Sweet Temptation (27 page)

A tremble of deep cold shakes me as I try to relax. I lift
the covers and mold myself to Anna's curled form, where she buries her face against my chest. Blake climbs in and presses his bare back against mine, as we try desperately to warm ourselves after the hours submerged in frozen water.

The bed shakes with the tremors of five people. Anna, seeking more skin-to-skin contact, slides her knee between my thighs and I choke back a moan. This is not sexual, I tell myself. I scoot even closer, spreading my hand over her hip. She's okay. We're all okay. For now.

I close my eyes, letting myself remember the one good thing that came of today's dreadful events. I finally told Anna I loved her. Life is too short to live as a coward. I swear to myself at this moment that I will never hold back from Anna again.

I'm happy when Anna and Zania fall asleep. I kiss Anna's hairline and bury my nose in her neck. After an hour I finally feel warm again. I elbow Blake, who rolls out of bed behind me.

Kopano also rises, and sits on the edge of the bed with his back to us. Blake puts his wet clothes back on with a grimace.

“I'm gonna start the boat and get us out of here,” he says. Kope and I both nod.

I pull my disgusting clothes back on, though they're bearable now that I'm back to normal temperature. Then I open another blanket and lay it across the girls for good measure. Kope dresses, too, and when he turns to leave the cabin, I grab his arm. His jaw clenches as we meet eyes. I drop my hand.

“I'm . . . sorry,” I say lamely. I can't bring myself to say more. I just remember how he was in Syria, how I admired
him as a friend, and I want to put this behind us—to get back to that place.

He stares at me, lips pursed, and slowly nods. “As am I.”

We say nothing more. We both glance down at the sleeping girls and leave them to rest.

“Sunshine upon my face, a new song for me to sing,

Tell the world how I feel inside, even though it might cost me everything.”

—“Alive” by P.O.D.

W
hen we made it back to L.A., we brought Z to the convent where Anna was born. Belial thinks she'll be safest there. Then we took Kope to the airport, and saw Blake off, back to Santa Barbara. We tried to keep things light, but I know we were all thinking the same thing as we parted: the Dukes knew something was up. The prophecy could happen tomorrow or years from now—we had no idea what to expect or when we'd all see one another again. These were bittersweet thoughts, but for the first time in our lives we had a reason to hope for something more. Something different.

Something better.

Life without the demons.

I take Anna home with me, but Belial shows soon after. I grit my teeth as he struts in, remembering the last time we were together, and his warning to me after the summit. I respect Anna's father as much as I can, since he sympathizes with the Nephs' plight, but I refuse to grovel to him or any Duke any longer. When he walks in I remain standing, crossing my arms over my chest. If he tries to order me out of Anna's life again, he will not get the answer he wants, not this time.

Belial's face turns deadly when Anna tells him that the other Dukes know about the prophecy, that we heard them talking about it on the island, and how they suspect Anna could be “the one.”

“Tell me exactly what they said,” he orders. As Anna rehashes last night, Belial eventually sits, but his presence in the room doesn't get any smaller. His eyes are like darts and I can practically see the wheels turning in his mind as he works out possible strategies to keep his daughter safe.

“You're going to have to move, Anna,” he tells her, and I hold back a nod of agreement. “I can't have you in Atlanta anymore.”

He can't have her near my father is what he means, and I couldn't agree more. Anna's heart is broken at the thought of not living with Patti anymore. Belial looks like he can handle Anna's tears about as well as I can, which is not well at all.

“Everything I've done has been to protect you, Anna,” he says. “Sending the whisperers to haunt you that night, this thing with the two boys, making you move. All of it. I hate to see you upset, but it's all been for the best.”

I inwardly wince as Anna's ears perk up.

“What thing with the two boys?” she asks pointedly. She picked up on the exact phrase I was hoping she'd skim over.

Belial stares at her, then glances at me. “I thought he'd tell you.”

“Tell me what?” Anna asks sharply.

I shake my head and drop my eyes. This is the last thing I want to deal with, especially now that I've begun to make amends with Kope. I want to move past it, and I know Anna will be hurt and furious when she finds out her father hoped and planned that she'd get over me and fall for Kope, so she could find love with someone safe.

Standing abruptly, her face ashen, she calls him out on it.

“You told this to Kai when you commanded him to stay away from me, didn't you?” she asks. My girl's eyes are blazing with indignation.

“Yes,” he says unabashedly. “I told the son of Pharzuph—”

“
Kaidan
,” Anna says. “His name is Kaidan.”

