Chapter 24
Adam escorted Victoria out of the station, with Dage covering his back. They had snipers on the nearby rooftops as well as undercover operatives milling in the crowds on the busy street. The Realm could mobilize in seconds, which was one of the many reasons the witches had aligned themselves with the superpower. Well, until now. “Are we at war?” he asked absently, opening the door to a long black car for Victoria.
She slid inside and he followed, with Dage on his heels. The car immediately moved away from the curb, with the partition up between them and the driver. From the vibrations, the guy was a vampire. Made sense.
The king sat and smoothed his hands down his pants. “We’re not at war. I believe the Coven Nine is meeting shortly to discuss leaving the Realm, but I don’t think they’ll go so far as to declare war. It’d be suicide.” He paused. “For your people. Not mine.”
“Withdrawing from the Realm is just as bad,” Adam said, swiping a hand over his eyes. “I can’t believe this.” He turned toward the pale woman watching the two of them. When he’d walked into the interrogation room and seen the fear in her eyes, he’d nearly lost his mind. “What the fuck were you thinking, leaving the cabin?”
She blinked.
“Smooth,” Dage muttered, texting rapidly on his phone. “You know part of this deal is that we all have to leave Seattle, right?”
“Aye.” Adam kept his focus on the woman, whose eyes were rapidly turning a stormy blue. If she thought to argue with him right now, she was crazier than he’d thought. “There’s too much attention on us here now, anyway. But we still haven’t figured out the damn manufacturer of Apollo. It’s about to be unleashed on my people. I just know it.”
Dage sighed and looked up from his phone. “Agreed. Bear is going to have to be our eyes on the ground.” He winced. “God help us.”
Tori reared up. “Wait a minute. You’re all leaving Seattle? What about my sister?”
Adam opened his mouth but didn’t have a platitude. So he gave her the truth. “I don’t know. Right now, Kellach is wanted by our people, so they can’t go to Dublin. But we have to get out of Seattle.” So much was up in the air, he didn’t have time to be angry with Victoria. Yet his temper would not abate. “You still haven’t told me why you left the cabin when I specifically told you to stay there.”
Her chin dropped, and her eyebrows lifted, giving her the most smart-ass expression he’d ever seen. “I guess the simplest answer is that I don’t fucking take orders from you.”
Dage snorted and busied himself with his phone again, not looking at either of them. “You should just mate her and get it over with,” he mused.
Adam’s head snapped toward his old friend. “Just because you’re the king, doesn’t mean I won’t burn the hell out of you.”
Dage’s smile widened, and he didn’t even look up. “You’re as cranky as Bear.”
Tori sucked in air. “Bear was shot, right? Is he okay? We have to get out there.”
“He’s fine,” Adam lied. “Well, he will be. He’s recuperating.”
“As a bear or as a human?” she snapped.
Adam studied her. “You saw him shift?”
“Yeah.”
That made sense. “He’s in bear form and will be for a while as he heals.” Adam frowned toward Dage. “That puts a little crimp in our plans.”
“Not necessarily. Lucas can take over for the time being. You really have to get out of town, Adam,” Dage said. “I’m thinking you should come visit Idaho.”
Tori waved her hand. “Wait a minute. What is wrong with Bear besides getting shot? He was really sick before.”
“It’s a long story,” Adam said.
“So what?” she snapped.
Oh, that defiance needed dealing with. He pinned her with a look. “I don’t wish to discuss it.”
If looks could burn, he’d be a smoldering ember. She turned toward Dage and gave him her sweetest smile. “King? What’s wrong with Bear?”
Dage kept texting. “Shifters have one form, or one animal, at their base, you know? Tigers are tigers, wolves are wolves, cougars are cougars.” He frowned and then texted faster. “Family is a pain in the ass.”
Tori leaned toward him, and Adam gave a light growl. She ignored him. “And what about Bear?”
“Bear is a bear. His mama was a bear.” Dage pressed the screen harder with sharp pokes. “His daddy, on the other hand, was a dragon. A bear can’t be a bear and a dragon.”
Her mouth went slack. “Dragons exist?”
“Yeah, but they’re few and far between,” Dage said. “Anyway, to save Simone a couple of weeks ago, Bear made the colossal mistake of shifting into a dragon several times. It harmed him on a cellular level.”
Worry darkened Tori’s eyes. “A cellular level?”
