On Wicked Ground (Solsti Prophecy Book 4) (22 page)

His eyes widened a fraction. “Shit.”

Oh no. Was he pissed? “You’re fertile right now.”

“Yeah.” He shoved a lock of wet hair off his face. “Are you?”

“I have no idea.” She racked her brain, trying to remember if the Solsti in the legends ever had children. The times she’d had sex, she’d always insisted on a condom. If for no other reason than a baby wasn’t a good idea for a criminal who moved all the time.

But she was done moving. And she was done stealing.

She raised wary eyes to Caine. “Are you mad?”

“No!” He pulled her close. “Gods, no. I should have remembered. Are you mad at me?”

Her face was pressed to his delicious pec. “No. Never. I-I just…I can’t believe we both forgot.”

“I’m sorry.” He kissed the top of her head. “Whatever happens, I want you to know, I’ll take care of you.”

“Okay.” She let out a sigh. The timing couldn’t be worse for getting pregnant. Alina needed to get ready to fight. Elegia loomed somewhere on the horizon.

She blinked against Caine’s skin as a sudden thread of protectiveness flared in her heart. If she had managed to get pregnant, there was no way her child would see the imminent evil that lurked. Alina would do anything necessary to rid the realm of that crazy bitch.

She kissed his skin and licked at the drops of water coursing down his chest. What was done was done. Since she didn’t even know if she could get pregnant, there was no sense worrying, at least until she knew for sure. Then they could make plans accordingly. “You better get cleaned up. Want some help?” She reached for the soap.

He stopped her with a gentle grip on her wrist. “Not this time. If your naughty hands start exploring, we’ll never get out of here. And I meant what I said. If you’re pregnant, I’ll take care of you and the baby. I swear it.”

“I know you will.” She gazed up into brown eyes so full of devotion, they nearly slayed her. Her sincere, noble demon. Her breath hitched and she knew she needed to redirect her thoughts, pronto. “Wash. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” A twinkle returned to his eyes, replacing the overwhelming intensity with lightness.

She pretended to pout impatiently but, really, it was just as much fun to watch him run his hands over his own body. Rivers of water coursed from the top of his head down the slabs of muscle at his chest, down his eight pack abs to the sharply indented V at his hips. Soap bubbles raced each other as if they couldn’t wait to dip down between his legs. She watched in fascination as he cupped his sex to wash the length. It was still long and impressive, even in its current semi-hard state.

“You keep looking at it like that, I’m serious, Boots, you’ll get another round.” He winked, but a growl laced his deep voice.

“Maybe that’s exactly what I want.” She winked back and blew him a kiss before turning to step out. “See you in bed.”

She ducked out and grabbed a white fluffy towel from several that were stacked on a shelf. Her hair took no time to dry, being so short and stick-straight. Wrapping the thick cotton around herself, she walked back into the bedroom and to his dresser in search of a T-shirt.

She opened the top drawer to reveal piles of folded T-shirts. Grabbing one, she was about to close the drawer when she spied a red silky rope of some sort at the very bottom. Curious, she reached back in and gingerly raised the clothing.

A red velvet bag, maybe four inches square, sat there.

What was inside? Caine didn’t have a lot of extraneous stuff in here. She stood frozen, torn, and curious.

The shower water shut off, and from the bathroom she heard the cottony swish of a towel being snapped open.

Alina jumped and dropped the shirts. Clutching only the top one she had intended to wear, she shut the drawer. No sense in being rude. She had already broken in here once. She yanked the shirt over her head.

Caine appeared in the doorway, rubbing droplets from his glistening skin. “You look damn sexy in that, woman.” A grin tugged at his rugged face.

“It’s kind of like a dress on me.” She crawled onto the huge bed and lay with her feet at the pillows and her head at the bottom, watching him.

“Nothing wrong with a dress, especially one with nothing underneath.” He finished drying off and tossed the towel behind him. He pulled on a pair of workout pants and prowled up next to her. Laying down the same way she was, he tucked her close and she laid her head on his chest.

“That painting,” she pointed to the canvas above the bed, “is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you.” One strong hand rested on her hip. “It’s where I grew up.”

