41. Dani

Nadia lifts Ashe onto the dining table with ease and my insides twist as the redhead lets out a sharp hiss. The vibrant glow beneath her skin simmers as the silver poisoning crawls its way over her body, snuffing out her flame as it spreads its inky black tendrils through her veins, and my heart sinks.

“We need to get her to a hospital!”

“Nonsense,” Catalina says as she emerges from the other room. “Your medicine can't help her and the risk of exposure is too great in her current state.”

“Her current state?” I narrow my eyes. “You shot her. Her current state is that she's dying and all you're worried about is people seeing what she is?”

“Our kind are not as feable as you. There has never been an injury that we can't recover from with proper rest and a steady diet.” The vampire clucks her tongue against her teeth and I seethe. “Don't be so melodramatic. It's irritating.”

I can't believe this. “She needs surgery. By professionals who have trained for this!” Well, maybe not specifically for this, but hospitals had the proper equipment for successfully removing a bullet, let alone bullet fragments! What were they expecting to dig it out with here, a freaking dinner fork? And that's not even accounting for the silver sulfide poisoning her blood!

“What she needs is . . . is, w-whiskey,” Ashe coughs from the table and as Nadia moves to the liquor cabinet in the corner of the room I shake my head.

“You need a doctor, Ashe.”

I whip out my phone and unlock the screen with one hand as I place the other over her own. Her skin is on fire and as her blood—thick and tainted by the poisonous chemical reaction occurring inside her body—oozes between her fingers and slicks over mine, I swallow back the memory of my dream from three nights ago.

The blackened blood. The flaming heart. The demon goddess with gold in her veins and an unquenchable thirst in her fiery eyes. Was that a premonition of her death? If she succumbed to this poison right now, is that what she would turn into?

“Just keep applying pressure to slow the bleeding. I'll call an ambulance and—”

My phone is yanked from my fingers and tossed across the room before I can even finish my sentence. Wisps of hair swirl back over my shoulders and tickle my cheeks from the sudden move and involuntarily I flinch. Hoping to recover from my initial shock, I snap my head up to meet two orbs of crackling white light.

“That would be foolish,” Nadia says, her tone still eerily calm despite the panic that's welling up in my chest. If her eyes were like lightning, then my heart was undoubtedly booming like rolls of thunder in a chaotic storm. “Your doctors are not equipped to treat a demon.”

Ashe coughs again, a sick gurgling sound that jolts me from my fear and my resolve hardens. Dammit, we don't have time to argue about this!

“She's still human. She needs help!”

“We've been in similar situations before.” Catalina takes the bottle of whiskey from Nadia's outstretched hand and walks to the other side, her chocolate brown eyes narrowing to match my glare. “We have always handled our own. I wouldn't expect an outsider like you to understand the importance of that.”

It takes everything I have not to reach across the table and try to punch some sense into her. I wasn't ever a violent person and normally I would prefer to bottle up my feelings rather than lash out or confront my problems, but I'll be damned if Catalina didn't get under my skin. If it wasn't for my hand pressed against Ashe's wound, it almost scares me to think that I would probably act on my anger.

But nothing was stopping me from holding back my tongue. “Are you really so shallow that you'd rather lose her than expose your goddamn existence to the world?”

“If we take her to one of your hospitals like this, with her veins glowing and her blood clotting like tar, there will be questions that we can't answer. Those doctors may be able to remove the bullet and save her life, but Ashe's presence there would ensure that none of them live to save another. The Tribunal would see to that, and they would raze the entire building and everyone in it to the ground before they let rumors spread. By this time tomorrow they'll make it look like nothing more than a tragic accident on the evening news.” The muscles in Catalina's jaw tighten as she twists off the bottle cap and hands the whiskey to Ashe. Then, squaring her gaze with my own, she crosses her arms. “Knowing what they're capable of and the lengths they're willing to go to keep their secrets, can you justify sacrificing innocent lives to save her own?”

The ramifications of her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I never even considered that as a possibility. Could they really destroy an entire hospital?

“H-how could they make something like that look like an accident?”

“They have deep pockets and an extensive network. Do you really think they wouldn't have agents working in places where the supernatural could be exposed to your kind? Or access to people who could cover up the truth so easily?”

'They'll send the Reapers after you.'

Have they done something like that before? Have they sent Ashe to do something like that? How far would these people go to keep their goddamn secrets?

