"Now call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure when I put you in bed, you had your dress on. Am I wrong 'bout that?" He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at her.
"The poison. I was so hot. I had a dream."
"I'd say by the look of things, you're pretty damn hot all right. I'm just hopin' I was in this dream."
"No, my leg … " Kai yanked at her arm, but he held tight. Her heart fluttered as his thumb trailed over her skin.
"About that." Jake pinned his eyes on hers. "You seem to heal quickly. And for a supe, that's fair play. But the thing is, your blood … you do know about the gold thing ya got goin' on?"
"Yes," she whispered. Kai had hidden it all her life. As Jake inched closer to her, Kai struggled to thwart her arousal. His masculine scent drifted into the air, and her beast urged her to press her cheek onto his chest.
"Yes." He nodded. "So it seems we're getting somewhere with the truth."
"I can't tell you everything. I need time." Time for you to find my sister. Time for me to disappear.
"Never in my life have I seen someone bleed gold, which tells me that whatever you are, your species, you're rare. How do you breed?"
"We are simply born," Kai countered, defensively.
"Now, everyone's bred. It's just a matter of how and when."
"I am chosen. While my mother gave birth to me, she had no choice in my creation. The Goddess decides our fate. Our kind, we exist … we are created." Relief rushed over Kai as she spoke the words that had never passed her lips, admitting the secret. A mythological being, her kind didn't breed. She'd never know children.
"Tonight in the courtyard. Those friends of yours?" he asked.
"No, I don't know who they were," she lied, suspecting the demon mistress had sent them.
"They seemed to know you."
"Others … they sense my power. They will come for me. Someone took my sister. I need to find her but first I need to see the witch." Kai avoided confiding in him regarding Kasdeya. It was too soon; she didn't trust him with all her secrets.
"The witch?" Jake's tone went cold.
"Yes, Ilsbeth."
"Hell no," Jake replied flatly.
"She knows a spell … "
"Oh, I bet she does. We aren't getting anywhere near that woman. No way."
"But she can help me," Kai insisted. "Keep me safe."
"I'll keep you safe." His eyes pierced through her, his tone serious.
Kai's heart tightened at his words. No one had ever offered to protect her, to keep her safe from the evil that would take her life. Hunter Livingston knew she was supernatural, had promised her refuge on his land, but never offered anything else.
"Jake, I need you to help me find my sister … "
"Yeah, yeah. Got that bit. But you, Kai? I've protected you. You are the one I care about. Don't ask me why, because right at this moment I'm goin' on nothing but instinct. Something about you … "
"You don't owe me anything. It's just your wolves … they might have her."
"No way my wolves have her. Not Acadian. Not Anzober. I can do some askin' around anyway, find out if anyone knows anything."
"Please. I have to see the witch."
"Ilsbeth? Jesus Christ already. Do you know what she's capable of?"
"I know she's dangerous." Kai recalled trading her own blood to Ilsbeth in exchange for the spell. "But I'm exposed. Tonight at the ball, I could have been killed. I could feel everyone. It's just a matter of time. After all, I'm in New Orleans."
"What are you?"
"I'm a creature that others want," she confessed, not ready to disclose her true nature. A partial truth would have to sate his curiosity. "They think they can use my power if they drain my blood."
"And what power's this? What you did to me in the woods?"
"Yes." The lie rolled off her tongue like a bitter pill.
"That's it, huh?" he asked, his tone skeptical.
"I've been hidden for a long time. The witch … "
"I don't want to talk about her tonight."
"She hurt you?" Kai detected the anger in his voice.
"She hurt a friend." He paused. "No more talk of her."
"Alpha, all I can promise is that when this is all over, I'll tell you everything. I know I have no right to come to you. You have no reason to help me. But my kind, if I'm taken, something bad could happen."
"Tonight in the courtyard." His eyes drifted to her lips and back to her eyes.