The Blood In the Beginning (22 page)

‘Ava?'

Yeah, he'd spotted me, but I didn't answer. I didn't open my eyes.

‘Oh, shit! Ava!' He was at my side, on the floor. ‘Can you hear me?'

Loud and clear, buddy.
I nodded, still not opening my eyes. I didn't want to make this real and I knew once I saw his face, and started talking, there'd be no hiding.

‘Ava, look at me.' He turned my face with his hands, his voice warm, his breath sweet, fruity.

It made me hungry. ‘Is there another apple?'

‘Ava, open your eyes.'

I did and immediately wished I hadn't. Miguel Rossi held my face in his hands, not Tom. Fear battled with desire. Not exactly sure what I longed for, but there it was. Both feelings were strong. I hovered between them. ‘They're open. Now what?' Rossi's eyes had captured me. I couldn't blink.

‘Where are you hurt?' He was in full doctor mode, calm, gentle, taking my pulse as he talked. ‘Were you hit? Anything broken?'

Good questions. I didn't think so. ‘I'm fine.'

‘Like hell you are.' He went to untie my belt, which was now soaked with sweat and blood. ‘Tell me what happened?'

‘You roofied me! I've spent the afternoon at the bottom of the sea. Escaped in time to beat the living crap out of Big Jimmy, or maybe some evil Mar trying to tear my head off. Not sure which.'

He undid the last knot in my belt. ‘You aren't making sense, Ava.'

Was he even listening? ‘Hey, doc.' When my hand went to stop him from undressing me, it wasn't Rossi I touched, but Daniel Bane. ‘Where did you come from?'

‘What did you take?'

I felt Tom's hands feeling for fractures. Tom's voice. ‘You've hit your head again.' But I saw Daniel Bane and I tried again to push him away. ‘Blood doesn't come out of Armani.'

He ignored my babble. ‘Ava, either I'm assessing your injuries, or your ass is going to the ER. Which will it be?'

That didn't sound like the sophisticated Daniel Bane I knew. I sighed, my hand dropping back to my thigh. Daniel gently unwound the bloody belt, opened my gi and sucked in his breath. I guess there was some damage there? Maybe bruising?

‘You're as beautiful as ever,' he whispered.

Maybe not the bruises then …

‘I work out, when I'm not killing people.' I thought about that. ‘Or being killed.'

‘Ava?' It was Rossi again, his cool, professional voice washing over me. He rotated my arms, one and then the other, over my head, up, down. ‘Your shoulder's still in.'

‘My back might be out though.' I replayed the Mar slamming me into the reef. Or was that Jimmy, driving me into the cage post? I didn't know any more.

‘Hands over your head. I'm going to need to see everything.' That was Daniel's voice. ‘I wouldn't have let this happen to you. Why didn't you stay with me?'

Okay. Inappropriate. He was my boss. Also, he was a hallucination. I was aware enough to know that. ‘Tom? Where are you?' It would be easier if it was just him in the room with me. I lifted my arms and he peeled off my sports bra. His hands were gentle as he felt down my sternum, around my breasts, stopping at my heart. ‘Lean forward,' he whispered as he traced his fingertips down my back, checking my spine, pressing ribs. ‘Damn, Ava. Someone hit you with a crowbar?' I could swear it was Rossi's voice this time.

‘MMA. It's a contact sport,' I whispered.

‘So you say.' He was behind me, pressing his ear in between my shoulder blades. ‘Deep, slow breaths,' he said, his voice vibrating through my chest.

I did as he said, grateful for the air that filled my lungs. When he leaned me back and reached for the drawstring around my pants, a smile crossed my lips. He slipped my pants off and ran his hands up my legs. I tried to think of it as a purely professional assessment. My doctor, making sure I was alright. That lasted about two seconds.

The air wafted over my body. Daniel's hands were on my thighs.
Daniel?
I think he mumbled something about training not being so good for me and that I should stay away from Miguel Rossi. Or maybe that was my thought. It all blurred. Slowly, I drew my knees up and sat tall, my arms going around his neck. I pulled his face in to me. It felt right, comforting and warm, as my lips brushed his. So familiar.