Dage looked up. “Yes. The closest explanation I can think of is to imagine your soul being shredded with poison-tipped claws until nothing remains but a pile of, well, smoldering agony.”
Adam shot him a hard look. “That’s a little much.”
“But it’s accurate.” Dage set his phone in his pocket. “Bear will need to embrace his inner animal again and probably run for a month or so just as a bear. He’ll be okay. Well, probably.”
Tori swallowed. “Simone is half dragon?”
Dage lifted a powerful shoulder. “Eh. Her father was a dragon, but she’s all witch. One form only, you know. I don’t think she could shift even if she really wanted to. Nope. Simone is a witch.”
Tori wiped a hand across her eyes. “I get it.” She studied Adam and then the king.
Adam held on to his temper. “What?”
She shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. You immortals—with powers. It’s like you each have your own tune. I can kind of hear it.”
Dage blinked. “You can hear tunes?”
“Yeah,” she said, pink flashing across her high cheekbones. “The current of power. Yours is dark and deep. Adam’s is streamlined and deadly. Simone . . . well, she was lighter but somehow even more dangerous.” Victoria shook her head. “It sounds weird.”
Adam breathed out. “Makes sense, really. Your enhancement with motors and engines, and your love of music. It’s a gift.” To think she’d been in danger. Real danger, because she hadn’t listened to him. He bit back a growl.
“Interesting,” the king said. “I’ll have to tell my mate. I have no doubt she’ll want to meet you, Victoria. After this business is concluded.” He glanced at a watch on his wrist and then focused on Adam. “I have the supplies and equipment you requested being set up at your cabin. Who knows about the cabin?”
Adam ticked through people in his brain. “Bear knows, and apparently a few of the Fire members were aware of it, considering they took Victoria, but either they’re dead or on the run.”
Dage nodded. “I think you’re safe there for the night, but you really have to get out of Seattle.”
“I’ve been called before the Council in Ireland in two days anyway,” Adam said, his plan starting to take shape.
Dage’s eyebrows rose. “You’re not really considering attending?”
“I am.” He held up a hand when Dage started to argue. “I’m an Enforcer for the Council of the Coven Nine, King. That means something to me. I’m going to take the evidence I have and hopefully what else we discover, and I’m going to defend my family in chambers. It’s who I am.”
“They’ll cut off your head,” Dage said grimly.
There was enough truth to the statement that Adam’s muscles tensed. The car finally reached the cabin and rolled to a stop. “I have people looking for Parker Monzelle and those who helped him to escape, as I’m sure you do as well. Let’s coordinate efforts,” Adam said.
Dage nodded. “I’m not hiding your suicide plan from your brothers.”
Adam sighed. “I didn’t think you would.” He reached out and shook his friend’s hand. “Thank you for teleporting here so quickly and for the governmental documents. I owe you another one.”
The king held his gaze. “Someday I’ll collect.”
Of that, Adam had no doubt. “I know.”
Dage glanced at his watch again. “Any surveillance at the DEA office as well as in the surrounding neighborhoods just experienced a little glitch due to solar activity.” The king grinned. “There’s no record of us being there.”
Adam returned the smile. “Excellent. Thanks.” He turned to assist Victoria from the car. “It’s time you and I had a little chat.”
* * *
Thunder cracked across the sky, and Tori jumped. Wind bit into her. She’d been at the DEA office long enough that the weather had turned from nice and sunny to pissed off. Just like the male currently all but dragging her across the wet grass and up the steps of the cabin. The expensive black car turned around and sped down the driveway.
It was too late to ask the king if she could leave with him.
Lightning cracked, and the smell of ozone filled the air. The trees around them swayed violently, throwing pine needles like darts.
Adam shoved open the door and pulled her inside. “Bear owns this cabin, and nobody knows we’re renting it from him. It’s safe for us until I leave for Ireland.” He shut the door, his innocuous words at complete odds with the hard thread of anger in his tone. He left her at the door and strode over to the stone fireplace to set logs in place. Fire crackled down his arms, and he held out his hands, shooting flames to ignite the logs.
Apparently he wasn’t worried about anybody sensing his fire. They must truly be alone in the middle of nowhere. She shivered.
Soon a fire crackled, sending soft light across the darkened space.
He turned, a powerful man standing in front of his open fire. The thunder and lightning outside added slashing rain to the mix, pushing energy into the cabin that was no match for the fury pouring off the witch. “You still haven’t answered my question,” he said.
