I had just finished sewing him up when my front door burst open. I jumped to my feet, a dagger in my palm. Inarus bolted from the sofa, pulled from his sleep by the disturbance, to stand beside me. His hands were clenched at his sides, but then again, he didn’t need a weapon to be a force. I doubted he had much juice left in him, though.
When I saw who stood in my doorway, I sheathed my blade and placed a hand on my hip. Inarus didn’t relax.
“Mel, the least you could do is knock,” I said.
“There’s blood on your door. Why is there blood on your door? Are you okay?” She eyed Inarus up and down. “Did you hurt her? If he hurt you, Ari, I’ll kick his ass.” She was being entirely serious. Her eyes filled with red and the blue-black wings at her back rose as she took a menacing step forward. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I was tired, still wet, and too worried to deal with harpy antics right now.
“Why don’t you go take a shower?” I said to Inarus, now that he was awake and I was done stitching. “There should be a pair of sweats and a shirt in my top drawer that are big enough to fit you.” James, my shifter best friend, always kept a spare here just in case. James was slightly taller than Inarus, so if anything, the clothes would be a bit big rather than too small. They both had broad shoulders, though Inarus had a narrower waist. James had the body of a fighter, ropes of muscle and arms that were almost as big as my thighs, while Inarus had more of a swimmer’s build. Lean, but well defined.
He nodded before disappearing back down the hallway, realizing that Melody wasn’t a threat, even if she looked a bit like demon spawn at the moment.
“Hello, Earth to Aria. Are you going to explain all of the blood?” Why had I come here again? I should have just gone to the Compound. Oh wait; I was avoiding a certain shifter. My eyes wandered the room, taking in the smears of blood and my wet clothes. Was this worth it all just to avoid Declan? Yes. Yes, it was.
“Mel, I can’t think right now. Will you please make a pot of coffee while I go change? It is way too early, and my brain needs coffee to function.”
Melody’s eyes flashed a deeper crimson before she threw her hands in the air, mumbling under her breath, but went to the kitchen, presumably to do as I’d asked, which would be a first.
I retreated back into my bedroom and racked my brain over what I could tell Melody that she’d actually buy. I couldn’t tell her the truth, not all of it, at least. Mel was the type to dive headlong into things without thinking, and I didn’t want her to get hurt.
I eyed my bloodstained comforter. I wouldn’t be getting that nap any time soon, but I could settle for coffee and food. The bathroom door was closed, the shower on. I quickly stripped out of my wet clothing, rushing through the process in case Inarus opted for a quick shower. I threw on a pair of black yoga pants and a grey shirt that said, “Unless life hands you sugar and water, your lemonade is going to suck,” and wasn’t that the truth. I dropped my wet clothes in a nearby laundry hamper and went back to the kitchen.
Melody was already at the table, three steaming cups sitting on its wooden surface. God, I loved her. I opened my fridge and grabbed a package of turkey lunchmeat. Taking a sniff, I deemed it edible and took a seat at the table. I shoved a handful of turkey in my mouth and chewed. It was cold and rubbery, but frankly, I didn’t care. It’d been a while since I’d bought groceries for my apartment, so at the moment, I’d settle for edible.
Melody curled her lip but didn’t comment. I set the lunch meat aside and wrapped my hands around the nearest mug, bringing it close to my face. I took a deep breath. The rich smell of coffee greeted me. This was just what I needed. I took a sip and allowed the brew to sit in my mouth for a few seconds before I swallowed, savoring the deep roasted flavor. Melody didn’t say anything but was drumming her fingers on the table top, clearly annoyed. I looked up over the rim of my cup, taking another drink.
“Nice shirt,” she said. I smiled. Melody made a face. “You need to work on that.”
“Work on what?”
“Your smile; it’s kind of deranged.”
I ignored her and finished my cup of coffee. Melody stood, her wings brushing the tiled floor, and retrieved the carafe and silently refilled my cup. Two times now Melody had done something nice. There must be something wrong. Maybe hell was about to freeze over. Wouldn’t my mother be pleased?
