Darkness Taunts (33 page)

“Yeah, I can imagine she’s not in the best of moods.” I looked over at Derrick. “Congratulations. I’m glad you took my advice.”

He gave me a solemn nod. I had a feeling he’d want to talk to me later. Things had changed in my absence. I’d figured I’d have to do a lot more nagging to get him to take that position. Apparently, he’d listened to me and decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for himself. At least I’d managed to accomplish something recently.

“Look, Mel.” Nik drew my attention back to him. “I’m sorry about what happened with that group of sensors. Their behavior is inexcusable, but don’t give up on learning how to use your abilities. If those guys don’t stop the problem down there, it could spread to here. We’ll need you if that happens.”

I gave him a weak smile. “If I had my way, I’d still be in Juneau. You have no idea how bad it really is.”

~~~

Over half the day had passed by the time I got out of bed and headed over to Felisha’s herb shop. I almost didn’t go in when I sensed the female troll I’d met before was inside. She and Felisha looked at me with rounded eyes when I entered. Both of their gazes dropped to my neck. Ugh. Not that crap again.

“I’m not talking about it,” I said.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this on the phone?” Felisha asked.

I walked up and stood by the counter. “Because I was hoping it’d go away kind of like a hickey does. Instead it’s more like herpes. I’m doomed to live with it forever.”

Lucas would be angry if he heard how I described his bite, but I didn’t care. He’d dumped me back in Fairbanks. Whatever we’d started to develop between us was over as far as I was concerned. He could forget coming back and picking up where we left off.

“Mel, you let him claim you. Do you know how huge that is?”

“I didn’t let him,” I grumbled. “He tricked me into it. And don’t tell me it had to be mutual because I’m sick of hearing it.”

“I’ve heard he’s sexy,” the troll spoke up, “for bein’ so tall.”

“He’s an asshole with a God complex, is what he is,” I said.

Her eyes twinkled as she looked me up and down. “Did ya sleep with the asshole?”

My fists clenched. “That’s none of your business.”

She laughed, flashing her sharp teeth. “Ya woulda denied it if ya hadn’t.”

Felisha put a hand on my shoulder. “Mel, did you take care of the demon problem down there?”

“No, Lucas decided it was too dangerous and made me come back here. He thinks he can somehow deal with it himself. I didn’t get a choice in the matter.”

“Men.” The troll shook her head. “They’re always thinkin’ they know what’s best for us. If he had any sense, he’d be lettin’ ya help get rid of them demons.”

“Why don’t you come to my place for dinner tonight?” Felisha asked. “You can see Emily and we can talk some more.”

“Yarrow’s going to be there, isn’t he?” I wasn’t fooled. She wanted another buffer between her and her suitor. I had a feeling she’d be making a campaign to keep Emily there a little while longer too.

A guilty flush crept up her porcelain cheeks. “Yes, he’ll be there.”

I couldn’t really blame her for putting the guy off if she really wasn’t interested in him. If she needed my help to do it, at least it’d give me a distraction from my own problems.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll come.”

She gave me a brilliant smile. “Good. See you at seven.”

Emily rushed outside the moment I pulled up to Felisha’s house. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I held her close for a moment before pulling back. She’d gotten her hair cut. Her bangs were still growing out, but she’d had the ends trimmed back up to shoulder length. She had a face that would make people think she was sweet and innocent. If you looked closer you’d see there was almost always a devilish glint in her eyes. It gave away her real personality.

“So tell me about Yarrow before we go inside.”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s such a sap. Oh, and he has this ugly mole on his neck he hides with glamour. He’d be hot if not for that.”

Hmm, that meant he must be mostly good, but he had to have one dark element about him for something like that to show.

“Did you tell Felisha about it?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Emily kicked some snow around, “but she says it doesn’t matter since she doesn’t want to marry him anyway.”

“How does he act around you?”

She shrugged. “Like a guy trying to impress the woman he wants by being nice to the kid who’s with her.”

One thing about Emily was she had a knack for seeing to the heart of the matter.

“I’ll have to see how he is for myself. Did she get the cats put away?”

