Blood Bonds (27 page)

“Deshi?” Haley knelt in front of The Jersey City Prince. Blood glued feathers to her hands when she touched his shoulder. “Where’s Emily?”

He finally raised a hand and pointed at the bathroom door. Farley leaned down and picked up the larger Male. With a heavy boot he kicked aside some of the debris and eased them both down to the floor. When Farley had Deshi situated, Haley turned her attentions back to the door.

“Emily?” She rapped on the door and listened. “Emily? It’s Haley Night. I was at your wedding, remember? I know you’re in there.”
Because I can hear your heart beating like a scared rabbit.
“I need you to open the door for me so I can make sure you’re okay.” If she was hurt bad enough for the ER, Deshi was still a dead Male. Kin who struck out violently against their Human spouses served an automatic five years in the ADF. A death penalty for just about any Kin.

She tried the door handle but it didn’t move. Inside, there was a quick breath and a small sob. “Emily, please. Please let me help you.”

“He killed my parents’ dog!” Emily screeched. “He killed their golden retriever. He killed him!” Her sobbing drowned out the rest.

Yeah,
thought Haley,
you have no idea how lucky you are
. “Emily, please let me in so I can make sure you’re okay.”

In a high pitched voice, bordering on hysterics, Emily screamed. “Just call the police! I want the police and I want an ambulance! He killed Max! He killed him and he ate him!”

Haley winced, her own teeth aching. So much blood, so much violence, the smell of prey. “Emily, I need you to calm down, okay?”
Please calm down because I don’t want this to get any worse.

And worse meant Deshi eating her.

“Calm down? Calm down! He ate the goddamned dog and you want me to calm down!”

“Emily, for God’s sake, shut the hell up before you make him come after you again. You’re screaming like a wounded animal and he’s reacting to it.”

Silence. There was a sniffle and the sound of someone blowing their nose.

Haley took a breath and checked on Farley. He was petting Deshi, whose handsome face was contorted in a mix of fear and horror. Poor Beautiful Deshi looked like he was trying to wake up from a nightmare.

Haley blew out a sigh and turned her attention back to the door. “Emily, are you hurt?”

“Yes, yes, I’m hurt. I’ve got blood all over me. My robe is ruined.” Another sob.

“Is the blood yours or the dog’s?”

“Who the fuck cares whose blood it is? It’s all over me, for God’s sake.” She sounded like she was going to start wailing again. Which was
so
not a good idea. The last thing Haley needed was two Males going into
rage.

“I’m fine,” Farley said. “And no, this far away I can’t hear your thoughts, but I saw that look on your face.”

Yeah, well, Haley was glad he was so sure of himself, but Emily just had the special gift of irritation. There were quite a few times that Haley imagined drawing blood on the woman.

Obviously, asking nicely wasn’t going to work. Surprise, surprise.

Haley said, “Look, I’m going to give you until the count of ten to open this door. If you don’t, then I’m going to kick it in. Usually when I kick doors in I break a heel and these are my seventeen-hundred-dollar Ferragamos. I break a heel on your door, and I’m going to be pissed.”

Silence.

Haley counted. She was on five when the door clicked. When she tried the handle it turned. Inside, Emily was crouched in the immense claw foot tub, her bloody white robe wrapped around her like a body shield. Her pretty face was blotched and red, her short blond hair a mass of tangles. Even in a state of disaster she was still gorgeous.

“Can I come in?” Either way Haley was going in, but she at least wanted to give Emily a chance to make the right choice.

Emily gave a quick nod, then brushed her manicured fingers under her eyes, sweeping away new tears. Haley shut the door behind her.

The woman flailed a hand in her direction. “Lock it, lock it, quick.” Haley didn’t bother to tell her that if Deshi wanted through that door, it might last all of five seconds. And only because it was solid wood, not the cheap kind found in modern houses.

Haley put the lid down on the toilet and sat. The woman made some small gasping noises and put a hand to her lips. Haley waited for her to get through another wave of crying.

“I can’t believe ... I can’t believe he killed Max.” More tears were scraped away by her fingers, smudging blood and mascara. “He was such a good dog. A very good dog.”

“Better the dog than you.” Haley didn’t really mean to say that out loud.

