Chapter 10
Close to Home
I gasp, understanding what he's insinuating, and then I shake my head fervently.
"If he killed him, he only did it because of me. Gage you can't-"
"Relax, Alyssa. It wasn't even him that killed Heath, but someone tried setting Kane up."
"Care to clue me in?" Kane snarks from the top of the steps, and Gage rolls his eyes while pulling my hand in his.
"Watch how you speak to me. I just spent three hours convincing the Somage you had nothing to do with Heath's death. Be glad whoever is setting you up took a stab at you the night of the party we both attended. Otherwise, you'd be on your own."
"What?" Kane asks, his tone a little tilted from his angered pitch.
"Heath is dead, and you were painted a suspect. We found your scent on him, no doubt from the punch you left him with, but the kill was brutal, bloody as anything I've ever seen. Considering you barely had a drop of blood on your clothes, I vouched for the fact it couldn't have been you."
Kane grips his head and then motions us inside.
"Apparently, I can't catch a break."
Gage locks his fingers with mine as Kane walks in, leaving the door open to us.
"Your aura is definitely swirling all kinds of crazy right now. Thad can take you back to the hotel. You don't have to endure this. I know the bond is still hurting you," Gage murmurs softly.
I stare into the eyes I can't believe hold such depth of concern.
"You're right. There's no reason for me to be here. I'll go in with you to collect Thad, and you can fill me in later."
He nods, and then his soft lips and cool ring find my forehead. He pulls back frowning.
"You've got a fever."
Duh. I've been around Kane for too long.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
He has no idea how painful this bonding has become, and I'm ready for it to be over. Kane sure as hell wants no part of it. There's no one else I'll let set me free other than Gage.
We head inside to find Kane already starting the explanation for concern. I tug at Thad's shirt, and he turns to me curiously.
"Will you take me back to the hotel?"
"You don't want to stay for this?" he asks curiously.
I glance toward Kane who is staring directly into my eyes.
"No," I sigh out, turning back to face the blond changer. "I don't feel so well."
He nods, and Gage follows us out the door. He feels my forehead again before shaking his head.
"Give her some of that medicine. Maybe it'll help."
"The medicine Sierra gave her?" Kane asks as he suddenly joins us, making my body heat up all the more.
"Yeah," Gage says curtly, barely acknowledging Kane before resuming his eye contact with Thad. "Then let her get some sleep. That means you sleep next door in your room."
Thad chuckles, but his laughter dies out when my legs give out beneath me. He catches me before I even feel myself falling, and he cradles me to his chest.
"I'll just stay with her until the meds work."
Gage tightens his lips and then lets a shaky breath go. Kane's eyes are softer than earlier, showing me pity. I'm sick of his mood swings.
"Yeah. I won't be long. Call me if she gets worse," Gage says, his eyes riddled with sympathy and concern.
"Sure," Thad murmurs softly, and then he turns his gaze to me. "Let's get you patched up, firecracker."
I laugh, but it's forced. I lean into him as he carries me away. A quick glance over his shoulder allows me to see my dark ex-lover's gaze following me. I just look away, feeling myself only getting sicker.
"How are you feeling?" Gage asks as he walks in and comes to my bed.
I smile as he climbs in beside me and pulls me to his body.
"Better. The meds take the edge off; they just don't break the spell... so to speak."
He smiles as he pulls me closer, and then his lips gently graze mine as his scandalous hands slide down to cup my rear.
"How about I end this pain permanently?"
Involuntarily, I smile, which in turn forces his goofy grin to spread.
"Too bad Thad's asleep on the floor," I giggle out, my eyes motioning to the changer who is now grinning.
"Don't mind me. I won't look."
Gage lets a small laugh free, as do I, and then he kisses me sweetly on the lips before standing.
"I've actually got some more stuff to take care of. I'll be gone for a few days."
I sit up, feeling a little disappointed. "That's what you said last time, but you didn't stay gone long."
He smiles, giving me a small wink, and then he starts toward the door. "I have to stay gone this time. Last time was special circumstances. This is a personal thing."
"Sounds serious," I chirp, wondering why it is he's not providing very much.
"It is. My mother is cooking, and she wants her son home for a big announcement."
I let a laugh escape and he flashes me a smile before vaporizing in front of the door.
"What are you doing?" I ask as Thad tosses his clothes in his bag.
"I have to go deal with a fucking mess my crew has made. They got into it with a neighboring rival of ours, and now I've got to meet with the head to make peace. Gage should be back tomorrow. In the meantime, I've reached desperate measures and procured some help."
