30. Deeper Wounds
Deeper Wounds
Despite the chill in the air and being held by a cold-blooded immortal, I drift as we fly, lulled by the rush of wings and the protection of Micah’s arms around me.
My hair being gently brushed off my face brings me back to awareness. I open my eyes to find myself lying on a couch in Micah’s suite, his face so close to mine I can see silver flecks in the black of his eyes. But as soon as mine catch them, they shutter as he leans away from me.
I’m bone-weary, my muscles atrophied from being tied together, and my time against the cold, damp brick wall. Which was longer than I’d thought, considering it was dark again by the time we emerged from the old tunnel system beneath the city.
I have so many questions, but I can’t seem to grasp hold of a single one as Micah helps me to sit up, disorientation making me unsteady.
‘How long was I asleep?’ My throat feels as battered as my body, raw from screaming.
‘We just arrived. You need electrolytes to replenish the blood you lost. And sleep.’ He’s standing over me, and I have to tilt my neck to see him.
I take in his clothes, his hair, his face. His hands are casually in his pockets, but his suit and shirt are stiff with blood. It’s smeared across his mouth, jaw, and neck. It looks as though he’s run his hands through his hair over and over, the midnight strands messy and caked with it.
‘Did you get more blood?’ His perfect skin is still far too pale. Flying would have used what he gained back from my blood. And he needs sleep as well, to help heal his extensive injuries.
‘Not yet. It can wait.’ I want to argue with him, but I have no energy, and it would be pointless.
‘What I need is caffeine. Preferably intravenously.’ I try to smile, but I’m sure it’s more of a grimace. A matching one ghosts his mouth at my effort.
I also need to contact Tim, Ruby, and Captain Buchanan. I need to know how Micah found me. And how Jake was with him. If Jake is okay. If he caught Selene. I need…to breathe.
Suddenly lightheaded, I collapse back against the cool fabric of the couch. Micah only took enough of my blood to get us here, but I’m feeling the effects of the blood loss, along with the knowledge that I would have let him take more.
When I try to stand, nausea assails me, sending my head spinning.
Micah guesses what’s about to happen because suddenly we’re in an unfamiliar bathroom.
Then I’m bent over the toilet bowl with his arm around my waist, heaving up what little is in my stomach.
I don’t want him to see me like this, but I can’t stop as he carefully holds my hair away from my face until I’m dry retching and limp in his arms.
He places me gently against the cool black marble, wiping my face with a damp cloth that soothes my dry, overheated skin.
Micah picks me up almost reverently and walks carefully into a barely lit room with dark walls and a massive bed, laying me down with infinite care.
I manage to sit up with my legs hanging over the edge, hands gripping the wood to steady myself. I’ve never seen his bedroom at the Coven, but I can’t focus enough to take it in right now.
My clothes are stiff with blood, covered in dirt and dust. They’re sticking to me in the worst way possible, scraping against my skin. I desperately want a shower and to brush my teeth.
‘I’ll be back,’ Micah says before I can voice any of it.
He disappears, and before I have time to wonder where he went, he’s back, holding an electrolyte drink infused with multivitamins and minerals. Does he keep them at the Coven for humans who offer blood? The thought of him drinking blood that isn’t mine sends fire burning through me.
I try to drink slowly, but the moment it hits my mouth, I’m gulping it down like it’s the holy grail offering me immortality.
Micah takes the empty bottle from me and gestures toward the bed.
His bed. I don’t have as tight a grip on my mind as I usually do, and I can’t stop myself imagining him sprawled across it, wings spread over the dark cover.
I tear my gaze away from where his shirt is partially unbuttoned, showing his bronzed chest and the edge of a tattoo.
I need to pull myself together and not read into my being in his bedroom instead of a guest room.
It’s blood loss, exhaustion, and emotional upheaval.
‘I can’t sleep like this,’ I grimace down at my clothing. ‘I’m covered in blood, and it feels disgusting.’
‘Help yourself,’ he gestures behind him to his bathroom, taking a step back from where he’s towering over me.
‘You need to shower as well.’ I don’t mean it the way it comes out, but heat floods my face.
The unguarded expression on his face causes my breath to catch. For a fraction of a moment, I think he’s going to suggest joining me. Then his carefully constructed mask is firmly back in place.