Emily stifled a sob and used the sleeve of her robe to clean off her face. “Why? Why did he do this? I thought he loved me. I can’t believe he would hurt me like this.” She pushed up the sleeve of her robe and showed Haley the black and blue marks on her arms. “Look what he did,” she said, and followed up with one big choppy inhale that bounced her shoulders.

“Are you bleeding?” Because Haley sure could smell Human blood.

Emily pulled the collar of her robe aside. There was a bite mark, but given the devastation outside, it was minor. Then she showed Haley the cut on her thigh. That one might need stitches. Which meant, if Emily ran her yap, the Jersey City Prince would be in a concrete Tank by morning.

Think. Think.
There had to be a way around this. Number one problem was Emily. Any scenario that involved her going to the doctor ended up with Deshi in the ADF and dead in a matter of months.

“Is the ambulance on its way?” Emily adjusted her robe. “I want to go to that private hospital just east of here. Don’t let them take me to Grady.”

“Emily, you can’t go to the hospital.”

“What do you mean? They’ll take you to whichever one you want to go to. The insurance will cover it.”

“If you go to the hospital, they will put Deshi in a hole and he will die.”

“Well, I’ll figure out how to manage. Everything will work out.” More fidgeting. “My mother did just fine after my father died. I know how to take care of myself.”

Haley pressed her palms into her eyes, willing the pain in her skull to stop. “Can you stop thinking about yourself for five minutes, and think about Deshi, for once in your selfish life!” In the absence of her yelling, the bathroom became painfully quiet. She looked at Emily. The woman was picking at the gold hairs on the robe in between playing with her hair.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” But it sure did feel good. “You know, Deshi could die over this. Doesn’t that bother you even a little?”

Emily smoothed out her robe. “I just bought this two weeks ago. They’ll never get the blood out.”

“He ate the Chihuahua, too.”

Emily’s eyes flicked up. They were almost as blue as Deshi’s. “What did you say?”

“He ate the Chihuahua because it slept in the bed with you and had your scent on it. He just told you it ran out the door because he was afraid you’d never trust him enough to
bond
. But trust isn’t it. You don’t love him enough to care that he’s hurting. Don’t you get it, Emily?” Haley threw a hand at the door. “This is your fault! All of this. The Chihuahua, that mess out there, this other dog ... dead.”

“Excuse me?”

Haley put a hand on the tub and leaned closer. “You heard what I said.”

“My fault?”

“Yeah, your fault.”

“How dare you! How dare you blame this on me!” She jabbed a finger at the door. “He did this. He ate the dog, he destroyed the room, he came after me! He’s the monster! Not me! Him!”

“And how long did you think marital bliss was going to last if you kept turning down becoming his Link?”

Emily’s expression closed and some of the flush was replaced by gray. “That has nothing to do--”

“It has everything to do with this. Everything. He’s starving, Emily. He’s tried to tell you that for two years. He’s been begging you to help him, and you’ve done nothing but ignore him.”

“Starving? We were having sex...” A blush bloomed over her cheeks.

“Food, sex, it’s the same thing. And probably what pushed him over.”

There was no making this go away, but the mess needed to be taken care of. “I know a cleaning crew that can keep their mouths shut.” Because they had cleaned up some bloody messes at her apartment. Granted, the blood had been a different color. “Will you let me call them? They’re good. Very discreet.”

“I don’t care! Whatever. Now I want to go to the hospital.”

“Emily...”

Emily’s eyes flew wide and her face contorted in rage. Just like a Kin shifting in its Human skin, the real Emily revealed herself. “Don’t ‘Emily’ me! I don’t give a fuck if they take him out back and put a bullet in his head. He’s a monster. I hope they do. I hope they kill him and save me the suffering. I want him gone. I want him locked up. I want him dead! Now get on the goddamned phone and call me an ambulance!”

Haley stared at the woman, trying to figure out what the hell Deshi saw in her. She knew what Emily saw in Deshi, a cash cow. A way to become wealthy without breaking a nail. It was the only reason she’d married the Male, and everyone around saw it but him.

But being Human left Emily holding all the cards. No matter what her numbers were, her race always trumped the Kin. Deshi had attacked and tried to eat his wife, and that’s all any jury or judge would ever know. No one would stand up and explain the connection of food and sex. No one would be able to convince a jury of Human beings how painful it is to slowly starve to death. How madness consumes Males who are deprived of the metaphysical current, the life force of all Kin.

