Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(107)

With a bad feeling in his gut, Phoenix broke the lock on the security gate with the swipe of his hand, opened the gate and walked alone toward a group of people who had been his enemies no less than three weeks ago.

Ace stepped forward first and offered his hand, wearing a self-assured smile. His grip was firm and cool.

"You must be Phoenix." Phoenix didn't respond, choosing to grit his teeth together instead. It didn't matter how friendly Ace was going to be toward him, the knowledge that he was going to bond with Mena made him the enemy. Even if it did save the damn world. "Quite the pickle you've gotten everyone into, huh?" Was he chewing gum? Yes. Yes, he was. What an asshat.

"Hoping you can fix this," Phoenix growled.

"Hoping she is hot, so it won't be such a hardship." His ever-present grin was really pissing Phoenix off.

Glancing briefly at the black tank hugging all the male's abdominals, Phoenix frowned and fought the urge to ask him if he was stupid or did he not realize it was winter in Alabama.

That would be a bit too childish and extremely obvious that he was a bit envious of the way Mena would perceive the guy, so Phoenix decided to grin and bear it. He knew Ace was only trying to get under his skin by saying something like that about Mena, but he'd played this game before.

After flashing an arrogant smile of his own, he shrugged and said, "She's okay, nothing to brag about."

He ignored Roel's eyebrows as they popped up. There was no sense in acting like he was a jealous fool or letting the guy know how much Mena actually meant to him; that would only encourage more sharp stabs at his ego and maybe cause him to take more of an interest in Mena.

Phoenix jerked his hand away when he felt a rough and wet tongue licking his fingers. Ace howled with laughter as he looked down at his dog.

"Looks like Chaos likes you. Or maybe he just thinks you taste good." Ace winked at him. Phoenix huffed.

At least they packed light. Phoenix hoped their stay was brief—bond with Mena, discover the name of her wolf and get his ass back to Las Vegas where it belonged. There was definitely no room for him here in the South.

"Okay, then," Brad said, breaking the awkward silence. "Shall we go introduce you to Mena?"

With his eyes fixed on Phoenix, as if he were reading his every thought and filing it away for future reference, Ace gave an up-nod, and said, "Yeah, let's go meet my girl."

Phoenix turned away and walked back to his car before Ace could see or sense the fury that was quickly building inside him.

After closing himself safely inside, he let his forehead fall against the steering wheel and dragged in several deep breaths. To his surprise, it helped… a little. That was, until the passenger door opened and Ace sat down in the passenger seat.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, pushing away how much he let the guy get under his skin, but in a brief daydream, Phoenix reached across the console and smashed the f*cker's face into the dash… repeatedly. "Heath brought his Land Rover and Brad brought the Suburban so there would be enough room for you and your pride to ride with them."

Ace shrugged. "They needed room for the luggage and Chaos, so I volunteered to ride with the vampire."

"Luggage?" Phoenix said.

Ace pointed out the windshield at two men pulling carts across the hanger lot, each one loaded at least five feet high with suitcases and duffle bags.

"Oh, don't worry," Ace continued. "Only the seven of us and my dog are staying at your compound. Bill and Thomas are renting a car and getting a hotel room. They're still a little skeptical about the whole vampire / shifter alliance thing."

Phoenix rolled his eyes as he started the engine. "They aren't the only ones."

"Don't take it personally. This new thing is definitely going to take some getting used to. They just have their doubts it'll work."

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel. "I've had my doubts it would work recently, too." Very recently, in fact, like in the last ten minutes, Phoenix thought, and then pressed the accelerator to the floor once they hit the interstate.






v''''v





Phoenix





"There are four available bedrooms on the main floor," Phoenix said as he let everyone in through the garage entrance and flipped the light on in the kitchen. "If you should need anything that you can't find on your own, my human assistant resides in the fifth bedroom. Her name is Lea, and she's not as sweet or innocent as she appears, so think twice before any of you get the bright idea that she's available to give you everything you might want. I would tell you to talk to Santino about it, but sadly his head is now missing. The girl is good with her sword."

Ace rubbed his neck. "Noted."

"Get settled in, and then Lea will bring you to my chamber so we can discuss our next move."

"I thought me and the guys would go out for a bit, see the sights, get to know the town folk…" He grinned. "Maybe bring a little southern hospitality back with us. It's not too often we get to visit the South. I do like a girl with a southern accent."

Phoenix's fingers curled in irritation, then he forced himself to relax, at least until he was out of Ace's sight. "This is a vampires' lair, Ace. I'd rather you didn't bring any possible prey back here with you."