Defying Instinct (Demon Instinct Series) (30 page)

The
morning was a tornado of stolen kisses and frantically relayed strategy.  Yesterday,
I wouldn’t let Rowan talk about the details of today, so we had a lot to fit
into the short morning.  We discussed scenarios as he watched me from the bed,
a pen and notebook propped up on his sheet-covered legs, his chest bared in all
its glory.

I
tried to keep to my task.  Clothes.  I had to put on clothes, brush the tangles
out of my wet hair, and prepare for the day.

But
those white gold eyes warmed me like sunlight, and the way Rowan watched my
every move like he was spellbound made me lose focus more than once.  I was
lusciously sore in wonderful places, but I didn’t give it a second thought.

During
my second attempt to get dressed, Rowan was in the shower, so I succeeded,
though it wasn’t easy to resist joining him there.  The thought made my skin
warm with the remembered sensation of his body against mine.

I
felt drunk.  Not the way I would feel if I drank alcohol—demon blood in any
amount and liquor didn’t mix—but the kind of drunk I imagined was a human’s aim
when becoming intoxicated.  Goofily, foggily blissed out.

We
finally made it downstairs, cleaned and clothed, as the sun peaked over the
horizon, lighting The Bookstore through the drawn shades.

Benn
showed up a few minutes later, looking bleary-eyed.  I’d told him yesterday he
should stay away today, but he realized things I was certain I hadn’t let
slip.  He wasn’t acting like this might be the last time he’d see me, but there
was a knowing there.  He always had been uncannily observant.

I
sent him upstairs to make coffee for himself, then hoped he didn’t peak into
the bedroom for any reason.  It was a disaster area, and if the fact that Rowan
was here this early with wet hair and white gold eyes glued to me weren’t clue
enough, the crumpled bed and claw marks across the headboard would be.

Cyrus
and Grayson jumped in next, Tanis pressed against his side.  The hair that had
been covered up when I first saw her was freshly dyed a bright, neon pink, cut
to her shoulders with baby doll bangs that rested above her eyelids so when she
blinked, the hairs caught on her thick, black lashes.  Tanis clutched Grayson’s
arm, half her face hidden behind his shoulder. 

Focusing,
I picked up on their tension.

Grayson
urged his half-sister off his arm, and I studied her face.  Tanis looked
terrible, and looked worse and worse with Grayson’s every step away from her. 

The
second her eyes locked on mine, they went silver black-out and I could feel her
prodding around inside my mind.  I made noises, but didn’t know if I said
anything intelligible. 

Whatever
I said must have been loud, because running footsteps from upstairs grew
nearer, down the stairs before whatever Tanis was doing to me stopped.  And her
eyes flicked to the stairs.

“Bennett,
stop where you are.”

Cyrus
got out the warning before I could, but it wasn’t enough to keep Benn from
charging toward me to make sure everything was okay.

When
he stopped mid-room, it wasn’t because he saw that I was fine, it wasn’t
because Cy’s words finally sunk in.  It was because Tanis, with completely
silver black-out eyes, focused on him. 

Being
Marked didn’t matter.  In that moment, Benn wanted whatever the girl was doing
to him.  He dropped like a rock as the air in the room grew heavy with that
Tempter scent of candy, spice, and sex.

I
looked at the girl’s silver eyes, a faded lavender and pale silver pattern now rolling
down her skin in chaotic pulses. 

She
needed help.  I had to help her.

“Is it
okay if I touch her?” I asked without looking away from the girl, remembering
what that pattern of Grayson’s had done to me.

Grayson
shifted, his nervousness shone so bright in the waves he gave off.  “Are you
predominantly attracted to males?”

Nodding
after a pang of memory from last night twisted desire through my belly, I
turned away from Tanis, unable to deny myself a glance at Rowan.

“You
should be mostly unaffected,” Grayson said, the tone of his voice heavy with
attempted but wavering control.  He felt helpless, and I could tell it wasn’t
something Grayson was familiar with.

