There’s nothing about his bedroom that seems worth hiding from me.
And then, amongst my musings, my trip to the Otherworld all comes back to me.
Air hisses in between my teeth, and my gaze snaps back to the Bargainer. “Those children.”
Des grabs his empty tumbler and heads to a wet bar on the opposite end of the room, pouring himself a drink. He throws it back quickly, hissing at the burn of alcohol.
He looks at his glass. “I understand why you crave the stuff,” he says. Carefully he sets the glass back down, leaning against the bar.
“Gods,” he runs a hand down his face. “I’ve never wanted to throttle children so badly as I did when I saw them grab ahold of you. Their fangs came out; they’d been ready to drink you.”
I put a hand to my throat. They were going to drink from me? All I remember are strange, nightmarish images I saw when they touched me
I swallow at the thought of those images. Were these the prophecies that Gaelia had mentioned?
I slide out of his bed. “Des, they showed me things,” I say.
I rub the skin where they touched me, noticing the beginnings of several bruises. “I saw cages of women, a throne, a forest, and a man with antlers.”
“A man with antlers,” the Bargainer repeats, his face grim.
“Does that help?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, cherub,” he says, “it does.”
He will find you.
He always finds the ones he wants.
He’s already begun the hunt.
He’ll make you his, just like our mothers.
I sit inside Des’s guestroom, my eyes absently staring out the window at the dark night.
What have I done? I thought I’d been helping Des—and Gaelia—by interviewing those kids. A part of me had been proud of the fact that they’d talked to me when the Bargainer had been so sure they wouldn’t.
But now … like Gaelia, I felt deep in my bones that the children’s’ words hadn’t been empty. That, irrational though it might be, I’d just caught the attention of whatever thing Des has been hunting.
Only now it’s hunting me.
I draw in a deep, stuttering breath.
I need to leave this place—this house—with all of its connections to the Otherworld. Hell, there’s a portal a few doors down from my room. It doesn’t matter if the creature lives in another realm; so long as it knows how to manipulate ley lines, it would only take an instant for it to come crawling to earth.
I begin changing into the now dry—if salt encrusted—clothes I wore here, and swipe up the few items that I came with.
I can feel the same paranoia that claimed the royal nursemaid now crawling up my spine.
I’m hooking in my earring when I hear the door to my room open and feel an ominous presence at my back.
“You’re leaving.”
A thrill races down my arms at that silky smooth voice.
I turn to the Bargainer. “I’m not staying here.”
“Your ex will find you if you go back to your place.” His arms are folded.
Displeased.
“Who says I’m going back?” I totally am.
“Where else would you go?”
“I have friends.” Okay, I have a friend. One. Temper. And she’s probably furious with me at the moment for going AWOL on her.
“You’re not going back to their places.” It’s not a command, just a statement of fact.
“So what if I go home?” I would much rather face off Eli, who cares about me, who’s hurt and angry, who I can control if need be, than stay here and chance meeting an enemy that not even Des understands.
The air stirs, and suddenly, the Bargainer is at my side, his lips pressed against my ear. “If you go home, I’ll likely have to steal you back from your ex, and that will displease me greatly.”
I turn to look at him. “At the moment, Des, your feelings aren’t my biggest concern.”
The Bargainer stares at me for a beat. “You’re scared of staying here,” he says, reading me. He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing. “You think I’d let anything happen to you in my house?” I swear the man grows bigger, his presence overwhelming.
Judging by the look in his eye, I’ve offended the King of the Night.
Whatever.
I tear my gaze away and head towards the door.
A second later, the Bargainer materializes in the doorway, blocking my exit. His hands grip the top of the doorframe. Unwillingly, my eyes move to those toned arms of his.
“What if I told you that you couldn’t go?” he says, his voice hypnotic. “That I wanted you to stay and use up some more of my beads?”
I don’t actually think he would try to keep me here. He’s wanted nothing to do with me for so long that I can’t really imagine our relationship any other way.
“I wouldn’t believe you,” I say. “Now please, move.”
Des is staring at me strangely. He releases the doorframe and prowls forward. “Truth or dare?”
I back up, suddenly nervous at the look in his eyes.
“Des …”
“Dare,” he breathes.
In the next instant, he’s on me, his hands roughly cupping my cheeks. His mouth crashes into mine, his lips demanding.
Des is kissing me, and God is it savage.
I kiss him back without thinking, swept up into the taste of him and the feel of him holding me.
I’m supposed to be leaving, reclaiming my house and my life, but nope. It’s not going to happen, not while Des is demonstrating all the ways my taste in men was spot on when I was a teenager.
