“Always,” he replied softly, wanting to tell her just how he was there for her. She flushed a little more as she took a few backward steps towards the living.
“Right… uhm I’m going to go call Jessie and check in,” she said as she continued to step back. “Thanks again James,” she said once more before leaving the kitchen. James nodded even though she had left the room. His smile dimmed as he thought of the events of the night. Worry ate at him. Silvano did seem to have some power over her already.
Dread filled him as he thought of what might happen if Silvano forced her to drink from him again. She could become permanently unbalanced and lose herself becoming dangerous to everyone she loved. His chest ached as he realized, he really could lose her but really lose her as in forever. His thoughts went to her idea of the mark and he stood a little straighter. He did want her to want to be with him as her mate and to love him.
Yes, he wanted all those things and Lily was starting to let him in. He could feel it but now with the vampire king, he was in a real risk of losing her before she was fully ready. James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Indecision running through him like poison as he wondered if the mark would really protect her from that slave bond the bloodsucker wanted to strangle her with and could he live with himself if he didn’t try to do everything in his power to keep her safer.
Lily sighed as she yet again repeated of what happened with Silvano for what felt like the millionth time. “And why did you cut the charm? It could have left you completely defenseless,” Jessie demanded. Lily’s body tightened with angry agitation as she gave the human the answer she’d given her all the other times she had asked.
“Look, Jessie, I know you have to be thorough but what possible reason do I have to lie to you?” Lily told her, allowing her frustration to enter in her voice and leaned back in the cheap wooden chair as she glanced around the hotel room they were using as a base of operations.
“The reason could be that Silvano has you under his influence and you are already acting on his wishes and not your own,” Jessie told her and to both women’s surprise Dorin jumped to Lily’s defense.
“She isn’t anymore under his influence than when she drank the first drink Hart,” he told Jessie. “Her smell is still her own.”
“But what about Lacrosse? He had been lying to us about Lily’s condition,” Jessie argued and Lily pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb.
“Because James is an idiot,” Lily shot at her. “He lied because of what you could do to me if you discovered that Silvano can sway my vampire and bring it up to the surface. He didn’t realize that I had already told you that vamp king did and does that to me. I’m not hiding anything from you, Jessie,” Lily continued then twisted her face into an expression of anger and let her voice rise. “And if anyone has a reason to be doubtful here it’s me! I was promised protection, but Silvano seems to have no problems getting to me!”
“Now,” Lily said as she stood from the chair, her body stiff from sitting on the thing for so long. “I’m willing to forgive and forget because Silvano is a slimy bastard, but I want this interrogation over with! I’ve been here all morning and as you can understand I didn’t get much sleep.”
“Yes, I think we all should get some rest,” Dorin said, trying his best to suppress a yawn. She was surprised to see the vampire up so late in the day. Good thing they had put up good blackout curtains over the windows and the door, she thought with slight amusement.
“Fine,” Jessie barked. “But I want you back here at sixteen hundred hours so we can make a plan of action.” Lily gave her a mocking salute and turned to the door when Jessie called her back. “And sixteen hundred hours is?” She asked and Lily froze with a sheepish smile. The human woman sighed and shook her head. “Four Lily! It’s four o’clock!”
“Then why didn’t you just say so,” Lily shot back with a teasing smile and a shrug. “Alright then I’ll see you back here at four,” she said then stood rigged and gave Jessie another salute. “Sir, yes sir!” She turned on her heel then nodded to Dorin, signaling that she was leaving now and he needed to avoid any sunlight she let in as she opened the door.
“Burning the midnight oil again?” Lily heard a familiar voice ask as she walked up the steps to her parent’s front porch. She looked up and smiled at the man sitting on the porch swing with a laptop sitting on his lap.
“Greg!” She said, happy to see the omega. He was one of the few werewolves outside her family that she actually liked. “Hey, how are you?” Lily asked back and sat on the swing next to him, jolting his typing fingers and getting a look of irritation from him.
“I’m doing great,” he told her and Lily smiled as she looked him over. He did look good and more importantly happy. Greg, was like James and her, was changed to have a beastly werewolf shift. It turned him from an omega werewolf to grant him more strength than any other werewolf, well besides Lily and James of course, but Greg abhorred violence and preferred to keep his passive omega status.
His appearance helped him hide the beast as he looked like your average everyday computer guy. He was on the short side for a man and despite the athletic build all werewolves had he managed to look leaner than muscled. He wore a green long sleeve shirt under his black tee with the appropriate geek graphic stating to never trust Atoms as they make up everything and a pair jeans with a batman patch just under his left pocket. All he was missing was the glasses, Lily thought amused.
“I’ve been working with the alpha to find the vampires,” Greg announced, looking proud then smirked. “Those big fierce badasses may be able to take down a wild animal or threat in less than five minutes but make them use a computer for more than googling dirty pictures and Facebook, they’re lost. That’s when I’m the badass werewolf,” he said, his smirk growing practically smug and Lily laughed as she watched the change in his demeanor.
“Anyways,” Greg said, going back to business mode. “I’ve been searching all of the city and state databases for geographic surveys to find all the places that the vampires might use for their daylight resting. The alpha had the whole town searched but no trace of a daylight lair. So he thinks they’re in the woods,” he explained.
“Do you think he’s right?” Lily asked, knowing that Greg had before come up with great ideas of getting the bad guy only to be ignored by the alphas. She loved her brother, but she hadn’t forgotten that he was James’s sidekick in their childhood days of bullying all the weaker wolves. Greg flashed her a smile and appreciation washed over his face for a moment.
“Yes and no,” Greg admitted. “The alpha is convinced that the vampires are in the woods and wants to focus my search there instead of what I think they could be hiding, the sewers,” he explained and Lily scrunched up her nose.
“The sewers?” she repeated, admittingly doubtful. “Greg, Silvano is a vampire king and comes from Spanish noble blood. Do you honestly think he’d stoop so low as to residing in a dirty, smelly sewer?”
“Yeah I do. First, he’s got to have some brains in that head of his. You don’t get to live as long as he has and be stupid about it. Second, despite how fancy or important or whatever he used to be, he’s a fugitive now. He won’t stay in town because it’s obvious that is the first place Tony would look and it would be stupid to stay in the woods. Vampires are city predators while werewolves excel in a natural setting. The vampire king has to know this,” he continued to explain.
“The vampires setting up a daytime lair in the woods would be like pitting a lion to hunt our woods. It’d be suicide and he has to know that. The only probable idea would be the sewers. They are dirty and smelly, but they go throughout the town and manholes are very convenient entrances and exits,” Greg explain and Lily bit the inside of her cheek in thought.