If he could just get her to listen. Since they didn’t seem to be able to stay in the same room together for more than five minutes without fighting he didn’t see that happening any time soon. Fighting or shoving their tongues down each other’s throats, he amended. He much preferred the latter. He ran a fingertip over his lips, the feel of hers still lingering. She was his. Her heart knew it. Her body knew it. Now he just had to convince her mind. He smiled. This was going to be fun.
Chapter Eight
“I’m going to kill him.” Juliana growled and slammed her glass on the table. “I’m going to kill him and then I’m going to dump his twice dead corpse in the deepest darkest hole I can find.” Her drinking companions snapped around in their chairs to see what had set her off. Thomas pulled the storeroom door shut behind him. His hair was tousled, his black T-shirt half pulled out of his pants. He looked far less composed than he had when she left him minutes before.
He made a show of tucking in his shirt and running his hands through his hair to fix it. More than one bar patron glanced at her before leaning over to their companions and spreading the rumors. Why didn’t he just brand her and be done with it?
Simon arched a brow in disapproval but Seamus howled with laughter. She scowled at him but that only made him laugh harder. “Oh, he’s good. I’ll give him that.” She wanted to smack him, but gave him credit for knowing Thomas was playing the crowd.
“A gentleman would have put himself to rights in private,” Simon said.
“A gentleman wouldn’t get it on in the back room,” Seamus responded.
She glared at them. “Nothing happened. Not a damn thing.”
Simon suddenly stood and held out a hand with a grin. “Dance with me?”
She studied him a moment trying to remember the last time she danced. “Why not?” she said, taking the hand.
He pulled her out to the middle of the floor. They squeezed between sweaty bodies and tried to find a spot where they wouldn’t be trampled. Her head swam from the heat and the three shots of tequila she managed to down. He found a spot and turned her to face him.
Closing her eyes, she swung her hips to the music. She entwined her arms above her head, ignoring the twinge of pain that accompanied the motion. Hot hands ran up her arms, entangled fingers with hers. They pulled her arms down and wrapped them around her middle. Pulled back against a firm torso, she molded to the body behind her, knowing without looking it was Thomas.
“You called to me from across the room, Joya. I could not resist,” he said, his breath warm against her ear. A tremble ran through her as he began to rock with the music.
She opened her eyes to see Simon backing away with a nod and a crooked smile. He was abandoning her. Damn him. She tightened her fingers on Thomas’s and turned her head so their lips were a whisper away from each other. “Providing more fodder for the rumor mill?”
His lips twitched. “I can’t help myself. You bring out my possessive tendencies like no one else. I just want them all to be aware that you are unavailable.”
She tugged on his hands and he released her waist without argument. Her brain railed at her for not disagreeing with him. For not insisting she didn’t belong to him. Turning, she looked up at him and tried to make sense of the cacophony of emotions screaming for attention. The truth was she did belong to him. She always had. And how she hated it.
She shook her head, turned away and made her way back to the table where the twins waited. Exhaustion blindsided her. Too much emotional drainage for one day. It must have shown on her face because Simon piped up. “Let’s get you home.”
Home was the last place she wanted to go. There was no one to spend the night with but her own paranoia. The boys would sleep over if she asked, but she wasn’t ready for that level of humiliation. And Thomas...well, it would be better if she kept her thoughts—and her libido—from going down that path.
Thomas stepped in front of them, stopping them before they took two steps toward the door. She waited for him to say whatever it was he had to say. “My sister called me. She said you weren’t answering your phone and she has a...code four, I believe she called it.”
A code four meant Sara’s daughter Rachel was asking for a visit from Auntie J. As late as it was, the girl was probably still awake.
Seamus pulled Juliana’s phone from his pocket. He’d put it there for safe keeping after he confiscated it at the house. “Sorry,” he said with a shrug and handed it over.
She scrolled through her three missed calls. They were all from Sara.
While she was sure the twins wouldn’t mind accompanying her to Sara’s house, they’d done their duty for the night. “Take me home, I’ll ride my bike to Sara’s.”
Thomas arched one thin brow. “You’ve been drinking. And you’re injured.”
“I don’t like leaving you alone. Maybe Thomas should drive you,” Simon suggested.
She narrowed her eyes at him as Thomas said, “I’d be happy to take you. I need to see my sister anyway.”
Simon shook his head. “Don’t you look at me like that. You’re not fully recovered and you know it. And I’m sure the vampire would be better to have around than us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Seamus grumbled.
Despite his brother’s protest, Simon had a point. Thomas was a trained fighter with centuries of experience. Not bad backup to have on hand. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Still glaring at him, she motioned for him to hand over the belongings she’d given him earlier. She might have been off duty, but she didn’t go anywhere without her badge and gun being close by. Her sword tended to draw more attention that she usually cared for in public when she wasn’t working. Besides, her arm still wasn’t in good enough shape to use it. She slid the badge over her neck and tucked the gun into the back of her pants after making sure the safety was on. It wasn’t her preferred way to wear the weapon, but it was better than waving it around the club.
