Hunter by Night (28 page)

He kissed her again.

She stiffened in his arms but relaxed after a second. She couldn’t stay mad. Right now, Lee was her everything. “Lee…”

“I’m sorry to cut you off, but this stress does you no good.” He pulled back then, a slight smile on his face. “Wizards acquire magic differently than we do, and I am not convinced that the way Petros is indoctrinating new recruits will work for him, if it ever did. Agnessa… what she passed to you is actually a very gentle healing power. I have come to believe perhaps she intended to be helpful, in her”—he licked his lips—“misguided way.”

He smiled. The corners of his eyes crinkled. Mother of freaking pearl, he made her wet when he did that. Had she seen him smile that way before? The way those fangs hinted at appearing and his eyes sparkled from the golden light over the bathroom mirror. Gorgeous. Freaking gorgeous.

Alexia could not return the gesture, her pulse was stuck on overdrive. Maybe it was their blood tie. Maybe it was intuition. Something teased at her, deep inside. Some missing puzzle piece.

“Lexi, I can’t turn you into a vampire. None of us can do that to any human.”

His hand touched her waist, and though she’d kept her arms clamped to her sides, she grabbed his muscled flank in return. “But?”

“You already know the ‘but.’” His breath puffed hot against her ear. “You witnessed it with Isabel. Remember when she first realized she was pregnant? You brought her back to the estate because she needed Thad’s blood? Only his blood would do, right?”

She shook her head.

“Lexi.”

“No.”

“The baby needs it from me.”

Lalalala, I can’t hear you
. “I told you I was on the pill.”

He smiled again. So patiently, like she was a silly kid. “You did say something about this… pill.”

“I did. I am.” Could she sound more like an argumentative teenager right now?

His smile broadened. “I did not accuse you of lies. It is possible that these human methods sometimes fail?”

Alexia buried her face in her hands. “Gah. Yes.” The pressure eased in her chest but created a logjam in her throat, and fuck no, she was not going to cry again. “Stupid supernatural vampire sperm.”

He laughed. Oh my God. Lee. Laughing.

She couldn’t help but chuckle a little along with him, even as tears filled her eyes. “God, how are you not freaking out? This is fucking insane. Lee, I can’t have your baby.”

Oh shit. He looked like she’d slapped him. “No?”

Her eyes opened wide enough to stretch the skin tight. “Oh, Lee, I don’t mean… Look at yourself. Look at me.” She gestured back and forth. Alexia was five-three, and if she hit the weights regularly, she topped out at a buck twenty-five. Lee could bench-press an Amtrak train. Huge. A solid foot taller. “You’ve seen you, right? Having your baby might kill me.”

He kissed her again. Hard. Fast. His breath whooshed out like it came from a wind tunnel. “Have I told you how I lost my mother?”

She shivered. “You said humans. I hadn’t wanted to pry.”

He pulled her closer, so tight his heart thumped hard against her chest. “It was during the great plagues, and some humans had trapped her late in her pregnancy, demanding blood to heal them. She refused because she was with child, so they shoved her out into the rising dawn. The stress had started her labor. Like with Isabel.”

Oh, God. The stress of what happened to Isabel must have been horrific for him. He hadn’t said a word. Alexia grabbed tighter.

“She tried to get home. I found them both in our entryway, too far gone to save. My father couldn’t handle his grief and walked out into the sun.”

“Lee…” She put her hand to his stubbled cheek, unsure of what else to say.

He pressed his forehead to hers. “Then all these years later, we nearly lost the queen and her newborn. And these were strong, pure-blooded vampire females, equipped for the task.

“So yes. I am terrified, and I’d rather be dead than terrified. I am going to be fucking insane, and we’re going to all have to deal with me being insufferable because ‘afraid’ is not a place I will ever handle well.” He swallowed hard.

“I am also, however, elated. This is a fresh start. You and I both have our fears. So many of my long-held beliefs have been challenged by loving you. I’ve been so closed-minded. The very thing for which I’ve so judged the elders.” He kissed her then, on the forehead, the nose. A gentle brush to her lips again. “We will get through it together. We will face our fears. We will adapt.”

