His to Protect (APS 1) Read online

  "Did Logan ever talk about his roommate?"

  It seemed a strange turn in the conversation, but it at least distracted Tyler from the sick feeling in his stomach.

  "Not really. He worked nights, so I only met him a couple of times."

  "William was a friend of mine," the man said softly. "He was a good man, and I think he tried to save Logan before he died."

  Tyler wasn't sure he agreed with that assessment—there had been so much blood he had no idea how anyone could tell what happened—but he understood the man needing to think well of his friend. God, he was investigating the murder of someone he knew. He was sitting here supporting Tyler when he was probably feeling all the same things.

  "I'm sorry," Tyler said, not really knowing what to say but feeling the need to say something, "about your friend. Logan always spoke well of him."

  "I'm glad to hear that," the man said. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead as if he too were fighting tears. "Did Logan ever explain their relationship?"

  "Only that they were friends."

  The man nodded, swallowed hard, and then gave Tyler a look that suggested what he was about to tell him might not be something he wanted to hear.

  "Logan was William's donor." The man watched Tyler closely, perhaps waiting for him to ask what the hell he meant, but all Tyler could do was wait for the man to tell the rest. "William was a vampire, and I think he tried to make Logan a vampire before he died. I'm not sure it worked, but we'll know either way in about fifteen minutes."

  A vampire? Was the man insane?

  But the words never left Tyler's mouth because a seriously delusional part of him wanted it to be true.

  He glanced at the horizon as the sun dropped lower and wondered if maybe he was having a breakdown. Was he making up fantastical stories in his head to compensate for the horror he'd discovered? Was this man even sitting beside him?

  "If it worked, it will be easier for Logan if he can see a familiar face when he wakes up." The man climbed to his feet and held his hand out to help Tyler up. "Will you come inside with me and wait?"

  "Of course," Tyler said, completely beyond caring which one of them was delusional. If there was any chance whatsoever that Logan might be alive, Tyler would walk to the ends of the Earth to be there to help him.

  Chapter Two

  Adrian smiled as Logan woke slowly. He'd managed to clean him up a bit and then wrap him in a soft quilt, but the last five minutes had been unnerving. Adrian had sat in a chair opposite the sofa and prayed that he wasn't giving Tyler false hope. Making a vampire was never easy.

  Thankfully, so far things were going as expected. Tyler glanced at him worriedly as Logan sighed and snuggled deeper into the warmth of the quilt.

  "It worked?" Tyler asked in a voice that sounded filled with awe.

  "What worked?" Logan mumbled as he tried to roll slightly. When he didn't get an answer he pried open his sleepy eyes and frowned at Tyler.

  "What worked?" he asked again, sounding grumpy. "Why do I feel like I've got a hangover? Did I catch that awful bug going through the school?"

  "Logan," Adrian said, "do you remember what happened?"

  "No," Logan mumbled, frowning as if he was trying hard to remember.

  "William was attacked. It looks like you tried to help him."

  Logan shook his head. "No, that's not possible. It can't be true. William never hurt anyone in his life. Why would someone try to hurt him?" Logan sat up violently, sliding off the sofa and onto the floor as he struggled with the confining quilt. "It's dark outside. You need to go. William will be waking up soon."

  "Logan," Tyler said quietly. It was clear that he was trying to calm his friend down. "William was attacked. He was murdered."

  "No," Logan growled, still struggling with the quilt. "You don't understand. He'll need to feed straight away. Recovering from such horrific injuries takes a lot of energy, even for a vampire."

  Logan froze as the "V" word came out of his mouth, glancing at Adrian worriedly before turning his attention back to Tyler.

  "You need to go."

  "I'm sorry, Logan," Adrian said. "There's nothing you can do for him. He's gone."

  "But he's…" William had been a very private person and it was apparent by his hesitation that Logan had never told anyone about him being a vampire. It was also clear that he was still trying to protect the man who'd been his friend.

  "He was a vampire," Adrian finished for him. "And a friend of mine." Logan glanced at Tyler most likely wondering why his friend seemed so calm. "Logan, we think William died saving you."