“Yeah,” Emily replied. “We have them in the room I’m sleeping in. She made sure to clean up all their loose fur before you got here too.”

We started walking toward Felisha’s small, but beautiful home. I didn’t come here any more than I had to since she had several felines in the house. It was partly my fault since I’d handed off a litter of stray kittens to her that I’d found back in October. She’d kept two for herself in addition to the one she’d already had. If my enemies ever found out all it took to defeat me was throwing a cat in my direction, I’d be doomed.

“Good, I already had one incident in Juneau and don’t need to go through that again so soon.”

Emily snickered. She found my allergy to be a source of amusement ever since catching me freaking out about cats once. Not many people scream and hide from them.

We walked in to find Yarrow and Felisha in the kitchen. She hovered over the stove while he cut vegetables for a salad. Both of them looked up when we came in.

“It’s almost ready,” Felisha said. Strain tightened the skin around her eyes.

“Can we help with anything?” I asked.

“I’m helping her,” Yarrow said, looking over his shoulder to give us a cheerful smile. “You two should go sit down and relax. We’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Emily was right about him being good looking, though his back was toward me so I couldn’t see the mole she mentioned. He had ice-blue eyes and whitish-blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. His body was well-toned and he was tall—probably around six feet. I thought his skin was a little too pale for my liking, but it was smooth and clear. Nothing in his emotions gave away anything negative. I’d have to wait until dinner to feel him out further.

Ten minutes later we sat down at Felisha’s table and started dishing up our food. I piled my plate since I still needed to make up for lost calories. She’d made Chicken Alfredo and baked fresh bread. The salad Yarrow put together looked good too.

I surreptitiously glanced at his neck and saw the mole. It was huge and misshapen. It stuck out from his skin at least a centimeter and had a tuft of dark hair growing from it. To say it was ugly was an understatement. He covered it with glamour so everyone except sensors would only see smooth skin, but it would definitely turn a lot of people off if they saw it. The man had to have done something bad to earn such a visible malformation. That’s the way it worked with his race.

When he looked at me, I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes. No need to let the fairy know I could see what he was trying so hard to hide. He gave me a friendly smile and part of me felt guilty for thinking bad thoughts about him.

“Is your mate not going to be joining us?” he asked.

I almost choked on the water I was drinking. “Um, no. I don’t really have a…” I cleared my throat, “mate.”

He knitted his brows. “But you’ve been claimed by someone very powerful. Surely he would want to keep you close.”

Emily froze beside me. “What’s he talking about, Mel?”

I’d really hoped to avoid this conversation with her for awhile.

“Lucas sort of marked me. It’s a long story—I’ll explain it to you later.” Much later.

“How’d he mark you?” she asked, studying me closely.

“He, uh, bit me. Let’s just not talk about this right now.”

“Where’d he bite you?” She clearly wasn’t going to let this go.

My hands clenched. “In the neck, and no, you can’t see it. The bite mark already healed.”

“So that means you’re like, mated to him now?”

“That’s exactly what it means,” Yarrow spoke up. “By his biting her, and her accepting it, he claimed her as his own. Anyone other than humans will know if they come near her. It’s considered very romantic in our world on the rare occasions it happens.”

I wanted to scowl at the man. Did he have to go say all that?

Emily grinned. “See? I told you Lucas liked you.”

I snorted. “It’s not as simple as it sounds.”

“Yeah, but Yarrow said you accepted it. That means you gotta like Lucas too.”

“If he wasn’t so difficult to deal with, maybe,” I said.

“I think you guys just like to fight with each other.”

“Emily, why don’t you tell Mel about your plans for tomorrow night,” Felisha suggested.

I gave her a grateful smile. If the topic had continued I might have been tempted to pull my hair out.

“Oh, um.” Emily started picking at her nails. “We’re sort of having a Valentine’s Day party here tomorrow night.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “After what we discussed?”

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Well, you were gone and Felisha said she’d take care of everything.”

It shouldn’t have surprised me she’d go behind my back. I hadn’t been around to stop her and she had seemed determined to have the party. No doubt she’d already invited all her friends. First the Visa card, now this. I was going to have to put my foot down after this was all over.

