Chapter Seven

Ethney groaned at the sharp blaring sound ringing incessantly by her head. She reached out, fumbling for the button that would turn the blasted alarm clock off, but something else—someone else, beat her to it.

A warm chest pressed against her back, the force of the weight pushing her down into the mattress. She blinked her eyes open and froze as the events of last night flooded her mind. Crap! What did I do?

Her center ached wonderfully and part of her wanted to roll over and press her throbbing core against Noah so he could take her all over again, but that would be a very bad idea. He was her enemy—a man she was more than likely going to have to kill in a few weeks, on her birthday no less.

What an idiot! Killing Noah was already going to be hard enough considering he was such a good guy. She didn’t need to complicate it further by starting a relationship with him.

Noah pressed a kiss to her shoulder and then another to her collarbone. She closed her eyes; it would be so easy to get lost in the moment. She couldn’t let this happen again. She rolled out of the bed and hurried to the bathroom.

Once inside, she shut and locked the door. Closing her eyes and leaning her head on the door for a long moment, she took a deep breath and finally reached into the shower to turn on the water. Thankfully, she could shower when she pleased without fearing turning into a mermaid. She controlled her other half, which made things like showers a welcome commodity.

She hopped in and let the scalding water cascade over her. This thing with Noah couldn’t happen again. Her heart couldn’t take falling for a man she’d inevitably have to execute. It was paramount she protect herself. Being a little sweet on him did not help the matter. She needed distance—lots of distance.

Ethney stayed in the shower until the water ran cold before grabbing a towel to dry off. Stepping out of the stall, she realized she did not bring any clothes in with her. Great! She blew out a breath and opened the door to the bathroom, peeking her head out. The room was empty. She frowned; where was Noah? Surely he hadn’t run away after everything.

She muttered under her breath and slipped on her clothes from the previous night. Just as she finished buttoning her jeans, the hotel door swung open and Noah walked in with a drink carrier and a bag of food. The smell wafted in the air, making her taste buds salivate. He brought breakfast. How sweet! No! Stop thinking like that!

“Morning,” Noah said as he kicked the door shut and set the food down on the end table by the bed.

“Hi,” she said. She folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. Even with his clothes on she couldn’t get the naked image of him out of her head. His muscles were even more pronounced than his shirt showed.

“I got breakfast.” He held up the bag. “I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got a variety. Hopefully, there is something in there you will eat.”

Her eyes drifted to the bag. After one night, Noah was already more thoughtful and sweet than any of her past flings had ever been. Hell, he even had a step up on her husband and she was married to the bastard for years. Then again, she and Angus were never really in love; she only fooled herself into thinking they were.

“Thanks.” She took a step forward, but stopped when he plopped down on the bed.

He held up the drink container. “Do you want OJ or coffee?”

“OJ.”

When Noah handed her the glass, their hands brushed and the touch sent a rush of heat straight through her. She cleared her throat and jerked her hand away.

“So, about last night,” Noah started.

“It was nice, but it can’t happen again,” she said before he could say anything else.

Noah’s face fell. “Right. It’s complicated.” He nodded and looked down at his hands. “Ethney—”

“Don’t!” She didn’t give him a chance to finish. Whatever he was going to say she didn’t want to hear it. It would make everything that much harder. Right now she needed to distance herself from him.

“Look, I know the odds are stacked against me right now, but—”

“Noah, please. I don’t want to argue,” she interrupted him again. “Last night was enjoyable, but it shouldn’t have happened. Let’s just do what we need to do and move on.”

It was what was best. Her heart didn’t think so, but she knew in her mind she needed distance and clarity when it came to him. The full moon was right around the corner and she didn’t want to get attached to Noah like she had with the kid, Kevin, in January. Killing him still kept her up at night. Killing Noah was going to haunt her for years to come.

Noah opened his mouth to say something, but a knock on their hotel door stopped him.

“Noah?” a woman’s voice called.

“That’s Elena,” he said, his eyes dropping to the bed.

Ethney looked to the door and then back to Noah. He blew out what seemed to be an annoyed breath and trudged to it to open it for his sister.

“Yeah. Let me grab my things and breakfast and we’ll be ready.” He opened the door wider.

Elena’s eyes widened when they landed on Ethney. Her gaze went to the rumpled comforter on the bed and then to the other bed that had clearly not been touched. So much for keeping their activities last night a secret. Ethney grabbed the bag of food from the end table and the OJ and hurried toward the door. She offered Elena a tight-lipped smile before brushing past her and out into the already hot and humid air.

Inhaling Elena’s scent, she followed it to a blue compact car with a sunroof. Noah and Elena’s voices followed not too far behind her. Ethney didn’t wait for them, she opened the car door and squeezed in next to the boxes and cases Elena had packed to bring to Savannah. The woman had clearly come prepared because there was barely enough room to squeeze in. Hopefully, the doctor would be able to help. She wasn’t going to hold her breath though.

“How did you know which car was mine?” Elena asked as she opened the driver’s side door.

Ethney glanced around the lot. There were still plenty of cars in parking spots. Damn. Noah had her all flustered. She wasn’t even thinking clearly.

“Lucky guess,” she said.

Elena frowned, but didn’t say anything else. “So, Savannah?”

“Yeah. We’re staying at a beach house just off the coast,” Noah said. “I’ll give you better directions once we get closer.”

“We?” Elena asked her voice low. She glanced at Ethney in the rearview mirror before starting the car. “I didn’t realize the two of you were together.”

“It’s complicated,” Noah said.

Elena bit her lip, her eyes darting to the road and then back to Ethney. It was enough to make Ethney shift in her seat, at least the little bit she could. She hated being scrutinized.

“Maybe you should tell me exactly what is going on. If I’m going to help, I need to know what I’m getting into,” Elena said.

“I’ve already told you everything,” Noah said.

Elena shook her head and exhaled loudly. “There is more going on. I’m not stupid, Noah. Our sister and brother-in-law are dead. You’ve run off with our niece. You say you turn into a lycanthrope at the full moon and you are running around with some woman I’ve never met before. I think I’m owed more of an explanation.” 

“Lycanthrope are real,” Ethney spoke up. “The government is aware there is something going on, but they don’t know everything. I work for a special task force dealing with the situation.”

“And you’re sleeping with my brother? That doesn’t seem too professional,” Elena said.

Ethney sat back in her seat. “You’re right, it’s not. That’s why it won’t be happening again. I can assure you, the threat is quite real and if you fail at finding a cure your brother and niece will turn into monsters and they’ll have to be put down.”

“Put down?” Elena whispered.

“For the protection of everyone else,” Ethney finished.

“But that’s not going to happen,” Noah said. He reached out touched his sister’s shoulder. “You’re going to find a cure.”

“If I don’t, you’ll die? Claire will die?” Elena asked. Her mouth popped open and her brows dipped down into a scowl.

Noah shook his head. “It’s not going to come to that.”

Ethney opened her mouth to tell him he shouldn’t make promises, but then stopped. Elena shouldn’t know how hopeless the cause was right now. It could effect her research and work. If the woman did fail, Ethney would ensure Elena it wasn’t her fault. She could even have Astraea whammy her and take away all the memories of the two weeks they were together. It’d probably be best. If Ethney couldn’t save Noah, she could at least protect his sister.