Blaire Montreal studied the bleeding man before her with awe. Not because he was bleeding, but because, for that brief moment when their gazes had clashed, she'd felt as though she was being sucked into the depth of his eyes. It felt as though this man's eyes held everything that made Blaire who she was and everything she strove to be. As if, here, this man, was her future.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she pushed her face closer to his to get a better look at the face, she was starting to believe, belonged to her lifemate.
He was beautiful, she'd never thought of a male as beautiful before. He had short wavy red hair; something Carpathians, who are all mostly dark haired, rarely saw. And those eyes, she recalled that deep blue gaze that she'd met an instant before he'd blacked out. His eyes were just as beautiful as the rest of him.
Shaking herself out of the daze she'd been put in, Blaire focused her attention on his wounds. The blood loss was starting to slow, which she took as a sign that he was slowly healing. But even if he was healing, she couldn't just leave him out here.
Sitting back on her heels, she studied the four dead lycans and the two piles of ash, where two bodies had lain mere minutes ago. She had been out for a walk, and hadn't been far away when she'd heard the gunshots. Acting on instinct, Blaire had immediately shaped-shifted into a cloud of mist and drifted up above to watch the violent scene play out beneath her. Although she'd been more than a little confused about what exactly they were fighting about, it was clear to see that some sort of war was waging.
Her blue-eyed man had fought hard and brave. Despite being outnumbered seven to one, he'd managed to kill six of his opponents. Surely, he must be a warrior of some kind.
But this man was not a Carpathian.
He was no human, his scent alone told her that. No, he was something...else. She may not know who or what this man was, but she did know that he was injured and she absolutely must help him. If he was indeed her lifemate, then both their lives depended on him surviving. One lifemate cannot survive without the other.
Blaire nibbled at her lip. She could take him back to her hotel room, but what would she tell Raphael? Her older brother would surely be cross if he knew she had left the hotel when he'd specifically told her not to. Gathering resolve, she straightened; who cares? A man's life was at stake, a man who could very well be her lifemate. Blaire didn't have the time to worry about Raphael's scolding.
But how was she going to get him back to the hotel? There was no way she could carry him there on her own, and Raphael was in an important business meeting. Blaire fisted a hand under her chin and thought it over.
Then, it hit her. She'd use a cab of course. Eyeing his wounds, she wondered what the driver would think if she brought an unconscious bleeding man into his car. She shrugged it off, she'd just alter his memory a little when they arrived at the hotel, that's all.
More confident now that she had a plan, Blaire shot to her feet and dashed to the street to go hail a taxi, her long green skirt swirling around her legs as she went.
She anxiously waited for one of the thousands of cabs that prowled the streets of this bustling city to pass her by. Bouncing on her toes in anxiety, Blaire cursed under her breath at her lack of luck.
Her eyes brightened and the frown on her pouty lips curved up into a smile as she spotted a pair of headlights in the distance, luckily coming her way.
Ignoring the brief thought that she most likely looked like a big idiot, Blaire raised both her arms and waved them wildly. Just for added measure, she muttered a prayer for luck.
When she saw the brilliant orange lights of the cab's blinker click on, Blaire couldn't resist the urge to jump a little in glee. She ceased the arm waving and waited impatiently for the taxi to reach her side. As it came to a halt in front of her, the passenger side window slowly creaked down and a middle aged dark skinned man eyed her. "You need a ride, lady?"
Blaire crouched down so she could better meet the driver's black eyes. She envisioned her power flowing into the man's eyes and slowly seeping up into his brain, cloaking it in her power. It was over in a but a minute. At one moment, the man had been faintly scowling at her, now his face was calm, almost serene, and his eyes held a sort of dullness that let her know that he was now completely under her control.
"Come with me, I need your help," it wasn't quite an order, more of a strong suggestion. But, since the driver was under her command, he did as she bid and exited his car. Even with the driver's help and the strength of her people, heaving the big man into the car took quite a bit of exhausting effort. Blaire found herself breathing hard once her man was safely nestled in the backseat.
Sending a silent command to the driver to reenter his vehicle, Blaire buckled herself into the passenger's seat and glanced once more into the backseat to check on her patient.
