He swigged his beer, finishing the rest. “Best feeling in the world.” He set the bottle on the glass coffee table in front of him, settling it next to his Glock and holster. “They’re probably home by now.”
Emma moved near the sofa. “But will they stay there? Or will Loghry go after each and every one of them again?”
Vaughn flipped his hand back and forth, gesturing first to Stormy in the tree then the cat now half reclining on his left boot. “What do your friends say?”
Emma turned to the owl first, then glanced at Toby. Her quirky smile made another appearance. “They’re still celebrating.”
The owl lifted a clawed foot off the branch and hooted. The cat meowed in response. Vaughn was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been. Emma was a powerful witch and some of that power had become part of her familiars. “I guess they are.”
Emma moved closer and sat down, not exactly right next to him but not so far away he couldn’t reach over and grab her. He worked hard to keep himself restrained, but he wanted her right now, something fierce.
She drank again and released a sigh. “How much of the ghosts can you see? And isn’t it unusual for a vampire to see ghosts at all?”
“It is. As for what I can detect, at first, in the Graveyard, I didn’t see anything. I only felt fingers on my face. Later, I had the impression of three faces, but right now,” he paused and glanced at the figures sitting on top of a nearby dining table, “they’re almost fully formed. They’re even wearing clothes and seem to like the color red.”
Emma chuckled. “That they do.”
“Which one is Becca?”
“Our spokesperson ghost?” Emma shifted her gaze toward the table as well. “She’s wearing the jeans and red tank top.”
Vaughn stared at the triplets for a long time. They appeared to be communicating with each other. “The whole thing is amazing, that I can see them, that you can levitate and I can fly faster.” He shifted toward her. “Speaking of that. How exactly did you discover you could levitate? It must have come as a big surprise.”
She turned toward him as well, angling her body. “I’ve never been so shocked. But when we’d first arrived at the edge of forest and you moved me off your boot, I didn’t touch the ground. I couldn’t believe it. So while you were settling things with Fergus and his crew, I was gaining my bearings. The weirdest thing was having an absolute certainty that not only could I levitate, but I had the skills necessary to make it work. It was an incredible feeling.”
“But how did this happen between us?” He turned more fully and planted his elbow on the back of the sofa. He rested his face against his fist. “I’m not getting what’s going on here, why we seem to be sharing our different alter abilities.”
She finished her beer and set the bottle next to his. She curled her knees up to better face him, then mirrored his movements by putting her elbow on the sofa as well. She rested her head against the palm of her hand. “Iris said the same kinds of things happened to her and Connor, a sort of sharing of gifts. Iris said she’d bit Seraphina and held her in a vampire thrall. That was one of the reasons they made their escape. Can you believe that?”
Vaughn leaned forward slightly. “I remember now. Connor said something about it, but it made no sense at the time. He said he could kill like a witch could. Jesus, this is a lot to take in.” But there was something else he needed to talk over with her. “What the hell was all that about back there with Dagen-the-asshole? I was ready to kill him.”
“I know. I could tell. And I really didn’t want you in the pit with that monster. Once Max was out of the way, Dagen came after me. He wanted me to live with him as his mistress in Savage, since I could never be a real mate, at least in his eyes. Max had a different view entirely.
“I hate Dagen with a passion. There’s something not right with him.” Her nostrils flared. “He smells evil, the way the dark coven witches smell. It’s hard to explain what that odor is like. It’s as though some tinge of underworld sulphur catches hold of them. But if he really is mixed up with Loghry, then that would explain a lot.”
“It would.” He smiled suddenly. “I have to admit I loved it when you hit him.”
“Oh, that’s another thing. I mean, I lashed out because I was mad but I didn’t expect to deliver a blow that could knock him off his feet. The thing is, the punch carried a portion of your strength. That’s why he fell. This is just amazing and kind of hopeful. Maybe between us we have something that c
ould battle a wizard of Loghry’s ability. What do you think?”
Vaughn had only half listened to her words. He was caught up in his lust again, which increased because of the excited glitter in her eyes. The woman had a lot of life in her and he wanted some of that.
Using his free hand, he caressed Emma’s face. “I think you’re amazing. That’s what I think. And thanks again for taking care of me in the field.”
“It was my pleasure.” Her cheeks took on a rosy hue.
His lips curved. “Now what are you thinking? Why are you blushing?”
She didn’t answer him, instead, she moved very slowly, like a cat uncurling itself, and slid onto his lap. “This is why.”
She kissed him, then nipped his lip. “I’m not proud of this, Vaughn, but part of me wanted you to take Dagen, to end up in the pit with him and tear him to shreds. When he was confronting me, I could feel your vampire power rise, and it was sexy as hell. The tension in your hand alone, because you were still holding mine right then, was a fire on my skin. I wanted you so much. And some of that desire is still with me.”
He stared into her glinting green eyes, and his body responded instantly, which meant his jeans weren’t fitting so well anymore. He would never know what she was like in her simple human form, but he loved her dynamic alter witch nature. She held nothing back, and this was something they shared in common. It was all or nothing.
She dipped down to suck on his neck, and that’s when he felt it, a tenseness in her bite as though she had fangs. His mind loosened at the same time, a very strange sensation that he would describe as the beginnings of a vampire enthrallment.
He drew back and held her gaze. “Did you feel that, Em?”