“I thought you said—”
“He’s already fed, and will sleep until tomorrow night.”
“Then why can’t I go with you?”
“It’s a war, Natalie, a vampire war. There will be no humans on the field.”
“I know you think I’m useless—”
“I do not.”
“—but I can sh—”
“I need you safe,” he almost shouted, cutting off her protests. “Marc and I will be on our own out there,” he continued in his regular voice. “With allies who will probably be as happy to stab us in the back as fight by our side. I can’t keep you safe and watch Marc’s back at the same time. Do you understand that?”
Natalie hated it, but she understood. Except . . . “You’re trusting Scoville’s word on this?”
“Never. I trust no one but Marc. He has my back, and I have his. For the rest . . .” He shrugged. “As long as they’re willing to kill our enemies, I’ll stand by them. But trust? No.”
“I understand. I do, but—” Her attention was dragged away from an argument she already knew she wasn’t going to win, at the sight of Marc upending a bag of blood over his mouth and sucking it dry. She stared, more fascinated than she would have thought possible. “You can drink that stuff?” she asked, turning back to Christian.
“That stuff is human blood, though we prefer the warm, fresh kind,” he said, a small smile playing around his lips. He caught a full bag that Marc tossed his way, broke the seal, and gave her a warning look, as if to say, “This is your last chance to look away.”
Natalie shook her head. This was an important part of Christian’s life. If she turned away from it, she might as well walk out the front door and never come back.
He shrugged, then tilted his head back and drank, just as Marc had before him.
She glanced over at Marc, and asked, “Where’d you get that? I didn’t see any in there.” She gestured at the big stainless steel refrigerator where her perfectly ordinary food was stored.
“Vegetable crisper,” he said, grinning. “A special compartment in the back.”
“Oh,” Natalie said faintly, and turned back just in time to see Christian finish off the bag and toss the empty to Marc. “So what’s with the DEFCON 1 security?” she asked him. “You never did that before.”
Christian licked his lips before answering. “Normally, I drop the shutters every night. But I didn’t want to freak you out before I managed to seduce you.” He grinned at her scowl, and continued. “It’s for your protection. Anthony still wants you, chére. Never doubt it. We don’t know where he is, and we can’t be sure what’s really happening down in Laredo.”
“Then why are you going? Shouldn’t you wait—?”
“Because whether it’s a trap, or a real threat, vampires are dying down there. I can’t stand by and let that happen.”
Natalie was scared out of her mind, and trying not to show it. Not for herself, though. She had the gun Leighton had sent her. If Anthony tried anything, she’d shoot him and be done with it. But she was terrified that something would happen to Christian. And then what would she do? She’d just found him. She couldn’t lose him now.
“Chopper’s five minutes out,” Marc said, standing in the short hallway that led to the garage. He was plainly ready to leave, staring at the two of them, as if urging them to get on with it.
“Natalie,” Christian said softly, squeezing both of her hands and drawing her attention back to him. “The security system is fully armed, every door and window locked down. No one can get in or out without the code.”
“What if there’s a fire?” she asked, trying to be rational, to be calm. She’d be fine. He needed to worry about himself.
He let go of her hands to write a number down on a sticky note and press it against the counter next to her laptop. “If you need to get out, enter that code on the alarm panel next to the front door, or the sliding door here. It won’t work anywhere else. You’ll only be able to open that door, but all of the window shutters will be accessible from inside the house. Everything will lock down again after sixty seconds, or when the door is closed, whichever comes first.”
“But what about Alon? He’s too heavy for me—”
“If you’re in danger, don’t worry about Alon. You get out and call Jaclyn. She’ll help you.”
“I’m not leaving Alon in a burning house!” she said, staring at him in shock.
He gave an impatient growl, gripping her shoulders again and shaking her slightly. “There’s not going to be a fire. But if there is, Alon will be safer than you. He’s locked in a fireproof vault in the basement.”
“Oh. All right, then.” Privately, she was thinking that meant she could leave anytime she needed to. Not that she would readily abandon Alon, or defy Christian either. But as long as Alon was protected, she could think of several scenarios where she’d have to break out of this prison, er, safe house. None of which she shared with Christian, who was regarding her with evident concern.