Now we really needed Yonah to do that tracking spell.
“Why do you want Veritas to stay here?” Ian asked, as if nothing of importance had occurred.
Ashael’s smiled vanished. “I don’t trust you. Yes, what I know about Veritas means she has every reason not to betray me, but I can see you keeping the horn and selling Yonah’s location to the highest bidder while leaving her to pay the price.”
I let out a contemptuous laugh even as Ian bit out, “That won’t happen.”
“Prove it,” Ashael stated. “Steal a priceless artifact and give it to me instead of keeping it for yourself. Then I’ll know you value her more than your infamous tendency to add yet another treasure to your vast collection of rarities.”
“Done,” Ian replied, letting go of my hand.
I muttered a curse in Sumerian, then picked up Ashael’s cup and drained the demon’s remaining blood from it.
Ian gave me an amazed look. “What are you doing?”
“Getting drunk,” I replied tartly. “I can’t take more of your eagerness to get killed while sober.”
He snorted. “A few vampire guards will hardly kill me—”
“If this was this easy, Ashael would’ve done it himself,” I interrupted. Damn demon’s blood should have hit me with the potency of a bottle of tequila. Instead, it only felt like a few shots. “He’s lying about the danger and you know it.”
“Of course he is,” Ian said in an exasperated tone. “But I can still handle it.”
He probably could. I was the one who couldn’t take this, and I didn’t know how to make my constant, irrational fear stop. I hated being this out of control when it came to Ian! If I could rip my feelings out and murder them, I would.
“Is this the part where you’re telling me to stay back only because you want me to follow you?” I asked in a harsh tone. Better to be angry at him than feel the borderline-panic coursing through me.
“If I’d told you Ashael needed to know what you were before he’d grant us passage to Yonah, you would have shown him whether you wished to or not,” Ian replied, not flinching from my anger. “By telling you that Ashael would spot your nature on sight while also telling you not to come, I made it your choice to reveal yourself to him. Not mine.”
My emotions ripped right down the middle, making me want to slap Ian, then kiss him until neither of us could think. He’d shamelessly manipulated me, but he’d done it to protect me. How could I, of all people, fail to understand that?
“She’s a real bitch,” I muttered.
Ian gave me a wary look. “Who?”
“Karma. Has to be a woman. Nothing else is that vicious, patient, or effective.”
A smile tugged Ian’s mouth. “How drunk are you, luv?”
“Not nearly drunk enough,” I said grimly. “But if you’re doing this alone, I need to give you something. In private.”
Ashael rose. “I’ll give you both a moment—”
“Not that kind of privacy,” I interrupted, not looking away from Ian. “Take me where no one can see or overhear us.”
Ian pulled me into his arms, saying, “Be back shortly. Don’t go anywhere,” to Ashael.
Then he teleported us out of there.
Chapter 18
I’d seen Mount Fuji many times, but I’d never been to its summit. The snow was up to my knees, clouds turned the horizon into an endless expanse of white, and the cold slammed into me like a train smashing into someone tied to its tracks. Still, this more than met my requirements. No one was near us.
Ian turned his back to the freezing wind while tightening his arms around me so his body took the brunt of it. I leaned into him, feeling his chin rest on top of my head. I expected him to ask why I’d had him bring us out here, but he didn’t. He only held me until tears stung my eyes, which I couldn’t blame on the icy wind because he blocked most of it.
There were many reasons why I shouldn’t feel the way I did about him. It was too soon, I was too old for him, the timing couldn’t be worse, he’d lost over half his memory, I’d lost my immortality, Dagon was determined to kill both of us . . . and it all washed away when he bent and his lips covered mine.
I no longer felt the cold or the wind or the snow. All I felt was how tightly he held me, how his power sparked against my