The New Girl (3 page)

She spun and hurried back inside then, garbage forgotten. They had no choice but to follow her.

“So, you know her name huh?” Cat flashed him a cheeky grin. Drei rolled his eyes.

“Shut it, kitty Cat.”

***

“If you wanted to get me undressed, sweetness, there were easier ways to go about it.” Grig winked at the redhead, but his face was pale and sweaty. His long hair hung around his face. Cat stood close to Grig’s side, wringing her hands, but otherwise still. Em rubbed her back with one hand, but his face was tense as well.

Drei almost smiled at his younger brother’s words. Cassandra did, though he noticed it didn’t reach her cool green eyes. “Have to make an impression, don’t I? I’ve seen the ladies hanging all over you every night.”

Grig chuckled, but it ended in a grunt as Cassandra prodded the shallow divot of his wound with long fingers. Her wide mouth turned down at the corners. Drei felt his heart do a lazy turn. Was Grig in more danger than they’d thought? And how the hell did Cassandra know about any of this? She was definitely
human; there was no doubt about that.

“Cassandra,” Drei growled, uneasy and impatient. She winced at his tone and shoved the damp bar towel she’d been dabbing at Grig’s shoulder with into Drei’s hand.

“Give me a minute, Drei, okay? Let’s get your brother cleaned up and then,” the muscle in her jaw twitched, “I’ll explain everything.” The look on her face said she’d rather do anything but. Drei gave her a brief nod and pressed the towel to Grig’s shoulder. Grig hissed.

Drei watched as Cassandra moved purposefully behind the bar. She grabbed a bottle of top shelf vodka and a first aid kit, setting them both on the long wooden surface of the bar next to Grig. She met his gaze suddenly and jerked her head back toward her office.

“There are a couple of bottles – little glass bottles – in my office. Can you grab the one with
VN
on the label?”

He nodded, tossing her the bar rag and striding toward the office. Em was murmuring to Cat, comforting her. The human was clearly a little shaken. More by Grig’s injury than the fight, Drei thought. He could hardly blame her.

Cassandra’s office still held that slightly green fragrance that always clung to her. He realized why now... the row of corked green glass bottles lined up on the shelf behind her desk were all herbal tinctures. Who was this human woman?

He grabbed the bottle she’d indicated and was back at Grig’s side in a matter of steps. She plucked the small bottle from his hands with a short nod and then touched Grig’s pale cheek gently. “You ready for this? It’s going to sting like a motherfucker.”

“Get it over with.” Grig took a swig of the vodka and then shoved the bottle at Cassandra. She sloshed a healthy portion over Grig’s wounded shoulder, which was now almost purple. He and Em both had to grab the younger man as he nearly fell from the stool with a groan and a curse.

“Hold him up,” Cassandra ordered them, dabbing at the wound again quickly. Fresh blood was running freely from the scraped flesh and Grig was panting through gritted teeth. Cassandra twisted the top off the small glass bottle, but set aside the dropper.

Drei took tight hold of Grig’s upper arms as she upended the contents onto his brother’s wounded shoulder. The liquid was a greenish-brown color and slightly thick. It pooled in the long, shallow cut. Grig groaned.

Even as they watched, Drei saw some of the purple flush of Grig’s skin begin to fade back to red, and then that too began to return to his normal, tan shade. Cat’s lashes fluttered.

“Wow. What is that stuff?”

Cassandra handed Grig a clean towel to wipe his chest with and began cleaning up her impromptu triage supplies, leaving only the first aid kit on the bar. Though, watching as Grig’s Shifter healing finally started to kick in, Drei doubted they’d really need it.

“It’s just a tincture of vitex negundo. Otherwise known as the Chaste Tree.” Cassandra’s lips twitched. Drei felt a chuckle rumble in his chest as relief relaxed some of the stiffness in his shoulders.

“Surprised it worked on Grig then,” Em replied, amusement lightening his own gaze.

Grig swiped alcohol and some of the sticky herbal mixture out of his chest hair. “Screw all of you,” he grumbled. Cat giggled.

