Vampire's Soul

  "There's one here, too." Rand lifted the other hand from Cai's arm so he could see Rand's left wrist. The new mark was also over the old scar, and looked like a tongue of flame, with some discoloration of the skin that enhanced the effect.

  "Son of a bitch. That's the third mark." At Rand's quizzical look, Cai explained. "Along with the internal effects of the third mark, there's a permanent mark that comes up on the servant's skin. Never fades." He colored a little under Rand's amused look, realizing he sounded like he was reading from a book. "Lyssa gave me some Servant 101. She said it usually has some symbolism to it. The number eight have any meaning to you? Or something that looks like fire?"

  Rand's brow furrowed, but he shook his head.

  "It could be bullshit," Cai said. "Just a mark that doesn't mean anything."

  But it did odd things to him, seeing evidence that the third mark was true...and permanent. He needed blood. He was getting weird and maudlin.

  "Drink," Rand said.

  Cai's head lifted. He and the wolf were nearly eye to eye. "That's what it is," he said abruptly, stiffening. He pushed up straight, made himself sit up and face Rand. "You're in my head. You can read my mind, same as I can read yours."

  He was sure of it, even though all his vampire senses said his mind was closed to Rand, that he was only letting him hear what he wanted him to hear. And the expression on Rand's face confirmed it.

  "Yes and no," Rand said. "You're not reading mine right now. You think you'll do something wrong again and break my brain."

  Cai blinked. Rand's lips twitched, and the shifter lifted a shoulder. "Shifters read emotions, body language...energy. We can pull it together and pretty closely translate it into what someone's thinking. Almost as accurate as having a link to someone's mind. So I'm not in your mind," he corrected Cai. "I'm reading everything about you, basically, and translating it into thought. Difference between your mark and my abilities is I have to be close to you to do it. Have to have your scent first and foremost, and then sight and hearing help feed the intuition sensors, so to speak."

  "Ah." Cai digested that. "How does that factor into you being okay with me now, instead of pissed off?"

  "I wasn't angry with you. I was freaked out. I had to run, to clear my head. I did. And I heard everything you thought at me. That's a nice perk to your ability. I can't telegraph to you with mine." Rand sighed. "I realized it's all just a kick in the ass from fate, you know. Losing my family, getting shot by the hunter, you and me crossing paths, this girl needing us. I realized I can't figure any of it out. I can only follow what I know is right. And trying to get Dovia back to her family is right. Might not fix anything inside me, but it's better than running around the forest by myself, wallowing in self-pity. Sheba and Dylef would have been ashamed of me."

  "No." Cai's reaction to that was instantaneous. "I mean, okay, fuck it, what do I know about family? But my guess is they loved you, much as you loved them. You're allowed to grieve."

  "Maybe." Rand shrugged, and there were shadows in his gaze, that grief still there, but mixed with other things. "But I think you were my wakeup call to do something better with my life."

  "Wow. Pretty sure I've never inspired anyone to that. Think I was just hitching a ride on your bitch slap wakeup call."

  Rand's brow quirked and he looked down. Cai realized he'd reached out, rested his hand on Rand's thigh. He'd wanted some kind of contact, apparently, and his mind hadn't even asked what he thought about it. Just done it.

  Cai took his hand away. "Break your brain? It's already broken. Dumbass wolf."

  Rand smiled, and it was a sweet gesture, irresistible because the shifter had no idea how it made Cai feel, seeing him smile with ease again. It also made Cai want to be in the shifter's head, see what was happening.

  "Then do it. You're not going to break me, vampire. I'm way tougher than your kind."

  "I'm sorry; who found who, shot by a hunter?"

  "Who practically carried you to this bed?"

  "You did not carry me," Cai contested, but they were both grinning like loons. "Ah fuck it."

  It was like taking a jump into a swimming hole on a hot day, something he wanted to do, but there was that hesitation for fuck-knew-why reason, before you committed yourself to gravity.

  There. He was in Rand's mind, and all the words that Rand had spoken, they were there. Truths, a mix of shadows and light, so many pathways, and all of them ones Cai could follow, explore. Bound. They were soul bound.

