“Well someone had to,” Nathalie said. “Someone that clearly knows how to get around all three of us.”
I looked out over the pier, knowing that I would find it empty, but still doing it all the same. “If no one saw, heard, or felt them, we’re not going to get anywhere standing here, and I’m freezing.”
“I’ll look into it. Whoever did this covered their tracks well, but if they’re really that intent on hurting you or me, it won’t be the last time. You need to stay with Nathalie until then and try not to leave the apartment.”
I opened then closed my mouth as what he said registered. “How do you know where I’ve been staying?”
“I had you tailed coming back from the cabin,” Ronan said, completely unashamed.
“But that was three days ago.”
“Yes.” He lifted a dark eyebrow.
“You’ve known where I’ve been this entire time?”
“You made it clear that chasing you wouldn’t work. So I didn’t.” But he still had someone tail me. Even in letting go of control, he was still finding ways to take it without giving me a choice. Not that I’d ever say yes.
I shook my head. I really didn’t want to go into this with him. Not now, not ever. “Look, I met you here like you wanted. Time to uphold your end of the deal. I want Bree back, and I want to know what’s wrong with her.”
“No.”
I stilled, anger making my magic prickle in my palms as my heart started to beat louder, the sound filling my ears. “We had a deal.”
“Did we?” he asked, cocking his head. “I don’t recall that part.”
“But you—you—” I searched for words, thinking back on the note he left.
“I never promised to give Bree back. I simply said I had her and that I wanted to meet you here. As for what’s wrong with her—I told you, some truths you have to earn. This is one of them.” He stepped back, and I recognized it from my dreams. He was leaving, and with him, all hope of finding and fixing Bree.
I stepped toward him and grabbed his forearm. He stopped, though I certainly didn’t have the strength to make him. Something primal ran through his face when he stared at me then. I felt his desire, his need, his hunger . . . and I stood against it even as my knees threatened to buckle. “How do I earn it?”
Ronan regarded me, pausing on my lips for a moment too long.
“The second blood exchange—I want it.”
I didn’t give myself time to think. To consider. To fear or to hate.
“Done.”
He blinked, his full lips parting in surprise. He didn’t think it would be that easy. That’s how much he didn’t know me, because if he did, he would have known I would give anything.
Even me.
I was willing to once, and I was again. Only this time there were no other options.
He made sure of it.
“She’s safe with me. I’ll be in touch.” His lips ghosted mine for the briefest of seconds and then he was gone. Shadows consumed his body and then faded, leaving nothing where he was standing only moments before.
I stared, feeling that prickling of anger. Nathalie fanned her face in exaggeration despite the frigid temperature.
“I can’t believe he just did that. What an—”
“Asshole?” she inserted, chuckling under her breath. “Gee, it’s almost like you were made for each other.”
I glared in her direction and she simply laughed harder. “I said yes. I gave him what he wanted. I kind of thought he’d—I don’t know—do it? Ugh.” I ran a hand through my tangled hair in frustration.
“Do it?” she repeated. “Out here? Where it’s below freezing, and you almost died—oh and let’s not forget that someone is out to kill one or both of you?” She snorted again when I looked away. Maybe she had a point.
Not that I was going to tell her that. Nope.
I turned on my heel and walked in the opposite direction.
That just seemed to make her laugh more.
“Are you seriously mad at me right now?” she asked, jogging to keep up beside me.
“No.”
“No? You’re not mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
“You seem mad,” she said, as we walked two blocks down the street to where she parked.
“If I was mad, you would know.”
“Because you’d shoot me?” she mocked.
“Yup.”
By the time we got to her car, I was shaking from the cold. While the sweatshirt helped, it only did so much. My fingers were starting to turn blue by the time the heater actually got going. Nathalie paused at the wheel before pulling out onto the road.
“I know you’re busy being not mad right now,” she started. “But I just wanted you to know, I’m really glad you didn’t drown tonight.”
I side-eyed her, waiting for the rest.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m waiting for the part where you crack a dumb joke and then laugh obnoxiously because you find it funny.”
She rolled her eyes. “Way to ruin a moment.”
“That was not a moment,” I deadpanned. “We were not having a moment.”
“We so were,” she said, looking to the road as she pulled out. “And for the record, so were you and Ronan. He may be a demon and have this whole alpha male vibe going on, but he sees you.”
“What happened to you staying out of it?” I snapped. She lifted her hands off the wheel in mock surrender and the car swerved. I glared at her, and she righted it while chuckling.
“I am. Mostly. It’s not like I’m telling you to bond with him—you agreed to that all on your own there.”
“He’s got my sister,” I reminded her. Nathalie shrugged.
“You kidnapped me and I’m still around,” she pointed out. I was not nearly as amused as she seemed to be. “I’m just saying, if you’ve got an itch to scratch, he’s the one I’d be wanting to scratch it.”
I sighed. “I just want my sister back and to find a way to wake her up. That’s it. Whatever else happens . . . it’s all a means to an end.”
I hoped. The truth was, I would do anything for Bree. But when this was all over . . . I knew there was no way Ronan would walk away, and every time I saw him, I was more convinced.
But these were the cards I had. The choices I could make to save her. As long as that happened, I could figure the rest out later.
Or rather, figure out how to deal with him when the time came.
3
Ronan
My blood hummed. My flesh tingled.
She said yes.
The second blood exchange was in sight, and easier to grasp than I’d thought—but first I had to find out who blew up that dinner boat, and what their intentions were.
If Piper’s life was in danger . . . I had to eliminate the threat.
If it were just me they were after, well, my mysterious assailants were in for grave disappointment. Demons and monsters that could tear this world asunder had tried and failed. This would be no different.
I stepped through the void and into the penthouse apartment I’d collected from the Coven Antares. The lights of the city illuminated the living space through the wall of glass that went out to a small balcony. I moved about the space, comfortable but not truly at home as I poured myself a glass of scotch.