I’m probably projecting my desire onto him. His flirting and dinner request- command- aside, he hasn’t done or said anything to make me think he’s changed his mind about us. Attraction is a physical reaction. It’s not love.
‘I’ll use the guest bath. There will be suitable attire waiting for you when you’re done.’
It would be a stupid, reckless, dangerous thing for me to offer him my blood again. But knowing that doesn’t stop me from wanting to.
‘Get some blood,’ I tell him firmly, climbing clumsily to my feet and heading for his bathroom without looking back.
It’s larger than I noticed when I was bent over the toilet bowl. Black marble, chrome fittings, soft, fluffy towels. A double vanity is suspended on one wall with a mirror above it.
I would love to wallow in the huge sunken Jacuzzi set beside a large window overlooking the park and city beyond.
Instead, I head for the double shower, letting the hot water pound my skin until it’s pink and every drop of blood and filth has washed down the drain.
Then I wrap myself in what feels like a cloud and towel-dry my hair.
True to his word, there’s a light blue silk sleep set waiting for me on the bed. The cami and shorts slide over my skin like a caress.
I’m beyond exhausted, but I need to send a few messages before I can think about the sweet oblivion of sleep.
I call Tim first, and as his holo comes up, I see such relief on his face that I almost cry.
‘I can honestly say, Eve, that I’ve never been so goddamn scared in my life as when your micro went dark,’ my partner tells me.
‘You and me both,’ I try to joke, but my voice catches, throat suddenly constricted. The reality of the past twenty-four hours has finally found me.
‘I saw your micro come back online, and I’ve been waiting for you to contact me. So has Ruby.’ It’s not a chastisement, just a fact. He doesn’t mention what I’m wearing, or the room I know he can see behind me. I appreciate that about him.
Suddenly, I know I can’t do this all right now. Not over and over again. So I give him the bare bones of what happened, including Selene’s escape and Jake’s pursuit.
‘Can you let the Captain know? The rest of the Squad. And Ruby. Tell her I love her, but I need sleep. I’ll call her tomorrow, first thing.’ I feel terrible for not calling my best friend, but seeing her face right now would tip me over an emotional cliff.
‘Of course,’ he says with complete understanding.
He doesn’t tell me how frantic Ruby would have been, and I’m thankful for it.
‘There’s one more thing.’ He seems hesitant, and I’m not sure if I can handle any bad news right now.
I’m feeling the furthest from being a badass detective than I have since I first joined the Police Academy.
‘Tell me.’ I keep my voice level, even as fear tries to grab me with a tentacle.
‘When your micro went dark, and the alert came in to dispatch, I came to the Coven as soon as I saw where you’d last been.
Ruby was with me. She insisted. Micah immediately knew who had taken you.
’ He pauses, weighing his next words in typical Tim fashion.
‘Eve, your Vampire was frantic. From what I know of him, he’s calm and controlled and thinks things through.
I thought he was going to tear this city, and everyone who stood in his way, apart to find you. ’
I remember him in New Orleans, not giving Jezreel, his former lover, a chance to make excuses before he snapped her neck without a second thought.
‘I thought he was going to plow through every police officer present until the Captain gave him free rein to do whatever it took to find you. With assurances that there would be no consequences for any action taken. I just thought you should know.’ I see the concern in Tim’s blue eyes and know he’s worried about what this means for my relationship with Jake.
‘Did you call Jake?’ I need to know.
My partner shakes his head. ‘That was Micah.’
‘Thanks, Tim. I’ll call you tomorrow.’ I blink the holo off.
I’m standing at the end of the bed. Micah’s bed. And it’s calling to me. Every fiber of my being is pulled toward its soft embrace.
But I need to see how Micah is. Okay, I need to talk to him. I know I won’t get any rest until I do. Running my fingers through my damp hair to untangle it, I leave the bedroom with a sigh, the carpet soft beneath my feet as I pad barefoot into the living area.
I’m not surprised to find him standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminated by the lights from the city. The lighting is set to low, casting shadows across the room. He’s wearing what, for him, passes as casual. A dark blue polo shirt and matching chinos, along with brown loafers.
It’s so different from what Jake wears. I doubt Micah even owns track pants or t-shirts.
Stop it, Eve, I chastise myself. You can’t compare them.
That way lies ruin.
Can you love two men at once? I push those thoughts aside, to be pulled out again when my brain is not as fried as my body currently is.