There was a rosy blush to her skin, a determined gleam in her emerald eyes. Her cheeks were fuller than he'd ever seen them, and that stopped him short. She'd kept his blood down, he realized. He nearly grinned in satisfaction.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a raised hand. "Did my blood make you sick?" He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her admit it.
"No."
There was no stopping his grin this time. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "Guess that means you need me, huh?"
"Don't go thinking you're special," she said. "I only had a few sips, and I can keep such a small amount down no matter who I drink from."
His grin morphed into a frown. "Do you want more? "No," she said, but glanced at his pulse.
A lie. She wanted more, she just didn't want to want it. As soon as the hottest fires of her hunger returned, she would have to take more. And there'd be only one vein available to her. His.
"You ready to go?" he asked, unable to mask the return of his satisfaction.
She nodded hesitantly. "I want to see Aleaha, but it's daylight. I can't go outside without blistering."
Silent, he eyed her. Then he sighed. He hadn't thought of that. He wasn't used to considering another's wants and needs. "Very well. I'll have her brought here."
She crouched forward, her legs tucked under her and her weight on her knees. Her hands twisted the denim of her jeans. "By someone you trust not to hurt her, right?"
"Believe me, the woman bringing her here would never harm her." Macy, he knew, wasn't into self inflicted pain.
Bride frowned in confusion but nodded. In her mind, Aleaha was still a prisoner.
Devyn made the call. The moment Macy/Aleaha answered, he said, "I've got her. No question this time. We're at the Legacy Apartments, top floor." He hung up before she could reply. "She'll be here in half an hour, is my guess. Which means we've got thirty minutes to burn. You and I are going to talk." He had a feeling Bride would mentally shut him out the moment she saw her friend free and happy.
"Your blood helped Nolan, so AIR is going to want to test it," he told her. "No." She shook her head violently.
"They won't lock you up." Yet. He wouldn't let them. "But helping them is the only way to save your life. You did commit a crime."
"No!"
He splayed his arms in helplessness. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice, sweetheart. You took something that belongs to them, and anyone else would have fried for it by now. But I know them. Because of your healing blood, they'll bargain with you."
Another shake of her head, inky hair flying. "I don't need to bargain. You're forgetting my abilities."
Before his eyes, her skin changed color, her arms turning bright green to match the comforter around her, her face turning gray to blend with the stone wall framing her. Even her hair lightened to that silver shade. Only her clothing gave her away.
"Don't mist," he growled.
Slowly her skin and hair returned to normal. "I'm not going anywhere. At least for now. I want to see Aleaha."
He relaxed. "What if I told you Aleaha is an AIR agent? Would you be so quick to deny the agency's desires?"
She laughed, and it was like bells were tinkling merrily. "Aleaha is not AIR. No way." That laugh ... His c**k twitched. "Why? Because she's a shape-shifter?" Bride tensed, stilled.
"That's right. I know what she is. She took the form of an AIR agent, liked the job, and remained on the team."
Her nails elongated, becoming little claws that dug into her thighs and drew blood. "If anyone hurt her when they found out what she was, I will hunt them down and drain them."
Such loyalty. He'd already admired her for it, but that admiration grew. "They like having her on."
That mollified her somewhat. "If you captured a favored AIR agent, they would have come after you. Are you now being chased?"
"We'll get to that in a minute. First, take your nails out of your legs." If anyone was going to hurt her, it was going to be him. Only when she obeyed did he continue. "Help AIR, Bride. Willingly give them some of your blood for testing, and I'll find you a vampire to talk to."
She opened her mouth. Shut it. Bit her lip and rubbed at her necklace as she considered his offer. "Why should I? If my blood cured Nolan, AIR will take more and more from me until there's nothing left. I'll die and won't be able to question the vampire. And if it doesn't help him, they'll have no use for me. They'll lock me away or stake me, and I still won't get to question the vampire."
He rolled his eyes. "You've read too many books. They won't stake you."
"You didn't see the human-alien war. I did. I was there. Innocents were slain in the streets simply because they were different. I possess powers that would scare the shit out of every single agent. They will never be comfortable with me."
Good point. Not that he'd tell her. "Who knows? They might try and recruit you. They did me."
She uttered another of those sweet, sultry laughs. "Me? Working for AIR?" She shook her head again. "Show me where the underground doorway into vamp world is, and I'll think about aiding them."
"Nope. Sorry. Your people live by a code of rules, and the most important of those rules is to never leave the underground. It's to keep humans from finding them. To them, you broke that rule, or someone broke it for you. Either way, it's a crime punishable only by death." More than that, Devyn still had the composites of the McKell warriors in his pocket. Dallas's vision made him think they would come to the surface for her. But they couldn't come for her if they didn't know about her.
"Clearly you visited and left the underground, yet you weren't killed."
"The king had his reasons," was all Devyn said.
Her teeth ground together, those sharp little fangs slashing at her gums. "How are you going to find another vampire if they're forbidden from coming up here?"
His stare became piercing. "Twice a year, several do come topside. For food. Sometimes those hunters are caught and sold at slave auctions."
The words settled between them like heavy stones, dragging them into the dark, thick mire of memory.
"I'm not going to a slave auction," she bit out. "Not as a slave to be sold, no."
Every muscle in her beautiful body tensed. Was she pissed? Jealous? He wanted her to be jealous. Which was odd. He truly did despise jealousy in his lovers. He never allowed it or tolerated it. But Bride wanted so little from him, gave so little, he was latching on to every scrap she threw his way.