The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (44 page)

“And what am I gonna tell them? That I’m shacking up with some guy?”

His brow arched as he smirked. “I’m just some guy now? What happened to forever?”

I rolled my eyes. “To my parents you’re just some guy.”

He shrugged. “Then we’ll get married first.”

I laughed, but it quickly faded when I realized he wasn’t joking. “You can’t be serious.”

He frowned. “Why not? That’s ultimately what I want–us together forever.”

My teeth gnawed on my lower lip. “My parents are gonna flip their shit.”

Thomas’s face brightened. “Is that a yes?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes–to the moving in together.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but I leaned in and kissed him, cutting him off. “Let’s wait to talk marriage until
after
you’ve met my parents. Deal?”

He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose. “Deal.”

Lying down, I flipped over onto my side. Thomas pressed himself against my back, so we were spooning. Between the emotional rollercoaster I’d been on and the accident, I was exhausted. Sleep tugged at me, trying to pull me under, when something occurred to me. “Thomas?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled, moving my hair aside to kiss my neck.

“How long do I have before I get…
hungry
?”

He paused a beat. “Most Feeders need to feed within the first day or two after they mature.”

I whipped around to face him. “That
soon
?”

“You might be different since you’re only half. It could be a week, a month, who knows. You might not even have to.”

“Well how long did it take the other…
crossbreeds
before they needed to feed?”

He shrugged. “No way of knowing. The mothers are usually hunted down before they’re born, and if they even
make
it to delivery, well…they’re not alive for very long afterwards.” He tilted his head and frowned, like he was lost in thought. “I’ve never actually heard of a crossbreed making it till they mature… Well, until now, that is.” He smiled and took my hand in his, bringing it to his lips as he kissed my knuckles.

I scowled and rubbed my eyes. “Lucky me.”

Thomas’s demeanor suddenly changed. He looked uncomfortable as he sat up, running his fingers through his hair. “If you need to feed tomorrow–or at all–I could…help you…with that.”

“
How?
” Was he going to pick random people off the street and bring them back to me? Like a delivery boy?

Thank you, but no thank you.

“You could” –his jaw twitched, and he swallowed– “feed from me.”

I frowned at him. “What? No.” Why would he even offer something like that? He was clearly not comfortable with the thought. “Thomas, I would never–
No
,” I said, with more force than was probably necessary. I got up and started pacing around his bed.

“It’s better than the alternative. At least this way nobody gets hurt.”

“Nobody but
you
, Thomas. I could never, ever do that to you.” I wouldn’t do it to
anyone
.

He scowled and stood. “Why not? I’m the perfect candidate. Everything you…
take
, I’ll just grow back.”

I met his glare with my own. “You couldn’t even say ‘eat’, which is exactly what I’d be doing. I’d be
eating
you.”

He rolled his eyes. “I
know
. I was trying to be kind.”

I looked away, embarrassed and uncomfortable with this whole conversation. “Oh.”

“It’s win-win this way. You’d get what you need, and nobody else has to suffer.”

“Except. For.
You
,” I said, scowling at him. “It’s got to be incredibly painful having someone rip your flesh away with their teeth, don’t you think?”

He returned my scowl. “I didn’t say it’d be
fun
, I’m just saying I’d be willing to do it for you.”

I threw my hands up. “I didn’t ask you to!”

“I
know
!” He exhaled a sharp breath, lowered his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have
any
idea what I’m offering? My entire life I’ve been trained to hate Feeders. I spent centuries tracking them down and killing them. Now I’m offering myself up as an all-you-can-eat buffet to one, which is
completely unheard of,
but I’m doing it for
you
, because I love you.” He sighed, bringing his head up to look at me. “Emily, I would do anything for you. Why can’t you see that?”

I walked over to him and took his face in my hands. “I
do
see that, and I thank you for it. But I could never hurt you like that. Why can’t
you
see that?”