“Okay, but if it’s just some plant, how come it just worked like... like magic?” She waved her hand at Grig’s shoulder, which now just looked like normal, except for the long, thin scratch. It hadn’t healed completely, but clearly the venom was no longer working its way into Grig’s system.

Cassandra swiped a damp rag over the bar. “Shifters heal quicker than humans. Surely you’ve seen that with this one.” She arched an eyebrow and tipped her head toward Em.

“Okay,” Drei said, tired of waiting. “Now that we know my brother isn’t about to keel over on the spot, explain how the fuck you know all this shit, Cassandra.” It came out like an order. Cat shot him a frown. Em rolled his eyes. Even Grig snorted.

“Geez, she only just saved my life, Drei. Don’t cut her a bit of a break or anything.”

Cassandra met his eyes, her clear green gaze un-intimidated by his harsh tone. It made her even sexier. “I’m not one of your trainees, Andrei.”

“What the fuck?” Grig murmured. Em’s eyebrows practically touched his hairline. Cat stared back and forth between Drei and Cassandra, her brow furrowed.

“Will you explain? Please.” Drei gritted the words out. He had to know how this woman knew what she knew. The need only slightly edged out his increasing desire to press her against a wall and wrap her legs around his waist.

Cassandra’s eyebrows twitched. She sighed and took a swig from the vodka bottle herself. “I know because you’re not the only Shifters that spend time here. Lots of the recruits do too. Even some vamps.”

“And they’re talking out of school?” Em sounded like he was ready to round up whatever pups had been careless enough to be discussing Pack business out in fucking public, but Drei shook his head.

“No, that’s not it. Is it? Out there in the alley, you weren’t talking about some conversation you happened to overhear.”

Cassandra took another gulp of vodka and grimaced. “Not exactly.”

Grig rolled his shoulder, wincing only slightly at the movement. “I’m lost.”

“Me too,” Cat murmured, pressing into Em’s side. “Why do they want me? I’m just a human.”

“You’re more than that, baby.” Em brushed a kiss over her head. Cat squeezed his waist.

Cassandra’s fingers were white-knuckled around the neck of the vodka bottle. “You’re not just a human. Not a regular one, anyway. The one that got away, he’s tasted your blood. And it’s... different. That’s why he wants you. And, I’m guessing, why you were able to Mate with Em.”

“And you know that how?”

But Cat stamped her foot and spoke over Drei. “I am just a regular human. He must have the wrong blood. I was born to normal parents. I played field hockey in high school and had an experimental phase in college and there is nothing supernatural about me!”

Em waggled his eyebrows. “An experimental phase?” But Cat slapped her hand against his chest to quiet him.

“It’s not supernatural, Cat. It’s just... Other.” Cassandra chugged the last of the vodka. Grig had drunk more than half of the already opened bottle of premium liquor, but the tall redhead had put away quite a bit too. She sighed and set aside the empty bottle.

Drei opened his mouth to ask her again, but she held up a hand to him. “I know because I heard it. I wasn’t lying about that. I just didn’t hear it with my ears, that’s all.” She cast a tired smile in Cat’s direction. “Don’t sweat it, honey. If you’re Other, than I am too. At least you’re not alone.”

He’d been concentrating on trying to interpret her explanation of how she came by her knowledge, but her last words drew Drei’s speculation to a halt. There was an edge of bitterness and sadness in them that made his hands clench into fists. Cassandra had been alone. She knew what alone was.

“I don’t understand.” Cat’s voice was small. For the first time since he’d met the feisty Mundane reporter, she sounded genuinely scared to Drei. Em wrapped his arm around her and held her close.

“I’m not sure I do either.”

Cassandra leaned her long frame against the counter behind the bar, her porcelain skin flushed from the alcohol and her unease. “I don’t really either. I only know what I’ve heard.”

“You keep saying that.” Grig shook his head, clearly as lost as the rest of them. Cassandra’s shoulders tensed and she lifted her chin, as if she was about to plead her innocence to a crime but knew no one would believe her. She focused her bottle green gaze on Grig.

