Dark Flame (Flame 3)
His green eyes widened. “Shit, that does feel powerful.”
“I know,” she said. “And we’ll need it that way to be anywhere near Roche.”
He narrowed his gaze. “The fae part of me knows we’re on the right track and that we’ll find him.”
“How do you know that? Even I’m not feeling it, and I’m more fae than you.”
“I think the vampire in me is more predatory than your wisdom-seeking faeness.”
“That makes sense, sort of. Maybe you should do the hunting, then. I might get in the way, otherwise.”
His lips curved slightly. “Oh, I don’t know. You hunted me once before and were very successful at it.”
At that, she lifted her chin. “You are so not allowed to joke about the one thing for which your conscious self refuses to forgive me.”
“You’re right. That’s not fair to you.”
She could see he was hardly remorseful at all. “And it would help me a lot if you’d let me go. This part of you that loved being with me in the dreamglide was half the problem. Because, if you’ll recall, you engaged with me that first time without a moment’s hesitation. Remember? I would have left in a heartbeat if you’d made a single protest. But you didn’t.”
He gripped her arms, his green eyes lit with sudden passion. “How could I do anything else, when you were riding me like a seductive Valkyrie, your hair and eyes wild? I loved it. I don’t regret it. Not any of it.”
“Just your conscious self.”
He nodded slowly.
She saw the depth of his conflict and came to realize just how much their time together had truly meant to him. She wondered if there was something she could do about it, if there was some way she could help Brannick bring his two selves together.
For the moment, however, she had to let go. “All right, let’s forget about our ongoing issue for now, Mr. Vampire-turned-Fae. Take the lead and see if you can find this bastard.”
He released his hold on her arms. “Fine. But we’re not done, Juliet.”
At that, she slammed both her hands against his chest. “Don’t put this on me. You have to figure this out for yourself. Both your selves.”
“I know. Just, don’t give up on me.”
Those words hit her hard, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head to his chest. “I won’t and I can’t. You mean so damn much to me, Brann.”
He surrounded her with his arms. “Ditto, and I mean that. Sorry that I’ve been such a pain. God, I’ve missed you, but why didn’t you come to me in the dreamglide this past week?”
At that, she could only laugh as she pulled away from him. “Are you kidding me? This is what got me into trouble in the first place.”
His lips twisted into a funny grin. “My conscious self is an idiot.”
She saw the look in his eye and knew that he’d keep this up if she let him. He’d obviously missed her, and she was pretty sure if she encouraged him a little, he’d make love to her right now.
“No.” She held his gaze in a strong grip. “You listen to me, there will be no more fooling around until you figure this out. Do you understand? I’m not going to violate you again, even if you gave me permission a thousand times. Have you got it?”
~ ~ ~
Brannick thought it a strange thing to be so completely at odds with himself. But he’d always felt at peace with Juliet in the dreamglide, as though this was real-time and not the other way around.
&nb
sp; His jaw flexed a couple of times. “You’re right. It’s not fair to you when it’s my problem.” He glanced around, then took his time walking the perimeter of the dreamglide. He pushed his hand at the blurry walls, testing the physical boundaries over and over.
He lifted his gaze to the top. More blur. But there was something else. He reached through and encountered what he could only describe as a strong metal meshwork made of something like reinforced steel bars.
“Hey, these are the blocks you’ve built, aren’t they? The ones Agnes taught you to make.”