“Tanis,”
I said, putting my hand on her chin and wrenching her face up so she was
looking at me, not at Benn’s unconscious body.  Her skin stung a path from my
hand up my arm, but stopped there.

It
was hard to tell if her attention was on me while her eyes were silver
black-out. 

“Your
hair looks awful.  Just…terrible.” I tested, feeling Grayson and the other
demons shift uncomfortably, not understanding what I was doing.  But I knew. 
My Razer half whispered what I needed to do.  “Is it usually black silk like
your brother’s?”

The
silver in her eyes faded, but I still couldn’t see the violet irises I knew
were hidden somewhere behind the metal.

“Honestly,
pink, purple, and silver don’t go together at all.  You look like a six-year-old. 
Maybe I should give you pigtails, make you really look ridiculous.”

A
flash of violet, and Tanis blinked.  The sexually charged air evened out,
calmed to normal, and I realized I could once again take a deep breath.  Even
Benn stirred from the floor, slowly opening his eyes. 

“Touch
my hair and I’ll break your arm,” Tanis growled, but there was no danger in her
words.  It was hard to feel the waves of emotion she gave off, but they were
there a little.  She was hurt, fragile, but deep in the smoke-and-fire, like I
had been so many times before I understood them.

Then
the little vixen pounced on me without warning, knocking me to the floor and
kicking the closest thing her foot could find, which happened to be my kidney. 

But
I knew what she needed.  I understood what was going on, even while she
repeated the merciless kick, only this time to my face.  As I saw the three
demons lunge towards us, I put up my hand.  As Tanis landed another kick, I sent
all three males a telepath.

I’ve
got this
. 

Each
full-caste demon stopped mid-lunge, though I could feel how hard it was for
them not to intervene.

With
my newfound demon threshold for pain, her skinny waif legs didn’t hurt much, so
I grabbed her foot and forced her backwards into the front door.  She slid down
‘til she hit the floor, but was relentless.  Crawling towards me like a cat
crouched in the grass, I thought of Dmitri’s defense classes.  I’d always
thought they were a load of crap.  Maybe they were, but I cleared my mind, took
a slow breath even as Tanis pulled back a fist and decked me in the right
cheek.

Mina
would have this girl pinned by now.

I
rolled, and thrust out a leg as the half-caste leapt towards me.  At my angle
from the floor, the impact struck the base of her ribcage, knocking the air out
of her and making bones crackle.

I
hoped Tanis had demon healing abilities.

A
few cracked ribs didn’t stop her.  Elbow first, she fell down on my stomach,
and I let her make the impact even though I saw it coming.  As I struggled to
fill my lungs with air, I slid my feet into her hips and shoved, sending her stumbling,
then flat on her back.

Three
seconds later, as I was starting to wonder if she’d really been hurt, Tanis
laughed.

Giggling
with her, rubbing my kidney and cheek where she’d done the most damage, I let
Rowan lift me to my feet.

He
didn’t ask if I was okay, which made me kiss the spot on his neck I could reach
from my tip-toes.  Instead, he looked at Benn, who was staring at Tanis, both
of them lying on the floor.  “You okay, Bennett?”

My
best friend rubbed his neck, then got to his feet, a little wobbly, but
otherwise okay.  “I guess.”

Moving
the shade aside, I looked out the front window.  The sun was up, shining
through the trees.  We’d be late if we didn’t leave soon.

“We
must go,” Rowan said, and as I stared at Tanis, who had calmed down and was now
looking sad, I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to leave her.  I could help
her.  I wanted to be able to.

But
I had responsibilities now.

“All
right,” I said, and he put his arms around me.  “What about everyone else?”

Grayson
said, “we will escort you to the Blooding.” 

I
wondered if Iliana gave him that order.  The formal way he said it made me uneasy. 

“Let’s
go then.”  I slid an arm around Rowan’s waist.  Being so close to him after
last night made my skin smolder.  “Better to be early.”

