Bitten to Death

Chapter Nineteen

No way!” said Trayton. He didn’t even look away from the TV screen. His thumbs flew. Guns blared. Crap blew up. He was having the ultimate recuperation experience. And I wanted to strangle him.

“Why not?” I demanded as I sat on the chair beside him. I glanced over my shoulder at Vayl, who’d elected to stay by the door and play watchman. He shrugged. Let us go, he mouthed. I shook my head.

Trayton paused the game and dropped the controller onto his lap. Finally, his full attention came to me. Weird that he looked almost as pissed as I felt. “You can’t take something like this lightly!” he fumed.

“Am I laughing? Look, Vayl’s in a helluva spot, here. Disa’s got something malevolent planned and she’s put my boss front and center. You’ve been the victim of her plots. Would you want that to happen to anyone else?”

“That’s not the point! We don’t mate outside the pack. Okay, maybe sometimes, and actually Krios is one of the few alphas who would go for it. But mating is for life, and even I can tell the two of you aren’t ready.”

Suddenly Vayl was towering over the both of us. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded.

“You’re not partners.”

“What the hell?” I asked. “We’ve been working together forever.”

Trayton snorted. “See, you don’t even get it.”

In the silence I could almost hear the semi-farting sound of our ego balloons deflating. Vayl found his voice first. He spoke with the careful control of a man who’s trying hard not to rip off anyone’s head. “Explain yourself, boy.”

Trayton blew his hair out of his eyes. “It’s obvious. There’s plenty of hot going on between you two; even a rabbit with a cold could smell that. But there’s not nearly enough warmth for it to last. And you can’t have a lifelong love without a solid partnership to shore it up. Geez, how old are you?”

Vayl jerked his head at me so I’d follow him back to the door. “There is a word for children like him,” he hissed.

“Smartass?” I asked.

“Aha!” He shook a finger in my face. “As if someone like him, a mere boy, could tell me anything I do not already know!” He slapped himself on the chest to emphasize his point. Which made me laugh. “What!”

“You kinda reminded me of a gorilla just now with the pectoral poundage. You sure you’re not offended because maybe he’s figured something out in less than twenty-two years that you still hadn’t realized in nearly three hundred?”

His black glare made me wish I had something bulletproof and Jaz-sized to roll between us. “Why do you think I have not given you more than a single caress? Taken more than one kiss? When everything in me demands that I make you mine, what do I do instead? I talk. I listen. I wait.”

“For what?”

Uh-oh. The look again. The one that said I wouldn’t be so ignorant if I’d just pay attention. “I wait for you to believe I will not die like Matt did. To trust that I will always care for you, no matter what you do or say. To relax enough to swear, and cry, and share your innermost thoughts with me.” He shrugged. “For your friendship. You are, perhaps, right about me. I do need to put my old griefs to rest so that I can move forward to new joys. But even after that happens, I will still be marking time until you find a way to let me past that enormous steel door you keep closed against your heart.”

“Oh.” Suddenly I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I shoved them in my pockets. But they were full. I ran them through my hair. Wrapped them around my ribs. And tried not to think how humiliating it was to be the biggest idiot in the room.

“Trayton, we have to go,” I said, without looking at him.

“Okay. See you in a few.”

“Yeah.”

“Lucille?”

I turned to him.

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.” He really did look apologetic. “If there’s another way to break this hold Disa’s got on Vayl, and I can do anything to help, believe me, I’ll be there.”

“Okay. Thanks. Get some damn sleep, wouldja?” I made sure the door was locked behind us and joined Vayl as he walked back toward our suite. Since I wasn’t ready to talk about our relationship and how much I sucked at it, I said, “What did Niall tell you about Disa and Blas?”

“It was much as we had thought,” Vayl replied. “Blas planned the coup, with Disa as his cohort. They took out the majority of the Trust’s fighters together, and then she turned on him. Niall thought he was dead.”

“What a great liar he turned out to be,” I said. “He sure had me going.”

“I agree. So if you see him again, shoot to kill.”

“Will do. And, about the other matter . . .” He waited, not blowing it off like I’d hoped, making me hunt for the right words. I can honestly say, when my phone rang, I was never so relieved to answer it despite the fact that my father was at the other end of the line.

“Jaz, can you talk?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m in trouble.”

“I thought you said—”

“Naw, things are still calm on that front. It’s your sister.”

“Evie called? How’s she doing?”

“Fine. Except she wants me to come down next month for a family portrait. Tim’s parents will be in town, so she’s made an appointment with this big-wig photographer. I thought this Grandpa crap was supposed to be fun!”

“It’s all in how you see it.”

“Give me an excuse to stay home.”

“Albert, you need to be in the picture. Literally. Evie will cry if you don’t come. On the phone. To me. So go, and find a way to have fun.”

