I clenched my teeth to prevent myself from babbling because at this point, I had no clue how to dance myself out of this mess. Lucky for me, Fin, always calm under pressure, strolled over, glass of blood in each hand.
He gave one to Stella. “Oh, come now Stella, isn’t it obvious?”
Stella chugged the blood, saying nothing.
“It was no lie when I told Jonas I want the princess to have her cake…and eat it too.” He put sexual heat in the stare he gave me. “Every, single piece.”
Beside me Connor joined the deception. His arm squeezed me close and he, too, looked at me like I was the most delicious piece of candy he’d ever seen and wanted to eat me on the spot. My face burned. I must look like a freaking tomato by now, all the way to my chest.
Stella pulled a pack of cloves from her jacket pocket, rotating it in her hand. The spicy and sweet smell usually pleased me, but right now, it turned my nervous stomach. The crinkle of plastic, foil, and paper scratched loud in my ears, making me want to snatch it from her and scream,
get out, get out, get out.
If she uncovered my ruse, then everything was lost. Faith and Kai would die, and my family and friends would hate me forever for that and my many lies. I could just hear Dixon gloating right now, pleased at having ruined my life, at having poisoned me with his magic, tainted blood.
A tinny taste settled on my tongue and my throat closed on a scream.
Can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do this, I can’t, I can’t.
Dixon’s gleeful laughter made my skin crawl, his silver eyes glowing with triumph as his long skeletal fingers squeezed my breasts, sliding south, delving under the waistband of my yoga pants—
Connor hauled me onto his lap. “Calm yourself, lass.” He hugged me close against his formidable chest. His scent—cool and crisp like a mountain stream—pushed away the nightmare, taking the edge off my panic attack. My breathing evened out, and I relaxed.
Fin slid into the spot on the couch I’d occupied. He stroked my arm.
Kiss him,
he ordered me.
No
. Yet I burrowed closer, hiding from Stella’s inquisitive, suspicious stare, hiding from the nightmares of Dixon lurking in my mind.
It’s the only way we’ll get her to leave,
Fin insisted.
Kiss him. And make it good. Make her believe it.
Everything in me shouted,
No, no, no
, but Fin was right and so I wrapped my arms around Connor’s neck, lifted my head, and pressed my mouth to his very receptive lips. The lips of Alexander’s cousin, Alexander, my fated mate.
I wanted to cry.
As Fin predicted, Stella left us without a word.
I shot off Connor’s lap as if it were spiked with needles, much to his amusement, and worked hard not to wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. The man was drop dead, scary dangerous gorgeous, but he wasn’t Alexander.
I wanted no other.
I put some distance between me and the wolves and rushed to tell them my story, first, to get them out of my house ASAP and started on the job, and second, before anyone else interrupted us. When I was done, the wolves stared at me with admiration.
Con spoke first. “Brave little vampire.”
His term of endearment grated. “Dhampyre,” I corrected him. I was half human and alive.
He shrugged.
“So what do I owe you for your help? Name your price.”
He exchanged an enigmatic look with his brother, who nodded. “One favor, after services rendered. Regardless of outcome.”
Chills scurried down my spine at the possible negative outcome of this battle. My friends, dead. A favor owed… I eyed him, suspicious. “No sex, no blood, and, if I ever have kids, I will not give you my first born child. Or any of them.”
Con and Cam burst out laughing.
“You’ve read too many fairytales,” Cam sputtered.
Con nodded. “Aye.”
I frowned. “To be clear, I agree to one favor, but I have veto power on whether I’ll do what you ask. I’ll do something, but within reason. My choice. So offer me some options I might accept. Oh, and accept money as payment from my family, if I…die before fulfilling my part of this bargain.” I pointed at my laptop. “I’ll leave a note for them about the debt on my computer. Plus, Fin can tell them.”
Con inclined his head. “Fair enough. The deal is struck. The favor owed.”
The air around us seemed to take a big inhale. It shimmered and thickened for a second, visible like the surface of a pond disturbed by a rock. Then it cleared.
Foreboding flitted down my spine. “What was that?”
“The Celtic way,” Cam replied.
