Forbidden Hybrid, page 13
“Hammond was with me. He’s fine. The others are … less than fine,” Bishop puffed. “But a lot of them took off before the police arrived.”
Seemingly unrepentant, Lucian pressed, “I heard that Hammond walked away without a scratch on him. Almost as though no-one got within a hand’s reach of the guy.”
There was an echoing note of pride in his voice, Maeve thought, but also an enquiring edge to his remarks, something Gabe was too busy to notice but made Bishop scowl.
“You’re healing too slowly,” Gabe repeated. Having listened to Bishop’s chest, he sat back on his heels and shook his head. “There’s whistling in your chest so I’d say at least one of your ribs has fractured, perforating your left lung.” His eyes met Bishop’s imploringly, “You need to go to hospital or you’re going to die on this lounge. This is not a drill.”
“Well, today has certainly gone south quickly. Upsy-daisy, Bish.” Lucian reached for Bishop’s arm only to have the man growl back at him. “Now, don’t be a baby. If Gabe says you need to go to hospital, then you go.”
“Or he could shift …” Three pairs of eyes swung her way and Maeve’s mouth hung ajar at her own words. “Okay, I don’t know where that came from,” she confessed. Her words were met with a moment’s silence from all of them before Lucian’s lips turned up at the edges, “You’re smiling. Does that mean my idea might work?” she asked him.
“Absolutely.” Lucian looked from her to Bishop, “Your recuperative abilities are stronger in your wolf form than your human form …”
Gabe nodded, thinking aloud, “I agree with Luci and Maeve. If you won’t go to hospital then you need to shift –”
“No!” Bishop interrupted sharply, and his tone was enough to shock the others into silence. Realising he’d overreacted, he tempered it with a more moderate argument, “I just need a little more time. My body will heal itself eventually.”
“Buddy, unless you’re a hybrid,” Lucian glanced at Maeve apologetically, “you won’t be able to heal once you’re officially dead.”
“And that’s where you’re headed,” Gabe announced caustically. “I will not have you die on my watch.”
Maeve saw the shame wash over Bishop’s face and thought it would be enough to change the guy’s mind. She was wrong.
“I’m not going to die, Gabe. You’ve seen me hurt before,” he reasoned.
“Not like this,” Gabe muttered. Standing, he walked away and stood with his back to the kitchen island. Refusing to meet Bishop’s eyes, he stared doggedly down at the tile.
“Bishop …”
There was a warning in the vampire’s tone and Maeve could tell he was seriously worried and also just plain pissed off.
“Stop being such a stubborn arse and shift already,” Lucian ordered.
“You don’t understand,” he began.
With her new powers, Maeve could almost feel the sharp swell of pain as it rippled through Bishop’s body and she saw him shudder with it. “Bishop, please,” she begged.
“You don’t get it.” His pained eyes ricocheted from Gabe to Lucian to Maeve and he kept his eyes on her face when he explained. “If I shift, Maeve will shift. She won’t be able to stop herself and she isn’t ready.”
Okay, that was news. Although in that moment ‘she’ was more interested in Bishop’s use of personal pronouns and she told him so. Hands on hips, Maeve looked Bishop square in the eye and replied, “She is right here, and she is going to have to shift eventually, because apparently, I really am a hybrid. No use denying that after the events of last night. What’s the big deal?”
“Maeve’s right,” Lucian stated bluntly. “And we don’t have a choice.”
“No,” was Bishop’s stubborn single-word reply.