“You’ve got that line from The Princess Bride running around in your head now.” It was a statement, not a question. Drei frowned, but Grig blinked. Cassandra moved on to Em. “And you’re wondering how come the lab rats didn’t immediately detect whatever it was the vamps suspect about Cat’s blood. Which I don’t know the answer to. Because none of the vamps were thinking about.” She gritted her teeth. “Because I can read thoughts.”

Cat, Em, and Grig all began exclaiming and talking at once at Cassandra’s admission. But Drei just stared at her, an emotion washing over him that took him a moment to recognize. Embarrassment. Heat actually prickled in his cheeks. Had he ever blushed before in his life?

He didn’t doubt for a second that she was telling the truth. Which made him think about what she might have heard in his head. The answer was ‘a lot’. Every time he’d been in her vicinity since the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d been thinking about what he’d like to do to her body, and all the different ways he’d like to do it. Had she heard
all
of it?

Though she was still looking down, not meeting anyone’s eyes, Drei thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch. He swallowed heavily. He didn’t feel bad, exactly. Just, exposed. Was that why she’d always taken so long to serve him? Was she pissed because of what he’d been thinking about?

Cassandra snorted. “No. Not exactly.”

Drei’s gaze flew to hers, colliding with the amused twinkle in her eyes. He gritted his teeth as fresh heat stung his cheeks. Grig frowned at Cassandra. “Not exactly what?” But then he followed her gaze to Drei, took in the flush on his brother’s cheeks, and started laughing. “What’s the blush for, big brother? Had a few thoughts –” And then Grig snapped his mouth shut, blood staining his own cheeks. He dropped his eyes to study the suddenly very interesting bar top. “Oh. Uh. Right. Sorry.”

He mumbled that in Cassandra’s direction. Drei felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to punch Grig in his pretty boy face.

“What are you apologizing for, asshole?”

Grig wouldn’t look at him. Drei growled. Cassandra shook her head, her silky red hair shifting across her bare shoulders. “You’re not just living in glass house, Andrei. You’re living in a glass
mansion
. Maybe, don’t throw stones.” She quirked a brow at him. Drei wondered if she knew that made him want to kiss her.

Her lips twitched. “As does apparently everything I do.”

“Yeah, well I’m not concerned with the size of my house,” he shot back. “I’m concerned with the size of his.” He jerked his thumb at Grig. Cassandra smiled, really smiled, and Drei wondered how quickly he could get her out of that tiny vest. Her nostrils flared and the smile faded, leaving her lips still ticked slightly upward.

“Just the one window, I swear.” She held up her fingers about an inch apart. “A very small window.”

“Can you two stop babbling so we can deal with the fact that fucking vampires are trying to kidnap my Mate?” Em shoved a hand through his hair.

“I hate to say this,” Grig grimaced, balling his ruined t-shirt into his hand, “But –”

“Oh goody,” Cassandra interrupted with a snicker, her eyes on Drei. “I get to meet your mom?”

***

Which left him and the surprising
redhead alone in the office that he shared with Em and Grig. One wall was all windows, allowing them to look out into the corridor and across to the Beta squad office. Gamma squad’s office was next door, but they couldn’t see it from this vantage point.

They were waiting for his mother, Elena Lupei, Commander of the Shifter special forces in general, and Alpha squad in particular. Em had called her, told her they had some new information about Cat, and she was on her way.

He should be thinking about what this meant for Shifters. Or even just what it meant for Cat and Em. He loved his brother, and not just because they were littermates. He and Em and Grig depended on each other. And whatever was going on with Cat and the vamps was big. It was important.

And all he could think about was the way Cassandra’s jeans clung to the curve of her ass, the smooth plane of her belly and the shadow of her cleavage. Her leather vest was held closed with three hook-and-eye buttons and Drei wanted to thumb them open and lick the valley between her breasts.

To start with.

Cassandra gave a soft, low, sigh. It was almost a moan. She lifted her eyes to his and took a step closer, moistening her lips with her tongue. “Now you see why it always took me so long to get your drinks when you’re thinking things like that?” Her voice was normally a little husky, but now it was like smoke.

