No matter how much he’d thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a better solution. Except he’d vowed never to turn another woman for as long as he lived. Despite this, he couldn’t al ow anyone else to change her, to control her or to force her to be his mate. On the other hand, he assumed the guilt she felt concerning her sister would never be appeased until she set her sister free and the SCU found her parents’ murderer accountable.
Which meant Daemon was damned if he helped her and damned if he didn’t.
“If you turned me, what would the consequences be for you?” she asked softly, looking out at the vista.
Her question stunned him. He understood her agonizing over her sister, the kil er, the effects being turned would have on her emotional y and physical y. Not in a mil ennium would he think she’d be concerned about the impact it would have on him.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
She looked at him with a questioning gaze. “Except in Bernard’s case, I’ve heard vampires would rather die than turn a member of the SCU who targets vampire renegades.”
“True.” Daemon wasn’t going to deny it.
“Then your people wouldn’t be happy with you.”
Personal y, there was more at stake for him than that. “Changing you isn’t feasible.” He rested his arms against the railing and looked in the direction of the evergreen forest that framed his backyard, the peace and tranquility only an il usion. Beyond the forest he knew renegade vampires were planning some kind of mischief. “I’l find the evidence you need and take care of Krustalus.”
“What about my sister?”
“When I take Krustalus into custody, she’l be able to verify it’s him and seeing him as a menace no longer, maybe she’l get wel .”
“Renegade vampires can’t be taken into custody. They’d just,
poof
, vanish. And if you terminated Krustalus first, he’d be a pile of ashes, and there would be nothing left for Katie to identify.” She shook her head. “In any event, she’s been traumatized enough. It wouldn’t work. And you know it.”
He knew it, and that was the point he was trying to make. He couldn’t think of any other way to deal with Katie’s problem except to change Tezra. Yet it wasn’t a sure solution either. What if a vampiric Tezra stil couldn’t reach Katie?
Tezra paced, silent, chewing her bottom lip.
The thought of licking her lip came rushing back to mind. But when he sensed another vampire’s approach, he pul ed her into the house and shut the door.
She folded her arms. “If I agree to be turned, I won’t be forced into being your mate or anybody else’s.”
Not about to give an inch on this, Daemon stood tal er. “Living the life of a vampire can be tenuous at best. Some vampires prey on the fledglings, which is what you’d be for a good century. I wouldn’t turn you then leave you to fend for yourself. You’d have to be…hel , what am I saying? I’m not turning you. End of discussion.”
She raised her brows. “Fine. Go about your business, why don’t you? And while you’re at it, I’l look at the tissue samples you stole.”
He couldn’t fathom what she was up to, but her words reminded him of his brother when he was bound and determined to do something Daemon didn’t agree with. Speaking with an ancient authority, he offered no room for argument, simply stating, “You won’t be turned.”
He transported himself to the greatroom, then slipped her sword into the hidden panel next to the fireplace. He would protect her, help her, but he would not al ow her to be another vampire’s mate.
He made a telepathic cal to the vampires to spread the word.
“Death to any who try to turn the SCU investigator, Tezra
Campbell
.
All will obey me in this.”
Once again, he felt he was tumbling down the dark chasm after a mate, but this time he was determined not to make the same mistake again.
***
Tezra paced across the darkly woven Turkish rug as soon as Daemon vanished.
“Okay, so where are the damned tissue
samples, Daemon?”
He didn’t respond, and she ground her teeth.
Then she glanced at the patio door. Had he locked it? Her heart hammering, she opened the door as quietly as she could, worried the door hinges might squeak. Yet, subconsciously she suspected a trick on Daemon’s part.
Not bothering to close it for fear a click might give her away, she rushed across the balcony and peered into the woods that surrounded the property—guarded, he’d said, so she needed a weapon to venture there.
She ran back into the bedroom, pul ed on her leather coat and yanked the spare sword out from under the mattress. After attaching the sheath to her belt, she returned to the balcony. Evergreen vines wound through a wrought iron trel is attached to the house, perfect for use as an escape ladder. As long as the rungs didn’t suffer from corrosion, she figured they would hold her weight.
