Oh, shit. “The water. In your cage.”
“Yeah. He must have transported it over and used it to weaken me.”
“And yet we’re headed there. Sounds like a fan-fuckin-tastic plan.”
“Nothing is touching you.” His intense expression eased and his lips curved up as he glanced between his legs. “Except, my other . . . ability.”
I laughed. “Your ability with your cock isn’t going to save us from wraith-like, crazy ass things.”
He turned to me and winked. “Oh, baby, you haven’t even begun to know what my cock is capable of.”
Jesus. My insides did a little dance and I uncrossed my legs then crossed them again, trying to find a position that eased the ache that was building. I was guessing by his smug expression he knew exactly what he was doing.
“Some of us can move objects by telekinesis. It’s Keir’s specialty and Damien is pretty good at it too, though his ability is erratic. Others, like Anstice, have the ability to Heal.”
“Jedrik?”
“Visionary. And before you ask, no, he can’t see into the future. He can see through things, like walls, wood, and he is capable of seeing in complete darkness.”
“And that guy, Hack?”
“Taster. Certain sensors in his mouth give off warnings. If a vampire is near, he’ll get the taste of black licorice.”
“Black licorice? Ryszard. Like Ryszard.” This was real. What he was telling me was all in-the-face real. What the hell do you say when a guy you’ve slept with tells you that he is a Scar, besides ‘holy shit.’ My mind was fighting the possibility that all this was real, but too much made sense to be some kind of, well, I didn’t know what. Why would any of them make this shit up?
“You good?”
Our eyes locked briefly and I saw the concern in his depths. Whatever it was between us, the connection, it brought with it trust. I trusted this guy. Good thing too, because we were going to Spain . . . shit we were leaving. “My cat. What about my cat? Someone has to feed him.” I knew it sounded ridiculous, but Splat was all I had left.
“Your cat?” Balen asked, his brows lowering.
“Yeah. You know, that big orange ball of fur. We’re going to Spain, right? We have to get someone to look after him. Maybe if we go back . . . ?” Splat would have a coronary without his meals.
Balen pointed at the sky. “You see that storm following us? You hear the wind? Wraiths. Waleron is holding them back, or we’d be dead by now. I’m not stopping or going back for a goddamn cat.”
“But—”
“I’ll contact Anstice and Keir as soon as things settle down.”
“Through the mind thing?”
Balen chuckled. “No. Cell phone. I can’t use my telepathy right now. The Wraiths can feel the energy.”
“So, can you read my thoughts?” I raised my brows and waited, watching him for any subtle smile to tell me he was. “Do you know how damn sexy I think you are?”
“I’d rather hear it from you,” Balen said.
I laughed. “Hmm, I bet.” I leaned my head back against the leather seat. “So, if we escape these Wraiths, what next?”
Balen cleared his throat. “Waleron has a plan.”
“Which is?” I glanced over at him. He was frowning. Frowning wasn’t good. “He wants to make you one of us.” My breath hitched. “Let me explain before you decide your better option is to jump out of the car. If you go through a transition, the Bonding spell may be broken.”
“May?” I huffed. “Not too promising a plan. And it would be nice to know what you mean by Bonding spell.”
Balen explained the ancient spell. It made sense. Perfect sense actually, but when bombarded with a whole new world within the world you lived in, it was difficult to know if anything really was making sense at all.
“It’s all we have at the moment,” Balen continued. “We stay here, the Wraiths will find us. They catch me . . . fuck. It’s not good.”
“Unless I do this transition and the Bond is broken, I die. Right?”
He hesitated. “Something like that.”
Holy bejesus. This was so not good. “I don’t know if this is such a great idea.”
“Not really an idea here. It’s a do or die. If I’m taken from you, you will die and I’m not letting that happen. Even if the Bond isn’t broken by the transition, you’ll still have a chance of surviving if you’re a Scar. I can’t take the risk of not doing this.”
“But if we run or maybe talk to that water woman—”
“Damn it, Danni.” His fist pounded the steering wheel. “This is your only chance. And I’m not letting you die because of me.”
The muscles in his shoulders tensed and his brows were low over his eyes, knuckles white. And yeah, I was scared. Scared of becoming something I knew shit about, running for my life from some spirit things. I felt the strong connection between us, but was it from this Bond thing? What would happen when the Bond was broken? Would I still feel this need for him? Would I no longer care about him? I wasn’t sure what was real and what was caused by the spell.
His hand linked with mine and he squeezed. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I tried to pull my hand away, but he only tightened his grip. “You can’t make that kind of promise, Balen.”
“It won’t change. What’s between us, it will always be. Bonded or not.”