Blood Lust - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,64
surrounded a sleepy village. Still holding Myst’s hand, he studied her pale face.
During the silent trek through the countryside his fury had been honed to a lethal emotion.
The Keeper of Tales had been just as annoyingly vague as he’d expected. Hell, the entire journey had been a humongous waste of time. But it was his companion’s lethargic attitude that was scraping against his nerves.
Myst was a bright, shimmering ray of sunlight. Even after everything she’d endured, she carried with her a buoyant energy that was infectious. Just like Molly.
Now it was as if the light had been extinguished, leaving her shrouded in darkness.
The very thought hurt his soul.
Stepping close enough to be surrounded by her honeysuckle scent, he palmed her cheek.
“Are you okay?” he demanded, his voice pitched low.
She sucked in a shuddering breath. “No.”
“Myst.” His hand slid to cup her cheek, tilting back her head so he could study her grim expression. “Talk to me.”
“It’s stupid,” she muttered. “I knew this was a long shot. I’ve been searching for years without any luck. Still . . .”
His fingers tightened on her chin as her words trailed away.
“We’ll find the answers,” he promised, the words a solemn pledge.
“But not today.” Her lips twisted with a pained emotion as she remained lost in her thoughts. Then, with an obvious effort, she smoothed her features to an unreadable mask. “You need to get back to Molly.”
He narrowed his gaze. He didn’t like the feeling she was shutting him out.
In fact, it frankly pissed him off.
“Both of us are going back,” he said in tones that warned his plan was nonnegotiable. “Once we’re at Valhalla we can decide what our next move will be.”
She was shaking her head before he ever finished speaking. “Bas, you know I can’t go there.”
“Of course you can. It’s the safest place for you.”
“And the most dangerous,” she said, deliberately pulling away from his light grasp.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid of Lana?” he bluntly demanded. “You know I would never allow her to hurt you.”
A strange emotion rippled over her face. “I’m afraid of myself.”
Christ. Abruptly he realized she was worried that she was about to cause some sort of Armageddon.
“That’s ridiculous,” he growled.
“It’s not,” she insisted, her hands clenching. “You didn’t see the vision, Bas. It’s . . . terrifying.” She gave a sharp shake of her head. “I have to stop it.”
He believed her. He truly did. A seer’s vision was a glimpse of the future.
But that didn’t mean it was inevitable.
It was one possible future.
“Then we come up with a new plan,” he said, barely resisting the urge to wrap her in his arms. She looked so damned fragile, as if she might shatter into a thousand pieces. Unfortunately, they couldn’t risk staying in such a visible area even a second longer than necessary. Any comfort would have to wait. “But first we need to get you someplace where the Brotherhood can’t get to you.”
“No.” The word was ruthlessly adamant even as her breath came in small pants. “I won’t go there. I won’t.”
“Easy, Myst,” he murmured, sensing she was barely in control of her emotions. Skimming his fingers down her arms, he urged her against the ivy that covered the stone wall. He felt perilously exposed as a car drove past to slowly turn through the wide gate. Who knew how many eyes were watching them? “Once the clairvoyant is captured we can leave.”
She shivered, her heart pounding so loudly he could hear each beat.
“I’m running out of time.”
His fingers lightly grasped her wrists, his thumbs gently rubbing back and forth in an effort to calm her. A rueful smile twisted his lips. Or maybe he was trying to calm himself.
Her barely restrained panic was starting to twist his gut with dread.
“How do you know?”
She gave another shiver. “I can feel it.”
Dammit. He refused to accept that he couldn’t control the situation.
“Fine, it might be near, but you don’t have a weapon,” he said in gentle tones. “We can still—”
“You heard Boggs,” she interrupted. “He said it might have something to do with my blood.”
“That idiot . . .” Bas made a sound of disgust. “He told us nothing but a bunch of cryptic nonsense.”
Her expression hardened. “He saw destruction.”
“It doesn’t matter what he saw,” Bas insisted. As far as he was concerned the Master of Tales had been nothing more than a gigantic pain in the ass. “We’re going to get through this.” He lifted her hands, pressing his lips to her