He hesitated, poised for a moment. I didn't give him time to think. I wrapped my arms tighter, pressing up into his body. Kissing him was my ticket out of here, and I took it, full on the lips. But now it was Rossi absorbing my touch. He didn't join in at first, but he didn't resist either. Then he straddled me, keeping his weight on his knees, and kissed me back. The passion rose like a heat wave and I wrapped my legs around him, pressing my pelvis into his. Enthralled, I sucked on his neck, drawing in his pounding pulse. Warmth filled me with a rush of exciting scents. ‘I've missed this so much.'

‘Me too.'

I bit harder and warm, coppery blood spread over my tongue. He didn't seem to notice. He was doing the same to me.

A rush of images hit me as my tongue exploded with pinpricks. Sensations rippled down my spine, then up into my head. I saw, not Daniel, or Miguel, but Tom and me, the night we first hooked up. It was like receiving Tom's impressions, in full, living colour. The vision shifted through some of our more intimate nights. Then there was his dad, dressed in a suit that would cost me six months' rent. Laughs. Arguments. A fist fight. I couldn't tell who won.

The images faded and I sobered. He was all over my neck. Tom!
Oh no.
His kisses were wet, his desire pulsing. I started to pull away when the door slammed shut.

When had it opened?

‘Tom?' Zoe's small, shocked voice snapped me fully awake.

‘Fuck,' Tom said into my face. He rolled off of me, swearing softly.

I was on my feet in an instant, topless. Bottomless too. I stared at Zoe, licking blood off my lips. My euphoria evaporated, along with any trace of Rossi or Daniel Bane.

Zoe stared at me, her mouth hanging open. ‘What the hell, you guys?'

I kinda felt exactly the same. Pretty sure Tom did, too.

‘Did you do that to her?' she asked Tom, her voice not much more than a growl.

She's on my side?
I was impressed.

‘God, you're bleeding too!'

Tom's hand went to his neck.

‘Were you trying to kill each other?'

Sorta the opposite, but it wasn't Tom in my head, not most of the time, anyway.
I glanced down at my stark naked body. How to explain? There was a fair bit of blood crusting over my skin, and my nose had started bleeding again. This looked all kinds of bad.
Because it is bad
. Why had I been sexing it up with Tom? Right, I thought he was one of the other guys my body was hot for. I didn't want Tom, not like this, did I? We were over. I sure as hell didn't want to drag Zoe into it, or hurt her. This had to hurt, right?
Bad.
I cleared my throat, but that's as far as I could go with an explanation. Maybe Tom could take it from here. Somehow
I thought he was someone else
didn't seem like it would cut it.

Tom was useless. Dumbstruck. His shirt was off. His belt buckle was undone, hard-on undeniable, hand still clamped over his neck, where I'd bitten him.
Bitten him!
Add that to my list of messed up psycho behaviours. He was either trying to hide it or stop the bleeding, I wasn't sure. I cleared my throat a few more times. ‘Zoe, I can explain.'

‘Seriously?' Her arms were crossed, her expression wicked. ‘How?'

She further impressed me. Zoe wasn't crying, sobbing over victim rationales or simpering about being betrayed, or whatever had just happened.
Nor was she trying to zone out, like me.
She sure had some balls in this situation, some presence. I could learn from her.

‘I'm waiting.' Zoe's jaw was so tight I could hear her teeth grind.
What the hell, Tom. You said you guys were over.

‘We are over!' I answered before realising I'd picked that thought straight out of Zoe's head. Or imagined I did …

Are we over?
I heard Tom wonder.

Bloody hell. This was way too confusing for me.

Tom pulled on his shirt, buying time. I thought about how to answer. Direct honesty was the only way out. Whatever had caused Tom to join in our little blast-that-was-better-than-the-past make-out session, was for him to sort out with her, not me. We weren't together. My head cleared at the thought. I had some things of my own to deal with, and thanks to Zoe walking in on us, I was out of the fantasy and back in charge, more or less. ‘Zoe, this is weird, I know. Maybe we're having some
pas de trois
Neptune transit?'

‘Really? You're going to blame this on astrology?' Tom said out the side of his mouth. He'd never been a huge fan of the stars.

‘Not blaming. Just saying, extenuating circumstances, that's all.' I swept up my gi and undies, and looked Zoe in the eye. ‘Here's the deal. I was hurt bad tonight at training. Tom checked my injuries and I zoned in and out.' I knew what I was going to say next would hurt Tom. Had to say it though, for all concerned. ‘To be honest, I thought he was my doctor and this other guy … um.'
Maybe I shouldn't over-complicate the story.