“Oh.” A wave of sadness tore through her as his words from the other night rushed back
. My family’s dead. Our village was attacked
. “Your home…I’m so sorry.”

He blew out a breath and lay quiet for so long, she regretted bringing it up. But though she wracked her brain, she couldn’t think of a way to change the subject without sounding cold and unfeeling. She decided to attempt to talk about it, and gage his reactions. “Where is it?”

“Coriander Lake.”

“I’ve heard about it.” The gorgeous region and its namesake lake were in the southern part of Torth, almost a tropical climate. It had a healthy tourist trade as well as an excellent harvest of its namesake herb. “I’m sure this painting doesn’t do it justice.”

“Nothing can.” He swallowed, and propped his free hand under his head. “But this artist came close.”

“It feels like I’m there.” She shifted cautious eyes to his face. “The other night, when I was in here, I just laid here and looked at it.”

He smacked her bottom. “I knew you laid right here. Your scent was so concentrated, it hit me like a wall of bricks when I opened my door.”

She giggled. “Well, I couldn’t look away. Plus, I needed to decompress after all the craziness of the day. And looking at the water, the boats…it was so serene I felt like I was there.”

“Yeah, I get that feeling too.” His attention remained on the picture, but a shadow flickered over his face. “And then, I see what it looks like now.”

His body tensed. She waited, holding her breath, willing him to talk to her.

“All I saw when I returned from an assignment was black smoke filling the sky. Every home crushed. Fires everywhere in town, boats and fields ablaze. Bodies…” His voice was hollow, like whatever emotion that should be there had been booted out of his head long ago, yet threatened to return.

“Assignment?” She had to ask, though a tiny fear flickered that she might be pushing too far.

“All the Watchers were needed to fight a band of dark elves.” He shook his head. “The Hunter—Mathias—was undercover for a fucking year, trying to get enough info to bust them. When he finally did, Arawn sent all of us. They were vicious and it took a while to eliminate them.

“I had been scheduled to have a few days off, but we got word that we had an opportunity to take the elves out. So I didn’t go home until later. When I did…” 

He didn’t need to say the rest. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, pulling herself up to lay an arm across his chest and look into his face. The words felt horribly inadequate. But what could she say?
I wish I could do something?
No, she couldn’t say that. Not when there were things she knew she couldn’t do for him or for any male.

“One witness from a neighboring village reported the attack was led by Vipers. I know which general it was.”

The grim set to his jaw told her the direction of his thoughts. “You search for him,” she murmured.

“I do. It’s a matter of when I find him, not if.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “But I’m not giving that asshole another second of my thoughts when you’re in my bed.” He tugged her so she lay on top of him, one hand resting on her rear. “There’s something else you should know. I have a photographic memory.”

She blinked rapidly. “What? You remember everything you read?”

“Not just words on a page, baby.” He shook his head. “Images, down to the last details. Everything in my life, everything I’ve ever seen…I can’t unsee it.”

She paused and the weight of his revelation made her heart hurt. “So…your village…you see everything you saw the day you returned?”

He nodded. “Always.”

She smoothed his dark hair. “Caine, I’m—”

He caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “Don’t be sorry. It’s how I am. This is my life, what happened is what happened. And I plan to do something about it.” He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Besides, my ability is why Arawn sent me to Mulvari’s party.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You said you were there to observe.” Her jaw dropped. “Wait, you meant, to observe all of his stuff?”

“Yep. All of it, cataloged right here.” He pointed to his head. “But there was the added benefit of seeing you.”

“Did I get cataloged too?” She giggled.

His onyx gaze turned suddenly serious. “Since the first second I laid eyes on you.”

Oh
. Something in his tone bordered on the tantalizing possibility that he could want more than a casual relationship.
No, no, no. Not meant to be
. She stifled her rising unease and nuzzled his chest instead. “Well, I’m glad. Count me happy to be catalogued.”

He rolled them so he was on top of her. “Is that what we’re calling it now?” A wicked twinkle danced in his eyes.

Relief coursed through her at the change in topic, though that was silly since she had brought it up. “I think there was another word you liked hearing me say. What was it?” She tilted her head. “Oh, yes…
fuuucked
.” She dragged the word out, letting it glide past her lips on a sigh.

