Mixed Blessing (Mixed Blessing Mystery, Book 1) (10 page)

Besides, I didn't think this would be the last I heard or saw of Aliath,
Herra
of the Grey Lords, Prince
of
Dökkálfa
.

Before he could move to stand, I spun on my heel and flashed to the side of the building leaping into the air and sailing across the space between SubZero and its nearest neighbour. The building I landed on was only two storeys high, but my landing was faultless, despite my diminished physical state. I took a few steps to slow my momentum and glanced over my shoulder, back at the rooftop from where I had just come from.

Aliath stood out against the stars of the night, long black cloak billowing in the breeze, silver blond hair flying around his head. I could see the vivid green of his eyes.

I could see his hunger.

I gulped
, crushed the rising tide of fear I felt at being locked in a fairy of his power's sights and bled back into the shadows with the last of what was left of my power.

Then headed to work.

Rihanna's
Where Have You Been?
filtered through the closed door to the club as I stumbled through the back entrance to
Sensations.
I cringed at the apt title of the song and dragged myself towards the staff's quarters. No way was I showing myself out the front of the bar in my current state and heading towards the Master of the City's chambers in the other direction was not a viable option. I just needed somewhere safe to hide and recuperate. Somewhere where a fairy was not likely to come hunting.

What I would do, once I commandeered one of the sleeping chambers for those of Jett's line, I didn't know. I needed to feed, but first things first. I needed a safe haven.

I'd made it to the corridor heading towards the stairs at the side of the building, the ones that would take me up to the sleeping quarters, when I scented him. I stopped in my tracks, there was no point going any further. The fact that he knew the instant I set foot on his property was not a surprise. Plus, the way my luck had been going tonight, he probably had me followed and knew the extent of trouble I had been in too.

Or he just wanted to fire me for missing the start of work again tonight.

The smell of cinnamon, bark and mixed spices wrapped around me the closer he got. I refused to let myself relax into the calming signature scent of Jett Vardi, despite how he was the first vampire I thought of when I needed to feel safe. I turned slowly and had to strain my neck back slightly to look up at him, he was already standing right behind me. I kept a neutral mask on my face and forced myself to breathe evenly. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

His baby blue eyes roamed the length of my body. I wasn't too dishevelled, despite my acrobatics and adventures of the night. But the cut on my lip, from where I had bitten myself when Aliath wrenched my shoulder, was still visible, no healing having taken place. Bruises were forming down the front of my body and although hidden by clothing, he seemed to stop his perusal at each and every one, as though he could in fact see them. And then his eyes returned to my face. I saw a flicker of amusement as he took in my earrings and then his usual, austere mask fell into place.

"You're missing an earring," he said, conversationally.

My hands shot out to my ears, locating the missing side. Damn. I liked those
Pink Panthers
. I took the remaining earring out, I was never one to be lopsided. Jett just smiled.

"Where have you been, Georgia?" he asked, leaning his bulk against the wall to our side. His body took up way more space than was necessary in the hallway we were in.

"Running errands," I replied, leaning gratefully against the wall too. Mine was not to look in charge and intimidating. Mine was because I needed support or I'd fall.

Jett stared at me for several seconds, then leaned forward and inhaled deeply against the skin at the side of my neck. I use scent all the time, so do many vampires. It's a handy tool. For me, it is my talent. I don't need to get up close and personal to smell emotions or moods. Nor to smell the signature scent of someone. But, I forget that others
do
need to get up close and personal, in order to pick up the nuances that make up a scent. I forced myself not to react to what was considered a normal vampire move, sniffing at someone's neck.

"You smell of fairy," he said, not moving away. Instead his hand came up and rested on my shoulder. I'm not sure if it was a move to steady himself, to calm me, or to offer support. But, it was on the shoulder Aliath had already wrenched out of shape. I jerked away from his touch and he growled.

Never run from a vampire, in any way, shape, or form.

