Page 51 of Wicked Thirst
Astrid let her eyes swing up toward me again. “You seem nervous. Don’t worry, Piper, we’ll find him. Kylian is the best.”
I was nervous about losing control, nervous about what we would see once we found Grayson, nervous about how the hell she was going to save him.
“That’s right. I am the best,” he snapped over his shoulder toward us.
Logan, who brought up the rear and was silent until now, gave a humorless chuckle. “And oh so humble.”
Astrid began to laugh and glanced back at him in surprise but said nothing. I slowed a bit to let Logan catch up to us. I didn’t know what to say to him, he seemed to have a dark feeling about him, and I got the notion that whatever caused it was fairly recent.
When he caught me looking at him, he sighed.“Vampire, you’re very transparent.”
I shook myself. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I was a prisoner of the unseelie for some time.” He didn’t stop walking.
I tried to keep up with his pace while processing his words. What’s an unseelie? How long was he a prisoner? How did he survive? How did he get away? “Umm, what?”
“You were wondering what the hell is wrong with me and why the others so obviously baby me, though I don’t want or need it.” His voice was level. There was no venom or annoyance to his words. Yet I could tell that the way the others treated him with kid gloves grated on him.
“Ah, well, I didn’t want to ask . . .” I lied, even though I really did want to ask all the questions.
Kylian stopped in his tracks and turned to fully face me. His eyes bore into mine and the muscle in his jaw ticked. “Oh, now you don’t want to ask questions.”
I was getting sick of his attitude, but before I could snap back at him, something moved in the corner of my eye and I stilled. The others noticed my stillness and went motionless as well. I sucked in a breath through my nose, scenting the air, and there it was, the smell of wine and chocolate surrounding me with the hint of blood.Grayson. He was here and I knew it. I felt it in my very being. My eyes darted, but I saw nothing.
I spun in a circle and lowered my voice. “He’s here.”
“Of course he is.” Kylian lifted his chin with a I knew I was right air.
I darted toward Kylian and shoved my hand over his mouth.“Shut up. I mean, he’s right here.”
He took his finger and hooked it around my wrist and pulled my hand away from his face. “Don’t touch.”
“Then don’t be a douche.” There was a noise in the distance. I turned toward it, then took off running. I pumped my arms, running faster and letting the world blow by in a blur.
“I really hate when she does that,” Logan muttered under his breath, but with my vampire hearing, I could easily catch it as I left them behind.
I found a small patch of forest that separated the large fields and ducked down low behind a tree trunk and some dried bushes. In the dead of winter, it was difficult to hide when there were so few leaves. There before me was Grayson, not looking like himself at all. He walked round the open field with a bucket in his hand and a crappy broken wooden paintbrush. My brow furrowed in confusion. What the hell was he doing?
He slopped the brush around in the bucket and started to write something on the ground. His eyes were wild with madness, and he chuckled. A moment later he mumbled to himself as he moved over the dried field. The others came up behind me. Their footfalls were louder than I’d prefer, but with vampire hearing it was nearly impossible not to catch.
“What the hell is he doing?” Kylian’s voice came from right beside me and I startled.
Well, they all were louder, all but him. I gave him the side-eye. “You’re creepy as hell.”
“Thank you.” He nodded toward the field. “Now what’s he doing?”
“I’m not sure . . . painting something on the ground?” Then it hit me, the distinct smell. “He's painting it in blood.”
Kylian’s eyebrows shot up and his face paled. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“Are you forgetting? The leech you know is not in there.” Beckett crouched lower. “He’s gone, and we have no idea what that damn curse is doing to him.”
“We need to stop him, NOW.” Kylian rose to his feet and pulled that stone dagger from his waistband. His face turned dark and determined.
Panic rose in my chest. “What are you gonna do?”
“Stop him from doing what he’s doing, that’s for damn sure.” His grip tightened on the knife. “Whatever I do to him, he’ll heal. If he finishes his happy little painting, then we’re all fucked.”
