by Cassi Carver
Those men had tried to kill her. Her—Kara. But why?
She rolled into a ball, closing her eyes against the pain. If she was supposed to be fully healed by now, her body hadn’t gotten the memo.
The walk back had been the worst of her life. Twice, concerned citizens had offered her help, one calling an ambulance from his cell phone despite Kara’s protests, forcing her to run again when all she wanted to do was collapse.
As soon as she thought she was out of spell range, she’d tried to summon Jaxon, but he didn’t answer. She couldn’t sense a damn thing from her winged warrior, and it had her worried.
Kara stumbled to the kitchen and reached for the home phone. She dialed Abbey’s number with sticky fingers coated in drying blood. It went straight to voicemail. “Crap!” Now what?
Should she call Dora and tell her she was attacked and that she was worried about Abbey? Hell, the men who’d attacked her were witches. After the way Teri treated her, she wasn’t sure what Dora would say. Was she the same old sweet Grammy D, or was there something more going on here?
She closed her eyes as the sky continued to darken, the night soaking into the clouds, turning lavender to purple. She’d almost nodded off when a snap rocked the ward, the blue light quaking visibly for a fraction of a second before returning to the ether. At the same time, a guttural groan carried through the walls, coming from the master bedroom.
“Oh, hell no.” Kara staggered toward the bedroom. She cracked the door open and peeped through, just a shadow of her normally brave self.
There on the bed lay Julian, his hands clutched at his head and his black wings spread across the mattress at an awkward angle. Forgetting her pain and her sense of self-preservation, Kara lurched toward the bed and fell to her knees at his side.
“Julian?” She reached out to touch his arm, but as his moan morphed into a growl, she snatched her hand back.
He sat up, staring around the room as if he’d never seen it before. With his disheveled hair and sickly skin, he looked like he’d spent the day with a bottle of cheap bourbon and was paying for it now. Finally, his eyes focused on her face. He took her in from top to bottom, then frowned. His eyes were red, and she wasn’t sure if it was only the irritated whites. They actually seemed to be glowing.
“Kara?”
Why was she relieved he remembered her name? “Yeah, it’s me.”
He swallowed, looking enraged and ashamed and dangerous as hell, all at the same time.
“I did this to you?” His hand swept up and down, indicating her bloody clothes, torn from her brief love affair with the pavement. Her road rash had healed, but the bones were taking longer.
“No, Julian. You didn’t do this to me. You did this to me.” She ducked her shoulder to him, but his bite at her neck had long since healed. “Don’t you remember?” She was almost insulted. He’d seemed to like it at the time.
His wings spread from his back, nearly stretching from one wall to the other. His top lip curled and his fangs came down. “Who hurt you?”
Now she was sure his eyes were glowing. As the sun faded, his red eyes cast a glow over the small room.
“No one. I’m fine.” Almost being killed today, she couldn’t handle even a well-meaning snarl. She was shaking like a leaf, and she had to put some distance between her and Mr. Frowny Fangs. “I’m going to get cleaned up. Uh…make yourself at home.”
He looked as though he was coming out of whatever stupor he’d been in, and he wasn’t moaning like he was in pain anymore, so she fled to the bathroom and turned on the faucet to fill the tub. Was she really going to take a bath with an Aniliáre in her house? Yes, apparently she was. She had to get the blood and grime off before she could change into something else.
She filled the tub with steaming water and grabbed a towel, then shucked her clothes and stepped into the brew. Oh, ouch. She’d made it a little too hot, but she sank in to her shoulders and let out a sigh. Hot baths might be the next best thing to orgasms. Still, she didn’t forget about Julian in the other room as she quickly lathered her hair and inspected her body for injuries. She felt the bruises under her skin where there’d been more serious injuries just an hour before. It hurt, but she was healing.
She dunked her head a final time and came back up, snorting water out her nose and almost choking on suds when she spied a pair of sturdy, naked thighs hovering over her.
