Ollie, Ollie Hex 'n Free (10 page)

Cheney seemed to read my thoughts. “Wouldn’t want to risk it with the baby. Thanks though.”

“Probably a good choice. I’ll keep my ears open though. Call if you need me.” She waved over her shoulder as she left.

I went to the window and stared out at the setting sun. Corbin was coming. I could feel him getting closer as easily as I could feel Cheney standing in the room. The marriage bond was supposed to break the bond with the vampire but it hadn’t. It was possible nothing ever would. Had Corbin looked for a solution or was he happy with the arrangement? Tied into my life—and, by proxy, Cheney’s—would only secure his own. He would be nearly impossible to defeat and vampires liked power. Then again though, he told me he loved me. I couldn’t imagine being attached forever to someone I loved who would never love me back. It was a wound that would never heal.

“What are you thinking?” Cheney asked, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my cheek. “You look so sad.”

“Just wondering how Sebastian and Sy are doing.”

“Mmmmm. I don’t think you’re being honest.” His cheek rested against my hair.

“Corbin is on his way.”

Cheney’s body went rigid behind me. “How do you know that?”

“We’re still bound together,” I whispered, hating the shame I felt in speaking the words.

He was quiet for too long. My chest burned, tears coming to my eyes.

“You didn’t tell me.” His voice was soft and not at all accusatory—only making me feel worse.

“I thought if he stayed away, it would get better, but I think it has made it worse and now Corbin is mad and he won’t help us.”

“So it isn’t better?”

I shook my head. “I seem to be getting more and more aware of him.”

Cheney sighed. “That’s how you recovered from your battle with Jessica so fast. What does any of this mean? How does it change things?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want it to change anything, but I also can’t keep denying it. We all have to figure out a way to live with this. Our lives are connected—possibly forever.”

“Let me know when he gets here. Meanwhile, I’m going to call Sebastian.” Cheney pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. “No answer.” Worry thinned his lips.

“Do you think Jess has already attacked?”

“Surely not. Try Sy.”

I grabbed my phone and called Sy. No answer from him either. “We have to go now,” I told him after I hung up.

Cheney put a hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know what’s happening. It could be nothing.”

“And they could be in trouble.”

Cheney nodded. “If something is happening, which we don’t know for certain, Sebastian and Sy are both good fighters. They’ll be fine. They will protect Katrina and Leslie.”

“And what if they are outnumbered. We have no idea.”

“And what if we go and ruin Sebastian’s plan.”

I sighed. “I’ll call Frost. She can check in on the girls without raising suspicion.”

“That’s a better plan.” Despite his words I could see the worry etched across his face. Sebastian wouldn’t not answer his call unless something was happening.

Another pain, even worse than before, stabbed my side. I dropped to floor, clutching my belly. Cheney knelt beside me and pressed his hand over mine.

“What is it? What’s happening?” Fear flashed in his eyes as I gasped for breath but couldn’t see to draw air. “Get a doctor,” he shouted to the guards in the hallway.

A doctor wouldn’t help. My vision was already going dark.

A brunette and a redhead stood in front of me, all soft curves and barely there clothing. As apologies went, I had received worse ones. I stared at the two vampire groupies. Were they a test? Paolo was still suspicious. Had he seen Selene outside the bar?

The women came with a handwritten note from him: “Sorry I doubted you. Enjoy.” Simple and straightforward enough, and that was exactly the problem.

In the hundreds of years I had known and worked with Paolo, he doubted me plenty, but never once sent an apology or even said he was sorry for anything. Vampires don’t follow you because you are polite. Despite his outward appearance he was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. For the last decade or so his one desire had been the head of a vampire named Thomas who had attracted attention to our kind by trafficking rare races to the highest bidder. It wasn’t so much the crime that got under Paolo’s skin, or even the attention it drew to us. It was the fact that Thomas didn’t ask permission.

However, Thomas managed to stay one step ahead of me, which pissed me off and put my partnership with Paolo on rocky terms. Why couldn’t I catch him? he’d ask. Why was I allowing so many distractions to keep me from my one job? The sole purpose of my being was to kill anyone who crossed Paolo. If I couldn’t do that, what use was I to him?

