He’d played it cool until now. But I didn’t blame him for having a limit. He’d witnessed vampires, gods clashing, and his crush forming a protective barrier of magical glyphs around Sinopolis to prevent immortals from going in or out.
I wanted to open my big mouth and tell him everything, but my eyes landed on Timothy. He was the one who should get Aaron up to speed.
Fallon stepped forward, his blue eye glowing. “Shall I?” He intended to wipe Aaron’s memory.
“No.” Timothy threw a hand out to stop him. “Wait.” I could see the war inside him as he regarded Aaron, trying to decide whether to allow him in the fold or allow Fallon to erase his memories. Timothy was about the organization, keeping things tidy and in order, and he was calculating the mess he’d make if he allowed Aaron in.
Aaron met Timothy with an unfaltering stare that said,I can handle whatever you throw at me, just try it.
The urge to back up was overwhelming, but it would break the moment.
“It’s not safe here,” Timothy finally said. “And you’ll need an escort to Egypt.” That last bit, he said to me.
“Good idea,” I said.
“Is it, though?” Fallon mumbled.
Fallon and Timothy needed to stay here. With Timothy’s magical barricade, it was the safest place for them right now, with Galina and Sekhmet hunting them down.
Galina all but said she’d give me a chance to change my mind and embrace her new world. Without Grim’s blood, I wasn’t a threat anymore. But the minute Timothy or Fallon stepped outside, I’d bet my left boob she’d be all over them.
I turned toward Aaron and in one breath, let it all spill out. “Gods live among us. Most are right here in Vegas, including these two.” I pointed at Timothy and Fallon. “A really badass god just woke up, and she’s making vampires and controlling them. If we don’t stop the vampire goddess and her biatch of a sister, they are going to enslave anyone who opposes them and keep turning humans into vampires against their will. Only Grim can stop this vampire goddess because he’s done it before, and I’m leaving to resurrect him from the cradle of life in Egypt. You in or out?”
At first, Aaron’s expression flattened as if we’d told him a bad joke. A beat, and then he looked back to where we fought the blood-sucking Vegas showgirls and did some hard calculations.
Finally, he said, “I n-need to know more, but I’m in.”
I squeezed his shoulder, before turning to Timothy, who’d gone still as a statue. It seemed to be a god’s reflex to impersonate stone anytime they experienced strong emotions. Grim had the same habit.
God, how I missed him. The ache inside me continued to yawn out, threatening to consume me. I needed those steady arms, and his warm amber eyes. He never held back with me in a fight or between the sheets. Even being in the same room as him created a sense of belonging I never knew possible. But without him, the air around me itched and grated.
I was done. He was coming home if I had to drag him out of that cradle by his toes.
I turned to Timothy. “How can I get out if you warded the hotel to keep any immortals from going in or out?”
He nodded. “I can open a doorway for you out the back. I already contacted the pilot for our private jet and they are standing by.”
“Then the only question left is, what’s the in-flight meal?”
* * *
Flyingfrom Vegas to Egypt on the best of days wasn’t less than fifteen hours. I felt selfish for dragging him and Miranda along with me onto the plane, but neither of them balked at going.
I also wasn’t afraid to admit I wanted them both far away from the Strip with so many gods and vampires running amok. Miranda assured me that Jamal was safe.
And we had plenty of time to break things down for Aaron. Occasionally, he would get up, walk up and down the spacious cabin that smelled like fresh flowers and money, then he’d sit back down with a faraway look on his face. I feared breaking his fragile mind, as it was a lot to get one’s mouth around.
But I had a feeling Aaron had gotten his mouth around a lot bigger.
HA!
Ever since visiting the scary monster in the hotel’s basement, I had a choice. I’d made a plan and hope soared in me that I’d soon be with Grim again.
They said he could come back wrong, too powerful, it could be bad news. But I didn’t care. I knew who he was and no matter what state he was in, I could bring him back. Any little bit of him was better than nothing. I didn’t love Grim because he was perfect, convenient, or because he gave me swanky digs and out of this world, mind-blowing orgasms. No. It came down to the impossibly simple point that I loved his very existence. And the lack of it brought me unending pain.
“Are you sure this is going to go how you plan?” Miranda asked. She leaned over from the seat next to me. Jamal was with his grandmother and they took an impromptu road trip after Miranda’s strong insistence. Miranda wanted them far from danger, but she couldn’t stay out of the fight. It wasn’t in her nature.
“He fought Sekhmet once before and put her down. He can do it again,” I assured her, even though I didn’t know how.
