Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (27 page)

Nicole looked back and forth between the two men. “What? She was nice.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was.” Brenin folded his arms over his chest. “She has my respect, but
shit
. That witch’s power is intense.”

Nicole shrugged. She wasn’t about to question Rosa.

Gunnar went on to detail the attack by the winged Ghazsul demons. The men froze, eyes locked on their comrade.

“Fucking
wings
?” Rhys narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck?”

Gunnar nodded grimly. “My thoughts exactly. The good thing is,” he turned to Nicole, “Our little Solsti’s talent comes in quite handy against flying creatures.” He squeezed her hand and she smiled. He then went on to explain the surprise raid on Rivkin yesterday morning.

The other Lash demons stared at Nicole. “You turned the tide against the Vipers.” Brenin’s blue eyes studied her intently.

Nicole dropped her gaze to her hands. “The nymph archers were really accurate.”

“That’s true, but the outcome would have been different without you. The nymphs fought hard, but they would’ve lost many more lives. And possibly their home.” Gunnar gave her hand another warm squeeze.

“What the hell is headed our way?” Kai’s tone was pissed. “What fucking nightmare necessitated the return of the Solsti?”

“And here I thought you liked me, Kai,” Nicole said, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

“Yeah,
you’re
okay,” the blond demon grumbled.

“It’s more important than ever that you and your sisters are prepared,” Rilan said. “Now that you have made an appearance on Torth, word will travel. Although not many will believe it at first, so you may have some time.” He paused. “Can’t you bring your other sister here?”

Nicole shook her head, sighing as she said her sister’s name. “Gin. If there was a book about being stubborn, Gin would’ve already written it. She thought Brooke and I were crazy to go out and practice using our gifts the way we did. She doesn’t want anything to do with her ability.”

“She’s the one who can conjure fire?” Brenin asked.

“She can’t conjure it, if it isn’t there to begin with. But all she needs is a lighter, and she can build a flame into an inferno. Kind of like how Brooke only needs a few drops of water to create a deluge.”

“Hmm.” Brenin frowned. “Maybe if she sees how we shape and control our demonfire, she’ll be more comfortable.”

“I’ll talk to her, but I can’t make any promises.”

Kai stood up, anger rolling off his tall frame. “Yeah, well, she needs to understand this isn’t all about her. We all have to make sacrifices.”

Gunnar tensed. “Watch your fucking mou–”

“It’s okay,” Nicole said. “I agree with you, Kai. It’s just that Gin will take some convincing.”

Kai stalked to the window and folded his arms across his chest. He glared out at the September sunlight. “I followed one of those maggots as far as I could before it got into a fucking car. Headed south on I-57. I couldn’t run it down.”

“We’ll keep searching the area, man,” Rhys offered. “And now, we know the bastard’s name. Maeron. Whoever the fuck that is.”

“Yeah, and that he collects old coins,” Brenin mused. “Although, he’s not being very careful if the Skells are running off with them. Unless he’s letting them.”

“So other demons know that they’re allied with this guy?” Rhys balled up a piece of paper and tossed it across the room. It landed with a soft swish, dead center in a small garbage can by the computers.

“Perhaps,” Rilan said. “We’ll search the south suburbs and along the interstate. Nicole, I want you and your sisters to keep honing your skills. If you need me, just ask.” He held the old grimoire from Taszim carefully in his hands. “I’ll begin translating this as soon as we’re done here.”

Gunnar turned to her. “I don’t want you going out at night, playing hero.” He placed a finger on her lips at her look of indignation. “It’s too dangerous, now that word is out about you. I know you want to help people, but think of everyone you’ll help if you can repeat what you did at Rivkin.”

Remembering the vicious Vipers shifted her disgruntled mood into perspective.
What will happen if they come here?
She shuddered at the thought of the carnage they would cause. “Okay,” she said softly. He seemed almost surprised at her acquiescence. “What about you?”

“Kai and I will look for Skells tonight.”

“Rhys and I will search the areas south of the city,” Brenin said.

“Rilan will be translating,” Gunnar continued. “You’ll be safe here. You should get some rest.”

