This one appeared real as it perched between the women, eyes darting back and forth between them. It had ratty dark brown fur, a large pink tongue that stuck out with drool dripping from it, and a long tail that wagged. And wagged and wagged and wagged.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
The dog jumped excitedly, then trotted to him and wound around his legs. He grimaced. Neither of the women acted surprised to see him. They just kept checking pyre-crystals.
“Got a text from Mia,” Ava said. She’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt. “The Schön queen cornered Dallas again, and now he’s in the hospital.”
McKell tried to shoo the animal away. “Is he infected?” It remained at his side, fur softer than he’d realized, but still. Annoying.
“Nah,” Noelle replied. “Friendly fire.”
“And you plan to…?” He glanced between them. The dog used his inattention to its advantage, licking his palm. He couldn’t help his yelp of disgust. “Don’t do that again, or I’ll gut you.”
Rather than racing away in terror, the dog gazed up at him with big, brown eyes.
“That’s Hellina. Hell for short,” Noelle said, motioning to the dog with a tilt of her chin.
The ugly thing was female?
“And we’re going out to kill vampires,” Ava said, as if it were obvious.
His brow furrowed. He was having trouble connecting the dots. “What does one—Dallas’s injury—have to do with the other—vampire hunting?”
“Well,” she said, shoving a thick, curved blade in the sheath now hanging at her side. “Both piss me off.”
“I see.” Was he to be one of her victims? Would she now try to wash her hands of him? Try to kick him out of her apartment? “Are the actions of my people a deal breaker, then?” Translation: Would he have to seduce her into liking him again?
Such a dirty, dirty job.
Noelle laughed, and Ava’s cheeks reddened. “No,” Ava said. “AIR needs you.”
What of you? he almost asked, but didn’t. He didn’t want an audience for that particular conversation.
Hellina rubbed against him, demanding his attention. Not knowing what else to do, he reached down and scratched behind her ears. She closed her eyes, as if she’d never experienced so expert a touch. Which, of course, she hadn’t.
“You’re gonna stay here, because, as you’ve proven, all the vampires run away from you,” she continued. “Plus, dawn will arrive soon, and unless you want to drain me completely, you can’t survive out there. There are a thousand other reasons but we’ll leave them at blah, blah, blah.”
“First, you can’t handle vampires on your own, Ava.” What would have happened to her at the club if he hadn’t saved her? The thought of her facing defeat again, without him, perhaps with stronger vampires than the ones they’d captured, caused his blood to churn into acid, blistering his veins. “Second, like you said, dawn will come all too soon. How will you know where to look for vampires?” He’d given her no pointers, no starting point. “Human clubs will be closed, yes?”
“Yes, but here’s the thing.” She lifted a bone dagger and pricked her finger on the tip. His mouth watered at the sight of that crimson bead. “The vampires walking around in daylight are the ones I want. As a bonus, I’m sure AIR would love to use them as pincushions to test against the Schön virus. They’ll deserve it, too.” She rubbed the bead on her jeans.
No argument from him. “But how will you find them?” he asked again. This time, the words were slurred. Don’t let the hunger overtake you. Not yet. He had to make her understand the trouble she was courting.
“When I’m done, I’m taking you in to see Mia,” she said, ignoring his question completely. “I kept my end of our bargain, so now you have to keep yours and talk to her.”
So. She didn’t mean to try to exterminate him for the actions of his people. Despite his relief, he offered no reply. Not even about her desire to leave him behind. And that’s all it was. A desire he wouldn’t grant. But he would deal with that in a moment. After they’d addressed his consuming disappointment that they wouldn’t be having sex tonight as he’d planned.
“Did I ever tell you about your blood?” Ava asked before he could command Noelle to cover her ears. She anchored the bone dagger to her wrist, and sucked on the tip of her finger to force the pinprick to close.
Mine, he thought, jealous that she tasted what he so craved. But all right. This conversation he would allow. Blood was almost as important as sex. He leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, stopped petting the silly dog, and crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you mean?” His blood?
Hellina whined. He ignored her.
“Anyone who ingests it will be turned into a vampire.”
“Impossible.” Despite what her books and movies claimed—which his kind studied, because information was power—vampires couldn’t turn humans. They had tried. Still. This explained her absolute refusal to drink from him, and her threat to kill him dead if he snuck her a single drop. She’d feared being turned.
Hellina nudged him, but he again ignored her. Never should have touched her in the first place. Now he smelled like her, like wild animal. Disgusting. “We’re born, not created, I promise you.”
“Apparently, you can create them.”
He laughed at how little she apparently knew about his kind. Hellina nudged him yet again, and with a sigh, he renewed his petting. Anything to stop the pawing of his pants. “Such a thing has never been done before.”
“How do you know?” she insisted. “Have you ever shared your blood with another person? Someone human?”
“No.” That didn’t mean …
Noelle snorted. “Shocker. McKell, being selfish.”
He ignored her, too. “There’s one way to prove your claim, Ava. Drink my blood right now.” And sweet heaven, did he adore the thought. More than he’d ever thought possible. He still didn’t think she’d turn into a vampire—silly girl—but they would finally be mated completely, with her willing cooperation.
She would still age, but he suddenly didn’t care. He would have her for the rest of her life. Enjoy her. Share with her. Those few years would be better than an eternity without her.
Ava bent down and shoved a pair of barbed-wire cuffs in her boots. “This may come as a surprise to you, McKell, but I don’t want to be a vampire. Ever. I happen to like being human.”