by Cara Carnes
“There’s nothing between us.” I ground each word out, punctuating the nothing so my inner hussy would accept the finality. “For both of our sakes, I need you to understand, Lane.”
“Really?” He cupped my face. Heat spread where his thumb caressed my cheek. “Then I guess I have nothing to lose.”
Molten heat spread through me as he claimed my mouth for a mind-numbing kiss. His lips were softer, more commanding than I’d imagined. Fiery embers danced along my skin as my phoenix rose to lay claim to the man I’d fantasized about far too much lately. His tongue dueled with mine, daring me to deny the hunger he sated with ease.
All troubles ceased. Tingles erupted along my spine, my insides fluttered. Strong arms drew me closer until I was sealed within their embrace and leaning against heated sinewy flesh. My hands roamed down his arms and across his back. To hell with the consequences. I’d have the man once, taste his desire for me, and sate my hunger for him.
He severed the kiss. His lips trailed along my jaw until he got to my ear. His hot breath along my neck made me shiver. “Not even you can deny the attraction now, babe.”
So true.
“I need you to let me in on what’s going down with you, Xandra. You need to trust us, so we can help.” The whispered utterance tumbled through me, rattling my insides with the need to lay my troubles at his feet and beg for his help.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone offered to fight my battles, protect me. The angel in me stirred, her interest awakened by the strength of his conviction. I captured his gaze and dived into the deep-blue swirls.
“Tell me what’s going on, Xandra.”
“I can’t.” The whispered plea tumbled from my lips. Regret consumed me, but confiding in someone endangered them. Fear made my pulse flail. I scoped the area, unease springing me away from Lane. “I need to go.”
I motored for the door, determined to put much-needed distance between me and the wolf who’d somehow turned my insides into mush. My pulse set a rapid tempo, my knocking knees kept time with despite my mobility. He’d effectively turned me into one of my roommate’s weeble-wobble dolls. Lovely.
“Xandra.” Lane’s voice halted me. I did a half turn, not ignoring my flight response. “You can’t handle the problem alone. Take a cue from your sister and trust someone, even if the person isn’t me.”
His handsome face distorted for a moment. He looked away, his jaw twitching and fists flexing at his sides. I tracked each movement with a longing to leap the distance I’d created and tackle him. My natural aggressive nature always made things difficult, but I was pretty sure the wolf could handle me.
Not that I’d ever know. The kiss had been a mistake—a harsh one if Uncle Lucian found out. I couldn’t risk him learning about Lane. Leverage was the weapon of war. I’d survived another skirmish with the demon vampire set on pounding the truth from my dead carcass. Hopefully, the check-in with my asshole uncle would go as well.
***
Lane
Damn. Indecision agitated my inner wolf as the sexy anomaly ran off as though the fires of hell were about to singe her tight ass—an ass I fully intended to make mine in every conceivable way. The slippery minx still denied the chemistry between us.
To make matters worse, something was wrong. She’d circumvented every effort we’d offered for training Riles, even those involving Vira taking the lead. The latter created a problem. Riles’s new demonic shadow was annoyed at the so-called help from the Realm. Most of the campus was up in arms about Xandra even being present since she wasn’t a student. To make matters worse, enough people had discovered her unique origin since Riles changed into her animal form in the middle of a battle at Temple.
Demons were gossip mongrels. They spread the tale far and wide—wide enough to have the Shifter Council declare an emergency meeting to discuss Riles and her sister, specifically their presence and the official shifter stance on the matter.
Macen’s familial pack backed him, and I’d made damn sure the pack at our university remained at his side as well. I’d kick the ass of anyone in Wolf Hall who dared speak against his decision to take Riles as a mate.
I made quick work of sprinting across the sidewalk and entering Wolf Hall, even though I didn’t have answers or patience to play Twenty Questions with Macen’s cute but innocent-as-fuck mate.
The moment I entered, Riles pounced, keeping pace with me as I charged down the hall and into the office. Macen smirked and shrugged his indifference when I snarled. He closed the door and leaned against it with arms crossed. Fucker.
