The shaking started soon thereafter. It began in her hands and feet and quickly centralized in her chest, the uncontrollable tremors rattling her teeth and her brain and her vision until she felt as though she was a limp sock thrown in a dryer.
Through the trembling, she caught sight of John taking his cell phone out of his jacket.
She tried to snag his shirt. N-n-n-no. D-d-dont
He ignored her, cocking the damn thing and texting.
F-f-f-fuck. . she groaned.
When he clipped the phone shut, she said, Y-y-you try to t-t-take me to H-H-Havers right n-nownot gonna g-g-go well.
Her fear of clinics and medical procedures was going to throw her right over the edge, and thanks to him, she now had the energy to do something with her panic. And wasnt that going to be a joy for all of them to handle.
John took out a pad and scribbled something. He turned the thing around, and then left a moment later, and all she could do was close her eyes as the door shut.
Parting her lips, she breathed through her mouth and wondered if she had enough energy to get up, get dressed, and head out before Johns bright idea showed up. Quick check told her that was a no-go. If she couldnt lift her head and hold it off the pillow for more than a second and a half, she was fucked for getting vertical.
It didnt take John long to come back in with Doc Jane, the Black Dagger Brotherhoods personal physician. The ghostly female had a black bag with her and exuded the kind of medical competence that Xhex valuedbut would infinitely have preferred to be applied to others and not herself.
Doc Jane approached and put her stuff down on the floor. Her white jacket and her scrubs were solid to the eye, though her hands and face were translucent. That all changed, however, as she sat on the edge of the bed. Everything about her took form and the hand she laid upon Xhexs arm was warm and weighted.
Even the compassionate doctor made Xhexs skin crawl, however. She really didnt want to be touched by anyone.
As the good doctor removed her hand, she had a feeling the female knew that. Before you tell me to go, a few things you should know. First of all, I will not divulge your location to anyone and I will not share whatever you tell me or whatever I find with anybody. I will have to report that Ive seen you to Wrath, but any clinical findings are yours and yours alone.
Sounded good. In theory. But she didnt want the female anywhere near her with what was in that black bag.
Doc Jane went on. Second, I dont know a damn thing about symphaths. So if theres something anatomically distinct or significant to that half of you. . Im not going to necessarily know how to treat it. Do you still consent to be seen by me?
Xhex cleared her throat and tried to lock her shoulders so she didnt shake so much. I dont w-want to be seen.
Thats what John said. But youve been through a trauma
It w-w-wasnt that bad. She sensed Johns emotional response to that from the corner, but didnt have the energy to tease out the details of what he was feeling. And Im f-f-fine
Then you should view this as simply a formality.
Do I l-l-look like someone whos formal?
Doc Janes forest green stare narrowed. You look like someone whos been beaten. Hasnt fed properly. And hasnt slept. Unless you want to tell me that purple bruise on your shoulder is makeup? And those bags under your eyes are a mirage?
Xhex was well familiar with people who wouldnt accept no for an answerfor shits sake, shed worked with Rehv for years. And going by that hard, level tone, it was pretty damn clear that the doctor was going to have her way or she wasnt leaving. Ever.
G-g-g-goddamn it.
FYI, the sooner we start, the sooner its over.
Xhex glanced at John, thinking that if she had to be seen, he was so not a value-add. He really didnt need to know anything more than what hed probably guessed about the condition she was in.
The doctor looked over her shoulder. John, will you please wait in the hall?
John ducked his head and bowed out of the room, the tremendous spread of his back disappearing through the door. When the lock clicked into place, the good doctor opened that fucking bag of hers and the stethoscope and the blood-pressure cuff were the first to come out.
Im just going to listen to your heart, the female said, putting the wishbone up to her ears.
The sight of the medical instruments was gasoline to Xhexs shivers, and as out-of-it as she was, she cringed away.
Doc Jane paused. Im not going to hurt you. And I wont do anything you dont want me to do.
