by Myers, AJ
“I’m offering a trade,” Ainsley’s brother said, taking another step closer to Tyler. “You give me my sister, Ainsley, and I’ll leave your precious firebird alone for now. Don’t, and every witch you know will die tonight—along with all their little vampire playmates, starting with the little firebird’s mate. I’ll give you until midnight to come to your senses.”
He was asking us to trade Ainsley’s life for mine? That wasn’t going to happen. I wouldn’t have given my worst enemy up to the fate Ainsley’s brother had planned for her. No, if he wanted her, he would have to take her.
Over my dead body.
“I’ll tell you what,” Tyler said, his voice dark and full of caged fury. Apparently, he didn’t think much of the idea, either. “You can take that trade and shove it right up your ass. I don’t deal in lives, you prick. And since you brought up your lovely sister, I want you to know there is a very special place in Hell for people like you, Trey. You burned an innocent girl, your own kin. Don’t believe the hype they preach these days. Some sins are unforgivable. You’ll burn a whole lot longer than she did.”
Trey Hamilton shook his head like he was disappointed. For a long second he just looked at Tyler who glared right back at him. It was the staredown to end all staredowns. I didn’t even have to wonder who the victor in that contest would be. Tyler wasn’t the type to look away.
“This is pointless,” Hamilton said in disgust after a few moments, signaling to his men to leave. “Warn your friends, angel. You just declared war for them.”
“You’re a fool then,” Tyler growled, laughing coldly. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You’re going to get a whole lot more than you bargained for, boys.”
“We’ll see,” Hamilton said softly. “Your little firebird may be powerful, but there are ways to cripple even the strongest creatures.”
“Not this one,” Tyler said proudly.
“Like I said, we’ll see,” Hamilton repeated as his men started retreating backwards, apparently too afraid of Tyler to take their eyes off him.
The gloating expression on Trey Hamilton’s face made me nervous—and so furious that I wanted to rush over and rip his head from his shoulders right then and there. It was only Tyler’s clipped, angry voice in my mind that stopped me. Well, that and another one of his freeze charms. Only this time, it froze everything. I couldn’t move so much as a muscle. Not even my eyes would move.
Be still, Ember! Tyler snapped. That’s exactly what he wants. He knows you’re here somewhere, beautiful. He wants to draw you out. Don’t even breathe until I tell you to.
Just keep freezing me, buddy, I told him in a grumble. One day you’re going to let me go and you’re not going to run fast enough, Tyler. And when that happens…
He chuckled mentally but the hard expression on his features never so much as slipped. Finally, accepting defeat, Trey Hamilton turned and followed his fellow hunters into the surrounding darkness. I watched him go, unable to look at anything else because of Tyler, and came up with about five hundred ways to murder him, all of them very slow and painful, in less than ten seconds.
“I’ll be seeing you soon, little firebird,” he shouted out as he stepped into the shadows of the trees. “That’s a promise.”
Looking forward to it, I thought, hoping the idiot really would be stupid enough to come after me personally. I had a lot of pent up rage just waiting for an outlet. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a more deserving recipient.
I’m not sure what Tyler was waiting for, but some silent signal must have been given because he was suddenly standing in front of me and the charm had fallen away. I didn’t get a chance to yell at him before he wrapped his arms around me and his wings unfurled and wrapped around us both.
The world fell away under my feet and blurred into a sickening mix of colors. If I had thought teleporting sucked, it was nothing compared to angel warp speed. I closed my eyes and buried my face against his chest to keep from throwing up and he chuckled again.
I didn’t even look up when his wings drew away from me and I felt solid ground beneath my feet. I had to hold on to him for another second before I could trust my stomach not to give up its contents. When I finally did open my eyes, it was to a sight I was not ready to see again just yet.
“Why did you bring me here?” I demanded angrily, looking around Nathan’s back patio.
“Because, Em,” Tyler sighed, “no matter how much I wish it wasn’t true, this is where you belong. Here. With Nathan.”
