Crimson Kiss (Onyx Assassins 5)

The human’s heart stopped.

Darkness filled my vision, my ears, my lungs, pain crippling every muscle in my body. Saint had taken over my mind.

I had to get my shields up. I built them brick by brick, just like Alek had taught me, the darkness fighting me every step of the way as my stomach churned and fought to hold its contents. Only when the last brick was in place did my vision and hearing return.

And then all I heard was the screaming of my brethren.

I left Zachariah screaming on the floor and raced to follow the bloody boot prints that began on the floor beneath the human and led out the back. There was no sign of him after the two bloody prints on the porch. He’d wended. Untraceable.

Saint was gone.

I marched back into the house as Zachariah quieted, stumbling to his feet.

“Damn it,” he seethed, struggling to maintain his balance. “It felt just like we’d been attacked by Night Thistle.”

“That’s some fucking power to have,” I muttered, crossing the kitchen floor and yanking my dagger from the cabinet face.

“He got away,” Zachariah surmised. “We’d still be on the floor if he was nearby. He can only control minds up to a certain distance.”

“Yeah, he got away.” I glanced at my dagger and felt a small smile of satisfaction curve my lips through the disappointment of having lost him. Blood dripped from the blade. “But he’s wounded.”

12

Avianna

Inches.

That’s all Hawke was giving me—and yeah, he had a lot of inches to give—but that’s not what was frustrating the hell out of me right now.

“Something on your mind, Princess?” Hawke said from where he stood on the opposite side of the shower. Being royalty had some delightful perks, like having a walk-in shower that was big enough to be its own room, complete with eight different showerheads and four long marble benches.

He was four showerheads away from me and I glanced at him from across the space. We’d decided the separation was the only way we were going to get clean tonight, and I definitely couldn’t deny how much I liked the view. But he was right—something was on my mind.

“Beyond the fact that you crossed paths with Saint and he rendered the Hunters useless in a matter of seconds?” I asked, soaping up my body and smirking at the muscle clenching in his jaw as he watched.

He glared at me, knowing we’d already been over that event a dozen times. Still, fear clenched my heart every time I thought about Hawke being that close to Saint. Thank God my brother had taught him how to properly mentally shield, something he’d also been working on with me ever since I returned. But still. I hated it had been that close. And it only made these moments with him that more precious, and I wanted him to be him the rest of the time we had together.

“You,” I said. “I’m thinking about you.”

“What about me?” he asked, running his powerful hands over his body, washing and driving me absolutely crazy with the sight.

“You’re not…” My voice trailed off as I tried to think of the right words. I’d gotten him to agree to these two weeks by some miracle, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin it. Have him revert to his previous standing—touch Avianna bad, protect Avianna good.

“Worthy of you?” he answered for me, and I glared at him. “Pretty sure we’ve already established that.”

“That is not even close to what I was going to say.”

“Then say it,” he growled, raking his fingers harder through his hair.

Heat sizzled in my chest, not the kind where I wanted to ride him until we were gasping for breath, but the kind where I wanted to strangle him. Funny, those two emotions sat right next to each other in my soul, and the slightest wind could have me feeling either way when it came to Hawke.

“You’re not enjoying yourself with me!” I blurted out, leaning farther back under the warm water, rinsing my hair.

“Excuse me?” Hawke’s eyes narrowed into that predatory way he had.

I shrugged, not fearing this male for one second. “You’re not.”

His lips parted, utter confusion shaping his features. “Avianna, you’re exquisite. I wake up with your scent in my nose and your flavor on my tongue. That’s how I want to wake up for—” He cut himself off and shook his head. “Every night you push me closer and closer to madness and I’m fucking here for it. How could you possibly think I’m not—”

“I know you’re having a good time,” I said, and his eyes narrowed even more.

Oh, no. Grown ass vampires would piss themselves at that look.

But not me. I simply rinsed the rest of my body off, stepping out from the hot water to ring out my hair.