Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(55)

She paused just inside the door and merely watched as Lucern walked past her to one of the refrigerators. He opened its door, revealing neat rows of the red liquid he so needed.

Kate peered curiously at the man in the lab coat. He looked completely out of it, a zombie at Lucern's mercy, and she felt a moment's gratitude that she had a strong mind. If not, Luc could have put the whammy on her and gotten her to do anything he wanted. Which was a scary thought.

She turned her attention back to Lucern, then watched with interest as he selected a bag and poked his teeth into it. The procedure was pretty clean. He was apparently able to suck the blood directly up through his teeth like through straws, because he just stood there, teeth inserted as the blood drained away. It was relatively quick. Still, Kate found herself glancing nervously up the hall as she waited for him to finish.

Lucern went through eight bags that way, one right after the other. When he had finished with the last, he started to close the refrigerator door. Kate rushed forward and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she opened her backpack. She began shoving bags in.

"Getting some to go. You'll need more tomorrow," she pointed out. "And I don't want to go through this again."

Lucern nodded. "Take the empty bags, too," he instructed. Then he moved to the blood-bank worker, murmuring something she couldn't hear.

"What did you say?" Kate asked as they hurried back up the hall through which they'd entered.

"I instructed him to change the records to reflect the difference, so that the blood isn't missed."

"Oh." Kate fell silent as she stepped outside. The cool air on her face as she removed the mask was a relief, and she felt some of her tension drain away. But she didn't relax completely, not even once they were in a cab and headed back to the hotel. She was as wound up as a clock, and had been all day. She could hardly believe it had been so easy. Knock on the door? Sheesh.

Lucern's hand closed over hers, and Kate glanced at him in surprise. The man was actually smiling. Sort of. At least, his usual scowl was missing. That was the equivalent of a smile with this man, she thought, noting his cheeks were now flushed with color and the lines of pain were gone from his face. She couldn't believe how much blood he'd drunk, but it appeared to have done him good. He looked healthier than she'd ever seen him.

Her gaze dropped to his hand covering hers, and she turned hers over to clasp it. She knew he had sensed the tension still gripping her, and he was trying to tell her without words that it was all right. But she felt like a teenager holding hands with her boyfriend for the first time. She was sorry when they arrived at the hotel and he released her to pay the driver.

They were both silent as they walked inside and took the elevator to their floor, Kate wondering if he would kiss her and thank her for her help once they got there. She hoped he would. She hoped he'd do more than that. But she knew it wasn't likely when they entered the room and heard the television playing. Chris was back, relaxing on the couch.

"Oh, hey! I was wondering where you two had got to. A delivery came while you were gone." He gestured to a large box on the table by the window. "It's addressed to Lucern Argeneau c/o Kate C. Leever. I guess your brother must have re-sent it. He must have figured everything out on his own." He frowned at his words, then shook his head. "Though, I guess the first box couldn't have got back to him yet—it's only been a day." He shrugged. "He must just have sent you something else."

Kate wasn't listening. She was gaping at the box on the table with disbelief. It had "A.B.B." stamped on its side. Argeneau Blood Bank? Dear God. All that stress and anxiety had been for nothing.



Chapter Twelve



Lucern glanced across the hospitality suite to where Kate was talking to Deanna Stancyk. Kate was easy to find in her sunny yellow skirt and matching jacket, aglow with life and vitality, smiling, her face animated, her hands moving as she talked and laughed. She was beautiful. Just looking at her caused an ache in Luc's chest. Although it could be indigestion, he thought, recalling the greasy breakfast he'd eaten that morning.

Kate had been terribly quiet with him since they'd returned to the suite last night to find the box from Bastien. She hadn't even followed him into his room to see for sure what the box held, but had merely handed him the backpack with the six bags of stolen blood, murmured good night and slipped into her room. Which had turned the night flat for Lucern.

He'd unpacked the box in his room and stored all the blood—from their adventure as well as from Bastien—in the mini fridge. He'd had to remove everything from the fridge to do so. He'd stacked the cans of pop, the little bottles of alcohol and the snacks on the dresser, and then had wandered to the living room and dropped onto the couch to watch TV with Chris for a while, hoping Kate would reappear. She hadn't.

The temptation to go to her had been strong. With his need for blood satisfied, Lucern had found other cravings bothering him—top among them to just be in Kate's presence. Her company somehow made him feel lighter, younger. As if he hadn't existed six hundred years and become weary of living. The woman was playing havoc on his psyche.

After watching a bad vampire movie—dear God, why was the vampire always the villain?—Lucern had left Chris and gone to bed. He'd awoken early, consumed a couple more bags of blood, put the Do Not Disturb signs on both his door to the hall and the one leading into the living area of the suite—so that the cleaning lady wouldn't find his blood in the fridge and pitch a fit—then had joined Kate and Chris to head out for breakfast.