King of Darkness (23 page)

Isabel glanced around the room and shrugged. “It seems so. Were you able to help the female I sent you?”

Ivy nodded. “She cooks and cleans. We can always use help with that stuff around here. It was very gracious of you to help her like that.”

“You’re the one who helped her, Ivy. Not me.” She honestly hadn’t done much at all, had she?

***

Isabel found Alexia lying back in bed, hands over her face. “You want me to turn the lights off, Lex?”

Alexia peeked at Isabel through her fingers before moving her hands to her sides. The poor girl had that groggy, glassy-eyed look of exhausted confusion that so often graced the faces of partied-out club kids in the early predawn hours when things were coming to a close.

“Izzy, hey. Thank God it’s you. This room has been like Grand Central. Everyone’s all ‘Hey, come check out the human!’” This said as Alexia waved her hands comically.

Isabel chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not really like that.”

“No, I’m mostly joking. It’s just been a lot, you know? Waking up in a strange place, then having the doctor stop by, then that Ivy chick, then Lee…” A strange, awkward, pensive look came over Alexia’s face for a moment before she snapped back to attention. “Anyway, I’m so glad you’re here.”

“You sure?” Isabel eyed her curiously. “You still look tired and kind of… oh… right… Lee was here…” Understanding dawned, and the reason for Alexia’s hazy appearance suddenly became clear. Isabel leaned forward, eager to dish. “So, what was it like? I mean, I know what it’s like for me, but I don’t know what it’s like for a human.”

Alexia shifted and fidgeted, biting at her lower lip as she did when she was thinking hard. “It was… weird. Interesting. A little like that time I had ten shots of tequila at Breakstone’s and ended up climbing the DJ in the bathroom. You know, except without as much nudity.”

“No nudity, huh?” Isabel teased, but honestly two seconds with Lee had told her that he would have been completely aboveboard and businesslike.

“Are you kidding me? Of course not.”

Oh, poor Lex.

“You want him bad, don’t you?”

“What’s not to want?” Alexia held up a fist, ticking off on her fingers. “He’s built, gorgeous, there’s that whole ancient and mysterious thing, he like… exudes power, he—”

“Is completely inaccessible,” Isabel admonished.

Alexia sighed and smooshed her hand against her cheek. “Yeah, that’s probably the most attractive part.”

Isabel winked. “Yeah, well. It’s kind of your thing. In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you go after anyone you could have something meaningful and long term with.”

Lexi responded with a mature jab of her tongue. “You’re one to talk.”

“Yeah, well…” Isabel shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a hypocrite.” She smirked a little. “If it helps, he wants you, too.”

Alexia scoffed. “Whatever.”

“I’m not kidding, Lex. I saw him leaving, and he was frustrated as hell.”

“Probably just cuz I talked his ear off asking a bunch of lame questions,” Alexia muttered.

“Nah. He wants you. Drinking can be very erotic, and that one’s about as male as they come. Unfortunately, he’s also about as old-school as they come. Ain’t no way he’s going to own up to being hot for a human.”

“Yeah,” Alexia grumbled. “I gathered that much. He made it about as clear as he could that he was only letting me drink from him because of your being important to Thad.” She waved her hand dismissively at Isabel’s concern. “Whatever, don’t worry about me. Tell me about you and the royal hottie.”

Isabel laughed. “Hmm. Well, I guess you could say it’s a long story.”

Alexia sucked back a dramatic gasp. “Oh, man! How was it?”

“Bizarre,” Isabel said, wrinkling her nose a little.

Alexia frowned. “Is he into something really kinky?”

Leave it to Lex to go there. “Not that way. The sex itself was great, actually. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

“So what is it, then?”

“My power developed. Apparently I can freeze things now. It happened during, I think. Or after, when we drank from each other. I’m still not sure.”

“What the hell?” Alexia sat up and leaned far enough forward that her bangs brushed Isabel’s forehead. “How does that work?”

