Maddox glanced around and shrugged. “It’s underground and hard to get into, which makes it a good place to be.” Stepping through the debris, he bent and offered her a hand. “And it’s not so bad.”
Trying to read something more behind his stony expression, Jesse considered his offering. After an hour’s long trek through the maze of partially abandoned neighborhoods, she was sweaty, tired, and just about starved. Her mouth was parched, cotton dry. She didn’t dare complain. She’d learned long ago no one cared to listen.
She took his hand.
Maddox lifted her to her feet. He slipped a shoulder under her arm. “Let me help you.”
Grateful for his support, Jesse leaned into him. If she didn’t get something to eat soon, she’d faint. “Thanks,” she mumbled.
Maddox suddenly bent, sweeping her into his arms. Startled by his casual strength, Jesse instinctively wound her arms around his neck. Her breath hitched at the dark masculine scent emanating from his warm skin. Suddenly the air weighed heavily in her lungs. Her heart raced. Aching need quivered through her.
Breath catching in her throat, she swallowed hard.
Oh, damn
. It was back—that unreasonable, insane attraction she’d felt in the cemetery. All she wanted to do was snuggle against his protective body and forget the bad things that existed in her life.
With a grace born of familiarity, Maddox carried her through the cavernous depths. His breath was warm against her cheek, sending a smattering of goose bumps across her skin. They entered a short hallway, then passed under a low threshold.
A moment later he set her down. “I think you will find this more to your liking.”
Jesse immediately pushed herself up and glanced around. Light emanating from oil-burning lamps cast his world in a soft, clear luminance. Though not exactly prime real estate, this second set of rooms—a small kitchenette, an adjoining bathroom, and a large open living space—was more comfortably arranged. Most of the fixtures were dated but recognizable. In the far-gone past, the hotel obviously had had a manager who lived on-site.
Like most men, he’d kept decoration to a bare minimum. The bed she presently rested on was shoved to one corner. In the opposite corner was a large chaise, a little tattered but still comfortable. A small round table boasting a precious and coveted half-empty bottle of scotch stood beside it. A second larger table, some mismatched chairs, and other miscellaneous pieces of furniture added to the shabby-chic charm of the place. The concrete floor was bare.
Jesse silently approved. The home he’d carved out of the ruins wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. In a city torn by poverty and devastation, he’d managed to find a safe haven amid the wreckage. Everything he had might have been scavenged, but it was all neatly arranged. It could even be called clean.
Clicking off the flashlight, Maddox propped his shotgun in a corner. He stripped off his heavy duster and tossed it over a chair. “There’s no electricity.”
She nodded, aware parts of the city no longer had utility services of any kind. “I see.”
“But there’s water,” he continued, walking to the small kitchen sink and turning on the tap.
Jesse’s brows rose. “How’d you manage that?”
A slight smile parted his lips. “We broke into the main water lines and reopened them.” Shrugging, he turned off the taps. “Illegal, I know. But who cares now that this city is going to hell.” He paused, then added, “The water’s cold, but if you want a bath, you’ll bear it.”
Jesse nodded again. Yeah, she could take it. When you lived on the street and scrounged to survive, the amenities of hygiene were few and far between. “I can take cold water.” Instinctively wrapping her arms around her body, she shivered. Not that he would see her naked. There was no way in hell she’d ever strip down for anyone’s eyes. Not when the beast she carried inside hovered so near the surface of her skin.
Maddox noticed her discomfort. “You hungry?”
Jesse had to reach deep into the near-depleted well of her inner strength to produce a smile. “I could eat,” she allowed.
Rummaging among the cabinets, Maddox produced a handful of items. Grabbing a few utensils, he carried them to the table. Spreading out his meager feast, he beckoned for her to join him. “It isn’t much, but it’ll fill your stomach.”
Sliding off the bed, Jesse limped to the table. Her ankle twinged, but it bore her weight. She sighed in relief. It seemed to be a sprain, not a break. Her luck was holding. A broken bone would have put her down, perhaps permanently, once others discovered her weakness.
Taking a seat, she eyed the food he offered. There was half a loaf of some hard, crusty-looking bread, a semimoldy hunk of cheese, and something in a can. She didn’t know what was in the can because it didn’t have a label.
