UnGuarded (18 page)

15

IT WAS TWO AND A HALF DAYS LATER, and Cole’s
recovery was moving slower than predicted. Still unconscious, he
lay on an old brown leather sofa that had been brought in the back
room at Huron’s bar and squeezed between the poker table and wall.
A blood bag was hung from a hook on an electronic, metal-looking
contraption, and a long, narrow tube ran down from it to lodge deep
in Cole’s throat. An IV would’ve been pointless, since vampires
usually heal too quickly—even though Cole wasn’t healing fast
enough for my taste.

Once we got back, I’d made almost a full
recovery—unbeknownst to anyone but Luke that there was ever
anything wrong, thank God. Oddly, though, I still didn’t feel like
my normal self, and I couldn’t help but assume it had something to
do with me drinking Luke’s blood. Being a strong and mighty
vampire, I’d expected Cole’s progress to be the same as mine.
Apparently Limos had tortured him terribly, and delayed any healing
with those silver chains. It was a shame Limos was already dead.
There were several ways I would have loved to pay him back.

Although Huron’s hospitality was
appreciated, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was still only
because of his debt to Luke—who sadly I hadn’t seen, or sensed,
since shortly after our return. While enduring those annoying
orbing side effects, Luke had stayed with me and was familiar just
like before, until the symptoms wore off and complete recognition
kicked in. But since he took off immediately after that, I didn’t
get a chance to talk to him about it. His absence brought an
indescribable sadness to my heart. And I didn’t like feeling that
way.

With their slates wiped clean of Huron’s
debt, the remaining vamps and demons had fled—except for Annabel.
No, she’d stuck around as if only to annoy me, poking her head in
periodically to check on me, then retreating from my repeated
threats. I assumed she was helping Huron work the bar, not that I’d
left this room to go see for myself. On one of his several trips
back here, Huron had told me that as long as I was under his roof,
I’d be safe from Annabel. He couldn’t promise the same once I left,
though. I didn’t think she could hurt me—without my permission of
course—but these new feelings I had brought caution, and I didn’t
want to push my luck with her yet.

A little good news in all of this was that I
hadn’t heard a peep from Raphael. Good. He really was giving me my
space, presumably thinking I was preparing my final good-byes for
my charge. So I guess that meant Corrine was still watching
Caitlyn, and no changes had happened with her condition, good or
bad.

Still, I’d had plenty of time to ponder my
revelation about dying or falling—either way I’d no longer exist as
an angel—for Caitlyn back on Charon. Once Cole woke up, I’d be
seeking Luke out to see if he planned to help or if he was done
with me for good. There was a sharp pang in my heart considering
the latter, bringing to light that I
did
have feelings for
Luke. Even as I stared at Cole’s face, seeing life slowly come back
to him, memories of Luke and I kissing traipsed through my
mind—followed by a hefty amount of guilt.

I sat on the floor with my legs tucked under
me, my back leaning against the side of the sofa. Faint movement
and the feeling of being watched had me swinging around to find
Cole’s deep blue eyes locked onto mine, wide with unspoken things.
“Selene?”

With instant tears streaming down my cheeks,
I wailed, “You’re okay,” then wrapped my arms softly around his
neck. “I was so worried. I prayed every second that I’d find you
alive.”

He hugged me back, light and gentle, his
body still on the mend. “I’ve missed you.” His mouth brushed
through my hair, settling on my ear. “I love you.”

More tears fell and my body tensed. I leaned
back, staring down at my lap. “I missed you too”—my voice a hushed
whisper. Then I raised my face and met his eyes, my guilt morphing
into curiosity about what happened on Charon. “What did Limos do to
you?”

Cole sat up—it was a bit of a struggle—and I
helped him get into a comfortable position. “Where is that wretched
monster? Stay away from him, Selene. He was only using me to get
you. He wants your power so he can use it to defeat Typhon and rule
the earth along with his other lowly worlds.”

“Limos is dead,” I said at once. “And all
those who helped him.”

He gave a hard, penetrating gaze. “How?”

I filled him in on my alliance with his
friend and how he’d put together a small army of dark ones to go
with us to Charon, which was how Limos and his helpers were
destroyed. I briefly touched on Huron and that we were in a back
room of his bar. And once I got to the part where Huron was helping
us because of the favor he owed Luke, Cole gaped at me, confused,
and asked, “Who’s Luke?”

“He’s your friend…,” I tried to explain, but
my words trailed off as doubt crept in. I remembered Luke saying,
“
Even when you get
your
vampire back, I’m still going to
care about you.
” And the look in his eyes when I’d said,
“
You’re getting him back too. Remember, Cole’s your
friend?
”

Realization slapped my face, hard and
uninvited. Luke
didn’t
know Cole, and they were
never
friends. I sat back, nervously running my hands across my jeans,
feeling breathless and uneasy. My body started shaking and I fought
to regain composure. Cole put his hands on top of mine, holding
tightly enough to get me to look at him. His eyes were burning blue
flames and I hurriedly looked down at his chin. “What haven’t you
told me, Selene? I can taste your fear. Why would you be afraid of
me?”

“Nothing,” I stammered, my heart almost
pounding out of my chest. I closed my eyes, stealing a moment to
calm myself. Then at last, I said, “I just don’t understand why
Luke would lie to me about being your friend.”

He shot me a frustrated look. “Why would
that cause you to fear me? Don’t we owe this guy for saving my
life, and yours?”

I nodded slowly, feeling a lump barrel its
way up my throat.

A brief moment passed with thick silence,
then Cole lowered his lips to my neck. “What are you doing?” I
asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“I’ve missed you so much.” The chill of his
breath tickled my neck. “And those blood bags aren’t enough to get
my strength back. I need you, Selene. I need to taste you right
now.” His fangs plunged underneath my skin before I had a chance to
respond. Shivers spread through my body like tiny electric currents
and I sighed with pleasure, tilting my head to give him a better
vantage point.

