Daughter of Anat (21 page)

“Cord,” she touched his arm.  I wished she’d stop that. 

His eyes were closed still but he answered, “Anastacia, is it you."

She was surprised he recognized her so easily.  He knew her as well as I did before the day I won her at the party.  He lost and should back off.  History doesn't give him rights to her just like it didn't for me.  Long ago Cord, Lee, and I stood watching her one night in the darkness.  All young and filled with hormones we didn't understand and we all wanted the same girl.  Lee won...for the moment.  Cord gave up thinking it wasn't worth the effort for one girl.  I let him.  I waited my turn.

“Yes.  You
’re hand. My hand. It’s…” 

“Healed.  Then my theory was correct,” he said rubbing his eyes.

“How did you know?”  She knew I was listening by the way she kept eyeing me from under her hair.  It made me happy to know she was okay with it. 

“The night of the party.  Just before Thorn pulled you up in the air, I had you, I would have protected you.”

I gave him this so he could maybe get it out of his system and move on.

“I was the one who pulled you from the spy.  You were bleeding.  So was I.  Something flashed across my mind with you and markings.  And when the Hunter boy was done pummeling me and my own, I looked down and found all the cuts on my arm healed where you
’d touched me.”

Noted.  If she would stop touching him now would be good.  I wish I'd known about the healing thing before now.  He lied to me.

“I remember all that.  I saw you in my mind.”

She had? 

“Most of this matters not.  I was healed after you touched me.  Just like now.”

“I did that?”

“Yes.  I can’t heal myself.  My theory is you have always healed yourself.  Right?”

She gave him a look of disbelief. 

“Thorn told me.”

She looked at me for answers and when I stayed silent, she went back to him.  “You can heal others.  And you saw it too. 
The fire, and us, and the Elf lord.  Didn’t you?”

“It
’s our blood.  The future maybe.  I’ve touched you before,” he said between breaths like an old man on cheap cigarettes, “at the party when my arm was cut up.  You grabbed me and then whipped away with Thorn to his glorious safety. And I was healed like I said.”

  ...
speculation or truth?

“Well, say something.”  Cord the impatient dog demanding attention yelled at her.
  I wouldn’t have to work to make her hate him.

“I
’m not sure what to say.  You’ve just told me there is yet another person entangled in the web of “All About Stace” and I am the last to know.  You’ve just announced that I can heal you by touching you.  And you’ve just told me there is yet another person who feels the need to alert me to their damn presence with some kind of funky calling system.”

She scanned each of our faces.  I know mine was in dire straits to take it all away if I could.   I was hurt, but understood.  It was a lot to ask of one person and it only made me hate the gods more. 

“I didn’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just there seems there will never be any privacy in any way for me anymore.  And I will always have an alarm system when my marked like me guys are around.  That could be very frustrating.”

Yeah.  Frustration I understood. 
And is it not frustrating to live with the fact that they have the same with you that I have?  I have to live with this also. 

She softened her gritted teeth. 
I’m sorry.  You are right.
  “Cas is right.  I’m just throwing my own pity party.”

“You
’re forgetting something.  We didn’t hear what Cas had to say,” Calum snarled.

No, thank the gods.

I laughed at her hidden humor and loved it being only for me.   

Stace helped Mr. Helpless up giving him a strong dose of her strength.  The damn boy
’s return favor was to fall against her sealing her in a lock and kissed her.  Not a friendly one either.  He was pinned to the ground in a head lock before his three seconds of pleasure could register.  I wanted to wash her mouth out and rinse his with gasoline.  

Calum was drawing his fists up, shining them ready. 

“Sorry, princess.  You’ll want it one day.  But I had to try it out.  See if it works for me like it did them.”  Cord and his sorry ass didn’t stop there.

“What?” she screamed at him wiping her mouth.

“Theories, gorgeous.  I suspect your emotional overdrive you did on me earlier has merit from something such as sharing...things.”

Eww!
  “Wanna try it one more time for science?”

She backed away with his insinuating comments.  I could read her well.  That wasn
’t want she was throwing out.

He is saying just that
, Stace.

She jerked up at my help
but didn't seem to want it.

“Thank you for healing me
, gorgeous.”  The dirtbag dared to near me.  She had one part right in her head; we were all a little crazy.

“
So let’s move on.  We have five of us now.”  Cord said.

  “Cord, I assume you will work together with us?” She looked anywhere but at him.

“With you.”

Sucks for you then.

I tried not to laugh out loud for her humor.  No one knew what her pretty little head snarked off at them.  Gotta wonder what I’ve missed that she might have said about me.

“It
’s us or no go.  We are all in this somehow.”

She wanted to spit out his taste.  I was right there with her on that action.

“Fine, but FYI, I communicate through who I want.”  He handed her the dang card he gives all his damn girls at the clubs.  How crude could he get?

“I
’ll be waiting by the phone,” he winked.

Seeing the visions
wasn’t what I worried about.  What she might see scared me shitless. 

When she poked her eyes up at me, I gave away my stupidity. 
Jealousy suits you.  I could get used to it.

I gritted my teeth, growling.  She raised her eyebrows at me claiming her.  Why did she have to be reminded of that constantly? 
Girls and their insecurities.  I made it clear she was mine before now and she still went through self doubt.

I hooked my hand back around her hip leaning her back against the front of me sending a clear message for him to back the hell off.  She flinched, but wolf boy got the point nonetheless.

