Release, book 3 of The Angler series (5 page)

Warmth cocooned my body. It sank into my bones and chased the aching cold from deep within. I nestled closer into the arms that held me and combed my fingers through the chest hairs cushioning my cheek.

Chest hairs?

Tane’s body was as smooth as a baby’s bottom, and Rurik’s had vanished not long ago. I jerked, sitting up. The dark room spun, and a flood of nausea rose. I sank back in place, still in control of the contents of my stomach but not my body.

“Easy, Connie.” A familiar voice rumbled inside the chest pressed to my ear. Something cool touched my lips. “Drink.”

I took a sip of water. The liquid soothed my parched throat. I took a gulp, then another. I had to ease this driving thirst.

The bottle was pried from my fingers. “You’ll make yourself sick drinking that fast.”

Peering between my eyelids, I made out Kam’s face. “Where’s your shirt?”

“You’re wearing it.” He gave me a sad smile and tenderly touched the side of my neck. “How does it feel?”

I flinched. “It hurts like a son of a bitch. No pun intended.” Ha, see, I could make shifter jokes. I’d live. Rurik. I rubbed my eyes and tried to spot him in the dark. He had drunk from me against my will and he needed a good ass-kicking.

My little flashlight came on
, and Kam pointed it to a slumbering Rurik, handcuffed to an old pipe sticking out of the wall. “You shouted my name and I found him feeding from your unconscious body.” I sensed the muscles in Kam’s arms tighten around me.

“Those cuffs shouldn’t have held him.” Even before Rurik had grown stronger
, a pair of regular cuffs wouldn’t have kept him prisoner.

“I knocked him out first.” He showed me his bruised knuckles. “The guy has a head made of concrete. Maybe the Nosferatu have the right idea, Connie. He’s growing dangerous. I can’t leave you alone with him anymore.”

I sat up slower this time
and the room only spun around once. “Kam—”

“I won’t hear it. My specific instructions from
Master Tane are to keep you safe. I won’t shame my pack by failing something so—so mundane.”

“
If this is mundane, I’d hate to see your version of armpits deep in trouble.” My lightheadedness eased. As a lover to two vampires, I’d had my fair share of anemic awakenings. Except this time, Tane wasn’t around to heal me. Should I try to contact him? How angry would he be at Rurik? If Kam was ready to stake Rurik, I couldn’t risk a chance with Tane. “I’m okay.” I patted Kam’s arm, but the tremble in my hand betrayed my words. “Go get the money so we don’t need to stay here another night. I’ll just sleep this off.”

“Sorry, pumpkin.” He swung my legs over the side of the bed. “You have two
options. You keep your dignity and come voluntarily, or I carry you out of here kicking and screaming.” His stern stare convinced me he’d follow through on the threat.

“He’s handcuffed and out cold. What harm can he do to me?” The prospect of moving my limbs didn’t seem plausible. I ached and generally felt like shit.

“I’m more worried about what
you’ll
do.” He helped me stand and straighten my clothes. “Here, you dropped this.” He tucked the wooden stake I’d been carrying since we debarked from the yacht back into my waistband. “You’re not as resilient to his charms as you think. He almost killed you last night. I don’t trust you to not go to him if he woke and asked. Love makes us all do stupid things.”

I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out. Kam was right. I didn’t have a good track record for saying
no
to Rurik. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“I’m an expert on the subject. Sometimes you need a friend to point out the obvious. Trust me. This isn’t the person you fell in love with. Rurik would never have endangered your life. Not the way he was feeding from you last night.
” He made a sour face. “That was a different creature.”

My gaze wandered to Rurik
, curled on the floor. “Did he know what he was doing?” I cringed, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer. Wounded hearts never healed completely and mine was no exception. Knowing Rurik would have killed me purposefully just might shatter me.

“No,
he wasn’t himself, which scares me more than it should. When he wakes, those handcuffs won’t hold and you are
not
going to be in this room. Are we clear?” Kam kneeled in front of me so our gazes could clash.

