23. Wolf
Chapter 23
Wolf
T he second ale was much easier to drink than the first, and the third was even better. One after another, I let that bitter liquid slide down my throat. The air was starting to warm, and this liquid was everything I needed.
“Careful,” the barkeep warned. “I won’t be the one carrying you through these streets back to the castle tonight.”
“Who cares about the damn castle?” I muttered. “Nobody would notice if I didn’t show up tonight.”
She placed a fresh drink in front of me. “Maybe not, but the last thing we need is more angels creeping around this place.”
A large hand fell onto my shoulder. “I’ve got him from here.” Nathan pulled himself into the seat beside me. “I’ve got some catching up to do with my old friend, anyway.”
I turned and faced him, using all my energy to pull a smile onto my face. “Nathan,” I greeted. “Shouldn’t you be off planning the world’s demise?”
He laughed but eyed me carefully. “Even I deserve a cold drink every now and then.”
I held my mug up to him in salute. “That, I understand.”
We both drank, letting the low buzz of conversation in the pub surround us. My senses were comfortably dulled, and I was beginning to feel the relaxation I had been searching for since I arrived here tonight.
Ah, the power of a few ales.
“You look worried,” he started. He leaned toward me and lowered his voice as he said, “Word around the street is that you were sent to Scarlata not too long ago. Anything noteworthy we should know about?”
Normally, I would shut him up immediately, push away any conversation of the blood kingdom in public. Nowhere was safe to discuss such things with him, not even here.
But I was tired. I was frustrated. And I was growing damn tired of keeping secrets. “We were there for a day or two,” I answered. “Same as usual.”
He waited for more, but even he knew I couldn’t say much. The chattering of the pub lowered.
When I didn’t say anything else, Nathan added, “I also hear a celebration is in order.”
“A celebration?”
A large, stupid grin spread across his dark face. “You’re getting married.” He broke out in laughter, and dammit, he almost made me forget what was so bad about the entire thing.
Yes, I was getting married.
If only it was under better circumstances.
“That I am,” I said. I clinked my mug against his when he held it out. “In a few days, I’ll be a married man.”
“She must be a very special girl if she can chain down the infamous Wolf Jasper.”
I wanted to smile, but my chest ached at the thought. “Yeah,” I mumbled. “Yeah, she is special. More special than anyone could imagine.” I didn’t tell him how terrified I was. I didn’t tell him that I was very close to losing my shit entirely.
No, I let him buy me another drink, let him clasp my shoulder once or twice more, let him tell jokes of our past and dull the thoughts in my mind.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the sun no longer filtered through the piece of fabric we called the door. Fewer and fewer conversations filled the air around us. Nathan’s words began to slur until I was certain he was just as drunk as I was.
In fact, when he started elbowing me in the ribs, I thought he was just falling out of his seat.
“Wolf, look.”
The room blurred together as I lifted my gaze to the front of the bar.
My stomach dropped.
Huntyr walked ahead of Jessiah, eyes wide and hair a mess. She glanced around the entire room—which only consisted of two or three other parties—before her eyes landed on me.
She stiffened.
The smile fell from her face.
I barely noticed Nathan moving away from my side to greet my brother. My eyes were too focused on Huntyr.
She stood still for a few more seconds, not moving at all, before finally taking one step in my direction.
Then another.
Her wings were hidden now, summoned away. Good, because everyone in this tavern would have dropped to their knees at the sight of those glorious things. She made her way over to me, though, and I took a deep breath of her.
Wind and cherries.
Fucking addicting.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said. She stood at the bar beside my tall stool, her arm just barely brushing against mine.
“How was flying?” I asked. Maybe she’d forgotten she was angry at me. Maybe, by the grace of the fucking goddess, she’d understand why it was all so important we let Asmodeus think he was winning.
She looked down at her hands, blushing.
Then she smiled.
She tried to hide it, tried to bite her lip and suck in her cheek, but it was undeniable. The grin spread across her entire face until it reached those perfect eyes of hers.
“It was incredible.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I never thought I would experience anything like that. I felt so… so free.”
Thank the goddess for the ale numbing my senses. “I remember those moments,” I admitted. “Flying can be the most freeing thing in the world.”
Her eyes finally met mine, smile fading. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, not when you…” She didn’t have to finish the sentence.
“Don’t,” I whispered. I turned in my stool and adjusted my legs so she was standing between my knees. To my surprise, she didn’t move away. “You don’t have to hide things from me. I want to know all of it.”
“Still,” she whispered. “It’s bad enough that you didn’t want Jessiah teaching me to begin with.”