Chapter Nine
“What are you doing in here?”
Julian’s wings receded into the slits in his back. He stood perfectly still, his gaze fixed on Kara like a hawk about to swoop on a field mouse. “Your water,” he said, “it’s pink.”
She glanced down. “Yes, it is.”
It wasn’t the first time. If it was someone else’s blood, a shower was the only option. But tonight, steeping in her own red cells was worth it for the good it did her sore muscles.
“It smells of flowers and female.” His large shaft stirred to life. She tried not to look at it, but the damn thing was at direct eye level.
She picked up her shampoo bottle and held it out to him. “It’s herbal.” He simply stared at the bottle. “Go on. Smell it.”
He stuck his nose to the cap, and the corners of his lips twitched. “It’s you in a bottle. I will wash with it.”
He stepped into the hot water and sat, sloshing it dangerously close to the side. As big as he was, the old apartment tub was no match for the two of them. His feet wedged into the remaining space by Kara’s thighs.
“Uh, the water’s slightly nasty,” she pointed out.
He finally smiled and leaned his head back, soaking his black hair in the sudsy pink liquid. “Mmm-hmm.”
When he lifted his head, water sluiced from his hair down the sides of his face. “The herbal.” He paused, as if thinking about his words. “Please.”
The head of his erection peeked from the water, but Demiáre or not, Kara was too scared and confused to be excited about the situation. She simply squeezed the shampoo onto her hand and started lathering his hair.
A white strand of foam trailed into his eyes, and he hissed. “You’re hurting me.”
Oh, brother. She smiled. “Then try keeping your eyes closed, big guy.”
He huffed and squeezed his eyes shut while Kara grabbed a cup from the shower shelf and filled it with fresh water. She rinsed his face, then wiped the water from his eyes with the tips of her fingers. “There you go.”
He frowned. “Thank you.”
Kara squeezed the water from her hair and stood, then grabbed her towel and stepped from the tub. Julian’s hand flashed out quicker than sight and grasped her wrist. “Where are you going?”
She gently wiggled her hand from his grip, then patted down her body and wrapped the towel around her head. “I’m hungry.” She grabbed him a towel and pulled the plug from the tub. “Are you?”
He nodded. “Meat.”
She glanced over at him as he stood and dried himself off. “Huh?”
“More meat. That’s what I am hungry for.”
She walked into her room and pulled out a pair of light pink sweats. He followed close behind. “I don’t have any more meat, but if you liked the macaroni, I have a couple more boxes.”
“No.”
“Okay…only meat. Well, I can go to the store.” Whether or not she would come back was another thing. She shimmied into her underthings, then put on her sweats, following with a pair of comfy flip-flops. “There’s a store just down the street on 2nd and G, near Horton Plaza. You’ll be eating in twenty minutes—tops.”
He took her hand and pulled her toward the door. “Yes. Let us go.”
“Hey.” She yanked back.
He glared down at her. “Yes?”
“If you don’t trust me to go alone and you’re really planning to leave this apartment, you’ll need clothes.” Although, truth be told, introducing this man to clothing would be a damn shame.
He snorted. “What a modest woman you are.”
“Me, modest? Not really.” Then the time she’d asked him to turn around after their first time together came to mind. Could the man in front of her really be her Julian? She paused and searched his eyes, waiting for any flicker of his sharing the memory. “Burnt marshmallows…”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” She walked to the guestroom and fished through Jaxon’s dresser. When she turned around, Julian was already there. “Here you go. These should fit you well enough.”
She handed him a pair of jeans and a white V-neck T-shirt, along with a pair of Jaxon’s dollar-store sandals. The jeans were slightly tight, and he struggled to pull them over his damp skin. But once in place, he was quite a spectacle. The way the white shirt stretched over his tan, heavily muscled torso just wasn’t fair to the female population.
He tugged at the T-shirt, and his brow furrowed. “This binds my wings. It won’t work.”
