I glanced down at Emma’s hands resting in her lap. Her elegant fingers curled slightly, but I could still see the brands on her palms. Both palms. My chest tightened, and I smoothed my shirt to alleviate an unfamiliar feeling of protective rage. What kind of fucked up father branded their child with demon names?
She’d said she’d had no choice, but she’d activated the marks. She’d drawn power from them. I’d smelled the sulfuric stench of Blood Demon fill the air when her palm had burned me with its evil taint. Free will decreed that she should not have been able to harness any power given to her by a Blood Demon unless she had chosen to accept it in a soul exchange. And she had a soul; I’d sensed it during our first encounter.
My eyes snapped back to the road as I hit another bump. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to focus on the road.
What if I’d been wrong?
I needed to check again while she slept and her defenses were down. Wolf yipped in agreement. Exhaling a slow breath, I reached out with my angelic power. It wisped in the space around her, caressing and probing, and I felt it. A golden hum of pure, untouched soul. Her soul. I let out a breath as my wolf continued to trace his energy against hers. She had a soul.
But there was something else, an intangible bond forming between us, a slender, delicate red thread. Similar to a pack bond, yet not. Was this why my wolf had refused to hunt her?
Keeping my eyes on the road, I reached over and took her hand. The touch of her skin sent a warming shiver through me. I focused on the thread and pushed energy into it, trying to track its source. It pulsed in response, then thickened as an orange strand weaved its way around the red thread. I felt the need to touch her grow and dropped her hand like it had caught fire.
What the hell was that?
I rubbed my hand against my jeans and focused on slowing my rapid breathing as the urge to touch her faded. This attraction could prove dangerous. It was more than physical, and I couldn’t allow that.
Emma made a small noise of distress and shifted her body toward me. I stopped myself from retaking her hand and focused on the road instead.
I couldn’t allow myself to feel anything toward her. Life had taught me that losing people you cared about hurt. She was a lead to the stolen medallion. That was all. And I needed to protect my lead. Minimum care was all that was required. Just enough to keep her safe until I found out what I needed.
I nodded at this decision.
We hit another bump and I stole a glance at her before frowning at the road.
I wouldn’t even allow myself to care that her head was slumped forward from that last bump. I didn’t care that she’d probably get a sore neck if she stayed like that. Caring was dangerous. If she was using Blood Demon magic against me, I’d have to kill her.
My wolf whined inside me at the thought of hurting her.
I stole another look at her.
Schieße.
I reached over and used the tips of my fingers on her forehead to push her head up and back against the headrest. This had to be a new kind of Blood Demon magic.
“What the hell are you doing?” She slapped my fingers off her forehead.
“Listening to you snore,” I growled.
“I do not snore.”
She sounded so indignant. I couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that escaped. “You do. The radio doesn’t work. It was all I had to listen to for hours. You have quite a rhythmic snuffle.”
She gaped at me. “Clearly, there is something wrong with your hearing.”
“Süße, I can hear a rabbit fart in the woods from five hundred meters away. There is nothing wrong with my hearing. You were snoring.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut and turned to look out the window. She refused to engage any further. Wolf slumped in disappointment—he enjoyed provoking her too much.
“We’re almost there,” I rumbled.
“Oh. How long was I asleep?”
“Almost six hours.”
“Six hours!” She sat forward, looking around outside like she was seeing it for the first time. “Where the bloody hell are we?”
“We’re in Hungary, near the Tokaj. I’m taking you to an old packhouse. It’s empty now, but the wards are strong enough to keep humans from finding it, so the other wards should still be in place. It’s the only place I could think of that will be safe. We should arrive in about twenty minutes or so.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She sat back and continued to stare out the window in a deceptively relaxed pose. Her hands clenched together in her lap gave her away. So did the slight rise in her heart rate. She’d been through a lot, and I guessed she was processing it all now that she was awake. I understood the need for space more than anyone, so I gave it to her.
Fifteen minutes later, she broke her silence.
“Thank you.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry if I was rude before we left. I was just so angry and confused. I forgot to say thank you. For saving me.” She turned and gave me a shy smile. “You don’t understand how much it means to me to know those things are real, and you killed one. For me. Thank you.”
“I would have killed it anyway, regardless of you. It’s fine.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and drove up the driveway.
“We’re here,” I announced.
Chapter 7
Emma
* * *
Kristof switched off the engine, plunging us into darkened silence. I squinted as my eyes adjusted, then leaned forward and peered out the windscreen at the colossal building shrouded in the early morning haze. Color was only just starting to kiss the horizon, and the light didn’t have much to offer, but it was enough.
Blimey, he’d said he was taking me to a house. This was not a house. It was a mansion. A run-down abandoned Romantic-style mansion surrounded by a creepy dark forest. What the bloody hell was I thinking of, getting into a car with a complete stranger only to end up here? Alone. In the woods. In another bloody country.
“Come on. Hurry up,” he commanded as he grabbed my bag and got out of the car.
