She stared at the wounds, noticing how the blue-black color was beginning to spread over his skin, radiating from the wound. “I honestly don’t know. You’d need to get the silver out; so you’d have to bleed him, since it’s in his blood. But then he’d need a human liver to replenish his stores …”

  “I need to consult with Tatiana. Do you think he’s much of a threat?”

  Laney wasn’t sure. He was a were; injured as he was …

  “Possibly.”

  “Then stay out of arm’s reach.”

  The guard left, locking her in the cell with the were. Eyes wide, she stared openmouthed as the guard disappeared up the stairs. Quickly, she jumped to her feet, scrambling away until her back was pressed against the bars. They felt like brands of ice against her heated skin.

  “A little trusting, don’t you think?” the were asked her.

  “Yes.”

  “Is the vampire still unconscious?”

  Laney peered through the cell bars, careful to angle her body as far away from him as possible. “It looks like it.” It was hard to see, but the figure was as she’d left him, lying on the bed, arms folded across his chest, like a corpse.

  Before she could blink, the were had rolled onto his side and come to stand before her.

  Laney pressed herself further against the bars, heart pounding. She was an idiot … a fool …

  The were toppled forward, landing completely against her. All his smooth planes and rock hard muscles pressed into her. Her heart began to pound for a different reason. Using one arm, he propped himself away from her. “Sorry about that. Weaker than I thought.”

  Laney tried to lean further away. Her body was stupid, stupid. Why was it reacting to something like him? Now?

  Suddenly, she felt him nuzzling her throat. Was he sniffing her?

  “You smell nice. Why do you smell nice? You’re cattle.”

  She had to try and get control of the situation before the guard came back. But her brain wasn’t working properly. “This isn’t creepy at all.”

  The were drew back with a jerk, and nearly fell over. Laney reached out and grabbed one of his arms. She felt herself squeezing the muscle without permission from her brain. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to register what her hand was doing. She let go.

  He lowered his voice, until she felt it almost reverberating within her. “I’m here looking for two girls.”

  Her mind went blank. “Two girls?”

  “Humans from one of m—our settlements were just stolen. I’m trying to track down two of the humans for a … colleague.”

  “Didn’t you just lose an entire settlement? Why just these girls?”

  He ignored her, his yellow eyes boring into her own. “Do you know anyone called Laney and Jane?”

  Look down, look down, her mind chanted. He’ll see …

  A frown began to form on his forehead. “Are you wearing one contact lens?”

  Hastily, she shoved a finger against his lips, desperately trying to ignore how it felt against her skin. “Shush.”

  “Are you Jane?”

  Why had he assumed she would be Jane?

  “I’m Laney.”

  “Huh, Quin didn’t say you were a doctor. He also said Laney was the sensible one, Jane was the intellectual one. You don’t seem to be doing the smart thing right now.”

  She ignored the taunt. “Quin sent you?”

  The were tilted his head to one side, as if listening to something, then as fast as he’d stood, returned to his position on the floor. He gave her a lopsided grin before allowing his head to loll. A few seconds later, the outer door opened and the guard returned. He seemed amused at her position, huddled by the bars, and gave a slight chuckle.

  Then the guard smiled. “Tatiana says to bleed him.”

  Chapter 14

  I want super-speed, and maybe super-hearing. I could skip the super-smell, though. People don’t tend to wash too frequently anymore.

  ~ Quin Kirkman, Journal

  Wolf could still smell the human woman even though she’d been gone for hours. Cinnamon and warmth, that’s what she smelled like. He felt as weak as a newborn pup, but he’d regain his strength, even though the asshole guard hadn’t given him a liver to help him heal. But as a second generation were, he could heal quicker than they probably expected. At least, they hadn’t seemed to realize he was more powerful than he’d let on. Although, he was still lying on the concrete floor, in the same position they’d left him. He’d used up his reserves of energy when he’d all but jumped the woman – Laney.

