~ TWELVE ~

BEING AN EIGHT-THOUSAND-year-old warrior, Tobias had lived long enough to experience numerous forms of torture and pleasure. He’d subjected himself to many things, good and bad. Until he met Jessie, he hadn’t dreamed of coming across anything completely new or unknown to him. Waking up, realizing he’d managed to roll over onto his back and she’d managed to mistake his stomach for a pillow, smashed that theory to bits by causing him to endure the most excruciating form of pleasure.

He was amazed that she was in his bed with him after he'd long ago given up on the notion of finding her. She was an amazing combination of everything he’d expected and never anticipated. He looked forward to every second they would share. While he was proud of the strength of her psychic abilities, he was deeply worried about her ability to block him. It wasn’t a matter of her being stronger. No matter how hard she focused, he would always be able to break through her barriers. But doing so would hurt her.

She shifted, snuggling up closer, wrapping her arm over his waist and her leg over his. He brushed his hand over the soft silkiness of her long golden-brown hair. In her sleep, she was killing him. Her hot, moist breath on his belly, moving over his skin so close to his raging hardon, was driving him insane with lust. It was nearly impossible to remain in control. Fortunately, his wandering mind and sense of guilt helped. She’d nearly died because he hadn’t been paying attention. He should’ve known snipers were near.

Why would Wes make her feel threatened? It didn’t matter if the idiot thought he had a damn good reason. In the very least, he was going to beat the hell out of him for doing it. Her body jerked. At first, he thought she’d woke up startled over being in bed with him. Her breathing had increased. Her heart raced.

Then, shocking the hell out of him, she jumped up. “He’s here.”

“Who?”

“Wes.”

It was true. Amber, Wes, and Otaktay were just crossing onto his property. “You have an amazing alarm system.”

“I need to go. Will you take me to my car?” Shivering, she rubbed her palms up and down her arms. She walked over to the other side of the room and opened her backpack. “I can’t wait to get back on the road.” She pulled a pair of jeans from her bag and put them on.

“Your running days are over, Jessie.” He got up from the bed and stretched.

“You’re healed.” She rushed over to him and moved her hands over his chest. “That’s good.” She grabbed his arm and turned him around. “Yep.” Her palms moved over his back. “You’re totally healed.”

He faced her. “How are you feeling?”

“Great.” She smiled, turning her head slightly as if to avoid his gaze. “I slept better than I have in years.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Will you take me to my car?” she asked.

“No. We’re going to deal with Wes.” He took her hand and started to walk but she didn’t follow. He stopped and faced her rather than yank her along with him. “Come on.”

“I need to put a shirt on.”

“I happen to think you look great in mine.”

“You don’t need to hand me over to Wes. I don’t plan to stick around long enough to become a problem for you. I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. You’ve done a great job of it. But I’m not sending you off on your own, and I’m sure as hell not sending you with Wes.”

Frowning, she stared up at him. “I already told you that I don’t want to drag you into my mess. Trust me, you don’t want anything to do with it.”

“That’s too bad.” He framed her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You are stuck with me.”

He kept her hand in his, leading her down the stairs and through the house to the front porch where Amber, Wes, and Otaktay were waiting. He had her sit down in a chair and then took the one next to her.

Tobias decided to deal with Wes right away. “I want you to explain why Jessie was under the impression that you planned to kill her.”

“He was keeping her safe,” Amber said.

Tobias glanced at Amber. “He doesn’t need you to talk for him.” He stared at his sister for the first time in many years. “He can explain why he dragged you into this mess.”

“You’re wrong. I pulled him into it. He has been looking out for Jessie. We knew a demon was hunting her. Worse, he had several immortals hunting her. Wes needed to make sure she was always on high alert. He did so by making sure she viewed him as a threat. I wasn’t able to contact him for a few days so…”

“Weeks,” Wes blurted, “two of the longest goddamn weeks of my life.”

“He panicked. He didn’t know what to do with her. He planned to hand her off to you because he knew you’d keep her safe. He assumed I was in trouble.”

“Assumed? This needs to end. Tell your brother why the hell you couldn’t contact me. Tell him who you were attempting to get close to.”

Tobias turned to Wes. “I want the demon’s name.”

“Guss Eckhart.”

“You’re serious?” At the mention of Guss’ name, his heart started to pound. He realized his heartrate had accelerated to match Jessie’s suddenly racing heart. He was extremely concerned that the mention of his name had caused her to panic. He didn’t want to think of what Guss might’ve done to her. He wrapped his arm around her. “What does he have to do with it?”

Wes nodded. “You made a huge mistake when you allowed him to go his way.”

“Huge?” Tobias laughed. “That’s an exaggeration.”

“Like it or not, it’s a fact. You killed his father. Now he’s itching for revenge” Wes said.

