“Yes,” Marcus said. “And in Nico’s defense, his concern was that you had bitten the infected wolf. He was afraid of how both his people, and your own, would react if your blood was altered. I suspect he wouldn’t test himself because it would potentially lead to more pressure to test you.”
“Then he’s just trying to protect me.” She made a sound deep in her throat and looked at the ceiling, as if she was choked up over the protectiveness, as if she believed Nico was all she had in the world. Troy didn’t want her to feel that way. He also didn’t want her hurt, and he feared that was exactly where this was headed.
Troy’s eyes met Marcus’s and there was a silent understanding between them. Marcus believed her. Troy believed her too, and that scared him like nothing had scared him since he’d become a vampire. Not since he was human and been fighting to save his parents and sister as a rogue vampire slaughtered them with no chance of success. And not because he was afraid of being hurt. Because he had information that could well mean a war was brewing between their races. If he stepped wrong, if he let what he felt for Cassie cloud his judgment, lives could be lost.
Cassie turned to him, her eyes glossy. He’d never seen her eyes glossy. He wasn’t being fair to her, if she was innocent, and he didn’t know how to fix that. Only that he wanted to. “I’m trying to understand how you feel,” she said. “I know Sarah betrayed you. I even understand why you would distrust after everything that has happened to you, but that distrust is like a bleeding wound destroying both of us, and even the truce between our people. We have to solve this. We have to get closure. And you can’t do this alone anymore. That isn’t working for you or for any of us.”
“I agree,” he said softly. “Completely.”
“I’m at 1010 Piece of Shit Avenue with Troy,” Marcus said into his phone, drawing their attention. “I need you here with lab supplies. Delwood Apartments. The dumps a block from the blood bank.” His gaze lifted to Troy’s, telling him he knew why, too before he added, “And Cassie is here. She needs clothes and shoes. Actually, it’ll be faster if I pick you up. I’m headed your way in a few minutes.” He snapped his phone shut. “Okay, here is where we are at. No Council. No Society. The three of us and an expert with some special abilities that I’m bringing in to help us.”
“What kind of expert?” Troy asked suspiciously. “And how does this expert know Cassie by name?”
“The kind of expert I trust, and I don’t trust any easier than you do,” Marcus said and stood up. “I’ll be back soon. You two love birds try and keep your clothes on while I’m gone. I don’t want to pop back in to see something that might damage me for life.” He bent down and snatched the handcuffs, dangling them from a finger. “I prefer the wool lined ones myself in case things get rowdy. Less painful.” He glanced at the bed. “And you might want to clean up before our guest arrives. White sheets are not a vampire’s best friend.” He disappeared.
Troy and Cassie were alone and Troy knew it was time to put everything on the line with her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“We should get dressed before they come back,” Troy suggested, wishing they didn’t have to, but not at all fond of the idea of Cassie naked with yet another man in the room.
“Yes,” she said quickly and snatched up her torn panties and bra, looking like she didn’t know what to do with them.
“Kick them under the mattress,” Troy said, and tugged on his pants, before removing a black t-shirt shirt from his bag and putting it on.
She shrugged and did just that before stepping into her skirt and zipping it up.
Troy sat down on the bed and pulled on socks and a spare pair of boots since the other pair were ruined. Cassie grabbed her torn blouse and flung it under the bed, tying his shirt at the waist.
Troy stood up and removed a computer bag out from under the bed and opened it to retrieve his laptop from inside. His gaze raked the disarray of the bed sheets stained with blood and he froze with the memories of holding Cassie, of being inside her, of finally touching her, flooding his mind, heating his body. His eyes lifted to hers and held, the look on her face telling him she was thinking of the same thing. “Cass I—”
“Cassie,” she corrected, crossing her arms in front of her.
“Cass,” he said softly, and then referenced what she’d said to him in the bathroom. “And I don’t, nor have I ever, hated you. Just the opposite, in fact, which is why I stayed away from you so long.” His chest tightened as he dared to put himself out there. “There are things I want to say to you, things I want to explain, but I can’t right now. Not when Marcus and his ‘expert’ could get back before I show you what I have to show you.”
He motioned to the foot of the mattress, deciding the bed was a bad choice of seats for all kinds of reasons. He sat down on the floor, leaning against the cushion.
Troy stretched his long legs in front of him, crossing his ankles and patting the floor beside him. He opened the computer and hit power. “Come sit with me. I won’t bite. I promise. At least, not now, but I can’t promise not ever.” For the time being, he was in control, more so than he had been in a long time, which was saying a lot considering seeing her in his shirt stirred the primal beast of man, vampire, and wolf, in him. It was control he could contribute to only one thing. Her blood.
She scraped her teeth over her bottom lip and considered him a moment, no doubt smelling the desire in him, the hunger, before saying. “I’m fine here.”
“It involves Nico, Cass.”
Her brows dipped, and he could feel the tension curl inside her. “What involves Nico?” she asked.
“Please,” he urged. “Just come sit with me so I can show you.”
She hesitated and then moved to sit next to him, clearly careful not to touch him, and curling her legs to the side in what appeared to be an effort to keep her skirt down. “I’m listening.”
Troy hesitated a moment, steeling himself for Cassie’s reaction, before loading a reel of pictures to the screen. The first one was of Nico sitting at a table in a bar across from another man, or rather a wolf. One Troy hated, and had hunted, for the best part of the year. The next photo was Nico talking with Andres in an alley. Several more photos of the two wolves followed.
Troy waited for a reaction from Cassie, some spike of discomfort that would tell him she was involved in something he didn’t want her to be involved with. Equally as worried about her reaction to him accusing her brother of the same. “Do you know this man?” he prompted.
“Not personally,” she said, her attention shifting from the picture. “But I know who he is. His name is Andres. He’s a new leader in the Rebel movement though no one knows exactly where he came from. He’s an unknown in the society.”
He was relieved that she acknowledged knowing Andres, that he smelled no lie. His wolf nose was an asset he’d never had with Sarah, but he didn’t understand why others didn’t smell her deceit if they weren’t in on it with her. “Why was Nico meeting with Andres? Why, Cass?”