Kade walked through the entrance and into the bar like he owned the place. His full mouth spread into a smug, sexy smile as all eyes—well, mostly the female eyes—turned to him. And despite my loathing, even I couldn’t help but admire his angelic features and lean, muscular form as he made a beeline for our table. He moved with reptilian grace, like a boa constrictor weaving its way through the tall grass, something that caused my internal danger sensors to go on high alert. My gaze darted to the faces seated around me: Levi looked nervous, as if he was already assessing the potential property damage from our impending supernatural showdown. Julian sat up straight, no longer laid-back. His brows came together, and I could almost hear the gears spinning as he attempted to think a way out of our predicament.
While Julian looked hyperaware, Asher had never looked so relaxed. A complete oxymoron, Ash couldn’t help but do the opposite of what I expected of him. He smiled, as if at a private joke, and no one else at the table paid him an ounce of attention. He’d all but melted into the scenery.
“Trouble,” Kade said affectionately. “I see you saved me a seat, but I was hoping for something a little less girls-night-out and a little more intimate.”
No one but me seemed to be nonplussed by the way Kade indicated Asher’s seat as if he weren’t even sitting there. Ash chuckled to himself, and I resisted the urge to kick him under the table. He winked at me and put a finger to his lips before pointing at Kade, reminding me that was where my attention should be focused. I clenched my jaw until I felt the enamel grind, and forced my gaze back to Kade.
“Julian,” I said without looking away, “I think you’d better—”
“I’m on it,” he answered without even waiting for me to finish. I knew I could count on him to know what I needed. And right now, I had to make sure that the rest of my team was safe. If Kade had followed us here, he could have known that the others had Tyler’s penthouse staked out. Julian’s expression as he stood and headed for the exit echoed my concern. He’d want to check on Louella, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Would you give us a minute?” I said to the table at large. Levi nodded and cast a wary glance in Kade’s direction before heading back to the bar. Asher, however, didn’t move a muscle. Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and winked again. It made me want to poke his eye out.
“Ah, alone at last,” Kade sighed.
I cast a sidelong glance at Asher, wondering what the hell was going on. Neither Julian nor Levi had paid Ash any attention from the moment Kade approached our table. And now, Kade appeared to not even see him at all. What the hell was going on?
“What do you want, Kade?” I tried to relax, to look as if my brain wasn’t a buzzing, jumbled beehive of confusion. My hand wandered to the dagger sheathed at my thigh. I swore I’d stab the bastard the first chance I got, Adira’s safety be damned.
He settled in the seat Levi had just vacated and moved it so close to mine that his knee rubbed against my thigh. I raised a sarcastic brow and pointedly shifted my chair a couple of inches away. “Maybe I missed you,” he purred, every word dripping with sensual promise.
“I doubt that,” I said. “Where’s your bodyguard?”
“Adira?” Kade said with a smile. “I expect she’s with—what’s his name—Tyler?” Kade studied my reaction as he answered, and I did my best to keep my face a mask of passivity.
“What do you want, Kade?” I said again, enunciating every syllable. “Because if you don’t have something to say, then I think we’d better just take this outside so I don’t get my favorite bar all messy with your blood.” Christ, I’d never, in all my years as an assassin, seen a mark parade himself before his would-be murderer. I think Kade got off on it. And since Adira made him practically unkillable, why not dangle that fact right in front of my face. As long as that was all he was dangling in front of me.
Kade laughed and motioned for a cocktail waitress. “Bars are the best places to hunt,” he said after he ordered a whiskey, straight up. “So many women sexually charged and ready to fuck a perfect stranger.”