“That was hundreds of years ago.”

“Obviously you forgot to tell him about your time limit for grudges.”

“How old are you, Tobias?” Jessie asked.

“You just turned eight thousand, didn’t you?” Amber laughed.

Jessie looked at him. “Holy shit. That’s freaky. You know that, right?”

He smiled at her. “Maybe a little.” He looked at Wes again. “We didn’t have any right to execute Guss for crimes his father committed.”

“You made a point of mocking and killing his father in front of him.”

“If I hadn’t destroyed the son of a bitch’s father many more humans would’ve been slaughtered.”

“You’re right. You needed to destroy him, but you didn’t need to force Guss to witness it.”

“It needed to be done.”

“Not in his presence.”

“He needed to know what I would do to him if he followed in his father’s footsteps.”

“Not if. When. You knew damn well he would do it. And you made damn sure a coldblooded murdering psychopath became your enemy. You wanted him to strike out at you.  And now, just as you suspected all along, he’s on the same damn path of destruction his father took. He’s just as insane and dangerous as his father.”

“How long have you known?” Tobias asked.

Wes shrugged. “A few years.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

“I told him not to tell you,” Amber said.

“And you listened to her?” Tobias asked.

“It was a mistake.” He handed a folder to Tobias. “Look at this.”

He opened the folder. His heart sank as he flipped through many surveillance type photos of Jessie. “What is this?”

 “He was keeping track of her. Look at the last picture.”

He flipped to the last picture. “What the hell is going on?” It was a picture of them at the cemetery moments before they were shot.

“He planned to give you just enough time to meet her and then...”

Tobias glared at Wes. “You brought her to the cemetery.”

“Don’t try to pass your fuck up off on me. You should’ve killed the son of a bitch. You know damn well you wanted to piss him off.  You wanted him to be full of rage when he came after you. And that’s exactly what he has done. He’s a coward. You knew damn well he wouldn’t use the front door and knock. You’ve always been a reckless son of a bitch.”

Tobias looked at Amber. “How did you come across this?”

“The snipers had it.”

Tobias took Jessie’s hand. “Have you encountered Guss Eckhart?”

“Yes. It’s a long story. He claims to be a god. He has a group of followers. He performs miracles for them. I was trying to find a friend. She disappeared while at a retreat.” She looked at Amber. “It was you, wasn’t it? You got me out of the meeting. You look different now. But I recognize your voice.”

Amber nodded. “I had to hide my true appearance to prevent him from recognizing me. You were drugged.”

Tobias looked at Wes. “He’s dangerous. Why did you keep this from me? And why would you allow Amber to get tangled up with him?”

“Damn it, Tobias. Stop being so stubborn. He didn’t allow me to do anything. I do what I want to do. I chose to keep it from you.”

“What’s your friend’s name, Jessie?” Tobias asked. He had no desire to argue with his sister. Clearly, Wes had fucked up by allowing her to run wild with her silly desire to prove herself.

“Allana Meadows. Her parents are Guss’ followers. She escaped a few months after she turned nineteen.”

“Do you have any idea where he’d keep a human captive?”

Wes nodded. “A cave in the Ozarks.”

Tobias looked at Otaktay. “You know the caves better than anyone. Do you have any idea where she could be?”

“Not off hand. I usually avoid humans.” He glanced at Jessie. “No offence.” He looked back at Tobias. “If she’s being held in the caves, I’ll find her.”

Tobias looked at Jessie. “Do you have a picture of her?”

Jessie shook her head. “No.”

“Can you share an image of her with me?”

“I can try.”

“Not try. You did it.” He shared the image with Otaktay.

“Will you look for her?” Jessie asked.

Otaktay didn’t respond.

“Otaktay,” Tobias got his attention, “will you look for her?”

“I don’t have anything better to do.” He turned and walked away.

“You’ll keep us posted, right?”

He nodded, never turning to face them. “I will.”

Tobias redirected his focus to Wes. “I will deal with Guss. Keep Amber the hell away from him.” He kept his gaze locked on Wes. “You never should’ve permitted her to get involved with him.”

“He doesn’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

Tobias didn’t even bother to acknowledge his sister’s statement. “Are we clear?”

Wes glanced at Amber. “She’ll stay away from him.”

“I’ll do what I want to do.”

Tobias met her gaze. “You’ll do as your told.”

“You won’t be able to get to him,” Amber said.

“What are you talking about?”

“He has disguised himself as a human and he has surrounded himself by humans.”

“So was his father when I killed him. Wes should’ve come to me at once. I can’t believe he allowed you to get entangled up with such a dangerous threat.”

“I do what I want. And it’s a different world now, Tobias. It won’t be simple. You could end up killing a hundred or more humans just trying to get close to him.”

“I don’t plan to hunt him down. I plan to get him to hunt me.”