by Deanna Chase
I glanced at the couch and then followed Talisen. “I’ll help.”
He grinned and opened a drawer full of menus. “What sounds good?”
“Takeout?”
“It’s either that or a frozen veggie burger.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Really? Veggie burger?”
He shrugged. “They’re the fancy brand from the health-food store.”
I laughed. “Since when do you shop the health-food stores? I watched you eat your weight in burgers and fries over the summer. What gives?”
Passing me a couple of menus, he leaned against the counter and crossed his feet at the ankle. “I don’t know. Ever since I got down here I’ve been craving plant-based food. I think it’s because I’m not near the forest. Sort of like how you need your tree to replenish. I think I need to digest more vegetables.”
“Huh. Could be. Or maybe your body is rebelling after years of abuse.”
“That’s probably it.”
I eyed his lanky but muscular body. Talisen had never been health conscious before and if he was craving plant-based foods, he was probably right to assume his environment was having an effect on him. And it was because of me. He wouldn’t be here otherwise. I handed him back the menus. “Whatever you want to eat is cool with me.”
He lifted his eyes to mine and then his gaze slowly traveled the length of my body. When our eyes met again, I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I meant food.”
A slow smile spread over his handsome, tanned face. “Yeah. I know.”
My pulse quickened and I shook my head. “Just order something.”
He kept his eyes locked on mine as he pulled out his phone and tapped a button. A few moments later, he ordered a couple of blackened redfish dinners. “Thirty minutes,” he said to me as he placed his phone on the counter.
“Sounds good.” I broke my gaze from his and took up residence on his brown leather couch.
He watched me tuck my feet under myself. His light footsteps echoed in the room as he walked over to stand in front of me. He kneeled, taking my hand. “I don’t want to move too fast, but dammit, Willow, I don’t think I’m going to be able to keep my hands off you.”
I opened my mouth, closed it, and then swallowed hard. I didn’t really want him to keep his hands off me. But I also knew once we went there, we couldn’t go back, and the thought terrified me. What if he decided we weren’t right together?
He brought his hand up and caressed my cheek.
I closed my eyes and shivered.
“Why do you look so scared?” His voice was low, barely a whisper.
Forcing my eyes open, I met his intense stare. “I don’t want things to change.”
His hand tightened on mine. “I think it might be too late for that.”
And wasn’t that the problem. We couldn’t move backward. This emotional intensity wasn’t going to go away. If I stopped it now, we’d forever be left in limbo where we could never be totally honest with each other. And if we moved forward, there was potential for the heartbreak of a lifetime. “I know.”
He shifted to sit next to me on the couch and wrapped both arms around me, pulling me to him.
I couldn’t resist and leaned into his embrace, burying my face in his chest. “I’m sorry. I feel like an idiot. It’s just that we…you’re…this is important. I don’t want to mess it up.”
He brushed a gentle kiss over the top of my head. “You’re not an idiot. This is intense and you’re right, it is important. We’ll take it slow. There isn’t any rush here.”
“No?” I knew he’d never pressure me to do anything I wasn’t ready for, but the way he’d been looking at me all night, I knew exactly what he wanted. And if I was honest, it was exactly what I wanted, too.
“Of course not, Wil. I’m in this for the long haul. I’m not going anywhere. You have to know that.”
The problem was I didn’t believe him. It wasn’t fair, but it was the truth. Tal had never been in a steady relationship longer than a few months before. Deep inside, I was afraid our relationship would suffer the same fate. I wouldn’t survive losing him. It wasn’t the romantic relationship I feared, though I’d wanted one with him for as long as I could remember. Wanted him so badly my fingers ached to touch him. I feared the emotional one we already shared. If anything came between us, I’d be a wreck. Tal was my oldest friend. The person who knew me best and the one I counted on above all others.
“Look at me. Hear me when I say this.” He pulled away and lifted my chin with a finger. “No matter what happens, I will always be here for you. Always. Never doubt that.”
