The Darkest Secret (21 page)

Look at Paris. Guy needed sex to freaking survive, but he hadn't spent quality sheet time with any of those strippers.

That didn't lessen the sting of being rebuffed, though, and maybe that's why he'd thought he wanted Ex so damn badly. Because she hadn't wanted him. Because she'd been a—what? A challenge. A challenge he claimed he hadn't wanted. And he didn't!

Damn it. No more challenges. He was taking a break if it killed him.

He reached the car, saw that Kaia had stolen his seat in front and practically ripped the back door from its hinges. He climbed inside and settled beside the still sleeping Paris. And what the fuck was that smell? Cinnamon rolls?

He decided to take his irritation out on her. “You wearing perfume?” he growled, kicking her stolen seat so she'd know he was talking to her.

She twisted to peer back at him, a smile clinging to the edges of her I'm-not-wearing-any-panties mouth. He'd known she wasn't wearing any, the little teaser, but he hadn't needed that kind of confirmation.

Dude. It's a smile, not a glance up a skirt.

Oh, shut up.

He was talking to himself now. Wasn't that just great? “Well?”

“Nope, no perfume, but I did visit a bakery just before I hunted Lucien down. Why? Do I smell as sweet as sugar?”

No, damn it, she smelled like she needed a good licking.

Kaia, in bed. Naked. Splayed. His mind liked the image, and hell, so did his demon. While Strider would rather die than accept another challenge—figuratively speaking, of course—his demon would go insane without them. Beast fed off the high that came with their victories.

But he wasn't going to let himself go there with Kaia. Not today, and not ever. Kaia wouldn't just challenge him more than most; she would challenge him about
everything,
and he would never have a moment of peace.

Defeat practically rubbed his hands together in glee. Strider frowned.
No, no, hell, no. We aren't going there. She's a Harpy. We can't win against her. We'll suffer. Constantly.

A growl. A whimper. Anger and fear, wrapped tightly together and sprinkled with
Oh, please, gods, no.

That was more like it. Even if some part of Strider liked the idea of constantly sparring with Kaia, 'cause yeah, matching wits and daggers could be fun and peace was sometimes overrated, he still couldn't allow himself to be with her. Unlike the other warriors, he had never been able to sleep with a woman who had already tasted one of his friends. It was that possessive streak of his. There was simply no way around it.

Although…for Ex, Haidee, he'd been willing to make an exception. Which meant his competitive nature was stronger than his possessiveness. Kaia, though, wouldn't be extended the same willingness.

Defeat gave another growl, this one laced with…disappointment? No way.
I'm just tired. Imagining things.
His demon only cared about battles, not a specific woman.

Kaia finally gave up on Strider and turned back around. William maneuvered onto the highway, the caddy gobbling up the miles. Of course, he resumed his flirtation with the Harpy.

For a little over an hour, Strider ate his candy and fumed. Yes, vacations sucked. At the next rest stop, he might just ditch his companions and head off on his own. Except, when Kaia giggled at something William said, Strider decided waiting to reach a rest stop was dumb. He'd get out now and hitchhike. That kind of feminine delight was grating to his nerves. Yes, grating. Not enchanting.

He definitely needed distance between him and Kaia. Then he'd stop thinking about her. Stop reacting to her. Stop caring about her past. After all, he'd just gotten out of a bad “relationship” and didn't need to endure another. Plus, that's what had happened the last time he'd left her. He'd left, and all the torment had stopped. Granted, his reactions hadn't been quite as strong back then, but there was no reason to think this time would be any different.

“So where are we going?” Kaia asked no one in particular.

“Nowhere,” Strider replied.

“To kill Gilly's family,” William answered easily.

Strider needed to have a chat with the man. You didn't undermine your friends. It was worse than cock-blocking.

Kaia tossed Strider a shut-your-mouth frown before bouncing in her seat. “Do I get to help? Please! Can I? You may not know this, but I'm very handy with a blade of any kind, a hacksaw, a whip, a—”

“Hey! Someone went through my bag,” William said.

