Page 53 of Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)
"Do you have a favorite club?"
She shook her head.
"Hmmm, I can't take you to Sanctuary, I'm still kind of banished from it for attacking one of my pack mates. Ash and Simi like to go dancing at someplace called the Dungeon, but knowing their taste in music and clubs, I doubt either one of us would be comfortable there. Nick Gautier hangs at Temptations Then again, knowing Nick, I have a feeling it's probably not a good place for you, either."
"No," she said with a laugh at the mention of one of New Orleans's more renowned gentlemen's clubs. "We could try the Tricou House on Bourbon. Tabitha goes there a lot after work. Of course, she's there looking for vampires to stake, but she says they have great music and food."
"Okay, sounds like a destination."
As they walked down Phre Antoine Alley, Vane began to slow his pace.
Bride frowned as he pulled away from her and put her behind him.
"What's the" Her voice trailed off as she saw what appeared to be four blond men with an attractive brunette. At first she thought one of the men was making out with the woman in one of the alcoves, until the other three men saw Vane and cursed.
"Back off, Were-Hunter," one of the men snarled. His sinister gaze went to Bride. "You have too much to lose by fighting us."
"Let her go," Vane said in a deadly voice.
They didn't.
"Stay here," Vane ordered her before he threw his hand out and sent two of the vampires flying.
Before he could move, something bright flashed in the alleyway. Bride held her hand up to shield her eyes as Vane made an inhuman cry.
"Grab his mate," someone said.
She was still bunded by the flash. Someone grabbed her roughly. Knowing Vane would never handle her that way, she gave a vicious kick that contacted with flesh.
The vampire crumpled as he cupped himself.
Another one came at her. Just as she was sure he had her, he disintegrated.
The other two ran toward a shadow and then they too were gone.
Bride braced herself to fight the approaching shadow until she realized it was Valerius.
"Are you all right?" he asked her.
She nodded as her sight cleared enough so that she could look for Vane. He was a few feet from the woman, who appeared to be unconscious.
Bride froze as she saw him. He was flashing back and forth from a naked human to wolf and back again.
Horrified, she couldn't move.
Valerius ran to him, pulling out his cell phone. "Acheron, I have a Code Red with Vane at Pere Antoine Alley. He was hit by something elec"
Acheron appeared instantly beside her. "You okay, Bride?" he asked.
She nodded.
Ash flashed from her side to Vane's. He took Vane's head into his hands, and with another bright flash, Vane turned human. Arching his back, Vane cried out as if some horrendous pain were ripping through him.
"Easy," Ash said while Valerius checked on the woman.
Bride ran to Vane, who lay on his back, completely naked now. There were tears in his eyes.
Ash ran his hand over him, and a T-shirt and jeans appeared on his body.
Still, Vane didn't move.
"It'll take him a few seconds more to get his bearings," Ash explained to her.
He looked to the Roman general. "How's the human, Valerius?"
"She's alive. You take care of Vane and I'll get her to a hospital." Valerius picked her up from the street, cradled her in his arms, and headed toward Royal.
Bride sank to her knees and lifted Vane's head into her lap. His birthmark was back on his face, and his entire body was tense and trembling.
"What happened to him?" she asked Ash.
"The Daimons must have hadand I hate to use the stupid worda phaser."
"Like in Star Trek?"
"Sort of. It's a Sentinel weapon that was developed for the Katagaria.
Stronger
than a taser, it sends a vicious jolt of electricity through the intended victim. Whenever a Were-Hunter from either division gets shocked, their magic goes berserk and they lose all control of themselves. They can't even hold on to
a form. If they get hit with a strong enough jolt, they literally fall out of their bodies and become noncorporeal beings like a ghost."
Vane took her hand in his.
Bride stared down at him and offered him a tentative smile.
"You all right, wolf?" Ash asked him.
Vane was still shaking. "What the hell was that thing set for?"
"Kill would be my guess. But luckily it didn't work."
Ash helped him up slowly.
Vane staggered and would have fallen had Ash not caught him.
"Easy, wolf." Ash reached out and touched Bride, then flashed them into their bedroom at Valerius's.
Worried about Vane, Bride stood back while Ash helped him into the bed.
Vane collapsed as soon as Ash released him.
"What can I do to help him?" she asked Ash.
"Nothing really. It'll take time for the electricity to stop bouncing around his cells. Don't move him too much since it tends to make them motion sick in this condition."
"Okay." She let out a relieved breath. "I'm just glad his mother didn't have something like this."
"I'm sure they had it. But knowing Vane, I doubt they had time to use it on him. Weres know to expect phasers from their own kind. It's rare that Daimons use them."
He looked back at Vane. "I should have warned you about that. Since there are so many Weres in New Orleans, the Daimons here are a little more savvy than the rest."
"You suck, Ash," Vane said in a ragged tone.
"And on that note, I'll leave the two of you alone and go back to my patrol. Peace."
As soon as Ash vanished, Bride sat on the edge of the bed, beside Vane.
It was rather strange to see him with the birthmark on his face. She touched it with her hand.
"Did I scare you?" he asked.
"A little," she answered honestly. "But those creatures scared me a lot more.
Are they always like that?"
He nodded.
"Dear God, Vane, you live in a very scary world."
"I know."
Bride sat there in silence as various scenarios of how this night could have turned out played through her head. After the way Vane had saved her in the past, she had thought he was impervious to anything.
Now she found out he had a very real, and very dangerous, Achilles' heel.
"How bad a shock does it have to be to do this to you?" she asked. "I mean, will static electricity do it?"
"It won't cause me to change forms, but it's not comfortable. The main thing we have to avoid are shocks from outlets, or any other manmade power sources, and lightning. Some batteries have enough power to change us."
"And it renders you incapacitated?"
He nodded.
Bride closed her eyes as a new fear went through her. This was terrifying since the people who were after him knew exactly what it would take to kill him.
And if they bonded, it would kill her, too.
What if she and Vane had kids one day and this happened? What if Valerius hadn't come along when he did?
Or worse, what if the cops or someone else had seen Vane changing forms like that? They would both be arrested and taken who knew where to be studied and cut up. She'd seen enough episodes of The X-Files to know the government didn't take kindly to weirdos in their midst.
"I'm sorry we didn't get to go dancing," Vane said quietly.
Bride ran her hand over his arm comfortingly. "Don't think about it."
However, she couldn't help but think about what had happened tonight.
Did she really want to be a part of his world, where people wielded magic as if it were nothing? Where they popped in and out of rooms, buildings, and such? She would be a human surrounded by
She was terrified of the thought. "Vane? Will our children be like you or like me?"
"Were-Hunter genes are stronger and usually dominant. I just don't know if our children will be Katagaria or Arcadian."
That scared her even more. "So you're essentially telling me I might birth puppies?"
He looked away.
Bride got up as that thought went through her mind. Puppies. Not children.
Puppies.
Granted, she knew people who thought of their animals as children. Her parents did, but this required a lot more thought before she committed herself.