She nodded, and her stomach rumbled as if on cue. This was getting embarrassing. Gunnar grinned at her. “Eat first, then rest.”

She rummaged in the kitchen’s huge freezer and found a frozen deep dish pizza from a local restaurant. Evidently even demons agreed with her that nothing could compare to Chicago style pizza. Smiling, she preheated the oven and searched the cabinets and pantry. Frozen items were fine, but if she was going to spend more time here, she would need to stock up on fresh foods. Especially with several huge and hungry demon males around. Gunnar said that they didn’t need to eat often, but the aroma of cooking food seemed to attract them like bees to honey.

Gunnar sat with her as she ate and polished off the two thirds of the pizza that she couldn’t finish. They shared a lingering kiss after they’d cleaned up the kitchen, with Nicole insisting that he be careful and Gunnar insisting that she get sleep. Then he and Kai went to the training room to prepare for the evening, and she went upstairs alone to his bedroom.

I could be sleeping here for a while
. A smile crept across her face at that thought. Gunnar’s décor could only be described as sparse and masculine. Several pieces of dark mahogany furniture occupied the room, including a king-sized poster bed and a large armchair. A huge old-looking double-bladed sword hung on the wall.
I bet there’s a story behind that
. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

Picking up her phone, she dialed Brooke’s number. She had texted her sister earlier in the day to tell her she arrived home safely, and that she’d call when she got a chance. Brooke would be busy with her client until after dinner, anyway.

“Nic!” The relief in her sister’s voice was palpable. “Where are you?”

“Here in Evanston, at Demon Central. And don’t worry, I’m not going out tonight. I’m going to do something unusual and get some sleep.”

“I’m sure you need it. But first I want details of your little excursion.”

“I think I have to tell you most of it in person. Torth is an amazing, beautiful, dangerous, wild place. It’ll take days to tell you everything. But you’ll see it for yourself one day.”

“Oh, really? I’m going there? Did you just decide this for me?”

“No, a very old witch did. Your presence has been requested.” Nicole couldn’t hold back a laugh at Brooke’s screech on the other end of the line. She gave in and told her all about Rosa and her fairy tale cottage. Before she knew it, an hour had slipped by. Talking to Brooke was like a balm. She hadn’t realized quite how much she had missed her sister. Finally they agreed to hang up, with the promise of much more conversation in two days’ time. Eyelids suddenly heavy, she washed up quickly in the adjoining bathroom and slipped into Gunnar’s bed. Her last thoughts were of how his sheets smelled deliciously like him: clean and woodsy, masculine and brawny, and
hers.

C
HAPTER
19

K
AI
ITCHED
TO
get out of the house and into the city’s rough neighborhoods. He needed to vent his pent-up frustration on some unfortunate creature. It had been two days since Brooke left for her business trip, and he could still smell her sweet scent in the house. Especially when he passed the guest room where she’d slept. At least it was finally dissipating enough that he didn’t get hard just walking by the door anymore.

He did his best to avoid her for the twenty-four hours following their little confrontation in the kitchen. The house was big, but not big enough. He’d left for a few hours, only to return to find her in the back yard with Rilan, trying out some trick near the birdbath. Kai went out to watch, thinking maybe he could set things right.

“Nice. I knew a water sprite once who could do that. Among other things.” He studied the thin stream of water that shot skyward before splitting in two graceful arcs. He didn’t see the point of that particular exercise. How could she do anything with a trickle of water?

She looked at him like he was a bug stuck to the bottom of her boot. “Good for you.”

“Everyone’s gotta learn sometime. You know, start with the basics...” He broke off as she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and turned away.

He stalked through the back door and into the kitchen, muttering under his breath. “S’up?” he said to Rhys, who stood juggling three apples in a swirl of red flashes.

Rhys stopped, tossed Kai an apple, and retrieved a water bottle from the fridge. “She’s been out there all afternoon with the Elder.” He rested a hip at the counter and nodded toward the window.

Kai rolled his eyes and sank his teeth into the crisp fruit. Great, two insults in less than sixty seconds.
How soon is she leaving?

The next day he went downstairs to work out in the training room. Her lilac scent enticed him as soon as he started down the steps, caressing his skin and firing his blood. He gritted his teeth. No reason he couldn’t get through a fucking workout just because she was in the room. But when he opened the door to see her running on the treadmill, he froze.

