Chapter 8 - Zephyr
Adalyn kept asking questions as we left the venue quickly and as quietly as we could. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to the Vespa I had arrived on, parked up outside.
“No,” she answered.
“Get on it, Adalyn.”
“No,” she said again. “I can walk to wherever we’re going.”
“Don’t you understand what’s just happened?” I asked incredulously. For an intelligent woman with all her knowledge of her world and powers, she was dense when it came to her stubbornness against me. “We lost against demons. They’ve just taken over that room. We couldn’t fight back.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’re getting stronger,” I answered sharply. “It means you’re getting on this damn bike, and I’m taking you to where you live so you can pack some belongings, and then we’re going to the villa, so I can do the same.” I glanced around the dark road around us, noting the lack of people around despite it only being ten-thirty. The curfew in town was saving lives tonight.
“It means ,” I continued, “That we’re laying low. Disappearing for a while.”
“Us?” she laughed.
“Yes, us.” The admittance came through gritted teeth. The thought of being stuck somewhere with Harper made me want to run far away, but I’d had direct orders. I couldn’t disobey Alex. We knew this plan was in place—if the demons ever got too strong, then we needed to spread out across the island, get somewhere safe, and take smaller groups down in the units that we lay low in so we could regroup safely and save more lives than we cost by all being together in the same place.
I had envisioned it would be Frazer and me holed up somewhere, the two of us a force against smaller groups of demons. But no. I was stuck with Adalyn Lindell.
“Trust me,” I snarled. “I’m not happy about it, either. So if you want to stay here and take your chance with the demons, by all means.”
She laughed dryly. She tipped her head back at me, her eyes now clearer than they had been before. Her pale face was illuminated by the lights still coming from the venue, and her full lips pressed together, her eyes heavy yet sultry in a way I forced myself not to think about.
She smiled slightly. “I told Alex you’d have no honor.”
My lips pulled back into a sneer. “Don’t talk of things you know nothing about, witch. Your— coven —is one to talk about honor.”
She pressed a finger into my chest, her sharp nail prickling my skin. We had no time for this—I needed to get her safe before Alex tore off my head for risking his mate’s best friend’s life, but there was something so intoxicating about the way she talked to me. I hated it. I needed it. It fed my self-deprecation but fueled my own self-worth at the same time.
A window smashed in the venue, and the squeal of demons pierced the air.
“Get on the bike,” I ordered, clambering on myself, and starting the ignition. “I’m not fucking around, Adalyn. It's either you get on the bike or see how great those shields of yours truly are against a demon swarm.” I glared at her. “I will leave you here if you don’t get on in two seconds.”
Adalyn paused another moment, enough time for another window to smash, and she cringed before hoisting a leg over the bike seat and settling in behind me.
“Hold on tight,” I told her, mockingly sweet.
“I’ll take my chances with being thrown off,” she muttered.
Yet her hands slid around my waist, and I did not think about any of it, not for a second—I swore I didn’t—and kicked the bike into gear. We tore off into the night.
***
I waited outside a small apartment block—only five floors—while Adalyn went inside to pack a bag. I counted the seconds, turning into minutes, my anxiety growing the later the night got.
I didn’t want Adalyn under my protection.
The plans never specified how long we would lie low. It was down to Alex to call that. But however long it would be for meant being stuck with Adalyn. Frankly, there was nothing worse.
It made me sick to even recall the moment of weakness back at the party, kissing her in the hallway. What had come over me? After a week of staying away from the witch after attempting to kill her in the woods, I kissed her. Every instinct in me had driven me to do it—following her into the hallway, fastening her dress zipper, which hadn’t even been down a lot, but I’d sought an excuse to touch her, and then the kiss. It had burned like the most exquisite fire. I had been weak. That was all it was.
Adalyn emerged from the apartment block, a black duffel bag packed. In her party outfit—a black dress with cutouts in the side, exposing the lines of her waist, and a flared skirt part falling to her mid-thighs, the moon pattern top of the dress shaped around her breasts in triangles, she looked beautiful and deadly.
Usually, she would have been the exact type of girl I’d pursue. That’s why you kissed her , I told myself. Nothing else. No instincts. No desire. Just knowing your type and forgetting what Adalyn is beneath her exterior.
Her hips swayed. I cut my gaze to the floor.
“Got everything?” I asked.
She nodded, biting her lip. “What about my grandmother?”
“If she’s with the triplets, then she’ll be with Harper and Alex,” I told Adalyn as she got back on the bike. Her thighs parted around my body, and I fought back any response. She was my enemy. I despised the witch. I’d let her burn for all I cared.
“She’s safest with them,” I assured her. “And we’re laying low, but we’re not cut off from them. If we have somewhere with a signal, then you can check in with her.”
I paused, waiting for Adalyn to nod in acknowledgment before I set off for the villa. Instead of waiting outside like I had for her, Adalyn followed me into my room. There was something about her being the object of my dreams for so many nights and seeing her standing in the room where I slept. It was jarring. I turned away and threw some clothes into a backpack.
I packed other necessities and turned to find Adalyn watching me with those dark eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“Aren’t we going to talk about what happened in the hallway at the party?”
Her mouth on mine, her tongue swiping my piercing. The soft skin of her thigh beneath my palm .
“No,” I answered and walked past her. “Let’s go.”
“Zephyr—”
“ No ,” I said roughly.
“Fine,” she snapped.
If I talked about it, I would only hate myself more. The fact that it had happened already sank like a stone in my stomach, making me feel sick to think of it. One of her brethren killed my twin brother; she was my enemy. How dare I let myself forget that.
We both reached for my bedroom door at the same time, our hands brushing. A spark shot down my arm, making me jolt back.
No . I would not think of her in that way. I refused. I couldn’t . Adalyn’s eyes met mine.
“Just—stay the fuck away from me,” I hissed, striding out of my bedroom door and out of the villa, which I left in darkness. Shouldering my backpack, I waited for Adalyn to climb on the bike.
“We’re going to be stuck together,” she muttered. “I can hardly stay away, can I?”
I bit back a humorless laugh.
I can’t stay away . That was a sentiment I had thought over the last couple of weeks. Despite my hatred for Adalyn, I barely found myself able to put distance between us. I only had this past week due to Alex’s warning. But otherwise, I found excuses to be around her, keeping an eye on her.
I ignored her question.
“Where to?” she asked.
“That’s your call,” I said. “Where’s safest for you on the island?”