'Why shouldn't I be? I'm not human anymore. I'm not vampire. I'm not any thing, because no one seems to know exactly what I am.'
He pulled her close again and brushed a kiss across her nose. 'What you are is the warm and wonderful human being I intend take home at the end of this day and ravish in the comfort of our bed.' Home for the moment was the penthouse apartment he'd bought a few months ago. With Nikki and Jake both undergoing long-term training here, it made more sense for he and Nikki to have their own home rather than using the Circle's apartments, as Jake currently was.
Her sudden grin was both mischievous and saucy. 'And what if she doesn't want to be ravished in bed?'
He briefly kissed her sweet lips, wishing he could kiss her more fully. But he didn't dare when there was blood in her mouth. The demon within was under control, but he wasn't about to take a chance when it came to Nikki. 'Then she may choose anywhere else she pleases.'
She raised an eyebrow, amber eyes twinkling as she pressed herself closer. 'Anywhere at all?'
He smiled, wondering for perhaps the millionth time how he'd ever survived without her light in his life.
'Anywhere at all,' he agreed softly.
'Cool.' She glanced past him for a second, and in that moment he became aware of the others in the room. Of Jake approaching them.
'So tell me,' she added, her expression becoming serious again as her gaze came back to his. 'How is it possible for a creature like the flame imps to become part of my soul?'
'How is possible for a human to transform into an animal?' He shrugged. 'There is some magic in this world that just is .'
'In other words,' she grumbled, 'neither you nor Seline can explain it, so I just have to accept it.'
He laughed softly and squeezed her fingers again. 'The day you accept something without question is the day I'll stop drinking blood.'
'I don't question everything, ' she said, her tone haughty but a grin twitching her lips.
'You don't?' Jake said, appearing in front of them. 'Since when?' His gaze raked her as he added, 'Are you okay?'
'Besides some bruises and cuts, yeah, I'm fine.'
Jake's gaze met Michael's. 'So why in hell was Lenny trying to kill everyone?'
'I don't know yet.'
'You want me to take Nik down to medical, so you can stay here and find out?'
'That would be good.' He brushed another kiss across her lips, released her and stepped away. 'I'll be there as soon as I can.'
'Make sure that you are. I want to find out what is going on every bit as badly as you.'
'Stop nagging the man,' Jake said, as he slipped his hand under her elbow. 'You're not even married yet.'
'I'll start nagging you if you're not careful,' she said, then glanced back and met Michael's gaze. 'Be careful. I've a feeling Lenny is just the beginning of the problem.'
So did he. He watched them leave before walking around the boxes to where Lenny lay. Camille was kneeling next to the young vampire, placing the last of five colored stones around his body. She made a sweeping motion with her hand, the vibrant pink of her sweater sleeve contrasting sharply against Lenny's blackened body. Energy stung the air, crawling across his skin like fireflies.
'I thought magic couldn't be performed in this room,' he said.
'Can't, unless you turn the spells off, which is what I've done.'
He knelt down beside her. Lenny still writhed and moaned, and his agony saturated the air. Michael felt no sympathy for him. Lenny had chosen the wrong side to play with, and he had gotten exactly what he deserved.
'There was a spell on him,' she continued, sitting back on her heels. 'Buried deep, so that we didn't sense it.'
'It's deactivated?'
Camille nodded. 'For the moment. I've got a feeling that if I try and kill it completely, I'll kill Lenny.'
Michael frowned at her. 'Meaning the magic is entwined in his life force?'
'It's the only way he could have gotten past all the spells.' She raised the crossbow and ran her finger along the barrel. Symbols had been burned deep into the metal. 'Weapons are spelled, too, which is why we didn't sense them.'
'Someone has gone to a lot of trouble.'
Camille's bright gaze met his. 'Someone who wants you and Seline very dead.'
'You've no doubt Lenny and Nadia are connected?'
'None at all. The magic that binds them has the same feel.'
'Is it safe to search his mind?'
'Yes. Whether you can trust whatever information you get out of him is another matter. Seline got very little from Nadia, and what she did has proven to be lies.'
He nodded and pushed a hand through the barrier of the stones. Energy crawled up his arm, sharp and unpleasant. He spread his fingers over the other vampire's face, lightly touching his burned skin. Lenny made a gargled sound in the back of his throat, his body jerking in response.
Michael ignored it and psychically plunged deep into Lenny's mind, rifling quickly and none too gently through his thoughts and memories. There was little to be found. Once he'd left work, Lenny seemed to do nothing more than go home to sleep. Life beyond that seemed nonexistent.
Frowning, Michael reached deeper. Surely there had to be memories of friends, lovers, even the enjoyment of past victims, locked away somewhere. Something—someone—that might provide a clue as to who Lenny was working for.
But Camille was right. Lenny's mind was little more than a garbled, gray wasteland, suggesting Lenny himself was operating more on automatic pilot than any real thought processes.
Michael withdrew and met Camille's grim look. 'Nothing.'
'As I expected.'
As he'd expected. A lot of planning had gone into the attack, and whoever was behind it wouldn't be careless enough to leave vital information hanging about in a mind as weak as Lenny's. 'He's still living in that Massachusetts Street apartment?'
'Yes, but I wouldn't advise you going there. It's you they want.'
He smiled grimly. 'Marcus is one death too many. I'm not going to let anyone else fall for me.'
'It may be what they're waiting for.'
'And it may be the last thing they expect.' Either way, he had to take the chance. He'd learned a long time ago the best way to reveal a hunter was by allowing himself to be hunted. More often than not the thought of easy prey led the hunter into making a mistake or revealing himself.
Camille raised an eyebrow. 'And what will you tell Nikki?'
'The truth.' Another thing he'd learned the hard way was that when it came to Nikki, anything other than the truth often had disastrous consequences—like her stepping into the middle of the very firefight he was trying to keep her out of. When she'd set her mind on a particular course of action, stubborn didn't even begin to describe her. But as much as it annoyed him, it was also one of the many things he loved about her.
He rose, offered Camille a hand and helped her to her feet. 'Are you going to brief Seline?'
'Yep, after I tend to this piece of shit.' She sharply toed Lenny's thigh. 'If you're going to search his place, I'd do it right away, before those behind him sense anything is wrong.'
'My thinking exactly.' He stepped around Camille and headed for the door.
'Watch for traps,' Camille called after him. 'This is far from over.'
'That much I do know.'
'And tell that girl of yours she passed.'
He smiled. At least some good had come out of this whole mess. He took the stairs down to the fifth level and walked the length of the white corridor to the medical center. Jake was pacing the length of the small waiting room, and he looked around as Michael entered.
'She's being examined in two,' he said.