“We
are ready,” Cyrus said, Tanis pulling herself together enough to accept
Grayson’s arm, and Cy put a hand on the Tempter’s shoulder.

I
braced myself, except nothing happened.  No whirlwind.  Cyrus and Rowan’s faces
twisted into sneers—one I hadn’t seen on Rowan’s face in days.

“We’re
blocked from the Gate.”

“What
does that mean?” I asked.

Rowan
removed his hand from around me, and leaned over, putting his entire mouth
around the dip between my neck and shoulder.  Fangs grazed flesh, and as he
held the pose, I realized how perfectly his mouth fit around the responsive
spot.  His frustration in the air eased. 

Every
single face of our audience was blushing, or had turned their backs to us
pointedly.  The waves I felt coming off them weren’t only embarrassed, but
alarmed.

I
slicked my hand down Rowan’s hair, the softness of it tickling my cheek, and he
withdrew, glamouring himself as he pulled away.

“We
must walk,” he announced, and startled eyes turned back to us.  “I fear we will
now be late.”

Slipping
into a jacket, which chafed my uncovered arms but would have to do, I locked
the door when everyone was outside.  No one besides Benn wore a coat, but I
didn’t stand a chance of convincing the demons to bundle up.  I hoped the Gate
entrance was close.

As
our troupe began the trek, Rowan was speaking with Grayson quietly about
something, Tanis at his side, but no longer clinging to his arm.  I seized the
opportunity.

“Cy?”
I jogged, joining him at the front of the group.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Of
course, Savannah.”  I grinned, loving that he no longer called me Scion.

“What
does it mean when Rowan…you know…?”  I put my nails into my neck.  “Whenever he
does, demons act really weird.”

Cyrus
looked away, his classically handsome glamour reddening as his neck and ears
flushed, and his wave of distress struck me.

“See? 
That.  What is that?”

“It’s,”
Cyrus began, having a hard time looking at me.  “It is very intimate, what he
does with you.  With such ease.”

When
Rowan did that, it was intimate for me.  I didn’t understand why bystanders
would see it that way.  Could they sense how it made my insides flutter?

“A
female trusting a Hammer as you trust Rowe, it is the greatest tribute you can grant
him.  You allow him to take your life into his hands.  His fangs could tear
into you, were
made
to tear into you.”  Cyrus shook his head.  “You’d do
well to be more cautious.  Young Hammers…lack control.”

Never
once had I seen Rowan lose his cool.  It made him even more remarkable in my
eyes.  He could snap, but never even sort of did.  Couldn’t Cyrus see how in
control my Sentinel was?

I
wanted to ask more, but Grayson had caught up to us, and Cyrus looked so grateful
to have an excuse to end the conversation.  I was surprised Tanis wasn’t beside
Grayson now.  When I looked back, she and Benn were walking together.

Watch
her
, I telepathed to Rowan.  Even
though I wanted to trust her, she was unstable.  And I just didn’t.  Not with
Benn.

“Will
you speak to me, Savannah?” Grayson asked, tentatively, Cyrus falling back a
few steps.  Though at some point he was able to resist my command, the one that
Marked me as Royalty, at least enough to use my given name and look directly at
me, he was still following protocol.  Grayson asked for permission first now.

“Sure,
Gray,” I said, nudging his arm with my elbow.  I didn’t think he would try
anything with me now.  I’d given him Tanis’s freedom.  That had been all he needed
from me.  And he obviously knew about me and Rowan.

“Your
mother—”

“Please.”
 I put a hand on his arm.  “Don’t call her that.”

Pain
threaded into his diamond eyes.

“Iliana
will not dismiss me.  I am bound to her.  You cannot trust me.”  Grayson’s eyes
were constant diamonds.  “I wish I could stand by your side today.”

“Thank
you,” I said, letting my sincerity project.  “But it’s good you’re still
connected to her.  The other advisors, whatever she is holding hostage to keep
them hers, she still has.  You can help free them.”