Immediate desire throbbed through Drei’s blood at the sound. He closed the distance between them and reached down to cup her bare elbows. That first touch of skin on skin made them both groan. Drei gritted his teeth as his cock twitched to life. “No, why?”

“You’re going to make me say it out loud?” She angled her head, her body swayed softly into his.

“I can’t read your thoughts.” Drei bent, once again marveling at her height. He only had to lean down slightly to bring his lips within a hair’s breadth of hers. He could feel her breath on his face as she exhaled slowly, chuckling.

“No, I guess you can’t. So I guess you’ll just have to trust me when I say that I can only hear for a short range. And the quicker I served you, the quicker you would have been out of that range.”

Drei’s lips twisted as he stared down into her eyes. “Did it make you hot, Cassandra? Were you wet all those times, listening in on my thoughts?” His voice was a rasp. She shuddered, lashes fluttering. But instead of answering, her hands snaked quickly up his arms and around his wide neck.

Long, thin fingers reached up and gripped a handful of his short, dark hair. She tugged hard, making him grunt at the small pain. “Shut up. I’ve got better uses for your mouth.” Cassandra pushed onto the balls of her feet, closing the last inch of space between them and crushing her lips to his.

Drei wasn’t about to let her take control. His arms banded around her waist, pressing her tightly to his hard body. He plunged his tongue between her lips as soon as she parted them, parrying each flick of her tongue with a thrust of his own.

She tasted like herbs and vodka and some phantom sweetness that he couldn’t place. The combination was as heady as a drink she might mix at 5tM. He nipped at her lips. She bit back.

When her knee brushed his thigh, Drei slid one hand down from her waist to hitch her leg over his hip. Cassandra curled her booted calf around his muscled leg, giving a little growl of her own as one of his big hands palmed her ass and pressed her pussy hard against the bulge of his cock.

He sucked at her tongue, fingers stroking over the smooth, silky skin of her belly, up toward those three buttons on her vest. He wanted to get that vest off her, or at least open. Then get her pants off. He could push all the shit off his desk, lay her down there, and slide into her, finally be inside this incredibly sexy, badass –

“I take it this is the other human?”

Drei and Cassandra both froze at the sound of his mother’s voice. He had one hand on Cassandra’s ass and the other was about to pluck open the first of those three little buttons. The hand that Cassandra didn’t have wrapped in his hair was curled around his belt, as if she could yank it off without undoing it first.

By mutual, unspoken agreement, they each stepped back at the same time and dropped their hands to their sides.

Elena Lupei stood in the office doorway, dressed in an elegant grey evening gown, glimmering with shiny silver sequins. Her hair, as dark black as her sons though threaded through with some white, was up in a sleek chignon and diamonds dripped from her ears, throat, and wrists.

Drei crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his mother. Her mouth, the upper lip slightly fuller than the lower, just like Grig’s, curved into a grin. Beside him, Cassandra straightened her vest and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. He was pleased to see that, despite the faintest hint of pink in her cheeks, she extended her hand to his mother.

“Ms. Lupei. I’m Cassandra Burroughs. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

His mother took Cassandra’s pale hand in her smaller, tan one, perusing Cassandra’s rangy frame. “From whom?”

“She can read thoughts, Mother. So, all of us. Including you.” Drei didn’t even try to hide his smirk as his mother’s eyes – the same deep brown as his – widened slightly. Cassandra’s lips remained in their slightly curved position, but he saw the twinkle in her eyes.

“Yes, I imagine it would be a useful trait in future generations of Shifters. But you don’t know whether human and Shifter DNA are compatible yet, and even if it was I hardly think we’re at that point yet, despite how it looked when you came in.”

Grig stepped up behind his mother, freshly showered, and looped his arm around her neck. “Oh hey ho, and how did it look when you came in, Mother?”

“How did what look when she came in?” Em’s fingers were entwined through Cat’s while the curvy reporter sipped a mug of hot cocoa. Her shakes had subsided, Drei saw.

Cat pulled away from Em to brush a kiss on Elena’s cheek. “Elena.”