The groupies were definitely a test, but a test of what I had no idea. I refolded the note and slipped it into my back pocket before opening my arms to both of them. Their warm bodies slipped against either side of me as we wordlessly went back to the bedroom. I kissed the redhead, drawing deeply from her, then the brunette. The redhead unbuttoned my shirt and bit my chest hard. I grabbed her face and kissed her again, deeper, tasting my own blood on her lips before tossing her onto the bed. The brunette stripped my shirt away completely and molded herself against my back as we moved toward the mattress. The redhead rose to her knees and slipped out of her top. Behind me, my brunette friend nipped my shoulder and slipped her hands round my front, dipping beneath the waistline of my pants.

I closed my eyes, picturing the hands I really wanted on me, as she stroked the length of me. A second set of lips started on my stomach and slowly worked their way down. I continued drawing energy from them, but not enough to permanently damage the women. Paolo would expect his groupies back.

The button around my waist came undone and the zipper pulled down, when the bloody fucking pain hit. My muscles jerked and my hand closed around the neck of the redhead, taking waves of life force from her. Pure survival instinct clouded my thoughts as I fought against a pain that felt like I was dying. I struggled to breathe. Then just like that it passed. I slowly came back to reality—the reality where I was killing the redhead as the brunette tried and failed to help her friend, unable to pry my fingers away.

I released the woman at once and took multiple steps away from them. A long gray streak spread through the redhead’s hair and her face visibly aged as I watched, hoping it would stop. It did, finally. She looked about fifteen years older, but at least she was still alive.

This had to end. I had to see Selene. The pain hit me again, harder. I dropped to my knees. “Get out,” I managed to say before I lost control again.

The soft tender emotions were easier to ignore, like when she was happy or amused or even sad. I didn’t need to know why or what was happening to Selene. I didn’t have to care. The pain, however, demanded attention. It hit on a primal level that demanded I kill my unseen attacker. Only it wasn’t my attacker, it was hers. Even though I knew it was the phantom stabs she had been experiencing, I couldn’t let it go. What if something was killing her? I had to see her. I hastily dressed and headed back to the castle, generally pissed off.

I didn’t bother waiting in the garden. I was done with that bullshit. If she was going to ruin my life, I was going to return the favor. I stalked to the front door and knocked the guard out of the way. Three other guards came charging at me, but then stopped when the one I’d pushed past spoke. “He is expected. Take him to the Erlking.”

I was beckoned forward and accompanied through the long hallways. “I didn’t come here to see the Erlking,” I said.

The guard continued up a flight of stairs as if I hadn’t spoken. At the top he stopped at the third door on the right and knocked.

“It’s about time,” Cheney said, opening the door almost immediately. “Oh, it’s you.” He scowled at me then back at the guard. “Find out where the doctor is and drag him here if you have to.”

My anger flat lined. It hadn’t been a phantom pain. Selene lay huddled on the couch, trembling beneath several thick blankets. I took her hand and lowered myself to the floor at her side.

Her pale lips stretched into a feeble smile. “I knew you were coming.”

“You know, pet, there are easier ways to get my attention.”

She laughed, but it turned into a cough. “What’s happening to me?” she asked, closing her eyes and pulling the covers tighter. “I’m so tired and cold.”

Cheney paced the room watching us, but not coming closer. “Can you help her?” he finally asked through clenched teeth. “There’s nothing I can do. I tried to heal her, but there is nothing to heal.”

The bond already allowed her to siphon life from me. I wasn’t sure there was much more I could do for her. “Maybe a more direct connection. I don’t know though.”

He stopped and stared at my hand holding hers. “Whatever you have to do,” he said quietly.

I put my hand behind Selene’s neck. Her eyes fluttered open. Gently, I scraped my lips against hers. I couldn’t give her what she needed. That wasn’t how this worked. She had to take it like she did in purgatory. It was the only way. Her lips stiffened against mine and she tried to push me away, but I held her close.

“Shhh.” I brushed the back of my hand down her cheek. “Save yourself, pet.” I pressed my lips to hers again and waited through her indecision and guilt. Finally she responded. First there was a gentle tug in the center of my chest, then a tear followed by a flood of energy pouring into her. Her fingers curled into the back my hair as she fed.

I pulled back and sat on my heels, with a wave of dizziness. Selene pushed the covers to the side and sat up, the back of her hand pressed against her lips. She looked stronger. Her gaze found Cheney’s and her hand dropped. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

He shook his head, came to her and pressed his forehead against hers. “Don’t be. Whatever it takes to keep you with me.”