“So?” Kaia continued, as if William hadn't spoken. “Whatever the weapon, I'm good with it.”

He would not be impressed. “We won't be using weapons. We'll be smashing jugulars.”

“Oh, oh! We can play Who Can Smash More!”

“No, we can't because you can't help,” Strider said at the same time William blurted out, “I'd be disappointed if you didn't help.”

Kaia hmphed at him.

“Just try not to destroy the entire neighborhood,” he snapped. Nobody listened to him anymore.

Slitted eyes returned to him. There was no hint of black in the whites, so he knew her Harpy was under control. “Why are you so grouchy?”

“I'm not grouchy. Only women are grouchy.”

“You're grouchy,” William said.

“
You're
grouchy,” Strider said. Realizing he sounded like a child, he leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, his face in his upraised hands. What the hell was wrong with him?

William snickered at him. Kaia simply continued to watch him, her expression unreadable.

“Well, grouchy or not, Stridey,” she said, “I have news that will cheer you up.”

Leaning forward had been a dumb move. The scent of cinnamon and sugar was stronger now, enveloping him, making his mouth water. Would Kaia taste as delicious as she smelled?

Suddenly she stiffened. “You smell like a woman's peach-flavored body oil.”

Did he? He thought back to the stripper he'd had on his lap at Paris's ranch, and yep, he remembered smelling peaches. Kaia must have hated peaches, though, because she was obviously planning to murder the maker of that oil.

“I. Will. Destroy. You.” And yep, black now bled into the white of her eyes. Her nails had already lengthened and sharpened into claws, and those claws were embedded in the plastic console between the driver and passenger seat. Hello, raging beast.

Mental note: never eat peaches in front of Kaia.

Win?
Defeat said on a trembling breath, the question
having nothing to do with uncertainty this time, and everything to do with being cowed.

Yeah.
Good luck with that, buddy. She'll eat you for lunch and spit out your scales.
“I'll wash, okay.” Strider jerked upright, as far away from
her
heavenly aroma as he could get. “And just so you know, I don't care about your news.”

“I cannot kill him,” she muttered to herself. “I cannot kill him. I promised Bianka I'd stop at ten bodies a day, and I've already surpassed my quota for the fifth day in a row. I cannot kill him.”

As far as pep talks went, that one kind of blew. But it calmed her, the black in her eyes fading and those claws receding.

Strider peered out the window, willing to count the trees that whizzed by rather than peer at that too-pretty face. “Now listen up, buttercup. Stri-Stri is going to take a little nappie-poo. Everyone hush their big, fat mouths.” Better to be bored pretending to snooze than accidentally piss Kaia off again.

“Fine. Sleep.” All kinds of irritation layered her husky voice. She wasn't squawking, though, which was another excellent sign that the danger had passed. “Just know that while you're catching up on your much needed beauty rest, you'll miss my story about how many Hunters I bagged and tagged this week.”

“Good.” She'd bagged and tagged a few? He tried not to look intrigued, even as he rethought his strategy. “Go ahead and start your story. I'm sure I'll be so bored I'll nod right off.”

“No. You've been a bad boy and don't deserve a reward. Therefore, I won't tell you that there's a certain Hunter on your trail and he's closing in.”

“Someone always is.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I also won't tell you—”

He snored as loud as he could, just to be contrary, and almost laughed when she uttered a quiet shriek. Part of him liked this verbal sparring. Liked annoying her and feeling the sparks that nearly sizzled from that petite body.

“That's it! Do you hear me, Strider? That's it! I challenge you to listen to me. Now.”

That
he didn't like.

As his demon jumped up and down in his head, now desperate to win, Strider glared at Kaia, pretty face be damned. And he didn't give a shit if he pissed her off, either. “I knew you'd do this. I knew you'd challenge me. You're just like every other female I've ever known. No, wait. You're worse. You know what happens to me when I lose, but you challenge me anyway.”

Hurt flashed over her features, there one moment, gone the next. Surely he was mistaken. Harpies—especially this infuriating Harpy—didn't do hurt. Ever. “You know you can win this.”