  "Me?" he asked sounding bewildered. "Why would he need to save me?"

  Tyler turned to Adrian, obviously asking for his help. Unfortunately Logan would remember soon enough the gory details of his death. Images of what Adrian had seen in William's supposedly safe room still burned in his mind, the professional investigator in him still trying to set aside his personal reactions for the man who'd been his friend.

  Obviously distressed, Logan moved a hand to his lower belly, his fingers roaming over the place where his wound had been. He gasped, his gaze bouncing frantically between both him and Tyler.

  "He…He stabbed me," he said anxiously. "But…" He shook his head, his hand still covering the place where he'd been fatally attacked. "He was trying to kill William while he slept. I heard him. I–I…I tried to stop h–him, b–but h–he—"

  "Breathe, Logan," Adrian said as he leaned over and lifted the fledgling vampire back onto the sofa. He shook violently all over, his hands cold to the touch. "He's going into shock. Tyler, grab another quilt."

  ~*~

  "Shock?" Tyler asked as fear for his friend pounded through him. "But he's a vampire."

  "Yes," the man said, tucking the quilt around Logan more tightly, "but he's a newly made vampire who's going into shock. Grab me another damn quilt."

  Tyler rushed into Logan's bedroom, dragged the quilt off his bed, and ran back into the living area. Adrian quickly tucked it around Logan, watching as his pale features paled even more.

  "Logan, you need to feed," the man said as he rubbed Logan's arm through the quilt. "Did William ever tell you about his fangs? How they worked?"

  But Logan was violently shaking all over, his eyes glazed like he was caught in a nightmare only he could see.

  "Logan!" the man said in a deep, commanding voice that certainly had Tyler standing to attention. Logan's eyes darted to the man's face, but he continued to shiver inside the quilt. "Good boy." The man caressed Logan's face, pushing the hair away from his eyes as he spoke in a tone that a parent might use on a frightened child. "Did William ever explain to you how his fangs worked?"

  "No," Logan said, his voice a nearly silent whisper.

  "Okay," the man said turning his gaze to Tyler. "Grab a knife from the kitchen. Something small with a sharp point."

  Tyler wasn't entirely certain that fetching a knife in a situation as messed up as this one was the safest thing to do. What he probably should do was run into the kitchen and then keep going straight out the back door.

  But he wouldn't leave Logan alone with a stranger—even if the man knew stuff about creatures that weren't supposed to exist but had apparently been living under this very roof.

  Desperately trying to drag in enough oxygen, Tyler grabbed a small paring knife and headed back to Logan and the man Tyler still couldn't put a name to.

  "Perfect," the man said when he saw the knife Tyler had chosen. "Okay, I want you to squeeze the tip of your finger until it goes really red and then prick it with the tip of the knife. It doesn't need to be deep, just enough to make you bleed."

  Tyler hesitated. The entire situation seemed surreal. In the space of a half hour his entire world had been turned upside down. He stared at the man shivering inside the quilt and wondered again if he was seeing only what he wanted to see. Twenty minutes ago his best friend had seemed dead, completely cold, totally lifeless.

  Was Tyler really going t
o feed Logan human blood?

  "Tyler," the big man said quietly. "I know this has got to be weird, and I promise I'll explain everything the best I can, but Logan really needs your help right now."

  Tyler nodded, biting his lip as he did what the man had instructed. It took a couple of stabs with the knife to draw blood, but as soon as a small drop appeared on his finger, the man reached over and grabbed his arm, guiding Tyler's finger to Logan's mouth.

  "Open up, Logan," he said in a tone of voice that suggested he would get his way whether Logan did as he asked or not. The man pressed Tyler's bloodied finger against Logan's mouth, rubbing the blood across his lips until he opened up and licked the small bead. He continued to shiver even as Tyler's blood slowly dripped into his mouth.

