Served him right. One disastrous date and pity sex five months ago didn’t mean they were involved. It didn’t even make them friends.
The saddest part about that was she’d been the one on the receiving end of the pity sex. Pathetic. Sad and pathetic and something she’d never wanted to be reminded of. She made a mental note to smack her big brother upside the head next time she saw him. It was all his fault after all. He’d set up the date. He’d introduced them. He and his wife had left her alone with the man. He…Okay, her brother hadn’t suggested she ask Ronan to take her to bed in a pathetically weak and drunken moment, but he was to blame for the rest of the mess.
Ronan watched her with eyes that saw way more than she wanted him to see and then seemed to shake himself and get back on topic. “Are we safe here?” he asked Alex.
“I would suggest one more slip.” Kali actually shuddered at the thought. She might not believe her eyes or her ears at the moment, but there was no way she wanted to experience again whatever it was that had caused the nausea. Alex pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “But since neither of you seem up to it, we should probably take your car. We can head for the safe house. It shouldn’t have been compromised.”
“Did you learn any news from your squad?”
“I did,” Alex said with a nod as he pulled her closer. Somehow that didn’t make her feel any better.
“Okay,” Ronan said as he headed out into what seemed to be a hallway, “we move out in five minutes. Grab whatever you think we might need. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Kali didn’t quite know what to do. Even when they’d been at her home the only thing she’d thought to pack was technology. But if they were tracking her by her cell phone signal, chances were they’d be able to trace her location the moment she connected to the Internet. It seemed really strange to be thinking this way but, almost like she was lost in a thick fog, her life just seemed surreal. If Ronan said he was here to protect her, and Alex said he was a fire demon and that pixies were nasty little assassins, who was she to argue?
Seriously, who was she to argue?
Willing to go on a little faith—at least until she had proof otherwise—Kali let Alex lead her around the house as he gathered “stuff” for while they’d be away. She wasn’t even sure what he was collecting. She was just really glad that he held on to her hand while he did it.
“Ready?” Ronan asked as he came into the room. She must have been wearing a shell-shocked expression because he gathered her in his arms and held her close. “I know this is a lot to take in, Kali, but I assure you you’re safe with us.” She nodded against his chest and held on tight. It wasn’t like her to be so needy, but she gave herself permission to lean on these men…just this once.
* * * *
Alex happily sat in the back of the car with Kali. He knew it was driving Ronan nuts, but at this point he didn’t really care. If they needed to slip travel urgently, it was far faster if he was already touching the woman. And besides, despite her human status, Alex found himself quite happy to hold the beautiful redhead while she was in such a compliant and snuggly mood.
He had no doubt that would change once they got to the safe house and she gained some perspective. Unfortunately, the information he needed to share with them both wasn’t going to help any of them get back to their normal lives.
They’d barely made it out of the driveway before Ronan gave him the “start talking” look.
“It would seem that Kali’s birthday was a rather big event in the paranormal community. One of the Oracles was murdered that same day.” He was going to explain what an Oracle was, but both humans nodded as if they understood and so he continued. “When an Oracle dies she sends her entire knowledge to the next female child who is born. Since there weren’t any paranormal communities in the area where she was murdered, it was assumed that the information was lost.”
“But someone has decided it went to a human child?”
“That’s my guess.”
“So they’re killing every female born on my birthday?” Kali asked in a small voice. Alex nodded and wanted to pull Kali closer, but of course the stubborn redhead chose that moment to find the attitude he so admired. “We have to help them. We have to warn them.”
“Your brother is working on it, but we’re still talking a hundred or more potential victims here. There’s no way we can help them all,” Ronan said from the front seat. Alex had known him long enough to sense the despair behind that statement. No matter how many innocent lives Ronan managed to protect, it had always been the ones he couldn’t save that stuck with him.