Didn’t hurt that he had the looks and charisma to convince a saint to commit sin, either. The waitress returned with damned-near superhuman speed. Along with Kade’s drink, she slid him a cocktail napkin with a string of digits scrawled in red pen. He moved as if to stuff the napkin in his pocket and I reached across the table, snatching it out of his grasp. “Don’t get any ideas, Kade.” Every word out of my mouth was saturated with menace. “If you think I’m going to let you pluck a helpless victim—”
“Trouble, Trouble,” he drawled, interrupting me. “I don’t need a human woman to nourish me. I’ve got all the power I need and then some.” He drained his drink in a single swallow and stood to leave. “Though I enjoy the effort you’re putting into your attempt to exterminate me, I didn’t come here tonight to test your mettle. I want you to relay a message to Anya for me.” Leaning in, as if sharing a secret, Kade’s breath in my ear sent a shudder through my body. “Tell her Dimitri is just the icing on the cake. She knows what I want, and she has exactly twenty-four hours to give it to me.”
In a blur of motion, I kicked my chair out from underneath me, swinging my dagger toward Kade’s throat, hoping I’d be too fast for him to wish for any help from Adira. But in the time it took for me to draw my weapon—less than a half second—Kade had vanished. “Son of a bitch,” I murmured under my breath. “What else are you hiding from me, Anya?”
Chapter 24
“How do you do it?” I rounded on Asher, wanting to take out my frustration on the closest thing to me.
“Do what?” He all but batted his lashes in feigned innocence.
“You’re a cheeky little shit, you know that?” I rolled my shoulders, the feelings of frustration and helplessness pulling my muscles taut. “You’re not a run-of-the-mill Shaede.”
Asher cocked his head to the side. “Um, hello, pot.”
Yeah, yeah. I was the last person who should be pointing out someone else’s uniqueness. “I want to know how you do it, Ash.” I doubted commanding him to come clean would garner the results I wanted, but I didn’t have the people skills to coax it out of him. “Julian and Levi acted as if they didn’t realize you were even sitting at the table. Kade too. But it’s not like you were invisible . . .” My voice trailed off as I contemplated just what it was that Asher could do. “Just . . .”
“Unnoticeable.” Asher supplied with a grin.
“Yeah,” I said, curt. “Unnoticeable.”
“Hey, Darian.” Julian sidestepped a few bar patrons as he hurried toward our table. “Loulie says Tyler left his apartment about fifteen minutes ago. They couldn’t track him. He pulled the Jinn card and sort of just . . . poof”—he made an explosive motion with his hands—“vanished. Guess we should have figured it would be next to impossible to follow him.”
Yeah. No shit. I wanted to bang my head on the table, but stopped short as a thought struck me. Kade had poofed! into thin air as well . . . not to mention the fact that while his energy signature was unique, it had always reminded me of something—or rather, someone—I’d felt before. Which meant the Cambion was likely getting more than wish-granting out of his Jinn. Spectacular.
Darth Vader’s theme song burst from my cell, the sound muffled in my pocket and barely audible over the noise of the bar. “What’s up?” I answered, knowing that Raif wasn’t just calling to see if I was enjoying my evening.
“The security system at your apartment is showing a break-in. So far, the cameras aren’t picking up anything unusual, though. I’m getting ready to send a detachment to check it out. I just wanted you to know.”
“Don’t bother.” I didn’t need Raif expending unnecessary energy or manpower on my behalf. “I’m only a couple of blocks away; I’ll run over and see what’s up.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Raif proclaimed in that insufferable, regal way that reminded me so much of his brother. “The Cambion is unaccounted for, not to mention
your postcard-sending admirer.”
“I’m not worried about Kade,” I said. “I’ve already accounted for him tonight and he’s not a threat.” Yet. “And as far as Lorik is concerned”—I gave a heavy sigh—“honestly, Raif, I don’t know what to think about that situation, but I don’t think he’ll be showing up any time soon, either. It’s probably just a false alarm. I’ll go check it out and give you a call.”
“What do you mean the Cambion is accounted for?” Raif asked. “Did you kill him?”
If only. “No. But I know he won’t be bothering me tonight. I’ll update you later.”
“If you don’t check in within a half hour, I’m sending reinforcements.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Raif would always have my back, no matter what. “Deal.” I disconnected the call and turned to Julian. “We’re done for the night. Gather up the troops, and we’ll regroup in the morning.”