“Hello, darling.” Elena touched Cat’s shoulder. “I hear there’s some news?”

Cassandra sighed, and told Elena everything she’d explained to them at the club. Their mother listened, perching herself on the end of Grig’s desk. When Cassandra finished, Elena remained silent for a brief moment.

“Mom?” Grig shifted to a spot next to her on the desk. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m glad this young lady was there to save your fool life tonight, Grigore. Bit by a vampire? And a poisonous one at that? Very sloppy.”

Grig ducked his head. “I know. Extra training hours this week. Promise.”

“With Andrei.”

Grig winced, but nodded. Elena patted his knee. “And this vampire that got away, Andrei? The one who’s after our Cat?”

“That’s the second time he got away. He runs as soon as the odds aren’t in his favor.”

Elena spun the bracelet on her wrist contemplatively. “We need to capture him. Find out what he knows about Cat, why he wants her so bad. Emilian, I expect you to coordinate with the other squads and make sure everyone is on the lookout and has the same orders.” She gave Em a hard look. Em nodded in response. Elena continued.

“He possesses the ability to Ice? We need to counteract that somehow. Grigore, I want you in with the doctors. Once you’ve had that wound double checked, you can see if they have anything that will temporarily incapacitate the bloodsucker.”

“Yes, Commander.” There was no questioning that their mother was in work mode now. Her eyes were flinty with determination and you could almost hear the wheels in her head spinning. When she shifted her gaze to Drei, he straightened his shoulders. Her lips pressed together and her eyes slid to Cassandra before she jerked them away.

He felt the redhead stiffen beside him and turned to see her narrowing her eyes at his mother. “You could just ask, you know.”

“Cassandra? What is she thinking?” He ignored the way his mother growled at his words. Cassandra’s green eyes met his.

“She’s pleased you’ll be keeping me occupied enough that she won’t have to post actual guards on me. Saves money and I might not even realize I’m not free to go.”

Anger, jagged and electric, spiked through Drei’s blood as he rounded on his mother. “Is that what you think? I’ll just distract her with my dick?”

Grig covered his bark of laughter with an unbelievable cough. Elena Lupei shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Andrei.” She sighed and turned to Cassandra. “Well, I can see your talent has its disadvantages as well. But no matter. Will you stay, as our guest, until we’ve got this figured out? We will keep you safe. And we’ll just need to run a few tests. Cat can tell you, they’re all harmless.”

“No.” Drei didn’t even think about it before he spoke. He knew from the startled look on Cassandra’s face that it hadn’t even crossed his mind. But the response was immediate and primal. He bared his teeth at his mother. For the first time in his life, Drei was going to disobey her orders. “We’re not turning her over to the lab rats.”

Cat touched his folded arm gently. “Elena’s not lying, Drei. None of the tests are very painful or invasive.”

He fought the urge to shake off her hand and snarl. He and Cat may snipe at each other, but she was like a sister to him now. He clenched his jaw and tried to speak as calmly as possible. “Maybe not for you, Cat. But you can’t read minds. You think they won’t want to prod her brain a little?”

Cat made a soft, shocked sound of denial, but Drei kept his eyes on his mother’s face. She was cooly beautiful, calm, but he saw a muscle beside her eye twitch. Cassandra gave a low gasp. His mother may have been able to avoid thinking about what the doctors might do to Cassandra when she’d initially asked, but clearly her thoughts had touched on it when he brought it up.

Cassandra paled. Elena dropped her gaze and brushed at her dress. “I just meant blood tests, for Christ’s sake, Andrei.”

He didn’t need to hear Cassandra’s choked laugh to know his mother was lying. He did snarl then. “Not fucking happening.”

Ignoring the startled looks of his brothers and Cat’s wide-eyed worry, Drei crouched, threw Cassandra over his shoulder, and stalked out.

“Andrei! Come back here! That’s a direct order!” his mother called after them. But he kept walking, big strides eating up the hallway.

Hair hanging down, ass in the air, with his arm clamped tightly around her waist, Cassandra wrapped her arms loosely around his ribcage and sighed.

***