“Now you’re just being pig-headed,” Maeve accused, but she knew Bishop wasn’t going to budge on the matter. He was adamant and also trying unsuccessfully to camouflage the agony showing on his face with annoyance. The annoyance was real, Maeve thought. He wanted them all to leave him the hell alone, but she couldn’t ignore that bone-deep agony contorting his features when he didn’t school them effectively. It took her a few moments of misdirected anger before she suddenly understood that Bishop was enduring this slow, agonising healing for her. The unexpected knowledge hit like a lightning strike and rocked her to her core. Bishop was refusing to shift because he was worried about her. Well, screw that! Turning her attention inward, Maeve located the heat which had been craving release, and she heedlessly embraced it. Not quite knowing what to do, but letting instinct take over, she felt the burn in her chest and rather than keep it contained, let it spread like a wildfire. Turning her glowing eyes on Bishop, she announced, “I guess I’ll just have to go first then.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Lucian watched as Maeve threw her head back and her whole figure trembled. She wasn’t cold; even from where he was standing Lucian could feel the heat pumping off her body and see the rosy flush of her skin. She was going to shift, he realised. Without any knowledge of how and without any thought for herself, Maeve was going to shift into her wolf. He knew she was doing it to save Bishop’s life, and he was grateful, but he was also fucking worried. One glance at Bishop and he knew his friend was beyond worried and breaking ground on furious. Eyeing Gabe to gauge his reaction, he saw that the younger man was transfixed – Lucian couldn’t blame him. When Maeve exposed her neck like that, he just about wanted to jump her bones, but seeing the power swell in her as she embraced her nature, well that was enough to leave him standing stock-still and a little dumbstruck. She was the most wondrous creature he’d ever seen and he was about to say so, when Bishop, despite his pain, surged to his feet.
“Maeve. Enough,” Bishop snapped. He advanced a step before he was hit by a surge of power.
Lucian too was hit by a concussive blast that had him wavering on his feet and left a ringing in his ears. “What the –”
“Maeve?”
Luci heard another voice but it sounded far away. In fact, everything sounded as though he were underwater. It took a moment for him to understand that the voice belonged to Gabe. He blinked and saw that his human friend was likewise rubbing his temple as though it ached and he was staring at the centre of the living room with a wondrous look on his face. Finding his equilibrium, Lucian contemplated the space where Maeve and Bishop had been standing just moments ago … and almost fell over. Right before him was Bishop in wolf form, his bronze coat gleaming, his powerful shoulders bunching as he paced in a circle. Even in wolf-form, Lucian could see the annoyance – and surprise – in Bishop’s eyes as he surveyed Maeve. Holy shit.
“Holy shit.” Unknowing, Gabe echoed Lucian’s own, not so eloquent thoughts, and looked to the vampire for some kind of confirmation that what he was seeing was real. “Is this what a hybrid is supposed to look like when they shift?” he asked, sluggishly.
Lucian opened his mouth. Closed it. Tried to formulate an answer. “Up until now, I guess no-one knew what they would look like.” And that much was true. As far as he knew, no hybrid experiment had ever survived long enough to transform. “I bet those scientists weren’t expecting this …” Lucian absorbed the sight in front of him, comparing Maeve’s wolf to Bishop’s; whereas Bishop’s wolf was large – the size of a bear and strongly muscled – Maeve was leaner. Both had powerful jaws, and canine’s, which when bared, were as sharp as any blade. What surprised him, and obviously Gabe too, were the differences in their colouring.
Most werewolves shifted into various shades of three common colours: grey, black or white. Bishop’s caramel-brown fur gave the overall impression of a bronze statue, and was highly unusual, although Lucian had always found his friend’s colouring to be one of the most remarkable – and handsome – he had ever seen. It was definitely a turn-on, and he was pretty sure that Bishop knew it. But, whereas Bish’s fur was anomalous, it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility … but what Lucian saw on Maeve was.
She was golden.
Maeve’s shifter coat was a glimmering gold almost as though strands of the precious metal had been woven to create it. He’d never seen anything more stunning in his life and any lingering doubts he’d had about her hybrid status just evaporated. Not only could she transform from human into both vampire and werewolf, but she was the most stunning version of both that he’d ever seen. The only problem was, what to do with her now? Watching Bishop pad in a circle, he knew similar thoughts were swirling inside his friend’s head.
“What?” Lucian returned Bishop’s wolfish stare. “I didn’t force her to turn.”
Not having any of it, Bishop curled his upper lip in a snarl.
