Old Dog, New Tricks (25 page)

“Your mother was a font of emotion, full of textures and layered meanings. I enjoyed my time with her.” When my teeth began grinding, he raised a hand. “I did not force myself upon her. I touched her in no intimate or physical way. I simply walked her thoughts to glean better understanding. It also allowed me to ensure her stay was as comfortable as possible.”

“I’ve said before that I appreciate the pains you took to make her ‘stay’ pleasant.” I chewed the inside of my cheek while sifting through possible replies and giving up on finding a response that wouldn’t ruin our peaceful chat. “That’s all I can handle on the topic right now, okay?”

“I wanted you to understand that what I did for your mother—for the incubus—I did for myself. I fed from them, learned from them. Though neither is worse for it, those were not benevolent acts.”

Head pounding, I wished Bháin would stop talking before I resorted to the height of immaturity and plugged my ears with my fingers. Granting him permission to dig around in my mom’s head had been hard enough, but discovering how he used what he learned from her and Shaw, that he shared it with fae who had no business knowing my loved ones’ minds or hearts, was a violation I had trouble forgiving.

“I get that,” I growled. “Let’s drop it.”

“I find I am having trouble letting it go,” he admitted. “I am experiencing...” his pale eyebrows slanted downward, “...I believe it is called guilt? I feel I owe you for what I have taken from them.”

The admission sounded like he had spent too much time in the heads of people who loved me to outright hurt me. But was he feeling those emotions? Like a residual echo? Or was the knowledge of what Mom or Shaw might feel in his place causing him to—perhaps unconsciously—fabricate them?

I had no idea, but man did it make my head hurt thinking about the possibilities.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said. “You want to make amends? Do that with them.”

“That’s just it.” He offered me his hand. “I can’t. Your mother is no longer in this realm, nor do I expect to ever see her again, and your incubus is either unwilling or he is unable to feed from me to sustain himself. So I offer myself, my energies, to you instead. Take from me as an apology to him.”

Rubbing the heel of my palm into my eye, I cursed. Accepting his offer was a done deal as soon as he made it, and I hated that, but the bottom line was I was out of juice. I hadn’t fed or sipped on anyone in days. I had no spare energy, and I would need every last drop to establish a new tether.

The burn in my belly ignited, and I grasped his hand. “I accept your apology.”

Interest crossed Bháin’s face when my runes lit, and I took the first slow pull of his magic.

“It doesn’t hurt as I expected,” he said, studying our illuminated grip. “Do you need more?”

I studied him right back. “Do you
want
to get hurt?”

The only thing keeping that look of wonder fixed on his face was the fact Mac had worked with me for weeks on nibbling energy instead of allowing my magic to sink its teeth in and tear out hunks of power for me to devour. Hunger for me wasn’t constant like it was for Shaw, not as demanding or crippling, but it was ever-present, waiting for those internal scales to tip inside my head and a switch to flip me into hunting mode. Knowing Bháin had preyed upon those I loved most was about to do it.

And like anyone who has ever been on a strict diet, one taste left me wanting more.

“Will it hurt?” He sounded far too curious for my comfort.

Since he asked, I told him the truth. “It could kill you.”

“I doubt that.” He tightened his grip. “Try it if you like.”

“I’m not into attempted murder,” I said flatly.

“Take as much as you like,” he offered. “I draw from Winter herself.”

“Are you serious?” That might explain his high endurance. Maybe I wasn’t as skilled in sipping as I let myself believe. “If you’re plugged into another power supply, I can speed up the process.”

His lips curved. “Take all you require.”

Permission granted, I cranked up the pull. Bháin felt it. He swayed on his feet before flinging his free hand out to brace against the wall. He stabilized just as fast, grinning down at me like I had proved some point to him, and then I was drawing Winter straight through him. It shivered up my arm from my hand and spread ice through my chest, freezing my lungs and making it hard for me to breathe. I drew on him until my skin tingled and sparks dripped from my fingertips, until I was full to bursting and fresh runes joined the old ones, searing themselves into my skin until they covered my arm up to the shoulder.

“I’m done.” I jerked free of his grasp, our fingers almost frozen together. “That’s enough.”

“If you’re sure...?” His eyebrows rose. “All right.” He gripped the knob. “I will wait here until I am certain you are safe with him.” He cracked the door a fraction and then peered inside. “Call if you need help restraining him. Don’t be fooled by the act. He is rationing his remaining strength.”

