Fractured (The Deep in Your Veins Series Book 5) (4 page)

Her gift was extraordinary, in my opinion. It could be used for both good and bad. Basically, Paige could transfer not only her injuries, but the injuries of others. That meant if someone wounded her, she could transfer that wound to them and it would revisit on them three-fold. The gift thereby allowed her to both heal and cause harm.

Sam had also paired Jude and Cassie together. They matched well. Jude’s gift to erase recent memories wasn’t offensive, so Cassie’s gift of mind control was a big help. Jude was much better at combat than Cassie, so she was good at watching Cassie’s back.

Until more females joined the squad, Ava wouldn’t have a partner for assignments. In the meantime, she stayed with Salem and the vampire he was paired with. She didn’t need their protection, though; not with her awesome gift of muscle memory. Ava could literally memorise and replicate any combat move she saw. The gift not only made her faster and stronger than other Sventés, but it gave her better reflexes. Anyone who underestimated little Ava quickly regretted it.

As always, tonight’s training was gruelling and brutal. We were split into two teams: an offensive one, and a defensive one. Paige and I were part of the latter. Sam created a huge mound of Earth with her gift and then ordered the defensive team to defend it from the offensive team.

After a quick lunch break, we were back in the arena for another session. Jared assigned us physical exercises that kept up our stamina and endurance. I threw every ounce of my energy into it and worked myself hard because, yeah, I wanted to forget that I’d just seen myself injured and facing a dragon.

By the time it was done, I was ready to drop—which was no doubt a lot to do with the temporary exhaustion thing, courtesy of Marla’s crony. I went straight to my apartment, intending to hit my bed early. That plan was foiled when Paige turned up with vodka-flavoured NSTs.

“Don’t think I’m not mad that your fat ass teleported out of the arena without me earlier,” said Paige, barging inside.

I shut the door, faking offense. “My ass is not fat.”

“Well it ain’t fucking skinny.”

I laughed. “At least it isn’t bony.”

She cast me a mock glare, relaxing on my rug. She liked to sit on the floor. “I’ve been told my ass is cute, thank you very much.”

I sat opposite her, lotus style. “Yeah? By who?”

“So, can I just say that Marco is a total asshole?”

“I’m with you so far.”

“I don’t like the idea of you being in the same building as him.”

She probably wanted to lock me away somewhere to stop me from going. “Wouldn’t you rather that I had back-up with me when Marco and I see each other again for the first time?”

She sniffed. “I guess.”

Wanting to change the subject, I said, “You looked confused after you had your vision.”

“I didn’t understand it at all.” She took a swig of her drink. “And I don’t have even an inkling of when it will happen.”

“Do you regret having your vision?”

“Part of me does.” Paige sipped more of her NST. “I mean, how can I treat it as a warning if I don’t fully understand what I saw? Maybe there’ll come a time when I do, and then it will help me know what to do. Or, at least, that’s what I’m hoping.”

We talked a little about inconsequential things. When I yawned for like the tenth time, she barked, “Ha, it serves you right for overworking yourself.”

I tossed her a ‘whatever’ look, not interested in a lecture.

As I walked her to the door, she gave me a hug. “Get a good day’s sleep, okay?”

“Okay.” I opened the door…and found Butch standing there, hand ready to knock.

(Butch)

Paige perched her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “I distinctly remember us having a conversation in which I made it perfectly clear that Imani wasn’t going to be a booty call for you anymore.”

Imani squinted at her friend. “You did?”

Yes, and I’d wondered if Imani knew about it. Apparently not. It was a one-sided conversation. I’d just stared at Paige, waiting impatiently for her to stop ranting about me ‘using’ Imani. At that point, Imani had already made it clear that she was done with casual sex.

“And yet, you’re here,” added Paige.

I nodded. “This is true.”

“Well, now you’re going to leave.”

“This is Imani’s apartment, so that’s for her to decide.” I held up my hand when Paige went to speak again. “Stop. I’m not going to talk like she’s not standing right there.”

Paige blinked, looking both surprised and impressed by that comment. She turned to Imani. “Make the right decision, sweetie. You know what that is.” She shot me a narrow-eyed look as she swept past and disappeared down the hallway.

Before Imani had a chance to speak, I pushed my way inside. I liked her apartment. There was something welcoming about it. Maybe it was all the paintings and smart use of colour. Anyone who didn’t know Imani would take one look at the large space and think she was a messy, disorganised person. I’d thought the same at first.

Her coffee table was covered in magazines, drawings, pens, remote controls, and other bits and bobs. Books, DVDs, and CDs were scattered everywhere. There was little order in her kitchen. Her bedroom…well, I wasn’t sure if she made much use of her wardrobe at all because her clothes always seemed to be piled on the armchair next to it.

As I’d come to know Imani, I’d learned that she wasn’t an untidy person with no sense of organisation. It was that she found order in chaos and confusion. She had a system of order; it just differed from that of anyone I knew.

“You’re the second person to barge in here tonight,” she grumbled, unsurprisingly tired after having overexerted herself. We’d get to that soon.

“I’m not good at respecting people’s boundaries.” Especially hers, because I wanted nothing at all between us.

“Yeah, if I hadn’t already known that it would have been perfectly obvious when you barged in. So, why
did
you?”

“I wanted to see you.” I shrugged. “You were upset. I didn’t like it.” I reached for the object tucked into the back of my jeans. “And I brought you something.” She blinked at the object I held out to her. “Take it. I had Fletcher register it to your Amazon account.”

