Why was he standing up to four vampires? And doing an excellent job of it, since he wasnt bleeding or dead.
Yet.
Did the man pick a fight wherever he went? Hed easily taken down four men the previous night. But tonights opponents were vampires. They had double, or even triple the strength of the strongest human man, not to mention a supernatural agility and speed.
The vampiress chuckled and checked Kaz with an expert kick, which landed her high-heeled boot aside his jaw. Her henchmen followed closely with more brutal punishment. None went at Kaz alone; they attacked en masse. One wrenched Kazs arm around behind his back, which caused Kaz to cry out in pain.
Kaz fell to his knees. The guy was outnumbered.
I just want to talk, he managed, then spat blood to the side. We dont need to do this. I made no move to harm you or your buddies.
Narrowing her gaze, Zoë saw that the weapon he held in his free hand was a stake. The very stake shed stolen from him? How many people carried stakes on them unless they expected to get into a tussle with a vampire?
Why hadnt she considered the possibility he was a hunter last night?
You were too googly-eyed at the time, remember?
Right. Rushing head-on into happily ever after and kicking her glass slippers aside with abandon.
A kick to Kazs back flattened him. His head was crunched under one of the vampiresss boot heels, and blood sputtered from his mouth.
Zoë cringed. The urge to rush for him, to help him in some way, had her teetering on the balls of her feetbut she wasnt stupid. If Kaz couldnt stand against the vampires, what could one feeble witch do but make it ten times worse?
From where she stood, she could fling some magic at them, but again, that would draw unnecessary attention to her. And she couldnt feel the magic that normally hummed at the tips of her fingers because right now she was anxious. She could never access her magic unless she was calm.
Dont kill him, she muttered as the female bent and wrenched up Kazs head by a hank of his hair.
Fangs exposed, the vampiress lunged for Kazs neck, yet the tips of those fangs did not prick skin. Releasing Kaz as if electrocuted, the vampiress jumped back, cursed and smacked a fist into her palm as she again swore aggressively.
Spitting on the fallen man, whose eyelids fluttered, the vampiress hissed something Zoë could not hear. Then she marched off, her henchmen in tow.
They didnt intend to kill him? Rarely did a vampire let a human go free without, at least, a bite. And all encounters were usually removed from the humans mind with persuasion, a means to enthrall the memory from their minds. It hadnt appeared as if any of the vampires had taken the time to enthrall Kaz.
Zoë waited until the vampires were out of sight, then dashed down the alley and squatted beside the fallen man. He bled from his mouth, ear and his split knuckles. Apparently, hed gotten in a few good punches.
The stake hed wielded lay beside his head. Acting on some sort of emergency autopilot, she shoved the stake inside his inner coat pocket, then lifted him by the shoulders. Her heel slipped on the leaf-strewn cobbles as her struggles nearly toppled her. He was heavy, and he wasnt helping her much because he was bleary. Zoë noticed his coat collar was edged with blades. She hadnt noticed them the other night. Strange fashion statement. She had to be careful not to get cut.
You need to get out of here before they come back. I dont know why she didnt bite you. Youre one lucky guy. Come on. Im going to help you to stand, but youre a big guy. You gotta do some work, too. Kaz?
With a mumbling grunt, he struggled to his feet as if drunk. She suspected that the bruise on his temple had him dancing in and out of consciousness. But he managed to hook an arm over her shoulder and stumbled along beside her. She had to abandon the grocery bag. With luck, she could run back to get it before someone nabbed it or a rat found the booty.
Zoë led him toward her home, maneuvered him through the door and deposited him on the couch in the living room. It took some delicate finessing to get the coat off his shoulders without cutting herself. His black T-shirt had torn to reveal a monstrous bruise below his ribs and along the side of his torso. A kidney shot. That one must have hurt like a mother.
Youre going to need a magical touch, she said. Fortunate for you, I can help you with that.
She stood over him, spread her feet and smacked her palms together. Rubbing them slowly to heat her palms, she recited a healing spell, closing her eyes and focusing on the resonation of her voice as it touched the air. The healing she performed went beyond herbs and potions that most Light witches used. Her father had taught her this magic, and she used it in all aspects of her magical needs.
Words fading, but sound rising, she hummed deep in her throat, centering the vibrations in her chest as she laid her hands over Kazs body.