I let it go and we dove into the nitty gritty of the meeting. I showed the wolves to Faith’s room where they spent sixty torturous-for-me minutes pawing through all of her belongings and some of Kai’s. Then Fin sat with Cam in my living room and Fin forked over an impressive amount of names, all known associates of Dixon. Ones my family hadn’t destroyed.
Painful hours passed and afternoon bled into night while I watched the others work. Phone calls were made and emails sent while I stood by, sidelined, wishing I had a task. One that didn’t involve drinking another vial of blood for Dixon all too soon.
The wolves rose from the couch and stretched their giant bodies.
“The hunt is on,” Con said with a grin at his brother. They stalked to the door.
“Hang on. Let me get my coat.” And the seventh vial I needed to drink soon.
“We hunt alone,” both men said.
“You would only slow us down, little dhampyre
.
” Con’s voice was firm but gentle. He squeezed my shoulder. “Trust me.”
I glanced at Fin.
What do you think, Fin?
The wolves are right. Let them hunt.
I gave in. “When will I hear from you?”
“As soon as we have something,” Con assured me, voice gentle, meant to soothe my jangled nerves.
“Or nothing,” Cam added with a cheeky grin.
I scowled. He seemed to treat this as a game, not as if lives were at stake.
Con smacked his brother on the back of the head. “Manners.”
Cam just grinned, then they bounded out the door and thundered down the stairs.
I closed my door and leaned against it. “Do you think this will work?” Frustration filleted my gut at being stuck here while others did my work for me.
Fin pulled me into his arms. “I don’t know, but it can’t hurt.”
I rested my cheek against his shoulder. “You sure about that? What if Dixon finds out?”
“Honestly? He’ll admire your cleverness and look for a way to use it to his advantage.”
Fin smoothed a soothing hand up and down my spine, not once going for a grope of my ass, a fact I greatly appreciated from my flirty friend. I needed a hug right now, reassurance that enlisting the wolves was the right course of action at this point, that I hadn’t made the situation worse.
“Plus, he loves killing the dogs, so if they actually find Dixon, you can expect quite a bit of carnage. On both sides of the war.”
Carnage. So much death and pain. Story of my life. “Isn’t there always with you vampires?”
“Indeed there is, Princess.”
I let Fin hold me for a long moment, let myself focus on my breathing, in and out, as Faith taught me to do so long ago whenever I felt ungrounded. As she instructed, I found my feet, reminded myself the ground would hold me up and, in this moment, so would Fin. Breath goes in. Breath goes out. Calm, cool, controlled. I could win this battle. I had to. For now, though, I had to let others fight it for me. Except for Fin.
I dug my fingers into his leather jacket. “Guess you dressed for battle for no reason.”
His hand stilled in the middle of my back while his other sifted through my hair. “Not the only reason, perhaps.”
“What do you mean?” His stroking lulled me into a surprising state of relaxation. His scent soothed me further, sharp and clean, like citrus and clover.
“You prefer your men a bit scruffy. I would prefer to be one of your men.”
I bit my lower lip. Was he serious? I attempted to step back but his arms tightened around me.
“Fin.” I didn’t know what to say. Then, I did. I hugged him hard. “Thank you.”
For helping me. For caring. For being here when no one else could because I pushed them all away. For picking me up when Alexander’s supposed betrayal had me on my metaphorical knees. For chasing Dixon away. I put all that and more in those two words, glad in that moment, he could also read my mind.
Fin cupped my face, dark eyes somber. “You’re welcome.” Then that mischievous spark I’d come to enjoy resurfaced, along with a playful curl of his lips. “I had to try.”
“I know.”
I let him kiss me, a sweet, chaste kiss. A
thank you
and
goodbye fake boyfriend
kiss. A kiss between friends.
Alexander didn’t see it that way at all. “What. The. Fuck.”
Alexander’s power blasted Fin and me apart.
I flew backward and would have made painful acquaintance with the mirror above my couch but Stella caught me and whisked me to the door. Disoriented, I tried to make sense of the blurs—Alexander and Fin—as they bounced around my living room, bumping and breaking everything in their path.