“I’ve handled the arrangements, Mel,” Felisha said in a placating tone. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Emily can stay here for a couple of more days until after the party is over. It’ll give you time to settle back in.”

It would be lonely at the house without her, but maybe Felisha was right. I could use the time alone to work some things out in my head—primarily what to do about Lucas and the demon problem. Without the responsibility that came with hosting a party, it wouldn’t be so bad, though I had every intention of being there to keep an eye on things.

“Okay, fine. You can have your party but we’re going to have a lot to talk about once you’re back home,” I said.

A bright smile lit up her face. “Thanks, Mel.”

I tossed and turned all night and ended up sleeping in until noon again. When I eventually did get up, I did it with determination. Maybe I couldn’t fix the demon problem in Juneau right now, but I could do something else. The growing chasm between Lisette and I had to stop. Aniya had told me she wasn’t returning to California yet. There wouldn’t be a better chance to confront my former best friend than now.

Aniya lived in a house on the outskirts of Fairbanks. It had white siding on the outside and large windows on either side of the red front door. Nikolas insisted she couldn’t work yet until she’d had more time to adapt to being a vampire, so for now he covered her bills. The sire bond he had with her made it easier for her to handle giving him that control. It would have driven me crazy.

I knocked on the door and stepped back. Only Lisette and Aniya were inside. Mrs. Singh must have gone out since the car wasn’t in the driveway. When Lisette opened the door I saw she’d dyed her hair canary yellow this time. It changed about every month, depending on her mood.

Her lips tightened when she saw me. “Aniya is asleep. What do you want?”

“I came to talk to you,” I said.

She huffed. “Then you’ve wasted your time. I have nothing to say to you.”

I put a hand up to stop her from closing the door. “We’ve been best friends for over ten years. The least you can do is give me a chance to explain.”

Lisette stared at me. The same hurt and accusation reflected in her eyes as the last time I’d seen her. She’d always been able to hold a grudge longer than most people. With a loud sigh, she stepped back and opened the door wider. “Fine, I’ll give you ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” I said, stepping inside.

We stood across from each other in the living room in an awkward silence. I’d been so determined to talk to her that I hadn’t considered what to say. Ten minutes didn’t give me much time.

“Look, I’m sorry for having Nik compel you,” I said.

She scoffed. “You think saying sorry is going to fix it?”

“No.” I shifted my feet. “I just felt I didn’t have a choice. You have no idea what was going on or what you were walking into.”

She crossed her arms. “Aniya told me enough. It’s still not an excuse.”

“That’s what you think?” I paced back and forth. “Those people I was trying to protect you from chained me in a basement, starved me for days, and beat me within an inch of my life. The only reason they didn’t kill me was because they needed my abilities. That was my only bargaining chip to get Aniya free. I couldn’t risk you getting mixed up in that.”

Her normally fair skin turned red. “I could have helped. Why didn’t you consider that?”

“How? How could you have helped when I had a full-time guard on me who reported all my activities to Variola? It was hard enough convincing him to let you go when you came by the first time.”

“You could have given me a sign that you were in trouble,” she said.

I shook my head. “What could you have done?”

“I don’t know, but I could have done something. Called one of my uncles…something.”

She came from a large family of pixies, but I couldn’t see them all racing up to Fairbanks—well out of their territory—for two people they thought were human. Lisette had to be a fool to think they’d take that kind of risk.

“The best thing for you was to stay out of it. I had it handled,” I said.

“Oh, really?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Is that why Aniya almost died and had to be turned into a vampire? Good going, Mel. That sure showed me how well you had it handled.”

I flinched. She’d cut deep with that barb. I still felt guilty for having my best friend turned. “I did the best I could.”

“No,” she said. “You fucked it all up.”

My hands shook. I almost jumped when the front door opened and Mrs. Singh, Aniya’s mother, came through with a bag of groceries in her hands. Her dark hair was lined with streaks of gray and pulled back in a bun. She had a plump figure, but it looked like she might have lost weight since I’d last seen her. I made a mental note to come by and visit more often.