She said goodbye to the boys then snagged a handful of Thomas’s shirt so she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd. Thomas reached back without breaking stride. He unwrapped her hand from his shirt and held it in his. When she tried to pull away, he stopped and tugged her against his side so he could talk next to her ear. “You’ll ruin the silk. It’s my hand or my belt loop, whichever you prefer.”
She didn’t think either was a particularly wise option, but kept hold of his hand and let him lead her out of the bar. He still refused to let go when they reached the parking lot. He grinned at her over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
She rolled her eyes and fired up her gift so nothing could sneak up on them in the dark. Pain flared through her skull with the action and she did her best to ignore it. A temporary pain was better than a permanent death. A glance at Thomas showed him bathed in a sheen of lavender and blue. He was brighter than he used to be, more powerful.
He let go of her hand when they got to the car and he noticeably dimmed. She frowned. It was a physical representation of their union. Just her touch made him more powerful. It was also a reminder of why she couldn’t trust a word he said.
When Thomas asked her to be his life mate, she said yes because she loved him. She asked for time because she wasn’t sure if he wanted her or the power she brought him. Something about the two of them being together made their abilities stronger. She’d first noticed it a year or so before their union. About the time Thomas started seeing her as more than a smart-assed pain in the neck. She was too smart to think the timing was entirely coincidental.
She reached out and touched his hand again and the signature flared. She repeated the experiment two more times with the same result. He flared brighter than he used to. Time had apparently made their effect on each other stronger or their union had increased their power more than she thought.
“Finished?” he asked, laughter in his voice.
Heat flooded her face. She grumbled and slid into the car while he held the door for her. He
chuckled and went around to his own side. As soon as he started the car, she rolled down the window.
“You’re not sick, are you?” He cast a fearful glance around the interior of the car. No doubt he already regretted offering her a ride.
“Calm down. I had like three shots. I just don’t like being cooped up,” she told him. It was the reason she had a motorcycle. That and the ability it gave her to dodge traffic. Resting her head next to the window, she studied the darkness. Cold, sharp air stung her nose when she took a deep breath. Cooling relief flooded her lungs.
A flash of color at the edge of the parking lot stole her breath and straightened her spine. Purple-blue with swirls of black. A vampire tainted by dark magic. She hadn’t seen a signature like that in years. Seven to be exact.
Oblivious to her discovery, Thomas pulled out of the space and she lost sight of it.
“Stop the car!” She threw open the door as Thomas slammed on the brakes. Springing out, she looked back to the shadows where she’d seen the blaze of color. Nothing. She spun in a circle, searching. Still nothing.
She could have walked across the parking lot to where she’d seen the flash of color. She should have if for no other reason than to see if a trace of the signature remained. But she really didn’t want to know. The realization that she didn’t have the courage to move closer to investigate filled her with disgust. When had she become such a coward? Jumping at shadows, hiding from swaths of color in the night?
“What is it?” Thomas looked at her over the top of the car.
She hesitated a moment before shaking her head slowly. “I thought I saw something. I must be more tired than I thought. I couldn’t have seen what I thought I did.”
They got back in the car and sat in silence. She was sure Thomas wanted an explanation, but she had none to give him. Her hands began to tremble and she closed her eyes, forced herself to breathe. Thomas wrapped his hand around hers, helping her find her center.
She found it difficult to believe she’d imagined Raoul despite what she said to Thomas. Fate wasn’t that kind to her.
Raoul had been a black mage before his sire turned him into a vamp in medieval Spain. He was one of the last mages turned. Not that anyone had been brought over since the Rending. The Council forbade it. But the ban on mages came long before that. Mages lost most of their ability during the transition. More than one had gone mad when they found themselves with only a fraction of their former power. A feral vampire with magical abilities, no matter how minor, wasn’t something the Council wanted to deal with.
Raoul was the only vampire she’d ever met whose signature was tainted with black magic. It made no sense for him to be here now, though. Michael and she had been hunting him for years with no luck. He wouldn’t return now, not with Thomas here.
Even Raoul wasn’t that stupid.
Chapter Nine
They arrived at Sara’s house and Juliana climbed out before Thomas had a chance to go around and open her door. He bit back a curse and reminded himself she was capable of opening her own damn door. Even though she shouldn’t have to. He put his keys in his pocket and started up the front walk.
“This way.” She gestured with her hand for him to follow and went around the side of the house. After a glance at the front door, he followed. She tapped lightly on a door and opened it. He was right behind her, but hesitated before crossing the threshold. It had been years since he’d been in his sister’s home. It was possible the wards would no longer accept him. There was only one way to find out. He took a deep breath and stepped into the house. Once he was sure he’d set nothing off, he exhaled in a quiet sigh.
Sara sat at the table, a coffee mug wrapped in her hands, her dark hair piled on top of her head. Her eyes widened at seeing Thomas and Juliana together.
“She’s in her room,” Sara said to Juliana. “She might have given up, but I doubt it. She’s persistent when it comes to you.” She shifted her gaze to him. “Can’t imagine where she gets that from.”
