Authors: M.J. Scott
Shadow Kin (24 page)
Bryony looked like she was about to launch into one of her lectures. I held up a hand. “Lily, Guy’s right. The Brother House might be the best option.”
“So I should just let you lock me up there for the rest of my life? No, thank you.”
“Just until Lucius loses interest,” I said, trying to reason with her.
She shook her head. “What makes you think he’s going to lose interest? It would be better for me to leave the City.”
“No!” The denial came as an unbidden roar. I was not going to have this discussion yet again. I knew in my gut she wouldn’t make it alone. Plus, there was this inconvenient longing I felt. If she left, I’d never get to do anything about it. Nor was I at all sure that it would go away if she did.
Everyone was staring at me. I cleared my throat. “I’d like to speak to Lily alone. Please.” The “please” came as an afterthought. Guy looked at me for a long moment, as if he could see exactly what was going through my head, but then finally he nodded. Extending his arm to Bryony, he escorted her out of the room.
The door shut behind them and I wove a quick aural shield. Just in case Bryony was tempted to listen in. Once I was satisfied the doors were secure, I crossed to the window to check the wards there, then, planting myself on the windowsill so I could soak up some of the light to replace the power I’d just used, turned to Lily.
“This isn’t exactly how I planned this.” The sun soaked through my skin, trickling down to the part of me that fueled my powers. But for once, the flow of light didn’t calm me.
“Planned what?”
“Helping you.”
Anger flushed her face. “I don’t understand.”
“Before I tell you, I want you to remember something.”
“What’s that?”
“That I do want to help you.”
Her lips pressed shut and she looked away. Damn. She was going to hide from me. Perhaps Bryony was right and I was crazy. Lily was a creature of the Night World. Shaped by Lucius into a weapon. I doubted she’d ever trusted anyone in her life. Did she even know how?
Could she learn? There was only one way to find out. “Would you look at me, please?” I asked.
“Why?
I was starting to think
why
was her favorite word. “I prefer to see who I’m talking to.”
why
was her favorite word. “I prefer to see who I’m talking to.”
This made her frown slightly. “You know who you’re talking to.”
“Lily, I doubt anyone who speaks to you knows that.”
That made her frown deepen. But she didn’t reply, so I continued on. “Do you really want to run?” It seemed we were going to have the discussion again whether I liked it or not.
“I . . .” She hesitated, one hand straying to her thigh again. Seeking the comfort of her weapons. What did it say about her life if cold metal was what she turned to for reassurance ? “I still think it would be better if I did.”
“Better for who?”
“Everyone.”
“Why?” I threw the word back at her.
“Because it’s dangerous with me here.”
“It’s always dangerous.”
“They don’t want me here,” she said accusingly.
They being Guy and Bryony. “I think you’re underestimating Guy. His offer was genuine.”
Bryony, I didn’t bother defending. The Fae didn’t generally acknowledge their half-breeds. And wraiths were the worst of them. “Try thinking about it from their viewpoint. They know about you. What it is that you do for Lucius. But they don’t know
you
.”
you
.”
“Neither do you, apparently,” she said bluntly.
The accusation stung. More than I liked. But that was the part of me that wanted her in my bed talking. I had to ignore that part and use my head. Try to break through to her. “I could. They could too.”
“For a price,” she said. “That’s right, isn’t it? You want something from me. You have an angle after all.”
She sounded disappointed. My stomach twisted. “It’s not that simple.”
“Just tell me.”
Time to be honest. Lance the boil, so to speak. One quick stroke to deal with the problem. “Lucius is dangerous. He’s been pushing for more territory, more power over the last few years. He’s succeeding. We need to stop him.”
“ ‘ We’ being the humans.”
“Being anyone who wants a decent life without the Blood—without
Lucius
—running the City,” I shot back.
Lucius
—running the City,” I shot back.
She shook her head at me but didn’t argue.
“We need to stop him,” I repeated. “To do that we need to limit his power. Which requires the Fae to help us. They hold the balance of power at the treaty negotiations. They could check him. But they won’t without proof that he’s actively violating the treaties.”
“Proof?”
“I want you to give evidence against him. Tell them that he sent you to kill me. Under oath.”
The color drained from her face. “You want me to betray Lucius?”
I tried to make my voice gentler. “I want you to do the right thing.”
She looked as though I’d slapped her. “You might as well just let Guy cut off my head. It would be a more merciful death.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“No.” Her hand sliced through the air as she shook her head again. “You wouldn’t be able to. Not for long enough. I won’t do it. It would be suicide.”
“I can keep you safe, Lily,” I said. How the hell could I convince her? “If you do this, I promise I’ll keep you safe. You could have a life here.”
Her face twisted. “You should let me go.”
“Go where, back to him? Is that really a better option than trying to stop him?”
“You don’t understand. I could . . . just leave the City.”
“You really think you can outrun Lucius? If you think we can’t protect you here, then what makes you think you’ll survive on your own?” I moved from the window, not fast, not enough to scare her, but I needed to be closer. If I could just make her see . . .
“I can try.”
“You’ll fail.” You’ll die, was what I should have said. That would be the price for failure. But I couldn’t say it. Didn’t want to speak the words and maybe conjure them to life.
Her whole body twisted now as she half turned to the door, then back to me, the leather of her vest creaking ever so faintly against the brush of cotton from her clothing. Fighting her instincts again. The soft rustles sounded like leaves breaking under the hooves of a deer about to flee a hunter.
“So it’s better instead to be locked up by the Templars? Trade one set of bars for another?” she asked.
