Bite Me (Vampire Wardens Resurrection 1)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Eli

I exit the hotel and head toward Union Station. I’ve just left the hotel zone for a quiet street when I sense Cam nearby even before I hear him say, “Yo, brother.”

Just that quickly he is here with me.

He falls into step at my side and I cut him a look. “You couldn’t wait for me to come to you?”

“You didn’t exactly come quickly. I thought you might need backup.”

I halt and turn to face him. “Why would I need backup?”

“Marcus came to see me when he left you.”

I grimace, scrub my jaw and settle my hands on my hips. “And?”

“He told me. He didn’t tell Rocco. Is it really true, man? Is it her?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s her.”

Now he says, “And?”

“And what?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Do I really want to wish this life on her?”

“Yes,” he says. “Yes, you do.”

“We didn’t choose this life. I’m not going to choose for her.”

“Does she remember you?”

“No. I’m familiar. That’s all.”

“Then she doesn’t know she loves you. You don’t have time for her to fall in love with you.”

“Man, in case you forgot, we don’t have a human expiration date.”

“Which is what Marcus told me you’d say, but she does. How do you know that’s not tomorrow? How do you know that’s not the reason Marcus made this happen?”

“And he didn’t make it happen before now?”

“Because the sentence for defying the higher powers is death and you know it.”

“Then why now?”

“I asked him that.”

“And he said what?” I challenge.

“He left,” he says, “but here is what I want you to consider. What I wanted to ask him.”

“I’m listening,” I say.

“You know how she died the first time. And it was brutal. How did she die the other two times? And how old was she each of those times? Are you going to risk letting her die a bad death and maybe that means soon? Marcus doesn’t break the rules. He didn’t do this now because he wanted you to have a year to try and get her to fall in love with you again.”

“He said she came to me naturally.”

“And maybe, just maybe, each lifetime, right as you’re about to find her, she dies. I’m not saying I know she’s in danger, but I don’t believe for a minute this was organic. She didn’t show up in Denver at your hotel without help. And I’m back to why, man? Why now? And every time I come back to—”

“Because she’s living on borrowed time.”

“Exactly. I know you still love her, so I ask you, what are you going to do about it?”

There’s a shift in the air and Cam and I both turn toward the distinct and familiar energy of Rocco, who rounds the corner and joins us. “We have a problem. Kasey called.”

Kasey works at the Austin, Texas Vampire Council headquarters. She has a team that monitors police scanners across the country, and just hearing her name sets me on edge.

“And?” I prod, feeling a tick of urgency in my jaw at the certainty this is nothing good.

“Police scanners picked up a couple of reports of wild animals loose in the nearby area,” he says.

“What kind of animals?” Cam presses impatiently.

“Large, wild animals,” he says. “The cops think it’s a couple of bears. They’re sending units as we speak, but we all know there are no bears.”

And, I think, we all know that werewolves in the city aren’t any more uncommon than our kind, except for one thing. A normal, healthy wolf would not be seen running around town in wolf form. But a red, a virus-infected rabid wolf, is another story.

Cam’s gaze shoots to mine. “Interesting timing, isn’t it?”

He means, of course, Ivy’s presence right now, when the city is looking as if it’s under attack. “How did she die every time she died?” he asks again. “Marcus does nothing without a purpose.”

He’s right. Marcus made damn sure I knew Ivy was my Ivy for a reason. And this, I’m guessing, is the reason. Those wolves are here for her, even if they don’t know it, because maybe, just maybe, her finding her way into their path is simply a matter of her fate.

“Find the wolves,” I say. “I need to get to Ivy.” I’m already running toward the hotel. I have to get to Ivy and make sure she stays in her room.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ivy

When I was a kid, my father used to tell me that I had to be happy with myself. He would challenge me to go to a movie by myself, or the mall, and just be me. When my parents died, I forgot how to be alone. I got engaged to the wrong man. I was afraid to be alone with my pain. But I righted that wrong. I found myself again. And now, there is Eli.