Jake (Immortals of New Orleans #8)(2)

Shifting to human, he knelt before her, detecting a faint heartbeat. He considered calling in the pack but as he went to touch her, leaves rustled, a wind kicking up around them. What the fuck is it now? Within the blink of an eye, the ancient vampire materialized in front of him. Quintus Tullius.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Jake jumped to his feet, and plowed his fingers through his messy hair.

"I have no quarrel with you, wolf. The charm is mine," Quintus told him, his Italian accent barely noticeable as he spoke.

"Look I don't know what the hell kind of charm you think this one is but let me just tell you, she's no prize," Jake replied as the vampire knelt to reach the girl.

"She's no concern of yours. I will take care of her." Quintus carefully lifted her into his arms, and pressed to his feet.

"You can't just take her. Her pulse is weak. We've got to get her to the hospital. I don't know what the hell she is but she's no wolf or vamp. She lit up like a Christmas tree five minutes ago, so yeah, not human either."

"How did she get here?" the vampire asked, focused on the injured woman. His hand gently cupped her flushed cheek.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm running in the woods, and I hear this crying and then … "

"Did you hurt her?" Quintus spat.

"Did I hurt her? Are you fucking serious?" Jake shook his head and glanced behind him. He could hear the pack not too far off in the distance.

"She's not well. Look at this." Quintus gently presented her pale wrist, revealing a crusted scab.

"Is that a brand?" Jake spied the puncture wounds; the blackened edges appeared to have been burnt onto her skin.

"She's been bitten by something. I don't know what," Quintus hedged, eying the wolf. "Or should I say by whom."



       
         
       
        

"Hey now." Jake held his hands up in the air defensively. "First of all, I had nothing to do with those bites. If you're thinking I forced myself on her, you're dead wrong. She's the one who attacked me. You should have seen what she did to me right before you flashed in like goddamned Léopold."

"Wolves. The lot of you are nothing more than animals." Quintus carefully inspected her arms.

"Now just hold on a damn minute, blood sucker. I just told you I didn't do a … ugh, Goddess … what the … " Jake cringed as the vampire dragged his tongue over her wrist. "For the love of all that is holy, would you stop with the licking?"

"Mind your own business." Quintus glared at him.

"Look, I know you're like how old? Thousands of years? Maybe you date back to the dinosaurs? Tell me, did you ever hear of a doctor? It's a thing us uncivilized animals use on humans when someone gets injured in New Orleans."

"You know nothing of this creature," Quintus told him.

"Yeah well, I don't need to know. Now how about you put her down?" Jake suggested. "Logan's already on his way. I can feel him."

"This isn't your issue, wolf."

"Like hell it isn't. Some hot chick shows up on my property." Jake gestured to his home, then focused on Quintus. "Yeah, bite boy. This is my place, not yours. Or hers. That one right there." Jake pointed to the girl. "She shows up naked to the party and right before she freezes me into place with her death stare, which by the way, was some freaky ass shit, she glows."

Jake noted the vampire's impassive expression, and his curiosity peaked. "So you know, then?"

"I told you, she's special."

"Special, huh? More like lethal. But get this. Guess who glow girl asks for?"

"It's none of your concern."

"Ilsbeth." As if he'd called on the devil himself, Jake's stomach clenched at the sound of her name. Ilsbeth wielded dark magick and despite her weakened state, he wouldn't put it past her to conjure a spell if she heard her name from his lips. Detecting surprise on the vampire's smug face gave Jake a twinge of delight, and he laughed.

"Ilsbeth?" Quintus asked, an eyebrow cocked.

"The witch is an oldie but goodie, right?" Jake stepped toward Quintus, closing the distance between them. There was no way in hell he was letting him take the girl before he had a chance to question her.

"You must have heard wrong … " The vampire glared at the wolf. He moved backwards, his focus briefly drawn to the woods. 

"Yeah, that would be a negative. I've got pretty good hearing, ya know? I'm a wolf … kind of comes with the territory." He smirked.