“Is that why you decided to focus on warrior training? So that you could mete out justice?”
“Oh, you know,” she said airily. “It was either that or go into Jessie’s line of work and end up wearing a rabbit on my head.”
“You got a thing against ol’ Rufus?” he teased, sliding her a lopsided smile.
“Naw, I just didn’t like the idea of anything squishing my hair.”
A burst of laughter rumbled up from his chest, and he was surprised by how good it felt, the husky vibration feeling almost new. Jesus, had it really been that long since he’d laughed?
“And really,” she continued, “I couldn’t see myself doing anything other than what I do. It just…works for me. I enjoy the travel. The freedom. And it probably sounds corny as hell, but I enjoy helping people.”
“What kind of cases do you normally take?”
“There’s a lot of jerk-offs bailing on their families, leaving the wife and kids behind and shacking up with clueless chicks half their age. The whole deadbeat-dad thing, just like you said. But I also work a lot of missing-persons cases, which can just about kill me if we’re talking about a child. Those are the…” Her voice trailed off, and he watched from the corner of his eye as she rested her temple against the darkened passenger’s window. “Those are the hardest, but they’re also the ones that bring the greatest reward, if I’m able to make a difference. Most of my clients have nowhere else to turn, since it’s difficult to involve the police when your child isn’t human.”
Something weird turned over in his chest, and he rubbed at the spot with the heel of his palm. “I wish there were more people like you in the world, Will. It would be a helluva lot better place if there was.”
She gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh, then turned back toward him. “It’s strange to hear you talk.”
He slid her a curious look, wondering if he had a speech impediment he didn’t know about. “Why’s that?”
“You just don’t sound as Southern as you used to.”
With a grin, he said, “It’s easy to lose an accent in California. No one in my family sounds all that Southern anymore, except for my mother.”
“What are your brothers up to?”
“Jackson’s been running my bar for me back in San Francisco.”
“Winston’s, right?”
“That’s right.” He waited to see if she would expand on that, wondering what else she knew about the life he’d left behind in California, but she kept silent. “Anyway, he’s a good kid. Mom was pissed that he dropped out of college, but he couldn’t take it. He damn near already knew everything they were trying to teach him, so it bored the heck out of him. He’s taking it easy for now, content at the bar, trying to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life.”
If he has one.
The intrusive thought made him flinch, and he shook his head, surprised when she reached over and put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Noah.” Her voice was soft with understanding. “He’ll make it through.”
“Thanks,” he grunted, enjoying the touch of her hand. And missing it when she pulled away, settling her hands in her lap. Giving himself a mental shake, he got back on topic. “And Bryce is a family man now.”
“No way.”
“I swear to God. He married a woman who’s part panther, and she keeps his crazy ass in line. They have a little girl named Zara, who’s the cutest damn thing you’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t believe you’re an uncle.”
He smiled. “I’m not just an uncle. I’m her favorite.”
With a quiet laugh, she said, “I bet she misses you.”
“Yeah, I miss her, too. I haven’t seen her since we moved the unit’s headquarters to England.”
“It seems so odd that you live there.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just never pictured you as the English-manor type.”
Dryly, he said, “I try not to drag too much mud through the place.”
“I wasn’t saying you’re not classy enough, Noah. Just that you’re too…” She seemed to be searching for the right word, but couldn’t find it. “Never mind. But it wasn’t an insult. I didn’t know you were so… Well, you’re pretty touchy, you know that?”
“And you’re pretty bitchy,” he drawled, liking it when she gave another soft laugh.
They finally caught sight of the motel Will had said would be a good stopping point, and he pulled into the lot. At this time of night, the place was nearly full with travelers and truckers, but the clerk knew Will and managed to scrounge up a room for them. It was clear from the look in her eyes that she wasn’t thrilled about having to share a room, but she didn’t openly complain. Instead, she simply tossed her bag on the king-size bed and told him she was grabbing a shower.
As he sat on the foot of the bed, listening to the rattle and hum of the pipes, Noah considered the situation he and Will now found themselves in. They’d never really been friends. They’d been more like thorns in each other’s sides when they were younger, always bickering and snapping. Constantly rubbing each other the wrong way.
And then everything had come to a head on that last night he’d been in Sacred, and all that prickly energy that’d always been between the two of them had transformed into something mind-blowing. Into something that’d shocked the hell out of them both.
Now, twelve years later, they still weren’t friends. Were more strangers than anything else, and yet, it didn’t feel like he’d just spent hours with a stranger. In some ways, the span of years since he’d last seen her seemed nonexistent—but at the same time, everything had changed. What had happened between them that last time they’d been together had irrevocably altered the cadence of their relationship. Like a match to flame, all that restless, uncomfortable energy had spectacularly combusted, flaring into something violent and raw and explosive, creating a feeling that was… Well, it was…
Damn it, he didn’t know how to explain what it was. Noah only knew it was something he’d never felt before. That he’d never come close to feeling since. And it was still vibrating in the air between them, impossible to ignore.
He just didn’t know what to do about it.
