Ember & Flame (Bloodlust Book 2)

by J. M. Adele

  She choked in response. Face in line with his navel, she didn’t know where to look, but turning away wasn’t an option. Her eyes traced every inch of his body.

  He’s not my sire, or my blood source, but damn, he has me all twisted sideways. There was no logical explanation. It was just him. Insanely sexy Devlin. No female in her right mind would be able to look away.

  “You’re wet,” he noted.

  Oh, my God. What? Was her body’s response to him so obvious? She coughed to loosen her tight throat and stood so she was a little farther away from the danger zone. “Pardon?” Now she had a close-up view of his chest. Who was she kidding? His whole body was a danger zone.

  “Is this the first time you been swimming since . . .?”

  Oh. Wet, as in water.

  Her brow crinkled and she crossed her arms in defense against his reference. “Yeah.”

  “Hey, I wanted to thank you for doin’ what ya did. Helping me.”

  “Anyone would have done the same.”

  He smirked. “Not true. Plenty of people want me dead.”

  Instantly, her hands clenched, and her fangs tingled, ready for a fight. What the hell? She shook off the defensive reflex and pointed to a camera on the ceiling. “Hence the need for all the security. Who are you? Why do they want you dead?”

  “I ain’t the best at making friends.”

  She snorted. Truth. Unfolding her arms, she leaned back against the wall and combed her fingers through the water, refraction distorting her limbs at an odd angle. “Where have you been?”

  “Looking for Jax.”

  She tensed, pausing her movements. “On your own?”

  He didn’t answer. Grasping the edge of the pool beside her, he straightened out his arms and leaned his weight forward, pulling his hips back. Every muscle carved its outline into his skin.

  She pursed her lips and blew out a breath, wanting to sink into the water to cool off. “Where is he?”

  “I lost his trail.” His eyes narrowed, glazing over for a second before refocusing on her. “Look, I know ya don’t wanna be here. It’d be a hell of a lot easier on me if you weren’t, but neither of us got a choice. While he’s out there, you’re in here. You got that?”

  Her brow tightened. “Yeah, I got it.” Asshole.

  Jeez, she had crappy taste in men. What the hell is wrong with me? He stared down at her, eyes flicking between hers like he had more to say. By the way his jaw ticked, she’d need a crowbar to pry it out. She huffed. “So I’m just supposed to sit around and wait until you find him?”

  He straightened to his full height. “You ain’t sitting now, are ya?”

  She sank her shoulders into the water. “Are you always an asshole?”

  “Nope. Most of the time I’m a bastard.”

  “Agreed.”

  His smile split his face as he bellowed out a laugh.

  She closed her eyes, letting the joyful sound sink in, somehow knowing it was a rare gift from someone so uncompromising.

  “So what happens now?” she asked.

  “We wait.”

  “What, like sitting ducks?”

  “If he wants you, he’s gonna have to come get you.”

  She forced all the air out of her lungs, leaning the back of her neck on the edge of the pool.

  She was the worm on the hook.

  How was Jax able to evade them so easily? They had access to the best tracking tech and the entire frickin’ police department. She’d been able to track him before, but now the elastic tug had faded.

  I could try again.

  Oh, God. Shiloh’s face screwed up. She didn’t want to be reminded of the burden she carried after she’d just conquered her fear of getting back in a pool. She wanted to bask in the glow a little longer before the reality of her circumstances barged in.

  Who was she kidding? Reality was unavoidable. Besides, she knew this was important. Nobody wanted to catch Jax more than she did.

  Reaching out with her mind, she searched for the connection she’d been sickeningly intoxicated by. She felt a pull, but it wasn’t the same. It was a different consistency. More solid than elastic. The magnetic pull of two polar opposites. And it was to the man beside her. God help her, she almost drifted into him. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to block the urge. “I don’t feel the bond. It’s too weak.”

  Devlin cocked his head to the side, eyes penetrating hers. “Just try. It’s still there. It ain’t broken yet.”