  Maybe other vampires would have reacted differently to what Cai had figured out and Rand had revealed, but Cai didn't think it was such a bad deal for Rand to be able to read him almost as accurately as Cai could do the same, even if they were going at it different ways. He didn't mind having a level playing field with the shifter. In certain ways.

  Rand didn't respond to that. Not with words. He was still reclined on the bed the way he'd been when Cai had been in the curve of his arm. All that brawn was propped on one elbow, denim cupping and stretching over his lower body the right way. The shifter considered him, then slowly flattened his palm on the mattress, moved it forward and back, a short, inviting stroke.

  I liked holding you when you were about to drink from my throat. Liked the way you felt there.

  Rand didn't have two centuries of carefully cultivated emotional suppression that would make him pretend like he didn't want something he did. Something that shot an arrow straight into someone else's heart.

  Cai was wrapped up in Rand's thoughts. Did the wolf realize he had no context for the softer side of sex? Intimacy and caring...

  "Then don't get bogged down in that," Rand said quietly. "Just come and take the blood your servant is offering."

  The words rippled through nerves, over his skin. Cai reached forward, touching Rand's face, sliding fingertips along his jaw. When Rand started to lift his hand, Cai shook his head. The shifter paused, then put it down, remaining still as Cai slid his touch down, using the pressure of his thumb to tell Rand what he wanted.

  Rand tipped his head up, his body sinking back onto the bed. Cai could play hard to get, though it really wasn't his style. But taking charge of things...that was a different matter.

  Stretching out beside him, Cai put his hand up against the other side of Rand's throat, his fingers curling into his broad shoulder.

  He'd liked it when Rand was holding him. He wouldn't go that route now, because he was feeling too exposed, but as he closed his eyes, Cai remembered Rand leaning over him, a welcome shelter of heat and blood, his long brown hair brushing Cai's face and neck.

  Cai knew blood was blood, but vampires did seem to get more...emotional sustenance taking from the throat. He'd leave it to nerds like Brian to figure out why. He didn't care to question it. All that mattered was Rand's scent, the taste of him so temptingly close in that beating artery.

  No other conversation was needed. He bit, and Rand slid an arm all the way around him, holding Cai tight as he drank deep. He admonished himself not to take more than he needed, but God, the male's blood was like vanilla-scented sex. Rand wasn't immune to the effect, either. His hand slid down Cai's back, pressed into the small of it, large fingers curling over the top of his buttocks. Just that light caress sent tingles of sensation right to Cai's balls. Cai made an approving noise in his throat. He wouldn't mind grabbing Rand's ass with both hands, but his fingers were occupied tangling in the male's hair, and feeling heated skin and the pulse of his blood in Rand's shoulder and throat.

  Rand adjusted again, this time moving them onto their sides, and then, yes, Cai let the wolf move them so he was on his back and Rand was over him, his hair brushing Cai's face and shoulder as Cai drank from his throat and explored his broad shoulder and back, dug his fingers into his waist, through the T-shirt Rand was wearing.

  When he realized he was seeking the intimacy over the lust, it should have freaked Cai the fuck out, but he ignored that and took the gift. He'd been stabbed by a katana. He was allowed one weak mome
nt.

  After a time, he closed the wound and lay back, gazing up at the wolf. Rand stayed canted over him, hand resting on Cai's hip bone. Cai's shoulder was tucked in under Rand's propped elbow and wall of chest.

  "I'm sorry, Rand. About the third mark thing. I really am an ass."

  "Yeah, you are." Rand didn't sound all that bothered about it, and his furrowed brow said he'd moved on to other things. "I think one of us should talk to Daegan and Gideon about strategy. If their experiences would give us an advantage with the girl, I think that's worth it. I can go see them. If the information isn't useful, we've only lost a few moments. If it is, it's more we have in our arsenal."

  Cai sighed. "Yeah. Why don't you go do that and I'll rest up here? I should be good to go in about an hour."

  Rand rose. "Don't leave without me. I'll just track you down."

  It was an intentional regurgitation of the threat Cai had used against him when Rand was recovering from the hunter's bullet wound. Cai was absurdly reassured by the attempt at teasing, and gave him back some of the same in his head.