And then, amongst my musings, my trip to the Otherworld all comes back to me.
Air hisses in between my teeth, and my gaze snaps back to the Bargainer. “Those children.”
Des grabs his empty tumbler and heads to a wet bar on the opposite end of the room, pouring himself a drink. He throws it back quickly, hissing at the burn of alcohol.
He looks at his glass. “I understand why you crave the stuff,” he says. Carefully he sets the glass back down, leaning against the bar.
“Gods,” he runs a hand down his face. “I’ve never wanted to throttle children so badly as I did when I saw them grab ahold of you. Their fangs came out; they’d been ready to drink you.”
I put a hand to my throat. They were going to drink from me? All I remember are strange, nightmarish images I saw when they touched me
I swallow at the thought of those images. Were these the prophecies that Gaelia had mentioned?
I slide out of his bed. “Des, they showed me things,” I say.
I rub the skin where they touched me, noticing the beginnings of several bruises. “I saw cages of women, a throne, a forest, and a man with antlers.”
“A man with antlers,” the Bargainer repeats, his face grim.
“Does that help?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, cherub,” he says, “it does.”
He will find you.
He always finds the ones he wants.
He’s already begun the hunt.
He’ll make you his, just like our mothers.
I sit inside Des’s guestroom, my eyes absently staring out the window at the dark night.
What have I done? I thought I’d been helping Des—and Gaelia—by interviewing those kids. A part of me had been proud of the fact that they’d talked to me when the Bargainer had been so sure they wouldn’t.
But now … like Gaelia, I felt deep in my bones that the children’s’ words hadn’t been empty. That, irrational though it might be, I’d just caught the attention of whatever thing Des has been hunting.
Only now it’s hunting me.
I draw in a deep, stuttering breath.
I need to leave this place—this house—with all of its connections to the Otherworld. Hell, there’s a portal a few doors down from my room. It doesn’t matter if the creature lives in another realm; so long as it knows how to manipulate ley lines, it would only take an instant for it to come crawling to earth.
I begin changing into the now dry—if salt encrusted—clothes I wore here, and swipe up the few items that I came with.
I can feel the same paranoia that claimed the royal nursemaid now crawling up my spine.
I’m hooking in my earring when I hear the door to my room open and feel an ominous presence at my back.
“You’re leaving.”
A thrill races down my arms at that silky smooth voice.
I turn to the Bargainer. “I’m not staying here.”
“Your ex will find you if you go back to your place.” His arms are folded.
Displeased.
“Who says I’m going back?” I totally am.
“Where else would you go?”
“I have friends.” Okay, I have a friend. One. Temper. And she’s probably furious with me at the moment for going AWOL on her.
“You’re not going back to their places.” It’s not a command, just a statement of fact.
“So what if I go home?” I would much rather face off Eli, who cares about me, who’s hurt and angry, who I can control if need be, than stay here and chance meeting an enemy that not even Des understands.
The air stirs, and suddenly, the Bargainer is at my side, his lips pressed against my ear. “If you go home, I’ll likely have to steal you back from your ex, and that will displease me greatly.”
I turn to look at him. “At the moment, Des, your feelings aren’t my biggest concern.”
The Bargainer stares at me for a beat. “You’re scared of staying here,” he says, reading me. He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing. “You think I’d let anything happen to you in my house?” I swear the man grows bigger, his presence overwhelming.
Judging by the look in his eye, I’ve offended the King of the Night.
Whatever.
I tear my gaze away and head towards the door.
A second later, the Bargainer materializes in the doorway, blocking my exit. His hands grip the top of the doorframe. Unwillingly, my eyes move to those toned arms of his.
“What if I told you that you couldn’t go?” he says, his voice hypnotic. “That I wanted you to stay and use up some more of my beads?”
I don’t actually think he would try to keep me here. He’s wanted nothing to do with me for so long that I can’t really imagine our relationship any other way.
“I wouldn’t believe you,” I say. “Now please, move.”
Des is staring at me strangely. He releases the doorframe and prowls forward. “Truth or dare?”
I back up, suddenly nervous at the look in his eyes.
“Des …”
“Dare,” he breathes.
In the next instant, he’s on me, his hands roughly cupping my cheeks. His mouth crashes into mine, his lips demanding.
Des is kissing me, and God is it savage.
I kiss him back without thinking, swept up into the taste of him and the feel of him holding me.
I’m supposed to be leaving, reclaiming my house and my life, but nope. It’s not going to happen, not while Des is demonstrating all the ways my taste in men was spot on when I was a teenager.
