He massaged her feet for a few minutes. “Get undressed and I’ll pull up the sheets.”
“I can do that part myself.”
“Julija.”
“Seriously, Isai. If you’re not prepared to have wild sex, then it isn’t a good idea for me to take off my clothes in front of you.”
His cock jerked at that thought. He wanted her, plain and simple, but now he had a new plan for his little mage. Sex was his backup plan. He could get her addicted since he already was, but he thought perhaps he would win her over faster if he showed restraint in that area. She was right, the moment he saw her body, his discipline would go right out the window. Not to mention, he could feel the effects of the sun on him already. His skin burned, and he was in a cave where the rays couldn’t reach him.
He stood up slowly and took her hand, turning it over, palm up, his thumb sliding gently over the scars on her wrist. “The shadow cat was extremely large. Is it possible, rather than to kill you, it was sent to reacquire you?”
She looked up at him and there was a hint of fear in her eyes as if she hadn’t even considered that possibility. “How could it do that?”
His thumb slid over the numerous scars on the inside of her wrist. “I am not certain, but it is something to think about. You are their supply of Carpathian blood, right? They need you to continue their longevity. Carpathian blood is not easy to come by and yours is very rich. They hurt you, didn’t they?”
A little shudder went through her body. Her gaze jumped to his and held there. He saw fear. He wasn’t certain whether that fear was for him finding out some of her secrets, because now he knew she had them, or whether he was probing too deeply into memories she couldn’t examine yet.
He brought her wrist to his mouth, his lips whispering a kiss there. She looked confused, but she didn’t attempt to pull away. “Kislány hän ku meke sarnaakmet minan, I would very much like you to answer me.”
There was the briefest of hesitations. “Yes.”
The admission was so low he barely heard it, and he was Carpathian, therefore his hearing was acute.
“They will pay.”
5
Julija woke to the sound of something scratching at the outside walls of the cave. She lay staring up at the ceiling, her heart pounding. She had never heard the sound before, but she knew what it was. The light in the cave spilling from the crack on the west-facing side of the granite bluff flickered light to shadow over and over as if something paced in front of it, trying to get in.
She forced herself to drag air in and out of her lungs. Very slowly, so as not to make any sound, she sat up and put her feet over the side of the bed. After Isai had gone to ground, she had undressed and gotten under the covers. He had provided an incredibly comfortable bed for her. The mattress was perfect. The weight of the covers just right. The feel of the sheets on her bare skin was luxurious.
She didn’t use magic to clothe herself because creatures made up of magic and flesh and bone were particularly sensitive to any surge of power. She pulled on her jeans, shimmying them over her hips, her bare feet on the floor of the cave. Rather than dirt and rock, her toes sank into a thick carpet. Isai was close, and the sun would sink soon. She was grateful she wasn’t alone. The shadow cats scared her as nothing else could have.
As she drew the tee over her head, she felt a stab of pain go through her brain, like a sharp needle piercing from one side to the other. She went down to one knee, grabbing her head and holding it as if that could help reduce the agony in her brain.
Julija, I command you to return immediately. Your brothers are waiting. They will turn you over to Barnabas and he will escort you home. They will pursue the Carpathian and the stolen book. You should never have warned them.
Naturally, after the terrible fight they’d had, her father would believe that she had warned the Carpathians and they’d been waiting for the shadow cat. There was no way to convince them otherwise and she wasn’t so foolish as to try. The moment she opened her