“Crystal.” I knew firsthand how blood thirst could drive someone to do crazy things. How did I fight for Rurik when I couldn’t even see the enemy stealing him away?  “You can’t go into the city without a shirt. You should take Rurik’s.” I watched as Kam stripped the
T-shirt off Rurik carefully and cover his very masculine torso. “What if someone finds him?” Leaving Rurik like this felt like abandonment. I shuffled behind Kam toward the exit.

“No one has
figured out that lock in all these years. Chances are they won’t today.” He held the door open just wide enough for me to squeeze through into the sunlight.

I blinked at the sharp contrast. “Slayers weren’t looking for him last time he used this hiding place.”

Kam snorted. “Slayers are always hunting for vampires and shifters, Connie. That won’t ever change. Come on, if we hurry I can be back before sunset to check on him.”

             
                                          *                            *                            *

I sat in the marble waiting area of Kam’s bank while he went to the secure safety deposit box vault. The receptionist kept eyeing me from her desk. She didn’t keep the distaste off her face. Apparently my oversized men’s clothes
and bare feet weren’t in fashion. Or could it be my pasty white skin and crazed curls that made her nervous. I must look like a crack-head, except the tremors in my hands weren’t from withdrawal but from anemia.

Should I go to a hospital? I wanted to glare back at the bitch
, but she made me even dizzier. Maybe I shouldn’t go? Then I could yak on her shiny marble floor.

Kam strode out from behind the back counters
, a leather satchel on his shoulder. He paused long enough to wink at the receptionist.

Slowly, I rose to my feet and whispered, “You could do better.”

From her wide eyes, I realized the cathedral-like ceiling carried sound very well.

Grabbing my arm, Kam led me out of the bank. “Who says I want better?” He shook his head as he assessed me head to toe. “You look worse.”

“Thanks, I feel worse.” I pointed to a bench along the sidewalk facing the street. “Can I rest?”

“We’ve barely walked a block. At this rate we won’t reach Rurik before he wakes.” He searched the crowded street.

Most the people seemed like tourist dressed in relaxed wear with backpacks, water bottles, and the accompaniment of children. I returned a little pigtailed girl’s small smile.

Her mother gave me warning glare then pulled her offspring away from the ‘nasty street lady’. AKA me.

A bus pulled up and a group of elderly couples climbed aboard. Pictures of the Pantheon and the Roman Forum were pasted on the vehicle. Bitter sweet sorrow weighed my heart. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy such vacations. I’d never get the chance to grow old with the ones I loved.

The scent of fresh bread tickled my nose, stirring my empty stomach.
Restaurants and hotels lined both sides of the busy street. Tables were set on the wide sidewalk so tourists could enjoy a meal outside and watch the modern part of the city. Cars cruised by and the occasional song beat thump the air. I wished we had time to see the Coliseum or the Vatican. If we survived this, I doubted I’d return. Maybe we should have gone to Venice like Rurik wanted? We would have had more help.

“Let’s get some food in you.” With an arm around my waist, Kam half c
arried me to an outdoor table at the closest bistro.

A waiter appeared at Kam’s elbow
, and the shifter’s nostrils flared. They glared at each other until Kam exchanged a few Italian words with him. Our server visibly relaxed. The next I knew, a cool glass of juice was pressed to my lips.

“Drink up
,” Kam ordered. “You’ll feel better with some sugar in your system. We’re in luck. The waiter is from the local pack.”

“Can we stay with them?” I gulped the sweet orange juice and sighed. “Thanks.”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. I won’t bring Nosferatu trouble upon them. They don’t deserve that.” He sat, chin in hand, across from me. His intense gaze gave me the impression he was preparing to catch me if I collapsed. “You can’t feed him anymore.”

