Lucas (Immortal Blood) (5 page)

I stiffened. “Sorry to hear that. Do you miss him?”

“Terribly.”

She trembled and rubbed her arms with her hands, trying to get rid of the coldness. I wondered if I should offer her my coat, but since it wasn’t really that cold and she was probably feeling the cold from the inside, I decided not to. She inhaled shakily and I moved an inch further away from her. This was so not my thing and for at least the tenth time I wished I had chosen a different path.

She wiped her eyes again and put her hand in her pocket, searching for something. Soon she took out a crumpled, obviously used, tissue and blew her nose. I winced and she gave me a sideways glance, her eyes still wet and her nose red. Okay, time to go. I patted her hand awkwardly and began to get up.

She inhaled shakily and grabbed my arm, entwining her fingers round me like a squid and digging her nails deep into my sleeve. “Stay.”

I nodded but she didn’t seem to see, as she whispered again almost pleadingly, “Stay.”

She lifted her head and met my eyes. I nodded again and she collapsed onto my neck, pressing her shaking body closer.

My hands, feeling like blocks of cement, stayed at my sides. I felt like an ass but I couldn’t get myself to put my arms around her and give her the comfort she so obviously needed. She didn’t seem to notice, though. For her, it was enough that I was there.

After a while her body seemed to relax and she pushed herself away, looking embarrassed. “Sorry.”

I smiled politely and hated myself for not being able to show any genuine feelings. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” she sniffed, and I almost sighed, relieved, but then she continued, “I loved him, you know.” She lifted her watery eyes to look at me and I nodded. “And he really loved me.”

Oh, I didn’t doubt that, but what did she expect me to say? Maybe nothing, as she leaned on me and put her head on my shoulder. My hand involuntarily rose and went to her hair.

“What happened to him?”

“He was killed.”

I glanced at her quickly and she nodded.

“Yes, killed. Shocking, right?”

I pressed her head back onto my shoulder gently and she sighed. I wanted to jump in triumph, as I couldn’t believe my luck. This little bird was going to blabber everything I wanted to know to me if I just showed her a little tenderness. I forced my body to relax and put as much emotion into my voice as I could. “That’s terrible,” I gushed. “Did they catch the killer?”

She shook her head and I could feel her hesitating. I stroked her hair and pressed my head on hers.

Her shoulders slumped and she inhaled shakily. “I don’t think he ever meant to kill him.”

“He?”

“Or she,” she corrected herself quickly, but it was too late. She had already given me the information I needed. There was no doubt the killer was one of the boys.

My brain worked franticly as I made some mental notes. “Maybe it was an accident?” I offered and she clung onto it.

“Yes. An accident. I’m sure that’s what it was. But it was just so horrible. His blood was everywhere and I couldn’t control myself.”

My fingers twitched around her hair and I had to struggle to resist the urge to place them round her throat.

“I was so new. And I … I never thought it would’ve been like that. I’m so lucky Sam got a hold of me before I rushed to him and started…”

She was shaking badly now, so I put my hands around her and squeezed her comfortingly. There was no way I’d let her go before knowing the rest of the story.

“I … I … I almost…” she stammered and I shushed her. Suddenly she turned to me. “I almost fed from my dead father. How gross is that?”

The self-hatred was shining from her eyes and in that moment I hated her, too.

“But you said Sam stopped you?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “She practically threw me to the ground and let the guys take care of everything else.”

By everything else she meant my dead brother, who was lying in his own blood, surrounded by hungry vampires.

“She’s a good friend,” I stated lamely, gritting my teeth.

Kate nodded and let herself slump next to me. “Yes, she is.”

And I owe her one, I thought bitterly. Maybe I wouldn’t hurt her more than was necessary. After all, she wasn’t the murderer. A part of me felt happy. I didn’t want to hurt her and now that I didn’t have to I could use her in other ways and take some pleasure out of it. I smiled dazzlingly and Kate turned to me with a curious look in her eyes.

