Hannah had said this Kilter guy could cook—what? Humans?
The candlelight flickered and I glimpsed a scar that ran across his face, long and jagged from his brow down to the lobe of his right ear. His eyes flashed a look of humor at my perusal of his disfigurement.
“A gift from an old friend. He’s dead.” His long, lean legs moved with precision as he walked to the tunnel we’d just come from. “Don’t fuckin’ move.”
He was leaving? Relief and panic played tug-of-war with my mind. I watched the candlelight dance on the walls of the cave, struggling to fight the flashbacks of the cages. I squeezed my eyes closed, and a flash of me lying on a steel table, long dagger-like fingernails trailing down my chest.
Chains tied me down. I was so cold. Shivering constantly. Then I saw him. Ryszard hovering over me, his fangs dripping with blood.
I screamed at the memory . . . at Ryszard. He wasn’t going to win.
I jolted as something hard smacked me on the cheek. “Woman, open your eyes and look at me.”
I opened my eyes and stared into Kilter’s furious expression. My cheek burned and his bruising fingers dug into my shoulders. I pushed his hands off me then used the wall for support as I climbed to my feet. “I have to find Balen.”
“Sit the fuck down. We’ll wait until the fight is over,” Kilter said as he pushed me back down on my butt again.
“Fight?”
“Are you deaf?”
Was it the Wraiths? Had they found us? They’ll take Balen.
“No, it’s not the Wraiths. If it was, you’d be dead by now and Balen in Rest.”
He was reading my thoughts. I felt him lurking, like a cement weight dragging across my mind. “Stop it. It hurts,” I said and put my hands to my head.
“Do I look like I care?”
No, he looked like he didn’t care about anything or anyone.
“You’re right about that. And I don’t give a shit about you.” He shrugged. “But I protect the Talde, and if that means protecting you, then so be it. But don’t think I won’t kill you if you risk the lives of the others. I’d hand you over to the Wraiths on a silver platter if I had to. And baby, I’d sleep just fine.”
I swiftly inhaled as footsteps charged down the tunnel. I tensed, but when I looked at Kilter, he was completely relaxed, leaning up against the cave wall, arms and ankles crossed.
Two men came into the clearing; one had short, blond hair curled at the tips, and eyes a pale green. The other was taller and the complete opposite, dark with spiked hair and tattoos all over the backs of his hands. He was first to step forward.
He frowned at Kilter and gestured to the gun. “You scaring the crap out of her? You’re such an ass.” He walked over and extended his hand. “I’m Sandor and that is Derek.”
“Balen?”
“He’s fine.” He smiled. “He told Kilter to get you out of there. Asshole here was closest to you. Sorry you had to put up with his shit.”
Kilter shrugged then shoved passed Derek and disappeared down the tunnel.
“Is he always like that?”
“You mean a total dick?” He guided me toward the tunnel, his hand casually on the small of my back. “Yeah. It takes a few decades before you get used to him.”
As soon as I walked out of the tunnel and the wind hit my skin, the anxiety eased. I took several deep breaths and the tingling in my limbs slowly disappeared. I didn’t wait for Sandor or Derek as I took off for the house. I pushed open the door, and ran for the guest bedroom, slamming into Balen so hard we crashed to the floor.
“Danni,” Balen said then chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “You good?”
God, he sounded like what just happened wasn’t a big deal. Shit, it probably wasn’t—to him. To me, this was scary as hell.
I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him toward me then kissed him. His groan vibrated against my mouth and then his hand was in my hair and the other under my shirt at the small of my back, holding me tight to him.
I pulled back, breathing hard, my insides quaking with a mixture of desire and fear and uncertainty at what the hell was happening.
“Are you going to kiss me like that every time we get attacked? Because that’s hot, babe.” He tweaked my chin with his thumb and kissed my temple.
“I thought you were . . . I mean, Kilter took me . . . I was scared out of my mind and . . .” I paused and took a breath.
We were running for our lives away from some spirit things. We were Bonded by a spell, and we’d just been attacked by guys with needles. “Don’t you ever die on me.”
He ran his finger down the side of my face. “I’ll try not to, little one.”
I WALKED INTO THE kitchen an hour later while Balen talked on his phone in the living room. Hannah sat on the kitchen counter with Ryker standing between her legs, kissing her. I cleared my throat and they took their time separating. Well, Ryker did, and Hannah was beet red by the time he stepped back, but her eyes were smoldering with desire.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.” Hannah shoved Ryker’s wandering hands away. “My sweet, adoring husband sometimes forgets that we live with others.”
Ryker grinned, then pinched her ass, which made her squeal and fall off the counter into his arms.
She slapped his hands away as he continued to fondle her ass. “I’m so sorry about this morning,” Hannah said. “We’ve been aware of this group watching us, but it’s been months and they’ve done nothing to indicate an attack.”