Page 52

Oh.

I tugged at my neckline and bared my throat. Julian touched the skin there, sending shivers of electricity through me. “Are you sure?”

“I am.” I took his hand and pried it away from the chair, moving closer toward his spiced scent. “Take what you need.”

Without another word, Julian leaned in, his cool breath brushing my exposed neck. I sucked in my own as his fangs grazed the surface and the memory of his bite sent waves of desire to my core.

One hand tangled in my hair as he pressed his lips to my skin, his tongue gliding over the spot. I hugged him to me, and at my encouragement, he sank his teeth into the vein. A sharp pain turned almost immediately to pleasure as he sucked greedily. My other hand slid down between us where his hard length pressed into me. I stroked him and then myself as we both moaned.

I grew lightheaded as he pressed me to him, drawing on my life force and bringing me dangerously close to both passing out and exploding in climax. When I went limp in his arms, he released me, teasing the spot with his tongue once again to close the wound, then pulling away.

“Are you hurt?” he asked. “Did I take too much?”

“No.” I’d enjoyed it as much as he had, though I might have lied about how much he’d taken. Or maybe it was that in combination with the magical energy I’d expended. “Better?”

“Yes. Thank you. I owe you quite a bit.” He let go and I stumbled, causing him to catch me in his arms again, shaking his head down at me. “Oh, Charlotte.”

He sat me in the chair and tore open his wrist with his mouth. When I cringed, he slowed his movements. “Just a bit. It’ll help your body replenish the blood supply quickly.”

I leaned forward and darted my tongue onto his offered wound as he crouched by my side. His hand warmed my thigh, and I realized his body had heated with my blood. He was even breathing faster than I was. I took only the tiniest bit in my mouth but felt instantly better as I quieted the thoughts of vampires using this power to refill their pledges in order to feed more often.

“I don’t know what I can do to repay you,” he said.

“You can start by telling me the truth. About everything.”

Julian sighed heavily and pulled up the other seat to face me. “You deserve as much. What do you want to know?”

“Tell me more about your involvement with MorningStar.”

“I was part of the original experiments, Charlotte.”

A gasp escaped my lips, and he bowed his head in shame.

“It was before they went so far as to harm innocent people. I helped to fund the original research. I wanted to understand more about people with your abilities and how to help them. And…and I wanted to know if psychic abilities persisted when turned into a vampire.”

Julian risked a look at me, and I wondered what my face showed. Was it the utter shock of his confession? The sick feeling in my stomach at the idea of turning psychics? Or was it the confusion about my own feelings for him and the new doubts he’d placed in my mind?

But it was the truth and exactly what I asked for.

“So you started with SHADE as a spy for MorningStar?” I asked.

“No. I tried to extricate myself. I became quite vocal about my opinion that they needed to develop a human and supe ethics board before going any further. And when they refused and sent an assassin after me, I approached SHADE with the idea. I knew some people who’d started the organization. I acted like MorningStar’s threats worked, and I stopped protesting their practices, but in reality, I brought everything they did back to SHADE and began working on operations to directly thwart their efforts. I started rescuing psychics and, if I could, relocating them. But when the general came on board about five years ago and was briefed on my history, he made no pretenses about his feelings for double agents.”

I nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek as I thought about it. So the general’s hatred came from his belief that Julian couldn’t be trusted. I supposed he might have thought I was a spy, too, since Julian dragged me in and tried to hide my abilities. Now I better understood the general’s attitude toward both of us. But I still didn’t agree with it.

“How many psychics have you rescued?” I asked.

“Only three, not including you. The last was fifty years ago. When I told you how rare you were, I wasn’t exaggerating, Charlotte.”

“Are you sure SHADE isn’t just as bad as MorningStar?” I asked, searching his face.

Julian stared at me. “There are shadow governments, Charlotte, and other organizations besides. Too many players to explain at once. It’s SHADE that keeps any one of them from tipping the balance of power. We are imperfect, it’s true, but the lesser of all evils, I’m afraid.”

That remained to be seen. But I believed Julian thought it to be true. If SHADE was willing to use that machine, then that meant they’d be tough to beat in the evil genius department. It was possible, though.

There were so many questions I wanted answers to. “Who did you talk to in the vampire estate yesterday?”

Julian’s brow rose, eyes darkening, but he didn’t hesitate. “My sire is here on the island temporarily. He wished to check in with me.”