“What was it like?” she said.
He scooped out a serving of pasta and put it on her plate, then sat down and passed her the salad before serving himself. “Dig in while it’s hot.”
The rich aroma made her mouth water and her stomach growl.
He picked up his fork. “The Hennesseys were great parents and never stopped me from seeing the girls. They spent every other weekend with me as their uncle. Come on, eat—it’s getting cold.” He shoveled a large forkful of pasta into his mouth and grinned.
She got the impression he was avoiding the subject but let it drop.
The smell was divine and her stomach gurgled, reminding her how hungry she was. She lifted her own forkful for a taste. The flavors burst in her mouth . . .
She swallowed and wiped away the excess sauce with her napkin. “Oh my God—that’s so good.”
“Oh no,” he said jumping up. “Almost forgot the bread.”
He raced into the kitchen and came back with warm crusty rolls from the oven. The males of her people didn’t cook, so this was luxury. The fresh doughy scent filled the apartment as he pulled apart the bread and slapped on a large dab of butter. Her mouth watered as he leaned across the table and held it to her lips. The buttery bread melted on her tongue, helped by his heated gaze.
They talked very little while she dug into the pasta and ate the bread. It was good, filling food. After a while she sat back, stuffed. As she wiped her mouth with the napkin, and reached for her glass of wine, Kitt noticed Raven watching her.
“What?”
“That is the first time I’ve seen you relaxed.”
“I’ve had a lot to be tense about lately.” She took a sip from the glass. Even the wine was perfect.
“And I haven’t helped.”
“Maybe.” She sighed, putting her glass back on the table. “But there is just so much to take in. With my father, our daughters, a serial killer stalking the campus, and my brother’s hostility—I just want to forget about it all, even if just for a short time.”
He stood up, picked up her glass, and held out his other hand. “Here, come sit on the sofa.”
For a moment she thought of refusing, but then reached and took his hand. He led her to the sofa, placing her glass within easy reach, and then pulled her back against his chest.
It was nice to be surrounded by his protective warmth—nice to feel safe again in his arms.
“Is that better?” he whispered in her ear.
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Yes, thank you.” She twisted and looked up at him. “This Dúbabeo thing with the twins must be worrying you as much as me.”
“I wish they hadn’t kept it from me. I would’ve protected them better, kept them hidden. He wrapped both his arms around her. “I’m afraid that the longer they stay with the Pride, the more it increases the chance that one of them may slip up.”
Not if she could help it. She had to get back into the Pride. At least that way she’d be there to shield them and help keep their secret.
He caressed her hair and she snuggled deeper into his warmth, not wanting to think. As she closed her eyes, his stroking turned from comforting to something more sensual. This could only lead to one thing . . . but it felt too good to stop him.
He planted kisses on her shoulder, her neck, and cupped her breast, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her peaked nipple. She wanted to give in, she really did. Her stomach flipped and her core grew heavy with need. But giving in would not help her or the twins, would only make it harder to leave him later. And that’s exactly what she’d have to do if they couldn’t get the twins away.
“Raven.” She sighed and leapt off the sofa. “We can’t do this.”
She wanted him more than anything but moved out of his reach, and turned her back on him.
His fingers trailed down her back. “I need you.” His voice cracked. “I’ve needed you for so very long. That one taste of you has only made me want you more.”
She turned and leaned against the wall, his crushed, broken expression melting her heart.
“Please,” she said. “Right now I just need space to think.”
“Fair enough,” he said, dropping his gaze to his hands. “You need time. I get it. But know this—I want you now as I wanted you then. And without the shackles of the Pride, we have a better chance to be together.”
After a moment, she heard the front door close and a tear fell down her cheek.
“Not if they kill you first,” she whispered. The most dangerous thing for him was her. If he stayed near her, then the Pride would find him. And if not one of them, then one of the hired killers who would collect the bounty they’d set. Either way, he’d be dead.
