Three Trials (The Dark Side Book 2)(16)

“Will any of those books give me insight on why you four seem a little moody?” I ask seriously.

He snorts out a laugh as I guide us through a thick grouping of trees.

Just as we get around them, Gage spins me and pins me against one of the ashy trees. My eyes search his face even as my chest rises and falls rapidly.

Fear and excitement always accompanies their mood swings, but right now, it’s just pure unadulterated desire, thanks to his incredible mouth.

The back of his hand ghosts down the side of my face.

“Humans have more balance,” he tells me, pressing closer. “Their emotions are watered down and tempered by that balance. Every emotion we experience is too extreme. We fight feeling anything because it can consume us easily.”

His gaze dips to my mouth, even though I know he can’t really see it. The pad of his thumb brushes over my bottom lip, and his breathing grows heavier.

“And since you came around, we’ve been forced to feel more than we have in a very long time before we leashed those emotions and learned to channel them with Harold’s help and guidance.”

I swallow thickly, even as he continues to touch my mouth and hold me in place.

“How’d he find you?” I ask.

“The summons,” he says as his hand falls away.

He drags me back against his side, and we start walking again, his point now proven. Emotions are definitely more overwhelming when I’m in this form.

They override rational thought and create sort of a primal haze around me. Maybe Harold needs to teach me how to leash my emotions too.

“He was in attendance when we were first called to the graveyard on the day we bonded. We went, even though we were leery. We were so desperate for answers, and we assumed this was going to be that, even if it killed us. Instead, we were given a task. Harold supplied us with weapons and booze, and I guess he felt sorry for us since we had no idea what was going on, so he took us under his wing. In truth, I think he worried someone would kill us if he didn’t help.”

“Just curious, how would one leash their emotions?” I ask, thinking of how easily I’ve been distracted from our predicament just because they have awesome body parts.

It’s rather inconvenient.

He laughs under his breath, but doesn’t answer me. I try to go back phantom to sense the others, but nothing happens.

“I can’t sense the guys like this, but I’m too drained to shift back to my other form,” I say, trying to remember the appropriate direction. “But I think we’re going the right way.”

He keeps me against his side, and we continue to walk.

“I smell a fire now, so I can get us to them,” he murmurs.

“How do you know it’s them? I’ve seen a lot of fire in hell.”

A small bit of laughter spills from his lips. “Hellfire and eternal flames have no scent. This is a handmade, regular, nothing special or harmful about it, fire,” he assures me.

“Let’s just hope it’s not other competitors.”

“I can kill them easily enough,” he says with a shrug.

A yawn escapes me as I start leaning on him a little. Talking about killing apparently bores me. Maybe I’m the psychopath after all.

His hold tightens, and once again he kisses the top of my head.

I’m going to have to get some sleep to have enough strength to go phantom for the last day. I need to be my strongest. We’ve already survived longer than any of them anticipated.

“It’s not mood swings,” he tells me randomly, drawing me out of my tired reverie. Clearing his throat when I peer up at him curiously, he adds, “When we get angry and pull back, it’s us reining in emotions we haven’t been forced to feel in such extremes in quite some time. You aren’t seeing a shift in moods; you’re seeing us force ourselves to take a step back and search for rational answers as to why you’re penetrating our shields so effortlessly.”

“Because I’m awesome and my ass looks good in lace?” I guess.

He bursts out laughing, and I hear three groans from the distance. I stiffen, but Gage drags me in the direction the groans came from.

“Always the vanity,” I hear Ezekiel say.

My eyes scan the area, but I don’t see them immediately. Finally, I catch sight of a flickering flame inside a cave, and the closer we get, the more distinctly I can make out three figures sitting or lying near it.

“About damn time you two found us,” Kai drawls, his eyes drifting over the way Gage is still holding me to him as we near. “I’m guessing you’re her favorite now?”

Jude glares at me like I’ve tarnished yet another one of them, as Gage smirks. “It’ll be hard to take my place right now,” Gage boasts.

Kai laughs under his breath. Ezekiel grins and shakes his head before stretching out and lying down. Jude looks away from me.

“What are you wearing?” Ezekiel groans.

I shrug a bare shoulder in my strapless black corset, idly glancing down at my really slinky attire. I’m also in a black top hat, and since we’re still in hell, I’m also wearing phantom-made body paint that makes me look like the walking dead.

“Admit it. This is the sexiest I’ve been yet.”

I swear, it’s like pulling teeth to get a compliment. All I get are more groans.