Julian nodded and headed for the door, and Asher fell in step right behind him. Figures. When I wanted him close he always seemed to slip away, and the second I sent him away, the infuriating shit was stuck to me like glue. I’d get him alone sooner or later, and he’d have no choice but to come clean. Until then, I had a potential break-in to investigate.
* * *
The last person I expected to find sitting in my living room was the only person in the world who could tie my emotions into tight, unyielding knots. My fingers trembled as I reset the alarm system and focused on leveling out my erratic pulse. I sent a quick text message to Raif assuring him that the break-in was a false alarm and that I wasn’t in any danger. The next thing I was sure to do was disable the video feeds. No way in hell did I want Raif, or the king himself, spying on me. Not when I could break down at any moment.
“We sure know how to trash an apartment,” Tyler mused quietly from where he’d made himself at home on my couch. I hadn’t been back to clean up the mess I’d made in my self-destructive depression. Super. Just what I wanted Ty to see. His last bout of self-destructive behavior hadn’t been much better, though. When I’d left him in Seattle on my quest to find Raif’s daughter, he’d apparently flown into a bit of a rage. I walked through his front door to find a mess a veteran rock star would be proud of. “You’ve upgraded your security since I was here last.”
“Raif’s idea.” I shrugged, walking into the center of the studio apartment.
Ty gave a derisive snort. “I’m surprised you let him do it. What with your I-can-take-care-of-myself attitude.”
Ouch. His words cut deep. I didn’t need the reminder that I’d ruined things between us with my arrogant, closed-off attitude. I’d been beating myself up over it every day for months. “Did you come here to twist the knife in my chest, Tyler?” My usual cocky bravado was gone. All that reflected in my voice was the hollow ache I couldn’t escape.
“Maybe,” he said, sending me back a step. “I don’t know. Fuck.” He sounded as torn up as I felt. Were we gluttons for punishment, or what? “Would you rather I swing by Xander’s when I need to talk to you?” He cocked his head as if anticipating my reaction.
No. Certainly not based on his last couple of visits, anyway. There was no telling what might happen if he let his temper get the best of him. “Is it true you almost killed Raif?” I asked instead of answering his question. “You know, when I . . . left.”
“Yeah,” he replied reluctantly. Pushing himself off the couch, Tyler stalked toward me so fast that my heart jumped up into my throat. I backed up until the kitchen island stayed my progress, and still Ty came at me in a steady advance. “I hate the fucking rules.” His voice burned with each word, the rage barely contained. He leaned in close and I shivered at the sudden chill in the air that accompanied Ty’s anger. “Kade is killing her, and there’s not a damned thing I can do about it.” He placed his hands on either side of the countertop, caging me between his arms. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with his homey, honeyed spice scent, and yet I trembled with fear. His agitation was a physical thing, charging the air between us. I’d never seen Tyler so close to losing control and it scared the shit out of me.
“I’ll get him,” I assured him. The muscle in his jaw flexed and I swore I could hear the enamel of his teeth grind. I took another deep breath, willing myself to be strong. “I’m close. So close. Give me a couple of days and the job will be done.” I swallowed hard, my next words stuck somewhere in my throat. “I’ll keep her safe for you.”
He answered me with a harsh, forced bark of laughter. “Gods, Darian. That’s almost the worst part of it. I know you will. I know you won’t stop until the bastard is dead. And I’m throwing you right in the path of the bullet. I’m one helluva protector, huh?”
“Tyler, I can try—” I clamped down tight on my emotions, forbidding the flow of tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. “I can try to sever our bond for you. If you want me to . . . to free you. I’m not sure if I can do it or not. I’m still not real clear how to do it. But I’ll give it a shot.”
Ty grabbed me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. Something sparked in the hazel depths as his gaze roamed my face as if he were trying to crawl into my head and read my thoughts. His brows came sharply together, and his mouth formed a grim line. “Don’t even think about it,” he ground out. “Don’t you dare.”
