A murmur—an angry one—seemed to go through the pack.
“Wolves aren’t on the vampire menu,” Liam told her, but only after a quick glance at Alerac. “Or rather, for you, only one is.”
And that one had lifted his hand toward her. He held that hand, palm open, toward her. “Come, Jane.”
Like she had a choice. But she wasn’t a dog to be called. So she held her ground a moment longer. Get the point, wolf. I don’t jump at your command. “Where are we going?”
“My home.” A pause. “Your home.”
She didn’t have a home.
Her chest began to ache. Unwanted. Forgotten.
“And maybe we’ll find a damn witch along the way,” Alerac added, voice darkening.
Jane wasn’t so sure she wanted to find a witch. Was her past worth remembering?
Maybe it was time to find out. Alerac knew her, he held her secrets—so why didn’t the guy just spill them? “Why are my own kind hunting me?”
His hand lowered. He kicked up the stand on the motorcycle. Then he came to her, easily controlling the bike as he circled around and advanced on her.
She had to hold back her smile. She’d wanted that. For him to be the one to make the move. I’m not jumping for you.
But when that big, snarling bike and the equally big wolf came to a stop right in front of her, Jane stiffened. Yes, I’m afraid of him.
Afraid, yet she could admit—she was also drawn to the wolf. She should be running away from him. But she wasn’t moving.
“The vamps think you committed a crime against them.”
She’d turned on the other vampires? It just gets worse for me.
“And some of them won’t stop coming, not until—well, not until I make sure they’re dead.”
Wonderful. “I-I thought vampires already were dead. The undead, right?” That was what she’d seen on TV. She’d made sure to watch every vampire movie that she could find, hoping that maybe she’d find some kind of secret message or insight into her own biology.
The movies hadn’t been helpful. She didn’t sparkle. She didn’t serve the devil. She didn’t attack children. She didn’t do any of the things that those vamps had done.
Well, except she did drink blood. But only when she absolutely had to do so.
“Some folks do have to die, for a little while, in order to come back as vamps.” Alerac gave a slow shake of his head. “That’s not what happened to you. You never died. You were born as you are.”
Born as a vampire? That hadn’t been in the movies.
“That’s why you have power to them. Why you’re a threat and why they won’t stop coming.”
She still didn’t understand.
“Your birthmark. The circle of gold that surrounds your pupils. Those are both signs that you are a pureblood. Not made from a bite, but born to be a vampire.”
The little mark on her left palm seemed to burn.
“I’m telling you the truth. And you have to trust me.”
Like trust was easy. Trusting a human was hard enough. Trusting a werewolf?
“Get on the bike,” Alerac ordered with a curt nod. “With darkness, they’ll be coming soon.”
She looked beyond him. At the thin row of pine trees. At the darkness. Were the vampires already stalking her? “They all want me dead?” All of her kind? Surely there was at least one who wanted her alive. She had a family somewhere, didn’t she?
He didn’t answer.
Her gaze jumped back to him. “Alerac?”
“You saw them,” he said, voice devoid of emotion. “They fired wooden bullets at you.”
Bullets that he’d taken into his own body as he shielded her.
“If those bullets had hit your heart, you’d be dead.”
He’d kept her alive before. Her own kind wanted her cold in the ground. But he…
She climbed on to the bike. Wrapped her arms around him. Held him tight.
After an instant, his body seemed to relax against hers.
“There’s a helmet behind you,” he murmured, the words drifting to her over the roar of the bike. “Vamps can die if they lose their heads, so, this time, be sure you wear it.”
Oh, right. She hadn’t even realized…
Her hands pulled away from him. Fumbled. She got the helmet on. Then she started to worry. “What about you?” Jane asked.
He glanced back at her. Those eyes…her shiver seemed to start on the inside and then push its way out.
“I’m not planning to lose my head.”
Yeah, but—
The motorcycle lunged forward. Wind beat against her, and she held on to Alerac as tightly as she could.
The rest of the pack closed around them as they left the motel. The scream of the engines was soon all that she could hear. The miles passed, and the pavement vanished beneath them as the bikes moved faster and faster.
The vibration of the bike shook her whole body, beginning first in her legs, then slowly moving up. She pressed closer to Alerac as the vibration continued.
She didn’t know what to make of the werewolf.
A werewolf. The knowledge wasn’t so shocking now. How could it be? He was right. She was a vampire. Not like she could judge.
If Heath were right, and all Alerac wanted was to kill her—he could have done so plenty of times by this point.
But he hadn’t. In fact, he hadn’t hurt her at all.
He’d protected her. Taken bullets for her. Killed, for her.
Told me to wear a helmet so that I’d keep my head.
They’d been lovers once. This knowledge was there. It was obvious from the looks that he gave her. Jane knew there was no denying what she’d seen in his eyes—or the way he’d touched her.
When he’d whispered Keira to her, she’d realized just how intimately they must have been involved. His voice had burned with desire and a heavy possessiveness.
Whatever Alerac truly wanted from her, Jane didn’t think it was about her death.
He might not want to kill her, but the vamps sure seemed to want her out of this world.
She wanted to know what crimes she’d committed against her own kind. Why they hunted her so fiercely.
During the six months when she’d felt abandoned because no one had come forward to claim her—well, maybe she should have been relieved. Because if the vamps had gotten to her before Alerac did, would she already be dead?
The bikes slid into another curve.
Jane frowned, trying to locate a road sign. She didn’t know if they were in Alabama, Georgia, or even still in Florida.