He growled inaudibly and shook his head. Thinking like that wouldn’t help him get his boner down.
But he couldn’t tear himself away from watching her. He was fascinated by her. And one thing was totally different about her now. While she’d been unconscious, he’d literally been able to see her hair grow. It now cascaded over her back in a thick mane. While he’d certainly thought she was attractive with her short spiky hair, the way the long hair caressed her face and shoulders was just utterly distracting. He had no idea why it was suddenly long; for sure, it was some strange vampire trait. And he wasn’t interested at all in knowing about it. That’s right. He didn’t care one whit.
Just like Kimberly, he now observed Yvette as she approached the door, tested it with her hand, sniffed for who knew what, and then stepped back. A second later, she landed a high karate kick against the lock. But instead of the door splintering under her forceful move—and he’d never seen a woman so strong—she was propelled backwards and slammed into the concrete wall a dozen feet behind her. Haven flinched instinctively, wondering how much pain she could take.
“What the fuck?” she grumbled.
But she was already up and lunged toward the door again. Haven knew it would be useless and interceded her path. “It’s no use.”
“Get out of my way!”
“The door is protected by wards.”
“Wards?” Recognition slowly seeped into her features. Then she pushed him back, away from her enticing body and drugging scent. “You made a deal with a witch?”
Haven crossed his arms over his chest, feeling the need to defend himself. “I had no choice.” He needed to save his brother, who he still hadn’t seen since he’d been imprisoned here. He felt increasingly uneasy about the developments. If he could only figure out what the witch wanted from all of them, then maybe he could devise a plan of how to get out of this mess. But without that—
“There’s always a choice. You chose to get involved with a witch. No wonder you were able to knock me out. I should have known. All you are is a weak human, and look where you ended up.”
Had his hearing just failed him? “Are you telling me I’m inferior to you?”
“What if I am?”
Haven clenched his teeth, ready to strangle the woman.
“Stop it!” Kimberly’s determined voice made his head snap into her direction. “You both are acting like spoiled brats!”
He quirked an eyebrow. Had the kettle just called the pot black? Maybe the girl wasn’t quite as immature as she’d let on. He took a step away from Yvette. “I can take a hint.”
“If it’s delivered with a sledgehammer,” Yvette muttered under her breath.
He glanced back at her over his shoulder. “I heard that.”
“You were supposed to.”
“Damn it, didn’t I just tell you guys to stop?” Kimberly threw up her hands in capitulation. “What are you? Twelve?”
She did have a point.
“Since you both consider yourselves such great fighters, why don’t you use your energy to get us out of here? Frankly, I have no intention of staying here any longer. I’m not into camping, and I need a shower.” She sighed, studying her fingernails. “And a manicure.”
Before Haven had the chance to make a snide remark about Kimberly’s last words, the door opened. Wesley stumbled in, or rather was pushed in by the witch who remained on the other side of the threshold.
“Wesley!” Haven rushed to his brother and hugged him. He appeared a little shell-shocked but seemed to recover quickly.
“Oh, shit, Hav, I’m sorry.” The mumbled emotion reflected in his downcast eyes.
“I see you haven’t killed the vampire yet,” Bess droned.
Haven whipped his head first to her and then to Yvette, who stood in the middle of the room ready to attack. “Don’t, Yvette. She’s too strong.”
“Vampire?” Wesley tossed an angry look at Yvette. “Oh, I wish I had a stake!”
“Now, you’re talking!” Bess whistled. “Your brother has one.”
Haven held a hand against Wesley’s chest, trying to stop him from doing anything stupid, which he realized was exactly what his brother was about two seconds away from. “She won’t hurt us.”
“Wait until she’s hungry enough,” the witch hedged, stirring things up like a potion in a cauldron.
Haven looked at Yvette at that moment and noticed how she flinched. Bess had hit the nail right on its head. Shit, he hadn’t thought of that. “How long are you planning to keep us here?” he asked without taking his eyes off Yvette.