Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (12 page)

Gunnar turned to Nicole. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” She scanned him from head to toe. “But you are.”

“Superficial cuts,” he shrugged, as Raniero walked over and eyed his arm. The puckered, raw skin had turned an ugly shade of red.

“That’s gonna sting,” the other demon remarked dryly.

“Says the Watcher who missed most of the action.”

“I wouldn’t want you to lose a chance to smoke as many Vipers as possible. You must miss them on Earth.” His eyes slid over to Nicole.

Gunnar scowled. He loved a good brawl with any nasty creature, but there were a few that he’d only tangle with if his options were down to zero. He kept his eyes on his friend as he spoke. “Nicole, this ugly SOB is Raniero.”

“It seems my comrade has forgotten his manners,” Raniero said in mock affront. He reached for Nicole’s hand and, with a glance at Gunnar’s glare, stopped short of kissing it. He inclined his head slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nicole.”

She smiled. “You showed up just in time.”

Gunnar was about to retort that he had the situation under control but, in truth, he was glad to see his old friend. “It’s good to see you, man.”

“This bastard has saved my ass more times than I can count,” Raniero said to Nicole. “You’ll be safe with him.” Hands on his hips, he turned to Gunnar. “What brings you to Torth? When I heard the sounds of the fight back there, you were the last person I expected to find.”

“We’re going to see Rosa,” Gunnar answered.

“Rosa? Then you must have encountered a mystery that Rilan can’t solve.”

Gunnar nodded. “Nicole found something during a fight with some Skells.”

Raniero snorted. “Those things are the rats of our world, and that’s an insult to rats. But…you’re working with the fae now?”

“She’s not fae.”

Nicole drew up her shoulders as Raniero regarded her expectantly. “Rilan says I’m a Solsti.”

The olive skinned demon blinked. “They’re a myth.” He glanced at Gunnar and then back to her.

“Apparently, they
were
a myth.” She held his gaze.

The other demon paused. “Ah, the arrows. That was you, no? I thought you were using some form of telekinesis.”

She shook her head. “I was moving the air currents.”

“I’ll be damned.” His dark eyes flashed with respect. “Well, Solsti, Rosa will certainly be interested in you, if not in the mystery you’re bringing to her. Perhaps she was alive when the last Solsti existed.”

“On that note, we should keep moving.” Gunnar inclined his head toward the path.

“But what about your injuries?” Nicole protested.

“You won’t make it to Rosa’s before nightfall,” Raniero said. “You’ll need a place to stay tonight. These woods are even more dangerous than when you were here last.”

“No shit,” Gunnar grunted.

“And,” the other demon continued, “If you rest that arm, it will be back to full strength by morning. Alas, I cannot accompany you all the way to Rosa’s domain. I can, however, bring you to a safe house.”

Because the area that Raniero and the Torthian Lash demons monitored was so vast, they had several safe hideouts scattered throughout the area. When on wide patrols, it wasn’t uncommon for them to find themselves too far out to return to the main house before dark. Even though the Lash were among the fiercest of demons, Arawn’s Watchers usually patrolled in small groups, while some of the uglier nocturnal species that they watched tended to move in hordes. The hideouts weren’t fancy, but they were safe and well-warded against detection.

“How far?” Gunnar asked.

“A couple hours’ walk.”

Gunnar nodded his agreement, but Nicole shook her head and put her hand on his chest. “You don’t look like you should walk anywhere for the next two hours. Look at you!”

He couldn’t help but allow a smile to tug at his lips. “Yes, look at me.” He pulled up his ruined T-shirt to show her the cut from the Viper. Although crusty with dried blood, all that remained was a thin, nearly-healed red line.

Her mouth opened, then closed. She frowned at the mark and traced it gingerly with her fingertips. It was his turn to suck in a breath at the sensation of her warm fingers on his skin. She let her hand linger at his chest for an instant longer than she needed to, and raised her green, heated eyes to his. The tip of his cock tingled. Gods above, he wanted her soft hands all over his body.

Misreading his expression, she pulled her hand away and took a step back. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” he said through gritted teeth.

