Liam wasted no time, divesting me of my shirt so he could get a better look at my wounds. His hands were clinical as they pushed and prodded the tears in my skin, which still sluggishly seeped blood.
“I never did thank you for saving my life after the werewolf bite,” I said. “Even if I could have done without the coffin full of blood.”
His lips firmed. “I wasn’t going to let you die so easily. The blood bath was the best way to keep you alive. The wolf’s bite had spread and almost killed you by the time Brax returned and was able to pull some of its poison from you.” He gave me a meaningful glance when I opened my mouth to argue. Brax might have returned, but I suspected it was my trick with the tree that saved my life.
His eyes held a warning, as if telling me to keep my mouth shut about being able to see magic. For now, I’d listen. Mostly, because I was too tired to do otherwise.
"You need more blood," he said in a decisive voice before I could say anything else, rolling up his sleeve.
I turned my head away when he held his wrist up to my lips. I know he'd lost way more blood than me in the last twenty-four hours, and though weak, I wasn't at death's threshold. "I'm fine."
“Aileen,” he snapped.
The door on the other side of me opened, and Thomas climbed in, pulling it shut behind him and taking a seat beside me. He looked at the two of us, noting the frustrated expression on Liam's face and the mulish one on mine. He guessed the cause in moments. "You either take blood from Liam, or you take blood from me. Your choice."
My expression turned even more stubborn as he quirked an eyebrow at me, making it clear he wasn't going to budge on this. I had a sudden vision of being held down with one of them forcing my mouth open as the other dripped blood into it and knew that I would be on the losing end of any struggle. Faced with drinking under my own volition or being forced into it, I took the path that would at least leave me with some modicum of dignity.
Liam was smart enough not to let a smile cross his face when I turned to him, though there was a certain smug light in his eyes that made me want to throat punch him. He tugged me so that I was leaning back against his chest and facing Thomas, one of Liam's arms a snug band around my chest while he held the other to my lips.
"Drink, Aileen," he rumbled in my ear.
My fangs snapped down and I sank them into his skin, relishing the soft pop as they pierced his flesh, then the dark taste of his blood as it coated my tongue—better than chocolate, more decadent than the most delicious of desserts, aged to perfection and dancing across my senses with a maestro's expertise. My eyes slid shut as heat suffused my core, spreading with a lulling fire throughout my body, waking up parts of me that had long been ignored.
There was a heavy groan in my ear, one echoed by my moan moments later. I could feel him harden against my back where I pressed against him. I wiggled back, relishing the power it gave me when he muttered a curse in another language, the arm around my waist briefly tightening.
"That's enough, acushla." His voice was a tickle against my neck as he gently pulled his wrist away.
I opened my eyes as his thumb caressed my bare stomach in a gentle movement, sweeping back and forth as I returned to myself. Thomas watched us with an enigmatic gaze, his chin propped on his hand and his fingers tapping at his lips. The lassitude that had taken over my limbs was slow to fade. It was like I was a lion gorged on a good meal, nothing seemed too important.
"This is an interesting development," Thomas finally said to Liam over my head.
My guard snapped down, and I stiffened and would have drawn away if Liam hadn't held me close, his warm embrace suddenly turning tight.
Whatever gaze they exchanged must have spoken volumes because Thomas didn't make any further comments, his gaze dropping to mine.
"Now that I see the yearling is safe and fed, I think it's time to take care of that other matter," he said, his face a polite mask.
"Theo," I said. It wasn't much of a guess. I could think of no other reason for Thomas to be here.
One side of his lips quirked up in answer.
Damn.
"He's probably close," I said. "He planned to kill Caroline after she'd taken care of me and collapsed into a coma after her shift back."
He wouldn't want to be far away, but he also couldn't be too close without risking her turning her focus to him.
"Yes, there's a cabin not far from here that his master used to own," Thomas said in an amused voice.
"Makoto is a hacker," Liam said in answer to my unvoiced question. "When pointed in the right direction, he was able to uncover a lot of very interesting information."
Eric got into the driver's seat, Anton by his side in the passenger seat. It was odd to see someone other than Nathan in that spot. Anton didn't turn to address any of us, staring forward with a fixed expression.
"What do you plan to do with Theo when you find him?" I asked, looking away from the enforcers as we began to move.
Thomas’s face turned amused. "What do you think I have planned?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking," I said in a measured voice. My fear was that Thomas would do exactly as Theo wanted, turn him into a vampire. If he did that, I very much suspected Theo would bide his time until he could act against Thomas. Eventually, he would come after me, and I would never be safe.
"What do you want to have happen to him?" Thomas asked, his head tilting in question.
I wanted him dead. He'd killed multiple people, and he'd planned mine and Caroline's deaths, not to mention almost sacrificed his sister when she tried to help us. He was a psychotic killer. Making him a vampire wouldn't change that. It would just make him a more efficient killer.
I didn't know if Thomas would see it my way. Though the relation was long ago, Theo was Thomas’s descendant. How would I feel two hundred years from now if I was in Thomas’s shoes and it was Jenna's great, great grandson facing judgment? Would I still feel an attachment to that long-ago family?
Liam's hands tightened briefly in warning around my waist.
"He's Steven's creation," I finally said. "And he's responsible for at least two deaths that I know of, though I suspect you'll find many more that can be lain at his feet."
"And?" Thomas arched an eyebrow.
Vampires didn't have the same attachment to life I had. At his age, Thomas alone was probably responsible for more deaths than I could count.
"He tried to kill me," I said, lifting my chin. "I want him dealt with in a very permanent way."
A part of me broke at that request. I wasn't the sort to solve my problems with violence, and basically asking for someone's death went against the human part of me I tried to cling to. I saw no alternative. Next time Theo might not be content to plot against just me. He might go after Jenna or her daughter. I couldn't risk my family, and if it meant sacrificing some of my humanity to ensure their safety, so be it. Every soldier knows they might have to sacrifice a life in defense of their country.