He stared at her for one second, eyes taking on a silvery-black glow. That was all the warning she got before his mouth came down on hers. Losing herself to his kiss, she pushed aside her regret at the ember of possibility that had died before it could fully form. Instead, she vowed to use her power to safeguard him, to help him fight whoever he needed to fight, to chase down his demons. She vowed to make sure he was whole and strong and ready to find his mate, whoever she may be.

C
HAPTER
S
EVENTEEN

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
A
LINA
AND
Caine followed her sisters, their mates, and several inner-circle Watchers into a huge conference room. The walls were rough stone ranging in shades of rust to deep tan. Fire bulbs lined the edges near the ceiling, which was also hewn from jagged stone. An enormous wooden table sat in the center of the room, and this is where Alina and the others took their seats. Sebastian sat on her left, while Caine sat on her right. Ashina and Raniero also joined the group.

Arawn paced at the head of the table, ignoring a heavily carved chair that looked like it could only belong to him. He watched everyone file in, his expression unreadable. If Alina had to guess, she’d say he was angry—but then he always looked angry. Since she’d been here, she hadn’t seen him crack a smile.

His dark countenance dropped to her, then moved around the group. “We have all four Solsti together in one room. About damn time.”

Nicole, seated across from Alina, scowled and opened her mouth, looking more than ready to fling a comeback, but Gunnar squeezed her fingers in his. She frowned and let out a tiny sigh, but kept quiet.

“Here are the facts. You four are needed to defeat something worse than what we’ve seen in centuries.” Arawn shoved a hand through his dark shoulder length hair. “The other night, the owner of the Halice inn that you two stayed in,” he gestured to Alina and Sebastian, “was found dead. The scent of vampire and Serus demon was on him, yet those species weren’t listed among the inn’s guests.

“Two nights ago, our Chicago location was targeted by Deserati demons who were cloaking themselves. Thanks to the Hunter and the Solsti Nicole, their plan didn’t work out. Mathias and Brenin tracked them. Found them not far from the house, but unwilling to give up any useful information despite the Hunter’s gift of persuasion.” Arawn paced the front of the room. “So they were eliminated.

“In the last several months, there have been kidnappings all over the realm. Earth’s water supply was nearly tainted with a biological contaminant. And that contaminant comes from the extract of the black lily of Evena, which is supposed to be extinct.

“The Solsti Brooke killed one of the lead kidnappers. And the Solsti Virginia killed that crazy fuckwad Deserati working in the water treatment plants.”

Virginia?
Alina’s eyes shot to Gin, who intensely disliked her full name. But if she objected to Arawn’s use of it, she kept it to herself.

“We believe the lily extract is being used in conjunction with the kidnappings. We know the demon that Brooke killed was working for a female, and so was the demon Virginia killed. And that sad piece of shit,” Arawn looked at Gin. “Gave up a name before he died. Elegia. Our intel indicates she’s a vampire.”

Beside her, Sebastian gave a sharp intake of breath. Alina turned to him. His face had gone pale, his eyes were wide. Alina reached for his hand. “Dad? What’s wrong?”

Though she had whispered, everyone in the room had enhanced hearing, so all eyes focused on her and Sebastian.

“E-Elegia?” His voice came out cracked and strained.

“Yes. Elegia.” Arawn studied her dad with a look of incredulity mixed with hostility. “Do you know her?”

Sebastian swallowed hard and gave Alina an apologetic look before turning back to the Lash leader. “She’s my sister.”

The room erupted in shouts both angry and disbelieving. Some warriors stood, hands on weapons, glaring at Sebastian.

Alina jumped up, enraged at the demons who’d reached for their weapons. It seemed her newfound protective streak extended to her dad as well as her possible pregnancy. “Everyone calm down. Now.” She turned to her dad and softened her voice. “Dad? What do you mean? You never said anything about having a sister.”

“Stand down, Solsti. This is my war room.” Arawn growled.

“No.” She whirled, hands on her hips. “You made your people swear an oath to protect me and my sisters. I won’t have
any
relative treated with any ounce of distrust.”