Chapter 20

20

GAbrIEL

W e stumbled through the swirling portal and into the manor's guest bedroom. There was a moment of ragged quiet where the only sound was Evangeline's gasping breath, then we both collapsed onto the foot of the bed.

"I was prepared for that to be an unpleasant experience," I said blankly. "But perhaps I wasn't quite prepared enough."

Evangeline huffed out an exhausted imitation of a laugh, dragging a sooty hand down her face. "Yeah, tell me about it." She glanced down at the bed between us, and I heard her breath catch in her throat. "Shit," she said softly but with feeling.

I followed her gaze and blinked in surprise. Dark blood was soaking into the bedspread between us.

"Ah," I said dumbly. Evangeline was already up and moving, patting herself down. When she didn't find any injuries on herself, she gave me an accusing look, as though it was audacious of me to have been hurt.

It wasn't as though I'd been hiding it on purpose. The adrenaline had numbed me to the pain, but now it was fading, I could feel the deep throbbing of it along my side, all the way from my lower ribs to my mid-thigh. When I looked down, I could see that my pants was wet with blood.

"How bad is it?" Evangeline asked. Her tone was carefully brisk, as though practicality and momentum were her only refuge from emotion.

I touched a hand carefully to my leg, and my fingers came away wet and red. "I'm not sure," I said. "Not lethal, certainly. It's a bit late for that."

"Oh, he thinks he's funny," Evangeline muttered. "All right, pants off."

"You're not going to buy me dinner first?" I joked weakly, toeing off my shoes and reaching for my fly.

"Eh," she said, waving a hand. "This is at least our third date."

I huffed out a quiet laugh, and she smiled at me, the worry in her face easing for just a moment. I winced as I tried to stand enough to get my trousers off. My leg burned. Evangeline was by my side in an instant, easing me back down onto the bed. I kicked the offending item of clothing off inelegantly, leaving me chilly and exposed in my socks and boxer-briefs. My thigh was covered in a network of little cuts, some still glittering with broken glass. Evangeline sucked in a breath, brow furrowing.

"I heal very quickly," I told her. "I'll be fine in a few days."

Evangeline shot me a look. "I'm not sure we have a few days to spare," she said. "Besides, I can fix you up quickly."

She crouched on the floor by my feet, looking intently at my leg. I fought down a shiver at the sight. Her hands were gentle and intoxicatingly warm as she examined my injuries, her head bent so close to my bare skin that I could feel the brush of her breath with every exhale. I clenched my hand into a fist so tightly, my nails bit into the skin as I tried to think of wildly unerotic things. The smell of the sewer we'd just explored, for instance. It helped, but only a little.

"All right, this is going to feel a little weird," Evangeline warned me.

"I'm sure I can handle it." My voice came out a tad softer than I would have liked.

Evangeline murmured the words of a spell, moving her hand through the air just above my skin. As she did, I felt an odd fluttering sensation, strange but not unpleasant. When she pulled away, the shards of glass that had been stuck in my wounds floated gently above her palm, slick with blood. She glanced around, then flicked her fingers and sent the shards floating over to a decorative bowl on the dresser. They dropped onto the porcelain with faint clinks.

"You're doing really well," Evangeline said, and my body lit up like a firecracker.

"I—" I cleared my throat. "I'm not the one doing the work here."

Evangeline smiled up at me. Her hair was falling into her face. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and brushed the stray curls back behind the shell of her ear. She looked up at me, wide-eyed, her ears turning pink. Was I imagining it, or had she leaned into the touch just slightly?

"Thanks," she said, barely louder than a whisper. She glanced back down at my thigh, still seeping blood, and the moment broke, delicate as a soap bubble. "This might hurt. I've never done this on a vampire before, so I'm kinda gonna have to adapt as I go."

"I trust you," I said, and meant it completely.

Evangeline squeezed my knee gently, then began to work. Her magic settled around me, so warm and sweet it was dizzying. I'd thought feeling her lay shields and charms over me at the witch's house had been overwhelming, but it was nothing compared to this. It felt as though every inch of me was being ever-so-gently touched by Evangeline's soft, curious hands. I bit my lip hard enough that one of my fangs broke the thin skin, and the tang of my own blood in my mouth did nothing to distract me. Heat curled languorously up my spine . A tiny gasp escaped me, and Evangeline's eyes flicked up to meet mine.

"You okay?" she asked. "Am I hurting you?"

"No, no," I said. "It's fine. Are you nearly done?"