That’s when everything seemed to happen at
once. Cole growled, deep and guttural, then shot back to the far
side of the sofa. With his body hunched over, his eyes flaring with
rage, he roared, “Is that
his
blood I taste in you?”

I’d never said a cuss word in all of my
existence, but at this moment, several of them built up on my
tongue. “I can explain, please let me explain.”

He chuckled, but it wasn’t pleasant. “How?
No! Better yet…why?!”

“Limos beat me up pretty bad,” I said in a
rush. “And I needed to get everyone back to Earth…including
you.”

“You? Get beaten up?” was his hysterical
reply. “Are you freakin’ kidding me? How can an angel get beaten
up? It’s just not possible!”

I dug my nails into my palms, fighting back
the tears that tried to choke me. “More of my powers were stripped.
My human form has grown weaker.” I stole a deep breath, then added,
“And I was too weak to change back to my angel form after I fought
Limos.”

“So you drank blood from some other
vampire?” Each word drug out, ending in another snarl. “It’s no
longer a mystery why he stuck around to help you now! Is it?”

Cole was right. Luke had stuck around only
to help me, but still I’d thought he was Cole’s friend, and that
that had been the reason he originally got involved. “But I didn’t
know, I swear it! I was injured and not thinking straight. Please,
Cole,” I pleaded. “I never meant to hurt you by doing this. I just
wanted to get you home.”

His face only hardened, brows creasing as
his eyes slanted more. “You-gave-him-your-blood!”

I scooted closer but he shook his head.
“Don’t,” he warned.

Tears flooded out of my eyes, my vision a
complete blur. “Cole,” I begged. “Please don’t do this. I’ve waited
so long to get you back. Everything I did was for you.” Remembering
that kiss with Luke back at the club, a wave of guilt pressed down
on my heart.
Not everything
, my mind smarted. My body
started trembling with feelings I couldn’t begin to describe.
Fearing Cole would see right through me, I turned away, facing the
door, and used all my strength to suppress that horrible
memory.

“Look at me!” he roared, his voice echoing
in my ears.

I obeyed, my eyes dreadfully seeking his.
And then he did something he’d never done to me before. Without
warning his hard, penetrating gaze dug deep inside my eyes, and
within seconds he was completely inside my mind. His swift
intrusion left me breathless. Cold sweat instantly covered my body
from head to toe. I was shaking so badly, it felt like I was having
a seizure. Panic seized me. Then, everything went eerily numb. I
couldn’t feel anything at all, as if I were paralyzed. But after a
beat, something that felt like hot, sharp tentacles gripped my
spine and slithered up to my neck. It was on top of my skin, inside
my body, leaving me suffocated and violated all at once.

Invisible hands wrapped around my neck,
squeezing until I could no longer breathe. I tried to cry out, but
couldn’t speak. Then, as quick as it had happened, it was over.
Cole was in front of me, both hands holding my face. There was a
glimmer of knowledge in his eyes, and I braced myself for what came
next. He sprung back, clearing the poker table and landing across
the room. His head shook violently. “No, no, no!”—the sound of
denial in its rawest form. “How could you?” I could barely
recognize his voice.

The words “I’m sorry” could hardly begin to
express my remorse. But I said them anyway, hoping it would help
him forgive me.

Cole waved a hand in the air. “Selene, do
you realize what you’ve done?”

I shook my head, unable to think clearly
enough to form a response.

He lowered his hand and shot me a lasered
glare. “You’re mine!” He wasn’t yelling anymore, but there was a
firmness in his voice that scared me more than his previous high
volume. “You’re mine,” he repeated. “But now that monster has
marked you!”

Marked me? What did he mean by that? He’d
never told me anything about vampires “marking” people before.
“What are you talking about?” I asked once I found my voice.

His look turned icy. “You took his
bloo—”

“But I never gave him any of
my
blood!”

“That doesn’t matter, even though your blood
is very special.” Pain filled his words and dug into my heart.
“Whoever takes the blood of a vampire is marked forever. Selene,
you belong to
him
now.”

“Then why didn’t you ever give me
your
blood?” I wailed, rising to move closer to Cole. He
didn’t back away or stop me this time. His arms folded around me
and I held him back. “I can’t belong to him,” I mumbled against his
chest. “I love
you
.”

He released me and grasped my chin, tilting
me to face him. “I love you so much”—pain and loss filled his
voice. “Every minute with that wretched demon, I dreamed of being
in your arms.” Pink tears streamed down his cheeks. “I never
thought you’d ever allow vampire blood to swim in your veins. Or
trust me, I would’ve offered. But now not only have you been marked
by another vampire—which I do believe you had no intention of
doing—but you’ve also betrayed me to him.” He paused a moment,
sadness building in his eyes. “Though I’m willing to bet that
betrayal was driven by the new blood bond you share with him,” he
added at last.

I felt my eyes widen, and my breath caught
in my throat. I hadn’t been attracted to Luke until after the first
time I’d caught him giving me his blood. Even though I’d tried to
spit it out, I remembered the metallic taste in my throat and knew
with certainty that I’d ingested some. That had to be the reason I
kissed him. And now, with more of his blood swimming inside me, who
knew what mess of emotions that would create. Panic surged up—I
desperately wanted to flush Luke’s blood out of me. Maybe if I
drank Cole’s it would help? “I’ll take your blood now. Please!”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t work that
way. I can’t erase his blood from your system, and with you being
an angel, I have no idea how long it will linger inside you.” He
let go of my chin and ran his hand through his messy, beautiful,
dark and silky hair. “Just the thought of your lips on his makes me
crazy.”