Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (28 page)

“Bye, girls,” she said as she rounded the counter.

“Get some sleep.” Meena winked.

“Or better yet—
don’t.
” Josie grinned. “And bring another of his friends in here tomorrow!”

Enza shook her head and walked to Brenin’s table. True to his word, he had eaten one of every single food item she’d baked. He stood as she neared. “Ready?”

She nodded. “I don’t know how you ate all that.”

“It’s easy, when it’s damn good.” He tossed his empty coffee cup in the trash. “And now I won’t need to eat for a day or two.” He prowled to the door ahead of her, pausing, blue eyes calculating, before opening it. “Car’s right there.” With a nod down the street, he pressed the button and the big black Escalade beeped twice.

Enza slid onto the soft leather seat, every muscle tired. “I’m not used to operating on so little sleep. Sorry if I’m not much for conversation.”

“No worries. You work your ass off in that place. Rest up.” Brenin guided the huge SUV into traffic.

The movement of the car lulled her, and Enza closed her eyes. Just for a second…

She opened them with a gasp, seeing darkness around her.

“Relax, sleepyhead.” Brenin chuckled as he opened his car door. “We’re in the underground garage. Here, let me carry your stuff.”

“Okay.” She got out, greeted with the scents of oil and dust, and followed Brenin to the metal door. His rapid fingers flew across the keypad and the door clicked open, revealing the basement of the gorgeous home.

They walked up a stairway and emerged into the kitchen—that dream kitchen—where she locked on to Rhys’s handsome face like a lifeline. He stood at the island, scrolling through his phone, looking huge and protective and perfect. The perfect person to come home to.

Whoa…before she could process that thought, he set down his phone and caught her in his embrace, strong arms around her like a cage that no one could ever break through.

She sighed into his chest and slid her hands around his waist. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He stroked a finger along her jaw and tilted her head up. “How was work?”

“I was tired, but I got everything done. And Brenin was popular. Oh, I brought you—”

Faster than she could blink, Rhys’s warm mouth covered hers. Who needed to talk, anyway? She skimmed her hands up his chest to link behind his neck, letting him bend her back as he kissed her. His hard body against hers felt like home. His familiar, clean soap smell was the best thing in the world, and as his tongue lashed hers with velvet strokes, she didn’t care who else was in the room.

“Hey, Brenin.” A female voice said. “If Enza made that, you better share.” The scent of roses drifted close. “I would tell you two to get a room, but you’re probably headed upstairs soon anyway.”

Rhys pulled back, framing Enza’s face in his hands. “Upstairs later. You and me,” he murmured, husky and inviting.

“Mmm-hmm.” Her brain couldn’t manage more than that. He overloaded her senses in the best way. She turned to see Miranda eyeing them with a grin. “Hi.” Geez, did Miranda ever not look like a model? “I brought food. And I have so much to tell you.”

“I kind of heard already.” Miranda raised her hand for a high five.

Enza smacked it. “You did?”

“Yup.” The demoness opened the box of muffins and picked one. “These guys are like gossipy teenagers sometimes, I swear. But great job yesterday. Seriously.”

“I guess I need a lot of work.”

“It’ll come. Mmm, this smells amazing.” Miranda took a bite.

Enza turned back to Rhys. “Did you find anything out today? I hope I didn’t crash all your programs just by being in the house last night.”

He chuckled. “No, it’ll take more than you to crash my stuff.”

Brenin pulled a water bottle from the fridge and cracked it. “What’d you find online, tech-boy?”

Rhys ran a hand over his hair and his expression darkened. “Not enough, or rather, exactly what I would expect from someone who wants to stay invisible.”

A frisson of worry crawled up Enza’s spine. “What do you mean, not enough?”

“I found his transactions with gold dealers, bank accounts, credit cards. But nothing that’ll tell me where he is right now, or what his agenda is.” He blew out a breath. “So I decided we needed good old-fashioned scrying.” He gave a chin lift to Miranda.

“What’s that?” Enza asked.

“Another power you might have.” Miranda winked.

Enza stared at her then at Rhys. “Another one?”

He trailed a hand down her back. “It’s like a magic mirror. You see what someone else is doing, wherever they are in the world.”

“And you’ll see me do it soon.” Miranda rocked on her heels, excitement coloring her porcelain cheeks. “I’m pretty psyched to show you.”

