“He does have a point,” said Tynan. “The power cannot be recovered now. I’ll have to find a new source.”
“Not Hope. She’s off-limits.”
Tynan smiled as if Logan had told a joke. “Off-limits?”
Logan heard Hope’s heartbeat speed up a second before her eyes opened. “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice groggy.
Nicholas lounged against the door frame, smirking. “These two were just having a pissing contest over you.”
She pushed herself upright. “Really?” she asked looking at each of them. “Who won?”
“How are you feeling?” asked Logan, stepping over anything else Nicholas might say.
Hope rubbed her temples. “I had the worst dream. There was a fire at my studio and the shelter. Everyone was locked inside.” She swallowed twice before continuing. “The woman who took me in years ago died.”
Logan sat down, needing to touch her. He used the gentlest voice he could. “I’m sorry, but it wasn’t a dream.”
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, and a moment later, sorrow overtook her expression as his words sank in. “It was real? Sister Olive is dead?”
“We don’t know that,” he offered. “But the fire was real.”
Hope slid past him to stand. “I need to get back and find her. See if she’s . . .”
“You can’t,” said Nicholas. “The fire was set on purpose.”
“Then whoever set it will think I’m dead.”
“Or maybe they did it to flush you out of hiding,” said Logan.
She looked at the trio of men gathered. “The closest thing I have to a mother may be dead and you’re telling me I can’t even go and find out?”
“I’ll make a few calls,” said Tynan. “Perhaps we can learn of her fate without risking your safety.”
“I don’t know you,” she shot at Tynan. “Why would you help me?”
“Because your safety is of great importance to me. As is your well-being.”
Logan cupped his hands over her shoulders. The slender lines of her body called to him, even through his hunger and fatigue. He wished everyone else would simply go away, evaporate into space so he could be alone with her.
His thumbs smoothed over her shirt. “I trust him. Please, let him do this. If we can’t find out about Sister Olive, then one of us will go investigate. But this will be quicker.”
Hope nodded. Sadness radiated out from her, but it was no longer the gushing, unnatural grief that had been there before.
“You stay here and rest,” said Tynan. “I’ll go make my calls.”
“I want to help.” She began to move forward, but Logan stopped her with his body.
“He doesn’t need any help.” Tynan would use his powers of persuasion over the phone to get the answers he needed. Hope would only get in the way.
Before she could argue further, Tynan left.
Nicholas shot Logan a meaningful look. “Are you going to make it? You’re looking a little pale. Even for you.”
Logan was weak from his efforts, but that weakness was nothing new. “Give Tynan your blood if you’re willing to share. Grace won’t survive without him.”
Nicholas nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Whether he’d meant to offer them privacy or he’d done it in an effort to protect Hope from hearing any bad news, Logan wasn’t sure. But he was glad of it all the same.
“Who is Grace?” asked Hope.
“A human woman who sacrificed herself for the sake of another. She’s not likely to survive.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I refuse to dwell on it. We’ve had enough sadness for one night.”
“Nicholas seemed worried about you.”
“Would you believe me if I said he’s just a mother hen type?”
“Hardly.” A faint smile curved her lips, making him ache to kiss her again. He knew it was wrong, but that didn’t stop him from wanting it anyway.
Logan smoothed her hair away from her face. The honey blond strands were tangled and damp from her tears. “You should rest. It’s been a rough night for you.”
“For you, too. You need more blood. I can tell just by looking at you.”
“Not yours. It’s too soon.”
“You did something for me, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“If that wasn’t a dream, then neither were the feelings I had. I felt you inside me. I felt you hold me.”
He wished he could hold her still, but every second he spent touching her was another betrayal. “I’m going to go check in with Tynan.”
She pushed to her feet. “I’m going to do the same with Jodi. Is she awake yet?”
“No, but she’s fine. We want her to sleep as much as possible to prevent her from forming more memories we might have to remove.”
“I told you I’m not going to let you—”
He pressed a finger to her lips to keep her from saying something she’d have to take back later. “We’re going to do whatever is best for her. You’re her friend. I know you want that for her.”
“She has a right to her memories.”
“She also has a right to stay alive and not be haunted by the things that have happened to her. So far, I believe she’s only seen a human, but if I’m wrong, or if that was to change, I’d have no choice.”
“And I’d have no choice but to stop you. Don’t push me on this.”
This argument was getting them nowhere. He’d do what he must to save Jodi’s life, and if that drove a wedge between him and Hope, then so be it. Anything that pushed her away from him was for the best, anyway, because he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to walk away from her.
