“There’s no way I can have you in me again right now. As much as I want to.”
His eyebrows rose. “Hmm. Can barely remember the last time I’ve done that.” He reached between us and grasped my dick, beginning to pump. “This is just the tool I’d choose to end such a dry spell.”
Thirty-One
FINN DE MORISCO
“You’ve gotto be kidding me. Like we don’t have enough problems.” I looked from Caitlin over to Newton, his wings appearing even more extraordinary, confined in the tiny hotel room. “And you’re okay with it?”
Before Newton could respond, Caitlin stood up from where she’d been perched on the side of the bed. “Okay. Number one, you should know better than to think I’m gonna follow what some dweeb fairy tells me to do. Number two, and more importantly, I resent the implication that he’s in charge simply because he’s a man.” She looked in his direction with raised brows. “Or a male at any rate.”
“Okay, Caitlin, put your feminism flag down for a minute. I wasn’t saying all that, and you know it. I was simply pointing out that Newton has a little more common sense than you do.” I raised my hands before she interrupted. “Or at least the ability to stop and assess a situation before jumping into it because he feels like it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and addressed Schwint before turning back to me. “I don’t know how you date my brother. He’s such a know-it-all. And for your information, Finn, following the vamp was Pewlet’s idea to begin with.”
Newton let out a frustrated sigh. “Does that never get old? I’m going to start calling you Catherine or something.”
“Yeah, that would make a lot of sense. And no, as long as it drives you crazy, it doesn’t get old.” She grinned at him. Caitlin looked tougher than ever and even more beautiful than usual. For the first time in over a decade, her hair wasn’t some outrageous color. She’d shorn it into a tight pixie cut and let it go back to her natural black. The wild hair had been drawing too much attention when she was around the locals. I would have thought that, with all the tourists Montezuma had, a little colored hair wouldn’t raise many eyebrows. It seemed I was wrong. Of course, Cate had always drawn more than her fair share of attention, only it didn’t matter when we were back in San Diego.
Schwint interjected before either Newton or I could retort. “All right, kids. Let’s stop the verbal sparring. What’s done is done. Let’s try to focus on how this might affect us.” He leaned toward Newton, who was still sitting on the bed, next to where Caitlin had just vacated. “Since it’s impossible to follow a vampire without their knowledge, as I’m sure you know…”
Newton gave him a withering stare.
Schwint nodded. “I hoped so. Well, since he obviously knows, have you noticed any reaction from him?”
“Nothing aggressive. He’s looked at us several times. I’m certain he knows who we are.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “Yeah. I’m sure he does. It’s not like Gwala is going to keep it a secret from the vampires in the area that my sister is nearby and that she isn’t to be harmed.” I glared at Caitlin. “At least until he’s ready for you to be harmed. I can’t fathom why you’re trying to make it easier.”
It surprised me when she gave me a straight answer without any of her normal consternation. “If Gwala or any of the others want me dead, or Newton, we will be. You said so yourself—they already knew we were here and where we were. If there’s a chance we could learn something from this fucker, we might as well try. Granted, the chances are small, but I’m sick of doing nothing. Nearly two months of doing nothing but sit in that damn cave and watch a fairy preen his feathers. Even my ex-girlfriend was doing more than me, at least until Dad was well enough to go home. Everyone is either helping Mom and Dad or Cynthia. I can’t—”
“You’re here. You’re close. We don’t know when an opportunity to rescue Cynthia could arise or what you’ll need. Your time will come.”
“Fine, but until then, Finn, I’m going to follow the vampire.”
“But why? Why take the chance? He knows you’re watching. Do you really think he’s going to slip up while you’re there to see? What is there to see anyway?” We’d already been through this, and try as I might I couldn’t keep the frustration out of my voice. “I’ve got enough to worry about already, surrounded by vampires, increasing my powers—”
Caitlin cut me off by throwing out her arms in exasperation, the fingertips of her left hand smacking against the wall. She shook them, never taking her eyes off me. “That’s the point! You’re helping our family every second, and you expect me to continue to just sit here? Maybe following the redhead would lead to something. And as far as him slipping up, he has before, or at least close enough. He attacked Brett in the alley and let you see him. Before he could fully be out in the sun, he tried and failed to get Brett and Peter before the sun had set. He didn’t even kill Brett’s roommate.”
A bitter laugh escaped before I could rein it in. “I don’t think him changing Sonia into a vampire constitutes him slipping up. I’m not really sure the other things do either. I still don’t see what you could find out from him.”
“Not being sure didn’t stop you from going to the Square when you were trying to help Brett. It’s okay for you, but not for me?”
“And look where that got us. None of us would be here if it hadn’t been for me going to the Square, which you’ve brought up many times.”
The room fell silent. Caitlin paused in her pacing to stare out the window toward the ocean. Newton went to the far-off place in his mind he disappeared to. Schwint slipped his hand into mine. The gesture made me want to curl up where we were seated on the bed and go to sleep. I was suddenly exhausted.
Caitlin and Newton had moved out of the cave the day after Omar had tried to kill us and Gwala had shown me the merman. We’d already known the vampires knew they were hiding there, but having them bring Schwint’s mangled body to Newton for healing confirmed it. Caitlin hadn’t seen any reason to continue staying in the cave. I guess I couldn’t blame her. What was the point?
I’d come two days after the drama with Omar. I’d been nervous enough, I hadn’t stayed in their hotel room for more than a couple of minutes. I needed to thank Newton for helping Schwint, and I hadn’t been aware how much I had missed Caitlin until she stood in front of me. It had been the first time since we’d separated that I’d come to see her. Now here I was, three weeks later, back again and not even thinking about the time. Something about finally having an idea of why the Royals wanted me so badly gave me a sense of entitlement. I was too valuable, and as long as I did what Gwala wanted, neither of my sisters would be in trouble. Until they found a warlock more powerful than I, which I couldn’t fathom taking very long. Of course, then all of us were in trouble.
The hotel room was pretty basic. Clean, but nothing extra. The only adornments were paintings that hung above each bed. Beachscapes that looked like they had been done as a freshman art project.
I watched Caitlin as she stared out at the sea. I wasn’t sure which one of us had it harder. She’d never gotten to see Cynthia, but I think that was a blessing in some way. It was torturous to have her so near and be unable to even let her know we were here. I couldn’t tell what Cate was thinking, but her body was even more rigid than normal, like it was ready to erupt at a moment’s notice or shatter into a million pieces.
“At least you got a room with a good view.”
Startled, she flinched as my voice broke the silence. Actually flinched.Caitlin. She really was about to lose it.
