“Temporary mate,” I correct him with relieved relish. “Goddess, I can’t wait until the six months are over and I can leave your overprotective and impulsive ass. Now take me back to the hotel! The others must be freaking out!”
Hunter growls. “I am not overprotective! I just want to keep you from being taken, tortured, and murdered! Excuse me!”
I snort. “I can’t be killed.”
“That would probably please them even more! They’d be able to cut you to ribbons and do anything else to your body that they want and you’d heal and be ready for more in the morning. Isn’t immortality just dandy?” Hunter says sarcastically.
“You’re just jealous. Now, seriously, take me back to the hotel. How far away are we?” I ask.
“There’s no way I’m taking you back so you can be alone all the time and ask questions of people who may possibly try to rip you to shreds. No, thanks, I know you want to leave me as soon as possible, but doing this to avoid your commitment is a bit extreme,” he says.
I gasp. “Contrary to popular belief, not everything I do is about you, Dragon! I’m doing this because these people have hurt and killed many women and tried to hurt my good friend. Using it to get back at you is really just a bonus.”
“How comforting,” he says dryly.
“Back. Now.”
“Not happening,” he insists.
I growl. “What if I promise not to do those things I mentioned when I get back? I won’t taunt the big bads!”
“Yeah, that would almost work, but I don’t really trust you too much now. Plus, you have been around Apate for thousands of years. I’m sure you’ve picked up some of her delightful habits, like lying, perhaps?” Hunter says like he’s all wise and clever.
I throw my hands up in the air, making me instantly dizzy. “You don’t trust me. Now isn’t that some fucking irony?”
“No need to use that tone.” He frowns. “I’ve done this for your own good. One day you’ll thank me for it.”
“That’s what stupid people always say after they’ve done something dumb for the supposed good of someone else. Let me tell you, buddy, it’s a load of shit. They never get thanked in the end, or at any other later date!” I tell him.
He snorts. “We’ll see.”
“If you don’t take me back, I’ll make your life living hell,” I threaten. “I’ll find a way out on my own. This cave can’t be that big of a maze. If you try to stop me, I’m not afraid to hurt you.”
“Not sure how you’re going to make my life a living hell. You’re going to be annoying? Check. You’re going to threaten me? Check. You’re going to be reckless? Check. Hmm, not a ton left for you to do at this point. Good luck leaving the cave on your own. The entrance to it is above a dead drop, and even though you will survive it, you will certainly take a while to heal from it,” Hunter says.
“Tell me how far away we are,” I demand, wondering if the others are close enough to at least sense me.
“Hours,” he says.
Damn. Too far away to be of any use and still close enough to tempt me. Isn’t that just the way of things? I don’t know what I’ll do to get out of it this time. There’s not much left. I guess I could try seductive powers, but I’m too pissed for that to really work. I could jump, break every bone in my body, take days to heal, and hope that Hunter doesn’t take me back to the cave in the process. Or I could shapeshift and fly away, but I don’t currently have the energy for that after the sedative.
“What do you want?” I finally ask.
“I want you to stay here with me where I can keep an eye on you and keep you away from danger,” he says. “And look! I’ve already got my way.”
“No need to rub it in,” I growl. “Are you going to be like this months from now? When anything threatens me, you’ll whisk me off into the middle of nowhere and keep me locked up? That’s no way to live. Or keep a healthy temporary relationship.”
“Are you often in danger?” He ignores everything else I’ve said.
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “With the kind of company I keep, do you even have to ask? We have enemies just like anybody else. It just so happens that ours carry century-old grudges and are all powerful.”
“Enemies?” He says the word with anger.
I don’t move my head for fear of dizziness and say, “Sure, don’t you have any? I mean, I’m not a small personality, and neither are the rest of the girls. We’ve bumped a few heads in our existence. It doesn’t help that we’re an all-for-one and one-for-all type of group. You piss one of us off, you’ve pissed us all off. If someone’s mad and has a vendetta against one, they have one against the many. I’d take a moment to think about that if I were you. You won’t just have me mad at you if you keep me here. You’ll have all of my girls mad at you.”
“I don’t know why that surprises me. It really shouldn’t.” Hunter sighs. “I can handle you and the others. This is our business, and I’m sure Nemesis will listen to reason and be able to keep the others out of it.”
“I don’t know. I mean, you’ve met Lyssa and Enyo. Besides, don’t you remember when Nemi came and collected me from your suite? She doesn’t like it at all when one of us is missing from the group and she can’t keep her big ole eyes trained on us all. If you think you have an ally in her, you’ll have severed ties with this little stunt,” I tell him.
“Suppose I’ll have to do something about that eventually. Your enemies, that is. Can’t have you attacked while you’re on my watch,” he says.
I laugh humorlessly. “I bet you so didn’t know what you were getting yourself into when you started the whole handfasting business. Karma’s a bitch, and in this case, its name is Peitho.”
Hunter looks at me with no sign of expression on his big, elongated face. “You have no idea.”