“What happened?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mel, you made a pot of coffee and you just refilled my cup for me. You don’t do that. You’re not, what’s the word…”
“Nice?” she asked. “And for the record, I am too nice. I just—” She waved her hand in the air. “Look, I’m just worried, okay? Will you fill me in on what’s going on here? Why is Mr. Sex-on-a-Stick in your apartment, and why is there blood everywhere? Does Declan know he’s here?”
“Shhhh!” I hissed at her. “No, Declan does not know, and he doesn’t need to.” Melody’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Ari, Ari, Ari, keeping two men now, hmmm?”
“If you say a single word, I’ll tell Ryan how hard you’ve been crushing on him.” That caught her attention. Ryan was our very human next-door neighbor who was currently on vacation in California, lucky him. Unlucky for him, though, was that Melody made it a point to drive him up the walls with her antics when he was here. It was her method of flirting.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I absolutely would and you know it.” Her wings ruffled and I debated flicking a spark at her. I could see her stumbling back and running into the counter, the carafe of coffee clattering to the floor as she tried to avoid the fire. I laughed under my breath and followed it up with a sigh. There would be no flicking sparks or any other acts of pyrokinesis around Melody. She was someone I considered a friend, but she didn’t know what I was. She knew I was different. I doubted she knew just how different. It was better that way, and Melody had never bothered asking. For all I knew, she might actually think I’m nothing more than a human with kickass fighting skills, though that was doubtful.
You can’t spill secrets, even by accident, if you don’t know them. So instead of starting a fire, I flicked her a glare that said Declan was an off-limits topic and downed my coffee.
“Save some for me,” Inarus said from behind me. I jumped, not having heard him come into the room.
He took a seat beside me, easing gingerly into the chair, and grabbed the remaining cup of coffee. I watched him as he drank, his throat working with each swallow. I offered him the remainder of my lunchmeat. He eyed it warily, but pulled out a piece and shoved it in his mouth anyway. He practically swallowed it whole before pulling out another piece. “Thanks.”
“Some of your color is coming back,” I commented.
“I think my body is kicking in and working to patch me up. I was too worn down before.”
“And now?”
“I’m tired and I’m sore, but I’ll live.”
I nodded. Good. He ate another piece.
“So…anyone want to fill me in?” Melody asked for the umpteenth time. I gave her a warning glare. She’d better keep quiet about Declan. That was a can of worms I wasn’t even close to being ready to open.
“Do you want the long version, or the short version?” I asked, still debating over how much to tell her.
“Short. Who has time for long these days?” How right she was. Inarus’ eyes met mine, a question in his gaze that I chose to ignore.
“Inarus here is in some trouble. Baddies are trying to kill him, and I’m going to help make sure they don’t succeed.”
Quick and to the point, just how I liked it. Melody eyed him with scrutiny, probably wondering what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into. She didn’t know that he was a former member of the HAC. I didn’t think she knew what the HAC even was, which was probably for the best. I did know that she liked Inarus, though, and had once said he had “sparkly eyes.” She was a sucker for the cute ones.
“Awe
some, I’m in,” she said cheerfully, and I groaned. Melody never turned down a challenge, and she was always up for a fight. Part of being a harpy, I supposed. What little I knew of harpies, all of which had come from Melody, informed me that harpies liked three things above all else: chaos, challenges, and canaries. She called it the three C’s, and why canaries, I honestly couldn’t tell you, but she was fascinated with the damn yellow birds and had pictures of them plastered all over her apartment.
“Mel, you need to stay out of this. It’s too dangerous.” She rolled her eyes.
“Fat chance of that happening,” Mel said. “So, Ari, what do we do first?”
My phone rang from my bedroom. Crap, I’d left it in my wet jeans. I was surprised it was still working.
“Hold that thought,” I said.
I ran to my room and dug through the wet pocket of my jeans. Without bothering to check caller I.D., I answered the phone. “Naveed,” I said into the receiver.
“Aria, where the hell are you?” James said.
