Haunted by Your Touch

back.

Something big crashed into us, driving me and Drew off the horse onto the ground. For a second, I was stunned, and dirt lodged up my nose, making it even harder to breathe. Hard, heavy forms tumbled over me before rolling away. Over the furious sounds of a struggle, I heard Ashton’s shout.

“Drew! What’s going on?”

Couldn’t breathe! I rubbed my nose with my bound hands, trying to dislodge the dirt from it. My chest burned with a pain that made every other ache fade into insignificance. One nostril cleared and I took in a staggered breath that wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. Lights began exploding in my vision as a rushing noise filled my ears. Ashton shouted something else, but I couldn’t make it out this time. Through my narrowing vision, my eyes focused enough to see him. Ashton’s back was against what looked like an enormous wall, holding up a lantern with his other arm tight around Gloria.

And then a slit appeared in that wall behind him. Ashton melted into it, still clutching Gloria, both of them disappearing even as I screamed into my gag. A hard grip seized me, flipping me around, crushing me to the ground as I tried to scramble away. Then air—luscious, beautiful air!—filled my lungs as the duct tape was torn from my mouth and I sucked in a breath that ended on a sob.

“Gloria!”

“Why were you there that night, Rafael?” I asked, staring at the man who’d killed Drew and saved me. “What were you doing in the woods at just the right moment?”

Silence, then his shoulder moved in what might have been a shrug. “I told you before; something about those two boys struck me as odd when I noticed them at the bar. So I decided to patrol the barrier just in case and heard the horses.”

Plausible, but I didn’t believe him. Rafael was the ruler here. It would’ve made more sense if he’d sent someone to check the barrier instead of going himself.

Just like it didn’t make sense that he’d come here now, by himself. Was he really trying to help me catch Ashton… or was he helping the Pureblood escape instead?

“Everyone says you’re a three-quarter demon,” I began in as casual a tone as I could manage. I was about to stomp on thin ice, but if Rafael meant me harm, I was screwed anyway. “That means one of your parents was a Pureblood. With a Pureblood for a parent, you must not hate them like the rest of us do. In fact, I’ve often wondered—what do you feed on? Regular food, or something else?” Like Partials, my tone implied.

A derisive snort escaped him. “I don’t feed on what you’re thinking, my sweet, or I would’ve eaten my fill of you years ago.”

“Maybe I’m not your type,” I murmured.

This time, laughter floated over to me before the caress of his words. “Oh, you’re exactly my type, Mara.”

A tremor ran through me. He’d projected only stern aloofness the night we’d met, telling me who he was and forbidding me from returning to Nocturna while I was still a teenager. Once I’d returned at twenty to backtrack over my family’s long-cold search for Gloria’s kidnapper, however, Rafael had made his interest clear. I’d managed to hold him at arm’s length despite my attraction, but maybe I’d been going about this all wrong. What if all the answers I sought about Ashton and trafficking Purebloods could be found by going through Rafael, instead of around him?

“I’m cold,” I said, deliberately giving a light shudder. It was true; my jacket had come untangled from my waist sometime during my wild ride, and my sleeveless blouse and denim skirt weren’t proper outdoor wear for these temperatures.

“I don’t think the two of us can find him, so will you send a patrol out?” I continued. “Right now I want nothing more than to go back to Bonecrushers and have a tall mug of hot beer.”

He came closer, almost near enough for me to see the faultless hollows and contours of his face. “I’ll send a patrol, but they might be looking for a ghost. Are you sure you saw the same boy from that night?”

Ashton’s face flashed in my mind; black hair cut close, slightly crooked nose, brown eyes, and an easy smile. I’d only glimpsed him for a second, but I had no doubt. It was him. He wasn’t a ghost born out of my guilty conscience.

“If I’m wrong, your patrol spends a boring several hours stomping through the woods. If I’m right, you might catch a Pureblood. What’s to lose?”

He inclined his head. “Very true.”

Then Rafael leapt onto the back of my horse, the animal’s grunt the only noise from his movement. “Climb up,” he said, holding out his hand. “We’ll ride back together, and then I’ll send some men out.”

I slid my hand into his even as my plan finalized in my mind. It was far-fetched, yes, and it might get me killed, but if I succeeded… I’d find out exactly where the ruler of Nocturna stood regarding Purebloods.

“Hurry,” I told Rafael after he pulled me up and I settled myself against his chest.

His arms tightened around me as he spurred the horse forward at a brisk pace. I said nothing, grimly noting what had escaped me back when I was a terrified teen and I’d thought Rafael was the demon version of a knight in shining armor.

He could see well enough in the dark that he didn’t need to take the horse at a walk through the forest, like I had. The only other people I’d met who could see that well were Drew and Ashton. What if Rafael was more than a three-quarter demon? People only had his word that he wasn’t a Pureblood, but to my knowledge, no one had met either of Rafael’s parents to know for sure. He’d saved me from Drew several years ago, but maybe because Drew and Ashton had been hunting here without his permission, not because he bore the same animosity for Purebloods that all other Partials did.

If I was right, what I intended to do was akin to covering myself in meat before jumping into a lion’s den, but it also might be the quickest way to get to Ashton. All I had going for me was the hope that this lion wouldn’t see me coming.

Or that he’d turn out to be a vegetarian.

Chapter Three

Rafael might prove to be a Pureblood in Partial’s clothing, but at least he saved me from a nasty confrontation with the owner of the horse I’d commandeered. When we rode up to Bonecrushers, a very beefy, very pissed-off Partial was describing to a group of onlookers all the different ways he’d beat the shit out of whoever had taken his ride. I’d have been forced to either shoot him to defend myself or take that beating, which, since I’d stolen his horse, most people in Nocturna would agree I deserved. But Beefy Angry Man went so abruptly silent when he saw Rafael astride his mount that it was all I could do not to laugh.

“Thanks for the loan,” Rafael said pleasantly as he climbed off, lifting me and setting me on my feet before I could jump off as well.

“Well… since it’s you…,” the man sputtered. The onlookers, who’d hung around expecting to see an ass kicking, wisely decided to go back inside.

Who said demons couldn’t be civilized?

“Why don’t you get your beer and I’ll meet you after I’ve spoken to my men?” Rafael offered, still in the same pleasant tone with its I-dare-you-to-disagree undercurrent.

Since I’d said that was all I wanted, I was stuck now.

“Sure. I’ll, ah, see you at the bar.”

Ten minutes later, I pretended to be enraptured with my beer, but in reality, I strained to hear what Rafael was saying to Billy and several other of his men. Between the band and the noisy crowd, I probably only caught every fifth word. For all I knew, he could have been directing them to patrol the forest for Ashton… or telling them to gather up some extra firewood.

Didn’t matter. This might have been a half-assed plan, but it was the best I’d come up with, so I was seeing it through.