His other arm snaked out and around my body, pinning me between his chest and the wall
at my back. At least he was no longer touching my shoulder. That hand had been removed and now sat beside my face flat against the wall. I was trapped. One arm around my waist securing me to his body, which pushed me back against the wall, the other boxing me in.

After everything that had happened tonight, this was too much. My fangs came out and down, the hunger returned with a vengeance, my eyes bleeding all blue, skipping straight to purple and I growled right back at him. Pushing against his hold and placing my face in his.
Back off!

He laughed, a low chuckle, that rumbled through his chest, directly into mine. I couldn't get a bead on his emotional scent, but I was betting there was a fair amount of sticky toffee in the air between us. And it was not mine.

"What have you been up to, kitten?" He didn't move away from my fangs, instead I noticed his were also down, although he hadn't made a show of them extending, like I had.

I took a measured breath in, there was no point ignoring him, he wasn't going to go away. "It's been a busy night, Jett. I needed somewhere to catch my breath." A figure of speech, he knew as well as I that I didn't need to breathe.

"Why haven't you healed yourself?" he asked, still too close. And when I still didn't answer, he added, "Why come here? You're obviously not here to work, so why not head home?"

I hesitated. It was natural for me not to trust anyone. Jett fell into that category and some. Despite being the Master of the City, he didn't automatically warrant full disclosure of my life. But this was different. He had made it quite clear that the murders reflected on Auckland and could garner the attention of the
Iunctio
. I did not want the
Iunctio
here, neither did Jett. So, could I work with him on this? Did I have a choice?

I licked my lips, deep in thought, Jett's eyes swept down my face to watch the movement, then flicked back up to meet mine.

Ah, hell. I came here because I knew he could protect me from a fairy. The least I could do was let him know that's what he had to do.

"I had a run-in with a fairy," I said, quietly.

"I gathered that," came his slightly sarcastic reply.

He wasn't going to make this easy, was he? "I needed somewhere safe to recover. I knew I'd be safe here."

He did step back at that. I was momentarily relieved at the distance, then just as quickly concerned as to the reason why. Would he not offer protection?

"You thought I would... protect you?" He sounded surprised. I still couldn't get a reading on his emotional scent, my hunger was taking too much of my depleted strength, leaving nothing spare for talents.

"Well," I said, shifting uneasily under his intense gaze, "I only had the run-in because he was at the first murder scene. I went there..."

"You went to the Alison Danvers murder scene? Why would you do that, Georgia?" He asked the question as though he already knew the answer, he just wanted to hear it from me.

I quickly ran over what he had told me to do in regard to the murder investigation and realised his only instruction was to get close to Detective Mark Anderson. My going to the murder scene was way out of line, in regards to what he thought I could do.

I shifted again and he crossed his arms over his chest, adapting the intimidating Master of the City pose. Looking down his crooked nose at me and piercing me with those pale blue eyes. He expected me to come clean, but no one, other than Kara - oh, and the fairy - knew about this talent. Any vampire can scent signatures, but emotions? That's a whole different ball game and although Jett knew I had smelled burnt peaches, apple and cinnamon at the second murder scene, he would not have required me to check for that signature scent at Alison's murder scene. Any of his vamp underlings could have done that for him. His instructions had been clear and did not relate to me visiting that scene tonight. Still, was this emotional scenting talent such a bad thing to confess? It was better than the shadow one, which now I come to think of it, the fairy knows about too.

Damn that bloody fairy!

"If I tell you, will you keep it confidential?" I had no right to ask him this and absolutely no grounds to believe that he would comply, but I couldn't stop myself trying, at least, to minimise the damage this knowledge could cause. Jett would hound me for this, he was like a dog with a bone when he got an idea into his head. And by the looks of him now, his canines were already latched on.