“But how–”

“Accelerated healing.” He yanked down his shirt. “Most supernatural creatures have it. You might, as well.” He was furious at her for getting involved with the Vipers. At the same time he felt warmed by her worry over his wounds. With the exception of his fellow Lash, he couldn’t recall anyone looking at him with such care and concern. He stepped closer to her and reached to smooth a lock of blond hair that had come loose from her ponytail. Gentling his voice, he said, “And I’m in no hurry to find out. You should have stayed down on the ground, not joined in the fight.”

Nicole blinked, then looked past him to Raniero and blushed furiously. “I was just trying to help,” she muttered.

Raniero cleared his throat and started back up the path. “If you’re ready, then,” he murmured, “Follow me.”

Sunlight streamed into the room as Kai awoke to a quiet house. He was still royally pissed off about losing the Skell last night, but he would be able to think it through more clearly today. At least now he had a general direction.

His stomach let out a ravenous growl. He didn’t need to eat every day, but he’d let it go too long. He almost never got to the point where he felt hungry. Rolling out of bed naked, he pulled on a pair of jeans and didn’t bother with the top button. He headed down the stairs to the kitchen. The sounds of drawers opening drifted toward his ears as he rounded the corner, and when he reached the doorway, he stilled.

A woman peered into one of the lower cabinets. She had a sweet, round ass that was literally tilted up in the air as she bent down to retrieve a pan. Thick chestnut hair fell below her shoulders in waves. As she straightened, he noted her small waist, and saw she was rather tall for a female. His eyes travelled down her long legs and back up to her curvy hips.
Damn
. The unslaked lust from last night roared back to him, sending blood flowing to his groin.

He cleared his throat. “I’ll take some sausage and eggs. Black coffee, too.”

She gasped and whirled to face him. Holy hell, she was gorgeous. Pale gray eyes stared at him as her mouth opened and then closed. That mouth had lush red lips that instantly gave him ideas about what she could do with it on various parts of his body. Full breasts pushed against the fabric of her fitted, sleeveless top. Her face was heart-shaped, her skin like porcelain. Faint pink flushed her cheeks as her gaze lingered on his bare torso and low-hanging jeans. She opened her mouth again. “I…I’m not–”

“C’mon, baby. Kai’s getting hungry.” He moved a step closer.

She froze. Her expression changed from flustered confusion to cool assessment in a heartbeat. She raised her eyebrows. “You have two hands,” she said sarcastically.

“Excuse me?” For a split second he was floored. Women didn’t talk to him like that.

“Yeah. Excuse you. That was rude.”

He let out a low growl and prowled into the kitchen, standing right in front of her. He could smell whatever soapy product she used in the shower, apple-scented something or other. “
What
did you just say?”

“I think you heard me.”

He leaned down until his nose was inches away from hers. Standing this close to her, he was swamped with her sweet scent, almost making him forget her taunt. “Who do you think you are?”

Before she could respond, the back door opened and Brenin strode in. The other demon must have sensed the tension in the room and spoke in a voice laced with warning.

“’S’up, Kai?” Brenin leaned on the other side of the granite-topped island, standing in a pose that looked completely relaxed. But as Kai well knew, Brenin would vault over it in a split second if trouble started.

Was Brenin protecting her? Kai took a step back and blew out a breath, not taking his eyes off the female. “Who is this?”

Brenin spoke with a purposeful, slow voice that irritated Kai. “Kai, let me introduce you to Brooke, Nicole’s sister.” Turning to the woman, he said, “Brooke, this is Kai, the other Lash demon who lives here. Looks like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. He’s not usually such an ass.”

Nicole’s sister. Shit
. She had mentioned two of them, and Rilan wanted to meet them. Because they were
fucking Solsti
. Kai glared at her. It seemed he’d managed to offend a creature so powerful and rare that she was supposed to be a myth.

“Fuck you, Brenin.” Turning, he stalked to the basement door and yanked it open. He needed to work off steam somehow, and it looked like the training room was going to be his best option. He wasn’t going to apologize. This was his territory and no one, not even a tart-tongued Solsti, talked to him like that.

