I found him kneeling over one of the bodies, searching its pockets.
“What the hell are you looking for?”
“I am searching for clues as to the shaman’s identity or location.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I demanded. “You scared the crap out of me!” He looked up. “And if I had been in mortal danger just now? If I could have died as you can? What would you have done to save me?”
“I…” I clamped my mouth shut.
“Jasmine?”
“Still trying to put me through my lessons, are you?” I asked bitterly.
“I have a great deal to share and you are, usually, a quick study. So, yes. I want you to understand the lengths to which I would go in order to assure your continued existence.”
“You sound like a damn Vulcan. You know, from
He raised an eyebrow. As if he knew how much that single move would irritate me. “Perhaps this conversation would be better saved until we have no audience?”
“What, you mean we should tune the others out? Like you’ve done to me for the past few days?”
“You are the one who got yourself possessed. I am simply trying to complete this mission successfully with you, though clearly I would have been smarter to ship you back to Cleveland the moment I learned that your situation compromised every move we attempt.”
“I didn’t get myself possessed! I saved my life, and Raoul’s, by biting that monster! And now he’s in me, like a poison, and all you’ve done is cut me off like I’m already dead!” Not fair, I knew. No way could we pull this off with Brude undermining us, which he’d do every chance he got because clearly the gnomes and the Weres had promised to help him bulk up his army. But I’d taken care of that problem myself. Me. Without any help, dammit! Just like I could do everything else!
Vayl came at me so fast I didn’t even have time to jerk away. His hands gripped me, the ice instantly melting beneath his touch. His eyes, black as the pit I felt yawning beneath me, speared mine.
“I did what I had to in order to make this mission work. Tell me you would not have done the same!
And then promise me you will never die!”
Silence. And then, quiet but clear, the singsong voice of Cole ringing in our ears, “Jazzy’s a pain in the a-ass. So glad she gave me a pa-ass!”
Vayl snorted.
I chuckled. Then I said, “I’m sorry. It’s Pete.” I closed my eyes against the burn of unshed tears. Forced myself to roll on. “And the ice thing.” I glared up at him. “I get your point, okay? But you
You know what that means. Nobody saves me without consequences. And it seems like the part of me that pays is my humanity. I can’t… Jesus, Vayl, how much more can I afford to lose? I mean…” I couldn’t go on. He didn’t make me. He crushed me to his chest, the clash of our armor sounding like a gunshot in the gorge. What didn’t break off began to melt, the ice running so quickly to water that I could feel his muscles straining to press against my breasts.
Cold, slick ice on my hands. On his back. Both of us practically writhing beneath it, burning to touch one another in ways we were still just discovering.
Knowing we could be overheard, I kept my pleas silent. Begging him with my eyes to
Suddenly his fingertips were on my face. He’d dropped his sword. Entwined his hand in my wet hair.
I felt material under my hands. The abused denim of his jeans, splitting as he adjusted his stance, giving me room to slide my fingers around to the back of his thighs and up—to more ice.
I tore at it, ignoring my broken fingernails, my bleeding knuckles as it came away in sheets. I nodded.
A great weight left my back. I heard the crack of ice breaking on the ground beside us and then Vayl’s hands, tearing away the remains of my coat. Sliding underneath the shirt it had protected.
More cracking as our remaining armor heated and fell away.
I felt his lips again, this time feathering against my neck. Teeth nipping. The soft, wetness of his tongue.
Everything sensed but unseen between us seemed to whirl around our bodies, creating a storm so electric and powerful that I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end.
We both knew what was missing. The swift pain of fangs, piercing, sucking, raising me so high on tiptoe that my precarious balance would force me to shove my fingers into his sopping curls, to press so hard against his body that I couldn’t imagine us as separate beings. Already we wanted it so badly we could hardly resist. What would it be like a month, a year down the line?
Vayl raised his head. “Duty,” he said hoarsely.
“Yeah.”
He threw his head back and swallowed, licking his lips like he’d just chugged a can of Coke and needed a minute to clear the acid aftertaste of what had been a predominantly bitchin’ drink. When he looked at me again his eyes had softened to amber.
