Fractured (Deep In Your Veins, #5)(85)

Annalise, who claimed she had no idea that her brother led The Order, was devastated by his death and also by the discovery that he was responsible for what happened to me. She had taken over from Lazarus as the leader of the nest and destroyed his lab. She’d also gotten the codes for The Order’s compound so that we could get inside the place without setting off any bombs. The place had long since been reduced to a pile of rubble.

It had been weird to hear that Marco had died in his efforts to save me from Lazarus. Butch, being seriously possessive, had worried that I’d be sad about my Sire’s death. On the contrary, I’d found some kind of closure in it, though I was confused by his self-sacrifice. I had to wonder if he’d gotten tired of this life and saw that as a way to go out with a bang—a way that might also redeem him for taking my human life.

Butch agreed but, in his opinion, nothing would make up for that, just as nothing would excuse what Lazarus had done. There had been a lot of casualties from the battle, and a ceremony had been held to commemorate the members of the legion who had all died doing what they loved. If it wasn’t for Paige, there would have been many more deaths.

Sam had wondered if dragon shifters might, given their general dislike of vampires, use the deaths of all the mercenaries as an excuse to start a war between the species. Andres had assured us, however, that there would be no retaliation. So far, there hadn’t been.

In fact, things were once again pretty quiet. But no one was complaining about it this time, not wanting to tempt fate. Our training sessions were the only action we got. During those sessions, my strength and speed had improved to the extent that they were very close to what they had been prior to the transition. My fangs had seemingly gone for good though, along with the amber tint to my irises.

Slipping out of me, Butch set me on my feet and tapped my ass. “If you’re still going to the movie night thing, you better hurry.”

“Why do you always call them movie night things?”

“Because they’re not really movie nights.” He turned off the spray, stepped out of the stall and grabbed us both a towel. “They’re just an excuse for all you girls to get together and get smashed with Fletcher and Norm.”

I wrapped a towel around me. “That’s so not true.”

“And you’re such a shit liar. Tell me there’ll be no drinking.”

“There’ll be a little drinking.” I’d learned that I could still get drunk providing I fed from an inebriated vampire, which was usually Paige.

“We both know that you’ll get shitfaced and I’ll end up having to come for you.”

I huffed. “You’re wrong.”




(Butch)



For some reason, whenever I found the girls drunk, it was almost always the same: they’d all kicked their heels off, they were all convinced they weren’t drunk, and they were all acting weird.

One would be dancing on her own, one would be eating, one would be asleep, one would be laughing for the sake of laughing, one would be cursing her ex, one would be crying about nothing while others comforted her, and one would be sprawled on the floor, singing to herself totally off-key.

Tonight was no exception.

Salem and Chico appeared at Fletcher’s apartment just as I arrived. A singing Ava was so plastered that her mate had to carry her home by a fistful of her shirt. Chico just threw a struggling Jude over his shoulder while she threatened him with dismemberment.

Lifting my chin at Fletcher and Norm, who were snuggling on the sofa, I crouched beside Imani. How she’d fallen asleep on the coffee table, I didn’t know, but my girl could sleep anywhere. “Wake up, baby.” Taking her hand, I traced her Binding knot. “Come on, open those pretty eyes for me.”

Her lids slowly flickered open, and she gave me a dazzling smile that hit me right in the chest. “Hey, whatcha doin’ here?”

“Why do you think I’m here, baby? I’ve come to get you.” Just like I’d known I’d have to. She was lucky she was cute when she was hammered.

“Wanna know a secret?” She lowered her voice. “I like that you call me ‘baby.’”

I smiled. “Yeah?”

“Totally yeah.”

“Good. Ready to come home?”

She pouted. “S’early.”

It was actually way past dawn. “Time to go.” I scooped her up. “Say goodnight to everyone.” She did, though she was still pouting. I carried her home in vampire speed, lay her on the bed, and gently began to strip her.

Without even opening her eyes, she said, “Dude, you’re seriously hot. You know that, right?”

I chuckled. “You might have said it once or twice before.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “You make me happy. You know that too, right? Like, super-duper happy.”

I had to smile. “Yeah, I know.” I still had no idea how I was doing it, though. “And you make me happy, so all is good.” I pulled the covers over her. “You need sleep.”

“But the night is young.” Her nose wrinkled. “I’m hungry. Let’s make beef noodles.”

I might have said yes if she wasn’t half-asleep. “Okay, baby, I’ll do that.”

“You’re the shit, Richardson. The shit.” Then she passed out. She was gonna have a bitch of a headache at dusk. “It’s a good thing I love you, Imani Prince. More than anything.”