She shook her head, and the curls I'd just smoothed back bounced free again. Huffing, she blew them out of her face. "The vampire thing is throwing me, I think," she said. "The amount of power I'm using would've healed a human already, but with you it's barely scratching the surface. I'm gonna give you some more, but you need to tell me if I'm hurting you, okay?"

"Okay," I said, bracing myself.

This time, when Evangeline's magic settled over me, it was more heated, urgent, and deliciously all-consuming. Every single one of my nerve endings was alight, brushing up on the edge of pain. The scent of jasmine and old paper was heady and thick in the air. I felt as though I was floating and held down at the same time. I leaned forward, bracing my hands on the bed, hoping desperately that the hem of my shirt would hide the line of my erection tenting my underwear.

The skin of my thigh under Evangeline's hands was smooth and pale, just as it had been this morning. The only sign that anything had happened at all was the drying blood plastering down the sparse dark hair there.

"Thank you," I rasped. My voice sounded wrecked, and I hoped I could pass it off as an aftereffect of the pain.

Evangeline was faintly flushed. Her eyes were dark, and I could've sworn that I could hear her heart beating faster in her chest, just audible with my vampiric hearing.

"Any time," she said. Her hand was still on my thigh. I felt as though I was losing my mind. "You should, uh… You should probably get cleaned up, huh?"

My blood was on Evangeline's hands. The dumb, monstrous part of my brain, the part that went feral at the scent of blood and the sight of a bare, tender throat, was screaming at me to pull her up onto the bed and show her just how much her magic had affected me. I wanted to take her fingers into my mouth, to suck them and lap them clean until they were perfectly unblemished again. I wanted to taste myself on her. I was a creature made of nothing but want.

If it had been anyone else, I would have tried it. I would have asked, at least, in the hopes of getting this growing lunacy out of my system. Unfortunately, I didn't want to get Evangeline out of my system. I wanted, and wanted, and wanted, and worst of all, I didn't want it to end.

Besides, there was too much at stake. We had to work together to see this thing through, and if I'd read the looks Evangeline had been giving me incorrectly, then it could all go wrong so very quickly.

"I should shower, yes," I said.

"Yeah. I'm also gonna…" Evangeline jutted a thumb behind her to gesture at the door of the guest bathroom, and I nodded. Once she'd turned away, I scooped up my abandoned trousers and headed for the door, holding them in front of my crotch awkwardly.

I darted down the hall to my own suite, praying none of my housemates would cross my path. Luckily, I made it to my rooms without interference.

The remnants of Evangeline's magic were still tingling across my skin, faint but tantalizing. I stripped off the rest of my clothes and stepped into the shower, turning the water up as hot as it would go. My cock was rock hard. The scent of Evangeline's magic was still wrapped around me. I brushed my fingers over the spot where the cuts had been—where Evangeline had touched me. Beneath the heat of the shower, I could almost convince myself that I could still feel the warmth of her hands.

I closed my eyes. It was all too easy to imagine myself back in that room, Evangeline kneeling in front of me. If she'd noticed my erection, would she have made some little quip? Would she have teased me, smiled up at me even as she slid her hand up my thigh to cup the length of me through my underwear? Would she have pulled down my waistband enough to take me in hand, or would she lean forward and press her clever, infuriating mouth to the head of my cock through the fabric?

I took myself in hand, setting a quick pace. The last, fleeting tendrils of the spell Evangeline had cast flickered around the site of the injury, spreading up my leg, dancing over my hipbone, and caressing the soft skin of my inner thigh. My hips thrust forward into my hand, and I chased my own pleasure restlessly. Would she want to be teased, to have each touch drawn out until she was squirming for the next, or would she want it quick and urgent? How would she moan for me? I imagined her in the guest room, looking up at me with her green eyes blown dark as she took me into her mouth, her fingers, still stained with my blood, wrapping around the base of my cock.

I came hard with a punched-out groan, sagging back against the tile of the shower wall as revulsion coursed through me. It felt like I'd betrayed Evangeline's trust, somehow. I cleaned myself gracelessly, scrubbing away the dried blood with rough motions. At least without a reflection, I didn't have to meet my own eyes in the large mirror that hung above the sink. Small mercies.

I dried off and dressed, then headed down the hall, finger-combing my damp hair in the hopes of getting it somewhat under control. Evangeline was sitting in the alcove by the stairs, wearing my sweater and those tiny shorts she slept in. She'd showered as well, and her hair hung in ringlets I could only assume had been magically dried.

"Hey," she said, unfolding her long legs.

Thighs, thighs, thighs. Look at her thighs, chanted a part of my brain that I was working hard to silence.

