Shadow Rising (17 page)

“And you think that’s what happened to your Julian—to me?”

“Well, here you are. You’re either a really good actor…or you’re him.”

He scowled. “Why would I have the need to act for anyone? I’m a god.”

Seeing what she’d seen tonight, she could hardly argue. “From what I’ve heard, Aniliáre aren’t always the nicest guys. They might do something mean just for the fun of it.”

He thought about that and nodded, his eyelids growing heavy. “Perhaps that’s true. I had fun tonight.”

Kara’s gut clenched, hoping the passenger’s blood had ventured off into the wider Pacific by now. “Glad you were entertained.”

When Julian’s eyes closed again, they both started to sink. “Hey! Wake up.”

His head jerked. “Damn it, woman. What is it?”

“You were about to go under,
Your God-ship
. Why don’t we head back to the apartment now? You look tired.”

He folded his wings around her and a moment later, her feet were flat against the porcelain bottom of her bathtub, and Julian was experimenting with the faucet, trying to get the hot water working. Her light pink sweats were soaking wet and riddled with darker splotches of pink. Julian had lost Jaxon’s black tank top somewhere along the way, but the jeans looked okay.

Still shivering, Kara kicked off her flip-flops, then she peeled off her wet clothes and threw them in the bathroom trashcan, pushing them down with her foot to fit beside the clothes that had been ruined earlier in the day when she’d been run down on her scooter. If she added in her only interview suit, that was three outfits destroyed in as many days. In all her years of hunting, that had never happened before.

“His name was Steve,” she said. “It would have been helpful to find out who he was working for before you splattered him.” She put a hand to her stomach, trying not to think too deeply on it.

Julian peeled the jeans down his legs and threw them to the tile floor, splashing water everywhere. Shit, if they leaked water to the apartment below, Kara was the one who’d have to fix the ceiling. She yanked the curtain closed and wrapped her arms around her torso.

Julian took Kara by the shoulders and shifted her under the steaming water. “He was seconds from killing you, and you think I should have stopped to interview him?”

“Well, when a girl gets targeted twice in a day, she wonders why.”

Now with both men permanently out of the picture, she had no way of finding out why they wanted her dead. She got the feeling, though, that this was all business and hadn’t become personal until after she’d broken Steve’s face in the alley.

Julian regarded her. “He was a witch. What dealings do you have with them?”

She closed her eyes and submerged her face in the warm spray, debating how much she wanted to tell him. After a minute, she brought her head out and opened her eyes. “Plenty. My friend Abbey is a witch. That’s what I thought I was until I learned I was Demiáre. Anyhow, about six months ago, Abbey was hurt and she hasn’t healed yet. Her uncle is holding me responsible, but I don’t think he’d want me dead. If he kills me, he won’t get what he needs to cure Abbey.”

“Which is…?”

“The blood of the Aniliáre.” She waited for recognition in his eyes of what she was saying, but it didn’t come. “You know, the blood of a black-wing.”

“Why does he want it?”

“Abbey was branded, and apparently, if she drinks the blood, it will heal her.”

“Why would any beings as powerful as the Aniliáre give their blood to help a witch?”

“I imagine black-wings have plenty to spare, if they wanted to. I just need enough to fill a small vial.”

He tilted her chin up. “Are you asking me, Kara?”

“I…uh… Yes. I’m asking.” She’d rather have hot pokers shoved under her nails than ask for a favor from someone unwilling to give it, but this was for Abbey. She’d gladly brave hot pokers for Abbey.

“If it were for you, for your lips, I might part with it…but for a witch? The idea of it twists something inside me.”

“Just think about it. You don’t need to answer now.”

Julian had already given his life for her once. How much more could she ask him to give? And yet, one way or another, she was going to come through for Abbey. Heaven help her if she had to go to Aiden with the request, hoping he had the right connections. It would be hard to follow through on her agreement with Claudius if she was a prisoner on Mercury Island.

But she wasn’t on Mercury Island now. Somehow, she was standing in the shower with a man who was the spitting image of her lover…a man who once again had saved her life. “Thank you for helping me tonight.”

His dark hair stuck to his head, dripping from the spray. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“Yes, I do. For my face.” She touched the corners of her lips. “For coming for me. Thank you, Julian.”

He smiled slowly, his expression intent. “Ah, there it is.”

“What?”

“The way you first said my name.”

She swallowed and glanced down at their feet. “You don’t know how much I missed you after you went away.”

“Tell me the story, Kara. Tell me about your Julian.” He squeezed shampoo into his hand and began to lather her long hair. “Remember to close your eyes,” he warned.

She smiled and squeezed her eyes shut as his strong fingers massaged her scalp. “My father was like you—Aniliáre—but he was born that way. Uh, well, I don’t think he was actually born, but you get what I mean, right?”

“Go on.”

It was hard to talk when his hands were on her, touching her, healing her. “My father, Teras, sent you, Gavin and Aiden to watch over me. I guess there was a war or something because my mother cheated on her husband, Ailexon, with my dad. Anyhow, Ailexon is apparently a bad guy, and you three sided with Teras.”

She slowly filled her lungs and continued. “Teras was killed in the battle—or sent to the Abyss, which I guess is the same thing. But you, Gavin and Aiden started your own clan on Mercury Island, and when you thought I was old enough, you came looking for me to keep your word to my father. You wanted me to be part of your clan.”

He guided her head under the water to rinse it, then used his fingertips to clear the water from her eyes, as she’d done for him in the bath. When she opened her eyes, he was grinning. “And when you saw me, you fell instantly in love.”

