First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World 1)

And now he was being photographed, printed, and processed as a murder victim. Why couldn't the citizens of New York go back to not caring when they stumbled across a body? Everyone had to be such a Good Samaritan nowadays.

It took another hour of him lying there, waiting for the coppers to finish with him, until Spade was zipped inside a body bag and wheeled into an ambulance. He waited until the ambulance was well away from the park before ripping the heavy plastic with a fang and pulling it open.

"Jesus!"

A white-faced paramedic stared at him, shock and horror competing on his face. Spade yanked the knife out of his throat, tucked it into his trousers, and gave the lad a cool smile.

"Not nearly, mate."

The ambulance swerved as the driver stared back at him with equal shock. Spade rolled his eyes. Poor bloke would wreck if he wasn't careful.

"Watch the road," he said, letting power leak out of his gaze. "You didn't see me get up. You don't know what happened to me."

"Don't know," the paramedics mumbled in unison.

Spade climbed into the front and then went out of the side door, not bothering to tell them to stop first. A quick leap into traffic and then he was back on the sidewalk, heading for the Plaza. He was anxious to return to Denise. He'd taken quite a lot of blood from her while in the initial throes of its druglike effects. She'd looked stable when she made it to the hotel, but what if she'd gone into shock since then?

The strange looks from the people he passed reminded him that he was covered in blood and missing his shirt. Right, that would draw too much attention. Spade ducked into the nearest alcove and then grabbed the next person walking past.

"Quiet," he said, glaring at the young woman with his gaze lit up. "Give me your coat."

She handed it over without another word. Spade put it on. It was several sizes too small. Still, it covered what it needed to and he wouldn't be wearing it long.

"Off you go," Spade told her.

He made it to the Plaza as quickly as he could without revealing his supernatural speed. Once inside, though, he ignored the elevators in favor of the stairwell. One clear shot upward had him flying past the different floors in a blur, arriving at nineteen in seconds.

The stench of sulfur drifted to him as soon as he opened the stairwell door. A demon had been on this floor.

Spade flew the rest of the way, not caring now who might see him. He crashed through his hotel room and rolled when he hit the carpet, the same silver knife that had been in his throat now gripped in his hand.

"Denise?" he called out. "Denise!"

She appeared in the bedroom doorway, blood still staining her neck, her face even paler than his normally was.

"You're back," she said, swaying.

Spade caught her before she hit the floor.

Chapter Eleven

Denise's eyes fluttered open. Spade leaned over her, a deep frown creasing his face. Blood covered the front of him and even clumped in his hair. Considering what had happened the last time she'd been this close to him, she should have been concerned about his proximity to her throat. But right now, she couldn't summon the strength to worry about being bitten.

"You look like hell," she murmured.

Spade didn't smile. "What did he do to you?"

She didn't want to talk about it. She'd thought it was agonizing the first time Raum forced his essence into her, but this last occasion made her realize what the word pain really meant. The hotel had sent security to her room. She'd had to lie and say she twisted her ankle - as if that would explain several minutes of screaming. What they'd heard, anyway. Raum had covered her mouth after he got bored listening to it.

"What did he do?" Spade repeated, more emphatically this time.

Denise closed her eyes. "He upped the dosage on the marks," she said, trying to keep the horror of remembrance out of her voice. "He wasn't happy with my progress."

Spade muttered something low and fierce, too rapidly for her to catch. "Shouldn't have stayed at a hotel," he finished with. "Should have picked a private home where demons couldn't enter. I didn't think he'd followed us here, but he's obviously smarter than I realized. We're leaving, Denise, just as soon as we get cleaned up."

"Doesn't matter where we go." It was so exhausting to talk. She'd stayed awake only out of concern over where Spade was. When he didn't come back at dawn, she'd been worried that something happened to him. Now her energy was totally depleted. What Raum did felt like it almost killed her.

"What do you mean?" A light shake made her open her eyes. "Come on, you can't sleep yet."

It took all her effort to wave her wrist at Spade. "He can track me through the brands. So it doesn't matter where we go. He'll find me."

Spade didn't say anything. Denise closed her eyes again. It felt like she'd only shut them for a second, but then the splash of warm water jolted them open.

She was in the shower. Clasped in Spade's arms, it looked like. And he'd taken her boots off and was now peeling off her skirt.

"What?" she managed.

"I have to get your blood off both of us," he said grimly. "It's not safe otherwise."

If she didn't feel like she'd been run over by a truck, she would have protested. But right now, as long as she didn't have to move, she didn't care what Spade did.

His hand cupped around her forehead, then more water ran down her neck. Denise closed her eyes.

"Sorry."

It came out in a whisper. Spade turned them, and the stream from the shower ran over her stomach next. He must have gotten her sweater off, too, from the feel of it. Was her bra still on? An exhausted glance down revealed it was. So was her underwear.

"What are you sorry for?"

Her face was in the crook of his throat, so his voice vibrated against her. Maybe it was because she was still only half conscious, because she answered with the truth.

"How I acted when you bit me. Didn't mean to. Didn't know it would make it hard for you to stop - "

"Christ, is that what you think happened?" Denise felt his hand brush her face. "It wasn't you; it was your blood. The essence from Raum's brands turned it into a sort of drug for vampires, it seems. I felt the effects as soon as I swallowed; but what's in your blood is so powerful, I couldn't stop. I've heard of altered blood being sold on the black market to young, stupid vampires seeking a thrill, but I didn't realize..."

Spade's voice trailed off. Then he shook her until her eyes opened. The intensity on his face was enough to wake her all the way up.

"What?"