“I’m at my apart—”
“Look, it isn’t important. I need to talk to you about—”
“James, I—”
“Ari, I’m not stupid. Just because you’re avoiding Declan doesn’t mean you get to avoid me too.”
“I’m not avoiding you. Look, we’ll hit the gym tonight, and I promise I’ll make it up to you by going easy on you.”
He laughed into the receiver. “We should have hit the gym early this morning. You’re getting soft in a few places.” I rolled my eyes. There wasn’t an ounce of softness anywhere left on my body, not since I’d started working out regularly with James, at least.
“Look, just come home. I’ll bring breakfast.”
My stomach growled. “What kind of breakfast?”
“I’ll run out and grab a bag of those chocolate-filled croissants you like,” he said.
My stomach growled again. James laughed, having heard the sound. Damn shifter hearing. He was manipulating me with chocolate. Knowing he was being manipulative didn’t make it any less effective, though.
“I’ll take that as a yes. See you in thirty minutes.” The line disconnected. How did he do that? I grabbed my blades and stomped back into the kitchen. I debated calling James back. I should stay here, figure out the whole Inarus mess and come up with a plan, but I was hungry and tired, and at least after I stuffed my face full of carbs, I could crawl into bed over there. My bed here was going to need a new comforter and new sheets, and I didn’t have the energy to do any laundry right now. Not that I was confident the bloodstains would come out.
I rubbed my eyes. “Hey, I’m going to head out for a bit. Are you going to be okay here?” I asked Inarus.
“I think it’d be best if I just—” I stopped him before he could finish.
Cautious of Melody listening in, I said, “A lot has happened and we both could use some sleep. Just stick around for a few days. There are blankets in the hall closet, and you can catch some shut-eye on the couch. No one’s looking for you here, so take advantage of it. I’ll be back later.” He nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely convinced that staying was a good idea.
“Mel, call me if anything happens. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Mel gave me a salute, or at least did her best imitation of one, standing tall and proud with her hand in a straight line at her forehead.
“You can count on me!”
I sighed. As long as nobody died while I was away, I’d take it.
The Compound—essentially Pack HQ—was teeming with activity despite the early hour. I found that most shifters tended to be early risers—well, except for Clan Big, which consisted mostly of bears. I rarely saw any of them before noon, and with it being winter, their presence was scarce at the Compound.
I made my way through the labyrinth of hallways leading to my room within the Compound. I still asked myself why I was staying here. Why live at the Compound when I had a perfectly good apartment in downtown Spokane that I could go home to? One I still paid rent on every month? I didn’t want to live at the Compound—not really.
I felt like I was constantly being watched, always under scrutiny. I hadn’t asked for any of this. A woman passed by me as I turned a corner, her shoulder aggressively knocking into mine. My opposite shoulder grazed the wall beside me from her knocking me off balance. I gritted my teeth but kept moving. She didn’t bother stopping, or apologizing. I knew she wasn’t sorry. I was enemy number one to any female shifters within the Compound. If Mean Girls was remade, it could be filmed in our very hallways.
You would think that being the Alpha’s mate would score me some brownie points. Instead, all I got were hate stares and not-so-subtle shoves in the halls. I wanted to hate them. I tried hating them. I couldn’t, though, not really. Hell, I’d probably do the same thing if roles were reversed. They cared for their Alpha and wanted to see him happy. I couldn’t blame them for that. I could absolutely blame Declan, though, and I did.
I didn’t ask to be mate claimed. Last month, I’d gone out on a job because some animal had been eating a local farmer’s goats. Turned out it wasn’t just any animal. His goats were being slaughtered by a freaking chupacabra right out of Mexican folklore. Never one to turn away from a challenge, I faced off with the fucker.
I lost and I almost died. I would have, had Declan not taken it upon himself to save my everlasting soul by mate claiming me and pouring Pack magic into me through our bond, which required him to bite me, and God that had hurt like a sonovabitch. I rubbed my neck where it met my shoulder. The bite was still visible. Declan’s fangs were not those tiny little things vampires had in their mouths. No, his were tiger fangs and they did some serious damage, and the dime-sized scars on my neck were proof.
