Dark Descendant (20 page)

and resist gorging herself. Just one more reason to hate her.

“Well, Blake came in to pick up a cake he’d ordered, and we got to talking, and …”

Steph frowned as she watched my face go white. “What’s wrong?”

“Please tell me his name isn’t Blake Porter.”

“You know him?” she asked, looking both confused and worried. “Oh, God, is he

someone
you’re
interested in?”

“Blake?” I cried with a comical squeak. “Hell no!” The blood that had drained from my

face when Steph said Blake’s name came back in a rush, my cheeks heating with rage I did my

best to tamp down. “I am going to kill him,” I muttered under my breath, though of course I

wasn’t physically capable of killing him. But shooting him a couple more times might turn out to

be therapeutic. No wonder he’d taken to playing friendly with me lately—he must have found it

really amusing to hold out an olive branch while secretly stabbing me in the back.

“What’s going on?” Steph asked, shaking her head. “This isn’t the stalker guy, is it?

Please tell me my taste in men isn’t
that
bad.”

For a split second, I was tempted to lie, tempted to tell Steph that yes, indeed, Blake was

the wannabe client who was making my life miserable and who had indirectly threatened her. I

resisted the temptation, but it wasn’t due to any goodwill toward Blake. I just didn’t want Steph

to let her guard down because she thought she knew who the bad guy was.

“No, he’s not the guy,” I said through gritted teeth. “But he’s bad news anyway. He’s

messed up in this whole business.”

“You’ve got to give me more to go on than that.”

“I can’t,” I told her for the millionth time. She was getting sick of hearing it, and I was

getting sick of saying it.

“Fine,” Steph retorted, thumping her coffee cup back down on the table. “If you’re not

going to tell me why you think he’s bad news, then there’s no reason for me not to see him

again.”

“Please just trust me on this.”

She folded her arms. “I’ve had enough, Nikki. I like Blake a lot, and it’s going to take

more than your cryptic warnings to make me give up on him before we even have a chance.”

I wanted to kick the table in frustration. I almost wished Steph really
were
my biological

sister. Then I’d have a good reason to tell her everything I’d learned about Descendants and the

Liberi
. But that was selfish of me. If I could go back to the days when I’d been blissfully

ignorant, I’d have done so in an instant, immortality be damned. I wasn’t going to shatter Steph’s

perfect world, even if I thought there was any chance she’d believe me.

“He’s not what he seems, Steph,” I said, knowing I was still being too vague to convince

her of anything. “Just like Alexis called me on your phone to get to me, Blake is trying to seduce

you to get even with me for … something I did.” I was slipping a bit—I’d almost said “for

shooting him,” which would have left me majorly screwed.

Steph pushed back her chair with a loud scrape. “You know, Nikki, the world doesn’t

actually revolve around you, no matter what you might think.”

I gaped at her, shocked into silence by her accusation. I didn’t think the world revolved

around me. What the hell was she talking about?

“You don’t get to order me around and expect me to do whatever you say just because.

I’m an adult, and capable of making my own decisions. You won’t tell me what you think is

wrong with Blake? Then I’ll just have to find out for myself.”

“Steph, it’s not—”

“Stop it, okay? I don’t know what kind of power trip you’re on with all these mysterious

secrets and threats, but I’m not playing that game anymore. I’m sick to death of being treated like some ditzy blond who can’t handle the truth. You have two choices: tell me the truth, or butt

out.”

There was nothing I could say that was going to fix this. I couldn’t explain what Blake

was, what he could do, or why he might want to do it. And if I couldn’t explain, Steph was going

to ignore any warning I tried to give her.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, Steph,” I told her, though her closed-off expression

said she didn’t want to hear anything I had to say just then.

Steph shook her head and picked up her shopping bags. “I know you think I’ve led this

easy, charmed life and I need someone stronger and more worldly, like you, to take care of me.

I’m sorry you had such a sucky childhood before you became part of our family, but just because

I haven’t been through that kind of hell doesn’t make me the weakling you’ve always thought. I

don’t need your protection, and I don’t want it, either.”

With one last angry look, Steph headed for the door, leaving me sitting at the table

feeling utterly wretched.

FIFTEEN

I drove back to
the mansion in something of a daze. I had never seen Steph so angry

before. And the things she’d said…

I knew I was carrying around a load of baggage everywhere I went. How could I not have

baggage after everything I’d been through as a kid? But I’d never realized how it had affected

Steph. I could freely admit to myself that I was jealous of her at times, but I thought I kept those

unworthy emotions well hidden. It had never occurred to me that
she
might have any ill feelings

toward
me
.

Steph had been the ideal older sister from the moment I’d moved into the Glasses’ house.

I was a sullen handful of bad behavior during that first year, when I was sure the Glasses would

be as temporary as any of my other foster families. Not that we hadn’t ever fought—she was

ideal, but she wasn’t perfect, and a saint couldn’t have put up with all the crap I pulled when I

first moved in. But she’d never seemed to harbor any real resentment.

Had her words today meant I’d been seeing her through rose-colored glasses this whole

time? Deep inside, did she hate me for having usurped a portion of her parents’ love? Surely she

didn’t really think I was self-centered. Did she? I mean, I was self-
sufficient
, but that wasn’t the same thing. I was almost sure of it.

I brooded and wallowed right up until I reached the gates of the mansion. Then, as I

waited for the gates to open, I swallowed my hurt feelings and summoned up my righteous

indignation. I might not have been able to convince Steph that Blake was bad news, but I could

sure as hell make him rue the day he decided to mess with my sister.

I entered the house like a guided missile.

I climbed the stairs two at a time, practically sprinting to my room to get my gun. I hadn’t

liked leaving it behind, but I’d worried what Steph would say if she saw it. A physical sensation

of relief flowed though me when my hand closed around the butt of the gun, and I cocked it with

vicious glee.

