by S. Young
Her pain affected him more than he’d like so he covered it with his usual brusqueness. “The only way to find out one way or the other is to discover what you are.”
“And you have no inkling?” She cocked her head in thought. “You’ve never heard about someone like me?”
“No. The only beings that come remotely close are myths and legends. Some supes think of them as our origin stories, a religion. But I’ve never believed in them. I believe in facts and evolution.”
“Then how do you explain me?”
“Evolution.”
She cracked a smile and his eyes lingered on her mouth. “Like X-Men?”
Conall flashed her a wolfish grin. “Aye, why not?”
Thea laughed and shook her head. “If only it were that interesting. I’ve read about those origin stories too. They sound like fairy tales.”
“Aye, well, some people need to believe in fairy tales but it’s a waste of time.”
“Let them have them, Conall,” she whispered sadly. “If it helps them deal with how shitty the real world is, let people have their fairy tales.”
“I’m happy to.” He nodded. “But there are people like Ashforth whose beliefs become a justification for evil. That’s where I draw the line.”
Her eyes filled with wariness. “What does that mean?”
The blaring ringtone of Conall’s temporary phone made him bite back a curse. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw it was Ashforth. He looked at Thea. “It’s him.”
“Answer it.” Her expression hardened. “He still has your sister.”
The thought of Callie anywhere near the slimy fuck made Conall murderous. A growl erupted from the back of his throat before he could stop it.
A gentle hand on his arm brought his head up from the phone. Thea was touching him. “You can do this. For Callie.”
A calm moved through him and then a sense of loss when she removed her hand. Ignoring the latter, he answered Ashforth with a curt, “Conall.”
“Good, you’re still alive.” Ashforth’s cool, cultured voice threatened to obliterate Conall’s calm but he kept himself under control.
“Aye. Is the town clear?”
“Yes. And the bodies dealt with. I’ll arrange for another vehicle. Where are you staying?”
“No.” Conall needed time to think, which meant he needed space from the bastard. “Someone within your circle is leaking information to the Blackwoods. I think it best I arrange transport and call you when we’re on the road again.”
“Fine. But I’m working on finding out who that rat is.”
God help the traitorous little rodent.
“I’ll be in touch.” Conall hung up abruptly without asking for his sister. He didn’t want Ashforth even breathing her name. Thank fuck he’d sent James with her.
Conall stood from the bed, towering over Thea who had returned to watching him with a guarded expression. He’d do anything to rid her of that wariness forever.
His breath stuttered at the thought.
“Well?” she asked.
Clearing his throat, he held out his hand to her. “I’m not going to turn you over.”
Instead of the gratitude he was hoping to see, instead of feeling her hand in his—something he’d anticipated more than he should—Conall watched her shut down. Thea pushed off the bed, ignoring his outstretched hand. She seemed to bristle with outrage. Her teeth clenched together, and she bit out, “You have to. For your sister.”
“My pack will help me free Callie and James from Castle Cara.” They would but he knew that wouldn’t be the end of their problems with Ashforth. Conall may have to kill the bastard. He’d never killed a human before. Then again, the man who’d tortured Thea barely qualified as human.
“Conall, Ashforth is more powerful than you seem to understand. He’s killed people and gotten away with it. He’ll have your sister flown out of Scotland before you can ever hope to get to her. And she’ll die. In his hands.” Her words pierced straight through him. “We’re stuck. You can’t let me go and I can’t hide from you. He knows that now. And he’ll hurt everyone you care about if you don’t bring me to him.”
Impotence churned his insides to hell, and he let out a low growl of outrage that made her nostrils flare. He gave her a sharp shake of his head so she’d know his anger was not directed at her.
Her answering smile was melancholy. “It was always going to come to this.”
“To what?”
Thea flexed her hands, her eyes shadowed. “I have to kill Ashforth.”
“Thea—”
“We make the exchange.” She stepped close to him, tilting her head back to hold eye contact. Sincerity and determination rose to the surface of her eyes. “We heal your sister and you get her out of there. I’ll deal with Ashforth. He thinks he can best me, but I’m stronger than I used to be. His drug isn’t as effective outside of that special room of his. After that” —she shrugged, looking away—“we go our separate ways.”
Conall hated the plan. Every part. “And the Blackwood Coven?”
Thea strolled over to the bed to pick up her rucksack. “They’re my problem, not yours.”
Her words needled and as Conall followed her out of the hotel room, letting her lead him into the first phase of a plan that should have satisfied him, he grew angrier with the lass, and her lack of trust in him, by the second.
16
Trusting Conall was difficult for Thea. She knew he thought she didn’t trust him, but she’d shown some faith in him just by telling her story. It was more than anyone else got these days. Yet, it was hard to deny there was something about Conall that made her want to trust. A genuine decency.
Not only was it strange to feel like they were no longer at war, it was odd because she almost felt like they were a team now. Not totally, but almost. For so long she’d been alone, unable to confide in anyone about her abilities. Conall knew the truth, and being different himself, he seemed to accept her. It was kind of nice.
