The Audacity of Demons Read online

  I didn’t address what she’d said about Blaze. It was tacky and irrelevant.

  Blaze had said she wasn’t involved with Nova, but even if that had changed, it was nobody’s business. What bothered me most about Nova was that the guy was an incubus. Not the easiest lover to measure up against.

  Did I want to share her? Not particularly. But I had no claim on her. We’d spent one night together, and though it felt like we’d forged a true friendship, she didn’t owe me exclusivity.

  However, Tavi had instilled a curiosity. When everything died down, Blaze and I could talk.

  Tavi’s brown wolf eyes gleamed with quiet fury. She slumped against the door and softly growled, “Fine, whatever. Can we go?”

  Everyone in the car was quiet when I hit the gas to get moving again. My phone lit up on the dash with a text from Smudge telling me where to meet the car that would take the vampire we’d freed. After making the thankfully uneventful drop, we made our way to the house. The nerves that held me so stiff didn’t ease until we turned into the garage to find the SUV already inside.

  I tried to help Tavi inside, but she swatted me back and stubbornly limped away. Corr hopped out of the car and shifted, finding his clothing in the back of the SUV. The two of us helped Ira inside while Dalyn ran ahead to open the door for everyone.

  We were greeted by Retta who was ready to assist with injuries. She took one look at Ira’s leg and uttered a prayer littered with obscenities. Unable to hobble far, we made him comfortable in the rarely used sitting room off the front hall.

  “Are you alright?” I asked Dalyn who stood in the front entry taking deep breaths. She was shaken and bruised but uninjured.

  Lips pressed into a tight thin line, she considered the question. “I think so. I will be.”

  “Can you help Retta? I need to check on Blaze.”

  Dalyn nodded and gave me a gentle push. “Yeah, no problem. Go make sure she’s ok.”

  “She’s in her bedroom,” Retta called over a shoulder as she cut open Ira’s pants to get a good look at his wounded leg. “Ghost took her up there. She’s going to need blood.”

  It was a warning I didn’t need. I saw what Blaze had done to those agents. She would understandably be weak. Taking the stairs three at a time, I told myself that I’d have hurried this hard for anyone else. Not just her.

  I told myself a damn lie.

  Her door was ajar. I knocked anyway as I stuck my head inside. “Blaze? Can I come in?”

  Ghost had put her on the bed. He sat on the edge next to her, smoothing back the hair that had come loose from her braid. “You need blood, doll. We should have gone to Wicked. You’re in no shape to hunt.”

  Propped against a pile of pillows, Blaze turned to me, her pupils dilating as the bloodlust hit her. I approached her slowly, searching her eyes to make sure she hadn’t crossed into a rabid level of hunger. It could happen, and it wasn’t pretty when it did. I’d seen vampires go from civil and friendly to savage and ruthless after being so severely weakened.

  “You need blood? You got it. Just don’t tear my carotid out, ok?” I forced a smile but it wasn’t easy. Not with her sitting there looking like death warmed over.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she teased with a vicious edge to her voice. But her smile reassured me that she wasn’t that far gone.

  Ghost slid down toward the foot of the bed, giving me room to sit next to her. Feeling like utter shit, I touched the gash on her arm where I’d clawed her. “Fuck, Blaze, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s not your fault it set me off.” She caught my hand in hers, and I was surprised at the strength of her grip for how fragile she appeared. “Clearly, I have some shit I need to work on.”

  “We all do, otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” I teased, trying to lighten the morose mood.

  Blaze pulled my wrist close and sniffed my vein, her eyes closing in something like bliss. When they snapped open, she focused on my neck. Probably a foolhardy sentiment but I trusted her. So when she abandoned my wrist and went for my neck, I let her.

  The sting of her sexy little fangs turned into a gentle, almost enjoyable burn. The moist lap of her tongue followed. She sucked hard enough to bruise, her delicate hands lost in my hair.

  As Blaze fed, I clenched both fists, trying to will my boner down. If she hadn’t been so weak, I’d have laid her down and shown her how crazy her touch made me, Ghost or not.

