The Beta (7 page)

She blinked. “Like how you could heal the way you did?”

“Yeah, well, that was a surprise for me too. It’s why my pack needs Daedalus. We’ve lost too much knowledge over the centuries.” He watched the Nosferatu return with a pile of clothes. “I won’t let you kill him.” He directed his stare at her, making his deadly intentions clear if she crossed that line.

“I get the message.” Esther frowned at Robert.

He doubted she did. Chances were pretty good she’d take another crack at Daedalus if the opportunity arose. Then he’d have to kill her. Wouldn’t it be his luck his first kill would be a woman he liked.

The car door opened and she startled. Daedalus tossed some clothes at Robert then gripped the slayer’s arm, yanking her out.

Betrayal left a sour taste in Robert’s mouth. “Store her in my bathroom while I gather the others.” The order slipped from him. He noticed Daedalus do a double take, but he escorted Esther without question.

Nothing like being on the brink of death to give a male perspective. He’d been ready to tear the vampire’s throat out for Esther. The most shocking thing was that he’d almost accomplished it. Sometime in the last twenty-four hours Esther had become his. What the hell was he going to do about that? She’d used and abused him.

His beast writhed inside. It wanted to storm up to the second floor, break into the bathroom, and mark her…or spank her…or both. Taking a deep breath, he sat back and went through the calming exercises he used to control the beast. Thankfully, it also worked on the raging erection under the pile of clothes he held in his lap.

With a shake of his head, he dismissed both beast and Esther to the back of his mind. Tonight he needed to be the pack’s beta. One more day before his alpha got home. One. More. Day.

He got dressed in a pair of nylon workout pants and a green t-shirt that read
Never Moon a Werewolf
. Reflexively, he reached for his glasses, but they must have smashed on the sidewalk when he’d fallen from the roof.

He jogged over to the brownstone. No one would have guessed he’d had an arrow in his chest and internal injuries less than an hour ago. Eric needed to know about that shifting trick. It hurt like hell to heal that fast though, and it took a lot of energy. He needed food, a truck load of it, to build back his reserve.

As he opened the door he expected to hear his roommates arguing inside but silence greeted him.

Daedalus descended the stairs. “I wedged a chair under the doorknob. She’s not going anywhere.”

“I’ll go wake up the others if you get Sugar.” Some nights they stayed awake late and hung out with the Nosferatu, but it was a weeknight. Day jobs awaited Tyler, Katrina, and Sam. Only Eric and himself made their own work hours. They tended to be night owls anyway. Maybe that’s how this odd camaraderie with Daedalus developed from trainee to friend?

“Let them sleep. We’ll talk first, then you can decide what to do.”

He
had to decide? Watching the vampire disappear into the kitchen, Robert did a little what-the-fucking before following. “So, what’s going on? Why is Esther trying to turn you into ashes?”

Daedalus stood bent over, digging inside the fridge and tossing food onto the counter. “For money, it’s the nature of her profession.” He organized the bread, sandwich meat, cheese, and mayo next to each other.

Drool dripped from the corner of Robert’s mouth, to his horror, and he quickly wiped it away.

“Vampires have been hunted by slayers since we’ve existed. They get better weapons and the rules shift, but nothing else changes. They try to kill us and we do the same.” He glanced at Robert. “The real question is who hired her? And traditionally, I’m supposed to kill her.”

“No.” The word was out of his mouth before his brain registered it but there laid the truth. He’d fight Daedalus again to protect her, and maybe for the sandwich he was making. “If I’m letting Talon live, I’m keeping Esther.”

Lifting his head, the vampire cocked a non-existent eyebrow, then slid the best looking double-decker sandwich Robert had ever seen toward him. “Keeping her?”

“I mean keeping her alive.” He grabbed the sandwich and resisted the urge to gobble the thing straight off the plate.

“Slayers are dangerous, manipulative people. I peeked in her head. She’s good at what she does.”

Robert finished his snack in wolf-sized bites. “Shit.” He ran his fingers through his hair. All his emotions were tangled. “My head is saying she’s playing me, but my heart—beast is jerking me around. Did you see anything in her mind about me?”

“I didn’t take the grand tour. You were dying at my feet.” Daedalus held up the meat. “Another?”

