AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you think jail is going to stop him?” Icarus said, equal parts doubtful and curious.
“No,” Adam admitted. “But I think jail is going to put him in a single place for at least a few hours where we can get to him.”
Across from them, Robin purred around a grin that was just this side of feral.
TWENTY-THREE
“Yes, I know, you were right.”Icarus sighed, heavy and dramatic. “Do we have to go through this every time?”
Adam leaned against the wall outside the sunny second-floor bedroom Icarus had disappeared into and barely stifled his laugh.
Whoever was on the other end of the line was giving Icarus hell. And he loved it, judging by the affection in his voice. “Thank you for answering the call this time. You saved our lives.”
Adam inched closer to the door, recalling what Cormac had described. Had there been someone else on the scene they hadn’t seen? Adam didn’t think so, but he hadn’t been with them. Maybe this person was there? Or helped in another way?
“I’m fine, I swear, safe and sound,” Icarus said, then after a pause, added, “Talahalusi.” Another pause, then a chuckle. “Yes, I know it’s fucking sunny up here.”
Adam bit his lip. Icarus wasn’t complaining, good-natured or otherwise, about the sun earlier this afternoon when he’d been naked and riding Adam’s cock. He’d basked in the warm rays, same as Adam, enjoying a respite from the characters they had to play.
Which Icarus was shifting back into, same as him. “Do you want to come up here? I think you’d be safe. They’re on our side.” Protective and assessing. “And if they try to hurt you, I can take them.”
So someone more important than what Adam’s team was planning. The family Icarus wouldn’t talk about? Another vampire, another paranormal, or someone human? Adam would bet the last, given the protective streak, but then how had that person saved their lives? Certainly not the Daylight; that had come from Paris. It must have something to do with what Cormac had seen, but with Icarus’s protective streak, how would Adam ever get that information?
“Fine,” Icarus said, his tone indicating grudging assent. “But I want check-ins every six, and if you sense anything off, you call me. I’ll get down there as fast as I can.” Down there as in back to Yerba Buena or somewhere else? Portola? His bags had been packed last night when Adam had arrived at his apartment. Was this who Icarus planned to flee to? Or with?
“Love you too. Keep me posted.”
A spike of jealousy kicked Adam in the gut, unwarranted. Like Cormac had said, he’d known Icarus less than a week. He had no claim over the vampire, even if Icarus was broadcasting a claim over him. For protection, because that was his role. But who else did he have to protect? What if byfamily, Icarus meant someone more than a sibling? A partner in Portola? Someone more important than him...
“You can come in now,” Icarus said from inside the room, accompanied by the creak of bedsprings. “I can hear your heartbeat.”
Adam pushed off the wall and into the bedroom, finding Icarus sprawled on the bed in the sun. He was perfectly still, not bothering to hide what he was anymore. “I thought you didn’t keep in touch with your family,” Adam said as he moved to sit on the windowsill.
Icarus shifted, staying in the sun. “I never said that.”
“Whoever it was, they were giving you hell.”
Eyes closed, he smiled, soft and fond, affection with fangs. “She always gives me hell.”
“Sister?” Adam guessed, going for the option that would hurt the least and was rewarded with a nod. He crossed his arms to hide the relieved rise and fall of his chest. “Older?”
“Depends how you look at it.”
“She’s human, then?”
“Not exactly.” He eked open one eye, pinning Adam with it. “She’s somethingelse, like you.”
“Like me?”
“Well, I don’t know what you are yet, but you’re not completely human.” He opened the other eye and levered up on his elbows. “There’s magic in you, same as with her.”
Which meant she was a target, same as him. Icarus’s protective streak made even more sense now. “If she needs protection, she can come here.”
“I wish she would, but she does things on her own terms.” He clenched his fists. “No one else’s.” Forced his hands open again. He was more of a wreck about her than he was letting on.
“You care about her?”
“I promised to protect her.” He lifted all the way up, crossing his legs on the bed and dropping his hands in his lap, his gaze downcast, his voice as small as Adam had ever heard it. “She’s all I have left.” Commiserating, Adam pushed off the window and sat on the bed next to him, hand on his knee. Icarus covered it with his and squeezed. “I’m sorry they burned down your house. It was a lovely home.”