“But I knew this was going to be a mistake,” he muttered under his breath, shoving his hands back through his hair so hard that his scalp stung. He rested his head back on his shoulders, staring at the motel’s water-stained ceiling, and told himself that he needed to start focusing on the mission.
He also needed to check in with the others back in England.
Taking a seat in the cheap wooden chair that matched the room’s even cheaper desk, Noah booted up his laptop and then clicked on the icon that would initiate a secure video connection via satellite. He knew exactly why Kellan had uploaded the software onto his system, insisting that he use it while he was in the States. His friends back in England wanted to be able to see him—to check his expression and read the look in his eyes—so that they could be sure he was still Noah…and not some meat-puppet being controlled by Calder. Not that he blamed them. If he was in their shoes, he’d have done the same thing.
As he waited for someone to connect on the other end, Noah admitted to himself that while he missed his friends, he was glad for the time away from them. As happy as he was for the guys, their luck in the love department had started wearing him thin. All the laughter and smiles and satisfied looks of pleasure. They weren’t naive. They knew there was still work to be done. Knew the fate of the world was resting in the balance. And they were prepared to deal with it. But it didn’t stop them all from wallowing in romantic bliss. It was enough to make a single guy sick to his stomach.
“It’s about damn time you checked in.” Kierland Scott’s deep voice suddenly cut into his thoughts, and Noah jerked his gaze back to the laptop. The werewolf was buttoning up a white shirt, his green eyes sharp with concern. He sat behind one of the desks they’d set up in the new high-tech room they all referred to as command central
and stared up at the video monitor mounted on the wall. “We’ve been worried.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” he rumbled. “It’s, uh, been an eventful day.”
“I’ll just bet it has,” Kellan groused, coming into the room and pulling up a chair beside his brother. He was shirtless, his auburn hair mussed from sleep, and Noah realized he’d probably pulled them both from their beds. He hadn’t thought about how early it was there. “And?” Kellan demanded, while he scratched the auburn stubble darkening his jaw. “Did you find what you were looking for? Is the mystery over? Can you finally tell us what all the fucking secrecy was about?”
Kellan really hadn’t taken well to Noah’s insistence that he make the trip to Louisiana alone, but then neither had any of the others.
“I’ve gotten a good start,” he said, keeping an ear out for the sound of the shower turning off, “but before we get into it, I need to quickly explain a few things. First of all, I know the witch. The one who was working with Gregory, who took Calder out of Meridian.”
Kellan rolled his eyes. “We figured as much, considering you called her Sienna,” he offered dryly, scratching his chest.
“Yeah, well, what you didn’t know is that I grew up with her.” While his friends listened, Noah quickly explained his connection to the Broussard family, telling them about the feud and his friendship with Harris. He left out the part where everything had gone to shit between him and Willow, simply explaining that tensions between the two families had prompted the Winstons to relocate.
He also admitted why he hadn’t filled them in on any of this before, and then he told them what had happened when he’d shown the spell to Jessie. When he was done, he sprawled back in the uncomfortable chair and waited for them to rip into him.
It didn’t take long. He didn’t need to hear the guttural curses to know how pissed they were with him. Their expressions said it all. What he hadn’t expected was the hurt he could see in their eyes.
“We protect our own, Noah.” Though Kierland kept his voice soft, it resonated with anger. “You should have known that.”
“Yeah, I know,” he muttered, scrubbing his hand down his face. “And I’m sorry. I was a dick not to trust you. I just haven’t been thinking straight lately.”
“You’re also a dumbass,” Kellan added, and Noah barked out a gruff laugh.
“Yeah, that, too.”
Getting back to the issue of the journal, Kierland said, “You told us the aunt was able to decipher the catalyst for the spell, but you didn’t tell us what it is.”
Leaning forward in the chair, Noah braced his elbows on his knees. “I know this is gonna sound crazy, so I’m just gonna say it. We need an adult virgin. One with a warrior’s blood. And she can’t be human.”
Kellan gave a low whistle and shook his head. “Well, hell, that leaves me out.”
“Now there’s something we didn’t know,” drawled a deep voice with a slight Scandinavian accent, and Gideon Granger walked into view, the vampire’s arms crossed over his chest as he lounged against the wall behind the desk. The Deschanel vampire and his brother, Ashe, had been working with the Watchmen for months now, and Gideon was staying at the house in England more often than not these days.
“I don’t like this,” Kierland rasped. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Gideon gave a low laugh. “I tried to warn you, Kier, that you might not like what has to be done in order for you and your friends to survive.”
“This isn’t about our own asses,” Kellan growled.
Kierland shifted in his chair, cutting a dark, suspicious glare at Gideon. “Did you know it was going to be a virgin’s blood that was needed?”
The vampire shook his head. “Not specifically. But I was afraid there might be something like that involved. Considering we’re dealing with dark magic, it seemed…fitting.”
“Well, I’ve got a lead on a demon who should be able to help us decipher the rest of the spell,” Noah said. “I’m hoping to track him down in the next day or two.”
“In the meantime,” Kierland told him, “we’ll research virgin rituals. See what we can dig up.”
