“A Council inquiry is the very last thing I need,” Darius said. “I’m supposed to fly to New York tonight. Grinaldi finally agreed to a meeting.”
Ronan perked up at that. “About time. That’s the first bit of good news all week.”
“Not anymore.” Darius pulled out his phone, trying three times before he finally figured out how to unlock the screen. “I’ll need to postpone. I can’t go back east until I deal with this.”
“What? You can’t blow off Grinaldi,” I said. “You’ve been trying to set up that meeting for weeks. We need the intel.”
“Gray’s right,” Asher said. “You need to be there. Ronan and I will track down the vampires and deal with them. We just need to let Emilio do his thing first.”
Darius was unconvinced. “The Council—”
“They won’t get involved until the police wrap up their official investigation,” Ronan said. “And by then, Emilio and his guys will have already proven you had nothing to do with it. Hell, he’ll clear our names, too.”
“You’re missing the point,” Darius said. “The Council’s greatest weapon against us isn’t the threat of imprisonment or death. It’s their unbending devotion to bureaucracy. Once this begins, I’ll be tied up in a lengthy investigation that will destroy the last of my credibility, weaken my position, and leave my territory wide open for a power grab, which is precisely what these vampires are counting on. Further, while you may find the ‘lapdog’ comment amusing, I’m taking it for what it is—a subtle threat against Gray. Andthatleaves me even more unsettled than the thought of jumping through the Council’s many hoops.”
Both demons glared at me, silently imploring me to talk Darius out of bailing on that meeting. But there was no need for the looks; the three of us were absolutely on the same page.
“Darius, wait.” I reached across the counter and grabbed Darius’s hands, willing him to understand. “I know you want to keep me safe, but trust me—the best thing you can do right now is track down that rogue. He’s our best shot at figuring out where the hunter is keeping the witches and what his ultimate plans are.”
“We can figure that out later, after—”
“Without the rogue, we’ve got nothing but a sketchy vision from the fireplace. It’s not enough, and you know it.” I squeezed his hands tighter. “Go talk to Grinaldi. Emilio will investigate the scene at Black Ruby. Ronan and Ash will help. Liam’s… Liam. But between the four, they’re all watching my back.”
“And her front,” Asher said.
“And as long as Ronan’s around,” I said, glaring at Asher, “there’s at leastsomeadult supervision going on.”
Darius shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
“None of us do,” Ash said. “But there’s too much at stake for us to let even one ball drop. Divide and conquer is the best strategy.”
Darius looked deep into my eyes, his concern making my heart melt. I wanted nothing more than to pick up where we left off on the couch, curled up together in front of the fire, enjoying the wine, planning our trip to New York, kissing until the sun came up and Darius had to retire to the basement.
“Are you absolutely certain?” Darius asked, reaching out to cup my face. “I won’t go if you don’t feel safe. We’ll figure something else out with Grinaldi.”
I covered his hand and held it to my face, memorizing the feel of his firm touch, remembering the slide of his hand down my backside in the shower earlier. I would’ve loved to take him up on that offer, to make someone else deal with Grinaldi, to send someone else to investigate the situation at Black Ruby, to hand all of this over to someone—anyone—else.
But we were it. Haley, Reva, and the others were counting on us. Sophie was counting on us. And so was every witch who’d yet to cross the hunter’s path—every witch who was at risk of dying at his cruel hands. If we had even the slightest chance at getting intel that could lead us to him, we had to take it.
“As much as I hate to say this,” I said, “and you might want to get video evidence because I don’t plan on ever saying it again, mostly because it’s probably never going to happen again, but… Asher is absolutely right.”
Darius cursed under his breath, but his honey-warm gaze didn’t falter.
“Then I shall take my leave.” Leaning in close, he brushed his lips against the shell of my ear, giving me a playful nip. “Now be a good little witch and walk your lapdog out to the car for apropergoodbye kiss.”
Twenty
GRAY
The rest of the week passed in an exhausting blur on all fronts—physical, mental, and emotional.
The guys hadn’t made much progress in identifying the vampires who’d attacked them. Emilio had been circulating Asher’s sketches around the Bay, but unsurprisingly, no one had come forward with information. And they likely wouldn’t—especially with control of the territory potentially shifting. No one wanted to wake up on the wrong side of that particular war.
Darius was faring about the same in New York. For the trip that was supposed to take two days at most, he’d already been gone for four. Apparently, Grinaldi was playing games, rescheduling their meeting with one excuse after another.
Here at home, Asher and I had settled into a new normal that consisted of exchanging as few words as possible, suddenly remembering we had somewhere else to be when the other person entered the room, or flat-out ignoring each other. He’d tried to joke with me a few times. I’d tried to laugh. But in the end, neither of us was ready to say the things that needed to be said, starting with our fight the other night, and going all the way back to the night I’d taken his soul and seen all the things he’d spent his life so desperately trying to outrun.
Just about the only good news was my training. Ronan and Emilio had created a workout program for me—a combination of cardio, strength-training, and fighting techniques that already had me moving faster and thinking smarter. I was still ending up on my ass nine times out of ten, but in every match, I fought hard for that one time when I’d get the upper hand, using that to fuel my determination to keep learning, keep improving.