Satisfied that he was fine for the moment, Blaire turned her attention to the waiting cabbie under her control, "Take me to the Hilton on Main Street, please."
The man nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
It took only fifteen minutes to get to the hotel. A lot faster than Blaire had expected, she was very grateful to the driver for his urgency and decided she would leave him a very large tip, even if he hadn't exactly been willing. Giving herself time to contemplate a strategy to get the male up to her room on the twelfth floor, Blaire instructed the driver to pull into the parking lot and to park in the first empty spot closest to the side door. Trying very hard to ignore both men in the car, she reached into her bra to extract her room key. Despite the fact that neither males were in a position to take a peep, she couldn't help the flush staining her cheeks.
"I'm going to need your help getting him to the elevator, sir," she told her temporary servant.
He nodded and got out of the car as she did and circled the cab in order to help her heave the man out of the backseat. Blaire strained to get his arm over her head and on his shoulder, this man, she wearily decided, weighed a ton.
Blaire made sure she cloaked the three of them from human site before they started the incredibly slow process of walking the unconscious man through the side door to the elevator. It seemed like an eternity before they finally stumbled into the elevator car. Even with the driver's help, she found herself covered in sweat and her back starting to ache with the effort.
As the car rose, Blaire stole another quick glance at her "guest". Could this really be the face of her lifemate? After hundreds of years of walking past countless males of her species, wishing she could find her other half, could she have finally found him? As she studied his face, she wished he would just open his eyes for a moment, so she could look into his eyes. Perhaps, they held the answers she sought.
Just remembering her first glimpse of his blue eyes, had her heart clenching deep in her breast. As if something, or someone, had reached into her chest and had grasped the organ in their fist and squeezed.
She breathed through the sensation as they finally reached the twelfth floor. There would be time to seek her answers after she healed his wounds. Lifemate or no lifemate, this man needed a healing touch.
As they neared room 1205, Blaire prayed to the heavens that her brother hadn't returned yet. Though she did not really believe Raphael would turn out a wounded person, she did know he would not be at all happy with her for leaving the room without his permission or escort.
Although, she thought as she struggled to get the room key in the scanner with the stranger still slung over her shoulder. Her brother didn't really feel much of anything these days. Carpathian males lose all emotions and stop seeing in color around two-hundred years of age. Unless they found the other half of their soul, their lifemate, they would eventually turn into the undead, a vampire.
Raphael was older than she by three-hundred years, making him five-hundred years old. The last hundred years or so had been when she'd really started to notice the change in him. Raphael had held out against the darkness staining his soul, but it was starting to catch up with him, and it both frightened and saddened her.
She and the cab driver managed to half toss, half drop the large man on the bed. Blaire had just collapsed back on the bed with his arm still around her, she was exhausted. While Carpathians could levitate themselves and others, Blaire was still considered a fledgling and hadn't quite mastered levitating heavy objects. And he definitely counted as heavy.
Making herself get up, she hunted up her purse and grabbed a couple of American hundred dollar bills and pressed them into the driver's hand. "Here, this is a thank you for your help. Now, you're going to leave and go back to work. Of course, you won't remember me, this man, or this entire encounter. Do you understand?"
The human smiled sleepily, but just for good measure, she wiped every trace of herself from his mind, including her unique psychic trail. With her hands on her hips, Blaire watched as he strolled out of the room and back into the world.
Turning her attention towards her patient, Blaire went to sit on the edge of the bed. The claw marks raking his right side were ugly and deep, but the bleeding had slowed. The marks from the puncture of a wolf's teeth marred the skin of his left forearm. The beast had managed to get a good bite out of the flesh of his arm, and she wouldn't be surprised if the teeth had gone all the way to the bone. The worst of the mess by far was the wound on the back of his thigh, it was bleeding at a steady pace and wasn't slowing as quickly as the other wounds. It needed to be seen to.
Inhaling a deep breath through her nose in order to try to center herself and gather focus, Blaire closed her eyes and left her body behind and became a healing ball of light. She nervously entered the male and headed straight towards his thigh. It was quite a deep wound. The wolf had been tearing at his muscle in the short period it had him in his grasp. Those powerful jaws had tore through thick muscle and veins. Just as she suspected, it had nicked an artery, not good.
