Confused, Elspeth hurriedly tossed the sheets and duvet aside, leapt from bed and rushed into her bathroom. She skidded to a halt on the cold tile floor, though, when she spotted herself in the mirror over the sink.
"Dear God," she breathed, her gaze sliding over her reflection. She was completely naked, which was odd. She usually wore a nightgown to bed, or at least a T-shirt and underwear, but that wasn't what had her gaping. It was the dried blood covering her body. It seemed to be everywhere, in her hair, on her face, her neck, her chest and stomach, arms and legs.
Elspeth ran her hands lightly over the streaks and clumps of dry blood and shook her head with bewilderment.
"What the hell?" The words were barely a breath of sound, but it startled her out of her inactivity. Giving her head a shake, she forced herself away from the mirror and to the shower. Obviously, she couldn't do without one, she thought, struggling with her confusion.
Elspeth turned on the taps, and then stepped back as the water sprayed out. As she waited for it to reach the desired temperature, she tried to sort out how she'd ended up so bloodied. She wound up having to run through the last two days, from being stabbed on the soft call, to her visit to The Night Club, which was the last thing she remembered clearly. She recalled leaving The Night Club with Wyatt, chatting on the curb with him as she surveyed the traffic. She'd been considering whether to control the drivers or wait for a natural opening and then--
Elspeth closed her eyes as she recalled tumbling into the road, reaching out with her hands to break her fall, and then being slammed from the left, knocked to the pavement, and then rolling as a dark and hot monster rode over her, repeatedly catching at her, spinning her and crushing her as it passed until she knew no more. Literally. She didn't remember anything after that until she woke up here in her bed.
"Right," Elspeth breathed. She'd been hit by a car. Sighing, she reached out to test the water. Finding it just the right temperature, she stepped under the spray and tugged the curtain shut. At first, she just stood there with her head bowed, allowing the water to pour down over her as she thought.
Elspeth couldn't recall how she'd got home, but presumed G.G. had got her back here. Although, she thought, reaching for the soap and beginning to run it over her body, the mortal bartender couldn't have done it without help. It would have taken an immortal to keep her from being taken away by an ambulance, she was sure. And to control Wyatt, who would probably have insisted on that ambulance.
Wyatt. Where was he and how had he been handled? Elspeth wondered about that as she ran the soap over her breasts. She then stilled at a sudden flash of memory of someone else's hands gliding over her body. It was more like a remnant of a dream. A warm body at her back, whispering by her ear, followed by kisses along her neck that sent shivers through her entire body before arms slid around her and hands claimed and caressed her breasts, holding, squeezing, and lifting them eagerly until she moaned and leaned her head back against a strong shoulder. And then she turned her head to the side and a mouth claimed hers, a talented tongue invading to explore as one hand slid away and drifted down over her stomach to slide between her legs.
Gasping, Elspeth blinked her eyes open and then shifted quickly out from under the spray as both eyes were hit with water. Leaning against the shower wall, she hugged herself briefly and tried to sort out what had just happened. Where had that come from? Because it certainly hadn't been a real memory from something she'd experienced in life. Her mother had seen to that. During the short bouts of time she'd managed to steal for herself away from her mother, all Elspeth had managed to experience were a dozen stolen kisses and a groping session or two.
Realizing she was almost panting, Elspeth closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. She then set the soap back on the holder, and stepped determinedly under the water to let it sluice away the soap and the remaining blood. It took longer than it would have had she used soap and her hands to help with the effort, but the fragment of memory she'd experienced had been disconcerting. Elspeth wasn't ready for more, so took the time and concentrated on how she would get out of the apartment without her mother knowing. Because she was quite sure that her little car accident would just increase her mother's protectiveness and make her more determined to stick to Elspeth like glue.
By the time she stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself off, Elspeth had an idea. She dressed quickly, pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then took a minute to rearrange the pillows in her bed, and cover them with the duvet in hopes it would look like she was still asleep. Once finished, Elspeth slid out of her room through the French doors leading to her balcony. It was situated on the flat roof of the open porch that ran the length of the back of the house. Meredith, or perhaps her husband when they'd had the whole house to themselves, had put a deck floor on the roof and a railing around it, turning it into a large, lovely balcony that overlooked the backyard.
