Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
He stood at the edge of Rowan’s wards, watching me with an unnerving intensity. My heartbeat skittered and thumped against my rib cage.
“You can step through the wards,” I said.
Ethan blinked in surprise. “No. Get Rowan.”
“Rowan already cleared you. Step over the barrier.” He didn’t remember his friendship with the other Lord. How much else had Mom wiped from his memories?
Ethan’s teeth pulled away from his lips. “Nice try, vampire.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I growled. Shooting a glare his way, I stomped toward the wards, reached through the barrier and yanked him through.
Taken by surprise, Ethan let out an unmanly yelp and stumbled when I let him go.
“What the fuck?” he roared, quickly righting himself. His chest heaved and his eyes were wide. “What would you have done if those wards chopped me in half?”
“Like I said, Rowan authorized you entrance past the wards a long time ago.” I started walking toward my apartment. “I have a feeling you’re here to see me. If you want to talk, follow me.”
I didn’t glance over my shoulder to see if he was coming. He hadn’t moved since I started walking away.
My key was in the lock when Ethan appeared behind me. I put some coffee on and filled the kettle to heat.
“I’m not staying long enough for coffee,” Ethan said with a grunt.
I smiled at him. “I didn’t offer you any, did I?”
He stared at me, a golden ring around his midnight eyes. “Be careful how you speak to me, vampire.”
I ignored his threatening posture and pulled out some chocolate chip cookie dough from the fridge. While I preheated the oven and focused on putting a dozen on a sheet pan, I motioned for Ethan to sit down.
“Give me a few, and I’ll join you. Would you like some water?”
Ethan’s brow furrowed. His befuddled expression almost made me laugh.
“No, thank you,” he said after a moment. He turned to look at my small living room and chose to sit in my reading chair.
Once the cookies were in the oven, I poured him a cup of coffee and myself a cup of tea and carried them over.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. Ethan wore a different expression now. He seemed unnerved. His posture was rigid and he was looking around my living room with a haunted expression.
“Everything okay?”
“I—why is my scent all over your apartment?” He frowned. “Were we lovers?”
Before I could answer, he shook his head. “No. I’d never cheat on Sarah. The thought of taking a vampire lover…”
Ouch. Asshole. “We aren’t lovers,” I snapped.
“Did you steal some of my things? Is that why my scent is all over?”
The oven timer dinged. “Hold that thought.”
Focusing on something else other than his question would keep me from throat punching him.
I thrust a plate full of cookies under his nose and took mine back to the couch.
Ethan stared at the cookies and back at me. “Why are you being nice?”
“To answer your first question, no I haven’t stolen any of your clothing or any of your items. Second, I’m nice. That’s why. Eat your cookies.”
Ethan took a bite and chewed, watching me the entire time. If he wasn’t so weirded out, him watching me while he was eating might be sexy.
Under the circumstances, he was creeping me out.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Yep. Magic cookies. Wait until he tasted my Italian Cream Cake. It was his favorite, but Mom had wiped every trace of me away. So he got to try it all over like it was the first time. And I’d give a lot to forget I tried certain desserts before.
Ethan had the second in his hand before he realized it. “These are good.”
“Thank you.”
He released a heavy exhale. “You know me. Well, it seems.”
“And if I do?”
“I don’t remember you.” His jaw tightened. “Not the way it seems I should. Things are happening and I—”
Ethan closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t be discussing this with you.”
“I’m the only one here, and I gave you cookies. Why not me?”
“Because you’re Evie’s friend.”
“And you’ve been really mean to Evie.”
His lips thinned. “She hasn’t exactly been nice to me, either.”
“Yes, well. You deserved it.”
Ethan took his third cookie. “Something isn’t right. I’m losing time. There are things I know I should remember, and I can’t. I think I must be going mad.”
Having him here in my apartment was dangerous. I wanted so badly to tell him everything. Keeping secrets from him had always been difficult. If he realized what was between us, this might be all over, and the body Evie had stashed somewhere would be a moot point.
“Do you think something else might be going on?”
He chewed on his last cookie. “Magic. It’s the only explanation.”
I got up and put the last of the cookies on his plate. As I stepped away, Ethan grabbed my wrist in an iron grip. I froze. Our eyes locked; his ringed in flecked gold.
He tugged me closer and put his nose to my wrist. Ethan’s eyes fluttered shut as he inhaled deeply.
Oh. Shit. Stepping away would tell him I had something to hide. Maybe he wouldn’t sense anything.
