Chapter 23 #2
“Gods,” I breathed and turned away, my breath coming rapidly. The thought of what he must have done in there turned my stomach. Nausea roiled in my gut, and I hurried to the guest bathroom.
I made it just in time to empty the contents of my stomach.
Staying here tonight was out of the question. A broken sob bubbled from my lips as I hovered over the toilet, hugging the bowl. He’d violated my sanctity, destroyed my property, and done unspeakable things inside my bedroom.
What could he possibly want from me that would cause him to go so far?
Hot, acrid tears slid down my face. I blew my nose and cleaned myself up, straightening my shoulders before walking back out.
Only Alric remained. The entire cleaning team had vacated. My bedroom had a red X made from tape stuck across the door.
The Prime leaned against the wall in the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. “Asking if you are alright seems a foolish question.”
I pulled over one of the undamaged kitchen stools out and sank onto it. “I’m going to a hotel tonight. Are any of my clothes salvageable?”
Alric’s eyes flashed with fury. He shook his head. “I’ve sent my strategist out to procure a few things for you.”
At my look, Alric smiled. “She’s female, Alex. No burly male vampires are fingering your lacy underthings.”
My face heated crimson. Not only did I not want a vamp messing with my underwear, I didn’t want anyone digging through my unmentionables’ drawer.
At my silence, Alric sighed. “I think you would like her if you weren’t so prickly about everything and everyone.”
My lips thinned. “Not the time,” I growled.
“Yes. Perhaps not. Regardless, none of your clothing is salvageable. The cleaning crew has bagged everything up and removed the items. They will attempt to clean some of the less damaged items, but…” He trailed off and looked up at the ceiling.
His fingers tapped against his thigh. “Trust me when I say it’s better for you to begin shopping for a new wardrobe. ”
Alric was so uncomfortable. What in the hell had Beckett done inside my room? I stormed past the Prime, intent on going in and seeing the damage for myself when a hand reached out and grabbed me by the elbow. “Alex. Please.”
“It’s my bedroom.”
“I’m aware. We do not know each other well, but I will ask as a personal favor, please allow me to oversee this one thing.”
My entire body trembled. “It’s that bad.”
Alric’s face was somber. “I am not sure you would have survived had you been home when Beckett arrived.”
Fear walked its cold fingers down my spine. “I do not know how I got myself into this.”
Alric guided me back to the stool and sat down opposite me. “He fixated on you. Nothing you can do about it, unfortunately. Our kind are used to getting what they want.” He grimaced as he said it. “Doesn’t mean their victims hold any blame. In fact, the opposite is true.”
I glanced around my kitchen and sighed when I realized even my teapot was gone. “I would offer you something to drink but…” I waved my hand around.
A chuckle slipped from Alric’s lips. I snorted and let out a bark of laughter. “What a mess,” I muttered.
The Vampire Prime seemed more human tonight than any other vampire I’d ever seen.
He still looked like a statue carved from marble, but there was a weariness in his posture I’d never seen before.
His eyes softened. “You must know…” His voice trailed off.
“I never imagined he would go to these lengths. All I can do is my best to make it right.”
I stared at the Prime, unsure how to respond. He sounded so sincere. The urge to dismiss his words was strong, but I had a feeling if I did, I would shatter this delicate and unexpected peace between us.
And tonight of all nights, I needed a little peace.
He cleared his throat. “Alex, there is something I must discuss with you.”
“Ah,” I said lightly as the illusion shattered. “Here come the strings.” Surprise, surprise.
Alric’s jaw tightened. A flash of anger crossed his face. “I am not here to seek payment, witch. I am here to save your life.”
“Yes,” I said dryly, pissed that I’d almost fallen for his act.
Why did I continually try to test my mother’s warnings to be cautious?
I’d be a fool to trust Alric, even with him here cleaning up my home.
But even this gesture was an act. He’d do whatever he could to force my hand.
“After the wonderful dinner where you never threatened me, I can see how you’d be inclined to save my life.
You seem like a kind and generous man like that. ”
His nostrils flared. A haze of emerald rolled over his irises. “I am here right now assisting you with—”
“With something one of your people did. You are supposed to be in charge of every vampire in this country, and yet I’m out thousands of dollars. I have no wardrobe, no dishes, no furniture—” My voice broke. “And whatever he did in my bedroom was so awful you won’t even let me walk inside.”
