I woke up in pain, which was better than not waking up at all. Vincent's firmly-set jaw was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. We were mid-flight, with the open sky stretching out above us as he carried me in his arms. Below us, the once grand labyrinth lay in scorched ruins.
"Reese." My name left his mouth on a strangled breath when he noticed I was awake, and I wanted to reassure him with a kiss. But I ached all over, and my head felt fuzzy, so I just smiled. "You're going to be fine. Wren will patch you up. I'll bet there won't even be a scar."
He spoke in a nervous rush, which wasn't his usual, and I knew he was worried sick about me despite my gifts. Had I really taken the necromancer out? The last thing I remembered was watching Dmitry's body surrender to the dust. I grimaced when a sudden twinge in my back reminded me about the knife. It was probably why Vincent mentioned the scar.
"The battle... Is it still going on?"
"No. Dmitry's demons gave up just before I found you passed-out in the chamber. His death must have released them."
"Are we sure he's gone? I don't trust..."
"Don't talk. We're almost there."
Vincent's firm command had me shutting-up willingly. It was all I could do not to get sick in his arms. We landed on the back porch, and Vincent brought me in through the solarium. Igor stood at the bar pouring liquor into a glass. When he saw us, he stopped and hurried over, still clutching the bottle.
"What has happened to her? Does she need medical attention, too?" The concern in his voice was heartwarming. Maybe he wouldn't be too upset when he learned I'd snuffed out his master.
"Who else is injured?" I asked.
"A demon who calls himself Titan."
I cringed, remembering what I had sent him to do. "How bad is he?"
"He has lost a finger. I am bringing him a sedative." Igor waved the bottle as he followed us through the solarium. Vincent had not stopped his momentum, making determined strides across the room and forcing me to call over his shoulder to Igor.
"I wouldn't mind one of those."
As we rounded the corner to our room, the angry wails of a hungry infant carried down the hall, and Wren wore the look of relief when Vincent barged into the room. I figured there was more than one reason for her relief as she met my weary gaze. But she wasn't holding my screaming boy. Truly had him bouncing against her shoulder while Wren sat on the bed with Titan, sewing up his hand.
"Reese is injured. She needs stitches." Vincent stood in front of them, still holding me in his arms. Even in my gollum form, he didn't seem the least bit fatigued by my increased weight and cumbersome wings. Such was the miracle of adrenaline and concrete musculature.
"How urgent is it? I'm nearly done here." Wren said without glancing up.
Vincent's eyebrows bunched as he looked down at me. The anguish was clear in his eyes. "Based on the amount of blood she's lost, I'm surprised she's still conscious."
This time, Wren glanced up. "Oh, dear. Well, it'll be best if she changes forms first. Can you manage that, Reese?"
"I'll give it a shot."
Looking hesitant, Vincent carefully set me on my feet, keeping a firm hold on my arm while I found my balance. His chest was smeared with blood, which I assumed to be a combination of mine and his. Since he didn't appear to be swaying with the movement of the room, most of it was probably mine, and I had a strange sense that I could pass out any second. So, I got a move on and focused every ounce of energy I had into making the change while everyone watched. Truly didn't even bat an eyelash.
As soon as I was human again, my legs gave way, and Vincent snatched me up and hauled me to a chair. Henry was still wailing like a branded banshee, and Truly stepped forward, holding him out to me.
"He is a very hungry boy," she said, looking extremely eager to be rid of him.
"Reese can't feed him now," Vincent snapped. "She has serious injuries that need to be treated first."
Despite Vincent's protests, I gestured for Truly to set Henry in my arms. "It's fine, Vincent. Maybe Wren can sew me up while he eats. The wound is on my back."
"There's one on your shoulder, as well," Vincent added grimly, and I was quickly reminded of Dmitry's last act of violence.
I glanced over at Wren and she nodded at me. "I should be able to manage with you lying sideways on the bed."
The room was plunged into silence as Henry latched on, with only the sounds of him sniffling and suckling punctuating the quiet tension. My gaze finally landed on Titan, who looked like he had spent a week inside a torture chamber, and another memory surged forward.
Terra.
"I'm very sorry about your niece, Titan," I said softly.
I could tell he was trying to avert his eyes from the feeding frenzy going on as he acknowledged me with a nod. "It's alright. Vincent told me what happened. She died bravely for a worthy cause. It is the most noble way to go."
I glanced at his hand, which was swollen and purple. "Which finger?"
"The pinky. It was my choice, so that's the one I picked."
"So, removing the curse required to you to sacrifice a body part? I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It could have been worse."
Igor entered the room carrying a tray with a liquor bottle and four glasses, two of them already filled. "The sedatives, as you requested, madam."
"Thank you, Igor. Please, set the tray on that table." Wren jutted her chin at the window, since the table beside the bed was currently being used as her surgical stand.
As Igor passed the bed, Titan reached out with his free hand, which had been wrapped so thickly with bandages it made him look like a mummy. "I'll take that sedative now."
"Are you sure you can hold the glass?" Igor said.