Her chin lifted, but butterflies zinged inside her abdomen. Her breath came in short bursts. “I believe I did answer your question,” she whispered, not backing down. He had no right to be angry with her. Not really. “If you’ve forgotten, I think I said something about not following orders from you. I also used the F-word, if I remember correctly.”
“You are such a smart-ass,” he noted, no amusement on his impossibly rugged features.
So she’d heard. More than once, actually. The look he was giving her, all determination and arrogance, pulsed excitement through her entire body. Oh, she wanted to defy him, wanted to put him in his place. But she wanted something else more. Something that was all Adam Dunne. An elusive element of raw power that she’d only just glimpsed. Could she push him to that place?
Did she truly want to?
His nostrils flared, and something wild glimmered in his eyes. “I see. Well, then. Apparently, you need it spelled out for you.” He didn’t move a muscle, but his very essence rolled through the room, owning it. Owning everything. “When I tell you to stay put, you will do exactly that. When I tell you to move, you move. Until we’re cleared by the Council, if I tell you to stop breathing, you fucking hold your lungs still.”
She gaped at him. There were words of rebuttal, and she should say them, but her mind blanked. Adam in full temper was a sight to see.
He gave a short nod. “Now, you are to stay here. I’m going to scout around and make sure my alarms are in place.” He took a step toward the door.
“No.”
He stopped mid-stride. His gaze, lava hot, slashed to her. His lips pressed shut as if he was the one who couldn’t find words now. For several long tension-filled seconds, they just looked at each other.
The bite marks on her neck burned and pulsed. An iron fist gripped her lungs. Hunger tormented her along with a warning she didn’t know how to heed.
Finally, he spoke. “What did you say?”
There was an out. She could take it and back down. Get a breather from all the tension. “I said no.”
He was on her then, faster than she could take that breath. Clamping his hands on her hips, he lifted her onto the table, setting her down none too gently. His face lowered to hers. “What in the hell are you doing?”
“Pushing you,” she said, the tingling along her butt spreading inward from the rough treatment.
“Why?” he bit out, his expression fierce.
Now that was the question. Was there an answer? There had to be an answer. Her gaze dropped to his full lips. “Because I can.” It struck her then—the truth of that statement. How many people on earth could push Adam Dunne to the edge of his control? Not many, she’d bet. He needed this. He needed to get out of his own head, to step back from the war going on inside him between family and duty, and she was the woman to take him away. She tilted her head to the side, her entire body lighting on fire from within. “What are you going to do about it?” She flattened her palm against the hard ridge of his erection.
He growled.
She shivered, the low timber echoing inside her body. “I like that sound.”
His chest moved as if he was fighting something. Himself. So she stroked him, base to tip, squeezing at the end.
He grabbed her shoulders, partially yanking her up to meet his mouth. The noise he made, in the back of his throat, was all male hunger. His fingers curled around her shoulders, holding her in place, his mouth consuming hers. The ice of Adam, the sheer deliberation of the man, merely masked the inferno deep inside.
With only his kiss, he gave her that. Heat and light and raw power. He was hot enough to burn her, and she found herself wanting nothing more than to be surrounded by flames. She could taste a wild edge, almost desperation, in his kiss.
She’d done that. Little Victoria Monzelle, the wild child, the lost one. She’d brought this hunger to such an amazing male.
He set her down, his mouth hot and firm, taking everything she had. Rough hands ripped her shirt open, and he grasped her breasts, pinching hard enough she gasped into his mouth. He twisted his head away and shredded her bra, dropping it to the floor. Grabbing the back of her neck, he pulled her down, laying her flat on the table.
Her jeans joined the bra.
What the hell had she done? His fingers found her and she arched, so much pleasure rippling through her she couldn’t breathe.
“You’re wet. For me,” he murmured, driving her crazy. “You shouldn’t push, Victoria.”
She lifted up on her elbows, her lids heavy and her body on fire. “Why not?”
“Because.” Grasping her thighs, he flipped her over.
She landed on her hands and knees, facing the sink. “Hey.”
Fabric rustled. Hard hands clamped on her hips. The wide ridge of his cock pressed at her entrance. She gasped and shut her eyes as streaks of lightning flashed behind her eyelids. “Adam,” she gasped, needing more. So much more. How easily he’d grabbed control from her. Or so he thought. She looked over her shoulder, almost stunned by the ferocity on his angled face. “You want me?”
“Aye,” he said, his eyes burning.
“Then take me.”