The Christou house, where I’d driven yet another nail into my own coffin. “There’s more suffering in her future. We both know it, if she’s got any ties to that place. She’s young, has a mortal’s lifespan only and she’s spending this time here wrapped in misery.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
“And the fact that she’s young and beautiful has nothing to do with it, I’m sure.”
A black brow winged up. “Is she beautiful?” He passed a hand over his face. “Odd. I wouldn’t know.”
I could have kicked myself. “Hell.” I went to shove a hand through my hair, but it was still caught in that knot at my nape. Tearing the pins away, I shoved them in my pocket as I turned away from him. That face of his, those eyes and now, many other things would haunt me. Even more than they already had. The feel of his hands on me. His mouth—
“I’m sorry.” I turned back to glare at him.
But he was already halfway down the street.
Moving with that easy, unerring grace, Krell padding along beside him.
He’d walked off.
The son-of-a-bitch.
He’d walked away from me.
“Back to base, boy,” Luc told Krell.
One thing he’d learned over the years, his companions could take a lot of different commands and were always incredibly smart animals—sometimes he thought perhaps somebody was giving him some extra help, because the animals he chose for his companions were often more than just smart. They were amazingly so, and they lived long. Several of his dogs had lived upwards of four decades.
Krell was going on twenty years now and still moved as easily as he had when he’d been a pup. Although with a bit more control.
But they were still dogs.
He couldn’t tell Krell to take him to the B&B. It was base. Whenever they were on an assignment, wherever they stayed was base.
Luc should be looking through the animal’s eyes, getting the lay of the land, but he needed to be in his own head for a time.
It was dangerous territory, though. All full of Sina.
Full of frustration, and not all of it was sexual. Plenty of it was, but not all.
Full of questions and confusion.
It had been an age since he’d had a woman put him in knots. Never like this.
He’d seen centuries come and go, civilizations fall. His old life had passed away and he’d known more torment than he could voice, stood by as the woman he loved more than his own life fell to pieces, as he tried to hold them both together.
But nobody had managed to frustrate him like the woman he’d left standing in the middle of the walk behind him.
Guilt tugged at him.
He shouldn’t have just left her there.
It was unlike him and—
He heard the soft scuff of a shoe over pavement. A flurry of sound. It was a couple of blocks away, but there was that furtive sort of quality to it, the kind that made him think whoever it was had no intention of being noticed. And if he’d been human, they likely would have succeeded.
“Shadows,” he ordered Krell and the dog guided them into a darker area. He laid his hand on the dog’s head and merged their minds. “There’s really no reason to go back there. It’s Sina, after all. She could practically hand Will his ass on a platter and still be back in time for afternoon tea.”
Krell made a soft little sound in his throat.
Luc passed a hand over his head. “So she probably doesn’t do tea.” It still didn’t change the fact that she didn’t need his help.
She didn’t even seem to want him around—
Although, the nail marks in his shoulders had said otherwise. They’d healed, a fact he was sorely unhappy with. He’d enjoyed them while they lasted.
“And I’m wasting time.” Swearing in French, he settled his mind more deeply with Krell’s and headed back up the street. The jacket he wore skimmed mid-thigh, long enough to conceal a veritable treasure trove of weapons, and he went for the bladed staff, pulling it out and extending it. A friend of his had designed it, years ago, and not that long ago, he’d made a special one for Luc. Since half the world looked at him and saw a blind man, he might as well go with it. His bladed staff looked more like a walking stick than anything else, but it was far more deadly than people could possibly imagine.
Already he could hear her voice.
She was speaking in Greek, and the lovely cadence of it was almost enough to distract him. Almost. His brain caught up with what she was saying, translating it.
Reluctantly a smile curved his lips. She’d just told whoever it was that she was more trouble than they could handle.
The men were laughing.
If only they had any idea just how right Sina was.
Chapter Seven
Natasha stood there after the door swung shut, deliberating for about two minutes before she finally muttered, “Screw this.”
Grabbing her bag from the table, she hitched it over her shoulder and headed to the door.
Two steps away, it swung open.
She stopped, dead in her tracks.
An older man stood there, tired and rumpled, a cup of coffee in his hand.
She recognized his face. He’d been the one who brought her the cavity-inducing coffee earlier.
He spoke charmingly accented English and just then, he looked about as tired as she felt.
“Ah, Ms. Curry. I’m sorry we’ve kept you waiting so long.”
She scowled. “What’s going on? Didn’t your partner ask everything she needed to ask?”
He blinked, looking puzzled. “My…” Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, did you say she?”
I had two men on the ground, a third coming at me, four more in the shadows, and I suspected there might even be more.
It was hard to count when you were in the middle of a fight.
The tricky part was putting them down for the count without really damaging them.
And damaging them was a no-no.
They were human.
Pathetically stupid humans, and bullies to boot, but they were humans and they weren’t demon-touched, either, from what I could tell. And if I couldn’t tell, then who could?
Another one ran at me and I caught him by the throat, lifted him and slammed him on the ground. It felt good, letting some of that anger out. Snarling at him, I shoved at his mind and snapped, “Stay down.”