Nicole had never been so happy to hike through the woods. What the heck happened back there? She’d do anything to keep moving and to avoid talking to Gunnar right now. He was obviously ticked at her, but she hadn’t missed the blue flash in his eyes when she touched his chest. His gaze had warmed her skin the entire day, which only intensified the way her body ached after last night’s dream. She tried to make conversation just to keep herself distracted. The run-in with the Vipers was a definite distraction, but only a temporary one.

She had been transfixed watching Gunnar fight the snake-headed creatures. All that raw male strength and the efficient way he dispatched the Vipers made for a potent combination. His powerful body ducked and swerved with a grace not immediately evident in someone his size. The muscles in his arms rippled and bulged every time he hefted that sword. It had to weigh half as much as she did, but the way he moved made it seem like little more than a sapling.

Then he had to go and taunt her with his gorgeous, muscular chest, only to growl at her two seconds later. No one told her that demons had super-healing abilities. Maybe it was bold of her to touch him, but she was concerned about his wound. That and the fact that she had been dying to get her hands on him, especially after last night. It wasn’t just her dream, but the memory of his hands on her breasts that was making her a little crazy.

They walked along the path in a single line, with Nicole in the middle. True to his word, Raniero stopped a couple hours later and indicated for them to follow him off the path and into the dense bushes. After awhile they came to a very small clearing and Raniero smiled. “Here we are.”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. “I don’t see anything.”

“We have very good wards,” the demon said with a confident smile. He reached down to move a large branch on the ground, and Nicole noticed the outline of a door in the grass. The door itself appeared to be made of grass. Raniero tugged on a handle that Nicole thought was a rock, and the door opened upward. It looked like a storm cellar that was accessed from the outside. “After you,” he murmured, inclining his head.

Nicole crept cautiously down the stairs. Motion-controlled lights flickered on as she descended farther. After two flights the stairs ended at a closed door. She waited, not knowing if this door was warded also. Raneiro reached around her to open it, saying, “Go ahead. It’s not the Plaza, but it’s safe.”

She found herself in a large living room. There was a kitchen and a room that looked like an office off to the left, and a hallway to the right. The living room had a chair rail encircling the walls, the lower half painted a deep crimson and the top portion tinted with a warm tan. Sconces and small mirrors contributed to an understated sophistication. She spied marble counter tops in the kitchen, and was instantly glad that her newest friends took an interest in creature comforts. Glad, but a little bit confused. “You have electricity here?”

Raniero grinned at her. “Torth is not that different from Earth. It’s as old as Earth, and has similar diversity in its geography and climate. And demons have been flashing back and forth between the two for centuries. Any modern conveniences have either been adapted to Torth or existed here first.”

Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he added, “Of course, some of the conveniences on Torth may have a few supernatural modifications. Like electricity, for example. Torth doesn’t have a power grid or power lines; instead, magic is used to channel power from the ley lines that cross the realm.”

“Ley lines?”

“They’re kind of like latitude and longitude, except they don’t necessarily run north-south and east-west. They go where they want, connecting various places of concentrated magic or energy.”

“Actually, Earth has ley lines, too,” Gunnar added. “Though the ones here are more powerful.”

“Okay.” Nicole shrugged. That explanation was as good as any. Two-headed birds, angry snake-headed monsters, and magical power lines.
Don’t over-think it
. She sank onto a soft red couch, the stresses of the day weighing on her. Her stomach picked that moment to growl, and she remembered she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Both demons heard, of course. As they turned to look at her, she rose and walked to the kitchen. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was! Do you guys want anything?” Then she paused.

She raised an eyebrow at Gunnar, who followed her. “I don’t even know what you eat,” she said softly.

He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water. “We don’t need to eat as often as you do. These will be fine for now.” Setting the drinks down on the counter, he turned to her. “Nicole, we were in a dangerous situation today. Vipers are among the most vicious creatures on Torth, and they ambushed us. I want to keep you safe, but I need you to listen to me.”

She sighed. “But I was able to help you. I kept their arrows away from you. Well, most of them.” She eyed the red, puckered skin of his arm ruefully.