just find out that the vampire holding me is from the family that wants me dead.”
Winter lifted his eyes to Fox, the cold blue depths holding his prisoner for a second. “And you’re the witch who wants to destroy all of my family.”
Point taken. Somebody somewhere was lying their ass off.
Winter screwed the top on the tube and placed it on the nightstand next to Fox, so it was within his reach. “Get some sleep, Fox. We’ll pick up some more of that tonight.”
Fox could only watch as the vampire grabbed one of the pillows from the far side of the bed and walked toward the door.
Winter dropped the pillow to the floor, sat down, and positioned the meager cushion behind his back. With his feet flat on the floor and knees bent in front of him, Winter rested his head against the wood and his arms on his knees. He looked exhausted.
Well, fuck. What the hell was he supposed to do? Run and hide? That wasn’t going to get rid of this stupid prophecy or any other lies someone was telling.
Stay with Winter and uncover the truth? That seemed incredibly stupid too.
Except Winter hadn’t tried to hurt him. He’d actually pulled him out of a situation where he was in danger of being murdered. It would have been much easier from Winter’s point of view just to kill him.
Resting his elbow on his bent knee, Fox stared at the glistening ointment already soothing the painful burn and sting in his flesh. This all seemed so much clearer before…well, before that.
Chapter 7
Winter clenched his teeth, barely holding in a groan. His body hurt. His back, ass, shoulders, legs. It all fucking hurt. It had been a while since he’d slept like this. He didn’t go all in for the extravagant creature comforts his brothers did, but his bed at home was so much better than this floor.
Of course, by the time he’d gotten away from Damon’s manor and his prisoner settled, Winter had been ready to lie down on a bed of nails if it meant he could catch a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Rubbing his eyes, he blinked and looked up to see Fox standing at the foot of the bed. A towel was wrapped around his waist and his flame-red hair was wet. His gaze flicked over to the open bathroom door a few feet away. The bathroom was dark, but he could feel the warm, damp air drifting out of it. How the hell had he not woken to the sounds of Fox showering?
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Fox teased with a wide grin.
Winter’s sleep-fogged brain finally caught up to the missing pieces. Fox was up moving around after Winter had been sure to secure him with the handcuffs before falling asleep. Shoving to his feet, Winter winced as fresh pain shot through his back.
“You okay? You’ve got to be in knots,” Fox said.
“How the hell did you get free?” Winter snarled.
“Magic,” Fox said, wiggling his fingers at him with both hands.
“I’m serious!”
“So am I.” Fox crossed his arms over his chest, drawing Winter’s attention to the fact that the sexy little elf was naked except for a towel that was now barely clinging to his hips. “Witch, remember?”
“Then why didn’t you get out of the rope at Damon’s?”
Fox’s cheeks flushed a little and his eyes darted away from Winter. “I’m good with locks. Not with knots.” He shrugged. “Any kind of mechanical lock, I can get through with magic. Rope? Not so much.”
Winter groaned and rubbed his face, trying to shove away the last of the sleepiness and fog in his brain. “Why didn’t you just say something when I handcuffed you?” He dropped his hand in time to see Fox shrug.
“I figured you wouldn’t be able to sleep if you thought I could escape or attack you.”
“And why didn’t you?” Winter wanted to groan at the clusterfuck this had become. He wasn’t awake enough for this shit. Not that Fox was wrong at all. No matter how tired he had felt, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to fall asleep if he’d known Fox could move freely around the hotel room.
“Attack you?” Fox asked with a laugh. “I’m not a killer.”
“Fine. Why didn’t you escape?” That would have been a way more logical choice given his circumstances.
The witch looked a lot more uncomfortable with that question, his eyes darting away from Winter to stare at the floor. “I had a lot of time to think while you were sleeping…and