Elspeth glanced to her right as she slipped out onto the balcony, relieved to find that, as expected, the curtains were drawn over the French doors off the living room. The only time Elspeth opened the curtains was at night to enjoy the moon and what stars were visible. As an immortal, the sun was something to be avoided, and curtains remained closed unless you had a UV filtering film on the windows. Elspeth didn't have that . . . yet. She planned to get it eventually, but hadn't got around to it yet. A good thing, since it ensured her mother and sisters wouldn't open the curtains and spot her escaping.
Easing the French door closed, Elspeth tiptoed quietly to the balcony rail and peered down at the grass below and the edge of the back porch just visible from where she stood. Meredith had told her she loved to sit out on the back porch in the summer with iced tea and a book. But it wasn't summer yet. It was only a few weeks into spring. Though with the way the weather had bounced between warm and cool, the plants appeared to be a bit confused and some were beginning to bud. Even the grass had been fooled into thinking winter was over and was sending out bright green shoots to mingle with the remnants of grass from last year that the snow and cold had turned brown.
Elspeth was quite sure Meredith wouldn't be sitting out on her porch this evening, but there was a possibility that her blinds were open and she would be seen. Grimacing, Elspeth started to climb over the rail. She'd have to risk it, and really, Merry knew about the issues she had with her mother and probably wouldn't be surprised to see her exiting the house this way to avoid dealing with her.
That thought made Elspeth smile faintly as she grasped the rail and began to lower herself toward the grass below. She was acting like a rebellious teenager rather than a dignified hundred-forty-two-year-old.
Elspeth's legs were dangling in the air between the upper and lower balcony when she heard the telltale swish of Merry's sliding glass door opening. She'd obviously had her curtains open and spotted her, Elspeth thought with a grimace, but continued to lower herself, only pausing when her hips were suddenly clasped in firm hands. Freezing, she peered down just as Wyatt leaned out to peer up at her.
"Good evening," he said with amusement. "Need a hand?"
Groaning inwardly, she shook her head and quickly lowered herself until she hung from the lip of her balcony. She dangled there briefly, with her breasts directly in front of Wyatt's face, and was about to let go and drop to the grass below the lower porch when Wyatt simply gave her a little tug, dragging her down and forward so that she slid his length to land on the porch in front of him.
"Good evening," he repeated, his voice deep this time, with a sexy huskiness that reminded her of both their kiss last night right here on this porch, as well as the dream remnant she'd recalled in the shower. Shivering at the recollection, she bit her lip, her eyes focusing in on his full, sexy lips as they lowered toward her.
"Good evening, Ellie dear. Do you have time for tea? Or are you rushing to work?"
Elspeth and Wyatt both froze, and then he released his hold on her and smiled wryly as he stepped to the side so that she could
see Merry standing in her open sliding glass door.
"Evening, Merry," Elspeth greeted her. "No tea for me today. I'm afraid I'm running late."
"You need a coat, dear. It's warmer than one would expect for this time of year, but it's cooling quickly as night approaches. Wyatt, grab her one of my jackets out of the coat closet," Merry ordered.
Nodding, Wyatt led the way into the house and to the hall closet by the apartment door. As he sorted through the available coats, he asked, "Do you need a ride to work?"
Elspeth accepted the dark, midthigh trench coat he handed her, but folded it over her arm as she glanced at him with surprise. "No. Why would I need--"
"We left your car in the parking garage across from . . . downtown the night before last," he finished, his gaze sliding to his Gran and back. "I'm sure the mechanic has picked it up by now and will drop it off when he's done with it, but in the meantime, you're without a vehicle."
"Oh." Elspeth blinked and then asked, "Mechanic? What's wrong with my car? And what do you mean the night before last?"
