Sweet Ruin

THIRTY-EIGHT

“Ye think she’ll be hunted?” Desh said to Rune. “I’d like to see who could catch her.”

Damn straight, Jo thought.

With malice in his gaze, Rune ran his fingers down the bowstring over his chest. If she had to guess, he was planning an assassination at his earliest opportunity.

She’d have to extract more vows or something. “Maybe you better go, Desh.” She was even more respectful of Rune’s strength. He’d somehow fought her possession! No one had ever come close before.

The demon glanced past her at Rune. “This is where an old salt makes his exit.” He took one of Jo’s hands into both of his own. “Ye ever need anything, ye know where to find me. Fair winds, me beauty.” He kissed her hand.

Awww. He was like a big, hot, horned teddy bear.

“Till we meet again.” Desh disappeared.

Meet again? Try this weekend at Lafitte’s.

“What the hells, Josephine?” Rune snapped when they were alone. “You attack me? I’m on your side, remember?”

“Currently, you might be. But as soon as this mission ends, we’ll go our separate ways. You made that clear.” And it’d really hurt. She’d suspected he would nail and bail her, but to know . . .

“Don’t speak for me.” He lumbered over to a boulder to sit. “I was protecting you, and this is how you repay me? You couldn’t reveal things about yourself to Deshazior fast enough, but you left me in the dark! How could you not tell me about these powers?”

She was stoked she hadn’t telekinetically Hulk-smashed him! An A+ for Jo! “I kept my abilities close to the vest because I figured I might need to use them against you. Obviously, I did.”

“Where is your family? Which parent was the phantom? Where did you come from?”

“Why should I tell you anything about myself? We’ve traded some orgasms. We both want to off the same Valkyrie. As you were so quick to point out—there’s no bond between us. We’re only together currently, which means temporarily.”

“Bond? Let me explain something. You’re going to need allies. And quickly.”

“Why are you making such a big deal about this? Wiccae or Sorceri must have similar powers. Can’t your witch ally move things with her mind?”

“Yes, but she can’t harvest power through another’s blood. She can’t trace. She can’t possess an enemy and sink him into the ground.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” He was getting angrier by the moment. “No wonder Nïx called you special! No wonder she’s so interested in you and your brother. I should’ve killed Deshazior.”

“He won’t talk. He made that vow.”

“And what if a cosaş drinks him? If this gets out . . .” Rune caught her gaze. “Vampires will want to study you—at best. Others would breed you for day-walking progeny. If the Horde ever crowns a new king, you can be assured he’ll try to capture you.”

Then she would ghost that king beneath a mountain. “Do you know other phantoms?”

“They’re rare. I might have met a handful in all my years. But a vampire/phantom hybrid? I didn’t believe they existed. Are there any other powers I need to know about?”

I can dream your memories. “Nope. That about sums it up.”

“As if those aren’t enough. We need to be on the move as soon as possible, but know this: you will tell me your history today.” He tugged up his shirt to assess his side. His torso was mottled dark purple.

Oops.

“Internal bleeding. Great work. I’ll have to heal this before we face Nïx.” Lips thinned, he removed his bow. “The demon’s right about one thing. You must be a product of the Accession.”

“Keep hearing that term.” Nïx had said they’d all have parts to play.

“Let me guess—you might call it something different?” He pulled off his shirt, his muscles flexing.

Despite everything that had happened, she was primed for him, ogling his broad chest.

“An Accession is a mystical force occurring roughly every five hundred years. It brings immortals into contact for good or for ill. Loreans can find mates and make alliances, but mostly death comes to reduce the immortal population. The Lore is already a violent place; it’s about to get much more so.”

“Accessions sound disturbing.”

“They’re also times of historical wonders and discoveries. For instance, a vampire/phantom hybrid might surface.” His brows drew together, the wheels definitely turning. “Not just one. Your brother is in play as well.”

Jo raised her hand again. “Leave him out of this, Rune! You don’t even get to think about Thad.”

“You should’ve thought about him. If Loreans know what you are and you reunite with him, he also becomes a target.”

Shit, he was right. “You left me no choice but to show my powers. Besides, Nïx already knows about us. We’re as safe—or as screwed—as she decides.”

“That’s a precarious position to be in, Josephine. Rumor holds she’s steering the entire Accession, bringing about a great war, instead of a drawn-out one. I’ve told you she flirts with an apocalypse.”

“Now you see why I want to fight her. I can drag her down to the center of the earth and make her go solid.”

“You’ve given me a hint of how horrific that fate would be.” He pricked his wrist with a claw. Dipping a finger to the welling blood, he used it to draw on the injured side of his torso. The heady scent swept her up as a fascinating symbol took shape.

He’d drawn that on her! She wanted to know what each rune meant. To re-create them. “Will that speed up your healing process?”

He nodded. “Necessary because my partner has delayed us.” In a surly tone, he said, “I reacquainted myself with curative combinations—when I treated your broken body. Without a single word of thanks from you.”

He was making her feel like a bitch. To be fair, he’d only wanted to kill Desh to protect her. And he had saved her from Nïx. Because of Rune, they were on the Valkyrie’s trail.

Yet Jo had kind of broken all his stuff. Guilt weighed on her. “Thank you for helping me.”

He wasn’t listening, his attention on her face. “You don’t wear a glamour.”

“Not quite sure what that is.”

“Some creatures use spells to enhance their appearance. I thought the shadows around your eyes and the pale skin were part of your look.”

“They are.”

“Good,” he said. “Good.” Seeming to drag his gaze away, he checked his side. Beneath that symbol, his bruises were fading. “No wonder your tracing felt so peculiar. You made us intangible first.”

“Yep. I can make things I touch turn to air, if I want them to.”

“The ramifications . . .” He was clearly working out all the angles. “Is it easy to possess others?”

“As easy as breathing. I sometimes call it ghosting. I ghost into a shell.”

“How many shells have you ghosted into?” He drew his shirt back on, then slung his bow over his chest.

“Tons. I hang out in them.”

“So I was just another shell today.”

She shrugged. She needed to steal a memento from him. Unfortunately the talisman was out. “Shouldn’t we get a start?”

“This conversation is in no way over. We’ll revisit it later.”

“Just like we’ll discuss how you’re not going to hurt Desh once the day ends.”

Rune pointed his finger at her, opening his mouth as if he was about to lay into her, but then he just scowled.

In the distance, she heard excited voices. A tour group? Their enthusiasm was contagious. “Come on, Rune.” Jo waved at one of the mountains. “Time to climb!”

His irises flickered as he gazed up and up and up. “Can’t wait. . . .”