Ashe grunts as she struggles to prop herself up on the table. Too shocked to speak—or, hell, to even think straight—I brace an arm against her back and help her sit up. I try not to grimace as dark blood gushes between our fingers at the effort.

“You really shouldn't be sitting.”

Without a word, she lifts the bottle to her lips and chugs the whiskey down. The liquid sloshes as it passes greedily over her lips, dribbling from the corners of her mouth and down her neck as she gulps it in like air. Only when the liquor is halfway gone does she pull away with a gasp.

“If you two are done arguing,” she growls, her voice strained and coarse, “can we get on with getting this f-fucking bullet out of me?”

I snap my gaze back to Catalina. “We're doing this here?”

The vampire hums as she drums her fingers against her arm. “Like I said, sweetling. We handle our own. This is hardly the first time we've had to resort to more . . . creative methods.”

My eyes hone in on her polished fingernails glistening against her skin, watching in disbelief as they shimmer and extend until they were twice as long and dangerously sharp, like the deadly claws of a harpy eagle. Talons for a predator.

Nadia stirs next to me, jerking me from my thoughts as she takes the bottle from Ashe's hand and sets it on the table. “This will hurt.”

The redhead nods in understanding as she lowers her hand from her chest and locks eyes with me. A glimmer of nervousness flickers in her gaze as she struggles to fight back a cough. “Do you mind?”

I don't understand what she's asking until she guides my fingers to the hem of her shirt. My cheeks redden and my throat tightens as I carefully pull the blood-soaked top up and over her head, pausing every time she hissed in pain. Once that was tossed to the floor, I take a deep steadying breath and remove her sports bra.

With her chest now bare, it was easier to see the inky black spiderweb fanning across her body from the bullet wound. It chased after the fire that radiated in her veins like tendrils of death chasing after life in a battle that raged just beneath her skin.

“Ashe, are you sure about this?” My voice sounds no louder than a whisper and I swallow down the lump despite the heat that burned throughout my body. I can't let my fear show, not now!

She only nods and lays back down, her hand finding mine once more and intertwining our fingers. Her brow furrows as she offers me a gentle squeeze and suddenly it clicks. She was just as scared as I was.

I've only ever seen her afraid once when, in a moment of vulnerability, she confessed her fears about giving in to the demon inside her. Of becoming a monster. I had tried my best to comfort her then; I could only hope that I wouldn't fail to do so now.

My grip on her hand tightens and I go to wipe the sweat from her forehead, hoping to further soothe her discomfort, but Nadia beats me to it. She places her fingertips against Ashe's temples as Catalina pulls herself onto the table and straddles her waist. The hem of her dress hikes up dangerously high, exposing her perfectly toned legs, and I clench my jaw so tight I wouldn't be surprised if I cracked a tooth.

“Brace yourself,” Catalina says as she pours the last of the whiskey over Ashe's exposed chest, clearing the area of sweat and tarry blood. The redhead writhes and gnashes her teeth as the vampire flicks her gaze to me. “Hold her down.”

I barely have time to think about what she means before white light sparks from Nadia's hands, sending arcs of electricity shooting through Ashe's head and dancing across her skin. Her screams pierce my chest and twist my insides as I throw all my strength into trying to pin her down.

Another current passes through her body and her back arches, lifting her off the table as her shrieks rattle my core. Catalina doesn't hesitate.

Faster than I can blink, she lashes out with a clawed hand and slices Ashe's chest open. Blood spatters on the wall, across the ceiling, and along my cheek as Catalina strikes again. The metallic odor of sulfur and burning flesh stings my nostrils and I can feel bile climbing up the back of my throat. I struggle to swallow it down as another shock sends Ashe howling in agony.

During my last year at college, before I withdrew from the nursing program, we had spent one semester shadowing emergency room doctors at the local hospital. Broken bones and bloody bodies never bothered me and so, as long as I didn't stay in one room long enough to feel their pain, I could stomach seeing the trauma and had even sat in on a few surgeries. But as another guttural scream erupts from Ashe's throat, her pain stabbing my gut as the smell threatens to suffocate me, no amount of studying or shadowing could have prepared me for this.

“W-what the hell kind of surgery is this!”