Xhex closed her eyes and rolled over onto her back. Every muscle in her body hurt all of a sudden. Lets just get this over with.
As the sheet lifted, a draft of cold air breathed over her skin and the cool disk was placed against her sternum. Flashbacks threatened to send her on a screamer-coaster, and she stared up at the ceiling, just trying to keep herself from levitating off the frickin mattress.
B-be fast, D-D-Doc. She could hold the panic back for only so long.
Could you take a deep breath for me?
Xhex did the best she could and ended up wincing. Clearly, one or more of her ribs were broken, probably from her hitting the wall outside of that bedroom.
Can you sit up? Doc Jane asked.
Xhex groaned a curse as she tried to push her torso off the bed and failed. Doc Jane ended up having to help her, and when the doctor got a load of her back, she hissed a little.
It doesnt hurt that bad, Xhex bit out.
Somehow I doubt that. Again with the metal disk going around. Breath as deep as you can without hurting yourself.
Xhex gave it a shot and was relieved when the docs kind hand urged her back against the pillows and the sheet was floated into place once more.
May I check your arms and legs for injury? When Xhex shrugged, Doc Jane put her stethoscope aside and moved down the bed. There was another draft as the sheet was drawn back. . and then the other female hesitated.
Very deep ligation marks around your ankles, the doctor murmured, almost to herself.
Well, that was because Lash had tied her up with wire sometimes.
Lot of bruising. .
Xhex stopped the inspection when the sheet was pushed up to her hips. Lets just say they go all the way north, kay?
Doc Jane resettled the sheet where it had been. Can I palpate your belly?
Knock yourself out.
Xhex stiffened at the idea of being uncovered again, but Doc Jane just stretched the sheet flat and pushed and prodded. Unfortunately, there was no hiding the winces, especially as things headed to her lower stomach.
The doc settled back and stared straight into Xhexs eyes. Any chance youll let me do an internal exam on you?
Internal as in. . As she got the meaning, Xhex shook her head. Nope. Not going to happen.
Were you sexually assaulted?
No.
Doc Jane nodded once. Is there anything I need to know that you havent told me? Pain in any particular place?
Im fine.
Youre bleeding. Im not sure youre aware of it. But youre bleeding.
Xhex frowned and looked at her trembling arms.
Theres fresh blood on the insides of your thighs. Which is why I asked if I could do the internal exam.
Xhex felt a wash of dread come over her.
Ill ask you one more time. Were you sexually assaulted. There was no emotion behind the clinical words, and the doctor had guessed right. Xhex wouldnt have been interested in any hysteria or drippy, over-the-top pity.
When she didnt reply, Doc Jane read into the silence correctly and said, Any chance you could be pregnant.
Oh. . God.
Symphath cycles were weird and unpredictable, and shed been so caught up in the drama of the capture and captivity, she hadnt even thought about the repercussions.
At that moment, she despised being a female. She truly did.
I dont know.
Doc Jane nodded once. How can you tell if you are?
Xhex just shook her head. Theres no way I am. My bodys been through too much.
Let me do the internal, okay? Just to be certain theres nothing going on that I can feel inside. And then Id like to take you to the Brotherhood compound and do an ultrasound on you. You were really uncomfortable when I went over your belly. I had V come with a carhe should almost be here by now.
Xhex was barely hearing a word that was being spoken to her. She was too busy tracing back over the last couple weeks. Shed been with John the day before the abduction. That last time. Maybe. .
If she was pregnant, she flat-out refused to believe it had anything to do with Lash. That would just be too cruel. Too fucking cruel.
Besides, maybe there was another reason for the bleeding.
Like a miscarriage, part of her brain insisted on pointing out.
Do it, Xhex said. But make it quick. I dont deal well with this shit and Im going to flip out on you if it takes longer than a few minutes.
Ill be fast.
