“Yes, see to the hunters after you’ve made certain Katie wil be al right.”
“I wil give you a report as soon as I’m through.”
The doctor left Daemon and Atreides alone with Tezra. Daemon continued to touch her and reassure her he was with her and she’d be al right, but he had to make certain everything else was under control.
“Maison, what’s going on with the SCU and the police?”
“They’ve taken Patrico’s and Bernard’s statements. Chief O’Malley has placed himself under arrest and they’re picking up
his brother-in-law as we speak.”
“Did any rebel vampires escape the bash tonight?”
“Half a dozen, my prince. Fifteen of our men are searching for them now.”
“The bodies of the fledglings—
“Taken care of,” Atreides said, a brow raised while he gave Daemon a stern look. “Hel , Daemon, we’ve lived long enough to know how to deal with a situation like this. Take care of your ward and leave the mundane stuff to us.”
“Bernard wants to see Tezra,”
Maison said.
“No.”
Silence.
“He can see her in the morning,”
Daemon added.
“He’s storming up the stairs,”
Maison warned.
Bernard yanked the door open to a guest room down the hal . Wrong bedroom. He soon found the right one and barged in. “I want to see Tezra. I’m her bodyguard, after al .” His gaze shifted to Tezra in the bed. “Is—is she going to be al right?”
“She’l be fine. She’s sleeping and the bul et’s out.”
Bernard frowned at Daemon. “You’re keeping her, aren’t you? I’ve heard rumors you wouldn’t take another mate again, but you wouldn’t turn her and leave her unprotected, would you? Your brother’s saying you plan to give her to him, but I want to know that you or your brother is committed to taking care of her. She’s been through a damned lot on her own already.”
Daemon gave Atreides a scathing look. “My brother speaks out of turn.”
Giving Daemon an equal y harsh look, Bernard said, “Then you’d better explain to the lady that she’s your mate and make it clear to al what the deal is.”
Daemon pul ed a chair next to the bed, sat and caressed Tezra’s cheek. “Not many would be so bold to tel me what to do, hunter.”
Bernard gave him a demonic smile. “I’m not just anyone. I’ve been taking care of Tezra since she was a teen. And now I want your assurance she wil always have your protection.”
“I think you already know the answer to your concerns.”
“I suspect I do.”
Daemon considered Bernard’s bloodied arm and motioned to the door. “The doctor wil take care of your injury. You may see Tezra again in the morning, and you and Patrico are welcome to stay the night.”
Bernard bowed his head, surprising Daemon. But then he remembered the hunter’s vampiric roots and returned the polite gesture. Bernard quickly retired from the room.
“I have given Katie a mild sedative. She is sleeping in the guest room across from your master suite,”
Doc Hol owel said from the living room. “
And I’ve patched up the one hunter named Patrico. But the other has—no, he’s returned.”
When no one else bombarded Daemon with messages, he said to Maison and Atreides, “
I do not wish to be disturbed unless
the business is most urgent.”
“As you wish,”
Maison said.
“I will ensure the guards are in place tonight.”
“The rumor has spread that Tezra is your ward,” Atreides said, “and I overheard several who are loyal to you saying they hoped you’d consider giving her to them, especial y since you are adamant about not making her your mate.”
“Atreides—” Daemon growled.
“We can talk later. I’l help the others who are chasing the remaining renegades.” Atreides winked and vanished.
Daemon hadn’t spoken the last about this matter of giving Tezra up to Atreides. When everything was quiet, Daemon’s guards were in place and the injured hunters were both asleep in a guest bedroom, Daemon joined Tezra in bed. “Sweet huntress, wil you be the death of me?”
No matter how much he told himself he couldn’t do it, no matter how many times he reminded himself of his mistakes of the past, he couldn’t let anyone else claim the enchantress. Which left only one real option, and he hoped he wouldn’t be damned for al eternity if he went down that dark path again.
***
Early the next morning, Daemon considered the way Tezra looked. Her color had returned and the doctor had removed the I.V.
several hours earlier. The wound had not total y healed, but she was wel on her way to mending.
“Katie’s up and is concerned about her sister, but is afraid to see her,”
Atreides said from the greatroom.
“I’ll be right down.”
