Faith Revisited (15 page)
“I don't want to get that close to
anyone
,” she mumbled as she watched the men seemingly debate something very quickly before the blond in question stood. When Faith finally realized what she'd revealed, she glanced at Tempy to find the other female staring at her curiously.
“What? One doesn't come out the other side of a Transfiguration immediately knowing the ins and outs of this. It's a learned process.”
Tempy shrugged. “Who knew?” She glanced at Prue. “Did you know that?”
At Prue's grin, Faith narrowed her eyes at both females. “You both are royal pains in my ass.” She turned just as Blondie stepped up behind her, and Faith found herself chest to chest with him.
“Hello there, sweetheart,” he murmured as he wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled.
Up close he was even more attractive than he had appeared from a distance, and before Saturday night, Faith would have reveled in his attention. Instead she just felt sick inside. She tried to pull back, but he leaned forward, inhaling slowly near her ear.
“Damn, you smell sweet,” he whispered huskily.
Faith looked deeply into his eyes, surprised by the dazed look she saw there. Turning her attention from the bar, she realized the other three men from Blondie's table were waiting in the wings for him to strike out. She smiled, though it pulled her face tight with tension, and forced her hands to glide down Blondie's arms to grasp the hands at her waist.
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“Let's go to the back,” she said stiffly.
A smug, satisfied smile settled on his face. “I'm—” he began, but Faith cut him off with a finger over his lips.
“It doesn't matter,” she said softly with a shake of her head. The less she knew the better.
She led him silently down the hall, past the bathrooms, and into her office, then shut and locked the door behind her. She hesitated when she turned back toward him, but Blondie held no such reservations. He caged her in, her back against the door as he raised her arms above her head and leaned forward. His lips claimed hers, but when he tried to push his tongue into her mouth, Faith ripped her lips away from his.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he mumbled. His lips moved to suck on her neck as his hands moved to her thighs. Grasping her knee-length skirt, he glided it up far enough that he could force a thigh between hers.
When his hand grabbed her breast through her white silk blouse, Faith couldn't take any more. She just wanted it over with and the man gone. Sinking her hands in his hair, she licked his neck twice, ignoring that the flavor of his skin as it burst across her taste buds didn't seem right.
It took only a second for her fangs to descend and sink into his flesh.
Blood filled her mouth, and Faith swallowed quickly two…three times. The taste, like that of soured milk, consumed her. Disgusted, she disengaged her fangs and thrust the man from her.
She ran to her private bathroom and managed to get to the toilet just before her stomach revolted and everything she'd just consumed emptied out of her. The heaving seemed to go on long after she had nothing left to give.
It was minutes later before she realized she was not alone. Prue was kneeling beside her, holding back her hair and murmuring sympathetically. Finally moving from the toilet, Faith took the tissue Prue handed her and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said hoarsely as she glanced away from Prue, feelings of mortification settling over her. Just then she realized she had not closed the wound before pulling away from Blondie and made for the door in a panic.
Prue grasped her by the shoulders. “It's okay. Tempy found him stumbling in the hallway and is taking care of him,” she said, as if sensing the cause of Faith's distress.
Faith nodded, moving slowly to her desk and sinking into her chair.
“Want to tell me what the hell happened?”
Faith swung the chair away from Prue and looked out at the darkened Seattle landscape.
Only a few lights from the lofts across the alley were visible from her window. “I don't know,”
she finally said softly. “But don't say a word of this to Hope.” She turned to pierce Prue with a stern look.
“Jesus, Faith, you can't hide this.”
She sighed. “I won't. I just need time to figure out if it was him or…”
“Or what?”
Faith returned to looking out the window. “Or if there is something wrong with me.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I don't know,” Faith cried in frustration, jumping to her feet. She sighed again, forcing herself to resume her seat. “Please, Prue. I really don't know.”
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Prue stalked behind the desk and bent down to really study her face. “All right. I'll give you a couple of days. But Faith, if this doesn't go away, I can't just ignore that there's a problem.”
“I know,” she whispered in reply.
Prue nodded, then rose and quietly left the office. Once she was alone, Faith released a frustrated sob. She hadn't told her father about her Transfiguration and knew she couldn't hide it from him forever, but she wasn't prepared yet to deal with him and the questions he was sure to have. Now, on top of that, she had this shit to deal with. And she considered, not for the first time, that all her problems could be lain at Bale's feet.
She reached for her mouse, brought up Google on the computer, and typed in “Grigori.”
After three attempts, she finally got the spelling right and thousands of hits. Faith opened the first link, and that was all it took to scare the crap out of her. The Grigori. The fallen. As in fallen angels, to be more precise. Angels that had, in the words of Enoch, slept with women and fathered giant children.
Since Faith hadn't run into any giants recently, she wondered at the truth behind such words. But shit, who knew? Maybe there were giants hiding in the Andes or something. Or maybe the angels had tried to place the blame of those who had created the likes of her on the Grigori.
She sat there for fifteen minutes, staring at the screen, when a sense of peace settled over her like a warm blanket. Then panic rose inside her too, battling with the euphoric feeling, because she knew the reason. Bale was in her club. She felt his presence as clearly as she did the chair she sat upon. And her very soul was drawn to him.
She spotted Bale as soon as she entered the cavernous room. A quick sweep confirmed Tempy and the blond male were gone, though his friends still sat at the same table. Bale stood at the bar, Arak by his side. Prue had just collected money from the pair as Faith slipped behind the wooden structure.
Taking the twenty away from Prue, Faith said quietly, “Their money is not good here.
Understand?”
Prue raised her pierced brow before glancing over her shoulder at the two males. “Sure thing, boss.”
