Blood and Loss (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (8 page)

Chapter 7

We pulled into my driveway. I leaned my forehead on the steering wheel. Lucius was taking up way too much space in my tiny car and he was going to turn my cozy little bungalow into a wrestling ring. I wondered if moving into my car was a viable solution.

I could feel his eyes on me
and decided to ignore him. “Why are we staying here and not going into the house?” He sounded bored.

I rolled my head to the side so I could look at him. Seriously, it had to be Lucius. “When we go in there
, Declan is going to go ballistic. There will be fighting and screaming, so I am just enjoying my last few moments of peace.”

“If that is your only reason
, then we can go in. Your roommate isn’t home.”

“How do you know?”

“There are no heartbeats in your house.”

Lovely, how nice
. I wondered if there are any other little tricks he could do. I had worked for vampires for five years and I still couldn’t get used to all their superpowers. I was relieved I could put off the Declan debacle. It wasn’t going to be any easier in the morning, but at least I didn’t have to deal with it now.

When we got in
and Lucius pointed to my room. “Is this your room?”

“Yes
.”

He proceeded to put his bags in there. “What the hell are you doing?”
My voice had more panic than anger in it.

“I am putting my things in our room.”

“Oh no, there is no ‘our’ room. You can have the couch.” I was beyond angry and he was looking at me with those calm blue eyes. My feelings didn’t seem to bother him in the least.

“I am staying in y
our room with you. If I stay out here, you could be gone before I even know there is anything wrong. The fae have magic that can transport you away instantly. I am going to stay as close to you as possible.”

“You are not sleeping in my room.”
Declan’s head was going to explode.

“I don’t sleep. I only rest.
I will be able to watch over you while you slumber.”

“That is supposed to make me fe
el better? Watching me while I sleep is creepy. Plus who says ‘slumber’?”

“
I am not here to ease your mind. I am here to make sure you don’t come to harm.” He arched one eyebrow as if he was daring me to continue to argue.

“What if I sleep in the nude?”

“Then it will give me something interesting watch.” He grinned and looked me up and down before going into my room.

I blushed from head to toe. Had the big bad just flirted with me?
Why was he so good at making me so angry? He could get me at every turn. I stomped into my bathroom to change into my PJs. I only wore oversized t-shirts to bed. I wasn’t changing that for him. A part of me did wish I had the guts to go naked. That would show him. Although the way he looked at me, I had a feeling it wouldn’t bother him at all.

Lucius had already made himself at home. He was lying in my bed
, wearing only his boxers. I only ever thought of him as scary, but right now, he looked so sexy I had to close my mouth to prevent excess drool from escaping. His muscular chest begged for me to run my hands over it. I swallowed hard, trying to come out of my hormone-induced trance.

“My eyes are up here
, Goldilocks.” He pointed to the body part in question.

Oh! Just great
; I got caught checking out the sexy vampire. He was arrogant enough. He certainly didn’t need me feeding his ego. “You are not staying in my bed.” Could you die from embarrassment? I think I was slipping away.

“Yes I am. There is no place else in this shoebox you call a room.” His tone said he was done discussing it.

“My room is a perfect size for me.”
I knew I would regret this, but I was too tired to argue. Tomorrow I would have more strength to deal with this insane situation. “Fine, but no funny stuff.”

He laughed and it
sounded very human. “I will try to control myself from all funny stuff, but the way you were looking at me, I think I am the one who should be worried.” He smiled, enjoying my embarrassment.

“Trust me
; you are totally safe.” Egotistical bastard. Quintus was getting an earful in the morning. I’d rather call the fae and tell them to pick me up and get it over with.

I
gingerly got in bed beside him. I had never shared a bed with a man before. Sometimes Declan would come in and lay with me for a while if I had one of my nightmares, but never like this. Facing away from him, I perched on the very edge. Please don’t let me fall off in the middle of the night. If I do, I can only hope I can die of embarrassment.

“You don’t look very comfortable. Do you always sleep so close to the edge?”
He was enjoying this way too much.

“I am fine. Now if you don’t mind
, I’d like to go to sleep.”

It took me a long time to drift off.
I could feel his eyes on my back. You’d think having a big strong man sleeping beside me would make me feel safe. I was too worried I would drool in the middle of the night, or worse I would snore. Exhaustion finally won over my mind and I fell into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 8

The
sun teased me from my broken sleep. Most people like their room dark so they can sleep as long as possible. I love nothing more than being woken up by the warmth of the sun. My room doesn’t get the sun until late afternoon, which is usually my wake-up time. I opened my eyes to find Lucius lying in basically the same position he was in when I went to sleep. I didn’t know the exact age a vampire could tolerate full sun, but whatever it was, Lucius had attained it.

Rolling over on my back
, I stretched away the last bit of sleep. The big bad was staring at me. “Why are you looking at me like that? You look like you just ate something sour.”

“Well
, hmmm, where to start?” He sounded too amused for my liking.