She knew she should resent the hell out of him for coming into her life and making it impossible for them to escape Ashforth’s machinations, but she couldn’t resent the guy for doing something she would have done too. She’d put her trust in Ashforth by allowing him to take her blood in the hopes of saving Devon.
And she would have given anything to anyone to have saved her parents from that plane crash.
It wasn’t any different from Conall joining forces with Ashforth to save his sister.
These were her thoughts when they reached the international bus depot in Dresden. Conall thought they should get the bus to Düsseldorf where he would then acquire a new car.
“It’s better we travel alone by car. If someone else comes after us, I dinnae want any more innocent people caught in the crossfire.”
Because she agreed, Thea got on the bus with Conall, feeling his overwhelming presence at her back. It was around two thirty in the morning but the bus to Calais was busy. It would make several stops, including Düsseldorf. When Thea asked, “Why Düsseldorf?” Conall had merely shrugged and said he’d been there before. It would do better than most for somewhere to gather their wits.
Thea usually never made eye contact with anyone when she traveled, yet she couldn’t help but notice passengers were staring behind her as she walked down the aisle, their nervousness obvious.
Somewhere along the line she’d stopped seeing Conall as mean-looking, but she guessed he still scared the shit out of people. She spotted two empty seats near the rear and dropped into the window seat. Conall was so big his knees touched the back of the seat in front of him and his shoulders pushed into her space.
“Sorry,” he muttered, frowning in annoyance as he tried to hunch to make himself smaller.
Thea felt a smile prodding her lips and a feeling in her chest that was almost akin to affection. She shimmied over, pressing up against the window. “I don’t take up much room, you’re fine.”
He shot her a look. “Another reason
we need to get a car.”
She nodded, grinning.
Conall’s eyes dropped to her mouth before he quickly looked away.
Thea leaned into him to speak but when he turned to her, she became aware of how close his mouth was to hers. And she knew the moment he did to.
A thick tension sprung between them as their eyes met, their attraction palpable.
Shit.
A complication she did not need.
Thea pulled back a little. “Do people always look at you like that?” she whispered, staring over the top of the bus seats. “Like they fear you?”
“Aye,” his answer was gruff. “It makes no matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“No, it doesnae.”
Thea slumped against her chair, annoyed Conall accepted that people judged him before they got to know him. “They’re idiots.”
His lips twitched at the corner. “What’s new, lass?”
She chuckled, and they shared a look of affinity that made her breathless. Uneasy, she dropped her gaze and turned into the window. “I think I’ll catch some z’s.” The journey to Düsseldorf would take around six hours.
“You do that.”
What made Thea realize that she’d begun to trust Conall, just a little, was waking up almost six hours later to find herself snuggled against his hard chest. His scent wove its way into her consciousness first and not fully awake, she wanted to bury deeper into the smell. It was amber and cedar and the peppery aroma of ginger. Earth and spice and incredibly male. In the sleepy corners of her mind, it wrapped her in an embrace that offered comfort and sex at the same time.
Slowly cognizance returned, telling her the hard, warm cushion underneath her was rising and falling. That the gentle breathing she could hear wasn’t her own.
Thea’s eyes flew open.
Her head was definitely resting on Conall’s chest. One hand was beneath her cheek while the other laid on his flat, taut stomach. She could feel the ridge of abs between her hand and the fabric of his shirt.
Then the weight resting along her back became apparent.
He had his arm around her. His hand was cupping her hip.
What the hell?
Never could she have imagined trusting Conall enough, even in her unconscious state, to snuggle with him.
Snuggle.
She hadn’t snuggled with anyone in years. The last snuggle she’d had was with her mom.
Tears pricked Thea’s eyes as she realized how much she’d missed the basic human comfort of a hug.
You’re being ridiculous.
The werewolf was turning her into an emotional wreck, and she couldn’t be an emotional wreck. An emotional wreck would not win the war against Ashforth.
Thea pulled out of Conall’s embrace and he grunted. She looked up at him as she retreated and saw him blinking awake. Well, at least he’d been asleep too. He didn’t seem nearly so disconcerted that they’d been snuggling as she did. Conall rubbed a hand over his face, the bristles of his unshaven cheeks sounding rough against his palm.
“Are we there?”
Thea glanced at the digital board above the exit. It said Düsseldorf was the next stop in twenty minutes. “Almost.”
They both stretched their necks trying to work out the kinks, and Thea scowled at their synchronicity.
“You slept?”
She nodded, flicking him a wary look. “You did too.”
“Aye, a little.”
“I’m sorry if I …” She gestured uncertainly between them. “Forced you to …” Thea absolutely could not use the word “snuggle” in front of Conall.
The werewolf waved off her concerns. “It’s fine.”
An awkward silence fell between them, probably only made awkward by Thea. And then Conall surprised her. He turned to her, his voice low, and he said, “No nightmares this time.”
