“That I can see, but as you know I’m twice in your debt. I’m offering this as a way to clear that favor owed. Don’t ask if I’ll release you. The answer is no.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
His eyes flicked to mine. “Tell me how it works if this is not the way.”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re expecting. We can do this among our own kind, but I don’t know if I can take healing light from a Chitah.”
“You heal?” I asked in astonishment.
“Superficial wounds.”
“How do you do it?”
Logan tilted his head to the side. “With my tongue.”
“Is that all you can do?”
“Hmm,” he pondered. “As a Chitah, or do you mean
with my tongue
?”
I almost blushed, but Logan was all business as his incisors punched out. “Don’t get any ideas,” he said, placing his hand over my sweater. “I’m very aware of what you’re capable of.”
“Skin,” I said. “I’m not removing my clothes, and if you so much as touch me in the wrong place, I’m cutting off that hand.”
“On my word,” he murmured, hand disappearing beneath the sweater. His warm fingers touched that tender spot and I winced. Logan’s eyes flashed to mine, waiting for something to happen.
Justus never said I couldn’t take from Breed, only that I
shouldn’t
. At least, that’s what I remembered during those fuzzy training sessions. I gripped his large hand and focused on the energy. His power was a tightly wound coil that wouldn’t give. Pulling healing energy required concentration. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I began to have second thoughts as I stared at his incisors just inches away. What if he attacked when he felt his energy slip?
“Don’t pull away, Mage. I won’t harm you.”
“No offense, but I don’t believe you.”
“I am a Chitah, and my word is my bond. How is the word of a Mage these days?”
A tingling sensation prickled my skin. Warmth spread between our hands, burning through his fingertips against my skin. I glanced up, and he turned his head away as if catching a scent. The noise he made was a deep purr, so low it was more felt than heard.
“Why do you make those sounds?” I wondered aloud, removing his hand.
“Our body reacts. It can’t be controlled. I suppose that I’m calm,” he said, flexing his fingers.
Logan made a similar noise while terrorizing me in Justus’s bedroom. His version of calm wasn’t even in the same ballpark as mine.
“Could you put away your fangs? It makes me feel like a rib eye steak.”
He retracted them and stood up, putting distance between us. While it was only a small fraction of his energy given over, he looked weary as he sat down with his arms lazily draped over his knees.
“That was an interesting display back there with the gun,” he said. “The gifts your kind conceal are remarkable.”
“You don’t really work in a hospital, do you?”
Logan shook his head. “I had to gain your trust to get inside. People
do
trust a doctor, don’t they?” He laughed richly. “You wouldn’t have let me in if I just shown up in a pair of jeans. I scented the change in your comfort level when I removed my coat. A new Mage is easy to deceive; you still hold on to those human qualities of disbelief that someone could mean you harm.”
“You could have pushed your way in and saved me the trouble of making you dinner.”
He looked agitated. “I have no need to resort to violence to get what I want. Would you have preferred I be ruthless?”
“No, but I think your tactics were drawn out and unnecessary.”
“The enchiladas were worth it,” he grinned.
“How many have you killed?”
Logan wasn’t shocked by my question; even more disturbing was how quickly he answered.
“I lost count.”
“Why aren’t we extinct if all of your kind hunts us down?”
“
We
don’t. For obvious reasons we aren’t allies, but we abide by our laws, just as you do. I hunt alone, and it’s personal.”
That didn’t settle well on my palate. “Are you telling me that you’re an assassin? Do you do it for pay, or for sport?”
“I work independently. And before you lay your judgment on me, each and every one of them had it coming.”
“Do I have it coming?”
There was no denying the raw power behind his gaze as the fire smoldered in the reflection of his irises. My answer was silence.
Chapter 14
Minutes stretched into hours.
I nodded off against the wall, and when I awoke, I was lying beside the fire. It was quiet, and the embers were dim as if lulling the room asleep.
Logan was sprawled out on his stomach with his face buried in the crook of his arm. He was a very tall man with an athletic build. I was curious about the unusual markings I saw glimpses of, and whether it covered is entire body. His skin glowed with vitality and it made me look at my own arms thinking I could use a bottle of lotion. All of his body hair was baby fine, and light in color.
He was a creature to admire, but only when he was asleep. It wasn’t just his sheer size that intimidated me, but the cocksure way in which he carried himself.
I took a step towards the exit when a voice shattered the silence.
“I have no desire to fish you out of a hole. If you break something this time, I will not come get you.”
I let out an exasperated sigh and kicked up a cloud of dust. “Why the hell are you keeping me here? Kill me. Eat me. I don’t care. Just get it over with!”
He brushed the dirt away from his arms and sat up. “Eat you? What do you think I am?”
I glared at his question. “Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.”
“My, my, my. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? Tell me Mage, what happened to your Creator?”
“Don’t make assumptions. You don’t know anything about me.”
A wall of silence descended. I walked around the fire staring into the inky depths of the cavern. My past haunted me at odd moments. I thought about the human life unlived, and the life that almost was, if Adam had never freed me from my maker. I shivered, blowing a warm breath across my white knuckles.
