CHAPTER FOUR
She woke with a start.
“Looks like you’re feeling better,” Umberto said. “You’ve got that sparkle back in your eyes.”
He was dressed again and looking entirely too pleased with himself.
She was feeling better. The throbbing in her head had receded and strength was returning to her limbs. Had it been the sex?
“I’m still bound.”
He leaned over her, fiddled with the chains. One arm fell free of the cuff. The next followed shortly after. But before she could draw her arms to herself to massage her wrists, Umberto began rubbing the raw flesh with the tips of his fingers. “Does that feel better?”
It did, but she was so confused. How was it she kept giving in to him? She begged, actually begged him for sex this time. She knew she should try to get out of the house and into the forest. She knew she needed her CU. Wolf had taken it with him when he’d left the room. But she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay with Umberto, curse him. What was happening to her?
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked.
He leaned forward to kiss her, but she turned her head away.
She was surprised at the hurt that showed in his eyes. “I am so confused right now. I have no idea what’s really me and what you’re making me feel. I’ve never reacted to a man the way I’ve reacted to you. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”
He stared at her for a few moments, then seemed to come to a decision. “We need to talk.” So saying, he sat up and stared levelly at her. “Despite what you might think, you’re not Talhari, Bleu.”
She shook her head, denying his statement. “What do you know about it?”
“Do you know what a psychic embed is?”
“Of course I do.”
He lifted a brow. “Do you, now? Why don’t you enlighten me then?”
“If I tell you, will you release me?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Absolutely not. This conversation isn’t for my benefit, it’s for yours.”
“Ah, so it’s for me. Nice try, but too bad. I’m not releasing classified information to you.”
“All right then, I’ll tell you. But before the embeds, let’s deal with your enhanced physiology. You’ve got Intel S—smart steel—built into your skeleton. The Talhari stole the design from the military, so it’s been created with technology the average person won’t know exists for at least ten years. They’ve also manipulated it, added to it. Talhari Intel-S makes you stronger and faster than any un-enhanced human. I’ve seen Talhari who could leap onto five-story buildings, fell a tree with his bare hands and never break a sweat.” He paused to study her face. “You’re still with me?”
She nodded.
“In addition to your enhancements, it’s pretty hard to kill you. Because your job is to dispatch pesky blood drinkers, your immune system has been given a bit of a boost, just in case a vampire manages to overpower you and suck your precious blood. You heal faster than a normal human, you never get sick, and for every thirty years, you age one. Essentially, you’re a living, breathing superhuman.”
“So you’ve done a bit of research. Big deal.”
“Let’s talk about you then. You spent your last three years training under Gaia Knight. You received your CU one year ago, your enhancements nine months ago—which is why you haven’t mastered your new strength yet—and you weren’t scheduled to get your embeds until you proved yourself worthy on this mission.”
She stared at him, open-mouthed. Her fist clenched at this violation of her private life. “You’ve been studying me?”
“I know that you grew up an orphan. You spent the first sixteen years of your life in various foster homes. You tried your hand at college for a while, but it wasn’t a good fit. During your second year of college you met Alma, the female recruiter for the Talhari that services the New England area. She spent the next year and a half wooing you, slowly initiating you into the order. At twenty, you faked your death so you could join the Talhari as an apprentice. Am I right so far? On second thought, don’t answer. I know I’m right.”
“You pried into my life.”
He laughed again. “Are you saying you haven’t pried into my life, and Dario, Mathias, and Erik’s?”
Ignoring this, she jumped to the central point. “So essentially you’re telling me that the vampires have files on the Talhari?”
“There are vampires and there are bloodsuckers.” He smiled at her. “Did you think you could waltz in and kill us without a fight?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’m an old man, Bleu. You don’t get to be as old as me without acquiring a few survival skills over the years.”
“And my embeds?”
“Embeds are the crux of the matter. Embeds are the supposed implants that make it possible for hunters to communicate telepathically.”
Right again, she thought.
“Embeds are nothing more than a genetic alteration. You’d go from superhuman to barely human at all.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not. But you don’t have to believe me. I’m going to show you the truth tonight.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because I am Talhari, not Kyle and Nick. Kyle and Nick belong to a branch of the order that has broken off. The Talhari elders do not agree with the use of embeds, which should have been the end of the discussion. They’re not safe. They cause extreme violence and genetic alterations. But there are others in the order who disagreed with the elders. They think the elders made a mistake and have decided to go forward on their own. They think embeds are a move to the future of fighting Undesirables.”
“Undesirables?”
“That’s what we call any supernatural creature. Further, the Talhari order was started by vampires.”
“You lie.”
“Vampires who do not kill. That’s what I am. That’s what all of Forsaken are. There are humans in the order now, and that’s why we’ve adopted the use of Intel-S. To make them as impervious to harm as the immortals. You think you were sent to kill us, but you have it wrong. We’ve been sent out by the Elders to persuade any rogue to return to the order. If they refuse, they’re to be dispatched.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“There’s a civil war within the Talhari. You got caught in the middle of it.”
He stared at her for a beat, and then his fingers were light on her again, stroking the insides of her arms and sending lovely little frissons over her skin. “You really don’t remember me?”
“No, I don’t remember you.”
“You don’t remember our wedding day?”
“I’m not Simone.”
“Wolf told you.”
“I saw the painting. We may look alike, but I’m not her. I can’t be.” Should she tell him about the dreams, she wondered?
“Someone’s coming.”
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn’t hear what he’d said.
Then someone called him from the hall. “Umberto!”
He froze.
“Umberto!” the voice called again.
With a heavy groan, he pulled away. “Something is wrong. We have to go down.”
She tried to shake her head to clear it.
“Can you stand, Bleu?”
“Stand? Go down where?”
“Downstairs. I think Nick is awake.”
Nick’s name was like a splash of ice water. “Kyle?”
“He died in the attack.”
She grabbed the clothes he gave her. Jeans and a t-shirt and boots.
Kyle dead? “Nick? He’s here?” she asked as she changed into the clothes.
Umberto got to his feet. “He is. We caught him and four others at the raid two nights ago.”
“And you’re just telling me now?” She’d been lying with him, enjoying his touch while he held her teammate captive.
“Umberto!” Wolf pushed through the door and came to a sliding halt beside the bed. “They’ve escaped.”
Umberto swung around. “What? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. But we have to track them before it’s too late. We can’t let them escape. Our location will be blown.”
“This isn’t good.” Umberto clasped her hand and started forward at a run.