Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(57)

He remained silent so long that she thought he wouldn’t answer. “Eventually you’d be able to look at my face without being affected as long as my eyes were covered. There’s no immunity to the face and eyes together.”

She felt his stare.

“You’ll wake before I do. Dress and get out of the bedroom before me.”

She could only nod. There was nothing left that either of them was willing to talk about. Cassie glanced at him. He’d tugged the sheet completely over his head. Evidently breathing wasn’t an issue.

They both lay still until the clock told her that dawn had arrived. She didn’t need to see Ethan to know that the day sleep had taken him.

Closing her eyes, she forced everything from her mind. Allowing her thoughts to run in circles would drive her crazy. She could only help Ethan if she stayed sane. And somewhere during her attempt to think of nothing, she slept.

Cassie sat on Zareb’s couch with the cat curled up beside her and watched them leave. After finding out what had happened last night, she was terrified to see them go.

Ethan paused to look back at her right before he walked out. He had his glasses on and was holding his hoodie closed over the lower half of his face.

For a moment hope flared that he’d come back to kiss her good-bye.

He shook his head. “Can’t. Not when I’m like this.”

She didn’t bother yelling at him for being in her mind. “You did the first time.”

“That was different.” He didn’t explain how it was different. “Stay safe.”

“Right back at you. . . . What the heck is your last name?” She was doing her best to sound perky, but Cassie had the feeling that even though her “per” might be fine, her “ky” was drooping badly.

“Russo. For now.”

His voice had that deeper, more dangerous tone she associated with the Second One.

“Well, right back at you, Russo.”

She kept her smile pasted on her face until they’d left. Then she sighed and looked down at the cat. “Anything you want to see on TV?”

The cat yawned to express her complete disinterest.

“Me either.” Cassie glanced over at the two men who stood by the door looking bored.

Colin and Dylan. They were almost carbon copies of their brothers, Ben and Todd—big, muscular, with shaggy orangey hair and amber eyes. They were her bodyguards for the night.

“The TV is all yours, guys.” She’d go into her room and read a book.

She wandered into the bedroom, grabbed her book from the nightstand, and flopped onto the bed.

A half hour later she was still on the same page. She put the book down. Cassie hated waiting here for Ethan to come home. She felt useless. But she’d learned a lot during the last week. Not the least of which was that she had no place in the middle of a battle involving vampires. She’d been lucky to survive that first day. Even loaded down with weapons, she was a liability. Ethan might try to protect her instead of watching his own back.

Just when she was about to give up on the book and try the TV again, someone tapped on the bedroom door. She climbed off the bed to answer it. Colin, or maybe it was Dylan, stood waiting.

“Zareb just sent us a text message. They’re in a battle and pretty much outnumbered. They need us now.” He looked torn. “I sent for someone to take over for us. He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. We don’t like leaving you alone, but Zareb wouldn’t ask for us if he wasn’t in a bad situation.”

Cassie didn’t hesitate. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

Colin nodded and ran back down the hall. A few minutes later, she heard the front door close. She was alone with her panic.

What had happened? Were they all still okay? Why couldn’t Zareb call in some of his other children who were scattered throughout the city? Was Ethan safe?

She was pacing the living room with her phone in her hand when the knock came. Cassie frowned. That was fast. The new guard must have been closer than Colin had thought.

Cassie hurried into the bedroom and got the gun from her purse. If she had to open the door, she’d do it with a weapon in her hand. She shoved her phone into her pocket.

Before opening the door, she tried looking through the peephole. Damn it, the outside light had burned out. “Who is it?”

“New guard.” The man’s voice was gruff but sounded normal.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

Cassie glanced past him to make sure no one was lurking in the shadows. “Did you see anyone—?”

She didn’t get any farther because someone grabbed her arm and yanked her outside. Before she could raise her gun to shoot, something massive hit her with enough force to flatten her. The gun fell from her hand. Dazed, she stared up into gleaming feral eyes.

The animal, because it was an animal, curled its lips back to reveal fangs at least six inches long. Terror froze her in place.

A man leaned over her. “Don’t move, lady. Oh, and I wouldn’t scream. Loud noises make Henry here excited. I’d hate to deliver you with puncture wounds.”

It only took seconds for Cassie to put together the steps of her stupidity. She hadn’t asked Colin for the name of the new guard, and she hadn’t asked this man for any proof of identity. He worked for Garrity. And she was having an up-close-and-personal introduction to one of his beasts because she’d been naïve enough to think she could shoot faster than the animal could move. She wasn’t suicidal, so she remained motionless.