Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (6 page)

**~***~**

As soon as they entered the room,
Nicole’s mind was swarmed with questions and racy allegations.  Similar to how
it would feel if a hundred red wasps were buzzing around her, looking for a
vulnerable place to attack.  All she had to do was show one small sign of
weakness and everything would fall apart.

He’ll lose interest in her fast.  She’s
too easy,
Morena’s venom filled voiced cackled in her mind.  Nicole mischievous side
began to creep to the surface as she listened to everyone speculating the
reasons she and Slade had left the party.  She stretched up to whisper in
Slade’s ear, “You’ll never guess what everyone thinks we’ve been up to.” She
giggled.

Slade flashed the sexiest smile she had
ever seen then pulled her gently against his chest as he moved closer to
whisper back in her ear, “Well, you must forgive me if I don’t rush to put an
end to that rumor,” he pressed a kiss to her cheek before turning his attention
back to the party.  “I think I’ll find another drink, my love.”

Nicole stared after him as he strode
into the crowd.  She absentmindedly touched the warm spot on her cheek where
Slade’s soft lips had been seconds ago.  Her stomach knotted tight as she tried
to reason out what just happened. 
I sure as hell hope he was playing along
for the crowd because I can’t deal with this right now.
Her mind raced as
she fought to put on a confident face for the room.  But in the end wasn't it
better to let everyone think that she and Slade had escaped to be intimate?  At
least that way no one would suspect she was any wiser about Slade's involvement
with Loch than she had been before their escape into the garden.

I will kill him,
echoed through
her head, sending a heart stopping shiver down her spine.  The familiar voice,
a voice she had been longing to hear, caused a large lump to form in her
throat.  She spun around in the direction of the soul deep pull as a warm
woodsy scent danced around her on the breeze from the open doors.  “Luke,” she
whispered staring past the glowing pool into the dark shadows of the garden.

The tall, broad warrior who was standing
guard beside the door turned to stare out the same direction as she was. 
Nicole knew the built in GPS that comes standard to every warrior had given
Luke away.  She started towards the door as the hard looking warrior moved
outside but was grabbed by the elbow.  “Let go,” she hissed, jerking her arm
away before she realized it was Slade.

“You can’t go to him.  He can’t be part
of your life anymore,” he whispered to her, careful to keep his voice from
being heard by the other party goers.

“I think I can choose who is in my life,
Slade,” she said, fighting to keep her voice low as anger and panic began to
fill her.  “I can’t just stand here and do nothing while those goons capture
him.” She started to move forward again but Slade grabbed her by the hand.

“We both know they won’t catch him. 
Nicole, please, you don’t want him to get hurt so you have to let him go,”
Slade looked at her with compassion and pleaded with his eyes.  “What do you
think Loch will do if he finds out Luke is here?”

Nicole thought about his words as her
eyes searched the dark night.  She could feel Luke moving away from the hotel,
leaving the goon that was pursuing him far behind.  Hadn’t that been the reason
she walked away?  Protecting Luke from the dangers of her life was why she came
to Ireland alone.  Tears began to swim in her eyes as she realized Slade was
right.  She couldn’t run into Luke’s arms, no matter how bad her heart longed
for him to hold her.  The danger was too real.  She had to keep things together
for everyone even if it meant sacrificing her wants; her wants that included
having Luke.

Slade turned her to face him then lifted
her chin so he could look her in the eyes, “You’re doing the right thing.” 
Seeing her misty eyes, he pulled her into a hallway that provided a small amount
of privacy.

Nicole nodded as a single tear escaped
making a wet trail down her cheek.  Slade pulled her into his arms and she
didn’t resist.  She needed someone to understand her pain and Slade was that
person.  He was her only ally in a new world that she could barely fathom and
at times feared.  “Thank you for helping me,” she whispered into his chest.

