AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about her?”
“Are you loco, bringing her here? I don’t care if she’s hurt. You could’ve left her on the street for them to find.”
“She’s also the one who arranged that deal for me in Paris. Otherwise I might still be in that fucking cell. And they didn’t just have me cuffed to the wall in silver without allowing me to eat or sleep—they were feeding from me.”
Xavier’s brows lowered. “Thrice-damned blood-suckers.” His primus had planned something similar for him before I got him out of Mexico.
“Anyway,” I continued, “this morning, when those underworld pricks attacked us, I told Tina to get the hell out of there, but she wouldn’t go. She stayed and helped me fight them off—and ended up getting knifed. So don’t worry about her. She’s with me now. You can trust her.”
“Whatever you say,” he said, clearly not convinced. “Okay. I’ll tell you what. Tonight I’ll go to the Ruby Speakeasy, see what people are saying. See if they’ve bought this story that you’re working with SI to overthrow your father.”
“Fuck the syndicate. The only thing I care about is what my dad believes.”
“You still need to know what they’re saying.”
“I know. It just pisses me off, that’s all. I was kidnapped, for fuck’s sake. How did I become the bad guy?”
He slanted me a look. “Why did you come to New York with a slayer, anyway?”
“To stake my father.”
He reared back. “This is the truth?”
“Yeah. They said it was the only way to save my brothers from SI. And once they got hold of Rafe, they turned up the pressure. Threatened to sell him as a blood slave if I didn’t do exactly as they said.”
“Does Karoly know any of this?”
“Not as far as I know. But who knows what Mraz told him?”
He dragged his fingers through his straight black hair. “Holy Mother of Darkness. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.”
“Yeah. I know.”
By the time Xavier and I wrapped up our little convo, I was so tired I was seeing two of him.
I stumbled into the bathroom and stood under the rain showerhead, eyes half-closed, letting the water wash away the blood and sweat and smell of the tunnels. I toweled off, then crawled naked onto the mattress beside Ridley.
I touched my fingers to her carotid. Her pulse was weaker than I liked, but steady. I set my head on the pillow next to hers, and the next thing I knew, it was late afternoon.
Ridley was still asleep. She’d pushed the sheet off and lay flat on her back, one hand touching my hip, the other curled near her head.
Her body radiated heat. Too much heat. And her lips were dry and pale, her eyes sunken. She was dehydrated, her dhampir body sucking up energy to heal itself.
I sat up and lifted a corner of the gauze, checking the wound. It had closed up already and was a healthy pink. I sniffed, but there was no sign of infection.
I got up and used the john, then hurried back to try and get some fluids into her. Xavier had left an open bottle of blood-wine on the nightstand. I poured some into a glass and brought it to her lips, but I couldn’t get her to wake up enough to drink. I swore and set the glass on the nightstand.
Xavier tapped on the bedroom door. “It’s me.”
I opened the door, and he looked me over with a critical eye. “You look better. Too skinny, but better. What about the woman?”
“The stab wound is better, but she’s burned through a lot of energy.” I dug out a clean T-shirt and boxers and put them on.
Xavier eyed Ridley coolly. “She needs to feed.”
“She won’t. She has…issues about fresh blood.”
“Figures.” He curled his lip. “Typical fucked-up slayer. Anyway, I came to tell you Sierra is here.”
