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I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m going to teach you how to protect yourself. Me, Rune, Shade, and Liberty are some of the best fighters in our pack. And we’re going to reteach you how to be the fighter you were before you lost your memories.” He holds my face between his hands. “That way, you can feel safe, even when I’m not around.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I love what he’s saying. I just hate that this is life, that I need to relearn how to defend myself from sheer and ugly violence.
“Do you want to do that?” he asks me tenderly.
I nod. “Yes, I really do.”
He smooths his thumb along my cheekbone. “Good.” Then he leans forward and kisses away my tears, the metal of his lip rings lightly grazing my flesh and causing my dewy eyelashes to flutter. “I still think I owe Legend the world,” he murmurs as he continues to kiss my tears away.
“I’m not sure he’d want the world, even if you could give it to him.” I close my eyes, noting my chest and shoulders feel vaguely lighter. “But, if you really want to say thank you, he loves parties. In fact, he got banished during one for having too much fun with one of Eternal Vampire’s mistresses.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. You know why they call him Legend, right?”
“No, he refuses to tell me.”
He slants back to look me in the eye. “Really?”
“Yes, really. It drove me crazy.” I scoot closer to him. “You should tell me.”
He hesitates. “While I’d love to give you everything you want, I probably shouldn’t tell you unless he wants you to hear the story.”
I jut out my lip. “Well, that’s not really fair.”
“You know what’s not really fair? How fucking gorgeous you are when you pout. I mean, you’re fucking gorgeous as it is, but this”—he drags his finger along my jutted lip—“isn’t fair.”
I’ve never been a fan of compliments, so a ridiculous blush warms my face.
“Do you know what those lines are called in the Common Realm?” I ask. “Player lines.”
He trails his finger down the front of my neck. “Considering what Shade told you, I’m pretty sure you know I’m not a player.”
“I know.” My pulse thumps against his fingertips. “I’m not, either. All that teasing I did back at Philip’s was just that—teasing. I’ve never even had a boyfriend. I’d never even been kissed up until …” A quaking shudder waves through his body.Fuck, why did I have to bring that up again?
“Lake, I don’t want to push you, but I’d really like for you to give me some details on what they looked like so I can track them down.”
I stare at a crack in the floorboard as iron-hot memories scorch my retinas. “One had shaggy blond hair, and they were both really huge. And they were around my age.”
“Did they have any markings?” His tone is soft and soothing, despite his question.
“I don’t know … I didn’t notice any.” I trace the crack in the floorboard. “But everything happened so fast, and some stuff’s just a blur.” A memory of a few days ago tugs at my mind. “Actually, while I was dancing at the bar with Liberty, I smelled something that reminded me of them. I didn’t see them anywhere in the bar, though. And it could have been the faerie magic drink messing with my mind.”
“What was the scent?” The control in his voice is gone.
Sucking in a breath, I glance up at him. “Black roses.”
A violent storm unleashes from inside him as he pushes to his feet. “Stay in my room and lock the door. I’m going to find Legend and Rune and send them in here with you.” He strides toward the door.
I stumble to my feet and hurry after him. “Where are you going?”
He reels around and circles his arms around my waist. “I don’t want to scare you, but I think I might know what wolves attacked you that day.”
“Are they here?” My legs threaten to buckle.
He nods, nestling my head against his chest. “At least one of them is, I think.”
His heart beats fiercely against my ear as I press myself closer to him, wishing I could somehow sink into him completely and disappear. “How do you know for sure?”