No one has ever stuck up for me before, and I'm betting nobody has ever spoken to Belial like that. He stops and works his jaw side to side, speaking through clenched teeth.

“I told
Kaidan
. At the time, he agreed it was best for you.”

“What was he supposed to say?” Anna shouts. “You're a freaking Duke!”

“No, Anna,” I say heavily. “I did agree with him at the time.” I'd become resigned to it. I had felt that Kope was safer and better, and I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. Theories that work on paper don't always sit well in reality.

“Yeah, and you were
both
wrong!” Her chin pinches and
quivers, and I realize for the first time that I wasn't the only one tortured by this year and a half apart. From the look on her face now, her heart had been broken as much as mine had.

Was it worth it to try to keep her safe by keeping us apart? I'm not so sure anymore. There must be a better way. We're all trying to navigate this strange sea of danger, trying to suck some semblance of life from the salt along the way.

“Things are gonna change now,” Belial says to us both. “I won't try to keep you two from communicating, but I will tell you this. You will only see each other when I tell you it's safe.”

Slowly, I look over at Anna and we both nod. Though he's under suspicion, Belial will have inside information from ally spirits about where the other Dukes are at any given time. This could work.

Belial points at me, and my blood chills.

“I've been watching you,” he says. “I'll tell you exactly what I told Anna. You've got to at least
appear
to be working. Get yourself out to the parties and bars three or four nights a week. Do not get comfortable. Work if you have to. Anna will understand. Won't you, Anna?”

He turns to Anna, whose face is all sadness. “Yes. I've already told him that.”

I feel ill at the thought of either one of us even pretending to work, but I understand his reasoning. The dangers remain, prophecy or not.

“Can you keep up appearances, kid?” he challenges me.

I begrudgingly respond, “Yes, sir.”

Belial stands when it's time to leave. He gives my shoulder a squeeze with his massive bear claw until I meet his eyes,
which are surprisingly soft.

“You're not a bad kid,” he says. “I see that now. You'll make a good ally.” I swallow hard and he gives my shoulder a pat.

You're not a bad kid. . . .

Anna slips her soft fingers into mine and tugs me forward. I follow her into the kitchen, my eyes downcast, feeling strange. She starts cooking something, and I quickly snap out of my stupor when it's apparent Anna is wiping at her eyes. She tries to cover it up, babbling.

“You'll need fresh milk soon. And probably more eggs, too. Eggs are an easy thing you can make yourself. All these meals are labeled with cooking instructions. Remember how I showed you—”

“Anna.”

She won't look at me. I stand and take her hand off the fridge, closing it, and pulling her into my arms. She lets me hold her until she calms.

We're going to be okay, come what may, but I don't pretend it won't hurt like hell when she has to leave.

We eat dinner and spend our remaining time entwined together on the couch.

“I love you,” she says softly. And like every time before, the words spread over me like warm honey. I work up the nerve and open my mouth.

“I've loved you longer.”

She pulls back from my chest and stares up at me. “I don't believe you.”

I can feel an idiotic grin threatening to spread across my face, just talking to her like this. I bury my face in her neck and
hair, and I tell her exactly how I first fell for her. I make her believe me. “You see the best in everyone,” I say. “You drove me mad that trip . . . and then you gave that homeless woman all your money in Hollywood, and that was it. I was done.”

Her eyes are sparkling as she angles across my lap, slips her hands into my hair, and pulls my face to hers. Her leg swings over so she's straddling me, and I let my hands move over her back, her waist, down to her hips. I'm trying so damn hard to keep my hands and the rest of my body on good behavior, but I let my mouth be as wild as it wishes. She doesn't seem to mind.

We pause to stare at each other, marveling like a couple of lovesick fools. I want to laugh, like I'm on the best kind of high, but then she's kissing me again.

“We're gonna be okay,” she whispers between kisses.

“Better than okay,” I say.

She grasps the front of my shirt and leans back as our lips come together again, pulling me so that I'm lying on top of her, between her legs. I move against her, just as I know she likes.

“I want to take you with me,” she groans.

Ah, God, my little vixen underestimates my self-control when she's naughty like this.

“So you can drive me mad like this every day?” And use me for your plaything? I rather like that idea.

I snatch a glance at the clock and it's almost time for her father to come back. Damn it. I push my hearing outside, and sure enough, firm steps are sounding.