If her brows pinched any tighter her face would crack. ‘You do that stuff with your doctor?'

‘It was the first time.'

Tom stared at me.

Sorry, Tom.
‘You didn't think I was trying to start things up again, did you?' I spoke to him softly and caught his wince.

‘Of course not. It was a weird time warp, is all.'

Zoe looked from me to Tom, and back to me. ‘What kind of training?' she asked, nodding at the blood spattered gi in my hand.

It wasn't what I'd expected her to focus on. ‘It's the LA branch of Mixed Martial Arts. Mostly jujitsu, but kickboxing, judo, wrestling.' I let my voice trail off as Tom glared at me.

Zoe mulled that over while I became increasingly aware of my nakedness.

Tom put on his ‘I'm hurt, you can't see me' face and turned to Zoe. ‘Like she said, I was checking her injuries and, we have a lot of history. It's in the past. It won't happen again.'

I suddenly felt like a third wheel.

Tom stepped closer to her. ‘Zoe. I'm really sorry. I know we haven't been going out long but …'

My cue to leave.
I went to clean up. I'd probably need somewhere else to stay now.
Way to mess up your safe haven, Ava.

I used a ton of hot water, letting the shower wash away the blood and sweat. It drowned out Tom and Zoe in the next room too, a big plus. Maybe they were having make-up sex, the whole situation being some kind of a turn-on. ‘Well, somebody ought to be enjoying themselves,' I muttered, as water beat down on my shoulders. My thoughts started to settle. Rossi had some explaining to do. As I pictured him, the boy on the wharf came to mind. What had happened to him, that he went from a smiling child, fishing in the sun, to the emaciated one, dying under the pier? Was it real? I shivered in spite of the heat.

I washed blood out of my hair, remembering Rossi claimed he could find my mother, or my guardian. Whatever he meant, there was a chance that this Teern had information about my past, or knew how to track it down. I had a meeting set up with Kathleen Jones … maybe she could help. Or maybe it was all a strange loop because Rossi sure as hell hadn't given me straight answers yet.

I closed my eyes and let the hot water flow down my body, soothing and relaxing. Images of the Mar floated back into my mind, their heads turning to see me, Rossi's eyes opening.
Who are you?
The more I tried to find out, the less I knew.

* * *

Two days later — glorious days that included takeaway noodles, study, sleep, the miraculous avoidance of Tom, and a long but uneventful shift at Poseidon on Sunday night — I found myself in Jones's office. It was spacious and elegant, tidy, a striking contrast to Rourke's hot mess. Sitting opposite Jones, the rosewood desk between us, made me feel valued, like what I might say mattered. Sure, I was still suspicious, eyeing everything, but the news so far was good.

‘Ava, there are no charges being pressed, so you're free of Detective Flanagan.' Kathleen was in a dark-brown business suit today, with a knee-length skirt. She looked sharp as ever, tall, graceful and totally in control.

‘Great. Thanks.' I sat up straighter, smoothing my tank top down over stonewashed jeans. ‘There's something else though. Maybe you can help?' I had no second thoughts about letting Miguel Rossi pay the bill on this extended consultation, not after what he'd done to me.

What did he do?

My head snapped up. Jones was focussed on me, beautiful brown eyes unblinking.

‘Huh?'

‘Trouble with Miguel?'

This telepathy game was not making me happy.
Who are you people?

Mar, just like you.
She crossed her arms.

Damn. I'd been doing well pushing thoughts of what Rossi said to me out of my head. It was a hung jury, until I found out for myself where I came from and who, or what, I was. ‘I want to find my mother.'
I want her to look me in the eye and confirm I'm human.

‘Yes, Miguel mentioned you have some confusion there. No wonder you're struggling.'

‘I'm not struggling.' Oh, hell, why lie? But it wasn't making me comfortable, knowing she and Rossi were talking behind my back. ‘My birth mother might have answers to my blood condition.'

She smiled. ‘We're here to help.'

So help, already. Find the woman who abandoned me.
‘I have missing pieces.' As if that would be enough to explain it.

‘You run into a door?'

The question took me by surprise. I guess the icepack, makeup and fast healing hadn't been quite enough.