Noah just stares at me. Speechless.
My voice almost doesn’t sound like it belongs to me. Sounds like someone else speaking. It quivers, breaks. More tears spill. “I’m going to have to kill Carrine and Eli.”
Part Five
THE NESS BOYS
But there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.
I’m not one who usually exhibits much control, but I’ve sincerely tried to respect Riley and stay out of her head. I have now failed. It’s been nearly impossible. So I have brushed off my failure and entered. What I see there scares me. The odds have changed drastically now. With Riley’s heart and her brain colliding, the outcome cannot possibly be a good one. There has to be an intervention. No matter the cost. Her life is at stake, as well as what little humanity is left in her. Even I can see that. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right. Even if it means starting a vampiric war of epic proportions. Nothing and no one matters to me except Riley. Nothing.
Noah stands with his back to me while I dress. Surprising, I know, because twice today he’s seen me buck-ass naked. I guess the decency in the core of his soul rose above the perverted, sexually charged vampire in him.
“Not my fault you can’t keep your naked parts covered, Riley,” he offers. “Doesn’t make me a pervert. Not really.”
Trying to make light of the situation, no doubt. I try really hard to put Carrine’s words about Noah aside, but it’s hard. I can read minds, too. And yeah, I’m not an idiot. Noah isn’t only just a powerful vampire with the trait of severe seduction. At his core, he’s a man. I’m a woman. He’s attracted to me. And I’d be a liar if I didn’t say he’s not sexually enticing. But my love for Eli has always doused that in me. There’s no one I want more than Eli. I want him back the way he was when I first met him. Not this monster he’s become. Even if Carrine is controlling him. How much of Eli is left? Anyway, not once have I ever felt threatened by Noah Miles. Just the opposite. He’s placed nobility and a vow to keep me safe over any sexual tension he may feel. That takes strength of crazy proportion. Especially for a vampire.
Thoughts are crashing over me like violent waves, even as I pull on my clothes. Confusion rocks me, and I can promise you, I don’t like feeling out of control. Oh, hell no. Too many years spent like that. Now I like total control. Of myself. My thoughts.
But now someone else has been pulling the strings to my brain. Carrine and Eli. The other half of me.
The half I have to kill in order to survive.
I just can’t believe it’s come to this. I’d rather Eli had stayed . . . Jesus Christ, I can’t even think it. Would I have rather he stayed in that alternative realm? How can all this be happening?
After yanking a black ribbed tank over my head, I pull on a pair of low-rider army green cargos and button the fly. My hair is still wet and hanging in dripping hunks, trailing water down my back, when a knock sounds at the door. Noah and I share a look, and he moves so fast his form is nothing but a blur. Seconds later, the front door creaks as he opens it. Voices. Slightly familiar. I hurry down the hall and round the foyer.
Just as I step into view, my eyes collide with Rhine’s. The young lead singer and bass player from the street, from Hush 51. All of the band members are now trailing in behind Rhine, and stand in a half circle in the living room.
“How’d you guys find out where we’re staying?” I ask.
Rhine’s gaze latches on to my arm with the dragon inked into it. A slight smile touches his lips before he looks at me. “We’ve come tae help.”
I glance at Noah, who is leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest. He looks at me and gives a slight shrug. I step closer to Rhine, give the others a brief once-over, then look back into the young guy’s gaze. “What do you mean, help us? What is it you think we need help with?”
“Och, gel,” Rhine answers with a grin. A glint of mischief lights his green eyes. “You’d be surprised at wha’ we could help ya wi’. Sort of how ya helped us all quit smokin’. How ya saved all those people at Hush 51.”
“Aye. An’ how ya can run like the devil,” Pete says. A grin slashes across white teeth. One eyebrow lifts.
I narrow my gaze.
“Do ya ken where ya are, lass?” Rhine says with a very appealing grin. “You’re in the bloody Highlands. ’Tis no surprise tae any o’ us that your mate here is a bloodsucker, although it took us a while tae figure it out. Not like us tae take so long.” Rhine cocks his head and studies me. “You’re . . . somethin’ altogether different, though.”
I’m staring at Rhine, and I gotta admit, he’s . . . impressive. Young, but pretty stable. Solid and cut, like he works out. No skully today, and his close-cut dark hair and flawless complexion make those green eyes and dark lashes definite eye- catchers. His smile widens, as if he can read my thoughts.
Impossible.
I focus. Just to be sure.
Nope. Total, one hundred percent mortal.
Noah chuckles.
“What happened back at the club? I watched. Saw the whole bloody exchange between you and that bloodsucker bitch,” Rhine said. “Froze me solid, she did, but I could still see.” He laughs, and it’s a deep, scratchy, sexy sound. “She ain’t the first one we’ve seen, either.”
“Aye, we know that’s who’s behind the murders here,” Gerry says. He’s the shyest of the bunch, I’d have to say. Wide brown eyes and dark close-clipped hair, his face baby-soft flawless, his voice soft. But when he speaks, it’s listen-worthy. “We’ve seen plenty.” He grins slightly.
“We’ve killed plenty, too,” Tate adds. Not the shy one, I notice, and a little husky. Maybe even the class clown. His wavy auburn hair flips over his ears and his eyes are the color of dark honey. And from the size of him I believe he can kick some serious ass.
“Aye, and it’s been quiet for a while. Until you showed up,” Rhine says. “Fancy that.”
There’s silence as Rhine and I hold a stare-down. His gaze is locked on to mine. “You think we’re killers?” I ask.
Rhine doesn’t hesitate. “You’d be dead as dust if we did.”
There’s a little tension in the room. More from me than anyone else, I imagine. I don’t like a threat. I don’t like a pack of young human hunters sniffing us out, either. I guess I’d been so consumed with Eli and the female, and the other killings, that I’d totally misjudged Rhine and his friends. Even more so than simply thinking they were thugs.
They’re goddamn hunters.
I’m staring at Rhine, still trying to wrap my brain around it all, when Noah speaks.
“We don’t have time to babysit,” he says.
Just that fast, Rhine whips out a silver blade and is holding it against Noah’s throat. The others all have similar blades in the hands.
What the hell?
I’ll give Noah Miles some cred. He doesn’t morph. He remains totally calm. But I can see inside his head. Ri, this little prick has a fucking silver blade at my neck. Wanna get him off?
Yeah, I’ll get him off, Miles. Gotta hand it to him, though. He’s pretty quick. Might use him and the guys after all. And he’s not so little.
Get him off now, Poe. I don’t want to have to kill him.
I focus on Rhine, then the guys. Drop your silver, boys.
The clap of blades hitting the hardwood floor resounds in the room. Noah moves to stand beside me. It all happens so fast the guys’ puzzled faces are almost comical.