The vampire ignores my outburst as she leans back and digs her nails into the opening like a pair of lethal tweezers. Her pupils are enlarged as she narrows her brow, her blood-red eyes scrutinizing the gaping wound as she digs deeper. Tarry blood slicks Ashe's skin and stains Catalina's hand as it gushes from the hole, obscuring my view, and my pulse quickens. This was insane! How did she expect to—

“I see it,” she says and I'm beside myself. Did she have fucking x-ray vision or something? “Give me your hand!”

I hesitate for only a moment, watching as she carefully extracts a small silver fragment from the depths of Ashe's chest and drops it unceremoniously into my outstretched palm. The metal was smoking and slick with black blood, but otherwise it was cool to the touch.

“Holy shit!”

But the vampire wasn't done yet. “There's one more,” she says with a grimace as she presses a firm hand down on Ashe's stomach. “I can't dig it out just yet. It's lodged itself into her sternum.”

“No doubt her bones fractured your bullet upon impact,” Nadia observes.

“Well that is why I carry hollow-point rounds, old friend. Harder to take out.” Catalina lifts her gaze. “One more shock should shake it loose. Make it count.”

Electricity arcs from Nadia's hands, pulsating like lightning as it travels over Ashe's body. The redhead screams and bucks her hips as the shockwave sends her reeling. Her hand shakes in my grasp and my own skin tingles at the spark as Catalina plunges her talons into Ashe's chest one more time.

The last fragment clinks against the other as Catalina drops it into my palm.

“There,” she sighs as she swings a leg around and climbs down from the table. She runs a hand over her silk dress, frowning at the wrinkles and fluids that stained the fabric. Her nails had retracted back to their normal length but her ebony skin was coated in blood and booze. “We're done here.”

As Ashe relaxes her grip on my hand, her veins pulsing brightly as her fire simmers back to life, my voice finds its way back to me and instinct takes over. “Shouldn't we cauterize the wound?”

“That's hardly necessary,” Catalina says, but she nods all the same.

Nadia places her palms over the large incision, unbothered by the blood gushing down the redhead's chest and over her stomach as white light sparks from her fingers. Ashe grits her teeth but after several seconds the opening is sealed shut.

Catalina quirks a brow as she turns to me. “Any other requests?”

“What about bone fragments? Shouldn't you take those out before they do any damage?”

“With the bullet removed, her blood can flow freely and her body can begin to heal. As long as it's still inside her, anything out of place will stitch itself back together quick enough. Although”—she hums and tilts her head—“feeding would certainly expedite that process.”

“You can happily go fuck yourself if you think you're feeding on her after that,” I snap. “Or ever.”

“I was talking about her.” Catalina smirks as she places a bloody finger in her mouth and I nearly gag. “It'll take a while for her body to fully flush out the poison and she'll heal faster if she feeds.”

If she feeds? Was she even allowed to do that?

“I need a shower,” Ashe groans suddenly as she struggles to sit up.

Every rational part of my brain is screaming at me to stop her from moving, to lie her back down and prevent her body from experiencing further trauma. But nothing about this situation was rational, and so I help her stand. Her legs wobble as she steadies herself, but with a reassuring nod from her I let go and she makes her way to the stairs.

As I try to process everything that unfolded today, I assist Nadia with cleaning up the mess left behind by their unconventional surgery. I was barely able to hold the redhead down and, other than trying to offer her some sort of comfort as Catalina sunk her talons into her chest, I didn't feel like I contributed much. Helping to clean up the aftermath was the least I could do. After all, it was my fault that she was shot in the first place. My fault that we were even here in the first place.

My mind is still spinning by the time every noticeable surface is scrubbed clean and Catalina emerges in a fresh change of clothes—surprisingly, she was wearing a lacey blouse and tight black jeans. I didn't even know she owned anything other than dresses.

Wait, was she upstairs this whole time? Did she feed on Ashe while we were down here cleaning?

“So, Nadia dear,” Catalina croons, combing a hand through her damp hair with a sly grin as she saunters by me, her heels clacking on the hardwood. Did she take a fucking shower? “What delicacy will you be cooking us tonight? I imagine our poor cambion must be starving after that ordeal.”

I toss the soiled towel down on the table. “I'm going to go check on Ashe.”

“Remember what I told you, sweetling,” she purrs in my ear, her hot breath sending shivers up my spine. “You're living on borrowed time. She can't know what you are.”

