Vampires Are Forever (Argeneau #8)

Of course, he was a bit horned up right now on account of the Immortal version of Spanish fly, Inez reminded herself. Still, that didn't mean he had to jump her.

"Look, love, while its fascinating sitting here watching you nod and talk to yourself under your breath it might be more fun if you talked to us," the blonde said, forcing himself into her recollection again. "We'll buy you that drink and you talk to us, right?"

Knowing it wasn't advisable to be rude to sotted men, Inez was just opening her mouth to ask them politely to leave her alone when Thomas was suddenly there, looming beside her. She peered up at his face, surprised to see that his features were rigid and his eyes glowing silver. She'd seen his eyes turn that way before, both times when he'd kissed her, but somehow she didn't think it was passion making them silver right now.

"She said 'no, thank you,'" Thomas said coldly and Inez bit her lip, her gaze sliding worriedly between the men. She'd lived in Britain for almost eight years and knew the last thing you did was piss off a drunken Brit. They were considered all stiff upper lip and conservative by the world at large, and they were that, but she'd also never seen a group more likely to start swinging their fists than Brits when drinking. She suspected it had something to do with that very conservativeness that they were known for. All those emotions they bottled up so much of the time, had to come out at some point and when they were drinking seemed to be the point. She couldn't recall an evening out with Lisa and Sherry where a fight or absolute brawl hadn't broken out at the end of the night.

Inez knew Thomas wasn't your average guy, that he was faster, stronger, and could control minds, but she wasn't sure he could control three at once, or how much stronger and faster he actually was. Slinging her purse strap over her shoulder, she stood and murmured, "Thomas, I think we should move on and call Herb for another set of coord-"

"No, no, love. Sit down. We want to buy you a drink." The words were accompanied by a sudden sharp tug on her hand that sent her dropping back into her seat. Her eyes shot to the first man as he turned his attention to Thomas and said with a shrug, "I don't see a ring on her finger. She's free to sit with us."

Inez never saw Thomas move, but suddenly the blonde was dangling in the air, held there by Thomas's hand at his throat.

"Thomas," she said anxiously, standing up and catching his free arm with her hand. He jerked as if she branded him, his head whipping around, eyes blazing silver fire. Inez caught her breath and stared back for a moment and then glanced around sharply and cried out with surprise as she saw the brunette approaching Thomas from behind. Her warning came too late, even as the sound slipped from her lips, the man flicked open a knife and plunged it into Thomas's lower back.

He stiffened, his back arching slightly, then dropped the blonde and whirled on his attacker, baring his teeth and hissing. Inez saw the brunette's eyes widen incredulously as he shrank back, but she was already stepping between the two men.

"Thomas," she said in low warning.

For a minute, Inez thought he'd knock her aside and go after the brown-haired Brit, but a shout and the sound of pounding feet made them both glance around to see two uniformed members of the Amsterdam police force rushing toward them. Thomas growled at the sight of them, and then Inez suddenly found herself caught under one arm like a football as he charged up the walkway away from the police.

Inez was aware of their passing from light to darkness to light once more, and thought they were on the main street again. She heard people gasping and exclaiming in surprise as he whizzed up the street, dodging the crowds of pedestrians and knew this couldn't be a good thing. That was when Inez realized just how much the Sweet Ecstasy was affecting Thomas. She'd assumed that the concentrate would just affect his body, but now she knew it had to be affecting his mind as well. He'd bared his teeth in public, for heaven's sake and now was drawing attention to them with this superhuman rush up the road.

The good thing was that at the speed he was moving, it was doubtful anyone was getting enough of a look at either of them to be able to describe them later. Still, staying hidden was a creed among his people. They spent most of their lives trying not to draw attention to themselves. She knew he shouldn't be doing this. Inez had barely realized this when Thomas turned a corner and slowed so abruptly her stomach lurched. In the next moment she found herself upright and able to breathe again as he set her on her feet.

