“First of all, guys don’t act pissy,” he snorted, his mouth twisting with a wry grin. “And secondly, I’m in a shitty mood because I’m a selfish son of a bitch who wishes the goddamn day would go ahead and be over with so that we can find a hotel and finally finish what we started.”
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, her eyes darkening to a smoky violet as she studied his expression. Quietly she said, “There’s more to it than that.”
“Yeah? What, then?”
Turning back around, she pulled out of his hold, and Aiden forced himself to drop his hand back to his side, when all he really wanted to do was pull her closer. She crossed her arms, her head tilted at a thoughtful angle as she held his stare. “You don’t like wanting me.”
“Oh, Christ.” Aiden pulled his hand down his face, then propped his shoulder against the side of the truck. “Don’t start on your looks again,” he groaned, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the roaring engine of a passing semi out on the highway, “because you’re only going to piss me off.”
“I don’t mean that. Though it still doesn’t make any sense—the you-wanting-me part. But it’s not sitting well with you, and to be honest, I’m not even sure anymore that it’s just because I’m a human. I think there’s something more. Something you’re not telling me. But whatever the reason, you don’t want to want me, Aiden.”
He knew he should argue, but damn it, she was right. He didn’t want to feel this way about her. He didn’t want to feel anything about her. She was human. One who, because of “the Eve effect,” could turn his life into a living nightmare. One slip of that teeth-grinding hold he had on his body and his emotions, and he’d make that bite—the one that could never be undone. The one that would forever bind him to a woman who would sooner or later decide he wasn’t worth her contempt, much less her faith and trust and love.
No, to feel anything at all for her was a mistake, and for a moment he actually considered just saying to hell with it and coming clean. Tell her the truth. Open his veins and confess the ugliness of his past. Admit that part of the reason he was in such a foul mood was that he’d almost lost control with her last night. Almost allowed too much of his beast to break free. But he held his tongue, knowing that any talk about the animal side of his nature could very well lead into territory he didn’t plan on touching with a ten-foot pole.
While he stood there lost in thought, she simply watched him, her solemn, smoke-colored gaze making him feel as if she was seeing past the aggressive, smart-ass attitude he’d always used to shield himself. To keep people away. As if she could see right inside him, down to all the black, toxic grime that coated his soul.
Finally she took a deep breath and slowly shook her head. “I know you’ll probably think I sound like a fool. And I’m not saying that everyone in the world should be in love before going to bed together. But…lovers should at least be comfortable with their attraction. They should at least like each other.” Soft, husky words that slipped down his spine, melting beneath his skin. “Even if it is nothing more than an affair.”
“Damn it, Liv. I do like you,” he muttered, feeling intensely awkward. He wasn’t used to admitting his feelings to himself, much less out loud…for others to hear. His gaze shifted away, focusing on the highway, and he scraped his fingers back through his hair. “And let’s face it. It’s not like you’d ever want me for anything more than an affair anyway.”
He could sense the surprise his words caused, but before she could ask what he meant, Kellan called out as he and Noah came walking toward the truck, their arms filled with packs of chips, candy bars and plastic soda bottles. “Morgan just called,” Kell told them, his auburn hair hanging over his brow. “She hit some traffic and is running a little late. Probably won’t be here for another twenty minutes or so.”
Noah lowered the truck’s tailgate, and he and Kellan set down the drinks and snacks, inviting them to help themselves. Aiden walked over and grabbed two sodas, then handed one to Liv. She murmured a quiet thank-you and said, “Since we’re going to be waiting for a bit, I’m going to wake up Jamie and take her over to the playground.”
“I’ll come with you,” he grunted, sliding a dark look toward the grass-covered, brightly colored play area. It was only about twenty yards away, wedged between the narrow parking lot and the surrounding woods, but he didn’t like the idea of them going alone.
“No.” She took a step back, her face lowered as she twisted the cap off her drink, making her expression difficult to read. “That’s okay. I think it’ll be good if we just give each other some breathing room for a while.”