"Help to watch me like a child, you mean?"
He laughs lightly while nodding. "Yep. He should be here-" A knock at the hotel room door draws our attention. "Right now," he continues before walking over to greet the new babysitter.
I gasp when it opens to reveal Zee. So he goes from not trusting any of them to calling one over to baby-sit me.
"Am I late?" he chirps while tossing his bag to the floor.
"Right on time. You've got my number, so call me if anything seems even a little off."
"I will. Your dark user gave me the same instructions when he called me earlier."
"You talked to Gage?" I ask, a small lilt to my voice.
Zee nods, a thin smile forming. "It seems you're like royalty to some. Dray told me I'd better call him if the wind blew wrong. Care to explain why he's so taken with you?"
Thad laughs, knowing the curiosity plaguing Kane and his coven is eating them up.
"One day I might. So, you drew the short straw?" I ask while flopping down on the bed.
We've moved to a two bed bedroom since Gage is so freaked out about my safety. He must be terrified if he's been letting Thad stay with me.
"It was either me, Deke, Amy, or Sierra. Sierra and Deke had a stakeout to work, and I thought you might prefer me over Amy."
I noticed Kane wasn't even an option.
"Definitely not Amy. Is she still pissed about me breaking her arm?"
He accidentally laughs, proving he's not as attached to the wild thing as the others are.
"She is, but we all knew she had it coming."
Thad smirks as he walks over and kisses my forehead.
"Call me later. Let me know how you're feeling."
Essentially, he doesn't trust Zee as much as he wants me to believe, so he wants me to call him and let him hear my voice for himself so he can ensure my safety.
"I will. Be careful."
"Always. I'll bring you some socks," he says with a devious grin.
My eyes widen, realizing he's apparently been talking to Frankie again.
"You asshole!"
He bursts out laughing and rushes out the door before I can throw my shoe at his head.
"Socks?" Zee muses. "Is that a light user joke or something?"
I can feel the heat in my face, but I decide to shift the topic as opposed to letting the awkwardness settle in.
"Any sign of Castine or the person trying to set up Kane?"
His lips tighten as he drops to the bed beside him.
"No, none. Whoever is trying to fuck with Kane has a rude awakening coming. He's pissed. That's what he's doing tonight. He's actually here in Edgebrook, meeting up with a source."
My stomach does somersaults the second he lets that bit of information free. I try not to act affected, but I'm sure it's written in my eyes.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned him. I sometimes forget my manners. It's new to me... all of this, still. I'm struggling with the transition process, so I'm stuck between human feelings and vampiric coldness. Kane assures me I'll fully find my way back to my human emotions one day."
Ha. That's ironic.
"I don't think he should be one to give advice on such. I didn't realize you're new."
He smirks, taking in my snarky remark on Kane, and then he reclines back on the bed.
"Just a few years in. That's why I still crave the bite. Thanks to Deke and Kane, I've got my blood thirst under control. My sire was killed last year by another one of her spawned creations. It worked out to my benefit. I only had to break a few of the painful binds to her in order to escape into hiding."
So Zee and Amy are both newbies. That's surprising. He seems so... at ease with his newer, darker self.
His jet black hair is spiky, different from the others in Kane's coven. He's very lean, but muscular. Of course he's sexy. Just like all the immortals. I hate my world.
"Didn't feel like falling into the vicious folds of the life?" I ask, looking for insight.
"Not at all. I never wanted to be a killer. My sire wanted me, liked the way I looked in a pair of jeans. She didn't want to share either. She killed my fiancée, and then she turned me, planning to make me into one of her possessions for all eternity. Her seductive hold over me didn't last long because she wasn't very strong. After a year, I came to my senses, and Kane was there with Dray. They saved me."
It's hard to think of Kane as a hero when he's my destroyer. Though he's saved me in the past, now he's merciless.
"You know it was us who saved you that night in the woods, don't you?" he asks, a smile growing on his lips.
"Yeah. I figured it out when Kane brought up the redhead comment."
He laughs and then shakes his head. "That night, too, but I'm talking about when you were in the dark users' forest."
My heart sinks to my toes. "So you knew. He did know, and he's been faking this whole time. I was right."
None of that was a question. I knew he knew.
"No, actually we had no clue. What light witch in her right mind strolls through dark user territory? We thought you were as mortal as they came. You never once used your power or showed your mark. It shocked the fuck out of Amy when you pinned her with the earth."