  Yeah, good luck with that, your four feet against a V6 engine.

  It felt good to talk inside his head, and there was an even easier quality to it than he'd experienced with the second mark. Rand recognized it, too.

  Cai wouldn't leave him here, but that tiny corner of his soul that wasn't a selfish bastard wished he could keep Rand from going with him into the bowels of the Trad world. And bowels was exactly the right word. They'd be neck deep in shit, with nothing but their wits and bare hands to survive it. Let alone rescue a girl who was likely already dead.

  He was a complete dumbass for agreeing to do this.

  Chapter Eleven

  They took their leave with little fanfare. Cai had no interest in a tearful parental admonition from Leona, and veiled threats from Georg would just piss him off. Rand had returned from his meet with Gideon and Daegan with tactical information about approaches and exit strategies that were unexpectedly helpful to the plan Cai was formulating in his mind. They'd given Rand a burner phone he or Cai could use to report location updates. Daegan and Gideon would be following behind them, staying near as possible without spooking the Trad enclave.

  "They get that they can't be too close," Rand had told Cai. "But they'd rather be twenty-five miles away instead of a few hundred, if we need backup."

  It made sound sense, though Cai avoided admitting it. "Okay," he said. "Long as they understand we have a far better chance getting her out if Goddard and his bunch have no fucking clue anyone's in the area looking for her."

  "They do."

  Cai didn't want Gideon involved in any of this, but a human who could hunt vampires effectively would know the meaning of the word stealth. Cai couldn't deny that. And he expected Daegan was like a shadow himself.

  He and Rand left out the kitchen entrance, because it was the quickest way to the van that had been pulled up to the house. Cai noted someone had courteously cleaned the interior, so not even a whiff of his blood was detectable. "You know, if being Voltaire's muscle-brained bitch doesn't work out, you have a promising career in cleaning crime scenes," he told Chavez, who handed over the keys.

  "Fuck you. Just bring her back," Chavez said. "Or we'll hunt you down and what I did to you will feel like the best day of your life.'

  "More threats. How original. Do me a favor and stand directly behind the van as we're pulling out."

  Chavez sneered. "Georg's desperate if he's asking some scumbag Trad for help. You can say you aren't one all you want." His nostrils flared. "Smells like one, acts like one, is one."

  "Better that than a bunch of sycophants pretending to care about his daughter being rescued, when what you really hope is she isn't. Then you can fight over his job when he falls to pieces."

  Chavez's jaw clenched, along with his fists, and Cai braced himself for another match. He was fortified with Rand's blood and he wanted some payback. He also wouldn't mind spilling off some of the tension that was building up in him. If Chavez had had to face the things Cai had faced with Goddard, he'd shit himself three different ways, curl up in a ball and call for his mommy. Cai had been down that road, so he knew it was true.

  He took a step forward, encouraging Chavez. But Chavez's gaze shifted past him, toward the kitchen door, and he backed off. Cai could feel her there, Lady Lyssa, but he pretended not to see her. Rand could handle the niceties.

  Cai really didn't want to talk to anyone, feel the weight of anyone else's expectations. This would either work or it wouldn't. A bunch of words wouldn't change anything.

  He handed the keys to Rand and climbed into the back. He wasn't completely recovered from the wound in his chest so, even though it was still a few hours from dawn, he'd probably take a nap in the back seat for the full re-charge while Rand handled the driving.

  Despite all the other possible drawbacks to this evening, one thing pleased Cai. The third mark had given Rand the extra boost needed. There was no evidence, inside or out, of Rand's previous injuries from the hunter.

  On the down side of things, Cai saw the queen coming toward the van and stifled a muttered curse. Figuring Rand wouldn't obey him if he told him to peel out before she could get there, Cai slouched down in the seat behind him. Jacob was with her and offered Rand a zipped tote through the driver's open window. "Some food for the trip," he said. "To help keep you both fortified."