  Tyler leaned closer, surprised to realize the man had moved his arm to pull Tyler into his embrace. He should probably be embarrassed by his need to be held—Logan was the one who needed attention at the moment—but Tyler couldn't find the strength to pull away. He sat there watching his best friend feed on blood as a man whose name he couldn't remember held him close and made him feel safe.

  ~*~

  Adrian kept Tyler close and tried not to think too deeply on his motives. Yes, the newly made vampire needed help to feed. Yes, the vampire's best friend was himself shaking with shock. And yes, the situation warranted Adrian's intervention.

  But, it was the feeling of rightness that kept confusing him. It felt entirely too good—and completely inappropriate—to be feeling this sense of closeness to Tyler.

  Adrian was helping because he knew about vampires, but it sure as hell didn't explain why he continued to hold Tyler close as Logan eventually succumbed to his need for sleep.

  "Is he okay?" Tyler asked in a whisper. He didn't try to move away. He may even have moved a little closer.

  "He will be," Adrian answered, injecting as much confidence into that statement as possible. Far from the legends that surrounded vampires, it was still quite possible that Logan might not survive the transformation. His change had been traumatic and, judging by the amount of blood Adrian had seen on his cold body, in response to a mortal injury.

  Adrian understood enough of the situation to realize that William probably would have survived his own injuries if he'd been able to sleep until nightfall and then feed immediately. Instead he'd chosen to give up his own life in an effort to save Logan's. It had come down to himself or the human, and William had chosen the human.

  It made Adrian proud to have known the man. He mourned the vampire's passing, but knew without a shadow of a doubt that William would have wanted Adrian to help his progeny—the vampire equivalent of a daughter or son. Adrian had every intention of making certain that Logan not only survived William's gift but that he also learned how to live a full and happy life as a vampire.

  "What happens now?" Tyler asked in a monotone voice. It was obvious that he was having trouble processing everything that had happened in so short a time, but Adrian was glad to see Tyler refusing to give in to the shock that was certainly a well-deserved reaction.

  "He'll mostly sleep for the next few days and nights. Nighttime he'll look simply like a man sleeping, during the day he'll…" Adrian let the words trail away. Describing a vampire's day rest as "sleeping like the dead" seemed a poor choice of words considering the murder scene that still needed to be dealt with in the other room.

  "The sun?"

  "The sun will kill him. He needs to be in a completely darkened room before the sun rises each day. He will very literally fall asleep wherever he is, even if that place leaves him vulnerable. As vampires get older, they're able to move slightly during the day—usually only enough to get out of danger."

  "Or to make a vampire?" Tyler asked as he carefully lifted his finger away from Logan's mouth and checked to make sure he was no longer bleeding.

  Adrian nodded. "And as you saw with William, he wasn't able to move enough to get away from someone determined to kill him. I'm glad he was able to reach Logan and had enough consciousness to be able to turn him. It wouldn't have been possible for a younger vampire."

  Adrian half smiled when Tyler reached out and caught the single tear that escaped his control. It wasn't like him to let his emotions rule his decisions, but William had been a close friend for a long time. He'd been a man of solid character and certainly hadn't deserved what had happened to him.

  But because he was a paranormal his murder would never be recorded and, unless his killer was also paranormal, it was unlikely he or she would ever be brought to justice. It didn't feel right, even though Adrian had known his whole life that it was the way things were, he felt a nearly crushing need to make certain his friend wasn't forgotten.

  "William was a vampire for a little over one hundred years. He was a good man and I'm glad he had a chance to save Logan."

  "Me, too," Tyler said quietly.

  "Until tonight I hadn't even known for sure if it was possible for a vampire to do what William has managed. I've heard rumors that the older vampires get, the more abilities they develop, but since he was the oldest vampire I know, I can't be certain what those abilities are."

  "I thought vampires lived for thousands of years."

  "Myth," Adrian said as an ache settled in his chest. Vampires showed no signs of aging, so it was possible they might be capable of living that long, but it was human intervention that made them an endangered species. "Vampires need human blood to live, so it is very difficult to keep their secret for long."

  "Can't they compel humans?"