Warm tingles flooded Alexia’s body. “Adapt. Together.” The corner of her mouth lifted. He made it sound so simple. And just when she thought it might be, the knot in her gut piped up, tightening and digging in, jabbing her stomach with a thousand invisible forks and knives. Alexia doubled over. “Oh my God.”

Solid arms came around her. “Come on. You need something from me, and I’m not going to give it to you here.”

She looked around the bathroom.

“Not here,” he said again. “Not when there is a perfectly good bedroom right next door. This morning I thought I would die, and here I am, still alive. I’m going to be a father. So if it’s acceptable to you, after you drink my blood I’m going to want to make love to you again.”

Lee pulled her against the comforting hardness of his chest, and oh… yeah… “God, it hurts. If you can make the pain stop, then that’s acceptable.”

“Great,” he said. He lifted her easily, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Let’s fucking go.”

Lee and Alexia did not make love after Alexia fed. Siddoh had shown up insisting that the king wanted to have a meeting, and even for the mother of his child—holy fucking insanity—Lee would not deny the king. Particularly not at a time like this, not when things had been left so awkwardly before.

Upon return to the estate, Lee left Alexia in her room with strict instructions to wait there until he returned. More of an emphatic request. However emphatic, his gut told him she would not be found in her room by the time this meeting was done. She’d gone all wide-eyed and shell-shocked on the ride back over to the estate, and she was feeling vulnerable.
There
will
be
a
pop
quiz
at
the
end
of
this
lesson
. Hell, he almost hoped she’d be gone, just so he could say he’d called it correctly. Learning to tease out her habits had become an interesting game.

“I’ve got something to say,” Siddoh whispered to Lee as they made their way into the king’s receiving room. “Something you’re not going to want to hear.”

“Which explains why you’re giving me the preamble instead of just spitting it out.”

Siddoh huffed a laugh. “I’m beginning to consider maybe your ex isn’t such a bad dame.”

“You’re right,” Lee said. “I find your use of the word ‘dame’ wholly unacceptable. What’d she do to get you on her side?”

“While you were out”—Siddoh cleared his throat—“as it were, I dealt with the death of Ivy’s father.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

They sidled in along the edge of the room and took up a standing position at the back. A few other senior fighters were already present. Joshua, the trainee who had saved Lee’s ass from the dawn, arrived as well.

“Yeah, well.” Siddoh settled back against the wall. “She’s having a rough time, but she’s tough. Anyway, I found out Agnessa’s been advising Ivy’s dad. And I talked to Anton while I was over at that human’s house picking you up. Apparently Lexi has some low-grade healing energy that helped pull your ass out of a sling earlier. Something she got from Agnessa.”

Lee stiffened. “I heard.”

Siddoh squared up with Lee, eyeballing him like he was stupid. “Yeah, well. It may suck owing your ex a solid, but it seems like somehow she and her wacky fortune-telling skills knew this day would come.”

In this instance, if the dunce cap fit… “I know. I will have to thank her. And apologize.”

“I’m thinking.” Siddoh turned his back to the wall. “It made Lexi able to amplify Anton’s healing power, or vice versa. Point is, it makes that she’s human not so much of a deal breaker, if she can help heal you.”

Lee nodded. He’d already discarded such concerns. With Alexia pregnant, he would not take the risk of going out to fight. Still, the information could prove useful.

Murmurs and shifts happened around the room. Lee and Siddoh straightened as Thad entered with a purple bundle of fuzzy knitted blanket cradled against his shoulder. Princess Morgan’s head poked out of one end, eyes closed and sleeping soundly.

Lee’s throat nearly closed. In not very long, he would hold one of those in his arms. Holy hell.

“And another thing,” Siddoh whispered. “I believe Agnessa convinced Elder Grayson to request lowering the Council induction age all those months ago.”

“What?” Lee’s throat opened again, and air rushed in fast enough to make him cough. “Why?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. You’ll see.”

