Thad looked at the sprite queen. “I didn’t recognize her. All I know is that she has it. And obviously, she should not.”
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Jen stepped in again. “We have the dormant chick and her mate still in Cain’s clutches, the gypsy healer that’s also in Cains’s clutches might or might not be a vampire, and the damn book that opens the gates of hell has been found, and is in the hands of a rogue sprite. Does that about cover it?”
“One more thing. This came just a few minutes ago.” Tenia held up her cell phone and touched the screen. A buttery male voice filled the room.
“Hello, fae, it’s your favorite vampire spy. It’s been fun playing with you, but my agenda has changed. So, our playtime is over. However, since you were so kind to me, I would like to extend the same kindness in return. The healer… You know, the one whose throat I tore out? Yeah, that one. Well, she’s on the brink of shuffling off this mortal coil, so to speak. Cain is keeping her alive by feeding her his blood, but it’s only partially working. His blood will work to heal her, while her gypsy blood will fight the vampire virus every step of the way. I happen to know there’s only one thing that will actually save her. She needs blood, but not his. That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you. I must admit that I’ve developed a little bit of an obsession with you, lovely Tenia. Until we meet again.”
The room was silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Tenia.
“Her mate.” Sally broke the silence. “The only blood that will heal Alice is her mate’s blood.”
“Will you ever stop touching me?” Lizzy lay beside Finn on the bed. It was plenty big enough for her, but now seemed too small for both of them. She didn’t mind. Finn’s finger traced Lizzy’s face, down her neck and around the bite mark, only to move back up again and repeat the process.
“Probably not.” He gave her a small smile.
They’d been together in her room for two days. During that time, she’d noticed that Finn rarely smiled. When he did, it was a small, crooked expression. Hot. It was hot. She sighed and stared at him. He was beyond handsome.
“How are you feeling?” His voice was full of concern. “Are you hungry?”
Lizzy blushed as she thought about feeding. As it turned out, the process wasn’t as horrible as she’d feared. In fact, feeding from Finn was pretty freaking awesome. “I’m good for now.”
“What’s wrong? I can feel your worry.”
“Alice. She didn’t look good when Cain carried her off. I’m wondering if she’s even alive.”
“She is,” Finn assured her.
“How do you know?”
“Because Cain looked at her the way I look at you. He won’t let her die. And we would know if she had. I think everyone in the facility would know.”
Lizzy frowned. “He’s her mate?”
“No.” Finn shook his head. “Not her true mate. But his chosen mate. He should know better. He’s a vampire, and she’s a healer. They will never work.”
“Why? Because she’s light and he’s dark?” Lizzy shifted closer to him and smiled when he slipped his hand under her shirt and ran his finger along the skin of her stomach where the markings had appeared—the ones that matched his own. That had been a bit of a surprise, but considering everything else that had happened to her, randomly appearing tattoos were quite tame.
“Healers always have werewolf mates,” Finn explained.
Lizzy pressed her lips together. She was coming to realize the supernatural world had a lot of rules. “You said that, at one time, wolves only mated with wolves?”
“Yes.”
“And you also said that there are now fae who have true mates that are werewolves.”
He looked at her skeptically. “There’s no exception to the rule of a healer’s true mate.”
“How do you know?” she challenged.
“There is nothing good in a vampire.”
Lizzy’s brow rose. “And yet Cain saved her when he could have just bled her dry.” Lizzy ran her hand up his arm and pressed her palm against the bite mark she’d left on his neck. “Have you ever heard of yin and yang? Maybe they need each other to balance one another out. You can’t have light without darkness.”
“For her sake, I hope that’s not the case,” Finn said after several moments of silence.
“Are you gonna go into gypsy healer-cheerleader mode again? Because I have no problem biting you and making sure you don’t enjoy it.”
“You’re cute when you're jealous.” He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “Regardless of what Alice is, she’s been kind to you. She seems to be a decent person. Cain doesn’t deserve her, even if she wasn’t a healer.”