He whimpered. Might have pushed too hard there.
Another came running at me from behind and I stood up just in time to catch and flip him over my shoulder. He landed on top of his mate with a meaty thud. With a straight-armed jab, I knocked him out cold and stood, turned to face the others I’d sensed.
That was when I saw the man walk through the darkness toward us.
Him, I hadn’t sensed.
Neither him, nor the dog.
“Krell, take them down.”
Lovely, lovely words…
The malamute came flying my way, his lips peeling back from a mouth of teeth I’d rather not face.
The humans never saw him coming.
One had the dog’s teeth buried in his thigh before he even realized there was a problem.
And there were…how many?
Luc had a bladed staff in his hand, although he hadn’t freed the blades. I watched as he used the butt of the staff on the head of one of my would-be attackers. How did he do that? He couldn’t even see him.
And then there were none.
Sniffing, I dusted my hands off and said, “You and Krell showed up when I had only two of them left to deal with. You need to brush up on your knight gallant act, Luc.”
He snapped his fingers, summoning Krell to his side. “The police are en route. You were heard. We might want to take the bitch-fest elsewhere.”
I blinked at him. He hadn’t just…
As he came my way, I gaped at him.
“Did you just imply I was a bitch?”
“You call yourself a bitch on a
regular basis, I believe. But no, I didn’t. I said we should take the bitch-fest elsewhere. You’re pissed. You’re about to let loose. This isn’t the place.”
“That’s beside the point.”
He caught my arm and started to walk. “Come on. We need to be gone before the police arrive. Unless you’d like them to notice a strange brunette. I’m sure the mortal you interrogated earlier mentioned you. At the very least, you need to get out of the suit you were wearing when you spoke with her.”
That was practically already done.
As I walked along beside him, I glanced down at my clothes. The slim skirt just wasn’t made for fighting. One good kick had split it right up the side, almost to my waist. “I’m almost out of my clothes as it is,” I muttered.
Luc stumbled.
“What?”
It was an odd tone he had in his voice, I thought, distracted enough by it that I almost didn’t noticed as he tugged me to a stop in the midst of the shadows.
The dog stopped as well. Automatically, I glanced at Krell and saw that he was watching me, an all too-human study, with that look in his eyes that told me his master was in charge behind that gaze.
Realizing Luc had misunderstood, I shoved him away. “Oh, for crying out loud. Luc, I’m more than three times your age and I could crush those silly humans like bugs if I had wanted to. My clothes are in ruins because they aren’t designed for fighting.”
He caged me in, kept me from moving away. “You’ve bruises on you.” He laid a hand on my thigh and the sudden shock of it made me catch my breath.
More than anything, I wanted to move over, just enough so that his hand was pressed against me there, right against my sex, so I could grind myself against him.
Instead, I swallowed. My throat was so terribly dry just then. “It’s nothing. Three of them came up behind me while I was trying to talk sense into one of them. Usually I can talk them down, but it wasn’t happening tonight.”
“Hmmm.”
His thumb stroked over my skin. Slow. Easy.
Why did it feel as though he doing something far more illicit than stroking my damn thigh?
Without thinking, I moved against his hand.
He tensed.
And then he moved, shifting so that he had me cupped in his hand, the heel of his palm pressed against me. I groaned and closed my eyes.
His lips brushed over my cheek. “We were interrupted earlier.”
Damn right we were.
As he started to rub me, I shuddered. Reaching down, I caught his wrist, held him steady so I could move against him faster. I needed—
Luc groaned and swore, the lovely, musical sound of it a caress on my ears. “Sina, this isn’t the place.”
“Then you shouldn’t have touched me. Fuck me, Luc.”
Off in the distance, I heard sirens.
I didn’t care.
“Not here,” he rasped. But still he touched me. “You’re so wet, so hot.”
“I’m hotter, wetter inside. Fuck me.”
“Back at the room,” he muttered. “Just let me…”
“Damn it, Luc!”
He pulled back, shaking his head. “We’ve already fucked up tonight, Sina, and you know it. We’re not compounding it with this.”
While the hunger ranged inside me, I glared at him. Fucked up—
How had we fucked up? Unless he meant… Cold settled inside me. “Well, if it makes it easier, I can always keep my mouth shut so you can pretend I’m your precious Perci.”
His head jerked as if I’d slapped him. I shoved him away. “Come on. Let’s get back to that miserable hovel so we can at least have a bit of fun.”
Luc caught my arm. “What is your problem?”
“Not a thing,” I said. I kept my face averted so he couldn’t see anything in my eyes. I didn’t know how well he could pick up emotions when he looked through Krell’s eyes, but I wasn’t going to take that chance. “Let’s hurry up. If you won’t fuck me here, can’t we at least get to the room? I promise I’ll keep my mouth good and shut once we’re there. You won’t have any trouble pretending I’m your beloved princess. Too bad there’s no tower around. You could even try to rescue me.”
He let my arm go. “I think I’m going to have pass on your charming offer, Sina.”
