Bound by Night (The Moonbound Clan Vampires) (13 page)

“Terese taught you origami?”

“She taught me to focus my fidgeting.”

Riker studied the tiny bird in his palm. “So this is a nervous thing?”

Nervous
didn’t quite cover it. Stressed out beyond belief? Yeah, that. “You’ve never been nervous in your life, have you?”

“Vampires can be nervous,” he said. “And afraid.” He settled down next to her and ran his finger over the bird’s angular head, almost as if it were alive. The sight of such a rock-hard warrior carefully stroking
something so fragile filled her with an odd sense of warmth, as if something inside her was melting. “And I wasn’t always a vampire, you know.”

“Your eyes do give you away.” Sliding a covert glance at him, she wondered what color his eyes had been before he was turned.

“Blue,” he murmured.

“I almost believe you can read minds.”

The amused tilt of his mouth drew her gaze. He really did have perfect, lush lips made to please a woman, and her own lips tingled in remembrance of the kiss they’d shared. She still couldn’t believe it had happened. She’d read once that intense situations made people bond quickly and behave in ways they normally wouldn’t, and while she wasn’t sure about the bonding thing, the rest was spot-on.

Because never in a million years would she have thought she’d kiss a vampire.

“I know people,” Riker said. “You said you’re a researcher. That means you’re curious. So . . . blue.”

She didn’t like that a vampire had read her so well. She also didn’t like that she now knew what color his eyes would be when he was intensely aroused, which was the one time a turned vampire’s eyes reverted to their natural color. But even then, the color would be enhanced with an intense, erotic glow said to render the opposite sex powerless to resist.

“Wait . . . so why, when you were on top of me . . .” She paused, desperately seeking words to make this less awkward, but all she could do was think about how her face was on fire with mortification.

“Why didn’t my eyes change color?” His gaze snapped up to hers, a cruel glint reflecting off the silver surface. Suddenly, the cave was cold again. “I guess I wasn’t that turned on.”

She was both relieved and insulted. Definitely irritated. She snatched the paper bird away from him and shoved it into the bag.

“Do I have time to get some rest?”

“You have all night.”

Yawning, she settled back against the cave wall. She didn’t need all night. Just a few minutes of sleep would do . . .

“NICOLE.”

Riker’s hushed voice pierced the darkness.

“Nicole.” She felt herself being shaken. “We have to go. Someone is coming through the rear entrance.”

Groggy, disoriented, she opened her eyes. “What?”

“You fell asleep. You’ve been out for hours.” He didn’t wait for her to wake up. In an instant, she was in his arms, and they were darting into the early-morning light at the front of the cave.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as he leaped off the ledge and hit the ground at a dead run. He moved silently, his powerful strides barely touching the ground. Branches slapped at them, but mostly, everything was a blur until, miles later, he jerked to a halt and set her on her feet.

“Do you hear that?”

“No,” she whispered, her voice sounding strangled
to her own ears. “Poachers?” The very word knotted her gut with dread.

“I wish.”

Vampires burst from out of the forest, and if Riker’s expression was anything to go by, these weren’t the good guys.

S
IX MASSIVE VAMPIRES
surrounded Riker and Nicole, bodies laden with an extra fifty pounds of weapons each. Blood in various stages of drying was spattered on their fatigue-style clothes, and the stench of death clung to them like a leech. They looked hungry but not for food.

For killing.

This was one of those times Riker missed the feel of cold steel in his hands, the sexy curve of a trigger under his finger, the sure weight of an automatic weapon that would take out all of these assholes in seconds. Riker didn’t miss being a human, but he definitely missed the guns.

Riker glanced over at Nicole, silently cursing the flush of alarm in her cheeks. From a situational standpoint, showing fear to ShadowSpawn warriors was like slitting your wrists while swimming with a school of sharks.

From a personal standpoint, Riker didn’t like to see Nicole afraid, and
that
was something he didn’t want to dwell on.

“Fane.” Riker moved toward the leader of the group of newcomers, a turned vampire with a New Jersey accent, at least a dozen piercings, and an uneven bleached-blond Mohawk.

Fane broke away from the pack to meet him. “Worm.”

Riker stopped a foot away from the other vampire. “I always forget how much I hate ShadowSpawn until I see one of you assholes.”

“And I always forget how useless MoonBound clan is to the Vampire Nation until I see one of you,” Fane growled.

“Now that we’ve exchanged greetings,” Riker said, “why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

Fane’s silver eyes gleamed as they shifted to Nicole, and Riker bristled. “First, tell us who your human morsel is.”

Riker put himself between Fane and Nicole. “That’s none of your business.”

“You know the law,” Fane said, as if Riker were a mewling baby vampire who needed lessons in interclan treaties and directives. “Unless you claim her as
apish-wa
, she’s fair game for any vampire.”

An intense, foreign instinct rose in a volcanic rush, overwhelming rational thought. The idea that Fane—or any male—would sink his fangs and cock into Nicole’s tender flesh steamed Riker’s blood. Then his blood damn near boiled out of his veins when Fane inched toward Nicole, his eyes as bright as a cat’s before it pounces on a mouse.

“The human is
apish-wa
. Mine.” Riker took Nicole by the arm and tugged her close. He could feel her
flustered gaze boring into him, and he hoped she was smart enough to play along. “Touch her, and I’ll strangle you with your own intestines.”

“Of course.” Fane inclined his head in a civil nod. Damned ShadowSpawn might have no problem slaughtering women and children in the course of war, but they respected property. Most vampires did. Probably because they had so little of it.

Satisfied that Nicole was safe—for the moment, anyway—Riker released her. But he remained so close that her body heat warmed his skin. “Now, why are you here?”

