“For us, it’s just foreplay.” Alek lifted his finger, the wound healing as if it never was.
She pursed her lips in annoyance.
“Foreplay? I guess you’re desperate to get me in your bed.” She smirked. “I’m a bit higher maintenance than the averageWitch, plus they call this kidnapping. That’s a crime, even in the Veil.”
“You can’t kidnap someone who is already dead.”
Lanias kept her cool at his words. “Oh, is that your game then?”
Alek danced the blade atop his fingers before he tossed it up and grabbed it out of the air and aimed at the wall. It hit the center of a painting, sinking deep up to the hilt. Those silver eyes looked back at her with both a warning and a promise.
A promise she wasn’t sure she wanted any part in.
“Games are played by children; you and I are not children.” His gaze dared her to deny it. “As I told your friend a year ago. When a Vampire takes an interest in someone. It’s far more than a simple crush.”
She looked away from him, “What do you think? I’ll just passively stay here because you have me healed? If I wanted to leave, I could do so at this very moment.”
“Then why haven’t you?” he asked, crossing his arms as he quirked a brow.
She averted her eyes. “I’m tired, plus you’ve offered me a healer. I’d be stupid to decline that. We both know I’m not that good of a person.”
He scoffed. “I have a better answer,” he said, leaning down he picked up the covers and drew them closer to her. “You don’t want to leave. I know you better than you think Witch, you’re happy I found you.”
She glared at him, only to lean her head back in surprise.
He was too close.
She’d always thought his eyes were like chips of ice; sharp, glacial; but now she saw the storm beneath them: darker greys shifting like smoke, like something waiting to break. Her gaze dipped to his mouth.
The top lip was a cruel line; the bottom, full and soft enough to be dangerous. He smirked with a look of knowing. “Do you see something you like?”
“And if I do?” she challenged, getting impatient with him.
Alek smiled, seeing her impatience in her bristling shoulders. “Everything will come in time.” He patted the blanket as he stood. “Get some rest, you’re going to need it.”
He left the room followed by the other male she’d completely forgotten was there.
The minute he walked out the door, she gave the covers a frustrated kick. Cursing she fell back on the pillows. He knew just what to say to piss her off. She wanted to kick and scream some more, but as soon as the thought came, it left. Lanias was still too drained to do anything more than mentally rant. She grudgingly concluded that some rest was preferred. After all, this Vampire threat was greatly annoying, less threatening but more sexually frustrating for the most part. Unfortunately, she was used to that. So best to regain some energy then she would decide what her next move would be.
While she’d loved to wallow in self-pity, she hadn’t forgotten what her father said before he tossed her off the building. There were others like her out there. Children of both Surrem and human blood, though she wasn’t sure if her mother had really been human. Her uncle had written more about her father than her mother.
So, whether Stanthos was alive or dead, she’d go to his house and search for clues to find the others.
Along with the last words her father had spoken. “The true one’s have returned, and they are intent on wiping the earth of this damned blood.”
The vision of the emotionless orange eyes that looked at her as if she was nothing returned in her memory. She grappled withwhether she was doing this for herself, or because it was the last words of her father.
Deciding to think about it more later, she drifted off into a fitful sleep.
She would solve the Alek problem once she got more sleep.
A Deal
ALEK
“Ididn’t think you’d find a healer so quickly.” Lanias said the next morning watching the grey gowned female draw her fingers along her bruised skin. The warm sensation of magic made her skin tingle. “I was certain you’d drag this out.”
“Is that what you think of me?” Alek asked, from where he leaned against the wall. In truth, hehaddebated over whether to bring the healer right away or wait a bit.
