“Tell me,” he whispered, trailing his nose up my throat. “What does he have that I’m lacking?” He pressed a kiss to my jawline and my eyes slipped closed for a moment. “Would it be so easy to leave me, Gwen?”
“I-I’m not…leaving,” I mumbled. I couldn’t tell him that he was the reason why I was staying. It felt too serious and I wasn’t ready for serious. But the thought of never seeing him again caused an unbearable strain of sadness. I thought about being with Aiden in some exotic country and how wonderful it’d be, but Dorian would always be in the back of my mind, lingering for as long as my heart beat. He had woven his way into my life and crept into my heart. I couldn’t offer him a relationship right now, but I could be in his life in one way or another. I just needed to be close to him.
“You’re not leaving with him?” Dorian stood up straight, his disbelief written all over his face. His relief at me staying caused a frenzy of emotion to knot in my stomach. When was I going to stop seeing Dorian as nothing more than a man with a permanent hard-on? Those sorts of men preferred the woman to leave. I honestly believed that if I left, it would hurt Dorian. It took seeing his face now to believe all of his previous words.
“The loss is greater than the gain,” I told him.
His lips turned up in a wide smile, and he shook his head while laughing to himself, just a breath of air through his nose but it was a beautiful sound.
“You’d face the storm with me when there’s a haven just waiting to accept you?” His words were so low I wasn’t sure whether the question was for me or rhetorical.
“I’ll go against everything I am to protect you.” He cradled my face in his hands, staring down at me. All of the jubilance left his face as he turned serious. “You’ll always be safe with me, Gwen.”
I didn’t need to hear his promise to know that it was true. He made me feel safe. I reached my hand up and clasped the one holding my face.
“I know, but I must also protect myself. Show me how to wield the dagger.”
His mouth covered mine, his lips hard and possessive. An arm slid around my waist, and he tugged me up so that my feet were dangling in the air. His hair was silk against my fingertips as they glided through the long strands.
“I’ve always had a boot camp fantasy,” Dorian said against my mouth.
“Forget it; I’m not into role playing.”
He pressed one last kiss to my lips and set me down. “I’m seriously considering reevaluating our relationship.”
With a shrug, I bent down, picked up the dagger’s box and headed down the hall.
“Bend your knees,” Dorian ordered. We had only been practicing for an hour, but already I could feel the sweat trickling down my back, my calves screaming in protest as I crouched into position. Imagine my surprise when Dorian revealed that he had a gym. No wonder he was in such good shape; he probably thought foreplay was letting the ladies watch him lift weights. I had to admit; the visual playing through my mind was enough to cause a sweet ache between my legs.
“Now throw it!”
Flinging my arm forward, I launched the knife through the air and towards Eddie’s head. The blade caught the glow of the overhead light, glinting like liquid silver as it sailed across the room. Eddie was standing with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face, not even flinching when the knife cut through his neck. The dagger passed through his misty body, clanging to the floor and spinning on its hilt.
“You need to aim higher.” Dorian spoke behind me, reaching for my arm and bending it back. “For a man my height, this position will give you the correct trajectory.” I couldn’t focus on anything except the coolness of his fingertips burning a trail down my arm. Giving myself a mental shake, I nodded and thought about the angle of my arm.
“Go get the knife; we’ll try again.”
I walked over and snatched the dagger from the floor, standing up and winking at Eddie. His grimace softened the tiniest bit before he realized he was being forced to act as my target against his will.
“We’ve been at this for a while,” Eddie complained. “That girl can’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
“I did hit my target, just not in the right spot,” I said in defense. “It’s not as easy as Dorian is making it sound.” Kiah said that I had to stab the rogues in the forehead, and because Dorian didn’t want me close to them, he thought standing at a distance and just throwing the blade would be efficient. What he didn’t take into account was the fact that I was born with the coordination of cross-eyed monkey. No matter how much I bent my knees, angled my arm or grasped the blade, the dagger always sailed too low or veered off its mark. Still, I was stone-cold determined to nail the art of knife throwing.
“Here.” Dorian held out his hand for the blade. I placed the hilt into his awaiting palm, crossing my arms and readying myself for another lecture, or lesson as Dorian called his constant ramblings of trajectories, angles and grip strategies. But hadn’t I asked for this?
