Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
SEB
“This is a long list. They’re so spread out,” I flip the pages of the Saint’s Order members Remus has brought me. Technically, he brought me a thumb drive, but I’ve always processed things better with paper in my hands.
“They are where we are,” Remus says. “Imani thinks that part of the magic of the rings is that they are drawn to our energy, because they tend to end up wherever we end up.”
“Because they’re hunting us,” I say.
He shakes his head. “She’s into technology, Seb. Didn’t even believe in magic until recently. She can see it in the data. Where we go, they go. They’re either following us or following the art we inspire.”
“You seem to have learned a lot from Imani.”
He flashes me a perfect Gemini half grin, a spark of wickedness in his eye. “She’s quite a woman.”
“Are you falling for the human, Remus?” I jest.
He clears his throat. “I wouldn’t call it that. But I wouldn’t turn down a few more hours listening to her theories, I’ll tell you that.”
We both chuckle.
“Speaking of women, where is that witch of yours?” he adds.
I snort. “Not mine, and she’s resting. She’s onto something, though. This is what she saw last night.” I show him Zoe’s drawing of the ring.
“Creator defend us all. What do all these symbols mean?”
“She said they were spells. Layers of spells. It’s complex. She needs to go back in to make sure she understands it all, and then she can recommend how best to defend ourselves against it.”
Remus lifts his cap and runs a hand over his buzz-cut head. “Fuck. This is great news. So, when is that going to happen, ’cause we need a solution like yesterday.”
I frown. “It’s going to be a few days. Doing what she had to do to understand the ring had…side effects.”
He squints at me. “What kind of side effects?”
“The kind that could kill her if she pushes herself too hard.”
Remus whistles through his teeth.
“Yeah, so I need to stay close to her to heal her afterward. I have to be here to protect her.”
Remus’s nostrils flare. “Shit.”
I look over my shoulder and then back at him, but I don’t know what he’s smelling. No one is here but us. “What? Is Ellison here?”
He snorts. “Brother, you are putting off mating scent every time you mention Zoe.”
The sound of her name on his lips sends my dragon into a lurch. I stand and lunge toward Remus, my dragon pressing against the underside of my skin. Sweat breaks out across my forehead.
Remus chuckles behind his cupped palm. “Damn, you’ve got it bad, brother.”
I lower myself back into my chair, feeling my cheeks heat. I bury my face in my hands, not even bothering to deny it. “Fuuuck. Why does it have to be her?”
Remus’s hand lands on my shoulder. “We don’t pick who we want to mate. The creator does.”
I groan. “The creator picks for me. She gets to choose for herself. That’s the problem. She could reject me. And then what? I pine for her while she puts herself at risk to help dragonkind?”
“How is that different from what’s happening right now?” Remus shrugs his tattooed shoulders. “Unless you want me to call Mia to come take the edge off?”
I growl, feeling repulsed.
“Judging by the shade of green you just pulled, you are beyond accepting any substitutes.” He balls his hand into a fist. “One thing I think we can both agree on, though, is if she is your mate, you can’t rush things. If she rejects you right now, you’re toast.”
“No shit,” I say sarcastically.
“So, you need to talk to her and start, you know, getting to know each other, but like in a way that makes her fall for you without scaring her off or jeopardizing what we’re trying to do.”
I level a flat glare in his direction. “Genius,” I deadpan. “Wish I would have thought of that.”
He chuckles and spreads his hands. “I’m just saying, sort it out, Seb. We need you at your best.”
I nod. “I’ll sort it out.”
“Meanwhile, how do you want to approach this list?”
I stare at the names. There’s really only one choice.
“We go out in pairs. We go where we think they will be. And we try to remove three rings a night. It’ll be a few nights before Zoe can try her magic again.
You and I can take the first rotation, followed by Ellison and Lucas. On down the twelve.”
“Rotation to do what?” Zoe asks. She’s standing at the entrance to the living room, looking like an angel in a white sundress and red lipstick. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Patrick said dinner was in twenty. Oh, hi, Remus.”
“Perfectly okay,” I say, then glance between her and Remus. “That’s right, you two have already met.”
She nods and offers him her hand. “Nice to see you again.”
My dragon growls at a decibel I know only his dragon can hear.
Remus stares at her hand like she’s offering him the hot end of a cattle prod.
