Part 7 (1/2)
”How does that heal it? Your tongue?” I asked, rubbing my fingers across where she'd bitten. I couldn't feel anything. No scar from the earlier bite or this one.
”My blood heals the wound.” She climbed over me and off of the bed.
”Your blood?” The knowledge was new. In all these years, I'd never heard that vampire blood healed. It was a well-kept secret indeed.
She picked up her clothes from the floor and began to dress.
I sat up and slid to the edge of the bed. ”Don't we need to clean your clothes?”
”Nope. They are from Calliope's shop. They're clean.” She tugged her s.h.i.+rt on and sighed. ”It's too bad they can't st.i.tch themselves back together though,” she said, sticking her hand through the ma.s.sive hole in the side of the black t-s.h.i.+rt. ”And yes, my blood is healing. I sliced my tongue on one of my fangs just enough to seal and heal the bite. It only takes a drop or two.”
”Amazing.” Knowledge for me was a craving, just as the thirst for blood was for a vampire. Our people were hardwired to learn and gather knowledge. The Elvin created dragon steel. We also kept the giant libraries of Orin up-to-date... at least, we had before the Incanti took over.
”It's not really something vampires publicize. Can you imagine how the humans would hunt us if they knew?”
”True.” Walking to the closet, I pulled out a new set of clothes and an extra s.h.i.+rt for Eira. ”Here.” I turned and handed her the extra s.h.i.+rt. ”It's too big, but at least it's in one piece.”
”Thank you.” She pulled her ragged one off and slipped into mine. I dressed quickly. Sitting on the edge of the bed again, I put on my boots before following her out of my bedroom toward the stairs.
She paused at the bottom of the staircase and held up a hand, signaling me to freeze.
”What is it?” I whispered.
”Men. There are four heartbeats outside the house. They aren't on the porch yet, but they will be in the next sixty seconds.”
My gaze drifted to where my swords hung on their perch above the front door. Her hand clamped around my waist, and we moved faster than I could focus on my surroundings. When we stopped, we were standing at the base of the ladder that led up into the barn, and she was holding both of my swords.
I'd seen vampires disappear from sight, but I had no idea they could carry someone with them when they used their speed like that.
She held a finger to her lips and then unclasped the double sheath, handing me only one of the swords. I nodded, slipping the strap over my shoulder and securing it in place. She did the same with my brother's sword.
We climbed the ladder and tiptoed to the barn door. ”Why do you have soldiers looking for you?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
”s.h.i.+t.” The dagger. Somehow they had to have found out I had it.
”What?” She turned back and glared at me over her shoulder. ”What are you hiding? Those are SECR black ops soldiers.”
”We have to kill them first. I'll tell you after.”
She narrowed her eyes, her glare colder than sleet in a Texas winter. ”Fine.”
One second she was there, and the next she was gone, the barn door wide open.
I stepped forward and stopped abruptly as she reappeared directly in front of me, holding four limp bodies by their gun straps. So much for them being highly trained operatives. They apparently didn't a have a chance in h.e.l.l against a more experienced vampire.
She dropped them to the ground with a thud and then crossed her arms over her perfect b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”They're dead. Now what are you hiding in the house?”
”A dagger. They must've used a spell to locate it. No one knew I had it.”
”What kind of dagger?”
”One of the Shamesh keys.”
She took a step backward and audibly swallowed. ”You're kidding.”
I shook my head. ”I picked it up out of a field outside of Sanctuary. It was right after the Snen mor fought with some guy.”
”I- You-” she started, but kept cutting herself off. ”Snow-en what?”
”Diana Blackmoor. She was called the Snow Mother. I will keep it safe until the Blackmoors are ready to return to the Veil.”
”You know D?”
”D?”
”Diana. Miles. Eli. You know the Blackmoors?”
”From a long time ago, yes. How do you know them?”
”I saved Diana's life a few months ago and brought her to Sanctuary. I've met Miles and Eli a few times in town.” Her face was blank of emotion as she wiped her b.l.o.o.d.y hands on her pants. A few seconds later, the bloodstains were gone. Just poof, like magick. ”Well, regardless of how we both know the Drakonae living in Sanctuary, the SECR was able to locate that dagger. It's not safe here anymore.”
I stared at her for a second longer before my brain began processing again. It pained me to think how close I'd been to her all this time. My eyes drifted to the bodies at her feet, and battle mode enveloped me again.
”There's a barrel in the barn for their guns and a shovel next to it. I'll help you bury them after I fetch the dagger.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. Bending over and grabbing the dead soldiers by their gun straps again, she lifted all four of them as if they weighed no more than a feather pillow.
I jogged to the front door, unlocked it, and went inside. This hadn't been my plan, but a good plan adapted to changing circ.u.mstances. I sprinted up the stairs and into my bedroom; the musk of s.e.x still hung in the air. I shook my head as if that would help clear it. Fat chance. Her scent filled my lungs, and I felt my need for her grow with every pa.s.sing second. It was like being an adolescent boy again. My body was determined to make me walk around with a constant hard-on.
Opening the closet, I pushed aside the loose wooden panel and grabbed the dagger. I tucked it in the waist of my pants and hurried outside.
When I reached the barn, it was empty. The big sliding door on the other side was ajar as well.
”Eira?”
”Out here.”
I crossed through the dark barn and came out the door on the other side. She was digging a grave so quickly I couldn't see her actual movements, just the general area her body was occupying.
Three other fresh graves showed to the right of the one she was currently digging. They were evenly s.p.a.ced to match the pattern I'd started with the fruit trees that spanned the large field behind my house. How had she known?
She hopped out of the grave and tossed the lifeless body of the last soldier into the deep hole. A few moments later, the dirt covered him, and she was walking past me with the shovel.
”Do you have it?”
”Yes.”