Both of her hands rested on his cheeks. “I love you,” she whispered.

He loved her. He legitimately loved her and I hated him for it. I had to get out of there and away from them. I stood too fast and had to grab onto the fireplace mantle to steady myself.

“I took too much,” Selene said, standing up and reaching toward me.

I dodged her outstretched hand. “It’s fine,” I said, not taking my eyes off of her hand, knowing exactly what her touch would be: a threat to my sanity.

There was a sharp knock on the door before it opened. Another guard stuck his head in. “The doctor has arrived and so has a bounty hunter, your majesty.”

Selene looked at Cheney. “Frost,” she said. “Send the doctor away. Does the bounty hunter have anyone with her?”

He nodded once. “She has the witch.”

“Ask the doctor to wait. And send the bounty hunter to the dungeon,” Cheney said and the guard left. “You need to see the doctor. Jessica will wait.”

“I’m not waiting. I’m fine now. The doctor can’t help me.”

“You don’t know that,” Cheney said.

“I do too. And so does he,” she pointed at me.

I let myself go still. “I don’t know anything of the sort. All I know is whatever is happening to you has to stop. If that means you have to be carried kicking and screaming to see the doctor it can be arranged.”

She glared at me.

“You care to do the honors?” Cheney asked me with a slight smile.

“No.” I held my hands up. “She’s all yours.”

Selene whipped around to him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“In fact, I would. Now you can either go on your own or…”

She ground her teeth. “Fine. But no one even talks to Jess before I get down there.”

“Agreed.” Cheney winked at her and she stormed out.

Cheney watched her go then looked back at me. “Thank you,” he said. I squeezed the bridge of my nose. I was losing my fucking mind. “Believe it or not,” he continued, “I know exactly what it feels like.”

My body prepared for whatever surge was going to come next. I was fairly certain he didn’t have any fucking inkling what this felt like. “What is that?”

“To not have her, but also to not be able to let her go. When she was reborn as a human we were actually married. I was bound to her, but she wasn’t to me.”

“She has a knack for that.”

“The point is, I do understand. You’re handling it better than I did.”

There was nothing to say. The image of the redhead’s aged face popped into my mind. I wasn’t handling it at all and soon enough Paolo would know I was hiding something and wouldn’t stop until he knew what it was exactly.

“Are you coming?” Cheney asked, nodding toward the doorway.

Selene had her worst attack around the time the witch was being captured. Coincidence, maybe. But Jessica had also made me an offer. She was willing to give me Selene in exchange for the child, which meant she believed she had a way to control Selene. If the pain in Selene’s side wasn’t physiological then Jessica had to be the prime suspect. “Wouldn’t miss it.” I followed him down to the dungeon.

Frost was leaned casually against a wall, staring into a locked cell. “You sure this will hold her?” she asked, flipping her long white braid over her shoulder as she looked at Cheney. Her eyes darted to me for a split second and her lips thinned. “What’s he doing here?”

“Miss me?” I asked.

She crossed her arms. “No.”

“The cell will hold. Her magic will be useless in there. The only way she’ll get out is if someone lets her out,” Cheney said. “Where are Sebastian and Sy?”

“Sy went back to the Office. Sebastian stayed with the girls.”

“How’d you catch her?” I asked. I had witnessed Jessica also do the shadow trick. Why didn’t she use it again this time?

“She didn’t know I was there. She had Katrina cornered and the other girl had Leslie. I hit Jessica over the head with a skillet and the others fled”

“Did she say anything?” Cheney asked. “Not while I was there. She just dropped like a bag of rocks. And when she did, everyone else left.” Frost shrugged. “It’s suspicious as hell, I know.”

“Maybe she wanted to be caught.”

“She didn’t know Sebastian and Sy were there,” Cheney said. “We set a trap.” He shook his head. “Regardless, we have her which means we have everything we need. I’ll have Sebastian bring the girls back here.”

He walked away, leaving Frost alone with me in the dark hallway. I hadn’t seen her since the night at the cemetery when Selene was supposed to have killed her, but didn’t. That had been our deal. I would seduce the necromancer and get the information Selene wanted in exchange for the necromancer’s life. Her ability to perform death magic gave her the potential for entirely too much control over my race. If other vampires knew of her existence, she’d be everyone’s target.

“How have you been?” she asked.