“This better be good. No way am I sitting on that panel of stuffed shirts anytime soon.”

“I hear you.”

Thad approached Lee, staring hard. One arm hooked around Lee’s neck, hugging so fiercely that Lee resisted hugging back for fear of harming the tiny baby held in Thad’s other arm. “I sat down and mourned you this morning, my friend,” Thad growled quietly in his ear.

Lee’s eyes watered. He thumped his friend and king on the back, unable to keep the gravel from his voice when he replied. “I’m glad to be back.”

“Okay,” Thad said as he pulled away and seated himself. “Two things before we get started.” The king wore moccasin slippers with his black fatigues and T-shirt. He held out a length of the fuzzy blanket. “Queen Isabel knitted this herself. It was her first try, and it came out less like a baby blanket and more like a scarf. If you see her, be sure to tell her how good it and she both look.”

Nods and murmurs of assent around the room.

“Second.” Thad hiked the bundle higher on his shoulder. “I’d like you all to meet Sophie. Named after the queen’s late mother.”

Louder murmurs. Light applause. The sleepy little bundle snuggled against her father’s shoulder and remained blissfully unaware of all of the fanfare. The whole affair was… sweet. Oddly horrifying. That tiny baby had no idea of all the evils that might lie outside the door. With hope, she never would.

“I hear,” Thad continued, “that congratulations are in order for Lee, as well.”

Dozens of heads and pairs of eyes turned to stare right at him.

This was not the way he had planned to announce his relationship with Alexia. He had not planned to announce it as such, at all. Perhaps Thad, in spite of his youth, was king for a reason.

From across the room, Lee met the young vampire leader’s blue-eyed gaze. “Yes. It seems Alexia is expecting.”

Then there was more chatter in the room. Siddoh slugged Lee in the arm with a “Way to go, you dog.”

Lee slid his gaze to the side. “As if you didn’t know. Given your friendship with Alexia, I’m assuming you’re the one who leaked the news to Thad.”

“Guilty. But still, way to go.”

Standing there with all eyes on him, he may as well have been naked. “Thanks. You’re not…” Angry? Jealous?

Siddoh shook his head, one hand raised in what appeared to be some sort of oath. “Friend zone. Seriously.”

Thad focused on Siddoh. “Okay, Siddoh, Lee. Fill me in on what’s happened in my absence.”

Siddoh straightened. “Ivy’s father has passed away, I’m afraid. As well as my uncle.”

Thad bowed his head in quiet acknowledgment. Lee kept silent about Siddoh’s omission that he’d been the one to pass sentence against his uncle. It would keep for a private talk with Thad. “We have reason to believe that there is still a threat on the Council, and I believe you should allow the past motion to lower the Council induction age to pass,” Siddoh said. “I think the thing to do”—he tipped his head in Lee’s direction—“is to have Lee be your eyes and ears on the Council.”

Lee pegged Siddoh with a glare. “You said you heard me,” Lee growled.

“Didn’t say I agreed.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Thad said amid all the surprised gasps in the room.

Lee looked from Siddoh to Thad’s expectant expression. In the moment it took Lee to tamp down his anger, it did make sense. He crossed his arms over his chest, seething.

Lee would not be able to leave the estate to fight now that Alexia was pregnant, for risk of leaving her without the blood their unborn child needed to develop and grow. They still suspected traitors on the Council, and this way Lee could get closer to finding out. Fuck. He turned to Siddoh. “I hate your ass for thinking of this.”

Siddoh grinned, but there was a healthy dose of sadness there. “I know,” he said, “but it’s the best thing.”

It
was
the best thing. Fuck.

***

The bundle in Thad’s arms mewled and squirmed, bringing Lee back to the present from his haze of thoughts. Thad calmly shifted in the burgundy velvet and gold chair on which he sat, popping a pinkie in the newborn’s mouth to soothe her.

Imagining himself in such a position sent a fresh rush of adrenaline through Lee’s body. Would he be able to take to fatherhood so easily? This sort of uncertainty was so new to him.
Because
when, in the last six hundred or so years, have you done anything unfamiliar?