As she closed her eyes and braced herself, a quick slide show set up shop in her head. Flash: her body on a stainless-steel table in a tiled room. Flash: her ankles and wrists locked in place. Flash: human doctors with spastic, lookie-here eyes coming at her. Flash: a video camera in her face and panning down. Flash: a scalpel catching the light from above.
Snap. Snap.
Her lids flipped open at the sounds because she was unsure whether what shed heard was in her head or in the room. It was the latter. Doc Jane had her latex gloves on.
Ill be gentle, Jane said.
Which would be a relative term, of course.
Xhex fisted the sheets and felt the muscles that ran up her inner thighs spasm as she went rigid from head to toe. The good news with the frozen-stiff act was that it cured her of that stutter. Id rather you be fast.
Xhex. . I want you to look right at me. Right now.
Xhexs scattered stare swung around. What.
Hold my eyes. Right here. The doctor pointed to her peepers. Hold em. You lock on my face and know that Ive had this done to me, okay? I know exactly what Im doing, and not just because Ive been trained.
Xhex forced herself to focus and. . Jesus, it did help. Meeting that evergreen stare did help. Youll feel it.
Excuse me?
Xhex cleared her throat. If Im. . pregnant, youll feel it.
How.
When you. . therell be a pattern. Inside. It wont. . She took a shallow breath, drawing on the tales shed heard from her fathers people. The walls wont be smooth.
Doc Jane didnt even blink. Got it. You ready?
No. Yes.
Xhex was in a cold sweat by the time it was over and that rib shed broken was screaming from her sawing gulps of air.
Tell me, she said hoarsely.
TWENTY-THREE
Im telling you. . Eliahu is alive. Eliahu Rathboone. . hes alive.
Standing in his room at the Rathboone mansion, Gregg Winn stared out the window at some of South Carolinas signature Spanish moss. In the moonlight, the shit was creepy as a shadow thrown by no discernible object. . or body.
Gregg, did you hear me?
After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked over his shoulder at his nubile young narrator. Holly Fleet was just inside the door, her long blond hair pulled straight back from her makeup-less face, her eyes not nearly as wide or captivating without the false lashes or the sparkly-sparkly stuff she wore on camera. But the pink silk robe did nothing, absolutely nothing to hide her banging body.
And she was practically vibrating, her inner tuning fork struck by one hell of a ringer.
You are aware, Gregg drawled, that the SOB died over one hundred and fifty years ago.
Then his ghost is really here.
Ghosts dont exist. Gregg turned back to the view. You of all people should know that.
This one does.
And you woke me up at one a.m. to tell me this?
Not a good move on her part. Theyd all gotten next to no sleep the night before, and hed spent the day pushing and shoving on the phone to L.A. Hed hit the pillow an hour ago, not expecting to crashbut fortunately his body had had different plans.
Either that or his brain was telling him to give it up because shit was not going well. That butler was refusing to budge on the permission thing; both of Greggs reapproaches had been shut down, the one at breakfast politely declined, the one at dinner flat-out ignored.
Meanwhile they had some great footage that hed already sent in. Thanks to the evocative shots captured on the sly, the brass had given him the go-ahead to switch the specials locationbut they were pressuring him for a presell cut they could broadcast ASAP.
Which couldnt happen until the butler relented.
Hello? Holly snapped. Are you listening to me?
What.
I want to go.
He frowned, thinking she didnt have the brains to be frightened by anything short of an eighteen-wheeler with her name on the front grille. Go where?
Back to L.A.
He nearly recoiled. L.A.? Are you kiddingOkay, so not going to happen. Unless you want to get on Orbitz and ship yourself back like a piece of luggage. We have a job to do here.
Which given the hair across that butlers ass included a lot of doctoring and begging. The latter being Hollys milieu. And actually. . if she was scared, that worked to an advantage. She could leverage fear with the guy. Men normally responded well to that kind of thingespecially proper gentleman types who surely channeled chivalry through every one of their dry, spindly bones.