“I know.” Without Tane around to heal me, I’d be taking to
o huge of a risk. Rurik grew more unpredictable every day. Until recently, he’d fed from Tane’s donors. We thought maybe one of them was making him ill, so he’d been feeding solely from me. That just seemed to make things worse. “How will we feed him then? It’s not like I have of list of donors to call.” Hunting humans went against what Rurik and I believed in. He started the whole trend to care for voluntary donors. They gave the vampires blood in exchange for shelter and financial security. When they tired of the life, a skilled vamp cleaned their memories and set them free.

Kam grimaced. “He can feed from me. But only every other day
, and with all his fucking clothes on.”

It was my turn to make a face. “It won’t be enough and, uh, he doesn’t like the way, um…”

“We taste?” Kam chuckled. “Too bad. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

The waiter arrived with two of the biggest steaks I’d ever seen. They took
up the whole plate and were served without any side dishes. I leaned toward the herbivore side of our ancestors.

I raised my eyebrows at the huge plate of meat. “You do realize I’m not a shifter.”

“You do realize you need the iron and protein to recover. Eat your food like a good little pup.” He grinned, showing me his thick canines. Then he dug in like a starved wolf. “The waiter says he reserves this dish for pack members. You should be honored.”

I gave the waiter my most grateful smile.

He nodded and pointedly stared at my neck where Rurik had fed before leaving.

“What did you tell him?”

“That you were attacked by a vampire and aren’t recovering quickly. I had to stick close to the truth or he’d smell my lie.”

I hated to admit it
, but I was beginning to feel a bit better. Food, drink and rest would cure me. Unlike poor Rurik. I chewed my meat while watching Kam devour his. He must have been starving yet never uttered a word of compliant. “You seem angry at Rurik. It’s not his fault. He’s sick.”

“He almost killed you.”

“This condition is affecting his control.”

“It’s transforming him into a monster.
I’m telling you, the Nosferatu clan might be right about killing him.”

The mouthful I tried to swallow got stuck in my throa
t. I gulped my water to ease its passage.

Kam watched until I caught my breath. “You have to see him for what he is and not who he used to be.”

“What do you want me to do? Abandon him?” Not going to happen. I’d been left on my own at a young age. I knew the horror of being alone with no support or love. How could I do that to someone I cared about?

“No.” He sighed and shook his head. “But you should accept that Rurik isn’t the same person you fell in love with.”

The pressure growing within my chest had
nothing to do with my lack of blood. Tears burned my eyes but I blinked them away.

Kam groaned.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He shook out his napkin and tried to hand it to me.

“I’m not crying. Look.” I pointed to my face with a hard gesture.

“I suck at this stuff.” He pushed his empty plate away and tossed the linen napkin on it. “Are you going to finish that?”

I handed him the half-eaten steak. My stomach sat like a bag of lead. “We’ll figure things out eventually.” With a ton of luck or an act of God, we would.

“Right.” He mumbled around a mouthful. “First, we’ll get you some clothes and a place to rest.”

I opened my mouth to protest
, but he raised his hand.

“You can’t keep up with me
, and if Rurik is out of his mind I can’t fight him and protect you at the same time.”

“But it’s getting dark.” I fidgeted with the edged of my borrowed
T-shirt. “Rurik will wake soon. I should be there.”

“He’s a big boy. I’m sure this isn’t the first time he’s woken in handcuffs.”

I gave Kam the weary smile he deserved. “I’m sure it isn’t, but I’m
not
sure how he’s going to react. What if he escapes?” His hunger wasn’t questioned. He’d be starved, I was sure. “He might hurt someone. Then he’ll be doubly on the Nosferatu’s most wanted list.”

Kam growled and it sounded almost like words under his breath. I understood his frustration. I was having my own version of it.

“Fine, I’ll stay here in the city. But don’t stake my sweetie.” I tossed my napkin at him. Even if I went with Kam, I wouldn’t be able to stop him from killing Rurik. I rubbed my chest to ease my aching heart. Kam wouldn’t hurt me like that. Behind all the manly muscle was a gentle soul. “I’ll get us a room in the hotel across the street for one night. We can make more plans when you come back with Rurik.”