“You didn’t know what to look for. If that happens, I should be able to snag it. Well, I’m not sure about anything, really.”
“That you are willing to try is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, oh, Nightingale Nurse to My Dark Infestation.”
He kissed her again and felt the stirrings of lust grind roughly against his bones. Or was that warning vibrations from her grandmother’s nail? No, the lust demon inside him purred and lifted its incorporeal head. It was that harsh reaction that warned CJ he had best keep his distance from Vika.
He tapped the nail wound about the leather cord at her neck. “This should be strong enough to keep the demons away from you.”
“Or attract them,” she said.
“True. They are unable to access my magics from within me, so they would seek to obtain power elsewhere. Hell, Vika, you should ward yourself. Just in case.”
“I’ve a white light ward on always.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes, but the demon didn’t attack me. It took control of the car, which was not warded. Probably explains why I’m still in one piece.”
He ran his fingers over the mala beads at her wrist. Jade for immortality and the search for truth?
“Don’t worry, I’m a big girl. I know to run when running is necessary.”
He hated to think anything he did could make her run from him, but in his next thought, CJ was glad for her street smarts.
“All right then, you start over there. I’ll go this way,” he said. “I’ll keep you in sight, should I feel anything.”
The witch methodically tracked along the sidewalk, arms out and head lifted, while CJ wandered around behind the brick wall for a tour of the crime scene. From here, he could see the top of the Eiffel Tower, and he remembered the years during its construction. The city had been in such an uproar over the iron monstrosity. A mar on the landscape! It must be torn down immediately following the World’s Fair! He always got a chuckle to look back through history. That had been about the time he’d met Lucian Bellisario, a new vampire, transformed against his will, with whom he’d become fast friends.
But enough mental wandering. He needed to stay sharp. Tapping his left index finger against his neck where a vita tattoo would enhance his senses opened him to the minutia skimming the edges of reality.
An insect fluttered near his ear, and he brushed it away. CJ twisted his head about but didn’t spy anything with wings or hear a buzz. Had it been the soul? He didn’t use this spell often, so he was out of practice. Drawing in a breath, he calmed his anxiety to enhance focus.
Where was Vika? The shift of her black taffeta skirt didn’t sound.
Thunder rumbled overhead and the sky darkened.
You want the red witch. She’s tasty.
CJ’s heart dropped. The stirrings within him increased in intensity. This was not going to end well.
It will be what you make it. Are you strong enough to protect the girl? Prove it.
It was hard to determine if the inner voice was his or if it belonged to something darker and incorporeal. But he was strong. He could protect the girl. And he would.
CJ set back his shoulders, opening his chest, and inhaled the clean, tangible air charged with the foreboding of rain. The electrical sensation of the altered air shivered over his skin and made him feel alive. Hungry. And open for anything.
“You find anything?”
He swung his head around. Vika stood there in a pose that silhouetted her slender figure against the darkening sky. Her breasts were small but high, and his fingers tingled to touch them, to mold against her heat and squeeze until she moaned and pulled him closer.
Want. Can have.
Bowing his head and running his hands down his chest, CJ eyed the pretty piece of flesh. She’d tasted good. Her mouth fitted to his in a blissful connection. Wonder how sweetly she’d cry out should he find her core and bring her to orgasm? The fingers on his left hand twitched. The protection ward on his palm, used to prevent things from entering him, burned. It hadn’t been effective in Daemonia.
He crooked a finger at the witch, and she stepped toward him, tilting her head in question. That perfect bow mouth set beneath bold emerald eyes was like a cat’s face, only sexy and as curious.