Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nick stood at the club entrance shifting nervously from one foot to the other. He’d already called Warren on his earpiece to let him know he smelled a couple of vampires in the immediate area.

Finally the door opened and Michael stepped out next to him.

“Warren sent you?” Nick asked.

“Nah, I just thought I’d come out here and look pretty to entice the ladies,” Michael said with a grin.

“Smart ass,” Nick muttered. “Don’t you mean entice the men?”

Michael laughed then tilted his head in the direction of the parking lot. “Let’s go see what they’re up to, shall we?”

Nick nodded to the other bouncer at the door and followed Michael around the corner of the building. They passed by the parked cars and headed toward the small alley behind the club. An animalistic scream shattered the serene night and they looked at each other before taking off at a fast run.

Rounding the corner they froze when they saw Alicia fighting two vampires on her own. Michael saw red and he moved faster than Nick had ever seen him. Before the jaguar could blink, Michael had ripped the vampire on Alicia’s back in half and moved her out of the way of the other.

Nick pulled out his .9MM with its special bullets and fired on the vampire still standing. The wooden bullet penetrated the vampire’s heart and it went down face first before dissolving into a mound of dust.

Holstering his weapon, Nick stepped forward and smiled when he heard Michael talking softly to the young cougar visibly shaking in his arms. He looked down and saw the clothing Alicia had been wearing and held it up. His eyes grew wide when he saw how skimpy the garment was before jerking his arms down to glare at her.

“What the hell are you doing out here alone dressed like that?” Nick yelled shaking the dress in his hands, “Do you realize if we hadn’t shown up just now you’d be dead? Luckily for you we’ve been on such high alert. I smelled those bastards coming!”

Michael continued to utter soft, reassuring words to the girl and felt her terror as she slowly shifted back to human form in his arms. She buried her face against his chest and took deep breaths to try calming herself down.

Michael at first thought she was scared at what almost happened and knew Nick was right about her being out here alone. He tried not to notice how soft her skin was as she pressed it against him but as his palm caressed her reassuringly…he couldn’t keep her warmth from heating his blood.

“Don’t tell Quinn,” Alicia whispered against his shirt. “Please don’t tell him.”

Michael then understood why she was so scared. Quinn would lock her up for sure if he found out.

“No way!” Nick yelled. “There’s no way in hell I’m keeping this from your brother. You should have known better than to put yourself in danger like that.”

Michael felt her hands fist tighter into his shirt and saw the bite mark on her neck. He also saw the claw marks across her shoulder and chest and came to a quick decision. Alicia had been through enough for one night… he wasn’t adding her brothers to her distress.

Looking up at Nick, Michael stared intently at the jaguar, reaching into his memories and rewriting them so that Alicia was never here… only the vampires. “Go back and tell Warren the vampires have been taken care of. I am going home for the evening and if he has any questions, he can call me.”

Michael waited until Nick nodded his head slowly before standing up with Alicia in his arms. Taking her dress from Nick’s hand, he moved back until he was swallowed up by the shadows.

Nick shook his head and glared up at the sky. “Oh yeah, leave me to tell him everything while you go home!” he yelled. He turned around and started walking back to the front of the club. “Didn’t even stick around to see if there were any others.”

He stopped and kicked the vampire Michael had ripped in half. “I’m always stuck with the clean up too.”

Alicia’s lips parted seeing Michael use his power of persuasion on Nick. Glancing up at Michael’s eyes, she knew she should be nervous around him… so why did she feel so safe?

Michael waited until Nick went around the corner before giving Alicia her dress so she could put it back on the averted his eyes for both their sake.

She held it up and frowned at the state it was in. “There’s nothing left,” she said softly.

“Here,” Michael said and took off his jacket before removing his shirt and handing it to her. “This will have to do.”

Alicia slipped on the button up shirt not giving any thought to her nudity and buttoned it closed. When she looked back up at him, he smiled and nodded before placing an arm around her waist.

“Hold on,” he whispered.