Feeling vulnerable about her nightmares, Thea frowned. The Scot had probably deduced now that the nightmares were about her time with the Ashforths. Surprisingly, they were rarely about the whipping she’d taken. They were about Amanda’s death or about Ashforth finding her.
She stared out the window, hating that the bad dreams made her weak.
“Hey …” Conall’s breath whispered against her ear and her own breath caught in her throat at his nearness. She didn’t dare turn her head because if she did, her lips would brush his. “I didnae mean to upset you.”
He pulled back, and she almost exhaled with relief.
His expression was … tender. “After everything you’ve been through, it’s amazing how together you are, Thea. I think you’re exceptionally strong.” He gave her a sharp nod. “And I dinnae just mean physically.”
Something welled up inside Thea’s chest, something that felt too big to contain and she wondered if that feeling was in her eyes for him to see.
Don’t betray me, Conall. Please don’t betray me. Not you too.
And then Thea smiled sadly. Because of course he would betray her. That was the plan they’d decided on together. Conall had to hand her over to protect the people he loved.
Questions filled the wolf’s eyes as he studied the play of emotion across her face, but thankfully, they were suddenly in the city.
“We’re almost there,” she said, avoiding his gaze.
“We need something to eat and a change of clothing,” Conall decided. “There’s a shopping area I remember from my last visit. Callie dragged me to what felt like a million stores that day.”
That got her attention. “You visited with Callie?”
He pinched his lips together before saying, “She’d been talking to …” He lowered his voice. “A wolf. Online. On a dating site.”
Thea’s eyes widened. “There are supernatural dating sites?”
Conall grunted. “Aye. She met one from Düsseldorf and arranged to meet him. It was more to piss off my beta, James, than anything, but she was adamant. And I couldnae let her go meet this arsehole alone.”
Amused at Conall flying to mainland Europe to chaperone his little sister on a date, Thea tried not to chuckle. “What happened?”
Conall sighed. “We got on the plane and when we were in the air, she burst into tears. She couldnae believe James had let her get on the bloody plane. I dinnae think even she realized how much it had been about trying to force him to admit there was something between them. She canceled the date, but I decided we should stay anyway. She needed a break from James, so I let her torture me as she dragged me from shop to shop around Düsseldorf.”
That feeling in Thea’s chest was about to explode. It had to be. It ached so badly. “You’re a good brother.”
They shared a look, and he sighed. “It’s what family is supposed to do.”
“But they don’t always. You know that.” She shrugged off her melancholy. “Isn’t James the guy with Callie at Castle Cara?”
“Aye.” Conall frowned. “He finally pulled his head out of his arse but Callie was diagnosed before they could be together. I’ve forbidden a relationship between them.”
That seemed out of character. “Why?”
“Because it’ll only cause them more pain in the long run.” His voice was gruff with emotion. “If we lose her … if he loses her, at least he doesnae have to live with the torturous memories of what it was like to be with her.”
“And what about her?” Thea found herself angry.
Conall turned, surprised by her tone. “What do you mean?”
“She’s dying, Conall, and you’re denying her the chance at the only happiness she’ll ever have.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. I’m protecting them.”
“You’ve never been in love, have you? If you had, you’d know you’re wrong.”
He scowled down at her so ferociously, anyone else would quake in their seat but Thea was too pissed to care if he was annoyed.
“And have you been in love? Fallen for some Italian arsehole on your escape across Europe?”
“Of course not.”
“It’s the same thing, Conall.”
Thea knew her words had penetrated because he was glowering fiercely at the seat in front of him like he wanted to punch through it.
“I think you’re so used to managing people’s lives, you don’t know when you should stop.”
His head whipped toward her. “And apparently, you dinnae know when you should stop talking.”
Thea grabbed her backpack from the floor as the bus pulled into the station. “Yeah, well, the point is moot. I’m going to save your sister’s life, Wolf Boy, but to do that we need to move.”
Growling under his breath, Conall grabbed his own backpack and stood up, stretching to his full height. “I’ve got six years on you, lass. Stop calling me boy.”
Thea thought it was amusing he wasn’t averse to the wolf nickname, merely the boy part. She considered adjusting the nickname but decided she enjoyed needling him too much to bother.
A young woman a few seats down glanced over her shoulder, spotted Conall, and her eyes widened. Then she dragged her gaze up and down his body. She did not look scared of the werewolf.
She looked something else entirely.
Thea felt a sharp burn as she glared at the young woman who gave Conall a flirty smile. Conall didn’t return the smile, but it didn’t lessen Thea’s unexpected annoyance. In fact, she pushed in front of him and shot the woman a death stare that made her blanch and turn away.
Suddenly she felt the wolf’s heat right along her back and then the whisper of his breath on her ear as he bent down, amusement in his words, “What was that, lass?”
She stepped away, needing space, and cut him a dirty look. “We don’t need anyone staring too hard or remembering the big guy on the bus from Dresden to Düsseldorf.”