A single tear ran down my cheek. He was everything I’d ever wanted. Everything I’d hoped he’d be. His words only proved he understood me all too well.
“Ah, don’t cry.” He brushed a gentle hand over my cheek.
“Goddess,” I breathed. “I’m sorry, Tal. It’s been one hell of a day. I think I’m just overwhelmed with everything that happened. The attack, seeing Mom, Allcot’s directive saddling me with that Harrison guy. I don’t like any of it.” I placed a kiss on his cheek and ran a hand over his jaw. “All I wanted was a really good date with you, and instead I found out my mom’s been keeping secrets, Carrie was attacked, the Void might be investigating me, and now Allcot’s invested enough in my situation that he’s assigned a security detail. It’s too much to take in.”
Tal’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Allcot’s name.
The image of Allcot and Tal shaking hands flashed through my mind. With all that had happened, I’d almost forgotten. “What understanding did you and Allcot come to?”
He sat back and ran a frustrated hand over his face.
“Tal?”
“Shit.” He got up and started pacing, his limbs twitching with agitation.
I sat up on the couch, my body tense. What had Tal agreed to?
He stopped and faced me, his feet shoulder width apart. “You’re not going to like this.”
I got to my feet, not comfortable with the vulnerability of sitting while he stood over me. It wasn’t that he scared me, it was just that I needed to not show weakness right then. I’d had enough of being taken care of. “That seems fairly obvious.”
“You know that stone-based elixir I’ve been working on?”
I stood stock-still. “You mean the one that boosts strength and numbs the senses?”
“Yeah, that one.”
Unease morphed into dread. “No, Tal. Tell me this isn’t about that. Please.” My voice cracked on the word please. Tal’s magical drink was very dangerous in the wrong hands, and Allcot’s were most definitely the wrong hands. It could essentially create superhumans. Ones who were extremely strong and immune to pain if enough was ingested.
He jammed his hands in his jeans pockets. “I wish I could.”
“Dammit!” I’d already lived through two years of political manipulation due to the Influence drug I made. When ingested, it forced people to do whatever the administrator of the drug told them to. It was the worst kind of invasion. Cold terror washed over me. What if someone mixed the two together? Superhuman machines is what they’d be. “Whatever you agreed to, you have to back out. Allcot cannot have access to this.”
“I can’t.” His tortured eyes met mine.
“Why?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “A batch went missing at the lab.”
Panic started to wind through me. “When?”
“Last week.”
“Talisen!” My head started to spin. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Every important person in my life had been keeping information from me. The last person I’d expected that from was Tal. I’d thought he was the one I could count on to be honest.
He stepped back, clearly surprised by the intensity of my outburst. He reached out and cupped my balled fists, gently uncurling my fingers. Then he wrapped both of his hands around mine. “I’m telling you now. I never meant to keep this a secret from you.” He searched my eyes. “Something el
se is wrong. What’s going on inside that head of yours?”
I cast my eyes down and tried not to cry at the tenderness in his voice. I wanted to fight, not break down. I yanked my hands back just for some sense of control over my emotions. “Mom knew about Beau’s ability. She knew a vamp killed him. She’s known all along about the daywalking power and never told us.”
The color drained from Tal’s face. “What do you mean? Why?”
I shrugged. “To save us more pain, I guess? I don’t know.”
Tal’s face hardened. “And in the process she put you in danger.”
“Yeah, she did.” If I’d known about Beau’s ability sooner, I would’ve recognized what my vamp-sensing ability meant and maybe could’ve avoided being locked up in the Arcane basement where I almost spent the rest of my life under the control of a power-hungry director.
Talisen held his hand out and waited for me to take it. He was offering his support, but not forcing it on me. Something about the combination of the determination in his set jaw and the raw concern in his eyes touched me deep in my soul. Tal would be my partner in this if I let him. I took his hand.
He pulled me to him in a fierce hug. “I promise I won’t keep anything important from you again. I should’ve told you sooner about the missing drug.”