“Ask Saige,” Noah suggested. “She knows all about this kind of crap.” Saige Buchanan was an anthropologist who was engaged to one of the Watchmen in their unit, and her knowledge about clan history was extensive.
“Will do,” Kellan assured him. And then, quick as a snake, he said, “You planning on telling us who’s in the shower before you head off?”
Noah made his expression blank. He’d deliberately left out the fact he was traveling with Will, wanting to avoid the inevitable questions. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied, refusing to give in gracefully.
Gideon snorted as he glanced from one Scott brother to the other. “Does he think we’re deaf?”
Kellan looked into the camera and smiled like an idiot. “I can hear it all, big boy. Even the race of your pulse. You got a new lady friend with you?”
“I doubt he’d call me a friend,” Willow murmured, her voice coming from just behind Noah’s left shoulder, and he damn near jumped out of his skin. He’d been so focused on the conversation with his friends, he hadn’t heard her slip out of the bathroom. “I’m sure Noah would just tell you I’m a pain in the ass.”
Gideon gave her a slow, appreciative smile. “If they all look like you, sweetheart, I think I’ll have to get one for myself.”
Noah scowled. “Keep a leash on the vamp, Kier. Or better yet, a muzzle.”
Gideon’s brows arched with amusement. “You’re awfully touchy, Winston.”
“Oh, you guys have no idea,” Willow said with a laugh, the fresh, mouthwatering scent of her skin damn near making him drool. A wave of possessiveness swelled up inside him, strange and unsettling, and he had to choke back a snarl as he turned to look at her.
And that was his second mistake.
He’d seen a lot of beautiful women in his time, their naked bodies displayed in erotic poses that would have tempted a saint—but none of them had ever made him feel the way he did when he saw Willow standing there in nothing but a tattered white towel, her hair falling in a tumble of curls over the right side of her face, her red mouth curved in a wicked smile. Christ, she was gorgeous. Droplets of water still clung to the feminine slopes of her shoulders, her skin dewy and soft from the heat. He wanted to put his tongue to her and lick those drops right off her skin. Wanted to slide his tongue into places that were even wetter…and pinker.
Knowing damn well that he was about two seconds away from completely losing it, he growled, “For God’s sake, Will. Put on some clothes.”
“If you insist.” She started to drop the towel, but his hand shot out and snagged her wrist.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Turning back to the computer, he glared at every one of the grinning jackasses staring back at him and then disconnected the connection. The instant the screen went blank, he moved to his feet, towering over Will as he tightened his hold on her wrist, but she didn’t back down. Instead, she stared up at him as she licked her bottom lip with a provocative sweep of her tongue…taunting him. Screwing with his mind.
Was this some kind of game to her? Did she just enjoy flirting…or was she trying to push him? And if so, where the hell did she want him to go?
Needing to find the answer, Noah released his hold on her wrist and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the desk. “If you’re so eager to get naked in front me,” he rasped, running his heavy-lidded gaze down the front of her body, before looking her right in the eye, “then do it.”
CHAPTER FIVE
NOAH’S HEART POUNDED, his pulse a thrashing, violent roaring in his ears, while he waited to see what Willow would do. The seconds ticked by like a countdown inside his head, jarring and loud.
And then it ended.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, a surprising flush of color creeping up her throat, her lashes lower
ing to shield whatever he might have seen in her eyes. She pressed both hands to the knot at the top of the towel, squeezing so tightly her knuckles turned white. “I don’t know why I did that. It was a…mistake.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say.” Using a harsh laugh to cover the sharp blast of disappointment that swept through him, Noah turned and sat back down at the desk. He kept his back to her while she went about getting ready for bed, and tried his damnedest not to think about sex. Or that lush body that she’d almost bared for him. Or how right it felt to have her with him. How much he liked her smiles and her laughter, even when they were edged with sarcasm.
And since when did he obsess over a woman’s smiles? That sure as hell wasn’t normal.
Damn it, why hadn’t he gotten laid when he’d had the chance?
Meaningless, harmless, easy sex wouldn’t have solved all his problems, but it would have taken the edge off this gnawing, frustrating need. Or at least he liked to think it would have. But Noah was beginning to have his doubts. This hunger tearing through his system was so raw, he probably could have screwed his way through twenty casual encounters, and still been in the same world of hurt. Because sex with Will would be…well, anything but casual.
And if he had to bet on it, he’d wager it would be unlike anything he’d ever had before. He didn’t doubt that for a second.
That was the problem right there. Nothing about burying himself inside Willow Broussard would be meaningless. Or harmless. Or easy. It would likely blow his mind, and he was already on shaky enough ground as it was. Did she have any idea how dangerous it was to play games with him, tempting him to lose control?
Trying hard to get his mind on something else, Noah took off his boots and socks while he waited for her to slip into bed. As he removed the knife and sheath he kept on his calf, he heard the rustle of covers as she slid between the sheets and turned off the lamp on her bedside table. There was still a faint glow of light spilling around the cracked bathroom door, and a frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. Had she left the light on so he wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark? If she’d asked, he could have told her he didn’t need it. Thanks to the bite on his arm, his night vision was improving rapidly. He could damn near see as good in the dark now as he could in the light.
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