Not wanting to disturb Tezra’s peaceful sleep, Daemon careful y slipped out from her soft, warm embrace. After dressing, he appeared in the greatroom to find it fil ed with people. Katie was sitting on one of the sofas, wringing her hands. Bernard and Patrico were drinking coffee nearby. Maison was dozing in a chair while Voltan stood near Katie like a monolithic statue, his arms folded, his posture wary. Atreides moved into the greatroom from the kitchen, carrying a tray of coffee mugs.
As soon as Katie saw Daemon, she jumped up. Instantly, Voltan seized Katie’s arm, stopping her from approaching Daemon, and she cried out.
Daemon motioned for Voltan to release her.
Voltan grunted and did as he was told.
“After what she did last night, the wench should have been thrown in the dungeon.”
“I’m so sorry.” Katie choked back tears. “Late last night, Patrico and Atreides told me why you changed Tezra. That it was total y her choice. I—I can’t believe I shot her. She—she’l kil me when she’s better.”
Daemon led Katie back to the couch and encouraged her to sit. “Tezra would do anything to protect you, Katie. As wil I and al of my people. She’s stil sleeping from the trauma, but otherwise she’s fine.”
Katie shook her head and rubbed her arms. “Physical y, maybe. But—but I shot her! How can she be feeling emotional y about that?”
“You shot her by accident. You weren’t thinking clearly. The situation was total y understandable.” Though Daemon wished Tezra’s sister had listened to him in the first place when he commanded her to put down the gun. In that regard, she reminded him eerily of Tezra and how disobedient she could be. Looking her beautiful self, she was supposed to have stayed out of trouble—that’s al he’d wanted of Tezra last night.
Wel , not any longer.
He’d fought with himself over the matter al night long, and his heart ruled his brain once again. Tezra was his to keep, and he’d hear no objections to the contrary from anyone.
“She’s your—your mate now, isn’t she?” Katie’s eyes glistened with tears.
Everyone watched Daemon to see what he would say, even Maison who had the uncanny ability to wake from sleep when something was going on he wished to be part of.
But Daemon would speak to Tezra first to let her know of his decision before he spread the word to the rest of his people. “I wil protect her always,” he said evasively.
He could tel by the expressions on Maison and Atreides’s faces that they already knew he’d made his decision. Maison seemed resigned. Atreides gave a smal smile as if he knew it al along. Voltan muttered something under his breath about Daemon needing a tighter leash on the huntress. Bernard and Patrico looked clueless.
He just hoped Katie could handle the matter wel enough in her fragile state.
***
Tezra found herself in Daemon’s bed, naked, the bul et gone, her blood refreshed, but the ugly wound hadn’t healed al the way yet. She sat up in bed and listened to the conversation in Daemon’s living room, her heart already aching with regret at what she had to do next.
“Katie needs to be with her own kind,” Patrico said.
“I have to agree,” Bernard said.
Daemon disagreed. “Tezra won’t want to live without Katie and—”
“I won’t live without her,” Katie adamantly added. “I—I’m so sorry about trying to shoot you, Daemon.”
“You felt I’d taken advantage of your sister. I’ve told you repeatedly, there are no hard feelings.” Daemon sounded truthful, yet his voice hinted at concern.
“She wil kil me when she wakes,” Katie moaned.
“She is awake,” Voltan warned.
***
Tezra dressed in a pale blue sweater and a pair of denims, dreading what she had to do next. Halfway down the stairs, Daemon met her, his face ful of concern. He wordlessly wrapped his arm around her waist and transported her to the living room, then sat her on the couch.
Atreides, Maison, Katie, Bernard, Patrico and Voltan stood next to the grouped couches, and everyone’s face showed rabid anxiousness.
Once she was sitting on the couch, she fought the emotion that was tearing her up inside, turned to Daemon and said the most difficult thing she ever had. “I can’t stay with you. Not for now.” She swal owed hard. “After al she’s been through, Katie needs me. I have to reintroduce her into our world. We need some time alone.”
She sensed his barely control ed anger while he stood next to her, not saying a word.
Katie wrung her hands, her lips parted in surprise, her green eyes wide. But she didn’t contradict Tezra. Didn’t say it was okay to stay with Daemon. Tezra took a deep breath. “Katie?”
