Unawakened (23 page)

“Where are we going to put them all? How are we going to even get this home? Rob, this is insanity,” I rambled, pointing at the pile of clothing the clerk was ringing up. The dae might have looked human, but the instant I caught a glimpse of his pointed teeth, I swallowed to keep from drooling.

Rob laughed, picked another disc out of my clothes, and set it on the counter for the clerk to deal with. “We’ll go out for something to eat after we’re done here.”

My eyes widened, and I clapped my hands over my mouth. Had I been actually drooling? “It’s that obvious?”

The clerk glanced up from his work, arching one of his perfect brows. Picking up the discarded disc, he set it in the basket with twenty more just like it before moving the basket closer. “Will you require a reservation, sir?”

Making a thoughtful noise, Rob plucked two more discs out of my clothing and tossed them onto the pile. “Somewhere casual.”

There was something comforting about the fact the clerk used a traditional phone to make a call and put in the request before ringing up the rest of Rob’s purchases.

I found a disc on the elbow of my sweater, and I peeled it off and tossed it into the basket with the others. “Gun manufacturers should take lessons from this creep,” I muttered, patting myself down. Three more discs later, I was starting to believe I’d never be free of my remote stalker.

Rob laughed and pulled another one off my shoulder. “You do have a high discs per minute rating.”

“You’re awfully cheerful about all of this.”

When the clerk finally finished ringing up all the purchases, Rob handed over one of his cards. “Later.”

While I never felt the discs make their appearance, the instant I shifted my weight in my heels, the edge of one jabbed the ball of my foot. Yelping from surprise as much as pain, I kicked off my shoe, launching it across the room. It smacked into the shop’s street-facing window before clattering to the floor. I hissed, peeling the disc out of my foot. The cut wasn’t large, but it was deep enough to bleed, splashing blood to the floor.

In shocked fascination, I watched the red puddle grow beneath me, wondering how such a small cut could bleed so much. “Whoa.”

Rob hissed, slapped one arm behind my back, and knocked me off balance with his foot. The instant my weight rested entirely on his arm, he grabbed my foot and pressed his thumb over the wound. The way he lifted my leg made me grateful I wasn’t wearing my dress any more, or everyone on the street would be getting a free show of the worst kind. “Now I’m angry.”

I couldn’t help myself. Giggling, I wiggled my toes. After the brief burst of pain, my foot throbbed, but it was tolerable compared to the other injuries I had racked up in the recent past. “It appeared under my foot, and I stepped on it.”

“This isn’t funny, Alexa.”

My laughter bubbled out of me. “What do you think my max disc capacity is?”

Rob groaned. “Alexa, that’s terrible.”

“Aid kit, sir?” the clerk asked, holding out a small white box. The vampire licked his lips.

“None for you,” I scolded, shaking my finger at the vampire. “Not unless you share, too.”

“Alexa!” Rob blurted.

“What? It’s only fair. Why does he get to enjoy human blood, but I can’t want his cotton candy goodness? Come on, don’t be like that, Rob.”

The vampire had the grace to laugh. “How refreshing.”

“Neither one of you is getting to snack on the other. Forget it.” Sighing, Rob pulled me back from the puddle, gingerly removing his thumb to check if my foot was still gushing like a fountain. When it only dripped a little, he scooped me up and sat me on the counter, taking the medical kit. “You have terrible luck, Alexa.”

I snorted. “You’re just noticing? I thought you would have figured that out the instant you walked into my life.”

Rob narrowed his eyes at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I smirked, stuck my tongue out at him, and said nothing.

After bandaging my foot, prying off ten new discs, and exchanging my heels for a flat pair of dress shoes, I cajoled Rob into accepting the dinner his dae accomplices had arranged. My growling stomach did most of the work, succeeding where logic failed.

“Food?” Colby bumped against Rob’s leg, and its tone was so pitiable I laughed.

“He hurt you,” Rob hissed, staring at my foot. The pale blue of his eyes frosted, and I was amazed his breath didn’t emerge in a cloud of frost.

“Could have been a she. Come on, Rob. It’s not that bad. Just a little cut.”

The vampire had done a good job of mopping up the blood, leaving no evidence of my mishap with the disc.

“Mommy!”

“It’s hurting you.”

Since hiding the discomfort wasn’t going to work with Rob, I forced a smile. “I’m hungry, and if I have to go back to my apartment and sort through the random things in my cursed refrigerator, I’m going to shoot someone. That someone might be you.”

Rob grimaced. “You win.”

Every victory against the dae was to be savored; I held out my arm for him. “I’m so glad we could see eye to eye on this.”

When he linked his arm with mine, my attention shifted to the back of my hand. The disc formed without sound, light, or feel on my skin, its surface a deep purple before fading to match the color of my skin. I peeled it off.

“Purple.” I held the device up, marveling at how such a little thing could cause me so many problems.

“You saw it.”

“A deep purple, then it shifted colors to match my skin.”

“Good eye.” Rob’s eyes warmed, and he hummed a few notes of a cheerful melody. “That helps.”

“It does? How?”

“You won’t like the answer.”

“There’s a lot I don’t like about the world, Rob,” I reminded him.

“I can tell you it’s probably not Smith.”

I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or not. Kenneth was a known quantity, although Jacob’s existence had changed the way my drug lord boss operated. Still, despite the presence of his dae, I appreciated the familiarity of Kenneth’s treachery.

