Ashes

by Sophie H. Morgan

  For his vow never to tell Edward’s secret.

  “How did you know?” She tilted, interrupting his thoughts. “Where I was?”

  Back to the real world.

  “I went to the palace.”

  Feeling Alana stiffen, he rubbed his hands up and down her spine. “There are old war tunnels that run through the entire structure. I used them to spy on Edward.”

  “So, that’s why you came back.” Her voice was neutral.

  He moistened his lips, feeling the disappointment she was radiating like sunlight on a cold day. “I heard him talk about the labs. He seems to think experimenting on kids is acceptable as long as it benefits humans. For their survival.” Still baffled at this buried aspect of a man he’d thought he knew, Cade shook his head. “I shouldn’t have had to hear it from him,” he admitted, laying himself bare. “I should’ve trusted you.”

  She was silent. Then, “He was planning the ambush?” She avoided his confession.

  Although a frown dragged down his eyebrows, Cade understood a simple apology wouldn’t make up for his doubt in her. His fingers squeezed her hips. “Yes. I was going to tell you, but…”

  “I’d gone.” Alana pursed her lips. “Still doesn’t explain how you knew where I was.”

  “Did I mention I’m a resourceful kind of guy?” Cade teased, wiggling his eyebrows. “I tracked an info-merchant. He told me.”

  “He just told you?” Her lips twisted in skepticism.

  “Well, not the first twelve,” he confessed. “The thirteenth did. After some friendly coercion.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Alana tipped her head to the side. “How friendly?”

  “I paid him,” Cade retorted. “Course, then he decided to attack me, so I had to kill him.”

  “Attacked you?”

  “Sneaky bastards, info-merchants. You turn your back and they try to take you hostage.” He caught her eye, shrugged. “Shade’s worth a pretty penny in some governments.”

  “Maybe I should be thinking about taking you in, then.” Amusement visibly shimmered over her face, rested in eyes melting to honey.

  A slow smile curved his lips. “Think you can take me in, Ana?”

  Alana’s breathing hitched, claws digging in. “Absolutely.”

  “Even though I’m bigger?” Wickedness wove through his words.

  Her voice was breathless. “Yes.”

  He reeled her in, until they were touching everywhere but their lips. Even through her clothes, he could feel her heat, her softness. He dropped his head, hovering so their breaths mingled, listening to her heart quake.

  “Would you use a blindfold?” he murmured against her mouth.

  He tasted the smile. “Chains.”

  “Naturally.”

  His mouth skimmed hers, sensation rippling through him with a magnified impact. She opened her mouth with a small, needy moan.

  He dipped in, slow and lazy, despite the clawing need that shredded his insides. Her taste hit with the same impact it always did. His cock hardened on a wave of pure desire. Honey and blackberries.

  Growling, he tugged her tighter, dissatisfied with the smallest space that divided them. His tongue tangled with hers, a slow, wet slide that made his stomach jitter in a way that hurt the healing injury. But he’d be stabbed again before he stopped.

  He fed her kisses, hands traveling until they were meshed in her hair. He paused long enough to comb his hands through it, nipping her bottom lip. “Did I ever tell you I like the hair?” He licked the small hurt.

  “No. Make it up to me.”

  Their kiss was hotter this time, fueled by desperate need.

  When she sucked on his tongue, the growl vibrated through his chest into hers. “Again.” He propelled her backward against the wall.

  When she gasped, his jackal sensed it wasn’t from lust. He snarled, remembering her leg. “You’re hurt.”

  She circled them until he was against the wall. She pressed into him, soft to hard. Her tank rasped his bare chest. “A little. Kiss.”

  He pressed a kiss on her lips, satisfied she was healing. He smoothed his hands down her thighs, mindful of her injury, aching for her to be naked, for him to be naked. “Up,” he said, breaking their kiss.

  “No.” Her eyes challenged him, playful. “What’re you gonna do, merc?”

  He snapped at her, loving the way her mouth rounded. Wet and plump, her lips beckoned. “I’m gonna—”

  “Are we interrupting?” A chilled voice from the doorway.