Wyatt cast a glance toward his grandmother, but then simply pulled out a black leather jacket for himself and announced, "I'll drive you to work."
"Wyatt parked in the spot closest to the house," Merry told them from the living room door. "So you should be able to avoid Martine spotting you leaving. Though I'm sure she'll notice you're missing soon enough."
"Yes, I'm sure she will," Elspeth agreed solemnly. "But hopefully it won't be for a while yet."
Nodding, Merry smiled faintly. "Well, I'm glad you're recovering from your flu. Have a good night, dear. And do stop in for tea when you get back in the morning."
"I will," Elspeth murmured, thinking that the flu must have been the cover story they were using to explain her being bed bound. They could hardly tell Meredith the truth, she thought, as Wyatt opened the front door and quickly ushered her into the entry and then out of the house.
They were both silent as they hurried to the car. In fact, neither of them spoke until they had pulled out onto the street and Wyatt said, "You'll have to direct me. I'm not sure where the Enforcer office is."
Elspeth glanced at him sharply, her eyes wide.
"Left or right?" he prodded, glancing in the rearview mirror at the house behind them.
"Right," Elspeth said, and then cleared her throat before asking, "How long was I--?"
"We were at The Night Club two nights ago," Wyatt said solemnly. "You've been sleeping nearly forty-eight hours. But Rachel said that was normal."
"Rachel?" she asked uncertainly.
"Rachel Argeneau," he explained. "The doctor who's been looking after you. She's been stopping by to check on your progress several times a day, and dropped in to let me know how you were doing afterward each time. She didn't think your mother would keep me informed."
"No. She probably wouldn't have," Elspeth admitted quietly, wondering just how much he knew or understood.
"I'm surprised they expect you to work today after everything that happened the other night," Wyatt murmured once they'd started up the street. "Did you call Mortimer to see if you were expected in the office?"
Elspeth's head whipped around at that. His knowing about the Enforcer House was startling enough, but his mentioning Mortimer's name was shocking. "How do you know about the Enforcer House and Mortimer?"
"Valerian and Tybo," he answered as he brought the SUV to a halt at a stop sign. "Which way?"
"Right. You want to head to the highway," she said, and then asked, "You met Valerian and Tybo? What happened that night? I know I got hit by a car, but I don't recall anything after that."
Wyatt was silent as he made the turn, but then said, "G.G. came out and lifted the car off of you with the help of some others. I pulled you out. We got you inside and gave you blood to heal. Valerian and Tybo showed up and called in Dr. Rachel. She gave you some drugs that didn't seem to help much at first, and then wrapped G.G.'s ribs."
"Wrapped his ribs?" she asked with surprise. "What happened to G.G.?"
"You threw him across the kitchen at The Night Club. He hit a wall pretty hard and has a couple of cracked ribs."
"Oh no," Elspeth breathed with dismay, guilt rushing through her.
"Anyway, once you were through the worst of your healing, Valerian and Tybo took you home in their SUV, and Dr. Rachel drove me home in mine with Sam following behind to take her home."
"Sam? Mortimer's wife?" Elspeth asked. That was the only Sam she knew, so she wasn't surprised when Wyatt nodded.
"She and Dr. Rachel were shopping when Valerian called her. Or was it Tybo?" he pondered and then shook his head. "One of them called her."
"I see," she said softly, but was peering at him worriedly now. He obviously knew something about what she was, but how much?
Elspeth was fretting over that when he said, "Tybo explained about immortals to me."
"Oh," she said weakly, and then cleared her throat and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I wasn't hit by the car. It was just you," he said at once.
"No, I mean about . . . us. About what you learned? You're not freaked out or . . . ?" She shrugged helplessly, unsure how most mortals would react to what he'd been told.
"Yeah," he said, but she could hear a note of uncertainty in his voice, and then he sighed, and admitted, "I'm a little alarmed at the mind reading and control business though."
"Yes. That is a bit distressing," she murmured. Elspeth hated it when her mother or other immortals read or controlled her.
