Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
“Who the fuck are you?” Warwick shoved me behind him, trying to hide my naked figure, his words so heavy and rough they scraped the ground.
“Who the fuck are you?” Scorpion shot back.
“I won’t ask again.” Warwick’s shoulders puffed, expanding his width and height, moving to Scorpion.
“Wait . . .” I blinked, stepping around Warwick, my attention snapping between the men. “You—you can see each other?”
“What do you mean?” Gesturing to him, Warwick’s fury shot my way. “Of course I can see him.”
“It means . . .” Scorpion jumped off the sarcophagus, strolling closer, chucking the apple.
“I’m not really here.” He dipped his head to me.
“She brought me here. I was in the middle of a mission, and the next thing I know, I’m getting so fuckin’ hard I was about to get myself off in front of everyone before I had to watch you two fuck like fiends. ”
Warwick’s head shot to me, his jaw rolling. “You have a link to him?”
Right. I forgot to tell him about Scorpion.
“Um. Yes.” I winced, wrapping my arms around my breasts. “But you aren’t supposed to see him.”
Warwick’s lids narrowed, a hum quaking from his chest like a wild animal.
“That came out wrong.” I held up my hand.
Warwick snarled, swiping up his T-shirt and tossing it to me while he stomped over to his pants, pulling them on, every muscle rippling with tension and anger.
Yanking his shirt over my head, it fell well past my thighs. I took in a deep breath, both men staring at me, waiting, their chests puffed, arms crossed, spraying their alpha scent at each other.
Both men were feral and rough with long hair and tattoos, but now seeing them together, it was clear one was king.
Warwick dominated every space he was in, took over and governed every molecule of air.
He wasn’t fae or human, man or beast. He was something else entirely, and no one could even come close to him, though I had no doubt Scorpion would go down fighting to the death.
“So . . .” I rolled my lips together, wrapping my arms around myself as well. “It seems the night of the fae war, you weren’t the only one I saved.” I motioned at Scorpion.
“What?” Warwick’s expression darkened. “You brought him back to life as well?”
Scorpion’s head jerked to Farkas, his eyes widening. “Brought me back to life? What the fuck are you talking about?”
I gritted my teeth together. When I met Scorpion, I hadn’t fully understood why we were linked.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Warwick ignored Scorpion, his fury propelling toward me, stepping closer. “Who else did you bring back that night? Your harem is getting pretty full, princess.”
“What do you mean brought me back to life?” Scorpion moved in with him.
“Whoa.” I held up my hands in front of them, my shoulders back. “Both of you calm the hell down.”
“Calm down?” Warwick growled. “How long have you known about him?”
“Since leaving Andris’s base, but it wasn’t until the book that I understood more about how.”
“How what?” Scorpion exclaimed.
“The book?” Warwick barked an angry laugh. “The book showed you him too . . . and you just forgot to slip that in? You outright lied to me?”
“Lied?” I scoffed. “That’s rich coming from you!”
“Damn, you work fast, Kovacs. What? You were at Sarkis’s base a few hours at most?” Warwick ran his hand through his hair, starting to pace, sneering. “Surprised you haven’t gathered more along the way. How long is the list of boyfriends you brought back to life now? You collecting us?”
“Fuck you.” I pointed at him. “This isn’t something I can control. And no, I didn’t tell you about Scorpion, like you didn’t tell me about your sister or Killian. Funny enough, I didn’t think you’d handle it very well.”
He was suddenly an inch from my face, oxygen thrashing through my lungs with a gasp. “And why do you think I give a shit about who else you’re linked with?”
“You don’t?” My brows arched up, mocking.
“No.” He huffed, leaning back. “You could be linked to every fucking douchebag here. I couldn’t give a fuck, Kovacs,” he snarled, his shoulder brushing mine as he strode past me, stomping down the stairs and disappearing into the base.
My head dipped, trying to ignore the lash I felt across my heart.
Scorpion laughed, pulling my attention back to him. “Yeah . . .” He rubbed his chin, smirking. “Sure, he doesn’t give a shit.”
Tucking my hair behind my ear, I took in a deep breath. “Sorry if I brought you here. I’ve been trying to reach you and couldn’t.”
“Yeah.” He dipped his head. “I was trying too. I could sense you were alive, but I couldn’t get past that. Like you were too far or something.”
“So why now?” I dropped my shoulders.
Scorpion scratched his pierced brow, a funny look on his face.
“What?”
“I could feel you two.” He folded his arms. “Fucking.”
“I’m sorry?” I blinked, heat sprinting for my cheeks.
“I mean, I could feel it in my bones. Hear you . . . a streetlight flickered where I was standing, for fuck’s sake.