Alicia wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She felt the cool autumn air blow around her for a moment and when it stopped, she lifted her head to look around.

They were standing in front of a house directly across the street from a church. Michael carried her into the house, not bothering to put her down and started wondering about the protective feelings he was having toward her. He shut the door closed with his foot and walked into the living room.

“Honey, I’m home!” Kane yelled sarcastically from the sofa. He’d just gotten back from stalking… following… checking up on Tabatha and he wasn’t in the best of moods. When he looked up seeing Michael carrying Alicia bridal style, he quirked an eyebrow. “Well, well, what have we here? Do you have slightly impure intentions toward the young cougar in your arms old boy?”

Michael frowned, “I absolutely do not.” At least not that anyone else is aware of.

Kane shrugged though he’d heard Michael's afterthought, “Too bad. I was actually looking forward to running up to your door later and pressing my ear against it.”

“Pervert,” Michael muttered.

“I just don’t want Quinn to find out what happened tonight,” Alicia reminded Michael and glanced back at Kane wondering if he could be trusted not to tell anyone she was here.

“And exactly what happened?” Kane asked smelling the blood. “Did the two of you perform a mating ritual and don’t want the alpha cougar to know yet?”

“You know,” Alicia said motioning for Michael to put her down. “You can stop pretending to be such an ass,” she walked up to him with a smile on her face. “Because we all know you’re not.” She finished and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Kane felt his face heat up and looked away to hide the blush. “You know love, I think I liked it better when you were scared of me.”

Michael couldn’t help but laugh and shook his head. “She’s right you know.”

Kane growled and turned his attention back to the television. “Go to hell.”

“I’ll show you one of the spare rooms.” Michael said holding his hand out to Alicia.

Alicia took it and looked back over her shoulder at Kane. “Good night.”

Michael led Alicia up the stairs to the top floor and turned down the hallway. Stopping at the last door next to a large picture window that was at the far end of the hall, he opened it and stepped aside for her to enter. Alicia smiled and stepped over the threshold only to stop in her tracks.

The room was Spartan with a single vanity table against one wall next to a pair of French doors leading to a balcony. The doorway was covered with sheer white curtains that blew softly in the breeze that was coming through the open doors.

A canopy bed sat on the opposite wall with the same sheer material hanging from each corner of the bed. The bedding itself was eggshell white embroidered with gold and silver.

“Wait here and I’ll go get the first aid box,” Michael said and left the room.

Alicia nodded and walked over to the balcony door to look outside. The view of the church across the street was soothing and she closed her eyes enjoying the breeze coming into the room.

Michael went into the bathroom and took the first aid kit from under the sink. Standing up, he opened it and examined the contents before closing it again. He started to leave the bathroom when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. The longing in his eyes stared back at him and it made him wonder about his confused feelings toward the girl in the other room.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked his reflection.

“I don’t know about you, but I came up to powder my nose.” Kane answered with a smirk.

Michael actually jumped and glared at Kane standing in the open doorway. “That was a question not meant for you to answer,” he growled.

Kane shrugged, “I’d say you need to make up your mind about the bewitching young lady you’ve brought home tonight. If not, you may be surprised at who claims her.”

Michael shoved his way past Kane, leaving the blonde vampire staring after him. Kane had quickly peeked inside Alicia’s memories when she kissed him on the cheek. He’d seen everything that had befallen her in the last few hours and cringed at the mere idea of the girl almost being trapped by Misery. Someone really needed to put that bitch in her place before she hurt someone.

However, seeing the memory she had of kissing Damon had him very concerned… and just how long had he their estranged brother been in town? Seems Kane wasn’t the only one that had been hiding from Michael these days. If Damon had future designs on the girl while Michael was still trying to figure his out, they would see a repeat of what made the brothers hate each other so much.

Leaving the upstairs bathroom, Kane walked back downstairs and plopped down on the sofa to finish watching the animal movie with Scrappy. It was about two dogs and a cat traveling cross country to find their owners. Scrappy loved the ones that had talking animals in them and always whined when the golden retriever fell in the pit and wouldn’t get up to save himself.

