The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

“Humor me,” I murmured, and gently slid up and down against the thickness of him, “and I might just humor you.”

“Ha! Saucy wench.” He downed his drink in one gulp, placed the glass aside, then caught my hips and held me still as he slipped inside. “Karlinda's strength has been on the decline for several years, but it has gotten much worse over the past few weeks.”

“Can they not find the reason?”

“From the little Julius has said, she has a low blood count and is iron deficient, but they do not know its cause.”

It was possible that both problems were related to her being a vampire's meal ticket, but I'd never known any vampire to assert such self-control. Their usual mode of operation involved a feeding frenzy that left their victims little more than bloody bones.

My body began to rock in time to Charles's gentle movements. I drained my whiskey and placed the glass on the table beside his. “And what of Julius? If they are constant companions, why would he not have caught the illness?”

“Because they do not live together, even though they are an acknowledged couple.” His grip on my hips tightened. “I hope you don’t have designs on the man, because that would rather aggrieve me.”

“Oh, I don't know,” I teased. “There is a fierceness about him—a danger—that many would find attractive.”

“If it's fierceness you want, my dear, then it’s fierceness you shall get.”

With that, he slipped down the bed and artfully shifted positions so that I was on my back. From there on in, he allowed no more talking and gave no quarter until both of us were satiated.

Only then did he finally fall asleep.

I carefully slipped out of his arms, grabbed a tunic from the cupboard, and then padded into the shower to wash the smell of sweat and sex from my skin. The last thing I wanted was to be seeing Jonas stinking of Charles. Once dressed, I quickly left.

Central was a city of never-ending light, and the everyday rhythm of life had evolved to cater for that. Many businesses were open twenty-four seven, and though the streets were far from crowded, there were still plenty of people out and about.

I made my way through the streets until I reached a cross street that led to Twelfth and—once it was empty—called the light to me and disappeared behind its shield. On Twelfth, I made my way to the top of the nearest building and continued to climb upwards via various rooftops, until I could go no further and there was only the rusting heaviness of the metal curtain wall between me and the night-clad world beyond.

I took a deep breath to gather my strength, and then thickened the walls of the shield until the brightness within disappeared and there were only shadows. I shifted to particle form and leaped upwards. A heated ache instantly throbbed across my body, but I ignored it. There was no other way to get out of Central at this time of night.

I flew over the top of the wall's wide walkway and plummeted down the other side. As the brightness of the UV towers began to fade, the light shield unraveled, until there was nothing between the night and me. It should have eased the ache in my head. It didn't.

I cursed softly and arrowed toward the bunker. The entrance door had been closed against the darkness, but even as I approached, it opened. No light spilled out to warm the night; Jonas had obviously turned it off in preparation for my arrival.

I dropped down and regained human form, but weakness washed through me and sent me stumbling forward. Jonas caught me before I could fall. He didn't ask if I was okay—he really didn't need to, given the connection we now shared. He simply helped me inside, shut the door, and then escorted me across to a chair and sat me down.

“You're taking one hell of a risk coming here.” His voice held none of the anger and concern that washed from his mind to mine.

“I know, but I used that drug you sent and Charles is out cold—”

“I wasn’t worried about Charles, but rather whoever is watching this place.” He stalked across to the autocook sitting next to the old brick tower that still held the solar panels powering a good portion of the equipment in the underground levels. Long before this level had become a museum, it had been a heavily fortified base for day-to-day operations. But there was little left of the equipment that had survived both the war and the subsequent cleanout of all thi

ngs déchet, nor was there anything to indicate the museum it had then become. Everything had either been destroyed or removed after Dream and her people had set off the bombs in an effort to contain me underground.

“Look, I’m sorry, but Cat and Bear are following Branna and I have information I needed to get to you and Nuri.”

“Why the hell didn't you tell us you'd found Branna? We could have—” The rest of his sentence was lost to a cacophony of happy noise as all the little ones swept into the room. I didn't bother trying to calm them down—it had been a few days since I'd seen them, and I missed them as much as they'd missed me.

I waited until their excited chatter and their tingly kisses began to ease off, and then said, “I hope you haven't been annoying Jonas too much.”

“Aside from all the noise,” Jonas commented dryly, “they've been good company.”

This set off another round of chatter and giggles. Jonas rolled his eyes and walked back with what looked like a mug of green swill and a plate piled high with meat, eggs, and bread.

He sat down opposite and slid both across the table. “Eat, then we'll talk. Your chatty little ones might have calmed down by then.”

Which only set them off again. I plucked a knife and fork from the nearby container and hoed into the food. I had to admit, I felt a lot better by the time I'd demolished it.

Jonas pushed the so-far ignored mug of green muck a little closer. It was an herbal drink favored by shifters for its energy-boosting properties, but I was not a fan. It rather tasted like fouled swamp water.