Carter laughed, which only made me madder. I was being completely serious, and he laughed?
“I don’t think so, Carter. You may get your way with women all over the world, but you’re not getting me.”
“Duly noted.” His cocky grin widened.
“Damn right, it’s duly noted.” I scowled. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you. Well, really, it goes back to my sister wanting to go to that crappy bar.”
He leaned forward. “And you’re telling me that there wasn’t even a tiny part that maybe wanted to live a little? Put the book down? Grab some drinks? Kick up your heels on a Friday night?”
“You are awful.” I shook my head. “And absolutely not. I like my life.”
Carter nodded and stayed silent, which only infuriated me more.
“Why is the fact that I want to stay at home and enjoy life there a bad thing?” I shook my head. “Just because there are party animals living all around me, doesn’t mean I have to be one.”
“Of course not.” Carter nodded, the glint in his eyes intoxicating.
“Don’t play with me.”
He brought his hands up. “I’m not. I swear.”
I glanced around the bar before turning my eyes back to Carter. “Why don’t you go find some hot pixie to entertain yourself with tonight and leave me alone?”
Carter’s expression fell. “You think that’s what I’m all about?”
“Isn’t that what all vampires are about?” My brows arched.
“No.”
Why wasn’t he budging? He had a room full of beautiful women, and he was determined to sit in front of me and annoy me to pieces.
I knew I should have gone with Christy.
“For your information, I spend most nights at home with a good book.” He cocked his head and kept his gaze on me. “And we don’t need to breathe to live. You’re right about that, but the sensation is still there. The habit is still there. It feels good. A lot of human things feel good when you’re a vampire.”
A shiver of excitement skittered across my flesh, and I felt my cheeks flush. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Wouldn’t know what, Ivy? What feels good when you’re a human?” His eyes darkened, and my entire body filled with heat. “There are some things you can’t get from a book, Ivy.”
Hearing my name drip from his lips created a frenzy inside.
“I . . . I . . .” I sucked in a deep breath and looked toward the exit. “I’m doing just fine.”
“Do you feel what I feel, Ivy?”
The strength and power of Carter Voss overwhelmed my senses. His voice rumbled through me and lured me into a world I’d spent my life avoiding.
I whipped my gaze to Carter and straightened in my seat.
“No, Carter. I don’t feel a thing other than a desperate fear.”
“Fear? You’ve never struck me as fearful.” His voice cooled.
He was right. I wasn’t scared of him. I was scared of what he did to me. What I wanted to do to him.
“Then you don’t know me very well.” I sucked in a silent breath.
“I think I know you better than you want to admit.”
A woman peddling roses walked by our table.
“Miss.” Carter put his finger in the air.
The woman stopped and turned, smiling the moment her gaze landed on Carter.
I hid my eye roll as a flutter of excitement ran through me.
“I’ll take a rose.”
She pulled a long-stemmed red rose from the basket and traded it for Carter’s money before wandering away.
He held onto it and smiled, his gaze sweeping over me.
The desire for him spilled into every thought and cell of my body.
“Tell me, Ivy. What is it you think your magic will do?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Interesting.” He smiled and shrugged. “Would you hold this for a second?”
“Fine.” I grabbed the rose from Carter, and he stood.
“What? Where are you going?” I asked.
“Oh, I thought it might be better if I sat next to you.” He smiled, and my heart skipped a million beats.
I could barely contain myself when the man sat across from me, let alone next to me.
Oh. My. God. I just thought of Carter Voss as a man.
He slid next to me, and my pulse raced as I felt the energy running through us.
I felt frozen in time as I watched him get comfortable.
It was like I’d known him from lifetimes ago. It made no sense.
I thought back to that moment I’d spotted him for the first time.
And now.
My gaze fell to his lips, and his smile grew.
“Look at the rose, Ivy.”
I shook my head and slowly turned to see what he was talking about.
The red rose had fully opened, the petals all exposed, the green leaves more vibrant than they’d ever been.
“You can tell yourself all the lies you want, but your magic won’t lie.” He touched my chin, and I wanted to back away, but I had nowhere to go.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“You have the power of Gàrradh.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
He smiled slowly and brushed a piece of my hair aside. “It means you have the natural world at your fingertips, Ivy. You have more power than Lux could ever dream about.”
His words rattled around my head, and I dropped the rose immediately.
“What good is a power that I don’t know I have? That I can’t control?”
“It can be taught. It can be learned.” His eyes stayed on mine. “Many have tried to recreate the powers you have, but very few can even get close. The fact that this energy radiates from the tips of your fingers based solely on your emotional state . . .” He bit his bottom lip. “Let’s just say, I’m going to try really hard not to make you mad.”
I scowled. “You haven’t been doing a great job so far tonight.”
“I’ll do better,” he promised, his eyes darkening to a deeper shade of purple.
My body buzzed with nothing short of expectation and excitement.
