Chapter Forty-Eight
“Angel.”
Angel glanced sidelong at Jake where he sat against a group of boulders several feet away.
“He’s still coming for you,” he told her. “Even now.” She closed her eyes for a moment as his voice rolled over her. “And he won’t be coming alone. I’m betting he’s got a dozen more on your tail by now.”
He was resting against the rocks, his long legs bent, boot heels dug into the dirt in front of him. His head was tilted back on the stones, and he gazed at her through narrowed slits that were as piercing as they’d ever been. His clothing was dirty in a few places from their fight, but the bleeding from the gash in his forehead had stopped.
As ever, Jacob Crow was a painfully exquisite man, and now she knew he was gorgeous even when he wasn’t bolstered by gobs of magic. Angel supposed she would probably always find him irresistible.
But he was a dangerous man too. Especially to her. Especially now.
And she needed to remember that, despite having temporarily taken his powers.
She looked away and strode to the fire she’d built, lifting his pack closer so she could go through it with proper lighting. There were definitely spell components in here, satchels of herbs and powder, sand, semi-precious stones, vials of odd-colored liquid. She had also found a protein shake in it earlier, and since she knew he didn’t need it, she wondered if he’d packed it for Sharpe.
It happened to be her favorite brand of pre-made protein shake, actually. So without asking, she took the shake out and ripped it open, downing it as quickly as possible. Time pressed in on her, after all.
Now she continued to search the pack. But no matter how thoroughly she looked, she couldn’t find anything in particular that would explain how he was being controlled.
“You’re only prolonging the inevitable,” he told her. It was something she knew he would never normally say, and it sounded strange coming from his lips. It just wasn’t the way he spoke.
“That isn’t you talking,” she said softly without looking up.
“No?”
“No.”
“Then how about this?” he asked next. She did look up now. He lifted away from the wall of rock behind him, strong enough to do so despite the cuffs holding his arms behind his back. He was strong. He was capable. And his motorcycle club brother was still out there somewhere; she could feel that he was getting closer.
One of them, she could handle on a very good day, and she’d proven as much. But both of them, not a chance. She’d only gotten lucky with Jake. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. She hadn’t been under the same compunction, hence the gash in his forehead. It was healing more slowly than usual for a vampire. She wondered whether it was the influence over him causing that.
“You’re wearing yourself down, Angel. You can’t keep this up forever,” he said. He gave her a knowing look, deep and penetrating. “I can tell you’re growing weak.” And then he chuckled, no doubt feeling the gash in his forehead. “Well, at least in magic.”
Angel looked away. She stifled the need to swallow past the tightening of her throat. Instead she said, “You’re not yourself, Jake,” and pulled the rations out of his pack to rip them open. She didn’t strictly need them; the shake had helped her light-headedness immensely. But she wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself.
When she turned back to face him, he was simply watching her, his singular, light green eyes glinting. And she knew his mind was working.
Despite everything, Jake still wasn’t her enemy. She wasn’t sure he ever could be. Not with the way he made her feel inside, not with the way his eyes scorched her and his hands branded her and his voice marked her. She was his, body and soul. She had been the moment they first met.
Jake wasn’t her enemy. No, he’d told her exactly who her enemy was, in fact. As he’d sat there against that boulder, he’d come right out and made it clear as day: Lord Malek Taal was coming for her.
And Jake took every opportunity to remind her of that, knowing it would distract her, knowing it would disrupt her train of thought and make her weak as his brother drew closer out there in that forest.
He was right. Because it was bewildering to her that the Taal King should want her. First Dmitri. Now Malek.
What voodoo priestess had she pissed off?
Malek Taal was ancient. He’d had a long time to live and a long time to learn, so he was also very smart. He’d proven as much by singling out two of the small handful of men in the entire multiverse who could actually defeat her in the field. He’d somehow gotten to them and turned them to his cause.
He’d used powerful magic to do so. It had to be powerful, strong enough to make it past the protections both men sported as members of the Monsters clan. Strong enough to make it past the wards of the Monsters safe house. And strong enough to make it past Jake’s innate Chippewa power, the Crow clan magic that flowed through his veins and made him who he was.
