Wicked Bite (Night Rebel #2)(10)

I was trying to absorb I might not remember much when Xun Guan’s dark brown eyes turned green and her hand dropped to her sword. Ian saw it and snorted. “We’re at court where all duels require legal merit. You have none. Laws, eh?”

“Why are you antagonizing her?” I asked, low.

“Because of how she looks at you,” he responded, his eyes never leaving Xun Guan’s face. “Now that we have this moment, let me be frank, Xun Guan. If you act on what’s in your gaze, I won’t make the mistake of treating you like some poor, lovelorn lass. I’ll treat you like the dangerous warrior you are and rip your head off the first chance I get. Quite clear?”

Her gaze was now blazing green and her knuckles whitened on the hilt of her sword. “It will be a pleasure to kill you when your time comes,” she said in Mandarin.

“Back at you,” Ian replied in the same language.

I pushed him out the door, hissing, “Haven’t you caused enough trouble?” while thanking all the gods that Mencheres immediately filled the space behind us. Now Xun Guan wouldn’t be tempted to follow Ian outside. Ian could beat her in a fight. Xun Guan didn’t know that, but I did, and I refused to play a part in her death.

Thankfully, Xun Guan didn’t follow us. My relief turned out to be short lived. As soon as we were outside of the amphitheater, Ian spun around. My hands were still in front of me since I’d been pushing him. He caught them, then hauled me close.

Time seemed to freeze. My grip on him instinctively tightened as I stared into his eyes, memories of the last time we’d been like this slamming into me.

I brushed my lips over his knuckles before releasing his hand. “Speaking of fighting, those demons screeching over their salt wounds aren’t going to kill themselves. Stay here. I’ll be back after I take care of them.”

Ian smiled, half teasing and half enticing despite being barely conscious. “Give me a moment and I’ll join you. Can’t have you tiring yourself out. We have a celebration . . .”

That’s all he’d gotten out before Dagon shoved that first bone knife through Ian’s skull. Once again, I heard my own scream and felt a surge of sheer panic as Ian’s eye began to smoke. “Don’t!” I shouted at Dagon. “Please, stop!”

Dagon had no intention of stopping. He’d only delayed to draw out my pain. I ripped my hands away, saying “Don’t touch me!” with all the vehemence of the grief I’d felt back then.

“Fine,” Ian said, stepping back. “I won’t touch you as long as you don’t attempt to disappear on me again.”

Panic of a new kind made me snap, “You heard the council. You can’t make me stay with you.”

“I can until you give me the answers you owe me,” he replied, his gaze hardening. “You wouldn’t do it by text, so now you’ll do it face to face.”

“I have questions, too,” Mencheres said coolly.

Take a number and get in line! I thought. Ian seemed to agree. “Mine take precedence, Mencheres, but neither of us is asking her anything here. Too many ears.”

I seized on that. “You’re right, we need to leave and I have places to be. Text me. This time, I swear I’ll reply—”

His laughter cut me off. “You have a better chance of convincing me to stake myself, and I’m not even joking.”

But I can’t be around you! I wanted to scream. It’s killing me, and if I don’t leave you soon, it will really kill you!

I forced those emotions back, wishing I could draw on my other nature to erase them entirely. But if I let that half take control, I’d be unfeeling, yes, to the point of being a mass-murdering sociopath. That would hardly do.

No, I’d have to see this through. “Fine. I’ll go with you, but first, I have to stop by my room to retrieve something.”

“I’ll have one of my men pick it up,” Ian said, nodding at the three vampires who silently followed us.

“No.” I was so emphatic, his brows went up. “Only I can get this, and that’s nonnegotiable.”

He shrugged. “As you wish, but then I’m coming, too.”

“As am I,” Mencheres said.

“Of course you are,” I muttered. “Helicopter mom.”

Ian laughed. Mencheres gave me a dark look that I ignored as I put some much-needed distance between me and Ian on our descent down the mount. Even still, I could feel Ian’s aura enveloping me like a hidden embrace while the weight from his gaze settled into my back as if it were a supernatural anchor.

It hurt so much being near Ian when he wasn’t fully Ian. He might look, sound, and act similar, but this Ian hadn’t shared his secrets with me while also getting me to share my deepest secrets with him. This Ian hadn’t faced Dagon with me, and this Ian hadn’t sacrificed himself for me in what should have been his final act because he’d—almost—fallen in love with me.

No, this Ian’s interest in me boiled down to bruised pride and a determination to obtain knowledge that would put him in more danger than he was already in. If Ian knew that the demon he’d only heard of in passing had killed him . . . he’d never rest until he settled that score. And Ian couldn’t beat Dagon. I wasn’t even sure I could unless I accessed power that might turn me into something worse than Dagon.