  She dragged her gaze away. “I did try. Something is blocking it.” You. “How do you know it’s not broken?”

  “Because you’d be dead.”

  Her spine went taut, water splashing around her. “What!?”

  “He sired you, and he bonded you, so he can break the bond. But you wouldn’t survive.” He bent his elbows and straightened them again, a fierce look in his eye. “He’s not going to break the bond. He still needs you.”

  “For what? What is this all about?” She could barely breathe.

  Devlin let go of the wall and stood up straight. “He’s getting back at me.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” She rubbed her forehead before punching the water. “You and I didn’t know each other before all this happened. What have I got to do with any of it?”

  “Do you remember me telling you that the only unbreakable bond is between true mates?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that he ain’t yours?”

  “Get to the point, Devlin.”

  He ground his teeth before answering. “You were supposed to be mine. He took you from me.”

  She blinked, her jaw loosening.

  Part of her wanted to spit profanities and tell him she had a right to choose who she wanted to be with. That she wasn’t his, or anyone’s to take. But the rest of her, the core of her being, knew otherwise. Her reactions to him were too strong. Too unrelenting. She couldn’t stop them, even at the most inappropriate times.

  He gazed back, sparks of color lighting the dark depths of his eyes where his soul bared itself. “You feel the truth, don’t you?”

  Shit. Without a doubt.

  Her chest throbbed with the truth while her mind brought forward every reason to deny it. “But you don’t even like me.”

  “I never wanted this.” His Adam’s apple jumped. Scrubbing a hand over his stubble, he looked away.

  His tough façade lifted for a second, and she had a glimpse of what he’d been hiding.

  He didn’t want this?

  Bullshit.

  She saw want written in his eyes. In the jump of his pulse under his skin. In the way his muscles strained. The field of power surrounding him ploughed into her, tempting her to come closer. But all he did was stand before her.

  Heart pounding, energy surging, her body wanted to slam into his and meld them as one. She could blame biology, but it went deeper. She didn’t budge. She just stared, her brain trying to figure out the logic of what her soul already knew.

  But why hadn’t Devlin stepped in sooner and saved her?

  Why was she really here, under his roof?

  The roof he shares with his lover.

  How could she trust her feelings? How could she trust him when his mouth said one thing and his body spoke of something else altogether? After the horror of Jax’s betrayal, why would she even want to believe Devlin? Why surrender to a fate she didn’t choose when there was no possible future anyway?

  Her heart hiccupped as her ribcage deflated. After easing her body down into the water, she dipped her chin into the warm liquid, giving herself a moment’s pause. “So what happens now? I can’t break the bond. I can’t even feed.”

  I’m going to die, aren’t I?

  The unspoken question plugged her throat.

  He didn’t have to answer. The sparks in his irises fizzled out, fading to black.

  I’m toast.

  Tears pricked Shiloh’s eyes as she buried an impending sob deep in her chest where it would never escape. What w
as the point of setting her pain free when she’d never be free herself? She’d been robbed. Her future, ripped away. Her past, sabotaged. She’d never have a chance to take fate up on its offer.

  The water seemed to thicken, feeling more like slime on her skin. Her moment of bliss had been ruined. Again. Why had she even tried diving back in?

  Fucking vampires.

  Shiloh ducked under the surface and kicked off the wall, torpedoing to the deep end. Climbing out, she wrapped herself in the towel and sat on the chair, focused on a place in her mind where she never wanted to go again. That cold, damp hole in the ground. The soil smothering her, pressing its weight so she could barely move. She’d died before. But she only remembered the pain of the moment of death and the horror of the moment of waking up. She couldn’t remember the in-between. What if she hadn’t woken up? Would she have simply ceased to exist? Or would she have found peace in some other plane of existence?

  Devlin crouched at her feet, resting his hands on the chair beside her thighs. “We’re gonna find him. I’ll make him feed you.”

  “I’d rather die,” she whispered.

