Addict (Hunter #2)(29)

“He smelled funny,” Trent allowed.

He had my attention now. “Funny how?”

The wolf shrugged. “He was sweating a lot, even though it was cool in the club. His sweat smelled, I don’t know, sweet. It was his scent, but also something else.”

I processed that information. I was sure it was a drug. I needed to ask Gray’s brother if he knew anything when I talked to him tonight. If I talked to him tonight…

The door to Marcus’s office opened and the men filed out one by one. The king walked straight up to Trent and motioned that it was time to leave. “Let’s go, Trent.”

The big wolf turned from his boss and back to me again. “I think I’ll stay, Your Highness. I’m going to back her up tonight.”

“I thought he was the one who sent you in the first place,” I pointed out, confused at why he had to tell his boss what he was doing.

Donovan shook his head. His eyebrows shot up. “She’s the Nex Apparatus. Why does she need backup?”

Quinn moved in and whispered something directly in his partner’s ear. Donovan didn’t look like he believed whatever the faery had said. “Are you serious?”

Quinn smiled and shrugged. “To each his own.”

“Okay, now I remember.” Donovan seemed willing to go along with whatever Quinn had proposed. “I gave the order, but she’ll be fine tonight. You can…back her up…some other night. Tonight, we’re leaving her in the capable hands of the academics. They have full control of her training now.”

Trent stood up. I noted he managed to respect the king’s personal space. His big hand pointed toward me. “Your Highness, she’s up to something.”

The king stared at me for a moment. “You up to something?”

“Probably,” I admitted with a shrug. He would never believe an innocently worded protestation. Not coming from me.

The king sighed. “If you have to kill someone, please do it quietly. Otherwise, sign in and out with the doorman. If you’re going out tonight, I really would feel better if Trent went with you.”

I gave yawning and stretching the old college try. “Your Highness, it’s my first night back. I want to get some sleep.”

No one actually looked like they were buying that line of bull. Marcus had excellent timing, though.

“I will make sure my charge behaves, Daniel,” Marcus promised. “She’s in excellent hands. We’ll keep you updated on her progress.”

Trent started to protest. He was cut off by the king. “Come on, Trent. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll buy you a beer. We should talk.”

Donovan said good night and left with his contingent. I was left alone with the academics and one Alexander Sharpe. I didn’t like Alexander Sharpe. You could say I took exception to his former career. In his human life, he’d been Jack the Ripper.

“Miss Owens, such a pleasure to see you again,” the vampire said with a creepy smile on his face. At least, I think that was supposed to be a smile. He reminded me of a hyena getting ready to pounce.

Marcus’s hand reached for mine. Previously, Marcus had attempted to trick Alexander into believing I was his mistress in order to provide me with protection. Alex had seen right through it. Marcus wanted there to be no question of our relationship status now. “Alexander, you have your orders. Don’t you have something to do?”

The vampire, who happened to also be a doctor, politely bowed. “Of course, Marcus. I shall check in on our insanely high patient at my earliest opportunity. It was my pleasure to strap him down in the containment facility earlier. Hospitals these days are like luxury hotels. We did it right in the old days, you know. One little lobotomy and the problem was solved.”

“You will follow Henri’s directions as to care for the patient,” Marcus said, his voice going hard.

Hugo Wells and Henri Jacobs took seats across from us. There was talk of a nice long meeting, and I panicked a bit. Marcus had promised I would behave. I needed to misbehave.

“Let me know if you need me,” Henri said, dismissing the younger vampire.

Sharpe didn’t look like he wanted to be dismissed, but took it with a nod. His eyes were on me as he left.

I put him out of my mind and focused on the problem at hand. “So, the king is giving my training to the academics?”

I scooted over to be closer to Marcus. It was an unconscious action on my part. At this stage of my training, I wanted to be physically connected to my trainer at all times.

“Yes, bella,” Marcus said with pleasure. “The king has conceded that your training should come under our purview and no other. It is as it should be. I am your trainer, and Henri and Hugo are at your service. I believe you will find that Henri has forgotten more about medicine than most doctors ever learn.”

“Though I am more acquainted with supernatural creatures, I’m also quite capable of treating a human,” Henri said. He always spoke softly and with a hint of a Dutch accent. “I believe you’re right about the shifter. He was definitely given something that enhanced his strength. We’ll know more in the morning.”

“And Hugo is a lawyer,” Marcus pointed out.

Academics tend to get obsessed with subjects. Marcus’s subject was history. It made watching any film set in a past era with him a nightmare of nitpicking. I preferred watching futuristic Sci-Fi as he couldn’t point out the historical inaccuracies of the future. I tried watching The Tudors with him. He nearly had an apoplectic fit.