It hardly looked like a feast, but her rumbling stomach didn’t care. She hadn’t eaten in a day, maybe two. It was difficult to remember, since regular meals were hard to come by. After the storm, the city had become divided between the haves and the have-nots. She was one who had nothing. Anything that would fill the hole inside her gut was welcome.
Using a knife, Maddox trimmed the mold off the cheese and sliced off a hefty chunk of bread. He held both out to her. “It’s still edible.”
Trying to keep herself from grabbing them, Jesse accepted the food. “It looks okay to me.” She took a hearty bite of the bread, chewing slowly to enjoy the yeasty flavor. It was a little dry, but tasty. She nibbled the cheese, a fragrant sharp cheddar. It wasn’t the best meal she’d ever consumed, but it would serve the purpose of helping keep her strength up.
Picking up a knife, Maddox drove the blade into the can, prying it open. The cloying scent of sweet pears scented the air. “Been a while since you ate?”
Jesse kept her gaze on her food. Nobody wanted to admit he or she was starving to death. A lump formed in her throat. She swallowed past it. “Yeah.”
Maddox poured the pears into a bowl, then pushed it over toward her. “So tell me,” he began in a conversational tone. “Who are you, really, and where did you come from?” His question carried enormous tension, and repercussions.
Jesse froze.
Damn it!
Why did people always have to pry? She was in no mood to answer any questions.
Suddenly feeling boxed in, she rubbed her hands across her face. It had been a mistake to accompany him. “What if I don’t want to say?”
“Then you won’t be staying here long.” Turning away from the table, Maddox walked over to retrieve the bottle of whiskey. He unscrewed the cap. “I haven’t got time for little girls with secrets.” He tipped the bottle to his mouth, drinking deeply.
Appetite gone, Jesse put the food aside. She wasn’t hungry now. Her stomach was tied into painful knots. If she took another bite, she was sure she would puke.
What if he found out what she was? Infected, a beast—just like the thing he’d destroyed in the cemetery.
Struggling for calm, she decided to bluff it out. It would have to do until she could figure out how to get out of this place. Staying would probably get her killed. “So maybe I don’t have a story to tell. Maybe I’m just nobody, from nowhere.”
Maddox’s expression remained frozen. He was keeping a wary distance, feeling her out. “I don’t think that’s true.” He lowered the bottle to the table. “If I can’t trust you, you might as well leave now.”
By the look on her face, Maddox knew he’d hit a vulnerable spot with the young urchin.
Jesse grunted and pushed away from the table. Her face paled as she stood, but she forced herself to remain standing. “Trust is something I lost a long time ago.”
“Yet you came with me,” he pointed out.
She pulled a face. “I told you I’m good at making bad decisions. Besides, you had a gun.”
“I didn’t threaten you.”
Ignoring him, Jesse stubbornly limped toward the door. “That was awfully generous of you, too,” she shot over one shoulder. “As for leaving, I was just thinking of doing that.”
Maddox took another drink. The whiskey burned its way down his throat. Maybe it would be best to let her go. If he’d misjudged her, he’d put his own kind in jeopardy. The resistance he led was a small one, outnumbered by the growing minions of the Telave vampires, the demonic undead spreading their disease throughout New Orleans. The cult was alive and well—and prospering.
It was time to speak up. “I brought you here because you obviously know something about the Telave. How, I don’t know.” Though poorly armed and woefully ignorant, she’d seemed determined to kick some undead ass. She could be taught—trained.
The word was unfamiliar to her. Something in her gaze flared as she turned around to face him. “Is that what they’re called?”
He lifted the bottle but didn’t drink. Instead, he swirled the amber liquid around. “Yes.”
She frowned. “Too bad that doesn’t tell me what the fuck is inside me.”
Her statement chilled his blood. Capping the bottle, Maddox set it aside. “What do you mean,
inside
you?”
The bravado she’d been hiding behind abruptly collapsed like a suddenly pricked balloon. Suddenly she wasn’t a tough veteran of the streets, but a scared young woman.
A long silence stretched between them.