I clung to him, grateful he understood. “Damn right.” I snuggled into him, soaking up his strength. But we weren’t quite done. I stepped back and held him at arm’s length. “Now, what agreement did you make with Allcot?”
He winced. “You’re going to be pissed.”
I pressed my lips into a tight line. “That was a foregone conclusion.”
It was so quiet in his apartment I could hear both of our hearts beating. The tension started to get to me and my wings flexed.
Tal’s gaze flickered over them. He stepped back as if to prepare for the impending storm. “In order for Allcot to keep his security assigned to you and your shop, I had to agree to supply him with my new creation.”
My mouth went dry and I forced out the words. “The stone-based one? The one that just went missing? The one we both agreed was entirely too dangerous in vampire hands?” My voice rose an octave with each sentence. “The one that’s just as dangerous as Influence, if not more?”
Tal stood his ground, stoically taking my wrath as I seethed in front of him.
“Well?” I ground out. “Are you actually telling me you promised your new invention to the most corrupt vampire in the city?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes.”
Chapter 7
“Why?” I shouted. “Dammit, Tal, why would you do that?” A sob formed at the back of my throat, but I swallowed it and took a deep, staggering breath. “You’ll be tied to him now. You know how this works. Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no going back.” Allcot would use him in every possible way until Tal was entrenched in Allcot’s illegal dealings. Then the master vampire would own him. And Tal would cease to be the good and honest man I loved so much. This couldn’t happen. It was too awful.
He studied me and just as he opened his mouth to answer, a knock sounded on the door. He raised his index finger and retreated to the kitchen.
I swallowed a frustrated scream. Our dinner had shown up and I wasn’t even remotely hungry. I glanced down at my gorgeous plum dress and wished for my yoga pants and a T-shirt. Any thoughts of romance had left the building.
Tal paid the delivery guy and spent a few minutes arranging our dinner on plates before he set them on his table and waved me over. “What would you like to drink?”
I ignored him and stalked to the refrigerator. Inside I found a stick of butter, ketchup, a six-pack of beer, a half-empty bottle of wine, and pomegranate juice. There was no question Tal had bought the juice for me. It was my favorite. Or had been up until someone had laced some with Cherry Bomb and Phoebe had almost died. I hadn’t been able to take a drink of any since then. Angry at Tal and the fact I couldn’t stomach the drink, I grabbed a beer and flopped down in my chair across from him.
He raised an eyebrow at the bottle in my hand.
I mimicked his expression in challenge. “What?”
“Nothing.” He got up, grabbed a beer for himself, and rummaged around in another drawer until he came up with a bottle opener. He walked back to the table and popped the tops of both of our bottles.
I mumbled thanks, took a swig of the pale ale, and then shoveled a few bites of fish into my mouth. The food curdled in my stomach and instead of eating, I spent the next ten minutes moving the accompanying green beans around my plate.
Tal had no such problem. He finished every last bite of food on his plate and started eyeing mine.
I pushed my plate toward him and stood. “Take it. I’m not hungry.” Turning on my heel, I stalked to his bedroom and slammed the door behind me. Link lifted his head and growled from his place on the bed. “You, too?” I snapped.
Link jumped down and followed me to an armchair in the corner of the room. I folded myself into it and hauled Link onto my lap. He looked up at me, his eyes flashing gold as he started to vibrate.
Shoot! I was far too upset still and Link was seconds from shifting right in my lap. I took a deep breath and stroked his fur, trying to calm us both. My rage dialed down to a simmer, replaced by fear for Talisen. Fear for what was to come.
Tal knocked on the door. When I didn’t respond, he cracked it open and poked his head in. He glanced around and when he spotted me, he opened the door wider and walked in. “Can we talk now?”
“I was ready to talk earlier.” I scratched under Link’s ear and he started to relax by stretching out in my lap, giving me easier access.
“No, I don’t think you were. I’m pretty sure you were ready to kick my ass.”
