Page 3 of Of Flame and Fate

I’m tough as railroad spikes, aggressive as a fighter going for the championship belt, and as powerful as most preternatural beings we encounter. That doesn’t mean I don’t get scared. Me and fear are old friends, lovers, and sometimes enemies, and over the past few days fear has paid several visits, reminding me it’s never far away.

I rub my cheek against Gemini’s chest. Just as my presence manages to keep him from munching on vampire limbs, his warmth and the familiar way his body curls around mine reminds me I’m safe.

The moment we’re outside, a frigid wind streams across Lake Tahoe, breaking through the thick pines and sending an army of goosebumps marching down my spine. Gemini leaps from the stacked stone steps, landing beside his black Mercedes SUV. He places me in the passenger seat, slamming the door closed with enough velocity to rattle the interior cabin.

My guess is he’s a little pissed. He tosses me a glare. Or perhaps, a lot pissed.

His midnight twin wolf hops into the rear when Gemini throws open the door, sniffing the top of my shoulder. “I’m fine, sweetie,” I assure him.

I take a moment to stroke his large head before clicking my seatbelt in place.

Gemini pauses, likely sensing my touch through his twin. The midnight wolf turns back to look at him and whimpers. I think he’s sad, but then I realize Gemini is calling him back. From one leap to the next, the wolf dissolves into Gemini’s exposed back, returning home and once more becoming part of Gemini’s soul.

This time, when Gemini closes the back door, it’s less forceful. Yet his anger remains.

Anotherwereapproaches carefully, keeping his gaze lowered as he opens an old piece of leather fabric stained with wine-colored splotches. Gemini drops the knife in the center of the cloth, growling words I don’t understand as he folds each corner over the knife, muffling the mouths that continue to sing.

“Get the knife back to the Den,” he orders, securing the knife with twine.

“Do you want us to follow you back?” thewereasks.

“No,” Gemini tells him. “The Elders need to settle the knife and seal it in the vault. Otherwise, it will need to eat and search out prey. I don’t want to spend the night hunting demons to feed it, or tracking it if it flees.”

Ifitflees . . .

Apparently, I’m not the only one disturbed be this news. Thewerestraightens. “How long do I have to get it to the Elders?”

“Not long,” he answers, tightly. “Go.”

And he does, breaking into a run and peeling away in his truck.

Gemini slips inside. I place my hand on his shoulder. “Tell me you were kidding about a knife, partial to breaking into creepy songs, running amuck in Lake Tahoe in search of demons to eat?”

He frowns. “Why would I joke about something like that?”

Humor is apparently lost on the Guardians of the Earth. I blame it on all the scary things they’re forced to mutilate, oh, and possibly global warming.

He and his twin growl at the pack ofweresgathered in front of us. I pull up the blanket covering me as they scatter.Weresare used to being naked around each other in human form, but I’m not awere, and because of it, they’ve never seen me naked.

Until tonight, cause, don’t I know how to put on a show?

The next set of growls from him and his twin have them all hopping inside their vehicles and cranking the engines. The lights from the cars in front of us cast a gleam against the angles of his face, sharpening the menace plaguing his features.

He’s angry, and he should be. As a non-weredifferent rules apply to me, one of them being they shouldn’t stare at his naked girlfriend.

He powers across the blue slate-lined double driveway, causing the dusting of pine needles covering it to stream past the window. I wait until we clear the wrought iron gates at the entrance to the compound before placing my hand on his thigh. But it’s not until we pass the miles of stone wall surrounding Misha’s property that I speak again.

“That probably looked pretty bad, huh?” I ask.

He clenches his jaw tight, enough to strain the cords along his neck. “Which part? The part where I find you surrounded by vampires pouring champagne over your naked body?”

“Um . . .”

“Or do you mean getting the call that a parasitic demon has infested your leg and is attempting to make your body its nesting ground—then watching it try and claw its way to your heart?”

“Ah . . .”

His steely eyes cut my way. “Or perhaps you’re referring to the she-vamp licking your thigh in a way I should only touch you?”

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