“Like the girl in the cemetery,” she mumbled, finally breaking the pause. “They got us, took us.”
His brows rose. “Us?”
She barely managed a nod. “Amanda and I were infected. She was my twin. I made it out alive, but she . . . died.” Her words came in bits and pieces, as though each was too painful for her to speak.
Surprise caught Maddox short. “When?”
She frowned. “About a year ago, right before Katrina.”
He took an instinctive step back. “You can’t be infected. Nobody stays alive that long.”
Jesse grimaced, as if trying to keep her distance from the memories. “Guess again.” She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, rubbing hard. “I’ve been living with this monstrous thing inside me longer than I care to remember.”
Maddox immediately shook his head. “That’s impossible. You’re human.”
Her hands dropped. A harsh laugh escaped. “You don’t believe me, I know. Sometimes I don’t, either.” An unintended smile tugged at her lips. “Underneath my clothes, I look diseased.” She winced. “Trust me when I say it isn’t pretty.”
Maddox shifted his probing gaze over her lean frame. He couldn’t help but notice the beauty lurking beneath her bedraggled appearance. Almond-shaped eyes peeked out from beneath a tangled mess of hair so silvery it looked almost white. Her irises were also pale, sometimes appearing to be light blue; at other angles a darker gray. In an attempt to keep her tresses under control, she’d hacked her hair at random, making the style ragged. She obviously wasn’t comfortable with her body, most of which she kept hidden by wearing clothes at least two sizes too big. As though attempting to become invisible, she kept herself covered from neck to feet. Cleaned up and dressed right, she’d be a stunning young woman.
Taking a breath to clear his head, he forced his mind back to the subject at hand. He had to admit she’d piqued his curiosity. She was the only one of her kind he’d ever encountered. Even if humans didn’t fully cross over to become full vampires, they simply died of the infection within days. They were lucky to retain even a semblance of humanity before death dealt its final, merciful blow.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see it.”
Jesse folded her arms across her chest, an unconscious gesture that said she didn’t welcome the idea. “That’s the way people are, always gaping at the freaks.” Her expression was shadowed with self-loathing. “You’re a big, bad demon killer. Why don’t you just pull the trigger on me and be done with it?”
Recognizing her fragility, Maddox backed off. “I’m trying to understand—”
Jesse bristled and cut him off. “No one understands,” she bit off. “There’s no one else like me.”
He allowed a brief nod. “But you’re not the first who’s been attacked. If there’s any way to help you, I will try.”
“There is no help for the hopeless.” She ran a hand through her dirty hair. “I should go.”
He shook his head. “Walk out of here and I guarantee my men won’t let you get down the block alive. They hate the demon-possessed. They’re trained to kill them.”
Jesse stood up abruptly. “I should’ve known you were bad news.” She took a step back, and then a second—but not a third.
Hesitation tipped her hand. Despite her tough talk and attitude, Maddox suspected she had no place else to go. The instinct to flee clearly warred with her desire for a safe haven.
He decided to lay everything on the line. It was probably a fool’s gamble to keep her alive, but Maddox felt it worth taking. “If you stay here with me, I can protect you. But you have to be straight with me. No secrets and no lies.” That was the best offer he could make. The next move was hers.
Jesse’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Really? You’d do that?”
He nodded. For a moment she reminded him of an abused puppy, injured but eager for a few crumbs of kindness. “You have my word. As long as you’re with me, my people won’t harm you.”
Relief lightened her features. The stress of running, of living on the edge of society to stay alive, had unmistakably left her psyche battered. She was worn out, mentally and physically.
“I’ll show you,” she finally agreed. “Just don’t freak out, okay?” As she spoke, she fumbled with the buttons. The denim jacket she wore, which was at least two sizes too large, looked as though she rarely took it off. Patched, faded, and filthy, it was nothing anyone would want.
She lifted a hand toward her neck. “First, there’s this,” she said. “You can see they feasted well.”
Closing the distance separating them, Maddox recognized the ragged scars marring the base of her neck. “Yes, I see.” He winced. A vampire’s bite was never as neat and precise as portrayed in the movies. Because of the elasticity of human skin, even the sharpest fangs didn’t neatly puncture. They gouged through.