Passion Ignites (7 page)

Thorn found a nightshirt in Darcy's wardrobe and slid it on Lexi. He gathered Lexi in his arms and walked to the bathroom where Darius waited.

“Are you sure about this?” Darius asked.

Thorn glanced down at Lexi's face, which was covered in sweat. “Nay.”

He dropped down to one knee and lowered Lexi into the bath. Thorn set her against the back of the tub. Her head lolled to the side.

“She's no waking.”

Thorn squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. “Did you expect her to feel the cold and come to?”

“Aye,” Darius said grumpily. “She's no' so much as twitched.”

Thorn had noticed. He hadn't bothered to ask Darcy how long to leave Lexi in the water. If only he could heal someone with a touch like Con could, but that wasn't Thorn's power.

The seconds ticked by slowly. After a few minutes, Thorn touched her forehead with the back of his hand and let out a sigh of relief. He swiveled his head to Darius. “She's no' as hot as before.”

“That's good,” Darius said, though he was frowning.

After another five minutes, there was no change. Once Lexi began to shiver, Thorn took her out of the tub. The nightshirt clung to her curves like a second skin.

He looked over to find Darius watching her. Thorn needed her out of the shirt quickly before she became more ill. He set her on the rug next to the tub.

“Need help?”

Thorn threw Darius a look. “I can handle this.”

“You think I'm looking?”

“Nay.”

“That's right. But you are.”

“I'm no',” Thorn said angrily and wrapped a towel around Lexi.

“Doona bother lying to me.” At that, Darius walked out of the bathroom.

Thorn drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. He wasn't looking at her.

He tossed the towel away and removed the nightshirt before he threw it in the sink where it landed with a sucking noise.

Thorn grabbed the towel and set about drying her. He tried to close his eyes when he got to her breasts, but they refused to obey him.

His gaze drank in the small, perky breasts and the pink tipped nipples. His hands slowed as he gently rubbed the towel along the indent of her waist and over her hips.

He shook himself, inwardly berating himself, as he hurriedly finished drying her. He wrapped her in the towel and carried her back to the bed and put her in another gown before tucking her back under the covers.

There he sat watching her, hoping that she would awaken and stab him again. He was supposed to save her, not observe her slowly dying before his very eyes.

Suddenly Thorn remembered Darcy's warning about dehydration. He jumped up and filled a glass with water. As he was searching for a way to get Lexi to drink, he spotted a bag of straws. He grabbed one and rushed back to the bedroom.

He sat on the bed and gently lifted Lexi's head. Using the straw, he slowly dripped water through her parted lips.

“That's it. Drink for me,” he urged as she swallowed.

Thorn fed her the water until the entire glass was gone. He refilled it and continued through another glass as the minutes passed.

The day crawled at a snail's pace. Darius came and went often, taking the chance to kill any Dark he came across. The longer Lexi went without waking, the more anxious Thorn became.

He went to the kitchen to refill the glass with water. Upon his return he found Lexi had shoved the covers down to her waist.

Thorn felt her head and noticed the dampness of her skin. It wasn't long after that sweat beaded her skin and she was moving her head back and forth mumbling something about a Christina.

That got Thorn wondering. He opened the mental link and said Ryder's name. It didn't take his friend long to answer.

“
Thorn
,” Ryder said, his voice smiling. “
How's it going?
”

“
We're killing Dark
.”

“
Then it's going well
.”

Thorn had to smile at that. “
Aye, it is. I need you to look something up for me
.”

“
Sure.
”

“
Can you search the murders in Edinburgh that have happened recently and tell me if any of them is named Christina? I also suspect she's American.”

“
Give me a sec, and I can tell you.
”

Thorn sat impatiently as he wiped Lexi's brow with a damp cloth.