I pounded down the stairs to the second floor, angrier than I’d ever been in my life.

Angrier even than I’d been when Alexis threatened Steph. It was one thing to have the bad guy

make threats; it was another when the supposed good guys did it.

When Maggie had taken me on the tour of the house, we’d only gone through the public

rooms, so I didn’t know which of the rooms in the west wing belonged to Blake. Come to think

of it, I had no way of knowing if he was even home. That didn’t stop me from marching up to the

second door on the left and pounding on it. Don’t ask me why I chose that particular door—it

just kinda happened that way.

“Blake, you son of a bitch!” I yelled. “Open this door!” I was going to feel like an idiot if

this wasn’t his room, but I was running on adrenaline and instinct and ignored all logical

concerns.

The door cracked open and I lunged forward, holding it open with my body so Blake

couldn’t slam it on me. He took a startled step back, and by the time he recovered, my gun was

aimed squarely at his forehead. His eyes widened, and he held his hands up as if to show he

wasn’t armed. I was fully prepared to shoot if I felt the slightest hint he was about to use his aura

against me, but he wasn’t an idiot. We’d already established that I could pull the trigger faster

than he could put me under.

“You stay the hell away from my sister,” I ordered, and though my hands were shaking

with fury, I didn’t for a moment doubt my aim.

“Take it easy, Nikki,” he said. “I was just—”

“You were just
what
?” I interrupted. “Taking a page out of Alexis’s book and threatening

Steph to keep me under control?”

“I didn’t threaten her!” he snapped, putting his hands down. “I was helping keep an eye

on her, and she happened to notice me. Women do, you know, and it’s not something I can

control.”

“You took her out on a date.” I kept the gun pointed steadily at his forehead.

“I didn’t sleep with her, if that’s what you’re freaking out about. I asked her out because

I’d already blown my cover, and I figured that way I could help protect her without having to try

to hide.”

He sounded perfectly sincere, but how could I believe him? I’d seen how ruthlessly he’d

used that aura before, and the idea of him turning it on Steph made me sick to my stomach.

“I don’t believe you,” I said, moving my aim from his forehead to his crotch. His eyes

went a little wider, and he swallowed hard. I was glad to know he was less scared of me blowing

his brains out than shooting him somewhere
really
important.

“I’m telling the truth,” he said, a little desperately. “If I were the kind of guy who preyed

on innocent bystanders like that, I’d be with the Olympians, not with Anderson.”

For some reason, his words had a ring of truth to them, and I took a baby step back from

the edge. I still kept the gun pointed at his family jewels, but I didn’t feel like I was moments

away from pulling the trigger.

“I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

“I’m one of the few people Alexis is actually afraid of. You saw how he reacted to me in

the diner. He’s not getting within a hundred yards of her as long as I’m around.”

I shook my head. “And I’m supposed to think that letting you seduce her is okay as long

as you keep Alexis away?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to seduce her. I won’t let things go further than a

little flirtation.”

“Why not? Don’t you like women?” I couldn’t imagine there were a whole lot of straight

men who wouldn’t leap at the chance of getting Steph into bed.

To my surprise, Blake blushed. “Yeah, I like women. Look, any chance we can continue

this conversation without you threatening to shoot me? Because you’re almost as berserk as

Jamaal, and it’s getting old.”

Crap. I
was
acting a bit like Jamaal, come to think of it. Assuming the worst and

threatening violence. That wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to be, but I’d already really stuck

my foot in it. “What’s to stop you from doing something nasty with your aura if I put the gun

away?”

“The fact that Anderson would ‘lay hands’ on me if I did. He takes a pretty dim view of

infighting.”

Again, there was that ring of truth. Plus, there was the fact that I couldn’t keep him at

gunpoint forever. Reluctantly, I uncocked the gun and lowered my arm.

Blake let out a sigh of relief. “Just to clarify something: I made some threats to you at the

diner, but I wouldn’t have followed through on them. I’d have used my aura to lower your

inhibitions and get you to go with me, but I wouldn’t have taken advantage of it. I could do it to

Alexis without my conscience uttering a peep, but that’s because I know exactly what he’s

capable of. Rampant abuse of power is an Olympian thing.”

I wasn’t sure whether I believed him or not, but at least he wasn’t on the attack at the

moment.

“So, if you like women, then why aren’t you interested in Steph?”

Once again, he blushed. It was almost cute. Emphasis on “almost.”

“I never said I wasn’t interested. It’s just …” He cleared his throat and looked at the

floor. “As a descendant of Eros, I have certain … skills. If a woman has too much exposure to

those skills, she’ll have a hard time being satisfied with normal men.”

I gaped at him. “I’ve heard men brag about their sexual prowess before, but you take the

cake.”

“It’s not a boast, and I’d turn it off if I could. If I were an Olympian, it wouldn’t bother

me to make a woman unable to achieve satisfaction with another man for the rest of her life, as

long as I enjoyed myself. But I’m not an Olympian, and it
would
bother me. As far as sex is

concerned, I will always have to be a one-night-stand kind of guy. That’s nothing to boast

about.”

I’d never thought learning the guy who was dating Steph was into one night stands would

be a relief. “If you decide to make Steph one of those one night stands, we’ll be having this

conversation again. And I might find myself pulling the trigger by accident. Got it?”

Blake gave me a wide-eyed innocent look. “I got it. Now how about you and your gun do

an about-face and get out of my apartment?”

By that point, I was happy to oblige.

SIXTEEN

I spent the next
couple of days splitting my time between Internet research, locating

every piece of Olympian property within driving distance, and doing some preliminary

reconnaissance. Good old Google Maps let me get satellite views, and I weeded out the