Tracing my lower lip with the tip of one finger, Bo asked,
“So how do you feel?”
I felt the blush again as I answered, “Wonderful. How do you feel?”
Bo chuckled and my stomach clenched in response to the rich, sensual sound.
“That’s not what I meant, but I feel wonderful, too,” he said, brushing my lips with his. “I meant, how do you feel thirst-wise?”
“Oh,” I said, making a concerted effort to pry my focus away from Bo long enough to take inventory of my body. “It’s under control. Why?”
“If that’s the case, I’m thinking we should probably go check on Cade.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, crap! I forgot al about Cade and Annika. Oh my gosh, I—”
“I’m just referring to Cade and his throat.”
I frowned at Bo in confusion for only a fraction of a second before my memories came flooding back. I gasped.
“What have I done?” I wondered, slapping a hand over my gaping mouth.
“I’m sure Annika was able to take care of him. What happened?” Bo asked, watching me careful y. “What was he doing in here?”
“I don’t know. I was asleep and I think it was the smel of his blood that woke me. I saw the doorknob twist and the next thing I knew, I was drinking from him.”
A vague feeling of nausea over what I’d done warred with a rising thirst at the remembered pleasure of his slick blood sliding down my throat. I closed my eyes against it.
“Mr. Hearst,” Bo said flatly.
My eyes popped open and Bo was looking at me, chagrined. I smiled sheepishly.
“Sorry.”
Once Mr. Hearst helped me to bring my wayward body back under control, Bo and I dressed in intimate silence.
Then, taking my hand, he led me from the bedroom.
We made our way to the den where Annika and Cade sat. Cade smiled at us as we entered. Annika, however, seemed a bit perturbed.
Spearing Cade with his eyes, Bo asked without preamble, “What were you doing in her room?”
Cade looked to Annika before turning his attention back to Bo.
“Maybe you two should sit down.”
His answer was one that seemed to throw open the windows of foreboding and usher in the dark cloud that settled over the room.
I thought Bo might argue or become antagonistic, but he didn’t, probably because he felt the cloud, too. I could sense the tension in him as if it were my own. And maybe, somehow, it was.
“I’m sorry about that, but it had to be done,” Cade said as we sat.
“You mean you had to go into my girlfriend’s room while she slept and nearly get yourself kil ed? What were you trying to do?”
“She had to drink my blood. That’s why Annika was so adamant about going with you to bury the bodies and feed.
She knew I wanted to be alone with Ridley.”
A surge of jealousy rose up inside me and I heard nothing beyond the part about Annika and Bo feeding together.
“She went hunting with you?”
Bo had the decency to look guilty for not tel ing me.
“Yes. She has to feed, too.”
When I looked back at Annika, the corners of her mouth twitched as if she was having trouble containing a smile. I wanted to throttle her.
“And why, exactly, did Ridley need to drink from you?” Bo asked, undeterred by my aggravation. He was like a dog with a bone.
“Because I can give her something she desperately needs,” Cade answered calmly.
Bo shot to his feet.
“I can give her everything she needs, and the next time I find out you’ve been near her in my absence, even Annika won’t be able to save you.”
Cade stood also, stil calm and unruffled by Bo’s ire.
“You can’t give her my blood and my blood is what she needs.”
“And why is that?” Bo demanded tightly, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.
“Because I can see the future and I know that she needs something that I alone can give her.”
CHAPTER TEN
“You can what?” Bo blurted incredulously.
“I can see glimpses of the future.”
Bo snorted derisively. I knew he wanted to scoff, but he didn’t. I think we’d both seen too much by that point to seriously doubt what he was saying.
“Alright, so you can see the future. What does that have to do with Ridley? Why does she need your blood?”
“Because she is the key to kil ing our father,” he explained evenly.
“She didn’t have to drink your blood for us to know that.
We already knew.”
“No, but she’l need it to give you the information you need to kil him.”
That gave Bo pause. That gave us al pause, even Annika. It made me wonder how much she knew (or rather how much she didn’t know) about Cade’s presence in her life.
“Wel , you’ve accomplished your mission. She drank your blood, so now you can stay the he—”
“Oh, no. She wil need it until every word of Iofiel’s letter is written on her skin.”
Bo shook his head angrily.
“Absolutely not. We’l find another way.”
“There is no other way. This is what must be done if you are serious about ending Sebastian.”
“Of course I’m serious about ending him, but it’s my destiny. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. You can’t forget that I’m the son of a fal en angel, too. I have a role in his destruction and it’s to help Ridley get you what you need.”
“She could kil you. She could accidental y turn you. Or the loss of life could drive you to madness. You’re wil ing to risk that because you think you can see the future? Because you think you know what Ridley needs?”
“You know as wel as I that her fangs are too immature to infect me. She won’t hurt me. She can’t.”
“You couldn’t possibly know that,” Bo said, but I could see that he immediately regretted his hasty words, knowing what Cade would say.
“As a matter of fact I can.”
“Wel , this is not up to us to decide. It should be up to Ridley,” Bo said, looking back at me.
“Of course,” Cade agreed, “but I can assure you she won’t mind.”
Bo’s head swung back around to Cade, his eyes narrowing.
“And neither wil you, is that it?” Bo’s voice was low and calm. Deadly calm.
“I’m sure you’ve been told of the…sensation that humans can experience with a vampire bite.”