Cord laughed insanely and waved for his crew to move in.  He took her hand though she was obviously attached to me.  He kissed it. 

“Till we need to meet again.”

Sucker left quick enough before I yanked his block off.

Well, that was entertaining. I think we at least gained an ally.

I sure didn’t answer that one.

Are you going to respond?

Stace, I’ll never survive you. 
And I meant it.

Thanks for the confidence.

It’s not you I’m concerned about.

Jealous still?  I
’m sorry but you have nothing to worry about.

She didn
’t know what her voice alone does to a man.

No, you shouldn
’t be sorry.  You’re very alluring.  You always have been.

Hardly.  I
’d never even been allowed to interact with boys until Lee, and then that was over fast and Calum came along.  Why am I telling you this?

Hell if I know.  Cuz
’ she wants their heads on a stick. 
You were alluring way before then.  Many came to call, you were just shielded greatly.

I guess that makes me angry, yet I was led straight to you with only a few snares.

I brushed my thumb across her cheek slowly enjoying her soft skin.  I would have to tell her I saw the visions soon, but not now with all she went through.

Instead
I asked,
So what am I if all the others are snares?

That I caught the fish made of gold. 

That you did.  Hook, line, and so into you I’m making a fool of myself in front of everyone.

Yes.  But you
’re my fool.             

I kissed her and wrapped her up in my arms.

Lee and Calum glared at me so she backed away from leaning into my chest which made me a little happier on the who belongs to me part.  I asked her why she insisted on cutting down the display.  

Her mind wandered before answering.  She nailed me as this serious type who kept his cool to others, but not to her.  How had she figured me so fast? 

She told me to be nice.

My girl. 
I could play if she wanted.

My guy.

I laughed at her.  She still didn’t know I knew the vision.  Would it freak her out?  How does it help us in the end?

ℓℓℓℓℓ

Dropping her off to take care of faction business is harder than watching Cord make eyes at her.  But according to Hugo, it could wait.
The club was dark with loud techno music blared at volumes the humans’ ears should have maxed out on long ago.  The place looked empty, but I could smell what was inside.  It’s a good thing I drank an extra pint of A positive before heading out. 

Jose was ahead and walking in assessing what measures to take first.  I stood by the door as a look out waiting for his return.  This was Jose
’ specialty.  He abhorred blood tainted with any alcohol or drugs and was the master of surveying if any real Vampires had taken from the live or not so alive within a fifty foot radius.  This was due to his alcoholic mother that swarmed him with a terrible first sixteen years of life in that hellhole called L.A. The night he was turned, he’d begged the person dragging him from the club called Teeth to let him hitch a ride with him out of dodge.  When asked for what price, he made the mistake of saying, “anything.” 

Not all Vampires are good guys.  But Jose soon learned that is true of humans and now all other species since.  That
’s my motto leading this faction.  We represent ourselves as a whole, so clean up is necessary.  If the other factions will always see us as less than equal, there is no hope.  So since Stace was intended for me, intended for this world peace effort, I’ve made it my personal goal to make this faction worthy of being at the forefront of leading her there.  Since I became leader, I’ve destroyed ninety-seven rogue Vamp’s from damaging our faction’s reputation.  Instead, rumors among the socialites remain in good favor for the most part and expect us to improve as there are less of us killing at random.  Though they give me credit, I take none.  It isn’t done yet.

“Thorn, it is clean.  However, there is a trail in the back leading to one of our own.  Not a blood trail.  No blood left.”

That meant we had a drainer.  God, I hoped I could always spare Stace from all this hell the world has come too. She had other things to deal with.

“I will trail it.  Take Hugo back after clean up.  I will text you.”

I was bored after ten minutes.  Liam had it cleaned up and was gone five minutes ago to watch over Stace.  The agreement was, if something ever happened to me, get to Stace and keep her safe at all costs.  Liam was the only one I had left of my own kind I could trust with her. 

  I was a street over down a dark alley when I caught wind of something.  Not human.

I followed it to the back of the alley downing a quick taste of my blood bag in my pocket.  The local homeless shelter was right around the corner and was often a target for wayward sups who wanted lunch or just a snack.  Unfortunately, that pertained mostly to my own faction.  I’d spent a lot of time playing clean up since I became lord to improve the Vampire faction reputation therefore giving me the god complex, but also how I gained the status known to the others as some kind of ruthless, evil ruler.  The theory even Stace previously had of me.  But they didn’t understand that the enemy was quite often one of my own.  I hid this well and took the flack for it.

I was so busy letting my mind work and think of Stace at my home in her bed alone that I didn
’t hear the fast movement sweep behind me.  A second too late, I had my black combat boot lodged into the Elf warrior’s chest and pounding the ground with his face.  One of their Elf made star shaped blades lodged into my thigh.  I turned quickly enough to plant a hard fist into his jaw then came around with the other one.  The guy was down.  I turned and surveyed the area for others.  Nothing.  I looked down again intending to search the now filthy creature lying in the middle of two slashed open Hefty size black trash bags full of Chinese food.  I leaned down a foot into the darkness and felt...nothing.  Everything went dark.  In the half a second before hitting the ground I knew the Elf lying there...was a decoy.

             
When I woke, I was in a filthy, piss ant shack tied to a freaking chair.  Voices came through the door.  What happened next, I would never forgive myself for.