The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

"And I'm giving you the chance to get out of one."

I studied him for a moment, then said, "Are you sure you don't want company?"

"I'll be fine. Liander will be fine. All is good. Go home and rest."

I leaned forward and kissed him. "Thanks. Just make sure you eat, bro. You're going to need all the strength you can muster to look after Liander when he comes home."

He snorted softly. "And you think I'm a bad patient. Wait until we get him home."

The anticipation was there for the world to see, and I smiled. "Bringing him home has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," he said, and flicked my nose. "Go."

I went.

Dusk was settling in by the time I got home. And resting against the front door of our apartment, waiting for me, was a clear plastic container holding a single red rose.

As a cure for tiredness, it was pretty damn fine.

With a smile teasing my lips, I walked into the apartment, tossing my bag and keys aside before sitting down on the arm of the sofa to read the little note.

I really would like to start again, it said, and I'd like to take you to dinner. Our first official date. No strings. Nothing expected. Just you and me, finally getting to know each other.

There was no signature or name, but it didn't need one. It could have come from only one man.

And it seemed Rhoan wasn't the only one who finally had something to look forward to.

With a silly grin stretching my lips, I all but ran over to the phone so I could ring my vampire.

>Iktar glanced at me, his body fading into the shadows and featureless face unreadable. "It is always best to be sure."

And with that, he aimed the laser at her heart and shot the hell out of it. Spirit lizards believed that the soul resided in the heart, and that by destroying the heart you destroyed the soul, preventing it from moving on. In this case, he was too late, but I doubted it would have made a difference anyway. Souls seemed to rise from the whole, not just from the heart.

"He's right," Kade commented. "We should take ourselves to hospital and get checked out."

"You can take yourself there. I'm going home to shower and eat." Although I'd have to shift shape and stop the bleeding first. Not to mention help start healing the missing chunk out of my arm.

But after all that, I would head to the hospital - to hold my brother's hand and wait for news on Liander.

"You are bleeding rather heavily, you know. I mean, I'm loving the hug, but between the two of us we're creating quite a puddle."

I laughed and stepped back. He was right - there was quite a bit of blood at our feet.

"Then get ye to the hospital. Sable will kick your butt if you haven't got the strength to pamper her the way she deserves to be pampered."

"Too damn right." He touched my torn cheek lightly. "Do you want a lift?"

I shook my head. "I'll take Iktar's car. He can grab a lift back with the cleanup team."

"The cleanup team do not like me," Iktar commented.

I grinned. "Well, you will show off your party trick at inappropriate moments."

And having seen that trick myself, I could totally understand their aversion. I mean, a penis he could retract into his body was bad enough, but being able to produce barbs along it as well was just...gross.

"Hey, they asked," he said. "Not my fault."

I smiled and shook my head. Iktar didn't sound too depressed about not being liked, and I had to wonder if he'd done it deliberately. Our spirit lizard got a kick out of not only shocking people but alienating them. Their culture had this weird belief that the fewer friends you had, the more powerful you were. Of course, they also believed family was all that mattered, and that I could totally understand.