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The tornado of energy was gone as well, and the power that had crawled over my skin was suddenly absent.
I breathed in, and my phone rang. It was Etta. I answered.
“I managed to open the door and run. I can get someone to come pick me up, or we can try to contain ourselves while you drive me home.”
“I picked you up. I should take you home. Do you know what went wrong?”
“I do not. Do you?”
“No. I assume you didn’t mean to instigate that, and neither did I.”
“So we won’t look directly at each other until we’re in a safe place to experiment,” she said.
“You think it had something to do with our gazes?”
“It didn’t happen until we looked directly into each other’s eyes. We did it while we were having sex without a problem. We need to figure out what triggered the challenge.”
The light was green, and I had no idea how long it had been so. Thankfully, there were few cars on the road, and none behind me. I drove forward, asked where she was, and stopped to pick her up three-quarters of a mile down the road.
Chapter 15
Etta
Venom stepped out of the back door and stood clearly in the light, watching us with his arms crossed over his chest while Ryan parked.
Neither of us had said more than a few dozen words after our powers had challenged each other, and I was trying to figure out how to get out of the car and into the house with the least amount of awkwardness possible.
I was about to open the door before he’d even put the car in park when Ryan touched my arm and then wrapped his fingers around my wrist, his foot still on the brake because the car was still in gear.
“I’m sorry things went strange on us at the end, but that doesn’t negate what happened between us.”
“I don’t know what happened between us.”
“Liar.”
I stared straight ahead, out the windshield. “Fine, so there were sparks, but I’m not lying when I say I don’t know what happened.”
“Sparks? That was a damned forest fire. Bigger. A fucking supernova.” He rubbed his forefinger over the spot on my wrist where my pulse would’ve been, if I’d had one. “I don’t blame you for being scared because I’m fucking terrified. Let’s give each other a few days to sort through our feelings before we try to talk it through. I’m not turning away from you, but I sense you need some time, and in truth, so do I. It’s a lot to take in.” He loosened his grip on my wrist but didn’t let go. “Question. When’s the last time you had sex when it wasn’t for a feeding or for politics.”
It took me a few seconds to go back far enough to remember. Hundreds of years. He didn’t need to know that, so I changed the subject. “We don’t have the luxury of not speaking to each other. What do you know of the new hacker?”
“The new Drake hacker? Baby vampire who should probably still be locked down and under direct supervision anytime she isn’t, but she’s convinced her handlers she’s safe. I’ll be the judge of that when she gets here.”
I sighed. “I’ll be the judge of it first. You should back off and trust me to make that call.”
“Or — and here’s a novel idea — we can go together.”
“She isn’t here yet,” I pointed out. “Nothing has to be decided tonight.”
“I’ll be leaving in a few days to handle a job. Shouldn’t take long, but if you call or text, I may not be able to get back to you right away.”
“Good to know.”
He sighed. “I don’t make it a habit of letting the local vampires know when I won’t be around. I’m trusting you enough to tell you, Etta.”
I put feelers out and got nothing. Other than the scent of slayer, it was as if no one was there. No brain frequencies, no emotions leaking out. He was locked down, and maybe it was for the best. “There was something there, but that doesn’t mean we have to do it again. Doesn’t mean we won’t. Either way, there isn’t going to be a goodbye kiss. Let go of me so I can get out of the car without turning it into a fight.”
He let go of my arm, put the car in park, and turned to me. “Thank you for a lovely evening and night. I enjoyed spending time with you — both around others and our time alone. We’ll talk later in the week.”
