As Rab and Eugene took off into the woods, the sky started to pinken, throwing swirls of orange as dawn arose.
Something bothered me about hiding in the Dark Woods and leaving it to Luka to be the bait. I wanted to make for damn sure that the queen found me. This whole plan hinged on her.
“Luka, are you sure your aunt will follow you?” I asked. I wanted to kill that woman more than I’d wanted anything in my life.
He shrugged. “Pretty sure.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. I turned to Sawyer. “Trust me?”
He raised one eyebrow. “Yes…”
I nodded. “Good. I’ll be back in a bit. Be ready to roll out when you see me.”
He frowned. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”
I looked at the tall vampire covered in tattoos. “I’m not. You’re coming with me.”
Luka looked surprised, and then at Sawyer as if asking for permission. Sawyer pinned his friend with a glare. “Hit on her and die.”
Luka grinned, the points of his teeth extending. “Hey, I look but never touch.” He held up his hands in a gesture of submission.
Sawyer’s eyes flashed yellow. “Lookand die.”
Luka chuckled, stepping forward and clapping Sawyer on the back. “You alphas and your possessiveness over women, I’ll never understand it. You have my word, friend. I’ll treat her like she’s my sister.”
That seemed to calm my husband. Sawyer’s eyes flashed back to blue and he gave Luka a curt nod.
Now that the rules had been established, I started to jog out into the forest as Luka zoomed beside me using his vampire speed. “What’s the plan, blondie?”
I shook a finger at him. “No flirting!”
He grasped his chest in mock horror. “I’m commenting on your hair color.”
“No pet names,” I scolded him gently. I wasn’t really mad, but I could smell the testosterone and charm coming off of this guy, and it was thick. He’d probably lured hundreds of women with that shit and I had a man, one I was perfectly happy with.
He just gave me a halfcocked smirk, but nodded, keeping pace with my jog easily. “Demi, alpha of the Paladin, what do you require of me?” he asked formally, which only caused me to snort laugh. When I reached the halfway point between Paladin Village and Wolf City, I stopped, catching my breath.
“I’m going to do something, something I know for sure will lure the queen, and then you bring her the rest of the way into the Dark Woods.”
He raised one eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “And what is that?”
“I’ve done this before.” I pulled out the tiny sterile needle Raven had given me and pricked my finger, letting a fat drop of blood bead at the tip.
Luka swayed, his nostrils flaring as he grasped the tree trunk near him. “Dear God, woman, that smells like cotton candy. You’re so lucky I just fed.”
I just shook my head and reached out, smudging the drop onto the tree trunk Luka held. He leapt backward ten feet, startling me.
“Don’twave that liquid heroin in my direction,” he growled, his voice predatorial. Maybe I should have thought this through more.
I winced. “Sorry.” Squeezing my finger again, I let one more drop form, and then dripped it onto a leaf that rested on the forest floor.
Luka grabbed his mouth. “Holy hell, my mouth is watering. Can we be done with this?”
I tried not to smile but I couldn’t help it. Sucking my finger into my mouth, I licked the blood drop off and nodded. “All done. She will come now.”
He nodded. “If I don’t lick every red blood cell off of that leaf, she will.”
“Don’t you dare!” I yelled at him.