“Are you sure we haven’t met? Maybe at some party or something? You look so familiar.”

I shook my head, letting the smile die on my lips. There was no way she could connect me with her father. My hair was way longer than it had been and my features were more mature. So no matter what old photos she might find, that boy was long gone. “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“Yes.” She smiled and I got up.

“Well, I’d better go now. See you later?” I arched my brow.

“Sure,” she sighed and pulled her legs under her. “And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” I smiled and turned to leave.

“And, Lucas?”

“Yes?”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk to anyone about what I said.”

I nodded. Like hell I would. She had just given me the killer’s head on a plate. Well, sort of.

Before I had walked twenty steps I was calling Sam. It didn’t take much to persuade her to go to the club with me. After I told her that Kate had told me everything she sounded panicked and would’ve met me right away. I thought it wasn’t wise, though. I needed to think things through before meeting her, and I sure needed to get the picture of my bloodied brother out of my head before looking into her eyes. So I went jogging. It was the only way I knew to drain some energy out of me. Well, technically not the only way, but the other way was way messier and involved me killing someone, so jogging it would be. My mind was processing all the information I’d just got from Kate and I really had to concentrate on keeping my pace reasonable and human-like. A couple of women tried to jog beside me, but I made it clear I wasn’t interested. Not now, when there were more important things to do, and also because I couldn’t get one certain brunette out of my mind. I shook my head and headed for my hotel. I should spend the hours before meeting Sam in a very long cold shower. And yes, I should probably call my creator and ask what he had meant exactly when he’d said Sam was his to take care of.

I met Sam in front of the club. She had sounded a bit surprised when I hadn’t offered to pick her up, but I felt I couldn’t face the guys yet. Not when there was a fair chance I might end up killing them all.

Sam looked incredible. A black lace dress licked her body and she wore three-inch heels. Her long hair was gathered up in some sort of ponytail that fell down her back. She licked her lips nervously and I grinned.

“You look amazing.”

“Thanks.” She measured me with her eyes. “You don’t look too bad either.”

We stared at each other.

“Lucas.” She tilted her head. “I’m really sorry about what happened before.”

I shrugged and she reached out to touch my shoulder.

“I really am. I never expected things to heat up the way they did, and Dane, well―”

“Was being complicated,” I interrupted.

She nodded. “So we’re good?”

“We’re good.” I took her hand and gestured towards the door. “Shall we?”

She nodded and we went inside. I led her to the bar and ordered drinks. The bartender glanced at Sam and for a moment I thought she was going to say something about my tattoo. However, she turned her eyes back to me and stayed quiet. I narrowed my eyes warningly. I didn’t need her to blurt out to Sam that she was with an A-class killer who had ruthlessly murdered hundreds of people. The bartender glanced at Sam again and I could sense her brain cells working as she wondered if I’d dare to hurt her if she chose to share her knowledge with Sam.

“Don’t,” I mouthed, and the gleam in my eyes became lethal.

She swallowed. My eyes were locked on hers. Sam moved restlessly but I couldn’t take my eyes from the bartender. Not before I was sure she would keep her mouth shut. The seconds stretched, but finally she took a step back and turned her back on us. I saw her hands shaking lightly. Good. Maybe I wasn’t ready to hurt her publicly, especially not in front of Sam, but I had no problem waiting until she’d finished her shift to teach her a lesson.

When the drinks were ready I handed Sam hers and smiled. “I hope you like it.”

She sipped from her glass and almost purred. “This is really good. What is it?”

“O negative with twelve-year-old single malt.”

“Oh,” she sighed and I knew she had no idea what single malt was. “So, you mentioned Kate told you something.”

Right to the point. I liked that. I gulped my drink down and she followed my lead. I signaled to the bartender to bring us another. I put my hand round Sam’s slender waist. She stiffened but didn’t move away.

“Not here. Follow me,” I said.