The puffy chair in the corner by the window overturned then smashed like it was made of air-filled plastic, exploding in great puffs of cotton interior and splintering wood. My wall-mounted, flat screen TV cracked in half and fell to the ground. The mirror went next then, across the room, bar stools flew into the dining area, landing on my beautiful dark walnut dining table. The matching bench broke clean in half.
Worry for Alexander tightened my chest. “Oh God, what have I done?”
Fin was older and thus, stronger, and who knew what extra special powers he had in addition to his seductive talent. I had to stop them before Fin hurt my man. I lunged forward, but Stella’s iron grip on my arms held me back.
She swung me to face her. “What is that American phrase?”
“What?” I struggled in her grasp. “Let me go.”
She held me with one hand locked around my bicep and snapped the fingers of her other. “You made this bed. You sleep in it.”
I stilled. Not quite right, but I understood her point. In her opinion, the men must settle this. I disagreed one hundred percent, but speaking of men, Mark and Ren thundered up the stairs, guns out, as per their usual, and sporting matching expressions of murderous intent.
Stella barred the way. “Not your problem, boys.” She stared them down until they put away their weapons. “
Va bene.
Now, let us go kill some cockroaches in
Call of Duty
, while the princess sorts out her men problems.”
Mark and Ren looked around Stella, waiting for my okay. A ball of dread clogged my throat, but I nodded and managed a shaky smile. They glowered but allowed Stella to herd them downstairs to the first floor and our game room.
Behind me, a deadly quiet overtook my living room. I pivoted, my heart pounding pain into my tight chest. Fin held Alexander on his knees. Locked in place by Fin’s power more than that restraining hand around his neck, Alexander snarled and gnashed his fangs like a rabid dog.
Sensing my attention, Fin caught my gaze and jerked his head at the kitchen.
I’ll keep him distracted. Do what you need to do.
I looked at the clock. Three minutes until nine. Panic punched my gut. Shit. The blooding hour already? I hurried to the fridge. Fin released his hold on Alexander, who wasted no time in tackling the older vampire to the ground and wailing on him in a flurry of fists.
My stomach somersaulted at the sound of the sickening thuds. Bottles in my fridge jangled and grated against my nerves as I threw open the door and scrambled for the box of vials. I freed the seventh one with shaking fingers, fumbled and dropped it.
“Shit.” It rolled across the hardwood. I dove for it, catching it before it disappeared under my stove.
I shot to my feet, cast one last glance at the two men locked in battle—Fin on top again, taunting Alexander and rather halfheartedly punching my man, much to my relief and appreciation—and shot down the hall on shaky legs.
Alexander’s frantic words followed me down the hall. “Carina, no. Don’t do it.”
He saw me. On the kitchen floor. Saw me scramble for the vial. He knew about Dixon’s gift—I’d told him myself during our video date, pre-breakup.
I was so busted.
I slammed my bedroom door, flipped the lock and sagged against it, leaning my forehead against the smooth wood, the damn vial clutched tightly in my fist.
An angry sob escaped my throat. “I don’t want to do this anymore. God damn it.”
Alexander saw me. He would figure it out. They all would. I’d doomed Faith and Kai to death.
A cold sweat broke out over my body and my stomach cramped so tightly I slid to the floor and huddled against the door. Nine o’clock. Time to drink. Even if I’d blown everything tonight, I still had to drink, just in case I was wrong and a sliver of hope remained for my friends.
I cracked open the vial and tossed back the contents, gagging at the overwhelming taste of muddied iron, this one worse than the others—rotten herbs, sour milk mixed with copper and iron, moldy molasses. I wretched and clamped my hand over my mouth to keep it down.
My body curled into a tight ball. Calf muscles cramped. My feet followed. Then thighs, shoulders, chest, all of me so tight surely the pressure would shatter me. A buzzing sounded in my ears and then the worst sound on the planet invaded my hearing along with it.
Dixon’s voice. “Hello, my little kitty. Just in time for a bit of fun, I see. Let’s play.”
I shrieked.
“I do so love that sound.” He stalked toward me, a vision of death and dark sex, tight leather pants stretched taut over his erection. I tore my gaze away from that horror and landed it on his pale chest riddled with dark blue veins, visible under his skimpy, leather and chains vest. Same one he’d worn the first time I met him. Revulsion roiled my gut.