Lover Eternal

Hal's powerful body stiffened. For a moment it seemed like he was going to say something harsh, but then he picked up his coat. As he swung the leather around his shoulders and went for the door, he didn't look at her.

Oh, great. Now she felt awful.

'Hal. Hal, wait.' She grabbed his hand. 'I'm sorry. Hal—'

'Don't call me that,' he snapped.

When he shrugged off her grip, she stepped in his way. And really wished she hadn't. His eyes were utterly cold. Chips of aqua-colored glass.

The words he spoke were sharp-edged. 'I'm sorry I offended you. I can imagine it's a big goddamned burden to have someone want to get to know you.'

'Hal—'

He pushed her aside easily. 'You say that one more time and I'm going to put a fist through the wall.'

He strode outside, walking into the woods that ran down the left edge of her property.

On impulse, Mary shoved her feet into a pair of running shoes, grabbed a jacket, and shot through the slider. She ran across the lawn, calling out for him. When she got to the forest's edge, she paused.

There were no branches snapping, no twigs cracking, no sounds of a big man walking. But he'd gone in this direction. Hadn't he?

'Hal?' she called out.

It was a long while before she turned and went back inside.

CHAPTER 15

'You did well tonight, Mr. O.'

O stepped out of the shed behind the cabin, thinking Mr. X's approval was such bullshit. He kept the irritation to himself, though. He was barely a day out of the Omega's clutches and not really in the mood to get all worked up.

'But the male didn't tell us anything,' he muttered.

'That's because he didn't know anything.'

O paused. In the dim dawn, Mr. X's white face glowed like a night-light.

'Excuse me, sensei?'

'I worked him over myself before you got here. I had to be sure I could depend on you, but didn't want to waste an opportunity in the event you were no longer solid.'

Which explained the male's condition. O had assumed the vampire had just fought hard when he'd been abducted.

Wasted time, wasted effort, O thought, getting out his car keys.

'You got any more tests for me?' You prick.

'Not right now.' Mr. X checked his watch. 'Your new squadron should be here soon, so put those keys away. Let's go inside.'

O's revulsion at being anywhere near the cabin made him lose feeling in his feet. The damn things went totally numb on him.

But he smiled. 'Lead on, sensei.'

When they were indoors, he went directly to the bedroom and propped himself against the doorjamb. Even though his lungs had turned into cotton balls, he kept his cool. If he'd avoided the space, Mr. X would have thought of a reason to send him into it. The bastard knew that poking fresh wounds was the only way to determine the extent of the healing or the festering.

While slayers filed into the cabin, O took stock of them. He didn't recognize a single one, but then the longer a member was in the Society, the more anonymous he became. With hair, skin, and eye colors fading to pale, eventually a lesser just looked like a lesser.

As the other men checked him out, they glared at his dark hair. In the Society new recruits were at the bottom of the ladder, and it was unusual for one to be included in a group of seasoned men. Yeah, well, fuck that. O met each of them in the eye, making it clear that if they wanted to take him on he was more than happy to return the goddamned favor.

Faced with the possibility of physical confrontation, he came alive. It was like waking up after a good night's sleep, and he relished the surges of aggression, the good old need to dominate. It assured him that he was as he had always been. That the Omega hadn't taken his core away, after all.

The meeting didn't last long, and it was standard stuff. Introductions. A reminder that every morning, each one of them had to check in via e-mail. There was also a refreshment of the persuasion strategy and some quotas for capture and killing.

When it was over, O was the first to head for the door. Mr. X stepped in front of him.

'You will stay.'

Those pale eyes held on to his, watching, waiting to see a flash of fear.

O nodded once and spread his stance. 'Sure, sensei. Whatever you like.'

From over Mr. X's shoulder, O watched the others head out in the manner of strangers. No talking, eyes straight ahead, bodies not touching even casually. Clearly none of them knew one another, so they must have been called in from different districts. Which meant Mr. X was reaching down into the ranks.

As the door closed behind the last man, O's skin tingled with panic, but he held himself rock still.

Mr. X looked him up and down. Then walked over to the laptop on the kitchen table and fired the thing up. Almost as an afterthought, he said, 'I'm putting you in charge of both squadrons. I want them trained in the persuasion techniques we use. I want them working as units.' He looked up from the glowing screen. 'And I want them to remain breathing, do you understand?'

O frowned. 'Why didn't you announce this while they were here?'

'Don't tell me you need that kind of help?'

The mocking tone had O's eyes narrowing. 'I can handle them just fine.'

'You'd better.'

'We done?'

'Never. But you can go.'

O started for the door, except he knew the moment he got to it there would be something more. As he put his hand on the knob, he found himself pausing.

'There something you want to say to me?' Mr. X murmured. 'I thought you were leaving.'

O glanced across the room and pulled something out of his ass to justify his hesitation. 'We can't use the house downtown anymore for persuasion, not since that vampire escaped. We need another facility in addition to the one behind here.'

'I'm aware of that. Or did you think I was sending you out to look at land for no reason?'

So that was the plan. 'The acreage I checked out yesterday wasn't right Too much swamp, and too many roads intersect around it. Do you have any other parcels in mind?'

'I'll e-mail the Multiple Listings to you. And until I decide where we will build, you'll bring the captives here.'

'There's not enough room in the shed for an audience.'

'I'm talking about the bedroom. It's quite large. As you know.'

O swallowed and kept his voice smooth. 'If you want me to teach, I'll need more space than that.'

'You will come here until we build. That clear enough for you, or do you want a diagram?

Fine. He'd deal.

O opened the door.

'Mr. O, I believe you have forgotten something.'

Jesus. Now he knew what people meant when they said their skin crawled.

'Yes, sensei?'

'I want you to thank me for the promotion.'

'Thank you, sensei,' O said with a tight jaw.