Good. I couldn’t stand to have him touching me and regretting it later. It was already painful enough, wanting what would never really be mine, anyway.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted a woman the way I want you,” he said quietly. “But I’ll be damned if I make love to a woman who has the opinion of me you seem to have.”
My mind was still struggling to process those words as he walked away.
Hell. I was still struggling to process them thirty minutes later when I got to the room.
I wanted to ask him to say it again.
I wanted to apologize.
But the room was empty.
Luc was gone.
It was almost an hour later before Natasha was able to leave.
An hour later, her nerves shot, so frustrated—
When she saw the crew waiting out the lobby, she thought she might just cry. She let herself go straight to Lee’s arms, drop her head on the other woman’s shoulder and take a deep, shuddering breath.
But she wasn’t going to break.
“What happened?” Fiona whispered, her voice hoarse from crying.
Natasha just shook her head. Not here.
Not here.
“They don’t know anything?”
By the time she was done with the story, the sun was rising.
Coming in through the window where they sat hovering over tea and coffee, liberally laced with some kind alcohol—Natasha wasn’t sure what it was, but it was strong—they sat drinking and listening as Natasha told them what had happened.
There was only thing she kept quiet about.
And she couldn’t even explain why.
Except…well, the woman didn’t appear to be part of the police department. Nobody there seemed to know who in the hell she was. Natasha wished she could throw off that uneasy feeling about her, but she couldn’t. Maybe she’d feel better about her if she’d talk about the weird occurrence, but what was there to talk about? Some seriously strange bitch showed up, asked a few questions and disappeared.
End of discussion, right?
Absently, she stroked her nail down the line of one of the black roses that climbed up her right forearm. “You don’t think he could have had a heart attack, do you?” she asked softly.
In the pit of her stomach, that just seemed off. Jake had been healthy—healthy as a horse. One of those fitness buffs, always eating the right thing, doing the right things.
“I don’t know.” Lee leaned against her, her head resting on Natasha’s arm.
Normally, Natasha would have hugged her, but just then, she wanted to edge away.
She wanted to be alone. Desperately.
Instead, she just sat there, feeling alone, although she was with her best friends.
Minus one.
Swallowing the knot in her throat, she shifted her head to stare outside.
“We need to call Neil,” she said softly.
“Yeah.” The quiet chorus of murmurs went around the room.
“Then we should all get some rest.” Fiona stood up, looked at each of them, settling into the mama role as she did so well.
They nodded.
Yeah. Natasha would get some rest. Then she was going to get her ass out to that house, damn it.
She might not be able to finish what she came here for—her plan had just been screwed up so bad, but she’d at least see in the Christou house. One time in her life.
The run on the beach wasn’t brutal enough.
Being one of the Grimm had its pitfalls and its advantages. Being able to live on a diet of junk food, beer and Yoo-Hoo wasn’t a lousy thing, at all. He didn’t mind that he could eat the richest, most fattening, artery-clogging food an
d never have to worry about it affecting him.
But the flipside—it took a lot to push his body to the very limit and the beach here just wasn’t the kind of grueling terrain he needed.
If he could get to the mountains and run for several hours, that would do it.
Still, he managed to find some peace. Krell loped along at his side and when the dog needed some rest, he dropped down onto the sand and through his link with his animal, he watched as the sun crept up over the water.
He missed the colors.
He imagined the sunrise coming up over the ocean was a spectacular sight. Back before Perci had left, when they’d still been partners, they’d traveled here a few times, but he’d never been to this particular part of the country.
Krell whimpered.
Stroking a hand down the dog’s neck, he felt the dog tremble, wiggling a little. “What’s the matter, old boy?” he murmured.
The dog swung his head to the left, ears pricked, eyes watchful. He wiggled more and sat up, barking a little. It was one of those questioning little yips and Luc frowned as he felt the dog’s urgency.
He stared down the beach, but he didn’t see anything. Didn’t feel anything.
Didn’t hear—
Then he did.
The breeze kicked up a moment later and he caught the faint scent that Krell had already picked up. A pang of longing tugged at his heart. Followed by a twist of rage as he sensed something else. Misery and unhappiness.
A child.
He thought of his own babes—children taken from him before he’d even known them. So long ago.
He rose. “Find him, Krell,” he murmured. “Let’s go find this boy.”
It took another run, but it was easy, maybe three miles down the beach. As he rounded the bend, he saw the boy ahead. Young, he could see that right away, but he’d already figured that much out, just from what he’d sensed of the boy’s mind. Young, scared, scarred and sad.
He slowed to a walk before he got close enough for the boy to see him and then he pushed his sunglasses down onto his face. Although it had been dark when he slipped out of the room he was sharing with Sina, it was habit to keep a pair on hand. When they had to deal with mortals, many of them were odd around Krell—either they didn’t want to let the dog into their business establishments or they wanted to pet him. It was different once people saw the dog as a companion animal, although more than a few times, people had attempted to take him to task over having a malamute for a companion animal.
Blind Destiny: Grimm's Circle, Book 7 [retail mobi] Page 6