  Reacting with supernatural speed, Cade pushed Alana behind him. He compressed his mouth in sulky recognition. “Vampire.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ana felt her cheeks flush. She stepped out from behind Cade’s broad back. “He’s feeling better.”

  “So I see.” Trick’s smile was not friendly.

  Caught between two testosterone-driven men, one a wild animal, the other a vampire, Ana did the one thing she could think of. “Shall we measure you both now to see who the bigger dick is?”

  “No need.” Trick’s eyes were as chilled as fine champagne.

  “We don’t need to measure,” Cade inserted concurrently.

  Ana sighed. “Behave,” she ordered. “Both of you.”

  The sounds of scuffling came from the outer hall, muttered curses and raised voices echoing in the passage behind where Trick stood. He took one step to the left as Faer and Vander staggered in, Vander punching the air when he passed Trick. “Yes! A win for the human!” He cupped his hands around his mouth and made cheering sounds.

  As Faer ground his teeth, Vander’s eyes landed on Cade’s bare chest. An eyebrow inched up, the hazel gleaming in amusement. “Well, well, what’s going on in here?”

  If red had a face, it would be Ana’s. “What do you guys want?”

  Vander raised his hands, a who me? expression unrolling over his face. “Hey, I wanted to meet the justice assassin.”

  “And you?”

  Faer folded his arms, eyes narrowed. He’d lost the horn armor he’d been rocking the night before, but the cuts on his face told of recent battle. “I’ll be stickin’ ’round to make sure he ain’t gonna hurt you.”

  She felt Cade’s growl vibrate through the hand still touching him. “I’d never hurt Alana.”

  “You fuckin’ chained her,” Faer retorted, his brown eye beginning to pale to icy blue.

  Not good.

  “Alana?” Confusion surfed Vander’s face like a wave.

  “Pet name. None of your business.” Cade’s voice was a snap.

  “Why does a merc have a pet name for his hostage?” Vander shot back. His hand went to his sword belt and he drew his sword out a couple of inches, the metallic hiss igniting the tension further.

  “Okay, we should all calm down,” Ana warned.

  “No, if any of you want to take me on, I’m game.” Cade’s jackal prowled behind his mask of civility, snarling at her from Cade’s voice. His face was paler than normal, beads of sweat blooming at his hairline. There was a fine tremor beneath her hand.

  Ana eyed him with concern. “Maybe you should lie down, Ca—” She caught herself. “Shade.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You want me to throw something at you again?”

  He glared at her and turned the tables. “What about you? You look as rested as a hyperactive kid. Maybe you should lie down.”

  Her temper, always easily roused around this man, flared hot. Fire swirled upward in a glorious rush of gold, prickling her skin. “You think I’m that feeble?” She forgot about the interested ears of the Hood members, incensed to think Cade was again seeing her as less.

  “Don’t do that.” He scowled, hurt flaring for a moment. His hand brushed hers. “Don’t push me away.”

  Ana blinked. “I don’t know what you mean
.”

  “Yeah, you do.”

  But he let it go. His hand fell back to his side.

  Ana cleared her throat, flames returning in lazy circles to her core. She fought the blush when she remembered they had an audience. “Trick? Anything you want to add?”

  The vampire touched his tongue to his left fang. He stared at Cade as though, if he concentrated hard enough, he could make him disappear. “I think,” he said, smooth as a politician with twice the dark undertone, “that introductions are in order.”

  Ana threw up her hands, more dramatic than a society belle who’d received the wrong lettering on her debut invitations. “Yes, let’s have a frigging tea party while Edward regroups.”

  Cade straightened, intent on Trick. “You know who I am.”

  “Do we?” Leaving the enigmatic question hanging, Trick swept a fairly mocking bow. “Trick. Coleader of the Hoods.”

  “And connected to Liberty.”

  “To some degree.” He didn’t elaborate.

  “You’re a vampire.” Cade cocked his head in a move that wasn’t human. His nostrils flared as he inhaled Trick’s peculiar scent. “Didn’t the Kingdom Wars exterminate your kind?”

  “Not my kind.” Trick’s eyes glistened.

