"Have you taken any other memories from me?"
"We met at the training center. You came with John and Bella."
"How long ago?"
"Couple days. I can give you those back, as well."
"Wait a minute." She frowned. "Why didn't you just make me forget all about you before now? You know, take everything."
As if she would have preferred that.
"I was going to. Last night. After dinner."
She looked away. "And you didn't because of what happened in the park?"
"And because..." God, just how far did he want to go with this? Did he really want her to know how much he was feeling her? No, he thought. She was looking totally shell-shocked. Now was hardly the time to come clean with the happy news that a male vampire had bonded with her. "Because it's an invasion of your privacy."
In the silence that followed, he could see her working over the events, the implications, the reality of the situation. And then her body let on the sweet scent or arousal. She was remembering how he'd kissed her.
Abruptly, she winced and frowned. And the fragrance was cut off.
"Ah, Mary, in the park, when I was keeping away from you while we - "
She held her hand up, stopping him. "All I want to talk about is what we do now."
Her gray eyes met his and didn't waver. She was, he realized, ready for anything.
"God... you're amazing, Mary."
Her brows lifted. "Why?"
"You're handling all this shit really well. Especially the part about what I am."
She tucked a piece of hair behind her ears and studied his face. "You know something? It's not that big a surprise. Well, it is, but... I knew you were different from the moment I first saw you. I didn't know you were a... Do you call yourselves vampires?"
He nodded.
"Vampire," she said, as if trying the word out. "You haven't hurt me or scared me. Well, not really. And... you know, I've been clinically dead at least twice. Once when I went into cardiac arrest while they were giving me a bone-marrow transplant. Once when I came down with pneumonia and my lungs filled up with fluid. I, ah, I'm not sure where I went or why I came back, but there was something on the other side. Not heaven with the clouds and the angels and all that jazz. Just a white light. I didn't know what it was the first time. The second, I just went right into it. I don't know why I came back - "
She flushed and stopped talking, as if embarrassed by what she'd revealed.
"You have been to the Fade," he murmured, awed.
"The Fade?"
He nodded. "At least, that's what we call it."
She shook her head, clearly unwilling to go further with the subject. "Anyway, there's a lot we don't understand about this world. That vampires exist? It's just one more thing."
When he didn't say anything for a while, she glanced at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You are a wahlker" he said, feeling as if he should stand up and bow to her, as was custom.
"A wahlker?"
"Someone who has been to the other side and returned. Where I come from, that is a title of distinction."
A cell phone's bleating turned both of their heads. The sound was coming from inside the duffel.
"Could you hand me that bag?" he asked.
She leaned over and tried to lift it. Couldn't. "Why don't I just give you the phone?"
"No." He struggled to his knees. "Just let me - "
"Rhage, I'll get it - "
"Mary, stop," he commanded. "I don't want you going in there."
She recoiled from the thing, as if it were carrying snakes.
With a lurch he put his hand inside. As soon as he found the phone, he cocked it and put it up to his ear.
"Yeah?" he barked, while partially zipping the duffel shut.
"Are you okay?" Tohr said. "And where the hell are you?"
"I'm fine. Just not at home."
"No shit. When you didn't meet Butch down at the gym, and he couldn't find you in the main house, he got worried and called me. Do you need a pickup?"
"No. I'm cool where I am."
"And where's that?"
"I called Wrath last night and he didn't get back to me. He around?"
"He and Beth went down to his place in the city for some private time. Now where are you?" When there was no quick answer, the brother's voice dropped lower. "Rhage, what the hell's going on?"
"Just tell Wrath I'm looking for him."
Tohr cursed. "Are you sure you don't need a pickup? I can send a couple of the doggen out with a lead-lined body bag."
"Nah, I'm good." He wasn't going anywhere without Mary. "Later, man."
"Rhage - "
He hung up and the phone rang again immediately. After checking caller ID, he let Tohr go into voice mail. He was putting the thing down next to him on the floor when his stomach let out a grumble.
"Would you like me to get you something to eat?" Mary asked.
He looked at her for a moment, stunned. And then had to remind himself she didn't know the intimacy she was offering. Still, the idea that she would honor him with food she had prepared with her own hands left him breathless.
"Close your eyes for me," he said.
She stiffened. But she lowered her lids.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to hers.
Those gray eyes popped wide open, but he pulled back before she could.
"I would love it if you would feed me. Thank you."
Chapter Twenty-two
As the sun came up, O riffled through the building sketches that covered U's kitchen table. He spun one around.
"This is what I want. How fast can we get it up?"
"Quick. Site's out in the middle of nowhere, and the facility's not going to be hooked to any municipal utilities, so there's no need for a building permit. Putting together the wall supports and throwing some exterior clapboards on a fifteen-hundred-square-foot space won't take long. Installing the storage facilities for the captives shouldn't be a problem. As for the shower, we can divert the nearby stream easily and install a pump to provide running water. Supplies like hardware and tools are all generic and I've kept the board lengths standard size to reduce the amount of cutting. Gas-powered generator on site will provide electricity for the saws and nail guns. It'll also give us light if we want it. We'll keep that long-term."
"Give me the number of days."
"With a crew of five guys, I can have a roof over your head in forty-eight hours. Provided I can work them into the ground and the supplies come in on time."
"I'm going to hold you to two days, then."
"I'll start getting what we need from Home Depot and Lowe's this morning. I'll split the supply orders between the two. And we're going to need a small bulldozer, one of those Toro Dingos with the interchangeable bucket and hoe setup. I know where we can rent one."
"Good. This is all good."
O leaned back to stretch his arms and idly parted the drapes. U's house was an anonymous split-level deep in soccer-mom territory. This was the part of Caldwell with streets named Elmwood and Spruce Knoll and Pine Notch, where kids rode their bikes on the sidewalks and dinner was on the table at six every night.
All the happy-happy, joy-joy made O's skin crawl. He wanted to torch the houses. Put salt on the lawns. Chop the trees down. Level the place until it couldn't resurface. The impulse went so deep it surprised him. He had no problem with destruction of property, but he was a killer, not a vandal. He couldn't figure out why he gave a shit.
"I want to use your truck," U was saying. "I'm going to rent a trailer to hitch on. Between the two, I'll be able to take delivery on the boards and roofing supplies in batches. No reason for the Home Depot folks to know where we are."
"And the stuff for the storage units?"
"I know exactly what you're looking for and where to find it."
An electronic beeping sounded.
"What the hell's that?" O asked.
"Reminder for the nine-A.M. check-in." U took out a BlackBerry, his blunt fingers flying over the little keyboard. "You want me to e-mail your status for you?"
"Yeah." O focused on U. The lesser had been in the society for 175 years. He was pale as paper. Calm and sharp as a tack. Not as aggressive as some, but steady.
"You're an asset, U."
U cocked a smile and looked up from the BlackBerry. "I know. And I like to be used. Speaking of which, who are you going to give me for a crew?"