He rested his hands over mine and kissed the inside of my wrist. “I guess I can.”

I placed my head against his chest, hearing his heart thump so clearly it was as if the sound came from inside my own head. I would never hurt this. I
couldn’t
.

I sighed and pulled him closer. “What now?”

Thomas laughed, the sound reverberating through me until I felt like it was part of me. “I guess we’ll just have to keep you well-fed…for now.”

PART III: Gabriel

Chapter Sixty-Five

Saturday, August 15
th
, This Year

Paris, France

The whiskey burned as it slid down my throat. It was a familiar burn–a good, slow warming in my chest. I swirled the drink around, the ice clinking against the sides of the glass, and took another sip.

“This is a really nice place,” the girl called out from the bathroom.

I didn’t say anything in response. We were in the penthouse of a luxury apartment building in Paris, so, yeah…it was nice. Thanks for stating the obvious.

Setting my drink on the coffee table, I took the last drag of my cigarette, the orange ember glowing bright as I inhaled. Smoke swirled out of my nostrils as I untucked my shirt and extinguished the butt. I picked my glass back up and sat on the couch as the girl came out of the bathroom.

Her short blue dress clung to her skin and her hips swayed as she walked–an exaggerated movement meant to be sexy. She kicked off her black heels and took my drink, swallowing the last gulp before setting it down. Lifting her skirt, she straddled me on the couch, running her fingers through my hair. “What do you think we should do now?”

I didn’t even know the girl’s name. I met her at a club, what, an hour ago? She was American, but what she was doing in Paris, I didn’t know or care. She was kind of cute. At least for a human, anyway.

My hand went to her face, and I stroked her cheek. She leaned her head into my palm and smiled.

She shouldn’t trust me so implicitly. I was a predator and she was my prey. I’d eat her alive without so much as a second thought. But she didn’t know any of that yet. None of them did until it was too late.

The girl leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my face and kissed her neck instead. I didn’t kiss on the mouth. It was too personal, too intimate. She wrapped her arms around my neck and moaned as I slid my tongue along her collarbone. My hands went to her hips, rocking them back and forth against my cock.

She pulled back and got on the ground, kneeling between my legs. She unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it open, slowly kissing my chest. Her kisses trailed down my stomach as her hands unbuckled my belt. She looked up and smiled coyly, her eyes heavy with smudged black eyeliner, as she undid my fly. Her hand went inside my pants.

A small groan escaped me as she gripped my shaft. She leaned down and flicked her tongue across the slit of my cock, licking up the little bead of pre-cum. She glanced up at me and smiled.

My fists clenched the sofa cushions and I stifled a glare. I didn’t have patience for teasing. “
More,
” I rasped.

She obliged and wrapped her mouth around me, her head bobbing up and down as her short blond hair swished with the rhythm. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the couch’s pillows, enjoying the feel of her warm, wet mouth sliding up and down my–

My phone vibrated on the seat next to me. I growled at the interruption, not caring in the slightest when her eyes grew wide at the guttural sound reverberating through my chest.

Answering the call, I held the phone up to my ear. “I’m busy, so this had damn well better be important.”

The girl stopped and looked up, unsure whether or not to continue. I put my hand on the back of her head and led it back down to my cock. That should answer her question.

Michael sighed on the other end. “It
is
, so take your dick out of whatever human treat you’ve got for this evening and give me five minutes.”

Damn it, just when it was getting good…

Why couldn’t he get someone else to do whatever it was he needed, instead of calling me at two o’fucking-clock in the morning when I was busy with… Jaime? Jennifer? Hell, it didn’t matter. Point was, I was busy.

“You’ve got
two
, so make it quick.” Frowning, I extricated myself from her hot little mouth and stood, tucking my erection back into my pants. It throbbed in protest as I zipped up my fly.

The girl fell back on her heels with a dismayed look, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Where are you going?”

Michael laughed. “Jesus, I was half-kidding about the girl. What’s this one’s name? Or did you not catch it yet?”