“Well, it might be okay if Shelby and I can sneak E.J. off to the park for a couple of hours. Old gals love the babies.”

“There you go. Use your granddaughter to pick up women. That’ll get you points in heaven.”

“It’s better than sitting around the house with Lemon Lips and Pencil Head!” Tim’s mom and dad were way uptight compared to our clan. His mother, Alice, kept her lips puckered in a permanent expression of disapproval. She was always saying, “Bless your heart,” but somehow you knew it meant, “You’re going straight to hell.” And her hubby, Reverend Lester, really did look like you could turn him upside down and use his round, bald dome as an eraser. They’d probably been a couple of firebrands in their younger days. But they’d had Tim late in life, and evidently raising him had worn them out.

“Okay, sounds like a plan to me.”

Moment of silence. Why were they always so uncomfortable lately? I waited until Albert said, “So. About your brother.”

“Yeah?”

“Opinions vary.”

“They would.”

“Some say you should help him relive the event in a safe way, where he has control. So he can see how it really was.”

“I don’t see how I can do that from our present location.”

“I thought you might say that.”

“Any other ideas?”

“Lots of talk. Now. When he goes back to work. In the years to come. Also, there’s a program I’ve signed him into. He won’t be happy about it, but it’ll keep him in the service and on his team.”

“So what should I do?”

“You’re the one who has to get him started. You know, with the blabbing.”

After another long pause he said, “Jazzy? You still there?”

“Oh, that’s going to be a cinch! Why don’t you just ask me to fly to Mars and get you a few ice cubes for your tea?”

“Hey, you’re the one who called me! So quit your bitching and get on it!” What. An. Asshole! “Well?”

“Oh, all right! God! Were you always such a prick or was it something you had to practice for an hour every day?”

To my surprise, he laughed. “Talk to you later,” he said, and then he hung up. As I stared at the phone I realized I had another message from Cole. In an effort to put off my coming conversation with Vayl even longer, I pulled it up.

Mark’s long overdue. (Sigh.) I’ve named my steering wheel Lucretia. Don’t be jealous. She’s just a fling.

Oh, Cole, what am I going to do with you?

We’d made it back to the suite by now. Vayl opened the door for me. Feeling like a condemned woman trudging to the gallows, I walked through. And jumped about a foot off the ground when I felt a pinch on the butt as I passed.

“Aah!” I spun around. “Did you just—?” Vayl put both hands up like I’d just attempted to mug him. “Stop smirking!” I demanded. “There’s nobody here but you!”

“What is a small tweak between partners?”

“Are we? I mean, we are, but can we be? I don’t . . . Vayl, my life’s been in the crapper so long, I’m honestly not sure I remember how. I thought I’d torn myself free of that safe house where it all went down. But it’s still got me by the ankles.”

“Yes, well, perhaps I was too harsh with you before. It seems to me that your heart may be leading you to a new dwelling.”

“Yeah?”

He tugged at a curl as he walked past me. “You seem to have taken to Trayton. Bergman and Cassandra are fond of you. And that idiot, Cole.”

I shut the door. Not quite a slam, but almost. “Would you knock it off about him? He’s harmless!”

“Do you see what I mean? You leap to his defense in what I would call a loyal gesture. Something a friend would do.”

I threw up my hands and strode away from him, at a loss to see how I could make him understand. The fountain stared impassively at me until I wanted to knock her head off. Instead I crossed my eyes at her. I also considered flipping her off, but thought better of it since Vayl would probably catch the gesture and how would I explain the crazy out of that? I turned around. “I care to a point,” I acknowledged, “and then I stop.”

Vayl came toward me slowly, as if he thought I might feel threatened by his approach. My throat did kind of close once he hit the three-foot mark. And when he murmured, “Sit,” I plopped into the chair like my knees had turned to tapioca.

He sat opposite me, pulling his seat so close that our legs brushed against each other as he leaned forward. “What?” I asked as his eyes stared into mine and I could no longer bear the silence.

“You have been through a great deal in such a short time. More than any one person should have to bear.” He opened his hands and the relief I felt when I slid mine into his was like coming up for air after diving into a deep, dark pool. “You are not alone anymore. I will never leave you. All you have to do is pick up the phone to be surrounded by people who care for you. Friends.”

“Like you?”

He nodded. “If you would allow me to take the first step.”

“Which is what? A pinch on the butt?”

He shrugged, the dimple on his cheek making a rare appearance. “Was I out of line, then?”

“Hell, yeah. Nobody pinches my ass until they first buy me a waffle cone full of cookie dough ice cream.”

“I had no idea you enjoyed that flavor.”

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. And vice versa.”

“We do have a great deal to learn.”

