Page 52 of Don't Bite the Botanist
Ethan dragged his gaze from Tressa to Renata. “Go to hell,” he barked at the vampire, and Tressa could practically see the gears turning in his head, the shift on his face from concern to calculating.
Oh fuck. Did he really think he stood any kind of chance against her? He was going to get himself killed, and it was all Tressa’s fault. She’d let Saiden and Derrick work out with him. Let him think he could actually take on Renata and survive.
He couldn’t. Even with years of training, he would never come close to taking down a vampire. Ethan needed to run. He needed to let Tressa distract Renata so he could escape and go hide in the woods.
But he wasn’t going to do that because of her. She was about to watch her mate die because she fucked up. Because she had lied to him.
He climbed to his feet and turned his back on Tressa before she could say a word, dismissing her to focus on the vampire. The vampire who was equally focused on Ethan.
Tressa had exactly one shot to save him. One tiny possibility that might allow them to survive.
Sliding her hand into the pocket of her skirt, she found the tiny piece of square metal that every member of the cadre carried when they left the compound. Two quick taps on the button, and her GPSlocation was sent to Baylin.
She just didn’t know if it would bring help in time.
Renata smiled at them, a mildly amused curving of the mouth, and Tressa watched Ethan freeze up as two fangs slowly slid out from behind the vampire’s upper canines. They were the same two fangs responsible for the scar on his neck, and Tressa would die before letting them sink into her mate again.
She stepped in front of him and stared Renata down. “You’re not going to touch him.”
The vampire dragged her eyes away from Ethan, and to Tressa’s surprise, she sighed. “I did tell you this wasn’t over. Although, I thought it would take longer to find you. I’m quite amazed you didn’t disappear. I assumed you would vanish to another country where I might not locate you for years. Isn’t that what you normally do? Run away from your problems?”
Tressa grit her teeth. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Come now,” Renata said, her brows dipping into a disappointed frown. “We already played this game in the hospital. I knoweverythingabout you. Tell me, is that human truly worth giving up this new life you wanted so badly? After everything you’ve endured, you would throw it all away for him? You must know that he’ll never accept you, Loloma.”
Renata’s last word turned Tressa’s veins to ice. No human or vampire walking the planet should know that name. Not the cadre. Not even the Ruling Coalition. She’d gone to great lengths to ensure she never heard it spoken again.
And for nearly three hundred years, she’d been able to hide from her past.
Until now.
“Don’t call me that.”
Renata cocked her head. “That is your given name is it not? Loloma? Meaning kindness and compassion. I find it amusing that you started calling yourself Tressa after you died. Derived from ancient Greek, it means ‘to reap’ or ‘harvest,’ if I’m not mistaken. I have to wonder, though, if you changed it because you felt like you were no longer worthy of your birth name? Nearly three hundred years, Loloma. Such a long time to keep running from your past. So many lives you’ve soothed with your Gift, all in an attempt to earn your name back. Would you sacrifice all that to die alongside this human? Would you sacrifice all the future lives you might save?”
Tressa’s hands curled into fists, released, and curled again, her nails carving small crescents into the flesh. She concentrated on that ounce of pain as the tiny wounds opened and closed, slicing and healing. Anything to hide from the truth in Renata’s words.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked in a steady voice, maintaining a tight grip on her calm as she stalled for time. “Why have you done any of this? Destroying Ethan’s lab. Attacking us in the hospital. Killing humans. Why?”
Moving so fast Tressa could barely track her, Renata blurred around them and perched on the hood of the McLaren, crossing her legs and smoothing her blouse as if she was settling into a business meeting.
“Because I do what I must,” she said simply. “Things are changing, Loloma, and you would do well to open your eyes. These humans you so badly want to save would never extend you the same courtesy. Truthfully, I have no interest at all in harming you or your family, unless you get in my way. In fact, I will do you a favor because I admire your courage in the face of obvious defeat. Leave now. Drive away, Loloma. Leave the human with me, and I will let you live.”
Tressa shook her head and shifted over slightly to keep herself firmlybetween Renata and the slack-jawed Ethan who still sat sprawled out in the parking lot. “You say you know all about me, but if you did, then you would know that will never happen.”
Renata pursed her lips, then took a small, almost imperceptible sniff. A sad smile stretched across her face.
“Ah, yes. That’s right. You think he’s important because he’s your m—”
“Mine,” Tressa snapped, cutting off the rogue before she could make a bad situation worse. Tressa didn’t need the mate bond dumped on top of everything else Ethan was dealing with. If by some miracle they survived, that would be a discussion for another day. “Ethan is mine, and you’re not hurting him.”
“You think I want to do this?” Renata asked, tilting her head at Ethan. “I’m sure your friend… What was his name? Ah, yes. Baylin. The Hacker. I’m sure he has already informed you that I have no record of violence with the Ruling Coalition. I’m not some common rogue. Not in the truest definition. I have turned no human against their will, nor do I hunt them for food. I’m simply doing what I must for the greater cause, Loloma.”
“I told you not to call me that, bitch,” she gritted out.
Tressa never saw the attack coming. One second, she was shooting daggers at Renata, and the next second, fiery pain flared across her right cheek. She looked up in time to see Renata lean back against the McLaren and brush a bit of dust off her shirt.
“Now, now, Loloma,” she said, clucking her tongue. “Leave the crude name calling to the humans. You and I are better than that.”
