Wicked Bite (Night Rebel #2)(52)

Ah, the Leviathan had a ruler. One that walked on land, too. Intriguing but at the moment irrelevant. There was more than enough water on this island to fuel my power, and . . . had my vampire finished screaming? Good. The sound had been grating.

I opened my eyes. The demon had stayed in his corner, his wings now tight against his body as if he were about to charge me instead of run. A worthy opponent, then. Did I owe him death?

I glanced at Ian. My vampire no longer shuddered from agony and his bones no longer broke. He lay still, eyes closed, that former silvery glow and the fiery one now nowhere to be seen.

“Are you alive?” I asked, crossing over to nudge Ian with a foot. No answer, but he wasn’t shriveling into a state of true death. Then again, being killed by magic might preserve his body. I’d seen that before. My nudge turned into a kick.

“Stop,” Ian muttered, opening one eye. Then both eyes opened and widened. “Why hallo, my lovely demigod,” he said in a careful tone as he slowly sat up. “We’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Ian.”

Did he think me simple? “I know who you are,” I said, giving him a raking look. “And you should be running. Didn’t she make you promise to flee if you saw me?”

Ian held out a hand to Yonah, who started to circle me in a predatory way. “I’ve got this,” he told Yonah in a crisp tone.

His confidence was amusing, if misplaced.

“If she breaks free and threatens any of my people—” Yonah began, stopping when I swung to give him an icy smile.

“She won’t,” Ian said with that same confidence.

My gaze swung back to him. “You believe you could stop me?”

Ian smiled, lifting himself out of the hole in the floor with surprising grace. Then he brushed the shards and splinters from his bloodied torso as if dusting lint off a suit.

“I won’t have to.” Another smile, this one crafty as well as charming. “It’s also why I lied when I promised to run if I ever saw you. There’s no need. You quite like me.”

Impertinent. Perhaps I should rip the blood out of his body and slap him with it. “Do I?”

He came closer, that smile never slipping. “Oh, you do. You burst free whenever I’m in danger, and I also see you lurking behind Veritas’s eyes when she loses control in other ways.”

His caressing tone left no doubt as to which ones. Then he reached out, trailing his hand down my arm. The sensations that followed weren’t unpleasant, so I allowed it.

“She thinks you’re not her, but you are, aren’t you?” Almost crooned as he continued to stroke my arm as if gentling a wild beast. “You’re just another side to her. We all have our different sides. Yours is simply more . . . well-defined.”

“She thinks me evil.” Saying it made something sting as if I’d been poked with a clumsy stitch. Bitterness, she’d call it.

“I’ve seen evil.” Now his hand was in my hair. I tilted toward it to see if I enjoyed that more. If I didn’t, I could always rip his hand off. “You’re not even close.”

I did enjoy his hand in my hair. It was even more pleasant than the strokes on my arm. His body would be more pleasant, too. I knew that because he was right—I had, on occasion, watched through her eyes when she shared her flesh with his.

“You may leave,” I said, flicking my fingers at Yonah. “Or you may stay. Either way, he will pleasure me now.”

The demon muttered something I didn’t care enough to catch. Then he left. Ian laughed, a low, sensual sound that—surprisingly—affected me as much as his touch.

“Saucy little half-celestial minx, aren’t you?”

I pressed my mouth to his before he could say anything else. Yes, very enjoyable. His tongue was even more so, and his body created sensations I wanted more of. I had only watched this before. Now, I wanted to feel it.

I let out a hiss of disapproval when he caught my hands before I could rid him of his unnecessary pants.

“Hate to disappoint,” he murmured, “but we can’t do this.”

“Why?” To see if I’d misunderstood his interest, I grabbed his cock. Harder than a block of ice. Certainly no impediment there. “You want this.”

Another laugh, this time edged with something rough. “Oh, I want this all night and into next week, but your vampire half would object, so it’s not happening.”

“You said I am her,” I argued, not liking the feeling of being denied. “Begin the copulation!”

He brushed my hair back before tracing my lip with his thumb. Somehow, I felt that touch deeper than my skin. Sorcerer.

“You are,” he said softly. “One day, she’ll realize that, but right now, she still sees herself as two separate people. She’s wrong, but until she realizes that, I can’t accept your invitation. So again, with regret, this isn’t happening.”

Then he kissed me, ending with a nip that was hard enough to draw a drop of blood that he caught with his tongue. I liked that as well, which made his refusal all the more frustrating.

“Now,” he said thickly, “show her she’s wrong about you by willingly relinquishing your control back to her.”

I shoved him away, feeling stabbed by an enemy I could neither see nor destroy. This must be what betrayal felt like. “She will cage me again.”