“Why does that not make me feel any better?”
“Because you know I’m telling the truth,” Lilith said in a soft and patient voice. “You wouldn’t have come back for me if you’d thought I had lied to you. If you’re being completely honest with yourself, you know there’s more to this than just a hook-up. You’ve decided you don’t want to know the whole story, so you’ve allowed yourself to forget.”
“I can’t tell whose side you’re on, except maybe your own. That being said, I don’t understand what the sides even are. While I don’t think you’ve lied to me, you also haven’t told me the whole truth.” Tasha narrowed her eyes. “What’s in it for you?”
“Right now? Nothing.”
Tasha shook her head, feeling more confused and exasperated than ever. “Not good enough.”
“Things have changed,” Lilith said. “That’s all I can tell you until I know more.”
“What things,” Tasha pressed.
“I’m not sure.” Lilith folded her arms across her chest. “But I’m not going to let Gideon Black or Owen White get their hands on you until I find out what’s going on.”
“You sound crazy, but I’m guessing you already know that.”
But Lilith had stopped listening. Again.
Tasha swore under her breath and watched Lilith creep forward and peer around a thick mulberry bush whose branches draped over the sidewalk. Tasha followed her, craning to look over the other woman’s shoulder. Gideon’s men had abandoned the parking lot and were walking uphill toward the main street.
Tasha breathed a sigh of relief. Lilith pointed. The third man had stayed behind, standing still, waiting and watching.
“Is he—”
“Shut up,” Lilith hissed.
They remained like that for some time. Tasha couldn’t tell how long, just that her feet got cold and her back ached from crouching in the dark. Eventually, she sat with her knees hugged to her chest.#p#分页标题#e#
At length, Lilith said. “It’s okay. He’s gone. We can go now.”
That fact didn’t give Tasha much comfort.
Her bare feet stung with every step on the way back to the car. She wanted to leave all this freaky stuff behind. Even though she only believed about half of what Lilith said, one thing rang true: you’ve allowed yourself to forget.
She’d done that once before in her life and promised herself she’d never do it again. But if Lilith was right, that was exactly what she had done.
Oh, shit…not again.
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Through the parking lot, Lilith trailed behind Tasha with her guard up, constantly scanning for any sign of danger. She didn’t track anything…at least nothing beyond a distant awareness of the lyr. She might not be able to see him, but she sensed him nearby—a still and watchful presence. Fortunately, he hadn’t alerted Gideon’s weres, which meant he didn’t want trouble.
When they reached Tasha’s rental, Lilith slid into the rear seat and allowed her aching body to relax.
Letting her head fall back, she hated the state of her jangled nerves, the rough jolts of pain that arced from her shoulder up the back of her neck. A headache was forming, and it would be a doozie, but she couldn’t go back to her apartment above Chill and crawl in bed until she had things sorted, figured out her next move. Tasha might suffer under the delusion she could go home and lock the door, but Lilith knew better.
Once an idea lodged in a werewolf’s thick skull, once he decided he wanted someone, he didn’t stop. Ever. They were as determined and persistent on two legs as they were on four.
But she was also afraid they all had something more serious to worry about than a looming pack war.
She couldn’t forget the eerie soft voice of the demon: I want the blonde.
They had only focused on Lilith when it was clear she stood between them and Tasha. Something about Tasha had attracted the creatures, and this was a completely new threat.
She needed quiet and safety so she could think about the things that had attacked them and plan what to do next. She needed a place the weres would not suspect.
Looking out the window, she watched the colorful lights of the main street shops blur into neon rainbows as Tasha sped south on the way back to the Lost Legacy Spa.
She leaned forward, rested her hands on the back of the driver’s seat. “Gideon knows you’re staying at Lost Legacy, right?”
“Oh, no,” Tasha said. “I mean, yes.”