He tightened his hand on Rayce’s throat. “Why the hell do you push me?” Disgusted, he let the guy go. “Bugger off, mate.”
Rayce cleared his throat. Once. Twice. And he didn’t bugger off. “As I was saying…” He flashed a smile—one that showed his own lengthening canines. “I’ve always had a thing for women with bite and apparently, so do you.”
Julian nailed him with a right hook.
Rayce grunted and took a step back. “What the ever-loving hell? Dude, get control of your jealousy. Seriously.” He rubbed his jaw. “In a minute, I’ll stop being nice and I’ll fight back.”
“That hit wasn’t from jealousy.” His eyes raked the werewolf. “It was because you freaking locked her up. She hates being locked up. Rose had tears on her cheeks.” His hand lifted. He should hit the jerk again.
But Rayce’s eyes had widened in shock. “What? Shit, look, I thought I was helping. I’m a helper. That’s what I do.”
Julian snorted. “Don’t feed me that tosh.”
“Tosh?” Rayce blinked. “You’re throwing out your British shit again—”
“Crap,” Julian gritted out. “Don’t feed me your bull.” Rayce was a rogue wolf. He might put up a veneer of humor and charm, but the guy was a ravenous killer. He had no pack, so that made him even more dangerous. He wasn’t an alpha—he was one step above that power level. So all the other wolves in the world were terrified of him. And when you feared something, what did you do?
You avoided it. You ran from it.
Just like Rose was running from him.
His shoulders fell.
“Are you really going to take her back to the mainland?” Rayce wanted to know. “I mean, is that a good idea? She can stay here. You know that. She can stay here and—”
“Be locked up?” So she could hate him even more? Julian shook his head. “I said I’d stay by her side every minute. That was the deal I made, and I’ve already slipped on that deal too much as it is.” Because when they’d first returned to the island, he’d shifted and left her alone. It had only been the distance of a few acres, and that still counted as close, didn’t it? “I don’t know how much he’ll allow for the deal.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Julian knew he’d made a mistake.
“Deal?” Rayce repeated as he tilted his head. “You made another deal with Luke? Didn’t you learn from last time?”
He looked away. “I didn’t say the deal was with Luke.”
“Yes, but why would you make a deal with anyone else? You’re a paranormal powerhouse, just like me.” Rayce didn’t say the words as if he were bragging. More like just stating a fact. And, yes, it was a fact. “There’s no one you need to barter with, no one who can help you except…” His words trailed away and horror—real, honest-to-goodness horror filled his eyes. And Rayce wasn’t the type to easily be horrified. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“I didn’t.” He turned away and headed for his room. The room he’d wrecked with Rose. Why had she let him touch her if she was still afraid?
Her voice echoed through his mind. It’s because I’m a vampire, isn’t it? I carry a darkness now and that darkness—it likes you. Part of what she’d said was true. Her desires were darker now that she was a vamp. His desires had always been dark. Nearly insatiable.
But when he was with her…
“You British asshole, stop!”
Julian frowned and glanced back.
Rayce’s cheeks were flushed. “You lied to me.”
Why was that an issue? “You lie to me all the time.”
“No, no, you made a deal.” Rayce pointed a finger at him. “And you did it with the good one, didn’t you?”
Tread carefully. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
Rayce’s cheeks flushed even redder. “You made a deal with Luke’s freaking twin! You made a deal with Leo!” He marched forward, glaring the whole way as Julian turned to fully face him. “He’s the only one who can match Luke’s power. And since Luke has gone all AWOL on us with his new lady, Leo would be the only one around for you to deal with.”
Luke Thorne was the Lord of the Dark—the ruler of every dark paranormal to walk the earth. And his twin brother Leo…Leo led the so-called light paranormals. The ones who were supposed to be good for humanity.
Only things weren’t really black and white in the world, and, according to every legend that Julian had ever heard, an old prophecy had foretold that one day, the twins would battle to the death.
Then hell would truly reign.
“You can’t trust Leo. Tell me you realize this.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
A growl broke from Rayce. “I do worry about it. What do you think he’ll do? Help your lady? Give her back a human life? Cause that can’t happen. There is no going back. She died. If she stops being a vamp, she’ll turn into a corpse.”
Julian’s muscles clenched.
“What did you offer him?” Now worry edged Rayce’s voice. “I mean, that guy isn’t going to bargain easily. He’s like Luke that way.”
The twins were alike in many ways. That was the problem.
“Tell me what you did. Tell me, man, so I can help you.”