***
The alarm buzzed loudly. Kitt hit the snooze button and rolled over to find an empty pillow beside her. Her body ached, the dull throb of needful pain clenched her lower abdomen—and she wished she hadn’t turned Raven down. It was already too late to stop herself from falling for him again; she doubted she’d ever stopped.
He was right about the girls. The longer they spent with the Pride, the more the danger they were in. She had to figure how to get the Pride to take her back, or try to get them out. It would take some time and some careful planning.
Kitt arrived at the campus and climbed out of the car with her coffee in one hand. As she slung her handbag over her shoulder, the familiar black SUV pulled into the lot. The twins sat in the front, watching her. Joshua gave her a small wave and she returned it before heading for the main hall.
No one was in the Bunker operations room. She dumped her things on her desk and made her way down to Raven’s room to make sure he got back okay.
She found him hitting the punching bag in the workout room and watched the way his muscles bunched as he struck and perspiration gleamed on his skin.
“Do you always work out this hard?” she asked.
He grabbed the bag with both hands to stop it from moving. “Only when I’m frustrated and there’s nothing else to do.”
“Well, I have a solution for that. We’re going to get you to start training any recruits we find.” Oberon said from behind her. “But first we have to figure how we’re going to get those girls of yours away from Tyrone and Nathan.”
“We were going to talk to you about that,” Raven said, pulling off the gloves and dumping them on the weights bench beside him. “It should be easy enough if we grab them here at school, hide them away—I could even take them back to Australia.”
“No. We need them here, at least for the time being,” Oberon said and turned. “Let’s discuss it in my office—I want to show you something.”
Kitt and Raven followed the ursian down the hall and took a seat as Oberon sat opposite, behind his desk.
“Where is everyone?” Kitt asked.
“Bianca and Cody are investigating a lead on that copycat killing.”
“And the others?” she asked.
“Tones is following something up in the Department archives and Antoinette is chasing her own leads,” Oberon said.
“So what did you want to show us?” Raven asked.
“This.” Using two fingers, he typed something into the keyboard on his desk and turned the screen around so they could see.
The twins sat in a classroom with two large men in suits sitting behind them.
“What?” Raven asked.
“I had a call from the head of the NYAPS board not long ago, informing me your father has demanded these bodyguards escort the girls to all their classes and activities. I have no say in this at all, even as the Academy’s head of security.”
“Shit, that means they will never be alone,” Raven spat. “Can he do that?”
“My father is either scared or suspects something’s up,” she said, yet was pretty sure the girls wouldn’t have told Tryone anything. And maybe that was the problem: if they were silent about what went on, he’d know they were keeping something from him.
“What do we do?” Kitt
asked.
“Nothing,” Raven said. “We’ll bide our time and trust in the twins. They’re safe enough where they are at the moment. They know to be extra careful.”
“But—” She just wanted to get them away.
“He’s right,” Oberon said. “If we act too soon, we could just blow our chances altogether. If the Pride withdraws them from the Academy and moves them back to the Pridelands, they’ll be well out of our reach.”
She slumped back into her chair, defeated.
Raven reached over and took her hand. “I don’t like this any more than you do.”
She had to get out of here before the hot tears pricking her eyes made an appearance. “I’d better get ready for my class.”
“Kitt?” Raven called after her, but she didn’t stop.
It took several deep breaths to stave off the tears and pull herself together. By the time she reached the lecture hall, she’d regained her composure. She sat behind her desk and opened up the lecture notes in front of her, but the words just danced around on the page.
When it was time, Kitt picked up her papers and entered the lecture hall. The murmured discussion died down as she took a seat on the edge of the desk. The twins sat in the second-to-last row with their two human minders behind them. While Cal looked quite unhappy, Seph’s face was positively thunderous as she glanced over her shoulder at one of the babysitters.
Kitt placed her notes on the desk beside her and stood up. “Today’s class will go into the impact of Necrodrenia on the Aeternus metabolic system.”