I let out a shuddering breath as my chest swelled with suppressed emotion. I didn’t want to lose him. Couldn’t bear to think of my life without him. And his insistence that I keep our bond intact filled me with hope. Keeping our bond intact meant that on some level, Tyler still wanted me. God, how I needed that assurance. As if he could sense my distress, Tyler’s expression softened. His hands trailed from my shoulders, down to my elbows before he backed away and raked his fingers through the tousled curls of his bronze-streaked hair. He let out a ragged breath and reached behind him, producing a dagger from where it had been concealed. “When you get close enough to Kade, use this.” He handed me the dagger handle first. “It’s silver and laced with iron. Should circumvent any extraordinary healing ability he might’ve come by. Run it through the bastard’s heart.”
Well, I guess that answered my question about what weapon would be most effective against a demon that could siphon supernatural abilities. “Thanks,” I said, tucking the dagger behind me. “I’ll get it done, Tyler.” I meant it, too. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.
“I know,” he whispered. He turned away from me slowly, as if it pained him to do so, and rather than poof away as he’d so often done lately, he stalked quietly to the elevator and left.
An annoying, wet warmth trickled down my cheek, and I quickly swept it away with my hand. Another drop followed that one and another, until there was nothing I could do to stem the flow of tears cascading from my eyes. My breath hitched in my chest, holding in the sobs that wanted out, but I wouldn’t allow it. In just under a year, Ty had managed to unlock every single emotion that I’d spent almost a century repressing. And now that the floodgates had been opened, there wasn’t a goddamned thing I could do about it.
“Darian, what’s wrong?” Raif said when he answered his phone. Obviously the fact that I wasn’t composed enough to speak was an indicator that I shouldn’t have called him. “I’m coming over.”
“No,” I managed to choke out. I’d gone from believing that I didn’t need to depend on anyone to truly needing someone in these moments when I felt like I had nowhere to turn. Thank god for Raif. “I’m fine, really.”
“You don’t sound fine.” Raif’s pronouncement wasn’t meant to call me out. It was more his way of letting me know he was there for me.
“Okay, so I’m not exactly fine, fine,” I sniffed. “I’m not going back to Xander’s house tonight. I just didn’t want you to worry about me when I didn’t show up.”
“Darian,” Raif said. “Much as I know you won’t appreciate me saying this, you can’t give Tyler so much control over you.”
“What’s that supposed t
o mean?”
Raif sighed. “Leave it to you to automatically go on the defensive. I’m not a fool, so don’t treat me like one. I saw the video feed before you so conveniently shut it off. I know who was in your apartment tonight. And I likewise know that you’ve been hurt. Deeply.”
My chest tightened, and my eyes burned from the tears I’d shed. I was a fucking mess. How could Raif have let Xander put Anya’s safety in my hands? Jesus, I couldn’t even take care of myself.
“Darian?”
“I’m here.”
“You allow him to wound you. Every time you see him, you relive the moments between you that neither of you can undo. Do not give Tyler—or anyone—that power over you.”
Sometimes I wondered if Raif was meant to be my sibling and not Xander’s. He had the wiser big-brother routine down pat. But he was right. I’d once vowed to never again let someone use love as a weapon against me, and here I was wielding it against myself. “Are you speaking from experience, Raif?”
A pause. “I would never preach to you otherwise.”
I smiled at the sarcastic edge in his voice. It was true, though. One thing Raif could never be accused of was being a hypocrite. “I’m a mess, aren’t I?”
“You’ve had better moments,” he replied wryly. “I think a night away from here is a good idea. Get your head on straight so you don’t make any more rash decisions like throwing yourself at my brother.”
I laughed. That would have to wait until after tomorrow night’s ball. “Can you tell him I won’t be back tonight?”
“I suppose I can take the brunt of Xander’s rage for you.”
“Rage?” I asked, dubious.
“Oh, yes,” Raif said. “He’ll be positively furious. I can’t wait.”
I had to smile at Raif’s mischievous tone. “One more thing,” I added as I remembered Kade’s earlier words. “I need you to give a message to Anya. Tell her if she’s in possession of anything that Kade might possibly want, I’m going to need it by the time I show up there tomorrow.”
Crave the Darkness: A Shaede Assassin Novel Page 23
