Magick Marked (The DarqRealm Series) (27 page)

“I thought shifters used magick to shift. They can’t manipulate it like a mover or the fae, right? So how would they do him any good?” Rho asked.

“I have no idea, but I intend to find out.” Tim clenched his fists as he spoke. “I’ve met Vectra. She’s a special kid. And she’s sick. Preshea would never leave her out there alone without the care she needs, and Alexander knows it. Preshea would do anything for her sister. She’s all Preshea has left.”

Interesting. Preshea must not have much for family, not unlike Rho. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.

“I just wish she wasn’t gone.” Tim rubbed his marked palm against his jeans. “She shouldn’t have left without me.”

Eldon rubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin. “I know your friendship with her is important, but we still have a mission.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Tim snapped.

Tim and Preshea had made no secret of their friendship from the beginning. They’d had a history together—a history Rho didn’t know and didn’t care to ask about. The frustration and pain hiding beneath the surface of his emotions were written clearly in his expression, and she couldn’t help but feel for him.

Time to change the subject. “So where do we go from here?”

Eldon narrowed his eyes and focused on the werewolf. “You’re closer to the shifters than either of us. Can you think of anyone who may be able to help us find where the ShiftMaster is hiding?”

With a frown, Tim glared at the note. “There
is
one person who may be able to help.”

“Then go. We’ll wait here until you get back,” Eldon said.

Rho scoffed. “We can go with him. There’s no reason to stay here.”

“You’re not well.” Eldon shot her a stern glare. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“That’s bullshit!” She may be a little tired but she wasn’t incapable.

“This isn’t open for discussion.” Eldon rose from the couch and turned to Tim, his back to Rho as he spoke.

Anger stirred in her gut. He couldn’t just shut her down like that. He didn’t own her. “I’m fine. I’ve even fed.”

Tim stood up, meeting Eldon’s stare. He didn’t bother to acknowledge her as he spoke. “Eldon’s right. You nearly died yesterday. You’re staying put.”

“Don’t I have any say in this?” she fumed.

“No,” they both responded in unison.

Bastards
. She hated the idea of sitting around doing nothing. She hated it more knowing that Preshea was out there somewhere, Vectra was a weapon who was both sick and missing, and Tim was the only one going out to do recon work. Even worse, Eldon would stay here to babysit her like a child.

Tim swiveled and paced toward the doorway.

“Tim?” Eldon’s voice stopped him in his tracks. The wolf glanced over his shoulder but didn’t turn around.

“We’ll help you find her.” Eldon’s voice was low and sincere. “Once this is over, I promise we’ll get her back.”

Tim didn’t say another word as he left the room and walked out the front door.

He closed the door behind him.

Weapons covered the nightstand and half of the floor, an arrangement of daggers littering the path to her bed. A few guns were stashed in a corner, bullets laid neatly beside them. He stepped cautiously toward the bed. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to wake a vampire with this kind of hardware. He briefly considered leaving before he brushed the thought away. She wouldn’t hurt him.

“Rho?” he said softly.

She didn’t budge. The sun was only beginning to set, the fiery orb in the sky no doubt locking her into a sleeping trance. Not for long, though.

He gripped her shoulder and shook her gently. “Rho?”

A mumble filled the air, the sound both half asleep and half pissed off.

“C’mon, you need to wake up.”

A small hand extended out from beneath the comforter and she flipped him the bird before rolling over to face the other wall.

He raised a brow. So that was how it was going to be. With one swift movement, he yanked the comforter off the bed.

“Hey,” she mumbled, flailing an arm in the air to try and capture the flying blanket.

He leaned over her bed. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Sun’s still up.” She tucked her head underneath her pillow. “Be a pain in my ass later.”

“Everyone else is awake. Rise and shine.”

“Not now,” she mumbled. “It’s sleepy time.”

“I have two little sisters so I practically majored in obnoxious. I can do this all day.”

With a grunt, she rolled out from underneath the pillow and propped herself up on an elbow as her eyes fluttered open. “I hate you right now.”

His lips curled into a coy smile as he tilted his head. “No, you don’t.”

“Sunshine will fry me at this hour.” She growled and rubbed her tired eyes with a hand.

He leaned a shoulder into the sturdy bedpost. “No it won’t. It takes at least a few minutes of sunlight to fry a vamp.”

“How would you know?”

“Research. My family happens to own an extensive library.”

He’d spent most of the day studying those archives, long after the others had fallen asleep. His father had given him a notebook of family spells before he’d passed away. Their documentation on the other races was sketchy at best, but the family records they did have had been passed down for generations.

Rho perked up, glancing over at him again. “You have a library? Here?”

He shrugged. “Some print, some online. We went digital around five years ago.”

Too many of the ancient records had been lost over time, fires and floods claiming the knowledge before it could be preserved. Adelle had spent a month scanning and organizing what they still had. It was one of her more brilliant ideas.

“How high-tech of you,” Rho said.

Eldon smiled. “You like to read?”

“Love it.”

He motioned to the closet. “Get dressed. Maybe I’ll have time to show you the library later.” Perching on the edge of the mattress, he tried not to remember what they’d nearly done right there on those sheets.

She muttered something as she rolled out of bed and followed instructions, wandering to the closet in her wrinkled green tank top and black cotton yoga pants.

He cleared his throat. “I also wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Her muffled voice came from the other side of the closet wall. “Unless you want me to apologize, which I totally will.” She stepped out of the closet with a clothes hanger in her hand. “I’m sorry. I lost control and it won’t happen—”

“Why are you apologizing?” he interrupted. If anyone owed anyone an apology, it was him. He’d made that first move, not her. Clearly, though she’d played along, she hadn’t been ready for it. “I’m not sorry about what happened at all.”

