A Cursed Embrace(28)
I straightened, unease and guilt making me think twice. Maybe Aric’s Elders had a point about my presence distracting him from his duties. He stopped the car at the town’s only traffic light and pulled me to him. He kissed me deeply, groaning almost as loudly as I did when an impatient driver and his very loud horn alerted us that the light had turned green. Aric released me, winking before resuming our trek out of town. “Don’t even think it, sweetness. No way in hell was I not going back for you.”
I gripped the edges of the leather seat, panting softly and trying to regain my composure. Aric planted one hell of a smooch, laced with a great deal of sizzle and emotion behind it. I believed his caring for me was genuine, although I still marveled as to why. Regardless, I couldn’t help wondering whether maybe the wolves would have found the couple if they hadn’t abandoned their efforts. A thought I couldn’t bear to contemplate. We didn’t speak again until we passed the exit for the Stampede Reservoir on 89. “Aric, if there are demon children—grown ones, I mean—wouldn’t they have left a royal mess long before this?”
Aric placed his hand over my knee, the knuckles relaxing and tightening as he massaged. Good Lord, so much had happened since we first touched in his car. “Celia, over two thousand people go missing every day in the States. Most are never found. They could very well have been abducted by demons and devoured somewhere obscure. Yet the demon’s rarity should make it impossible. And so should their vile stench. They can’t hide that shit from a human nose, let alone one of my kind.”
Aric had a point. About a lot of what went down. Yet still so much didn’t make sense. The distinct smells. The leeched men. The missing couple. And the mutilated woman. How were they all connected? “Is it possible the couple and the dead bodies are somehow related, you know, as in from the same family?”
Aric let out a long breath. “I doubt it. The men all appeared of different ethnicities and their clothes suggested varying socioeconomic backgrounds. But the weres investigating will look into it just in case.” He glanced out the side window, where the lush forest appeared to be greeting the arrival of spring. “You know, Tahoe is a great area. But when you consider its vastness and that three million people visit the area each year, it makes it hard to police when a new threat arises.”
I took in the sea of green firs and leaves. Every critter, vine, sprout, even the occasional dead tree with crumbling branches had a place among those that thrived. Malevolent dead things with serrated knives for teeth? Not so much. I lived in the northeast section of the lake in a small, mostly quiet and uneventful cul-de-sac. Yet I considered the entire region home, sweet home. I only wished I could keep it to myself and all the malicious bastards out.
Aric’s shoulders dropped and he breathed a small sigh of relief when we entered Dollar Point, probably thankful to reach my hometown with all our limbs still intact. “If you’re still up for it, I’d love to take you to dinner.”
“Don’t you have duties to attend to?”
Aric brushed his knuckles against my cheek. “I passed them to Gemini. I don’t like what happened to you, or what I exposed you to. My wolf needs to ensure that you’re safe before he can fully settle.” He grinned. “So how about you help us out and have dinner with us?”
My growling stomach responded for him and made him chuckle. I met his grin with one that would trump any tween meeting Gaga. “I’d love to go out. What are you in the mood for?”
Aric pulled onto the small incline leading into my neighborhood, humor dissolving from his face like an ice cube in boiling water. “Vampire on a stake.”
“What?” I thought I misheard him until I took in our Colonial.
I jumped out of my seat like I’d sat on burning tacks. The very naughty Catholic schoolgirls draped their long legs against the white porch railings like a bunch of lazy monkeys waiting to bite, pull hair, or sling poo. Misha and Danny were also there, standing at the bottom of the light blue wooden steps engaged in conversation. Neither appeared happy. Danny’s brows shot up over his Coke-bottle black-framed glasses when he caught sight of Aric’s Escalade . . . and his not-so thrilled expression.
Aric parked along the curb. Right behind Misha’s Hummer limo with the BYTE ME plates. “Please don’t do anything, Aric.” I leapt out of the SUV, and even though my side was technically closer to the sidewalk, and my speed was generally faster, Aric reached Misha first.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
A glint of annoyance flickered in Misha’s cold gray eyes when he caught my hands clasped over Aric’s. Aside from that, Misha ignored him to face me. I only wished the good Catholics had disregarded us, too. Instead they soared off the porch, over the rhododendron bushes, and landed in crouches hissing at Aric. “Oh, shut up!” I snapped. I glanced between Aric and Misha. “I don’t think I need to remind either of you about the treaty forbidding you to tear out each other’s throats.” Both ignored me. The tension between them bitch-slapped the air, so yeah, a gentle reminder appeared worth mentioning. I cleared my throat, adding as much force as I could muster considering that I stood between two of the world’s deadliest preternaturals. “No bloodshed allowed—especially on neutral territory.”