At what she knew was an electrifying touch, Kazs chest pulsed upward and his arms flailed. Alert, he moaned, looked down over what she was doing, then, still discombobulated, settled back into the couch. Zoë spread her palms over his chest and shoulders and down his arms and hands, humming constantly to maintain the magics resonance. At his ribs, she concentrated the healing vibrations.
Sensing the shock of her magic as it permeated his skin, the man groaned again.
The healing had been laid upon flesh and bone. Now, to make it permeate. Rubbing her palms together again, she summoned a soothing numbness spell to tender his pains. Blowing the visible white mist toward his wounds, she noted that he blinked and opened his eyes.
The man saw the magic, and muttered, Y-youre a witch?
Yes.
Witches creep me out. And he passed out.
Is that so? Zoë righted, hands on her hips. Well, this creepy witch just reduced your healing time from a week to less than half a day. Ungrateful bit of...
She sighed. It was bad karma to be angry with someone who hadnt asked for it. He probably wasnt aware of what he had said. Pain often blurred rationality. She was thankful he was here, and not in the alley bleeding out, an open buffet for another vampire to come and snack on him.
But now a new problem had arisen. She may very possibly be harboring a hunter in her home. And for a witch who was friends with vampires, that was not a good thing.
Chapter 4
Kaz came to with a snort. Blinking his eyes, he squinted. Hmm, the ceiling was too high. The cloying scent of oranges and cinnamon concerned him, as well. His apartment usually smelled like the fake pine stuff the cleaning lady used during her monthly visits. And the couch he laid on felt hard and militant, not soft and lumpy like his.
Where was he?
He sat up abruptly, slapping a palm to his side where an ache pulled at his muscles and prodded his ribs. Curiously, that didnt hurt as much as he expected it should.
His shirt was off, and he poked at his side. One of the vamps had shanked him in the ribs with a steel-toed boot. The blow had battered his kidney, dizzied his senses and taken the fight from him. Yet why was he not doubled with pain right now?
Rarely was he bested by his opponents. Four vampires? No problem. And hed thought hed had an advantage over Switch, finding her as the sun was setting and catching her not at full strength. Not true at all. She hadnt been weak or seemingly fearful of the sun. And shed had her henchmen, who hadnt fought fairly, going at him all at once.
Stroking his fingertips along his neck, he searched for the inevitable wound, but his skin was smooth, save for the two-day stubble that reminded him he needed to shave. No bites? Hed almost forgotten. He wore a ward against vampires behind his ear. Whew.
Suddenly, Kazs vision landed on something soft and blue. Ruffles. The blue fabric danced around the hem of a black, pleated, wool skirt that stopped just above a pair of shapely knees. And higher, the narrow waist of that same black wool led up to a tiny blue bow centered between breasts that rose in soft mounds from the low neckline.
Mmm, now that looked like something that would eradicate the pain, if only he could touch...
Zoës hair swished to one side as she tilted her head and flashed him a bright smile. Rise and shine, Kaz. I have breakfast.
Breakfast? He had just been fighting.... But the room was light. Had he slept here on Zoës couch all night?
Chia pudding and blueberries.
She placed a bright yellow pottery bowl in one of his hands and held out a spoon, which he took without averting his eyes from her too sunny smile. Plucking out a blueberry from the bowl, she held it to his lips and, still trapped in a worshipful daze, Kaz opened his mouth to accept the offering.
Sweetness gushed across his tongue, even as he puzzled over the situation. As well, sweetness stood over him like some kind of Nightingale nurse rocking the schoolgirl look. What a sight to wake to. Unexpected, but hed take it over what might have happened had he been left to lie in the alley all night.
Had he walked here on his own? He couldnt recall much after taking the kidney punch. Had there been white smoke and chanting involved?
Theyre fresh. She tapped the bowl. I picked them this morning.
Zoë sat on the coffee table before the couch. Her eyes were brighter than the sky after a summer rain, and her pink smile looked almost sneaky. Or was she sizing him up, trying to figure what next shed steal from him?
He wondered where his stake was, and if he should search her. Not a bad idea, running his hands over those soft swells, emphasized by that tiny blue ribbon. Her breasts looked so full and firm. Maybe if he sort of fell forward and collapsed against her and nuzzled his face against them...