I really. . Holly pulled the silk lapels closer to her neck. . so that the front of the robe stretched tight against her hard nipples. Im freaking out.
Hmm. If this was a ploy to get him into bed. . he wasnt that tired. Come here.
He held out his arms, and as she came forward and put her body against his, he smiled as he stared over her head. God, she smelled good. Not that flowery shit she usually wore, but something darker. Nice.
Baby, you know youve got to stay with us. I need you to work your magic.
Outside, the Spanish moss swayed in the breeze, the moonlight catching it and creating the illusion of chiffon, so that the trees looked like they were be-gowned.
Somethings not right here, she said into his chest.
Down below, on the lawn, a lone figure ambled into view. Clearly, Stan going for a stoner stroll.
Gregg shook his head. The only thing thats not right is that damn butler. Dont you want to be famous? A special heres going to open doors for you. You could be hosting Dancing with the Stars next. Or Big Brother.
He could tell hed gotten her attention, because her body relaxed, and to help her along, he rubbed her back.
Thats my girl. He watched Stan wander along, hands in pockets, head looking away from the house, long hair moving in the wind. Another couple of yards and he was going to be bathed in moonlight as he stepped out from under the trees. Now, I want you to stay here with melike I said, you of all people should know these ghost stories are never anything more than creaking floorboards. We have a job just because people want to believe in creepy shit.
As if on cue, someone came up the stairs, the soft footfalls accompanied by some real Vincent Price specials, the whines and groans of the old wood penetrating the quiet.
Is that what youre afraid of? Just some bumps in the night? he said, pulling away and looking down at her. Her plump lips brought back some very fine memories and he brushed her mouth with his thumb, thinking that maybe shed gotten more silicon pushed into them. They seemed extra puffy and pretty.
No. . she whispered. Its not that.
So why do you think theres a ghost.
A knock on the door sounded out and Stans voice was muffled. Are you two fucking or can I go to bed now.
Gregg frowned and whipped his head toward the window. That lone figure stepped out into the wash of moonlight. . and disappeared right into thin air.
Because I just had sex with him, Holly said. I had sex with Eliahu Rathboone.
TWENTY-FOUR
Outside in the basement hallway at Xhexs, John was wearing a path in the stone floor. Up and back. Up and back. While he heard absolutely nothing through the door to the bedroom.
Which he supposed was a good thingno screaming or curses hopefully meant that Doc Janes exam wasnt causing pain.
Hed texted Rehvenge and told the male that Xhex had been found and they were going to try to get her back to the compound. He didnt mention the basement place, however. Clearly she wanted to keep this private, because if Rehv had known about it, the guy would have insisted on coming here after she wasnt at the hunting cabin.
After checking his watch, John raked his hands through his hair again and wondered how bonded males like Wrath and Rhage and Z handled shit like thisChrist, Z had had to go through watching Bella give birth. How the hell did they
The door opened and he wheeled around, his soles squeaking on the floor.
Doc Jane was grim. Shes agreed to go to the compound. V should be outside waiting in the Escaladecan you see if hes there?
John signed, Is she okay?
Shes been through a lot. Go check if the cars there, will you? And youre going to have to carry her out, okay? I dont want her walking and Im not using a stretcher because we dont need to cause a scene on the street.
John didnt fuck around and bolted out of the basement. Right on the curb, with lights off but the engine running, was the SUV. Behind the wheel, there was a flare of orange as V took an inhale from his hand- rolled.
The Brother put his window down. We taking her in?
John nodded once and rushed back inside.
When he came up to the door of Xhexs room, it was closed, so he knocked softly.
One minute, Doc Jane called out, her voice muffled. Okay.
He opened up and found Xhex still on her side. A towel had been wrapped around her and a fresh sheet draped her from head to foot. Christ. . he wished her skin offered a little more contrast to all that white shit.