“Watch my movements.” Just as he said it, the phone rang. Dorian released an annoyed huff, holding up one finger as he exited the gym to retrieve the ringing phone. Something about someone calling Dorian made me smile. It was just so bizarre that Death had friends who called to chat.
“So, what have you been up to, Eddie?” An iPod on a docking system filled the room with music, the bass of drums and guitars lending an amped up soundtrack to my training session.
Eddie’s eyes drifted to the open door, then back to my face. “Dorian has me doing recon and tracking.”
“On the rogues? Have you found anything new out?”
Eddie floated up and into a sitting position, his legs bent Indian style. “They’ve withdrawn from Flora. As soon as you left, they disappeared too. I’ve had trouble tracking their whereabouts. I have my buddies keeping their eyes and ears open though.”
I smiled at the thought of a gang of ghosts prowling the streets for information. My imagination cooked up a West Side Story-esque visual.
“I’ll take that as good news,” I told him. “The residents of Flora will be happy I took my trouble with me.” I really was happy the rogues were gone from my hometown. The thought of anyone getting hurt because of me made my stomach turn. I knew the hell that rogues could inflict. In no way would I want their wrath directed on anyone else.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway, Dorian appearing in the doorway. He stretched his arm out toward me, handing me the phone. “It’s Fiona.”
Confused, I grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Gwen,” she said with a relieved breath. “I’ve been so worried. Holly fled the castle. No one has seen or heard from her in a day. The council is playing it off, but I can tell they’re worried.”
My fingers gripped the phone tighter with the disturbing news. That small arrogant voice in the back of my mind whispered, “Serves them right for not taking me seriously.” But it wasn’t the time for “I-told-you-so’s”
“What lie are they telling you guys?”
“Nothing at first,” Fiona said. “I think they were hoping no one would notice, but I overheard them talking a couple hours ago. Charles took stage forty-five minutes ago and announced that Holly was on an errand for the NAWC. Of course everyone believes it, because they still don’t know the story of why Holly was on parole from the council in the first place. Charles swore me to secrecy to keep order amongst our kind.”
The news didn’t surprise me like it should have. Holly jumping ship was in her character. Also, I knew when I went to trial it would be like hammering a nail with a wet noodle—useless. The witches in Moon were loyal to the NAWC council. In no way would they take the word of a witch who had consorted with vampires when she was ordered not to over that of an esteemed council member such as Holly. Hell, for all I knew she could have taken some of her loyal subjects with her to the dark side.
“What did you overhear Charles discussing with the others?”
“I couldn’t hear everything,” Fiona said. “But I heard your name, blame and over reaction. So put the pieces together and they either think you’re to blame, they’re overreacting or that Holly’s on her way to kill you and they’ll be blamed for not listening and getting the trial done.” Fiona’s intake of breath hissed over the phone. “I want to come and be with you. I’ve gotten so much better with my spells and I would be able to help protect you. Ethan won’t like it, but he’ll just have to get over it.” The last part was said under her breath as if talking to herself.
I smiled. “I appreciate the offer, really, but if anything happened to you, your dad would kill me himself.”
“I know I appear to be a daddy’s girl, but I’m so much more than that, Gwen. And you know it. Just because we’ve drifted the tiniest bit doesn’t mean I’m going to let you take on the wrath of a psychotic witch alone.”
My eyes blurred with unshed tears, though my smile had widened. Fiona’s admission was just the pick me up I needed. It was nice that Aiden and Dorian wanted to protect me, but having the comfort of a girlfriend was nice.
“Maybe you can help me from Moon,” I said. “My inside guy, or girl rather.”
Fiona’s short silence was enough for me to know she would rather hop on a plane and fly to New Orleans than stay in Moon. “Fine, what did you have in mind?”
“Can you do a tracking spell to find Holly? I’m sure the council will do one, but they won’t share their findings with the rest of you guys. I need to know where she is going and what she’s up to.”
“Easy peasy,” Fiona said with confidence. I could almost see her rolling her eyes and wishing for a challenge. “Give me fifteen minutes.”
I hung the phone up and turn to see both Dorian and Eddie were watching me.
“Holly’s escape doesn’t bode well,” Dorian said, his forehead creasing.