Gravity (39 page)

Justus slammed the Mage against the wall and tried to stab him with the dagger when the

Mage rolled to the right. He was too fast.

“That’s enough, children,” Slater interrupted.

Heads turned and everyone got the full picture. Slater standing behind me with his arm

wrapped tightly around my body and his other holding a plunger to a needle buried halfway in my

neck. It would only take a microsecond for him to inject me with whatever was in that needle, and

that thought unnerved me.

“Let her go,” Christian demanded.

“This is my house,” Slater said in clipped words. “I call the shots, and you weren’t invited.”

Instruments went flying and the body of a large Mage slid across the floor with a knife stuck in

his chest.

“Well, well, well,” Slater began. “If it isn’t Justus. Hardly saw you standing there. Don’t even

think about flashing because I can move my thumb faster than you can blink. If you want to know

what’s in here, I’ll tell you. Chitah venom. And it’s more than enough to kill.”

Slater shoved the needle in harder to get a reaction from me. I reminded myself that he was

only a Relic, and Relics were mortal.

“What do you want, Slater?” Justus looked like a mass of volatility, but he kept the anger in his

voice leashed and remained in absolute control.

Simon never took his eyes off the older Mage, not even risking a glance in our direction,

although I knew it was killing him not to see what was going on.

“I want you to remove the knife from my coworker on the floor and put it in your friend. Then

we’ll talk.”

Justus walked to the Mage and lingered for a moment.

“Ghuardian, don’t!” I winced as the needle went in deeper. Screw him. If Slater planned to

inject me, then nothing I said was going to do anything but determine how much sooner that

would be. “He’ll do the same with you and then Christian,” I warned. “Don’t do it.”

“Mouthy one you got here, Justus. No wonder you wanted someone to take her off your hands.

I heard about that Chitah,” he said with a short laugh. “Giving the bride away to her enemy?

Fucking hilarious.”

Justus bent over to remove the knife from the Mage. Before he could do it, I swung my heavy

boot against Slater’s shin as hard as I could. He yelled out and leaned forward, loosening his grip.

I reached beneath my shirt for the dagger. When I stabbed him in the leg, a cold rush entered my

neck.

We both dropped to the floor.

Christian dove forward and pulled out the needle.

He turned my neck and his fangs bit into the entry site. With hard pulls, Christian sucked out

blood mixed with venom, spitting it all over Slater’s face. Chaos ensued all around me. After his

fifth attempt, I finally pushed him away.

“That’s enough, Christian. As much as you like necking with me, you can stop.”

I sat up and strangely felt okay. It wasn’t the immediate reaction I’d previously experienced

with pain, numbness, and blindness—just to name a few.

“I’m all right.”

Justus dropped on his knees by my side while Christian sat heavily on Slater’s chest. I pointed

behind the curtain. “Page is in there.” When I saw Justus wasn’t listening, I reassured him. “I’m

okay, Ghuardian. I promise. There wasn’t any venom in there or I’d be dead by now. Go help

Page.”

He all but vanished. Behind the curtain, I heard soft whispers and the sound of straps

unbuckling. “What are they pumping into her?” he shouted.

Christian bounced a little on Slater’s chest, provoking an answer.

“Morphine,” Slater grunted.

Blood trickled down my neck and I covered it with my hand, peering over my shoulder and

watching Justus pull out the IV from Page’s arm.

I glared at Christian as the blood smeared around. “You could have at least licked it.”

He smirked darkly. “I hear that all too often.”

“Ghuardian, take her home,” I said. “We’ll stay here and question them.”

We had a lot of work to do, and it was fortunate we happened upon all three men at once.

Christian intended to charm the truth from them and scrub their memories clean once we got all

the information needed. Novis had no interest in the technology. His concern was preventing that

knowledge from spreading because of the repercussions. Unfortunately, the memory scrubbing

would be extensive and require a clean slate; God knows how many years their involvement dated

back. End result: amnesia.

Justus carefully lifted Page from the table. Her hair was brushed back and she groggily

moaned, lifting her heavy eyelids. They’d definitely drugged her with something. Her arm fell loose

and he glanced briefly at her bare feet as he made his way out the door.

Christian stared at me, riddled with concern. “And how is the bite victim feeling these days?”

He lifted the needle, squirting a few drops onto his tongue.

“I feel the same.”

“Fecking hell, I thought it was a placebo. It’s Chitah venom. When you were bit the last time,

how long did it take before the symptoms came on?”

“Seconds. Are you sure it’s not something else?”

Christian turned around and penetrated Slater with his obsidian eyes. “Better talk or I’ll

introduce you to my two best friends,” he said harshly, holding up his fists. “Meet thunder and

lightning. If you don’t start talking, it’s going to storm all over your face.”

“She should be dead,” Slater breathed, looking at me in disbelief.

“Are you okay, love?” Simon lifted the older Mage by the collar and gave me a worried look.

Thankfully, the genitalia tatted on his forehead had completely faded, or else I might have lost it.

“Do you feel off?”

He used his free hand to rake his tousled hair out of his eyes. Simon reminded me of someone

who belonged in a rock band whenever his hair was messy, and especially when he wore his

leathers. But mostly it was just a pair of dark jeans and a T-shirt with inappropriate writing or rips.

Tonight his black shirt had an arrow pointing down that said Joystick included.

He lowered his chin and pointed at me while looking at Christian. “What did you do to treat her

before? Do you remember all the steps involved?”

“Steps?” Christian asked with an arch of his brow. “We weren’t doing the Charleston, you dolt.”

“Christian,” I warned.

Simon didn’t trust Vamps and he sure as hell didn’t like Christian’s tone. They momentarily

forgot the matter at hand and Simon didn’t have his aviators on.