“How long are you planning on keeping me here?” I ask.
“Depends on how long it takes for the murderers to be found,” he answers.
I groan. “You don’t really think they’ll have a chance of finding them without me, do you? Enyo and Lyssa are complete fucking messes and will take all of Nemesis’s time, just making sure they don’t start more shit. Dysnomia is all lawlessness, so the idea of finding a criminal is pretty much against her nature. Ana and Apate are damn fools, though, granted, I love them. Aergia herself will probably be asleep until next week.”
“I’m sure Ana, Apate, and Nemesis will get things done. I’m not really sure how you could help that much anyway,” Hunter says.
I roll my eyes. “Apate will be too busy focusing on lying and making trouble to do any of the real work. Ana will be too strung up on her powers of ruthlessness and unforgiveness to be of any help. She won’t be able to focus and be subtle. You may have noticed, but I’m the only subtle one of us. I’m also the best at invading minds and helping people along. I can pretty much make anyone talk with a flutter of my lashes. While they spill their guts out, all they’ll remember about the conversation is ‘well, wasn’t that a pretty li’l girl?’”
Hunter sighs. “Damn, you may actually have a point.”
“And finally, he listens to reason! I know I have a point. That’s why I was especially pissed when you said I shouldn’t help. For once, I’m the one who’s necessary,” I say angrily.
“What about Nemesis? This kind of problem connects to her powers, right?” Hunter says, obviously grasping at straws.
“I’ve already told you, as our leader, she’s going to have enough problems keeping everyone else in line. Especially since she’s pretty much setting everyone loose. She’ll see it as her responsibility if they screw anything up. Anyway, she’s better at punishing than actually finding evildoers. They just fall in her lap—she doesn’t generally have to go looking for them,” I say.
Hunter concedes, “She probably will have her hands full making sure everyone does their job without messing things up.”
“Especially with Enyo and Lyssa. They have very archaic views of getting answers,
which almost always ends up with someone being bloody. Now do you see why they need me? I’m the only one who can scope out the scene without raising major red flags. I’m going to be stuck here while they run around like idiots. Knowing them, I’ll be stuck in this cave for a solid six months.” I groan.
Hunter is silent, then finally says, “I could investigate it a bit. From far away. On the computer or something.”
“If I were there, I’d be able to get a feel of them instinctually. People just love giving me what I want. I know you’ll probably find this surprising, but most people have a hard time saying no to me,” I say.
“I’m a telepath. I could do that if I was near them, but I’m not leaving you,” he counters.
“Shit, I forgot you’re a telepath! Why didn’t you use your super amazing royal dragon powers to find them already?” I say.
He looks vaguely uncomfortable, but I ignore it. He’s not the one with a throbbing headache from being drugged. “I can only get thoughts that are current, not past ones. So unless they’re thinking about what they’ve done, I can’t see it. These past few days I’ve focused more, for that very purpose.”
“We should go back. I can question them using my amazing powers of persuasion to make them listen and forget about the conversation, and if they don’t talk, you can read their minds and see what’s up!” I suggest.
He shakes his head. “I’m not taking you back there, and I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be leaving me alone if you took me back with you. Then you could still stay near me and keep me safe and shit,” I say.
Hunter shakes his head once again, making me growl. “It’s safest now that they think you’re out of the picture entirely. They won’t be planning to attack you if they don’t think you’re around. Bringing you back will just distract the girls.”
I have to admit, he’s got a point with that last one. As it is, they’re probably flipping shit that I’m apparently missing. They’ll work extra hard to try to find the criminal if they think the others have me. If I go back they’ll focus on me and being super pissed at Hunter instead of the problem at hand. Besides, I want to deal with Hunter on my own.
“Fine, fine, the girls will most likely get all distracted. Which will probably suck since, as much as I hate to admit it, Apate and Aergia are probably the biggest targets,” I say. “I can’t have anything happen to my baby Apate. I mean, Aergia too.”
He opens his mouth into what looks like a snarl, but I think is actually a dragon grin. “Yes, it would be bad if Apate were taken. With her mouth, she wouldn’t last too long, whether she can be killed or not.”
“Exactly, so we totally have to do something to help!” I say triumphantly.
“That’s not really what I meant,” he protests. “How about this, we can investigate them from afar? Look into their pasts.”
“Whose pasts?”
“The people at the convention whose species were scented in the stairway,” he says, like I’m not paying attention.
“Oh, them. I guess a background check isn’t the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but I don’t think it’ll be that helpful either. I mean, I doubt there’s anything that says they murder, rape, and torture in their criminal records. Unless they all happened to take the same survey before coming to the convention, and circled yes, I am a sociopathic killer.” I’m pleased with how much sense I’m making, glad to see my head isn’t quite as foggy as before.
He snorts a bit of smoke and says, “I didn’t mean just their criminal records, though it’s a good start. I meant into where they work, if they have families, any large fund exchanges.”
“Man, that’s actually a good idea.” I can’t help but be surprised.