“Beats me. It was either from sleeping with him or feeding from him, or maybe both. Apparently I can freeze things. I’m really cold all the time.” The mere mention of it sent an intense shudder through her.

Alexia looked down to where Isabel’s hand had been resting on her leg through the sheets. She flinched and quickly swatted the hand off herself. “Sorry, but you said you could freeze stuff and I’d rather not take chances.”

“Please,” Isabel scoffed. “That wouldn’t happen… probably.” She still didn’t have a clue how to control or wield her power, so she couldn’t exactly make that promise, could she?

“So what’s the deal with this stuff? I mean, so you have a power… now what?”

Isabel thought for a second. “You know, I’m not sure it means anything.” Confusion pressed a crease in the center of Lexi’s forehead. “Honestly, I guess I don’t know a lot about it since I’ve been so far removed from our race, but what I know from my parents is that the special abilities evolved along with our kind. You know, a few had ’em, then they started breeding specifically for them, and now most all of our kind have powers. I always got the impression from my parents that having a power was more of a status symbol than anything else.”

Feeling a chill, she rubbed her arms a little through her sweatshirt. “I mean, you’ve got Lee, who uses what he can do to protect Thad, but I wonder whether the rest of the general population really even use theirs. But the mere fact that we have these powers makes us a target for these wizard guys, I guess.”

“So what kind of power does Lee have?” Clearly, greater effort would be needed to divert Lexi’s attention from Lee. Isabel smiled.

“I dunno, some kind of force-field thingie. I only know because I saw him use it when that wizard attacked back at our place.”

Lexi cocked her head to the side and opened her mouth as if she might ask another question, then stopped. The open, close, open routine happened a couple more times before she sighed, relaxing back on the bed again. “Ugh, just shoot me. I don’t know what I’m even thinking, mooning over him like some fucking schoolgirl. This is depressing. And lame. And depressing.

“Anyway, what’s the plan from here? Has a decision been made about how to ‘handle’ me yet? Because as much as I enjoy this gilded-cage business, I can’t stay stuck in a fancy bedroom forever.”

Isabel sighed again, toying with the comforter on the bed. Lexi was trustworthy; Isabel had never doubted that. For Thad, the perceived risk was greater. The best thing, most likely, would be to send Lexi home or to some equally faraway locale. Isabel’s heart sank. If she chose to stay with Thad, she would lose her best friend.

“I don’t know. Thad hasn’t said anything to me about it. I assume you want to get back to the sand and sun as soon as you can, right?”

Alexia bit her lip, hard enough to nearly draw blood. Funny how that didn’t spark Isabel’s interest like it had before. “I dunno. I guess I probably would, but you know me. Home is where you hang your toothbrush.” Her friend scowled. “I’d miss you if you stayed here, you know, but you deserve to be happy.”

Isabel’s eyes burned suddenly.
Aw, Lex…
“I’d miss you too, sweetie.”

“So, are you going to? Stay, I mean?”

A little throb took up residence in Isabel’s right temple. Everything that had gone on lately was way too much to make sense of. “Thad wants me to, I think. Which is nice.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s awesome.”

“It is, I guess,” Isabel said slowly. “I like the way I feel with him, you know? I just… I’m not queen material, Lex.”

“What constitutes ‘queen material’?” Lexi asked. “What would you even have to do?”

Isabel had wondered that herself. The answer couldn’t possibly be doing nothing but sitting around sipping coffee while folks unloaded about their problems. “I have no idea, to be honest with you. I just know whatever it is, I’m not it. I mean, that human queen they’re always showing on television? All the dressing up, and the pomp and circumstance? No freaking way.”

“You might be wrong,” Alexia murmured. “You never know.”

“Maybe.” Everything had been turned so irrevocably upside-down and backwards that Isabel didn’t know much of anything anymore. “I need to get some fresh air. You mind if I go take a walk around? Maybe it’ll help me get my head on straight.”

