Obsession Untamed (33 page)

He sat up, then hopped off the altar and started pacing, studiouslynot looking at her. His hands raked into his hair. “I was looking in your eyes the morning you told me you were going to meet Kara in the foyer. He showed up instead.”

Delaney jumped off the altar and grabbed a towel. “Maybe that’s why he told me he loved me. Because he sees my feelings for you in my eyes. He’s reacting to that emotion.”

“Exactly. I was looking into your eyes when I gave you the cell phone and told you it had a tracking system.”

Delaney looked at him in astonishment even as he carefully kept his gaze averted. “How can you possibly remember all the times you looked into my eyes?”

He circled behind her, then pulled her tight against him, his arm warm and comforting across her rib cage. “Because every time I look into your eyes, I feel like I’m drowning. Like my feet are being swept out from under me. Looking into your eyes feeds my soul, D.”

She covered his arms with her hands and held onto him as he held her. “Does that mean I can’t look into your eyes anymore?”

“No.” He squeezed her tight, and let out an excited whoop. “It means we may finally have a way to catch him.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

Ten minutes later, Tighe paced the war room, adrenaline racing through his body on a riptide of hope. It might well knock his feet out from under him again, but for the moment, he had a chance at life, and that was all he could ask for.

Delaney sat at the big table, her back to him so they didn’t accidentally make eye contact. At the table with her were Lyon, Kara, and Kougar. Jag and Wulfe were on their way and would be filled in later. Paenther and Foxx were still in the Blue Ridge. They only waited for Hawke.

As the warrior walked into the room, each man and woman pulled out a knife and cut his or her palm.

Lyon turned to Tighe, eyeing him with controlled excitement. “Tell them what you told me.”

Tighe nodded and turned to the others, then explained how he and Delaney had figured out the clone was seeing through his eyes.

“So he’s not seeing anything but Delaney?” Hawke took his seat and leaned forward, his eyes flashing. “But he’s hearing whatever’s said during that time.”

“Right. Full sound visions, just as mine are.” Tighe stopped and turned toward the table, his hands going to Delaney’s shoulders, his gaze skipping from one Feral to the next. “We can use this to set him up. To set a trap.”

Lyon’s brows rose questioningly. “Do we know what he wants?”

“The other half of Tighe’s soul,” Delaney said. “He told me he was going to use me to get it.”

“Did he say how?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Lyon’s gaze swung to Hawke. “Any clue?”

“None. All we know is he had her lying in a pentagram and he possesses at least some of the knowledge of the Daemons. His plan could be anything, but everything points to its involving either Delaney, or Tighe.”

“So we’re going to make it easy for him to catch us.” Tighe waited until all eyes were back on him. “We’ll pretend to be planning to trap him again.” He looked at Kougar. “One of your Daemon traps. Something that requires all the Ferals to leave Feral House. I’ll tell D I’m staying here with her as long as I can, then tell her something went wrong, and I have to leave to help you. If I’m his target, he’ll
have access to me when I cross the woods alone. If D is the target, he’ll have her virtually unprotected in the house.”

Lyon grunted. “I’m not leaving Kara unprotected, but the clone doesn’t have to know that. And the rest of them will be in their animals, hidden, watching you two.”

“Exactly.”

“He may not believe you’d leave Delaney alone,” Lyon said.

Delaney gave a soft snort. “If there’s one thing he doesn’t understand, it’s love.”

“How would he get into the house?” Kara asked. “The doors are always locked.”

“His life’s on the line.” Tighe kneaded Delaney’s shoulders softly, gaining strength just from touching her. “A locked house wouldn’t stop me if I needed in. It won’t stop him. He’ll try. We’ll stop him before he breaks in.”

Lyon’s gaze met his. “It’s a long shot.”

“Maybe not, Roar,” Hawke said. “The clone has to know he’s dying, too. I’m willing to bet he’s already planning some kind of move. If he senses how close his soul is to crumbling, he’s planning it tonight. By giving himour plans, or our supposed plans, we’ll be giving him exactly what he wants.” He nodded to Tighe. “It might work brilliantly.”

“If we can pull off the acting job,” Delaney said softly.

He squeezed her shoulders. “We’ll do it. Midnight?” he asked the others. When he received a
round of nods he said, “Midnight it is.” Then he took Delaney’s hand, careful not to meet her gaze. “Let’s go up to my room where we can concentrate.”

A long shot, Lyon called it. And Tighe feared he was right. But it was the only shot they had. As he led Delaney from the room, his arm tight around her shoulders, apprehension knotted his gut. But it couldn’t obliterate the hope that burned inside him.

Because he still had a chance to come through this alive. Not a great one, perhaps, but a chance.

If he did survive the night, the next task on his agenda was convincing Delaney to stay in his world instead of going back to her own.

He pulled her close and kissed her hair. One challenge at a time.

“You ready?”

Delaney shuddered, glad for Tighe’s arms tight around her. They’d gone over what they needed to say and practiced it five times, now. But the thought of actually doing it was setting butterflies to flight in her stomach even as it covered her skin in goose bumps.

Because the goal was to let the clone see them. To let him seeher . And the thought of bringing that evil presence into the room with them was making her ill.

“He won’t be here, D. He’ll just be watching.”

“Have you started to read my mind now?”

His lips brushed her hair. “Not your mind. I can feel your emotions as if they were my own.
The nervousness. But also the aversion. And the fear.”

“My fear doesn’t bother you anymore?” But it didn’t. She could feel his emotions, too.

His hand ran slowly up and down her arm. “All these years, fear has reminded me of that time with Gretchen. You stole its power over me today, D.”

She tried to smile, but was too nervous to pull it off. “I’m glad.”