“I think someone's coming up the stairs,” I whisper, although I know Belial could most assuredly hear me if he wanted to listen. I kiss the tender spot under her ear. She
smells fresh and clean from her shower.

“No,” she says bravely. “Not yet.” She clings to my shoulders and arches her hips up to mine, and she feels so bloody good. I grind into her body one last time, and my head is spinning with desire for more.

Belial pounds on the door and we both go still. We're panting like mad. Nothing like a dose of your girlfriend's father to douse the kindled fires. Anna giggles in a very mischievous way and I grin.

My lovely little vixen.

Belial knocks again and Anna frowns. “I don't want to say good-bye.”

“Then don't,” I tell her.

“Hurry it up,” Belial shouts through the door.

Anna looks sad now, so I pull her up, taking her face in my hands.

“All right, gorgeous. No good-byes. I'll talk to you soon.” I press my lips to hers one last time.

Belial groans against the door. “Oh, for the love of—”

“Hush, Daddy,” Anna says. She puts her hands over mine, which still cradle her face, and her eyes flutter closed. “All right. We'll talk soon.”

I peck her lips one last time and hand her over to her father. I stand in the doorway as they head downstairs. That awful feeling of being left behind weighs me down. I have to trust that she'll be safe in Belial's care, and wherever he chooses for her to live now.

For the first time ever, when Anna walks away from me, she actually turns and looks back with a smile. That's how I
know this time will be different. I lift a hand, and though I miss her like mad already, I feel stronger than I ever have.

We're stronger together than when we're apart. It's a state of mind. Just knowing she loves me, and she's secure in my love for her, makes me feel bloody invincible. I feel as if I've been given a second chance at life, and I'm grateful.

Yes, this time will be different, because this time, I am alive.

“Everyone's got to face down the demons

Maybe today, you could put the past away.”

—“Jumper” by Third Eye Blind

T
he Dukes don't waste any time. They're after Anna already, and it's only been a few days since they discovered there are traitors in their midst, since they killed Flynn. Now I've learned from Anna that Father's sent someone to rifle through her dirty laundry so he can get his hands on her knickers—he's determined to find out if she's still a virgin.

Dodgy bastard.

It's been days since I heard from her, and I'm beginning to feel edgy. My heart leaps when my mobile dings, but it's a text from Blake.

My pops is going thru the changing of the guard. China.

He must be jubilant. To the world it will look as though his
father died of a heart attack, leaving his mansion to Blake. In reality, Duke Melchom's spirit will be roaming his new duty station of China, searching for a new body to inhabit.

And I'm engaged.

I cringe at this. Should I send my condolences? My mobile rings and I assume it's Blake until I see Father's name. Great. I hesitate, but I can't
not
answer.

“Hallo.”

His voice is posh, bored, and all business. “You're needed in Atlanta straightaway. I've sent my jet to L.A. It will arrive in four hours and you are to be there, ready.”

I want to ask what this is about. If it's a job for Marissa or something else. But I don't dare. For all I know he could be suspicious of me already.

“Yes, sir,” I say.

He hangs up without another word, and my stomach sours. I immediately want to contact Anna or the others, but it's too dangerous. If they've found a way to hack her phone, we're screwed. If he's calling to ask me to work, he's out of luck. That's never happening again.

I text Belial with the code we'd agreed on for when my father calls.
K-611

I grab my bag and begin readying for the trip, wishing my knives could make it past security. I'll need to stop and buy one when I get there.

Bloody hell, I nearly forgot about the East Coast humidity. Thankfully I'm only in it a moment before I'm whisked off by Father's driver in a black sedan, AC blasting.

“Stop at the sporting goods shop,” I tell the driver.

I buy a new knife and get back in the car. My heart beats a steady, fast rhythm the entire way to Father's house, and I match it against my knee with my thumb. My face is schooled into an expressionless mask, and I'm eager to find out what this is about.

As we near the house I push out my hearing and find sounds of two people going at it in the den. We arrive and I stand outside the door of the den until a maid with ample hips hurries out, flushed, smoothing down her clothing. She glances at me and rushes past.

Father sits relaxed in a recliner when I enter, one of his dark whisperers bobbing in the air at his side. Father doesn't get up or motion me to sit. He only scans me from head to toe. My straight face will not give away my nerves. I won't allow it. I hook my thumbs in my pockets lazily.

“I've come as you requested.”

“You're looking well,” he says. “Bulking up nicely.”

“Thank you, Father.”