I wanted to laugh but held my amusement in. I still wanted to kick his ass, but at least I didn’t want to scream at him anymore. Though it wasn’t off the table. “True. I was.”
Kicking off his shoes, he sat on the end of the bed and faced me. “The last thing I wanted to do was team up with Allcot.”
“Then why did you?”
He shook his head, not in denial, but in restrained frustration. “Because you already have.”
My fingers tightened in Link’s fur as anger started a slow burn in the pit of my stomach. Was he really turning this back on me? “I have not teamed up with him.”
“Maybe not intentionally, but you’re part of his circle now. Between what happened with David and the fact that he protects Beau Junior, did you really think he’d leave you alone?”
No. I’d known I was tied to Allcot. How could I not be? I’d turned his son into a daywalker and I was Beau Junior’s aunt. I’d always been on his radar. But that didn’t mean I’d teamed up with him. I wasn’t on his payroll. “Nobody thinks he’s going to ignore me. That doesn’t mean I have to cooperate with him.”
“Wil,” Tal said with no small amount of skepticism.
“Well, I don’t!”
“You already have. You’ve accepted a security detail. You’ve agreed to pretend one of them is your new boyfriend. And we’re hiding out here on Allcot’s orders. You’re doing everything he wants you to do.”
Link jumped off my lap and started to pace, a reaction to the tension in the room. “It’s not like I had a choice, now is it?” I demanded. “What did you expect me to do?”
He held his hands up. “I didn’t expect anything. I’m not saying you did anything wrong. I’m only saying sometimes circumstance dictates a course of action you’d rather not follow.”
I slumped in the chair, suddenly feeling very exposed. I wanted to grab a blanket and wrap it around my scantily clad body. Tal was seeing straight through me, past the front I was holding tightly in place. I wasn’t in control of the situation. Not even close. And Allcot did have me under his thumb. But only because I needed to protect Carrie and Beau…and Tal. I couldn’t do that on my own. Not with Asher coming for us all. “You’re right,” I said, my voice smal
l. “I’m compromising my morals for protection. I don’t know what else to do.”
His feet hit the floor and he started to pace. Then he stopped in front of me. “Don’t you think I’m in the same position?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. Talisen wasn’t the target. Not yet, anyway. Why did he need Allcot’s protection?
“The new drug was stolen from the lab. There were only three people who even knew about it. Me. My boss. And you.” He paused. “All the tests were blind, and Dawson and I ran them ourselves. That means either Dawson leaked the drug or your house was already bugged when I told you about it.”
Crap, crap, crap! The hits just kept on coming. Fear and frustration fought for dominance as the two emotions weighed on my chest. Talisen had told me about his new invention about a week ago. If his boss wasn’t involved, then the leak had to have come from my house. “Any idea who stole it?”
His face hardened with resolve, and I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.
“Asher’s people,” I said.
He nodded and sat back down on the foot of the bed. “And that’s why I agreed to let Allcot’s men use it. If Asher has souped-up humans coming for you, I’m going to make damned sure your security has a fighting chance.”
A chill crawled over my skin, and I wrapped my arms around myself. I stared at my feet, unable to look him in the eye. “We could’ve found another way.”
He let out an angry sigh. “Yeah. You’re probably right. What do you think is better? You moving into Allcot’s place with all his vamps? Or maybe David could move back into your house?” He stopped pacing and ran a frustrated hand through his sun-lightened, chestnut hair. “Witness protection maybe? You could give up everyone and everything you love: Phoebe, your shop, Carrie and Beau Junior, your mom. Of course, your wings might be a problem. It’s not like there are tons of fae with ice-blue wing color.”
He turned and stalked out of the room, leaving Link and me staring after him. Link lifted his head, eyeing me with confusion.
I stood, chilled to the bone by his words. None of those options were appealing and he knew it. Way to use my worst fears to scare the crap out of me. Tal knew my friends and family were everything to me, even more so after we’d lost Beau.