Except, would she have weeks to live afterward? To think about him and regret what she’d let him take from her?
He’d warred with himself over whether or not he should go after her and apologize, but in the end he’d decided to give her some space. Besides, his failure to take her virginity when he’d had a couple of prime opportunities was eating at him. Why the hell was he stalling? He told himself that he was playing with his prey the way he often did, but was he? Or was he holding off the grand finale because for the first time in his life, he was enjoying being with a female for something other than sex?
He’d lain awake for hours thinking about it, and when he finally had fallen asleep, he’d succumbed to nightmares again. He’d been transported back to that dark basement, the dungeon where he’d spent his childhood, locked in a cage with nothing but a scratchy wool blanket on the dirt floor to sleep on and a metal pail in the corner that functioned as a toilet.
He shook his head free of the memories and nightmares as he exited the dining car and headed to Serena’s cabin. She hadn’t shown up for breakfast, and now he was concerned that she’d been spooked by what had hap-pened between them last night and had gotten off the train at Luxor or Cairo, the two stops before Aswan. If she had, he’d be screwed, right to the wall and right into his grave.
Shit.
He increased his pace from a walk to a jog as he approached her sleeping car. When he reached her cabin door, he knocked. Waited. His lungs ached, and he realized he’d been holding his breath.
She didn’t answer. He knocked again and was about to kick the door in when she finally opened up. She wore khaki cargo pants and a long-sleeved, olive button-down, but her feet were bare and her hair was a fluffy tangle of gold around her shoulders, and he got the distinct impression he’d woken her up.
“Hey,” she said. “I must have fallen asleep after I got dressed this morning. Did you already eat breakfast?”
He nodded and held out the box in his hand. “I figured you’d slept in, so I brought you something.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, even as she snatched the box out of his hand. “But thank you. Are you feeling better? How’s your stomach?”
“Fine.” He stood there like a dolt, feeling awkward and stupid, and she wasn’t making things easier by staring at him as if she expected something. Like, maybe, an apology. Fuck. He wasn’t good at those. He rubbed the back of his neck, which did nothing to ease the tension there. “Ah… could I come in?”
She backed up in the narrow space. “Suit yourself.”
He stepped inside. “I owe you an apology,” he blurted. Man, that hurt.
“I agree.”
Okay, what now? He shoved his hand in his pocket and felt up his switchblade, which always comforted him. “So… I’m sorry.”
“Boy, you suck at apologies.”
“What do you want me to do? Fall at your feet and beg for forgiveness?” He snapped his mouth shut, because talking to her this way was definitely not going to score him points.
He seemed to be losing ground with her a lot faster than he was gaining it, and he needed to get back on track and fast. He’d called E this morning, and his brother had sounded like hell as he talked about all the shit that had gone down. Apparently, the hospital’s entire third wing had collapsed. Six staff members had died and it had taken some seriously powerful magic to keep the New York City streets above the underground hospital from caving in.
Suck up. Just suck up. “Serena, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not good at apologies. Obviously.”
“It’s okay,” she sighed. “It’s not all your fault. I over-reacted to something that shouldn’t have been a big deal.”
“No.” He took the box away from her, tossed it onto the bed behind her, and framed her face in his hands. “I’m the one who overreacted. I’m not used to anyone worrying about me. No one except my brothers, anyway.” Hey, that wasn’t so hard. Probably because it was the truth. Novel idea, telling the truth.…
“And your brothers worrying is a bad thing?”
“It’s like they think I need a babysitter.”
She covered one of his hands with hers, stroked his fingers with her thumb. “So, are they overprotective, or have you done something to deserve their concern?”
He blinked, taken aback by her blunt question. “You speak your mind, don’t you?”
“I’ve found that beating around the bush takes too much time to get to the same place.”
Man, he liked her. He really, really liked her. “Baby, you’re speaking my language.”
“So… about your brothers?”
“It’s a little of both with them,” he said, running with the honesty thing. “E’s a doctor, so he’s naturally a worrywart, and Shade’s always been the nurturing kind, but he’s gone overboard since he became a dad.”
“And what about you? What have you done to make them worry?”
“There isn’t enough time in this day to list it all,” he admitted. “Let’s just say that I’ve been a very bad boy.”
Something sparked in her eyes. Excitement, as if she was picturing him doing naughty things. Maybe to her. “Girls like that, you know.”
“Like what?”
She hooked a finger under the collar of his T-shirt and tugged playfully. “Bad boys.”
“Oh, yeah?” His voice was low and rough, and he liked it. “What about you? Do you like bad boys?”
“There’s definitely appeal,” she breathed.
“Good.” He bent and clipped her earlobe with his teeth. The scent of her desire filled the air, and his nostrils flared, taking it in. “Because they don’t come badder than me.”
“I don’t know…” Her tone was flirty, yet husky, made more tantalizing by the way she dragged the ball of her foot up his calf. “I’m hearing a lot of talk and no action.”
“You know what happens when you stir up a hornets’ nest, right?” He nuzzled her neck, enjoying the sound of her soft moan.