“So, tell me about this fear you have.” Carter moved closer and rested his hand on my knee, sending sparks through every cell in my body. “Do you really fear me?”
My bottom lip quivered as his eyes fell to my mouth.
“No,” I whispered.
“Then what do you fear?” he asked, his voice gravelly and full of the same need I felt.
“Not being able to control myself.”
Carter brought his gaze back to mine.
“Why do you need control?” His hand moved slightly up my thigh, and I was so grateful I’d thrown the rose down. The blossom probably would have exploded by now.
“My sister says being with a vampire is unlike anything in this world.”
He traced his finger along my jaw. “Is that so?”
I nodded slowly, swallowing the lump down in my throat.
Sitting so close to Carter Voss threw my emotional state into complete upheaval. I wanted to cry, laugh, and push him away all at the same time.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint.” His eyes slowly moved to my mouth, and I nodded my approval.
His full lips touched down to mine, and my entire body hummed with a longing I didn’t know existed.
Carter’s lips tasted sweet.
His touch kind.
He slid his fingers across my cheek as I let out a little moan of pleasure.
Carter’s mouth pressed harder against mine, and I wanted nothing more than to experience him.
Experience a vampire.
But now wasn’t the time.
His lips parted from mine. “I want you, Ivy.”
My entire body heated with desire as I looked into Carter Voss’s eyes, but I knew I couldn’t have him.
And he knew the same.
He gently kissed my mouth again and nodded.
“We’ve got a lot of training to do.” He pressed his forehead against mine, and my heart raced wildly.
I was left wanting so much more.
“I know someone in Raven Ward who could show you the way.” Carter sat back, and I instantly missed his touch. “No one is going to be able to guide you to the end, though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Your powers are unique.”
“How do you know?”
Carter smiled. “There are some benefits to living so long. I see a lot.”
I laughed, feeling closer to Carter Voss by the second.
And that scared me more than anything.
Chapter Fourteen
Carter
“What in God’s name did you do to her?” Christy’s hands flew to her hips, and she tapped her toe on the ground just to get her point across.
I glanced down the hallway and smiled. When Christy bought her apartment in this building, so did I, right down the hall.
“What are you talking about?” My smile deepened as I thought about last night’s kiss.
I’d wanted so much more from Ivy, but I held back.
She wagged her finger in front of me, and I chuckled. She was one of the few I’d let do that. “Don’t you play coy with me, Carter Voss. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. “I kissed her.”
Christy’s eyes widened. “You did more than that. She came home last night all doe-eyed and nearly incoherent.”
Hearing Christy’s take only made my chest fill more. The thought that I could do that to Ivy blew my mind.
I’d spent the entire night thinking about her.
How to protect her.
“Is that so?” I folded my arms over my chest.
“Get that smug look off your face.” She gave me a dirty look. “I know you did more than just kiss the poor soul.”
“One kiss in the bar. That was it.” I shrugged. “Maybe I’m just that good.”
Christy stomped her foot. “You men are so infuriating.”
“Seriously, though. She’d had a couple of beers. I didn’t do anything more than kiss her.” I’d remembered what her sister had mentioned about her lack of experience. Knowing that we’d be spending the next few weeks together meant I didn’t need to screw something up with her. I wouldn’t want her waking up the next morning regretting her time with me, especially if she still had to face me.
Christy huffed. “Fine. If you say so.”
“Promise.”
Christy’s expression softened. “Good. She’s not the most . . .”
“Experienced?”
“Exactly.”
“Speaking of, I think we need to get Ivy training.” I waited for Christy’s reaction.
She gave none.
“I’m pretty certain she holds Gàrradh powers.”
Christy nodded slowly. “I know.”
“You already know, and you haven’t helped?” I straightened. “What’s really going on with her?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.”
Christy didn’t say anything.
“Tell me this . . .” I waited for Christy to look at me before continuing. “Does she know you were assigned to her, or does she think you guys are just BFFs?”
Christy glared at me. “She is my best friend, and she will be forever.”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Fury swirled through me as I watched Christy calculate her next steps.
“And her job at the Bureau. Did you arrange that too?”
Christy stayed silent.
“We’re friends. Why aren’t you telling me everything?”
“It’s complicated.” Christy looked at the ground.
“And you don’t think what we’re facing is?”
Christy laughed, and her features softened as she brought her gaze back to mine. “Yes, I was assigned to her.”
“Do you plan on telling Ivy?”
“No.”
“Why not?” I pressed.
“At this point, it would just make things messy.”
“Why’s she being protected, Christy?”
She let out a low groan. “Because of her Gàrradh powers. There are so few who possess the ability for Gàrradh, especially without extensive training.”
“I know, and by keeping her in the dark, you’re endangering her.” I shook my head. “The older she gets, the more powerful she becomes. We don’t need her getting mad at someone and calling a typhoon to the shore or killing off an entire forest and every living creature in it.”
