Page 77 of Wicked Thirst
Kylian chuckled. “Aren’t we all.”
“Pervert.” I rolled my eyes.
“You seem okay now?” Astrid tried to offer helpfully. “I mean, should we take you back to The House of Shade?”
“We can’t. We have no idea if Atlas is there or what is happening. We can’t go there, not until we have Gray.” I turned around in the cage, looking at the field. “Just let me think for a second. I really don’t want to leave. What if Grayson shows up and we’re not close enough?”
“I agree.” Kylian spun in a small circle. “He’s going to make a move. I feel it. I’m just not sure on the direction yet.”
“How could we possibly know when he’s going to do something?” Panic started to thread through my body and my breath came harder. “What if he summons more demons and it works this time?”
“Don’t get worked up. That can’t help.” Astrid bit her bottom lip. “What if we have a warning system?”
“What do you mean?” I started to relax a little.
Astrid held her hand up. A single piece of paper lay in her palm with more of that scrawled writing across it. She glanced down at it, and it exploded into flames.
A second later, a ball of flames exploded next to Beckett. He reached up and plucked the paper from midair. “You could’ve just asked me.”
“That’s not from me.” Astrid crossed her arms and smirked.
Beckett held the message up and raised his eyebrows at us. “Incoming.”
He waved his hand and blue smoke poured from his fingers. A swirling portal opened up right next to him and Zinnia marched through it and out into the field. Her eyes widened when she looked at me, yet she said nothing.
“Thanks for the lift,” she said, winking at Beckett.
Tuck walked out behind her. He was followed by a big guy with blond hair shaved close to his head. His eyes were bright green, almost feline-like. A tiger tattoo ran down the side of his neck and disappeared under his shirt. He was by far the biggest of the guys that hung out with Zinnia and her crew. I would have found him very intimidating if he wasn’t wearing a baby carrier strapped to his chest. When I looked closer, there was a tiny pug sitting in the carrier with its legs dangling out. They swung up and down with each step he took.
“Good dog,” he murmured in a thick Russian accent as he petted the top of the pug’s head as he stepped out.
When he looked at me, I felt like prey for a moment, and I suddenly realized that since becoming a vampire, I never felt like prey. I never felt threatened in any way. In truth, I felt like the threat. As a human woman, I couldn’t say the same thing. I’d been scared to walk the night, constantly vigilant at any point in time when I was alone. Now I was the predator and the thing to be scared of.I almost smiled at the thought.
“Do you look like that at everyone?” the big guy with the dog asked.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m a snack.” He got closer to the cage. “I’m no snack. I’m Brax.”
I looked him over. “I mean, you’re kind of a snack.”
Zinnia and Astrid both busted out into fits of laughter. Tuck and Beckett both stood there staring at them, not amused at all.
Kylian raised his eyebrows. “Now who’s the perv? Pot kettle much, leech?”
I shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“No, I’m not snack,” Brax protested.
Zinnia placed her hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t mean she’s going to attack you. It means that you’re . . . you know . . . attractive.”
A wide grin spread across his face, and he ran his hand over the dog carrier in front of him. “Da, I am. But I have girlfriend.”
I snickered from my spot in the cage as they all stood around me like this was not a big deal to keep a vampire in a cage so it couldn’t kill them. But here we were.
Brax reached into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in a small white towel. He shoved it between the bars, then backed away. He looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt at his feet.“Is food.” His words were a deep rumble.
I was afraid to look inside the towel. “What kind of food?”