“Don’t you need something to help the process along?” Brenin asked.

“Yup. We picked up stuff from the Austin apartment this morning. Then visited the landlord, checked his ledgers and, by the way, Soren paid cash for a full year on these places.”

“Places, plural?” Enza asked.

“Yeah. Those two have a second apartment up in Rogers Park. We went there, which was definitely more recently used, and got more items.”

“You did all that while I was at work?” Enza asked. “You’ve been all over the city.”

“Tell me about it.” Miranda rolled her eyes. “Are we ready? Do we want to include the rest of your crew?”

“Yeah. I want them all here. The more eyes on these two, the better,” Rhys said.

“I’ll go get their asses out of bed,” Brenin said, walking out of the kitchen.

They were still in bed? Then she remembered they’d stayed up all night, patrolling. “Tell them I brought muffins. That might help,” Enza said. “Oh, Rhys—I brought you some pound cake.” She took it out of the muffin box and handed it to him.

He unwrapped it and took a huge bite. “Have I told you, you’re the best?”

She tilted her head and let her eyes devour his body. “No.”

“You are.” Bite by bite, he stared at her. “Amazing.”

Enza’s tummy flipped as she watched his mouth. Miranda gave a much-put-upon sigh, walked to the TV area, and flopped down on the leather couch.

Rhys ate all but one small bite, which he offered to her. She opened her mouth, tasting his skin as well as the cake as his fingers lingered for an extra second. He was so big, so strong, so sexy—too much for her to resist. She grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips, sucking one finger in and swirling with her tongue.

A growl rose from his throat. “Fuck, Enza,” he gritted through clenched teeth. “If my team wasn’t about to come in here I’d bend you over this counter.” He hooked an arm around her neck, keeping her close while he whispered in her ear. “I’d pull down your pants and spank your sexy ass. I’d tease you with the tip of my cock until you beg for all of me. Then I’d spank you again for being so naughty with your mouth. I’ll make you wet, I’ll make you ache, and then I’ll fill you so deep you scream.”

Enza’s eyes slid closed and a whimper escaped her lips. Liquid heat pooled between her legs at his bold words. She released his finger and he crashed his mouth down on hers for a savage kiss. Oh my god. Was she in over her head? Or was Rhys her personal white knight?

“Jesus, you two, cool it the fuck down,” Miranda muttered from the couch.

Noise echoed as voices and heavy footsteps drew near. “Thought Miranda was gonna scry.”

“Heard there was food.”

Rhys pulled back, but Enza held on to his arms, because she didn’t know if her legs would support her after that kiss.

“Hey, Enza.” Jude, the other blond warrior, strode in. “Congrats on the power.”

“Thanks.” Maybe making out in the kitchen was no big deal for this group. She could only hope.

Tor came in next, pulling on a T-shirt. “Hi, Enza,” he greeted. “You’re too good for us, you know that.” He grabbed a muffin.

A forty-ish looking man wandered in next, whose physique was nothing like the other men’s. He had to be the same height as Enza and his hair was a mop of frizzy brown. “Hello there,” he said warmly. “I’m Rilan.”

“I’m Enza.” She smiled, unsure if she was supposed to stick out her hand.

He didn’t seem to mind that she didn’t. “We’re glad to have you with us. You may stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you.” She glanced at the box, which had one muffin left. “I brought some stuff from work. This last one is for you.”

“You’d better eat it before Jude does,” Tor warned.

Rilan chuckled. “Don’t mind if I do.” He reached into the box and grabbed it.

“All righty.” Miranda stood and cracked her knuckles. “Everyone had a snack, everyone is acquainted. Shall we get down to business?”

“Yes,” Rhys said. “Let’s find those assholes.”

“Can you bring me a water bottle?” Miranda asked.

“Sure.” Rhys got one from the fridge and then took Enza’s hand, leading her to the great room.

“Enza should sit next to me.” Miranda took the water, sat, and patted the cushion next to her.

Enza sat down. Miranda got out a collapsible bowl from her bag, shook it open, set it on the coffee table in front of her, and poured in some water. Next she took out a small vial of clear liquid and dropped two drops in. “We need the bottled water to form the surface, so we can see,” she explained and pointed at the vial. “This is just water too, but it’s from Torth, from a spring that originates at a confluence of ley lines. I can use this, as can other Deserati with this skill. But if another creature attempts to scry, this won’t work for them.”

