Wicked Bite (Night Rebel #2) - Jeaniene Frost Page 0,105

council members cowering behind visibly shaken Law Guardians vanished, and I was inescapably pulled toward somewhere else.

Ian had placed his call.

Chapter 45

The next thing I saw was the large stone fireplace and white wood-framed windows of Mencheres’s Hamptons cottage. Ian was on the floor in front of that fireplace, the symbols that made up my name for the summoning ritual written in my blood in front of him.

“Ian!”

He leapt up in a lithe motion that belied his still frighteningly injured body. Then he pulled me to him. I gripped him back as hard as I dared, once again hoping that rest, time, and lots of blood would repair the horrific damage he’d inflicted on himself to free us from Dagon’s trap.

“Can I come out yet?” a familiar, impatient voice asked.

“No,” Ian replied while I pulled away in surprise.

“Ashael’s here?”

Ian flashed a tight smile. “Couldn’t risk bringing you to me until I was far enough away for the council not to find us. Also couldn’t hijack a car and drive that distance since someone in that group might be associated with Dagon, and I didn’t trust leaving you in their care for long. So, I chanced walking to the nearest bar and toasting Ashael in it to see if he’d answer.”

Despite his dislike of Ian, my brother had answered. Ashael must have teleported Ian here, which would have been risky for him with the bright sunlight and nearby ocean. It must hurt Ashael to even be inside this cottage. Being indoors might protect him from the sun, but I could taste the salt from the surf in the air. It must feel like knives grating his skin.

“Thank you,” I said, a catch in my voice.

I heard Ashael let out a soft, wry grunt. “Anything for my baby sister.”

Ian let me go to dump several bottles of hydrogen peroxide onto the symbols he’d drawn. The liquid bubbled on contact, dissolving my blood more thoroughly than bleach. Trust a vampire to know how best to get rid of blood. Then, despite not a hint of the symbols remaining, Ian dragged the thick area rug over the spot to cover it.

I was touched. I’d trusted Ian with the secret of how to summon me, and he was making damn sure he kept that secret.

Finally, Ian drew the drapes, blocking the sunshine from streaming into the room. “If she permits it, you can come in now,” Ian said, arching a brow at me.

“Yes,” I replied.

What I had to ask took precedence over my lingering anger at Ashael for sending Ian after that horn. If not for Ashael’s doing that, we’d still be trapped inside Dagon’s circles. Or dead. Ashael’s duplicitous trick had helped save our lives.

Ashael entered, wearing deep blue silk pajamas, of all things. He even had on matching blue slippers. No question what he’d been doing when Ian’s toast reached him. “Sorry to have woken you,” I said to Ashael. To Ian, I said, “We’re in more trouble than you realize.”

Ian snorted. “I’ve been in trouble since the day my father set me up for my brother’s murder so I’d be the one imprisoned instead of his legitimate heir. Being a fugitive might be new to you, luv, but not to me. Don’t fret.” He gave me a quick, sly grin. “I know all the best places to evade the law. Be like a vacation for you. You’ll love it.”

“Being a fugitive is suddenly the least of my concerns,” I said, marveling at the irony.

I’d taken such care to avoid being discovered for what I was. Now, the vampire council, Enforcers, and Law Guardians’ wrath seemed trivial things to worry about.

Ian’s brows rose. “You mean Dagon’s potential allies at the highest levels of vampire law? Assuming I haven’t lost my teleporting abilities for good, I’ll pop in and verify if what I felt was truly a mark of Dagon’s power on any of them or not.”

“Not that either,” I replied.

Now I had his full attention. “Then what?”

I turned to my brother. “You’re twice my age, and you know a lot more about our father than I do, so . . . did you hear anything about me being betrothed prebirth to a gold-winged, possibly ancient Greek deity named Phanes?”

“The fuck you say?” Ian burst out.

“My thoughts exactly,” I said without a touch of irony this time. “Well?” I prodded Ashael, who had paled.

“How did he find you?” Ashael asked in a stricken voice. “Our father cloaked you so that none of the other deities or demigods could feel you!”

“Another piece of news I’ve never heard before, but not the most relevant at the moment,” I said through gritted teeth. “It’s true? This Phanes, whatever he is, thinks I’m promised to be his bride?”

“Over my dead body,” Ian snapped.

“That’s exactly the terms Phanes will demand, once he hears that Veritas married you,” Ashael replied darkly.

Oh hell no. “That’s not going to happen because no one gets to decree who I marry, let alone do it before I even existed!”

Ashael gave me a look of calculated alarm. “Independence may be prized in this world, but it isn’t in the celestial realms. That is why our father sought to protect us from them.”

I couldn’t claim you, my father told me long ago. I’d assumed it was because impregnating a mortal was a no-no for his kind, so he was protecting himself by staying away from me. Or that he lacked the emotional depths to care enough to claim me. If Ashael was right, there was a more compelling reason.

I took Ian’s hand. Once again, everything I thought I knew had turned out to be wrong or very, very incomplete. Still, I’d survived Dagon, finally gotten justice for everyone he and Ereshki had harmed, and now had the man I loved at my side. That was infinitely more than I could’ve said a month ago.

In fact, it had taken me my entire life to get to this point, so somehow, I’d find a way to survive these new challenges, be they a demon-acolyte council member, being hunted by both the vampire and demon world, or some gold-fogged lesser deity who thought I was his mandated fiancée.

Wasn’t I the optimistic one all of a sudden? Love did strange, wonderful things to people indeed.

I tightened my grip on Ian’s hand. He squeezed back, a silent promise that we’d face this together. Then, I let out a sigh.

“You need to tell me everything I don’t know about our father’s world, Ashael, and you need to do it now. I don’t know how long we have before Phanes finds me again, but whenever he does, we have to make sure we’re ready.”