It was just a few moments later when Ryder said, “
I found something. A Christina Butler from South Carolina who was visiting the city with three friends was killed a week ago. Her death was ruled a murder, but her killer hasna been caught.
”

It was just what Thorn had suspected. What he wanted to know was where were the two other friends? “
Does it name the friends?
”

“
Nay.
”

“
Thanks, Ryder.
”

“
Anything else?
”

Thorn rung out the cloth and wiped Lexi's face. “
Nay.
”

“
You have no' happened to see Rhi, have you?
”

Thorn twisted his lips. “
No' since she bailed on helping us get Darcy away from the Dark.
”

“
That's what I thought. Just wanted to check.
”

“
Everything all right at Dreagan?
”

Ryder released a long sigh. “
Nothing will be right until Ulrik is stopped, the Dark are wiped from this realm, and we find V.
”

V. Thorn had forgotten that he had woken and left Dreagan without a word. No one knew where he was, and he refused to answer Con's mental call. They needed all hands on deck, so for any one King to leave without a word was not good news.

“
Feel free to come and help us kill Dark,
” Thorn said.

“
Doona tempt me. I could use a diversion. Talk soon.
”

The link was severed. Thorn looked down at Lexi. He was learning more and more about her. Her name, where she was from, and what was driving her. If only she would wake.

*   *   *

Lexi was lost in a fog so thick she couldn't see her way out of it. She flung out her arms, calling out her friends' names hoping they would help her.

She stumbled through the mist that seemed to hold her back. Sweat covered her. She was so hot. No matter how many times she clawed at her clothing to remove it, she couldn't get any of it off.

Lexi shouted for her friends again, but only silence greeted her. Her foot hit something. She looked down and saw Christina lying upon the street, her eyes lifeless.

She knelt beside Christina and touched her short black hair. Then she cupped her face and tried to wake her. Lexi knew she was gone, but she couldn't stop calling Christina's name.

Her friend was dead because she hadn't acted on her feelings and warned her away. Worse, Lexi hadn't followed her immediately. It had taken her too long to find Christina. If only she had acted quicker, found her sooner, Christina might be alive.

Suddenly, the fog vanished. Though no one touched her, she had the feeling that strong arms were wrapped around her, soothing her fears and her sorrow.

Lexi closed her eyes and breathed easier. No longer was there the weight of being responsible for Christina's death on her shoulders. For the moment, it was gone. Lexi basked in the peace of it and didn't fight the sleep that claimed her.

*   *   *

Thorn held Lexi against him as he stroked her hair. He hadn't wanted to hold her in such a manner, but her thrashing and the hollowness of her voice as she repeatedly called Christina's name had been too much.

As soon as Thorn pulled her against him, she calmed. He held her, loathed to move away, even though he noticed that her gown and the sheets were soaked with sweat.

Thorn was still holding her when Darius returned. Darius didn't bat an eye when he came to the doorway and saw them.

“Her fever broke,” Thorn said.

Darius nodded and left. He came back a moment later with a clean set of sheets. Thorn gathered Lexi in his arms while Darius stripped the bed. As soon as Darius had the new sheets on, Thorn laid her down and found another gown. He hastily changed her and covered her once more—peeking at her only twice.

“You didna look,” Darius said.

Thorn wadded up the soaked gown and tossed it with the sheets. “She's ill.”

“That wouldna stop most.”

“I'm no' most.”

Darius was silent for a long while before he said, “Nay, Thorn, you're no'.”

Thorn looked at him. He wasn't surprised that Darius had answered Con's call for all Kings sleeping away the centuries to wake for battle. What Thorn was shocked at was Darius himself.

The last time he had seen Darius he had taken to his cave, intending never to wake again. Darius wasn't jesting when he said he had his demons. All the Kings did, but Darius had more than most.

“What?” Darius asked.

“I never asked. How are you?”

Darius's smile was tight, forced. “I'm killing Dark. I'm doing pretty good at the moment.”

Thorn wondered how long that would last.

“I hear that my awakening was compared to Kellan's,” Darius said. “Are you concerned?”