“I know this is hard on you.”  He slid
the back of his fingers across her cheek, drying away the tears.  “I’ll do
whatever it takes to help you but Luke can’t be involved.  Luke will only make
things tougher for you,” he pulled back from her so he could see into her eyes
as he spoke. “There’s always the chance he will turn on you for his father.”

Nicole’s eye’s widened at his words. 
“He wouldn’t turn on me,” she shook her head as she took a step back from
Slade.  “I know Luke is loyal to me,” her muscles began to tense as her anger
bubbled to the surface.

Slade reached forward tucking a stray
strand of hair behind her ear then he cupped her face in his hands.  Forcing
her to look into his pale, pity filled eyes while he spoke, “If he hadn’t let
Loch out of prison we wouldn’t be standing here, on the edge of this battle. 
Nicole, you are too kind for your own good.  You’re a cop for god’s sake.  You
have to use what you know and not let your emotions force you into bias
decisions.”

Nicole pulled her face out of his hands
and backed away again.  She glared at him, biting her bottom lip as she
carefully thought through her words before speaking.  “You don’t know a damn
thing about him or me.”  She walked back out into the crowd, now thinking it
was much better to face their glaring eyes than Slade.

**~***~**

Nicole spent the next hour mingling
among her enemies, sampling their minds and making mental notes on who she
needed to watch out for, but not coming out with any new information that she
thought was useful.  After a bit she settled into a chair next to Cal, Mr.
Casey’s chatty wife.  She seemed to be one of the few people here who was
genuinely kind and had no dark, hidden motives lurking in her thoughts.

“Are you enjoying the party dear?”

“I guess so.  I’ve met so many people
but I’m sure I will never remember half of their names,” Nicole replied.

Cal chuckled softly, “Don’t worry, most
of those snoots aren’t worth remembering.”

Nicole smiled back at the gray haired
woman who’s eyes sparkled with a fiery, youthful glow.  “I take you’re having
as much fun as I am tonight?”

“I hate these cocktail parties.  They
are always full of power hungry leeches,” Cal leaned in close to Nicole,
lowering her voice into a whisper.  “I’m sure that’s what’s driving Slade to
drink so much.  If I had to put up with those people clinging onto my every
breath I would be downing ever drop of alcohol I could find too.”

Nicole leaned back in her chair as she
looked across the room to where Slade was standing.  Morena had her arm laced
around his as he finished off another glass of wine.  He glanced in Nicole’s
direction, a pained look met her behind his glassy eyes but his attention was
quickly brought back to the group as Morena giggled loudly and placed a hand on
his chest.  Nicole sighed as she thought about how she had left things with
Slade earlier.  He really did want to help her put an end to Loch and here she
was being a royal bitch to him.

“I wouldn’t let that tramp worry me too
much.  She’s been trying for the longest to latch onto Slade but I think he
sees past the pretty face and fake boobs.”

Nicole could feel her cheeks heat as she
realized Cal thought she was jealous of Morena, “Oh, no…It’s not like that
between Slade and me.  We’re just friends.”

Cal studied Nicole’s face for a moment
then patted her on the arm and nodded, “Yes, well, I don’t guess an old woman
like me should be meddling in things like that anyway.  I was just thinking out
loud.  It’s a bad habit of mine
—
a sign of getting old, dear,” she chuckled.

“I know you’re not meddling,” Nicole
smiled.  “It’s nice to find someone who is looking out for me in a room full of
strangers.  Talking to you kind of makes me home sick.  My dad was always the
one who would give me advice about everything, men included.” Nicole swallowed
hard trying to keep her voice from giving away how much she truly missed her
old life.  She always had her dad to lean on when times got rough and she
didn't realize how much she had been taking him for granted all these years.

“Well I’m sure if your dad was here he
would be telling you the same thing.  That girl is trouble and I see the way
Slade looks at you.  Hell, he doesn’t go a few minutes without looking at you.”
Cal looked back in the direction of Slade then continued, “But if you just want
to be friends, I think now is the time to prove how good of a friend you can
be.”