“It isn’t safe for you to go off on your own, Liv.” He took a drink of his soda, then wiped the back of his wrist over his mouth. “There are cars all over the place here. No telling who’s in them. The Casus could be anywhere.”
“We’ll be right over there, Aiden.” She flicked a quick glance up at his face, then looked away again. “You’ll be able to see us the entire time. It’s not like I’m going to go wandering off anywhere without you. I’m not an idiot. I would never risk Jamie’s safety that way.”
Obviously sensing the tension between them, Noah spoke up, saying, “If you want, I’ll head over with you.”
It chafed to see how quickly Liv agreed. “Thanks, Noah. I’ll get Jamie,” she murmured, while Aiden just stood there, gritting his teeth.
“Don’t let them out of your sight,” he muttered, cutting a hard look toward the human.
“Don’t worry,” Noah told him. “I’ll stay close.”
Aiden gave a grim nod, and the three of them headed over to the playground together, Jamie chattering away to Noah as she held Olivia’s hand, the pink ball Aiden had bought her that morning clutched under her arm. The child was obviously thrilled by the idea of some playtime, and as he gazed toward the playground, he watched as Liv pushed Jamie on one of the swings for a few minutes, then helped her make her way across the metal jungle gym. He watched…and watched, and even though he knew he was staring, he couldn’t look away. Everything about Olivia Harcourt fascinated him. All those lush, feminine details. The thick, silken fall of her beautiful hair. The delicate angle of her jaw and the glossy, petal-like softness of her mouth. That luminous sparkle in her eyes when she smiled.
He was like an addict, starved for the sight of her. And he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
Hopping up onto the tailgate, Kellan snickered under his breath. “Dude, you are so obvious.”
“Shut up, Kell.”
“Seriously,” the Lycan drawled, and Aiden could hear the smile in the jackass’s voice. “Look at you, man. You can’t even take your eyes off her. All you can do is stand there drooling, watching her with those sad kitten eyes.”
Aiden ran his tongue over his teeth, reminding himself that it wasn’t going to help the situation if he broke Kellan’s nose. No matter how bloody tempting it was.
Kellan clucked his tongue. “She’s getting to you, isn’t she?”
“You not hear me the first time?” Aiden snapped, cutting a furious scowl in Kell’s direction. “Mind your own damn business and let it go.”
Instead of taking offense, Kellan just grinned back, sitting there with his elbows resting on his knees. “Yeah, let it go,” he murmured, a wistful edge to his gritty laughter that couldn’t be missed. “It’s funny, but I don’t think any of us are very good at that sort of thing. I used to think you and the others were sorta pathetic, with all the worrying that you guys do. All the stress and tension and angst. But now I’m as bad as the rest of you.” The Lycan looked toward Olivia, who had started playing a game of catch with Jamie and Noah. “I’m also jealous as hell.”
Knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer, Aiden couldn’t stop himself from asking why.
A wry smile twisted Kellan’s mouth as he met Aiden’s stare. “Look at Ian and Riley. At Quinn. You’ve got the magic cure now, too, Ade. Someone who not only gives a shit if you live or die, but
if you’re happy. Sad. Someone who would rather see a smile on your face more than anything else in the world.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he snarled, feeling as if he was being shoved out to the edge of a cliff, the ground crumbling beneath his feet. Any second now, he was going to be in free fall, with nowhere to go but down.
The Lycan gave another husky laugh as Liv overthrew Jamie’s head by about five feet, the ball rolling into the parking lot and under a car. Then he looked back toward Aiden, saying, “I’m talking about—”
Aiden struggled to hear the rest of his explanation, but the sound of Kellan’s voice was suddenly drowned out by the heavy chugging of diesel engines as a trio of semis pulled into the rest stop, the acrid scent of their exhaust so strong, it nearly made him gag. Looking around, he felt an uneasy feeling settle heavily in his gut as he realized the trucks had separated Noah, who had gone to retrieve the ball, from the girls. With a sharp curse, Aiden started running, fully aware that he was probably overreacting. But he couldn’t stop the thundering beat of his heart, or the nauseating spill of fear that was quickly working its way through his system.