“Me, too. But enough stalling. We need to issue this invitation, or he won’t make it in time. Then we’re really screwed.”

She took a deep breath, trying to disperse the ants crawling over her skin. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Slowly, he turned her around in his arms. She expected him to look into her eyes, to draw in the clone. But instead he kissed her, strengthening her even as he calmed her. Smart man, he pulled back before the kiss got out of control and stole all thoughts from her head. Including the ones she needed.

Running his palms over her cheeks, he stared into her eyes.

And she felt the clone.

Her heart started racing. Tighe’s grip on her tightened.

“D,” he said softly. “It’s me, sweetheart. I know every time you look at me, you see him.”

His words were a gentle reminder they were on camera. He’d told her just to think of it as a televi
sion camera. And she was going to blow the plan completely if she didn’t play it right.

She gazed into his eyes, opening her heart, feeling Tighe’s love engulf her, calm her. Yet looking into those green eyes, badly streaked with black, her heart clenched as she was reminded of just how little time they had left. Of just how critical it was that she pull this off.

With a determination born of desperation, she gathered her wits and her thoughts. And said her lines with all the raw emotion in her heart.

“What are we going to do, Tighe? How are we going to save you?”

“Kougar has a plan. He’s figured out what went wrong with one of the Daemon traps he tried down by the river last night. He needs more Ferals, more power. Everyone’s going at midnight tonight. Everyone but me.”

She reached up, stroking his jaw. “Why not you?”

“We never leave Feral House unprotected if we can help it. And with my soul deteriorating, my energy’s the lowest right now. If it doesn’t work without me, they’ll call me, and I’ll have to go.”

“Once they trap him, will they kill him?”

“They’ll bring him to me to kill. We’re not sure how far the soul can travel, but we’re taking no chances.”

It was done. They’d said all they had to say. But they hadn’t discussed the last part, how to end the vision without simply turning away.

Tighe leaned in and kissed her, slowly at first,
then with increasing passion, stealing the fear that lurked in her mind, stealing all thought. He pulled away, and without looking at her, tucked her head against him.

“I love you,” he murmured softly.

“And I you.”

She wrapped her arms hard around him and prayed for a miracle. Prayed for Tighe’s life to be spared so he could live another six hundred years, or another six thousand.

Even as she knew she could never be part of them. Even if she saved him, she’d lose him.

Because she could never stay there with nothing to do, no purpose in life, growing old and wrinkled, watching her perpetually virile, perpetually young husband’s interest in her die. No, she wouldn’t be able to bear it. It was better to go back to her life, to the place she belonged, even if it meant feeling a hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

His world could never be hers.

Tighe pulled Delaney onto the bed with him and peeled off her clothes, then his own, needing to make love to her one more time. Every move was slow, unhurried. He wished those moments could last an eternity.

While she kept her eyes closed, afraid, he knew, of engaging the clone, he touched her, loved her, with infinite care. First with his hands, then his mouth, and finally with his body as she spread her thighs, and he sank deep into her heat, filling her.
He felt their hearts engage in a sensual explosion of heat and love.

Her eyes flew open, widening.

“The bond,” he murmured.

A look of amazement creased her passion-drugged features. “It’s stronger than before.”

“From what I’ve heard, it’ll grow even stronger over time.”

Her eyes contracted with pain, with the reminder, he knew, that time was the one thing they might not have. She closed her eyes again.

“Look at me, D.”

“But…”

“Look at me.It’s your eyes that strengthen me.” He slid into her again and again, slowly, loving her with his body. And with his mind, his heart. His soul.

Afterward, he pulled her into his arms and held her as the hour until midnight slowly counted down.

Tighe was sitting on his bed, watching Delaney strap on her ankle holster when a knock sounded on his door. It was ten to midnight.

Hawke opened the door and stuck his head in. “We’re heading out. Give us twenty minutes.”

Tighe nodded, rose, and went over to the man who’d been a friend for well over a century. Understanding and deep friendship moved through Hawke’s dark eyes as he met him halfway, embracing him hard.

“We’ll get him, buddy. This isn’t the end.” But despite the positive words, worry riddled his eyes.

“I hope to hell you’re right.”

Hawke left, with a nod to Delaney.

When she finished tying her boots, Delaney straightened, her gaze carefully not meeting his. “I’m ready to kick some Daemon ass.”

He never tired of watching her, never failed to marvel at her strength and resiliency. She was a vision of beauty and power in the jeans and long-sleeved tee she’d borrowed from Kara, the gun strapped boldly at her waist. She’d twisted her damp hair into a knot at the back of her neck, accentuating the feminine shape of her head and the long, graceful line of her throat.

Goddess, but he loved her. “You know guns won’t kill him.”

A savage smile lifted her mouth. “I’m fully aware of that, sport. But when I’m armed, I feel ready for anything. I could take on the world if I had to.” She shrugged. “Just maybe not this world.”

Tighe chuckled.

Delaney scowled. “I hate not being able to look at you.”

“I’m drinking my fill of you, brown eyes.”

He watched her gaze slide up his legs, lighting tiny fires along his skin as it went. “Maybe I’ve been a little too cautious.”

“If that gaze of yours travels any higher, you may blow the whole operation, Agent Randall. You’re
going to make me forget everything. Everything but that sweet body of yours.”

Her worry rolled over him, quieting the teasing. He went to her and took her in his arms, holding her, calming both of them as much as either could be calm when so much was at stake. If the clone didn’t bite, what would they do?

Finally, he pulled away, again, careful not to meet her gaze. “It’s time for act two.”

With a deep sigh, Delaney nodded and preceded him out the door and down to the foyer, where Kara waited. Kara gave Delaney a big hug, then came to him, sliding her arms around him. He hugged her tight. As he held Kara, he asked, “Are you ready, D?”