I'm not sure if I believe him, but I'm not arguing tonight. This whole time I thought Thad and his group had been my heroes that night.
His phone rings, and he slips it free with a frown.
"Hey," he murmurs softly, and my hyped up hearing offers me a chance to hear the other side.
"My source was a dead end. Sierra said you're in Edgebrook. Where are you? I'll come fill you in."
Kane. Fuck, it's Kane.
He didn't even know Zee was staying with me.
"I'm at the Cliffside hotel with... Alyssa. Tha-"
"Alyssa?" he screeches, seeming pissed and betrayed. "What the hell are you doing in a fucking hotel with Alyssa? Zee, I'll kick your ass if you-"
"I'm here because Thad had to go handle some stuff and Gage is out of town. She isn't allowed to stay alone with Castine stalking her."
Zee is fighting back his laughter. He's intentionally poking the bear and loving it. I guess Kane may not want me, but he sure as hell doesn't want his friends pawing at me either.
"What are you supposed to do if Castine shows up?" He sounds really, really pissed now. "I can't believe they just fucking left her with you."
"Hey, easy. I'm not defenseless, and I'm fast as hell, for the record. I could get her out of here and far away before Castine even knew which room we're in."
Kane grumbles on the other line, something too low for me to make out, and then he mutters, "Fine. Tell me what room you're in. I'll be there in five."
My whole body tenses up, and I shake my head vigorously at Zee, my eyes begging him to tell Kane to fuck off.
He smirks, a devilish glisten to his eyes. "Room 515. Take your time. Alyssa was just about to change into something a little more comfortable."
"Asshole," Kane snarks.
"Gotta go, Kane. I'm about to see if Alyssa looks good in pink."
The line goes silent, and Zee laughs ferociously hard before putting his phone down. He looks at me and shrugs as I glare at him with hell's fury seething through me.
"Sorry. Kane's easy to fuck with."
"I can't be in the same room as him for very long, so make him leave. It's physically torture for me."
His laughter fades, and then he purses his lips.
"I didn't think about that. Sierra's meds aren't helping?"
"Only when he's not around me, and they're barely helping then. Why is he so freaked out about you being here?"
A wolfish grin takes the place of his apologetic expression. "Because girls love my bite. He probably thinks I'm here to set you free from your bond. Secretly, I think he's hoping you stay bound to him. It's in our nature to be possessive. He's claimed you since the day he set eyes on you. He made it very clear to all of us you were his."
"I don't belong to-"
Before I can finish, Kane is barging through the door, breaking the lock.
"You could have just knocked," Zee chuckles out.
Kane glowers at him, ready to knock him out, but he shakes his head and curses under his breath instead.
"You're a complete dick, you know," Kane gripes while pulling up a chair on the opposite side of the room from me.
He can distance himself all he wants; it still kills me to be in his presence.
"I know," Zee snickers out. "You got here faster than five minutes."
"Why didn't you tell me you were on guard detail?"
I tune them out, my pulse finding my ears, and I try to hold my breath to make the worst of it go away. Without looking back, I head into the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face.
I kneel to the ground when it all becomes a little overwhelming - too intense for me to withstand.
"Alyssa, we're calling for you," Zee says as he opens the door. "Shit. Are you okay?"
Before I can swat him away, I'm being picked up, but it's not Zee. Kane's arms are around me, pulling me into his toxic perfection.
"You need to get out of here. It's her proximity to you that seems to make it worse," Zee mutters, but my arms clutch tighter around Kane's neck, begging him to get closer.
"I can't just leave her with you."
"I'm not going to do anything. I was just fucking with you. Go. Get out before she gets sicker."
Before Kane can speak, my lips are on his as I prop up and wrap my legs around his waist. He grips me tightly to him, kissing me back as I tug at his hair.
"Or you could stay and take care of it that way," Zee says through a chuckle.
The pain is almost unbearable as I tear myself away. It feels like someone has just filleted me with a dull knife, but I end it before I can let him break me more.
"No. I need some air. Kane, please be gone when I get back," I shakily release, my legs wobbling beneath me as I head outside.
"Fuck," he says in an angered, exasperated tone as I slink through the hallway of the hotel.
I see a taxi without a fare, and I decide now's as good a time as any for a road trip. I have to get away from Kane, and I know he's not going to leave. I can't keep letting him break me like the sadistic bastard he is.
Besides, there's someone I never thanked.