Page 283 of Sorrow & Strangers

She lifts her face, licking her lips, savoring the taste of my cum and eliciting a wicked groan from me.

“I suppose that’s more than one kiss,” I pant, rubbing my thumb along her lower lip.

She smirks wickedly and presses her breasts against my chest, slowly sliding up my body to kiss me again, her soft lips brushing over my chin, searching for my lips.

Her phone starts to ring, and I curse when she freezes at the sound. She pulls back and blindly reaches for it. I wave my hand to summon it, reading the screen for her.

“It’s Alice.”

Internally, I curse at the interruption as I replace my avatar and hand her the phone before removing her blindfold.

“Hello?” she answers.

“Sum?” The vampire’s voice carries through the speaker. “Can you . . . Can you come home?”

“What’s wrong?” Summer asks, sitting up, still straddling me.

“I had word from Drãculea . . . My dad is dead.”

Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

Rafe

This time, when Mira shows up in my room and silently undresses to climb into bed with me, I’m ready for her.

“I need to talk to you tonight,” I whisper and cup her cheek as she sprawls on top of me. Her heat seeps into me, unknowingly grounding me in this world.

“No talking,” she says, nuzzling her face into my neck. Her hold on me tightens, and I wrap my arms around her, keeping her here even as I continue.

“We’ve done this for the last seven nights.” Easily the best sleep of my entire life. “But something’s happened with my sister.”

For Alice, I will sacrifice this tender moment with Mira and all the moments of comfort she brings me at night. She tenses slightly, pulling back, but only as far as my hold on her will allow. I am not so foolish as to release her.

“How much do you know about Drãculea?” I whisper, stroking my fingers along her spine.

I know Mira is from Pyrrhos, but there is more to her, far more than she is willing to share with me. I will wait for her to be ready. Time is something I can give her. Time for her to fully trust me, to confess where she was these months, why there were shadows in her eyes in Paradis, why she refuses to discuss Pyrrhos now.

She is the only Phoenix I know who has left her source realm, and I have spent the last seven days researching to find another. That realm is even more closed off than Drãculea. It’s more remote than Paradis, and arguably even more insidious than Hell.

“I know their leader is a misogynistic dickbag, but so are most of them,” she says with a frown. Again, she speaks confidently from personal knowledge, leading to more questions about who exactly Mira is. But that can wait until she is ready.

“Alice was chosen as Dracula’s heir, but she’s reviled by her people,” I say, remembering last year when we spent the day on the beach with Con and the hydra. Alice thought it was another assassination attempt on her. Another one. Meaning there had been many.

“Her father was acting regent while she was at Avalon, and she just found out he’s dead.” My hackles rise. “She has to attend formal rites in a month and then her coronation.”

“Shit,” she curses. “Is she okay?”

I shake my head. Alice is not okay, far from it. “They didn’t get along. You said before you’ve known a lot of demons.” I tense a little at what I’m about to ask her. “I need to be able to fight as a demon.” She frowns, her brows furrowing. “I train hand-to-hand with Max a lot, but . . . my most buried instincts come out around you.” I need to be able to harness them.

“How can I help?”

So simple. So ready to help, my heart beats harder in my chest.

“I need to be better about darkness in others.” I hold my palm up to hers. She glances at my fingers. “Will you help me get that part of myself ready to fight?”

This side of me came out around Summer, and I hurt her. I couldn’t ask her to do it again, and besides, Alice needs her more right now.

Mira lines her palm up with mine, close but not touching. A small flame forms, floating between our hands. Heat flares in her eyes, making them glow in the gloom of my room, and the spark dances, weaving between our fingers. My palm presses to hers, and I feel the demon lunge forward to take control. My claws lengthen, and my fangs emerge, filling my mouth. This is exactly what I need. This is the part that Mira brings out.