Chapter 16
My eyes blinked open. I wasn’t sure what time it was, or how long I’d been asleep. I hardly remembered leaving Victoria’s coffee shop, much less getting home and climbing into bed.
As I came to, I realized that I wasn’t home. It was too quiet. No country music filtered through the cracked doorway, nor were there any sounds of my rambunctious dog wreaking havoc on my fiancé.
Blurred shapes and shadows formed from bleary eyes: a ceiling fan that didn’t belong to me, soft, cotton sheets with a thread count higher than I could imagine—also not mine.
Head pounding and my throat on fire, I pulled myself to a sitting position on the unfamiliar mattress.
The fleece blanket covering me pooled in my lap.
I glanced around the room. Blackout curtains plunged the space into darkness, casting shadows across the midnight-painted walls.
An antique armchair sat in one corner, a vintage chestnut dresser in the other.
My gaze landed on a glass of water on the nightstand.
Condensation beaded and slid down the glass, and it was still cold when I grabbed it.
I took a few big gulps of the cool liquid, instantly regretting it.
My throat protested, and it took all I had not to spit it back out.
It was then that I remembered the hands around my throat.
I didn’t know where I was or how I’d got there, but I knew that James was somewhere in the house. I could feel him.
Rubbing my aching head, I pulled myself to my feet. While I felt like I could sleep for another year, my bladder was having none of it.
I padded across the floor, noticing that I was still fully dressed. My jacket was draped over the armchair, and my shoes were… nowhere to be found.
I crept out the door, trying to stay quiet. Pristine white walls came into view, and a grand staircase that I recognized: I was in Gabriel’s house.
How had I ended up here? Had he saved me from my attacker?
Downstairs, a quick glance toward the living room windows revealed that it must have been the middle of the night, if not the early hours of the morning.
Frost dusted the windows, and a roaring fire crackled in the fireplace.
I rubbed my arms, as if the sight of it made me realize how cold it was.
The flames licked across disintegrating logs and seemed to beckon me closer.
“You’re awake.”
Startled, I whirled around to face the hallway on my right. James stood there, checking me over as if he were looking for invisible injuries.
“Hi,” I croaked. “What are we doing here?”
My body drifted closer to his, as if being pulled by some invisible force.
I didn’t fight it; his arms around me felt good.
James’s lips pressed to my hair, and I nuzzled into his neck.
“Gabriel called me. He said you were sitting outside of your car, with no jacket on, feverish and confused. He brought you here to recover and I raced over. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was sideswiped by a linebacker—and my throat’s killing me.”
“Sit down. I’ll bring you a hot drink.”
At the mention of liquid, my stomach cramped, reminding me of what forced me out of bed to begin with. “Bathroom?”
“There.” James pointed at a cracked door before he disappeared, and I sluggishly trudged into the small half bath and shut myself inside.
After I washed my hands, I leaned over to splash ice cold water on my face, hoping it would help with the brain fog.
It didn’t.
My first thought was that Victoria had done something, but that didn’t make sense. If she wanted to hurt me, why would she have let me leave the coffee shop? I’d spent the entire evening sitting within grabbing distance of her and all of her… witchy stuff.
The front door crashed open, and I ran out of time to think about it.
Voices traveled down the hallway, past the closed bathroom door and into the kitchen.
I left the room, following shouting into the kitchen. Was that…
“Luke?” I coughed around the ache in my throat at simply saying his name.
Luke thrashed about, fighting to free himself from the arm Gabriel had around his waist. He scrabbled at the vampire’s hand, but Gabriel only raised a brow and dug his fingers in tighter. Luke realized that he didn’t stand a chance, and slumped against Gabriel’s chest.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked.
“Tell them,” Gabriel commanded.
“Not until you tell me why you’ve been following me!”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Irrelevant.”
“No, it’s—”
“Spit it out, Tweety Bird.”
And damn, I’d never seen Luke relent—or blush—so quickly. He stopped squirming, swallowed hard, and gazed up at the man holding him. Then he looked at me. “I don’t want to get hurt again.”
I sighed with relief when James handed me a mug.
I didn’t normally drink tea, but I craved the warmth.
Before anything else happened, I took a sip of the drink.
My throat spasmed, and I choked on the liquid, spitting it back into the pumpkin-shaped mug.
I coughed, the pain in my throat bringing tears to my eyes.
James rubbed my back and guided me to sit down on a chair he’d pulled out from the table.
“We told you, Luke,” James said, “you’re protected no matter what. Nothing has changed: You talk, we protect you.”
Luke wiggled again, causing his sweater to ride up and drawing my eyes south. Gabriel’s thumb slipped beneath the knitted hem and the move seemed to light a fire beneath Luke, who demanded to be let go.
“Are you going to talk?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes,” Luke huffed.
Gabriel pulled out a second chair, set it in front of me, and manhandled Luke into the seat. James’s fingers dug into my shoulders, and I tried to tell him without words that he had nothing to worry about. It must have worked, because his grip relaxed, and he nudged my drink toward me.
“Do I have to worry about you trying to run?” Gabriel asked Luke.
Hunter green eyes stared up at Gabriel. Outside of me, I’d never seen such challenge in a human’s eyes when standing up to a vampire. The shade of them deepened, his throat working as he swallowed.
“No,” he finally spat, looking like he’d rather rip the man limb from limb.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Gabriel cut me off. “Good, because I’m not afraid to tie you down.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Luke’s eyes widened before he composed himself. I attempted to snicker, but that only hurt my throat and resulted in another coughing fit.
“Speak, Tweety,” Gabriel commanded.