“We came to see if you’d gotten Neriya back.” Otto, a ShadowSpawn warrior covered in gang and prison tats from his human days, stepped forward. “Poachers ambushed us about halfway to your headquarters.”

“Ambushed?” Riker snorted. “So much for the infamous ShadowSpawn stealth, eh?”

“Fuck off,” Fane spat. “We took ’em out. And we got a bonus.”

Otto jerked his head toward the forest. “The poachers had one of your females strung up like a fox in a snare, all jerking around and dislocating limbs.”

Oh, shit
. “Who?”

“Your simpleton.”

Riker’s stomach clenched. “Lucy?” Next to him, Nicole inhaled a sharp breath.

“Do you have so many simpletons in your clan that you have to ask?” Fane’s warriors laughed at that.

“Easier to ask how many of their clan
aren’t
fucking retards,” one of them said.

“Enough,” Riker snapped. “Where is Lucy?”

Fane’s upper lip curled, and Riker hoped the ring piercing in it hurt. “We have her. Tell Hunter we’ll hold on to her until you return Neriya.”

“We told you we’d get her back,” Riker bit out. “You don’t need Lucy as leverage. We gave you our word.”

“The word of a MoonBound warrior is no better than the word of a human,” Fane said.

“Be careful,” Riker warned. “You’re calling a chief and a pureblood vampire a liar.”

A shadow of shame flickered in Fane’s expression but was quickly replaced by a superior sneer. “I know turned vampires who are worth ten born vampires.”

“And I know that Hunter is worth more than all of you combined.” Riker got nose-to-nose with Fane. “We
will
have Neriya returned to you by the deadline, and if Lucy has so much as a scratch on her body, every one of your scouting party is going to pay.”

Fane grinned, turned away, and strode off. His warriors joined him, and they melted into the forest.

Next to Riker, Nicole made a quiet sound of relief. He turned to her, expecting to find residual terror in her eyes. Instead, she was staring in the direction Fane had gone.

“That vampire,” she said firmly, “is a jackass.”

He barked out a laugh. “Look at that,” he said, starting off in the opposite direction. “Something we agree on.”

A FULL TEN
minutes of traipsing through the forest had passed before Nicole gathered her thoughts enough to speak beyond calling Fane a jackass.

“What’s
apish-wa
?” she asked.

“A blood whore.” She nearly tripped over a broken branch that Riker had nimbly avoided. “Watch where you’re going,” he said, as if she had been
trying
to fall on her face.

“You called me a blood whore?”

“Not just
any
blood whore.” He sounded mildly insulted. “A
personal
blood whore whom, by vampire law, no one can drink from without permission.”

“Oh,” she said dryly. “That makes it better.”

“Did you want me to share with them?” He forged ahead, blazing a trail through the thick brush. “They’re probably within hearing distance if we shout.”

She glared at his back and decided not to respond to his sarcasm. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“To my clan.”

She’d had a feeling he’d say that. So now what? Did she go with him, or did she try to run away? Not that she’d get far. Even if she got past the hunters and poachers, she wouldn’t get past Riker.

Besides, after the night in the cave, her hatred for him was waning. She didn’t trust him, certainly. But she was starting to understand him and why he and his clan would go to such great lengths to save Neriya. Wouldn’t she do the same if the roles were reversed and his clan had captured someone she cared about?

Still, the idea of going back to the clan made her heart sink.

“The prey room again,” she whispered to herself, but Riker stopped, his boots crunching on old pine needles.

“I’m taking you to our lab. You can hang out with
Grant. He’s our resident scientist. A little insane but mostly harmless. Given your background, I’m thinking you’ll be more comfortable there.”

Stunned, she opened her mouth to thank him, but he threw his hand out, stopping her in her tracks. Except for the flare of his nostrils, he’d frozen solid, and chills ran up her spine.
What now?
Another enemy clan? More poachers? A bear?

At this point, she’d be happy to see a bear. She was rapidly learning that four-legged animals were far less frightening than those on two legs.

Very slowly, Riker looked up. Nicole followed his gaze and barely suppressed a startled squeak. Above them, crouching on a thick tree branch, was a woman. Her crossbow sights were trained on Riker, but where the woman was looking, Nicole had no idea. Her eyes were hidden behind wraparound sunglasses, the camouflage-painted frames matching her skintight garb, which made her nearly invisible against the backdrop of trees and moss.

The woman didn’t move a muscle until Riker started walking again. Even then, the woman dipped her head a mere fraction of an inch, but it was just enough for Nicole to catch a glimpse of silver-blond hair tucked under a black stocking cap.

When they were out of crossbow range—Nicole hoped—she tapped Riker on the shoulder. It was like tapping on a marble statue. “Who was that?”

“Sabbat. She’s a hunter.”

She lifted her brows at him. “You seem pretty nonchalant about a human who hunts your kind.”

Riker lifted her across a narrow but deep stream.
“If she’d been hunting us, we’d have died before we knew she was there.”

“How . . . comforting.” What was comforting was his hands on her waist, holding her steady as he effortlessly lowered her on the far side of the water. When he released her, the warmth of his touch remained like a brand, and she had to resist the urge to smooth her fingers over the tingly sensation.

Nicole Martin, you’re an idiot
.

His lips quirked into the barest semblance of a smile. “Sabbat only takes out problem vampires.”

“Problem vampires?”

Riker ducked a branch and then held it out of the way for her. He was being far more gentlemanly than he’d been yesterday. “Vampires your government has issued execution orders for.”

Just last week, a local news station had reported that hunters were looking for a vampire who had fallen into bloodlust. She wondered if Sabbat was one of those hired to handle the situation.

“And you’re okay with that?”

He shrugged, the stacked layers of muscle in his bare back shifting under the weapons harness. Nicole had never been attracted to warrior types, let alone vampire warrior types, but something about him had made her normal tastes in men go haywire.