The movie had just reached that part when he sat back down and he arched an eyebrow at his canine companion when he heard a whine. Without a word, he reached inside his jacket and placed his handkerchief in front of Scrappy. Scrappy nosed at it for a moment before laying his head down on the piece of cloth.

“Some hell hound you turned out to be,” Kane muttered and affectionately scratched the dog behind the ears.

Upstairs, Michael walked into the bedroom and saw Alicia standing at the balcony entrance looking at the big church across the street.

“I’ve got the first aid kit,” he said softly. “Let’s see what we can do about those scratches and that bite.”

Alicia smiled and unbuttoned the shirt enough so Michael could access the wounds.

“So,” Michael began while getting some peroxide and wetting a piece of cotton with it as he watched one side of the shirt slide off her shoulder exposing soft pale skin. “Would you mind telling me why you were fighting two vampires behind the club tonight?”

Alicia sighed and looked away. “I went to an area of town where a lot of criminals and prostitutes hang out. I was trying to find out where Micah is because Quinn doesn’t seem all that interested in searching for him.”

Michael nodded his head and gently pressed the cotton to one of the deep scratches on her shoulder. “I see. What makes you think he doesn’t want to find Micah?”

Alicia shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean, Quinn’s always talking about how important family is but he’s not showing it.”

“Quinn is just trying to be careful,” Michael said and unknowingly pushed some of his newfound healing ability into the wounds to get rid of the pain he saw in her eyes. “He doesn’t want to start a war.”

“Asking a few questions isn’t going to start a war!” Alicia insisted as the anger she had on the subject reared its head. “He just doesn’t want to find Micah because Micah’s the only one that will stand up to him.”

Michael sighed, “You’re starting to make Quinn sound like a tyrant.”

“It’s more than that,” Alicia whispered. “He doesn’t want me to help out at all. He treats me like I’m still six years old. If it weren’t for Micah, I probably still wouldn’t know how to hunt in the wild. Quinn doesn’t want me to be a cougar at all.”

Alicia looked down when Michael paused in bandaging her up and noticed his hand was shaking slightly over her breast. She reached up and took the bandage from his hand and finished taping it into place.

“There, feel more comfortable now?” she asked.

Michael grinned and threw a cotton ball at her. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“As soon as yours gets out,” she retorted playfully.

Michael inhaled deeply only to pause when he smelled something very familiar clinging to Alicia’s body. He narrowed his eyes, the scent reminding him of his brother.

“What?” Alicia asked in confusion then noticed him inhale slowly as if tasting her scent.

She cringed at the expression on his face when Michael said nothing but instead, leaned in closer, inhaling deeply again. The first thing that went through her mind was Michael smelled the demon on her. Remembering there was a chance he could read her mind she frowned.

“You smell it don’t you?” she asked.

“Smell what?” Michael inquired, the hard light never leaving his eyes.

“You smell the demon on me… don’t you?”

Michael’s eyes widened, “The demon?”

“I saw the demon… Misery... while I was out tonight,” Alicia admitted.

Michael blinked. That was the last thing he’d expected her to say.

“Where did you see her?” Michael demanded.

Alicia took a deep breath and told him where she’d seen the demon. She also told him about the scene with the vampires and the prostitutes, leaving out the part with Damon. For some reason, she wanted to keep that memory for herself.

“So that’s why you are wearing all the makeup?” Michael asked and when she looked down guiltily he shook his head. “You look so much better without it.”

Michael felt his heart soar when he was rewarded with a smile. “I’ll tell everyone that I was the one that saw Misery tonight instead of you. But I believe it would be in your best interests to stay here until you’ve healed or everyone will know you’ve been playing detective by yourself.”

Alicia graced him with another smile and he reached up to ghost the pad of his thumb over her lower lip seeing a slight cut marring its perfection. He immediately thought back to the kiss they’d shared and felt his body start stirring to life.