"I was thinking we could?—"

The front doors burst open. We both tensed, prepared for a fight. When none of the alarms sounded, I unclenched. Theo hurried in, pale-faced and shaken. Behind them, Vic staggered in carrying Lissa in his arms. A mass of dark magic came in with them, rancid and heavy.

I was down the stairs in a flash, moving before I was even aware of it. Vic looked haunted—terrified in a way I'd never seen before. Lissa was conscious but only barely, her lids fluttering like it was taking all her energy just to keep her eyes open. Theo shoved a chaise, the wooden legs screeching across the stone floor. Together, we lowered Lissa down onto it. Evangeline had made it down to the foot of the stairs by then and hurried over to us.

"What happened?" I directed the question to Theo; there was no way Vic would be able to answer anything in his current state.

"We were attacked," Theo said, dragging a hand over their close-cropped hair. "Got jumped on the outskirts of the city. They used some sort of curse on Lissa, I don't know what, but she's been…" They shook their head.

Evangeline stepped in front of Theo, her back ramrod straight, and her shoulders squared. "Tell me everything you can remember about the curse."

Theo looked at me, and I nodded. "They had a crossbow. It had runes carved into it, but I didn't get a good look. There was a little blue glass bottle loaded into it, and they fired it at Lissa. Hit her in the chest."

"It broke on impact?" Evangeline asked. Theo nodded. "What happened when the bottle broke? Was there a smell, smoke, anything like that?"

"There was a flash, and a smell like pepper," Theo said. Evangeline nodded briskly and bent over Lissa, looking carefully at a gray mark on her chest, just below the collarbone.

Lissa let out a stifled moan that made Vic flinch.

"I can fix this," Evangeline said. "This is some pretty dark magic, but I can counteract it if you'll let me."

Vic was staring desperately down at his wife, apparently unaware of Evangeline's existence.

"Do everything you can," I said, stepping next to Evangeline.

She nodded and pressed her hand over the mark on Lissa's chest, murmuring under her breath.

Lissa convulsed like she'd been electrocuted. Vic snarled and lunged for Evangeline. I was faster than him, though, able to grab him and pin him in place.

"She's helping," I snarled. "She's the best chance we have at helping Lissa right now. Evangeline healed me, and she will heal Lissa, too. You will not harm her. Am I understood?"

Vic stared at me, his chest heaving. The animalistic fury in his eyes melted into desperation and fear until he collapsed forward against me, and I put my arms around him.

"She's everything to me," Vic managed, clinging to me like I was the only thing keeping him upright. "She's my world, Gabriel. I don't…"

"I know," I murmured. "I know. She'll be all right, I promise you."

Whatever Evangeline had done, Lissa seemed more aware, blinking up at us with confused brown eyes.

"I've gotten her stabilized, but I'm going to need to keep working with her for a while to get the magic out of her system," Evangeline said. "I have potions that can help. Does she have any allergies?"

"Alliums," Vic said after a moment. "Alliums and chamomile."

Evangeline nodded briskly. "Gabriel, I need you to get the green bag from my go-bag."

I rushed up the stairs and found the bag at the bottom of her duffel, then bolted back down to the entryway as quickly as my enhanced speed could carry me. Vic had settled onto the chaise, with Lissa's head pillowed in his lap. He was speaking to her quietly, stroking a hand through her hair. I handed Evangeline the bag, and she unzipped it to reveal a thickly padded interior with dozens of tiny vials inside, each one slotted into its own compartment. She grabbed two, popped the cork on the first with her teeth, and pressed the mouth of the little bottle to Lissa's lips.

Lissa drank.

"This second one is probably going to knock you out, okay?" Evangeline said. She spoke directly to Lissa but glanced up at Vic to make sure he was listening. Lissa gave a weak sound of approval and drank from the second vial. As soon as Evangeline took the tiny bottle back, Lissa went slack, her face going peaceful.

"She's going to be fine," Evangeline said. "This is a pretty nasty spell, but you got her to me in time. I'll have to check on her a few times over the next couple of hours, and she'll be weaker than usual for a few days, but there won't be any lasting effects from the curse."

"Is it safe to move her?" I asked, and Evangeline nodded. "Would you like a hand?" I asked Vic, but he'd already gathered Lissa into his arms.

"I've got her," he said.

We watched as he carried his wife up the stairs and disappeared into one of the side halls. Evangeline slumped down onto the chaise as though whatever had kept her calm and focused dissipated as soon as her patient was out of sight.

