“Can you touch me in here?” I ask. “In this place?”
He pauses. “Oui.”
My insides are shaking like crazy. “Come here, then.”
I can’t see him; don’t see him move. But I feel a shift in atmosphere, and in the next instant, Eli’s here, in front of me. “Be still,” I command. “Don’t move.”
“Not . . . safe,” he mutters. I can tell he’s losing control.
“You won’t hurt me,” I say. I’m not completely sure of that, but I can’t help trying this. I lift both my hands, and my palms grasp his firm, stubbled jaw. Energy radiates from him, and fear rolls off him in waves. I pull his head down, closer to mine. Gently, I press my lips to his.
The moment of contact feels like lightning. The current that surges through me, through Eli, is palpable. Energy pings through every nerve ending, shooting down my legs, out of my arms, and harboring in my core. I gasp, and he does, too. I kiss him gently, and in that kiss, I show Eli every raw emotion I possess. All for him. At first, he holds dead still. He’s so still I wonder if he’s ready to sink his fangs into my flesh. To kill me. To lose his will to fight.
Then, hesitantly, he kisses me back.
Although I can’t see him, he’s everywhere. His lips move almost shyly against mine, as though it’s a teenage boy’s first kiss. Endearing. Heartfelt. And I drink him in.
I press my body toward his, seeking comfort. The comfort of Eli.
“Get away from her, Eli,” Carrine’s voice interrupts.
Eli goes still, but his lips remain against mine.
A surge of power fills the weightless space we’re suspended in, and her bansheelike scream fills my body.
“Move!”
Fear and instinct make me force the energy building from my core out of my limbs, and now I’m hurling through the darkness, so fast I’m dizzy. . . .
“Calme, l’un a peint enbas,” a voice says gently. A hand grips my shoulder. “Riley, wake up.”
My eyes flutter open. Phin is staring down at me, the lamplight spilling over his chiseled features as he studies me. I smile. “Painted One. I haven’t heard that one in a while.” He’d said quiet down, Painted One. Something Eli had said to me. It’s what the Gullah and the Guardians all call me. Painted One. Because of my ink. That seems like such a long, long time ago.
“You were . . . dreaming,” Phin says with a half-cocked grin. “I’m pretty sure it was of my brother—ow!” Phin rubs his forehead where I’ve just thumped him.
Although I’m joking at first, my humor fades and is quickly replaced by an almost . . . panic. Pain. Dread. “Phin, I miss him.” My eyes sting from tears. “I have to get him back. Just then, he was trying to remember me. Us. Our life before all of this.”
Phin traces the inked wing at the corner of my eye. “He will, sis.” His mouth tilts in a grin. “My brother’s will is stronger than you think. And his love for you is a powerful thing. I gotta say, though. He’s one lucky bastard.”
I roll my eyes and push the tears from my cheeks. “That’s borderline perverted of you to pitch a tent in my dreams about your brother. My fiancé, don’t forget.”
Phin shudders. “I didn’t stay long.” He eyes me. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. At first, you were calm. Then you started to freak out. So I woke you. You’ve not been sleeping that long. Less than fourteen hours.” He pushes my hair back, picks up a fuchsia strand, rubs it between his fingers. “Think you can make it, chère?”
I push up on my elbows and stretch. “Yeah, I’m ready to get on with it. Did Rhine and Seth and the guys get the cartridges filled?”
Phin nods. “Oui.” He reaches down and pulls up the scatha, and grins. “I couldn’t wait. This thing is sick.”
Luc pokes his head in the door. “You woke her?” he asks, eyeing his sibling.
“It’s a good thing I did,” Phin says, grinning at Luc’s puzzled expression. I slap his arm. He holds the scatha up to his brother. “Check it out.”
The bed sags as the other Dupré brother sits down. He grasps the weapon and turns it over, thoroughly inspecting it. I tell them of Edinburgh, and how two ancient knights—one a once-Earthbound angel to boot—taught the WUP team how to properly use a broadsword. Both were now completely mortal, but badass to the bone and a wealth of knowledge. “Gawan told us where to find the mystical sacred water to fill the cartridges.” I reach over to the medieval-designed crossbow and show them where the cartridges load. They both watch on in interest. Phin’s buzz cut and Luc’s fashionably longer-haired heads both bent over the scatha. “And he instructed me to seek out the alternative realm there. I want this to be over. I . . . need Eli back.”
Both of Eli’s brothers look up, understanding and love making their eyes glassy. Luc grabs my shoulder and squeezes. “I know, sis. We’ll get him.”
I lean my head against Phin’s shoulder. “It’s so easy sometimes to just want to . . . walk away. Be normal.” I incline my head toward the window. “Like them. Everyday people, going about their daily lives without a clue. Ignorant.” I inhale Phin’s unique scent. His vampiric scent. Reminds me of a cedar fire. “I want to be ignorant sometimes. But that’s so damn selfish. I hate even thinking it.”
Luc ducks his head. “We’ll get him, ma chère,” he says. “I vow it.”
Then, at once, I stiffen. Luc and Phin feel it, too, because both of their backs go straight, and Luc stands and walks to the window.
“Something’s not right,” I say, and I kick out of the covers and stand. A draft catches the skin on my legs, and I glance down, not remembering Noah taking off my pants. I spy them at the foot of the bed, and I hastily shove my legs into them. Grabbing my boots, I sit on the bed and yank them on, too. I’m crossing the room now, and I find my silver holster and shrug into it, stuffing blades in all their proper places. When I’m finished, I leave the leather halter I’m wearing in place, forgo the jacket, and hurry to the window. Next to Luc I stand, peering out. Shadows shift, stretch.
Movement. Above us, below us.
A sinking feeling crashes over me. Familiar. Terrifying.
“This place is surrounded,” Phin says, peering over my head. “Fucking bloodsuckers.”
It barely registers in my head that my soon-to-be brother-in-law, who is a vampire, is calling other vampires bloodsuckers. The Gullah would be so proud.
“Luc, take the stairs. Tell Noah and the others what’s going down,” I say, pushing up the window as easy as I can. “Phin?” I stick my leg out, straddling the sill, and make eye contact with Luc. “Watch Rhine and my brother,” I ask. “Please.”
“You know I will,” Luc says, and he disappears from my room. I give Phin a silent nod, and he’s blurring with rage. Pulling my legs up, I grasp the ledge and push hard. My body flips upward and I land on the roof. Crouching, I search the darkness. Phin lands beside me, and together we move over the top of the Crachan, keeping low.
I see them.
It’s almost too many to believe.
It’ll be a goddamn bloodbath.
Just then they swarm. From the wood, the surrounding trees, the street. And at the same time, Noah, Luc, Seth, Rhine, and the Ness boys fill the Crachan’s courtyard.
Like a medieval war, both sides charge.
Without waiting for Phin, I leap down, draw a blade, and jump in. Just as I land, I’m grabbed, and as curses and screams fill the air, I’m forcefully dragged into the shadows.