Primal Temptation

eyes never leaving the wraith as he crouched in front of her. He reached a hand out, and she turned her head, flinching at the gentle touch.

“Neither of us was in control.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in, the roar of both the cat and her heart thundering in her ears. Her eyes slid shut. Nothing made any sense. Lucan wouldn’t hurt her, she knew that, but he’d been the one to grab her, not the wraith. Yet it was the wraith watching her now, insisting someone or something else had been responsible?

What the hell was going on?

“I want to talk to Lucan.” A raspy sound that she knew had to be her voice made it past her lips.

“Impossible.”

Clinging to the edge of the wardrobe, she forced her shaking legs to hold her. “You won’t let him have control.”

The wraith shook his head, something that might have passed for sympathy crossing his granite expression before he turned away.

“Why not?”

The lower half of his body was already slipping into its phantom form. “Right now, he would kill everyone in here if I did.”

More confused than ever, she took a step after him, needing to understand what just happened. “Why would you care?”

“I wouldn’t.” He offered a grim smile. “But you would.” Without another word he vanished through the door.

Chapter Twelve

“Pan’s shadow is still stalking you, I see?”

Briana didn’t look over her shoulder to check that the wraith was there. He was always there. For two days he’d shadowed every move she made in the house, refusing to give Lucan control.

The phantom presence had everyone on edge, Briana included. She wasn’t any closer to figuring out what had triggered the attack, and if the wraith had figured anything out, he wasn’t sharing.

Kel had been the only one to see the bruises on her neck before they’d healed, but he hadn’t commented. He was careful, though, to give the wraith a wide berth.

Nessa had been the first to assume Lucan’s thirst for blood had triggered the loss of control, and Briana hadn’t bothered to correct her. Either someone in the house had found something that could manipulate Lucan into hurting her, or the gods had orchestrated the whole thing.

There was also the slim possibility that Rhiannon had been trying to reestablish her control over Lucan.

Until she knew one way or another, Briana planned on watching her back in case it had been an indirect attempt to remove her from the competition. She was hardly the biggest threat in the games, but there seemed to be layers to the Gauntlet that had yet to be revealed.

“How do you stand it?” Nessa continued, dropping next to her. They sat outside in the shade of one of trees without getting too close to the temperamental vines that twisted around the limbs, a constant reminder of what happened in the catacombs.

Briana shrugged. “He’s not that bad.” She resisted the urge to check how close he was or if his eyes had returned to normal. She wasn’t sure if the wraith preferred his phantom form to intimidate everyone or to prevent her from seeing too much.

Elena floated on her back in the pool. “I know I’ll be keeping my distance next round.”

“B’s not into letting others do her fighting for her,” Nessa put in.

The icy kiss of the phantom’s presence licked over her skin, and she knew as well as he did that Nessa wasn’t assuming as much as she was asking. The wraith’s presence was getting to the huntress, too, then.

The only one who seemed unconcerned with the wraith was Vaughn. He dozed in one of the lounge chairs by the pool, his body twitching now and then.

“Think he’s dreaming about chasing a rabbit?” Elena quipped.

“Or you,” Nessa laughed.

Elena rolled her eyes. “I’d sooner be duct-taped to a lawn chair and forced to watch a Duck Dynasty marathon.” She shuddered as though both scenarios were equally disturbing.

Aware of the wraith trailing in her wake, Briana walked over to Vaughn. Remembering all too clearly what happened with Lucan, she kept out of arms reach, nudging his leg with her knee. “Vaughn.”

He bolted upright in the chair. “No! Don’t kill her!” He gripped the arms of the chair, a sheen of sweat covering his face.

“Hey.”

His head snapped around, and he blinked a few times before running a hand down his face. “B?”

Elena snickered. “Somebody’s been eating too many Scooby Snacks before bed.”

Briana ignored the sorceress. “Bad dream?”

“I guess.” As if he sensed that she’d listen if he wanted to talk about it, he shook his head. “Whatever I was dreaming, it’s gone now.” He didn’t quite meet her eyes.

In the pool, Elena cocked her head but made no further cracks. She came out of the pool, tossing Vaughn a towel before using the one on her chair to dry off.

Vaughn’s jaw tightened, but Briana couldn’t tell if the response was related to the sorceress or the nightmare. Throwing the towel back, he walked toward the far courtyard.

Unsure whether to try talking to him or giving him some space, she went with the latter. He knew where to find her if he felt like talking about it.

“He’s strung tighter than one of Pavlov’s dogs waiting for the dinner bell to ring.” Elena’s comment lacked her earlier teasing as she watched Vaughn walk away until he disappeared from view. “Can’t you just pace like most people?” she snapped at the wraith. “All that creepy gliding is making me twitchy.” She plopped down on one of the chairs.

If the sorceress noticed the wraith circled her more closely, she didn’t waste a breath pointing it out. Nessa grinned though.

On her way across the courtyard, Briana noticed the Fae walking in her direction. The wraith was almost on top of her by the time she stopped in front of Bran. She hadn’t been able to get him alone since the catacombs. Although some of the details remained foggy after the cave-in, she did remember one thing she’d been meaning to ask him about.

“How did you do it? How did you control the vines?” Controlled them to a point anyway. She wasn’t sure they hadn’t turned on him right before Elena had brought the roof down on their heads.

“When a magician reveals their tricks it ruins the magic.” He walked around her, or more specifically, around the wraith. “I’d be careful with that one during the next competition.”

She watched the Fae leave, felt the wraith’s gaze linger a beat longer than her own. “You don’t trust him.”

“I trust no one.”

“And me?”

The wraith said nothing.

“You can’t protect him forever,” she said when the darkness in control of Lucan turned from her.

Inky shadows solidified into Lucan’s form. Three clipped strides brought him within an inch of her, and she tipped her head back to meet the soulless eyes that weren’t as unfeeling as the wraith would have everyone believe.

“How long are we going to do this?”

No response.

“I want to talk to Lucan. Please.” She didn’t want to beg, wasn’t even convinced it would sway the bloodthirsty mercenary in front of her, but she couldn’t keep waiting for the wraith to relinquish control whenever