"I need you to tell me everything that happened," I told Theo.

They sighed and nodded tiredly. "Yeah, you should hear this. But I need a fucking drink first."

We gathered around the kitchen island. It seemed unthinkable, somehow, to lounge somewhere comfortable right now, so we stuck with the barstools as Theo sloshed sheep's blood and brandy into two large mugs. The third mug held straight brandy. I wasn't sure if they had no concept of how much humans could drink, or if they simply weren't in a state to care.

"I was supposed to be meeting Nathan," they said. "We were gonna grab a coffee, then go to that music place he likes. He didn't show, and he didn't answer his phone, so…" Theo gave a small shrug, looking as though the effort required to lift their shoulders was monumental. "I went to check on him. His place was trashed. Someone had broken in, and it was pretty clear there'd been a fight.

"I called Lissa and Vic, and we went looking for him. It's a shitty part of town, you know? Lot of vampires have been going missing there, and I thought maybe we could find something." They huffed out a pained approximation of a laugh. "I guess I was right."

My grip tightened around my mug. Nathan—shy, nervous Nathan—had been taken?

"And then you were attacked?" Evangeline prompted gently, taking a careful sip of her drink.

Theo nodded. "They were definitely vampires. Nothing else would've fought like that. Fae could've, I guess, but they wouldn't have limited themselves that much."

I stared down at my drink. One of my friends had been taken, and Lissa had almost died because of it.

"I should have been there," I said quietly.

Theo snorted. "Don't fucking start," they said, their voice suddenly tight with anger.

"But—"

"No," they said. "Don't try to take the fucking blame for this. I know you've got your own shit, Gabe, but I truly don't have the energy to talk you out of a spiral about this. Yeah, maybe you could've changed it, maybe not. The only people to blame here are the ones who tried to fucking kill us." They drank the last of their makeshift cocktail in a few long gulps, then slammed the mug down, wiping the back of their hand across their mouth. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long fucking day."

Theo stormed out, and I heard a door slam in the distance.

Evangeline raised her eyebrows. "Wow. That was, uh…"

I nodded glumly. "In Theo's defense, I was definitely going to spiral about it," I admitted.

Evangeline bumped her shoulder against mine, and I leaned into the contact. "Yeah, I kind of figured."

"Vampires," I said. "They were attacked by vampires. I've been desperate to figure out who's been taking my people, and all this time it's been one of us."

"We really can't catch a break," Evangeline said.

We sat in silence for a moment, drinking, still leaning against each other.

"You were incredible today," I said eventually. "Going back to Nanny Murk's hut, healing me, helping Lissa… Absolutely incredible."

"I was just doing what I had to do," Evangeline said, but I shook my head.

"It's incredible that you managed to do it. I have to admit that I am… embarrassed by how badly I underestimated you at first. You're a remarkable woman, Evangeline."

"You're not gonna let me avoid taking a compliment, are you?" Evangeline asked.

"Absolutely not."

"And after I was so nice to you, healing your leg and everything," she said, shaking her head. "Honestly, I didn't know some of the stuff today was going to work. Punching a hole in the side of that hut could easily have killed us."

"What?"

"Yeah, it was, uhm… pretty risky. I actually got the idea from you."

"I gave you the idea to do something that could have killed us?"

"Your bag," she clarified. "The one you brought on the camping trip that could have exploded? It's a pretty similar kind of magic to the one that goes into making a place bigger on the inside. If she'd used a certain kind of spell to do it, it could've just, you know…" She mimed an explosion with her hands.

"Ah." I blinked a few times, then took a long pull of my drink. "Well, there's always next time."

Evangeline sputtered out a startled laugh.

"I'd very much like to destroy Nanny Murk's collection." I couldn't help but think of the partial tapestry I'd seen—the one of Evangeline flattened out and fragmented into blocks of thread. I put a hand on her arm over the jagged scar, and she brushed her fingers over mine.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'd like that, too. The arson was a pretty good start, probably."

"Probably," I agreed solemnly.

"I don't think I could have gone back there without you," Evangeline admitted. I squeezed her arm gently. "I owe you one."

"You saved my friend. I think we're even."

"God, I know we're on a ticking clock here, but I could really use a day to just rest," Evangeline said, fighting back a yawn. She stretched, popping her back and then leaning back against my side.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out with a frown.

Reminder: Clan Alinejad Masquerade. Tomorrow night. Set an alert for travel time?

"Hm."

"What?" Evangeline asked.

"Down time may have to wait. I think I know how we can get more information about whoever's been making vampires disappear."