Cold Blooded

I sighed. “Ray, you just heard Naomi. You’re unpredictable, and I can’t let you out of here until we know for sure you won’t run amok. You wanted to eat my intestines only a short time ago,” I reminded him. “If we let you loose on humanity, and you’re not back to yourself, you could kill innocent people before we could stop you.”

As a former police officer, this should still be important to him. I knew Ray would hate the thought of being a harbinger of death to innocent people—if he was still Ray on the inside.

He eyed me, his eyes finally settling into their normal hazel color. “My head is clearing. I get what happened to me. I’m a vampire now. I see the dreams and I can guarantee I’m not going crazy. But if I were to go crazy again … you can tie me up. Is that good enough for you, Hannon? Now let me out of this place.”

I bit my lip.

If he learned to fly, he could disappear. Naomi could barely control him before, and he’d been weak. “I think the best thing to do is establish the Master-fledgling thing before I set you free,” I answered. Ray didn’t know he had to accompany us to New Orleans in the next few hours or that he’d be a key piece in saving my father’s life —whatever that meant. So I couldn’t risk him taking off and not returning, and I wasn’t exactly sure how much to share with him until I understood our new relationship. I turned to Naomi. “How much control does a Master usually have over the fledgling?”

“They have considerable control, but normally it is unnecessary to wield any power, because the fledgling would willingly do anything for their Master. They seek approval and love, much like a puppy to its new owner.”

I arched a skeptical brow at Ray. That so wasn’t happening. The day Ray was my puppy the Earth would cease to turn. I was going to have to barter with him and we both knew it. I turned to Rourke, who stood next to me, his expression severe. “What do you think about letting him go?”

“I’ve never come in contact with a fledgling before, but I think threatening him within an inch of his life to do what we say is the first step. I’ve heard young vamps can be unwieldy, and I have zero problem killing him if he doesn’t follow your program.”

“I don’t want Rourke to kill you,” I told Ray, “so it would be nice if you followed the program. Does that mean anything coming from me as your new Master?” Crossing my fingers would be childish, but that’s exactly what I felt like doing. Any extra nugget of help I could get, I’d take right now.

Ray’s irises flicked silver. “Yes.”

His response had come through gritted teeth, but it was a start.

I’d also felt something jump in his blood at my question. Like he hadn’t wanted to answer but had been compelled to do so. Naomi had knelt next to me. She’d had my blood, too, but nothing like that had ever happened to us. “Naomi, I have to ask you something. I gave you just as much blood to heal your wounds as I did to Ray, but Ray and I seem to have an internal connection. I can feel Ray’s emotions, almost like I can with the wolves, but I don’t get much of anything from you. Do you know why that is?”

She shook her head. “I do not. But I’m very old and have drunk from many, including some very powerful supernaturals. My blood is a thousand times more potent than any human’s. I would likely need to drink much more from you for us to forge the same kind of connection. But, again, your blood is an anomaly, so it’s hard to know.”

“Hannon,” Ray said. “I don’t care about all this other bullshit. I want out of here.” He rattled his chains. “I promise to follow your program, but I’m done with the prisoner routine. I deserve time to myself to process this like a grown-up. I’ve been on your leash for weeks now and I want my life back, starting right now.”

“How do I know you won’t get into trouble and that you’ll come back?” I asked.

“Where the hell else would I go?”

“It’s not that easy,” I replied.

“Of course it is. You let me go and I come back. End of story.”

“When?” I asked.

“When I’m good and goddamn ready.”

“I don’t think so.” I put up a hand to quiet his protests. “And before you go off on another tangent, consider what we just talked about. You’re too unpredictable. We need one more day to see how things settle, see how this is going to work.”

He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “If you don’t let me go now, you will regret it. I can feel the bond between us, and it’s not like it was with her”—he nodded toward Naomi—“but I want to be free. I’m not going to compromise. You can’t keep me locked up here like an animal.” He strained against his chains, some of the links bending. “You want me to follow your program, but you’re not willing to give me a chance to prove I can. Looks like the shoe’s on the other foot and you’re the one who needs to trust me. It’s either that or we keep fighting.” His fangs snapped down and he hissed. “And I get out of here on my own and don’t come back.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Gods, Ray, why do you have to be so damn bullheaded? This would’ve been so much easier if Nelson were here instead,” I complained. Chris Nelson had been Ray’s partner when I’d been on the force. He was a mild-mannered cop who’d transferred willingly to traffic violations after two years with Ray.

“Nelson was a putz. He had no gumption,” Ray retorted. “Consider yourself lucky I’m strong and capable and not going to be some ninny vampire.”

“Why can’t you be like all the other fledglings?” I said. “I want a puppy, not a hound from hell. Is there any part of you that feels the need to obey me?” I pushed power into the last words and I watched Ray react as the echo of my voice bounced around the cave.

He’d tried to cover it, but he hadn’t been fast enough.

“Raymond Hart, if I let you go, will you come back here in a few hours?” I shoved as much emotion as I could into the words.

His eyes went full black. “I already told you I would. What else do you want?” He gritted his teeth as he fought against my question, his features shifting slowly, but I knew he was answering truthfully.

“If I let you go, you can’t go near humans.” I continued the onslaught of power, until he was cringing back into the cave wall. “You can’t get into any trouble and you can’t feed from anyone.”

“I’m not fucking hungry. I just ate,” he snarled.

This was working, but I needed him cooperative in the end, not hostile.

I glanced at Naomi and she shrugged. “I’m obviously getting through to him, but he’s still as pigheaded as ever,” I said. “I don’t think the Master shtick is going to work. If I continue to use it, we’ll be at each other’s throats when this is all over. Literally. We’re going to have to think of something else.”

“Oui,” she replied. “It is quite shocking.”

In the meantime, Rourke had leaned over and hauled Ray up by his dirty shirt. The chains cinched tightly around Ray’s middle, causing him to gasp. I guess that counted as something else. He brought Ray close to his face and snarled, “If we let you go, you return in two hours. Don’t go anywhere near humans. If you’re not back on time, we hunt you down and kill you. Understand, vamp?” He shook him hard. “And I will make it personal. You will hurt like you’ve never experienced, and I will start by removing your feet at the ankles and move my way up.” Rourke’s power pinged around the cave. Ray felt it too. But this may work, because it was pure strength and not a Master’s order. “This is your test. The only one you will get. You pass it and you’re free. You don’t, you die. This is it, so don’t fuck it up.”

“Fine,” Ray bit out. “I’ll be back in two hours.”

With his other hand, Rourke pulled the chains from the wall in one tug, demonstrating in a single instance what he could do that Ray could not.

The chains dropped to the cave floor, unraveling at once, and Ray shot out of the tunnel before I could take my next breath. He disappeared into the night without looking back, no doubt testing to see if we would go after him.

Naomi made a move to follow.

“No.” I held her arm. “He goes alone. Rourke’s right. This is his test. If he’s not back in a few hours, we’ll decide what to do then. I can’t be in a constant head battle with him. I’ll kill him myself before that happens. Let’s go back to the cabin and figure out the plans. We leave for New Orleans at dawn. You and Ray can meet up with