I ignore her threat as I make my way upstairs.

***

Ashe is tying the drawstrings of her shorts together as I approach the open door. I wasn't sure exactly what I was expecting, but my muscles freeze as my eyes roam over her body. Water clings to her alabaster skin, washed clean of any traces of blood. Stray droplets trickle down her neck and between her breasts, and I avert my gaze to hide the blush creeping across my cheeks.

“I seem to recall you seeing me topless once before.”

If that was her attempt at a joke, it does little to stifle the heat lighting up my face like a flare. I clear my throat and keep my eyes trained on the floor beneath my feet. “How, um. How're you feeling?”

She grunts. “Like I was just struck by lightning and sliced open with a box cutter. How do you think I feel?”

“Right, sorry.” I let loose a sigh and flex my fingers. “Well, you took a bullet for me and saved my life. Again.” I take a chance and lift my gaze. Her back was turned to me, the silver ink of her tattoo glistening against her slick skin, and as she slowly lifts her arms up to slip a bra over her head her muscles flex and I swallow. “T-thank you.”

“I didn't exactly have a choice.”

She hisses as she pulls something and I close the distance between us. “Here, let me.” A shaky breath whistles from my nose as my fingers roll the fabric down, smoothing out the elastic and brushing across her warm skin. My pulse spikes as she turns around.

Something flashes in her hazel eyes and her brow softens a touch as she clears her throat. “But you saved mine, too. I guess that makes us even.”

I snort. “Hardly. I think you're still up two-to-one, here.”

“Three,” she says, her lips curling into a lopsided grin as her fingers find mine. It amazed me how they kept doing that, like our hands were made of magnets and only came alive around each other. “But who's counting?”

Her words steal the air from my lungs and the weight of everything that's happened today crashes in around me. Without thinking, I slip my arms around her waist and pull her into a hug.

“Ashe, I . . . Earlier, when you were lying on that table. I thought you were going to die.”

Tears sting at my eyes and I bite my lip as I fight back a sob. We've never hugged before and I know it's a risky move; she could pull away, shove me off, yell at me again for trying to get close to her. But when she finally hugs me back, wrapping her strong arms around me and inhaling deeply as she rests her chin atop my head, my stomach flutters and I sink into her warmth.

“I'm still here, Dani,” she sighs, a slight quiver in her voice. “I don't die that easily.”

I laugh at that, lifting my fingers to trace the scorched skin beneath her bra. No doubt the incision would smooth over within a few hours, leaving behind no indication of the bullet that pierced her chest or the surgery that saved her. “Clearly.”

She leans back enough to place a finger under my chin and tilt my gaze to meet hers. “You know, when I was captured earlier. When Rose”—her jaw clenches and my heart sinks—“Before she knocked me out and handed me over to those zealots, the last thing I thought of was wanting to see you again.” She trails the pad of her thumb over my jawline. “Is that crazy?”

“Not at all.”

“They know about my ring, Dani. They know about you. I don't know what Rose told them, but they'll come after you and I can't lose—”

I press a finger to her lips. “We don't need to talk about any of that right now.” The touch sends a spark shooting through my abdomen as her eyes bore into mine with the intensity of the sun. I smile as my hand moves to cup her cheek, a memory playing in my head of a time long ago. “You're as radiant as the sun, mon coeur.”

She blinks as the words stir something in her mind. Her brow furrows as she opens her mouth to speak but I don't give her the chance to respond. Caught up in the moment, I lean in and crash my lips into hers.

She kisses me back almost instantly, as if she's been starving for our lips to touch. It only fuels the fire burning in my core, coaxing a moan out of me and I bury my fingers in her hair. A carnal growl rattles in her chest and she pushes me backward until I'm pinned up against a wall.

Goddammit, I want her!

Heat courses between us like the exploding celestial body of a supernova. I hook a leg behind her and pull her closer as her lips leave a trail of fire down my neck. Her thigh presses between my legs, eliciting a breathless gasp from me as I dig my nails into her back and graze my teeth against her earlobe.

Her lips peel away from my skin with a hiss and in a panic I grab her shoulders to keep her from pulling away. She rests her forehead against mine, instead, the enchanting blue glow from her subdermal fire illuminating the space between us. “Dani, please.”

