My stomach clenched and I looked away. I did want him to stay. Hell, I would’ve liked to sit on his lap as well. They were too much for me this morning. I ran my hands through my hair, fingers only serving to fluff my wild blonde tangles into a more convincing mane around my face and shoulders.
“Do you want to leave?” Cian asked as I tried to get my tired brain to focus. “If you do, I’ll find you a five star hotel in the northeast until I convince Lucia’s group to stop.” It sounded nice when he said the words convince, like he’d meet her for tea and talk it out. I doubted that would be his actual intentions. The image of him clutching Gavin’s still bleeding head flashed in my head.
“No.” The certainty of my answer surprised me, just as much as it apparently surprised the three of them. “No. I’m not going to run away because of them.” I started to say I wasn’t afraid, but it would’ve been a lie.
“You aren’t like us,” Akiva pointed out delicately. “Look at you. You barely walked away from a fight with them.”
“Didn’t he almost die?” I flapped my hand towards Indra.
“It was different,” the lich argued.
Standing was tiring. Letting out a breath, I walked to the sofa and sat myself on the opposite end from Cian, legs drawn up under me so I could sit cross legged there in my shirt and panties.
“Just so we’re clear, it was a vampire and a wendigo who were both intimately acquainted with blue vervain,” I intoned softly. “Not just a fledgling vampire who stuck me with a silver knife.”
But I wondered just how any of these men would have fared against the two I’d met. Would they have been able to hold their own, even defeat both of them?
Would they have been able to fight a fully shifted wendigo?
My turmoil must have been apparent, because Indra moved so he could lean against the sofa in front of me, orange eyes gazing up at me with infinite patience. I met his beautiful orange eyes, long lashes framing his gaze. A very different kind of heat sang under my skin and I looked away, fingers tangling in the hem of my shirt. I still very much wanted to continue what we’d started the other night.
“Can you…” I trailed off, unsure of how to phrase my question without sounding presumptuous, arrogant, or naïve.
I was sure, however, that I was going to accomplish at least one of the three, so I went on. “Are you afraid of wendigos?”
Indra blinked, considering my question. “No,” he said after his pause.
“What if they weren’t with you?” I signaled towards Cian and Akiva, who remained blessedly silent. “Would you be afraid then?”
He shook his head. “No, George. I’m not afraid of a wendigo, no matter if I’m alone or with them.” He hesitated. “Are you?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
Chapter 13
Trying to keep my face neutral as I fought with an answer, my eyes darted to Akiva nervously. He’d make fun of me for my feelings, I was sure.
Akiva only studied me with an intensity that seemed to hold me in place. He didn’t speak, not even to rile me with some eloquent insult.
Indra noticed his gaze just as I had. The hellhound approached him, running his hand across Akiva’s shoulders. “Don’t you have some miracle blood remover you can throw together in the kitchen?” the hellhound asked, taking the initiative for the first time since I’d met him. His tone was not a suggestion, which surprised me, and Akiva blinked.
“Yes,” he agreed, after a pause, the intensity in his gaze melting away when Indra touched him. “Will you mind me rummaging through your cabinets, George?” He stood, reaching out to pull my hand to him and ran his lips over my knuckles too quickly for me to yank my hand away.
As he wandered into the kitchen, I gazed at my hand like I would see some evidence of his kiss there. Had I liked that? Yeah, I did.
I schooled my face into disinterest and dropped my hand to my lap before Indra caught on. He always seemed so incredibly in tune with everyone’s emotions. Was it a hellhound thing, or just his thing?
“I’m sure Aveline won’t mind either,” I called, voice dry with sarcasm. “Since technically those are her cabinets you’re messing with.”
“I’m going outside,” Cian said kindly, having the decency to not remark on my visible confusion over Akiva’s actions. “I want to check your wards.” He strode to the side door, closing it behind him as he disappeared into the yard.
That left only Indra and me, though Akiva could be heard mumbling to himself and banging around in the kitchen.
“Why don’t you take Cian up on his offer?” Indra said kindly, as he sat beside me on the sofa, knees bumping mine as we faced each other on the cushions. “Get out of town for a week or so. Go on a vacation. We owe you for your help in the woods, anyway.”
I could. We could. I was sure I could ask them to set Aveline and I up on a trip to get out of the city while they took care of the vampires, judging by how hard they were pushing it.
It would be so easy. Neither of us had ever prepared to deal with things like this, and when it was all said and done we could come back and resume living here and I could get a job in the quarter.
It was the best option, I knew.
“No.” Every time I said it, the truth of my answer surprised me. “No.” I smiled at him. “I’m terrified, honestly.” A nervous giggle bubbled up from my throat, sounding too loud to my ears “I’ve never seen a fully shifted wendigo up close–he threatened to eat me, Indra. I mean, before two days ago I’d only used my summoning in theory, and I’d