“So go on, then,” he snapped. “Talk. I'm literally dying to hear what you have to say.”

Kaia ran the pink tip of her tongue over her teeth, and his stomach clenched in reaction. She could have refused him and sent him to his knees in gut-wrenching pain. Instead, she finished her little speech. “You captured Haidee. Her boyfriend and his followers have been chasing you. There. Done. You listened and won.”

He didn't feel like he'd won. And neither did his demon. There was no rush of pleasure, only a need for a
real
challenge. Something he'd have to work for.
I don't wanna work for anything, remember?
Still. Everything inside him froze. His heartbeat, his lungs. The rush of blood in his veins. “There's more. Tell me the rest.”

“Fine. Here it is. While you've been playing around,
I've
been chasing the boyfriend and those followers of his. There's something odd about each of them, by the way, but the boyfriend most of all. They're…I don't know, darker than other humans I've been around. They made me feel…icky, which is why I made them hurt real bad before I disposed of them. You should have seen them. After I took my blade and—”

“You're digressing, Kaia.”

“Am not! Now where was I? Oh, yeah. The boyfriend. I couldn't get close enough to him to figure out what bothered me. He's dark and wily and like I said, he managed to evade me, which means he's good, very, very good at evading because I'm very, very good at tracking. Did I ever tell you about the time I—”

“Kaia!”

“Anyway,
you
haven't been able to evade
him
. He's close, he's filled with piss and vinegar and he wants to make you his bitch.”

“How close is he?”

Her chin lifted stubbornly. “Close enough that you're lucky you weren't shot down inside that little gas station.”

Yet she hadn't said anything while they were there. Hadn't given him a chance to set a trap. She'd laughed and stolen food and let him take his time. Then she'd carried on a conversation with William, mile after mile, as if there were no pressing issues. To punish him for not welcoming her to their group, he knew. Harpies were as vindictive as they were destructive.

Most. Frustrating. Female.
Ever
.

His fingers dug into his thighs to keep from strangling her, and he knew he'd have long-lasting bruises. “Why were you following him?”

One delicate shoulder, bared because of the lacy pink top she wore, lifted in a shrug. “When everyone left the
fortress, going their separate ways to hide artifacts and stash their women safely away blah, blah, blah, I followed
you
. I figured you'd see the most action, and I was right.”

Fuck. He must be losing his touch. He'd never even sensed her.

“You're welcome, by the way,” she continued. “You grabbed Haidee and carted her off, but you left a blood trail straight to your motel room door. They were set to raid the entire building when I took all but the leader down. That little bastard escaped, and you should have taken him out when you had the chance, because he gathered more men. I've been hot on his heels ever since.”

“You're hot, all right. But seriously, how'd you meet up with Lucien?” William asked, inserting himself into the conversation.

“Anya and I keep in touch. I told her I needed to borrow her gentleman friend and she agreed. For a price,” Kaia added with a tinge of anger. “And someone in this car is going to reimburse me.”

“Gentleman friend. Nice.” William opened his mouth to add something else, probably to tell her he would gladly pay.

Strider beat him to it. “Whatever it was, I'll take care of it.” He owed her. He guessed. But he didn't like it, and didn't want to be indebted to anyone.

“Good. Then you owe me a ten-minute Frencher.”

He blinked, certain he'd misheard. He'd expected Hunter hearts or severed limbs. “Anya made you
kiss
her?”

“Yeah. And at our next stop, I'll expect you to deliver.”

“I'll pay,” William piped up. “After you describe everything about that kiss you two shared. Did you cop a feel? You did, didn't you, you little hussy. I bet you moaned a lot, too.”

“Too late for you to pay,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Strider already offered, and I already accepted. And no, I won't do any describing. You can just imagine how sexy it was. Oh, and Willie. Just so you know, your imagination won't do it justice.”

She was lying. She had to be lying. But why would she lie about a kiss? What could she possibly hope to gain by forcing him to kiss her? Strider leaned back in his seat and stared up at the roof. No answers were forthcoming, and he doubted they ever would be.