“Stop it. That weird smile is freaking me out.”
Who would think having a man that looked like Lucius in my bed would be such a pain in the ass?

“Do you always wake up looking so stunning?”
Then he burst into a loud laugh.

“Stop it
; that is so rude.” I was stunned. It was bad enough he was my bodyguard, but now he was insulting me and laughing. It actually hurt my feelings and that made me even more irritated.

“I can’t help it. It has been a long time since I shared a bed with a human and I forgot how a night of sleep can
… transform you.”

“You
are no piece of cake to wake up to either.” He actually looked good enough to eat, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Would you like
me to check your hair for creatures or anything else that may be lurking in there? It does look rather nest-like.” His voice was playful, but I was in no mood for being teased.

“Do you charm all the ladies with that silver
tongue?”

“I’m sorry
. The smell of your breath is making me a little lightheaded. I hope after a shower and thorough tooth brushing, you will be back to normal or I will have to ask Quintus for danger pay.”

Okay
, everyone has a breaking point and this was mine. “Seriously, I have tried to be friendly with you for five years. I never asked us to be besties, but I thought if we could get along at work, it would make things less awkward. I know you are probably pissed at this assignment, but I am going to have to ask you to at least be civil if you are going to be staying in my home.”

His smile dropped and he went perfectly still. You never know how much a human moves until you sit next to a vampire who has decided to go totally still. Well
, at least this wasn’t awkward.

“I never knew you were trying to be friends
, Cassandra. Quintus always told us to treat you with respect and deference. We were supposed to let you take the lead in any relationship you decided to have with any of us. He is my sire. When he says ‘hands off,’ I have to obey.”

“I can’t believe Quintus said that.” Now I felt like I didn’
t have a right to be mad at anyone, which of course made me even madder.

“He said that when he first brought you to us.
He said it so you wouldn’t be traumatized by a bunch of vampires trying to be friendlier than you were ready for.”

“
So you don’t hate me?” I regretted the small crack in my voice.

“No more so than anyone else.
Well, except when you first came to us. Those puppy dog eyes that followed Quintus everywhere were exceptionally annoying. You seem to have work through that, though.”

“So after a night in my bed you feel so comfortable with
me that you point out my hygiene issues?”

“
That, and I reminded Quintus of his original order to give you a wide berth. I told him if I was going to do my job, we had to be able to get to know one another. He rescinded the order. Plus that hair and breath were begging to be pointed out.” He had a very superior grin on his face that made my blood pressure zoom through the roof.

He was too much to handle first thing in the morning. I needed coffee and then
, apparently, a total makeover. Maybe if I stopped wearing deodorant then he would sleep on the couch. Lucius glided out of bed with a grace most men his size don’t have. I got to have one more tasty glimpse of his hard body before he slipped on his robe.

“
Lead on, MacDuff.” He looked too happy. After years of seeing only a sour look on his face, it would have been a nice change if it hadn’t been at my expense.

Shuffling towards the kitchen
, I yawned and mumbled a good morning to Declan. I was about to reach for the coffee pot when Lucius pulled me behind him. My feet tripped over one another and only a very desperate wind-milling of my arms kept me upright. When I was steady again, I peeked around Mount Bodyguard. Declan was sitting at our kitchen table, every muscle in his body was tightly clenched and ready to fight at any minute.

“Calm down or you will have to leave.” Lucius was back to being all business.

I was angry at both of them. I was angry at Lucius for thinking he could tell my roommate he had to leave and at Declan for being so angry.
“What is wrong, Declan? You are scaring me.”

He looked me in the eye. It was a
stranger staring back at me. “I might sleep around, but I have too much respect for you to ever bring one of them home. I thought you could at least return the favor.”

I didn’t see this coming and I should have. Declan should know me better than this.
I hadn’t slept with anyone in the five years we had lived together. He knew this because I complained about it constantly. Then again, he was insanely jealous of any man who came within ten feet of me. “Declan, don’t make an ass out of yourself. Lucius has been assigned as my bodyguard. We are not sleeping with each other.”

“I can smell him all over you. Don’t lie on top of what you did with that
corpse,” he snarled.

“
How do you smell him on me?”

“You smell like a
dead body.”

No wonder I couldn’t get anyone to have sex with me
. I had bad breath, nest-like hair, and I smelled like a corpse.

“What Cassandra and I did in her bed last night is none of your business.”

I hit Lucius and hurt my hand in the process. “That is not helping. Can you go out back so I can talk to Declan alone?”

“You have
ten minutes; no more.” He turned to Declan. “Lay one finger on her and you will be out that window before you have time to blink.”

Once he closed the pa
tio door, I turned to my best friend. I didn’t know if I was angry or sad. He was so exasperating. “You should know better than to think I would pick up some random guy and sleep with him. I don’t have a choice. Quintus said it was this or move in with him. I am leaving the decision up to you.”

“Since when do you take orders from Quintus and you didn’t have to have
him in your bed.”