That was his sister, ever so helpful. He watched Juliana leave the room and waited until he heard her steps in the hall above before speaking. “I’d say we’re overdue for a long conversation, you and I.”
She nodded once and stood. “Let’s go to the living room. We might as well be comfortable while we yell at each other.”
Thomas smiled at that. He had no intention of shouting at his sister. She may be several hundred years younger than him, but she should know him well enough to know that he rarely lost his temper enough to yell. And when he did, it was normally at Juliana.
“Sit.” He gestured to the sofa and went to stand by the window.
He turned to face his sister. “Before we discuss anything else, you should know that Juliana and I are United.”
Her spine straightened and she twisted her hands in her lap. “When did this happen?”
“The night before I left.”
In the silence that followed his revelation, Thomas listened for sounds from above. Juliana was still in his niece’s room.
“I can’t believe neither of you told me, especially her,” she said, accusation in her voice, though he didn’t miss the hurt that colored her words as well. “Why doesn’t everyone know about this? It’s not like you to not publicly stake your claim.”
“The next morning she asked for time. I gave it to her.”
She snorted a laugh. “That’s why you left? You’re an idiot.”
He shook his head. “You know me better than that.”
“Then why did you leave? When I think about what she went through...”
He moved to sit beside her on the couch. “Tell me. You’re both keeping secrets. I need to know.”
Sara locked eyes with his. “Not until you tell me the real reason you left.”
He raked his hands through his hair. What to tell her? She wouldn’t believe any lie he came up with. Perhaps it was time to admit the truth. Sara wouldn’t see his actions as a weakness, and if she did, so be it. She wasn’t likely to use it against him.
“I did it for her,” he said, dropping his head into his hands. “She was so scared. Terrified. I could taste it in the air. Feel it through our connection. I didn’t know what to do. Then she asked for time and I realized that I’d had mine. Centuries of it, in fact. She was barely twenty and I’d tied her to me for an eternity. I was so incredibly selfish.”
He sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. “I knew I couldn’t give her permission to experience life without me. And I couldn’t stay here and watch her do it. The only way she was going to get that opportunity was for me to leave.”
His hands fisted where they rested on the cushions beside him. “And then I return and she wants nothing to do with me.”
“You’re here aren’t you?”
“I didn’t really give her a choice.”
Sara snorted a laugh. “Trust me. If she didn’t want to come with you, she wouldn’t have. Even you can’t make her do something she doesn’t want to.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
“Yes,” Sara said simply without further explanation.
Things had changed while he’d been gone if his sister truly thought his bride was a match for him. “I’ve come back for her. I’m tired of waiting to claim what’s mine.” He sounded like an overbearing asshole, but he couldn’t make himself care.
He was tired of playing, pretending he was okay with whatever Juliana wanted. And it was time she found that out for herself. As she no doubt was since she was listening from the stairwell. Did she really think a vampire as old as he wouldn’t know precisely where she was in the house at all times? Hopefully she would stay hidden until he got some information out of his sister.
Sara didn’t say anything for a long moment. She closed her eyes and shook her head before focusing on a picture of Rachel and Juliana that sat on the other side of the room. “She sat in your room for two days waiting for you to come back, call, anything. When you didn’t, she came
here. I was at work. James was the one who let her in. She was like a zombie. He told me later it was one of the scariest things he’d ever seen, that blank look on her face. Like there wasn’t anything of Juliana left in her.”
Thomas frowned as his sister got up and began to pace. She stopped after a moment and looked out the window. Her voice softened. “She lay on that couch for a week. She didn’t move, didn’t sleep, didn’t eat. She didn’t do anything but leak red tears from her eyes. Finally, at the end of the week she broke down into these heart-wrenching sobs. I thought she was dying from grief, but it seemed to be the catalyst that brought her back.”
He knew she’d be hurt, confused even. Never did he imagine his departure would affect her so deeply. Then he realized what his sister had just told him. “Red tears? The dark fae cry red tears when—”
“Their hearts are broken,” she finished and turned to look at him. “That’s what you did to her when you left, Thomas. You didn’t give her a chance to live her life without you, you forced her to live it without you and I think she’s hated every second of it.”
“There’s something else. Something you aren’t telling me. Either of you.” His voice was quiet as he leaned forward on the couch to study his sister.
“There’s a lot I’m not telling you. If I’d known you were United, I might have, but I can’t now. You’re back. She’ll have to tell you herself when she’s ready.”
Damn it. They were running out of time. He wasn’t sure how far Juliana would let this go and the moment his sister realized they had an eavesdropper the conversation would be over. “I need to know, Sara. If she won’t tell me, you have to. What am I missing?”
“I swore I wouldn’t tell you. I was so angry with you for so long, it was an easy promise to keep. I blamed you for most of it, thought about telling you just to hurt you the way she’d been hurt. Lately though...” She turned back to the window.
“For what it’s worth, I came back.”
“And how’s that working out for you?” she asked with a smile.
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