"One damnable puzzle can't keep this demon down." Titan wiggled his fingers, and Igor placed the glass between them. "Besides, I'll be done with this in a snap. Don't move."
True to his word, Titan drained his glass in one fell swoop and returned the glass to Igor's waiting hand. After depositing the tray on the table, Igor and Truly left the room, and I finally felt like I could speak without monitoring my words.
"Where's the Seal of Solomon?"
"It should be in my suitcase, if Igor did his job," Vincent said. "As is the spell book. Once you're stitched up. I want to remove the curse."
He was pacing the floor, his eyes watching Wren impatiently as she finished sewing up Titan's finger and started wrapping his hand.
"But what about the concoction that may or may not include poison?" I said, remembering the swirling, red goo. "It looked like liquid death to me."
"Terra confirmed it was prepared properly. I asked her before she..." He halted his words as his gaze flicked to Titan. "I don't think she would want to see you poisoned, Reese. You're the only one she liked."
Despite my reservations about drinking a potion prepared by an evil lunatic, if Vincent was comfortable having me do it, I had to trust him. But I still had a say about what I put into my body. "Dmitry is dead, Vincent. And he was the one controlling my fevers. You have to admit, they haven't been a problem since Henry was born."
Vincent stopped his incessant pacing and set his stony gaze on me. "What are you saying? That you don't want to remove the curse?"
I met his stony gaze right back and raised him an eyebrow lift. "I'm saying I would feel a lot better about drinking a funky concoction if we waited until Glade could mix it."
Wren smiled as she glanced up from her work. "I believe that is a very prudent course of action, Reese. It seems destroying a dangerous necromancer and suffering massive blood loss hasn't hindered your ability to think clearly. I'm nearly ready for you, if you want to move to the bed."
Over the next hour or so, I underwent the Valentino's version of field surgery, and as Henry suckled happily, I listened to Titan tell tales of hard-fought battles and the damage done to his body as a result of his heroics. The staff had bent over backwards to accommodate us, and they even treated a couple of wounded demons from the nearby hive who were too beat-up to return.
Pretty soon, my keen sense of smell caught a whiff of pungent incense wafting through the vents, which blended with the scent of beef wellington that had my mouth watering. When the dinner bell rang, I insisted on joining everyone in the dining room, against Vincent's wishes that I lay in bed and rest.
The food was set-out buffet style so everyone could enjoy the meal. Even the staff helped themselves. I couldn't help notice that everyone behaved as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Had they all been prisoners?
I decided it was best not to bring up unpleasant topics, and asked questions about the estate instead, choosing Luba as my go-to contact since she had made a point to sit beside me and Henry.
"What's the altitude up here?" I asked as she tickled Henry under his chin.
"It is about fifteen hundred meters, Vhich is just enough for a good view but vill not give you nose bleeds. Are zhere mountains vhere you live?"
"Not this close, but I love to visit them. The Valentinos own a cabin in the mountains, but the cabin is small compared to this. Come to think of it, our penthouse is small compared to this."
"Zhe manor is quite lovely, dah? Vith many secret places to hide." She continued to focus her attention on Henry, leaving me to ponder her cryptic comment. Did she hide from Dmitry often?
"Does all the staff live here?" I asked, having already guessed the answer.
"Dah. Only..." She shrugged as she glanced around at her colleagues. They were all laughing and helping themselves to platefuls of food. "I fear ve vill be looking for new homes very soon."
"And new jobs, yeah?"
She sighed as she turned to her plate, eyeing the food like it might be her last meal. Damn. I had managed to talk about unpleasant topics anyway.
"Do you have family nearby?"
"Dah, but I have not seen zhem for a long time. Dmitry did not like us talking to anyone outside zhe estate. He said zhis vas all zhe family ve needed."
"He probably didn't want you talking about the weird shit you saw. Am I right?" I pegged Luba with a look that said I wasn't making excuses for his crazy ass, and I had the scars to prove it.
She nodded. "Ve all signed a contract."
"And he probably had you all wearing tracking devices."
Luba bit her lip as she lifted her hand to her neck. "Dah. Ve had to let zhese awful spiders crawl down our throats. It vas very unpleasant."
Yikes.
I wanted to ask her why she did it. Why she gave up her freedom to serve a lunatic? But who was I to judge? I'd made some pretty bad choices in my lifetime. "Maybe there's something Vincent can do to help you all out. He has a lot of connections. I'll talk to him when he comes back from checking on the injured demons."
A smile lifted her downturned lips, bringing light back to her cheery face. "Zhat vould be vonderful."
Despite the fact that everyone seemed glad the wicked old witch was dead, they were probably not looking forward to facing reality. I hadn't considered the impact Dmitry's death would have on his staff, and I still had to deal with the undead personnel. The consensus was that I incinerate them, and a ceremony be performed to honor the demons they once were. That included Terra. I was not looking forward to it.
When Vincent finally joined us, it turned out I didn't have to talk to him. He called Dmitry's staff into the solarium, where he passed around drinks and told them he would help them transition into new jobs. After that, he and Igor had a private conversation, while Wren and I packed for our journey back home. That is, she packed, I rested.