But when he opened his eyes, they were the color of molten gold and midnight blue. “Our scents are entwined.” His voice was low and growly, the predator peeking through. “Why?”
“We aren’t lovers. I swear to you.”
“Answer the question.”
I went to my knees. He still held onto my wrist. “I don’t know.”
When his eyes narrowed and his grip tightened, I shook my head. “I don’t. I swear. You and I are friends.” I dropped my eyes. “Or we used to be.”
“Look at me, Moira.”
I lifted my eyes. “Friends don’t carry each other’s scents. Tell me what we are to each other. Tell me why I don’t remember.”
“We are friends.” I licked my lips. “That’s all.”
“You’re lying to me.” He dropped my wrist like it burned him. “Why is everyone lying to me?”
I held up a hand. “I’m not. We are friends. I wanted more. You kept the boundaries between us.”
He went still. “No. I would never step out on Sarah.”
“You didn’t.”
He scented the truth on me and slumped, a slow and unsteady breath coming from deep within him. “That does not explain our entwined scents.”
“I can’t help you there.” My suspicion pointed to the very beginnings of a mating bond, but Ethan refused to acknowledge what was happening between us.
Since he hadn’t brought it up, I could only assume he hadn’t looked for anything other than his scent. Small favors. If he figured that one out, he might shatter.
His jaw clenched. “What the hell is going on?”
“You’re intelligent, Ethan.”
“Lord,” he growled.
I snorted. “We are long past that. If you think something is wrong, then trust your instincts. But don’t do anything you might regret. Investigate, figure things out, then reach out to your trusted network.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have a network. My Keep is my network.”
I got up from the floor. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m here. Rowan is here. Even your archnemesis Evie is here for you.”
“You know what happened.” The words were not a question.
“I have more dough in the refrigerator. Would you like to take some cookies to go?”
Ethan stood. He wasn’t the tallest of Lords, but he was taller than me.
“I can make you tell me,” he murmured in an almost seductive voice.
My laughter surprised him. “You can’t make me do shit,” I said. “Now, do you want the cookies?”
He lunged for me, so fast he almost caught me. I zipped out of the way, stopping in the kitchen. “If you do that again, you forfeit your cookies.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the cookies,” he snarled.
“Pssh. Lies.”
He lunged for me again. I cackled as I moved again. Ethan was lightning fast even for a shifter, but I was a vampire. For the most part.
“Godsdammit. Tell me what’s happening to me.”
“You’ll figure it out.” I stayed still when he went for me again. Our bodies slammed together so hard, we cracked the drywall. The air rushed out of my lungs when my back hit the wall.
I needed blood. Every time I moved, my energy flagged, and that wasn’t normal. I’d gone for much longer before this, choosing to fill up every couple of months on human donor blood, only realizing recently I needed magical blood to keep up my energy and magic stores.
I hadn’t fed in almost a month, and I was beginning to feel the first signs of fatigue. Ethan pressed in close, his neck close to my nose.
He smelled of pine and the woods, of cool breezes and the moon. I inhaled deeply.
The Lord went still. “Your eyes are glowing,” he murmured.
“Because I’m hungry,” I said quietly. “You might want to step back.”
Ethan snorted. “I’m not worried about your sharp little teeth, vampire.”
“Moira,” I snapped. “My name is Moira.”
“Fine, Moira. If you’re hungry, I’ll let you go hunt as soon as you answer my questions.”
The way he said my name made my stomach tighten. Our eyes met and held. Ethan was smashed against me. My breasts were pressed against his chest, and his hips lay snug against my abdomen.
I chuckled. “Looks like you rushed right into a choice you didn’t think through. Let me go and don’t get your answers. Keep me here and things might get a little heated.”
I leaned forward and pressed my nose into the crook where his neck met his shoulders. Inhaling his scent, I ran my hands up his back, sliding my fingers through his hair.
Ethan’s eyes closed. A shudder racked his body.
My fangs slid down. I closed my mouth and willed them to disappear. I could not bite him. I would not bite him.
With a sound of disgust, Ethan shoved against me and backed away.
“I would never desire you,” he hissed. “Why would I when there is a woman at home I love more than life itself?”
Even knowing he was under a spell, the words stung.
“Then leave,” I said. “And remember when things become clear, who you need to go to.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “You aren’t lying about everything,” he said quietly. “But I know I would never be friends with the likes of you.”
He strode away, slamming the door behind him.
I slumped against the wall, my chin dipping to my chest.
My mom deserved to die for a lot of reasons, but breaking my heart all over again might be number one.