I didn’t move.
He leaned back in. “Emma, I can smell your fear. There is no need. Now get out. You’re safe.”
For now, my mind added.
He closed the door. The unspoken words bounced around inside the small vehicle. I got out and slammed my door to silence them. I was strong. I could do this. I would not let fear hold me back.
If I was going to break away from Father and find my independence, then I needed to know more about Blood Demons and the sigils on my hands. Kristof was my key. The fact that the creatures I’d seen all my life were real and Father had branded demon names onto my palms made my stomach sick.
Father must have known that. And if he knew that, then he must know about Blood Demons. The thought left me feeling heavy all over. Father had made me think I was crazy. My eyes burned and I squeezed them shut. I’d shed enough tears over that betrayal. I would not spill any more. When I opened my eyes again, Kristof was already opening the front door.
He dropped my bag inside the doorway and turned to face me.
“Are you coming in today? Or are you going to stand there in the freezing dawn and watch the sunrise?” He crossed his arms over his muscular chest. The movement drew my attention to how the warm light of the sunrise highlighted his bare bronzed arms. I frowned. It was freezing. Why was he only wearing a t-shirt?
Oh, that’s right. I was wearing his jacket.
Shit, I needed to give it back. I couldn’t have him walking around looking like that, all muscular and hot.
As I approached the house, my skin began to tingle. Only five stone steps led to the double doors where Kristof stood, but I couldn’t take them. I couldn’t take even the first step that would lead me into the house. I froze. It was Father’s study all over again. I looked up at Kristof in horror.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“I … I d
on’t know. I can’t enter. I can’t come any closer.” Panic beat at my heart like a jockey’s whip, causing my pulse to take off.
Kristof leaped down the steps and landed beside me. He drew in a deep breath and frowned. “I don’t smell sulfur,” he stated.
“Well, that’s bloody nice, isn’t it? Is that supposed to mean anything to me?”
He weighed me with a critical eye, then in that calm and steady tone, he explained. “If you were activating those symbols on your hand, or using any other type of Blood Demon magic, I would smell it. It smells like sulfur, and I don’t smell sulfur. Tell me what you feel. Please, will you let me help?” he coaxed.
It was the please that did me in. Up until now, he’d been all commands and orders, and now he wasn’t demanding, he was asking. And it was up to me to decide to accept his help or not. He wouldn’t impose his will on me. I couldn’t remember a time when Father wasn’t trying to impose his will on me. I’d thought all men were the same.
One corner of his mouth tipped up, and a dimple promised to appear. “I’m freezing my ass off here. I’d like to go inside. Together.”
I tried not to lean back and look at his ass. I’d caught a glimpse earlier. It was a magnificent ass, and it would be a shame to let it freeze off. Bloody hell, between the dimple and thoughts of his ass, how was I supposed to stay defiant?
“Okay.” I nodded, then bit at my lip. “Umm, I don’t know where to start.”
“Just close your eyes and try to take a step forward and tell me what it feels like,” he suggested.
I followed his instruction and closed my eyes.
When I tried to step forward, the tingling started again, and then, I couldn’t move. “It’s like there is a wall there. No, that’s not right. It’s like trying to push two wrong ends of a magnet together, and I’m one of the magnets. I just can’t go any further.”
I opened my eyes and turned to face glacial blue eyes. He blinked, and they were back to their usual deep sapphire.
“You’re not human.” He backed away as he cocked his head to the side.
I was stunned into silence. My mouth hung open and I didn’t know what to say.
“You have a human soul.” He shook his head. “But you aren’t entirely human.”
“How can you say that?”
“The wall you can feel is a ward. There are two. The first surrounds the perimeter of the property and makes all this land invisible to humans from the outside. But once a human is inside that ward, they can roam the property freely, including inside the house. When we crossed the first ward, I felt its strength, so I knew the second ward would be up.” He paused and drew in a breath. “The second ward has only one purpose, and that is to keep Blood Demons out of the house. They can only enter if invited in.”
How could he suggest I was anything like those foul, hideous creatures? They were evil—pure evil. Just the thought of their hooked claws and yellowed fangs made me nauseous with terror. I was nothing like them.
I raised my chin. “I don’t like what you’re implying.”
“Well, there is only one way to find out,” he snarled.
With that, he strode over to the porch and, keeping his back to me, proceeded to unzip his pants and pee on the steps.
“What the bloody hell are you doing?” I shrieked.
“Claiming the territory,” he growled.
“Are you deliberately being disgusting?”
He glared over his shoulder at me. “It’s a wolf thing. I don’t care if you like it, but you will respect it.” He turned as he did up his fly.
“The only way to test the theory is for the house owner to invite you in.” The calm and steady tone had returned. He was back to reasonable explanations and my brain was getting whiplash. “Blood Demons destroyed the pack that lived here; only two members survived. They moved to live with a pack in Romania. Unless you want to sit in the car and freeze while I try to contact one of them and ask them nicely if I can have their old territory, then this is the quickest and easiest way to claim an empty Soul Guardian home and secure the wards.”
