“She came after Sentinel blood. She said she needed it to save you, but she wouldn’t tel me why you were hurt in the first place.” She gestured toward the door. “I smel other lycans out there. Are they using you to control the others?”
Fuck…He’d do just about anything to not disappoint Lindsay. Anything except lie to her. “She didn’t do this to me, Linds. We were working together and I got jumped by a pack of vamps. She tried to get to me, but she couldn’t.”
“Working together,” she repeated. She slumped back into her seat, her gaze stark and sad. “What about Micah’s death? Was that part of some plan between you two?”
“No! For f**k’s sake. You know me better than that. We’re working together in spite of Micah’s murder, not because of it.”
She looked him straight in the eyes, then nodded, as if she saw the truth of what he said on his face. “Tel me honestly. Are we enemies now? Are you gunning for the Sentinels?”
“Never. I’m just trying to save as many lycan and mortal lives as possible.” He thought of the wraith ambush and a chil moved through him. What kind of world would they be living in if such attacks were commonplace? “The vamp infection we saw in Hurricane is spreading. Vash is trying to stop it.”
“Why couldn’t you stop it with us?” Straightening, she set her elbows on her knees and leaned in close. “Why did you have to revolt?”
“I didn’t want this.” He pled for her understanding with his gaze. “But once it happened, I couldn’t not step up. Those who want to work with the Sentinels wil find their way back to Adrian. The rest need an Alpha or they’l die. I couldn’t just turn my back and let that happen.”
The door opened and Vash walked in. “How cozy. I’m not interrupting an intimate moment, am I?”
Elijah felt the knot in his gut loosen at the sight of her. She was fresh from a shower, dressed in her trademark stark black with her damp hair pul ed back in a ponytail. Her skintight pants barely clung to her hips, while her short sleeveless vest was smal enough to pass for a bra. It was a testament to how incapacitated he was that his dick couldn’t muster more than a semi in appreciation.
“You’re a crazy bitch,” he said gruffly. He glanced at Lindsay. “You, too. Adrian can’t be happy about this. Shit, I’m not entirely happy about it.
You’re too exposed here.”
“What was I going to do?” Lindsay shot back. “Let you die? Couldn’t do it, El.”
Vash gave an exaggerated sigh and rol ed her eyes. “My god, the way women fawn al over you.”
Lindsay snorted. “So says the vampress who fought off Adrian to get blood for him.”
The ringing of a cel phone had Lindsay pushing to her feet. She dug it out of her pocket and answered. “Adrian…Yes, I’m fine.”
As she moved into a corner to talk, Vash stepped closer. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “How do you feel?”
“Like hammered shit.”
“You look like it, too.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Muttering to herself, she reached out and pushed her hands through his hair, brushing the strands back from his face. He nuzzled into her touch, moved by what she’d done for him. He was a man sworn to kil her, yet she had risked her life to save him. “You went to a lot of trouble, Vashti. Put a lot on the line.”
“Don’t read anything into it,” she muttered. “We need the lycans, and you’re a package deal.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s al this is,” she insisted, scowling.
“We don’t know what this is,” he said softly. Somewhere along the way, in an impossibly short span of time, their higher reasoning in regard to each other had been subverted by impulse.
Lindsay returned. She gave Elijah a searching glance. “Are we going to do this?”
He knew what she was asking, whether or not he wanted to risk the possible hazards of her blood. After what she and Vash had gone through to get it for him, it was a no-brainer. “Yeah, let’s do this.”
Needing air, Syre left the building. It was dusk now, the desert sky painted in shades of orange, pink, and purple. A streak of lightning arced through the sky, then another. Out of place, he thought, but beautiful.
The sizzling heat of the day had abated, as had the fury of his earlier mood. His second-in-command had put every vampire at risk by her actions, but part of him was secretly relieved to see her fighting for something beyond her vengeance. She’d been twisted by bitterness for so long. Long enough that it had become the only thing she lived for.
He pul ed his phone out of his pocket and dialed Adrian. When the cal went to voice mail, he left a message. “Adrian,” he said darkly. “Vashti’s actions today weren’t sanctioned. Nevertheless, I’l go to the wal for her. If it’s vengeance you want, you know where to find me. Leave her out of it.”