I ignored both of them and walked into my office. “
Talk
.”

“All right, I’ll get straight to it: pack your bags. You’re going to Dallas.”

“Dallas as in
Texas
?” I leaned against the doorframe and laughed. “Sorry, but you’re shit outta luck. It just so happens that there’s nothing I need or want in Texas.”

“And it just so happens that there’s something the boss wants in Texas.
You’re
going to get it for him.”

“Now why would I do something like that for someone I’ve never met? I’ve been working for him for how long now? Almost two years? Seems like an awfully big favor for someone who’s essentially a stranger.”

My “employer,” if you could call him that, was a political figure high up in our society’s ranks.
So
high up, that we weren’t even allowed to know who he was. Michael simply referred to him as “the boss.” 

“Don’t you get tired of the Charlie’s Angels shit? I mean, how do we know this guy isn’t–” 

“He pays me an obscene amount of money not to ask questions, Gabriel. I’ll never get tired of that.” 

“Yeah, but–” 

He sighed. “Are you going to cooperate, or not?”

“Hmm, let’s see…
Not
.”

“Perhaps we should get your uncle on the line…maybe he could talk some sense into you. It’s true what the others say, right? Whenever he says jump, you ask how high? At least, that seems to be the consensus.”

A sudden and violent anger flooded me, making my hand tighten around the phone. It took everything in me not to crush it. “
You shut your goddamn mouth
.”

I scowled as soon as the words left me. His goal was to rile me up, and I’d just given him exactly what he wanted.

He giggled–
giggled
–like a little girl. The sound sent chills down my spine, and reminded me how unpredictable and unstable he was.

“Whoops,” he said as the giggling slowly tapered out. “I think I struck a nerve.”

“You and the boss can go fuck each other. I’m done with this shit.”

The giggling ended abruptly. “I’d think twice before hanging up on me, Gabriel.” His voice was deadly calm, all traces of humor gone. “Let’s not forget who forced you into this job. I wasn’t kidding when I threatened to have a talk with your uncle. He’s a scary man. Even
I
wouldn’t want him upset with me…”

Damn it, he was right. I didn’t want this job, didn’t
need
this job, but I couldn’t just walk away, no matter how much I wanted to. I had obligations. Namely, to my uncle.

“I know you’re still there,” Michael said. “I can hear you breathing.”

My jaw clenched and I spoke through gritted teeth. “What do I have to do?”

I couldn’t see him, but I knew the fucker was smiling. “Now that’s more like it.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Michael hung up without saying another word.

I took the phone away from my ear, gripping it tightly within my hand as my eyes squeezed shut. My free hand went up to my face and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…

I wanted to scream, throw my phone across the room, and rip apart the desk I was leaning on.

Fucking Dallas. I had to go to
fucking Dallas
to get some info on a girl. A
girl!

And on top of that
fantastic
news, I had to be on the first flight out of Paris, which seriously
fucked
my plans for the night, and not in the way I’d wanted. I didn’t have time for dinner and a show anymore.

I guess I’ll just have to settle on dinner.

My phone beeped as it got a new message. Opening my eyes and releasing my grip on the phone, I looked down at it. The freshly cracked screen showed a picture of the girl I was supposed to trail, along with her name: Emily Hayes.

The picture was taken with a telescopic lens, but it was a clear shot of her face. She was of value if they wanted information on her, and she was clearly not a human if she was of value. She was quite pretty, which for some reason, infuriated me even more.

This was all
her
fault.
She
was the reason I had to go to Dallas. I didn’t know her, didn’t
want
to know her, but nonetheless resented her for putting such a wrench into my schedule. I wanted to maim that pretty face of hers as retribution for inconveniencing me, even though I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to touch her.

I turned off my phone and stuck it in my pocket. There would be plenty of time to study her picture on the flight. I went back into the living room, where the girl still sat on the floor in front of the sofa. She looked pissed.