  There was a simmering moment of tension. Then: “Shade. Merc by trade.” He paused, flashed a grin. “Lover by night.”

  Ana fought the urge to smack him.

  “And working for Edward.”

  That wiped Cade’s grin away, like sweat off a brow. “Not anymore.”

  “Changed your mind so quickly?” Trick’s eyebrows arched. “Is our sweet Ana so…compelling?”

  A growl curled out like a threatening storm. “Watch. Your. Mouth.”

  “Apparently so,” the vampire who courted death decided. “So, you want to join our merry band of miscreants?”

  Ana frowned as she noticed Cade’s legs shuddering. Ignoring the rest of them, she captured his arm and towed him to the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. “Sit before you fall.”

  He resisted until she shoved him, sitting with a begrudging expression. His hands snaked out, grabbing her around the hips and hauling her onto his lap.

  She smacked at his hands. “I’ll open your wound.” Although it had healed better than she could have hoped, thanks to both her cauterization and his shifter healing powers.

  Cade’s animal rumbled.

  Fighting discomfiture, Ana folded her arms. “Fine.”

  Trick’s eyes were faintly amused, Faer’s and Vander’s flummoxed. She dared them to say anything, sitting as prim as a matron on Cade’s lap. “Before the hair pulling begins,” she started in a withering tone, staring pointedly at the vampire ringleader, “He saved your life.”

  “Nobody asked him to.”

  Cade said against her ear, “I’m starting to see the family resemblance.”

  Ana’s lips twitched.

  To Trick, Cade said, “Trust me, if it weren’t for Alana, your ass would be a pile of ash right now.” His hand stroked her hip, as if for reassurance. “As for Edward, I heard about the ambush from his own lips. About his experiments.” He sounded sick. “Nobody could beat me up more than myself.”

  “Wanna bet?” Faer muttered.

  Vander barked a laugh, dancing his fingers over the sword he’d resheathed at his side.

  “Just like that?” Skepticism dripped from Trick’s tongue. He shifted so he was leaning against the wall, a shadow against pure white. “A merc who cares about innocents being slaughtered?”

  Ana’s stomach churned at the affront painted on Cade’s face, but it was a fair point. She’d wondered that herself.

  “You don’t know me, true. You don’t like me, fair enough. But I don’t stand by while innocents are tortured, ripped open and sold like spare parts for powers. Look up my reputation. You’ll see.”

  “I’ve heard of you,” Trick acknowledged. “The justice assassin. Famed for your penchant for criminals, and what’s left after you’re through.” He tilted his head. “What to believe?”

  “Believe this: Edward’s probably already been told that I’ve switched sides.” Cade raised a hand to gesture at himself. “You’ve seen my face, which is more than Edward ever has. I should kill you for that. Thank Alana that I don’t.”

  “She means that much to you?”

  “Wow, okay, enough!” Ana interrupted. If her cheeks had been hot before… “None of your beeswax, fang boy.”

  Cade’s hand on her hip slipped beneath her trousers, his fingers roughened and strong. Long. Sexy. “My feelings for Alana don’t change the fact that Edward needs to be stopped. I’ve been a fool, but I don’t have to keep being one.” He raised one finger in Ana’s direction. “No cheek from you.”

  Vander spoke up. “Would you follow Liberty?”

  Cade frowned, his fingers continuing to graze Ana’s skin. Her eyes crossed with pleasure. “Your cause is just, but your leader won’t have my full loyalty until she shows herself. I’ve got zero respect for those who hide while throwing their followers into the fire.”

  Ana had a sinking sensation in her gut like a downed balloon. She avoided Trick’s stare, knowing the bastard would have some opinion on her silence. One thought kept spinning like a coin, over and over—would Cade accept her when he learned the truth?

  She shoved the thought to the rear of her mind, to dance with all those that dwelt on her royal responsibilities. “He saved your life, Trick.”

  Trick’s eyebrows lowered until they were a deep line. “Fine.” He crossed his arms with a moody air. “For now.”

  “We ain’t even gonna rough him up?” Faer whined.