“That was very rude of me, and I apologize.”
My heart seized when a shrill sound brightened the room. A scream poured from my lungs and I backed into the wall, electrified with fear. It was involuntary, as if something primal took control of my body.
The cause of that reaction was a deafening roar that filled every space of the cavern, reverberating off the walls. Logan was crouched on one knee, grinding his fists into the dirt. Hair hung wildly over his face, and faded patterns erupted across his torso.
I wound myself tight against the curve of the rock, keeping my eyes low. I moved a fraction when he lunged forward and slammed his hands on the wall, caging me in. Justus always said my mouth would get me in trouble one of these days.
Obsidian eyes stared at me with no familiarity. Rapid breath heated my cheek and I couldn’t think straight. If I lifted my hands to throw my power into him, how fast could he sink those teeth into my neck?
He was so close to my neck.
“I’m sorry,” I began. “I was only—”
I sucked in a sharp breath when he rubbed his cheek against mine… nuzzling. I forgot how to breathe. I knew it involved pulling in air and pushing it out, but the mechanics of it were lost. Logan’s skin was warm, and his lashes tickled my face. The man before me was not Logan, but a feral creature that could not be reasoned with.
What I couldn’t explain was why the closer he got to me, the less I feared him.
***
Logan stormed out of the cave. He suggested that if I went tunnel exploring, to “watch my step”. It sounded more like a warning. Through the dark exit, there were too many directions and sharp ledges, and I had a thing about heights.
I scattered a handful of sand on the floor between my legs, wondering how long this temporary infatuation with me would last. Logan Cross was no better than Samil, holding me hostage until his price was met. Maybe his price was nothing more than clearing his debt, but I had no respect for a man without honor.
The sound of footsteps interrupted my thoughts.
Logan ducked beneath the low ceiling entrance, looking refreshed. Those tacky green hospital pants were history, replaced with loose fitting jeans. The top two buttons of his black shirt were undone, and he wore the same white sneakers, which were now green around the rims from the moss on the forest bed. Several plastic sacks were set at my feet, and Logan sat down in front of me Indian style.
“Everyone likes Chinese,” he said.
“I’m not hungry.”
He wadded up a plastic sack and leaned forward. “You’re eating this food, and that is not up for debate.”
“You can’t make me.”
When the corner of his mouth curved into a smile, I decided to choose my battles wisely.
It was a feast of crispy egg rolls, beef and peppers, orange chicken, broccoli, vegetables, and pork. There was no his. There was no mine.
Chinese sugar donuts poured out of a sack when he ripped the bag in half. Logan folded his fingers and waited.
I speared into the pork and he lifted a pair of wooden chopsticks, letting a tangle of noodles slide down his throat. It could have been just an ordinary lunch between two old friends.
“Is Silver your real name?” he asked. “It’s unusual.”
“My human name was Zoë. Silver is the name I was given by my Creator.”
“Silly thing the Mage have with the names—pretentious and unnecessary.”
“Were you born a Chitah, or made one?” I asked, changing the topic.
“You can only be born into our kind.”
“There must be a lot of you.”
He chewed slowly, considering the question. “Not all of our young are Chitah.”
“What do you mean?”
Logan shrugged. “We have both human and Chitah DNA. Each child born is either one or the other.” He tilted his head back and took another bite.
“So you can have human parents with children that are like you?”
“No, that would create all kinds of havoc in the human gene pool,” he said with a mouthful. A noodle slipped from the chopstick and fell on his lap. He didn’t think twice about flicking it back in his mouth. “Both parents must be a Chitah in order to produce a Chitah, no exceptions.”
“What happens to the human children? What kind of life do they get?”
“They are given up for adoption to the humans.”
I dropped my fork, disgusted by the idea. This hit a little close to home because of my father’s absence in my life.
“Why would you give your own children away?”
“A parent loves their child enough to protect them, making whatever sacrifices are necessary. Humans are fragile; would you feel easy about raising them among Breed? Not to mention they are prone to disease, and they will wither and die before your eyes. They’re better off with their own kind.”
He was right. I couldn’t imagine protecting a helpless human baby from all of the dangers of our world when I could barely protect myself. The egg roll became suddenly bland and I tossed it back in the box. Logan reached for it and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth, cooties be damned.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Four brothers, all Chitah. One human sister,” he said proudly.
“Four? Wow, that’s a lot. Have you met your sister?”
He paused and looked wistfully at the beef. “I held her when she was an infant, but we have never met. Tell me about your siblings.”
“I don’t have any brothers or sisters. My best friend is the closest I have to a sister. Simon keeps me company, and Adam—”
“Lover?”
His question felt intrusive and I had no desire to open up my life to a nosy Chitah.
“That would be my personal business, now wouldn’t it?”
Logan licked his lips and poured some soy sauce on the rice, unaffected by my response. “Don’t be so quick to close a door that you yourself opened. I don’t see
you
holding back with getting personal.”
“Do you live in this cave, or just come here to explore your Neanderthal ways?”