“Yeah, it’s called the dressing room. Has loads of space,” he drawled, then his mouth came back to tormenting her neck, trailing his tongue along the rim of her ear to suck on her lobe.
God, she shut her eyes, desire heightening. Moments from dragging him to the floor, she somehow dredged up the strength to resist and turned in his arms to face him.
His brow creased. “What is it? I sense your unease.”
Right. She took a step back, her neck still tingling from his sensual onslaught, aware his gaze followed her. With no idea how to approach this, she blurted, “This wound here?” She touched her almost healed chest. “A demon did this.”
“I know…” Then he stilled. “What exactly do you mean?” His tone was quiet, and all the more deadlier for it.
She swallowed and rubbed her damp palms down her jeans. “Tolvi. He’s been after me since last fall. I didn’t know it was him until recently. He said these nodes belong to him…” she trailed off at the tic pulsing furiously on Nik’s jaw.
“Why didn’t you tell me all this?”
“I was scared of what could happen,” she admitted, searching his hard features for a glimmer of understanding, but she couldn’t read anything in them. “He, Tolvi, killed one of Eddi’s friends in front of me. He said he’ll do the same to the people who live at The Refuge if I don’t hand my maker over—hand Nate over—or if the Guardians came snooping around his place…” She bit her lip.
“Describe him.”
His flat tone had her stomach twisting. “He’s tall as you, bony and thin, with a dark complexion, and anemic yellow eyes. He wears his white hair in a short mohawk.”
“How did he know about your nodes?”
“I don’t think he knew about them. He called me an anomaly. He-he heard about me feeding from demons, it’s why he came after me.” Nik’s mouth thinned, but she forced herself to continue. “When he realized I didn’t know where mymakerwas, he lashed out, slicing my top open. That’s when he saw the nodes and tried to dig them out—”
A sliver of fury surged through her, followed by the temperature dropping to subzero. “Nik—” she gasped, stumbling and rubbing her arms.
The impossible cold dissipated.
“I will find him.” He headed for the door.
“Nik, wait—” She darted after him.
He faced her, no give visible in his set jaw, his eyes like pale green glaciers.
She burst out, “Joyce? Please, would you try and get her to The Shelter before Rough gets his hands on her?”
After several seconds, he sighed, and his expression softened. “You can’t save everyone, Shadow,” he said gently. “They must want it, too. But I’ll look out for her. If you need me for anything, message or telepath me. One moment—”
He strode into the dressing room then reappeared a moment later.
“Here.” He handed her a new cell phone. “It has all the Guardians numbers in there, and mine, if you can’t telepathically connect with me. Hey—” He slid his fingers in her hair, making her look at him. “It’ll be okay. We’ll tackle things one day at a time. And I’ll find the one behind Eddi’s death.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, rubbing her almost healed sternum. “I should have told you about Tolvi. But I didn’t want him killing the people in The Refuge. He has his minions everywhere. And the lying hellscum killed Eddi, even though he’d given me two days to turn over Nate.”
“Two days?” Nik’s eyebrows tipped together. “It’s long past that, and the others haven’t reported any more deaths down there. He’s probably keeping low for now with us checking on The Refuge. But he’ll crawl out of the woodwork soon enough, and we’ll be waiting.”
She leaned into him, seeking comfort, and when his thickly muscled arms wrapped around her, her heart settled. Nik was her sanctuary.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said softly, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I gotta go. I’ll be back at dawn.”
She sighed and stepped back, wishing he didn’t have to leave. “Please be careful.”
“I’m immortal, Shadow—”
“Yes, but not invincible.”
Nik shook his head. “Stop worrying. Rest if you can.”
Rest? She doubted she could. “Maybe later. I’ll walk out with you. I want to see Kira and the other girls.”
