“You saw that?”
He nodded. “Yeah, we were trying to reach you, trying to get you to hear us but they kept you from sensing or seeing us. Not even your new buddy could get you to hear him.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. “You’re all right, for a girl.”
“Gee, thanks.” I looked around to find that Hansen was gone too. “Did Hansen take off on his own or did someone kill him?”
Seger grinned. “As tempting as that was, he fought hard, controlling those demons and refusing to let them leave with the knowledge they’d gathered, Karri. He made his mistake. He sacrificed his brother in the hopes he’d win what Tripp had, but found out that he couldn’t take what belongs to another.”
I gave him a questioning look.
“You, Karri. He couldn’t take you.” Seger motioned to Branson. “We’re leaving too. Amber won’t remember us even being here.”
“In her time, only seconds have passed,” Branson said, ushering Seger towards the door.
“Wait.” I drew back a bit. “You mean in their time it’s only been seconds, right?”
“Uhh, yeah.” Branson grinned as he practically shoved Seger out the door.
I glanced down to find Amber bent over the chest of weapons where she’d been before it all started and I let out a shaky laugh. “Another day in the life of Karri.” I rotated my head around, doing my best to work the kinks out in my neck. “No tears. No anything. It’s just another day. Nothing more. Nothing less. Gawd my life sucks major ass. Maybe I’ll luck out and not wake up tomorrow.”
Snapping my fingers, I pushed Branson’s magik off the room and dropped down by Amber fast. I took her hand in mine and smiled. She came to and hissed. “Ouch. I think I....”
She looked at her hand. It was healed.
“You think what?” I asked, doing my best to look innocent. It wouldn’t do her a bit of good to remember what really happened. No. She’d never sleep at night if she fully understood the terrors around her. “You screamed and scared the hell out of me, Amber.”
“Really, so does this mean you no longer believe in demons since I scared the hell right out of you?”
I simply laughed. It was shaky but I could do little to stop it. “Oh, I don’t know about that. What do you say we stay out of the weapons trunk?”
“I think that’s a very good idea.” She looked over my shoulder and smiled wide. “So, Riston, see what I mean? Her collection is full of stuff you’d love. If I could get her to act semi-normal for more than hour I think you’d really like her. In fact, I’d venture to say that the two of you would be perfect for one another.”
A new song kicked on and I realized that the CD player was still sitting on the floor not on the porch where it should have been. The woman sang about being a bitch yet has so many other levels that she was not only complete but comfortable in her skin. Amber arched a dark red brow. “I don’t remember you bringing that up here.”
My mind raced as I keep a cool look on my face. “Because you were too worried about me staring at Riston’s ass to notice me grab it.”
Amber snickered. “Gawd, I can’t hear this song and not think about you, Karri. Remember when the hot guy with the black hair and green eyes told you that you should really carry this on you at all times and demand it be played when you enter a room?”
I let out a soft laugh. “Yeah.”
“What was his name? He was super hot and never picked on you about your vampires and werewolves thing. In fact, he seemed to share your obsession. He also seemed a little iffy on Jean-Paul.”
“Lycans, not werewolves,” I winked at her, “and his name is Tripp.” The very fact that I didn’t talk about him in past tense was a testament to Tripp’s power and his helping me overcome my hidden grief.
“That’s right. He was really nice. I can’t believe you didn’t know he was into you.”
The last thing I wanted to talk about was Tripp but that wasn’t Amber’s fault. “I figured it out eventually. Hey, why don’t you go ahead and dig through some of this stuff? Not the weapons though,” I smiled, “It might bring back good memories. I’m sure the penis pictures are up here somewhere. I have to confess that I threw away the ones that were so pathetic that I was mad we wasted film but I kept the really good ones.”
“I still can’t believe you did that.”
“Hey, you said that you’d never seen one. I gave you a thousand because I love you.”
Her eyes lit as she wrapped her arms around me. “I have missed you so much.”