He does not shake it, instead choosing that moment to pick up the stack of papers between us.
He grips them tightly between both hands as if the idea of holding them with one hand or tucking them under an arm is preposterous.
“Good to see you again too, Zoe.” He turns back toward me and adds.
“I will recap what we talked about with the other brothers while you…do what it is you have to do. We’ll start tonight. ”
He gives Zoe plenty of space as he leaves the room. I catch her nonchalantly sniffing her armpit. “What’s he talking about? What are you doing tonight?” she asks.
“Brotherhood stuff,” I mumble. I can’t take my eyes off her.
“What kind of brotherhood stuff? Is this about the rings? I could try again—”
“You said you needed two to three days to recover. You’re going to take two to three days.” My voice is abnormally low and gritty, and I sense my inner dragon has a lot to do with how authoritative that came out. I clear my throat and try to shove him back down.
She tips her head and offers me a smile charged with candlelight and daydreams. I feel that smile all the way to my toes. “Sometimes your eyes glow when you look at me,” she says. “And then it’s gone. Is that a dragon thing?”
“Yes.” The word comes out choked.
She moves toward me, and it’s like pure magic, like I’m in the woods and a doe has decided to lay its head in my hand. “What causes it? When they glow, they’re like molten gold. It’s like I’m seeing your dragon’s eyes as they were on the golden plane.”
My jaw feels tight, and I massage it a few times before admitting, “You are seeing his eyes. He tends to come to the surface when you’re near me.”
Her brows bob as if they can’t decide where to land on her face, and then she crosses her arms and backs up a step. “Do I make you uncomfortable for some reason?”
I snort. “No.”
“It’s just, yesterday, when I hugged you—”
“You don’t make me uncomfortable. You make me horny.” The phrase charges right out of my mouth like a bull chasing a waved flag. Her cheeks warm with an easy blush. “Sorry. It’s the Taurus in me. It’s hard for me not to be direct.”
She laughs. “It’s okay. I like direct. It’s always best to know the truth.”
Oh shit. It’s like she just gave my dragon a free pass. He surges to the surface, and the voice that comes out of me next is his. “Then the truth is, you’re already mine, and if it were up to me, I’d take you hard against the wall.” I slap a hand over my mouth.
Her jaw drops, and tiny smile lines form around her eyes.
I give my head a firm shake, dropping my hand. “Fuck! Sorry about that. He’s really interested in you.”
A laugh like the tinkle of wind chimes leaves her throat. “Holy shit! I’d say so. Um…” She steps in closer and places her hands on my chest. “Is it just your dragon who feels that way? Or is it you, Seb?”
God, she smells good, like clean linen and clementines. I place a hand on her waist and pull her closer, wrestling my dragon into submission. “It’s both of us. I mean, it’s me. He’s a part of me. It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t a shifter.”
She laughs. “I think I get it. We are all bigger than this body anyway.”
Her lashes flutter as she looks up at me, and for a moment, I forget about everything. I forget where we are, that we barely know each other, that she’s here for a reason, and I lean down to kiss her.
“Dinner is served,” Patrick calls from the next room.
I don’t stop. I kiss her, and the results are lightning in my veins.
Her lips are crushed velvet, heated and moist. I taste her lipstick and then her tongue as she opens for me and lets me in.
Her nails scrape across the skin at the back of my head, dig into my hair.
I’m pressed against her, moving her toward the wall, my arms holding her to me like she’s the source of oxygen in the air.
“Yo!” Remus yells, his voice loud and clear and close.
Zoe draws back, panting, and runs a thumb under her bottom lip. That lipstick of hers deserves a gold medal because it hasn’t smudged a bit. My eyes swivel to where Remus is standing in the door to the living room, and I growl loud enough to shake the walls.
“Chill out, bro. Dinner is on the table, and we have work to do tonight. Or have you already forgotten?”
I squeeze my eyes closed. I haven’t forgotten. And he’s done me a favor. He knows that if he hadn’t come in here and acted as a speed bump, I may have ruined everything. I can’t rush this. I nod. “Thanks, man.”
He gives me an understanding smile and then heads back toward the dining room. I hold out my hand to Zoe. “Dinner?”
She tucks her fingers into mine and, through a demure grin, says, “I’d love to.”