“Kale saw me in a towel?” Heatherasked.
“You did hear that you have weird markings on your skin, right?” Stellaasked.
Heather waved her off. “I can’t see them. What do I care? What I do care about is that my mate saw me in a towel. How doIlook?”
“Like you’re wrapped in a towel,” Kara saiddryly.
“Thanks, smart ass,” Heatherhuffed.
Kara smiled and patted her shoulder. “If he looked anything like Nick looked when he was looking at me, you have nothing to worry about. He thought youwerehot.”
“So Nick wanted to devour you?” Heather said with aslygrin.
“Devour, ravish, bite, pretty much all those words describe the look in hiswolfyeyes.”
“Ciro had the same look, but then he looked ready to kill immediately afterward,” Stella said as she shivered. “Sorry to say, Heather, but my man knocked your man on hisIrisharse.”
Heather laughed. “As long as his Irish arse can still talk in that sexy accent,I’mgood.”
“Let’s finish with these showers and pampering,” Kara suggested. “I’m beat, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long two weeks. We need to get somesleep.”
“Ten bucks says we’ll have wolves knocking at our door tonight,” Heather said as she turned on the shower and stepped in. She pulled the curtain and, once it was closed, laid her towel over the top oftherod.
“How many times do you think Lucian will have to make them leave?” Stellaasked.
Kara thought about the determined look she’d seen in Nick’s eyes as he’d stared at her standing in nothing but the towel. “I’m thinking they won’t give up, so there’s no number we can give. They’ll just keepcomingback.”
“The next two weeks are going to be interesting,” Heather said, sounding much too chipperaboutit.
Kara was pretty sure interesting wouldn’t be how they described it once itwasover.
* * *
Elle foundLucian and her mate sitting in the kitchen after having ensured the three male wolves had done as they were instructed. She started to take a seat, but the normally reserved Sorin wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. She was caught off guard by his atypicalbehavior.
“You okay?”sheaskedhim.
“Just feeling very thankful that we’re mat`ed, bonded, all of it. I don’t envy thosemales.”
She chuckled.“Agreed,mylove.”
Sorin settled back in the chair and kept one hand on her back, rubbing up and down. She knew now it was more for his comfort than hers, though it did comfort her. Turning her attention back to Lucian, shefrowned.
“Where are Adam and Crina? If Adam had been here, he would have been the first one up those stairs when he heard thatracket.”
“Adira came to me. She has some concerns about her realm. I sent Adam and Crina to lookintoit.”
“What kind of concerns?” Elle asked, not knowing if she really wanted theanswer.
“She thinks Volcan has used a spell to block the veil to the draheim realm, but even more powerful and darker than he used to block the pixies. Whatever he’s used to fuel it she thinks is leaking into herrealm.”
Elle swore. “We take one step forward andfiftyback.”
Chapter14
“I’m going mad. That’s the only way to describe what was going on in my head. I keep seeing the women whose lives I took. They’re pleading with me to give them back their souls. I want to, but I know I can’t. I see my mom’s face and hear her voice. She’s telling me to keep fighting. I want to tell her that it would be so much easier to just give in.” ~Jewel
Jewel hissedas pain ripped through her stomach when she shifted on the floor. She’d lost count of the number of days she and Anna had been in captivity, enduring the torture that the vampire inflicted. The word carved into her stomach stared up at her, red and angry, with dried blood caked around it. She needed a shower in the worst possible way, and most likely a gallon ofantibacterialsoap.