Blaire concentrated on healing the artery first, it was important that it be healed before the rest. As she began to attempt to seal the vein back together, she had to brutally dig her nails into her palm to keep her focus. She was no healer, she had only recently began healing lesson with Gregori Daratrazanoff, the greatest healer of their race. Healing was a difficult task in itself, as a beginner, it made it even more difficult to heal this man's wounds.
Finally, she healed the artery and began to heal the rest of the damage done to his leg, but she soon found herself tiring. Panicked, she tried to save her energy and go slower, focusing only on the more serious injuries. But her strength was wearing thin.
Keep going, little sister, Raphael's voice echoed through her skull. I shall assist you.
Damn, her elder brother had crept into her mind when she wasn't paying attention.
It was a good thing I did too. You are neither strong or trained enough to be attempting to heal injuries such as these. There also seems to be a strange man alone with my sister, something an older brother should be made aware of.
Blaire winced guiltily at his words, I had no choice! He was injured and...
Yes?
She hesitated briefly, but decided her brother should know the entire situation, I believe he is my lifemate.
Raphael didn't respond and Blaire began to grow nervous as the silence stretched between them.
Let us heal his wounds. We will talk once he is fully healed.
Together, with Raphael's energy being funneled into her, the two of them managed to heal the more serious wounds. The stranger would be fine with a little time. Blaire returned to her body pale and weak, exhausted from the time she'd spent projected outside her body. She attempted to stand, only to sway back onto the bed.
You need to feed, Sister, Raphael told her.
I know, I know, she didn't bother to try to stem the annoyance in her voice. I'll feed.
You will not leave that room before my return. I forbid it, her brother may no longer be able to feel emotion, but he could still retain a sternness in his tone.
It is nearing dawn, Raphael. We both need to feed before the sun rises. I am certainly capable of feeding on my own. Without waiting for her brother's response, Blaire slammed a barrier between them, cutting their telepathic communication.
Serves him right, she decided, for trying to boss her around like that. She checked the redhead's injuries one last time before the sliding door opened from her silent command. Taking the form of a small black owl, Blaire zipped out the door and out into the night to search for her prey.
Being the early hours of the morning, there weren't many humans out wandering the streets at this hour. But, as she had discovered during her trip, in the city, humans seemed to never sleep. They were always out looking for the next party, the next hit of a drug, the next lover, or the next victim. They fascinated her, these humans. Their actions, the choices they made, the way they lived their everyday lives. She found it all fascinating.
Blaire decided to head back to the bar where she'd found the man. One, it was to see if the human law enforcers had been called to the scene of the fight, and two because she knew there would be prey aplenty at the bar.
With the owl's excellent night vision, Blaire was able to see the bar perfectly from her vantage point in the sky. And to her surprise, she saw no blue flashing lights. In fact, she did not see any of the bodies that she had left behind in her desperation to save her possible mate.
Deciding to get a closer look, she flew down and perched herself on a garbage can. She surveyed the ground, but there was no sign of a struggle when there should have been. Nothing. No blood, no bodies, not even and scuff marks on the concrete. Blaire found the lack of a scene both puzzling and disturbing.
Uncomfortable, she decided to hurry up and feed so she could return to her patient all the sooner. Mentally scanning the areas for any hint of life, or even the tell-tale blank space of a vampire, Blaire returned to her natural form. Smoothing her skirt, she straightened her shoulder and started towards the club.
The mere smell of interior had her stomach churning. Barely resisting the urge to gag, she peered through the flashing lights and the smoke filled room in order to find prey with the least corrupted blood possible. The smell of drugs, sweat, and alcohol were swarming her heightened senses, making her nauseous. She couldn't stay in here for too much longer.
Pushing and nudging her way through the throng of humans, she made her way towards the dark corners of the room. There she found a group of men laughing together, beers in their hands. Taking a small sniff, she was relieved to find that despite a slight amount of alcohol in their systems, the men were otherwise clean of disease and narcotics.
Before they spotted her, she immediately put them in a trance. Shielding them with a single thought, she brought the first to her, piercing his neck with her fangs. She drank deep but careful not to take too much. When she decided that she'd taken enough from the first, she moved on to the second after making sure the first was safely seated in a chair.
