He’d shaken her, demanded to know what she’d Seen. There was a fraught silence, and then with a shudder, she’d come back to herself and whispered, “That’s insane. You can’t kill him. You’ll set off something you can’t stop.”
But maddeningly, that had been all she could tell him.
His spine had iced. Nobody knew what he was planning. Not even his sister.
And Rosana didn’t know. Not really. She’d Seen a possible future, that’s all. So he’d sent her on her way, told her to stay the fuck out of Baltimore.
Now her fine dark brows scrunched together. “If you’re not interested…”
He growled. “You know damn well I’m interested. I’m just wondering why now.”
A shrug. “Maybe I’m curious.”
Cat’s balls.
His dick twitched, his dark side picturing all the things he could teach a curious virgin, because he knew she hadn’t had another man. She was only twenty-two turns of the sun, and an alpha’s pampered baby sister.
Unashamed, he reached down and adjusted his pants.
Her eyes tracked his movement. The tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her full lower lip. He stifled a groan as his dick went from half-hard to full, aching attention.
But the alpha in him was still suspicious. “Does this have something to do with that vision you had?” He lowered his voice even more. “Because I told you, there’s no way I’m letting a river fada help in any way, shape, or form. Especially a Rock Run fada.”
She blew out a breath. “Deus, Adric. I’m just looking for a little fun. But if you changed your mind, I get it.”
And without giving him a chance to reply, she took her beer and headed into the crowd. A few seconds later, she was dancing with another man, this one a river fada.
Adric’s nostrils flared. No. Hell no.
So Rosana wanted some fun? Then she’d damn well have it with him.
Still, he hadn’t become alpha of a murderous, warring clan by playing his cards for all to see. And the other river fada in the bar were glaring at him with fire in their eyes.
He lifted his beer to them in a mocking salute and headed to the back room and the poker game.
But when she left the bar, he was waiting.
Chapter 2
Rosana eyed the small bathroom window in the ladies’ room, calculating she’d just fit. Locking the door—Sorry, ladies—she removed her jacket and gloves and eased up the window.
A hop and a slither got her upper body through the narrow opening, but her hips were stuck fast. She turned sideways, pushed hard against the frame and with a deep inhale and a little cursing, popped the rest of the way out. Twisting in mid-air, she landed on her feet in the tiny parking lot behind the saloon.
An icy January drizzle spattered her. She raised her face, drinking in the coolness against her heated skin, before pulling on her jacket and heading around the corner to her sportbike.
Built on the waterfront, Fell’s Point dated to the time when Baltimore was a major port and shipbuilding center teeming with seamen and pirates. The road was paved in cobblestones, the streetlights an old-fashioned black metal. Trees pushed through miniscule squares of earth in the sidewalk to raise stunted branches to the moonless sky, and the buildings were a mix of shops, warehouses and brick rowhouses with gabled roofs.
Her hands were clammy. She wiped them on her pants and pulled on her gloves.
Elation filled her. She’d done it. Gone to Adric, the man she’d wanted since forever, it seemed.
But he didn’t say yes.
Her steps slowed. Was he going to just let her leave?
He’d been so suspicious. She hadn’t expected that. But then, that vision had shocked them both.
It had been last month, right before the winter solstice. She’d tracked him down because she’d been having maddening glimpses of the future. Her gut had told her he was planning something against the night fae, and she’d wanted to help.