“Sure, go ahead and blame the vampire! And you’re welcome,” Lucian studied his surly friend as he stalked the living room with a barely a limp. “Seems the shift was just what you needed.” Now a true growl escaped Bishop’s throat and Lucian threw his hands in the air, “Am I supposed to snap my fingers and hope she’ll turn back into a human? Or should I get stunned Gabriel over there to duck to the market and grab a leash and some kibble, hmm?”
“Hard pass,” Gabe muttered, distractedly.
Bishop-as-wolf glared at Lucian with a distinct see what you’ve done now expression, and Lucian was about to completely lose his cool, when Maeve’s wolf form suddenly shimmered and she fell to the ground as a regular human. Or as regular as a hybrid-human could be. “Well, thank the Gods for that!” Lucian breathed. He and Gabe were beside her in an instant as she lay unmoving on the floor. “Is she okay?” he demanded.
Gabe ran anxious hands over her, feeling for a pulse and making sure she was breathing. “She seems fine; I think she’s sleeping.”
Lucian let out all the pent-up air he’d been holding in, “Well I guess being a wolf for the first time takes a lot out of a person,” he grinned. “You take care of her,” he instructed Gabe. Then turning to Bishop, he said dourly, “I’ll deal with him.”
Twenty minutes later, Lucian was helping a still very annoyed Bishop not face-plant into the shower tiles. Shifting into his wolf had certainly saved his friend’s life, but despite the transformation, he was still healing. Even shifting could only help so much and the process itself always took a toll on the body – hence the reason Maeve was dead to the world in his bed again. Bishop’s body didn’t have much in the way of reserves to begin with and he was only on his feet now because Lucian was keeping him that way – a fact he knew Bishop would never admit.
“I can hear you thinking,” Bishop grunted.
Usually Lucian would respond to that remark with some sarcastic quip but right now his quick wit failed him. It was rare for him to be struck stupid but when he thought about how close they’d come to losing Bishop in that alley, the words just wouldn’t come. Looking him over now, he saw still healing, although faded bruises, across Bishop’s chest and back, and although his face had returned to its normal rugged handsomeness, his voice carried a tremor when he spoke and it almost broke Lucian’s heart. Factually, he knew that what his friend needed was to sleep for a solid twelve hours, then to eat something and sleep again – tomorrow he’d be good as gold. Unfortunately, that knowledge was currently at odds with the glaring reality of a weary Bishop leaning into him as the shower beat down on them both. Plus, there was the small fact that although Lucian was clothed – and currently getting his fire kit soaked – Bishop was buck-arse naked. The heady combination of his current vulnerability mixed with his very fine naked form was strong enough to confuse things further. For Christ’s sake, Lucian had felt love for the guy, and for Gabe, for almost as long as they’d been friends, but what he felt right now had evolved in some way. For the first time, Lucian thought that he might actually be in love with them, and he didn’t know what to do about that. Typical to his nature, he avoided what he couldn’t decipher and moved onto something else that was bothering him.
“Are you going to tell Gabe who attacked you?” Tired, suddenly angry eyes swung to meet his and he thought Bishop was going to push away. Placatingly, he offered, “I’m not saying you have to. I was just curious.”
Bishop looked down, making careful study of the H2O circling the drain and letting the warm water cascade over his head. After much thought, he answered with a simple, “I don’t know. It’s a subject we’ve always avoided talking about.”
Bishop was right. Gabe’s past was known to both of them but it was something they rarely discussed. Still, Lucian’s worry was that Gabe would find out eventually and he thought the news would sting less coming from family. “I think he’ll find out, don’t you?”
“Probably. Obviously, you did.”
“News of two cops squaring off against The Coven, is a hot topic. You’re sure it was them?” he pressed. “The same gang that recruited Gabe when he was a kid?”
“It was them,” Bishop spat. “And they knew me by name – probably know my connection to Gabe too.”
“And clans like that don’t forget or forgive a betrayal,” Lucian mused.
“It wasn’t a betrayal,” Bishop turned on Luci and snarled just inches from his face.