Kitt finished class and went back down to the Bunker. Antoinette looked up from behind her desk and smiled.
“Oberon said you were in Boston.” Kitt sat heavily in a chair.
“One of the perks of having a rich lover with his own private jets,” replied Antoinette.
Bianca and Cody also were at their desks and a sense of excitement filled the air. Oberon was talking animatedly on the phone in his office, seeming very pleased about something.
“What’s going on?” Kitt asked.
Cody brushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled. “We found Carin Engels’s killer. The employee we suspected is a medical student with access to the tools she needed to perform her little heart-ectomy, and a first-rate computer hacker. Tones helped track her down.”
Tones was almost leaping out of his skin with excitement. “She hacked into the VCU system. That’s how she knew details about the case we hadn’t released to the papers and why she didn’t know about the Dark Brethren symbol, because we hadn’t told the VCU about it yet. Oberon’s in there talking to CHaPR and the Department, which are not too happy with Neil Roberts’s performance right now.”
“Especially after the very public witch hunt he held in front of the press,” Antoinette added.
Raven was there but remained silent in the background.
Oberon came out of the office looking like a bear who’d just stumbled across a honey factory. “It’s official. We’re to take over this case completely. CHaPR has just recognized the team and we’ve been officially added under the Department umbrella. The campus-killer case is now ours.”
“What about VCU?” Tones asked.
Oberon’s face broke into a shit-eating grin. “Neil Roberts has been reprimanded for security leaks and the team suspended, pending an investigation.”
Raven rose from his seat and left the room. Kitt watched him go.
“You look like you could use a drink,” Antoinette said.
Kitt smiled at her. “I think I could use a dozen.”
“Then I know the perfect place. Come on. And get your boot-scooting boots on. Tones—you too,” Antoinette urged. “We’re going dancing—anyone else want to come?”
Oberon shook his head. “The mound of paperwork on my desk keeps growing.”
“Cody and I have paperwork as well, on this girl we caught,” the pale witch said.
Surfer-boy shrugged his shoulders, looking like paperwork was the last thing he wanted to do. “Maybe next time.”
“But it’s almost dawn,” Tones said.
“You got somewhere better to be?” Antoinette placed her hands on her hips. “Come on, I thought you’d jump at the chance to escort two beautiful women for drinks and dancing.”
His face beamed. “When you put it like that, how could I refuse?”
“Right!” She threw the keys at him. “You can drive.”
Chapter 24 - Sweet Betrayal
The winter-kissed wind sliced through Gideon with the promise of snow. His face froze, but he hardly noticed. All he wanted, all he waited for, was a glimpse of her. Just one glimpse and he could go away happy.
Until next time.
The cold ran down the back of his neck like icy fingers as Ealund appeared at his side.
“YOU WASTE PRECIOUS TIME.”
He shivered and hunched his shoulders as he turned the collar of his jacket up around his ears and ignored the tug of fear in his gut.
“SOON. IT MUST BE SOON,” Ealund demanded. “I MUST HAVE THAT SACRIFICE.”
“I’m almost ready,” Gideon said distractedly, watching the doors. “The time is almost right.”
What if she’d left already? What if she’d gone out another way? What if her car wasn’t in this parking garage?
As if he’d summoned her with his mind, she appeared with another female beside her.
Ah . . . my angel—my sweet, sweet angel.
She stopped and pulled on some gloves, and a male followed. He linked his arms around the waists of both women as they walked. She laughed at something he said and looked at the other female laughing too.
Gideon stared at the male. His features burned into his brain. He recognized him instantly, and it made things a little easier.
All three climbed into a black Jeep Cherokee and drove off, leaving Gideon empty and seething. His fingers curled into fists, balled so tight the nails bit into his frozen palms.
His angel. His sweet, sweet angel.
Right now, he wanted to kill something. Wanted to strike out and destroy something to make this pain in his heart go away.
