the lycan’s presence. Niklas’s blood burned hotter, if that was possible.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he warned.
“Do what?” She blinked at him.
“Stop me from doing what I know I should do.”
Her eyes narrowed with understanding, darkening, more brown than green at that moment. “Meaning kill Darius?” She spoke his name like they were friends or something.
“For starters.” He nodded. “And don’t ever place yourself in danger like that. He was a lycan, a killer, but you seemed to have a hard time remembering that.” He shook his head. “You touched him. I told you to hold silent. But what do you do? You insinuated yourself closer to a lycan.”
“He wasn’t a killer.”
“I seem to recall him saying that he was. Did you not hear that little announcement?”
“Yes. I recall. I also recall he said he was a killer. Was.”
He swiped a hand through the air. “Semantics. He’s a lycan. Lycans kill. He did. He will again. It’s not a switch he can shut off.”
“You’re a lycan,” she flung at him, her words as sharp and well aimed as an arrow. “Are you a killer, too? Should I trust my life and Aimee’s life to you?”
“I’m very much aware of what I am. A fact I battle every day. But I have control.” He didn’t shift. He resisted the pull of every moon. Unlike other lycans, he could shift whenever he wished. If he wished. And he didn’t. He never would.
“And so, apparently does that guy. He didn’t try to kill us.” She waved an arm toward the door. “Can’t you give him a break?”
“Why do you have to argue with everything I say?”
She expelled a heavy breath. “What do you want from me?” She stepped forward to poke him in the chest with the sharp tip of her finger. “You want me to be a woman who meekly obeys your every whim? Well, sorry, but that’s not me.”
“I don’t want you at all,” he reminded her. “You’re the one who insisted on tagging along with me. That being the case, I would think you’d do what I say or risk getting left behind on your ass.”
She looked pissed now. Her features screwed tight. “You made a promise.”
“As did you. I told you that it was my way or nothing. Do you recall that you agreed to follow my lead and do as I say?”
She blinked several times but said nothing. Her bottom lip jutted defiantly. She remembered. Her answer was in her silence.
At last, she nodded—two hard jerks of her head. He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Look. It’s late. We should just get some rest.”
A knock sounded at the door. He motioned for her to stay where she was and looked through the peephole. A waiter stood there. Niklas opened the door, letting the waiter carry in the tray of food. He’d forgotten he even ordered anything. Signing off on the bill, he turned to find Darby gone.
He moved to the bedroom she shared with the girl. “Darby?” he asked quietly.
Her shadow hovered near the bed where Aimee slept. “I’m not hungry,” she whispered quietly, dropping a hand on the nightstand and tugging off one of her shoes.
“You need to eat,” he insisted, hating the guilt he felt for coming down so hard on her.
“Is that a command?” she returned, her words a deliberate dig on his reminder that she needed to do as he said.
“No. It’s not.” Turning, he left the room, feeling hollow inside, lonelier than he’d ever felt. Strange, he’d never felt alone before. Now that he was with Darby, he felt …
He felt.
TWENTY
An hour later, Darby couldn’t deny she was hungry. Not too eager to run into Niklas again after the childish way she’d acted, she pressed her ear to the door to listen for the television. No sounds carried from the other side.
She should have just eaten when she had the chance, when the food was hot, instead of being so stubborn. Because he was right. She’d agreed to do as he said, to follow his lead. That had been the understanding when they first began this together.
She pulled open the door and peered out. The room was empty. The city skyline suffused the room with a dim glow. She moved to the tray and lifted the lid. Her burger and fries were still there, untouched.
Sinking onto the couch, she took a generous bite from her cheeseburger. It was cold but still satisfying to her growling stomach. She bit into a