What the hell had gotten into those two?
Luke returned his attention to me. “You were leaving Victoria’s café when someone approached you from behind.
They injected you with something, then wrapped their hands around your throat until you collapsed to the ground.
They then muttered something under their breath—something that I couldn’t hear—before they propped you against your car and left you there. ”
No wonder I’d been so groggy—I felt the same after Dani injected me that first time at the bar. “How do you know all of this?”
Luke swallowed. Gabriel nudged him, and they shared another indiscernible look. Then Luke dropped his gaze to his lap, scrubbing the back of his neck. “I may have followed you.”
“Why?” James asked the question that I couldn’t.
He bent at the waist, dropping his arms around me.
His protectiveness pressed at our bond. I laid my hand over his, doing my best to soothe him.
It was alarming to learn Luke had been stalking me, but he had possibly saved my life. We should hear him out.
“I wanted to see if I could catch whoever dropped the necklace.” Luke glared over his shoulder. “Turns out he was following me.”
Gabriel rounded on Luke. “You used to be part of that society. How do we know you didn’t plant that necklace to get our attention?”
“I guess you’ll just have to trust me.” Luke gazed down in his lap, tugging on his fingers.
“What else?” Gabriel demanded before I could get the words out of my mouth. Exhausted, I sat back with my drink and let the vampires do the work.
Luke sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m probably wrong—I usually am.”
“Just tell us, Luke,” James pleaded, sounding as near to the end of his rope as I was.
Hunter green eyes met mine again. “You don’t remember anything after leaving the coffee shop, do you?” I shook my head, and he continued. “I’ve had a theory for a while—ever since I started with Virtus, really, but no one listened to me. Not even Dani.”
“We are listening,” James said seriously.
“There’s something… strange going on with that group.
The president, especially, is a bit of an enigma.
No one’s ever seen them, no one’s ever heard their voice.
Virtus exists to take down monsters for the sake of human preservation, but I don’t think the ones who run the operation are human at all. I think they’re a vampire.”
My heart raced. Memories flooded back to me: Two pairs of blood red eyes lighting up in the darkness. Two people who weren’t touching the wooden stake and the silver chains that nearly took James, Kian, and me down. Two people who said another vampire was coming.
They may not have been its leaders, but they’d certainly been vampires. And they’d been working with Dani, a hunter.
Jame’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “What is it, love?”
I took another sip of my tea, letting the warm liquid soothe the ache in my throat before I spoke. “I think he’s onto something.”
“You do?” Gabriel asked incredulously.
I nodded. “I’ve seen vampires and hunters working together. How long have you been working on that theory, Luke?”
“Years,” he admitted, squirming. “Even before I started hunting…” His eyes flickered to the vampire standing behind me.
“Me,” James finished for him.
Luke grimaced. “Is there any level of apology for something like that?”
“You can start by giving us everything you’ve got—all of your research, going back to the beginning. Something tells me you didn’t trash it all when you left town.”
Color bloomed over Luke’s cheeks. “No, I didn’t. But I’ve had to keep it extremely well-protected, for obvious reasons. That’s why I live where I do. I can’t risk someone from Virtus finding me.”
“You asked for help and you will have it,” Gabriel decided. “You’ll move in here.” It was a statement, not a question.
“No, I—”
“I wasn’t asking, Tweety Bird.” I leaned back into James’s arms and watched the interaction.
Gabriel tossed his hand in our direction.
“These two seem to have targets on their backs, and now you can’t stay where you are.
If what you claim about Virtus is true and they come to suspect it, then we need you close, and we need to know where you are at all times. ”
“You already have that information, don’t you, you crazed, bloodsucking stalker!”
“All right, you two!” I shouted, immediately regretting it.
I pushed through. “Luke, you can’t stay in that shithole apartment.
I’m pretty sure that place hasn’t seen a fresh coat of paint since you were in the womb.
This place is closer to everything, and this was the deal you made: Information in exchange for protection. That is what that looks like.”
Luke closed his eyes and when they reopened, he looked at Gabriel. “I’m not sharing a bed with you. Or would it be a coffin?”
“I don’t sleep, human.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “Can Petunia come too?”
That name struck a bell with me, but I couldn’t quite figure out from where.
“Who is that?” Gabriel asked.
“My ball python.”
“Petunia!” I said, realization dawning on me. “I’m glad to see someone adopted her.”
Gabriel, however, didn’t seem so thrilled. His eyes went wide, and his throat worked as he swallowed.
James leaned down to whisper in my ear, “This is going to be interesting. He’s terrified of snakes.”
“I am not!” Gabriel hissed in our direction.
“You two would be useless in a pet store,” I snickered into my tea.
“Fine,” Gabriel agreed. “Your,” he gulped, “pet can come with you.” He turned his attention on us. “James, if he’s not turning, you should get him home to recover. Ryder, you’ve been drugged before, haven’t you?”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered. “I’m hoping this won’t become a regular occurrence.”
“You two had better make your tux fittings tomorrow too,” Luke offered. At my confused look he added, “Kian mentioned it. I wouldn’t want to face Hannah’s wrath if you’re late.”
“Christ,” I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face.
“It’s just a tux, love,” James laughed. “It’ll be less than an hour.”
“No, it’s not the tux. I have to tell my daughter she’s a witch.”
He looked at me warily. “In all the excitement, I didn’t get a chance to ask. How did your meeting with Victoria go?”
“Oh, right. I have some stuff to fill you in on too.” I grumbled and held out my empty mug. “Gabriel, I’m going to need something stronger than tea.”