“Catalina said that feeding may help you heal faster,” I blurt out. It wasn't the only reason I wanted to touch her, but if she wouldn't open her heart to possibilities then maybe she would listen to logic. “If, if it'll help then I . . . I want you to feed from me.”

She leans back and tilts her head. Her eyes swim with a mix of conflicting emotions and I pray that I didn't say the wrong thing. “I can't. I can't sense your emotions, and it's not for a lack of trying.” A dry laugh rumbles in her throat as she adds, “I can't read you.”

I offer her a small grin. “I told you before, I'm not a book.” My fingers dance along the nape of her neck as I steer her head back down, already missing the taste of her. “But ask me how I'm feeling and I'll show you exactly what my heart desires.”

Our lips meet again and fireworks explode all around us. The world crashes and booms, singing out a symphony as our hands explore each other's bodies. I slip my thumbs under the waistband of her shorts and pull her against me as her tongue finds a sensitive spot just behind my ear. Another moan vibrates in my throat, sending a shiver rippling across her skin and she bites down as her hands slip up my shirt. My heart thrums to a beat of her making and my body burns for her. I want her. I need her! I fucking—

Another crash sounds below us and this time Ashe manages to pull away. “What was that?”

The world can happily go fuck itself right now for ruining this. “I didn't hear anything.” But as another loud bang! followed by a string of curses reaches our ears, I know I'm not imagining it.

My body grows cold as Ashe pushes away. “Stay here,” she says as she carefully puts on a shirt, but I shake my head.

“Like hell! I want to know what that noise is, too.” I grab her hand and squeeze. “I swear to God, if it's Catalina messing with us then I'm going to murder her.”

A smirk tugs at her lips as she nods and we quietly make our way downstairs.

“As an Elder, you should know better than to harbor a demon,” a male voice booms and as we come to a crouch halfway down the staircase my stomach knots.

Catalina and Nadia were standing in the foyer, two men in suits on either side of them and a fifth man standing near the front door. Broken glass was scattered across the floor and several pieces of furniture had been toppled over. Who the hell were these people?

“Stay here,” Ashe warns, her tattoo shifting over her body. This time, as she creeps down the stairs, I listen.

“You clearly don't know what's going on,” Catalina says, but even from across the room I can see the muscles in her neck grow taut and her fists clench at her sides. Whoever these people were, they weren't expecting them.

“A backdoor was opened at these coordinates. We came to investigate and find you with a demon. I think it's pretty clear what's going on here, ma'am.”

“Do you see any witches around, Jackson?”

H

e scoffs. “Save it, Catalina. The High Court's had their eye on you for a while now and finally we have some evidence to show for it.”

“You should really take care what you say. I haven't had a good meal yet and I'm feeling cranky.”

“Detain them!” Jackson snaps as he withdraws a cell phone from his pocket and presses a hotkey. “I'm calling it in. Keep that demon bound! Her little half-breed pet won't be far, either, and she's a Reaper. Be ready, men!”

Before anyone can move, Catalina was standing in front of Jackson like a nightmare come to life. Bloodlust swirls in her eyes as she grips the collar of his suit jacket and pulls him so close to her that he may as well be sharing a kiss with death.

“You will tell them that you've discovered what appears to be an abandoned Enlightened hideout and are stepping inside to investigate. You do not yet require backup. You will mention nothing about the things you've seen here.”

As the man relays her message, his eyes glazed over from her charm, Nadia subdues the suits at her side and Ashe binds the wrists of the two remaining men with her chains. They shout as they try to wrestle themselves free and Ashe grunts from the effort. Dammit, she wasn't fully recovered yet for this!

I watch as Catalina circles Jackson like a lionness circling her prey. Like her fingernails from earlier, her canines grow to twice their normal length and a sickening thought crosses my mind. They were longer than most people's teeth, maybe by a few millimeters, and before I knew what she was I had just chalked it up to some kind of dental deformity. But even after I learned that she was a vampire, they had never reached past her lips. Did they always grow like that before she feeds?

She stops behind Jackson, her blood-red gaze flicking briefly to me before she turns her glare to Ashe. “The things I do for you,” she growls.

As soon as the man ends the phone call, Catalina buries her fangs into his shoulder. Blood runs down his neck like a rushing river as she tears a chunk of flesh from his bones and spits it out onto the floor. As his body slumps to the ground, his comrades converge on Ashe and her aunt in a blind fury.

The room erupts into chaos.