  Behind me Ghost untied Blaze’s boots, sliding them from her feet one at a time before setting them on the floor. Even though I faced her, she’d turned my head when she bit so I could see his hand slide around her ankle, moving up over her knee toward the inside of her thigh. Her hands tightened in my hair.

  As she drew on my blood, I became very much aware that I was alone in a room with two vampires. They could tag team me and bleed me dry, and I’d be fucked. I should have been wary at the very least, but I was rock hard and ready to go wherever she took me.

  Blaze released my neck with a sigh. Sliding one hand down my face, she crushed her mouth to mine. She moaned softly against my lips and spread her legs slightly, a coy invitation for Ghost.

  A dizzy wave of lightheadedness struck, and I couldn’t be sure if it was the blood loss or the rush of having her bite me again. The intimacy of it astounded me every time. Not that I played victim for many vampires. Though there had been a few in the past.

  Nobody like Blaze though. She was dynamite. It was in her eyes, her touch, her bite. I couldn’t help but want more of her. And it didn’t surprise me that I wasn’t the only one.

  Before any of us could discover where this might go, a startlingly loud knock at the door broke us apart. Nova didn’t wait, he walked right in. His eyes swept the scene before him. Surprise flashed across his face before recognition settled in. I don’t think he expected to find Ghost and me with her like that. If it bothered Nova, he didn’t show it.

  His attention settled on Blaze. “Tell me exactly what happened out there.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Nova’s timing could have been better. He paced in front of my bed, listening while the three of us gave him a play by play of what happened with the Feds.

  “Nobody else came on the scene? The vampire was safely dropped off to Smudge’s guys?” Nova fired several more questions at us, barely giving us time to answer. Once he was satisfied that everything had gone as planned, he asked Ghost and Rayne to leave.

  My stomach flipped. I was pretty sure, if Nova had arrived ten minutes later, he’d have found the three of us engaged in a lot more than a kiss and a bite. Ghost’s hand on my thigh and Rayne’s mouth on mine had promised an experience I very much wanted to have. With lively wolf blood rushing through me, imbuing me with strength, I’d been ready to give myself to the two of them.

  I was sure they shared my disappointment as they slipped from the room, leaving me alone with the demon. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I got up too, feeling tired but more like myself.

  Nova gazed after the others like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Shoving a hand through his long hair, my gaze was drawn to the splash of black ink down the side of his face, over the edge of one eye. Also, pretty damn sexy.

  I touched the edge of it, and my finger came away smudged with black. “What’s this?”

  “Just a little dramatic demon flare. Keeps people on their toes.” Nova caught my hand, rubbing my fingertip on his hooded shirt. “I’m sorry about what happened out there. As soon as I knew about your blood magic, I should have started helping you learn to control it.”

  I shook my head so vigorously, my braid flipped over my shoulder to slap my cheek. “I need people to stop apologizing to me because I fucked up. Because that’s what really happened, Nova. I bled, my magic went crazy, and it was nothing short of a miracle that I didn’t kill my own people. It’s only a matter of time until The Circle decides I’m too much of a liability.”

  Nova stood near the dresser,
watching me nervously pick apart my braid. “They won’t. They’ll know only what I tell them. I won’t let them hurt you, cherry bomb. Besides, the way everyone tells it, you saved their asses out there.”

  “This time,” I muttered, tossing my hair tie onto the coffee table near the couch. Shaking out my long locks, I longed to throw my sore body into the bathtub.

  Hands shoved into the pockets of the long jacket he wore, Nova watched me with an expression I couldn’t read. Finally he shocked me by saying, “Do you want out, Blaze?”

  Unsure I’d heard him properly, I searched his crimson eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you want out?” he repeated, frowning like he didn’t want to be giving me this opportunity but couldn’t stop himself from saying it either. “I can get you out. It won’t be easy—hiding from The Circle comes at a hefty price—but if you want out, I’ll make it happen.”

  I could have cried, and when I was alone in the bath later, I would. Red tears of blood and gratitude. Of course I wanted out.

  At least, I thought I did. Until I considered packing my bags and leaving.

