Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [613]
“You were in bad shape. It wasn’t safe for us to keep traveling in the supply truck when the Enforcement Agency and possibly Lex as well would be looking for it as soon as the sun set—”
“Where are we?” he demanded.
“A halfway house for street kids—it’s called Anna’s Place. I know the man who runs it. Or I knew him, that is… from before.” Some flicker of emotion swept over her face. “Jack is a good man, trustworthy. We’re safe here.”
“He’s human.”
“Yes.”
Just fucking lovely. “And does he know what I am? Did he see me … like I was?”
“No. I kept you covered as best I could with the plastic tarp from the truck. Jack helped bring you up here, but you were still sleeping off the tranquilizer I shot you with. I told him you were out of it because you were sick.”
Tranqs. Well, at least that answered the question of why he wasn’t dead.
“He didn’t see your fangs or your eyes, and when he asked about your glyphs, I told him they were tattoos.” She gestured to a shirt and black warm-ups folded on the bedside table. “He brought you some clothes. After he gets back from ditching the truck for us, he’s going to look for a pair of shoes that might fit you. There’s a toiletries kit in the bathroom—part of his welcome wagon for new arrivals at the house. He only had one fresh toothbrush to spare, so I hope you don’t mind sharing.”
“Jesus,” Niko hissed. This was only getting worse. “I have to get out of here.”
He threw off the blanket and grabbed the clothing from the little table. He was none too steady on his feet as he tried to step into the nylon pants. He fell back, his bare ass planted on the bed. His head was spinning. “Damn it. I need to report in with the Order. Think your good buddy Jack has a computer or a cell phone I could borrow?”
“It’s two o’clock in the morning,” Renata pointed out. “Everyone in the house is sleeping. Besides, I’m not even sure you’re well enough to make it down the garage stairs. You need to rest a while longer.”
“Fuck that. What I need is to get back to Boston ASAP.” Still seated on the bed, he slipped on the warm-ups and hiked them over his hips, tugging the drawstring tight to cinch the extra-large waistband. “I’ve lost too much time already. Gonna need someone to come up here and haul my lame ass back in—”
Renata’s hand came down on his, surprising him with the contact. “Nikolai. Something’s happened to Mira.”
Her voice was as sober as he’d ever heard it. She was worried—bone-deep worried—and for the first time, he noticed the smallest fissure in the otherwise unbreakable, icy facade she presented to any and all around her.
“Mira is in danger,” she said. “They took her with them when they came to arrest you at the lodge. Lex sent her off with a vampire named Fabien. He … he sold her to him.”
“Fabien.” Niko shut his eyes, exhaled a curse. “Then she is probably already dead.”
He wasn’t expecting Renata’s choked cry. The raw sound of it made him feel like a callous jackass for speaking his grim thoughts aloud. For all of Renata’s strength and tough independence, she had a very tender spot reserved for that innocent, remarkable child.
“She can’t be dead.” Her voice took on a wooden edge, but her eyes were wild, desperate. “I promised her, do you understand? I told her I would never let anyone hurt her. I meant that. I would kill to keep her safe, Nikolai. I would die for her.”
He listened, and, God help him, he knew her pain better than she could ever guess. As a boy he had made a similar pact with his younger brother—Christ, so long ago—and it had nearly destroyed him to have failed.
“That’s why you came after me at the containment facility,” he said, understanding now. “You risked your neck to break me out of there because you think I can help you find her?”
She didn’t say anything, just held his gaze in a silence that seemed to stretch out forever. “I have to get her back, Nikolai. And I don’t think… I’m just not sure I can do