Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) (12 page)

Cassandra stepped back to peer at Wade. She
removed his cowboy hat that seemed to be attached to his head more
times than not. She ruffled his hair. "How have you been little
brother?"

Axel was the eldest then Derek fell next in
line. Cassandra had been born nine months later. Wade was the baby
of the Hayes family at the ripe young age of twenty-three. Their
parents must have decided they wanted children then popped out four
in a matter of five years. Guess they didn't want to waste time or
perhaps hunting had taken a lull in those critical years they
needed to raise four children. Axel was convinced their parents
just wanted more hunters to train so they could widen their
search.

"I'm fine, Cass, real fine," Wade said.
"Missed you at Christmas."

"Missed you, too. Do I smell coffee?" She
brushed by him with her abrupt change of subject and headed to the
counter where the pot gurgled with the announcement that coffee was
now being brewed. If he knew his sister, she was probably already
concocting a plan to usher little brother out of the house, and as
far away from her vampire lover as possible.

Derek did the honors of pouring three cups of
coffee and handing over the cream to Cassie once he splashed a
generous portion into his cup. He raised the mug to his lips, but
halted taking his well-needed caffeine fix due to the fact his
heart had lodged in his throat. Sloane sauntered into the kitchen
dressed in his T-shirt and sweats and looking sexy as heck, but
Wade wouldn't see it that way. Damn, he should have warned her that
his brother knew what she looked like, and would dust her on
principle. As far as Wade knew, she was as dangerous as Tim.

Wade turned and spotted her. His lips curved
into a smile before recognition slipped into place. His coffee cup
slammed onto the table, the contents sloshing onto the floor. "Holy
crap!" he shouted as his concealed weapon in the sleeve of his
jacket sprang to his palm. He made a move toward Sloane, but Derek
proved faster. He put himself between Sloane and his brother, but
not before he caught sight of Sloane's eyes turning a nice shade of
crimson.

"Stop." He held up his hands to keep Wade
from advancing another step.

"Stop?" Wade's voice had risen to booming
status. "She's one of the friggin' targets we've been
tracking."

"Sloane is fine."

"Really? Fine? 'Cause don't think I didn't
catch the eye color
change-a-roo
."

Derek didn't budge.

"Cassandra, a little help here," Wade
pleaded.

Cassandra leaned against the countertop and
took a generous sip of her coffee.

"Cassandra?" Derek gestured for help,
too.

She pushed away from the counter and glanced
at both her brothers in turn, her eyes narrowing as she did so. She
took another sip of her brew before placing her cup on the table.
"Sure, I'll help." She strode over to Wade and gripped his shoulder
in a
'slumber pinch'
—a coined name Axel had given the
technique. Wade's eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to
the floor in a heap, his knife clattering on the kitchen tile
beside him.

"I didn't mean for you to knock him out
cold." Derek rolled his eyes at her and crouched beside his brother
and felt for his pulse. Strong and steady, but he would wake up
with one heck of a headache. He glanced at Cassandra who stood with
one hand on her hip and her brow arched in a
don't-mess-with-me-brother
attitude. So not going to pick a
fight with her now. "Do you want to help me? We'll need to restrain
him at least until sundown so both Sloane and Tremayne can make
their escape." He chanced a look at Sloane. Her arms were crossed
over her chest and she worried her lower lip with her teeth.

"I'm sorry," Sloane stammered. "I didn't
realize he knew what I looked like." Her brows furrowed. "I've
never met him," she added, which was true.

Wade hadn't attended high school with them.
She knew about his family of course, but their relationship had
revolved around school and sneaking away to be alone. "My brothers
were at your house. Remember?" He didn't bother telling her he and
Wade had snooped around her belongings before she had arrived home
from work.

She ran an agitated hand through her hair and
managed to look both beautiful and vulnerable at the same time. She
stared at Wade and her one brow arched. "Your brother wants me
dead. I read it in his eyes. I could hear his heartbeat hitch as he
came after me."

Derek frowned at her last words. She heard
his heartbeat? It was just another reminder that her body was
changing.

"Don't worry about Wade," Cassandra spoke up.
"We'll take care of our brother."