  So much had changed already in the brief time I’d been here. Despite the losses and my lack of control, I felt satisfied with what we’d achieved. The objective had been to free the vampire prisoner, and we’d done that.

  Vic had been an unfortunate victim of the FPA. A reckless loose cannon, Adam had gotten himself killed. We hadn’t formed any kind of tie, but their deaths made a heavy reminder of what I faced if I stayed. Even so, I’d come to care about people here. Ghost and Rayne. Corr. Dalyn as well. Though she was a huge pain in the ass, Tavi too.

  Anything could happen to them. To me. To any of us.

  But were my odds really any better out there, running from The Circle, than they were in here, working my ass off to show them that they were wrong about me?

  “I’ll stay.” I clasped my hands together as if that somehow finalized the decision. Was I imagining things or did relief flicker across Nova’s face? “Thank you though. I appreciate the offer more than you know.”

  Pushing away from the dresser, he crossed the few strides to where I stood by the couch. Twisting a lock of my hair around two fingers, Nova leaned down to kiss me, a soft, barely there touch of his lips brushing mine. “I’m going to train you to be the lethal weapon I know you are,” he promised. “We start as soon as you feel up to it.”

  Thanks to Rayne, I felt more like myself again, not a weak, lethargic, mumbling, incoherent mess. But I’d need a solid day of rest followed by a night of enjoying as many victims as I possibly could.

  “Give me a night or two,” I said with a tired sigh. “Then I’m all yours.”

  “Are you?” Nova taunted with a mischievous laugh. “That’s not how it looked when I walked in here. I knew you were bad. Does it take more than one man to satisfy you, Blaze?”

  A small embarrassed laugh bubbled up, and I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle it. The demon sure had a way of keeping me on my toes. I flashed him a playful wink. “I’ve never had more than one man at a time. But hey, I’m open to trying new things. Would you like to be one of them, Nova?”

  Since Rem, I’d taken what I wanted from men and moved on. I didn’t let anyone get too close. So this was all new to me. My trust wasn’t easily given, and I didn’t hand it over unearned now either. But I couldn’t deny the connections I’d been forming.

  It scared me but in the most exhilarating way.

  “I will be anything you want me to be, beautiful.” Nova caught my hand in his and pulled me into his embrace. His hug was warm and unexpectedly pleasant. Comforting. “Just don’t expect any of them to measure up to me. Because they won’t.” With a wicked grin he flashed fangs and headed for the door.

  I sank down onto the couch as he disappeared from sight.

  Nova had offered me freedom and I’d turned him down. Had I made a huge mistake? No, it wouldn’t be freedom at all if The Circle of the Veil considered me to be a fugitive. They had eyes and ears everywhere. I’d seen it myself.

  What I had to admit to myself was that I wanted to stay. Despite my fears and uncertainties, Mayhem House was what I wanted. And that surprised the hell out of me.

  EPILOGUE

  The scent of chlorine clung to Rayne as he came in from the pool. When he purposely shook the water from his hair right over top of me, I squealed and slapped his arm. Next to me Dalyn leaned away to avoid any splash back.

  Summer hung heavy on the air tonight. The patio doors that led from the large living room out to the pool stood wide open, allowing the night breeze in. A set of chimes hanging outside jingled in the breeze, a sound that had grown familiar.

  Tonight was our night. No outings, no Nova, no training, no jobs for The Circle. We’d congregated in the living room to shoot pool and relax in a place where we could be safe with one another. Even the antisocial types, Ghost, Corr, and Tavi, had joined us.

  Food and drink weren’t my thing, but I’d taken a few puffs of Rayne’s joint earlier. That was enough for me. Human vices didn’t appeal to me the way they once had. Now my vices skewed toward a little too much blood and men I shouldn’t want the way I did.

  Especially the one who was running Mayhem House.

  “Oh, crap. That’s unfortunate.” Dalyn giggled at the pizza sauce she’d just splatted on her white shirt.

  Someone had supplied food, liquor, and weed. That someone was Rayne.