Malek had somehow subverted all of it and infiltrated the minds of two Monsters members, siccing them on her like blood hounds. Now he wasn’t the only one hunting her down, and Jake was right. There might actually be more. Like maybe Jake’s sentinel and friend, Lucian, who went by the shortened name “Luke.”
She’d met Luke briefly a few weeks ago, again while they were working the sovereign case. At the time, the Monsters had been in a different city, hence in a different safe house. She’d met the other four wardens there for an update on the case, and Luke had been there with a few other warden sentinels as if it were their day off and they were just out hanging with buddies. He honestly seemed more like a drinking mate than a sentinel, except that his smile was pure and devoid of ulterior motive. She could tell just by being around him that he was kind, strong and good, and she’d taken an instant liking to him.
But he was still Jake’s sentinel, and if he appeared at Jake’s call and either Jake or David Sharpe told him that Angel needed to be neutralized, he would probably believe it. They’d obviously known each other for years and they trusted one another. She did not need a sentinel as powerful as Luke thinking she was the bad guy.
Jake was also right about her growing weary. She was using magic to keep the light of the fire from glowing past the boundaries of her camp. She didn’t want to help his brother locate her any easier. She didn’t have the strength to cast a healing spell right now, which was why he was still injured.
“What did he tell you, Jake? Is there even a reason you’re hunting me, or is he just pulling your strings like a puppet master? What does Malek have you believing about me that makes it so important you turn me in to him?”
Jacob slowly leaned back. Something uncertain flashed across his strong, handsome features, just for a split second. But then he shook his head. “That it needs to be done.”
Angel blinked. She frowned, her teeth grinding. “That’s it? He didn’t tell you I was dangerous? That I was killing innocents or something? That I needed to be neutralized? Reined in? Restrained? Jake, do you even realize what you’re doing right now?”
Jake laughed softly again and let his head fall back against the stone behind him. His laugh was deep and beautiful, and his Adam’s apple moved in his strong throat, tempting her, making her lips tingle.
She recalled the way he’d felt standing beside her while they worked together with the other wardens. He’d been tall, capable, and supportive. He’d smelled like leather and gun oil, deodorant and battle. She’d been instantly, if secretly smitten.
“I already knew you were dangerous,” he told her. His smile grew bigger, white and predatory. A hint of fang peeked from behind his lips.
Angel looked away again, and now she felt a heat move up through her. Her heart was hammering. Her attention was slipping. Focus, she told herself. You need to keep an eye on him until you’re strong enough to make another phone call to Gabe. And remember, Sharpe is still out there –
With that thought, Angel experienced another feeling. It was familiar and hard and grounding. It was the feeling of being watched. Carefully studied. She realized suddenly that she’d had the feeling for a while, but she’d attributed it to Jake.
At once, she threw up a shield around the camp, using nearly all that was left of her magical strength in the defensive move. But she was too slow. The dart made it through just before the shield was erected, and its sharp tip embedded itself firmly in the side of her neck.
She winced and yanked it out as quickly as she could, but she knew the damage was done.
No! she thought, reaching out for magic, any magic, that she could get her mind wrapped around. But the fire crackled blue, then black, then flared bright, its light expanding suddenly past the spell she’d used to keep it hidden.
Her eyes began to close. She heard footsteps on both sides of her, which meant Jake’s cuffs were gone; he’d somehow made it out of them.
Someone bent down beside her. His form was blurry; she couldn’t tell which of them it was until he spoke. “Sorry sweetheart, but we’ve been instructed to take this lovely piece of bling off you,” said David. She felt his cold fingers brush against her skin as he lifted Jake’s pendant over her head. Then he was standing again, and more of the world was fading.
All of her spells had failed at once. Her entire plan was in the trash. David was good. They both were. Hell, this was probably all a set-up. Malek really was smart using them against her.
It was not the most comforting thought to accompany Angel as she felt the two wardens stand over her, and the world faded to darkness behind her lids.