  “I wish they’d let me nibble on that pretty human’s neck,” the vampire said into the stale air of their small prison. “She smelled amazing.”

  Something in Wolf almost snapped. He felt his body jerk in response, a growl emerging before he even knew what was happening.

  “Tsk tsk, dog-boy. I wouldn’t show the other vampires you like her, or she’ll become someone’s dinner or worse.”

  Wolf didn’t bother to ask what ‘or worse’ was. He had an imagination, unfortunately. And he didn’t like her. He didn’t even know her.

  “I don’t like her,” Wolf said, rather lamely.

  “Sure you don’t. That growl was just for effect.”

  “I can see why they want to torture you,” Wolf muttered.

  The vampire barked a wheezing laugh. “Oh, really?”

  “Yes; your oh-so-charming personality. Although, what I don’t understand is why you’re still alive. I would have thought Tatiana was clever enough to kill a leader once she’s deposed him.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Come on, Marcus, I am not an idiot.”

  “You’re a were, some would say the two things are synonymous.”

  Wolf quirked an eyebrow, which the vampire couldn’t see, and said nothing. He didn’t have a lot more to say. He had to focus on how to break out. And then rescue Laney and her sister.

  Quin had somehow forgotten to mention that Laney was breathtaking. It wasn’t necessarily how she looked – she was pretty, with warm skin, those brown eyes and her shiny dark hair – it was something about her. She had a vitality, a presence. He wondered what color her eye was under that contact. Maybe she was a Blue, to make him feel this … infatuation.

  He was an idiot.

  And Quin was a dick for not describing his sisters properly.

  “They’re good girls, they’ll go with you if you mention my name,” Quin had said.

  “What do they look like?” Wolf had asked.

  “Both have tanned or olive skin, Laney has … Brown eyes, but Jane has Hazel. Dark hair for Laney, lighter for Jane.”

  “Detailed,” Trace had mumbled disapprovingly. “Are they pretty, fat, thin, tall, short?”

  “What human is fat nowadays? They’re my sisters. I don’t know if they’re pretty or not.”

  Don’t know if they’re pretty or not. Wolf snorted. Quin was a blind fool.

  “She wants me to marry her,” Marcus said.

  Wolf’s mind went blank. Laney wanted to marry Marcus? He hadn’t heard her say anything like that to the vampire. “Who?”

  “Tatiana. Who else?”

  Right.

  Wolf was losing it. Maybe the blood loss and the silver poisoning were affecting him more than he thought they had.

  Wait … “Marry you?”

  Why would Tatiana want to do something like that?

  “Yes, marry me.” Marcus sounded defensive.

  “But marriage is for life.”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she intend for your life to be very short?”

  “Hah. John, you’re freaking hilarious. No, she wants it because I’m also first generation. If she could get me to fuck her – which would be seriously doubtful – then the children we had would be powerful. I think losing her last kid sent her insane. Well, more insane.”

  “And she wants another kid? In this environment?”

  “Did you miss the part where I said she was insane?”

  They fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence. Wolf didn’t think he’d ever like a vampire, but he found he had a grudging respect for Marcus. The man had tolerated being tortured and having his people stolen from him, yet he still had a sense of humor.

  “Would you stop the war, if you could?” Marcus asked.

  Without blinking, Wolf replied, “Yes.”

  “Same, but I don’t see how we can.”

  “Unless both races no longer have to rely on human blood and flesh, I don’t see how it can stop.”

  Chapter 15

  There are some people who just need to be shot in the face. Quick, easy, efficient. One less problem to worry about …

  ~ Quin Kirkman, Journal

  Laney found herself thinking about the were far too much. John, she’d heard him say to SV1. She’d spent more time with the vampire patient, and yet it was the yellow-eyed man she couldn’t get out of her head. She was crazy.

  When the guard came to collect her the next day, she followed almost eagerly. Jane’s eyes had tracked her movements, worried. Laney hadn’t looked back, hadn’t tried to reassure her. She didn’t want the guard to think that they were closer than what she’d already given away. Love was a weakness when it came to vampires.

