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“I don’t like this,” Kase admitted, his voice rougher than usual. His gait was off, too. It wasn’t as smooth as usual, as if just moving caused discomfort.
“You don’t like anything,” I reminded him.
“I’ve got to agree,” Troy added, having walked up behind me. “But at least it’s Hunter taking the risk.”
That earned Troy a disapproving glare as well.
“What? You said he threatened Lucifer. That’s like taunting a bear—if you do that, you don’t get to hope for a long life.”
Even as Troy spoke, however, he lacked the anger he used to have. It seemed he really had settled into the idea of me having multiple lovers.
“I’m surprised you all came.” I tucked my hands into my pockets.
“You never know what can be drawn back,” Kase said. “When doing things like this, when dealing with Lilith, it’s best to have the numbers.” At the last word, Kase’s voice cracked, something so quick that I nearly missed it.
Troy, however, didn’t. His gaze narrowed. “Are we going to talk about this?” He gestured at Kase.
Kase offered one quick shake of his head. “No.”
That one word left no room for misunderstanding or argument. Kase had made it pretty clear it was a ‘not happening in a million years’ sort of conversation.
“So we just ignore it?” Troy pressed.
“Yes.”
I sighed, the talk not going as I’d hoped it would. Troy had to know what was wrong, and some stupid part of me had expected them to talk, to come to some understanding.
It was a double-edged sword.
Drinking from Troy would alleviate the symptoms but increase the chance that Kase would never be able to get off werewolf blood. Still, if he didn’t, it was possible that withdrawal would end up killing him.
Yet, despite the looming issue, the hugelook at mesign in the room in the form of the black veins that stood out stark against Kase’s skin, neither man seemed willing to actually deal with it.
Which again made me want to kick each of them in the shin, then lock them in a room until they figured it out.
Instead, Hunter’s voice from behind me called all our attention. “It’s time.”
I wanted to say that we had more important issues to deal with, but the more I said that, the more I realized it wasn’t a hierarchy of problems. I couldn’t say which was first, and which was last.
It was just a big clusterfuck of issues that I was somehow expected to untangle and solve.
In the center of the warehouse, Hunter took a seat on the floor, Lilith’s ring clutched in his hand. Around him, on the ground, sat marks seemingly scorched into the concrete. They glowed red, as if still smoldering.
Grant approached, his gaze focused, telling me he was no more a fan of this than the rest of us.
In fact, only Hunter seemed entirely comfortable with it. Then again, it always felt easier to accept risk for the person taking said risk.
“Let’s get this done. Should only take a few minutes.” Hunter peered up at me, his lip curled into a half smile. “Only time you should expect me to be quick.”
Troy snorted but said nothing about the comment. Kase had left the shadows, his skin looking even worse, appearing more corpse-like than he ever had before.
Still, I tore my gaze from him because I couldn’t think about it right then.
I took a step forward, wanting to sit right beside Hunter, but Grant put a hand up to stop me. “Not so fast there, Ava. Haven’t you ever seen protection lines?” He pointed at the symbols on the ground. “When Hunter does this, he’ll leave his body here. That will create a bridge between this place and wherever Lilith is, and who knows what nasty stuff she’s hanging out with? The lines will keep whatever can follow Hunter back contained.”
“This is a bad idea.” I couldn’t ignore anymore that he was taking a risk I didn’t want him to. “What if it doesn’t work? What if she’s expecting it?”
“Hush, shadow-girl.” Hunter’s smile spread, as if my being nervous helped him somehow. “It’s fine. Quick jaunt to find Lilith, figure out where she is, then I’ll be back. Nothing to it.”