Every drop of blood in his body shot straight to his groin. All he could do was stare at her, transfixed by her rounded ass and full breasts bouncing as she jogged. She had earbuds in, a music player resting on the display, and she wore a black tank top and shorts. A light sheen of sweat covered her creamy skin, nearly all of which was displayed nicely thanks to her skimpy outfit. Thank the gods she didn’t see him, since he was now sporting a hard-on the size of a rocket. He silently backed out of the room and closed the door.

He avoided her the rest of the day, knowing she had to leave to catch her plane that evening. If she walked into a room, he walked out of it. To hell with being nice. She unsettled him. He wanted to return her every glare and prickly comment. And he wanted to pin her sweet curves against the nearest wall, fucking her until she screamed his name.

Now he perched silently with Gunnar on a rooftop in a gentrifying west-side neighborhood. Fast food bags and used napkins drifted down the street, past gleaming new condos mixed in with shabbier buildings. Only years of training kept Kai from fidgeting. His sexual frustration and general bad mood were turning him into a ticking time bomb, and he really needed to smoke some Skells.

Gunnar glanced at him from his position several feet away. “What’s up with you?”

If Kai had to be stuck with someone tonight, Gunnar would be his first pick. He’d push Kai, but he knew when to shut the hell up. “Just ready for a fight.”
Enough about me
. “So, you and the blonde, huh?”

Gunnar grunted but couldn’t hold back a grin. “Yeah. Me and Nicole.”

The bright eyes and look of pure contentment on his friend’s face was one Kai had never seen on him before. “Fuck.” Kai stared at him.

“What?”

“Dude, you’ve got ‘whipped’ written all over your face.”

Gunnar didn’t say anything at first. He raised his eyebrows and his smile widened. “I have no argument with that.”

Kai snorted. “Never saw that one coming.”

“Neither did I.”

“Yeah well, better you than me. Just don’t get soft out here, man.” Kai scanned the street below.
Good for Gunnar
. Kai didn’t do commitment.

“I can still take your ass down–”

“G. There.” Kai’s fight instincts jumped to life as he saw a small shape dart into an alley across the road. “Showtime.”

Kai didn’t wait for his friend as he made the three-story drop to the ground. In a blur of movement, he sprinted to the other side of the street and into the alley. To his acute eyes, the dark space was bright as day. He quickly spotted the telltale gray skin of the Skell as it turned the corner at the other end of the block. Kai grinned as he chased it. It didn’t have a prayer of escaping him.

He emerged from the alley onto a side street used primarily for deliveries. Warehouses loomed like concrete sentries, and debris littered the sidewalks. The Skell scrambled toward a dumpster and ducked behind it. A soft thud above, audible only to Kai’s demon hearing, let him know that Gunnar was perched on the roof.

Kai ran to the dumpster and shoved it aside, revealing the quaking Skell’s hiding place. He grabbed it by its scrawny neck and shook it. “Time to talk, maggot.”

A small plastic bottle fell out of its pants pocket.

“You’re gonna tell me what that’s for,” Kai snarled.

“I don’t know,” the Skell gasped through Kai’s chokehold.

“Try again.” Yeah, the Skells were incompetent, but with this many of them involved, someone was bound to know something.

“No, I really don’t.” It flailed its arms.

Gunnar’s footfalls sounded behind him, ready for backup duty. Not that he would need it against one of these things. He already knew his friend would let him take the lead on this little interrogation.

“I’m really tired of getting that response,” Kai said with feigned disinterest as he drew a dagger from his thigh and studied it. Then raising it in silver arc, he brought it down, severing the Skell’s hand. It shrieked and howled.

“Ready to talk now?”

It clutched its bloody wrist with its good hand. “H-he just keeps making us go out and get more. We don’t know what he’s going to do with it.”

“With what?”

“The b-blood. From the humans.”

“He makes you guys bring it back to him?”

The Skell nodded pitifully. “He m-makes us put it into a big container. That’s all. We haven’t seen him do anything with it. He just says he wants more of it. He says he’s almost ready.”