Getting Emily to care about anyone but herself wasn’t going to happen. If the woman had the capacity for empathy, Farley and Haley wouldn’t be here in this house. Instead, they would be heading back to her apartment, stuffed on Chinese food, her scowling about something obnoxious he said.

But here she was, in a bathroom as big as her den, sitting on a toilet lid while Miss Congeniality worried about the stains in her robe.

Haley found herself hating Emily. Not just disliking her, but hating her and wishing she would just go away. “Fine, I’ll call your ambulance.” She pulled out her phone and flipped it open.

“Good, about time.” Emily checked her reflection in the shiny silver tub faucet and fiddled with her hair.

“You realize if he dies, there will be no more money. And in the ADF, he will die.”

Emily waved a hand at her. “Why would I be worried about that?”

“Because you won’t keep this house, you won’t keep any of the bank accounts, and everything he owns will revert back to his Mother, the Queen of Jersey City.”

Emily blinked and looked around, like maybe someone was playing a joke on her. “What are you talking about?”

Haley watched, taking pleasure in her fear. “He isn’t Human, remember? He’s Kin and he’s a Prince. His Mother gave him everything, and if he should die, it reverts back to her. She’ll get everything, Emily, and you’ll be right back in middle class where he found you.” Haley put the phone to her ear.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Wanna bet? If they take you to the hospital, your wounds will have to be reported. Then they’ll come here and arrest Deshi. By nine AM tomorrow, his bank accounts will be frozen, as well as any access to his wealth. Everything Deshi owns must be returned to his Mother. That’s Kin law.”

The operator came on and asked if she could hold. Haley said yes. Sometimes an over-burdened 911 could be a good thing.

“He’s my husband! I’ll fight it!”

“Yeah, you could do that. But what are you going to use to pay a lawyer, your looks?” With the way Emily kept fawning over herself it was a good possibility she’d try. “Deshi’s Mother would keep you tied up in court until you are nothing but grave dust. Your life span is like an inconvenience to her.” When she shot Haley a doubtful look, she added, “Trust me, that Female hates you enough to spend more money keeping you in the poor house than to give you a cent. Deshi cut out his
nevus
for you. That alone got you put on the naughty list.”

Haley waited for the woman to say something, but she just kept rearranging her robe and blotting her eyes.

“Fine.” The operator came back on and Haley said, “Yes, ma’am, I need to arrange an ambulance--”

“Wait!” Emily stood up and climbed out of the tub. “I changed my mind. I’m not that hurt. It’s just bruises. That’s all.” She flashed her arms, stumbled to the sink.

Haley apologized to the operator and told her they’d changed their mind.

“What am I going to tell my parents?” Emily said.

“Same thing he told you. Tell them it ran away.” Haley stood up, and a wave of metaphysical heat blossomed over her skin. Emily started for the door, but Haley held out an arm and stopped her.

“Farley’s
feeding
him.” The truth was better than a lie.

Emily shook her head, then stared at the door. “What do you mean?”

Haley sighed. Trying to keep things like this from Emily wasn’t going to work anymore. They were running out of dogs to take the fall.

“Emily, has Deshi explained anything to you?”

She shook her head. “I know he wants me to bond with him, become a Link. I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“What else has he told you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Has he explained to you about
feeding?
”

Emily let out a nervous laugh. “Well, he eats enough for an army, if that’s what you mean. He says it’s his metabolism...” Her words puttered out. “That’s not what you mean, is it?”

This was a bad time to start giving Emily a crash course, but it was better than letting her walk out that door right now. “Because we aren’t physical, we have to take blood and flesh from each other or a Link to live. It
feeds
our metaphysical side, sates the
need.
Eating food can’t do that.”

“We? You ... you mean you’re...” Emily pulled away, eyes wide. “You’re like him?”

“Yeah. I’m like Deshi.”

Emily fluttered her hands. “I want out!”

“No, you don’t.”

Emily reached for the door and undid the lock. Just as it came open Haley put her shoulder into it, pushing it shut. “Give them a few minutes. Trust me on this.” God of Man, they smelled good. Haley swallowed and felt her teeth prick her tongue. Normally her control was better than this.