Caleb (42 page)

Beneath
her thumb, his lips tugged into a wry grin. “No longer a monster, eh?”

His
beard pricked her palm. “You’re not a monster.”

“I am
what I am. No sense dressing it up.”

“I
hate it when you do that.”

“What?”

“Try
to make me dislike you.”

“Baby,
that’s not even logical.” He pulled her into his lap.

“I
know. You should work on it.”

A
commotion on the other side of the room drew her attention. Before she could
turn, Caleb’s arms locked down, immobilizing her, keeping her from seeing any
of it. Hearing a stuttered gurgle, she bit her lip and understood why he
blocked her view. “I don’t like this.”

He
looked over her head, nodding to someone she couldn’t see. “No reason you
should.”

“All
done.”

She
recognized Slade’s voice.

She
clutched Caleb’s shoulders as he leaned forward and then back, rising smoothly
to his feet. “Time to go.”

“I can
walk.”

“I
know.”

She
raised her eyebrow at him. “Then why am I not standing?”

“Because
I’m having a hard time getting rid of the image of you walking up to three
vampires after I told you to run.”

“I
knew what I was doing.” It was only a small lie. Part of her had known exactly
what she was doing. She just hadn’t made the acquaintance of that part of
herself at the time.

“Bullshit.”
The air crackled around them. Caleb turned sideways to get them through the
door. “It was reckless, impulsive, and foolhardy.”

The
brothers fell into step beside them. Armed and ready, they were an impressive
escort.

“You
left out successful,” Jace said, coming up alongside.

She
countered Caleb’s “Shut up” with a smile. “Thank you.”

She
craned her neck until she could check the condition of the men around them.
They were all there, in various stages of worse-for-wear, but there. “How did
you find us?”

“Once
Caleb sent word you’d set out, we followed along in case your welcome wasn’t as
warm as you were hoping.”

“You
could have stepped it up,” Caleb growled. His grip tightened. He was still
angry.

“Had
a bit of trouble with the D’Nallys,” Jace growled.

“Not
to mention that barricade.” Slade stepped over the body of a dead hopeful.
Allie felt a twinge of pity for the misguided soul until Slade bent down and
picked up the gun a couple feet away. “Our friend Vincent might have been
nuttier than a cow on loco-weed, but he was brilliant when it came to weapons.”

He
fired the weapon. The wall exploded. “Laser mixed with light in the spectrum of
sunlight. Silent but deadly to weres and vamps alike.”

Slade
nodded. He threw the weapon over his shoulder. “Except to our Caleb here.”

“Why
in hell would someone invent a weapon like that?”

“Only
one reason I can think of,” Jace offered, checking the next hall. He stepped
in, reappearing a second later, motioning them on. “Someone’s readying for a
war.”

“The
question is, against who?”

Caleb
stepped through the door. “My guess would lean toward everyone who doesn’t fit
their genetic ideal.”

Allie
shook her head. “It’s bigger than just Vincent.”

The
men glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“I
mean, when I was connected to Vincent, I felt a connection to more entities,
widespread but connected.” She shook her head. “I don’t think killing Vincent
put an end to this.”

The
men glanced at each other and then around the high-tech room. Jared summed up
the brothers’ thoughts in one word, “Shit.”

Caleb
shifted his rifle in his grip. “In that case, we’d better get going.”

Jared
fell into position ahead of them, clearing a path. A mean, angry man looking
for an excuse to vent. She felt sorry for anyone who got in his way.

Caleb
fell into step behind them, still carrying her. Under his guise of strength she
could feel how weak he really was. “Let me walk.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

She
frowned up at him. “Don’t make me go all vampiress on you.”

The
flash of amusement in his eyes soothed a bit of the fear inside. “You can throw
anything you want at me, baby.”

The
“It’s not going to scare me” was implied. She patted his cheek and tugged his
head down so she could whisper in his ear, “Put me down before you fall down.”

He
grimaced. “You weren’t supposed to notice.”

“Don’t
worry. I still think you’re macho.”

“Ouch.”

“What?
You notice everything about me, why can’t I notice a thing or two about you?”

“Because
it’s hard on a man’s pride,” Jace said, coming up beside them. “I can take
her.”

“I
can walk.”

No
one paid her any attention. Caleb handed her over. She would have wiggled in
protest, but her legs and arms had the substance of Jell-O.

Since
she had no choice, she relaxed against Jace and asked, “Is Caleb really going
to be all right?”

“What
did Slade say?”

“He
said he would.”

“Then
he will be. Slade is never wrong.”

She
rested her head on Jace’s shoulder. It wasn’t comfortable like Caleb’s, but it
was okay. “It’s really not fair. You all turn vampire and become supermen. I
turn vampire and remain a wuss.”

All
she could see of Jace’s smile was the slight crease where his chin met his
cheek. “I wouldn’t exactly call you a wuss.”

Caleb’s
“hardly” was dry. He caught the gun Jared threw him. It took him about three
seconds to figure out the mechanism. He tossed it in his hands, testing its
weight. Guns were obviously a guy thing, because it looked damn natural in his
hands. “Let’s move.”

He
gave her a smile. She tried to smile back, but in reality, reaction was setting
in and her composure was a bit limp at the corners. Caleb frowned, obviously
not buying her act. Well, hell, she used to be better at this.

“Don’t
feel bad. He does that to all of us,” Jace said.

“What?”

“Sees
more than we want him to.”

“Who
says I’m hiding something?”

“That
big grin on your face, when anyone can see how hard you’re shaking.”

“Damn.”