  Something glinted in Trick’s gold eyes. He swept them over Cade. “You healed?” He straightened from his stance against the wall.

  Cade shifted Ana off his knee, keeping her against him like a cane as he pushed up. “As good as.”

  Ana poked his side, arching an eyebrow when he hissed. “Yeah, right,” she said under her breath.

  Cade poked her back.

  “We’re going to go do some training,” Trick was saying. “Some weights, some weapons skill. The usual. You up for joining?”

  Ana shook her head, smelling a rat. Or a vampire’s dirty tricks. “Trick…”

  “No.” Cade stopped her. He patted her hip. “It’ll be good for the healing, though I could eat a horse first.”

  “We’ll stop by the kitchen.” Trick shifted his attention to Ana. “Sapphy’s asking for you.”

  Torn between her desire to see her friend and her desire to make sure Cade lasted the night, she grimaced. He was Shade, after all. How bad could it be?

  “I’ll be holding you responsible if they kill him,” she warned Vander, the sanest one in the room. “He’ll be useful in detailing palace security.”

  Vander grinned. “Sure it’s not because you’re in lurve with him?”

  Ana flipped a hand, fire flying in a fine line toward the human.

  His sword was unsheathed quicker than she could blink, blocking the attack. He smirked. “Nice try.”

  Ana made a face, striding toward the door. The men shifted out of her way, all focused on the one she left behind. She wasn’t actually worried. This was what men did when they bonded. Strangely enough, she wanted Cade to bond with her family.

  She paused by the door, throwing a mischievous smile at her jackal. “Play nice, boys.”

  Cade swabbed sweat from his brow with the rag Vander had tossed him. He tried to hide the stitch in his side, the way his lungs struggled for sweet, sweet oxygen, by bracing himself on his knees. His jackal arched its back at the workout.

  After changing into his own clothes and dropping by the Hoods’ makeshift kitchen—a tiny gray room with a rickety table, five chairs on their last legs, and a child’s drawing of a family—Ca
de had been led through what had felt like fifty hallways to the large training room. His animal hadn’t even been able to keep track of what direction they were going in. If the Hoods deserted him here, the Southlands would probably have a new ruler by the time he made it out.

  Throwing down the rag, Cade straightened. “Am I that good, or were you not really trying?”

  Vander laughed, swinging his sword in a complicated set of moves that blurred with speed. “Don’t kid yourself, merc. If I were trying, you’d have a sword sticking out of your body.”

  “Again?” Irony layered the word. Thankfully, his wound had shrunk until it was nonexistent, lingering itchiness the last to go. He paused. “Your leader always so prickly?”

  “Yes.” Trick intercepted from the other end of the rectangular room. The mahogany plas-wood creaked as he stepped forward. He was as immaculate as when they’d started, though he’d been doing serious hand-to-hand with the demon. He stood out like an oil painting against the white plastered walls. “Would you trust someone new after one of your own turned traitor?”

  “Probably not.”

  Trick inclined his head. His eyes were a steady glow as he watched Cade. “You have skill. I can see why you have such a reputation.”

  “Thanks.”

  “But you’re dropping your elbow every time you go to block Vander.”

  Insult thundered through him. His animal snarled. “I do not.”

  “Vander.”

  Vander whipped his sword toward Cade’s neck, which he hastily blocked. And damn it, his elbow did drop.

  He scowled, shoving Vander away, almost knocking him into a punching bag coated in blue material. “Coincidence.”

  “Such coincidences will get you killed.”

  By reflex, Cade caught the bottle of water chucked at him. Uncapping it, he drank thirstily. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You don’t drink?”

  “Nothing but blood.”

  His stomach churned. “Don’t think I could do it.”

  Trick’s smile was faint. “It’s surprising what you get used to.”

  Cade shrugged, acknowledging the point. He cleared his throat, bending to drop the bottle on the floor. Taking out a screwed-up packet of gum from the back pocket of his pants, he offered it to Vander before taking the last piece. He chewed on it as he continued. “So, who wins when you battle with the demon?” Faer had since left to check on their other gang member, one Alana was visiting. Sapphy.