“Well, shouldn’t you have done it in your dog form?”
“I told you before. I am not a dog.”
Kristof gave me a look that told me the subject was closed for discussion, then he strode up the stairs and waited again in the doorway.
“Now what?” I asked. “I still can’t step forward.”
“You have to ask to come in.”
A cold sweat broke out over my skin. I knew the words I had to say. They were words that had been drilled into me since birth. Words I swore to discard once I broke free from Father, yet here I was, miles from him and they still bound me.
“May I enter?” I choked on a sob.
“You may.” His expression was taut.
I rubbed my damp palms down the leg of my pants and stepped forward. Nothing. No invisible wall keeping me out or feeling of discomfort. I was free to enter.
When I reached the top of the stairs, Kristof averted his gaze. He wouldn’t look at me, his face was a cold blank mask, and he vibrated with tension as he stared at the forest behind me. He didn’t say a word. Then he growled, turned, and disappeared into the darkness of the house.
I was overwhelmed by the implication of what had just happened.
The ward only kept a Blood Demon out. The ward only allowed a Blood Demon in if it was invited. So, what did that make me?
I wasn’t evil, but I was terrified of the urges I fought when I met someone’s gaze. I drew in a fortifying breath.
I wasn’t evil.
I wasn’t crazy.
I was the master of my future, and Kristof was going to help me by telling me all about Blood Demons. My whole life had been a lie, and I had to piece together the truth. Once I had the truth, I would ensure I never, ever, had to say those words again.
I picked up my bag where it lay discarded in the entrance and followed him into the gloom.
Chapter 8
Emma
* * *
The man could move fast. I’d give him that. I found Kristof pacing and growling in what looked like an old dining area. The room’s greatest feature was the grand old fireplace in the center of the back wall. The rest of the room was a wreck. The table was knocked over and pushed up against the wall. Chairs littered the floor and those that weren’t broken lay on their sides. The layer of dust suggested whatever happened here had occurred a long time ago.
I stood in the doorway, watching him.
“Nice place you’ve got yourself here.” I toed at a broken bit of china.
He stopped and swung around. Our gazes clashed and I was caught, ensnared in a trap I didn’t even suspect lay just below the surface, waiting to take away my control.
Wrath …
The word stabbed into my mind. I dropped my bag, and the connection pulled me into the room.
I’d thought it was safe to look into his eyes. It wasn’t. The power of his emotions was too strong. So much rage and hurt swirled within the depth of his gaze. His soul was ravaged by grief and the need for revenge.
“Show me your chest,” he snarled.
“I beg your pardon?”
I was fighting to hold onto myself. He was so angry, so full of anger calling for revenge. I could give him that … for the price of his soul.
“Un. Do. Your. Shirt. And show me your chest. Now!”
I staggered under the weight of his fury.
So much Wrath. And it was all directed at me. I was drowning in it. Like quicksand trying to suck me under, the more I fought, the more it dragged me down. I was losing myself. I needed to break this connection before it was too late. I couldn’t allow the darkness to overtake me.
I closed my eyes, seeking out an inner calm. My gums burned, and I felt my teeth shift and move. Fangs! The sensation of sharp tips emerging drove me to desperation. I had to find a place inside me where the darkness couldn’t reach. Deeper and deeper, I fell within myself. The tide of his anger
threatened to wash me away.
Long nails grew and bit into the flesh of my clenched fists. Claws. I was losing the battle. Sweat dripped down my spine as I fought the unknown energy that wanted to rise within me. And then, I found it. A sanctuary within. It glowed red and orange, and when I clutched onto it, it pulsed in response and a yellow light appeared to join the warm glow. Like a lifeline, I held on tight and dragged myself back from the abyss.
The connection to all that rage snapped, and I had control.
My whole body trembled from the effort it took to find sanity. I opened my eyes, but I dared not look at Kristof. I could still sense the Wrath, bubbling within him, waiting to erupt and devour me, waiting to be answered. Like a sinister whisper, the dark part of me still wanted to latch onto it and use his Wrath against him.
“Do it!” he demanded. “Show me!”
His chest was heaving as he strained to hold back the rage that threatened to consume him. And yet, despite all that fury directed at me, I wasn’t afraid.
“No,” I whispered. “Why would you ask me to do that?”
“So I know if I need to force my wolf to rip your throat out or not. Is that a good enough reason?”
“Right.” I took a calming breath and pushed the lingering inner darkness to the side. The power was still there, I couldn’t push it away completely, but that wasn’t my priority anymore. Kristof was. It was like his pain was mine somehow. My eyes burned with unshed tears from the intensity of the hurt he exuded. I needed to soothe his grief more than I needed to own his Wrath. I needed to dispel his fury, not take it and use it against him.
“Maybe that reason inspires other women to take their top off for you Kristof, but, if you could explain why ripping my throat out is even an option, then perhaps I’d be more willing to comply,” I said to buy time.
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