Flesh and Blood

‘Who are you?’ The man’s gaze swept him from head to toe and back.

‘Creek. She knows me. And you?’

‘Yeah, she knows me, too. What’s your business?’ He rolled one muscle-rounded shoulder. His hands were taped like he’d just stepped out of a boxing ring. Judging from his sweaty T-shirt, maybe he had.

‘My business is with Chrysabelle.’ Creek squared his body and narrowed his eyes. No one intimidated a KM.

‘Hey,’ a female voice called out. ‘You coming back up or are you tired of me whaling on you?’ At least he knew Chrysabelle was home now.

The black man looked off to the left. ‘Man here says he has business with you. Name’s Creek.’

‘Be right there.’ And a few moments later, a flushed and glowing Chrysabelle appeared. Her white tank top was sheer with perspiration, showing her sports bra beneath it. The gleam of sweat on her skin set her signum on fire. She pushed tendrils of hair off her face with one forearm and wiped her forehead with the other. Her hands were taped just like the varcolai’s.

‘It’s okay, Doc.’ She patted his arm. Maybe Doc was some kind of trainer. ‘Hit the shower if you want. That’s enough for today.’

Doc grunted, gave Creek a look of pure warning, and disappeared into the house.

Creek waited a few seconds longer to be sure he was gone. ‘I don’t know how you stand all that friendly.’

Chrysabelle smiled. ‘Doc’s a great guy. He’s just been a little on edge lately. What brings you by?’

‘I need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?’

‘Can’t stop you, can I?’ She moved to let him in. ‘It’s not like you’re a vampire.’

Not by a long shot. ‘I won’t come in if you don’t want me to.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s fine.’

He walked into the foyer, waited for her to close the door, then followed her into a large sitting room. White and ivory dominated the decorating. Very comarré. She sat at the edge of a snowy leather sofa. He took a seat across from her. She lifted the hem of her tank top and wiped sweat from the hollow of her throat. The gauze covering her stitches was gone, leaving three pink sutured lines visible on her skin. They seemed to be healing well. And fast.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I realize I’m intruding. You’d probably rather be showering.’

She laughed. ‘Is that your way of telling me I smell?’

‘No. Hell, no. I’ve always been partial to a healthy sweat on a beautiful woman. It’s the ones who never exert themselves you have to worry about. I take it you were training?’

She nodded. ‘Have to stay sharp. Doc makes a great sparring partner.’

‘So would I.’

She smiled a little. ‘I’m sure you would.’

He gave her an out by pointing at her stomach. ‘You should probably get those stitches out if you’re healing as quickly as you seem to be.’

She flushed, or maybe she’d been that shade of pink already. ‘It’s not hard, right? Just snip and pull? I can get Velimai to do it.’

‘I’m glad you’ve got her. Wyspers are good to have around.’ Very good. Particularly if vampires dropped by unexpectedly. Which gave him a way into the real reason he was here. ‘Especially if there’s something in the house worth protecting.’

Her brows furrowed. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

There was no point in skating around it. ‘I – that is, the Kubai Mata – we know about the ring.’

She pushed back, her jaw tensing. ‘Does everyone know about that wretched thing? I suppose you think I should give it to you for safekeeping, right?’

That answered the question of whether she’d be keeping the ring or not. He leaned his elbows on his knees. ‘Not me, but back to the Kubai Mata, yes.’

‘Back to them? You make it sound like it was theirs to begin with.’

‘It was. Your patron, Algernon, was working with the KM as an inside source. Somehow he found out about the ring and stole it from the archives. Flipped on them. The grand masters are not happy.’

‘Algernon?’ Her hands unclenched. ‘I never would have guessed that about him, but our relationship wasn’t exactly deep.’ She shook her head, taking it all in. ‘Do you know what the ring’s power is? Why Tatiana wants it so badly?’

‘No.’ He snorted out a breath. ‘I may be KM, but I’m also just a grunt.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I’m not high on their trust list.’

She tipped her head and looked at him like she was seeing him with new eyes. ‘I trust you.’

He hadn’t expected that. ‘You don’t know me well enough to trust me.’ Although he wanted her to. Very much.

‘You saved my life. I trust you until you give me reason to do otherwise.’

He bowed his head. ‘I hope that doesn’t happen.’ And he meant it. Someday she’d understand that what he was doing was for her good and the good of mankind. He lifted his chin and looked into her eyes. ‘Do you feel that way about Malkolm?’

She narrowed her gaze. ‘You mean do I trust him?’

‘Do you?’

She hesitated. ‘Yes.’

‘But?’

Her fingers wound around each other. ‘No but. I trust him.’