Page 24 of Vicar
She could only imagine how red her face was. Why, ohwhy, wasn’t Maya, the well-behaved, typically less sexual, sister along with her right now? A thought Jade caught.
“Good thing my feelings don’t get hurt easily.” Jade pouted, then grinned and shrugged. “And you can wish all you like, but something tells me in the end, you’re gonna love having me as your sidekick. I can give yousomuch advice on how to—”
“Watch the storm,” Trinity interrupted before Jade said something vastly inappropriate. She gestured at the sky, trying to ignore the unusual sensations coursing through her at the sight of the lightning-lit black clouds. “Loki said you and Thorulf especially needed to keep your eye on the ball, remember?”
Trinity was overly aware of Vicar moving closer to her as the storm raged. An impressive yet frightening sight at this proximity. Terrifying in its glory when angry red lightning mixed with white. Inky clouds whipped violently, and frigid rain sliced sideways, thrashing against the dome in a horrifying yet mesmerizing cascade.
“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such a violent godly storm.” Vicar’s golden gaze narrowed on the sky. “As Loki implied, it feels different than the others.”
“It does.” Thorulf stilled. His eyes flared with his inner green Celtic magic at the same time as Jade’s. “Very violent...very...”
“Unique,” Jade murmured when he trailed off. “There’s something in it...fueling it.” She shook her head. “And I’m not talking about an actual physical god battling Loki and Thor but perhaps its essence. Its sheer energy.”
A chill raced down Trinity’s spine before fire shot back up it. Her inner beast was responding to whatever they were talking about. Whatever was in the storm reached out to her. Beckoned her. Wanted her to find her way back to it.
“It’s so strong,” she whispered, enthralled, lost in the feeling. She rolled her shoulders. “Like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
Enchanted by the violent churn of the clouds and the pulsing pull of whatever summoned her, she drifted forward. Or she started to before she jolted awake for lack of a better explanation when Vicar wrapped an arm around her and yanked her back against him.
She blinked. Tried to acclimate. It felt like she had just been sleepwalking. “Whatwasthat...”
There weren't enough words to describe what she’d just felt. Endangered yet tempted. Excited yet dancing with death.
“It’s nothing you need ever go near,” Vicar said darkly, tightening his hold on her. “Yet something that wants you.”
One type of excitement was swiftly replaced with another at the feel of his hard body. At the sensation of being wrapped up in his masculine scent. Though mortified when she released a low, throaty purr, there was no stopping it. He electrified her inner dragon in a way that made the otherworldly thrill she’d just experienced seem like a walk in the park.
Not just his arm tightened slightly in response, but his whole body, it seemed. From the wall of muscle at her back to the unmistakable hard ridge that proved, yes, he had Torc beat but not by much. She wasn’t surprised by his low growl or how deeply he inhaled again. Not when she realized that their good sides could be just as naughty as their bad sides.
“While I applaud all the friskiness,” Jade positioned herself in front of Trinity along with Thorulf, “the rest of this storm is better enjoyed from inside.” She gave Vicar a warning look over her shoulder. “Whatever’s spiking that godly battle wants Trinity bad.Reallybad.”
“Ja.” Thorulf looked at his brother with just as much warning. “Worse yet, it’s Celtic and furious at you, Vicar. Full of violent rage that—”
“Thorulf,” Jade roared in warning, clearly getting her point across telepathically before they began throwing green fireballs at a storm that now literally thrashed at them. The dome stopped the fiery red whips, but it took a battering.
“Get her inside, brother,” Thorulf roared, but Vicar was already one step ahead, and she was airborne with one mighty swing of his arms. She screeched and landed on his bed, only to feel an immense flash of fear when she glanced back.
Vicar was getting ready to embrace his dragon.
He intended to confront the storm.
“No,” came an ungodly roar before what could only be Thor’s great lightning bolt crashed into the dome, and more protection fell over everyone. Seconds later, Loki’s magic aided as well, frothing and wicked against the violent weather seeking them.
Vicar’s skin had only just sheened with his inner dragon when Thorulf and Jade joined them inside. Thorulf grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at him. “No, brother. Look at me, not it. Don't let it reel you in because that’s its goal. To see you shift and engage it so it can bring you to a swift end. And itwillbe swift, for you’ve nowhere near the power to fight it yet.”
“You don’t know that,” Vicar growled. “Now let me—”
“No, Vicar,” Trinity cut in. Finally gathering her wits, she scrambled off the bed and went to him. Put a hand on his sizeable bicep. Tried to soothe him as she had across time. The way she was only just remembering now. Soothed because whatever sought her had ripped his Múspellsheimr side to the surface. “Thorulf’s right. You must stop. This thing’s far too strong. Far too everything.”
Nearly as dangerous as what had just tried to snag her, Vicar’s fiery dragon eyes turned her way. That’s when she realized. She hadn’t been able to sway his Múspellsheimr side but his inner dragon. She felt it in the fiery response of her own eyes.
Their dragons had far more sway over each other than their human halves.
“Please, Vicar.” She kept her touch gentle but her voice firm. “Know what you’re fighting before you fight it. Know what kind of strength you’ll need before forfeiting your life.”
She sensed his inner Múspellsheimr struggling against his dragon. Longing to push past and have its way.
“Please,” she reiterated, certain she was right. “Because if you don’t, if you go fight now, there will be nobody left to protect me. Nobody left to help me find the strength I’ll need to stop it from taking me somewhere I’ll never come back from.”
His turbulent, near-violent gaze lingered on her face, and the moment stretched.
Would he listen? Or was it already too late?
Moments later, she found out.