  “I need you to check on our guests,” the vampire said.

  Laney nodded, acting dutiful. She hoped her heart wasn’t pounding too hard. Maybe the vampire would just think she was afraid. That would be better than him realizing she was excited.

  The guard didn’t leave her this time, keeping close to her as she tended both victims. The vampire’s wounds had not healed much, and so she gave them a clean and re-bandaged them.

  “I can’t do much else with the supplies we have,” she explained.

  The vampire guard nodded and shuffled her along to John’s cell. She tried to be brisk and businesslike, but her fingers burned where they made contact with his bare skin. Her breathing accelerated slightly and she focused on keeping it even. It was something that both the were and SV1 would notice.

  The were’s wounds may have been slightly less blue-black than before, but she couldn’t tell. Removing the bandages, she began to clean the bullet holes on autopilot. Overnight, she’d been thinking of ways to try and remove the silver from his body, because she doubted the bleeding would have gotten all of it. It was possible that her Gray ability may work … although, she hadn’t ever tried to do something like this before.

  When she’d worked in the lab, she’d often used her telekinesis for very delicate tasks, often on the atomic scale. It had kept their research running long after much of the technology had been lost. While it hadn’t been part of her direct study, she remembered what a silver atom was meant to look like, and she was very familiar with the structure of blood cells … and, well, she was probably kidding herself.

  But she could try.

  Without wanting to give herself away, she began to focus her ability on his body, trying to tune it into the feel of silver. Then, in her mind, she pictured the silver ions and began trying to force them out through the unhealed wounds. John grew taut, muscles clenching, and groaned.

  “What are you doing?” he moaned.

  “Cleaning your wounds,” she said, pressing down with the gauze with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

  SV1 laughed. “Come on, even Mar—the other prisoner was better than this.”

  Laney ignored John’s moans and kept trying to control the direction of the tiny silver atoms. She didn’t know if what she was doing was working, but since the were was reacting, she figured it must be doing something. Hopefully not killing him.

  When he began panting, Laney eased up, pulling the cloth away and trying to be discreet in checking the gauze. It did look like there were some tiny patches of shining silver. Throwing it away quickly, Laney sloshed some more saline on the wound and then re-bandaged them. She felt John’s gaze locked on her.

  After she finished, SV1 herded her from the room and returned her to the dormitory. “How is your sister’s wound?” he asked.

  Laney blinked. “Almost healed,” she replied.

  The guard nodded and disappeared behind the steel door, locking her back in with the other villagers. Turning, Laney headed down the long aisles of beds and toward her bunk.

  “Getting a bit chummy there, aren’t you?”

  Laney paused in her shuffle. Looking over, she saw Linette, one of the older village women. “Excuse me?”

  “You go off with those leeches two days in a row; you come back with no bite marks. What are you doing to prevent being bitten? You fucking that guard?”

  Laney gasped, mouth dropping open.

  “How—”

  After all she had done for the villagers. She’d seen to nearly every one of them in the last week, making sure their bites were healing, checking up on their general health. And this was the reaction?

  “Jealous, are you?”

  Turning, Laney looked over at her sister. Jane had come to stand beside her, arms folded across her chest. The bandage on her neck a kind of badge of honor.

  “Well?” Jane demanded.

  Jane’s level of tact was almost zero at the best of times. When Laney was being picked on …

  “She’s getting special treatment!”

  “She is providing medical aid to all of us. So what if she gets some special treatment? Could you prevent one of us from bleeding to death or getting an infection through specialized medical knowledge?”

  The woman’s wrinkled face contorted in anger, but she didn’t say anything.

  “If it wasn’t for Laney, I’d probably be dying from an infection right about now,” Jane said, matter of fact.

  “And my cough would be worse.” That was from Margo, who’d shown signs of a cold. Laney had requested heat packs and some remedies that the vampires had on hand.

  “Leave Laney alone,” a chorus of voices said.