“Well? What did she say?” Riles studied me with wide, expressive eyes. She chewed on her lower lip and everything in me wanted to growl in annoyance. Fuck but I hated having no answers for her.
“Nothing.”
“W-what do you mean ‘nothing’? Surely she said something.”
“She can’t. That’s what she said.”
“She can’t what?” Riles looked at Macen with a reverent gaze. “Maybe you could talk to her. If she’s in trouble, we have to help. We have to. She’s my sister.”
Macen unfolded his arms, and Riles slid into his embrace, crushing her face against his neck. The open vulnerability, blind trust, she exhibited made something primal in me snap. Why didn’t Xandra trust me?
My wolf didn’t care to learn the reason. Making sure she was safe was the priority. Then we’d stake our claim on her and make damn sure not even she could deny she belonged to me.
Macen whispered something to his mate. She nodded and sniffed for a few moments as I pretended not to be there. I’d do anything to protect her—the entire pack would. She’d been through hell before she’d come to the University of Nomadia. A miserable prick of an Alpha wolf found her wandering in the woods as a child. He’d somehow sensed she was a shifter, but when she failed to shift when she turned of age, she’d been ostracized—branded as an abomination and essentially enslaved by her pack, treated worse than garbage until she’d been tossed aside.
The fact she’d prevailed proved her worthiness as a mate. Macen deserved the beauty of her trust and love. I hated the fucker for being lucky enough to land such a perfect woman. I hoped to find my own one day. The connection I sensed with Xandra made her mine. Yet she fought so hard I questioned if I’d gone mad.
Fuck that’d suck. Pops was a piece of shit who’d snapped and killed another man’s mate when she’d refused his suit. I hated his blood coursing through my veins, and lived in silent terror I’d become him. I vowed never to follow his lead, yet I found myself at a crossroads: trust my gut and chase Xandra or step aside.
The latter ensured my wolf would battle me every step. The former might seal my fate and turn me into the one I despised the most.
“Maybe Vanessa’s right and we need to confront her directly.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Letting her know what little we are aware of will make matters worse later.”
Vanessa, the omega we moved in as Xandra’s roommate, learned very little. The secretive phoenix never slept but appeared hyperaware of her surroundings at all times. Paranoia? Fear?
My wolf flexed within me. I wouldn’t rest either until I got answers.
Chapter Two
“Do what you should, not what you may.”
—Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy
Xandra
The air thickened the farther I headed from campus. Each shallow breath drew me nearer the fate I’d avoided the past few weeks. Pulse pounding, eyes scanning the desolate hillside, I wound toward the secret portal to my realm. Apprehensive bumps jutted along my skin, and my beasts crawled beneath the surface, vying for the opportunity to annihilate the reeking, imminent threat a few yards away.
Though he stood alone, I suspected he’d brought the entire legion of his mighty phoenix assassins with him. Uncle Lucian was a maniacal bastard, but he was no fool. I continued scanning my field of vision as I closed the distance with a stride I hoped obscured the unease palpitating within me.
From his perch atop the highest point in the region, I knew the university campus lay supine along the valley, an innocent sacrificial sprawl of naive humanity. How many villages of similar size had he ordered destroyed by his squadron in my realm? Thousands? At least.
Uneasy with his amused gaze flicking from the east portion of the campus—human—to the west—Demonia—I placed myself in his view, the ever-dutiful sacrifice given to him twenty years ago.
“My liege.” I bowed slightly, my hands behind my back.
“Xandra.” Condescension hung in each syllable. My skin crawled as though the talons of a thousand demons burned through to the bone. “You failed me.”
I remained silent. No excuse would undo the fact I had.
“Tell me. What mission did I assign you?”
“Befriend the demon vampire and find the portal to Demonia.”
“Well, at least you remember the objective. I suspected Earth’s thinner air muddled your brain. Clearly, leaving the Realm negated your honor and loyalty.” His scorn lashed across my skin in waves of acidic intentions. “Did I explain why I promised you to my dear friend Aldo to mate?”