Inez stumbled, her legs not quite ready to support her, but Thomas simply held her upright with a hand under her arm and urged her forward, and into a building. They were halfway across the lobby before she realized they were back at the hotel. Inez supposed she shouldn't be so surprised, he'd certainly moved faster than the tram and it really hadn't been that long a ride on the tram in the first place.

They were on the elevator and the doors were closing before she glanced out and noticed the startled looks the few people in the lobby were giving them. Frowning, she glanced to Thomas, afraid he was still flashing his teeth, but he wasn't and then she glanced down and noticed the knife still sticking out of his lower back.

"Oh God," she breathed, feeling the blood rush out of her head.

Thomas didn't even look her way. His eyes remained fixed on the lighted numbers over the elevator doors. Biting her lip, Inez reached toward the knife, thinking to pull it out without warning so that it would-hopefully-hurt less, but let her hand fall back before she touched the handle. She simply couldn't bring herself to do it and didn't think she'd be able to do it even with his knowing.

The elevator dinged as it came to a halt, and she glanced around as the doors opened, then followed quickly when Thomas stepped out and started up the hall. She was so distracted staring at the knife sticking out of his back that Inez didn't notice that his steps were unsteady until they'd nearly reached their suite.

"Are you all right?" she asked anxiously, moving up to his side to peer at his face. Her alarm only increased when she saw how pale he was. "Thomas?"

"No, Inez, I'm not all right. I have a knife in my back. Unlock the door, please. I can't reach into my back pocket to get my card key."

"Oh." Realizing it would probably cause him excruciating pain to even attempt to retrieve the card key, Inez quickly dug hers out of her purse and unlocked the door, then rushed in and held it open for him, her concern deepening as he lurched through the door. She pushed the door closed and slid the chain on so they wouldn't be disturbed, and then turned in time to see Thomas sink to his knees and then fall flat on his face.

"Thomas!" she cried, hurrying to his side and dropping to her knees to peer at his face. He was as white as a sheet and unconscious.

Inez sat back on her heels, her gaze sliding reluctantly to his back and the knife protruding there. He had said that the nanos repaired all injuries, but supposed they couldn't do that while the knife was still in him. She'd have to remove it. The very idea made her groan and close her eyes, but they popped open again when a muffled chirping sound caught her ear.

In the state she was in, it took Inez a moment to realize that it was his cell phone. She glanced at the back pockets of Thomas's jeans, but while his wallet was in one and the map was in the other, there was no sign of the phone. The fact that the sound was muffled and very faint told her that Thomas must have put it in his front pocket since the last time she'd seen him use it.

There was no way she was going to turn him over to answer it, the man had a knife in his back. Obviously, she had to get it out. Ignoring the constant buzz of his phone, she considered the knife, noting now that his T-shirt was glistening with blood and that it had made a large, dark patch starting at his waist directly below the wound and spreading out and down to almost his knees. He'd lost a lot of blood.

She had to get the knife out, and then fetch the blood from the cooler and somehow feed it to him. Inez didn't know how she was going to do that, but she could only handle one problem at a time.

She leaned forward and reached for the handle of the knife, then suddenly straightened and launched to her feet instead. Towels. She had to have towels. She couldn't have him bleeding all over the floor. She was in the bathroom, grabbing up every towel there was in the room when her own phone began to ring.

Inez glanced down at her purse with surprise, only now realizing she still had it slung over her shoulder. Dropping the towels, she dug out her phone, and flipped it open.

"Is this Inez?"

She frowned at the clipped voice, not recognizing it. "I...er...yes. Who is-?"

"This is Herb Longford," the man answered, his English accent very thick. "Thomas gave me your number when he last called. He said his battery on his cell phone was running low and if I couldn't reach him to try your mobile."

"Oh," she murmured with a little sigh, thinking that at least she knew who the caller had been.

There was a moment of silence, and then a pointed, "I'm calling to give Thomas the new coordinates."

"New coordinates?" Inez stalled, wondering what to do. She had a feeling Thomas wouldn't want anyone knowing about the incident at the restaurants, feared he might even be in trouble if anyone found out about it. She suspected flashing his teeth in public and then exhibiting his incredible speed might be big no-nos among his people.