“Go ahead and call Quinn, let him know you’re all right, at a friend’s house, and out of harm’s way,” Michael said. “There’s an armoire in the walk-in closet with a few big shirts that should be suitable for sleeping in.”

Alicia watched him as he moved away from her and toward the bedroom door.

“Good night,” she called after him.

“Good night Alicia,” he whispered making himself leave before he did something strange… like kiss her again.

Michael shut the door behind him and quickly walked back down the hall. Slipping into the sanctuary of his own bedroom, he leaned back against the closed door and slid to the floor. He buried his face in his hands wondering what in the hell he was going to do now.

Alicia found the walk-in closet and rummaged around for the shirts Michael had told her about. She finally found one and placed it out on the bed before picking up the phone sitting on a small night table she hadn’t noticed upon first entering the room. Quickly dialing Quinn’s number, she waited for him to pick up.

“Hello,” Quinn said sounding like he was really busy.

“Hey Quinn, it’s Alicia.”

“Is everything okay?” Quinn immediately asked.

Alicia grinned, “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just wanted to call and let you know I decided to stay with a girlfriend from school. She just got back and I’m staying with her and her family for a couple of days.”

She heard Quinn exhale quietly as though he were relieved.

“That’s a great idea,” he said and she heard the smile in his voice. “At least you’ll be out of harm’s way.”

Alicia rolled her eyes. Out of harm’s way her foot, he just didn’t want her to know anything.

“I gotta go,” Alicia said. “It’s late and we’re getting ready for bed.”

“Okay,” Quinn said, sounding distracted. “Call me to check in so I’ll know you’re all right.”

“Loves,” Alicia said at the same time she heard the click.

She pressed her lips together and quietly hung up the phone. There was a time when Quinn would have said it back, but he hadn’t for the last couple of years. Micah always said it before they hung up but she had to remember that Quinn wasn’t Micah. She knew Quinn loved her and worried about her, but she needed some reassurance right now.

The conversation with Michael had made her start thinking about things she didn’t need to be dwelling on.

Placing the phone back on the charger, Alicia picked up the shirt and headed down the hall looking for the bathroom. When she found it, she quickly turned on the hot water in the shower and stripped down. She groaned when the hot water poured over her and she quickly washed herself down, taking extra care around the bandaged areas trying not to let them get too wet.

Once the make-up was washed away, she got out of the shower and dried off, feeling more like herself.

As she pulled the long shirt over her head, she double checked to make sure the necklace was still on before heading back to her room. Although she trusted the two vampires she was currently residing with, she couldn’t afford to take any more chances after tonight’s events.

She slipped between the covers of the bed and lay back, closing her eyes and enjoying the nice cool breeze blowing into the room. The handsome vampire from the alley jumped to the forefront of her mind as she fell into the land of dreams.

What Alicia was unaware of was, when she’d bit the vampire’s lip, she’d gotten a taste of his blood. Because of that small taste, she was now connected to him in an intimate way.

Her dreams were filled with visions of him… injured and bleeding. The sight of him like that tugged at her emotions… making her feel regret. She’d stabbed him, and then left him at the mercy of Misery and her sick intentions… whatever they might have been. How could she have been so cruel? She whimpered in her sleep as she watched him lean against the brick wall as if he were dying.

Kane sat in the living area staring at the blue screen on the television. He’d picked up the phone downstairs when the red light started blinking signaling that someone was using it. He remained silent and heard the conversation between Alicia and Quinn. It wasn’t the first time he thought Quinn was being an ass. Hell, Kane knew he himself was an ass… but he’d never ignore his little sister that way if he had one.

Scrappy barked very softly making Kane look down at him.

“What do you think boy?” Kane asked the small dog. “You think we should try cheering her up tomorrow?”

Scrappy placed his head on Kane’s thigh and looked up at him with sad eyes. Kane grinned and nodded his head. Operation Cheer Up Alicia would start tomorrow… after he had a chance to find something to tease her about.