“A King takes to his mountain for many reasons. I'm no' concerned about you. I'm concerned
for
you.”

Darius dropped his gaze to the ground. “I'll be fine.”

“There's no need to lie. No' to me.”

“You live long enough, you suffer every way imaginable. The mortals can no' grasp what we endure, what we can never forget.”

Thorn nodded. “And yet some of us have found peace with their mates.”

“I doona expect the same for myself. I'm … unable to…” Darius swallowed, his pause lengthening.

With a soft turn of his lips, Thorn waited for Darius to look at him. When he did, Thorn said, “I know.”

Darius hastily looked away and then walked into the kitchen. Thorn turned his attention back to the bed and froze when he found Lexi's eyes open.

She stared at him a moment, and then softly closed her lids, drifting back to sleep. Thorn tucked the covers around her before he touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Bora Bora

Rhi sipped on her tropical alcoholic beverage and soaked up the rays of the sun. She wiggled her toes as she reclined on the lounger, and then frowned when she saw the black nail polish.

Black. Why couldn't she seem to use another color? Oh, there was the gold, silver, white, and even blue as an accent, but only black as the base.

The darkness within her smiled.

Rhi rose off the lounger and walked to the edge of the turquoise water. The golden sand beneath her feet was as hot as the unforgiving sun. Despite only being there a few days, her skin had begun to bronze nicely.

She walked into the water until she was up to her thighs, then she dove in. The cool sea felt wonderful. She smiled as she watched fish swim below her.

Rhi broke the surface and treaded water as she looked back at the beach. It was a secluded place. She liked having the stunning scenery all to herself. Perhaps it was because she knew Balladyn was always trying to find her, to convince her to be his, but she knew she was being watched.

They were veiled. This was the third time in two weeks she had felt such a presence. It wasn't Balladyn. If he knew where she was, he would be trying to seduce her, not watching her.

It also wasn't Inen from the Queen's Guard. He was powerful, but not nearly powerful enough to keep veiled for so long. No one other than Usaeil herself—and Rhi, though no one else knew that—could stay veiled as long as they wanted. Usaeil was Queen of the Light. She wouldn't be spying on Rhi this way.

Rhi was intrigued. Who would want to follow her?

More importantly, why?

 

CHAPTER

NINE

Lexi opened her eyes to see she was in a bed. It was a woman's studio flat by the looks of it, but it wasn't hers.

Her throat hurt, and her mouth was dry. She desperately needed something to drink. She sat up, wondering why her body was so sore.

There was no one about that she could tell, and she really wished she could remember how she got there. Lexi slid her legs from beneath the covers and over the side of the bed. She stood, and her legs immediately buckled. She managed to grab hold of the bed to keep herself standing.

If she didn't know better, she would say she had been sick. She got her legs underneath her before she looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky, which meant she had slept. Since her eyes no longer hurt, she suspected she'd slept at least a good eight hours.

Lexi spotted a pile of sheets near the door. She saw her sweater sticking out. Suddenly, she realized she was naked expect for the pale yellow Victoria's Secret nightshirt she wore.

She slowly walked to the stack to get her clothes. Lexi bent and pushed the sheets away to reveal all of her clothes. That should've made her happy, except that they were cut to pieces.

Just what the hell had happened?

And why couldn't she remember?

Lexi looked for her knife. It had to be around somewhere. It took her two tries before she could stand. A walk around the studio and she found her knife laying on an end table next to the sofa.

She hurried to it. Once she had the weapon in her hand, she felt a little calmer. She wouldn't be in control until she had on clothes and was back at her place.

If she could get past the Red Eyes.

“Good. You're up.”

She knew that deep, silky smooth voice. Lexi didn't have to look to know it was the stranger, but she couldn't help herself. She turned and lost herself in his deep brown eyes.

His long dark hair was down once more. It was thick and straight, and sexy as sin. Damn him for being so good every time she saw him. He smiled then, looking charming and wicked all at once.