“She’ll die if they kill him!” I choked on a sob. My heart was pounding against my ribs and panic filled me. “I can’t let her die because of me, Alister, please!”
Rhett growled, and Alister pushed him to the side before caging me in with his arms. “Sweet ruby, I wouldn’t lie to you. They won’t kill him. They know what that would do to you.”
I fought to expand my lungs, but my magic was running wild through my veins. “You all shouldn’t have decided without me.”
“She’s right,” Rhett said.
“You didn’t hear what he said,” Alister growled before turning back to me. “Do you know what blood gems are?”
I shook my head, trying to focus on not shifting. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Blood gems are made from the very last drop of blood running through someone's veins. It’s something only a vampire can make.” He reached into his pocket and handed me a dark red gem the size of my fingernail.
The weight of it in my palm was heavy, and I tilted my head.
“That’s the blood gem of the human who killed my father.”
My gaze flicked up to his eyes and I could see the pain within them. “Alister…”
“I promise you when we get Alice safe, I will hand you the blood gem of Grayson.” He brushed his thumb against my cheek. “But not until your guardian is safe.”
My body relaxed as Rhett let loose a small amount of his pheromones, and I nodded. “It still wasn’t okay for you guys to remove me from the situation like that.”
“I’m not sorry for protecting you, but I am sorry we did it in a way that upset you,” he said before glancing at Rhett. “I’m going to head back and see if they need help.”
He nodded. “I’ll stay with Wren.”
Alister nodded, and he cupped my face and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before speeding out of the room.
I sighed, glancing over at Rhett who scratched the back of his neck. “You look really cute with the ears and tail.”
Blowing out a breath, I sucked them back in and glared at him. “Really?”
“What?”
“You’ve barely spoken to me since our last session.”
Nodding, he walked over to me and leaned against the desk. “You’re right.”
“Can you explain why?” Sadness slicked through my body as his cherry scent flooded my senses. “I know you’ve been busy helping Rowan and doing your regular job too, but you’ve actively been avoiding me.”
“Wren... I don’t know how to be what you need.” He paused, glancing down at his feet. “I’ve only been good at one thing, and that’s sex.”
My chest squeezed. “Rhett, you’re good at so many other things. I have no knowledge of you and sex, and I still care about you.”
He huffed out a laugh. “You care about me?”
“Yes.” I moved my body to face him better and scooted closer on the desk. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about that.”
“There was only one woman who actually cared about me with sex not being in the picture.”
I frowned. “You told me about your friend. I’m disgusted that she and you were dealt that fate.”
“The succubi I was paired with was named Lynn. She hated when I’d talk, and she’d fuck me just to steal my essence.” He laughed, but the pain was raw behind it. “She’s the one who leaked the information about my friend and she’s why my friend was killed, so I killed Lynn with my pheromones…”
His head was down, and his shoulders were trembling.
I slid off the desk and moved in front of him, moving right into his sight, and I cupped my hands around his face so he couldn’t look away. “Lynn deserved it.”