“You get down with your bad self, girlie.” Alexia stifled a yawn. “Somehow I’m still ridiculously tired.” As if to prove the point, the blonde’s eyelids started to drift shut.

Isabel patted her friend’s leg gently and left the room.

Thad pounded the human’s guest-room door hard and fast enough to leave scorch marks. No, really, he’d left scorch marks. If he didn’t get his shit together fast, he was going to have to replace a whole lot of furniture.

When he had woken from his post-meltdown nap to find that Isabel had not returned, he’d immediately ordered a full security check of the estate. The results had shown that a very blurry likeness of Isabel had left the grounds on foot, headed in the direction of Route 9. What the hell she had been thinking he could only guess, but he was going to strangle her as soon as they found her.

If
they found her.

Alexia jerked the door open, sporting a face flushed with sleep and confusion, and a major case of bedhead.

“Where the fuck is she?”

“What?” Alexia blinked. “Who?”

Thad pushed past her and marched into the room. He didn’t have time for this playing-dumb bullshit. “Isabel. Where is she?”

“I don’t know… she’s gone?” Alexia shook her head slowly.

Thad’s fists clenched as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You two are thick as fucking thieves. She wouldn’t have left without telling you where she was going.”

Alexia gave him the same suspicious, flinty gaze as on the night he’d met Isabel, assessing him for a minute before finally giving in. Her small body deflated like an untied balloon, and she dropped onto the edge of the bed with her head in her hands.

She shook her head again, more emphatically this time. “She told me she needed to take a walk to clear her head, but I really have no idea where she went. Or when, exactly. What time is it?”

Thad checked his watch. “Almost midnight. It’s been dark for hours. I fell asleep waiting in her room to talk to her. When I woke up, I realized she’d never showed.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. Heat continued to simmer just below the surface of his skin, but the strong exhales seemed to be pushing it off a little. “Seriously, if you know anything at all, now’s the time to tell me, Lex. She has no idea how dangerous it is out there.”

Alexia slid her hands over her short hair and looked up at him. He dropped into the green wingback chair in the corner so she wouldn’t have to pull something up just to make eye contact, but he couldn’t stop the nervous bounce of his legs. Every minute they didn’t have Isabel, her chances of survival grew worse out there. She wasn’t used to the protective measures a vampire had to take in this part of the world.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Thad, do you really have feelings for her?”

How could Alexia sit there and act like she couldn’t hear the way Thad’s heart was pounding? In his own head, it sounded like one of those big fucking kettledrums they used to have on Viking ships. Rubbing his forehead, Thad cursed and looked up at her solemnly.

“Yeah. I do. We—” He shifted positions abruptly, leaning back in the chair and taking a wide stance with his legs. Perhaps if he looked more casual, she would open up and talk. “Screw the whole prophecy thing, you know? I just want to be with her. We just seem to fit, you know? But listen, Lex, we really don’t have time to discuss this. I’ve got guys out looking for her, but I want to go and join them.”

Alexia’s lips pressed together in a thin line. Her face showed a mix of apology and worry, and there was still a hint of the protective urge that she clearly had for her friend. Good for her, but they were on the same side here.

“I’m so sorry. I wish there was more I could tell you. We talked a little about staying versus going, and she said she needed to think things over. I fell asleep after that.”

Thad nodded slowly. A modicum of tension eased out of his face. “She’s supposed to come back, I assume?” Isabel wouldn’t leave without her friend. Then again, she’d pulled that disappearing stunt back at the club, so one couldn’t assume. Maybe she had decided to just go.

Alexia nodded. “I think so, but I didn’t think to ask when or anything. Sorry.”

“You’re still busy trying to heal. No one expects you to be back to full strength yet.” Thad stood, bracing his hands on his upper thighs. “Plan A, we’ll keep an eye out for her to reappear on the property. And patrol the surrounding area for signs of her.”

“What’s plan B?”