  When Dalyn’s glazed, bloodshot eyes met mine, I shook my head. “Don’t get any of that on me.”

  Ghost lingered in the dark corner behind the pool table. He and Tavi shot a game, but every so often I glanced up to find his focus on me. I hadn’t expected him to stay tonight. Ghost usually left the house every chance he got. It was nice having him here.

  I hadn’t had the fortune of finding myself alone with Rayne and him again. Yet.

  Twice this week I had slipped from my room to spend the day in Rayne’s bed where he happily welcomed me. Whatever Rayne and I were, we didn’t broadcast it to the rest of the house, but we didn’t hide it either. Maybe we were risking a lot by being together in any way, but we weren’t exactly in the best situation. Why shouldn’t we let ourselves find some joy in this place?

  No sooner had I had the thought than Nova’s heavy footfalls announced his arrival. A week had passed since the night we’d intercepted the FPA transport. We’d started working on my blood magic, but it was off to a slow start. He was a busy guy, constantly on the go. How much of his secretive disappearances were related to The Circle, I didn’t know.

  He strode into the room looking annoyed and frazzled. “Oh good, you’re all in one place. Saves me the hassle of rounding you up.”

  Everyone paused their activity. Food was put down on plates, pool cues twirled loosely between fingers. Even Corr set his paperback aside.

  Rayne puffed on a joint he must have produced from the pocket of the gray sweatpants he’d slipped on after his swim. “So you’re not here to get drunk with us?”

  Dismissing his remark with an eye roll, Nova made sure he had our full attention. “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that The Circle was impressed with the prison transport job. The bad news? The FPA was not. They’ve already taken action. Beefing up security at their headquarters and bringing in more agents.”

  “So what does that mean?” I asked, alarmed. The FPA already had us outnumbered. Nova had said more rogues would join us, but there was no telling when that would be.

  “It means that we also need to step up our game. Some of you will act as spies, doing whatever you can to get close to these agents. I’ll need moles on the inside if possible.” Nova paused, rustling his wings restlessly. These orders came down from above, and he didn’t seem happy about them. “Shit’s about to get real.”

  Not the peppiest of pep talks. It left me with a sinking sensation. Could I handle whatever I was about to be thrown headlong into? I sure as shit hoped so. A few days a
go Nova had asked me again if I was sure about staying. I was. But that didn’t mean I looked forward to facing off against the FPA.

  Nova didn’t hang around. Once he’d delivered his message he was on his way. But not before sliding me a longing glance. Yeah, I felt it too. Just looking at him made my breath come a little faster.

  “Well, he sure knows how to rain on a parade, doesn’t he?” Staring mournfully at her half-eaten pizza slice, Dalyn tossed it back in the box on the coffee table. “Suddenly not feeling so hot.”

  “That’s just the booze,” Rayne quipped, offering the joint that puffed sweet smoke throughout the room. “Here. This will set you straight.”

  Despite the skepticism that knit her brow, Dalyn accepted the joint and took a puff before coughing it out and handing it back. “Yeah, I don’t know. I think I might be sick.”

  I wasn’t sure how much she’d had to drink before I’d arrived. I wanted to reassure Dalyn that she’d be fine, but I only managed to silently press a glass of water into her hand while gawking at Rayne’s shirtless, tattooed torso. Still speckled with water drops from his swim, the twisting vines of black roses inked on his back invited my touch. With a little concentration I managed to keep my hands to myself when all I wanted was to run my tongue over the wolf paw above his hip.

  Before I could avert my hungry gaze, he saw the desire in my eyes. With the joint squeezed between his thumb and forefinger, he took a long drag before saying, “Looks like you could benefit from a dip in the pool. Kind of like a cold shower but more refreshing.” Mischief stole over his face.

  I stiffened, gripping the arm of the couch. “Don’t even think about it, Rayne, no.”

  “I’m thinking yes.” Rayne waggled his brows and passed the joint off to Corr who accepted it without looking up from his book. Must be a good one.

  Tightening my hold on the couch, I braced for what I knew was coming. With my other hand I grabbed for Dalyn.