Taking her hands in mine, I lifted them high and spun her in a circle. She giggled and I followed suit. We continued on, dancing around the room and laughing as we went. As we approached Riston, Amber came to a grinding halt.
“Oh, I forgot you were here.”
Laughing, I put my hand out to him, to my surprise, he took it. “I would say you can be an honorary girl for the next five minutes but you are way to alpha to accept that as a compliment.”
Amber snorted. “You just called him alpha.”
I bit my lower lip, a bit embarrassed by my slip of tongue. “So I did.”
Riston shrugged, not looking the least bit offended. In fact, he looked rather pleased. “Hey, I’ll take it.”
“I’ll be right back,” Amber walked towards the door, “I want to go check on Hilary and Eric.”
“Are you taking your Riston with you?” I asked, not really sure what the hell I’d do with him once she was gone.
“No. I think my Riston would rather stay here with you but I could be wrong.”
“Wait, how did I end up being handed off to Amber?” Riston’s blue eyes seemed to sparkle as they stared at me. “How about I hang out here? I’m guessing you could use a hand with things and I have no desire to watch my brother-in-law cry every time he looks at Hilary today.”
“Eric will not cry every ... oh ... you were joking, weren’t you?” Amber asked.
Riston nodded and took a deep breath in. “It’s good to know that you guard him like a hawk, Amber.”
She waved, blew him a kiss and headed out of the room. “Karri, try not to scare him away!”
“No promises.” I glanced down at the trunk on the floor and sighed. “Why in the hell did they decide the middle of the attic was a great place for this stuff? Amber’s lucky she didn’t cut her hand off. Err, I mean ... yeah, lucky.”
Way to go, moron. You force Branson to take his memories only to tell him what happened.
I went to try to budge it and groaned as pain moved throughout my body. “I guess it’s staying right there.”
“Here,” Riston said, pushing past me, sending tiny sparks of pleasure throughout me as he went. I let him go, even though I knew it took two supernatural men to carry the thing earlier. When he picked it up I gasped. He put it down fast. “Gee, that’s heavier than I thought.”
He didn’t look strained in the least. Something was going on. It wasn’t heavy for him but he wanted me to think it was. Odd. I didn’t comment. I just put my hands on the chest and helped push it towards the back corner of the attic. As we pushed it almost all the way to the wall I lost my balance, something I did a lot when I was on the verge of exhaustion, and ended up falling to my left.
Riston grabbed me just in time for me to accidentally bring him with me. We tumbled to the hardwood floor. I hit first and Riston landed on top of me. He was a hell of a lot heavier than he looked.
I pushed up hard on him. “Gods, you’re solid muscle.”
He propped his upper body up with his hands and stared down at me. The look on his face was neutral but from the feel of the erection pressing against my upper thigh, it was safe to say he wasn’t unaffected by the predicament we’d ended up in. As my inner thighs tightened and my chest heaved, I knew that I wasn’t immune to it either.
Riston dipped his head down and I took in his manly scent. It was so familiar and so exciting that I was left no choice but to inhale deeply. He chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“Mmm, trying to figure out why you smell so familiar.” The second I said it, I wanted it back. The song changed again and the minute I heard The Beatles my eyes widened.
Riston chuckled. “Something wrong?”
As Here Comes the Sun pumped out I couldn’t help but laugh. “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just have memories of annoying the hell out someone with this song.”
“Really? Who?”
Shifting beneath him slightly, I felt his bulging erection dig in more. I drew in a sharp breath and locked gazes with him. I would have made a smart-ass comment but he leaned down more and touched the tip of his nose to mine. I smiled. “You look so different with glasses on. And I like your hair short now. Never thought I would. Did you cut it because I said it was pretty? I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. I just meant....”
I swallowed hard when I realized what it was I was doing. “Umm, wow, I think the heat is getting to me. I don’t suppose you’ll just ignore my last comment? Or better yet, all of what I just said? You remind me of someone.”
Riston licked his lower lip and grinned slightly. “So you’ve said.”