  “Don’t say that.” His voice cracked.

  She raised her eyes to meet his pained stare. “It’s the truth.”

  Curling his hands into fists, he cursed and hung his head. “I want to kill the motherfucker, but I can’t.”

  Because of me. “He needs to die for what he did to me and Lanie. And who knows how many other lives he’s ruined. He will die. I don’t care if that means the end of me too. I’ll do it myself.”

  “He ain’t gonna get close enough for you to do it.”

  “Do you really think you can stop him with some sensors and a few extra guards? I got past four of your guards and made it all the way into town. What’s to stop him from jumping the fence, taking out the cameras and the guards, smashing a window, and grabbing me? He’ll be gone in a second.”

  “Bullet-proof windows.”

  Her mouth twisted. He had an answer for everything. Except they weren’t the answers she wanted.

  “You can’t keep me here forever. And how much time do I have anyway? If I die, he won’t be coming after me anymore, and you can kill him.”

  “If you die, he’ll go after Lanie.”

  The room warped as the blood drained from her head. She pulled her legs up onto the chair and rotated on her butt to free herself from the cage of his arms. She had trouble moving her dry tongue to speak. “What does he want with us?”

  Devlin dropped his arms onto his thighs, glaring at his clenched fists. “He wants to bring me down. It ain’t about you or your sister.”

  So I have to die because of some spat between two boys?

  Anger simmered under her skin, itching her all over. She bored holes in the top of his head, wanting to drill through his armor and into the truth. He didn’t look up. Or wouldn’t. Was he wracked with guilt? Or was he lying?

  Either way, she’d had enough of the conversation.

  She lowered her feet off the side of the chair, grabbing her robe. “I can’t—” Chewing on her lips, she took in a sharp breath through her nose and sped off through the house to her room.

  Wrapping herself in the robe, Shiloh collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes. Her weight sank into the mattress as his revelation shredded her heart.

  I’m going to die.

  And if she couldn’t kill Jax first, Lanie was in danger. All because Shiloh had been earmarked as Devlin’s, and Jax was on some sick revenge bender.

  There were no words.

  Not even the four-letter variety were adequate.

  She lay there letting it all eat away at her, thoughts pinging around her brain with only one solution popping up time after time. She had to kill him before she died.

  Her head throbbed with the buildup of pressure. She dug her thumbs into the hollow under her eyebrows in a bid for relief, but that only made it worse. She was famished, exhausted, pissed off, and apparently, staring death in the face. What the fuck was she supposed to do? How could she get out of here and get to Jax before he got to her, or Lanie?

  She couldn’t give in. But if she didn’t calm the hell down, the grim reaper would be dropping by way earlier than required.

  Calling on years of training, she used breathing and relaxation techniques to reduce the tension in her body, and quiet her galloping mind. Every time a thought materialized, she brushed it away, denying the worry and the fear until she wasn’t sure she existed anymore.

  That would be true soon enough.

  Suddenly, her body slid a half an inch towards the window. Her eyes sprang open, roving the room for an intruder, arms lifted in defense. She was alone. She got up and checked the hallway. No one. After moving over to the window, she scanned the yard. The yard was bathed in fall’s early morning sunshine. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something near the boundary wall. Her gaze tracked a crow as it left its perch in a nearby tree and glided down to pick through the grass.

  Just a bird. I’m going mental.

  She tried to turn away, but her body toppled forward into the glass. “Oomph!” Ouch. Her body turned ice cold. She knew that feeling. It was the elastic membrane urging her in Jax’s direction. Cheek squished to the window, she peered out of the corner of her eye, catching a flash of golden blond just above the wall before it vanished over the other side.

  Fuck. It’s him.

  Jax had found her.

  Body quivering, she managed to peel herself off the glass. With bulging eyes, Shiloh scanned the boundary line, waiting to see the silver of the reaper’s sickle as it caught the rising sun.

  He still had power over her.