“Okay… Try this.” She handed him a black tank top, hoping he liked that better. “You only need your wings for flying, not for flashing in an emergency. You know that, right?”
“Of course I know that,” he grumbled, quickly shucking the T-shirt and replacing it with the tank.
She put her hands palms out. “Just checking. I don’t really know what’s going on here, Julian. I’m just trying to figure it out as I go.”
He sighed. “I forgive you.”
Her brows shot up. “Gee. Thanks. How kind of you.”
“Are you mocking me?”
Not this again. He was easier to bruise than a ripe pear. “Let’s get you some meat.”
He nodded. “Yes. Meat. And then I will sleep.”
She stuffed a twenty-dollar bill in her pocket, and he followed her out the door. The elevator opened onto the lobby. All the business offices were closed for the night.
The glass doors opened from the street, and a portly tenant walked in. “Howdy, Kara. How’s it going?” Gary said as he passed, giving Julian a smile and a nod.
And suddenly, Gary was up against the wall, his feet dangling and his face turning scarlet with Julian’s hand wrapped around his throat.
Julian brought his face to Gary’s, his nose almost grinding against the other man’s. “What do you want with her? Who are you?”
Kara ran to Julian, grasping his arm. “Put him down, Julian! He lives here.” His skin and muscle felt like rock under her fingertips, as though her struggle to break his hold had no effect.
“Answer me,” Julian demanded, easing his grip slightly when it became clear Gary couldn’t breathe, much less reply.
“Just saying hi,” Gary choked out. “Didn’t mean anything.”
When Julian didn’t release him, Kara reached up in desperation and covered his eyes with her hands while she yanked back on his head with all her might. It worked. He growled and spun on her, dropping Gary to the floor.
“What are you doing?” she yelled, glancing at Gary to make sure he was still breathing. His hands were around his throat as he gasped for breath. “You can’t attack people whenever you feel like it! You’re going to hurt somebody!”
Images of the maimed, bleeding warrior he’d left in the alley assaulted her. What was she doing? Going to the grocery store with a sociopathic Aniliáre was just plain crazy.
“I don’t know him,” Julian answered.
“Who do you know besides me?”
“No one.”
“It doesn’t make any logical sense to attack every person you don’t remember, Julian.”
“Stop saying my name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Different from the first night.”
Just then, Gary started crawling down the corridor toward the stairwell.
“Gary,” Kara warned, “stay where you are.”
He stopped, his eyes huge and bloodshot. “Okay, K-Kara.”
“Julian,” she said sweetly, “could you please find it in your beautiful, black-wing heart to wipe Gary’s memory before the next person comes through that door?”
He growled and stalked to Gary. Her tenant cowered against the wall, his tan slacks wet down the front. “Forget it happened,” Julian ordered.
Gary nodded. “O-okay.”
Kara groaned. This Julian couldn’t even remember how to wipe someone’s mind. She approached the two men. “Not like that. You have to cast your thoughts out until you feel them merge with the other person’s—like you were trying to do to me the other night.”
Compelling a human had been easier with Abbey’s relaxant, but Kara had since discovered that it wasn’t impossible without it.
“Gary,” she said gently, locking eyes with her poor, scared neighbor. She felt his mind expand, taking her in. “Everything’s fine. You didn’t see us here tonight. You have a sore throat, and you need to rest. Go home, take some medicine and go to bed. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
He rose to his feet and punched the button to the elevator, as though he wasn’t aware of their presence. Once the doors closed behind him, Kara whirled on Julian. “If you’re going to leave this building, you have to promise me you won’t touch anyone else!”
“I don’t have to do any such thing, woman. Who are you to tell me how to behave?”
Her hands poised on her hips. “Good question. Who am I to you, and why are you here? Can’t you just go and leave me alone? ’Cause I swear, if there’s anything I didn’t need tonight—it’s more shit to deal with.”
