“Thanks,” she said. “I seem to be telling you that a lot lately.”
“My pleasure.” He looked to where Nika was sleeping. “Do you mind telling me who she is?”
Andra hesitated. She didn’t know this man, and yet he’d just finished suffering in order to help the only person on this earth Andra loved. She owed him more than she could ever repay. “My sister.”
Paul’s eyes widened with a desperate kind of hope. “Forgive me if this is rude, but do you share both of the same parents?”
Andra was so shocked by the odd question that she didn’t even consider whether or not she should answer. “I think so. Mom had a boyfriend who would come visit her every few years. We never met him, but she loved him. She said he was in the military and that’s why we never got to see him.”
“In the military?”
Andra shrugged, refusing to let the hurt of her childhood rule her life now. “I think it was a cover story Mom made up so we wouldn’t hate him. I believed it for a few years, but eventually I started to resent him. What the hell kind of father couldn’t even send a birthday card or call on the phone once in a while? I think he was just some deadbeat who got Mom pregnant and left her to deal with things on her own.”
“Sounds like a real winner,” said Paul, but there was no fire in his tone, only speculation.
“I figure my life was better without him in it, you know?”
“I’m sure you’re right,” he said, but it didn’t sound like he believed it for a minute.
“Do you know something you’re not telling me?” she asked.
“About your father? I don’t think so.”
Nika let out a whimper in her sleep and Andra went to her side. “Shh, baby. Sleep.”
“They’re coming,” mumbled Nika. “The monsters are coming.”
Andra’s heart broke open and wept for her sister. “You’re safe here. I won’t let anything hurt you.”
The door to the room opened and Logan and Madoc walked in as if they owned the place. Andra was starting to question the security here. “How did you two get in?”
Logan ignored her question. He was too busy sniffing the air for something. Madoc shrugged his huge shoulders and said, “Once the sun set, Logan pulled his Invisible Man routine and we walked right in. No sweat.”
“He actually went invisible?” asked Andra.
“Not exactly,” said Logan. “It’s more of a trick of the mind.”
“Who’s the kid?” asked Madoc. He stared at Nika with way too much interest for Andra’s comfort.
Andra took a step to the side to block his line of sight. “I think you all should leave.”
Logan’s pale eyes brightened and he moved toward Nika as if he were floating. “You never said you had a sister.” He pulled in a deep breath through his nose. “Her blood is as pure as yours. I can smell it.”
Andra saw the dark spots of blood on Nika’s gown. “You can smell that we’re sisters?” That was too freaky for words.
“Logan,” said Paul in a warning tone. “Back the hell off.”
“She’s in so much pain. I mean only to ease her mind.” He reached toward Nika.
The metallic ring of metal on metal filled the air as both Paul and Madoc drew their swords, seemingly from thin air. Paul’s sword went to Logan’s throat, Madoc’s to Logan’s crotch.
“Touch her and die the hard way,” growled Madoc.
Logan lifted his elegant hands into the air and the unnatural light in his eyes dimmed. “The child is suffering. I can help.”
Andra wasn’t sure what was going on. “Can he really help her?” Andra asked Paul.
Paul spared Andra a quick glance. “He’d want to drink her blood.”
“It’s the only way to diagnose her—to find the true cause of her mental breakdown,” explained Logan.
“Don’t fall for it, Andra,” said Madoc. “You saw the way he looked at her. He wants her blood, and he’s using the excuse of helping her as a way to get it.”
“That’s not entirely true. I do want her blood, but I also want to help her. Just let me near her to see if I can give her any comfort.”
Andra had given the vampire her blood and it hadn’t hurt her, other than a case of the woozies. He’d mended her broken arm, too. If he could help Nika, she was willing to take a risk and let him near her. “You can look at her, but you can’t do anything else.”
“As you wish,” agreed Logan.
Madoc didn’t want to put his sword away. He was probably going to need it any second now anyway. Logan was a fucking predator, and he seemed to be the only one who saw that.
Madoc didn’t like the idea of Logan getting anywhere near the child. He couldn’t see her face from here, but she barely made a bump in the bed, she was so thin. Only the bones in her knees and her toes stuck out enough to tent the blanket.
Logan glided forward and Andra stepped aside to make room for him by the bed. Madoc got a glimpse at the girl’s face and realized that this was no child. She was a young woman, much older than the ten or twelve he would have guessed from her scrawny frame.
The woman stirred and Andra laid a hand on her arm. “It’s okay, Nika. He’s here to help.”
Madoc snorted in disgust. He couldn’t help it. “The only person Logan is going to help is Logan.”
“Back off, Madoc,” said Paul. “He’s not going to hurt her by looking at her.”