  The bond may have weakened, but so had she.

  She had less time than she’d thought.

  Team Player

  Surging with adrenaline, she sped downstairs and into the kitchen before rearing to a halt. Two strangers turned to stare at her. A short guy with tight brown curls and a bushy beard sat at the bench with a cell in hand. Standing at the glass wall overlooking the side yard, a tall, blonde warrior princess cradled a steaming mug.

  The guy placed his phone on the bench and came over. “Good morning.”

  Shiloh ignored him and ran to the walk-in pantry, finding it empty. “Where’s Devlin? Or Carter?” Her blood hammered on the walls of her veins. Where are they?

  She didn’t wait for his answer, dashing through to the adjoining formal dining before coming back in when she didn’t find either of them.

  “Carter is at the station. Devlin has gone. I’m Myles.”

  She pressed her fists into her temples. “Gone where? Jax was here. We have to go after him.”

  “Yeah, we know. We saw him coming. D’s on the hunt. He won’t get far,” the blonde interjected.

  “What!? Is anyone with Devlin? What if he gets hurt again?” Oh, God. Shiloh sucked in shallow puffs of air, unable to get enough.

  “Honey, calm yourself.” The warrior princess came over and slid a muscled arm over Shiloh’s shoulder, blocking her path. “You need to stay here where we can protect you. If you run out, fangs blazing, it’s no help to D at all. First thing you need to do is get dressed. I know you’re fond of walking around in your one-piece, but let’s leave something to the imagination.” The woman gently pushed at her back, but Shiloh resisted, eyes dropping to see that her robe was open.

  She rectified the wardrobe malfunction before shaking off the blonde’s embrace. Taking a defensive step backwards, she crossed her arms.

  “Give her a break, Margo,” Myles protested.

  Frustration beat a relentless rhythm inside Shiloh’s head. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “How do we know what’s happening? Who’s with him?”

  “Ren is with Zain, tracking them in the control room. Carter is using all the resources at her disposal to help us out. Devlin has Lock with him,” Myles answered.

  “Where’s the control room?”

  He tossed his curly head. “I’
ll show you. I was on my way there anyway.”

  Shiloh followed Myles past the billiards room and into the theatre room at the back of the house. Heavy, pale gray curtains lined the room, filled with three rows of recliners all facing a massive screen. He walked down the aisle to the right and pulled a curtain aside to reveal a door. Putting his face up close to a scanner on the wall, he released the lock and let her in. It led down a set of stairs and through another door.

  Cold air immediately seeped beneath her skin, coaxing her hairs on end. Pulling the edges of her robe together, she looked around. Set in a grid pattern above a desk, several monitors lit the room. Tall racks of computer servers stood to one side with colorful wires bound neatly in twisted coiffures that trailed down their backs. Tiny lights flickered as the technology did its thing.

  Evren sat in front of the screens wearing a headset like a receptionist, talking into the microphone. “He’s heading east on Wiltshire Boulevard.” She tapped on a keyboard and the images on some of the screens changed. Shiloh recognized MacArthur Park Lake, and on another display, the Los Angeles Public Library. But most of the monitors showed different rooms in the house.

  Zain occupied the chair next to Evren. He shot a look at Shiloh. His eyebrows climbed, eyes detouring to Evren, before he went back to driving his mouse.

  “What’s she doing in here, Myles?” Evren snapped without diverting her attention.

  “She saw Jax. She knows what’s going on.”

  Evren huffed. “No, she doesn’t. She has no idea.”

  Shiloh curled her fingers into a fist, wanting to claw the goth vampire’s face so that it matched her hand. If someone didn’t tell Shiloh the truth sometime soon, she was going to lose her shit. She turned suspicious eyes on Myles, figuring he was the easiest target.

  He cleared his throat and scratched behind his ear, not looking away from the screens. “Zain is our tech whiz kid. He’s the reason we have access to the city’s network of CCTV cameras, so we can see where they’re headed.”