I led her upstairs where the private rooms were and smiled when she didn’t look a bit surprised. The bartender followed us and opened a door. We went inside and she put a tray on the table before leaving us be.

I gave Sam a glass and lifted mine. “To us.”

“There is no us,” she sneered.

“To this evening then.”

She didn’t look too happy with that either but didn’t bother to argue with me. We emptied our glasses in one again and I refilled hers from the decanter.

Sam sat on a couch, playing with her glass between her fingers. “Lucas, what did she tell you?”

I shrugged. “Not much.”

“Lucas,” she warned, and I shrugged again.

“She told me you saved her from making a terrible mistake.” I sat next to her and placed my hand on her thigh. “And that her father was murdered.” Kate hadn’t used those exact words, but I wanted to see how Sam would take them.

She almost dropped her glass as she inhaled a little too dramatically for me to believe her.
“Murdered?”

“Yes.” I took a long sip.

As if remembering her drink, she glanced at her glass and drank it empty. “That’s horrible. Did she tell you who killed him?”

“Sort of.”

Her glass fell to the floor and I picked it up. Silence fell between us and I wished she’d say something. Eventually, I got up and poured us another drink. She took the glass and said nothing.

“Didn’t need to be an engineer to figure it out, though.”

She paled. “It was a kind of Kate or him situation.”

“Mm.”

“Besides, it was over in seconds, so there was no going back.”

“Did he regret it later?”

She looked uncomfortable. “I haven’t really talked with him about it.”

Shoot! So it may not be Dane or Jonathan after all. I needed a new strategy. “I thought you talked with him all the time.”

“No. I’ve barely seen him since then.” She stood up and walked to the window. I noticed her wobbly legs and went after her, steadying her with my hands. She blushed. “What did you put in the drink?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I looked out of the window at the slow-moving bodies on the dance floor.

“You did put something in it, didn’t you?” she accused.

I shook my head slowly. “Nope. But you should be careful with old blood.”

“God! I’m such a lush!” She moved further away from me, hiding her face in her hands. “Idiot!”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” I gently curled my fingers around her hands and moved them awa
y from her face, revealing deep-red cheeks, two too-bright eyes, and a very embarrassed, sulky mouth. “Why don’t we talk about something else?”

“Like what?” she snapped, trying to free her hands from my grip.

I held them for a moment, squeezing them lightly while stroking her skin with my thumbs. She stood still, holding her breath. I dropped her hands and turned to put the music on. “Like us.”

“There is no―”

I put my finger on her lips and took her in my arms. I slowly started to move with the music and she didn’t resist. Before the song changed she had let her head rest on my shoulder and my hand had moved to her lower back. I made slow circles with my fingers and she sighed. I took it as encouragement and let my other hand drop to her hips, pulling her closer to me. She lifted her head and looked at me questioningly. I pressed my cheek to hers.

“We really shouldn’t…
” she said dreamily.

“I know,” I whispered and my lips touched her ear.

“Dane―”

“Is not here,” I whispered softly.

I stayed still and waited for her to move away, but as she didn’t I nipped her ear lightly. Her fingers grabbed the back of my shirt. A slow grin crept onto my lips. So easy. I slid my fingers under her short hem and she froze. I froze, too, and for a moment neither of us moved. Then I slowly let my fingers crawl higher until they met her silky panties. She inhaled sharply and dropped her mouth to my neck. I felt her canines brushing my skin and now it was my turn to tremble. Her hands tugged at my shirt and soon it lay on the floor. I moved my mouth to her neck, too, and scratched her skin lightly with my teeth. She moaned and entwined her leg around mine. I pushed her onto the couch and ripped off her dress. Her nails scratched my back, leaving thin streams of blood. I sank my teeth into her and drank. She screamed but I didn’t care. Vampires didn’t usually drink from each other but it wasn’t forbidden. So, yes, I did it sometimes. Not because of the taste but because it felt unbelievably good. Especially during sex. And man, she tasted good.