She swung over the top of the railing and let herself down. The toes of her boots felt for the first rung. Gingerly, she tested her weight on the metal. When it didn’t give, she eased down. Her boot slipped on glossy leaves. She lost her footing and stifled a wild cry of alarm. With a thud, she landed on the grass. Panicked that she’d be discovered, she hurried to her feet and crouched in place.
Darkened windows al across the back of the house made her skin tingle. She felt like a fish in an aquarium. Daemon could be watching her from anywhere.
Surely if he saw her, he would stop her flight. Yet she halfway suspected he planned the whole damned thing.
For now, she had one goal in mind as she dashed for the woods—focusing on her mission. Time to track down Krustalus and end his miserable life.
The autumn midday sun couldn’t part the thick gray cloud cover, and the mist stil clung to the ground, rising three feet from the wet grass. The forest itself appeared dark, deep and ominous, but her only concern now was freedom and slowing the thunder of her heartbeat for fear Daemon would hear it no matter how far she ran from him. She wished the legend that vampires could be exposed to sunlight and burst into flames was true. She’d have another way to terminate Krustalus.
Nearly to the fringe of the forest, she hoped to find a way off the property under the cover of the trees.
But as soon as she reached the comforting shade of the pines, a low, threatening growl warned her she wasn’t alone.
***
Maison and Daemon watched Tezra through the greatroom windows. He shook his head when she made a dead stop at the edge of the forest.
“She’s been al owed to run, why?” Maison asked.
“She needs to discover for herself that not only is she protected here, but she’s unable to leave.”
Maison folded his arms and rocked on his heels like he always did when he was worried. “Lichorus is pretty incensed. She’s stirring up dissenters.”
“Tezra needs my help.” Daemon would not ask for anyone’s approval.
“To discover the identity of the vampire who kil ed the police officers, I know.”
“To bring down Krustalus.”
Maison stared at Daemon, his blue eyes wide. “What has
he
done?”
“Maybe kil ed her parents and before this, other humans.”
“You don’t know for certain?” Maison sounded concerned and angry at the same time.
“Her sister does. She’s been traumatized and can’t communicate with anyone. If Tezra was one of us, maybe she could reach her and learn the truth about the murderer.”
Maison cursed under his breath. “Damn, Daemon. You cannot consider turning her for that reason.”
“How in the hel did she get another sword?” Daemon mused, ignoring his friend’s comment when she whipped the steel out of its sheath and leveled it at the first of the wolves.
“You vowed you’d never turn another human after the last three times. You cannot change the huntress.”
“I can think of no other way.”
Tezra twisted around, keeping the snarling wolves, now eight of them, at bay. She didn’t attack them, only remained in a defensive posture.
Despite her angry words concerning Krustalus, Daemon didn’t feel she would kil him in cold blood without first proving he truly was responsible for murdering her parents and others.
“What if
I
turned her?” Maison asked. “I wouldn’t claim her, just change her so she could help her sister. The clans of Oregon wouldn’t care if I did so, as long as she consents.”
The thought of his longtime friend tasting her blood made Daemon’s turn slightly green. “No.”
Maison’s brow furrowed. “What difference would it make?”
Daemon couldn’t answer. The woman had burrowed under his skin, and no matter how much he felt she’d be his undoing, he didn’t want anyone else to have her.
“You’ve already decided this?” Maison asked.
“If you turned her but didn’t take her for your mate, others would undoubtedly try. She would be a prized vampiric possession, don’t you agree?”
Maison gave a stiff nod.
Tezra swung around when a wolf behind her got too close. She cal ed out to him with soothing, coaxing words of praise.
“Ancient vampires wouldn’t give her a choice. She couldn’t stand up to them.”
“She has agreed to this permanent bond?” Maison asked.
Daemon gave a dark laugh. “Of course not.” He motioned to Tezra, her sword poised. “That’s why she’s playing with our friends and not waiting for my love bites upstairs. But the truth is I’ve told her I wouldn’t change her.”
