Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(91)

Aleric’s face fell. “Seriously? I’m starving. She had a lot of my blood, brother. I will be too weak—“

“Enough!” Warin snapped, some of the anger from before flaring in his eyes again. “Your weakness is your own doing. Be thankful I am not taking my penance from your flesh, as is my right for what you did!”

Aleric’s sullen expression stiffened into a resigned grimace, and he bowed his head. “Yes, Elder. May I retire for the night?”

“You may.” Warin returned his focus to me, his expression softening again once the slam of the door announced Aleric’s departure.

“I was so lost without you,” he murmured, stroking a hand through my hair before he pulled me in to rest against his shoulder.

“As I was without you,” I whispered against his neck. Fat tears formed at the corners of my eyes and trickled down my cheeks, and I clung to him as he held me so wonderfully tight, whispering soothing words in my ear.

I cried quite a bit more that night, but it was alright, because I did it in Warin’s embrace.





28





The main downside to being force-fed Aleric’s blood turned out not so much to be that he could now track me down wherever I went.

No, the worst part was waking up panting and so horny I wanted to crawl out of my own skin after a very dirty, very detailed dream involving Warin’s infuriating brother and a sex dungeon.

It took me more than a few moments to compose myself enough to not roll over and try to straddle Warin’s passed-out form next to me. For one, it seemed highly inappropriate to take my dreams of his brother out on him—and for another, the fact that he was literally still as a corpse while sleeping was pretty much the biggest turn-off ever.

Instead, I rolled over to look at him while the yearning in my abdomen slowly settled down.

It was the first time since we met that I watched Warin sleep.

He’d taken me to his secret sleeping area the night before, which turned out to be behind a trap door in his walk-in closet.

I spent some time tracing the lines of his face and silently thanking the goddess that he had taken me back. I was even thankful to Aleric, the massive prick, for forcing me to come back. The quiet hum in my chest as I looked at Warin’s sleeping figure was such a contrast to the ache that’d haunting me during my stay in Kentucky. So long as Aleric found out who’d given me that note and put a stop to their plans of exposing me, everything would be all right.



* * *



Eventually, the urge for the bathroom became too overwhelming, so I fought my way out of Warin’s surprisingly strong grasp and climbed into the walk-in.

After a good, long, cold shower and some breakfast, the delicate ache in my body from our reunion wasn’t too bad, and I decided to take care of some errands while Warin slept. Mainly because I was pretty sure his “you will stay by my side” claims from last night meant it’d be a while before I’d get to go out on my own, once he’d had time to get Roy back on guard duty, and partly because I kind of had to. I’d disappeared from Kentucky without a trace, and if Maggie had informed Joana, I had to let her know I was all right. With everything she’d done for me, it wouldn’t be right to let her think the worst.

I scrounged up a notepad and a pen in Warin’s study and left him a note on the bed, explaining where I’d gone and that I’d be back soon, just in case I wasn’t back before the sun set, and then I went to see Joana.



* * *



No one answered when I knocked on the boarded-up storefront I knew housed the Coven of the Moon’s headquarters, but I was persistent. It took ten full minutes of non-stop knocking before the door finally creaked open, and Kevin, Joana’s First Disciple, peeked out the crack. He looked as sullen as the last time I saw him, but his grumpy expression fell for one of surprise when he saw me.

“You?” he said.

“Yeah, hi to you too.” I gave him a tight smile—I hadn’t particularly been a fan of Joana’s sour right-hand man when I’d been drunk as a skunk, and to be honest, he didn’t seem much more amenable when I was sober. “Is Joana here? I need to speak with her.”

“Not here,” he said—and then proceeded to close the door in my face.

I managed to wedge a foot in the gap and put my hand on the door before he succeeded. “Hey, rude much? I really need to see her—it’s important. Any idea where I can find her?”

Kevin glowered at me, and from the way his jaw was working, I guessed he had more than a few choice words he wanted to sling at me. Seemed his dislike of the girl who got their peace treaty with the vampire Lord rolling hadn’t eased in my absence. “Try Dark Dreams,” he snapped. “Now leave—’m busy.” He reached out and gave my shoulder a shove, making me stumble two steps backward. Before I’d regained my balance, he’d shut the door again.

“Busy asking the wizard for manners, I hope!” I yelled at the closed door. Jesus fuck, that dude was an asshole!



* * *



Despite my irritation with Joana’s First Disciple, I did as he’d suggested and went to see if Joana was at Dark Dreams. Even if she wasn’t, Raven might be—and Skye and Dennis too. A small stab of guilt sliced through me at the thought of my former colleagues. I’d been so consumed with longing for Warin while I’d been gone, I hadn’t really spared many thoughts for them. But they’d been my friends, too. Or at least, they could have been my friends, had I stayed in Chicago long enough. And I’d disappeared without a word.