“But—”

He held up a hand. “Hear me out.”

Sure, he’d taken things way too fast. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. Something had snapped in a split second between them, and now it was too late to take it back. He didn’t regret the kiss itself and he wouldn’t apologize for it happening, but he definitely regretted the way it happened. Vampires were known for mixing blood and sex, and he’d taken advantage of her body’s instincts.

She hooked the hanger on the doorknob and leaned against the door jamb, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m listening.”

Okay. Not the reception he’d expected. He blew out a deep breath. “I like you, Rho. I like you a lot. I know I didn’t handle myself very well yesterday, but I think we have something.”

“I like you, too.” She lifted a shoulder. “But I can’t be with you like that.”

“I’m not asking for some big commitment.”

“I know you’re not.”

“We can take this day by day.”

Her eyes were flat as she shook her head. “No, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

He fought the sinking feeling in his chest. The logical part of his brain told him his attraction to her was irrational, but he couldn’t help it. It had existed long before they’d kissed. He’d refused to acknowledge it before, mostly because she was a vampire, but partly because she was unlike any female he’d ever been with. She was crass and tough. Completely independent, almost to a fault. She was all hard edges on the outside, but he’d seen a sliver of her mind that was soft and kind. A part she’d never let anyone see.

Their connection now was too obvious to ignore.

Rho shook her head. “It’s just… it’s not meant to be, Eldon. We’re too different.”

With one motion, he pushed himself off the bed and took a step toward her. “I’ve been with plenty of women—”

“Oh, great. Way to sweeten the deal.”

He ignored her. “But they’re nothing like you. And nothing I’ve had with any of them compares to yesterday.”

It was the absolute truth. Money and power had bought him a lot of things in his life, women included. They hung around until they got what they wanted—maybe some jewelry or a fancy dinner. Sex. Then they disappeared from his life and his memories as quickly as they came. The only mark they’d made on his life was in his checkbook.

And didn’t that make him feel like an ass.

“We only kissed,” she whispered.

“I know.”

Rho ran a hand through her hair, forehead pinched in frustration. “It isn’t going to work.”

“You can’t know that.”

She let out an irritated laugh. “Oh, I
can
. Have you met your sisters? As they kindly pointed out, we’re not even the same
species
.”

“So now
you’re
intolerant?”

“My tolerance has nothing to do with it. The DarqRealm has never looked fondly on interracial relationships. I doubt they’ll start now.”

A spark lit in his chest. He knew what their world would think. What the Collective would think. What his family would think. And for once, he didn’t care. Something about Rho drew him in, the gravity of her presence always riding in his subconscious.

He took a step closer to her. “Screw them.”

“What about the Council?” she continued, oblivious to his advances. “You think they’ll be happy about us spending our time hooking up instead of hunting Kamens?”

One more step. “Screw them, too.”

She tossed her hands in the air. “
Right
. You may have cars and houses and money and magick, but the rest of us are trying to take things day by day and hopefully stay alive in the process.”

The last step put him so close to her, he could smell the perfume on her skin. Fresh and clean, like apples. He heard her breath catch. “So this is about money then? I’m
too
secure for you?”

Rho took a small step back. “I—I’m not talking to you about this anymore.” She glared up at him, her gaze hard as diamonds. The determination in her eyes only proved that she was as strong and stubborn as he knew her to be. “We need to go find those Kamens.”

He took another step forward. “Don’t think for one second that this conversation is over.” He leaned forward, his lips only a hairsbreadth from her ear. “And don’t think I won’t try to change your mind.”

Rho’s gunmetal-gray eyes were wide as he stepped away from her and toward the door.

He twisted the knob, taking inventory of her body with his eyes. Her long, blond hair hung down to her waist, her delicate jaw pushed forward defiantly. She was beautiful, even when she was being stubborn. Absolutely stunning. “Meet me in the kitchen in five minutes.”

Closing the door behind him, he smiled.

Rho stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring at the door in disbelief.

Of all the egotistical, chauvinistic, pain-in-the-ass men she’d ever met, that one took the cake. Hell, he owned the whole damn bakery. She hated herself for letting him get inside her head.

She yanked off her yoga pants in an angry rush and threw them into the closet before sliding into a fresh pair of leathers. They’d become a new staple in her wardrobe, giving her plenty of room to fight if she needed it but protecting her skin if she took a tumble. She buttoned the top and zipped the fly, then shook her head.

Guys like Eldon knew how to play the system to get what they wanted. He’d said it himself—he’d had plenty of women. No doubt they’d fawned all over him to get to his money, which he hadn’t outright spoken about, but
come on
. This was an expensive house and it was just a spare. He was a six-foot-five, blue-eyed hunk of eye candy with incredible magickal strength, his warm body appealing to more than just her vampire side. The things she could do to him—

Nope. Not going there.

Rummaging in her bag for a change of clothes, Rho wondered how she’d gotten herself into this whole mess. The freaky mental connection with Eldon shouldn’t be possible.

Then again, she’d never truly been normal. She’d always had the sense that she wasn’t where she belonged in the human world, an outlier in society. She shouldn’t have expected a change as one of the undead.

Eldon had probably grown up in a perfect little house on a perfect corner of a perfect street with plenty of money and no worries. No, she wasn’t at all the type of girl he’d end up with. Not by a long shot.

Problem was, she was definitely attracted to him. In a major way. Her brain knew he was trouble, but her body was a total traitor.