  Suddenly, Laney and Jane were surrounded by those in support. Linette’s criticisms were drowned out. Overwhelmed, Laney stood there, unable to process what was happening. People were standing up for her. Humans. If they knew she was really half-Graced, she doubted they’d be so welcoming … but, she couldn’t stop the grateful look from spreading over her face.

  Chapter 16

  I want to be the one to save my sisters, since the wolf managed to lose them, but I can’t risk being captured. There’s too much on the line.

  ~ Quin Kirkman, Journal

  It was time.

  Today was the day that Trace and Quin were going to break Wolf out, no matter what. But first, Wolf had to survive his ‘interview’ with Tatiana. He’d only met her once, back when his father had introduced Wolf to some of his ‘lab buddies.’ He’d been a mere pup then, and thankfully took after his mother’s looks. Tatiana had been all smiles and subdued crazy; she had a mate, children and there’d been plenty of humans left. Sure, there’d been an unofficial war between humanity and its creations, but on the surface, everything had seemed okay.

  He doubted time had been kind to her.

  Three sets of footsteps grew louder as his visitors got closer to the cells. “Has he talked much?” Tatiana asked.

  “No.” That was from the guard who brought Laney.

  Lying on the concrete floor, he took deep breaths and tried to make himself look sicker than he was. His wounds were still healing, but his blood no longer felt as if it were on fire. Perhaps the ‘bleeding out’ – or more accurately, the guard drinking from him – had worked. He should be strong enough to get out of here, although he wanted Tatiana as far away from him as possible when the time came. He’d be no match for someone of her age and strength.

  The door opened to the basement prison and the stronger scents of blood, adrenaline and death entered, along with the faint scent of cinnamon. Two vampires and a human. But he knew that scent by heart now: Laney. His heartbeat accelerated slightly, even though he willed it to remain calm and steady. He couldn’t believe how he reacted to the little doctor, but he was grateful she was the human he’d come to break out. He wouldn’t have been able to leave her behind otherwise.

  And he was accusing Tatiana of being a nutjob.

  Turning his head to the side, he took in the three visitors. Tatiana was statuesque, with long auburn hair and bright violet eyes. The guard looked the same as ever: professional. Laney appeared even thinner than she had two days ago, but her Brown eyes were large in her face.

  “Check on the vampire,” the guard said to Laney.

  Nodding, she walked quietly over to the cell door, where the guard let her in. Tatiana strode over to stand in front of the bars of his cell.

  “What’s your name?” Her voice was smooth as silk. Pity it hid the viper underneath.

  Wolf glared at her, and after waiting a suitable amount of time, gritted, “John Smith.”

  Fast as a whip, she dropped to a squat and shot her arm through the bars. She had him by the throat in seconds. Wolf stayed limp. “I don’t appreciate people who lie to me.”

  Wolf bared his teeth. “I don’t appreciate being captured.”

  She let go of his throat with a flick of her wrist, but her eyes bored into his.

  Standing so fast he missed it, Tatiana turned to the guard and Laney. “Keep him locked up. Once I’ve dealt with the traitor, I’ll decide what to do with the dog.”

  The guard nodded. Laney was muttering something about allergies. Tatiana seemed to grow bored, her expression blanking. She shook herself back to the present. “Leave the girl with the dog, she can check his wounds. Bring the traitor.”

  The guard ushered Laney out of the vampire’s cell. “I don’t think it’s wise to leave the human unattended with the were.”

  “You said you’ve done it before.”

  “But that was a few days ago, when the silver was killing him.”

  “Well, if he hurts the human, I’ll rip him apart. Solution.”

  “Having a human doctor is very useful.”

  “Then turn her into a vampire. Later though.”

  He thought Laney’s eyes would bulge out of her head at that statement. But to her credit, she remained silent. Seconds later, she was locked in the cell with him. The guard slung a groaning Marcus over his shoulder and followed Tatiana out. Wolf waited until he couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore before rolling to his side and springing to his feet. Laney jumped back.

 

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