“Good thing I’m not allergic to bee stings.”
He opened his mouth over her jugular and allowed his vampire canines to just brush her skin. “My sting is a lot more potent.”
She sagged against him, and he’d have been content to play this scene out, but they’d be pulling into Aswan in a few minutes. “I’m going to go grab my bags. I want you to have eaten everything in the box by the time I get back.”
She stepped out of his arms and jammed her fists on her hips in annoyance, which might have been more effective if she hadn’t whacked her elbow on the wall. “You sure are bossy.”
He shrugged. “Part of the bad boy thing. Now eat. I don’t want you passing out before we even get to the hotel.”
“I’m not going to pass out—”
He cut her off with a kiss. “If you did, I’d catch you.” Gods, he’d laugh at either of his brothers if they said that to their mates, the pussywhipped idiots. So he tried to tell himself this was all part of the seduction. That it was all part of his dastardly scheme to take Serena’s virginity and her charm.
That it was anything but the truth, because the truth was that Serena was turning out to be so much more than a mission.
They don’t come badder than me
Josh’s words rang through Serena’s head as they approached the hotel on foot. She didn’t believe him. Oh, he walked the walk, talked the talk, and all those other clichés, but she sensed vulnerability beneath the handsome, tough exterior. Like when he’d talked about his childhood. That had been a knife to the heart.
His mother had kept him in a cage? And her family had killed his father? How had he gotten away from that situation? And what had happened to his mother?
Serena prayed she was rotting in jail somewhere. Josh had lived a hellish life, but the fact that he’d survived—with a sense of humor, even—said a lot about his strength.
He walked beside her, sunglasses on, clearing a path through the crowds with nothing more than his size and presen
ce. The cool breeze coming off the Nile ruffled his hair, and every once in a while he’d rake it back from his face to reveal the angular profile she’d never tire of admiring.
Pathetic, really.
He slowed to pet a cat hanging out in front of a meat market. The mangy tom eyed her warily, but it rubbed against Josh like an old friend.
She just shook her head in amazement that someone so strong, so powerful, could be so gentle with a little animal. Then again, his touch with her last night had been skilled and nimble, and she heated up just thinking about it.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for an animal person,” she said, when the cat ran to some scraps tossed into a dish near the shop’s side door.
He shrugged. “For some reason, they like me. My brother’s… wife… has this weasel that won’t leave me alone. She says he’s a traitor.”
“Your brother?”
“The weasel.”
“Well, the weasel has good taste.” His faced colored, and she couldn’t help but smile. “My mom used to say that a man who hates cats is insecure, but a man who likes them is one worth keeping. If he can appreciate a cat, he can appreciate a strong, independent woman.”
He snorted. “Sweetheart, I can appreciate any woman.”
“But the strong, independent ones are the best, right?”
At her teasing—okay, fishing for compliments—tone, he grinned. “I’m starting to see the benefits.” He adjusted the bags he carried on his shoulder. “So, where are we going?”
She crowded next to him to avoid getting run over by a man on a bike who had swerved to avoid a vehicle popping up on the curb. She loved Egypt, but seriously, no one in this country knew how to drive.
“Philae,” she said. “The Temple of Hathor. I believe that hidden inside one of the pillars is a stone tablet with writings that are supposed to work in conjunction with the coin I found in Alexandria.”
He ground to a halt, jerking her to a stop with him. “What is it you plan to do with these artifacts?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Curiosity.”
“When I’m merely curious, I don’t squeeze anyone’s hand into a pulp.”
Josh cursed and loosened his grip. “Did I hurt you?”
“I’m tougher than that. But why are you so curious?”
“Ancient magic isn’t something to fuck around with.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to perform a ceremony myself. The items are for Val. You know there’s something going on. Something bad, or demons wouldn’t be after me and the artifacts, right?” Speaking of which, she needed an Internet connection as soon as possible. She had to find out what might have affected her charm, and Val’s Aegis research site seemed the best place to start digging.
Josh rubbed the back of his neck, the movement making the muscles in his arm flex and roll beneath his tanned skin. “I guess. We going to go, or what?”
She glanced at her watch. “I suppose we should check into our hotel.”
“Yeah. But here’s the thing.” He stepped into her, so close she took a step back, but he moved with her. “You’ve got something after you. I can protect you. We share a room.”
“I can protect myself.” From everything except Byzamoth. And maybe other demons. And Josh.
“I can do it better. I can do a lot of things better,” he said, and the husky, wicked tone told her he was thinking of the orgasm he’d given her. “You need me.”
From somewhere deep inside, she felt like she wanted to protest, but he was right. And the way he was looking at her, his gaze heated and hypnotic, seduced everything that made her female.
“We get a suite, and you can have the couch,” she managed, even though she knew he’d end up in her bed.
His cocky smile said he knew it, too. But he had the grace to not say anything. Instead, he dipped his head. She thought he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. Not on the mouth. No, he tipped her chin back with his hand and opened his mouth right over her jugular. Right in the place he’d bitten her in her dreams.