I wedged the toe of my boot in the gap before he closed it. “I’ll take it from here.”

Bháin released his hold, and I got my first glimpse of Shaw.

He sat on the floor with his back pressed against the wall. His knees were bent, his forearms stacked on top of them. He wore jeans with socks and a new white T-shirt. He was clean, so he must have been allowed to wash off the blood and change at some point.

His head was tipped back against the ice-block wall, and his eyes were closed. A tremor ran through him, and before my eyes his fingernails lengthened to wicked claws. Tanned skin paled until pronounced veins crisscrossed his exposed skin. His eyes, when they cracked open, had gone chalk white and empty. The full curve of his lips stretched wide, exposing his elongating teeth.

Lifting his head, Shaw stared through the door right at me, and then he charged.

Chapter Eighteen

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I
darted into the room to give Bháin time to twist the lock, and vertigo swamped me as his glamour took root in my senses. Color blossomed in my mind. Scents poured into me, familiar but faded. The stomp of cadets running with a drill sergeant outside the window carried to my ears. It was like I had fallen back in time, into my old room. Complete with twin beds, a ratty desk and a broken task chair.

The tendrils of disorientation parted two seconds after Shaw slammed into me.

My spine popped on impact with the wall, and a pained breath shot past my lips.

“I missed you too,” I panted.

His wide palm circled my throat. “I warned you not to come back.”

Fingers clawing at him, I gasped. “It’s me.”

“I didn’t believe you the first three times, and I don’t believe you now.” He applied pressure, and I saw bursts of bright light on the periphery of my vision. “Stop being a coward. Shift. Show me your face so I know whose head I’m ripping off.” He leaned closer, nostrils flaring. “You even smell like her. Is that some new trick? Is that why you haven’t been back? You’re trying to fool me with this?”

“Can’t. Breathe.” My fingers weakened. “Let. Go.”

Curling his lip, he thumped my head against the wall. “This time get the hell out and stay out.”

When he spun on his heel, I bent double, sucking in precious air. Once I caught my breath, I ran straight for him and leapt onto his back, wrapping my legs around his waist and hooking my left arm around his throat. Chokehold complete, I rode that bad boy all the way down.

My kneecaps cracked on ice-carved tiles, but I had Shaw’s attention.

“Listen to me. I get Bháin was screwing with your head, but it’s really me.”

Shaw’s palms smacked the floor, and his body rose like he was doing a push-up, leaving me astride him like a jock on a pony. I tightened my grip, but he shoved upright and staggered against a wall, slamming me into it. My teeth clacked, my grip loosened, and the room started spinning.

“I can—” I shook my head, “—prove it to you.”

Weak as a newborn pup, I slid to the floor in a lump when he spun around to face me.

“Go on then.” His wild eyes shone. “Prove it.”

I extended my left hand. “I know you’re hungry.”

His lip quivered at my offering. “I am bonded.”

“You’re also an idiot,” I slurred, staggering to my feet and leaning on the wall for support.

Clear across the room, the door cracked a fraction, and Bháin stuck his head inside.

“Are you all right?” He glanced between us. “I heard thumping.”

“Just my head against the wall.” I touched the base of my skull and winced. “Nothing critical.”

“Hear her out, Incubus,” Bháin said coldly. “If you kill your mate, where will you be?”

The door closed, and Shaw’s expression shut down with it. He paced across the room, staring at me, measuring me against some figment in his mind. Hope warred with doubt and exhaustion. In his eyes, hunger gleamed. Need peered out at me, desperate, hurt, recognizing me as that which sated it.

Thanks, Dad
. His moderation tactics had worked. Shaw was...not in control...but not frothing at the mouth either. Suspended between starvation and salvation, he walked a razor-thin line. His life was mine to save. What I did next determined his fate.

“Take my hand,” I coaxed.

“I won’t feed from you.” He turned his back on me. “I can’t.”

Expecting his answer, I sighed, took a running leap and tackled him. He grunted when he hit the floor, and so did I.
My poor knees.
I hissed out the Word marshals used for restraining difficult suspects. This one lacked a generic off switch that another marshal—say, Shaw—could flip. Either I removed the binding or it didn’t come off without magical intervention.