Nicole followed the woman’s gaze out
into the party and was shocked as her eyes fell on Slade.  He was making his
way over to them in a zig-zag pattern and this wasn’t some covert, warrior
inspired move.  This was Slade when he had finally met his limit of drinks. 
She hurried over to him and slid her arm around his waist to offer some
support.

Slade pulled back from her to attempt to
glare at her with his unsteady vision, “You and I need to talk,” he slurred.

“Sure thing, but I think we should talk
tomorrow when you’re sober.”

“No we….are going to…talk now,” he said
as he weaved on his feet, fighting hard not to fall on his face.

Nicole put her arm back around him as
she took a deep breath to steady her nerves for the fight that was about to
happen, “Let me get you back to your room and then we will talk.”

Slade stared at her for a few seconds,
mulling over her suggestion, then nodded in agreement. “Fine,” he snipped.

His brows were pinched together and his
lips were drawn in a hard line but his coordination reminded Nicole of a
toddler.  She bit her lip to hold in the giggle that was fighting to escape as
they started moving forward.

“Where the hell do you think you’re
taking him?”

A hand wrapped around Nicole’s shoulder
from behind, jerking her to a stop thus causing her grip on Slade to loosen. 
He began to stumble forward and she hurried to steady him before he fell and
then turned to face Morena. “I’d suggest you keep that hand off me if you want
to keep it,” Nicole whispered trying not to draw any more eyes on her than
Slade already had with his drunken display.

“I know what you’re trying to do and I’m
not going to stand by and let you get your country bumpkin claws into him,”
Morena took a defiant step towards Nicole with her chin raised high.

“Morena, I’ve already had this
conversation with you once and I’m not going to repeat myself so take your
jealous ass somewhere else.  I’m just taking him back to his room so he can
sleep this off.”  Nicole readjusted herself under Slade’s shoulder and started
moving towards the door again.

They only made it a few feet when Nicole
was jerked to a stop and spun around, causing Slade to go crashing into a table
and then roll to the floor.  Morena stood nose to nose with her, a one sided
smirk pasted on her face, “You are not leaving with him,” she hissed as she
swung her hand, slapping Nicole across the cheek.

Nicole’s body began to shake as she
touched the throbbing spot on her face, “You can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Nicole sent one, well aimed punch to the center of the powder white face of
Morena, taking joy in the cracking sound that accompanied the blow.  Morena
crumpled to the floor screaming as she cupped her bleeding nose.

All eyes turned on Nicole causing the
pride of knocking Morena off her pedestal to deflate.  She stood frozen in
place, debating on what she could do to smooth things over when she heard
chuckling coming from beside her.  Cal walked up with a wide grin on her face
as she looked down at Morena sniveling on the floor, “I knew it would happen
and it’s about time,” she laughed.  “Come on honey, I’ll help you get Slade off
the floor.”

They moved over to where Slade was
sitting with a smug look on his face as he had watched the scene play out. 
They pulled him up and Cal helped Nicole get under his arm again, “Now, I don’t
think you’ll have any more trouble getting him out of here.

“Thank you Cal,” Nicole said over her
shoulder as they moved toward the door.

“No, thank you dear.  This has been the
best party I’ve been too in a long time,” she winked then looked back to where
two men were helping Morena up from the floor and chuckled again.

**~***~**

Nicole sighed with relief when she
finally released Slade onto his bed.  She helped him take off his jacket and
shoes then went to work turning down his bed covers.  “We still need to talk,”
slurred Slade as he fumbled with the button on his dress shirt.

Nicole couldn’t stop herself from
blushing when she realized she was watching with deep amazement as each button
popped open, revealing his marble hard chest a little at a time.  She gave
herself a good mental slap and turned her attention out to the terrace.  She
pretended to be interested in the view of the night sky outside the large glass
doors.  “I think that we should leave that conversation for another time
Slade.  You need to sleep.”