She'd drunk her fill after the second man. Making sure they would remember none of this encounter, Blaire turned away after releasing from men from their trance.
She turned to go, anxious to finally be away from this despicable, foul-smelling place, when the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Fear was an icy knife, leaving a chill down her spine. Her skin crawled and her muscles tensed, as if, she realized, she were about to go to battle. Something was wrong.
She was being watched.
Blaire wasn't sure what exactly made her turn her attention towards the bar, but she found her eyes slowly moving in that direction.
Through the crowd of humans, as if he'd willed them to part at that precise moment, was a male. And not a human one. She didn't know what he was, but he was a predator of the night, just as she.
His green eyes glinted wickedly at her, even from across the room. Under the scar that ran across his nose, teeth gleamed in a mocking sneer. A sneer that spoke volumes.
Her eyes widened and her mouth went dry. This man had seen past her shield. He'd seen everything, when most could not.
Black brows rose as he inclined his head and lifted his glass at her in a mock toast. Those feral eyes never left hers, and Blaire was panicked to find hers were trapped in his gaze, like a deer in headlights, as he took a healthy drink from his glass, finishing its contents. Setting the glass down, the man left a few bills on the counter. As he started her way, her heartbeat thundered in her ears and she gasped for breath.
Breaking the lure he'd had on her, desperately shifted to mist and streamed for the door. Once she was out in the night, she streamed towards the clouds as if her life depended on it, and perhaps it did. Even in mist form, Carpathians were able to analyze their surroundings. Blaire did so now, checking the sky and the ground below in order to make sure she didn't foolishly lead this man to her wounded lifemate and her beloved brother.
She was incredibly relieved to find no trace of the stranger, but still on high alert, she started back to the hotel.
What was that man? He was no human, that she was sure of, but other than that, she had no idea what or who he could be.
Dangerous, her instincts told her. That man was dangerous.
And he'd seen her. Marked her in some way, she could feel it as if it was a brand on her skin. It made her feel unclean, so much so she felt as if she could take a dozen showers and she still would feel the same filth on her soul.
Landing on the room's balcony in her human form, she quickly shut the door and locked it. She knew perfectly well that locks wouldn't stop that man if he had somehow tracked her here, but she felt better none the less.
Raphael wasn't back yet, thank God. She did not need him seeing her this way, she thought as she glimpsed her pale reflection in the mirror on the wall. It wouldn't be long, but she did have a little time to compose herself. But, first things first.
Silent as a cat, Blaire went to the man's side. He was still pale, though she and her brother had healed the worse of the injuries, he needed blood to replace the amount he'd lost.
Unexpectedly, she found herself nervous. It was ridiculous, she scoffed, she'd given blood several times to others of her kind. Why should this time be any different?
Because he's you're other half, the sensible part of her answered, He possesses the other half of your darkness to your light.
Trying to gulp down her nerves, Blaire brought her wrist to her lips. She barely winced when she pierced her skin with her own fangs. As the blood welled, she brought the fresh wound to the lips of the man she was sure belonged to her.
When her wrist reached his mouth, a drop of her blood fell to his lips. Blaire had just decided to put him in a trance in order to make him drink when his tongue flicked out to lick the drop away. Fascinated, she watched as he grabbed her wrist and eagerly brought it to his mouth.
He greedily drank from her wrist, gulping down the fresh hot liquid.
Heat began to gather low in Blaire's belly at each pull from her vein. Her face began to flush and her lips and breasts tingled as she watched this man feed from her. She'd never reacted like this before when simply donating blood, she knew what this meant.
He was her lifemate!
Overcome by so many feeling she wasn't accustomed to, Blaire reached up with her free hand to rest her palm against the cheek of the man who was made for her.
At her touch, his eyes flew open and she found herself once again caught in that beautiful blue gaze.
Smiling down at him, Blaire opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she was hauled back with such speed she felt the world spin around her.
She cried out when the wound in her wrist snagged against her mate's teeth. Clutching the injury, Blaire glared up at her brother. Only to find his gaze not on her, but on her newly discovered lifemate. In his eyes, Blaire saw death.
This was not good.