Yet in the last week or so, it would seem literally everything had been brand-new. Love. Alexia.
Horse. Cart. Breathe…

“There’s one last pressing matter,” Thad said. He nodded to Number Twelve, Joshua, the newbie who had saved Lee’s ass at dawn. “Not only do we owe this young male here a debt for helping Lee out of a jam, but when I brought him back to the estate to thank him properly, we got doubly lucky.”

Across the room, the young vampire who had been so stubborn and cocky in training now stood at attention but blushing with all eyes on him. “My father runs a small HVAC repair service for our local community. One of the services we provide is duct cleaning, cuz if you get mold and whatnot in your ventilation system, the whole house can get sick.” He shrugged.

“Bigger issue for humans than for vamps, but over time, even a vampire’s immune system weakens from breathing toxins daily in their home. This was in with your stuff after the doctor came to check you over.” He cleared his throat and reached into a cargo pocket on his pants, pulling out the small canister Flay had found in the old wizard sanctum.

Lee straightened against the wall.

“Noticed a funky smell when I entered the house. The fan on the central air had been cranked unnecessarily high. When I checked, several of these had been rigged in the ventilation system,” the kid said.

Shuffling and grumbling and a chorus of “what the fuck” came from all around in response to that piece of intel.

Lee whistled. “Let the kid finish.”

Joshua continued. “I think… I mean, I’m no expert. Whatever this stuff was, it was weak enough to get you guys sick over time so you wouldn’t notice.” He pointed to Lee, then around the room.

Lee looked at Thad, snuggling his newborn. “Thad, the baby.” All over again, Lee’s body flooded with tension.

Thad nodded calmly. “Joshua here was good enough to go through the mansion thoroughly. We’re clear. We’ve opened every window in the place to get air flowing. Joshua’s father is kindly bringing his team tonight to check the rest of the estate.”

The fast wash of relief sent cool tingles down Lee’s spine. He exhaled carefully, trying not to reveal his jitters. Jesus, all this time he’d tried to keep Alexia here in the mansion so she’d be safe, and she’d been breathing tainted air.

This was enough roller-coaster riding for the rest of his life. “Excellent.” He turned to Joshua. “You have my gratitude. For everything.”

Lee turned back to Thad. “In light of present circumstances, I’m prepared to offer Joshua another shot at fighting with us, if being on the team is still something he wants.”

Joshua stood up straight. “Sir, I’d be honored. Thank you.”

Mouths dropped open. Never in history had Lee given a second chance. In light of this, he added, “You fuck up again, you’re out on your ass for good. Don’t even consider reapplying.”

“Understood.”

“Good.” Lee nodded. “Talk to your female. You’ll need to tell us when you move in whether you’ll be with the unmated fighters in the barracks or if you need a residence on the estate for both of you.”

It looked like the young male tried to hold back his grin, but couldn’t. “Thank you, sir.”

Thad dismissed the meeting, and next to Lee, Siddoh shuddered and rubbed his forehead. “Christ, he was like a suicide bomber in slow motion.” Referring to his dead uncle, Siddoh’s whispered words came out strained and hoarse.

“The question,” Lee said, “is how did your uncle team up with the guardians to pull off all this shit?”

Anton slid over. “Wait. Guardians? Was it not my brother who helped that nerve-gas guy escape from prison?”

“Actually I had an interesting run-in with your brother in the woods this morning. He indicated that ‘the Doctor’ had sold out to the highest bidder. So either the man worked for the guardians or he’d been dealing with Siddoh’s uncle directly.” The idea made Lee’s already wrung-out brain want to sputter and quit. “All sorts of fantastic fucking possibilities.”

Siddoh snorted. Not such a bad guy after all, Siddoh. Either of them, actually.

Lee clapped each of them on the shoulder. “All right. Let’s all take some downtime to get our heads together. First thing we do tomorrow is have a meeting on this. Figure out what comes next.”