With the moon chasing us in the rearview mirror, Luba drove our little troupe back to Moscow, and we jumped aboard Scooby's jet. It wasn't long before we were chasing the dawn back to Bucharest where Christoph was supposed to meet us, and my anxiety slowly climbed as we drew nearer to the airport. This was the last piece of the plan, and I couldn't wait to get it over with and go on with my life.
When we landed, my nerves didn't fare much better. Christoph hadn't contacted us, and he was nowhere to be found when Vincent did an aerial search of the surrounding area. I dozed until the sun rose, and Vincent decided it was time we head for home.
"I'm sorry, Reese. Something obviously isn't right. I know you're worried about him, but the longer we sit here, the more danger that puts us in."
I wanted to argue with him, and I nearly did. Irrespective of Christoph's past indiscretions, he had risked his neck to help someone who should have been his enemy. But I knew Vincent was right. Whatever had happened to detain Christoph, could also happen to us. "You're right. Let's go."
For the rest of the journey, I couldn't sleep a wink. I got up numerous times to stretch my legs and pace the aisle, while Vincent stayed attached to his phone, spreading the word about the necromancer's last dance. At the airport, Rizzo picked us up, and he spent most of the trip home complimenting me on my bravery. He also glanced incessantly in the rearview mirror, probably noticing the black streaks in my hair had faded, which I'd noticed too. And the marks on my hands were vanishing like some kind of slow-motion magic trick.
Vincent must have called ahead and told his family to give us some space, because the penthouse was empty except for a pair of eager pups waiting to be loved on. Griffin had left a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the counter with a note that read Welcome home to the conquering heroes!
"We won't be able to hold them off for long," Vincent said as he ushered me to our bedroom, setting the car seat in front of the bassinet. Henry had fallen asleep in the Escalade after spending much of the plane ride awake. "If you're up for it, why don't we take a quick shower while Henry naps? I don't know about you, but I feel like I've spent the last week hacking through the bush."
"Battling loathsome scumbags will do that," I offered. While my body felt like it needed a week-long spa treatment rather than a quick shower, washing the smell of campfire and blood out of my hair sounded like a good idea. I also knew showers with Vincent were seldom quick, which never failed to trigger my need no matter how fatigued I felt. "Lead the way, my conquering hero."
For the first time in what felt like days, I saw that lusty twinkle in Vincent's eyes as he took my hand and led me into the bathroom. With all the stress we'd been under, I didn't realize my body had been in a constant state of fight or flight, and with Christoph still missing... I really needed to take a break from the incessant worry.
Following Vincent's orders to stay put, I allowed him to prepare the shower and grab our towels. Then he tugged me under the warm water, circling his arms around my waist and arranging our bodies so my wounds faced away from the spray. With great care and tenderness, he brushed his fingers across my skin, starting at my bottom and traveling over my hips around to my belly, drawing a shiver from my bones and causing certain parts of my anatomy to pucker.
The parts that didn't pucker were clenching, and I lifted my hands to his arms, trailing my fingers upwards, returning the favor and watching his muscles flex in response. His body glistened magically, and I slid my hands over his pectorals, dispersing the water as it coursed like a waterfall through the center of his chest.
We took our time, feeding our hunger as we offered each other the pleasure of touch. Vincent's mouth hovered at my forehead, dotting my skin with soft pecks. Then he brought his lips gradually lower, touching my temple, my cheek, and, finally, he pressed them to the corner of my mouth, forcing a wanton breath from my throat.
"You wreck me," I whispered as I kissed his lips straight on, and that one gesture was all he needed.
Bringing his hands to either side of my head, he claimed my mouth with ferocity, searing me with his heat and stabbing me with his stiff erection. I reached out and took him into my hands, stroking him against my belly. Vincent moaned as his tongue lashed me like whip, and he slipped his hand between my legs where my own waterfall was coursing, making his fingers slick.
"I need you so badly," he said, his tongue still thrashing. "I wish I could keep you safe, so I never had to worry about you again. But I know that's not reality."
I felt his anguish in the way he grabbed my ass and smashed our bodies together. He had forgotten to be gentle, but I ignored the twinge of pain. He was in pain too, and this was his way of getting relief.
"I've never been helpless, Vincent. You don't have to protect me all the time."
"I know you're not helpless. But... I am." His lips parted, and we stood facing each other, his eyes gleaming like silver dollars, and mine blinking up through the shower's spray. "Since meeting you, I have needed my strength more than ever. Yet, I still feel so inadequate."
A smiled up at him, brushing away the ripples of hair trying to cover his eyes. "You will always be much more than adequate."
And, because I knew what my mated needed to soothe his aching heart, I turned in his arms and pressed my palms to the opposite wall. The small pinch of pain barely registered when I felt him at my entrance. Oh, yes. His strength was much more than adequate. It was like a balm, soothing me as he pushed forward to fill my sex.
I heard his breath leave him, and a rhythm of low growls started up as he drove his love into me. Thankfully, I was a gollum with miraculous healing abilities. It was like magic. Our magic. And it was more powerful than any spell.