She’d spent enough of her life chained to Lucius. I wasn’t going to see her forced again. If she chose, she would do so willingly. “I wouldn’t let them do that. We can help you. If you help us.”
“Why? Why do you even care?” Her voice almost cracked.
I moved closer still. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”
She actually stepped back at that, chin snapping up defiantly. “I told you I didn’t need to be saved. Find someone else to die heroically for.”
Another half step forward. “It’s not just you who needs saving. We’re talking about the City itself. Anyway, who says I’m going to die?”
“Who says you won’t?” She retreated. Much farther and she’d have to turn herself into a book and slot herself onto a bookshelf to escape me.
I paused. Free choice. I was no better than Lucius if I used intimidation. But gods and suns, I wanted to take hold of her and either shake some sense into her or—No. Not wise to think about alternative activities. “What does it matter if I die? Why do you care about that?”
She looked away. “I don’t.”
Liar
. Certainty burned in my gut. She did care. I also knew she didn’t want to, but that wasn’t important. She did. I could work with that. Maybe I was going about this backward after all. Maybe I should try to use that tiny flame of emotion, that vulnerability which had to feel brand-new for her and make her feel even more.
. Certainty burned in my gut. She did care. I also knew she didn’t want to, but that wasn’t important. She did. I could work with that. Maybe I was going about this backward after all. Maybe I should try to use that tiny flame of emotion, that vulnerability which had to feel brand-new for her and make her feel even more.
Hook the heart—or suns, at this point, even the body would do—and perhaps the brain would follow. “There’s another reason.”
Her head turned. Slowly. Forever hung in the few heartbeats it took for her eyes to meet mine. “What?”
Just do it
.
.
I stepped, reached, caught her hand with mine, tangling our fingers together and squeezing so my palm pressed to hers, flesh to flesh. Nothing in between. Nothing separating. Heat flared at the contact, tore through me. Made me want to do far more than hold her hand. But I kept watching. Waiting. And I saw what I was looking for.
Her pupils went wide and black, and she swayed toward me, just a little. A little was enough.
“That,” I said roughly.
She tried to pull her hand free, but I held on, tightening my grip. “You feel it too. Don’t bother denying it. I could feel it in you when I healed you.”
Her hand jerked under mine. “That isn’t worth dying for,” she said in a voice not entirely steady.
“How do you know?” I couldn’t look away from her mouth. Her lips were a deep, deep pink against that pale skin.
“I—”
No. I wasn’t going to let her protest and deny. Not anymore. I was going to show her I was right.
Even if she stabbed me afterward. My other hand reached, found her, pulled her close. And my mouth came down on hers. Settled there. Tasted her. Salt and life and warmth.
At first she stiffened in my arms and I thought she was going to pull free. But then her mouth opened beneath me, and she sank into me, her free hand reaching up to grab my head and pull me closer.
It felt like swallowing the sun.
Pleasure so intense it seared rushed through me in a burning wave and turned everything else to ash. There was only Lily in my arms, only the taste of her and the smell of leather and cotton and female and the need to burn even hotter.
It felt as good as the first time my power had quickened to the sun. Or perhaps even better.
I groaned against her mouth, pulled her closer, wanting to climb inside her. Where? Desk? Floor? Suns. Who cared? Just more.
My fingers found the top button of her shirt without thought, flicked it open.
And suddenly she pushed me away with a gasp that sounded as though it tore her throat. The sudden lack of her made my head spin, and by the time my vision had cleared and some vestige of sanity returned, she was halfway across the room.
Glaring at me while her chest heaved.
Mine heaved too but right now that didn’t matter.
What mattered was getting my hands on her again. Though I was willing to wait until she wasn’t looking quite so murderous before I attempted it.
Gray eyes narrowed at me, looking like she wanted to kill me.
She looked beautiful.
Beautiful and deadly. I remembered suddenly that she was very well armed. And my gun was across the room locked in a drawer. Still, she could have stabbed me during the kiss and she hadn’t.
“I hope you’re not waiting for me to say sorry,” I said. “Because I’m not.”
“No. You’re just crazy.” She planted her hands on her hips, balled them into fists. Which at least was better than reaching for her stilettos.
“Not crazy, realistic. I told you there was another reason.”
“You want to risk everything for simple lust?”
“Whatever that was, it wasn’t simple, shadow,” I shot back. “And I doubt it was entirely lust either.”
“You
are
crazy,” she said flatly.
are
crazy,” she said flatly.
“We could be crazy together.” I risked a half smile.
Her glare intensified. “No. We will not be doing
that
again.”
that
again.”
“Ah. Well, maybe I’ll be able to change your mind about that.”
“You want me to be
your
pet.”
your
pet.”
“No.” I was serious now. “No, I want you to be yourself. I want you to see the woman I felt in my arms when you look in the mirror. Someone beautiful. Someone worthy. Someone free. Someone who belongs to herself. Someone who chooses for herself.”
The anger faded from her eyes a little. And if I’d had to name the emotion that replaced it, I would have to choose fear. The same fear any caged thing might face when presented with a chance of freedom.
“How do you know what I see in the mirror?”
“Just a wild guess.”
The anger returned. Not unexpected. She was returning to what she knew. To her walls and ice.
“You know nothing,” she said.
“Then let me find out. Let me in, Lily. I can help you.”
She actually took a step backward. “No.”
“Would you rather stay in your cage, then?”
“No!”
I was pushing too hard. I could see it written on her face. She wanted to run. Her skin practically quivered with the need to flee. But I couldn’t help it. I wanted her to see. “Then what do you want?”
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