I looked down at our intertwined fingers. “This isn’t always going to be easy for me. I’m . . . sort of queasy about the idea of being close to people again.”

Vayl leaned in until his cheek brushed mine and his breath tickled my earlobe. “Then I will have to work to make sure that is your only desire.”

The hall door slammed open, causing Vayl to rear back so fast that his chair’s front legs left the floor and he nearly toppled backward. Our fingers tightened on one another and together we pulled him upright. But we didn’t have time to congratulate each other on the save. Because I had hit my feet and lunged for the entrance. Prevented only from throttling my brother by Vayl’s arm snaking quickly around my waist and his whisper in my ear. “Give him a chance to explain.” Just as quickly he let me go, giving me the freedom to decide.

I stood still, squeezing my fists so tightly that my hands cramped. Dave came toward me, staggering slightly as he tripped on an untied bootlace, spilling some of the liquid from his open bottle of tequila. As he came toward me, I glanced at the bedroom door and kicked myself in the pants for assuming he’d decided to get some shut-eye before our dognapping mission in the morning.

“Get me outta this place,” he demanded, grabbing me by the shoulders, slopping some of his booze down the arm of my jacket.

I tried to shove him aside. “You smell like a roach-infested cantina.”

“You can’t imagine what I’ve seen.”

“How much have you had to drink?” I pushed him into the chair I’d just left.

“Nothing. I wasn’t even planning to. You had me so worked up about losing all that training time that I was in here doing push-ups and sit-ups until I realized what I really needed was a run. So I decided to do a few miles down the lane.” He took one longing look at the tequila, shook his head, and drained it into the fountain.

“What happened?”

Dave touched the gauze at his forehead, the only way he’d ever reveal the fact that his injury was bothering him. “I went. I ran. On the way back in I checked my Monise to see if it was safe to come in. It wasn’t.”

“Why not?”

“The room I wanted to enter by was being used.” His tone told me to quit asking stupid questions and listen, goddammit.

“All right,” I said, sitting beside him. “Give me the rundown.”

“This was the room we passed the first time we came inside, after Disa decided to play ball, remember? Big sitting area with brown sectional couches, thick red throw rugs, and a couple of primitive-looking shields on the wall. And near the door, a pretty well-stocked bar. I think they were going for a comfortable look, but still the ceiling and walls were stained everywhere, like they’d had a bad leak and didn’t have the money to make repairs.”

I nodded.

“Disa and Tarasios were sitting on the couch with a human between them. Admes stood at the entrance to the place like he was on guard. He was almost out of camera range. In fact, all I could really see was part of his leg and that kickass sword of his.”

“Had you seen the human before?”

“Nope.”

“Where do you think he came from?”

“Can I just tell the story my way?”

“All right, all right, you don’t have to snap.”

“Yeah I do. Because I’m—” He held up his hand, showing Vayl and me his fingers spread about an inch apart. “Seriously, I’m this close to staking a couple of these sons of bitches. And I don’t think you two want that.”

Well . . . “Go on.”

“So Disa and her gigolo look like they’ve just settled down with the new man between them. It’s a guy in his early twenties wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and sandals. Looks to me like they just hauled him out of a bar somewhere. He’s shivering a little. I can tell because his scruffy little beard is shaking and every once in a while a crumb or something falls out of it.”

“So he was unwilling?” Come on, say yes. That’s grounds for termination right there.

“I thought so at first. Then Disa kissed him and I changed my mind.”

Crap.

Dave went on. “Pretty soon she’s moved on to his neck, and now she’s really dug in. Tarasios is watching with this eager look on his face, which I can’t quite figure out. Then she pauses to bite her own arm, which Tarasios then begins to suck at like it’s a Popsicle. I’m telling you, it was all I could do not to gag.”

“She must be turning him,” I murmured. “He still scents human, so it’s probably just begun.” We both looked at Vayl.

“I would tend to agree,” he said. “Perhaps that is another reason she has been perusing the library materials. Simply to make sure she turns him correctly.”

Dave grimaced. “Well, he was about as grateful as a kitten with a bowl of milk. I think when she bound you, Tarasios must’ve thought she was going to desert him.”

“Yeah,” I said, my heart clenching as it did every time I thought of the two of them ceremonially linked. There’s got to be a way to break this. Think!

“—listening to me?” Dave demanded.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “Go on.”

“So Disa and Tarasios are both feasting and this other dude is damn excited about the whole situation. If it’s turning into an orgy, I definitely want to make sure my Monise is in record mode. Especially if that Sibley shows up. I’m thinking I’ll send some stills off to the guys and just settle in to being their all-time hero.”

“What’s Admes doing all this time?” I asked.

“Just standing by the door like somebody might show up and need to borrow his keys or something. It was bee-zarre.”

“Okay, so Disa’s bleeding this guy . . .”