The second eighteen-wheeler had stopped right in front of them, waiting for the one in front to park, and with Kellan right on his heels, Aiden quickly made his way toward the back of the truck. “It’s going to be fine,” he muttered under his breath, his beast prowling beneath his skin, as agitated as the man. “Nothing’s going to happen. She’s going to be okay. Both of them are.”
But the instant he made his way around the end of the trailer, getting a clear view of the other side, he let out a bloodthirsty roar of fury, the savage sound echoing over the engines, torn up from the very depths of his soul. A panic-induced, surreal sense of time and space flooded his system, skewing his sense of perception, as if everything around him was happening in excruciatingly slow motion. A thick, crackling static of white noise filled his head, blotting out all other sound, his legs pumping as he powered himself forward through air that felt as viscous as honey, his right arm already reaching behind him, his fingers grasping for his gun.
The playground was silent.
Still.
Empty.
And neither Liv nor Jamie was anywhere in sight.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IT’D HAPPENED SO QUICKLY, there’d been no time to react. One second Olivia had been watching Noah run after Jamie’s ball, and in the next, she and Jamie were being abducted, carried beneath the arms of their captor as he ran through the woods, spiriting them away from the rest stop. She couldn’t see his face clearly, the shadows thickening as he moved farther into the dense wood, but she had no doubt that he was one of the enemy. A Casus. A monster. One who would kill them both if given half the chance. Though his face appeared human, the hands clutching their bodies had been transformed into gnarled, long-fingered claws that could slice open flesh with nothing more than an easy flick of his wrist.
It seemed unthinkable that they’d ended up in such a deadly situation because of a toy. Because of a pretty little pink ball, and the pathetic fact that she threw like a friggin’ girl.
But it was true.
Their only hope was Aiden and his friends. Olivia knew the men would be coming for them, no doubt following her scent, but she screamed as well, while Jamie cried at the top of her lungs. Between the two of them, they were making enough racket to lead the others to their location. If they could manage to catch up. The man holding them moved with preternatural speed, the trees flashing by so quickly that they were nothing more than a blur of branches and leaves. She didn’t know how far they’d traveled, but it was obvious that she needed to do something to slow him down. That she had to find a way to buy Aiden enough time to reach them.
And what if he doesn’t? What then?
With a violent shake of her head, she refused to go there. She’d think of a way to give Aiden his chance. And for the moment, Jamie still wore the cross, which would offer her niece a measure of protection, though Olivia didn’t doubt that the man—the Casus—would try to take it from Jamie if he could.
She didn’t know how long she’d been screaming, but eventually her voice grew too hoarse to be effective, her lungs burning from lack of sufficient air, her body aching from the jarring force of being trapped beneath the man’s arm as he ran over the rugged terrain. Jamie’s cries had drained to broken whimpers, and Olivia did her best to reassure her, shouting that she loved her, that everything was going to be okay, until her voice faded to a croak. She tried to twist her head around so that she could see her niece, but they were being held with their backs to his sides, so all she could manage was a view of the back of Jamie’s dark head, her small hands pounding against the man’s hard-muscled arm.
“’Bout time you stopped that bloody screeching,” he grunted, still running at a hard, steady pace, his clothes wet with sweat, sticking to his skin. Olivia craned her neck, struggling to see his face, but the poor lighting and constant motion made it difficult to focus, her stomach roiling. She had a vague impression of a square, brutish-looking jaw and bald head, his chest and shoulders huge, his height easily over six feet, though she didn’t think he was quite as tall as Aiden.
“I can smell it, human.” His lip curled, the guttural words thick with things she didn’t want to think about. Rage. Lust. Hunger. “Smell that hot blood pumping through your veins.”
Olivia had been racking her brain for something she could do—for some way that she could stall him—and she suddenly realized that the Casus had just given her the answer.
