come. Audrey was there.”
“I’ll come tonight.”
As the silence stretched, she began to worry that he would question her about last night. She had the sneaking suspicion that Fen had told Christian more than she’d be comfortable with him knowing. Did Christian know she’d gotten stupid drunk, lit Fen’s house on fire and then tried to jump him? In the end, he didn’t bring up any of those things.
Instead, he threaded his hand through her hair and pulled her close, keeping his gaze on her face, reading every flicker of expression. She thought he might be able to read the truth there even if Fen had kept her secrets. He was gentle but firm, inexorably pulling her close, settling his mouth on hers.
The image of Fen rose in her mind as she closed her eyes. The look he’d given her last night—dark, hungry, lost. She shoved that aside. This wasn’t betrayal. Fen didn’t want her.
Christian’s mouth tasted tart like the apple he’d eaten and he was one hell of a kisser. There was something very raw about the way he kissed. As if the wicked, irreverent man he hid behind that civilized mask came out to play the moment he touched her.
He took her lower lip between his teeth and tugged at it, opening her mouth so his tongue could slip inside. His hand on her waist adjusted the alignment of her body. His fingers twined in her hair held her steady as he took her mouth.
His free hand found its way under her jacket to the waistband of her jeans. Cold fingertips grazed the warm skin of her belly and made her startle. His cheek, which was pressed to hers, pulled in a smile and then his lips were on her neck. Her back arched and his fingers hooked inside her waistband.
“I want you.” His voice was rough.
“Anywhere.”
She opened her eyes and he was staring down at her. His body was tense but still as he waited for her answer.
She swallowed hard. “Remember when you told me you wanted our first kiss to be special?”
“I thought it was special.”
“You know what I mean. Why the change of heart?”
His gaze grew heated and something inside her definitely responded, even while another part of her was completely unmoved. “I always wanted you. I don’t like the doubt I keep seeing in your eyes. You’re mine, Raquel. I’m not giving you up.”
“You’re worried I’m going to back out?” He’d never given any sign of it, but he held his cards so tightly to his chest.
“No.” A pause. “I hope not. It’s stressful, this waiting. I want everything settled.”
She touched his chest and he searched her face for a moment before closing his eyes. A shudder passed through him. He drew his hand from beneath her jacket and cupped it against her cheek.
He kissed her again, this time with a gentleness that was sweet. Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear, he said, “But you’re not ready. How about we take a look around and then...will you spend the rest of the day with me?”
The night too. He was offering that, she could see it in his eyes. Hunger. Possessiveness. Challenge. He wanted her. At this most basic level, apart from duty and contracts and loyalty, Christian wanted to fuck her brains out. Attraction. They could start with basic physical attraction and work from there. Why the hell not?
“Over here.” Christian stopped beside a ward stone while she searched for its mate. She thought she’d start by checking the wards themselves. Right now, what she felt was as strong and stable as the fault back home, but there had to be something...
She cast around for the next stone. It had been windy last night and even though they’d only been placed a few days ago, some of the stones were already covered by debris. She took a step toward a pile of leaves covering a dip in the ground and her breath caught in her throat.
There was a drop-off just a few feet away, a steep hill that might hold a small creek in the spring. It was dry now but not empty. Something was down there, black and limp, lying in the crumpled leaves. At first she recoiled, thinking it was a demon, but the magical imprint they made in this world didn’t slam into her. If it was a demon, it was a dead one.
Whatever—whoever—it was, wasn’t getting out of there on its own.
“Christian,” she shouted, and he was there before she turned to look for him.
He slid down the drop, one hand grazing the ground for balance. She went behind him, more carefully. Last thing they needed was for her to twist an ankle now.
“Oh God.”
It was one of the crows. As Raquel drew nearer, she recognized the injured woman as Rane, the crow who’d been arguing with Aiden at the welcome party. Her face was a bloodied, swollen mess, nose and jaw both broken. A gash on her forehead still bled sluggishly. She was naked. The black that had caught Raquel’s attention in the first place were her feathers, which were damp and plastered to her skin. That was a bad, bad sign. Christian’s pinched face confirmed it. Rane had had trouble completing her transformation. Usually that indicated severe internal trauma.
Raquel dropped to her knees beside the body and felt for a heartbeat while Christian called for help on his phone. She found a pulse, tremulous and weak, fluttering beneath the pale skin at Rane’s neck.
“Aiden? We found Rane near the fault. West side of the lake, near the cliff. She’s hurt badly.” A pause. “No, bring Alan here. I’m afraid to move her.” Christian looked at Rane, eyes bleak, face hard and filled with helpless anger. “We’ll do what we can. Hurry.”
Raquel had already taken off her coat and laid it over Rane’s body. Her skin was naturally pale which made the blood and bruises stand out in stark contrast. Black feathers stuck to the drying blood.
“We can bind the wounds.” Christian reached for his pack.
Raquel shook her head. “There are too many small cuts and she’s not bleeding badly anymore.” Which wasn’t a particularly good sign. It just meant Rane didn’t have that much more blood to lose. Raquel had apprenticed with their healer last year at Kathy’s insistence. Being a witch didn’t necessarily make you a good healer. Healers, in fact, were usually witches who had very minor gifts magic wise. Their true talent lay in their intuition and control. She couldn’t heal Rane. If she tried, she might do more damage than good. But she could keep her heart beating until help arrived, could keep her lungs drawing air and prevent her from losing any more blood.
She pressed her palm to Rane’s heart and closed her eyes. Focused on matching the beat of the crow’s heart to her own. A small magic, less than lighting a match or activating a rune, but she focused all her attention on it.
She heard Christian stand, and a moment later a weight landed atop the body as he gently covered Rane’s exposed legs with his coat. He settled himself at Rane’s head and talked to her in a low voice while Raquel tried to keep the weakening heart muscle pumping blood.
God, what had happened? She’d never seen injuries like this. Demons, for all of their terror, were straightforward killers. They didn’t generally toy with their prey. These wounds had been purposefully placed to keep Rane alive as long as possible and suffering. And they’d left her here to bleed out alone at the very center of clan land.
Rane whimpered and Christian lowered his head. “Stay with us, Rane. Help is coming. I hear them, they’re almost here now.”
He was right, Raquel realized. Either they were fast or she’d lost time. She could hear Aiden’s voice, gruff and deep, and then another man who came to kneel beside her.
“No, don’t stop,” he told her when she started to withdraw her hand. “Let me just see...ah.”
She could feel his magic through her connection to Rane. Strong for a healer, and he seemed to know what he was doing.
“Will she make it?” Aiden asked, but the healer was gone, completely absorbed in trying to repair the damage. The question hung there like a curse. No one could answer it. Aiden swore and Christian pulled him aside