Accepting the brand new Kindle, she swallowed hard. “You didn’t have to do this. I would’ve bought a new one when I had the chance.”

“Now you don’t have to.”

“That’s really sweet of you.” She held the Kindle against her chest. “Thank you.”

“You going to tell me what things you didn’t say earlier about your nest?”

She rubbed at her forehead. “I’m actually not in the mood to talk about my past. Perhaps I could interest you in a smart-ass comment instead.”

I advanced on her. “Imani, I know enough about your prick of a Sire to know he needs to die. Slowly. Painfully. There’s more to the story. Tell me what you didn’t say earlier.”

“So
you
get to be a closed book but
I
have to tell you everything?”

“I just want you to share with me.”

“Share? All right, how about I keep the pin and you have the grenade? Sound fair?”

That was one thing about Imani—when she was tired, she could be snippy as hell. Still, I would have pushed her to share if she didn’t look so exhausted and vulnerable. “We’ll postpone that conversation. You look ready to drop. I’m surprised you’re conscious.”

Her lips flattened. “Blame that bitch from the bar.”

“No, baby, I’m blaming you. You worked yourself too hard during training, even though you knew you were already weak. It was a wonder you didn’t pass out. Don’t do that again.”

“Don’t work hard?”

I curled my hand around her chin. “Don’t play with me, baby. You know exactly what I mean. If there was some kind of surprise attack tonight, you would be no good to yourself. You’d be off your game, and that could lead to you being hurt. None of that is okay with me.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re dangerously exhausted.”

The amber tint in her irises flared.
“I’m fine.”

“You’re lying, and you’re shit at it.”

She stepped back, breaking my hold on her chin and flashing me that oh-so-haughty look I knew well. “I can
so
lie. And if I want your opinion, I’ll give you some forms to fill out, all right?”

“Baby, you need to drop that little attitude.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, because it makes my fucking cock throb.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t say I know many guys who would—” She quieted as I closed the distance between us and put a finger to her mouth.

I spoke softly. “I don’t want to hear about other guys.” And I didn’t want to be compared to them, because I’d definitely come up short. “I am who I am. Fucked up in a lot of ways.
Too
many ways.” She deserved better, but she was stuck with me. “I’d change if I could.”

She frowned. “You don’t need to change. You’re not a bad person.”

I wasn’t sure I believed that, but I was glad that she did. I splayed my hand around her throat, feeling her pulse beat beneath my thumb. It made my mouth water. “Has anyone fed from you since me?” I didn’t like thinking of anyone else’s teeth sinking into her skin. We’d exchanged blood many times. I liked having something of her in me, just as I liked knowing there was a part of me inside her.

Her fingers curled around my wrist, but she didn’t pull my hand away. She also didn’t answer.

“The last person to feed from me was you,” I admitted. She didn’t look at all convinced. “You thought me a cold bastard who saw you as nothing but a good fuck I’d easily replace?”

She blinked. “I never thought of you as cold.”

Well, she’d be the only one.

“And I’m not a good fuck, I’m a
great
fuck. Let’s just be clear about that.”

My mouth curved. “Yes, you are.” She was the best I’d ever had. And I’d have her again. The wait would be torture. It would also be worth it.

“Why do you think you need to change?”

“I know myself, Imani. I know my strengths and I know my faults.”

“Everybody has faults.”

“But not everybody finds it easy to kill,” I pointed out.

“But you don’t kill for killing’s sake. You kill to protect our kind, to defend your squad, and to serve Sam and Jared. You don’t do it because it’s a way to get your jollies.”

“I’m no model soldier, baby.”

“But you’re not a monster either.”

I lifted a single brow. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. You’ve saved my ass a number of times.”

“That’s because it was you. I always protect what belongs to me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I belong to me.”

“Wrong.” I shook my head. “Very, very wrong. Don’t try to fight this. There’s no point.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I find it too hard to accept that you’ve suddenly gone from wanting sex to wanting everything.”

“It wasn’t sudden, Imani. It happened over the course of almost a year. It just seems sudden to you because you didn’t know until recently.”

She was silent for a few moments. “You’re asking a lot from me.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know.” She’d be dumb not to be wary.

“I can’t give it to you.”

“You can.” And she would.

“I don’t know you well enough to give you everything.”

“Then we’ll fix that. But you might not like everything you hear.” But I wouldn’t lie to her. We couldn’t build something that was based on untruths.

“You’re saying you’ll share stuff?”

I couldn’t blame her for sounding dubious, since I’d dodged every personal question she’d ever asked me in the past. “If that’s what you need.”

“I have a lot of questions,” she warned me. “You don’t like questions.”

“I like being without you even less. So I’ll give you what answers you want, but I won’t give them to you all at once.”

“Why?”

“You’re incredibly curious; you like puzzles. If I drip feed you the things you need to know, you’ll be more likely to come back to me again and again.”

She scowled, but there was a glint of humour in her eyes. “You don’t think that’s a little devious?”

“I think it’s extremely devious.” But I’d do it. Besides, only a dumbass would lay out his dirty laundry in the early stages of a relationship. Only once he was sure that she was happy and as attached to him as possible did he dump it all on her. Otherwise, he’d risk losing her. There was no way I’d risk losing Imani. I’d done it before, and I wasn’t keen on doing it again.

“Will you answer me one question now?”

Liking her curiosity, I said, “Ask.”

“You said you don’t do ‘more.’ I always wondered if that was because you tried it and it was so bad that you didn’t want to try again. Have you ever been in a relationship before?”