CHAPTER NINE
~ Gwynnore ~
Area 51, Rachel, Nevada
High Desert, United States of America
Blood ran down my face in rivulets, warming my skin deliciously. But I lowered my gun, and my brows furrowed in deep confusion. That human had unquestionably been trying to kill me. And he hadn’t exploded.
I peered around the carnage in my confusion while my feet trampled the fencing surrounding Area 51. The battle had just started, but it already felt off somehow without the necklace’s magic working its incredible power.
While Aiko raced around me in a circle, ripping the throats out of our enemies, I stopped and pulled the neckline of my shirt away to peer down into its depths.
My…necklace was gone.
I sucked in a sharp breath and dropped on all fours, scouring the ground for my missing gift. Bel had given that to me. My eyes started to burn as unshed tears welled, my hands fervently searching between the fencing wires for my precious token.
I didn’t want to lose it because it had saved me.
I wanted it becausehegave it to me.
My fucking soul mate did.
Aiko stopped at my side, the dead now littered about. “Queen Gwynnore, what are you doing?”
“My necklace,” I gasped, on the verge of tears spilling. I ripped the wiring with my claws, yanking it apart. Grass and dirt went flying in every direction as I hunted. “I lost my necklace. Help me find it.”
Abruptly, a red gem on a chain swung before my eyes.
“You mean this one?” Aiko questioned evenly. He swung it softly back and forth before me. “I remembered you asking King Belshazzar for this back after the boat exploded. You seemed very adamant about it—as if it was the very air you breathed, or it might save your life. And I’ve never seen a gem such as this before.”
I shoved up to my feet. “Give it to me, thief.”
“I’m excellent at many things. Pickpocketing is just one of them.” He took a step back. “Answer my question first. Why does this necklace matter so much to you?”
I had the barrel of a gun pointed at the tip of his nose before he could blink. “That necklace was a gift from my soul mate. Hand it over now, or I will put a bullet in your brain.”
Aiko blurred to the left, racing away from me.
“You motherfucker,” I yelled.
I sprinted after him, firing at will.
But…the damn vampire was actually faster than me. He zigzagged between fights, dodging my bullets easily, and disappeared when he curved behind a white building.
I halted hard, the wind blowing my hair forward. I screamed in bloodcurdling fury, “Aiko! Get back here right now!”
The tears slipped over. One did, anyway.
I didn’t bother wiping it away. It deserved its trek down my face, the wetness a match to my devastation. I rarely ever received gifts. And that damned necklacemeantsomething to me.
The wind rustled my hair once more.
Aiko stood directly in front of me, his eyes wide with fright. He threw my necklace at me, my shock almost making me miss catching it.
“You can have it. I don’t want it.”
I holstered my gun, quickly hooked the necklace around my throat, and then squinted at his panicked features. I was beyond furious, but I asked as calmly as I could, “Why?”