"Yes," Herb said impatiently. "He said he was checking the bars in the area of the last coordinates but there was no sign of his aunt. He wanted me to track her cell again. I have and if you'll put him on the phone I'll give them to him."

"Oh, I-he's...er...in the bathroom," she lied finally. "If you give them to me, I'll pass them along."

"Right. Do you have a pen and paper?"

"Yes." Inez dug in her purse one-handed in search of the small notepad and pen she always carried with her, and then lifted the phone back to her ear. "Okay, go ahead."

Herb rattled off the information, and then said, "Give those to Thomas and I'll go ahead and track her again in case she's still on the move. I'll call back if she's at a different location."

"Yes, thank you," Inez finished the last word on a sigh as he hung up. Shaking her head, she put the phone away and then knelt to scoop up the towels. She had to remove the knife from Thomas's back, feed him blood, and then go out and find the latest location and search for Marguerite on her own. It was what she was here for, to help find Thomas's aunt, and it was what she would do, just as soon as she'd made sure that he was all right.

"You can do it," Inez told herself as she walked back out to the living room, but her voice sounded doubtful even to herself.

Thomas still lay exactly where she'd left him. Inez set the towels on the floor beside him and then examined the knife in his back, trying to judge how deeply in it was. She decided it appeared to have gone into his back at least a couple inches and then realized her hands were trembling.

She peered at them with a frown and then moved to the bar fridge. Inez examined the contents, then pulled out one of the tiny bottles of alcohol and began to open it. She was in Amsterdam, about to pull a knife out of a man's back, Inez couldn't think of a better time to reach for Dutch courage.

She downed the bottle quickly, grimacing as it burned its way down her throat, then set it on top of the mini fridge and opened another. This one went down easier than the first, but didn't taste any better. Inez started to reach for another, but then changed her mind. She wasn't much of a drinker as a rule, and suspected the two would be more than enough. Three would probably have her unconscious on the floor next to Thomas.

Slamming the refrigerator door closed, Inez straightened and turned to approach Thomas, pleased to find that while the alcohol couldn't possibly have hit her blood stream yet, she at least felt a little steadier. It was psychological, she supposed.

She eased to her knees and surveyed the knife again. It still made her queasy just to think about pulling the knife out, but it had to be done.

Inez stared at it for the longest time, trying to come up with a way to avoid having to do it herself. Perhaps she could order more blood and make the delivery guy do it. It was all his fault Thomas was in this state to begin with. If he hadn't left the wrong blood here, Thomas never would have consumed a bag and been so out of control that he got himself stabbed. At least, Inez didn't think Thomas would have acted as he had if he hadn't been affected by the concentrated Sweet Ecstasy. He just didn't seem to be the jealous, head-banger type. He was too considerate and...well...sweet for her to believe he would have behaved like that under normal circumstances.

Inez seriously considered the blood order idea until it occurred to her that she might get a different delivery guy, and then someone else would know about what had happened tonight and instinct was telling her that wasn't a good idea.

"Just do it," Inez muttered to herself impatiently.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and wrapped both hands carefully around the handle, trying not to jar it as she did. She then closed her eyes, counted to three, tightened her grip and jerked the knife up and out of his body, blinking her eyes open and glancing sharply toward Thomas's head when he groaned in pain. Unfortunately, Thomas's head was turned to the other side and she couldn't see if he was awake. However, when he didn't make another sound, she dropped the knife on the towels, and then had to move that towel aside so she could retrieve another one.

Turning back to Thomas, Inez tugged his T-shirt quickly from his jeans and peered at the wound, grimacing at the sight of the blood seeping out. It seemed to be flowing from him rather quickly. Biting her lip, she covered the wound with the towel and pressed down firmly, holding it there for a few minutes before lifting the now bloody towel away to see what was happening.

Thomas had said the nanos repaired and regenerated, but apparently it wasn't instantaneous like the vampires on television. The wound was still there, though it did seem as if the bleeding was slowing down. She pressed the towel to the wound again, waiting another few moments, and then lifted it for another inspection. The bleeding had definitely slowed down now.