She laughed softly. “Not exactly. You were handsome—are handsome—but Gavin was the first Demiáre I met. Maybe it was just his scent or that he was my species, but at the time, I thought my feelings for him were a sign that we were meant to be. Maybe that’s why it took me longer to fall for you.”

His cocky smile turned into a scowl. “Are you saying you loved Gavin over Julian?”

It was too weird to hear Julian speaking of himself in the third person. It reminded Kara that even if the man in front of her looked like her bondmate, he was something else now. “Julian gave me a part of himself that Gavin never could. I loved Julian.”

“But you loved this…
Gavin
first?”

Her chest hurt, as if the sorrow were a cement block pressing on her heart. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Gavin is gone. So is Julian. That’s as true now as it was the day Gable thrust a sword through his neck…the same day that bastard carved up my best friend. Julian gave his life for me. I miss him every day, but I can’t bring him back.”

His dark brows drew together. “I may not have his memories, but I can see in you what he saw.”

Kara turned away and soaped up her bath pouf. She couldn’t look in his eyes. It hurt too much. “I gotta get this off my skin. I’m a mess.”

She smelled the fruity scent of conditioner, then felt strong hands smoothing over her wet tangle of hair. When he was finished, he took the pouf from her hands and scrubbed it gently across her shoulders.

“Why are you afraid of me?” he asked.

“You mean, other than the fact that after we kissed, you said you were going to kill me the next time our paths crossed?” She sucked in a breath when he ran the sponge over her breasts. The warm water felt like his touch spreading from her scalp to her toes.

He braced a hand against the shower wall, seeming unsteady on his feet. “I was confused. But I think I understand now. I’m here to make peace with you before…”

She turned toward him again, her breasts rubbing against his chest. Even through his gentle smile, he looked so tired. “Before what?”

“I’m dying, Kara.”

She breathed the fine spray of water into her lungs and coughed. “That’s not possible, Julian. You’re Aniliáre. Maybe you just need some meat.”

He looked sad, but resigned. “No more meat. It’s not helping any longer.”

“Helping with what?”

“I would like to stay with you until it’s over, but when I close my eyes, I wake up under the shade of a large tree, in a land where too many spirits walk.”

She reached for his cheeks. “Listen to me. I can’t lose you again. Do you understand?”

“I’ll just rest awhile.”

Kara turned off the shower and grabbed two slightly damp towels from the rack. “Come lie down. I’ll get you something to eat.”

She patted him down, threw a towel over her torso, then dragged him back to her bedroom. “Lie down.”

He stretched out on the mattress, his eyelids heavy. “Thank you.”

She sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you sure more meat won’t help?”

“At first, the animal blood seemed to ease me, but not as much as…yours.”

“My blood?”

He nodded, seeming embarrassed by the admission. She thrust her wrist to his mouth. “Then take it. I promised you we would figure this out, and we will. We just have to get you strong first.”

“I won’t take what I can’t offer in exchange.” He rolled to his side, and the ward around her apartment quavered.

“I’m not bartering here, Julian. I’m trying to help you.”

“I can’t stay much longer, but if I wake again, I will come back to you.”

She reached for the dagger under her bed, cut a small stripe in her wrist, then pressed the bloody wound to his lips. “Take this, damn you. And I’ll be waiting tomorrow at sundown. Standing a lady up is rude, you hear me?” She felt a small tug on her wrist before he groaned again and began to shimmer.

She could barely see him disappearing through the tears in her eyes. “Julian? I’ll be waiting, okay? Just come back to me.”

Chapter Eleven

Kara woke up alone again, and it was harder this time. She knew now, knew in her innermost being, that the man she’d loved had been reborn as a black-wing. She pressed her nose against the sheets and still smelled him there. His essence wasn’t exactly the same as her Julian, it was more primal now, but underneath it all there was still something beautiful and familiar. Maybe in time, he could grow to love her, and his memories of their passionate courtship would return.

She rose from bed and slipped on some panties, a pair of jeans and a Hoolecha Inn T-shirt, then went to the bathroom and threw Jaxon’s damp jeans into the tub until she could get down to the laundromat. She used an old towel to clean up the leftover water on the floor, then got to work brushing the tangles from her hair. When she was done, she braided it down her back and brushed her teeth.

She knew she needed to call the Hoolecha Inn and give her hours for the week to another bartender, but the thought made her growl. No one was going to pay for those ruined clothes in the trash but her. Then again, if an ultimatum from the leader of an entire hemisphere of witches, two attacks on her life and her boyfriend coming back from the dead didn’t merit a little time off, what did?

She needed to get in touch with Aiden before tonight to ask him what was happening with Julian. It couldn’t be true that he was dying, could it? But what could possibly make a spirit clothed in flesh weak enough that he thought he was dying to begin with?

A knock sounded on Kara’s front door. She walked to the entryway and reached out for the source but didn’t feel anything insidious coming from the other side. She peeped through the hole. Shit. Only bravado moved her hand to the knob and helped her twist.

She widened her stance and glared at her unwanted visitor. He’d ditched the scarlet hood in favor of black slacks and a long-sleeved charcoal shirt. “Claudius.”

“Hello, Kara.”

“I still have plenty of time left on the clock.”

“A little,” he agreed.

“So what brings you by, Claude?”

His nostrils flared. “I heard there was trouble yesterday, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.”

“You had me beaten on my first visit to your coven. What the hell do you care?”

“I never sanctioned the beating.”

She looked him up and down, not believing a word he said. “Really? Did you sanction those two witches who tried to kill me yesterday?”

“They were witches? I suspected they might be.”

“Yeah, the spells and charms gave it away.”

“My people found the first one, but what happened to the second?”

“We had a disagreement, and he scattered.”

“Did he say what he wanted?”