As Prue moved to the other end of the bar, Faith turned unsteadily and faced Bale. She set the money on the wooden bar top and slid it toward the males. She found it easier to center her attention on Arak.
“It's on the house.”
Bale grasped her arm, ignoring the money she offered, and pulled her closer until her upper body leaned over the top. With his thumb caressing the back of her wrist, he met her halfway and whispered in her ear, “Are we not welcome here?”
Faith swept her tongue across her lips nervously, and she thought she heard Bale groan.
“Of course you are welcome. But your money isn't.”
“And why is that?”
She leaned her head back to meet his gaze. “Let's just say I admire what you and your friends do. You know, the whole 'dead demon' thing? And it's certainly the least I can do, since you saved my life.”
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Bale's eyes narrowed, and it barely registered to Faith that Arak had asked her a question.
It took all her willpower to drag her gaze from Bale's piercing stare.
“How are you feeling?” Arak repeated with a soft smile. He glanced over her briefly, then his eyes continued to scan the entire room, as if looking for a threat.
“I'm good,” she forced herself to say even as every muscle in her body tensed. The reaction was lost on neither male.
“You sure? You look pale.”
Faith gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I'm just suffering from a little blood sensitivity. It happens.” And she finished her statement with a slight shrug.
“What the hell does that mean?” Bale growled, leaning even closer to her, his lips brushing intimately against her ear. “What is going on, Faith?”
She didn't really mean to, but she couldn't seem to stop her body from leaning into his touch. “I'm okay. Really. Why are you here?”
Bale's gaze swept over her, hot and possessive. “I thought letting you leave would keep you safe, but it has been brought to my attention you could still be in danger. I'll be keeping an eye on things. Just to be certain.”
“I'll be fine. Really, there's no need.” Faith forced herself to pull away from him, even though every muscle in her body protested the action. And her reaction only served to further piss her off. She didn't know what being with Bale had done to her, but she was certain it was not normal. Jesus! Humans and angels together were what created vampires, shifters, and spell casters. She could only imagine what other changes could occur from being with one, even a fallen one.
Just then, one of Blondie's friends approached. He'd obviously had far too much to drink, and he leered at Faith.
“Man, babe, you sure must have worn Jim out. I've never seen him leave a club this early.”
Faith was glad for the darkened interior as she felt all the blood in her face drop to her feet.
Bale's eyes narrowed at her and the man who didn't realize he had a 280-pound ex-angel ready to cut his head from his body.
“What did he just say?” he asked quietly, his stance suddenly rigid.
Faith watched his hand slip inside his trench coat and said his name softly, trying to distract his attention from the human. As Blondie's friend turned, he swallowed visibly, noticing Bale for what seemed to be the first time.
“Shit, man. I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Shit. I'm just drunk.” And he scurried off.
“I think you'd better explain what he meant, Faith.”
Faith arched an eyebrow at Bale's audacity and folded her arms under her breasts. “You know what I am, Bale, and you know what I need to survive. Exactly what don't you understand?”
“Did you fuck him too?” he snarled, his face etched with anger…and what Faith thought resembled pain.
Anger overtook reason, and Faith blurted out something she regretted the minute the words left her lips. “I could barely stand to touch him, you son of a bitch, so what do you think? And your welcome has officially ended. It's time you both left.”
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Arak nodded, his look sympathetic as he grabbed a fistful of Bale's coat. “Let's go, Bale.”
Bale struggled to loosen Arak's hold, and the gleam in his eyes left little doubt this conversation was not over. Faith's stance remained challenging…daring.
“Damn it, Bale. Now is not the time or the place for this,” Arak hissed, and Bale stilled, as if reason had suddenly set in. But Faith seriously doubted it. His eyes were practically glowing red with rage.
“This isn't over, baby,” Bale promised, his gaze raking over her. Then he turned and stormed from the club.
In a flash of movement, Arak grabbed her hand unexpectedly, the warm glow from his fingertips traveling up her arm in a soothing fashion. Faith stared at the blue glowing digits like a deer caught in headlights, unable to pull away. When his hand no longer emanated light, her gaze rose to his face. He studied her a moment, deep in thought. Then he nodded, and Faith knew he had uncovered her secret. But before she could ask him what he planned on doing with that knowledge, Arak turned and followed Bale from the club.
* * * *
Bale stopped abruptly when his gaze landed on Arak. “How often?” he growled, his biceps flexing and jaw muscles twitching in agitation.
“What?” Arak asked, genuinely perplexed. He was not only shaken by Bale's actions, he was also confused by what he had seen when he'd touched Faith. It seemed her body had rejected the blood she had ingested earlier. With the little Arak knew about vampires, he couldn't be sure if this was a normal occurrence or if he should be truly concerned. But with Bale's present mood, he knew better than to mention it.
“How often is it necessary for her to—” Bale cut off hastily with a decisive click of his teeth.
“To feed? Christ, Bale, I don't know. My guess would be every couple of days.” Watching Bale warily, Arak rested his ass on the hood of his car.
“Fuck.” Bale ran a hand through his hair, pulling several strands loose from the leather tie holding it away from his face. “I almost pulled my blade on a human. If the man she'd been with had been in there tonight, I would have gone after him.”
“And I would have stopped you.”
Bale pinned him with a hard stare before finally nodding. “Jesus, Arak, what am I going to do?”
“I really don't know what to tell you,” Arak answered quietly. “I fear this is going to have to be something you work out on your own. You are the one who will have to live with the consequences.” Arak paused, watching Bale drop his head to his chest in defeat. “But let me ask you this. Do you truly think you would be given this gift only to have it taken from you?”