Julian looked down at his feet and didn’t say anything for a long while, then he sighed. “I give you my word. Until the sun rises, I will not lay a hand on another.”
His dejected eyes stuck a pin through her ballooning rage. “Okay. Fine. You promised, then.”
As they turned toward the lobby exit, a couple from the second floor walked in. They were dressed as if they’d just come from a fancy dinner. Julian stepped into their path, towering over them. “Hello,” he growled in a flat monotone.
The man’s eyebrows shot up, as if he was momentarily alarmed until he spied Kara. “Hello, there. Are you two headed out?”
“Sure are.” Kara grasped Julian’s hand and forced a smile. “Have a great night.”
She yanked him toward the door and pushed through. “You didn’t need to do that.”
He scowled. “I thought you wanted me to be nice to the humans.”
Oh, hell. “Just let me do the talking, okay?”
“Fine. Just take me to the meat.” He puffed out a pained breath through his nose and brought his hand to his forehead. “Sooner is better than later.”
Kara ground to a halt on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Can we hurry now?”
She started walking, Julian close to her side. 6th street wasn’t as busy tonight as it usually was in October, but there were always people in the Gaslamp. Why had Julian picked this place out of all the places he could have gone? “Can you tell me what you remember?”
“I’d rather not.”
Her nostrils flared, and she shook her head. “Okay, then, why are you here? What have I done to earn all this attention?”
He snorted in response.
Part of her was really beginning to believe that the man by her side was Julian, but the other part wasn’t sure what that meant. Even if a Shadow Rising had occurred, if the man she’d loved had no memory of her or even himself—if he wasn’t even the same species anymore—what was left to build on?
As they passed Horton Plaza and the bustle of shoppers there, Julian tensed, his eyes scanning the crowd. “Too many people.”
Kara bit her lip and linked her arm through his. “It’s going to be okay, Julian. If you really are him…I’ll help you through this.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of. Your help is the last thing I need.”
She wanted to fling his hand down and sock him in the arm, but she held tighter instead. “Okay, tough guy. Just remember I offered. You keep your word to me, and I’ll k
eep mine.”
They entered the grocery store, and Kara grabbed a shopping cart. She wheeled it straight to the meat section and began sifting through the specials of the week. She wasn’t sure how much beef an Aniliáre needed, and she didn’t want to break the bank on filet mignon, even if Julian had once fed her the same thing. She picked up a large, cheap rump roast. “This one looks good, huh?”
“Yes.” He ripped the package from her hands and tore the plastic wrapper from the meat.
When his fangs snapped down, Kara gasped, whispering loudly, “Not here. Put those damn teeth away.”
When she yanked the package of meat from his hands, he glared as if he might take a bite out of her instead, but then his fangs slowly receded. “I’m quite skilled at not being detected.”
Of course he was. He’d stripped the wings off of four warriors somewhere above Kara without her realizing it. “Yeah, I know.”
He reached for the roast again. “I can extend the circle to you, if you like.”
She stepped back, clutching the meat to her breast like a small child. “There are these little things called cameras, Julian. Humans think it’s odd when you’re on screen with a grocery item one minute, then disappear the next. Aiden told me that you and Gavin…” The name caught in her throat. Talking to him about the Mercury Lords made the loss too real if her Julian was gone forever.
His gaze sharpened on her face. “Who are Gavin and Aiden? What are they to you?”
She cleansed away the memories with a long breath. “I was just going to say that Julian—the one I used to know—and Gavin used to make sure none of their—” she glanced around the store at the other shoppers, lowering her voice, “—workers did stuff off the job that would draw attention to their company.”
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “I have no idea what you are getting at. Bring the meat, and we’ll leave.”
For a moment, Kara thought he was really pissed. Her stomach had been souring since they’d entered the store, and now the nauseating feel of evil wedged in her gut. “Are you angry with me?”
His nostrils flared, and his lips thinned to a line. “No. I’m hungry!”
