“He’s dead, Zak. I’m sorry.”
With the barest of nods, he turned away from me and began to pull his clothes on. I tossed the Dragon Claw into the trunk of my car before turning to Kylarai who was doing her best to hide her tears as she slipped into a long blue summer dress. I felt awful for her.
Before I could say as much, she waved me off. “I’m not ready to talk about it, Alexa. Sorry.” Falling heavily onto the passenger seat of Shaz’ car, she stared out the window at the field beyond.
“Hey, don’t look so defeated.” Shaz was a hell of a vision. His face was bruised, and he winced in pain as he tugged a black t-shirt over his head. “Julian was an idiot to attack her the way he did. What happened to him wasn’t your fault, Lex.”
“I’m not sure they’d agree with you.” I ran a hand over his bare ribs as he pulled the shirt down. “Are you ok? You didn’t break anything, did you?”
“A cracked rib, I think. No worries. Really. It’ll be fine.” He captured my hand in his own and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “So what do we do with the remains? I imagine the bodies of the home owners are in there somewhere, too.”
I nodded absently, studying the property. “There’s got to be some gasoline in the shed or the garage. You guys take off, and I’ll deal with the rest.” My voice dropped to a breathy whisper. “And please, don’t leave Kylarai alone, no matter what she says. Stay with her a while.”
“Of course.” Shaz kissed me softly, a brief but tender touch. I was reminded instantly why he meant so much to me. Too much to let anything, even The Wicked Kiss, come between us. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, babe.”
I watched until his car disappeared from sight. Then I turned to Brogan who stood uncertainly near my car. “So, how do you feel about arson?”
Chapter Nineteen
I stood outside The Wicked Kiss for a long time before mustering the nerve to go inside. I smelled faintly of smoke from the fire, and my hair was a mess. Neither of those were good enough reasons to put this off.
The club was deadly quiet, foreign. I rarely saw it empty and silent. The back hall felt eerily calm. I could feel the energy of those occupying the rooms. There weren’t many of them.
Following the hall to room thirteen, I grew increasingly edgy with each step. Was he sleeping? Would he feel my presence? My pulse quickened. Steady breaths.
After taking care of things at the farmhouse, Arys had silently slipped away, closing the mental door between us. I was grateful for that because it saved me from having to do it. I knew he was upset with me for pumping Maxwell for information. However, I could only deal with one vampire at a time.
I hesitated outside Kale’s door. I could feel him in there. What if he was sleeping? Maybe it was better not to disturb him. I reached out to knock, but before I could, the door swung open.
Kale stood in the doorway, casually dressed in track pants and a plain white t-shirt, a rare look for him. I liked it. He regarded me with an expression of relief and intrigue. I gazed into his mismatched eyes and felt myself falling.
Tearing my gaze away, I glanced nervously at the floor, my feet and finally past him into the room. “Did I come at a bad time?”
“Not at all.” He swung the door open wider and stepped back to allow me in. “Come on in.”
“I think we need to talk.”
“How did everything go? I assume by the soot in your hair and the fire in your eyes that you kicked some ass.”
“I guess you could say that. I lost a wolf. Julian, to be precise.”
Kale swung the door shut, locking it as if he expected an interruption. “Can’t say I’m sorry to hear that. How’s Kylarai taking it?”
“Not so well.” I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. I could either sit on the bed, bad idea, or at the small bistro table in the corner. I chose to stand.
“Well, I’m glad the rest of you made it out ok. I was worried.” The depths of his concern was there in his eyes. He’d been afraid for me. It warmed my insides in a silly, high school crush kind of way. It was so wrong.
I tried to lighten the mood by laughing off his worry. “Hey, I told you I’d be fine. You shouldn’t underestimate me.”
“Never.” A lazy grin lit up his face. “I give you more credit than you know.”
A strange silence descended. I studied the diamond pattern on his black and grey bedding, the tile on the ceiling and the plush carpet beneath our feet. Anything to avoid eye contact.