If someone had asked him a few nights ago if
he would ever hesitate staking a vampire, he would have laughed,
and said: Hell no. But here he was not only harboring one original
vampire, but also a woman that was on the verge of sporting
fangs.

Cassandra placed a hand on his shoulder and
gave it an affectionate squeeze. "It gets easier."

Chapter Thirteen

They tied Wade up tighter than a bound turkey
for Thanksgiving, leaving him to stew in the living room. His
curses and issued threats were prying on Derek's nerves and he
contemplated marching in there and gagging him as well.

The sun had set low enough in the sky that
Tremayne could risk emerging from the guest room where the window
shades kept the sun from shining through. Tremayne's presence only
enraged Wade further.

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping
to ward off the headache that throbbed between his eyes.

"Want me to give him the slumber pinch
again?" Cassandra offered, clearly she had enough of their
brother's temper tantrums, too. However, they couldn't be too angry
with Wade. They did after all knock him out and tie him up.

"It's tempting, Cass, but we need him awake
so we can sway him to our side. Or else we'll have to keep him tied
up forever."

"I can make him forget," Tremayne offered and
all eyes turned on him. "But if I do, he may suffer headaches,
trying to recall the loss memory. Your brother is a hunter. I've
found their will is stronger than the average human's. He'll fight
the glamour."

Derek didn't want to contemplate how Tremayne
knew this about hunters.

"Do you hear me, dammit?" Wade shouted from
the other room.

Derek was ready to cause his brother physical
pain if he didn't stop his yelling. He took a deep calming breath.
"No, let me and Cassandra try to reason with him again."

Tremayne's brows lifted. Clearly the vampire
thought their attempts of persuasion futile. He may have a valid
point. After each of them had showered and dressed, they had tried
for hours to convince Wade to their side, but with no luck. Their
thickheaded brother wasn't going to budge.

He glanced at Sloane and tried to give her an
encouraging smile, but he was sure it looked more like a grimace.
He then leveled his gaze on Cassandra. "You ready to give it a go
again?"

"Let's do it," she said, pushing away from
the kitchen counter to join him.

They both strode into the living room to
witness Wade thrashing on the floor, but luckily still secured to
the chair he knocked over in his attempt to escape.

"Jesus, Wade." Derek rushed over and lifted
the chair back into place. "Can you hold your tongue for a moment
and let me explain."

"Explain? You've done all the explaining I
need to hear. I have eyes, dear brother." Wade narrowed his gaze on
Cassandra then. "And you're in on it. Are you both glamoured. Is
that it? 'Cause the Hayes family doesn't fraternize with
vampires."

"We have a plan," Derek said.

"Oh, do you? How utterly
fang
-tastic
for you. Do you plan on recruiting more vamps for your fan
club?"

"Now you're just being a butthead." Cassandra
smacked the back of Wade's head for added insult to her
name-calling. As teenagers these two fought the most and colorful
metaphors were part of the verbal lashes.

"Butthead? You're the one who's—"

"Enough!" Tremayne stood in the archway. "We
don't have time for childish tantrums. We have a rogue hybrid on
the loose, killing for pleasure. If I'm not mistaken, you are
hunters. You need to put your differences aside and come up with a
plan to stop him before he kills again."

"Who is this wanker?" Wade demanded to
know.

"Wanker is it?" Tremayne purposely bared his
fangs.

"Just great, Tremayne." Cassandra lifted her
hands in dismay. "Now you've done it."

"Tremayne?" Wade's gaze blazed a trail over
the Oiche Sith. "As in Tremayne Graystone?" Wade turned his gaze on
Cassandra. "This is the vamp you were sent to eliminate. The one
you told me you
had
eliminated."

"I never said I eliminated him. I told you I
took care of the situation."

Wade harrumphed. "Is that why you haven't
been back home? You've been shacking up with a blood drinker?"

"You're sister and I are not shacking up,"
Tremayne came to her defense. "We are courting."

"Dating," Cassandra corrected.

"Aye, dating," he repeated.

Derek noticed Tremayne, though pretty much up
to date with the world, he would still now and again revert to
old-world phrases, and his Irish lilt flavored many of his
words.