"It depends on what you tell me, Georgia. If it relates to the murder case, then I cannot guarantee I can keep it between you and me. I have more people than just you investigating this. In fact, I have had people instructed to check out the murder scenes and you being there could well have tampered with evidence." That last sentence was said with a very grim face. He was definitely not happy with my stepping over the mark tonight, but what could those other vampires/people have ascertained? I knew of no supernatural with my specific talent. But, then again, no supernatural knew of mine either. Except the fairy.

I shifted my feet again and couldn't look him in the face. This went against absolutely everything I had told myself I would not do. Since discovering this new night time world and my inclusion in it, I have set up some hard and fast rules. One: trust no one. Two: keep to myself. Three: never join a line. Four: feed as little as possible. Five: keep my talents hidden.

I was about to break rule numbers one, two and five. With the possibility of breaking number four before the night was out, by the way I was feeling right now. All I had to do to make it a full house, was join Jett's line and then all of my faith in myself would be well and truly shot. This sucked.

I looked back up at Jett and crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring his stance. Not intentionally, it was a defensive manoeuvre, I knew, but I couldn't help it. This felt so wrong, but I couldn't risk the
Iunctio
coming here. A Nothus just can't take that kind of chance. Telling this to Jett was not my greatest secret, that secret was already too widely known. Lucinda, Samson, Doug, Michel. I couldn't let that circle of knowledge widen further. I was already battling my Dark Shadow not to stake those who knew what exactly I was.

"One of my talents is scenting emotions. I can even catalogue scents after the person has gone. I could scent Alison's emotions in her office, as well as the murderer's."

OK. I didn't actually expect the reaction I got. He went preternaturally still. No breathing, no heartbeat, no blinking. Just stared straight at me as though I wasn't even there. A full minute passed before he spoke.

"How accurate are you?"

"Very. I have yet to make a mistake."

"Who knows about this talent?"

"My best friend and the fairy tonight."

He paused. "How did the fairy know?"

"I'm not sure, he was extremely powerful. The
Herra
of the Grey Lords."

And oh my God, his eyes flashed the most amazing combination of azure and turquoise, bathing the whole hallway in his stunning glow. I inhaled deeply, to get an angle on what he was feeling, but my hunger was still blocking all talents and all I could do was guess. He was excited, maybe impressed, but didn't look alarmed at who Aliath was, but he did recognise the significance of this talent and no doubt had already decided how best it could be used. That didn't worry me. It's a vampire thing, I would have thought the very same way. What did worry me, was who he would tell this nugget of information to? I could only hope he would want to use me for his own purposes and not want to share me around.

"I won't join your line, Jett." He blinked at my change of topic. "But, I will offer my talent when required, if you agree by blood bond not to share your knowledge of it further."

It was a bold move. I held no sway over his decision. I was grasping at straws.

"Join my line and I will keep your secret."

"What part of  'I won't join your line' do you not get?" I said through gritted teeth, which surprisingly also allowed for a fair amount of lisping.

"Then I shall announce your talent to the
Iunctio
."

"That would bring their attention to our city and right now, you don't want that." My fists were now at my sides, ready to strike if the need arose. I would not go down without a fight.

He considered my words. "There will come a time when these murders have been dealt with and the need to keep the
Iunctio
from my city will not be so dire. At that point, I will announce your talent. Join my line before then and your secret is safe."

I frantically tried to think of an answer to this monumentally fucked-up problem. Jett had me backed into a corner. He knew something I did not want the world to know. Information of this magnitude was a powerful bargaining chip. I had nothing of equal importance to hold over his head.

But, I sure as hell was going to find something.

So, he would keep my secret as long as the murder case was still unsolved and could cause problems for his city with the vampire governing body. I had some time. Probably not much, but a brief reprieve was better than nothing.

"You're an absolute arsehole, you know that," was all I could think of to say.

He laughed. The bastard. "Only you could think saying that to the Master of the City and your boss was a good idea." He laughed some more.

Well, at least I entertained him. Better than angered, anyway.