  "Yes, but not in the way you're probably thinking. They can get a weak-willed or confused human to do their bidding, but they can't erase the memory."

  "So they can compel a human to feed them, but the human will remember afterward?"

  "Correct," Adrian said as he checked the sleeping vampire beside them. He'd stopped shivering as he'd fallen asleep, and now he simply looked like a pale, tired human. "History suggests that fear and hysteria led to the murder of countless vampires—and probably more than a few innocent humans as well. If William's murder was motivated by a hatred for vampires, then it's likely the killer will come back for Logan."

  "He can't stay here," Tyler said quickly.

  "I agree," Adrian said anticipating Tyler's next suggestion, "but if the killer was watching William long enough to know what he was, chances are he knows plenty about you as well." Adrian let his arm fall away as Tyler moved to sit up. It couldn't have been a comfortable angle for the man, but Adrian had to mentally rein in his desire to pull Tyler back into his embrace.

  It was a very strange reaction, and certainly out of character for him, but ironically not really something he wanted to look at too closely at the moment.

  "How can I protect him?" Tyler asked, obviously the close friend to Logan that Adrian had assumed.

  "You can both stay with me tonight," Adrian said without really thinking it through. He never brought work home with him. It was one of his unbreakable rules. He gave Tyler a brief smile as he tried not to freak out over his own uncharacteristic behavior. "We'll figure out something more permanent tomorrow."

  Tyler gave him a curious look, but simply nodded his agreement.

  "I need to make some phone calls. Can you stay with Logan?"

  "Of course," Tyler said quickly.

  ~*~

  Logan stirred slightly as the man stood up, but it took only a moment for him to snuggle deeper into the quilts surrounding him and go back into a deep sleep.

  It took a little longer for Tyler to realize the man was still standing in front of them watching him closely. Tyler looked up to his face, waiting for the big man to say something, but he just smiled sadly and fished his cell phone from his pocket.

  "Damn," he said, shaking the phone as if that somehow might make the thing work. "Dead battery." He glanced around the room, most likely looking for the house phone.

  "In the kitchen, on the wall," Tyler said, indicating the direction with his chin. T
he man turned to leave, but Tyler called him back. Embarrassed to have to ask the guy's name even though he knew for a fact he'd already introduced himself, Tyler felt a blush creep up his neck. "I'm sorry. I don't remember your name."

  The man gave him that sad smile again and moved to touch Tyler's face softly. "After the night you've had, I'm not surprised. I'm Adrian Alateeka. Just let me make a few phone calls and we'll get going home."

  Tyler nodded, embarrassment burning through him once more when he realized how much he'd enjoyed the man's warm touch. He watched as Adrian moved into the kitchen—his slim hips and muscular back perfectly showcased in black jeans and a tight T-shirt—and tried not to think about things he couldn't have.

  Tyler knew it was probably a normal reaction to death, but wanting to reaffirm life with a man he'd only just met seemed monumentally stupid, especially when his entire focus should have been on protecting Logan.

  "Okay, we just have to wait for my brothers to arrive and then we can go," Adrian said a few minutes later as he came back into the room.

  Tyler nodded and dropped his gaze back to Logan's pale face. It seemed so unfair that someone as nice and as kind as Logan would be subjected to such horrors. Pictures of what he'd seen in that room replayed in Tyler's mind, the scent of old blood filling his memory even though he could no longer smell it. He didn't even realize he was shaking until Adrian sat beside him, placed a strong arm around his shoulders, and promised in a deep, quiet voice that everything would be all right.

  Chapter Three

  "Thank you," Tyler whispered as Adrian handed him a glass of ginger ale. The car trip to Adrian's home had only taken a few minutes, but after everything he'd been through it had been rough on Tyler. Adrian should probably make the guy eat some dry crackers or something, but at the moment he didn't think Tyler could handle food.

  "Feeling better?"

  He was still terribly pale, but he nodded slowly and continued his vigil beside Logan's bed. "I'm sorry to be such a bother," Tyler said, holding onto the glass of cold liquid but making no move to drink it.