"Isn't this all so very quaint," Wade bit
out, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Sloane must have been feeling left out. She
decided to join in on the fun. "Wade, may I speak to you?" Her
soft-spoken request silenced the room. She took a hesitant step
closer. "They shouldn't be treating you like this."

"Finally, someone who makes a lick of sense."
Then he growled when he realized he just sided with a
vampire-in-the-making.

"I can't help what happened to me. I…" Sloane
faltered and she took a deep breath. "I don't want to change. I
don't want to be like…like Tim. I'm angry and scared, but I can't
change my fate, but maybe I can prevent someone else from facing
what I have to."

Wade stared at her, and for once he didn't
look like a rabid dog, ready to lash out. They all held their
breath with hope that Sloane had somehow reached him with her
desperate plea to set things right. His brother's shoulder tensed
and he clenched his teeth as the battle against all he'd been
raised to believe in was falling apart at his feet. He most likely
wanted to continue his ranting on core beliefs, but what Sloane
said made sense to his right and wrong codes of ethics. She didn't
beg for her life, but for a chance to make sure no one else
suffered.

"Dammit to hell and back," Wade cursed and
shook his head. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but what's
the friggin' plan?"

Chapter Fourteen

"You did well in there," Cassandra stood
beside Sloane in the kitchen.

She glanced at Derek's sister, who stood
almost a head taller than her five-foot-four stance. She'd bet
Cassandra knew her way around weapons as well as her brothers did.
She shuddered at the thought. "Thanks, but I doubt Wade will become
my best bud any time soon."

Cassandra chuckled. "No, I suppose not, but
at least at this moment, he doesn't want to dust you."

Sloane wasn't so sure about that. As soon as
they nabbed Tim, he'd probably have a nice stake sharpened with her
name carved on it. She learned from Tremayne that a stake wouldn't
kill a vampire, but she was still transitioning. She was still
vulnerable. A stake through the heart would prove fatal for
her.

Even with Tremayne's reassurances that he
wouldn't allow her to become a danger to anyone, she still worried.
She didn't want to end up like Tim and hurt someone, least of all
Derek. And what about Lad? She'd talked to Dr. Sinclair a few
moments ago. Her dog was resting comfortably and would make a full
recovery. The good news was a welcome reprieve. She glanced at her
cell where a screen saver of Lad stared back at her.

"Why the frown?" Cassandra asked.

"Do vampires eat pets?"

Cassandra's lips twitched, but to her credit
she didn't full out laugh at her. "Tremayne has never had the urge
to snack on Shakespeare—his hound dog," she clarified.

She sighed in relief. Her gaze swept over
Cassandra with curiosity. She was dating a vampire, had been for
months and she didn't look like she suffered from anemia. "Tremayne
never wants to…" Her question trailed off and she glanced away.
Heat burned her cheeks.

"Drink from me?" Cassandra finished, sensing
what she wanted to know.

She nodded, glad that Cassandra was so
intuitive.

"Yes, of course he does. He's a vampire, but
he respects my wishes to remain human. He feeds before he is with
me. He's able to keep the blood lust at bay then."

"He's centuries old, isn't he?" It was a
rhetorical question and Cassandra treated it as such, but her next
question she hoped for an answer. "He has more control over things
like that, doesn't he?"

"I suppose he does, but you can learn, too,"
Cassandra stated with the utmost confidence.

Tremayne had entered the kitchen and his next
words told her he heard the last of their conversation. "You will
not be alone with your trials, Sloane. My sept has many who will
work with you and help you through the transition."

"And how long does the transition take? Will
I have to stay away from my family?" Her eyes shifted to where
Derek stood with his brother hunched over the table and looking at
a map of the city. They were marking off places where they knew Tim
had left his mark.

Tremayne followed her gaze. "You will not be
able to have a relationship at first, but in time, you may. Humans
are not off limits unless you wish them to be, but perhaps you will
find an Oiche Sith who you'll favor for a mate. It is not uncommon
for my kind to find a soul mate and pledge their life to one
another. You would then never have to worry about feeding. You'll
find nourishment from each other."