Because he’s a misogynistic pig like you? Tension knotted my shoulders as I remained dutifully silent, still. The more I reacted, the harder he’d strike. A warrior phoenix fed on the weakness of adversaries. Though my uncle was a tyrannical prick stuck several hundred centuries in the past, few surpassed his unique talent for capitalizing on his target’s lone strand of doubt or fear.
He closed the distance between us until the putrid stench of the raw meat stuck in his rotten teeth permeated my nostrils. Thick, fat fingers ran along my pulse point, and although I longed to unleash my beasts on him, I remained frozen.
“He promised I could watch him break you. Half my squadron has signed on to help if need be. I relish the day my whorish sister’s abomination breaks.” Hatred crawled along my spine as my beast flexed, alerted me to its presence. Phoenix or angel. Maybe both. They reviled him in equal measure. “Tell me. Will your father hear your screams? Or does he hate you as much as your mom does?”
Each word cut deep, ripping open the festering wounds I’d never healed.
“I vowed to break you the day she dragged you into my chamber and threw you at my feet like the gutter trash you are.” He chuckled. “Do you remember her response when I asked what she wanted done with you?”
Whatever you want.
“It’s a shame when those you love disappoint you.” He circled me, each trek widening the distance between us. “You’ve been here a month, Xandra. I should have the location by now.”
“They don’t trust my presence. It’s foolish to think them idiots.” I swallowed the mountainous ball of anger in my throat and continued. “Maybe if I’d been allowed to train my sister as I’d promised in order to remain here, they’d be less suspicious.”
He wrapped his fat fingers around my trachea and squeezed. I wheezed shallow breaths and captured his gaze, silently daring him to do his worst. A sneer spread on his smug face.
“Your entire family will be executed as enemies of the crown if you train her. Perhaps I should provide a visual example since you clearly are too ignorant to understand my words.” He dug his nails in until warm blood ran along my neck. “Mother or father? Choose one to incur my wrath. Ten lashes of the fire whip in the royal square should do nicely to remind you what happens if you fail me, Xandra.”
Fire singed my lungs, fused my brain with the realization my answer didn’t matter. It’d been decided long ago. Guilt drowned my insides, weakening my resolve. Why I gave a damn if either of them suffered after what they’d put me through was a mystery beyond my understanding, a flaw weakening my DNA—probably on my angelic father’s side.
“I know my duty.”
“Then do it.” He shoved me away. “I tire of your excuses. Two days, Xandra.”
“Yes, my liege.”
“Go. Your presence sickens me.”
I turned to comply, nausea pitching my insides.
“And Xandra?”
I halted, apprehension crackling along my flesh.
“Your fate as Aldo’s mate is sealed. Your mission’s success or failure determines if you’ll serve your time in his bedchamber or the dungeon.”
Little difference between the two choices existed. I opted for silence and headed toward Badger Hall. The weight of duty crushed me the closer I got. The enormity—the impossibility—of the task enveloped me in a gloom no one would puncture.
Thoughts of my earlier confrontation with Lane jumbled with my uncle’s threats. I wasn’t certain how wolf shifters could help, but I could see no alternative. To say I was in over my head was an understatement.
How could I give Lane the info he needed without getting us all ashed by whatever phoenix assassin might be watching? The fact I sensed none bothered me. Only ancient-blooded angels possessed the invisibility power. Uncle Lucian provided enough specific details about my conversations, movements to prove the validity of his statement. I needed to figure out how if I intended to keep breathing.
The fact phoenixes used invisibility didn’t surprise me since I unintentionally made it possible when a couple of them drank my blood during a gruesome battle when I’d first started with them. Since my arrival at university, their supply had dried up as far as I knew.
My dorm situation mirrored everything else in my life—complicated. The wolves didn’t want me too close to Riles. Understandable, I supposed. Annoying, but I respected their protective nature. They’d done right by her. When Riles had first arrived on campus, the Dean of Admissions, aka The Prick of All Time, had shoved her into Ruger Hall. Ruger was a dormitory on a segregated tract of campus belonging to Demonia.