He turned to Ealund’s ghostly figure. “Looks like you’ll get your wish sooner than later.”
“EXCELLENT!” the hollow voice of his master intoned.
Chapter 25 - Dance with the Devil
Antoinette walked in and waved to Buddy behind the bar. She’d been here often since she returned to New York; it was a great way to keep herself occupied while Christian was away. She learned to let go and enjoy herself in this place, and just being here reaffirmed the simple joys of life.
“Hey, Sherry,” she called to the waitress busing tables on the other side of the room.
“Well. Hi there, sugar. Take a seat and I’ll be right with y’all.” Sherry placed beers in front of a couple of tourists—Antoinette could tell by the shiny new boots and creases in their new shirts.
“A Western bar?” Tones’s jaw hung open. “I would have pegged you for a Goth girl or something.”
“Hell no. I love this place. It may be a big tourist draw, but quite a few parahumans frequent this place too. Mostly Animalians and magic-wielders, but we do get the occasional Aeternus. The owner, Buddy”—she nodded to the guy behind the bar—“is a canian.”
“Hey there, Antoinette.” Sherry placed her hand on her hip. “What can I git y’all.”
“It’s okay, Sherry. These are my friends.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” the blonde whispered, her Southern accent switching to a broad Brooklyn one. “I’m just about to finish my shift so me and Buddy can go home to the kids. Hard to keep up this act when I’m tired.”
“Sherry is Buddy’s wife,” Antoinette explained to the other two.
“How’do,” Tones said, looking around all excited.
Antoinette knew he’d like this place. “Sherry, how about the usual for me. A glass of your finest vegan for my humegetarian friend here.” She slapped Tones’s shoulder. “And a Vikto
r Special for my felian girl.”
“Comin’ right up.” The waitress smiled and squeezed Antoinette’s shoulder before heading off toward the bar.
“You sure they have real vegan blood here?” Tones asked, his eyebrows rising with skepticism. “I’ll be able to tell.”
“What’s a Viktor Special?” Kitt asked.
Antoinette just smiled and remembered when her friend Viktor Dushic had ordered her something fruity with an umbrella in it. It’d become known as a Viktor Special in honor of his memory. He would’ve been proud.
However, this was not a time for maudlin thoughts; it was a time for fun. She was determined to pass on the lessons Viktor taught her to someone who needed them: Kitt.
“I think I should go,” the felian said.
“Hell no. We’re just getting started,” Antoinette said. “Why do you want to leave so early?”
Kitt glanced around uncertainly. “I can’t shake this feeling someone is watching me.”
“Then let’s give her or him something to look at.” Antoinette leaned over and popped open a couple of Kitt’s top buttons. “Now take off your jacket and let down your hair.”
The felian stood up, slid off her suit jacket, and untucked her white button-down shirt from her black linen pants. She pulled loose the ponytail and fluffed out her hair, then looked at them uncertainly. “Is that better?”
Antoinette gave her the thumbs-up. “Much.”
“You look ready to par-tay,” Tones agreed.
Sherry arrived with the tray of drinks. She unloaded crimson-filled glasses in front of both Tones and Antoinette, then placed an innocent-looking exotic cocktail, complete with a little paper umbrella and decorated with fruit, in front of Kitt. Antoinette knew from firsthand experience that looks were deceiving—the drink was practically pure alcohol.
Kitt took one sip and her eyes widened with surprise. “WOW! That packs quite a punch, doesn’t it?”
“That’s a Viktor Special, God bless him, and Buddy added a dash of belladonna just for you,” Sherry said, laughed, and put a hand on Antoinette’s shoulder. “We’re off now, hon. You take care.”
She walked back to the bar and passed her tray to Buddy’s littermate Jenni. Buddy helped his wife into her coat and the two of them walked arm in arm to the door. Just before they left, Sherry gave a little wave to Antoinette and Buddy inclined his head in her direction.
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