Katie looked at Daemon, then her gaze shifted to the other vampires, and final y the hunters. She nodded.
Tezra clenched her teeth to keep the tears at bay. Her hint of hope that Katie might be al right living amongst the vampires was shattered. But it was selfish for Tezra to want this after al Katie had suffered.
Daemon crouched in front of Tezra, took her hands and opened his mouth to object. But she pul ed away from him and pressed her finger against his lips. She didn’t want to fight him on this issue because her own feelings of remorse were barely under control, and she feared caving in—which she knew would be disastrous for both of them.
“I have to do this. She’s the last of my family and I owe it to her.” Because no matter how things had turned out right in the end, Tezra was stil to blame for her sister’s lost years. She couldn’t and wouldn’t abandon her at this point in her life. “For now, Katie wil enrol in the SCU school, and I’l conduct criminal investigations—what I was trained for. Except I’l be my own boss. No more SCU to tel me what I can or can not do. Katie and I wil get an apartment and Bernard wil watch out for us.”
Daemon stood, his hands fisted at his sides, his eyes darkening to midnight. “But you can do this from my home.”
“No. I need…”
To make amends with Katie. To help her readjust to hunter life.
“I need to do this, Daemon. For now.”
His jaw ticked. “You’l need blood.”
Swal owing hard, she motioned to the kitchen. “I can get hospital blood like you do.”
His face remained hard and unyielding. She knew he would fight her on it, but she wasn’t backing down.
To her surprise and disappointment, he bowed his head, acquiescing. “So be it, Tezra. Your home is mine when you choose to return.”
“No,” Maison said, his own voice dark and committed.
Her mouth dropped in astonishment.
Daemon waved his hand to silence his friend without taking his severe gaze off Tezra.
Atreides objected next. “You can’t let them—”
Daemon silenced him with a glare.
Atreides glowered back but bowed his head.
Voltan straightened his tal stature. “I’l escort the ladies to where they wish to go.”
“Bernard and Patrico can,” Tezra countered, wanting to completely cut her ties with the vampires if this was going to work. Tears pricked her eyes, and she was unable to look at Daemon.
“Bernard and Patrico wil go with you, but Voltan wil take you,” Daemon said, then vanished. Not a kiss, a hug or a word of goodbye.
Wel , what did she expect? She’d cut him to the quick, but he had al the vampires of America to console him. The notion didn’t dissolve the block of ice wedged in her heart.
“Let’s go.” Tezra’s cheeks grew wet before she reached the front door.
Life without him would be pure hel , but life with him wouldn’t be much better, knowing how much she needed to help Katie readapt to her life.
Katie grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
Wel , that cinched the notion Katie didn’t want to stay with the vampires.
Bernard escorted them to the SUV parked in the circular drive. “There’s always me. As I vaguely recal , you once said if I hadn’t taken you hostage and secured you at Atreides’s house, you would have married me.”
Tezra raised her brows. “I thought Daemon told Atreides to wipe your mind. And besides, I said, ‘
If
you hadn’t taken me hostage.’ After the deed was done it was a little late for backtracking.” Tezra glanced back at the house, her heart lost in a quagmire of stinging nettles. No one watched from the windows. It was as if Daemon had cut her loose, and she was already dead to him.
Couldn’t he understand how she needed to make amends to Katie? How much harm that needed to be undone? It was the best option, so why did her heart ache as if the bul et was stil lodged in the center of it?
***
“Dammit, Daemon,” Atreides said to him later that night while Daemon poured himself another glass of wine. “Other ancients might go after her.”
“Why do you think I sent Voltan with them?” Daemon couldn’t shake loose the anger he felt that she would decide this and not be open to his suggestion to stay with him at the house. On the other hand, he knew she wouldn’t be able to stay away from him for long, and that gave him a sliver of sinister pleasure. She was bound to him, body and soul, and the sooner she learned this, the better for both of them. Yet, he stil couldn’t censor the irritation running through his blood that she’d leave him. Daemon had every intention of watching her himself most of the time, not trusting that anyone could protect her like he would.
“She expected you to fight more to keep her.” Atreides col apsed on the sofa.
Maison poured himself a glass of wine. “I did too, though I knew when you silenced me you had a plan.”