“Silver, hand me a pencil.”

“Simon, put a cork in it.”

“Got one on you? I’m not going to stand here and be called a dolt by a wanker,” he argued,

staring at my guard.

Christian sat on Slater with a bored expression on his face.

Simon forced the Mage he held by the collar to sit back down. “Was it just feeding her your

blood and draining it out?”

“No,” Christian replied, scratching his short beard. “The Relic first injected her with a

concoction that drew the venom out. I bet arseface knows,” he said, bouncing on Slater’s chest,

causing him to grunt in agony.

“Wait a minute, everyone,” I interrupted, standing on my feet. “It doesn’t burn, there’s no

discomfort, nothing.”

“I’m sure your lady doctor will be relieved to hear that,” Christian murmured.

“She was bit by a Chitah before?” Slater asked.

“Shut the fuck up, you,” Christian demanded, bouncing on his chest as if he were a kid on one

of those giant rubber balls. Slater was one breath away from passing out.

“She’s probably immune,” he grunted.

Christian rolled off him and pulled the knife out of his leg. Slater screamed and Christian held

the blade to his throat, licking a drop of blood from the tip of his finger. “Mmm, tastes like

uncertainty this evening. That always fires up my thirst to know more. Do share.”

Slater pulled in deep breaths. “Like a vaccination or getting exposed to chicken pox. You aren’t

likely going to react to it again because you’ve built up immunity.”

“Then why isn’t every Mage in Cognito racing to his nearest Relic to get Chitah vaccine?” I said,

narrowing my eyes at him.

“Because you have Chitah blood.”

Everyone silenced.

“Prove it,” I said.

Chapter 31

Justus wrapped Page in a warm blanket and placed her on his spacious bed. The candle wicks

were cut down and only a few lit, so the room carried only the softest glow of light. He assessed

that Page hadn’t suffered any physical injuries that were visible, other than a few bruises from the

IV.

As she slept, Justus organized all the photographs and files and placed them into boxes. He

stacked them in the corner and spent several minutes tidying the room until it met his standards.

Everything in its place. He was a meticulous man—one who lived by routine and structure.

A glass of juice and a small bowl of fresh fruit sat on the solid end table beside the bed. It was

frustrating to have healing energy he couldn’t use on a mortal, to be forced to wait until her body

replenished.

Two hours and fifteen minutes later, Page stretched like a cat, as if she were merely waking up

from a good night’s sleep. Relief filled him as he gazed upon her heart-shaped face. The sternness

she often wore had softened—even her lips seemed fuller.

Her lashes fluttered as Justus sat beside her.

“Page, open your eyes,” he said in a subdued voice.

He lightly touched her throat and she moaned, creating a vibration against the tip of his

thumb. He immediately snapped his hand back and she slowly emerged from that place between

dream and reality. Justus became a reservoir, drinking her in with his eyes and memorizing every

angle of her face. He’d never paid attention to how long her lashes were.

Her coffee-brown eyes blinked open and he brushed his knuckles down her smooth cheek as

gently as a breeze.

“There you are,” he said in a low voice.

Before she etched a single worry line on her face, he continued speaking to her in a reassuring

tone. “You’re safe in my home. All of them, including Slater, have been detained. No further harm

will come to you; I won’t allow it. You were drugged and your body is weak. I’m going to take care

of you the way you need to be cared for. When you are ready to leave, I will escort you home. You

will have nothing from me short of protection.”

“I’m thirsty,” she replied in a sticky, cracked voice.

Justus swung out his arm, grabbing the juice from the table and placing the small glass in her

hand. He cupped the back of her head as she tilted up and drank a few swallows. She gasped for

breath and lowered her head onto the pillow.

“Better,” she said.

“Did he hurt you?” As soon as the question he’d been wondering slipped past his tongue,

Justus felt a knot of anger ball up in his stomach.

“I wasn’t given food or water because it was all going in intravenously. They kept me sedated

and gave me injections, but I don’t think I’m hurt. I mean, I’m not missing a kidney or anything,

am I?” Page looked down with a mix of humor and fright on her face.

“If I find but one scratch on you, I will break him to pieces. It is a despicable man who would

lay a hand on a woman.”

“Men and all that testosterone,” she said with a sigh, avoiding his eyes.

It bothered him that she looked away and he touched her chin, turning her head to face him.

Page blushed high in the cheek and it spread down her neck. It was becoming impossible for

Justus to look away as he noticed her beautiful black lashes. The tiny mark at the corner of her eye

that most women would have covered with makeup, but she didn’t. The way she pulled in her

upper lip, biting the tip. The faded marks on her earlobes that indicated she’d once pierced her

ears but no longer fussed with jewelry. Then he spotted a tiny white scar on her hairline.

“How did you get this?” he asked, running his finger over the jagged line.

She looked upward. “Oh, I got that in the third grade. A boy named Tommy Farrow knocked

me down. I think I hit it against the corner of the building, but it was so long ago.”

“Always been a fighter, haven’t you?”

“You have to be tough in our world.”

He nodded in agreement.

She was beginning to sound more like her old self, and he liked that. Page sat up and his eyes

fell to her hospital gown, a reminder of where she had been.

Justus opened a drawer and found a long, clean shirt. “You can wear this until we find you

suitable clothing. I’ll draw you a bath.”

Silver had more bubble bath than he could tolerate, so Justus ran the hot water and added a

lavender liquid. When he returned to the room, he helped Page out of the bed. She was unsteady

on her feet but insisted he let her do this alone.

He waited in the hall for roughly an hour while she did what women do in the bathroom. When

he heard her brushing her teeth, he dropped his head against the wall and thought about how

odd it was that small things like that affected him. It was the sound of everyday life, of someone