scent made me cringe. I was grateful when Gemini motioned me over. “This won’t be as bad,” he assured me. “The majority of the poison from the gold’s curse has been excreted. All you have to do is pack his wounds and then bandage them tight.”
My large bedroom allowed plenty of space between my king-size sleigh bed and the picture window, so the ample berth Gemini gave me surprised me. “What are you doing?”
Gem cocked his head as if I missed the point. “Keeping our distance from Aric. His wolf remains protective and may lash out if we disturb him too much.”
I didn’t quite understand. “But he’s been fine with me.”
Koda’s eyes reminded me of the center of a twister, so dark and menacing I barely managed to keep his stare. And yet for once, they didn’t appear so threatening. “That’s because he would never hurt you, Celia.”
I touched the hard muscles of Aric’s uninjured shoulder, knowing Koda was right. Aric would never hurt me, physically. But I feared that one day he’d break my heart. I sat on the edge of the mattress. The bullet wounds had begun to seal shut, but the damage from the hooks still needed a great deal of care. My stomach clenched. “I have to slip the gauze through the holes . . . don’t I?”
Gemini nodded. “And make the dressing changes as they soak through.” He placed a hand on my arm, but jerked it away when Aric snarled. He remained unfazed, despite Aric’s sudden outburst. “Don’t worry, Celia. It will be a long night, but he’ll be much improved by morning.”
“We can take turns,” Shayna said. “Ceel, you look beat. Why don’t you take a nap and I’ll take the first watch . . . ?”
I shook my head but wouldn’t speak to her. Any normal, sound being would have taken her up on her offer. How could I logically explain Aric was mine alone to take care of?
“What’s wrong, dude?”
Koda put his arm around her and led her to the door. “I think Aric would prefer Celia’s touch. Come on, baby. Let’s go to bed. We’ll be down the hall if they need us.”
The room emptied out as I went to work on Aric’s shoulder. The moment I was done, I wrapped him in another warm blanket and took a quick shower. I tugged on a pair of panties, pausing when I caught his body convulsing from the breaking fever. I dropped my robe and crawled into bed with Aric, abandoning the shirt I’d originally planned to wear. I pulled his chilled body against my bare skin. His hand gripped my hip and squeezed before exhaustion finally claimed his weak body and mine.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I dreamed of flashing lights just before my cell phone jolted me awake. I rolled to the opposite side, searching blindly for the small, sleek rectangle. My eyes burned as I focused on the blaring glow of the screen. Almost four a.m. I slipped the blankets from Aric’s shoulder. Only an hour had passed, but his blood had already saturated the surface of the dressings.
I shimmied out of bed and gathered my supplies while my iPhone continued to ring, insisting bandages be damned. “Hello?” I mumbled.
“Why did you not inform me you were attacked?”
There were many advantages to having a guardian angel master vampire. Before-the-crack-of-dawn phone calls were not among them. “Misha, you really shouldn’t call at this hour. You’re only reinforcing the creature-of- the-night stereotype your people have tried hard to avoid.”
“You know, considering your fanged butt woke me, you’re awfully testy.” I yawned. “Besides, I’d figured your spider sense would tell you eventually.”
Misha’s low, deep hiss informed me comic book humor was lost on Dracula’s BFF. I sighed and tried not to bang my head. “Aric was attacked by vampires draining a human.”
“My vampires did
Aric growled behind me. He’d heard Misha’s voice. And he wasn’t happy. I covered him again with the blankets. “Don’t call him a mongrel. Look, I need to ask, are your vampires all accounted for? Even those new to your family?”
“The play for dominance is over. Those who survived are under my complete control and carefully managed.”
“I figured as much, Misha. But thanks for letting me know.” The planes on Aric’s face had softened, now that his pain had significantly decreased. Relief flooded me down to my toes. If Gem was right, his wolf had started to accelerate his healing. Perhaps by early evening he’d be able to eat.
“None of my keep would have dared to attack you,” Misha said, reminding me our conversation wasn’t over.
“I know.” I smiled into the phone. Despite my natural distrust of vampires, I did trust Misha. I just hoped that trust wouldn’t come back to bite me.
“Tell me more about the attack.”
I tucked the phone against my chin and opened more packs of bandages, lining them carefully along the bed. “There were close to thirty. I’d never seen so many vampires outside the presence of their master. They also dressed like . . . foreigners.” I hadn’t thought about it until I verbalized it, but most of them resembled the European tourists who visited Tahoe. They’d also donned similar clothing—simple dress slacks and shirts. The vamps from Tahoe only wore original designer creations . . . or Catholic schoolgirl uniforms.
I had a thought. “Any chance your master is after me?”
The subtle sound of sliding sheets suggested Misha also had company in his bed. “No. My master credits you with helping to save him. He would not insult you by asking for your heart.”
Misha meant that literally. I pushed my long waves from my face. “In a way I wish Uri was after me.”
Misha paused. “Why would you desire such a peril?”
“Because at least then I’d know what we were dealing with. Misha . . . the wolves have a theory. They think—well, we think, a demon lord may somehow be controlling the rogue vampires.”
A female voice squealed just before I heard a thump on the other end. I gathered Misha had sat abruptly and, well, caught his companion off guard. Poor, dumb, iron-deficient bimbo.
“No demon in history has ever managed such a task.”
“I don’t think we’re dealing with an ordinary demon.” I explained Danny’s interpretation of “demon kin.” Misha took it as well as I had.
“Demons. Who pass equally through hell and earth. Following events—
I threw my hand out. “I know what you’re thinking—I thought it, too, but this is
“No, no, of course, many changes have occurred as of late.” He paused. “I take it your band of wolves now know?”
“I know we pinky-swore not to say anything, but it sort of slipped out.”
The silence that followed suggested Misha wasn’t happy at the news. Except his hard tone wasn’t one of anger. In fact, it was downright cocky. “The mongrels know better than to spread such news. Especially if their Leader’s bedmate was who caused my rise in power.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way. Crap. Way to score more points with Aric’s Elders. I fell against the wall. My God, I was tired. “Misha, do you think a demon lord exists, one that could also serve as a master to vampires?”
“I would be a fool to dismiss the theory so easily.”
I bit my bottom lip. Very few things scared a vampire, especially one so strong. And while Misha’s voice didn’t quiver with fear, I sensed his trepidation, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
Aric stirred in the silence and attempted to sit. I leaned forward and tried to settle him back down. “Misha, I have to go.”
Misha’s voice sharpened in severity just before he disconnected. “I will find what did this to you.”
I placed my phone on the nightstand and gently pushed my hand over Aric’s uninjured shoulder when he sought to rise again. His skin remained as cold as a marble. “Where do you think you’re going, wolf?”
“I need to drink.”