"And the drinking blood part is kind of--I mean no one likes to hear they're little more than cattle to another group of people. That's just--"
"You aren't cattle to immortals," she said with exasperation. "Any more than you would be for hemophiliacs or people who have been in accidents, need blood, and source it from blood banks." Elspeth paused briefly, and then admitted, "It used to be different before blood banks, of course. I mean, we needed blood, and there was only one way to get it. But now that there are blood banks, a lot of immortals stopped feeding off the hoof and reverted to bagged blood as a much safer source."
"Off the hoof?" he asked with a wince.
"Oh. Yes, sorry. That's just . . ." She shrugged helplessly, and then went on, "Anyway, in some countries it's even against our laws to take blood directly from a mortal except in an emergency, or . . . in certain other instances."
"Some countries?" Wyatt queried dryly. "So it's legal in other countries?"
Elspeth shrugged. "Every country has their own Council and their own laws. Here in North America, feeding off a mortal when it isn't an emergency is punishable by death."
"In case of emergency or certain other instances, you said," he reminded her and when she nodded, he asked, "What other instances?"
Elspeth hesitated and then admitted, "As a part of love play."
"Biting as part of love play, huh?" he asked with a small smile.
Trying not to blush, she shifted uncomfortably and muttered, "I gather partners can become overexcited and get nippy in the heat of the moment."
"Yeah?" he asked with interest and what she suspected was amusement at her discomfort. "Do life mates bite each other?"
Elspeth stiffened. Just how much had Tybo told him? Apparently, a lot. But he couldn't have told him that he was a possible life mate for her. Tybo didn't know. Unless G.G. told him, she thought with concern.
"Do they?" Wyatt prodded.
"It's not recommended between two immortals," she said finally. "Taking another's nanos that way causes an imbalance in both partners and means a need for more blood for both. The donor has to replenish the lost blood and rebuild the lost nanos, and in the one who takes the blood, the extra nanos use up more blood until the body can rid itself of them. They need to consume extra blood to make up for it. We all try to avoid anything that will make it necessary to consume more blood. Blood banks have enough trouble getting in the blood they need for emergencies. It's frowned upon to waste it that way.
"
"I see," Wyatt murmured with a nod. "But what about between an immortal and their mortal lover? It's allowed then as part of . . . love play?" Smiling suddenly, he added, "I like that term. Love play."
Elspeth just stared at him, her cheeks heating up. Although she wasn't sure if it was embarrassment causing it, or the images his words suddenly had sliding through her mind. An immortal and her mortal lover. Like them. Except they weren't lovers, she told herself quickly, but then recalled their shared kiss and the images that had flashed into her mind in the shower.
"Which exit do I take?"
Elspeth glanced around to see they were approaching the entrance ramps leading to the highway and quickly directed him to the right one.
"Did you call Mortimer to see if he expected you in today?" Wyatt asked again once they'd traversed the on-ramp and merged with traffic.
"No," Elspeth admitted wearily. "I was so busy figuring out a way to get out of the apartment without encountering Mother that I didn't even think of it. Actually, I didn't even think to grab my purse and phone before leaving," she admitted now as she realized that.
"Your cell phone was destroyed when you were run over the other night," he said solemnly. "Most everything in your purse was. We thought it was probably strewn all over the road at one point, but it turned out Sofia had collected it after we took you inside, and brought it in with her. She gave it to us as we were leaving. Most of the contents were crushed, or in pieces, including your wallet. It was pretty battered, but the contents were fine. Everything else in the purse, though, was a write-off. Actually," he added suddenly, glancing toward her side of the car, "I think it's all in that bag at your feet. At least, it looks like the bag Sofia handed over as we left, and I know Rachel brought it along, intending to give it to your mother."
Leaning forward, Elspeth picked up the white garbage bag. She set it in her lap and opened the top to look inside. She immediately recognized her squashed and torn purse. She pulled it out, she retrieved her wallet, and looked it over. As he'd said, it was pretty battered, the metal clasp bent and twisted, but the money, driver's license, and credit cards inside were fine.