“Maybe you’re forgetting that there’s computers and stuff now. It’s the technological age,” he says with another little scowl-grin.
“I’m not used to having to rely on technology, as you obviously do. I don’t need computers and such for all of my information. I’m willing to work a little harder for it. If you’d just let me go back to the convention and question people, it would be much easier.”
“Compromise with me here! We can narrow down the list of people, then decide the next course of action, later,” he suggests.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You mean, we narrow down the list and do as much as we can from this side of things, then go in depth and interrogate them?”
“I’m not making any promises,” he protests. “I think it really depends on how you behave. No hurting me, trying to get away, or acting reckless. Then we can review how we stand on the issue. In a week?’
“I have to behave well and then I’ll be rewarded into being able to look for a murderer? God, that’s screwed up.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“What if I escape on my own from your lair of solitude?” I ask.
“I don’t think that’ll happen. In every cave or home that I own, I can put protective magic against intruders to protect my treasure. I hate to break it to you, but it seems like you’ve joined the collection,” Hunter says.
I’m not sure if it’s the sweetest or most insulting thing to have him call me part of his treasure collection.
“I’m completely stuck here.”
“If I say yes, will that stop you from actually trying to leave?” he asks hopefully.
I have to stop myself from smiling or laughing back at him.
“No, it won’t. Tell me now and save us both the trouble.”
“There’s no way for you to leave. Now behave as best you can and I’ll even let you have computer stalking privileges. I’ll have to hack into the convention account system to get a list of names, then the police station, then their information in general. It shouldn’t take too long, but I’d better just tell you when I have everything booted up.”
“Sounds good,” I agree, my head starting to feel cloudy again, suppressing a yawn.
He gives me an expert look before saying, “Since the venom wore off so quickly, you might have some side effects.”
“You can sure say that again, because I think I’m about to ride on round two of sleepy time. Do your computer work for me, and don’t do anything important until I’m awake again. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute or two,” I say in a drowsy voice.
I’m sure when I’m more with it again I’ll be even more pissed at him. I mean, the sheer gall of the man. Plus, I really don’t like being put into medicated sleeps. It just makes the body feel so janky. I hate when my head clouds up and I can’t keep my eyes open.
“Do whatever you think is best,” he says soothingly.
“I’m not going to easily forgive this one.”
“I know, I know. It’ll be night soon, so just get some rest.”
I peek at him and say, “I hope you don’t think you’re sleeping here tonight. I won’t like it if I find you in bed with me, and trust me, you won’t like it either.”
“I figured. Just come out of the room and you’ll be in the living room. If you need me for anything, whistle and I’ll come to you. Also, don’t poke around if you can help it. There’s some dangerous stuff lying around.”
“You keep dangerous things just lying around?”
“I’m a male dragon. Do you expect me to have all of my treasure and possessions color-coordinated and alphabetized?” he asks sarcastically. “Just watch your step, and don’t go looking around at all my stuff. Besides the fact that it’s rude.”
“The kidnapping and drugging dragon giving me etiquette advice, what has the world come to?”
Chapter 11
Hunter
Julian is so going to rip me a new asshole when he learns about this. I can’t say I’d blame him. For one thing, I’ve already tricked Peitho into handfasting with me. For another, she’s already said she doesn’t want a clingy guy. Nothing comes off clingier than drugging and abducting someone off to a secluded cave and not letting them go. Besides, Julian has often said I depict
the characteristics of a serial killer. Or at least someone with poor social skills. This incident won’t help my case at all.
I can’t believe I’ve done this myself. What’s even worse is, despite my inner disgust, I’m still going to see my plan through. I fully intend on still keeping Peitho locked up here in my cave where I can keep one eye on her at all times. Or at least know where she is and that there’s no psycho murderer out to get her within these walls. Her safety is number one to me, despite the cost.
I’m regretful, but not so much that I’m going to change anything I’ve done. Or even that I’d change things if I were given a second chance. I suppose it kind of counts that I’m willing to let her help out her immortal friends from afar. Getting her to agree to allow me to hack and have her sift through information shouldn’t be a highlight of our conversation for me.
Considering how things went, it is.
“Well, shit face, when you gonna start typing?” Peitho asks me with impatience.
I did tell her we could look them up in the morning. Technically, four-thirty in the a.m. is morning. Not really the time I was referring to, but I kind of have to take what I can get at this point. The fact that she’s sitting next to me, hovering over the computer and my shoulder, in one of my white dress shirts, doesn’t help. I mean, she couldn’t look sexier. Or maybe it’s just the fact that my shirt kind of brands her. As mine.
I start to type before she gets particularly prickly. “Here’s the hotel’s registry of the guests, including species type, along with special notes like how high-maintenance they are. There seems to be a grading system of stars. One for someone who doesn’t need a lot of attention, five for ones who do. This includes cleaning.”
“How … organized?” she chokes out with something akin to disgust in her voice.
Skin of a Goddess (Goddess Ascension Book 1) Page 15