John approached and thought it was odd. Hed never seen himself as taller than her before. Now he towered and not just because she was prone.
Im going to pick you up now, he signed while mouthing the words.
Her eyes locked on his and then she nodded and tried to sit up. As she struggled, he bent down and scooped her into his arms.
She didnt weigh enough.
When he straightened, Doc Jane quickly flipped the covers on the bed into a fold and motioned toward the door.
The stiffness in Xhexs body was costing her energy and he wanted to tell her to relax, but even if hed had a voice, that would have been a waste. She wasnt the kind to be carried under any circumstances, by anyone.
At least. . normally.
The corridor seemed twelve miles long, and outside, the three yards that it took for him to cross the sidewalk to the SUV was twice that far.
V hopped out from behind the wheel and opened the rear door. She can stretch out here. I put down blankets before I left.
John nodded and went to lay her on the soft nest that had been made.
Her hand reached up and locked onto his shoulder. Stay with me. Please.
He froze for a split second. . and then with brute strength, he stepped up and in while keeping his hold on her. Settling in was awkward. . but eventually he got them situated against the wall of the cars interior with his legs bent at the knees and her in his lap, cradled against his chest.
The doors were shut and then there were two more thunches and a roar of the engine.
Through the darkened windows, lights flared and receded as they sped out of town.
As Xhex started to shiver, he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, keeping her flush against his body and willing his warmth to go into her. And maybe it worked, because after a moment, she laid her head against his pec and the trembling eased off.
God. . he had wanted her in his arms for so long. Had imagined it and envisioned scenarios where it happened.
This was so not it.
He inhaled deeply, intending to let out a sigh. . and caught the scent he was throwing off. Dark spices. The kind he smelled on the Brothers when their shellans were around. The kind that meant his body was weighing in on his emotions and there was no going back.
Damn him to hell, there was no hiding the bonding and no stopping it. All along, since hed first met her, hed been inching closer and closer to that cliff, and clearly hed pitched over the side of it when shed fed from him.
John? she whispered.
He tapped lightly on her shoulder so she knew hed heard her.
Thank you.
He put his cheek down on her hair and nodded his head so she could feel it.
When she pulled herself out from under, he wasnt surprisedat least not until he realized that she wanted to look up at him.
Oh, Jesus, he hated the expression on her gaunt face. She was afraid to the point of terror, her deep gray eyes the color of flat asphalt.
Youre okay, he mouthed. Youre going to be okay.
Am I. Her eyes squeezed shut. Am I really.
If he had anything to do with it, shit, yeah.
Her lids popped open again. Im so sorry, she said hoarsely.
What for?
Everything. Treating you like I did. Being who I am. You deserve so much better. Im. . really sorry.
Her voice cracked at the end and as she started to blink, she laid her head back down and put her palm right on his beating heart.
It was moments like this when he desperately wished he could speak. After all, it wasnt like he was going to shuffle her around so he could get to his frickin pad of paper.
In the end, he just held her with care because that was all he had to offer.
And he wasnt mistaking this exchange for what it wasnt. An apology wasnt a declaration of love and it wasnt even necessary, because hed all but forgiven her anyway. Yet it helped him, somehow. It was still a far distance from the way hed hoped things would have gone between them, but it was a damn lot better than nothing.
John tugged the sheet up higher on her shoulder, then let his head fall back. Staring out of the darkened window, his eyes searched the stars that dotted the dense, velvety black of the night sky.
Funny, felt like heaven was up against his chest instead of all above the whole world.
Xhex was alive. And in his arms. And he was taking her home.
Yup. All in all, things could have been a fuckload worse.
TWENTY-FIVE
Lash would later reflect that you never knew who you were going to cross tracks with. You just never knew how a simple decision to go left or right at a corner would change things. a Sometimes the choices didnt matter. Others. . took you into unexpected places.
At the current moment, however, he had yet to come to that realization. He was just out in farm country, driving along, thinking about the time.
