“Don’t you think I know that, Luz?” A chill snaked over Naya’s skin and she instinctually reached for Ronan, twining her fingers with his as though it was the most natural action in the world. As long as they touched, she could keep him calm. Calm kept the magic dormant. “But he doesn’t have to die. No one else needs to die. I just need to sort it out, find a way to beat it at its own game.”
“Magic isn’t sentient, Naya.” She was getting pretty tired of Luz treating her as though she needed to be schooled on the nature of magic. “It doesn’t think. It doesn’t feel. You can’t outwit it. It’s like fire. It consumes and it destroys if it’s not properly contained.”
True. “Luz, go home.”
“Oh no. No freaking way, Cuz.” Luz shook her head with so much emphasis it was a wonder it was still connected to her neck. “Town is crawling with little black kitty cats out looking for you and your boy toy.”
Naya’s spluttering laughter escaped despite her attempt to remain stoic. “Exactly. I need someone to run interference. If you disappear, Paul and Joaquin will turn to Santi. He’ll cave like a Las Vegas casino on demolition day. No one can know about this place, Luz.”
“Santi’s game is tight. No way is he going to rat you out. You have a plan. I can see it in your eyes. Knowing you, it’s risky and not a little dangerous. And you’re on crack if you think I’m going to let you do anything on your own.”
Ronan’s grip tightened around her fingers. Ouch. “She regularly harbors a blatant disregard for safety, does she?”
“Oh,” Luz scoffed. “You have no idea.”
“Really?”
By Ronan’s stuffy response, Naya sensed that putting her life on the line in the name of protecting innocent people from dangerous malevolent magic didn’t fill him with pride and joy.
“I’m always safe,” Naya interjected. Even at her most reckless, she followed protocol. “And stop trying to change the subject. All I need is for you to keep Paul and Joaquin off my back at least for a couple of days.”
“A couple of days?” If Luz’s eyes bulged any bigger, they’d fall right out of her head. “I’ll be lucky if I can keep them off your back for a couple of minutes. We don’t live in a metropolis, Naya. We’re talking a few thousand people. The fact that Paul doesn’t know about this house is a damned miracle.”
Not if you considered the fact that Naya had cast a concealment charm over the place. “He’s not going to find me here. But if you go off the grid, too, it’s going to throw up a red flag. He sent you after me, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but he also sent ninety percent of the pod after you, too.”
“I’m not leaving. Use Santi to throw him off.” Luz pulled her cell from her pocket. “Better yet, I’ll take care of it.”
Before Naya could stop it, Luz was jabbering away to Santi. Ronan stiffened beside Naya and she turned to face him. Luz’s presence was a buffer. Naya didn’t have to worry about throwing herself at him when her cousin was there to run interference. And what did that say about her that she actually needed a chaperone to keep her from attacking Ronan like an Atkins dieter in a room full of chocolate cake?
“We need to talk.”
His severe expression caused tiny butterflies to swirl in her stomach and she had a feeling she was in for an ass chewing. And really? What gave him the right? She’d been a tracker and hunter for decades. Had been taking care of herself from the time she was a girl. The Bororo life wasn’t an easy one by any means and her responsibilities within the pod didn’t leave room for weakness. She was capable, damn it! Strong. She didn’t need a male to worry or fuss over her.
She left Luz to her conversation with Santi and followed Ronan into her bedroom. She opened her mouth, more than ready to lay into him, when he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her against his wide chest. His lips brushed hers, a soft, open kiss that drew a contented sigh from her. So much for putting the vampire in his place.
“The sun is about to rise,” he murmured against her mouth. “And I want to taste your mouth before I’m forced to sleep.”
The words, spoken with so much heat, made her melt in his embrace. She kissed him again, a glancing of lip to lip. “I thought you were angry with me.”
“Oh, make no mistake.” He ventured down, crossing her jawline and dipping to her throat. His fangs scraped the delicate skin and she shuddered. “I’m furious with you. But I know better than to give in to my ire right now.”