She tried to look away again, but I stopped her. I reached out and pulled on a stray piece of her black, curled hair. It was windblown now, wild. I liked it like that.
I liked her like that.
“Wolf.” Her eyes twinkled. I liked it when they did that too. “Are you drunk?”
“Yes. And you are beautiful.”
She sucked in a breath. “There are people watching.” She went to turn around, to look at goddess knows who else, but I gripped her chin with my hand.
“You just spent an entire day in the arms of another man. Don’t look at anyone else.” My voice got too low, too possessive, but I didn’t care. “You only look at me.”
The fucking ale. It made me reckless. Or maybe it was her. She tended to do that, tended to make me forget about this fucking disaster of a city.
“Careful,” she teased, leaning in. Fuck, was she drunk? “You sound jealous.”
“I am jealous.” I snaked an arm around her waist and held her body against mine. “I am jealous of anyone who gets to spend a single ounce of time with you. It should be all mine.”
“What should?”
“All your time. It should all be with me. I can’t fucking think straight when you’re with someone else.”
“Is that why you’re here? Drunk at the pub?”
I scanned her face. Perfect. Sharp. Strong. “I’m here because I thought you would be going home, and I didn’t think you wanted to speak with me.” At least it was the truth.
The teasing smile disappeared.
“Am I wrong?” I pushed.
A handful of torturous seconds passed. I could hear my own heart pounding in my ears. “No,” she answered. “No, you’re not wrong. I wasn’t sure I wanted to speak with you either.”
My stomach dropped. “I wanted to apologize to you?—”
“Don’t.” She placed a hand on my chest. “Don’t bother, okay? Enough apologies. Enough of all this.”
I pushed toward her bond but felt nothing. She had her walls up, the bond entirely shut off.
“You deserve an explanation.”
“No.” Her eyes sharpened when they met mine. “I deserve loyalty. I deserve to never be betrayed, to never be stabbed in the back.”
I fought the urge to pull her even closer.
“What’s done is done,” she whispered. “You father is your father. I thought we both hated him the same amount, but I see you have lingering loyalties.”
The growl from my chest surprised us both. “I do not have lingering loyalties.”
“Really?” Both of her hands came to my shoulders. Hells, it had been so long since she touched me like this. Or maybe that was the ale talking, too. “Because you were simply training me for my magic so you could take the information back to him, right?”
“I wasn’t going to tell him everything.”
“But you were going to tell him I had magic.”
“He isn’t a fool, Huntyr. He already knows you have magic. He just wanted me to get it out of you instead of torturing it from you, alright? This way was less painful for both of us.”
She tossed her head back and laughed quietly. “ Both of us? You have no idea, Wolf.”
“What would you like me to do?” I pulled her closer until she caught herself against me. I wrapped both arms around her back, holding tight. “Would you like me to tell him you aren’t cooperating, that you aren't coming any closer to being convinced to help him? That you have not a single ounce of magic in your veins, that you aren’t the powerful heir to the blood kingdom he thinks you are?”
Her eyes flickered to my lips. “That would be helpful, yes. At least he wouldn’t be forcing me to?—”
“Yes, he would be. He would be forcing you into everything, just as he’s doing now. Only now, he at least is giving you the illusion of some freedom. That illusion won’t last if he isn't satisfied with the results, Huntress.”
Her jaw clenched. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why not? That’s what you are. My wicked, violent huntress.”
“I’m not your anything .” She tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip on her. She fell back into my chest with a light gasp.
“You are my everything, Huntress, and like it or not, you’ll be my wife.”
An emotion I couldn’t read crossed her features. “Only because we are forced to wed.”
“Still. If you must marry, I’m glad it’s me.”
She shook her head. “It could have just as well been Jessiah.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t say anyone else’s name when you’re in my arms, Huntress. Only mine.” I leaned up so our lips were only a breath away. “Only me.”
I reached for her through our bond but felt nothing. Hells, I would have given anything to know what she was thinking right then. Did she want me like I wanted her? Was she as aware of the tiny sliver of skin on her back that my fingers brushed? Or was I the only one going completely mad by even the smallest touch from her?
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said.
“This is how I always look at you.”
“I know, and it’s becoming a problem.”
“A problem for who, Huntress?”
“You’re drunk.” When she pulled away, I let her, though a deep, deep part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her out of here.
“Hardly.”
Huntyr was just turning back to the bar when someone outside screamed.
My blood ran cold. Nothing in the world could have sobered me up faster.
Shit.
They’re here.