Needless to say, putting a half angel, half phoenix with demons and vampires wasn’t the optimal solution—especially since the aforementioned creatures could destroy the latter groups without so much as a thought. Obviously, once word got out about Riles, I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms in the Demonian sector of campus.
No one wanted me. Not exactly the first time, but the inconvenience wasn’t appreciated. Dean Sandusky even contacted the ROAR hotline to try and locate a good place for me. ROAR was awesome, but they didn’t have any better luck. No one knew what to think of me and even fewer trusted my presence.
I couldn’t blame them. Hell, I didn’t trust me. Nope. I didn’t belong here for many reasons—none of which I contemplated or discussed with anyone. After a few awkward nights of me sprawled on the sofa in the visitor room of Wolf Hall, Lane and Macen had intervened.
Thank the wolves. And ROAR, who expedited all the paperwork. I resided on an upper floor of the former Badger Hall. The fact anyone thought badger shifters would ever excel and obtain higher education was a joke, but I’d never cared for the freaky creatures. Between the short legs and misshaped faces, they were clearly beyond weird—which said something, coming from me, since I was weirder than most.
Okay, I was more than strange. I was an abomination in my realm. Angels and phoenixes weren’t ever supposed to mix. Breeding was definitely not advisable.
Whatever.
My newfound “home” was a small twelve-by-twelve room with twin beds in the northern-most corner of the third floor, one level above where Vira had so lovingly handed my ass to me in training earlier.
The wolves seized the abandoned building and started renovations for population spillover from Wolf Hall before Riles or I had entered the picture. Fortunately, work on the structure had been halted because of bureaucratic red tape and permits, so my residence proved simple once ROAR got Sandusky and the board behind the option.
The lone issue with the new accommodations existed because wolves didn’t understand some of us didn’t mind solitude. Apparently, communal creatures couldn’t fathom wanting no one near them. Their solution to my perceived loneliness was a roommate in the form of a perky brunette named Vanessa.
The cute omega posse
ssed sass, flair, and an overabundance of words she shared whenever she breathed. She even prattled in her sleep. The fact I never slept with anyone in close proximity meant I spent every night listening to whatever her unconscious shared—which was a lot.
Assuming I survived, I needed a month of comatose nights to ease the exhaustion and frustration making my beasts edgy. Okay, sleep wouldn’t cure the frustration, but I didn’t have any business thinking about what—or, rather, who—would.
I frowned as a plume of floral stench assaulted my nostrils. I sneezed, coughed, and sputtered for a few moments when I first entered the room. Tears clouded my vision as I forced breaths through my mouth until my nasal passages could tolerate the latest blast of Vanessa’s hobby—perfume experimentation.
The short omega with long, curly brunette hair turned from the mirror and winced. “Sorry. Too much?”
“A bit, yes.”
“Damn.” She put her hands on her bare hips and looked down at the two bottles on the vanity. “Did I use too much rose or not enough gardenia?”
I didn’t understand her desire to create the concoctions, so I shrugged indifference and tossed my backpack on the bed. Muscles I’d forgotten existed throbbed when I sat.
“Rough session?”
“You could say that.” I rubbed my thigh. “Vira’s one pissed-off demon on a mission.”
“Well, campus talk says she’s fulfilling her blood debt.”
“Blood debt?”
The brunette scrunched her hair and primped in the mirror as she nodded. “Yeah. Where she comes from a blood debt is owed when someone risks their life to save a person. So, Riles is owed a debt.”
“Because she risked her life for Vira.”
“According to Vira, yes. Your sis says no.”
“Why?”
“Well, Vira was in the fight because Riles dragged her into it. So, far as your sis thinks, Vira’s the one owed the debt. It’s all sorts of twisted. Everyone on campus is talking about it, especially since Prince Drecor said there’ll be a new commander appointed.”