She swayed, her knees going weak. His teeth scraped her skin and for a crazy moment she thought he truly would bite her, like this was some sort of fantasy come to life. She moaned and clutched at his shirt, holding him there, encouraging him, wishing they were in private, because a deep ache had taken root between her legs, and screw the one-time deal thing she’d told herself last night.
She was so going to do some of those other things tonight.
Thirteen
There was a Harrowgate on the island of Philae. Wraith knew because he could sense it. And because he’d used it twenty years ago when he’d come here in search of a statue of Isis.
The fact that the island hosted a Harrowgate was bad enough, given that demons were after Serena, but worse, it had recently been activated.
Something was very, very wrong. Whatever had come out of the Harrowgate was still here. In fact, Wraith could sense multiple evil presences. It wasn’t unusual for demons to be on the island—it was, after all, a hot spot for demon rituals. But not during the daytime, and certainly not in the number Wraith sensed.
He and Serena had come by boat after checking into the hotel. He’d been annoyed, at first, by her insistence on a suite, but the extra room had given her the space she’d needed to feel comfortable, and anything that made her comfortable worked to his advantage.
He’d done the medication thing while she showered, giving him a chance to head off the nausea that had taken hold right after they’d checked in. He didn’t need to deal with getting sick again.
Hell, he didn’t want to deal with any of this. He’d kept himself awake last night wondering why he hadn’t taken her virginity yet, but this morning, another horrifying thought had come to him. Was he dragging this out because he wanted to get to know her? Was he hoping she’d get to know him, learn to love him, and want to show him by making love to him?
He almost laughed out loud. Who the hell would love someone enough to give up their life for a night of sex?
No one. Which meant he might as well give up. He could stay with her, protect her until she got home, and then he could go out in a blaze of glory, killing vamps or something.
He’d had worse plans.
So… that was it, then. He was going to die, and Serena was going to live.
He waited for panic to set in, or at least, a change of heart. But nothing happened. If anything, he felt… lighter. Was this what it felt like to do something unselfish?
The sensation was weird. Uncomfortable, yet… not awful. Like liquor that tasted like shit but went down smooth.
Wraith watched Serena standing in the sun, her delicate profile a stark contrast to the harsh landscape. She wore no makeup, but her bronze skin glowed with vitality, and the toned lines of her body spoke of strength and stamina.
Gods, she was magnificent.
And he was a dumbass for admiring her when he should be guarding her. He forced himself into battle mode, staying alert as Serena wandered through the ruins, completely oblivious to the danger surrounding them. When a stick snapped beneath her foot, he whirled, fists clenched and ready to strike.
“Geez, you’re jumpy,” Serena said. She gestured to the multitude of visitors swarming the island. “Are you worried we’ll get caught?”
He stared off in the direction of the Harrowgate. “It’s not that. Something else. Bad vibes. Maybe we should go. Come back later.”
“Does this have something to do with Byzamoth?” The way she asked, with a slight hesitation in her voice, surprised him. Up until now, she’d been incredibly nonchalant when it came to the demons they’d encountered.
“Maybe.”
She appeared to consider his suggestion to come back later, but after a moment shook her head. “We’ll be fine. This is too important to wait.” She started for the Temple of Hathor, and he had no choice but to follow. He kept his eyes peeled, scanning the landscape for anything out of place or unusual. The hair stand
ing up on the back of his neck told him something was watching. Waiting.
They worked their way across the hot, dusty land to the temple, which rose up out of the island, a broken shell of the great building it once had been. Its small courtyard was empty of visitors, but then, the courtyard was pretty much an uninteresting pile of old rocks.
She stopped at the enclosure wall. A breeze, cooled slightly by the surrounding water, blew her hair into her face, but she didn’t seem to notice. She’d gone statue-still, her eyes twinkling like amber caught in the sun.
“Can you feel the history?” She finally brushed the hair off her cheeks. “I love the places I get to visit. I love the way they come alive. The vibes here are almost overwhelming.”
“You can say that again,” he muttered, but he wasn’t talking about the same vibes. He was still picking up demons on his radar. But he knew what she meant. Back when E had first asked him to be UG’s artifact hunter—a job created solely to keep Wraith out of trouble—Wraith had been game because he liked the chase. The danger.
But gradually, thanks to all the research and travel he’d done, he’d come to appreciate the history—both human and demon—bound to the places that turned up the treasures. They all possessed a different feel, some good, some bad… most somewhere in between. But always there was a palpable imprint of past activity that energized him.
She moved off, working her way carefully over the stone slabs, a hand-drawn map in her hand. The sense of malevolence grew stronger, almost with every step she took, and he was seriously ready to get the fuck out of there.
“We need to hurry. How can I help?”
She held up her hand, her concentration so fierce she obviously didn’t want to be interrupted. Frustrated, he kept an eye on their surroundings as she muttered to herself, checked each pillar with methodical precision, poked around the rubble at the bases.
“Oh, crap.” She kneeled next to a broken pillar lying on its side.