Planning was so much easier when I understood my enemy.

“Who, then? Why?”

“The police, for one. No matter how smart you are, until you make the official shift to the upper castes, you’re still from the fringe in their limited way of thinking. You’re a threat. It makes sense for them to want to know what you do and where you go.”

“That’s going to make our job a lot more difficult,” I mumbled.

“Not as much as you think. If we have to do any more clandestine skyscraper climbing, we’ll have a problem, but we’ll figure something out.” Guiding me out of the store, Rob directed me down the street, keeping his steps short and slow so I wouldn’t have to limp too much in my effort to keep up with him.

“No more skyscrapers,” I hissed. “Okay, so the police could be behind it. Who else?”

While Rob controlled his anger more often than not, hatred twisted his features, and a chill swept through me. His eyes were the worst, the blue shifting to the steely gray of a sword. The muscles of his arm flexed, and he drew me closer to his side. His possessiveness should have bothered me, but I recognized the truth beneath his behavior.

Rob worried for me, and fear burst through me.

Purple was another color for passion, the domain of fire breathers, and there was one flame-spewer in particular who had reason to want me.

Arthur Hasling.

Chapter Fifteen

Instead of the nearby upscale restaurants the entitled indulged in, Rob took us back home to fetch his car. Colby decided to leave us on our own, and I was grateful my roommate had chosen to stay behind.

It was getting harder and harder to find time to be alone with Rob. I couldn’t help but laugh when he headed for the outskirts of the elite’s district. If the mastermind behind the discs was tracking my movements, I wondered what he thought about where I was going—and why.

The restaurant was the type of place Kenneth would take mid-caste clients: expensive, but affordable for those outside of the elite caste. The place was packed full of dae, and very few of them resembled humans. Werewolves dominated, and their wings offered brilliant splashes of color in the smoky haze.

Cigar smoke melded with the sweeter smell of scents, and I stiffened, twisting to stare at Rob.

“Relax.” Taking hold of my elbow, he pulled me closer to him before murmuring a few words to the hostess, a woman with dusky skin and a shroud of smoke swirling around her, obscuring her features. Instead of seating us in the main room, she gestured to a hallway behind her. Rob flashed the woman a smile.

“What’s going on?” I twisted to catch a final glimpse, wondering why the woman’s fire abilities manifested in such a way.

“She’s not a fire breather, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“What?”

“Don’t stare. It’s rude.”

“Rob, what’s going on?”

The hallway was lined with doors, but Rob guided me to the end and opened the door to reveal a staircase. “Lady first.”

I eased my way down the steep steps, wincing at the strain on my injured foot. Rob followed close behind me, his hand on my shoulder the entire way down. When we reached the bottom, a door with an electronic keypad barred our entry. Reaching over me, he tapped in a code.

“Fancy.” Intrigued, I pushed through the door.

Five tables arranged in such a way as to offer privacy were scattered over a black floor. Inlays of red, gold, and orange dragons battled on a black marble floor with a sprinkling of stars between them. Stones glittered underfoot, and I drew in a breath as I realized each pinpoint of light was a jewel set into the floor.

“What is this?” I whispered.

Lifting his hand in greeting to a short man waiting near a bar, Rob guided me to one of the tables. Instead of a suit or slacks and shirt, the man wore a black robe with a red belt. A golden dragon curled over his chest.

“Mr. Lucrage, you have brought a jewel to my house,” the man greeted, stepping towards us. His silken slippers whispered against the floor. “For you, I will open my doors at any time.”

The slant of the man’s eyes, the pale hue of his skin, and the darkness of his eyes and hair spoke of a distant heritage. His accent was pleasant, as exotic as Rob’s had been when he had first stepped out of my refrigerator several months before.

Pleasure lit Rob’s eyes and softened his expression. “Minangi, it’s been a while. Didn’t you get the memo my name’s Rob?”

“At least a hundred years ago, maybe closer to two hundred. I might choose to remember one day. You’re looking well. You are not nearly so worn and thin as in days past.”

My eyes widened.
Two
hundred years? While Rob had hinted at his unnatural lifespan, I hadn’t put too much thought into it. Many of the elite lived well over a hundred years, although those from the lower castes rarely enjoyed such a long life.

Once someone couldn’t work, they were made comfortable and left to die. I had my suspicions the government helped those too old to contribute to an early death. Since I valued my life, I had never voiced my doubts.

“This is Alexa,” Rob announced, setting his hands on my shoulders and presenting me to Minangi. “Someone has made a wish to track her, to know where she is, to know what she’s doing.”

“It has begun, then. And she is worth the price of nullifying this wish?”

I opened my mouth to ask what they were talking about, but I hesitated.

Sometimes, I could learn a lot more by remaining silent than asking questions. If I didn’t learn what I wanted by listening to them talk, I would ask Rob about it.

“That and so much more,” Rob confirmed, tightening his hold on me. “I am attuned to her.”

Minangi’s eyes narrowed, and he turned his full attention to me. “That explains much. So, not only have you brought a jewel to my house, she is an angel, too? Yours, that is.”

Snorting, Rob released me, hooked his foot around the leg of a chair, dragged it to him, and sat. Taking hold of my waist, he pulled me down onto his lap.

I’m not sure why I let him get away with it. He was warm, and I did appreciate the pressure off my injured foot. In the privacy of our home, I loved every bit of attention he showed me, but I didn’t know what I thought of some stranger watching Rob hold me.