Arrogant fucking vampires.
Ewan vibrated with anger as he led Sasha out the door and through the fancy-as-fuck breezeway. Her car was parked at the edge of the driveway and he hung a right toward it. Sasha resisted and he turned to look at her. Worry shot through his gut as he took in her hollow expression. The apathy there shook him and he squeezed her hand as though it would somehow wake her from her stupor.
“Sasha?”
“How did you get here?”
Even her tone had an empty quality to it that he hadn’t heard before. Another jolt of worry shot through his bloodstream. What in the hell was going on? He was supposed to be the detached asshole, not the concerned, emotional one.
“I drove here.” He’d nearly forgotten about the piece-of-shit Civic in his haste to get Sasha out of here. “I’m parked down the street.”
“Okay. Good.”
Sasha changed course and headed toward the driveway. “Hey.” Ewan tugged at her hand but she wasn’t stopping. He fell into step beside her as she hustled toward the main gate. “We can take your car and come back for mine later.”
“The coven’s money paid for my car,” Sasha said. “I don’t want it. I don’t want anything that’s connected to Saeed.”
She was hurt and rightfully so. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to march back into the house and beat that smug motherfucker to a bloody pulp. A red haze of anger and jealousy clouded Ewan’s vision. Different from the battle rage that consumed him, this kept him painfully lucid and feeling so gods-damned helpless that it made him want to throw his head back and shout his frustration to the sky. He didn’t know how to help her. How to fix things for her. Ewan knew only one thing: how to kill.
He’d been fighting for months in order to create a way to leave his clan while Sasha had been cast aside by those she’d hungered for attention from. They were the same and yet, so different. Ewan wasn’t accustomed to dealing with soft emotions. Hell, emotions of any kind, really. This was foreign territory.
“My car is…” A piece of shit. Old as fuck. Barely running. “Not as nice as yours.”
Sasha’s brow furrowed as she gave him a sidelong glance. “Do you think I care about that? Those sorts of things don’t matter to me. I wouldn’t have given a shit if you’d told me you rode here on a bike. I still wouldn’t drive my car out of here.”
Ewan appreciated the sentiment, but he hated the emptiness that remained in her tone. She had no idea what she was setting herself up for. Ewan had lived centuries in poverty. At the beck and call of someone else. Dependent on others for even the barest necessities. Sasha had always been privileged. Had always been provided with everything she needed and more. She’d lived a life of luxury. She was giving all of that up to salvage her damaged pride. She had no idea how hard her life would be from here on out. Hell, she probably hadn’t even contemplated who’d pay the rent on her apartment now that she’d left the financial security of her coven behind.
She didn’t have anything but the clothes on her back. She’d regret her decision to leave once she got a healthy dose of reality.
As they neared the gate, Ewan hesitated. He’d used stealth to get past security and who knew what Saeed had told his people after they’d stormed out. Sasha urged him forward this time, her shoulders thrown back, head held high.
“They won’t dare touch you,” she said.
“Why? Because they’re afraid of you?”
Sasha laughed. “No. Because they’re afraid of you.”
Ewan had no idea how many vampires were in Sasha’s coven. It was only part of the intel Gregor had wanted him to collect. He’d only seen three including Sasha and he assumed that had there been more in the house, Saeed would have summoned them to provide additional backup. Which meant the remainder of their coven probably consisted of weaker dhampirs. Easy to overpower.
Sasha released Ewan’s hand and marched straight up to the gate. She turned to face whoever manned the guard station. Her eyes flashed feral silver. She didn’t speak a single word. The gate remained closed and she slowly turned her head to look at Ewan, directing the guard to follow her gaze.
Ewan stood his ground. His eyes met the dhampir’s and he waited. Seconds later the gate swung wide with a mechanical hum. Gregor wouldn’t be too happy if Ewan’s presence here tonight caused the vampires to pull up camp and move. Ewan suspected that wouldn’t happen, though. Saeed would keep this a secret until he could secure Sasha’s safety. The vampire knew he’d hurt her and would want to somehow make amends.
His guilt was Ewan’s saving grace.
Sasha led the way past the gate and down the driveway. She didn’t so much as cast a glance over her shoulder as she walked away from her home. A protective urge spiked within Ewan. It tightened his skin on his bones and caused his heart to beat a little too fast. Sasha cradled her right arm in her left as she walked, drawing his attention to the wound that had started them down this road tonight.