“Yeah and he’s getting pale quick, so I can’t decide. If he needs help, do I jump into the room and pull on them? I only have my M9, so all it’s gonna do is slow them down. Which gives me time to grab the dude and run—where? I’m still debating when I see things start crawling out of Disa’s throat.”

He had to take a second, pull himself together. We were brushing painful territory now. Dave rubbed his forefinger against the scar, which still glared an angry red, just an inch or so below his Adam’s apple. Seeing Disa’s appendages emerge from the very spot that tormented him with daily reminders of his former bondage must’ve made him want to do major violence.

At last he went on. “The guy’s eyes were closed, or sure to God he’d have started screaming. But he didn’t see that beak slide out from between the oozing folds of her neck skin. It opened and tentacles like a storm of jellyfish legs slid down the front of his shirt, lifted it up, and nestled against his bare skin. He jumped a little when they attached. I thought sure he’d figure out the score then. Disa and Tarasios rolled their eyes up to watch his face, not even pausing in their snacking to take a decent look. But he sighed and moaned, like somebody had just given him a great back rub, and then he slipped his hand down Disa’s top.”

“So what did you do?”

“What do you think? I took a picture.”

“Show me.”

“Jaz, that’s just gross. Now, if you weren’t my sister—”

“Show me, dammit.” He fished out his Monise and displayed the photo. Yup, there was a pretty good shot of Disa with all her extra specials hanging out. Gross.

I glanced up at Vayl. “Have you seen anything like this before?”

He shook his head. “Never.” His lips tightened. “We need to send this to Pete. Perhaps he or someone else in the department will recognize it.”

I told Dave how to send the shot, along with a research request, back to Ohio. Then I mentioned meeting Aine. He shook his head. “I agree it would be nice to know if there was a way to fight Disa up close and personal without risking your entire identity. But isn’t this where I’m supposed to remind you that you guys didn’t come here to overthrow the leadership of this Trust?”

I glanced at Vayl. “That’s true. But what about the Weres they might drag back to the cage? Not to mention . . . Okay, I’ve got nothing else. But the Weres. That was enough to make you go ballistic!”

Dave dropped his head into his hands. “Yeah, please, remind me again how I totally lost it tonight.”

“Sorry, that wasn’t fair. I know the Trust was yanking your chain. You’re right about terminating her—we have no just cause. But if she comes after us, we need to know how to defend ourselves.” And that was enough to justify at least the study.

Dave took a second to ponder, then he looked up, propping his chin with his palms as he said, “There was one more thing. I was thinking maybe we should look into it. And, considering where your thoughts are headed, maybe you will to.”

“What’s that?”

“After all the bloodsucking was done and Disa had tucked her nasties back inside her skin, Tarasios asked her if she’d found the entrance to the Preserve yet, because he’d be happy to take their new friend to meet Octavia if she had. He said, ‘She’s got to be pretty hungry by now.’ From the look on Disa’s face, I got the feeling it was another one of his stupid, shouldn’t-have-asked questions.”

We both looked at Vayl, whose eyebrows shot up.

“The Preserve? It wasn’t on your map, was it?” I asked.

“No,” he confirmed.

“Have you ever heard of Octavia?”

He shook his head.

Dave said, “Well, Disa thought she was important. She waved her hands at the dingy room like it was a personal insult when she said, ‘Hamon should never have kept so many secrets. How am I supposed to keep this Trust from crumbling when I can’t even find his mate?’ And then the blood donor sort of woke up, so she stopped talking and Tarasios took the guy away.”

“I wondered what had happened to the villa since I left,” Vayl said. “It has been so long, I just assumed all this . . . decay . . . had come naturally. But it sounds as if the problem is related to Hamon’s unplanned passing and the mysterious Octavia.”

“Do you think she’s in the Preserve, whatever that is?” I asked, turning so I could see his face better.

He nodded thoughtfully. “And I believe I know how to find them both.”

Dave and I spoke at the same time. “You do?”

Vayl wandered over to the shelves, thought about picking up a book, changed his mind. He looked at me. “We should get rid of these objects. They keep giving me”—he cleared his throat— “ideas.”

“I’ll move them out as soon as possible,” I said.

“Good.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “We know both Blas and Disa have been trying to gain secret information that was privy only to Hamon. We also know, due to his untimely death, that Hamon’s quarters have become sealed from the other members of the Trust. I believe we may find the answers they are seeking, including the location of the Preserve and the identity of Octavia, in those rooms.”

“But how are we supposed to get in there?”

Vayl looked at the covered window. “I have an idea. But since it is nearly dawn, you will have to attempt the entry without me. Only after you get the dog. That”—he gave us both significant stares—“is the priority.”

Dave and I shared a shrug. I said, “Okay, fine. What’s your plan?”