I closed my eyes as an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion hit me. I blinked and tried to focus on Riston but failed. “Why am I so tired?”
“Because you haven’t slept in days and I can sense the toll it’s taken on you.” He kissed my forehead lightly.
Fearing I’d slipped into that state between reality and dreams, I didn’t question Riston’s comment. Too many times the demons picked then to mentally wage a war on me. I couldn’t risk it. I had to stay awake. As I felt his weight moving off me, I reached or at least hope I reached for him.
“I’m going to move you to the sofa downstairs,” he whispered.
“No.” I tried to open my eyelids but they were too heavy. I shook my head. “I have to get up. They’ll come. They’ll come and I’m not strong enough to fight them alone anymore. Please, Don’t go.”
“Kars, I’m not going anywhere ever again. I promise you that.”
“I don’t want to be alone anymore, RJ ... err ... Riston,” I mumbled, correcting myself. Riston wasn’t RJ. So, why did my mind keep slipping up?
“You’re not alone, honey. I won’t let them come, Kars. I’m strong enough to keep them away from you. Keep you safe and I will.”
Why didn’t he seem the least bit offended to be called by another name? I drifted off before I could think too much harder on it all.
Chapter Four
I jerked awake and tried to get my wits about me. I blinked and found Amber staring down at me. “Hey, sleeping beauty, I would normally let you rest because it’s so rare but you are going to have one hell of a sore back and neck if I leave you here.”
“Huh? Sleeping Beauty?”
She put a finger to her lips and hushed me. “Yeah, it’s pushing three o’clock. You’ve been out for close to four hours, sweets. And before you ask, I did write it on the calendar. No fear. We’ll never forget the day you actually slept longer than twenty minutes without waking up screaming.” Amber nodded towards something behind me. “I was going to make fun of you for passing out with one of my closest friends wrapped around you, but if he had something to do with you finally getting some sleep I’m not about to comment. Though, he’s going to be sore too if we leave him like that.”
“Him?” Turning slightly, I came face to face with a sleeping Riston. My heart hammered in my chest as my entire body began to tingle. Amber went to touch him and I caught her wrist gently. “No, let him sleep a little bit longer.”
“Karri, he’ll end up stiff and sore.”
“I don’t think he will. I get the feeling that the man can sleep anywhere. I also have an uncontrollable urge to crawl onto his back and tickle him. Care to shed some light on that one?”
“You’re freaking me out, Karri. You’ve known Riston for six hours and you’ve got him not only holding you but sleeping. He doesn’t just pass out in mid-day. In fact, Eric complains that he doesn’t sleep enough ever. You waltz in and the man seems instantly drawn to you and so relaxed that he finally lets his guard down. You have one of those personalities. It’s kind of off-putting but works for Riston.”
“I’ll go,” I said fast, not wanting to upset Amber.
Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean, go?”
“If this is too weird for you, I’ll go, Amber. I didn’t show up with the intention of having any of the things that happened today, happen.” I couldn’t tell her all the details but I knew them. I also knew that she wasn’t as safe as I’d been lead to believe.
She gave me a puzzled look and shook her head. “Oh no you don’t, Karri. You like Riston so you want to run in the other direction. Nice try, sister.”
“Aren’t you lil’ Miss Adamant?” I snickered. “Go ahead. I’ll be down in a minute. I’m going to grab him some blankets and a pillow.”
She beamed and I could almost hear the wheels spinning in her head. “Take as long as you need.”
“I am not about to seduce your friend.”
She bit her lower lip. “Could have fooled me. But, Karri.”
“What?”
“Don’t hurt him. He’s a good guy.”
I stiffened. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Amber. I said I wouldn’t do anything and I meant it. But hey, let’s just toss that out there in case I was lying. Care to add anything....” I stopped just as I began to raise my voice. “Never mind.”
“What in the hell is your problem?”