  Rand nodded his thanks. Jacob turned and rolled back the passenger side door of the van for Lyssa. Cai stayed in the same position, pretending to be half asleep. He could feel Rand's wincing disapproval. Yeah, some part of Cai might want to straighten and assume a more respectful pose, but he seemed to have a contrary side that refused to let him do things the easy way.

  "There's no need for a send-off," Cai said gruffly. "My chances of failure are astronomical. I'll send your girl back to you if I can get her. But I don't expect to cross your path again."

  "Pity. I was planning a ticker tape parade down Madison Avenue if you succeeded." Lyssa's gaze held a touch of dangerous humor. "Give me your hand."

  She put her own out, palm up. Cai paused, but then shrugged and complied. Her fingers were slim and strong. She wore a small ring on one, a whimsical trinket, rather than the expensive heirloom he'd expect. It was pewter, with a small fairy design.

  "Creation magic is a powerful thing," she said. "You've experimented with it some, but because the Trads wished to exploit it, you've done your best to explore it as little as possible. Am I correct?"

  Cai lifted a noncommittal shoulder and she made an equally neutral noise. "Don't overlook its use as a weapon or ally where needed. Such magic is hard to quantify and often opens your path to other abilities you didn't know you had."

  There was a noticeable energy in her palm, that met a similar energy in his own. As she lifted her hand, Cai blinked at the sight of a small rosebud clasped between them, still glowing with the combined energies that had created it. Lyssa smiled at his startled look, and she released him, leaving the rose in his hand.

  "You are an angry person, Cai," she said softly. "With many dark spaces and things to resolve. But I believe you're also a good and honorable male."

  "No offense, but if you think that, you're a rotten judge of character."

  "It's not your behavior which has told me this, but his." She nodded to Rand. "He wouldn't follow one not worthy of it."

  He snorted. "He's even more of a dysfunctional mess than I am. I wouldn't trust his judgment, either."

  That touch of humor came and went again, and she stepped back. "Do your best, Mordecai, and you'll have my gratitude. As well as Lord Greenwald's. You may not seek friends, but we often need them in the world. Goddess keep you."

  Jacob moved to close the door, but Cai straightened and handed the rose back to Lyssa. "For safe keeping," he said. "Nothing beautiful should be going where we're going."

  She sobered. "I'll keep it safe and growing until your return, and we'll put it by Dovia's be
dside together."

  Cai had no reply to that. He practically sighed in relief when Jacob closed the door. Taking that as his cue, Rand turned over the engine and put the van in gear.

  A glance in the rear-view mirror showed the wolf looking...optimistic. The little magic show had apparently given Rand a needed spike of hope. Cai wished it was possible to borrow the feeling.

  Though it was a couple hours to daylight, a pre-dawn mist cloaked the asphalt drive up to the house. It was peaceful and quiet here, the air flavored by the nearby active horse farms; grass, glossy flanks and the oddly not unpleasant faint odor of manure.

  "So where should we drop off the van?" Rand ventured when they reached the turnoff to the highway.

  Cai gave him a mental map of the national park he had in mind. "Once we reach that part of West Virginia, that's where we'll hit the hiking trails, then leave those behind. If humans have seen Goddard's group and lived to tell the tale, they'll be classified as some kind of anti-government, off-the-grid types. Which, multiply that by a crazy power of three, and you have Trads. Throw in a few doses of total psycho serial killer mentality and that's Goddard. He's a warm and fuzzy guy. We should bring him some Girl Scout cookies as a peace offering. Or just Girl Scouts. Even better. Now, tell me about this shifter pack you think is nearby."

  Rand glanced up at him in the mirror. "Good memory."

  "Hey, I'm the guy who remembered fucking you was on my to do list, even when I was interrupted by a several hour beating." Cai tapped his forehead. "Mind like a steel trap."

  "More like a lump of iron," Rand scoffed, but he answered Cai's question. "Several years ago, a family I knew lived in that area. We lost contact, but if they're still there, it's possible they could help us locate Goddard faster. They tend to keep track of human or humanoid movement."

  "Why didn't you go looking for them after you lost your own pack?"

  "It doesn't work that way." Rand shook his head. "You have to observe the proper protocols, be invited. I wasn't ready for any of that."