Page 24 of These Wicked Desires

“What the hell? Why do you guys do this to me?” He rolls off of Ellis and flops his arm over his eyes dramatically. With a heavy sigh, he sticks his lower lip out in a pout.

“Aw, it’s because we love you,” Ellis says, leaning over to place a kiss on his cheek.

Kai grunts but drops his arm. He narrows his gaze at me and I smile. It’s too much fun teasing him. But, now is not the time.

“Alright. We still have time to get some training in. Let’s get moving.” I’m met with a chorus of groans from Ellis and Kai, and an evil laugh from Sterling. “Quit complaining. Let’s go.”

By the time everyone is dressed and ready, we’ve lost even more time. I’m pretty sure Kai purposely took forever to find a shirt and put it on, and Ellis couldn’t find her socks that were laying on the floor right in front of the bathroom door. Just for that, I’m going to make them both work extra hard.

As everyone files past me, I snag Ellis’s arm and stop her. “Are you sure you’re okay?” I search her amber eyes for any sign of fatigue or pain. They soften as she looks at me, and the only thing I see is love shining through. The tightness in my chest eases as she lifts on her toes and presses a soft kiss to my lips.

“I’m more than okay,” she says. “Quit worrying about it, Cade. I love you.”

I pull her into my arms and hold her for just a second, letting her vanilla and chamomile scent erase the rest of the unease inside of me. “I love you too, Ellis.”

Her smile is blinding and I could stare at her forever, but she says, “Now, I believe you were forcing us to do some more practice?”

This time it’s me who groans. “Yeah. Why did I insist on doing this?”

“You could change your mind …”

I shake my head firmly. “Nice try. But no go.”

She sighs, tugging me down the steps and out into the cool night air.

Ellis

I’m getting stronger, and faster. Cade’s magic is easier for me to use than it ever has been. Kai and Sterling—when he isn’t meeting with his brother—have been teaching me all kinds of defense and attack moves to use in combination with Cade’s magic. I can shift into and out of my wings smoothly, however it still takes a second for me to clear my mind to make it happen. As much as I hate the training, I can’t deny it’s been incredibly helpful.

But the longer we train, the more antsy I become. My sister has been in Sam’s clutches for two more weeks now. I can imagine all too well what he’s doing to her. After spending years living with his abuse, and seeing what he did to Sterling, the pictures I conjure in my head keep me up at night.

“Shit,” I mutter, as I jump out of the way of a blast of purple magic. It just barely misses me.

Cade stops his magical attack and frowns. “What’s going on, love? You’ve been distracted today.”

He’s not wrong. That's the third time I’ve almost not moved fast enough. I shrug. “I don’t know.”

“That’s a lie,” Kai says, crossing his arms. “You’re stuck in your head today.” He taps my temple as he speaks. “What’s bothering you?”

“I feel like we’re not doing anything. Time keeps moving forward and we’re just sitting here. And Gracie is still captured. When are we going to rescue her?” My eyes burn as unshed tears build on my lashes.

“You said you thought it would be best to wait until Sterling has dealt with Noah,” Cade says, walking closer. “And we all agree. The risk of him showing up to help defend Sam is too great.”

“Well, when is that going to happen?” My hands drop to my sides and I have to fight the urge to crumple to the ground. I’ve kept a positive attitude for so long, but it’s starting to fray. My nerves with it.

“It takes time, love.” Cade squeezes my shoulder. “He has to make sure he has the right people on his side. And he has to ensure none of Noah’s followers cause problems after he becomes alpha. There are a lot of things he has to put into place before he can act.”

I sigh, and even I can see myself deflating with the action. “We can’t wait much longer,” I whisper, looking at the ground and rubbing my sternum. “There’s this … urgency in my chest. We need to act soon. I can feel it.”

Kai and Cade glance at each other, the worry in their eyes is palpable. Kai gently grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “We’ll talk to Sterling when he gets back today and see where he’s at in this whole process.”

Cade tucks a stray curl behind my ear. “We understand now that we need to listen to your gut. So we’ll get things moving. I promise.”

Just them listening to me and taking me seriously eases some of my anxiety. “Tha?—”

Kai’s phone rings, interrupting me, and he fishes it out of his pocket. “My dad.” He grimaces as he walks away, sliding his thumb across the screen to answer.

“Do you want to try practicing with your magic instead of mine? We haven’t done that yet.” Cade turns me to face him, but as soon as he sees my expression, he changes his mind. “Okay,” he sighs. “Come on.”

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