With Shaw’s arms locked behind his back, I scooted down until I sat on his knees, pinning him. He thrashed when he realized he was caught, tried to un-invoke the restraints and failed. As tempted as I was to smack him, I gripped his hand, sliding my runes over his warm skin, and pushed energy into him.

Magic tingled through our grip, and his shoulders jerked, bones popping as he struggled to free himself. I caressed his back, his thighs, murmuring assurances to him as I force-fed him. Bit by bit the tension drained from his body, and he relaxed against the floor.

Cheek pressed to the illusion of linoleum, he let his eyes close and his breathing steady. At some point, the biting grip he meant to break the fragile bones in my fingers eased, and his muscles flowed into fluid lines from tight knots.

Shaw croaked my name, voice hoarse and strained by exhaustion.

“I’m here.” I stroked his cheek. “You’re safe.”

I murmured the Word to unravel his restraints and slid onto the floor next to him. He turned on his side, and I eased forward until he could rest his head in my lap. Fingers raking through his hair, I kept our link strong and steady, passing the glowing vitality I had gleaned through Bháin into Shaw.

Around us, the illusion flickered. The door opened behind me, and the glamour snuffed out completely.

Bháin stepped into my periphery. “How is he?”

“I’ve almost got him topped off.” I smiled when a snore escaped him. “He’s going to sleep for a while now.” How long I wasn’t sure since this was the first time filling his tank hadn’t emptied mine in the process. “Do you have a spare bed he can use? I don’t want him to wake up in here alone and think—”

“I understand.” Bháin studied the picture we made. “I will have him brought to a guestroom.”

Shaw and I were a little bruised, a little bloodied, but a whole lot satisfied.

We had this feeding thing beat. I could feel it. And that meant...

I bit the inside of my cheek. The man was unconscious. Sex ought to be the last thing on my mind.

I couldn’t even play innocent and blame his lure. All that tumbling on the floor had made my breaths come harder, and not from exertion. Maybe it was the simple act of touching him, knowing he was safe and mine and wanting to celebrate us surviving our mission. Or maybe straddling him while he was restrained, sweaty and mad, growling and totally at my mercy wasn’t my brightest idea ever.

I leaned over and pressed my lips to his temple, feeling to my bones the absolute truth of what I had told Rook. This dangerously sexy man was my future. I had been foolish to ever think otherwise.

A throat cleared, and I glanced up to find Bháin standing in the doorway.

He gestured to someone behind him. “Are you ready?”

“I didn’t realize Rook had more staff tucked away in the walls.” I eased Shaw’s head onto the floor. Poor baby was out cold. “Who’s going to bring Shaw to his room? How are they going to lift him—?” I started when the help arrived. “Um, Bháin, what are they doing here?”

Pie stood in the hallway. A taller Aves ruffled its feathers behind him.

“They sought assurances their Crow was unharmed.” He poked Pie’s shoulder. “Do you not trust them?”

Wide black eyes sought mine. At my hesitation, Pie’s gaze slid to the floor.

Crap
. I think I hurt his feelings.

“I don’t mind as long as you supervise,” I hedged. “I assume Rook is waiting for me?”

Bháin nodded. “He would prefer you to begin work on the tether as soon as possible.”

Knees protesting as I stood, I skirted Bháin and headed for the Aves. Shoulders hunched, Pie shed feathers in a panicked flex of wings when I brushed him in passing. I shot him an encouraging look I don’t know if he saw and then went to find Rook and discover if Mac was as clever as he thought he was.

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G
iven how spectacular the locations of the original tethers had been, I anticipated nothing less grand from Rook. So when I found him cleaning rusted bits of ancient armor out of a hall closet, I didn’t expect him to turn and grin.

He gestured toward the mostly empty shelves. “What do you think?”

I set my hands on my hips. “That Bháin deserves a raise for having to clean up the mess you’re making?”

Rook kicked aside a charred helmet. “He is well compensated for his work.”

I toed the hunk of metal when it spun too close. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Bháin had it made with Rook serving him piping-hot emotion skimmed off his kidnapees. Their experiences and memories, their sheer variety, was a banquet of potential energy for a fae like him. As quick as Rook was to snatch up innocents and stash them at his home, in the room I suspected he had designated for Bháin’s particular use, his home was a freaking buffet. Human, incubi, elementals...