Just a little past one.
How much longer?
Lash glanced across the interior of the Mercedes. The prostitute hed picked up in an alley downtown was sufficiently good- looking and had enough silicon in her to do porn, but Plastic Fantastics drug habit had left her bony and twitchy.
Desperate, too. So strung out it had taken only a hundred-dollar bill to get her into the AMG on the way to a party.
Not far, he replied, refocusing on the road ahead.
He was disappointed as shit. When hed played this out in his head, Xhex was bound and gagged in the backseatmuch more romantic. Instead, he was stuck with this nasty hood rat. But he couldnt fight the reality he was in: he needed to feed and his father was expecting some business to be done and finding Xhex was going to require more time than there was to spare.
Among the worst of the concessions was that this bitch riding shotgun was a human: Far less useful than a female vampire, but he was hoping her ovaries worked in his favor when it came to sucking her blood.
More to the point, he hadnt been able to find one of his kind in a skirt.
You know, she said with a slur, I used to model.
Really.
Down in Manhattan. But you know, those bastards. . they dont really care about you. They just want to use you, you know.
Right. First, she needed to forget shed ever heard the phrase you know. And second, like she was doing so much better on her own up in Caldwell?
I like your car.
Thanks, he muttered.
She leaned over, her breasts bunching up over the pink basque she had on. The thing had grease smudges from dirty hands on the sides, like she hadnt washed it for a couple of days, and she smelled like fake cherries, BO and crack smoke.
You know, I like you. .
Her hand went to his thigh and then her head went down into his lap. When he felt her rooting around for his zipper, he grabbed a hunk of bleached-blond tangle and yanked her back up.
She didnt even notice the pain.
Lets not start this now, he said. Were almost there.
The woman licked her lips. Sure. Okay.
The shorn fields on either side of the road were washed in moonlight and the clapboard houses that dotted the scruffy patches glowed white. Most places had a porch light on and that was it. Around here, anything after midnight was waaaaaaay past bedtime for these folks.
Which was part of the reason it made sense to have an outpost here in the land of hot apple pie and American flags.
Five minutes later, they pulled up to the farmhouse and parked close to the front door.
No one else is here, she said. We the first ones?
Yeah. He reached forward to turn off the engine. Lets
The clicking sound next to his ear had him freezing.
The prostitutes voice was no longer fuzzy. Get out of the car, motherfucker.
Lash swiveled his head around, and all but French-kissed the muzzle of a nine-millimeter. On the other end of the weapon, the whores hands were stone steady and her eyes burned with the kind of canny smarts he had to respect.
Surprise, surprise, he thought.
Get. Out, she snapped.
He smiled slowly. You ever shot that thing before?
Loads. She didnt blink. And I dont have a problem with blood.
Ah. Well, good for you.
Get out
So whats the plan here. Order me from the car. Shoot me in the head and leave me for dead. Take the Mercedes, my watch, and my wallet?
And whats in your trunk.
You need a spare tire? You know, you can buy one at any Firestone or Goodyear outlet. Just FYI.
You think I dont know who you are?
Oh, he was quite fucking sure she hadnt a clue. Why dont you tell me.
Ive seen this car. Ive seen you. Ive bought your drugs.
A customer. How sweet.
Get. Out.
When he didnt move, she shifted the gun an inch to the side and pulled the trigger. As the bullet blew out the window behind him, he got pissed. It was one thing to play around. Another to cause property damage.
As she shifted the business end of the nine back between his eyes, he dematerialized.
Taking form around the other side of the car, he watched as she flipped out in her seat, looking all around, her frizzy hair flying this way and that.
Ready to teach her a thing or two about plans, he ripped open her door, and dragged her out by the arm. Getting control of the gun and her was the work of a moment, just a snatch and grab. And then he was tucking the nine into his belt at the small of his back and cranking her into a choke hold against his chest.