Caleb
came over and brushed her cheek with his thumb. There was blood on the back of
his hand and a lethal energy about him. He was almost a stranger except for the
crook of his grin and the emotion in his touch. Gentleness in both at a time
when he’d never looked more savage.

“We’ll
have you home soon.”

Home.
Back to the ranch that was a strange mix of paranormal beings, modern science,
and antiquity. Who would have thought it could sound so good? “Thank you.”

His
finger stroked the curve of her lips in a familiar caress, rubbing at the
corner. Spit or blood? She almost asked which and then stopped herself. She
really didn’t want to know. “I look a mess, huh?”

“You
look beautiful.”

The
glance Caleb cut Jace from under his brow was dead serious. “No matter what,
you keep her safe.”

“You’ve
got it.”

One
tap of his finger on her lips, which had them plumping and firming for a kiss
that didn’t come, and she was looking at his back. His broad, injured,
determined back. “Does he ever believe he can’t win?”

Jace
shifted her weight in his arms. She clutched his coat until she was sure he
wasn’t going to drop her. “No.”

“Why
not?”

As
soon as Jared gave the “all clear” they went to the next corridor, toward . . .
She took a moment to orient herself. The night. It was night. Thank God.

“Are
we going to have time to get back?”

“Yes.”

Jace
stopped at another door, dropped into a crouch, and set her beside him. The
sounds of combat came at them from the other side. “Stay.”

She
tucked her feet under her, ready to move. “I’m not a dog.”

“If
you were, we could just slap a leash on you when you got difficult.”

“Charming.”

He
slipped his gun off his shoulder. “I try.” His attention was clearly ahead and
not on her. She’d rather
he
be ahead, with Caleb, who didn’t seem to
understand his injuries made him vulnerable. “I really don’t mind if you join
in the fun.” Whatever was happening on the other side of the door was
definitely a more-the-merrier situation.

“You’re
stuck with me.”

“The
bad guys are ahead of us. I’ll be fine if you”—the wall shook as something
slammed into it—“want to even the odds.”

“There’s
only about a dozen in there.”

Which
meant the odds were three to one. She inched away from the wall, expecting to
see something unpalatable burst through it at any moment. “I realize, back in
your day, it was cool to pretend the impossible was possible, but these days we
just ask for help.”

He
had the gall to look surprised. “You really don’t know Caleb that well, do
you?”

“No.”

He
grinned. “Trust me, with the odds three to one, the only ones you have to feel
sorry for are those on the other side.”

Another
. . . something hit the wall. Jace smiled when she flinched. Asshole.

She
eyed the knife in his belt. “At precisely what point should I be concerned?”

“When
someone tells you to run.”

“Uh-huh.”
In her experience that was usually too late. “I’m not good at running.”

He
considered that for an instant, taking his gaze from the door before turning it
on her. For once there was no laughter, just seriousness as he studied her from
beneath the brim of his hat. “So I’ve heard.”

She
drew her chin up. She might feel like a bowl of quivering Jell-O because of
what had happened in that room, but she wasn’t afraid. The wall shook again and
she jumped. Well, not much anyway. Jace kept staring and she kept glaring. He
nodded as if something had been settled. He pulled the knife out and handed it
to her, hilt first. “If you need to use this, don’t hesitate. Thrust first and
ask questions later.”

The
knife felt good in her hands—comfortable. “You know, I think you might just
become my favorite brother-in-law.”

He
fired three times in rapid succession with the sunlight gun as a body came
through the doorway. The vampire didn’t get up, likely due to the huge, gaping
hole through his chest. Smoke rose from his unnaturally still body. Jace
glanced at her. “Do me a favor and don’t tell Caleb that.”

“Why
not?”

“When
it comes to you, the man has a short fuse, and he’s still sputtering over our
introduction.”

She
shifted the knife in her grip, hilt up. “Come to think of it, so am I.”

He
looked at the knife and the implication. Unbelievably he laughed. “I bet you
give Caleb fits.”

“As
often as I can.”

Three
sharp whistles and he relaxed. “Looks like things are cleaned up.”

The
room was carnage. Absolute, amazingly bloodless carnage. Apparently, laser guns
cauterized as they destroyed. Allie was pretty sure just to the left of her was
an arm, all alone, lying there as if waiting for the body it was supposed to be
attached to show up. Her stomach heaved. She swallowed hard. Immediately,
Caleb’s gaze swung her way. She smiled, hoping she didn’t look as appalled as
she felt. It’d be nice if he could be proud of her for a change.

He
came toward her, big and mean, stepping over the bodies as if they didn’t
matter, as if what he’d done didn’t matter. Which logically she knew it didn’t,
but she wasn’t used to this kind of life, and killing, even if it was
necessary, just wasn’t that easy to adjust to. His hand closed around hers.
Warm and strong, pulling her to her feet. Some of the coldness and uncertainty
inside left. She rubbed his forearm. “Were you hurt?”

“Nah.
How about you?”

“I’m
fine.”

“I
can see that.”

He
pulled her into his side. She pretended it was the way he held her that forced
her face into his chest and not the horror of the room. The other brothers were
rummaging through the bodies, taking and discarding stuff as they went. Some of
the items they kept caused a flare of excitement that reached across the room.
Men, give them a gadget and they were all the same. “How much farther?”

“We’re
almost there.”

There
was a certain tension in his voice that made her ask, “We’ll be more vulnerable
when we’re outside, won’t we?”

“Don’t
worry, I’ve got you.”

She
did push back then. “I’m not some fragile flower you have to protect. I can
help.”