “Find the Naema,” he
ordered the ones holding him.
Duncan tensed every muscle in his body, trying to move.
Useless.
Wally pulled Mary’s head back and opened his mouth.
“Stop!”
Duncan mentally cursed, using every word he’d learned. And
over nearly five hundred years one could learn a lot.
Tanasha stood at the top of the stairs.
And she held a knife to her throat.
Every muscle in Tanasha’s body was clenched tightly. She
didn’t dare relax for fear that she would begin to shake like a feather in the
wind.
She’d watched the altercation from upstairs and had to bite
her lip numerous times to stop any cries from escaping when the Ferals attacked
Duncan. One of them was about to kill the innocent human woman and the other
two would find her anyway. Duncan’s wardrobe wasn’t that big.
She couldn’t let Mary die if there was a chance she could do
something to stop it.
Now her bluff just had to work.
The leader still held the woman by the hair but was no
longer one second away from biting her. “Why should I stop? And what’s with the
knife? You going to skewer us?” He laughed and his compatriots fell in.
“No, I’m not going to attack you.” She pressed the blade of
the dagger she’d found in Duncan’s bedroom into the side of her neck. The small
cut burned like hell. Blood trickled down the side. “Unless you release the
human and let her go free and unharmed, I will cut my throat. I am rather
certain that your master thinks of me as more important than one human.”
Her fingers ached from the hard grip she kept on the dagger.
Tanasha wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold the heavy blade without her
hand shaking.
“You’re not going to kill yourself,” the leader scoffed, but
he released Mary. The human dropped to the ground and curled up in a fetal
position.
“I have a good idea who sent you and my chances of walking
away from him alive are slim to none. This way I can choose my own end. And
I’ll die knowing he’ll make you suffer for losing me when you had the chance to
stop me.”
The other two Ferals dropped Duncan to the floor and stepped
closer to the leader.
Tanasha couldn’t hear what they said, but the other two
appeared worried and gesticulated wildly.
The leader didn’t take his eyes off her. Finally he kicked
Mary. “All right. I’ll let the bitch go. Drop the fancy knife and come down the
stairs.”
She shook her head, which resulted in another small cut as
her hand had cramped around the dagger. “No. Open the door and let Mary go. All
three of you remain inside the apartment.”
Tanasha turned to the woman. “Mary, go to a neighbor on a
different level. Don’t tell her what happened other than you’ve been attacked.
See if you can stall calling for the Sentinels and give us time to leave.
Understood?”
Mary shook so hard it took her a couple of tries before she
could talk. “Yes,” she croaked.
Tanasha looked at the leader. “Do as I say or the next time
the blade cuts it will be through my artery.”
He hissed and took a step back from Mary. The other two
followed his example.
The human woman tried to get to her feet but couldn’t make
it. Instead she crawled to the door, going around the bloody corpse of the dead
Feral. Her fingers shook too hard to open the door, so Duncan ordered it open.
She used the doorknob to drag herself to her feet and threw one last terrified
look backward before she stumbled through the open door.
Duncan ordered it to close behind her.
Tanasha’s knees nearly gave out but she couldn’t show any
weakness before the monsters. Slowly she dropped her hand and the dagger and
walked down the stairs, grateful for the metal railing.
Without it she would have fallen flat on her face.
Duncan had frozen his expression into one of studied boredom
and she tried to follow suit. The two minions yanked him to his feet. He
wobbled for a couple of seconds before he gathered his balance.
The leader waited for her at the bottom of the steps. His
eyes blazed with fury and his hands had balled into tight fists, but he didn’t
touch her as she stepped past him and next to Duncan.
She swallowed and met his gaze. “It looks like we’ve been
invited to meet with somebody important.”
Duncan raised a brow. Other than the fury in his silver eyes
none of his emotions showed. “Looks like.”
She crinkled her nose. “They really didn’t need to send this
platoon. A message would have been enough.” She imagined the Ferals as the
snootiest and most arrogant Naemas who’d ever looked down on her because of her
lack of Gift, the ones she’d never given an inch, no matter what they said.
The leader hit Duncan again.
“Don’t take that tone with us or lover boy will be less
pretty by the time we get to our destination.” He grabbed Tanasha’s shoulder
and pushed her to the door. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Duncan asked.
Nobody gave him an answer.
Tanasha hoped the monsters dragging them into the waiting
transport didn’t sense the cold sweat trickling down her back. She struggled to
keep her fingers, clenched so tightly in her lap they’d turned white, out of
sight.
The poking and prodding she’d suffered through growing up
had taught her to hide her emotions on her face, but keeping control of her
panic-stricken body was much more difficult.
The stench of the two Ferals surrounding her like bookends
aggravated her nauseated stomach to the point of nearly no return. Only
Duncan’s presence across from her stopped her from throwing up.
He appeared slightly bored despite the beating he’d
suffered. She hoped she matched his confidence.
Outside her blacked-out windows the human District raced
past. At first she struggled to recognize the area, but when she did her
stomach clenched even further.
They were just minutes away from her Naema District.
Tanasha caught Duncan’s eye, lifting her brows the tiniest
bit in question.
He gave her a brief nod.
Her heartbeat increased. Her palms moistened. Blood rushed
in her ears.
They reached the gate. The window on her right cleared.
The Guard looked inside but before he could respond the
Feral beside Duncan blinded him with a small mirror. The Guard blinked a few
times and scanned the transport number. He nodded and tipped his hat. “Have a
lovely day, Honorable Disper.” The gate opened.
Tanasha couldn’t believe her eyes. She opened her mouth to
scream bloody murder, but the Feral next to Duncan raised a laser to his
throat. “One word and he’s dead.”
She swallowed her scream. “How
¼
how
did you manage to trick the Guard? How did you make him see somebody who isn’t
here?”
The Vampire laughed and burned Duncan’s neck before pulling
back the laser. “Magic. Magic that will finally give us the power to take our
rightful place in this galaxy.”
The hairs at the back of her neck rose. Her gaze met
Duncan’s. His only giveaway to the Feral’s statement was a deepening of lines
around his mouth.
She looked away, focusing on breathing evenly. If the Ferals
had access to magic that could even trick Naemas they would take over the
galaxy with very little resistance. Vampires, only held back from being Feral
by the threat of punishment, would turn Feral, doubling and tripling their
population.
It would be a bloodbath like none had ever seen.
As the knowledge sank in they drove through the large gate
outside Sydney’s house.
No surprise there.
Tanasha stiffened her knees as the bookends dragged her out
of the transport. She didn’t scream or make herself known to the neighbors. It
would be useless. The neighbors would only see what they were supposed to.
The bookends didn’t touch her once she stepped out of the transport,
only walked beside her. The leader, the one who continued to burn Duncan and
punch him intermittently, shoved Duncan forward. The front door opened and the
familiar maid-bot let them in.
At first Tanasha was uncertain why Duncan didn’t use his telekinesis,
but watching him closely out of the corner of her eye she realized the cuffs
must have done something to paralyze or numb his upper body. He didn’t respond
to any of the many small burns or cuts the Feral gave him.