AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The bouncing lines on the monitor sped up. Her voice sounded strangled. “Did you kill him? Did you kill them all?”
Jackson hesitated a moment too long. Cassidy tried to sit up, but he put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back into the pillows. “Easy. Kambyses lives. But he won’t be bothering you again.”
“I don’t understand. How is this possible?” She followed Jackson’s glance toward her father.
Gil still only looked relieved to see her awake and recovering. No hint of worry, much less confusion about their odd exchange. “Dominique took care of everything, baby girl. You’re safe now.”
She felt like she did back on Apokryphos, when people spouted perfectly reasonable nonsense at her. Jackson and Garrett were compelled then—as her father must be now. The noxious panic bubbling at the back of her mind ebbed a bit. There was only one vampire who would have an interest in compelling Gil Chandler.
“Where’s Dominique?”
Jackson’s face soured. “He’s got a few more hours of night left. I’m sure he’ll be here before dawn. I texted him earlier that you’d be pulling through.”
She blinked, incredulous. “You two are on texting terms?” What sort of drugs had they doped her with?
“You’re very lucky that they’re both crazy about you,” her father said, startling her again with his presence, which she continued to tune out. “And they’re men enough to put aside their differences when it counts.”
“Their differences? Do you understand that they’re mortal enemies?”
“Yes, I do. Makes them working together for you so much more special, doesn’t it?” He shook his head and let out a rueful sigh. “I only wish I hadn’t shot him.”
Cassidy stared. She hadn’t heard right, had she?
“What?” Jackson said, sounding as lost as she felt.
“I shot Dominique. By accident, I swear,” he added, hands raised in defense.
“You what?” Cassidy croaked, trying to struggle upright again. This time, Jackson didn’t stop her, but she ran out of steam anyway and flopped back into her pillows.
“Iris scared the ever-loving shit out of me when she screamed. I had my finger on the trigger.” He shrugged, chagrined.
She glanced at Jackson. There was not a shred of comprehension on his face. “What do you mean, you shot Dominique?”
Gil rubbed at his face, more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him, but stayed put. No shrugging it off, no shouting, no turning his back in disgust. Was this part of Dominique’s compulsion? Or a side-effect?
“He shouldn’t have rung the bell as hard as he did,” Gil said. Blame the victim. Nice touch. “We thought it was a home invasion or a prankster. Iris pulled a shotgun out from under her bed, and I grabbed it, thinking I would scare them off.” Another shrug. “She didn’t tell me the damn thing was loaded.”
Cassidy’s jaw dropped. No words. She had no words. Not for any part of what she was hearing.
Seeing her reaction, Gil raised a placating hand. “But, look, it all worked out. He healed up quick enough, then told me what was going on and brought me here. That bike of his can really move, let me tell you.”
“Oh. My. God.” Never mind Dominique getting shot—she had seen him survive far worse—but the imagined visuals of her bear of a father hanging on to the feline vampire while speeding through highway traffic on a high-performance motorcycle were beyond bizarre.
“Ditto,” Jackson murmured. He eyed Gil with a grim, unreadable expression.
“Now you tell me what happened, Jack. If Kambyses still lives, why am I here?”
He unfolded his arms, face softening. “Don’t try to wrap your head around everything right now, Cass. Too much has happened. Concentrate on getting better. That’s the only thing that matters.”
“No. It’s not. Tell me what happened.”
He didn’t want to. She could tell by the way his mouth went as hard as his eyes. She mustered the most determined glare she could, her hands fisting around wads of the thin blanket. His only recourse was to walk out of the room, or tell her.
He told her.
The tale that emerged was a harrowing recounting of Bijou’s death, Garrett’s mortal injury, Serge’s insistence on saving him, and the effects of ingesting vampire blood on both him and Garrett. Together with Dominique, through a combination of serendipity, cunning, and accident, they’d cornered the oldest vampire on earth. All while she lay unconscious on the battlefield.
“Nick and Kambyses came to an…agreement, I guess.” Tight smile. “The important thing is that we got you to an ER in time to save your life,” Jackson concluded.
