Page 27 of Under a Wicked Moon
“I should drive. You’re going to pass out at the wheel. Honestly, I don’t want to get this far and die in a car crash.”
“Roman doesn’t trust you.”
“Youdon’t trust me.”
“I barely know you, Vivi, but I do trust you. These are my brothers. They need me to do this.”
The car revved to life with low enthusiasm in the cold. Theycouldn’t see what was going on in the square.
“What’s a Reykjavik?” she asked.
“Take off your socks, and put your feet in my lap to warm them, or better yet put them under my leg.” He felt her icy feet slide under his thigh. “We were in Reykjavik one time facing off against this ghoul, and we were totally getting our butts handed to us. Then Shane, our youngest brother who died two years ago, pulls this homemade pipe bomb out of his pocket and detonates it. Only Shane would have had something that crazy in his pocket. He was infatuated with explosives, almost fanatical about things that would blow up. Then he got possessed by a demon, which drove him batty in a bad way. He had moments of lucidity when he’d see into the future. Only glimpses, mind you, which allowed him to know the damndest things at the oddest times that were always perfect, like how to construct that pipe bomb. The explosion distracted the thing long enough so we could get out and regroup.”
“I want to finish the kiss,” she said softly. “If we live through this.”
Holy subject change. His mind was alert now.
“Me too,” he said.
“Promise me.”
“I promise.” He squeezed one of her ankles.
“Drive!” She pointed out the windshield. “Your brothers are running, which means it’s about to—”
The car rocked with the force of the explosion.
Chapter Nine
The car zoomed along at the fastest speed possible while navigating on pure ice. They’d cranked the heat after a driver change to put Roman in command of the vehicle. Despite the heat, Vivi still scooted closer to Ky, not that he had any body warmth. He tried to mask his shivers, but where their thighs touched, he vibrated with chills.
“You’re freezing,” she whispered.
He opened his mouth as if about to utter another “I’m fine” like he’d done three times since they got into the back seat,but shut it. She removed her coat and wrapped it around his front. “No arguing. I’m not the one who got shot and punctured by metal.”
“Thanks.” He intertwined his fingers with hers.
Hand-holding was new. Never done it with a man. Never knew she liked the connection.
Flynn craned around from the passenger seat. His eyebrows drew together. He shrugged out of his coat and handed it to her, repeating her words. “We’re almost there.” He scanned Ky. “You’ve got to hold on, mate. We’ll be to safety soon.”
As she tucked the coat around his legs, an unfamiliar feeling expanded inside her chest. To belong to a group like these men who had one another’s back, who’d die for one another, and who’d never give up until they found a missing one… She blinked against bleary vision and wished to reassure Flynn. “He’ll make it.”
Even if I have to use some healing magic on him again, to myown detriment.
He squeezed her hand. For now, he was okay.
She watched wide-eyed out the windows, expecting the humans to appear and drag her back.
Between the energy she gave up to heal him earlier, the small boost she gave Ky in secret to make it to the car, and the shock of being free, everything in her felt frazzled.
Beyond that, these three lycans simultaneously intrigued and frightened her. Each individually was powerful. Put them together, and these guys manipulated forces beyond her understanding. Ky said they fought “bad” paranormals, but who judged good from bad? Wasn’t their master human, which meant a human perspective decided? That made zero sense.
Ky warned her not to make him the hero, but she hadn’t really listened. Maybe they actually were villains. They were sent after people like her, but she had a tough time believing Ky would kill indiscriminately unless protecting himself or someone else.
They got her out of prison.
Roman, the one who distrusted her most—man, he was big and scary—said little and remained focused on the icy road. To his credit, he handled the car well. Hell, he seemed to handle everything well.