He steeples his hands and runs his joined index fingers up and down his chin. “I've got a rather . . . strange job for you. But quite possibly the most important of your life.”

I force myself to take slow, even breaths. “Anything you wish, of course.”

“Of course,” he drawls. For a moment his eyes are lost in thought, then he kicks the recliner closed and stands to move closer. The spirit circles the two of us.

“We've been dealing with a load of nonsense recently,” he says. “Nothing we can't handle, but a nuisance nonetheless.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” I know better than to ask questions. Father hates questions. Finds them pushy.

“Yes, well. We believe Duke Belial has turned traitor, and he's using his daughter Anna to work against us.”

Bugger . . . I push my eyebrows together as if this is shocking and appalling news.
Keep it together
, I warn myself. He continues.

“We will find Belial and return him to Lucifer straightaway, but we need to find his daughter first. We must know if all of our suspicions are correct.”

I nod, thrilled to hear news but terrified at the sound of Anna's name coming from Father's mouth.

“Do you recall she was a
virgin
when we last saw her in New York?” His whisperer makes a sound of disgust in my ear.

“I do recall, Father. Last New Year's.”

He
hmphs
a breath through his nose, still annoyed, no doubt, that I didn't take her virginity when he sent me off to train her originally. “Well, we have reason to believe Belial is keeping her innocent.”

I draw my eyebrows together again, as if the idea is absurd.

“If what we suspect is true, he has ulterior motives for keeping her clean, which you don't need to concern yourself with. All you need to know is that it's imperative the girl loses her purity immediately. I would ask you to kill her, but that pleasure will belong to the Dukes.”

Breathe slowly. Nod.

“Your job is to find the girl and personally make sure there is not a trace of innocence left in her body. I will accept no excuses this time, Kaidan. If she is found to be a virgin after
this, you'll be dead on the spot. Do I make myself clear?”

Darkness swirls behind my eyes, causing my fingers to tingle with numbness. “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” he whispers. “Very good.” He steps closer and puts his hands on my shoulders. He feels the girth there and nods to himself, running his hands down my arms to examine my muscles. His eyes shift over me.

Do not ball your fists. Do not clench your jaw. Do not pull away.

“Shall I leave straightaway?” I ask.

This brings him back to the moment and he drops his hands.

“Yes. You'll take my BMW and head north.” He picks up his mobile from a side table and swipes through it. “She was last seen on Interstate 95 in South Carolina, heading north. I will text you updates as I receive them. We've got Neph and whisperers tailing her for other purposes, but I won't trust this job to anyone but you.”

“Thank you, Father,” I say. “I'm honored.” And truly, I'm grateful. If they had asked another Neph . . .

Do not growl.

“My whisperer Rafe will escort you.”

My eyes go wide, and I quickly neutralize my face again, but Father catches the look and smiles.

“Is that a problem?”

Yes, actually, it's an enormous problem. “No, sir.”

“Good. The spirit will report to me as soon as the job is done, and we'll retrieve her when we're prepared to deal with her.”

“I understand. Would you like me to be in contact with the other Neph myself?” I ask. “To save time?” And to find out who's against us?

“I think not,” he says with a half grin. “Not all Neph are to be trusted these days. It's best if we deal with all of you directly ourselves.”

I nod, pretending not to care that his words clearly include me.

He pulls keys from his trouser pockets and I take them.

“Drive fast. I don't care how many bloody tickets you get. Find her and ruin her once and for all, Kaidan. Make me proud.”

“I will, Father.”

I turn away and head to the garage. When I'm out of his sight I clench my jaw and silently curse him straight to hell before his stupid minion spirit flies in and I fall into false relaxation mode again.

Leave it to my father to unknowingly sabotage the one good thing in my life. I have no bloody clue how to get out of this. I wish like hell I could contact Anna to tell her she's being tailed, and to let her know I'm on my way. I've no idea what I'll do when I get there.

On the way out of town I stop at a drugstore and buy an over-the-counter men's fertility test to make sure I'm completely sterile. Just in case.

I cannot have sex with her. She has to remain a virgin—it's the only way she'll be able to use the Sword of Righteousness. I'll just have to take this charade as far as I can until I can go no further. This could be it. This could be the thing that
kick-starts the prophecy. Because when it comes right down to it, if I cannot find a way to fool them, I might have to take Anna away; I might have to run. I've told her myself that she cannot hide from the demons, but damn it, I cannot let them have her without a fight, either. If our only other option is to stay put and be captured, then we will run like hell.