Her scent. Her blood.
Her stomach churned at the thought of what she had to do, but she forced the fear away, determination and adrenaline fueling her actions. No matter what happened to her, she had to give Jamie a chance to escape. Had to give Aiden the opportunity to rescue the precious little girl.
Taking a deep breath, she bit her lip, closed her eyes…and jabbed her forearm against the tip of one of the scalpel-sharp claws wrapped around her waist. Then she tugged, sweater and skin ripping open as the claw sliced through her arm like a knife through butter. Choking back an agonized cry of pain, she cracked her eyes open and inspected the damage, stunned by how much blood had already spilled out of the wound, drenching the torn sleeve of her sweater.
His nostrils flared as he sucked in a deep, snarling breath, then stumbled…his pace slowing enough that the trees around them began to take shape. He weaved, almost as if he was drunk, as they entered a small clearing. But he wasn’t weakening. If anything, Olivia could feel the power in his body growing…building, like a volcano that was getting ready to erupt in a thundering act of violence.
Throwing back his head, he bellowed a stark, guttural cry, then shifted his arm, throwing her to the ground. She landed on her hip, the impact momentarily knocking the air from her lungs. Scrambling back on her hands and knees, her fingers digging into the fallen leaves and cold earth, Olivia stared up at the ravenous, lust-glazed look on his sweating face. With a sharp pang of relief she realized she had his full attention, his ice-blue gaze fixed on the crimson spill of blood pouring down her arm, soaking into the leaf-covered floor of the forest. Licking his bottom lip, he carelessly dropped Jamie’s small body to the ground and took a step toward Olivia.
It was nearly impossible to keep her worried gaze from seeking out Jamie, but she was determined not to draw his attention back to the child. Instead, Olivia prayed Jamie would run for help, getting herself to safety.
“Who are you?” she croaked, hoping to distract him with questions. Every second she could keep him talking bought them time. “Why are you doing this? You know they’ll find us. The Watchmen can track us anywhere!”
“I know that, you little bitch!” His lips pulled back over his teeth, his face dripping with sweat as he paced at her feet, his shoulders hunched, thick muscles hard with aggression. “You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re going to be dead if you don’t run.”
&nb
sp; “Shut up!” he roared. The vicious sound bled into a low, keening groan, and he curled his arms over his head, every muscle bulging beneath his skin. He was clearly fighting an internal battle with himself, his pale blue eyes bright with madness as he stared at her blood-covered arm with almost worshipful intensity. “I don’t have time for this,” he hissed as he began to prowl around her body in a tight circle, his movements becoming less human and more like that of an animal. His nostrils flared wider as he sucked in deep, ragged pulls of air. “But that smell. It’s too good.” Thick, guttural words that shook with need. “Good enough to make me think you’ll be worth the consequences.”
Her first instinct was to get up and run, but she’d seen how fast he could move. “Are you not supposed to kill me, then?” she asked, watching from the corner of her eye as Jamie began to creep away from the small clearing on her hands and knees. Olivia silently urged the little girl to move faster, wanting her as far away from the monster as possible.
“We’ve been warned about feeding.” His corded throat twisted, jerking at an unusual angle, as if something inside him was trying to fight its way out. “Warned about not…not taking the things we need.” A slow, evil grin spread across his wide mouth. “You wanna know what I need? You under me. Screaming. Bleeding. Just like that sister of yours bled for Josef.”
Closing her eyes, Olivia fought a rising wave of nausea. Her relief that he’d forgotten about Jamie in his blood-frenzy was sharp—and yet she couldn’t help but be terrified by his words. “How did you find me?” She finally managed to scrape out the words, forcing her lids to crack open. Better to keep an eye on him, since she didn’t have any idea when he would lose control and attack.
A low, arrogant laugh rumbled up from his chest. “I’ve been on your trail for hours. Just waiting. Biding my time.” He lifted one clawed hand, wiping the back of his wrist over his damp mouth. “When those trucks pulled in, the opportunity was too good to resist.”
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