“I am aware of my responsibilities,” he hissed. “What you don’t understand is Beckett is not well. I am here to assist you, but I also need your help.”
I found myself wishing I had drunk myself into a stupor earlier this evening. “Even an idiot can see you want me to use myself as bait so you can lure Beckett out. He wants me and you want him, so I’m the easiest solution to get there.”
Alric studied me for a long moment. “Someone has already asked you to do this.”
I stayed silent.
“Who?”
“Doesn’t matter. My answer is still no.”
A huff of laughter. “Silas has come to visit you.” He rose and stalked toward the front door. At the entrance, he stopped, closed his eyes, and inhaled. “Beckett’s scent overrode the smell of wet dog.”
He crouched and touched a spot toward the middle of the door jamb. His eyebrows lifted, and he turned to me, his lips twitching. “You wounded the Shifter King. Tell me how.”
“No. And quit sniffing things like a weirdo.”
Alric rolled his eyes and rose in a single liquid motion. “Why does Silas want Beckett?”
“Why do you want Beckett?”
“His blood is poison.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
Alric stalked over to me and stopped so close I could have reached out and brushed my fingers over his face.
“Beckett has a defect. His sustenance comes from a local blood bank. We’ve sourced food for him for a while now, once we discovered how dangerous his blood could be to others.
We can’t risk him trying to turn a human.
If he does, the results could be catastrophic. ”
A sick feeling churned in my stomach as my mind snagged on one word. “Poison. What kind of poison?”
Alric reached out and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip.
My lips tingled at his touch, and I resisted the urge to lean in.
His face softened. “Nothing in the natural world. He’s the only one of our kind born this way, but we only realized his condition a few months ago.
There was no reason to look.” He shrugged.
“Beckett is spoiled and vain. Typical vampire traits but elevated in him due to the status of his human father.”
Alric rolled his eyes, a surprisingly human gesture that almost made me relax.
Almost, until I remembered everything the Prime did was cultivated to elicit an emotional response.
He needed me to help him. Alric would do whatever it took to bring me around, and it was easy to appeal to my human side.
He did not divulge who Beckett’s father was, I assumed because he figured it didn’t matter or he was picking and choosing what information he gave me. Beckett, no matter his origins, was a problem. Didn’t matter if his dad was powerful. The information had been easy enough to find online anyway.
“For a while, we weren’t worried,” he continued. “We had him under watch, and he seemed stabilized with magic from our healers.” The Prime looked away. “A couple of weeks ago, there was an incident at his Nest, and several vampires were injured.”
The way he said injured gave me pause. How could a single vampire injure several others? He was younger and one vampire shouldn’t be able to take on several of his own kind. Was Alric lying to me?
But Alric continued, either oblivious to my whirling thoughts or assuming my elevated heartbeat was due to his closeness.
“I need to find him to prevent him from harming anyone else. We also need additional bloodwork from him. Our healers are working on an antidote, not only for him, but for everyone he hurt.”
I didn’t say anything for a long moment as I carefully parsed his words, trying to figure out the truth of his story. The best lies had truth sprinkled in, and I didn’t think for a second Alric was being completely honest.
The silence between us drew out. A horrible, final realization surfaced. The attack in the alley, the blood…
“No.” I shook my head in disbelief, but the symptoms I’d been having, the cravings. It all fit. Was all of this the result of Beckett’s poisonous attack or was my initial suspicion of turning into a hybrid vampire correct? To hear Alric, he was implying Beckett had infected me.
But I felt…
Well. I didn’t feel like I was about to start indiscriminately trying to murder people like Beckett. That had to be positive, right?
“I’m sorry.” To be fair, he did look regretful.
I rose from my stool so quickly, it fell backward and hit the floor with a loud crack. “You’re lying.”
I wasn’t dying. Nor did I feel sick. Not exactly. Alric’s description of the Beckett’s violent behavior didn’t fit me at all. Me and the crazy vamp were not going through the same thing. We couldn’t be.
But Alric seemed to think differently. He shook his head.
“I’m afraid not. We’ve been looking for Beckett for a while.
When he turned up at the conference, we thought we had him.
His reaction after running into you was…
unexpected. Up until then, he’d been tricky to catch but somewhat predictable. After you, his actions became erratic.”