“I’m not a possession,” I said stiffly, and got to my feet, snatching up a T-shirt to pull over the nightgown. “Merrick and I have an—” I stopped, the word “understanding” on the tip of my tongue. But I couldn’t say it, because there was no real understanding. Merrick refused to accept the role I had in his life.
“You have a what?” Ciaran asked, pulling out his cell phone.
“None of your business. If you’re Merrick’s friends, what are you doing creeping around his room, scaring the grass balls out of me?”
“Grass balls?” Ciaran shook his head. “We were to meet him here. I take it he left you to tell us where he’s gone?”
“Not exactly ...” I bit my lip, not sure how much to tell them. “I’m sorry, but do you have some sort of identification saying you are Merrick’s friend? A Four Horsemen card or something?”
Han laughed when he emerged from the bathroom. “Now, there’s an idea for the future. We need identity cards, cousin.”
“You’re cousins?” I asked, looking from the dark Han to the strawberry blond Ciaran. The latter had a faint English accent, but sounded mostly American to me. “Real cousins, not just ... er ... Horseman cousins?”
“Yes, we are real cousins, although Ciaran is a good three hundred years older than me. Where is Merrick ... er ...”
“Tempest,” I said, wondering what I should do. “Tempest Keye. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you where Merrick is. For one, I don’t know, exactly. And for another, I don’t know that you are who you—”
“Just got a text from him,” Ciaran interrupted, tapping at his phone. “He says he’s a few hours north of here, and on his way back. He should be here before the sun is up.”
“Tell him we approve of his Beloved,” Han said, smiling at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him in return. He was just too smooth.
Ciaran tapped rapidly at the phone, then gave a short bark of laughter.
“What?” I said, suddenly worried. “What did he say?”
“I don’t think you want to know,” he said drily, showing his phone to Han, who snickered.
“I’m Merrick’s Beloved,” I said, jumping up and stomping over to him. “According to C. J. Dante’s books, that means he can’t lie to me, he can’t live without drinking my blood, and he basically has to do everything I say. Let me see what he said.”
Han and Ciaran exchanged glances before the latter flipped his phone around so I could see the face.
Don’t encourage herwas Merrick’s reply.
“Mothballs,” I swore, and, before Ciaran could stop me, snatched his phone and typed in,If you don’t start being nicer to me, I’ll leave you and then you’ll be alone and have to drink blood from strange cows and you’ll die alone in your pretty house with no one to care about you.
Ciaran crossed his arms over his chest, and gave me a long-suffering look while I waited for Merrick’s response.
It wasn’t long in coming, but it was in Italian.
“What does this say?” I asked, showing the two men the phone.
“It says to give me back my phone.” Ciaran suited action to word, and tucked it away in his pants pocket. “Do not touch my phone again without my permission.”
“Or what?” I said, feeling a bit obstreperous. I didn’t like Merrick’s friends much. They seemed far too arrogant and unyielding. I disliked both attributes in a man ... except for Merrick. He managed both well. “You can’t do anything to me. I’m a Beloved.”
Ciaran gave me a slow smile. “Not yet you aren’t. Not fully. And until then ...” He stepped forward until he was a hairsbreadth away from me. “Until then, you’re entirely mortal.”
“I will not be threatened,” I said with a little spike of fear in my belly.
“I believe you just were,” Han pointed out.
“No, I wasn’t.” I lifted my chin and stared down Ciaran. “Because to be threatened, I have to give you the power to frighten me. And I’m not frightened. I might look weak to you because I’m a woman, and most men think women are weak, but you’re wrong. I have taken self-defense classes. I know how to shoot a gun. And I am an almost Beloved, which means if you did something to me, Merrick would be pissed.” The last was a shot in the dark based on C. J. Dante’s books, but I was hoping it was true.
“What makes you think I care about Merrick’s state of mind?” Ciaran leaned closer, his eyes all but firing lasers into my head, but I stood my ground, and after a few seconds of attempted intimidation, he turned away. “Bah. He is welcome to you and your self-defense classes. We have more important things to discuss.”
I smiled to myself, not wanting to gloat over the fact that he’d backed down, but pleased with myself nonetheless. Everything was going to be just fine, I decided. All I had to do was hope Savian could find Ellis so that I could rescue him, help track down my cousin, and convince Merrick he couldn’t live without me.
