Page 54 of Gemini Hunted
With alarming suddenness, the werewolf leaps. Mordred’s shoulder bunches and his brawny arm cocks. I barely grab the demon’s wrist in time to keep the wolf from getting a trident through its throat.
It’s the first time I’ve ever touched him.
Mordred.
He’s hot to the touch like any shifter, like placing your hand on a warm stove, barely far enough from the flame not to burn. His skin is smooth as sin and his pulse leaps against my fingers. My palm tingles with a rush of heat. A sound fills my head, like the ocean’s muted roar when you cup a seashell to your ear. Inthe back of my mind, I register that Mordred’s ready to kill for one of my guys, even without a command from his summoner.
And that my silent command stops him in his tracks.
The werewolf bounds to a halt right in front of Neo and lowers its scary head to give my fated mate’s extended hand a good sniff.
“That’s a good boy, Jae.” Neo stands very still and repeats softly, “Nobody hurt him.”
Slowly I let my hand fall from Mordred’s wrist. I can’t look away from Neo, but I can feel the demon watching me.
“Your call, baby queen,” Mordred whispers. “You’re the head honcho. I’m just the hired help.”
That’s what V calls him. But it feels wrong.
The werewolf sniffs all along Neo’s hand, then gives his fingers a tentative lick. For all I know, that wolf could be trying a taste before he tucks in for dinner. Neo gives the wolf’s ears a cautious scratch, exactly the way he does with Lucius. The werewolf grins at him, then spins away and bounds off the path we’ve been following to the edge of a sinister-looking thicket of untamed forest.
There he pauses to look back with his head tilted.
“He wants us to follow him off the trail,” Neo says happily. “Come on.”
“Oh,hellsyeah. We’re gonna crush this contest.” Mordred’s trident vanishes in a blink. The demon forges ahead with Neo, blue hair swinging down his back and messenger bag thumping against his hip.
I guess he’s pretty eager to get rid of that Horn of Ceres and break the spell that binds him to his summoner.
When he does, that’ll be the end of this playful demon’s fleeting stay in our harem. Which I tell myself is totally a good thing, considering all the trouble he’s caused.
Right?
With a sigh, I sheath my stiletto and reclaim my cat carrier.
“The notion of blindly following that moon-fucked werewolf to his hidden den seems to me the very pinnacle of foolishness.” Zephyr sheathes his swords over his back, then grimaces as a dollop of rain from the water-laden branches smacks him in the forehead. “But at least, I suppose, we’ll be out of the rain.”
“Gotta say I won’t complain, Sparrow.” Ash retracts his wings, which fold across his shoulders and melt into the gorgeous pewter angel’s wing tattoo that spreads across his muscular back. “I’m too old to be running around in the woods.”
Sharp-faced and suspicious, Vasili floats after Neo like Tinkerbell flitting after Peter Pan, without bothering to descend. The glittery soles of V’s combat boots add to the general effect.
Clearly, my snake is still on edge.
Neo and the werewolf have nearly vanished in the trees when Ronin drops from his branch with a suddenness that makes the werewolf spin and snarl.
“Blooming hell, Red.” Ronin twists his inky ponytail into the careless man-bun thing he prefers when he fights, then strides toward the growly wolf and the dark thicket beyond with a grim expression. “Best let me lead this cock-up, love. If anything sentient comes within a click, I’ll fucking sense it.”
“What? Do we not trust the werewolf?” Mordred blinks back at me innocently.
I grimace and lift my shoulders in akinda?that makes the demon cluck his tongue and make a reproachful face. “Whoa there. I feel like we maybe got ourselves a little bit of a trust issue around here. For real.”
Great.
Now even the demon can see it.
Chapter Twelve
Ronin