“You need to feed.” Ewan picked up his pace to catch up to her. She tilted her head to the left but gave no other indication that she heard him. “The burn hasn’t healed.”
“I’ll live.”
It had been one hell of a night and apparently it wasn’t over. Ewan wasn’t interested in yet another fight, but it looked like he was going to get one whether he wanted it or not. “I know you’ll live. That’s not the point.”
“Then what is your point?” Sasha hung a left and headed down the street to where Ewan’s Civic was parked. Rather than hustle to catch up, he hung back. If they were going to get into it, he’d rather it happened out of Saeed’s earshot.
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Sasha whipped around at his dismissal. Great. He couldn’t catch a fucking break tonight. He’d spent the first half in the battle arena and the second half deep in hostile territory. All he wanted to do was take Sasha back to her apartment where he knew she’d be safe and call it a gods-damned night. The sun would be up in a few hours and there was a lot to take care of at the apartment before then. Sasha had never spent the day there before. Nothing had been done to protect the space from encroaching sunlight. Fucking hell, did she not consider her own safety and well-being at all?
The spark in her silver eyes and set of her jaw told him she was ready to throw down. “Get in the car, Sasha.” It wasn’t going to happen here. Period. “Now.”
“You might have tethered me, Ewan, but don’t think that gives you the right to treat me like property.”
Good gods. Ewan rolled his eyes. She was going out of her way to goad him. She wouldn’t be happy until she got what she wanted: a knock-down, drag-out verbal brawl. Awesome. Ewan was a stubborn bastard, though. He’d be damned if he gave her what she wanted.
“You’re right. Far be it from me to force you to do anything.” He yanked open the driver side door and stared at her from over the hood. “The apartment’s what … a good fifteen or so miles from here? You’re welcome to walk it if you want. Sunrise is still a couple hours off. You’ll make it with plenty of time to spare.”
She could make it back to her apartment in fifteen minutes or less thanks to her supernatural speed. But Ewan suspected she didn’t want to go on foot. If she had, she wouldn’t have gone to his car in the first place. She just wanted to push his buttons. Push away, baby. He was unshakable.
Sasha would learn soon enough that going head-to-head with him wasn’t a good idea. She’d lose. Every time. Ewan only hoped that in the process of teaching her a lesson, he didn’t push her away from him as well.
* * *
Sasha was itching for a fight and it pissed her off that Ewan refused to give her one. Almost every male she knew had managed to earn a spot on her shit list and she was about three seconds away from asking Ewan to drive her to Pasadena so she could spend the night with Lucas’s coven. Anywhere was better than here. In fact, Pasadena probably wasn’t far enough away. Right now, a place on the freaking moon would be too close to Ewan and Saeed and Diego and anyone else who thought to cross her. She wanted to put her fist into both of their guts, though for two totally different reasons.
Were they really different, though? Maybe her reasons for being annoyed with them were more similar than she wanted to admit.
Ewan gave her one last disdainful look before settling into the driver’s seat and closing the door. Sasha glanced at him through the window and fought a bout of laughter. He barely fit in the tiny compact car and it made his frame seem even larger and more imposing. Like a grizzly bear shoved into a golf cart. Her lips twitched, threatening a smile and she locked that shit down. She wasn’t ready to let go of her foul mood.
She climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. “How did you find me?” It had been nagging at her ever since he’d shown up. Berserkers had keen senses, but he couldn’t have possibly picked up her scent over fifteen-plus miles.
“Does it matter?”
His elusive bullshit was what had started the ball rolling tonight. Because Sasha had allowed herself to care. All caring did was open her up to hurt. He didn’t want to share? Fine.
“I guess not.”
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he turned the key. The engine coughed and spluttered before dying and Ewan turned the key once again as he pumped his foot on the gas pedal to encourage the old car to start. His scent soured with his annoyance and Sasha wrinkled her nose. It bothered him that the car wouldn’t start. Maybe even embarrassed him? Sasha had meant what she’d said. She didn’t give a crap what his car looked like or how old it was. Material possessions meant little to her.
Though she had to admit, her Audi had never managed to break her heart …
Ewan said a curse under his breath. He turned the key once more and though it resisted his efforts to get it going, it finally whined and whirred to life. Sasha suspected he’d gotten the engine to turn over by sheer will alone. She knew Ewan well enough to realize he didn’t take defeat lightly. Which was why she couldn’t believe he wouldn’t let her goad him into a fight. Aggression was what he did best. She wasn’t thrilled with his passivity.
