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“Okay….maybe ten but I swear…Goddess honest truth…five years. Shortly before her sudden departure.”
“Jesus Christ.” Julian blew out an audible breath. “You kissed her? Really?”
“Maybe a little…you know…” The vampire pinched his fingers. “Eh. Just a wee bit taste. I swear it was just once. Oh twice, there was that time in the Alps.” He held his hand to his chest. “But I swear on the life of my mama I never fucked her.”
“You’ve been lying.” Rafe smiled.
“Oh no I haven’t. No, no, no, my friend. I meant what I said. I don’t want to see the witch. She’s like hemlock. Beautiful on the outside but deadly. I’m good.” Greyson held up his palm.
“Any more secret lovers to declare before we go to this party?” The Alpha asked.
“No. I swear.”
“Ok then.” Julian’s gaze panned the room. “We’re flashing in and out. We have no time for human ways. We must get this done. The hellhounds will come again and until we can figure out how to either kill them or help them, we’ve got to keep moving.”
“Listen, listen…I know you don’t want me to go but I’ve been around Thorn. He knows I’m tied to Ilsbeth. He won’t hurt me,” Rafe told them.
“The wolf does have a point about Thorn. Surely she’ll have spies. I know her…she’s a devious one.” Greyson spoke the truth. In recent years, Ilsbeth’s power and influence had grown. Her convalescence had clearly ended. Even Samantha had insinuated that she was attempting to take over her coven.
“What if he doesn’t tell us about the vessel?” Rafe asked.
“If he doesn’t tell us about the vessel, he’ll know someone who can. He walks within the realms of Hell. He knows the factions who fight within it. A secret of Hell. That’s what the fae told us. If there are secrets of Hell, there may be more. Maybe they’re a currency. We don’t know. But Thorn will know something.”
“I agree. It’s a small world here, and it’s a small world there.” Greyson nodded. “Thorn may be enjoying the fineries of human life but he’ll always be drawn back to Hell. There is no other way for a demon. It won’t ever let him go.”
* * *
“I’m freezing my nuts off,” Rafe complained.
“You wanted to come, wolf. Buck up. You afraid of a little East Coast cold front?” Greyson laughed. “The ladies will still see yer goods.”
“Fuck off, dude. You’re wearing a goddamned fur coat and I’m wearing a tank top. You flashed us out of there without warning me and I didn’t have a chance to grab my sweatshirt.”
“Jump up and down. It’ll get your blood pumping. You must learn to deal with the cold,” Dominique advised in a matter of fact tone. Dressed in a black leather jacket and shimmering red bikini, she twisted the end of her sleeked back ponytail with her fingers.
Julian wrapped his arm around Cassia. Despite the cool temperatures, his blood flowed hot for his beautiful mate. “You okay?”
She smiled up at him. “I’m good. Cold but good.”
“Let’s go,” Rafe pleaded.
“Stay with Greyson,” Julian warned.
“What is happening to me?” Rafe asked. “Wolves don’t get cold.”
“It’s the vamp in ya. We don’t do well in the cold. At least I don’t. Why do you think Viktor lives in Miami?”
“Dear Goddess, you’re going to be fine. Just don’t think about it,” Dominique told Rafe.
“Okay, focus people.” Julian looked up to the enormous domed glass conservatory. Steam covered the windows, blurring the interior. The air of the night crackled with magick.
“What is this?” Greyson asked.
Julian scanned his surroundings. A mile-long driveway twisted through oak trees leading to an enormous stone mansion. “Who builds an indoor pool so far away from the main house?”
“Do you feel it in the air?” Rafe asked.
“The magick,” Cassia whispered. “You can see sparks around the edges, where the glass meets the metal. It’s beautiful.”