I was grateful to be alive, don’t get me wrong. There just happened to be a lot of fine print in this little arrangement, and I had never agreed to sign on the dotted line. Our relationship, or lack thereof, was a work in progress. I’d been pretty freaked out when I came to and was told that I was mated to Declan Valkenaar, Alpha to the Pacific Northwest Pack, big freaking white tiger with really scary fangs and a foul temper. You’d have been too if you’d been me. James had tried his best to keep me calm, to assure me that everything was going to be okay and that, in retrospect, being mated was actually a good thing. I was still waiting for the good part. It was like I was being promised a really good cookie. A melt-in-your-mouth type of cookie that made you moan when you took a bite. Well, I was still waiting for the damn cookie, because Declan was not the soft and chewy type. No, he was hard and crunchy and bitter. His cookie sucked.
I came to my bedroom door. It better be James inside. Anyone else and I was kicking them out. I didn’t have the energy for people right now. Stepping inside, I found James resting on my bed. He was reading—or at least pretending to read—what looked like a very interesting book judging by the look of concentration on his face. I craned my head to see the title.
“Your book is upside down,” I told him.
“No it isn’t.” He scoffed but checked the cover anyway.
“You’re right. It isn’t. Now where is my breakfast?” I tossed my daggers on the bedside table and kicked off my boots before plopping down beside him. The bed was practically calling my name, and my body sank into the down comforter. I really needed that nap.
“Here, I even got you an extra,” he said, handing me a brown paper bag that smelled like chocolate and butter and heaven. I put my face over the opening and took a deep breath. God, it smelled so freaking good.
I pulled out one chocolate-filled croissant and bit into the flaky goodness.
“I could kiss you right now,” I told him around a mouthful of the treat. Melted chocolate dripped down the corner of my lip and down the side of my hand, leaving a sticky mess. I didn’t even care, too content to just eat and relax for a moment.
“Thanks, but we need to keep things strictly PG. On second thought, let’s stick with G-rated. I’d like to rema
in among the living,” he joked.
“Ha, ha, aren’t you funny.”
James smiled, a wolfish grin that lit up his features.
He leaned forward and his nostrils flared. He sniffed my hair. “Where have you been? You smell like a swamp.” He curled his lip and I smacked him in the chest, leaving a smear of chocolate on his T-shirt. Dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, and sporting a leather jacket, he exuded danger with a capital D. Women fell at his feet when he walked by, but me, nah, I just wanted to smack him upside the head.
“What was that for?”
“I do not smell like a swamp,” I told him. “I smell like the Spokane River.” He laughed and pulled me into a friendly embrace. Very G-rated.
James had made it pretty clear that he’d had feelings for me prior to Declan staking his claim. He’d said he wished he’d been the one to save me, but he’d flipped a switch since then, and he seemed to be okay with us being strictly in the friend zone now. I was glad, because mated to Declan or not, I knew that I wasn’t the girl for James.
“So, what’s going on? I know you want something. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten chocolate out of this,” I said.
James ruffled my hair. “Can’t I just want to, I don’t know, hang?”
“I’m not stupid. Spill. If you just want to hang, we can do that after I shower and get some shut-eye.”
He growled.
“Declan—” Yup, I’d been right. Of course he didn’t just ‘want to hang.’
“James, can we not? I don’t want to talk about it.” Not now. Not ever, really. James kept trying to play the middle man between mine and Declan’s relationship. I knew it wasn’t his fault. He was only trying to help, but it was getting old, and he’d been right—I had started to avoid him, if only to avoid these types of conversation. Since then, he’d also taken it upon himself to become my personal trainer and adviser on all things Pack. If he wasn’t griping about my relationship over breakfast, then he was doing it as he kicked my ass during our daily workouts. James had decided that since I was mated to a shifter, I needed to be shifter strong, and it was up to him to kick my butt into shape. I complained on a daily basis, but the added definition in my arms was something I was starting to appreciate.
Burned by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 3) Page 2