Taking a deep breath, Maison nodded. “Then al is not lost.”
“Meaning?”
“There’s hope she won’t succumb to your desires, and you wil not have to break your oath to yourself.” Maison rubbed the back of his neck like he always did when he was getting ready to reveal something he wasn’t sure Daemon would take wel . “Do you know she was in a special home for troubled teens for two years fol owing her parents’ deaths?”
“Why?”
Maison lifted a shoulder. “She was troubled.”
“What did the records say?” The fact she hadn’t had a family to take of her during her formative years bothered Daemon. Even though he was the bastard son of a king, his father had provided for him and Atreides in a castle befitting the ruler of the land.
Their duchess mother and her family supplied the warmth and loving the two growing boys needed until she died. Then his uncle had taken care of them. He couldn’t envision Tezra living in an ice-cold environment, especial y after her parents and sister had been taken from her.
Maison cleared his throat. “She escaped from the home several times but was easily recaptured.”
Now Daemon saw why Tezra fought confinement.
Maison turned to watch her. “She always went straight to the hospital where her sister was sent. The staff from the home alerted the hospital, and when she arrived they took her back into custody.”
“Was she al owed to visit her?”
“No. They restricted Tezra to the home. One of the staff said al owing her to visit her sister would be tantamount to rewarding her dysfunctional behavior.”
Daemon fisted his hands. “Dysfunctional for wanting to see her sister?”
“Yes. The first time they had to wrench her away from her sister’s embrace. They said it caused problems with the younger sister, that it was too traumatic for her to see Tezra.”
“Too traumatic to separate them, they meant.” Daemon had every intention of overstepping his bounds and straightening out the home, or shutting it down. He took a deep breath to settle his anger. “What else did the records say?”
“She is a very talented weapons expert. They couldn’t pit her against females, only the more capable males. They said it was due to the anger she harbored. They trained her in criminal investigations because she tested off the scale in that subject, but several of her instructors recommended she continue with the huntress training she’d started before her parents were murdered.”
“Was she ever destructive?”
“They felt she might be somewhat unstable.”
Daemon raised his brows.
“She insisted a vampire had kil ed her parents when they knew it couldn’t be since the murderer hadn’t kil ed them like a vampire would and hadn’t taken their blood either. They cal ed her delusional.”
Daemon snorted. “No more delusional than you or me.”
“I must see to other matters. With your permission, I wil take my leave.” Maison bowed, and Daemon reciprocated.
When Maison left, Daemon opened his patio door and ditched his clothes. The mist enveloped him, shielding him from prying eyes before he shape-shifted effortlessly into a wolf. Bounding across the yard in his thick brown pelt, he headed straight for Tezra. He’d made it clear to his guards that should she take a jaunt through the woods there would be hel to pay if anyone injured her. Yet, he stil worried one of his vampires might take their guarding mission a little too far, especial y now that she was armed.
Al eight wolves turned their attention to his loping gait, and he warned them,
“The lady is not to be harmed, only stopped. Just
stay out of her sword’s path.”
When she twisted her head around to see what caught their eye, her mouth dropped and she took a step back.
Yes, here comes the big bad wolf, darling. Meet your adversary,
he thought.
Round two
.
Great, just great
. If it wasn’t bad enough that vampires in the form of eight gray wolves surrounded Tezra in the forest shadows, now an even larger one advanced on her. Except that he was more of a sable brown mixed with deep reds, the tips of his coat black, and his face a cream-colored mask, making him stand out among the rest.
Daemon.
The sunlight glinted off his dark brown eyes, and his mouth seemed to smile, which did nothing to stil her racing heart.
Before he reached her with his long gait, his sable coat glistening in the filtered sun, Atreides appeared in front of her and bowed his head slightly in greeting. She quickly stepped back.
“Where the hel did you get a huntress’s sword?” Atreides asked.
With a brow raised, he shared eye contact with the large wolf. The other wolves dispersed, headed across the property.
Dismissed, most likely.