Chapter 23: Making Up Is Hard To Do (Especially When Everyone Is Out To Get You!)
Nathan was sitting at the counter drinking something dark and smelling of alcohol when I barged in. He took one look at me, still dripping wet and covered in pond scum, and started choking, spraying half the kitchen with a flammable substance. Not the smartest thing to do with me there and less than happy. When he saw Tyler chasing after me, trying to explain, his eyes widened even more. I saw something pass between them and then Nathan smiled bitterly and turned back to his drink.
“Welcome to my world, Jordan,” he muttered before turning up his glass and finishing it off.
So that’s how he’s going to play it, huh? I thought, stopping and giving him a dark look.
When he set his glass down and turned back around to smirk at Tyler, I was standing so close to him that he actually flinched back a little before he caught himself. I grabbed the front of his shirt, yanked his head down to mine, and kissed him so thoroughly that, when I finally let him go, he swayed on his stool.
“And welcome to mine, Ashley,” I muttered, already walking away. “I hope you enjoy your stay more than I’ve enjoyed mine.”
Tyler was still hot on my heels when I stomped into Nathan’s bedroom. I yanked my dripping sweater off as I headed for the bathroom, glad that I had slid it on over the t-shirt Grams had loaned me to sleep in. When I tried to slam the bathroom door, Tyler stuck his foot out to keep it from closing.
“Okay, beautiful, how long are you going to be mad at me?” he asked, actually having the nerve to smile at me. “Could you maybe give me an estimate?”
“Well, let’s see…” I tapped my finger against my lips and pretended to think about it for a second. “Forever is the amount of time we have to work with, right? Let’s go with that!”
“Oh, come on, Em!” he whined.
“Don’t you ‘Come, On!’ me, Angel Boy! And move your foot!” When he refused to move, I started smashing the door into his foot repeatedly. “I am soaking wet, freezing, and I smell, you ass! I want. A. Shower!”
With a loud growl of irritation—or maybe it was pain, I really wasn’t holding back with that door—he jerked his foot out of the way and I was finally able to slam it and lock myself in. I leaned against it for a second, taking a deep breath, and then moved to turn on the shower.
While the water was warming up, I went to the vanity and started taking my hair down. That done, I just stood there and looked at my reflection for a minute. And for the first time since I had become a darkling, the woman I saw looking back was me.
I could still see the changes being turned had caused—the shimmery eyes, the unnatural perfection, etc.—but I could also see me. And that’s when it hit me, the reason why my life had become such an epic disaster. It wasn’t being turned into a half-demon, or Nathan, or the rejects hunting me right and left. No, the reason was so simple and so glaringly obvious that I actually laughed.
I was afraid.
I was afraid of my power and I always had been. I was afraid of losing my friends, so I pushed them away so it wouldn’t hurt so bad when they left me. And I was afraid to love Nathan. I was afraid I wasn’t good enough for him.
I stood there, thinking back over all the times I had put Nathan on a pedestal and put myself down at the same time, and could have kicked myself. In my warped view, I always fell just short of being what he deserved. Poor Nathan. It must have been hard trying to live up to what I had made him out to be in my
own mind.
But that was all about to change.
I showered in record time—for me, anyway—plotting the entire time. There were so many things I needed to set right. Most of them were easy enough to work out, but Nathan was going to be a little harder to deal with.
Once I was clean and had most of my plans mapped out, I got out of the shower and wrapped myself in Nathan’s robe. His scent was all over it and I wrapped my arms around myself, just breathing it in. There was no big ball of misery in my chest. I wasn’t angry. I felt peaceful and…empowered. Hell, I was actually smiling! And I wasn’t even faking it!
I wiped off the mirror so I could dry my hair and screamed when I saw a figure looming behind me through the steam. The last time someone had snuck up on me in a bathroom, I had ended up with a stab wound. Therefore, I whirled around with a vicious snarl, ready to kick ass.