“Like you couldn’t do that if you got mad.” Christy eyed me.
“It’s not the same.” I shook my head. “I can only destroy using what I create within me. She can destroy by creating her destruction.”
I wasn’t going to reveal what I saw last night with the rose. That was too personal, but I knew it in my heart. Ivy could destroy just as easily as she could create, but with both those comes a cost. The rose bloomed prematurely. It faced death prematurely.
Christy shook her head. “Now’s not the time.”
“They will come for her.”
Christy stood tall at not even five feet. “And my job is to protect her.”
“You can’t protect her from them forever. She needs training. She needs to know the truth.”
“It’s not that simple, Carter.”
“It is and it should be. Ivy can handle it.”
“It’s not Ivy I’m worried about.”
Violet.
“We need to take her to Fuchsia Boran in Raven Ward,” I pressed. “She’s probably the only person who could halfway give her direction.”
Christy’s cheeks flushed. “She’s already met her.”
“How?”
From what I knew about Fuchsia, she hadn’t left the Realm in at least forty years.
“Fuchsia was rushing through Juniper Ward yesterday and bumped into her. She thought Ivy was her grandmother, Agatha.” She pressed her lips together. “Fuchsia’s probably onto her. She got completely rattled and nearly flew back to Raven Ward.”
Fuchsia and I had a tangled history, so it wasn’t like I wanted to see her, but Ivy needed what she could offer.
“Well, good.”
Christy shook her head. “No. Not good. Fuchsia knows too much about Ivy’s history. It could be risky.”
I cocked my head and studied Christy. “Keeping Ivy in the dark is much riskier. I guarantee it. I don’t know what all is in her background or what your pixie committee told you to do, but you must tell Ivy the truth. She’s going to find out eventually.”
Christy tapped the wall next to her. “Nobody knows the entire truth. Only pieces.”
A door clicked open, and my gaze landed on Ivy walking into the hallway. She turned in our direction and gave a quick wave before making her way toward us.
Just seeing Ivy made my entire world spin. She was dressed in a pair of boxers and a sweatshirt that looked like a kid’s size when it hit me that she must have borrowed Christy’s pajamas. The sight brought a smile to my lips as I noticed how the ill-fitting boxers elongated Ivy’s legs.
“Good morning,” her voice rang into the hallway.
I brought my gaze to hers, and it was like all of time stood still again.
All I could think about was my lips pressed against hers. The sweet smell of her breath. Her pulse racing the deeper we kissed. The way she’d fluttered her eyes open when I’d stopped kissing her.
And the longing we’d both shared.
I smiled. “Morning.”
“You two devising today’s plans?” she asked, looking at Christy. “Thanks for making coffee, by the way.”
Christy nodded, smiling. “It’s my lifeline, and yes.”
“Good, because I’d really like to get everything sorted and get back home to Glinda.” Ivy gr
inned, but her expression quickly fell when she glanced at Christy. “What?”
Christy let out a deep breath. “Remember that woman who bumped into you yesterday?”
Ivy nodded. “Yeah? What about her?”
“I think it’s a good idea if we go visit her.”
Ivy’s expression turned to stone. “Why?”
“I was talking to Carter, and we both believe that she might offer you training that could be beneficial.”
“She seemed kind of flighty. I’m not sure we’d really match.” She brushed off the suggestion immediately.
I laughed at her assessment. That was precisely one of the problems I’d had with Fuchsia.
“Remember last night, Ivy?” I prompted, not wanting to give many details. “I think it would be a good idea to know how to harness everything.”
“What happened last night?” Christy asked.
“Nothing. I just got a little too happy over a meddling vampire.” Ivy shot me a playful grin, and I felt like I was the luckiest man in the world. “And things went full-bloom.”
Christy groaned. “I don’t do well with code, so whatever. But will you give working with Fuchsia a shot?”
“I’ll give it an hour, two tops.” Ivy glanced down at her outfit. “Isn’t she in Raven Ward?”
Christy nodded.
“I thought you said it was hard to get into or something.”
“A little more difficult, but it’s not impossible.”
Ivy nodded and turned to me. “Why would Violet want to go there?”
Christy and I traded a glance before I answered. “They tend to live on the darker side of life.”
“Like?” Ivy motioned with her hands to continue.
“Drugs. Sex. Mainly.” Christy scowled as she relayed the message.
“With vampires?” Ivy asked, turning to me.
“Possibly. So her being there could have already alerted Lux and his people that we’re here?”
I shook my head. It was more complex than that. “The vampires who tend to frequent the realm are looking for people like your sister. They don’t subscribe to Lux’s belief.”
“Which is?”
“That if you truly follow him, you wouldn’t be galivanting in the realm.”
“Yet, you have an apartment here,” Ivy pointed out. “Why is nothing cut and dried with you vampires?”
Blood Torn Page 10