14. A Bloody Plan #2
I couldn’t help but smile. But that joviality lasted all of two seconds. “Do you think it’s weird that Delia and my father are together reminiscing about my mom? Do you see what time it is?”
Julian took my hand and caressed it between his own. “They are probably both lonely,” he said too reasonably.
“They could have just called me. I would be happy to reminisce about my mother with either one of them.”
“What is this really about, Nicolette?”
Julian’s touch was now waking up my alter ego, and I had to take a few deep breaths. “Um . . . well . . . I just don’t think they should be spending time together,” I said lamely.
“You’re afraid they are romantically involved?”
“Yes,” I whined.
Julian chuckled and slipped his arm around me, drawing me closer.
My head landed on his shoulder without me even thinking about it.
For half a second, I wanted to kiss his cool skin—then I reminded myself I could have died tonight and that it was apparently ladies’ night over at my dad’s. This was no time for my Barbie side.
“Why does it bother you? I thought you loved Delia.”
“I do, but I’m not ready for my dad to move on. It’s been just over a year since my mom died. I mean, where’s the loyalty? And Delia and my dad never seemed to like each other.”
“Well, sometimes grief makes people do things they normally wouldn’t,” Julian offered gently.
“It’s weird, and after tonight . . . I don’t know. It all makes me feel so out of control. Like I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“I feel as though I keep saying this, but I am sorry. Which makes this even harder to add.” His voice softened. “I think we should take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding your mother’s death.”
I stilled, though I wasn’t surprised.
“Nicolette,” he said lowly, “the dreams you have about your mother—is there anything you wish to tell me?”
No doubt he could hear the way my pulse was spiking. Crap. I had to tell him something. If I didn’t, he’d know I was lying. And lying to him felt too dangerous now. But I couldn’t betray my mother. She’d told me not to tell anyone about her laptop.
“The night my mom died . . . I was on the phone with her when it happened.”
“You never told me that.”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” I cried. “I couldn’t. Especially because . . .” I paused, hardly believing I was about to say this out loud. But maybe it would help.
Julian’s fingers drifted down my arm, coaxing, patient, like he was inviting the truth out of me. I wasn’t going to spill my guts. Maybe just a small piece of my intestine.
“I’m not even sure it happened because it was all so fast. But I swear I heard shattering glass and then a man’s voice I didn’t recognize on the other end before her phone went dead.”
Julian’s fingers pressed into my skin. “What did this man say?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t make it out. Maybe I just imagined it.”
“Given the circumstances, I rather doubt that. You never told anyone this?”
“No. I thought maybe my mom was having an affair or something. My parents’ marriage was going through a rough patch at the time. I didn’t want to hurt my father if I didn’t have to. And then there wasn’t another body in her car, so I just assumed I was mistaken.”
Obviously, this was before I knew that there were supernatural beings living among us.
“Well, this changes things,” Julian said abruptly.
“How?”
“Darling . . .” he hesitated, which he rarely did. “I believe your mother’s accident was no accident. And I have a feeling the same man you heard is the one tormenting you now.”
Yeah. I was afraid that was exactly what he was going to say. A shudder ran through me, and I pressed closer to Julian as if he could shield me from all of it. Maybe he could. I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was terrified and sick to my stomach. Who would kill my mother? And why come after me?
Julian’s arm tightened protectively around me. “Can you think of anything your mother was working on that might have put her in danger besides the treatment for porphyria? Anything she might have been keeping secret?”
“No,” I said honestly. “Julian . . . do you think my mother knew about your world?”
“If I had to guess, I would say yes.”
“I thought you were watching us. Why didn’t you know?” I said accusatorially.
“I’m sorry, darling. We obviously missed something.” His voice dropped, low and resolute. “But I won’t let that happen again.”
I said nothing in return. I wanted to believe him—desperately—but time would tell.
Julian must have sensed my skepticism because he shifted the conversation. “Tonight was fun.”
Say what? I popped off his shoulder, eyes wide. “I think we have very different ideas about what is fun.”
He gave me a far-too-charming smile as he ran a finger down my cheek, leaving a trail of electric sparks. “I meant the part where we ate pizza and talked to Daphne. It was almost as if we were on a double date. A very human night.”
“You really miss being human, don’t you?”
“More than I can say.”
Now more than ever, I was determined to grant his wish. Not only so I could disappear, but so I’d have some way— any way —to protect myself against these freaking vampires.
“Julian, I’ve been thinking more about the kind of tests I need to run.
Not only will it be important that I analyze your blood with the plasma treatment and without, but .
. .” I bit my lip, unsure how he’d take the next part.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but it was the only option that made sense.
He tilted his head. “But what?”
“I know you say you hated having to live off another’s blood, but I need to know how your body—your blood—responds to human blood. I was thinking I would use my blood.”
Julian went from curious to enraged in a blink. His features sharpened, stern enough to make me flinch. “I will never partake of your blood.”
“Out of curiosity, why?” Not to say I wasn’t happy to know that drinking my blood was on his no-fly list.
He drew me so close I could feel his cool breath skim my warm lips and cheeks. “Because I would enjoy it. I would crave you more than I already do.” He sounded like he wanted a taste right then and there.
“Oh.” The word escaped on a breath, my body begging me to erase the space between us.
But I refused to give in. “Ethically speaking, I thought it made sense to use my blood. I don’t feel right taking anyone else’s.
And the blood samples we get in the lab are usually from sick individuals.
For the tests to be accurate, I need healthy blood.
And . . .” I swallowed. “I need to see how your pathways react to a clean human sample. And if what you say is true about craving me, it might give us a better sample because your body might be predisposed to respond to my blood.”
I could hardly believe I was saying this. But from a scientific perspective, it made sense. And it wasn’t like I was going to let him sink his fangs into me. I’d draw my own blood before administering it to him.
“Bloody hell, Nicolette.” He released me and dragged a hand through his mussed hair. “You’ve given me an impossible choice.”
“I thought you said you would be safe to be around. That you’d be in control. What if we asked Cyrus to be present?” It would be a lie if I said this wasn’t all making me very nervous. But at this point, what did I have to lose? My life was already hanging in the balance as far as I could tell.
“He already believes me a fool for handing over my blood to you. If he knew I was drinking your blood, he would talk me out of it—as he should.”
“But as a doctor, he would know we need a controlled genetic profile—mine. And if your mutation heightens reward pathways when exposed to human blood, exposing you to mine, which you’re already predisposed to crave, could be beneficial in that it would show an elevated response that would be easier to study. ”
The corner of his mouth lifted, just enough to both warn and tease me all at once. “You are too damn smart for your own good . . . and most certainly for mine.”
“Are you saying you agree with my plan?”
“I don’t agree with it.” His smirk flickered, rueful and self-mocking. “If I ever hurt you, or made you do something you didn’t wish to do—aside from marrying me—I would never forgive myself. But . . . you make valid points.”
He looked up at the ceiling, as if appealing to God for guidance he was unlikely to receive.
I took his hand. “Julian, you said we needed to trust each other. I don’t know what’s more vulnerable—or more trusting—than giving each other our blood. You’ll be putting your life in my hands just as much as I’ll be putting mine in yours.”
And we both knew the truth beneath that.
He and Cyrus were intelligent enough to understand that I could use Julian’s blood to create a weapon against them instead of a cure. That I could destroy their entire world with the very thing they were handing me.
Julian lowered his head, his eyes landing squarely on mine with an intense gaze that held me spellbound. “We are playing a dangerous game here, wife .”
Oh, believe me, I knew that. But I wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing. Not when my life and freedom were on the line.
“Then we play to win, Julian. Both of us.”