Whew! Kaz shook his head. Apparently, he still didnt have his wits about him.
His fingers conformed about the warm bowl but he had no appetite for food, only a strange spinning at the fore of his brain, and a growing curiosity. How did I get here?
You dont remember? He liked the husky edge to her voice. Bedroom sexy, but smart at the same time. Youve slept all night. I watched the vampires attack you in the alley. Since my place was close, I helped you walk here. Hows your side?
Shed witnessed him take that hellacious beating? Way to go, hunter. Good thing he hadnt had the opportunity to stake any of them. He was slacking. And why was that?
Because a sexy mouth and a pair of enticing breasts kept luring him back to this woman who felt right. And what was wrong with that?
He eased a couple fingers along his torso. Doesnt hurt as much as I think it should. I took a punishing shot to the kidney. Normally, I could have held my own against four miserableer...
Vampires? she offered sweetly. Im sure you could have, she said with a bit too much forced reassurance.
Vampires? Come on. Youve been watching too much TV.
You dont have to put on an act for me, Kaz. I could plainly see they were vampires. The pink-haired one tried to bite you, but she stopped before sinking in her fangs. Weird. Most vamps would never pass up a free meal like they did you.
Kazs jaw dropped open. Bloody hell, the woman knew too much. And he was damned if he didnt wish for some kind of persuasion like the vampires used so he could take that memory from her mind.
You can sit up with little pain because of the magic, Zoë said. Its a healing spell. Speeds up the healing process remarkably. Another two or three hours and you should be good as new.
Magic? Kaz now remembered bits and pieces of last night. Something about her chanting a spell as hed groaned deliriously. Her hands had moved over his skin as if they were heated instruments designed to soothe and suck out the pain. Hed seen a white mist float before him, and had known it was magic, had just known.
Youre a witch.
Arent you perceptive.
Her snark didnt rile him. He could deal with anything a female put to him. Except, apparently, three surprise henchmen. Damn, he should have had those vamps last night. But he hadnt wanted to use the stake when his only intention had been to talk and get information. That decision may have proven a mistake.
Another blueberry plucked from the bowl was placed at his mouth, and Kaz dutifully ate the juicy offering.
And you are some kind of vampire hunter, yes? Zoë blinked sweetly, awaiting his answer with wondering blue eyes.
He hadnt wanted to reveal himself like this. A knight was more discreet. But she couldnt have pinned him as a knight from the Order of the Stake, so that important detail was still a secret.
Something like that, Kaz replied.
He glanced to the table. Beside Zoës thigh lay his leather coat, folded in half, and on top of that lay the titanium stake. Enough damning evidence right there. But shed already held the stake in hand and she hadnt seemed to figure him out then.
Whats that? She nodded toward his shoulder.
Kaz slapped a hand over the brand hed received upon taking vows with the Order. Just a teenage thing. You know, crazy dare. Something like that.
Uh-huh, she uttered, tons of disbelief dripping from the nonwords.
You know too much, he said.
I know as much as any other paranormal breed should know about the world and all its wonders.
Kaz sighed and shook his head. She was a freaking witch. That put a new spin on the situation.
You didnt kill the vampires. Interesting, she noted.
Kaz licked his lips. Her lips were the color of raspberries. Kissable, despite the fact she was a witch.
From where I was standing, it appeared as if you didnt even try to stake your opponents. You were defending yourself, yet were unwilling to make a kill.
There was no need to slay them. I only take out those who harm humans. And I only wanted to talk. Unfortunately, vamps dont like talking to hunters. So youre a witch?
She placed a hand over his, which still clutched the spoon, on his thigh. Were talking about you now, Kaz. Well get to me later.
Something about her touch baffled him. And then it did not. He couldnt remember when hed last been touched with such kindness. And that scared the hell out of him.
So, she said, what did you want to talk to the vampires about?
Cant tell you that.
Secret hunter stuff? She winked and those long, dark lashes devastated his need to remain unaffected by her sensual allure. And that annoyed him. Because she was forcing business to merge with pleasure and he didnt like to do that. It never ended well.
Ill give you that, she said. I suppose hunters have to be all secretive to get the job done. Like Batman.
Batman? I dont have a cape.
Too bad. I bet you could work the cowl-and-cape look with that handsome square jaw. The stubble is sexy, you know.