I snorted. “My problem? Right. I’m sorry but from the moment I picked you up this morning you’ve been taking nasty, uncalled-for jabs at me, Amber. Tell me what I did to deserve this.”
“I have not been taking nasty jabs at you, Karri. You just need thicker skin.”
Easing Riston’s arm off me, I sat up and smiled. “Excuse me, but if my skin was any thicker a bunch of beefy guys would show up with stakes and semi-automatics to protect the world from me, Amber. I have spent the greater part of my life being made fun of, called crazy, a bitch, a man-eater, which is my personal favorite plus loads of other things.” I wasn’t even going to get into the parts of my childhood that my mother had found my memories from. No. Those were best left hidden. “Whatever. That’s fine but to have you, my best friend, doing it isn’t fine. If this is how it’s going to be between us now I want to know.”
“Why, so you can disappear for another seven years without a word before you pop-up like nothing happened?” She narrowed her blue eyes to the point they were hard. “How could you cut off all contact with me, Karri? I thought you were dead. I called the local police department near you, begging them to check in on you.”
“You can’t honestly think I’d cut ties with you for the fun of it, can you, Amber?”
She put her hands in the air and shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe. I never thought you’d do that to me. If you were in trouble you should have come to me. I would have helped. You know that.”
I snorted at the idea of Amber fighting evil. “Yeah, the next time I’m standing in the pits of hell fighting things you can’t even imagine I’ll be sure to call you to lend a hand. I should probably warn you that they have mongo huge spiders down there. I know how much you hate those.”
“You can be such a bitch, Karri.”
I smiled, knowing that it was one I used often when I was playing on the side of evil. Amber took a step back. Tipping my head back, I let out a throaty laugh. “You have no idea how much of a bitch I can be. Pray you never find out.”
“See,” she pointed at me, “there you go being a bitch again.”
“In my defense, I came this way. What the hell is your excuse? Does bitchiness grow on trees around here or you just planning on holding things I couldn’t control over my head forever?”
“Bitch.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling sweetly at her.
She snickered. “Wench.”
I laughed too. “Thanks.”
; “I hate it when you do that.”
I shrugged pretending to be innocent. “When I do what?”
“When you take being called a bitch as a compliment.” She giggled and put her hand in the air. “I will never forget the party you threw to celebrate your PMS that month.”
“Ah, Menstrual Madness. I almost forgot about that one.” It felt like a lifetime ago when I’d hosted that campus party. “I was shocked at how many men showed up.”
“Karri, please, they follow you like homesick puppies. I knew the night of that party that you were some sort of female pied piper.”
“Pfft, right.”
“I think Hilary nailed it when she asked if a guy showed up with a wedding. That about sums it up, Karri. Not many women can claim that. Jean-Paul did it twice.”
I laughed.
Amber sighed. “I’ll be back in a bit. Hilary is calling me.”
I didn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean much. Amber had a way of bonding with people, giving her an extra level of perception when it came to them. She clearly loved Hilary. I couldn’t blame her. Hilary was a doll. “Okay, I’ll meet you downstairs in a bit.”
She glanced at the still sleeping Riston. “If I asked you to give him a serious chance, would you?”
“Five minutes ago you were sure I’d take him and rip him to emotional shreds. Now you want me to let him in?” Giving up, I waved my hand in the air. “I surrender. I told you that I won’t try to....”
Amber smiled. “Why do I get the feeling that if it’s meant to be you won’t have a say in it?”
“Probably because you have Fay blood in you.”
She shook her head and laughed as she headed out of the attic. I waited until I was sure she was gone and snapped my fingers. Two pillows and a blanket appeared in my arms. I bent down and lifted Riston’s head gently.
There was something so familiar and so safe feeling about him. I undid the blanket and laid it over his large frame. I felt compelled to talk to him, so I whispered, “What is it about you that has me in a knot, Riston Wallace? What makes me want to keep touching you?” I ran my hand through his hair and cupped the side of his face, careful not wake him. “Are you hiding something from me?”
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