The link went from static to dropping me right here.
I think it’s you two. I couldn’t reach you before.
But now?” He threw his arms out, motioning around the room.
“It’s like I’m really here. And why couldn’t I see him before and now I can?
Who the fuck is he? Why do I feel like I know him? ”
“Ask Birdie.” I rubbed my head, feeling a headache coming on. Sex might have made the connection between Warwick and me more substantial and more complicated. We were so tangled already.
“Now tell me, what did he mean you brought me back to life?” Scorpion huffed.
Scrubbing roughly at my head, I sighed. “The night of the fae war . . . Maddox saw you get killed, right? You were hacked in half.”
“How did you know that?” Scorpion’s lids narrowed.
“Because . . .” I bit my lip. “Because I was there. I saw it happen too.”
“I’m sorry?” He tilted his head. “What do you mean you were there? I thought you weren’t even born yet.”
“I was born that night, but . . . oh hell . . . there is no easy way to say this.” I huffed. “I somehow went back as me currently and saved both you and Warwick in the past.”
Scorpion blinked at me.
“Yes, I know it sounds crazy.”
“No. It is crazy.” He stepped back. “It’s impossible.”
“So should our connection be!” I gestured between us. “But right now, you are in Budapest and in a tiny church in Prague at the same time. Tell me that’s not crazy and impossible.”
“It is.” He grunted.
“But yet, here you are.” I fiddled with the hem of Warwick’s T-shirt, his rich smell wrapping around me. “I know it sounds impossible, but I know I saved you that night. I watched you die, and then somehow magic from me went through you—” I stopped. Hearing it had me thinking I was crazy as well.
“Lightning,” he muttered.
“What?” My head bounced up.
“I don’t remember much about the night . . . but I dreamed about a white light . . . lightning going through me.” He shook his head. “I never understood why before. So much is making more sense.”
“Like what?”
“When I met you, it felt like I had before.” He shifted on his feet, the conversation clearly making him uncomfortable. Vulnerable. “It felt the same as my dreams. A draw to you. A smell.”
“Smell?” My throat croaked.
“Like life and death.” He turned away from me. “It’s hard to explain.”
I chuckled darkly. “Like the moment between night and day breaking?” I repeated what Opie had articulated to me once.
Scorpion’s jaw ticked. He didn’t respond, but his head dipped, agreeing with my statement.
“Fuck,” he eventually muttered, peering away from me. “I need to go.”
“Wait.” I took a step toward him. “How is everyone? Are you guys safe?”
“Yeah, we’re still scattered, but Andris has a temporary place near the old Central Market.” Scorpion frowned.
“What?”
“Just a lot of strange stuff happening.”
“Like?”
“About a hundred fae and human bodies have been found floating in the Danube. The fae are drained of all bodily fluids.” He clicked his teeth. “Some humans look like their brains melted out or something.”
Dread plunged into my gut. Did I know one of those dead bodies?
“Birdie and I are on watch right now.” He shrugged. “See you.” Scorpion’s words disappeared as fast as he did, the link cut off, leaving me alone with only the ghosts surrounding me.
A chill ran down my spine, and I wrapped my arms around my frame.
I knew exactly what happened to all those corpses in the river.
I just wasn’t sure which side was dumping more of them.
Stepping out of the shower, I froze for a moment, seeing a familiar figure sitting on the sink counter, her fingers playing with the end of her blue braid.
“Oh, little lamb.” A coy smile tugged at her lips, her dark blue eyes glinting. “Talk about the epitome of the lion eating the lamb . . . or, in this case, the wolf eating out the lamb.”
“Kek.” Wrapping the towel around me, I rolled my eyes, my shoulders dropping on a sigh. I strolled to the sink next to her, feeling like we stepped right back into Halálház. “It’s not like that.”
I had tried to reach out to Warwick, but he had firmed up his wall to keep me out. I knew I could push, force myself through, but stubborn or not, I didn’t want to. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Please!” She laughed loudly. “You are a horrible liar. And too late. Everyone here not only felt it, but you guys had all the fire bulbs pulsing and climaxing with you guys.”
“What?” It was the same thing Scorpion said happened where he was.
“Plus,” she leaned back into the mirror, turning her head to look at me, her smirk growing. “I know what a Warwick-inspired orgasm feels like, remember?” Her eyes darkened, wagging her head. “Those nights when women were brought in for him. Fuck, he got all of us riled up. Like one big orgy.”
Yeah, I remembered. And I recalled how, even when we didn’t understand the link, he was coming to me then too. He was the one who had me screaming out, not the image of Caden.