Robert’s stomach flipped and the acid rose. “No, thanks.” Crossing the kitchen, he opened a cabinet and pulled out the antacids.

“You’re popping a lot of those lately.”

He snorted and almost choked on a damn tablet. “I wonder why?”

Tyler shuffled into the kitchen, his red curly hair sticking out at all angles. He and Katrina shared a bedroom in the basement next to Daedalus’s man-cave. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “What are you guys doing?”

“Nothing.” Robert and the vampire echoed each other like the twins, Sugar and Spice, did at times. Sugar was Daedalus’s human lover, and Spice the pack’s female alpha.

“I thought we’re not supposed to keep secrets from each other. Isn’t that some kind of unspoken law after all the crap we’ve been through?” They’d fought side by side as pack to protect each other. “You’re both sneaking around the house like a bomb might go off. Spill it.”

Tyler was right. They couldn’t hide Esther in the bathroom forever, and he couldn’t just let her go.

“A vampire slayer tried to kill Daedalus tonight.”

The remains of sleep vanished from Tyler’s eyes. “Wow. What did you do with the body?”

Shaking his head, Daedalus gestured to Robert. “He has a crush on her, so he won’t let me finish the deed.”

“The slayer’s a woman?” He glanced at Robert. “That’s kind of hot.”

Robert couldn’t help but chuckle. Tyler had that effect on everyone.

“I think she likes him as well. She seemed pretty distraught when she
accidently
shot him.” Daedalus glanced at Robert. “Instead of escaping she stayed to help you.”

“She shot you?” Tyler’s voice rose.

“Shush, you’ll wake everyone. He’s all right now.” Daedalus stood between both werewolves, glancing back and forth like at a tennis match.

Robert turned all his attention on the cornered vampire. “Which brings me to the question of how did you know I’d heal if I shifted?”

“You didn’t know?” Daedalus tilted his head to the side as if surprised.

“No.” Really, how would they? One didn’t receive an instruction manual when they became a werewolf. Most packs, present day, believed in trial and error, something his alpha was trying to change. New recruits needed a mentor. “Never been shot before tonight. Makes me wonder what else we don’t know.”

Daedalus rubbed his bald head. “Me too.”

“You shifted and your injuries healed?” Tyler’s eyes grew wide.

“It was the coolest thing.” Robert stepped forward. “I fell from four stories with an arrow in my chest. When I woke up Daedalus told me to shift and my beast took control.”

“An arrow? Like in Robin Hood?” They tripped over each other’s sentences.

“She used a crossbow. The bolt is like a wooden stake, and she could kill vampires without having to get close, like an assassin.”

“So she’s smart as well as deadly.”

“Excuse me.” The Nosferatu cleared his throat. “Let me interrupt your excitement from almost
dying
. She’s a killer. Nothing romantic about that.”

“You’re a killer.” Robert’s retort hung in the air. “What’s the difference? You kill those you think are evil, so does she.”

“I don’t get paid, and I do it to survive.” His gaze narrowed. “And I’m not evil.”

“Anyway.” Tyler dragged out the word. “What do we do now?”

“Keep her until Eric and Spice get home, then we can decide.”

Daedalus rolled his eyes. “She’ll escape by then.”

“Afraid she’ll get you?” Robert shot back.

“A little, especially with you mooning over her. I didn’t get this old by being careless. You’re going to get me killed or worse, she’ll get to one of the others in the house.” He plucked her phone from his pocket and scrolled through the messages.

“What are you looking for?” Tyler leaned in.

“I want to know how much I’m worth.” He stopped and hit a button.

Tyler let out a low whistle. “For that much, I’d kill you.”

The vampire elbowed his skinny friend. “This means trouble. Esther is the first to try, but others might come.” He scratched his chin while examining the email. “I can’t tell who sent this.” Tossing the phone to Robert, he stood and stretched. “Can you do something with it on your computers?”

Fumbling the phone, Robert finally got a grip on it. “I’ll try. It might help to know who you’ve pissed off.”

“The list is endless.”

“What about all those security people you used to have at Pal Robi Inc.? Can’t they help?” Tyler suggested. Daedalus used to run the security company when they hired him to teach them how to fight. It felt like ages ago. He’d quit when he moved in with Sugar.

“They report to my clan. If word gets out I’m being hunted they may call me home.”

