"Or with you?" I asked, feeling so drawn to Mik that it took real effort on my part to move back.
"Or with me," he said, his shoulders slumping as he calmed considerably.
"Girl, I was willing to fight for you, but holy shit, how many boyfriends do you have?" Revel asked as I smiled softly and looked up.
"This is my boss, Mikhail Ravena, and he only thinks of me best as an employee, at worst as food." I would never forget the shit he'd said to me before. Never. I hadn't let it take a direct hit to my ego, but holy hell, it'd hurt.
"Thea," he said, and there was something in his voice that made me unsure as to whether I wanted to hear what he had to say or not. "You know that I care about you."
"Oh, this is rich," Nix said, standing up and moving closer to us. With each step he took, Mik got more and more tense. "You're in love with Miss Hunt? How fascinating?"
"I highly suggest you back the fuck out of my space before I end you."
"Really? Haven't you tried that before?" Nix asked, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger. "Last time I stole your woman?"
"Thea, if he doesn't move out of my space, I can't be liable for what will happen next," Mik snarled, both his fangs on full display.
Fuck, I want to know about this mystery woman they're both fighting about ...
"Nix, back off," I snapped, putting a palm on his hard belly and pushing him back. Probably shouldn’t have done that because it felt way too goddamn good. "If you want us to go meet your employer, you better not start another shitstorm with Mikhail."
"His employer?" Mik cocked a brow. "You're not going anywhere with this piece of shit."
"She better," Nix said, glancing back at Revel. "The miko, too. My employer isn't exactly known for her benevolence, you understand. And her reach is quite wide." He turned back to us and smiled. "You can come if you want, Mika. It'd be fun to see your face when you find out who I'm taking these ladies to meet."
"Nix is helping me find a cure for the disease."
"A cure?!" he choked out, and the laugh that followed was not pleasant. Nix thinks Mik cares about me, huh? I wasn't entirely sold, but it was a nice thought. "He's the one who started this shit in the first place!"
"He what?!" Revel shrieked, Ziff's hiss following right behind her. "Thea, what the hell?"
"When you see why, you'll understand," Nix said, cool as a goddamn cucumber. "It's for a good cause."
"It better be," Revel said, this darkness falling over her face that gave me chills. "Because I'm half ready to team up with your vampire friend here and rip your balls off. Bet you couldn't take us both?"
Nix just smiled and tilted his head back, a shimmer of light catching on the edge of his glasses. He was the perfect bad guy: sexy, suave, cold.
"I guess that'll have to remain a mystery. Shall we?"
"Mik, are you coming?" I asked. "Because I have to go do this, and to be honest, I'd feel better if you were there."
He paused, smoothing his hands down the front of his black trench. When his eyes met mine, I could see that it was true, that he really did feel something for me, something beyond employee or food.
"I'll go," he said, "but if Nix steps out of line, I'm taking advantage of the moment and doing what I should've done a hundred years ago."
Didn't take an expert to figure out what that might be.
We took my Jag, but I let Nix drive since he seemed to know where he was going.
Neither Mik nor Revel wanted to sit in the front with him, so I sat squashed between them in the middle row. I didn’t want to fucking sit with him either.
"This is fucking insane," Mik said, lifting his eyes up to the roof and then closing them. "I've lost the goddamn plot."
"Thanks for supporting me," I said, and I wasn't trying to be an ass ... this time. I was serious. Having him here, as more than my boss or critic, made a big fucking difference.
"Thea," he said again, with that same weird tone, but then he just looked out the window and didn't bother putting his thoughts into words. Just as well with Nix and Revel in the car with us.
"This doesn't look like the business sector of town," Revel purred, her voice low and menacing. "Taking us out into the woods to bury us?"
"Hardly. I have people who do that sort of thing for me." Nix turned on his blinker and took us onto a dirt road that tested every molecule in my expensive shocks. Even though the Jag was well-built, we were jostled and bumped all over the place.
We'd been driving for quite some time, almost two hours. I was fairly certain we were right around the Rocky Mountain National Park Area. Civilization had disappeared some time ago, leaving us with trees and mountains and darkness.
"Where the fuck are we?" I asked as Mik pulled out his phone and tapped his finger on the screen.
"Coordinates suggest we're on a private lot owned by a dummy trust. Know anything about that, Mr. Locklear?"
Nix ignored Mik, taking us further and further up the mountain, all the way to a well-maintained gravel patch, like a small parking pad. He pulled the SUV onto it and opened his door.
"Before we head up the hill ..." Nix began as Revel slid out and we both stood there staring up at a massive set of stone steps. There must be thousands of them built into the hill and leading to a very distinct looking building, with a traditional Japanese style roof.
As soon as I saw, my skin rippled with goose bumps.
There were two stone lanterns at the base, lit and flickering in the darkness.
"Thea," Revel said as Ziff clung to my shoulder, shaking like a chihuahua. "Do you feel that?"
"This is a sacred place," I said as Mik climbed out of the car and moved around it to stand beside me.
"As I was saying," Nix continued, clearing his throat. "You'll need to put these on before we head up the steps." I ignored him, so awed by the clean, clear feeling of peace inside of me, like my body was a pond undisturbed by the wind. I'd never felt such simple purpose in my life.
Stepping forward, I placed my hand on the side of a stone kitsune statue, its nine tails dancing in a frozen breeze.
"A kimono?" Revel said from behind me. I turned just in time to see Nix pull out a second duffel bag from the back of my SUV. He'd tossed two of them in here before we'd left the house, but I had no idea what was inside.
Traditional Japanese robes, apparently, just like the type the council made us wear back home.
"No one's exempt," Nix said, tossing a dark blue kimono in Mik's direction.
"Who the hell is your employer?" Mik asked, his voice much more neutral now, all the hostility drained from it.
"You'll see," Nix repeated, and even his voice was muted by the greater power that lingered in the air here. He'd already taken off his suit jacket before, and I watched in fascination as he somehow managed to find a way to unbutton and remove his shirt without disturbing that ratty fur. "Get dressed. We should hurry; you most certainly do not want to be late."
Mik kicked off his boots and stripped off his jacket and jeans. I had to look away to make sure I didn't drool, stealing a moment for myself by putting Ziff back in the car. After looking at the temple and feeling its vibe, I was sure he’d be much safer in the SUV.
In fact, I found that I couldn't look at Mik, Revel, or Nix or I might have to climb those steps with wet panties.
Fantastic.
If I'd thought that one night stand was going to cure my raging hormones, I'd be wrong. Fuck, it'd probably made them worse.