“Go to her,” he said. “It’s a waste of time to argue with you over possibilities.”
Hope left, her spine rigid. Logan found Tynan at the kitchen table, speaking on the phone. He waited until Tynan hung up.
“So?” asked Logan.
“The human authorities know nothing yet. The fire burned hot and they haven’t yet been able to get in to investigate for bodies.”
“Are you sure they’re not simply hiding the truth from you?”
“I’m certain. The police chief was easy enough to compel to give me the truth.”
“So we don’t know if Hope’s Sister Olive survived.”
“No.” Tynan gave him a level look. “Does Nicholas know you’ve slept with her?”
“How did you know?”
“Your scents cling to each other. Along with the scent of sex.”
“I was weak.”
“Based on your reaction in there, you have not yet worked her out of your system.”
He said it like she was some kind of toxin—a malady to be remedied. That was not the case at all. Hope was no disease. She was a balm to his soul, comforting and infuriating in a way no other woman had ever been.
Logan loved her. There was no more denying it, and no matter who she ended up mated to, he believed he would continue to love her. “I will do what is right for our people.”
Tynan laid a hand on his shoulder. His fingers were cold, the chill sinking all the way through to Logan’s skin. “I know you will. I trust you.”
“You’re cold.”
“Keeping Grace alive has been taxing, but it’s Tori who’s taking up most of my strength. I have yet to find a way to filter her blood and I fear that if I don’t find an answer soon, her sanity will be the first casualty.”
“She’s lasted so many years. Certainly a few more weeks is not too much for her to stand.”
Tynan shook his head. His mouth flattened to a grim line. “She has dark, violent urges and they’re not getting better with time. I think being inside Dabyr with its protective wards is somehow irritating the Synestryn infection, bringing it to the surface.”
“You can’t take her outside the walls. Zillah would find her within hours.”
“I know. I also know that nothing I’ve tried has worked. I’m going to have to put her to sleep in the way of our people. Maybe if we find and kill Zillah, whatever influence he has over her will die with him.”
“Are you strong enough for that?”
Tynan sighed. “Not while Grace still lives. But I can’t let her die, either. Without her, I have no clue what Torr might do. And as violent as Tori’s urges are, I promise you that Torr would be much more destructive. He’s losing leaves every day now.”
“Grace can’t save him. She’s human, not Theronai.”
“No, but if she dies, I fear that Torr’s hope will die with her. I truly do not know what to do.”
“You need to save them both. And for that you need strength. Take some of mine. I don’t have as much to offer as I should, but what I have is yours.” Logan held out his arm.
Tynan didn’t hesitate, which told Logan just how close to the end of his strength he was. His fangs sliced through Logan’s skin, opening his vein. Tynan held his wrist tightly, making the transfer as fast as possible.
None of their kind enjoyed giving up power. The sooner it was over, the better it was for everyone.
A few seconds later, Logan felt his skin knit shut and Tynan pulled away. He frowned at Logan. “You said she was strongly blooded.”
“She is.”
“I sensed her cells within you, but they were as empty of power as a non-blooded human.”
“What are you talking about? Of course they’re not. Without her blood I’d be dead.”
Tynan’s eyes lit, flaring for a brief moment. “You’re right. They’re not empty. They’re . . . sleeping. I cannot wake them.”
“You’re saying that you can’t access the power in her blood but I can?”
“It seems so.”
“Have you ever run into this before?”
“No.”
The memory of Hope’s bursts of strength and the odd glow of colors she saw came rushing back to Logan. “Could it be some kind of Theronai power? You know how Helen has a gift for fire and Andra is adept at shields. Could her sleeping blood be some kind of gift meant to protect her from Synestryn?”
“It’s possible. Does she bear the mark?”
“No.” He’d seen her body, and unless the ring-shaped birthmark of the Theronai was hidden, she did not bear it.
Tynan glanced over his shoulder, checked the doorway, and lowered his voice. “We must be very careful here. Very certain. Has she shown any signs of magical power?”
Logan nodded. “Physical strength. And something else I can’t name. It’s like she has another sense; she can see things others cannot.”
“I truly don’t know what to think. It’s like she’s a mix we’ve never seen before—some kind of genetic anomaly or a mix of races.”
“She could be part Slayer.”
“That would certainly please Eric.”
Logan bit back a bitter laugh. Eric didn’t seem the type to be pleased about anything. “If we can prove it, Andreas will approve the match.”