“What are ley lines?” Enza asked.

“Like magical power lines that run beneath the ground,” Rhys sat on her other side. “That’s how Torth has power. Earth has them too, but they’re much weaker.”

The other men gathered around the coffee table. Miranda reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a Ziploc bag with…a sock? “May I have some scissors, please?”

“On it.” Brenin headed to the kitchen.

Enza scrunched her nose. “Um…”

“Yeah, I know. Gross. But useful. If you have an item that belongs to the person you need to find, or a hair from them, that will help immensely.” Miranda took the scissors from Brenin and snipped off a bit of fabric. “And we can keep using this.”

“We can?” Just when she thought things couldn’t get any weirder, they did.

“Yes, and by the way, this isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to use. But we’ll save that story for later.” Miranda dropped the cotton into the bowl and began speaking in a language Enza had never heard before. Her voice was rhymic and soft. Miranda focused on her bowl, as did everyone else.

Enza turned to Rhys, confused. “What’s happening?” she whispered.

“Watch there.” He pointed to the bowl, and held onto her hand.

Enza stared as a mist formed on the surface of the bowl. Like tiny dancing wisps and clouds, it swirled across the small space and rose into the air. Miranda stopped speaking.

The mist cleared. And there, as if the water were actually a tiny movie screen, an image appeared.

“That’s them!” Enza sucked in a breath. The two men who had chased them stood with a group of others—outdoors—in a harsh, sloping, mountainous area…what the hell? “What are…who are…”

“Holy shit, they’re with Splinter,” Rhys growled next to her.

Muttered curses from everyone else filled the room. Enza sat, stunned, at the creatures represented in the bowl. Red skin covered humanoid forms and their eyes blazed yellow in long pointy faces. They looked like comic cartoon devils. “Who are those…um…” What to even call them? Monsters? Demons?

“Those are Ghaszul demons. And they’re on Torth,” Rhys said grimly.

“What? You can see into another dimension?” She turned to Miranda.

“Not another dimension, but another realm. And those fuckers live on Torth, because they’d stick out like a sore thumb here.” Miranda grimaced.

“Most Ghaszuls are bad news. But Splinter is even more so,” Rhys said. “They live and hide in those mountains, in caves and tunnels. They deal drugs and all kinds of shit to make money. Mother fuckers.”

“And the Deserati are meeting with them?” Brenin shook his head. “This is bad.”

Some of the red-skinned demons moved, and suddenly Enza saw a petite blond female gripped by the arm by one of the Deserati. One Ghaszul put a pair of handcuffs on her as tears poured down her face. “Oh my god! Who is that?”

Beside her, Rhys let out a long string of curses. “I. Will. Kill. Them. Goddamn cocksuckers.”

All eyes turned to Rhys. “Her name is Cara. She’s a nymph…long story, but Enza and I sort of ran into her and a friend the other night.”

We did?
Enza struggled to remember, then things clicked into place. The nymphs that had been all touchy feely after the street festival…oh no.

“I checked the Chicago police files this morning. She was on the missing persons list. I noticed, didn’t think much of it at the time.” Rhys clenched his fist. “Goddamn it.”

“Why would two Deserati turn a nymph over to Splinter?” Jude asked.

“She might have crossed them, and now has to deal with the consequences,” Tor said. “We don’t know anything else about her.”

“Maybe,” mused Jude.

“Not to be insensitive, but…” Enza felt like crap even suggesting this, but all she had heard was how nymphs liked sex…

“I can guess what you’re thinking,” Miranda said. “And if they wanted a female for sex, they could grab one from anywhere on Torth. Not that that makes it okay in any sense, in any time. But why go to the trouble of involving two Desertai and taking someone from here? There are a lot more nymphs onTorth.”

Brenin fiddled with an Xbox controller. “Should we call Arawn?”

“He should know about this, about how these two pursued you and seem to be aligned with Splinter,” Rilan said. “But I don’t know if he’ll act on this handover. Infiltrating Splinter is a dangerous undertaking, and we don’t know the whole story. I don’t like how this appears, but at the same time, a nymph, kidnapped by Deserati? May not merit action in Arawn’s mind.”

“Do they want to kidnap me?” Enza asked. She couldn’t tear her eyes from Cara’s terrified face. Enza felt awful for pushing her away before, even though she wasn’t interested in sex with nymphs. But hey, to each their own.