“Technically
, I take orders from him all the time. He is my boss.”

“So he told you to have Mr. Muscles sleep in your bed?”

“What do you care who is in my bed? It isn’t like you’ve ever shown any interest in being there.” Wow, my amazing ability to make an awkward situation even more uncomfortable never fails to shine.

His eyes softened and he reached for me, but I stayed out of
range. “I care about you, sweets. No human has ever come out on top when dealing with vampires. Working for them is one thing, but this bodyguard is another. Quintus is acting like he owns you.”

“
It isn’t like that, Declan. It’s a long story, but getting back my powers is going to stir up trouble and Quintus thought I needed Lucius to protect me. If you hate having him here, I’ll go and stay at the mansion. I know this isn’t fair to you.”

He
got up from the table and slipped his strong arms around me. I leaned into his warm chest. His lips pressed onto the top of my head. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I know you better than that. I just hated knowing that dead bastard was in your bed all night. What if he had attacked you?”

“Quintus trusts Lucius with his life. He wouldn’t have someone protect me that might hurt me. He doesn’t want me hurt. Why can’t you believe that?”

“I believe it. I just don’t trust the motive behind it.”

“What difference does it make what the motive is as long as I am safe
?”

He looked toward
the patio door. “Lurch is coming back. I’ll be in my room.”

The rest of the morning
, we moved about the house trying not to get in each other’s way. Lucius just smirked at everything, making me wish I were strong enough just to tear that look from his face. It was probably a good thing I wasn’t strong because I wanted to tear a lot of people’s faces off.

I tried to talk with my roommate several times, but he only looked at Lucius and gave me one
-word replies. If things didn’t get better, I would have to go to live with Quintus. Lucius could have made things easier, but he followed me like we were tethered to one another.

Declan left
, either on errands or because he couldn’t stand being in his own home anymore. He didn’t even come home before he went to work. Life was turning upside down and I had a feeling things were only getting started. Having a shadow was driving me crazy and it was only day one.

“Would you like to go for a walk
, Goldilocks? I feel like burning off some energy.”

“
Don’t call me ‘Goldilocks’ and no drinking from people in my presence,” I snapped.

He lowered his eyes and it
looked like he was trying to decide something. “I know your history and I would never do that in front of you.”

He almost sounded hurt that I had even suggested
it. “Thank you.” I guess the Tin Man really did have a heart.

The beach was a brisk
forty-five-minute walk from my house. I made the trip as often as I had time. You can take the girl out of Nova Scotia, but you can’t take Nova Scotia out of the girl. My happiest memories were going to the beach with my parents and grandparents. Walking along the beach was a form of therapy. I always felt better afterwards.

The
walk was peaceful. Lucius never uttered a word, saving all his energy for scoping out potential dangers. I was particularly low today. A walk wasn’t going to be enough. I wanted to feel the water between my toes. When we got close enough, I sat on a rock, took off my sneakers, and rolled up my pants.

“
It’s November; that water is going to be very cold.”

“
Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.” Did he really think I wouldn’t know that?

“You don’t have to be sarcastic.”
He looked offended.

“Sorry.
I am not enjoying having a babysitter or Declan being mad at me. I grew up around the ocean and I know how cold it can get. I like it that way. It has to be cold enough to sting and then when you can’t stand the pain anymore, you finally go blissfully numb.”

“You’re a little freaky
, Goldilocks. I never knew that about you.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

I blushed, but smiled. “I am sure there are tons of things you don’t know about me. Just because I am not a million years old
, doesn’t mean I can’t have a few surprises.”

He looked amused, but kept walking. He watched while
I let the waves wash over my ankles and I used my toes to hang onto the sand as the under current pulled it out from under my feet. I loved Vancouver. It was one of the best cities in the world, but Nova Scotia was home and I felt such a pang of homesickness I almost doubled over.

Caught up in the feel of the water and the beauty of the scenery
, I didn’t know anything was wrong until Lucius appeared in front of me. I poked my head from behind his back. This was becoming our theme. Up the beach, a man was a struggling towards us. His limp made walking in the sand almost impossible. My sympathy dried up as he drew a gun from his pants. He never slowed or hesitated. His face held only determination.

“Put the gun down now and I will let you live.
” Then he hissed at me to stay behind him.

“No way
. I have my orders the girl has to die.” His voice was a deep rumble.

“I won’t let you harm her and if you try
, I will break your neck.”

He started to laugh. “Breaking my neck would be a blessing next to the penalty for not killing the witch.”

“Lucius, what is going on?” I was too scared to peek around his body, but I needed to know what was happening.

There was a loud bang and then all I could hear was the ringing in my ears
. I looked to see if he had hit Lucius. His shirt was covered in blood. Then the pain hit me. It felt like my side was on fire. We were both bleeding. My legs gave out and I dropped to the wet sand. Lucius was shaking me and saying something, but the ringing was making it hard to hear him. His strong hands made quick work out of my top. He parted the pieces of cloth to look at my wound.