“Aren’t you some kind of boss? Uh—the Prime?” Robert never wanted to pry in Daedalus’s past. He’d rather be ignorant of the things the Nosferatu had done.

“Prime does not translate into King. There are many Primes. We’re more like police. Chicago is in my jurisdiction, but eventually the council will question my absence.” Daedalus shrugged. “I’m running out of excuses to remain here.”

Now Robert understood another reason to Daedalus’s desperation to turn Sugar. He’d have to go home one day and she might not follow as a human. His stomach clenched at the thought of gentle Sugar surrounded by vampires. He crunched another antacid and met Daedalus’s stare.

“Yeah, you got it.” The vampire stood and crossed the kitchen. “I’ll be in the bedroom until dawn if you get any more information out of that message.”

Nodding, Robert walked Tyler to the stairs. He went to the second floor and his friend to the basement. Once inside his bedroom he paused by the bathroom door with a chair jammed under the knob. He pressed his ear to the wood and listened. “Esther?”

After a moment of silence, she answered. “Yeah.”

“You need anything?”

“No. Have you decided my fate?” Her voice sounded amused, but he could smell her fear. He didn’t like it and leaned his head against the doorjamb.

“No.” He sighed. “But I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you, okay?”

The sound of shuffling came through the wood as if she drew closer. “Why? I’ve been nothing but terrible to you.”

He laughed, but there was no mirth to it. “I know. I guess I can’t help being a schmuck.”

“Are you going to let me out?”

“Not yet. I’ve got something to do first.”

Stars blanketed the night sky outside of Rob’s bathroom window. Esther kept the light off so she’d see them better. There were worse places to be imprisoned. She had water, a toilet, and if she got bored she’d take a hot bath.

Cool air blew against her face through the open window, hinting that fall was on the way. The chill soothed the ache around her neck where Daedalus had tried to strangle her. It wouldn’t take much effort to pop the screen out and climb the rainspout to the ground. Not much effort at all.

She tapped her fingernail on the sill as she considered the possibility. If she left that meant never seeing Rob again and
never
was a really long time. The thought left an empty pit in her stomach. Since when did she let her heart rule her life?

Her turning point was the moment Rob melted from his beast form to human as he pinned her to the car. Hunting her down and outthinking her had changed her perspective of him from some cute geek to someone she respected. And wanted. Bad.

Damn, he could have taken her against the car or in the alley at the club, but he always needed to be a gentleman and be dutiful to his pack.
Let’s not forget the fucking vampire.

How did Rob get mixed up with the Nosferatu? He said she only saw the surface of things. Maybe she did, but she couldn’t learn to see more from in here. What was Daedalus telling him? He probably wanted to kill her. That’s how things rolled between their kinds.

She should have run the moment the arrow struck Rob. Just the memory made her nauseous. He’d come so close to dying. The world would have been worse off without Rob in it. God, she loved everything about him.

Leaning her forehead on the window, she closed her eyes. She recalled the first time they’d met and how shy he’d been, acting as her protector. Silent and strong, he bore his responsibilities with such seriousness.

She banged her head on the glass and listened to the rattle. Now or never. Choose a life filled with what-ifs or take a fucking leap of faith on a werewolf who should hate her.

His possible rejection kept her at the edge of escaping. Her fingers traced the screen. Ah shit, if he broke her heart she’d just gut him.

The sound of a chair scraping against wood outside the bathroom drew her from her debate. As the door swung open, Rob stood in a halo of light cast from his bedroom lamp. “I need your help.”

“And if I don’t give it?” She turned from the window and faced him. The desire to help and the fear of being vulnerable twisted her stomach to the point she thought she might vomit right there in front of him.

He shrugged. “Then I close the door.”

A shiver ran down her spine. The step she took toward him appeared normal but, in her reality, it was the hardest thing she’d ever done. After all her lies she needed to prove her sincerity somehow. “I’ll help.” Her voice sounded strained even to her own ears.

“Are you okay?”

“I…I…”
Want to tell you how sorry I am.
“I’m fine. What do you need?” She’d apologized enough.

He gestured for her to follow him. They left his sparsely decorated bedroom and crossed the hall to an office. A long table-like desk lined the wall with two computers side by side with wires running along the edges. On the closest screen was her email sign-in.