Now, the moon his only witness, he whispered his confession.
“I didn’t kill those mages for touching my property, Jacinda.” He ran a hand over her hair, looping a fat curl around his fingers. As always, it reminded him of a flower petal, a delicate bloom hiding the thorns beneath. “I did it because you were terrified. BecauseIwas terrified. I thought… I thought I was going to lose you.”
She didn’t respond—didn’t even hear him, which was just as well. It was more than he should’ve said anyway.
He dropped her silky curl.
Brushed the salt and sand from her pillow.
Pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
And left her to the darkness of dreams he had no business invading.
* * *
The wolf shifter answered on the first ring. “What can I do ya for, Little Red?”
“Cole. You up for a bit of scheming, mate?”
He could practically hear the wolf’s grin stretching wide.
“Ask not what you can do for your wolf,” Cole said with a snicker, “ask what kind of shit your wolf can stir up for you.”
“I don’t… What the bloody hell are you on about?”
“Sorry. Got into the green a little early tonight. Potent batch, this one. You know, after all these years hiding out like a damned hermit, I think I got me a case of cabin fever. And it ain’t actually a fever, if you can believe it, but more like a—”
“For fuck’s sake, Cole. I don’t speak stoner. Translate.”
“All right, Little Red. Here’s your translation.” Cole blew into the phone—a plume of marijuana haze, no doubt—then snickered again. “Hell yeah, bloodsucker. Where and when, and how many pairs of pants should I bring?”
“Newark. Soon as you sober up. And make it two pairs, just in case.” Gabriel scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I need you to track down a lead on Duchanes.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Dark walls. Dark sheets. Dark thoughts.
Jaci sat up in bed—not hers, she realized. Gabriel’s.
The red dress still clung to her, stained and crusted with salt, but the vampire’s scent was all around her, cool and crisp, masculine, making her long for things she was pretty sure she’d destroyed last night.
Memories flooded her mind—the mages, the sea, the boathouse, the arguments, the darkness.
The pain.
There was so much she had to tell him. So much she had to explain. So much she was still trying to understand herself.
The Keepers of the Dark Flame had known who she was from the very start, and they’d intended on sacrificing her—that much was obvious. But had they really communed with Viansa? Was the sacrifice supposed to help her manifest? Had her sister grown so powerful that she could command a legion of dark mages?
And what about Gabriel’s curse? And her father’s soul?
Jaci closed her eyes, the breath leaving her lungs in a hot rush. She had to tell him. All of it. He’d hate her for it, but he deserved to know. And maybe, even if he couldn’t forgive her, he could find it in his heart to help her find a way through it. Through Viansa. The curse. Her father. All of it.
“Good morning, Jacinda.”
She started at his voice, a soft, sexy rumble in the morning light, and opened her eyes to find him standing before the windows, dressed in low-slung gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt that clung to his chest.
Her mouth filled with the taste of salt, the memory of her tongue on his smooth skin.
