“Not me,” he whispered in a choked up voice.
“But soon… she will smell like life and death. She will reek of resurrection. She will be life itself. She is our… Hope.”
The vision ended.
I collapsed on the couch, covered head to toe in a cold, wet frost.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned.” Mason shook his hair wildly like a dog as pieces of icicles impaled themselves on the coffee table.
Cassius had a faraway look on his face.
Ethan ran into the room. “Did I just hear you right?”
Cassius nodded and turned to him. “We’ve been looking in the wrong place this entire time.”
All eyes fell to me.
I had a bad feeling.
“Bannik is not their true leader.” Cassius whispered. “She is.”
Alex.
ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT, THAT’S what this was. I hated tracking demons. It made my skin crawl like bugs were scurrying all over me, biting me, sucking me. Every look sent my way made me want to punch teeth out.
I understood why.
And typically, it didn’t faze me.
But damn they all wanted to feed off of me — I promised them something they’d never had in their entire miserable existence. Peace.
I promised to sate their lust.
If they only knew that once I did that — they’d just crave more and die from want once I walked away — they wouldn’t be so eager to send their inappropriate thoughts my way. Hell, if they knew what I was capable of — if I knew — the power would destroy everything in its path.
“Octavian.” I clinked my beer bottle with his. “I need to talk to Timber.”
“He’s out.” Octavian chugged his beer and slammed it down onto the bar. His blond hair fell in waves over his forehead. “Said he had shit to do.”
“And I don’t?”
He snorted. “Please, like you do anything but screw.”
I itched to snap his neck like a twig. Would have done it if it wouldn’t have pissed Cassius off. Power surged through me after being with Hope. And what was even better — having Mason in the room only enhanced the overall charge of what had taken place.
So I was basically on the highest high of my life.
Sitting next to a demon who wanted to eat me so he could have all the warm, sexy feelings to himself.
Great.
“And Bannik?”
Octavian froze, his gaze lingering on the beer bottle in his hand. “Still… trying.”
“Fine.” I stood. “Tell Timber I need to see him as soon as possible, and keep an eye on Bannik.”
Octavian snaked out and grabbed my wrist, his eyes filled with lust. “You should stay.”
“I’d rather not get snacked on, thanks for the offer, though.” I winked.
He didn’t release his hold.
Sighing, I jerked my hand away, nearly causing him to slam his body against the ground before he caught himself with his free hand. “I don’t have time for games. I actually have a life.”
“Not for long.” He snorted.
“What was that?”
“Sirens. So stupid.” He swore and then crooked his finger. I had no choice but to lean in. “Bannik cannot drain the One’s Who Watch.”
“Yeah. Caught that.”
“He will stop at nothing to suck in their power. Even now he mixes the blood of immortals to find the right way to infuse.”
“So?”
“He has tried all of them but one.” Octavian looked behind his shoulder and then shoved away from the bar. “I’ve said enough.”
“Wait.” I grabbed him by the shirt. “What hasn’t he tried?”
I had no time to react before he bit into my neck and came back with a piece of flesh. “Siren.”
I SOMEHOW MADE it home.
My neck burned like hell, even now the wound was festering with rot from the bastard’s dirty mouth.
Well either the world was going to end because he had my blood.
Or it wouldn’t.
Not the best odds, but what else could I say?
When I stumbled into the door, it was to find Cassius embracing Hope with Mason and Ethan surrounding her as well.
“The hell is this?” I roared.
“Shh.” Genesis slapped me on the chest. “They’re searching for something.”
“They’re touching!”
“Apparently, you and Mason did a lot more than touch today.” Stephanie piped up with a smirk.
“Don’t test me.” I fought to gain control of my emotions as more blood seeped through my fingers.
Stephanie gasped and ran toward me. “What happened?”
“Oh you know, a poisonous demon bite, but please tell me more about the living room orgy and how it’s missing the most important person in order to start the fun!”
“Wow.” Stephanie smirked and tugged at a piece of my black hair. Damn it, I was losing control more and more. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you get that jealous.”
“Please. I’m always jealous. I can’t help it. I want all the attention, narcissist and all that.” I tried to play it off — but I was starting to get worried. The demon bite shouldn’t hurt this bad, the power should be out of my system after trying to heal the bite, and instead, my hair was turning a jealous black, my eyes burned — and I thirsted.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll wake him, just give them all a minute, it’s been a taxing few hours.”