“I know, I know,” Lucian steadied his friend by the elbow as the force of his words nearly knocked him off his feet. “You know I didn’t mean it that way, but when they recruit human street kids the way they did Gabe, they don’t expect them to defect. Gabe ran their messages and was forced to do god only knows what else, to afford food or a place to sleep, but they expected much more from him – a lifetime of servitude until they deemed him worthy of turning.”
“But he wanted out.”
“And unwittingly, we turned up at just that moment.” Lucian remembered it like it was yesterday. “Four vamps against one scrawny kid.”
“And the kid was holding his own,” Bishop grinned but the smile turned sour. “The ones who jumped me were wearing that same design Gabe has branded into his shoulder.”
Lucian shuddered at the idea of how Gabe must have been treated all those years ago, even as he marvelled at the bravery of a kid bold enough to break away. “They still wear those circles?” As a vampire – albeit one who had never joined a clan like The Coven – Lucian knew that their symbol, or their tag, was one of stylised concentric circles. The design of the symbol had murky origins but some believed the circles represented a tally and that years ago vamps would keep count of their kills, or their turns, with a circle for each. Some even wore their tally on their skin – each circle signifying a puncture. Now that vampire gangs – just as wolf packs – were essentially outlawed, some under-the-radar clans wore their tag as jewellery. That way, if they were arrested, they could discard their shiny bling and plead all innocent.
“They still wear them. And that’s not the worst of it!” Bishop fumed quietly.
“What else is there?” The water was beginning to run cold and Lucian was keen to get Bishop out of the shower and into some warm clothes. But first he had to know.
“That pattern – the fancy circle design from their rings – I saw it on the call-out this morning. Our serials murdered a woman. She was partially decapitated and on her hand was a defensive wound shaped just like their gang symbol.”
“Yup. That’s bad all right.” Lucian’s mind was reeling with this new information but as he tried to process it, one thing didn’t make sense. “Your murderous bitey-scratchy team is made up of a vampire and a werewolf, right? The Coven would never let a wolf into their clan.”
“And that means we have a rogue Coven member joining forces with a wolf. We could be going up against two gangs – not just one.”
“And one is tough enough,” Lucian murmured, knowingly. “I’m beginning to understand why you’re so hesitant to bring this up with Gabe.”
“But we have to. I don’t like it but you’re right, we don’t have a choice.”
“No, we don’t,” Lucian agreed, grimly. If he could go out there and catch these sons-of-bitches himself, without Gabriel ever being the wiser he would, and he knew Bishop would too. Unfortunately, no matter how much they might wish to spare him, Gabriel deserved to know the truth. And sometimes the truth just sucked!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“He called himself Kane? He used that name?” Gabe asked mildly.
He, Bishop and Lucian were seated in various stages of repose in the living area because Bishop had refused to get any rest until they’d had this meeting. Gabe thought that was a pretty dumb idea considering right now his friend could barely keep his head on straight. Still, seeing him sitting there with all the strength of a damn puppy was a vast improvement on his status an hour ago and Gabe was grateful. He could tell that Lucian felt the same way because their vampire friend kept casting fond glances in Bishop’s direction when he thought the guy wasn’t looking. What irked him were the similar furtive looks they shot his way. Whether they were waiting for him to have some PTSD attack or stalk out the door like some vengeful lunatic, he couldn’t be sure. He could tell that they were surprised by his equanimity – hell, he was pretty surprised by it himself. All he wanted now were the facts so that they could wrap this up, and he wished that they would both stop treading so lightly around him and just spit everything out.
“Kane was the name he used,” Bishop repeated, eyeing Gabe carefully.
“Okay.” Gabe was slightly taken aback when Bishop didn’t say anything else – they were giving him time, he realised, and he appreciated that. Mulling over everything he had heard so far, he understood that a neon-haired vampire by the name of Kane had goaded Bishop and Hammond from a crime scene so that The Coven could ambush them – this was surprising, mostly because he had believed Kane was dead.
“You’re absolutely sure that was the name he used?” Gabe asked again.
“Very sure.”
Bishop repeated it for a third time, slowly, as though Gabe was losing his marbles. Maybe he was.
