Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [297]
A tic started in Padgett’s cheek. He opened his mouth, closed it, then turned abruptly on his heel and left. The door slid shut behind him. We all stood in the suddenly thick silence.
Stephen said, “Anita.” He held his hand out to me. His face was flawless, no scars, no marks of any kind. I took his hand and smiled.
“I know you guys heal fast, but it’s still impressive. You looked pretty bad last time I saw you.”
“I looked worse,” a soft male voice said. Nathaniel was awake in the other bed. His long auburn hair hung like a shining curtain around his face, maybe longer than waist-length. I’d never seen a man with hair that long. I couldn’t see his face because I was too busy staring at his eyes. They were the color of lilacs, a wonderful pale lavender that was a genuine showstopper. It took me a few seconds of staring to be able to see the rest of his face. He looked a few years older awake than he had unconscious—nineteen instead of sixteen, maybe. He still looked drawn and tired, ill, but there was a vast improvement.
“Yeah, you looked worse,” I said.
Stephen turned to Officer Smith like they were old friends. “Can we have a few minutes alone?”
Smith looked at me. “Okay with you?”
I nodded.
He stood. “I don’t know how Padgett’s going to like it, so if you want to exchange secret codes or anything, make it fast.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t mention it.” He stopped in front of Lorraine before he left. “Thank you. Crossman has a wife and two daughters. I know they’d thank you if they could.”
Lorraine blushed and nodded, mumbling, “You’re welcome.”
Smith left, and I walked over to Nathaniel’s bed. “Nice to meet you while you’re conscious.”
He tried to smile, but the effort showed. He held out his left hand to me, the right hand was still hooked up to an IV drip.
I took his hand. His grip was tremblingly weak. He drew my hand towards his mouth as if to kiss it. I let him do it. The effort made his hand shake.
He pressed his lips to my hand, eyes closed, almost as if he were resting. For a second I thought he’d passed out, but his tongue flicked out, a quick wetness.
I jerked back, fighting the urge to wipe my hand on my jeans. “Thanks, a handshake would have been fine.”
He frowned up at me. “But you’re our léoparde lionné,” he said.
“So people keep telling me,” I said.
He turned his head so he could see Stephen. “You lied to me.” Tears trembled in his pale, pale eyes. “She won’t feed us.”
I looked at Stephen. “I have missed part of this conversation, haven’t I?”
“Have you seen Richard share blood with the pack?”
I started to say no, then, “I saw him let Jason feed off of a knife wound once. Jason seemed almost drugged from it.”
Stephen nodded. “That’s it. Gabriel could share blood.”
My eyes widened. “I didn’t think he was strong enough to do that.”
“Neither did we.” This from Kevin. He came to stand near me, cigarette transferred, still unlit, to his left hand. “It’s been very interesting listening to Nathaniel talk about Gabriel. Nathaniel was addicted to heroin and a street whore when Gabriel rescued him, gave him a second life.”
“Bully for him, getting him off drugs, but Gabriel still pimped him out. To a sicker clientele.”
Kevin patted Nathaniel’s leg under the sheet, a casual gesture, like you’d pat a dog. “But Nat here likes it, don’t you, boy?”
Nathaniel looked at him and said softly, “Yes.”
“Please, tell me you didn’t enjoy being gutted.”
He closed his eyes. “No, not that. But until then it was…”
“That’s all right,” I said. Something occurred to me. “Have you told the police who did this to you?”
“He doesn’t know,” Kevin said. He put the ever-present cig back in his mouth, as if just the taste of the paper was sweet.
“What do you mean, he doesn’t know?” I asked.
Stephen answered, “Zane chained and blindfolded him, then left. That was the deal. Nathaniel never saw them.”
“Them?” I made it a question.
Stephen nodded. “Them.”
I took in a deep breath and let it out