Davina (Davy Harwood #3)(64)

Wren glared at him. “Do you have a point?”

“Yeah. I mean, why are we heading back there when we should be leaving?” The human propped himself up on his elbow, lying on his side. The other human was still behind him, but he was facing the rest of the others.

Lucan frowned. There didn’t seem to be fear on this human, just curiosity and a dry sarcasm. He sniffed the air. There was another smell to him, too. Something . . . he couldn’t place the smell, but it clung to both of the humans heavily.

Gavin hissed, motioning with his hand. “Get back down. Now.”

“Okay.” The human rolled to his back and folded his hands over his chest. He gazed up at the sky. “But back to my point. Tell me again why we’re seeking out some dude who wants to kill all of you guys.”

“Because he doesn’t care about us. He cares about the thread.” Gavin sat up. HIs voice raised to a normal volume. “And because that means we have the same enemy.”

“What are you doing?” Wren yanked him back down.

“Wren,” Gavin started, sitting up and staring behind them.

The last human muttered, “I could go for a smoke. Seriously. Seeking out another bad guy’s got me jonesing hardcore.”

His friend threw him a grin, kicking his feet. “Don’t stress, Cal. The way I figure we’re hanging out with a bunch of vampires.”

“We’re going into another group of vampires,” the one called Cal groaned. “And they aren’t friendly.”

“But we just escaped an entire army of other vamps and werewolves. Like, holy shit, vampires and werewolves. No one will believe us, but we saw those things.”

“We’re going to die, Spencer.” He shot him a dark look.

“Yeah.” Spencer shrugged. “But we sure have lived, haven’t we?”

“Shut up,” Wren growled at both of them. “We either move or we leave. We need to do something to help Lucas.”

Gavin, still looking into the trees behind them, said, “Wren—”

“Let’s go.” Wren collected her sword and crouched to a crawling position. She could maneuver over the hill, continuing to slink toward the village.

Gavin stood up and Lucan grinned. His brother’s best friend was staring right at him, and as the others gasped in shock, Lucan stepped forward. He said, “Welcome.” All of them jumped to their feet, grabbing for their weapons, and he turned his smile toward the two on the end. “You brought more humans. My friends will welcome their dinner tonight.”

Cal frowned and scratched behind his ear. “Say what?”





ROANE


They’d been walking through the forest until it got dark. Roane kept waiting for her to fly away, or go invisible, or do something magical, but she never did. She trekked ahead of him, walking as if she were a human, until they came to a clearing. She stopped and gazed around, sighing. “I suppose we can sleep here tonight.”

His eyebrows pinched together. “You sleep?”

“No.” She waved her hand in the air and a bonfire appeared. Two sleeping bags were on the floor, on either side of the fire. She dropped down on one of them and crossed her legs. “But you do.”

His head moved back an inch. “That’s very . . .” He couldn’t bring himself to give her a compliment. She was being nice.

“What?” She laughed. “You’re surprised I might have a soul in me? I was inside of Davy for a year. Some of her niceness rubbed off on me.”

She had Davy’s face. Davy’s voice and right now, as she was staring at the fire, it was like she was Davy. His stomach clenched. This was not Davy, and he couldn’t forget that. Ever.

She rolled her eyes, lying down on her side. Her hands tucked under her head, acting like a pillow. “I’m not her, but I’m not that bad either, Lucas Roane of the Hunters.”

He grunted, dropping down onto the other sleeping bag. “You replaced my girlfriend. I think you are.”

Her eyes found his through the fire. A dark and sober expression filled them. “When it comes to the question of you or someone else existing, you might be surprised at the lengths you’ll go to live.”

“You’re not a person.”

“And yet here I am.” She rolled to her back. “Talking like a person. Breathing. Feeling. I think I’m more human than you are, even.”

She was lying. She had no soul. Davy had been the soul in her. He continued to study her, and she let him. He didn’t need to sleep that much, maybe a few hours if even that, but after a while his eyes closed, and he slept.

“Lucas.”

He stood up. Everything around him was dark, but that was Davy. She was crying. More sobs came from her, and he called out, “Davy? Where are you?”

“Lucas?”

The crying stopped. Her voice grew clearer. “Lucas!”

“I’m here. Where are you?”

“Here.” And suddenly, she was. She was smack in front of him. Her dark hair lay straight down her shoulders and her eyes were wide. “What are you doing here?” She touched his shoulders and patted him. “Are you real? Are you really here?”

“Davy.” He closed his eyes and groaned. She was right in front of him. He could touch her. Taking her hands in his, he pulled her close and tucked his forehead to the crook of her neck and shoulders. He clasped her tight. “Oh my God. I can feel you.”