“It’s just me,” Nathan said soothingly, catching my hands and locking them behind my back so fast I never saw it coming. “I thought we could talk about that nice world you invited me to. I’m thinking of moving there and never coming back.”
“How did you get in here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“I have skills, too, Em,” he murmured, pressing me against the vanity behind me. “I’d be happy to demonstrate a few of my more pleasant talents, if you like.”
Even though I’d decided to work things out if we could, that didn’t keep the scene in the alley from flashing across my mind. The heat from my kiss hadn’t faded from his eyes and I felt my entire body tense up when he used his grip on my arms to pull me close. As if he sensed it, Nathan let go of my hands and backed off a little. Not enough so that I could get around him, but enough so I didn’t feel so crowded.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he murmured, caressing my cheek with just the tips of his fingers. “I know I have a lot of work to do to make things right between us. Until you can trust me again, this, just being in the same room with you, will be enough.”
Before he could pull his hand back, I grabbed it and held it to my cheek. Letting my eyes drift closed, I held it there for a long moment. Then, very slowly, I started sliding it downward, over my jaw, down the line of my neck, then lower still, until it rested over my heart. And with every caress of his skin against mine, I called up other memories, memories of when just the brush of his fingers had been enough to light me up like a firecracker. Memories steeped in love and desire and happiness rather than hurt and anger and shame.
When I opened my eyes and looked up at him again, I saw that other guy, the one I’d been so in love with. I saw my Nathan, the guy who drove me crazy and had a talent for making me want to kick him and kiss him at the same time.
Suddenly, all the hurt we had caused one another didn’t matter anymore. Tyler was right. I did belong with Nathan. Without him, nothing was right. And I was ready for my world to turn right side up again.
I saw so many emotions in his mesmerizing eyes as I pulled him closer, letting myself remember how amazing he could be, how much I loved him, how desperately I needed him. There was confusion there, and gratitude. Love and fear. And hope, a hope that was so deep it was painful.
“So what you’re telling me is that you’ll be perfectly happy to camp out here for the rest of the night just because it happens to be where I am?” I asked in a soft, teasing voice, arching an eyebrow. “Here? In the bathroom?”
“Actually, I thought I had the best chance of finding you at least half-naked in here,” he purred with a wicked grin as his arms closed around my waist to hold me even closer. “I figure you won’t run from me if you’re wearing nothing but a robe—or less.”
“It sounds like you really put a lot of thought into this,” I teased. “I’m impressed, Nathan.”
“Not yet, you’re not,” he whispered, breathing the words in my ear. “But, you will be.”
He leaned down to place a soft kiss in the hollow below my ear and I went perfectly still. When that kiss became a line of kisses, I had to struggle to remember how to think. When his tongue flicked out to taste the skin over my mark, I lost that battle, too.
“I’ve missed you so much, baby,” he murmured, retracing his path back up my neck. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed being able to touch you and hold you. Have you missed me?”
“God, yes!” I wasn’t embarrassed by how breathless I sounded. That had been what he was going for, after all.
“Does that mean we’re going to be friends again now?” he asked, nibbling on my lower lip.
“We’ve never been friends, Nathan,” I told him, hearing him say those very words to me what seemed like ages ago. “We’ve always been so much more than that.”
He moaned deep in his throat and crushed me to him, capturing my lips in a searing kiss that I felt all the way to my toes. When he finally pulled back, I was sitting on the vanity next to the sink, my legs hooked around his, and his shirt was off. I couldn’t remember doing that, but I didn’t mind the view.
I knew I should push him away, put some distance between us before my demon woke up and started howling for food, but I couldn’t. I was mesmerized by him, by the look in his eyes and the feel of his fingers against my skin, and the delicious scent of his life force teasing me into a frenzy. I couldn’t have pushed him away right then if my life had depended on it.
He studied me closely, taking his time like we had all night. He started at my hairline and then moved on to my eyes, the line of my jaw, my lips, before moving lower. When his eyes fastened on the mark that forever bound us together, he reached up and tenderly caressed it with his fingertips, sending a pulse of electricity through me that had my skin was humming.
