Annie Nicholas - Catch

Gwen stood between Colby and the door. I didn’t want her to get hurt. “Stop.” The shout made Colby glance over. Fury burned in his eyes.

Not wasting an opportunity Gwen pounced.

Mid-air Colby grabbed her around the waist and slammed her to the ground. They rolled across the floor toward me.

Gwen’s legs squeezed his torso as they stopped with him on top.

Pinning her hands to the floor, Colby stared at her as if he’d been slapped with a stun stick. Both panted as if out of breath. Something unspoken passed amid them, because she released her grip and he stood.

His glare stabbed me. “Traitor.”

“You tried to kill me!” I stepped closer to him while rubbing the bump on my head, but Gwen snatched my arm.

He blinked. “How?”

“You need to go.” Gwen pointed at him.

Without another word, Colby sprinted across the hotel room and opened it.

Tane stood in the doorway. The crack of his fist meeting Colby’s chin made me flinch. He crumpled to the ground.

It should have been a triumphant moment, however sunlight poured over Tane, and fire flashed on his exposed skin. He let out a blood-curdling screech before disappearing.

Smoke and a sweet stench corrupted the air.

Gwen and I stood in stunned silence.

“You never told us Colby was a werewolf.” She stayed very still next to me.

I blinked as what she said sunk through the chaos of my mind. “He is?” What I saw hadn’t sunk in yet. The smoke filtered into the room and made me sneeze. “I guess Tane’s not dead since I’m still breathing.” I glanced at her.

“It takes more sunlight than that to kill a Nosferatu. He got singed.” Gwen crossed the room, checked Colby’s pulse and sighed as if relieved. “He’s still alive.”

“What makes you think he’s not human?”

“You think a human can take on two werewolves in hand to hand combat and win?

And he smells…different.” She stared up at me.

I shrugged. “Never really gave it a thought.”

Gwen brushed the dark hair from his face with a tender touch then sighed. Pulling out plastic ties from her pocket, she secured his wrists and ankles.

“You were going to let him escape a moment ago.”

She shook her head. “A hormonal mistake. I’m sure you’ve made bad choices too.”

Boy, did I, and I was about to make another one. “I’d better check on Tane.” I stepped over Colby’s prone body and hesitated. “Did you get the impression Colby was surprised by my accusation?”

She rolled him onto his side and lifted his eyelids while ignoring my question. “He should recover from this blow.”

“What will you do with him?”

“Question him. Get the truth.”

That’s not what I meant. “How?”

She glared at me with a drawn brow. “How do you think?”

I’d been on the receiving end of such questioning recently. It made me sick that I helped capture him, but he’d tried to kill me. Right?

“Go check on our master, Connie.”

I nodded and turned my back on her. The smell of burnt flesh seemed stronger to my left so I followed the odor down the windowless hall.

Bet it surprised the hell out of Colby to find Tane awake during the day. Where would he go? Probably in one of the other rooms. Did I start knocking on every door and draw attention?

I glanced over my shoulder as Gwen closed my room door and left me alone in the corridor. No help from her.

Standing in my bare feet and wrinkled suit, I scratched my fuzzed out curly head. If I called out would he answer? I groaned inside, maybe if I used something other than my voice.

It took me months to learn how to build a shield around my mind to keep out vampires. Learning to let it go proved difficult. With focused concentration, the walls melting away like Rurik had instructed, they faded enough for me to shout his name mentally.

Not a second later, I discerned his presence. “Rabbit?”

“Where are you?”

“Room five-seventeen. You might not want to enter. The burns are gruesome.”

Through his light mental touch, I could sense he shielded me from the amount of pain he experienced. I cringed as our minds brushed against each other, I didn’t need to take any trips down the Nosferatu memory lane. He could keep those nightmares; I had my own.

His presence disappeared like a popped bubble.

I walked two doors farther and turned the unlocked handle. Inside, Tane sat on the bed with his back against the wall. His right forearm and the right side of his face were red with blisters. A strip of untouched skin ran across his eyes where he’d block the sunlight with his arm.

He grinned. “Don’t look so shocked. You make me feel worse.”

Screwing my expression into something more pleasant, I went into the bathroom and soaked a face cloth with cold water.

“It’s been a long time since the sun has caught me. I forgot how much it fucking hurts.”

“Shouldn’t you be healing?” I approached him and pressed the cool moisture with a gentle hand to his face.

With a quiet hiss, he grimaced and closed his eyes. “I am. Most vampires would have expired with such an exposure.” He peeked at me with one eye. “It would go faster if I fed. Fresh blood heals best.”

The blisters oozed clear fluid and looked painful. Did I admit to him I was the one who left curtains open? Guilt chased away any appetite I’d had for breakfast. I lifted my wrist to his mouth without complaint.

His hand dwarfed mine as he brought it to his mouth. As he rested his sharp fangs to the pulse point, I allowed him inside my mental shield to cloud the pain.

I almost wish I could do the same for him. He slipped through my defenses like silk, like Rurik. Offering my wrist gave me the advantage to watch.

With eyes closed, Tane gulped my blood as if quenching a dying thirst. The burns healed before my eyes. Blisters melted into his skin as the inflammation faded and became pale and smooth once more.

“Amazing.” I spoke my thought out loud.

Tane gazed at me under heavy lids, a lazy smile curled his lips before he kissed the wound on my wrist. “Thank you.”

Sunset was only a few hours away and I had nothing else to do except lie in bed and wait for Rurik to wake. I’d had a quiet, uncomfortable lunch with Gwen on Tane’s deck, both of us doing our best to avoid talking about the morning’s activities.

My betrayal of Colby to the vampires sat heavy on my chest as I stared at the bedroom ceiling. It’s not as if we were friends who went out to lunch or exchanged Christmas gifts, but in theory he saved me. Colby introduced me to a whole new world where I could make a small difference and offered me a second chance, which led me away from drowning my sorrows.

Didn’t he deserve a second chance too?

When the hell did I develop a conscience? I glanced at my unmoving lover and blamed him.

Groaning as I rolled off the soft bed, I gave up on waiting and dressed in a yellow t-shirt and jean shorts, then went to find where they imprisoned my ex-boss. I needed to hear his side of the story before Tane and his brothers got their hands on him.

Colby had actually appeared shocked when I asked him why he tried to kill me.

Instead of running, he hesitated to ask me how?

Opening my bedroom door, I came face to shoulder with Gwen. She blocked my exit.

“Where are you going?” She placed her hands on her hips. All five-foot-eleven of her werewolf frame loomed over my six-inch shorter, frail human body. My brain got stuck in neutral as I gazed into her angry chocolate brown eyes.

“I—I—” I cleared my throat. “Don’t you ever sleep?”

“There’s no one to replace me. House security is busy watching the remaining guests, Tane’s personal guards are stuck at the hotel until sunset, and every time I leave you alone you cause trouble.” Dark circles marred her beautiful features and I was almost tempted to retreat in my room for her sake, but the image of her letting Colby go, of the split second intimate moment I’d witnessed between them, wouldn’t let me. She was my only hope and maybe Colby’s only salvation.