He pulled out onto the street and pushed the ailing car as fast as it would go. Why the urgency? They had plenty of time to make it back to the apartment by sunrise. Ewan took a hard left and Sasha reached for the “oh shit” handle above the door. “Where’s the fire?”
Ewan glanced up at the rearview mirror. His jaw squared as his hands gripped the steering wheel tight. “We’re being followed.”
Followed? “What? By who?”
Ewan gave her a look. “If I knew that I wouldn’t be hauling ass to get as far from your coven’s home base as possible. It could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so.”
A knot of worry gathered in Sasha’s stomach. She was angry with Saeed and needed space but that didn’t mean she wanted anything bad to happen to the members of the coven. A seed of doubt sprouted in her mind. One that ate away at her like acid. Had she somehow allowed Ewan to easily find her tonight and thereby given the berserkers the location of their coven? Worry turned to panic as Sasha envisioned an ambush. One she’d narrowly escaped. Their security had been her responsibility. One she’d shirked in order to party her life away. Gods, if anything happened to them, she’d never forgive herself.
“What did you do, Ewan?”
The accusation left her lips before she could think better of it. Old habits died hard, it seemed. She couldn’t help but throw her suspicions in his face. He kept his attention on the road, his concentration solid as he veered off to a side street in order to shake whoever followed them. At least, that was the impression he gave. For all Sasha knew, Ewan was playing a part for her benefit, appearing to elude their pursuers. She’d been petulant and angry at Saeed, ready to dismiss every word out of his mouth for the sake of being contrary. But what if she was wrong about Ewan? What if their connection—the moments they’d shared the past several weeks—meant absolutely nothing to him.
What if he was leading her into a trap?
Doubt gnawed at her. Fear scraped at the back of her mind like a dull knife. She considered bailing but she’d burned a bridge with Saeed tonight and likewise, Ewan knew where her apartment was which eliminated hiding out there as a possibility. She could try to make it to Lucas’s or take shelter with Ani for the day, but Sasha wasn’t interested in bringing trouble to either of their doors. She was left with only one option: stay right the hell where she was and weather the storm. And pray she lived to see another night.
“For the record, berserkers wouldn’t be so blatant.” Ewan’s response chilled Sasha’s skin. “An attack would come out of nowhere. They’d strike silently and kill you before you had a chance to process what was happening.”
Sasha let out a breath. “Is that supposed to somehow make me feel better?”
Ewan shrugged as though he couldn’t care one way or another how it made her feel. “I’m just laying it out for you since you suddenly think I’ve somehow betrayed you.”
It was nearly impossible to get anything over on a supernatural creature. Sasha’s scent gave her away, as did the beat of her heart and the small tells in her body language that indicated she was on edge. Ewan cut to the right, backtracking the way they’d come. The Honda’s tired engine protested and the car spluttered as he put the pedal to the floor. Definitely not the ideal vehicle for a high-speed chase.
“Ewan, look out!”
Sasha caught sight of the projectile from the corner of her eye. It hit the pavement twenty yards in front of them and exploded into bright orange, blue, and green flames.
Hellfire.
Well, she guessed that ruled out the berserkers as their pursuers. Ewan jerked the wheel to his left and the tires screeched as the car went into a skid. They narrowly avoided the explosion and Sasha cupped her palm over her burned forearm. Hellfire wasn’t anything to mess with. The flames burned hot enough to melt metal and couldn’t be extinguished by water. Some demons could even coax hellfire to spring right from their hands. Sasha had been on the receiving end of one of those particular demon’s not-so-gentle touch. And she never wanted to experience anything like it ever again.
Ewan straightened the wheel and the car righted itself. “Fucking demons!” Rage resonated in his gravelly tone and Sasha didn’t need to see his eyes to know that inky black bled into the whites and irises. “I’m going to kill every last one of them!”
He brought the car to a screeching halt that nearly sent Sasha through the windshield. Yeah, Ewan was pissed. She was shaken up, weak, and it was too close to sunrise for this sort of melee. She wasn’t prepared to stand and fight. Did that matter to Ewan? Sasha doubted it even crossed his mind. Berserkers were war machines. Fighting was ingrained in their DNA. They didn’t know fear. They didn’t retreat. There was no other option for Ewan but to stand against his attackers. Running wouldn’t even cross his mind. And by default, Sasha would have no choice but to stand and fight as well. Or more to the point, defend herself as best she could and try not to get burned to a crisp in the process.
Was it too late to ask for a do-over? Because this night was officially fucked.