Both in the good way…and the very not good way.
“Are you hungry, baby?” Nathan asked, his voice velvety soft and so damn compelling that I felt my entire body go weak.
“Yes,” I whispered.
In so many ways. I was hungry for him. I was starving for the taste of his lips, the feel of skin against mine. I was ravenous for the sound of his voice and the way he could turn me into nothing more than a pool of sensation with just one glance from his beautiful hazel eyes.
And being that hungry for him scared me. Because if I gave in to that hunger, I wasn’t sure I would be able to fight my demon. I was terrified one hunger would unleash the other—and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop at just a taste this time.
“I want you to,” he murmured, staring into my eyes.
I knew he was seeing that inhuman glow start to turn them a more startling shade of blue, but he wasn’t afraid. That was fine, because I was scared enough for both of us. I pushed at his chest and started to shake my head, but he caught my face between his hands and stopped the action.
“I’m not afraid anymore, Em. You’re ready now. I want you to take what I’m offering.”
“No,” I said, pushing him a little harder. When he refused to let me go, I looked up at him, letting him see in my glowing eyes how close to the edge I was. “No, Nathan. I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” I saw a flash of sympathy cross his features before he smiled at me gently. “You won’t hurt me, Em. You love me too much to hurt me.”
I held my breath and closed my eyes to block out the delectable scent that was surrounding me and the light filled aura producing it. When Nathan tilted my face up, trying to force me to look at him, I started shaking my head frantically. I couldn’t take much more temptation. The demon inside me was cheering like a freshman who’d just made the varsity cheerleading squad as it was.
I have to get out of here! I thought hysterically as I pushed at Nathan’s chest again, this time with a lot more desperation. Still refusing to let me go, he wrapped his arms around me and held me closer, pinning my hands against his chest between us.
“You took the choice away from me once, remember?” he murmured in my ear before letting his nose slide down the side of my neck again. When he reached my mark and pressed a lingering kiss to it, I nearly fainte
d from the sensations that shot through me. “Now, I’m taking it from you. I want this, baby. Please.”
“That was different,” I gasped out, still trying not to breathe. “You were dying. I had to save you.”
“Why, Em?” he whispered, kissing a trail back up my neck to my ear. “Why did you have to save me?”
“Because I love you.” I moaned as he caught my earlobe between his teeth. My whole body arched toward his and I felt myself weakening. “I love you and I…Oh, God! Nathan, you have to let me go! Now!”
“No,” he murmured, his lips skimming my jaw like the brush of a butterfly’s wings. “I’ve done that once already. It doesn’t work for me.”
His lips covered mine and I knew I’d lost the fight. When I didn’t open for him as fast as he liked, he nipped my bottom lip and I gasped, giving him the access he wanted. With that simple intake of air, I inhaled the essence I’d been trying so hard to fight against and I was totally lost.
Moaning in surrender, I slid my hands up his chest and took a deep, gulping, breath of him, filling myself up with the essence I’d wanted so badly. He was just as yummy as I’d imagined, and the rush of pure power I got with that first taste of his essence was enough to send my demon into overdrive. I felt like I could rearrange the stars with the sheer power of his life force. I could’ve moved mountains and crushed entire armies with that power. I drew a little more of him in, drunk on that feeling after feeling so powerless for so long.
But as Nathan deepened the kiss, giving me even more of his essence, everything changed. The demon inside me suddenly didn’t seem so keen on feeding anymore. In fact, it seemed kind of desperate to stop feeding all of a sudden.
That was about the point when I realized I could feel Nathan. Not just his essence, but him. I could feel what he felt, and the tidal wave of untainted love that washed through me made me light-headed. It pulsed through my body, healing the terrible break in my heart I had thought would never heal.
“Do you get it now?” Nathan whispered raggedly, pulling away from me just enough to whisper the words against my lips. “I love you, Ember. I have always loved you, and I always will. All of you, the good and the bad.”